DT 30197 (full review) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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DT 30197 (full review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30197

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 14th Jan 2023

BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

Greetings from Kolkata. Once again, a friendly and straightforward Saturday puzzle from Cephas that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and valuable feedback.

Mother is the most important, most precious and the most loveable person on earth. My mother, Khurshedi Begum, breathed her last last Friday. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. She was laid to rest the next day in Gobra Muslim Burial Ground Number 3 in the heart of the city. Around two hundred persons attended her funeral and prayed to the Almighty to bestow upon her a place in Jannat-ul-Firdaus. During her lifetime, she had always performed namāz that is salah five times a day except when travelling or during illness. Her reading of the Quran was ever sweet-sounding.

 

At this time of grief, I remember the very struggling and challenging marital life of my mother, who was the eleventh of the twelve children of her parents. Theirs was an arranged marriage. She was then fifteen years old. I was born when she was sixteen. I used to fear my father who would often beat my mother. Once he beat me so mercilessly that my skin was left with red marks for many days. Seeing this situation, my maternal grandmother brought me to her place where I remained with her all throughout her life. I was then only three years old. She afterwards sent me to a school and bore all my educational expenses up to the secondary level. I became the first child from both households to go to a school. Some years later, my parents got separated and my mother returned to her mother’s house with my three younger sisters. All six of us lived in one small room that included a kitchen. My sisters were sent to free government schools for their education because my maternal grandmother could not afford to spend more. Those were really the hard days. Sometimes, I would take my first sister, then seven or eight years old, to the market, a two minutes’ walk from home. The coconut seller who knew us would break some coconuts and allow the coconut water to settle into our kettle which he would, otherwise, have thrown to the ground. Back home, my sisters and I would enjoy drinking it. Sometime later, my mother started working part-time in a household of a very young couple, cooking food for that family. The money she earned provided some sort of relief to our household. Our financial problem ended after I got a job in a bank. She left the cooking work and had more time for all of us. She was also devoted to the well-being of relatives and locals and would help them in various possible ways by solving their household problems or taking them to hospitals during emergency. That is why so many people who knew her came and cried a lot during her funeral. She also enjoyed her life, seeing the marriage of three of her children and living with them. Along with me, she had visited many, many places all over India and those she visited abroad were London, Paris, Engelberg, Lüzern, Munich, Wattens, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome, Vatican, Pisa, Aswan, Alexandria, Luxor, Hurghada, Giza Necropolis and Cairo. Besides trains, aeroplanes and ships, she had also travelled in a helicopter, submarine and catamaran. We attended to her needs and took care of her during her last eleven months – me, my sisters, two of my nephews (the third studying medicine at a college in North Bengal) and my son. My maternal grandmother was a far-sighted person. Before she died, she had told me to always show my mother to a good doctor, although she was not at all ill at that time! In any case, how could I leave my mother? I was committed to look after her at any cost. After all, she was my mother. Years later, I always took her to good doctors and hospitals whenever she required medical treatment. She was also a very brave person. Thirteen years ago, she broke her right femur and a metal rod implant with a ball-like structure at the top was fixed in her bone during the surgical operation. When she returned from the hospital, she walked up the stairs to her second-floor flat without any help. The next year, a pacemaker had to be implanted in her body after she suffered from full heart blockage. Last year, it was history repeating itself. In February, she fell and broke her right femur again. Plate clamps were used this time during her surgical operation. In June, she underwent pacemaker replacement operation. In July, she had to be hospitalised again for dehydration and stomach problem. On the last day of the last year, she had to be hospitalised for the fourth time, after her sugar and sodium levels came drastically down. However, she was discharged after twelve days after receiving the due treatment. Back home, she was doing well. She had her food in time, but around thirty-three hours later, she suffered a cardiac arrest and left us forever. We four siblings, remaining united as in the past, are now left with memories of our dear mother.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a    Remember what visiting baby-sitters do (4,2,4)
CALL TO MIND: Double definition; the second being the calling of the baby-sitters to offer their services of temporarily tending or providing care for children for a few hours at a time as the obvious response to the enquiry what visiting baby-sitters do that leads to the first meaning to remember or cause to remember

6a    Nipper‘s apple? (4)
CRAB: Double nounal definition; the first being a crustacean, found chiefly on seashores, with a broad carapace, stalked eyes and five pairs of legs, the first pair of which are modified as pincers for nipping and the second a small and sour wild apple



9a    Engineers answer judgement (10)
RESOLUTION: A charade of RE (engineers) as the abbreviation of Royal Engineers and SOLUTION (answer) as the answer to a problem or the correct answer to a puzzle guides to the definition of a verdict or judgment or a judicial decision on some matter

10a    Outfit with endless train (4)
SUIT: SUIT[E] (train) as a train of followers or attendants that is deprived of the ending letter (endless), taking to the definition of outer clothes made of the same fabric and designed to be worn together, typically consisting of a jacket with trousers or skirt, for a specified occasion or purpose

12a    Lightning run (4)
BOLT: Double definition; the second being a verb meaning to move or run away suddenly in an attempt to escape that takes to the first a noun referring to a jagged white flash of lightning

13a    Older male upset, getting nothing for a perfect example (4,5)
ROLE MODEL: An anagram (upset) of OLDER M[A]LE taking inside (getting) O (nothing) in place of A that is removed, leading to the definition of a person regarded by others, especially younger people, as a good example to follow

15a    Please turn to next page to see it (8)
OVERLEAF: A cryptic definition of an adverb meaning on the other side of the page or leaf of a book

16a    Essential flat part of calculator? (6)
KEYPAD: A charade of KEY (essential) as an adjective meaning of crucial importance and PAD (flat) as a slang term for a home, flat or room guides to the definition of a part of calculator comprising small set of keys with numbers on them for the purpose of operating it

18a    Exact place and time for destructive insect (6)
LOCUST: A charade of LOCUS (exact place) as a technical term for a particular position or place where something occurs or is situated and T (time) as the symbol for time in physics takes to the definition of a large insect found in hot areas that flies in large groups and destroys plants and crops


20a    Fellows curse clothing (8)
MENSWEAR: MEN (fellows) as adult male human beings and SWEAR (curse) as to utter imprecations in a charade lead to the definition of clothing for men

23a    Cold fish with glaze — it keeps food fresh (9)
CLINGFILM: C (cold) as the abbreviation for cold, LING (fish) as any of various fishes, such as a hake or burbot, of the cod family and FILM (glaze) as a thin layer or coating in a charade guide to the definition of a type of transparent plastic film used to wrap food, seal food containers etc for keeping it fresh


24a    Talent ineffectual for the most part (4)
NOUS: NO US[E] (ineffectual) as to be not useful or effective with the removal of the last letter and thus having most of the letters (the most part) takes to the definition of intellect or talent or the intelligence and ability to make good judgments and decisions

26a    Black in outskirts of Keighley (4)
INKY: The definition of dark or black is arrived at from IN from the clue followed by the outermost letters (in outskirts) of K[EIGHLE]Y

27a    Case following punishment that’s found on pitch (7,3)
PENALTY BOX: BOX (case) as a container with a flat base and sides, typically square or rectangular and having a lid following or preceded by PENALTY (punishment) as a punishment imposed for breaking a law, rule or contract, arriving at the definition of an 18-yard box that is an area of an association football pitch in front of the goal in which a foul by the defending team may result in a penalty kick being awarded against them, also known as the penalty area


28a    Square meal ultimately ignored by returning Russian leader (4)
NINE: L as the ultimate or last letter (ultimately) of meaL left out (ignored) as in (by) [L]ENIN (Russian leader) as a Russian revolutionary leader of the early twentieth century, highly honoured in the former Soviet Union as the founder of the modern Soviet state coming back (returning) as a reversal in the across clue, leading to the definition of a number that is the square of three or equal to a quantity multiplied by itself

29a    Those present are in it (10)
ATTENDANCE: The definition of the number of people present at a particular place or event has a reference to the phrase ‘in attendance’, so those present are in it, i.e. ‘in attendance’

Down

1d    Short alley crossing river (4)
CURT: CUT (alley) as a passage dug out or a new channel made for a river or other waterway is going or extending across (crossing) R (river) as the abbreviation for river, taking to the definition of an adjective meaning short, concise or discourteously brief or summary

2d    In council is somewhat agile (7)
LISSOME: Part of or hidden inside (in) [COUNCI]L IS SOME[WHAT] guides to the definition of an adjective meaning lithe, nimble or flexible or attractively thin and able to move quickly and smoothly

3d    Sneak giving indication that it is an obvious clue (8,4)
TELLTALE SIGN: TELLTALE (sneak) as a person who reports the private concerns or misdeeds of others or reveals their secrets and SIGN (indication) as an indication or hint in a charade arrive at a definition of a sign that tells something with strong certainty or an indication that something exists or has happened

4d    Stuff having relevance (8)
MATERIAL: Double definition; the first being a noun referring to a fabric or cloth or the matter from which a thing is or can be made and the second an adjective meaning significant or relevant, especially to the extent of determining a cause or affecting a judgment

5d    Knight with endless abundance, but only one bit of pasta (6)
NOODLE: N (knight) as the abbreviation for knight in chess notation and (with) OODLE[S] (abundance) as a very great number or amount of something that has been devoid of its ending letter S (endless), leading to the definition of one of very thin, long strips of pasta or a similar flour paste, eaten with a sauce or in a soup


7d    Raise a collection of suspects perhaps (5-2)
ROUND-UP: Double definition; the second being a noun referring to a collection of suspects or criminals by the police, especially in a raid that leads to the first a verb meaning to raise a number to the nearest whole number

8d    Racket having fought over raw 4 (10)
BATTLEDORE: BATTLED (having fought) as engaged in a fight or struggle against opposing military forces is placed above (over) ORE (raw 4) as a naturally occurring solid material from which a metal or valuable mineral can be extracted profitably represented in the down clue as raw 4 or raw material as in 4d, arriving at the definition of a small racket or a light bat used in the game of battledore for striking a shuttlecock


11d    Played part of individual I married going round (12)
IMPERSONATED: PERSON (individual) as a human being regarded as an individual is encircled by (going round) I from the clue and MATED (married) as married or of two people united through marriage, arriving at the definition of a verb in the past tense meaning pretended to be someone else by copying the way that they look, speak or behave in order to trick people

14d    After prayer, regularly disowns offertory (10)
COLLECTION: COLLECT (prayer) as a short prayer in church, especially one assigned to a particular day or season is followed by the even letters (regularly) of dIsOwNs, arriving at the definition of a sum of money raised during a church or charity collection

17d    Side having necessary willingness for cricket, say (4,4)
TEAM GAME: TEAM (side) as a group of players forming one side in a competitive game or sport and (having) GAME (necessary willingness) as having the required spirit or will in a charade guide to the definition of a game in which teams play against each other as in cricket, for example


19d    Meat from stylish range (7)
CHICKEN: The definition of the meat from a domestic fowl is arrived at from a charade of CHIC (stylish) as elegantly and stylishly fashionable and KEN (range) as one’s range of knowledge or understanding


21d    Former lover seen with Pope from a prosperous area (7)
EXURBAN: EX (former lover) as a former husband, wife or other partner in a relationship and (seen with) URBAN (Pope) as referring to one of several popes of the Catholic denomination in a charade, arriving at the definition of an adjective meaning from or belonging to a region or settlement that lies outside a city and usually beyond its suburbs and that often is inhabited chiefly by well-to-do families

22d    Remove dodgy nightclub’s permit, at last (6)
DIVEST: DIVE’S (dodgy nightclub’s) as belonging to a shabby or sleazy bar or similar establishment followed by the last or terminal letter (at last) of [PERMI]T, arriving at the definition of a verb meaning to remove clothes of someone or of own

25d    Rod left chopper outside (4)
AXLE: L (left) as the abbreviation for left has in its surrounding (outside) AXE (chopper) as a tool used for chopping wood, typically of iron with a steel edge and wooden handle, arriving at the definition of a rod around which a wheel moves or rotates

The clues that I liked in this puzzle were 1a, 9a, 12a, 23a, 28a, 29a, 3d, 8d, 14d and 21d, but the best among them was 8d. Thanks to BD for the encouragement, to Cephas for the entertainment and to Gazza for the assistance. Looking forward to being here again. Have a nice day.

12 comments on “DT 30197 (full review)

  1. My deepest and most sincere condolences, Rahmat, on the loss of your dear mother. I read your story with great, heartfelt interest and salute you for your lifelong love and allegiance to your mother and the rest of your family. I spent 25 years attending to my mother’s needs, the last six or seven keeping her home even as the dementia worsened, but finally having to put her in a home during the final six months of her life. She was 87 when she died at Christmas in 2003.

    Thank you for your very enjoyable and informative review.

    1. That’s very kind of you, Robert. It gave me a lot of happiness to learn that you were so true to your duties, having attended to your mother’s needs for such a long period of 25 years. You proved yourself to be her worthy son. While I pray to the Almighty for your mother’s eternal rest and peace, I also pray to Him for your good health and happiness in the years ahead. And, finally, thanks for finding my review as very enjoyable and informative.

    1. That’s very kind of you, Steve. I pray to the Almighty for your good health and happiness And, finally, thanks for liking my review.

  2. Rahmat, my sincere condolences on the loss of your dear mother. She appears to have lived life to the fullest and was certainly blessed to have such a devoted son as yourself.

    If I may offer an alternative take on 16a, I interpreted flat as the British name for what I would call an apartment and pad as a somewhat dated (circa 1960s) informal term for a place of abode.

    1. That’s very kind of you, Falcon. I pray to the Almighty for your good health and happiness. On 16a, you are absolutely correct. According to thefreedictionary.com, pad is a slang term for a home, flat, place, room etc, while the BRB describes it as a bed, room or home, especially one’s own. I have made the necessary changes. Thank you so much.

  3. My condolences for the loss of your mother Rahmat, and thanks for sharing details of your background….
    as for the puzzle ….. 2*/4*
    liked 22D ” Remove dodgy nightclub’s permit, at last (6)”

    1. That’s very kind of you, Robin. I pray to the Almighty for your good health and happiness.

  4. I’m afraid this may be too late for you to see, Rahmat, but I just wanted to send you my condolences on the loss of your beloved mother. I was so interested to read about her and your family’s background.
    Thank you for your review – I needed help to explain 4 of my answers. Your reviews are always fascinating – they must take you many hours to produce.

    1. That’s very kind of you, Sarah. I pray to the Almighty for your good health and happiness. And thanks for finding my reviews interesting.

  5. Very sorry to hear about your mother. Thanks so much for sharing some details of her life. My deepest condolences.

    1. That’s very kind of you, Peggy. I pray to the Almighty for your good health and happiness. Incidentally, my mother’s pet name was almost similar to your name Peggy. It was pronounced as ‘Paigy’ but never spelt in a written form as a record anywhere.

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