DT 30035 (full review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30035

A full review by Rahmat Ali

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

This puzzle was published on 9^th July 2022

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 reading and important feedback.

Ruth, part of the wordplay of 12a, with the capital R reminded me of the immortal lines “Perhaps the self-same song that found a path | Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home, | She stood in tears amid the alien corn” of Keats penned for his ‘Ode to a Nightingale’. Ruth is one of five women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus found in the Gospel of Matthew, alongside Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba and Mary. She was a Moabite woman who married an Israelite man, but soon became a widow on account of his early death. In the poem, Keats is highly obsessed with the song of the ‘immortal’ nightingale that he believes that the bird is free from the human fate of having to die. The song was heard in ancient times by emperor and clown and perhaps even by Ruth, whose story is told in the Old Testament. Keats has projected Ruth as a sad figure standing ‘in tears’, whereas in the Old Testament, Ruth has a happy ending after tying the nuptial knot with another person in the ‘alien’ land. Incidentally, ‘ruth’, which has come from late Old English ruthe, means misery, sorrow, pity or grief, whereas ‘Ruth’, as a feminine, proper name, has been derived from the Hebrew reut meaning companion, friend or fellow woman.

Gospel, as a style of music and the answer to the clue of 8d, made me inquisitive and I turned to the net for more information on it. I am aware since childhood that the gospels, in the New Testament of the Bible, are the four books that tell us about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ written, according to tradition, respectively by St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John, the four evangelists, but totally unaware about gospel music. I now learnt that gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music since the early 17^th century. It has come to us from the Old English god meaning ‘good’ and spel meaning ‘news’. Hence, gospel is ‘good news’ and in Christianity, the term ‘good news’ refers to the story of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Gospel music is characterised by dominant vocals and strong use of harmony with Christian lyrics. The first published use of the term ‘gospel song’ is believed to have appeared in 1874 when Philip Bliss released a songbook entitled ‘Gospel Songs. A Choice Collection of Hymns and Tunes’. It was used to describe a new style of church music, songs that were easy to grasp and more easily singable that the traditional church hymns. The advent of radio in the 1920s greatly increased the audience for gospel music. After the Second World War, gospel music moved into major auditoria and gospel music concerts became quite detailed. Progressive Southern gospel has grown out of Southern gospel over the past couple of decades. Christian country music, sometimes referred to as country gospel music, is a subgenre of gospel music with a country flair. It peaked in popularity in the mid-1990s. Bluegrass gospel music is rooted in American mountain music. Celtic gospel music infuses gospel music with a Celtic flair, and is quite popular in countries such as Ireland. The Gospel Music Hall of Fame, created in 1972 by the Gospel Music Association, is a Hall of Fame dedicated exclusively to recognising meaningful contributions by individuals and groups in all forms of gospel music.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a    Causing trouble by putting one’s oar in (8,1,3)
STARTING A ROW: Double definition of phrasal verbs; the second meaning contributing one’s efforts to rowing a boat that leads to the first meaning causing a disturbance or racket

9a    Jack with bird jaw (4)
JOWL: A charade of J (jack) as the abbreviation of jack as a playing card ranking below a queen and (with) OWL (bird) as a nocturnal bird of prey with large eyes, a facial disc, a hooked beak and typically a loud hooting call guides to the definition of the jaw, especially the lower one

10a    Reportedly purchase commodity generating side effect (2-7)
BY PRODUCT: BUY (purchase) as to obtain something in exchange of payment serving as a homophone heard by the audience (reportedly) and PRODUCT (commodity) as an article or substance that is produced or refined for sale, often as a result of a manufacturing process, arriving at the definition of an unintended but inevitable secondary result

12a    Arrogant Ruth out of bed first (6)
UPPITY: PITY (Ruth) as feeling of sorrow, remorse or ruth having UP (out of bed) as no longer in bed after sleep placed earlier (first), leading to the definition of an adjective meaning disdainfully proud or scornfully arrogant

13a    Gill about to be included by swimmer (8)
BREATHER: The preposition RE (about) as a commercial jargon used to indicate ‘with reference to’, ‘concerning’ or ‘about’ to be taken in (included) by BATHER (swimmer) as a person who is swimming in the sea, a river or lake, leading to the definition of a vent to release pressure or for ventilation

15a    Unwinding, family member welcomes kiss by American (10)
RELAXATION: RELATION (family member) as a relative or someone who is connected by blood or marriage entertains or takes in (welcomes) X (kiss) as used in a letter or message to symbolise a kiss alongside (by) A (American) as the abbreviation for American, arriving at the definition of a noun referring to the state of being free from tension and anxiety

16a    Surprise greatly in endlessly dangerous act (4)
STUN: STUN[T] (dangerous act) as a dangerous and difficult action or performance that somebody does to entertain people that is without its last or ending letter (endlessly), taking to the definition of a verb meaning to surprise or shock someone so much that they cannot think clearly or speak

18a    Carve boat without prow (4)
ETCH: [K]ETCH (boat) as a small two-masted sailing boat with the foremast being the taller that is devoid of (without) the pointed or projecting front part of something (prow) as the front letter K, leading to the definition of a verb meaning to cut or carve a pattern, picture, text etc into a smooth surface, especially on metal or glass, using acid or a sharp instrument

20a    Brother nowadays reluctant to stock initially coarse fabric (10)
BROADCLOTH: BRO (brother) as a contracted version of brother followed by AD (nowadays) as the current or Christian era and LOTH (reluctant) as unwilling to do something contrary to one’s ways of thinking to have inside or contain (stock) the initial or first letter (initially) of C[OARSE], arriving at the definition of a clothing fabric of fine twilled wool or worsted or plain-woven cotton

23a    Cosmetic stuff put on cheek (8)
LIPSTICK: STICK (stuff) as to stuff or put something somewhere, especially in a not very careful way, so that it is held there placed after (put on) LIP (cheek) as insolent or impertinent talk, taking to the definition of a coloured cosmetic applied to the lips from a small solid stick to improve or change their colour

24a    Blurt out about a savage (6)
BRUTAL: An anagram (out) of BLURT is placed around (about) A from the clue, arriving at the definition of an adjective meaning savage, inhuman or extremely violent

26a    Lead Neil at sea, giving indication of course to be followed (9)
GUIDELINE: GUIDE (lead) as to show or indicate the way to someone followed by an anagram (at sea) of NEIL lead to the definition of a standard or principle by which to make a judgment or determine a policy or course of action

27a    Following down to a trickle (4)
FLOW: A charade of F (following) as the abbreviation for following and LOW (down) as occupying a position that is far down or not much raised guides to the definition of the action of moving along in a steady, continuous stream

28a    Ballet with 22 dancing for supporter of the board? (7,5)
TRESTLE TABLE: An anagram (dancing) of BALLET and (with) STREET (22) as the answer to 22d of this puzzle takes to the definition of a table consisting of two or three trestle supports, often linked by a stretcher, over which a board or tabletop is placed

Down

2d    Mate let extension, in part to get service for TV (8)
TELETEXT: Part of or hidden inside (in part) maTE LET EXTension guides to the definition of a news and information service in the form of text and graphics, transmitted using the spare capacity of existing television channels to televisions with appropriate receivers

3d    Polish bottom of dirty stone (4)
RUBY: RUB (polish) as to apply polish with a back-and-forth motion followed by the last or bottommost letter (bottom) of [DIRT]Y as in the down clue, arriving at the definition of a precious stone consisting of corundum in colour varieties varying from deep crimson or purple to pale rose

4d    Prison meal served up cold (10)
IMPERSONAL: An anagram (served up) of PRISON MEAL guides to the definition of an adjective meaning having or showing no interest in individual people or their feelings or lacking emotional or human warmth

5d    All-embracing girl about to hit the ball high (6)
GLOBAL: GAL (girl) as an informal term for a girl or young woman is placed around (about) LOB (to hit the ball high) as to throw or hit a ball or missile in a high arc, taking to the definition of an adjective meaning relating to or encompassing the whole of something

6d    Just the thing needed that’s crude first to live in basic conditions (5,2)
ROUGH IT: IT (just the thing needed) as applied to a thing without life that’s having ROUGH (crude) as crude in style or expression or coarse or rugged in character or appearance placed earlier (first), leading to the definition of a phrasal verb meaning to live without the usual comforts or conveniences of life, especially running water, heat etc

7d    Pool bar (8,4)
WATERING HOLE: Double definition; the first being a noun referring to a geologic depression in which water collects and where animals come to drink and the second an informal noun meaning a pub or bar where people go to drink alcohol

8d    Music
that is so authoritative as not to be questioned (6)
GOSPEL: Double definition; the second being a noun used to describe an unquestionable truth or an idea or rule, outside of its application to religion, that is accepted as undoubtedly true that leads to the first referring to a style of Christian music drawn from popular oral traditions comprising hymns and sacred songs sung by a gospel choir in church

11d    Fourth lamp in window (12)
QUARTERLIGHT: A charade of QUARTER (fourth) as one of four equal parts of something and LIGHT (lamp) as a piece of equipment like a lamp, an electric lamp or bulb that produces light guides to the definition of a small pivoted window in the door of a car for ventilation

14d    Magnetically alluring (10)
ATTRACTIVE: The definition of an adjective meaning of a magnet possessing an extraordinary ability to draw, pull or attract is cryptically arrived at by treating the whole clue as a wordplay that has magnetically as an adverb meaning as if by magnetism that involves the science of magnets and their power of attraction and alluring as an adjective meaning having the characteristics of strong temptation, enticement or attraction

17d    Contemptuous of silly crones out east not quite holding as much as possible (8)
SCORNFUL: An anagram (silly) of CRON[E]S that has E (east) as the abbreviation for East removed (out) followed by FUL[L] (holding as much as possible) as containing or holding as much or as many as possible that is not completely or entirely (not quite) or having most of the letters but not all, arriving at the definition of an adjective meaning feeling or expressing contempt or derision

19d    Turnover on the ocean? (7)
CAPSIZE: A way of arriving at the definition of a verb meaning to turn over or cause the boat or ship to turn over or turn upside down by accident while sailing on water

21d    Baffle Tod in open-air first (6)
OUTFOX: FOX (tod) as a male fox as chiefly called in Scotland having OUT (in open-air) as situated or operating in the open air placed earlier (first), taking to the definition of a verb meaning to outwit or outsmart someone or to defeat someone by being more clever or cunning than them

22d    Novel setter’s way (6)
STREET: An anagram (novel) of SETTER is the definition of a public road in a city, town or village, typically with houses and buildings on one or both sides

25d    Lady giving some clever answers (4)
VERA: Part of or hidden inside cleVER Answers guides to the definition of a female given name of Slavic origin meaning ‘truth’ or ‘faith’, etymologically from Latin vera and used by the English-speaking world since the 19^th century and much popular in the early 20^th century

Clues that delighted me in this pangrammatic puzzle were 1a, 12a, 13a, 15a, 20a, 26a, 3d, 7d, 8d, 11d and 21d; 12a being the best of the lot. Thanks to Cephas for the entertainment, to BD for the encouragement and to Gazza for the assistance. Would wish to be here again. Have a nice day.