ST 3274 (full review)

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3274

A full review by Rahmat Ali

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

This puzzle was published on 21^st July 2024

BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****

Greetings from Kolkata. A gentle and very friendly puzzle from Dada this Sunday that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a full review of his puzzle for your kind reading and valuable feedback.

Philistine, the answer to the clue of 27a, took me to my school days in the early 1970s. I must have been 12 or 13 then. I came across this word in the dictionary that I possessed then. It showed the word ‘philistine’ as an adjective meaning narrow-minded which I clearly remember even to this day. It also showed the word ‘christian’ as an adjective meaning broad-minded. As a result, I grew up thinking that the adjective ‘philistine’ was the closest antonym of the adjective ‘christian’. This time, after solving the crossword, I became inquisitive to know what the different dictionaries tell us about these two adjectives and so I explored the net. To my utter surprise, none of the dictionaries specifically mentioned philistine as narrow-minded or christian as broad-minded. But the meanings have certainly got evolved with the passage of time. One dictionary defined Philistine (sometimes not capital) as boorishly uncultured in British English and smugly conventional and lacking in culture in American English. It also stated Philistine as a noun referring to a person regarded as smugly narrow and conventional in views and tastes, lacking in and indifferent to cultural and aesthetic values in British English and a person who is lacking in or hostile or smugly indifferent to cultural values, intellectual pursuits, aesthetic refinement etc or is contentedly commonplace in ideas and tastes in American English. Though these elaborated definitions sound less harsh, I doubt whether such long definitions existed half a century ago. As a noun, Christian is someone who believes in and follows the teachings of Jesus Christ and this is obviously for all time to come. But the adjective denoting ‘christian’ as broad-minded was nowhere to be found in the net. One of the dictionaries showed the adjective ‘Christian’ written with a capital C having humane, decent, generous as synonyms, another dictionary used words like respectable, not brutal, the third defined behaving in a good kind way etc. Etymologically, the English term ‘Philistine’ comes from Old French Philistin that has come from Classical Latin Philistinus and, in turn, from many languages. The term ‘Palestine’ has the same derivation. Wikipedia says that the Palestinians, who called themselves Filisteen in their Arabic language, are not the Philistines of history who are now extinct. The Philistines of ancient history were people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as ‘Philistia’. They may have originated as a Greek immigrant group from the Aegean that settled in Canaan circa 1175 BC during the Late Bronze Age collapse. They Philistines are known for their biblical conflict with the Canaanite peoples of the region, in particular, the Israelites. Their primary source of information is in the Hebrew Bible. By Iron Age II, they had formed an ethnic state centred around a pentapolis consisting of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron and Gath, from Wadi Gaza in the south to the Yargon River in the north, with one lord in each state. Later, they gradually assimilated elements of the indigenous Levantine Semitic societies while preserving their own unique culture. In 604 BC, the Philistine polity, after being subjugated for centuries by the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911 BC – 605 BC, was finally destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Subsequently, the Philistines were exiled in Babylonia where ultimately they lost their unique ethnic identity. By the late fifth century BC, they vanished from both historical and archaeological records as a distinct group.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a          Get lost, as will firefighters? (2,2,6)
GO TO BLAZES: Double verbal definition; the second referring to go and deal with blazes that sometimes results from spreading too quickly from just a spark of fire anywhere as what firefighters just do that takes to the first denoting an expression similar to ‘go to hell’ or to tell someone to go away or to get lost

6a          Powder stored in metal containers (4)
TALC: Part of or hidden inside (stored in) [ME]TAL C[ONTAINERS] guides to the definition of another word for talcum powder that is a powder, usually scented, that is used for perfuming the body and for absorbing excess moisture

9a          Individual, hard to please (10)
PARTICULAR: Double definition; the second being an adjective meaning fastidious, very critical or hard to please that leads to the first a noun denoting an individual or distinct part, as an item of a list or another term for an individual or a specific group within a general class, as in logic

10a        Retreat of Ottoman commanders, long story (4)
SAGA: The returning or coming back (retreat) as a reversal in the across clue of AGAS (Ottoman commanders) as the plural of the name given to a military commander of the Ottoman Empire leads to the definition of a long story about past events over a long period of time

12a        Cash: make and save it! (4)
DOSH: The definition of a slang term for money is reached from a charade of DO (make) as to make or prepare something and SH (save it) as used as an exclamation to request silence or quiet, an example of which is ‘Save it!’ that is an exclamatory term denoting ‘Be quiet!’

13a        European politician aboard the ship — rides here? (5,4)
THEME PARK: MEP (European politician) as the abbreviation for Member of European Parliament who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament placed around (aboard) a combo of THE from the clue and ARK (ship) as the ship built by Noah to save his family and two of every kind of animal from the Deluge as mentioned in Genesis 6:11-9:11 of the Bible takes to the definition of a large permanent area for public entertainment where people can go to enjoy rides, among a host of other activities

15a        Nothing but boundaries for every member? (3,5)
ALL FOURS: Double nounal definition; the first referring to the score of four in cricket every time of a shot that reaches or passes over the boundary rope with the ball touching the ground before reaching the boundary and the second to the four members i.e. two hands and two knees of a person while getting down to search for something on the ground or the four feet of a four-legged animal

16a        A terrible drama for Spanish fleet (6)
ARMADA: A from the clue followed by an anagram (terrible) of DRAMA guides to the definition of the Spanish word for naval fleet; the Spanish Armada being the name of a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588 to take part in the Anglo-Spanish War that the English finally repelled

18a        Ball arrived after headers from striker and pal (6)
SPHERE: The definition of a noun meaning ball, globe or circle is arrived from HERE (arrived) as being present after reaching at that place after the end of a journey or a stage in a journey following or preceded by (after) the leading or first letters (headers) from S[TRIKER] and P[AL]

20a        Type moving to hamlet (3,5)
HOT METAL: The definition of a metallic type that is cast into shape from molten metal is got from an anagram (moving) of TO HAMLET

23a        Religious book, this came out after fourth of March (9)
CATECHISM: The definition of an elementary book in the form of questions and answers and summarising the principles of a Christian religion is reached from THIS CAME from the clue that is subject to an anagram (out) and following or preceded by (after) the fourth letter (fourth) of [MAR]C[H]

24a        Pastry for cutting? (4)
TART: Double definition; the first being a noun referring to a pastry cup with a filling of fruit or custard and no top crust and the second an adjective meaning cutting, bitter or sarcastic, especially of a remark or tone of voice

26a        Long hearts, card passed round (4)
ACHE: The definition of a verb meaning to yearn or long is reached from H (hearts) as the abbreviation for hearts in playing cards placed about (passed round) ACE (card) as one of the four playing cards in a deck having a single pip on its face

27a        Savage welcome at table in wood (10)
PHILISTINE: A combo of HI (welcome) an informal word for hello and an expression used to attract attention and (at) LIST (table) as a table of contents or a series of names, words, numbers etc that are usually written down with each new one appearing below the previous one placed inside (in) PINE (wood) as referring to the wood of an evergreen tree with cones and needle-like leaves guides to the definition of a person who is narrow-minded and not willing to accept opinions, beliefs, behaviours etc of other people that are unusual or different from their own

28a        Piece of music never easy, initially (4)
NOTE: The definition of a piece of music etc printed in a special book or on a record cover is got from NOT (never) as an adverb used to express negation, denial, refusal or prohibition meaning in no way, to no degree, under no circumstance or never followed by the initial or beginning letter (initially) of E[ASY]

29a        Noisy plane excited inhabitant of Samoa? (10)
POLYNESIAN: An anagram (excited) of NOISY PLANE leads to the definition of a native or inhabitant of Polynesia, an example of which is the native or inhabitant of Samoa that is one of the six countries and a thousand islands that comprise Polynesia

Down

1d          Hole opening in effect for stare (4)
GAPE: GAP (hole) as a break or space in an object or between two objects followed by the initial or starting letter (opening) in E[FFECT] leads to the definition of a verb meaning to stare with one’s mouth open wide in amazement or wonder

2d          Wild confusion runs through corporation over fuel (7)
TURMOIL: The definition of a state of great disturbance, confusion or uncertainty is arrived at from R (runs) as the abbreviation for run or runs scored in cricket getting in the midst of (through) TUM (corporation) as an informal or childish word for tummy or stomach, an example of which is a corporation that is a slang for a paunch, followed by O (over) as the abbreviation for over or overs as denoted on cricket scorecards and OIL (fuel) as a viscous liquid derived from petroleum, especially for use as a fuel or lubricant

3d          Reportedly add more sparkle to diamond novel (8,4)
BRIGHTON ROCK: A homophone heard by the audience (reportedly) of BRIGHTEN (add more sparkle to) as to make or become lighter, brighter or more sparkling followed by ROCK (diamond) as a large gem, especially a diamond leads to the definition of a novel of sin and redemption by Graham Greene that was published in 1938 and later adapted for film and theatre

4d          Failure of duty with earl being unfaithful (8)
ADULTERY: An anagram (failure) of a combo of DUTY and (with) EARL takes to the definition of faithfulness, infidelity of extramarital sex that wilfully and maliciously interferes with marriage relation

5d          English label on top of liquor, the hard stuff (6)
ENAMEL: E (English) as the abbreviation for English followed by NAME (label) as a verb meaning to attach a tag or label to something placed upon (on) the topmost letter (top) of L[IQUOR] in the down clue guides to the definition of a hard white substance covering the crown of a tooth

7d          A dog and a parent in US state (7)
ALABAMA: A combination of A from the clue, LAB (dog) as a short term for Labrador that is a large yellow, brown or black dog with short hair and another A from the clue and MA (parent) as a childish contraction for mamma or mother who is the female parent of a child takes to the definition of a state in the South-eastern region of the United States

8d          Old player caught winger on home side? (5,5)
CLARK GABLE: C (caught) as the abbreviation for caught by as in cricket, LARK (winger) as a bird of the genus Alauda, well-known for flying high as it sings placed upon (on) GABLE (home side) as the portion of the front or side of a building, usually triangular in shape, enclosed by or masking the end of a roof that slopes downward from the central ridge in the down clue guides to the definition of an American film actor, who was often referred to as the ‘King of Hollywood’, he had roles in more than 60 films in a variety of genres during a career that last 37 years, three decades of which was as a leading man. Often referred to as the ‘King of Hollywood’, he had roles in more than 60 films in a variety of genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades of which was as a leading man

11d        Artist in the marines is at sea (5,7)
HENRI MATISSE: The definition of a French visual artist, celebrated for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship whose full name was Henri Émile Benoît Matisse is arrived at from an anagram (at sea) of THE MARINE IS

14d        Floral creation made in a day is adorning church (5,5)
DAISY CHAIN: The definition of a string of daisies linked together to form a chain or garland is arrived at from an anagram (made) of IN A DAY IS taking decorating or embracing (adorning) CH (church) as the abbreviation from church

17d        With official approval, classmate? (8)
FORMALLY: The definition of an adverb meaning in a conventional way or with official authorisation is reached at from a charade of FORM (class) as a class or year in a school, usually given a specifying number and ALLY (mate) as a friend, colleague, associate or mate; classmate being taken separately as two words viz. class and mate

19d        Axe something to do with plan, did you say? (7)
HATCHET: A homophone as heard by the audience (did you say) of HATCH IT (something to do with plan) meaning to conspire to devise a plot or plan, where the pronoun ‘it’ refers to the plot or plan guides to the definition of a noun referring to a small axe with a short handle for use in one hand

21d        School time in India ends (7)
TERMINI: A combo of TERM (school time) as a limited or established period of time that something is supposed to last, for example a school session, IN from the clue and I (India) as the letter represented by I in the NATO phonetic alphabet takes to the definition of the plural term for the final point or the end

22d        No problem, just old (6)
RIGHTO: The definition of an informal term for an expression of agreement or compliance is arrived at from a charade of RIGHT (just) as an adjective meaning just, good, fair or proper and O (old) as the abbreviation for old as OT in Old Testament

25d        Almost microscopic youth (4)
TEEN: Most of the letters (almost) of TEEN[Y] (microscopic) as an adjective meaning extremely small, miniscule or microscopic leads to the definition of a young person of the age thirteen through nineteen

There were many clues that I liked in this puzzle like 1a, 13a, 15a, 24a, 27a, 2d, 3d, 8d, 11d and 17d; 1a being the topper. My prayers to the Almighty for the eternal rest and peace of BD and my thanks to Dada for the entertainment and to Gazza for the assistance. Looking forward to being here again. Have a good day.