DT 30785 (full review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30785

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 30^th November 2024

BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****

Greetings from Kolkata. A really straightforward and entertaining Saturday puzzle from NYDK that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and significant feedback.

Tsarina, the answer to the clue of 16d, has her spelling more commonly used as has tsar, her other half, his, than the respective other name of each of them, viz., czarina and czar. The word ‘czar’, a borrowing from Russian is a cousin of the German word ‘kaiser’ and both these words are supposed to have come from Julius Caesar, the Roman emperor. The title ‘tsar’ was historically used by Slavic monarchs, even though the Russians were not the first the use that word. That credit goes to the Bulgarians. ‘Czar’ is a Latinised spelling of ‘tsar’, though most historians prefer to use ‘tsar’, as it is more faithful to the Russian spelling. While the words ‘tsar’ and ‘tsarina’ are used in British English, the spellings ‘czar’ and ‘czarina’ are the more common form in American English and Merriam-Webster’s Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary of 2003 lists ‘czar’ as the primary spelling in U.S. English and ‘tsar’ as a variant spelling. Not only this, the word ‘czar’ is also the only one employed in the extended sense as ‘someone in authority’ for example, the energy czar.

I gathered from the net that Roger, the answer to the clue of 21d, was ‘phonetic’ for R’ as ‘received and understood’. In radio communication, a ‘spelling alphabet’, often mistakenly called a ‘phonetic alphabet’, is used to avoid confusion between similarly sounding letters. In the US military, it is common to reply to another’s assertion with ‘Roger that’, meaning, ‘I agree’.  It dates back to 1941 in US radio communication, based on then-use of the given name ‘Roger’ in the US military phonetic alphabet for the word for the letter R. Here, ‘Roger’ stands for the initial R in ‘(Message) received’. To indicate that a message had been heard and understood, that is, ‘received’, a service-person would answer ‘Roger’, later expanded to ‘Roger that’, with ‘that’ referring to the message. In military slang, the phrase ‘Roger wilco’ conveyed the recipient ‘received’ the message and ‘will comply’ with its orders, shortened to ‘wilco’. ‘Roger’ became public broadcasts of NASA’s Apollo missions in the 1960s. Soon after, ‘Roger that’ entered the popular lexicon as an interjection (Roger!), noun (He gave me the roger) or verb (I Roger what you’re asking) to communicate assent or understanding. Radio code now widely uses the NATO phonetic alphabet, where ‘Romeo’ represents R. Contrary to folk etymology, ‘Roger’ is not a backronym for ‘Received Order Given, Expect Results’. Though ‘Roger’ is no longer the official term for R in radiotelephone, in the military, aviation and law enforcement, ‘Roger’ and ‘Roger that’ do still enjoy use in military, commercial and recreational communication to confirm receipt of messages or orders. Slang dictionary defines ‘Roger that’ or ‘roger that’ as a phrase used to affirm or acknowledge a statement or question. ‘Roger that’, however, is more commonly used in everyday speech and writing, equivalent to a ‘Yes’ or ‘OK’. For instance, if someone asks over the phone or text-messages “Can you pick up some milk from the store?”, the recipient may reply ‘Roger that’ for style, familiarity or for a playfully official or military air. While ‘Roger that’ is often used as an affirmation, it frequently appears in questions seeking affirmation: “Do you Roger that?” or “Did you understand my message?”.

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Across

1a, 11 Across and 24 Across        Keeping well in San Sebastian, Dawn (with hairdo) looks refreshed? Say no more (1,4,2,4,2,1,4,2,1,5,5)
A NOD’S AS GOOD AS A WINK TO A BLIND HORSE: The definition of a proverb meaning that it is not necessary to explain something further or say anything more, because one has already understood in full the hint, allusion or any other indirect comment about something is obtained from GOOD (well) as an informal term for an adverb meaning well taken inside (keeping … in) a combo of SAN SEBASTIAN, DAWN and (with) HAIRDO LOOKS and taking all these words to be subject to an anagram (refreshed)

7a          Snacks made by Schwarzenegger aboard ship? (7)
SARNIES: The definition of the plural of an informal term for a sandwich that is a snack or a light meal is reached from ARNIE (Schwarzenegger) as the nickname or Arnold Schwarzenegger during his acting career getting inside (aboard) SS (ship) as the abbreviation for steamship that is a ship propelled by a steam engine

8a          Mournful echo in Gaelic ground (7)
ELEGIAC: The definition of an adjective meaning wistfully mournful or melancholic is arrived at from E (Echo) as the letter represented by Echo in the NATO phonetic alphabet placed inside (in) an anagram (ground) of GAELIC

10a        Sailor leaving shellfish for sole (5)
ALONE: AB (sailor) as the abbreviation for able-bodied referring to a seaman or sailor coming out of (leaving) [AB]ALONE (shellfish) as an edible shellfish, the sea-ear, especially a richly coloured variety found on the Pacific coast of North America, a source of mother-of-pearl leads to the definition of an adjective meaning lone, sole, solitary or single

11a        See 1 Across

12a        Admitted being deceived? (5,2)
TAKEN IN: Double definition of phrasal verb in participle form; the second denoting cheated, fooled or deceived that takes to the first meaning accommodated, admitted or let in

14a        Area where gibbon lives: no place for 24? (7)
AINTREE: A (area) as the abbreviation for area followed by IN TREE (where gibbon lives) as the natural habitat in the tropical and subtropical forests for the gibbon that guides to the definition of a suburb of Liverpool, in Merseyside and site of the racecourse over the Grand National steeplechase has been run since 1839 and hence not a place for 24 Across i.e. a blind horse

15a        Energy in peanut, crushed and devoured (5,2)
EATEN UP: E (energy) as the symbol for energy as a quantitative property in physics placed inside (in) an anagram (crushed) of PEANUT takes to the definition of a verb in the participle form denoting devoured or used something so that nothing was left

18a         Absolve Gaunt beginning to suffer in church (7)
CLEANSE: The definition of a verb meaning to absolve or free someone from sin or guilt is fetched from a combo of LEAN (gaunt) as gaunt or thin, without any superfluous fat and the initial or starting letter (beginning) to S[UFFER] placed inside (in) CE (church) as the abbreviation for the Church of England

20a and 21 Across          Queen’s classic visit to 14? (1,3,2,3,5)
A DAY AT THE RACES: Double phrasal definition; the second being an expression that refers to a day when a series of horse races take place in a specific location, e.g. a visit to 14 Across i.e. Aintree that is a famous racecourse holding the Grand National event of three days that takes to the first referring to the classic fifth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 10 December 1976 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States

21a        See 20 Across:

22a        Sinister look from Levi troubled detective (4,3)
EVIL EYE: The definition of a sinister look or superstitious glance supposed to have the power of inflicting harm or injury is reached from an anagram (troubled) of LEVI from the clue followed by EYE (detective) as an informal term for a detective, especially a private investigator

23a        Superman reportedly getting cramp? (7)
TIGHTEN: A homophone heard by the audience (reportedly) of TITAN (superman) as a person or thing of very great strength, intellect or importance directs to the definition of a verb meaning to become tighter or making something become tighter, firmer or less easy to move, an example of which is to get cramp that is to experience a sudden painful tightening in a muscle, often after a lot of exercise, that limits movement

24a        See 1 Across

Down

1d          Song by leaderless congregation in bubble (7)
AIRLOCK: AIR (song) as a tune or short melodious song having beside (by) [F]LOCK (congregation) as a church congregation, considered as the charge of a minister without the head or leader (leaderless) as the initial letter in the down clue produces the definition of a bubble in a pipe obstructing the flow of liquid

2d          Love, pleasurable, temporarily put aside (2,3)
ON ICE: A charade of O (love) as love or the score of zero in a game of tennis and NICE (pleasurable) as an adjective meaning delightful, enjoyable or pleasurable takes to the definition of an idiom meaning to place in reserve or temporarily put aside

3d          Appearing in tabloid: it’s a knitted bear! (7)
SUSTAIN: An anagram (knitted) of IT’S A seen inside (appearing in) SUN (tabloid) as referring to The Sun that is a British newspaper that was founded in 1964 and that, five years later, became a tabloid i.e. a newspaper usually heavily illustrated and often concentrating on sensational or lurid news, arriving at the definition of a verb meaning to bear, carry or support

4d          Czech composer in Paris met an arranger (7)
SMETANA: The definition of the Czech composer of the nineteenth century who is regarded as the father of Czech music and whose full name was Bedřich Smetana is part of or hiding inside (in) [PARI]S MET AN A[RRANGER]

5d          When guards live and perish showing duty (9)
OBEDIENCE: ONCE (when) as a conjunction denoting ‘when’ or ‘as soon as’ takes inside (guards) a combo of BE (live) as to live or exist and DIE (perish) as to perish or cease to exist, yielding the definition of a noun meaning duty, especially of a child to its parents

6d          Boozer, the German circles skating arena (7)
DRINKER: The definition of a boozer or a person who drinks large quantities of alcohol is derived from DER (the German) as the definite article ‘the’ in German language used with masculine nouns takes into its fold (circles) RINK (skating arena) an enclosed area of ice for skating, ice hockey or curling

7d          Keep up check on page in article by expert (4,3,4)
STAY THE PACE: The definition of an idiom meaning to keep up with others in a competitive situation is reached from STAY (check) as a literary term for a curb, restraint or check placed upon in the down clue (on) P (page) as the abbreviation for page going inside (in) a combo of THE (article) as the definite article in the English language and (by) ACE (expert) as an informal term for an expert or a person who excels at a particular sport or other activity

9d          Almost crossing oceans when fishing restricted? (5,6)
CLOSE SEASON: CLOSE ON (almost) as a phrase meaning almost or very nearly, especially of an amount, cutting across or surrounding (crossing) SEAS (oceans) as the plural of the expanse of salt water that covers most of earth’s surface and surrounds its land masses, an example of which is OCEANS i.e. the plural of a very large expanse of sea, particular each of the main areas into which the sea is divided geographically, e.g. the Pacific Ocean that takes to the definition of a period in the year when fishing or the killing of a particular game is officially forbidden

13d        Sedaka maybe carrying on, average or unequalled? (9)
NONPAREIL: NEIL (Sedaka, maybe) as referring to the forename of the celebrated pop singer-songwriter who also played piano on ‘Dream Lover’, Bobby Darin’s 1959 hit having inside (carrying) a combo of ON from the clue and PAR (average) as an adjective meaning average or normal leads to the definition of another adjective that means unrivalled, unequalled or having no match or equal

16d        Sinatra plays for leading lady (7)
TSARINA: SINATRA from the clue subject to an anagram (plays) takes to the definition of the wife of the Russian tsar or the Russian empress and regarded as first lady, similar to the wife of the President of the United States

17d        Glib talk used by new model (7)
PATTERN: PATTER (glib talk) as a glib talk or a rapid continuous talk, such as that used by a comedian or salesperson connected to (used by) N (new) as the abbreviation for new, together forming a charade, that takes to the definition of a model or a typical example worthy of imitation

18d        Fast runner no sporting sort did you say? (7)
CHEETAH: The definition of a long-legged and swift-running wild cat of Africa and southwest Asia that is also regarded as the fastest animal on land is arrived at from a homophone heard by the audience (did you say?) of CHEATER (no sporting sort) as a player in sports who resorts to unethical behaviour that is intended to break the rules and make illegitimate gains

19d        Dicky in US having drink with Bond? (7)
NECKTIE: The definition of a narrow fabric band of varying length worn around the neck and tied in a knot or bow close to the throat and simply called the tie in the US, an example of which is dicky worn in the US, that is usually attached to the shirt collar and then tucked into the waistcoat or cummerbund is reached from a charade of NECK (drink) as an informal term meaning to swallow, especially a drink and TIE (Bond) as a bond or connection

21d        Man I have heard on the radio? (5)
ROGER: Double nounal definition; the second being the word used in signalling and radio-communication for R to indicate that the message has been received and understood i.e. ‘I have heard’ that takes to the first referring to a male personal name

Some of the clues that I liked in this puzzle were 1a/11a/24a, 7a, 14a, 20a/21a, 3d, 5d, 13d, 18d, 19d and 21d; 14a being the topper. My prayers to the Almighty for the eternal rest and peace of BD and my thanks to NYDK for the entertainment and to Gazza for the assistance. Looking forward to being here again. Have an enjoyable day.