Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 28653 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, February 3, 2018 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 286xx – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 286xx – Review] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By
Big Dave (Hints)gnomethang (Review) | |
BD Rating
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| Difficulty - ★★★ | Enjoyment - ★★★ |
Falcon's Experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
Legend:
█ - solved without assistance
█ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools
█ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools
█ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools
█ - solved but without fully parsing the clue
█ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's Crossword Blog
█ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by solutions from Big Dave's Crossword Blog
█ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's Crossword Blog
█ - yet to be solved
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Notes
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As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.
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Introduction
This puzzle is a bit more challenging than the typical "Saturday prize puzzle". Puzzles appearing in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday can be entered in a draw for small prizes (I have seen mention of such items as fountain pens, notebooks, and gift certificates) and are customarily less difficult than puzzles which appear on weekdays. Many attribute this to a desire to maximize the number of puzzles entered in the contest and thereby amass the greatest possible number of marketing targets.As evidenced by several comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the day that this puzzle appeared in the UK was also the day that the 2018 Six Nations Championship got under way. The Six Nations Championship[7] is an annual international rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The defending champions were England, having won the 2017 tournament. However, Ireland was to go on to win this years event.
I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.
Notes on Today's Puzzle
This commentary is intended to serve as a supplement to the review of this puzzle found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.
Click here for an explanation of conventions and symbols used in explaining the parsing of clues.
The purpose of this article is to explain the conventions and symbols that I use on this blog in explaining the parsing of clues.
| Legend: The following symbols are used in reviews:
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The review of a clue takes the following general structure:
#a/d Clue containing parsing markup (num*)
* num = numeration
Explanations pertaining to the wordplay (or first definition in a double definition)
(Horizontal separator)
Explanatory Box
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| An explanatory box provides additional information about the clue. In most cases this information will not necessarily help in solving the clue but provides information about the clue. In the case of the weekday syndicated Daily Telegraph puzzles, such information is often intended to help the North American solver appreciate how the clue may be perceived by a British solver. These boxes may also provide information on people, places, films, television programmes, works of art and literature, etc. mentioned in the clue. Although the titles of these boxes will usually be drawn from a standard list, I do occasionally throw in a title specifically suggested by the subject at hand. The standard titles include:
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Note that there are many types of cryptic crossword clue and it is not my intention to exhaustively go through all of them here. I will only deal with clue types to the extent necessary to explain the conventions and symbols used on the blog. Furthermore, be aware that, in the world of cryptic crosswords, there seems to be an exception to every rule.
With one exception that I can think of, cryptic crossword clues provide two routes to the solution. These are commonly referred to as the definition and wordplay. While these terms serve well for most clues, there are some cases where the more formal terms of primary indication and subsidiary indication may be more appropriate.
Most cryptic crossword clues consist of a definition (primary indication) and wordplay (subsidiary indication). The definition may be a "precise definition" (a definition that is either taken straight from a dictionary or at least phrased in a non-misleading fashion) or it may be a "cryptic definition" (a definition misleadingly phrased so as to misdirect the solver either with respect to the meaning of the definition as a whole or to an incorrect sense of a word used in the definition).
The only type of clue that I can think of where there are not two ways of finding the solution are those in which the entire clue is a cryptic definition.
I identify precise definitions by marking them with a solid underline in the clue and cryptic definitions by marking them with a dotted underline.In clues in which both definition and wordplay are present, the two parts of the clue combine to provide an overall meaningful statement (the surface reading) which usually bears no relationship to the underlying cryptic reading of the clue. In some cases, an extra word or phrase will be inserted into the clue to create a meaningful link between the definition and wordplay. I define clues which contain such a link word or link phrase as having an explicit link and clues which contain no link word or link phrase as having an implicit link.
I mark the existence of an explicit link by enclosing the link word or link phrase between forward slashes (/link/) and mark the existence of an implicit link with double forward slashes (//) positioned between the definition and wordplay.
ExamplesI also use distinctive underlining to mark &lit.[7] and semi-&lit. clues. Note that the reviewers on Big Dave's Crossword Blog generally prefer to refer to these clue types by the less pretentious names of all-in-one or semi-all-in-one clues respectively.
A few examples may help to illustrate these points more clearly.
The first example is a clue used by Jay in DT 28573:
Here the definition is "a failure" which is marked with a solid underline to show that it is a precise definition. The wordplay parses as F (fellow; abbrev.) + L (left; abbrev.) + OP (work; abbrev. used in music) which gives us the solution F|L|OP. The double forward slashes (//) between the definition and wordplay indicate the existence of an "implicit link" between the two parts of the clue (that is, no extra words are inserted into the clue to form the link).
- 4d Fellow left work // a failure (4)
The second example is a clue used by Giovanni in DT 28575:
Here the definition "female going to match" is cryptic (the setter is attempting to misdirect our thoughts to a sports event rather than a marriage ceremony) and thus is marked with a a dotted underline. The wordplay is {RIDES (travels) + (with) MA (mother)} contained in (in) BID (advance) giving us the solution B(RIDES|MA)ID. As in the first example, the double forward slashes indicate the presence of an implicit link.
- 29a Female going to match // travels with mother in advance (10)
The third example is a clue used by Rufus is DT 28583:
Here the definition is "staggering" which is marked with a solid underline to show that it is a precise definition. The wordplay parses as N ([chess symbol for] knight) contained in (caught in) an anagram (misplaced) of BIG BLOW producing the solution WOBBLI(N)G. Finally, forward slashes mark the link word (/is/).
- 18d Knight caught by misplaced big blow /is/ staggering (8)
In an &lit. clue[7] (or all-in-one clue) the entire clue provides not only the definition (when read one way), but under a different interpretation also serves as the wordplay.
In future, I will mark such clues with a combined solid and dashed underline. Although this is a departure from past practice, it would seem to make more sense than using a dotted underline as I have in the past). Henceforth, the dotted underline will be reserved for cryptic definitions.In a semi-&lit. clue (or semi-all-in-one clue), either:
- the entire clue acts as the definition while a portion of the clue provides the wordplay; or
- the entire clue acts as the wordplay while a portion of the clue provides the definition.
For these clues, I will mark the definition with a solid underline and the wordplay with a dashed underline. This means that a portion of the clue may have a solid underline, a portion of the clue may have a dashed underline and a portion of the clue may have a combined solid and dashed underline.One final clue type is what I characterize as a cryptic definition comprised of a precise definition combined with cryptic elaboration. For example, in DT 28560 (setter unknown) the following clue appears:
- 26d Heroic exploit, whichever way you look at it (4)
Given the numeration, the precise definition could give rise to at least two solutions, DEED or FEAT. However, the 'cryptic elaboration' ("whichever way you look at it") indicates that the solution is a palindrome thereby immediately eliminating one of the two obvious choices.
Note that the part of the clue that I have called 'cryptic elaboration' does not provide a second independent route to the solution (as the wordplay would do in most other types of clue). Rather it merely provides a piece of additional information (elaboration) related to the 'precise definition'.
Again, this approach is a departure from past practice, but like the other changes mentioned previously is intended to remove inconsistencies in the way that I have been applying parsing markup to clues. The markup rules that I have been using until now evolved bit-by-bit over a long period of time resulting in some degree of internal inconsistency.
hide explanation
Across
1a Very // end of May -- that comes after May (6)
Capital Misdirection
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| Beware the false capitalization in the second instance of "May". While it is considered fair game for setters to insert capitalization where it is not required, it is deemed unacceptable to omit necessary capitalization. |
Here and There
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From a British perspective, mighty[5] is an informal North American term meaning extremely ⇒ my ears got cold mighty fast. |
4a Attacked // when put to sea (8)
9a Not far off /being/ involved in barney (6)
Scratching the Surface
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Barney[5] is an informal British term for a quarrel, especially a noisy one ⇒ we had a barney about his being drunk. |
10a Generous // worker foregoes a certain amount (8)
As a positional indicator, forego[5] is used in an archaic sense meaning to precede in place or time ⇒
so Abdulmelik went away to his house, whither he found that the money had foregone him.
11a Father takes part /in/ the early release of a prisoner (6)
12a Flower /out of/ range, awkwardly, which I will go after with hesitation (8)
14a Chap after dieting // who's often seen in dock? (10)
Split the solution (7,3) to get a cryptic definition of a "chap after dieting".
Chap[3,4,11] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[3] term for a man or boy (show more ) — although a term that is certainly not uncommon in Canada.
Chap[3,4,11] is a shortened form of chapman[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar[a,b].
[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler[14] which, in most senses, is a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
[b] The current meaning of chap[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.
hide explanation
Chap[3,4,11] is a shortened form of chapman[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar[a,b].
[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler[14] which, in most senses, is a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
[b] The current meaning of chap[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.
hide explanation
18a Publicist arrived, set to get agitated (10)
22a Biased, /but/ perhaps wholly right (3-5)
A double definition, the second cryptic.
23a Get one's case cleared ... (6)
24a ... if // served (8)
In this case, the ellipses not only serve to extend the surface reading across the two adjacent clues, but reinforce the misdirection that the word "case" in 23a refers to a court proceeding by linking it to the word "served" in 24a. Has the setter deliberately conditioned us to think in this vein by using the term "in dock" (another possible courtroom reference) a few clues earlier?
In solving these clues, the ellipses can be ignored.
25a Bump mum off /for/ estate? (6)
26a Frenchman for instance rejected sandwiches commercial, /being/ a rebel (8)
Any Frenchman you might encounter in Crosswordland is highly likely to be named René.
27a Scattered // tattered trews -- new to follow (6)
Scratching the Surface
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| Trews[5] is a British term for trousers. |
Down
1d Kind of record set ahead of college // game (8)
Poly[5] is a dated British term for a polytechnic*[5], an institution of higher education offering courses at degree level or below, especially in vocational subjects.
* In Britain the term polytechnic has largely dropped out of use. In 1989 British polytechnics gained autonomy from local education authorities and in 1992 were able to call themselves universities.
2d Short woman is teasing /in/ party clothes (4,4)
Several Internet sites* show Glad as being a diminutive of the female given name Gladys, which is described by these sites as a Welsh name derived from the old Welsh name Gwladys, a variant of Claudia, meaning 'lame'. Also derived from the Welsh gwledig, meaning 'territorial ruler'.
* The entries on these various sites are so suspiciously similar — i.e., absolutely identical — that they are clearly either copies of each other or of material extracted from some common source. While I reserve judgement on the authoritativeness of such sites, I consider they are sufficient to justify a crossword puzzle clue.
According to Wikipedia, Gladys[7] is a female name from the Welsh name Gwladus or Gwladys, which bears the meaning of royalty (princess) or the gladiolus flower. It has been sometimes used as a Welsh form of Claudia[7], the female form of Claudius[7] (a name of Latin origin, meaning "Crippled").
3d Catalogue // not allowed after the usual time (8)
5d Son cooking made a chef // embarrassed (10)
6d Article by cleric // from a South American region (6)
A dean[7], in a religious context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion*, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Lutheran Church.
* In the Church of England and elsewhere in the Anglican Communion, the dean is the chief resident cleric of a cathedral or other collegiate church and the head of the chapter of canons. If the cathedral or collegiate church has its own parish, the dean is usually also rector of the parish.
The Andes[5] are a major mountain system running the length of the Pacific coast of South America.
7d Fifty, loves family -- /getting/ chance to participate? (4-2)
"love" = O (show explanation )
In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒
Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).
hide explanation
In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒
love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.
Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).
hide explanation
Look-in[5] is an informal British expression denoting a chance to take part or succeed in something ⇒
they didn't let the other side get a look-in in the final.
8d Read about my /being/ vague (6)
13d Advanced position /in/ card game with top master? (10)
Master[5] is a British term for a male schoolteacher.
In Britain, head[5] is short for headmaster[5] (a man who is the head teacher in a school), headmistress[5] (a woman who is the head teacher in a school), or head teacher[5] (the teacher in charge of a school).
15d Make an impression /and/ refuse to agree (5,3)
16d Adventure // in our time, boarding flight (8)
17d Wild robin Kenneth's caught /and/ tamed (6-2)
The trick here is to not read the clue as "Wild robin Kenneth has caught" but rather to interpret it as a series of instructions or a recipe "Wild robin; Kenneth is caught" which we parse as [Step 1] anagram (wild) of ROBIN; [Step 2] KEN (diminutive for Kenneth) is contained (is caught) in [the result from Step 1]).
19d Metal // detector? (6)
20d Long-legged creature consuming single // drug (6)
21d Revolt // is encircled, apparently (6)
In the solution, the word IS appears to be inside the word RING.
Key to Reference Sources:Signing off for today — Falcon
[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
[2] - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
[3] - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
[4] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
[5] - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary of English)
[6] - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
[7] - Wikipedia
[8] - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
[9] - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)
[12] - CollinsDictionary.com (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)
[13] - MacmillanDictionary.com (Macmillan Dictionary)
[14] - CollinsDictionary.com (COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)
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