Tuesday, June 19, 2018 — DT 28661

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28661
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28661]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Mr K
BD Rating
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

Introduction

The clue at 1d gave rise to a discussion on Big Dave's Crossword Blog dealing with differences between British and US English during which links were provided to a couple of interesting articles on the BBC America website that you may find interesting: Punctuation Day: Why Do Brits Call a Period a Full Stop and Why Did America Drop The 'U' In British Spellings? Of course, in Canada we are subject to both influences and so may sometimes see British usages and sometimes American usages — and sometimes both will appear intermixed in the same text.

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: "*" anagram "~" sounds like "<" indicates that the preceding letters are reversed "( )" encloses contained letters "_" replaces letters that have been deleted "†" indicates that the word is present in the clue

The review of a clue takes the following general structure:

#a/d   Clue containing parsing markup (num^*)

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^* num = numeration

Explanations pertaining to the wordplay (or first definition in a double definition)

(Horizontal separator)

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Explanations pertaining to the definition (or second definition in a double definition) and solution.

Explanatory Box

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: Scratching the Surface - an explanation of the surface reading of the clue Delving Deeper - in-depth information pertaining to a subject mentioned in an explanation Behind the Picture - for weekday puzzles, information about an illustration found on Big Dave's Crossword Blog What did he/she/they say? - for weekday puzzles, an explanation of a remark made in a review or comment on Big Dave's Crossword Blog What are they talking about? - for weekday puzzles, an explanation of a discussion on Big Dave's Crossword Blog One box that may provide information that could prove helpful in solving the clue is the following: Here and There - for weekday puzzles, discusses words whose British meaning differs from their North American meaning

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.

Examples

A few examples may help to illustrate these points more clearly.

The first example is a clue used by Jay in DT 28573:

• 4d   Fellow left work // a failure (4)

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).

The second example is a clue used by Giovanni in DT 28575:

• 29a   Female going to match // travels with mother in advance (10)

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.

The third example is a clue used by Rufus is DT 28583:

• 18d   Knight caught by misplaced big blow /is/ staggering (8)

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/).

I 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.

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)

As the entire clue is a cryptic definition, it is marked with a dotted underline. The 'precise definition' is "heroic exploit" and is indicated by a solid underline.

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

3a   Track // record originally set by champion, programme /reveals/ (10)

Bringing up the rear ...

For cryptic effect, the setter has employed a syntax known as "fronting". As a result, the link word "reveals" is positioned at the end of the clue rather than in the middle where it would be found had the setter used the following normal declarative syntax: Record originally set by champion, programme /reveals/ track  (10) Fronting — moving part of a sentence from its normal position to the beginning of the sentence — is a syntax typically used for emphasis and dramatic effect. In cryptic crosswords, it is usually employed to enhance the surface reading of the clue.

8a   Sister crossing area by church /in/ shade (6)

"church" = CE (show explanation )

The Church of England^[10] (abbreviation CE^[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

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9a   Actress who played Norma Desmond -- good /in/ last performance (8)

Gloria Swanson^[5] (1899–1983) was an American actress; born Gloria May Josephine Svensson. She was a major star of silent films such as Sadie Thompson (1928) but is now chiefly known for her performance as the fading movie star in Sunset Boulevard (1950).

"good" = G (show explanation )

The abbreviation G^[a] for good comes from its use in education as a mark for scholastic assignments or tests.

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^[a] Collins English to Spanish Dictionary

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10a   Calling urgently about one // petitioner (8)

Clamant^[5] (adjective) means urgently demanding attention ⇒ the proper use of biotechnology has become a clamant question.

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Origin: from Latin clamant- ‘crying out’, from the verb clamare

11a   Set on fire // in the course of campaign, it exploded (6)

12a   Soldiers // initially observe German man breaking into military vehicles (5,5)

Herr^[5] is:

• a title or form of address used of or to a German-speaking man, corresponding to Mr and also used before a rank or occupation ⇒ (i) good morning, Herr Weber; (ii) my trip with the Herr Doktor was postponed 
• a German man

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In the British armed forces, the term other ranks^[5] refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

14a   In favour of person helping /to produce/ rapid growth (13)

Life^[10] is used in the sense of a living person or being ⇒ to save a life.

20a   Heartless first leader disturbed // one backing union of states (10)

22a   Unfortunate result /for/ province (6)

  Ulster^[10] is a widely-used (albeit inaccurate^*) informal name for Northern Ireland.

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^* Properly Ulster is an area that was a province and former kingdom of northern Ireland which passed to the English Crown in 1461. Following centuries of conflict, Ulster was partitioned in 1921, with six counties [Antrim, Down, Armagh, Londonderry, Tyrone, and Fermanagh] forming Northern Ireland (a region within the United Kingdom) and three counties [Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan] joining the Republic of Ireland.

Northern Ireland^[5] is the only major division of the United Kingdom to hold the status of province, with England^[5], Scotland^[5] and Wales^[5] being regarded as countries.

23a   One on raid /given/ order before start of operation (8)

24a   Sit astride /and/ go off, following street on right (8)

Go off^[5] is a British (or, at least, chiefly British^[3]) term meaning (said of food or drink) to begin to decompose and become inedible ⇒ milk went off so quickly in hot weather.

Addle^[10] means to make or become rotten.

In his review, Mr K points to a different meaning of addle, one which I don't see as being a particularly good match.

25a   Ballesteros catching the French // liner (6)

Seve Ballesteros^[5] (1957–2011) was a Spanish golfer; full name Severiano Ballesteros Sota. In 1979 he became the youngest player in the 20th century to win the British Open; the following year he was the youngest-ever winner of the US Masters.

"the French" = LE (show explanation )

In French, the masculine singular form of the definite article is le^[8].

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26a   Long leases arranged /in/ US city (3,7)

Down

1d   Complete rest // period for Americans (4,4)

The punctuation mark (.) known as a period^[5] in North America is called a full stop^[5] by the British.

2d   On the air, weird // protagonist lacking traditional virtues (4-4)

3d   Put right // about item? (6)

4d   Pitch // players used (4)

5d   Is the old lady after cleaner /that shows/ pulling power? (8)

Char^[5] is an informal British term for charwoman^[5] (or charlady^[5]), a dated British name for a woman employed as a cleaner in a house or office.

6d   Resembling a certain big animal /from/ island nursed by remarkable nurse (6)

7d   Reason // fool imprisoned by state (6)

Nit^[5] (short for nitwit^[10])  is an informal British term for a foolish person ⇒ you stupid nit!.

13d   Very much // ungoverned, oddly defective (2,3)

The setter uses the phrase "oddly defective" to indicate that the odd letters of uNgOvErNeD have flown the coop.

15d   In northern part of France, excavate // beneath one (5,3)

Infra dig^[5] is an informal British term meaning beneath one or demeaning ⇒ she regarded playing for the Pony Club as deeply infra dig. The term is an abbreviation of Latin infra dignitatem 'beneath (one's) dignity'.

16d   Not in good health? Corpulent editor /may be/ unlucky (3-5)

17d   Steep decline // in doves flying close to shore (8)

18d   Wasted // opening in board game (6)

In addition to being another term for lottery, lotto^[5] is the name of a children's game similar to bingo, in which numbered or illustrated counters or cards are drawn by the players.

19d   Over-the-top articles about Western // capital (6)

"over-the-top" = OTT (show explanation )

OTT^[5] (short for over the top) is an informal British expression denoting excessive or exaggerated ⇒ presenting him as a goalscoring Superman seems a bit OTT.

hide explanation

21d   Engineers are absent from /being/ lax (6)

"engineers" = RE (show explanation )

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers^[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

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23d   One-roomed dwelling // to dispose of, reportedly (4)

A cell^[5] is a small room in which a prisoner is locked up or in which a monk or nun sleeps.

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[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)

Signing off for today — Falcon