Saturday, July 7, 2018 — Ain't This The Pits

Introduction

One might be well advised to put on their miner's helmet and grab a pick and shovel before attempting  today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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 █ - yet to be solved

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^*)

---

^* num = numeration

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

(Horizontal separator)

---

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

1a   Express sorrow about Stan’s partner /and/ mine (8)

C(OLLIE)RY — CRY (express sorrow) containing (about) OLLIE (Stan [Laurel]'s partner, [Oliver "Ollie" Hardy])

5a   Dig out of the earth // something sought (6)

QUARRY — double definition

10a   Silent type holding one // piece of land to be mined (5)

CLA(I)M — CLAM (silent type) containing (holding) I ([Roman numeral for] one)

11a   Buffs, in general, pick miner’s provisions (9)

G(RUBS)TAKE — RUBS (buffs) contained in (in) {G (general; film classification) + TAKE (pick; select)}

12a   Passed over // eroding ground (7)

IGNORED* — anagram (ground) of ERODING

As an anagram indicator, ground is the past tense or past participle of the verb grind^[5]. An anagram indicator is a word that denotes movement or transformation. Grind denotes transformation, for example, in the sense of wheat being ground into flour.

13a   Practice adopted by A-Rod /is/ hot? (7)

ARO(USE)D — USE (practice) contained in (adopted by) AROD (†)

Scratching the Surface
A-Rod is the nickname of Alex Rodriguez[7], an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman. He played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees.

14a   Digging out // toxin, react poorly (10)

EXTRACTION* — anagram (poorly) of TOXIN REACT

17a   Be in charge of // mined metal (4)

LEAD — double definition; the first being a verb (e.g., be in charge of a service of worship) and the second a noun

19a   For audit, empty // lode of ore (4)

VEIN~ — sounds like (for audit) VAIN (empty; vain promises)

20a   Telepath/’s/ apprehension embraced by worker underground (4,6)

MIN(DREAD)ER — DREAD (apprehension) contained in (embraced by) MINER (worker underground)

23a   Play chords around a time /for/ bed (7)

STR(A|T)UM — STRUM (play chords) containing (around) {A (†) + T (time; abbrev.)}

A bed^[5], is a stratum or layer of rock ⇒ a bed of clay.

24a   Swimming, dip toes /in/ mineral-rich site (7)

DEPOSIT* — anagram (swimming) of DIP TOES

26a   Shake badly, holding doctor/’s/ tool for a miner (4,5)

ROCK (DR)ILL — {ROCK (shake) + ILL (badly)} containing (holding) DR (doctor; abbrev.)

27a   A profit, // once more (5)

A|GAIN —  A (†) + GAIN (profit)

28a   Tyrant/’s/ point about telepathy (6)

D(ESP)OT — DOT (point) containing (about) ESP (telepathy)

29a   A plea from a ship with cargo of superlative // mineral (8)

A|S(BEST)OS — A (†) + SOS (plea from a ship) containing (with cargo of) BEST (superlative)

Down

1d   Scattered oceanic // snow (7)

COCAINE* — anagram (scattered) of OCEANIC

2d   Become acquainted with // Shakespearean king by name (5)

LEAR|N — LEAR (Shakespearean king) + (by) N (name; abbrev.)

3d   Divine // right ultimately in wrong (8)

IMMOR(T)AL — T (right ultimately; final letter of righT) contained in (in) IMMORAL (wrong)

4d   Wooden // truck I had (5)

RIG|ID — RIG (truck) + ID (I had; I'd)

6d   Push to unfortunate // conclusion (6)

UPSHOT* — anagram (unfortunate) of PUSH TO

7d   Anchorage area // nuts are at odds (9)

ROADSTEAD — anagram (nuts) of ARE AT ODDS

Roadstead^[5] is another term for road^[5], a partly sheltered stretch of water near the shore in which ships can ride at anchor.

8d   Moved eyelid down at first /and/ gave in (7)

YIELDE*|D — anagram (moved) of EYELID + D (down at first; initial letter of Down)

9d   Sticky, admitting an operator /is/ like our kind (8)

HUM(AN|O)ID — HUMID (sticky) containing (admitting) {AN (†) + O ([letter that looks like the number one would dial to reach a telephone] operator)}

15d   Mine waste channels // have problems in hard-to-discern ways (9)

T(AIL)RACES — AIL (have problems) contained in (in ) TRACES (hard-to-discern ways)

Tailrace^[12] (as a mining term) denotes a water channel to carry away tailings from a mine.

16d   Yttrium virtually possesses // member of a ruling group (8)

_TRIUM|VIR_ — hidden in (possesses) ytTRIUM VIRtually

In ancient Rome, a triumvir^[5] was each of three public officers jointly responsible for overseeing any of the administrative departments.

18d   Find out about a blueprint /for/ specialized aircraft (8)

SE(A|PLAN)E — SEE (find out) containing (about) {A (†) + PLAN (blueprint)}

19d   Six quite enraged // with a bill (7)

VI|SO|RED — VI ([Roman numeral for] six) + SO (quite) + RED (enraged)

21d   Element in trashy publication’s // grades (7)

RATINGS — TIN ([chemical] element) contained in (in) {RAG (trashy publication) + S ('s)}

22d   Small apartment // poker game I organized originally (6)

STUD|I|O — STUD (poker game) + I (†) + O (organized originally; initial letter of Organized)

24d   Pulls off about 50 // parcels (5)

DO(L)ES — DOES (pulls off; achieves) containing (about) L ([Roman numeral for] 50)

Parcel^[5] is used as a verb meaning to divide into portions and distribute.

25d   Small handle /gives you/ access to a mine (5)

S|HAFT — S (small; abbrev.) + HAFT (handle)

Epilogue

As MG has alluded to in her comment, were this puzzle a university student, it would be working toward a major in mining and a minor in telepathy.

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