Monday, March 11, 2019 — DT 28854 (Published Saturday, March 9, 2019)

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28854
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28854]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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

Jay is not too demanding in today's mental workout.

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

Déjà Vu All Over Again

The National Post ePaper (which I believe to be an electronic version of the Toronto print edition) has repeated the Saturday Diversions page in its entirety on the Monday Diversions page (with the exception of the weather forecast). The printed copy of the paper delivered here in Ottawa (which may well be a national edition for subscribers outside Toronto) does have the correct Monday Diversions content. However, I do wonder whether Toronto print edition subscribers have received the same incorrect content that appears in the ePaper.

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 The Story 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.

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Across

7a   Horse/'s/ insect problem making a comeback (7)

8a   Sort of vehicle // difficult to pass initially (7)

10a   Live close to // region developed with hub (9)

11a   Called // boy attending bride perhaps starting to doubt (5)

12a   Women enveloped by strain /may be/ able to move fast (5)

"women" = W (show explanation )

W^[2] is the abbreviation for women or women's (the latter denoting a clothing size).

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13a   Spring pudding /as/ butt of joke? (5,4)

Here and There

Whereas in North America, the term pudding[5] denotes specifically a dessert with a soft or creamy consistency, in Britain the term pudding refers to either: a cooked sweet dish served after the main course of a meal; in other words, a dessert the dessert course of a meal ⇒ what’s for pudding? The terms dessert and pudding are synonymous in Britain and the response to What’s for pudding? could well be Apple pie.

Fool^[5] is a chiefly British name for a cold dessert made of pureed fruit mixed or served with cream or custard ⇒ raspberry fool with cream.

While the words "spring" and "April" themselves are not necessarily synonymous, the phrase "spring pudding" could be seen to be descriptive of a fool served in April.

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April Fool^[5] can denote either:

• a person who is the victim of a trick or hoax on April Fool's Day ⇒ By this time I was laughing out loud as I watched their man being clearly taken for an April Fool
• a trick or hoax on April Fool's Day ⇒ they were taken in by our April Fool

15a   Boxer during break /must be/ a practical type (7)

Muhammad Ali^[5] is an American boxer; born Cassius Marcellus Clay. He won the world heavyweight title in 1964, 1974, and 1978, becoming the only boxer to be world champion three times.

17a   Cuts // speech oddly in pieces (7)

18a   Sign accepting he's // an authority on words (9)

In astrology, Taurus^[10] (also called the Bull) is the second sign of the zodiac, symbol ♉, having a fixed earth classification and ruled by the planet Venus. The sun is in this sign between about April 20 and May 20.

20a   Children /may be/ a bone of contention (5)

Issue^[5] is a legal term denoting children of one's own ⇒ the earl died without male issue.

21a   Stung by soldiers /finding/ range (5)

"soldiers" = OR (show explanation )

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

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23a   Area of company /making/ sweeper cover busy road (9)

24a   Not working after notice, /and/ stop claiming benefit (4,3)

Sign off^[5] is a British term meaning to register to stop receiving unemployment benefit after finding work.

25a   Relation with a right /to be/ less than explicit (7)

Down

1d   Take in // a smile as it develops (10)

2d   Container /needed by/ group outside a church? (6)

3d   Unenlightened // Italian bloke losing head with worker (8)

"bloke" = MAN (show explanation )

Bloke^[5] is an informal British^* term for a man ⇒ he’s a nice bloke.

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^* Very British, but certainly also very familiar to anyone on this side of the pond who has ever watched a British film or television programme

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Signor^[5] (also Signore, plural Signori) is a title or form of address used of or to an Italian-speaking man, corresponding to Mr or sir ⇒ (i) Signor Ugolotti; (ii) I am a man of honour, Signor.

"worker | social worker" = ANT (show explanation )

The word "worker" and the phrase "social worker" are commonly used in cryptic crossword puzzles to clue ANT or BEE.

A worker^[5] is a neuter or undeveloped female bee, wasp, ant, or other social insect, large numbers of which do the basic work of the colony.

In crossword puzzles, "worker" will most frequently be used to clue ANT and occasionally BEE but I have yet to see it used to clue WASP. Of course, "worker" is sometimes also used to clue HAND or MAN.

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4d   Flatmate /may be/ more alert, ignoring parking (6)

"parking" = P

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Flat^[5] is the British term for what would be called an apartment^[5] in North America.

5d   Struggles, /seeing/ Greek tech company succeeded (8)

"Greek" = GR [abbreviation] (show explanation )

Gr.^[2] is the abbreviation for Greek.

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Apple Inc.^[7] is is an American multinational technology company that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services.

"succeeded" = S (show explanation )

The abbreviation s^[5] stands for succeeded, in the sense of to have taken over a throne, office, or other position from ⇒ he succeeded Hawke as Prime Minister. It might be seen, for instance, it charts of royal lineages.

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6d   Animal/'s/ temperature in helium perhaps going up (4)

7d   Car stops outside north of Rugby /for/ service given (13)

Mini^[7] is an automobile brand, currently owned by BMW, but originally introduced as a model under the Austin and Morris marques by the now defunct British Motor Corporation (BMC).

Scratching the Surface
Rugby[5] is a town in central England, on the River Avon in Warwickshire. Rugby School — at which the sport of rugby football originated — was founded there in 1567.

9d   Pressure confuses crew on Queen Elizabeth /and/ another vessel (6,7)

"pressure" = P [physics notation] (show explanation )

In physics, p^[5] is a symbol used to represent pressure in mathematical formulae.

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"Queen Elizabeth" = ER (show explanation )

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

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A paddle steamer^[5] (also paddle boat) is a boat powered by steam and propelled by paddle wheels. This would appear to be the British name for a paddle-wheeler^[12].

Scratching the Surface

At least three ocean liners have carried the name Queen Elizabeth — not to mention a number of Royal Navy ships: RMS Queen Elizabeth[7] was operated by Cunard Line as a transatlantic liner from 1946 to 1968 (she first entered service in 1940 as a troopship in World War II). Queen Elizabeth 2,[7] often referred to simply as QE2, was operated by Cunard as both a transatlantic liner and a cruise ship from 1969 to 2008. Since April 2018 she has been operating as a floating hotel in Dubai. MS Queen Elizabeth[7] (QE) is a cruise ship operated by the Cunard Line since October 2010.

14d   Provoked // editor after incident (10)

16d   Independent people welcoming clubs' // lack of movement (8)

"independent" = I [political lack of affiliation] (show explanation )

I^[1] is the abbreviation for independent, in all likelihood in the context of a politician with no party affiliation.

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"clubs" = C [card suit] (show explanation )

Clubs^[2]) (abbreviation C^[1]) is one of the four suits of playing-cards.

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17d   Try very hard // except being occupied by 6 and university (4,1,3)

The numeral "6" is a cross reference indicator to clue 6d (show more ).

To complete the clue, a solver must replace the cross reference indicator with the solution to the clue starting in the light^* identified by the cross reference indicator.

The cross reference indicator may include a directional indicator but this is customarily done only in situations where there are both Across and Down clues originating in the light that is being referenced.

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^* light-coloured cell in the grid

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19d   Slight // case of reserve in front of enthusiast (6)

20d   Charge // defined by Latin dictionaries (6)

22d   Sacks // reserves (4)

Bag^[10] is an informal British term meaning to to reserve or secure the right to do or to have something ⇒ he bagged the best chair.

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