Wednesday, May 22, 2019 — DT 28906

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28906
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, November 26, 2018
Setter Campbell (Allan Scott) ?
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28906]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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 Daily Telegraph has done some shuffling of setting duties with Dada (John Halpern) moving from setting alternate Monday puzzles to serve full-time in the Sunday slot (a puzzle we don't get in the National Post) and Chris Lancaster moving from setting alternate Monday puzzles to occasional appearances on Tuesdays. Although there is no definitive attribution of today's puzzle, Rabbit Dave may well be correct in suggesting that it was set by Campbell (Allan Scott) who is to become the full-time Monday setter.

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 program, 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 directly from a dictionary or at least phrased in a non-misleading fashion similar to one that would be found in a dictionary
• 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 (for example, defining topiary as "clip art")
• a "whimsical definition": a definition "invented" by the setter often by extrapolating a non-existent meaning for a word from a similar word (for example, defining a bird as a "winger" [something possessing wings] or a river as a ''flower" [something that flows] or to extrapolate that, since disembowel means 'to remove the innards of ', that discontent must mean 'to remove the contents of')
• a "definition by example": the presence of one of these is often flagged with a question mark (for example, defining atoll as "coral?" where an atoll is but one form that coral may take).

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 other varieties of definition (such as cryptic definitions, whimsical definitions, definitions by example, etc.) 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

1a   Reveal love /in/ declaration of intent (9)

"love" = O [tennis term] (show 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).

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6a   In addition, // luxurious hotel not included (4)

Hotel^[5] is a code word representing the letter H, used in radio communication.

10a   Bobby's first to explore // thicket (5)

In Britain, bobby^[5] is an informal name for a police officer. The name comes from a nickname for Robert, the given name of Sir Robert Peel^[5] (1788–1850), British Prime Minister 1834-5 and 1841-6, who as Home Secretary (1828–30) established the Metropolitan Police [perhaps better known as Scotland Yard].

11a   Boy, // a youth who drowned saving ten (9)

Hero and Leander^[7] is the Greek myth relating the story of Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite who dwelt in a tower in Sestos on the European side of the Hellespont (show explanation ), and Leander, a young man from Abydos on the opposite side of the strait. Leander fell in love with Hero and would swim every night across the Hellespont to be with her. Hero would light a lamp at the top of her tower to guide his way.

Hellespont^[5] is the ancient name for the Dardanelles, a narrow strait between Europe and Asiatic Turkey, linking the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean Sea. It is named after the legendary Helle, who fell into the strait and was drowned while escaping with her brother Phrixus from their stepmother, Ino, on a golden-fleeced ram.

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Succumbing to Leander's soft words and to his argument that Venus, as the goddess of love, would scorn the worship of a virgin, Hero allowed him to become "special friends" with her. These trysts lasted through the warm summer. But one stormy winter night, the waves tossed Leander in the sea and the breezes blew out Hero's light; Leander lost his way and was drowned. When Hero saw his dead body, she threw herself over the edge of the tower to her death to be with him.

12a   Left behind, // a group one day (9)

14a   Spicy dish, // Latvian perhaps -- time for lunch? (5)

A Balt^[5] is a native or inhabitant of one of the Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

The denizens of Crosswordland customarily eat a late lunch.

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According to The Chambers Dictionary and Chambers 21st Century Dictionary^*, balti^[1,2] is a term used in Indian cookery for a style of curry, originating in Britain, in which the food is cooked in and eaten out of the same wok-like dish (which is also known as a balti).

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^* Collins English Dictionary essentially concurs with the definition given by Chambers, defining balti^[4,10] as a spicy Indian dish, stewed until most of the liquid has evaporated, and served in a woklike pot. However, Oxford Dictionaries seems to head off on another tack, telling us that balti^[5] is a term used in Pakistani cooking for a spicy dish cooked in a small two-handled pan known as a karahi.

15a   Vegetable /from/ Spain that's stewed? Check (7)

"check" = CH [chess] (show explanation )

In chess, ch.^[10] is the abbreviation for check^*.

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^* Check^[5] means to move a piece or pawn to a square where it attacks (the opposing king) ⇒ he moves his knight to check my king again.

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16a   Famous // artist, English, not without heart (7)

Tracey Emin^[7] is an English artist and part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs (Young British Artists).

Highlights of her work include Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995^[7], a tent appliquéd with names^*, exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and My Bed^[7] (shown above), an installation at the Tate Gallery consisting of her own unmade dirty bed with used condoms and blood-stained underwear.

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^* the names of, literally, everyone she had ever slept with, but not necessarily in the sexual sense

Fact Check

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops refers to Emin as a Turner prizewinning artist. Sorry, Miffypops, although she received a nomination for the Turner Prize* in 1999 for her exhibit My Bed (see above), she did not win. * The Turner Prize[7], named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the UK's most publicised art award. The award represents all media.

18a   A permit secured by the // gymnast, perhaps (7)

20a   Delivery worker // in the south of France going around with iron (7)

Midi^[5,7] is a colloquial name for the south of France.

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Origin: The term Midi literally means midday in French, comparable to the term Mezzogiorno for the south of Italy. The time of midday was synonymous with the direction of south because in France, as in all of the Northern Hemisphere north of the Tropic of Cancer, the sun is in the south at noon.

The symbol for the chemical element iron is Fe^[5] (from Latin ferrum).

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This worker delivers the same goods as the stork.

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops describes the Midi asan area in the south of France. In fact, the "area" of which Miffypops speaks apparently constitutes the entirety of the south of France.

21a   Spinner in charge /provides/ talking point (5)

"in charge" = IC (show explanation )

The abbreviation i/c^[2,5] can be short for either:

• (especially in military contexts) in charge (of) ⇒ the Quartermaster General is i/c rations
• in command (of) ⇒ 2 i/c = second in command.

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23a   Prevailing price // to enter? Considerable, it's said (5,4)

25a   Purposefully, // I approach breeding ground (2,7)

26a   Become different /once/ Raleigh beheaded? (5)

Sir Walter Raleigh^[5] (c.1552–1618) was an English explorer, courtier, and writer. (show more )

A favourite of Elizabeth I, he organized several voyages of exploration and colonization to the Americas, and introduced potato and tobacco plants to England. Imprisoned in 1603 by James I on a charge of conspiracy, he was released in 1616 to lead an expedition in search of El Dorado, but was executed on the original charge when he returned empty-handed.

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28a   Breathe with difficulty // when doctor comes round (4)

29a   Brownish-grey horse, and where it may be kept /in/ a Bedfordshire town? (9)

A dun^[5] is a horse with a sandy or sandy-grey coat, black mane, tail, and lower legs, and a dark dorsal stripe.

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Bedfordshire^[5] is a county of south central England.

Dunstable^[7] is a town in Bedfordshire, England, located 30 miles (50 kilometres) north of London.

Down

1d   Mike, old codger, mostly /makes/ coffee (5)

Mike^[5] is a code word representing the letter M, used in radio communication.

"codger" = CHAP (show explanation )

Chap^[3,4,11] is an informal British^[5] or chiefly British^[3] term for a man or boy — although a term that is certainly not uncommon in Canada. It is a shortened form of chapman^[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar^[a,b].

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^[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler^[14] which, in most senses, is considered by the Brits to be 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'.

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2d   A siesta // in garden apartment (3)

3d   Put out food /for/ bird (9)

The fieldfare^[5] is a large migratory thrush with a grey head, breeding in northern Eurasia.

Post Mortem
Defeated by a bird I'd never heard of. I did conclude that the first part of the name could well be "field" and actually checked in my dictionaries to see if there might possibly be a bird named a "fieldcake".

4d   Check // clubs in haunts abroad (7)

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

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

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5d   Extra expected /is/ late arriving (7)

7d   Film // daughter in new local musical (2,5,4)

"daughter" = D [genealogy] (show reference )

In genealogies, d^[5] is the abbreviation for daughter ⇒ Henry m. Georgina 1957, 1s 2d^*.

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^* Henry married Georgina in 1957. Their marriage produced 1 son and 2 daughters.

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Evita^[7] is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. It concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón [known familiarly as Evita], the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita's early life, rise to power, charity work, and eventual death.

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La Dolce Vita^[7] (Italian for "the sweet life" or "the good life") is a 1960 Italian drama film directed and co-written by Federico Fellini. The film follows Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni), a journalist writing for gossip magazines, over seven days and nights on his journey through the "sweet life" of Rome in a fruitless search for love and happiness. La Dolce Vita won the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival.

The Story Behind the Picture
Miffypops illustrates his review with a photo of Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg in the iconic Trevi Fountain scene from La Dolce Vita.

8d   Setter I've trained /brings/ item used during dinner? (9)

9d   Gear // to boast about (4)

13d   Paint shapes up the wall, // actually (2,2,7)

(Go) up the wall^[5,10] means to (become) crazy or furious in reaction to something ⇒ this causes the dog to go up the wall and bark his head off.

Like other terms meaning mad or crazy, the phrase can serve as an anagram indicator.

15d   Astonishing // bird grabbing beast's tail (9)

The starling^[5] is a gregarious Old World songbird with a straight bill, typically with dark lustrous or iridescent plumage but sometimes brightly coloured. (show more )

Although the starling^[7] is not native to the Americas, having been introduced here, it competes for habitats with native birds and is considered to be an invasive species.

The European starling was purposefully introduced to North America in 1890–1891 by the American Acclimatization Society, an organization dedicated to introducing European flora and fauna into North America for cultural and economic reasons. Eugene Schieffelin, chairman at the time, allegedly decided all birds mentioned by William Shakespeare should be in North America. The bird had been mentioned in Henry IV, Part 1, and a hundred of them were released from New York's Central Park.

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What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops tells us that This bird is one from a murmuration. A murmuration[5] is a flock of starlings. An even less common name for a group of starlings is a chattering[7,a]. [a] Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms

17d   Annoyed, // pub worker about gibe (9)

"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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19d   Something to eat with top // boffin (7)

Boffin^[5] is an informal British term denoting:

• a person engaged in scientific or technical research ⇒ the boffins at the Telecommunications Research Establishment
• a person with knowledge or a skill considered to be complex or arcane ⇒ a computer boffin

20d   Fluid on items, // slightly wet (7)

Although an adjective in the surface reading, "wet" becomes a verb as the definition.

22d   Jack /of/ diamonds found under vehicle? (4)

"diamonds" = D [card suit] (show explanation )

Diamonds^[2] (abbreviation D^[2]) is one of the four suits of playing-cards.

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What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops describes the "vehicle" in the clue as one’s motor. Motor[5] is an informal British term for a car ⇒ we drove out in my motor.

24d   Nobleman blowing top -- that is // strangely frightening (5)

A peer^[5] is a member of the nobility in Britain or Ireland, comprising the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron.

27d   Bill /in/ club brought over (3)

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