Thursday, June 11, 2009 (DT 25848)

This puzzle was originally published Tuesday, February 10, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

In line with Big Dave's rating, I found the degree of of difficulty for this puzzle to be moderately easy - about on a par with yesterday's. However, I thought the quality of the wordplay was definitely superior in today's puzzle in comparison to that in yesterday's puzzle.

Fundamentals of Cryptic Crosswords - Part I

Today, I am starting a series of brief articles aimed primarily at newcomers to the world of cryptic crosswords. The intent is to provide - in bite-sized chunks - a few thoughts about solving cryptic crossword puzzles. The treatment may be deliberately a bit oversimplified, especially at first. I will try not to oversimplify to the point of being incorrect - but if I do happen to cross that line, I hope someone will step in and point it out.

I consider cryptic crossword clues to fall into one of two broad categories - which I like to call regular and irregular clues. I have borrowed this term from the study of languages where one encounters regular and irregular verbs.

I will first deal with regular clues, which follow a certain set of rules (i.e., have certain attributes). By (my) definition, irregular clues are simply those clues that do not adhere to this set of rules. It should be noted that while many rules of cryptic crosswords are almost universally observed, there are others that are specific to a particular setter, a particular editor or a particular publication. These latter rules might be considered to be analogous to ground rules in baseball or local rules in golf. Since (to the best of my knowledge) there is no governing body for cryptic crosswords, these so-called rules would undoubtedly be more appropriately labeled customs or conventions.

Regular clues are distinguished by having two parts or elements, at least one element of which is a standard definition. The other element is usually some sort of wordplay which (if correctly interpreted) will lead the solver to the solution. I say 'usually' because there is one type of regular clue, a double definition, where both elements of the clue are standard definitions. Moreover, I say 'if correctly interpreted' because the setter will attempt to give the clue a surface reading that will mislead the solver. Furthermore, the wordplay can take many forms. I intend to explore these concepts more fully in future blogs.

In conclusion, today, I would like to focus on one particular type of wordplay that is found several times in today's puzzle. This is the charade element, where several shorter words or word fragments are joined to form a (longer) word. As is fairly obvious, the name comes from the game of Charades. Among the examples in today's puzzle are the following:

9ac Large [L] Italian [IT] male [HE] /is\ supple [L|IT|HE] (5)

11ac Commercial [MERC|ANT|I|LE] /made by\ car [MERC] worker [ANT], one [I] shown by the French [LE] (10)

Note that the standard definition element may be at the beginning of the clue (as in 11ac) or at the end of the clue (as in 9ac).

25ac Portion [PART] 's free [RID], served with good [G] English [E] /\ game bird [PART|RID|G|E] (9)

Finally, we have the following clue:

27ac Who [RAN|C|HER] may have managed [RAN] head of cattle [C] (reduced herd [HER])? (7)

This may, at first, appear to be a regular clue of the charade type, but I think it might actually be a cryptic definition, which is a type of irregular clue. It can be difficult, I find, to unambiguously classify certain clues - this being a prime example. It seems to have elements common to two types of clue. I therefore tend to think of it as a cryptic definition which contains a charade element. But perhaps it is a regular charade clue which is bordering on being a cryptic definition.

For information on parsing clues, check out my blog from May 2, 2009.

As always, comments are most welcome.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

cross patch - a grumpy or bad-tempered person

Deal - a small fishing port in Kent

E - symbol for Spain (Espana); I have seen this explained as relating to the symbol that many European cars carry indicating their country of registration (GB for Great Britain, E for Spain, etc.)

evens - in gambling, even odds or even money

M - maiden (name) [Note: this association is pure guesswork on my part]

mean - humble; therefore, limited (entry 2, adj., defn. 6); does this mean that "of limited means" means "of mean means"? [sorry, I know that was mean but I just couldn't resist :-)]

Merc - the setter may have had a Mercedes in mind, but North Americans might be more apt to think of a Mercury

prop - a forward position in rugby (entry 1, noun, defn. 3)

Salamis - Greek island (defn. 1)

Today's Links

I found only one question on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. It (together with the clue to which it relates) is:

AnswerBank [DT 25848]-a: 18ac

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle is found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25848].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

10ac August - criticize major competition (5,4)

10ac August [GRAND] - criticize [SLAM] /\ major competition [GRAND SLAM] (5,4)

This is not meant to be "grand slam" as used in either bridge or baseball. Rather, I believe it is meant in the sense that the term is used in golf, tennis and other sports, namely one competitor winning all the major competitions held in a sport during one season. If my supposition is correct, then it would seem that the clue is somewhat inaccurate as a "grand slam" is not a "major competition" at all but, rather, the act of winning all major competitions.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition
	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1ac SHOT GUN - CD

5ac CART(O)ON

9ac L|IT|HE

10ac GRAND SLAM

11ac MERC|ANT|I|LE

12ac C|HIT

14ac TAKE IT FROM ME

18ac MEAN BUSINESS

21ac RITZ~ - sounds like WRITS

22ac FREE SPIRIT

25ac PART|RID|G|E

26ac TIE UP

27ac RAN|C_|HER_ - [C]attle [HER]d

28ac S|CHOLAR~ - CHOLAR sounds like COLLAR

Down

1d SALAMI_ - [SALAMI]s

2d OUT|CRY

3d GRETA* GARB|O - GREAT*

4d NIGHT* - THING*

5d CHARLAT~|A|N - CHARLAT sounds like CHARLOTTE

6d RID|E - E is symbol for Spain (Espana, in spanish)

7d OKLAHOMA - DD

8d N(O| M)ATTER - M may be abbreviation for "maiden (name)", I believe

13d CROSS PATCH

15d EASY RIDER

16d IM(PROP)ER* - MI^RE* + (PROP)

17d CAST-IRON

19d OR|DEAL

20d STUPOR* - PROUST*

23d EVEN|S

24d _ARCH - m[ARCH]

Signing off for today - Falcon