Monday, February 8, 2010 (DT 26065)

This puzzle was originally published Wednesday, October 21, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Today's puzzle was rather enjoyable, despite (or maybe because of) the fact that it took a fair amount of effort to complete. It took me a while to get started. I sometimes think that cryptic crosswords are like knitted socks - once you find the right strand to pull on, the whole thing readily unravels.

Today's Glossary

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

afters - plural noun Brit. informal the dessert course of a meal.

japan - noun a black glossy varnish of a type originating in Japan.

Horatio Nelson - English naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars

oval - a cricket field in general or more specifically, The Oval, a cricket ground in London, England

ready - noun (readies or the ready) Brit. informal available money; cash.

Today's Links

Tilsit's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26065].

A Note on Linking Words

Tilsit's comment about what he apparently sees as a superfluous S in 1a (a point on which I beg to differ) has prompted me to write a few lines about linking words.

However, first I must set the stage for my argument. Most cryptic crossword clues consist of two parts, (1) a definition of the solution and (2) wordplay that provides hints to finding the solution (exceptions would include double definitions, cryptic definitions, and & lit. clues). There is a school of thought that likes to think of these two components of a cryptic crossword as two equal entities sitting in the two pans of a balance scale. This is visually displayed by inserting a fulcrum symbol ("/\") into the clue to show the dividing line between the definition and the wordplay. In some cases, these two components may abut each other directly. In other cases, there may be a linking word between the two components.

An example from today's puzzle of a clue without a linking word is:

15a Parts /\ left off playground items (5)

where the solution is SIDES, the definition is "parts", and the wordplay is "L (left) deleted from (off) SLIDES (playground items)".

An example from today's puzzle of a clue with a linking word is:

1a Kick the bucket, cutting end of lobster /'s\ tail off (8)

where the solution is DECREASE, the definition is "tail off", and the wordplay is "DECEASE (kick the bucket) containing (cutting) R (end of lobster; i.e., last letter in the word lobster)".

As an aside, one might well question why "cutting" means "containing". I found many definitions and shades of meaning for cut and cutting in the dictionary, but failed to find one that satisfied me as fitting the usage in this clue. I think the idea must be to imagine that the two parts of DECEASE act as blades to cut R off the end of the word lobster (and they continue to hold it after having made the cut). There may well be a better explanation and I would certainly be pleased to see it.

However, my real point is that the 's serves as an abbreviation for the word is in the cryptic reading of this clue (although it is used to form the possessive form of lobster in the surface reading). Thus the clue is really saying:

1a Kick the bucket, cutting end of lobster /is\ tail off (8)

which is telling us that the wordplay (here on the left) is equal to the definition (here on the right).

Linking words often express the idea of equality. In addition to is, such words may include equals or in. The use of the word in for this purpose has generated some controversy. Having studied a bit of mathematics, I like to think in terms of set theory where a set A is said to be contained in (or just in) set B if all the elements of set A are also found in set B. If A is in B and B is in A, then A = B. Thus, from this perspective, if A = B, it is correct to say that A is in B. I am not sure if there is a corresponding grammatical explanation for this usage - but again, I would be pleased to see one.

Another group of linking words have the connotation of creating. They include such words as create, make, provide and produce. The structure of such clues is often of the form "The wordplay produces the definition" or "The definition is produced by the wordplay". To me, this seems quite logical in that if one follows the instructions in the wordplay, one produces the solution which is defined by the definition. However, I have also seen the converse of these structures (i.e., "The definition produces the wordplay" or "The wordplay is produced by the definition"). While to my way of thinking this latter construction makes less (if any) sense, one must acknowledge that it does exist - like it or not.

Recovering from a Brain Cramp

It would appear that I suffered a major brain cramp yesterday while writing the original piece. Somehow, I managed to get "in" and "on" totally scrambled. My apologies for that bit of confusion. Since the paragraph in question really does not fit into the theme of the article above, I have removed it include it in a corrected form below.

The word on can have various meanings in a cryptic crossword clue. In a down clue, it is often found in a charade type clue where it would usually indicate that one component of the charade precedes another (in other words, that the first component is stacked on top of the second). In an across clue, the word on can be used in a charade type clue to indicate that one component of the charade is adjacent to another. This would be a similar usage to saying, "The cowboy wore a holster on his hip". Usually in such a case A on B seems to mean AB but I'm not certain that there is a rule saying that it couldn't mean BA (it would just depend on which hip you choose to wear your holster).

Signing off for today - Falcon