Monday, January 7, 2013 - DT 27004

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27004
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27004]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★★	Enjoyment - ★★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ 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 █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog

Introduction

My electronic assistants enjoyed a day off today as I was able to complete this quite enjoyable puzzle unaided.

British solvers (at least those doing the puzzle appearing in the print edition of the paper) would have faced a bit of a handicap. Apparently, the puzzles editor at the The Daily Telegraph decided to make a last minute change to the clue for 5d. The change was correctly applied to the puzzle on the website, with the original clue for 5d being replaced with the new one. However, in the case of the print edition, the change was mistakenly applied to clue 5a. The result was that the clue printed at 5a was actually the new clue for 5d and the clue printed at 5d was still the original clue. Fortunately, this was sorted out before the puzzle was shipped across the Atlantic.

At 13d, we encounter an infrequently seen type of clue — one employing indirect inverse wordplay. Since this type of clue is rather rare and many people seem to find it difficult to understand, I have provided a rather detailed explanation of how it works.

As a final note, although the setter is not positively identified, many of those commenting on Big Dave's blog suspect it to be Petitjean (John Pidgeon).

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.

1a   Punishment? Why? (4,3)

What for^[3,4] is an informal expression meaning a punishment, scolding or strong reprimand (especially in the phrase give (a person) what for).

11a   Keep following film director in retreat ... (5,5)

James Ivory^[7] is an American film director, best known for the results of his long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, which included both Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Their films won six Academy Awards.

14a   Motorway's appearance is wrong (12)

The M1^[7] is a north–south motorway [controlled access, multilane divided highway] in England connecting London to Leeds.

18a   Pole has lodgings by Welsh river (12)

A quarterstaff^[5] is a stout pole 6-8 feet long, once used as a weapon [in the days of Robin Hood].

The River Taff^[7] (Welsh: Afon Taf) is a large river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons — the Taf Fechan (Little Taff) and the Taf Fawr (Big Taff) — before joining to form the Taff north of Merthyr Tydfil. The river supports a number of migratory fish, including salmon, sea trout, and eel.

Taffy^[5] (or Taff) is an informal British term (often offensive) for a Welshman. The origin of this term apparently has nothing to do with the name of the river.

21a   Singer in musical, Tommy (4)

The rock opera Tommy^[7] is the fourth album by English rock band The Who. It is a double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement.

When published in Britain, the word "Tommy" was enclosed in single quotation marks which (as usual) do not appear in the National Post.

25a   Popular person, modern and lively, coming from ball at cricket club (9)

In cricket, an inswinger is a ball bowled with a swing from the off to the leg side. The off^[5]  (also off side) is the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) towards which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.  The other side of the field is known either as the leg^[5] (also leg side) or on (also on side).

27a   Drive off to bring adult member in for massage (7)

Here "member" refers to an elected representative which in Britain [or Canada, for that matter] is an MP^[5] or, in full, a Member of Parliament.

28a   Goody-goody in up-train, unsettled (7)

An up-train^{[Webster's (1913)]} is a train going in the direction of the metropolis or the main terminus.

5d   Collect dull rug (6,3)

In church use, a collect^[5] is a short prayer, especially one assigned to a particular day or season.

According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, mat^[5] is the US spelling of matt (or matte)^[5], an adjective used to describe a surface or colour which is dull and flat or without a shine • prints are available on matt or glossy paper • a matt black. I am familiar with this word being spelled matte.

As I related in the Introduction, the printed edition of The Daily Telegraph provided a different clue, which was apparently the setter's original version. It was:

• 5d   Blended rye a tramp slyly kept in rug (6,3)

The surface reading of the original clue is certainly much nicer than its replacement but perhaps the clue was considered too complex (being an anagram within an anagram) for a "back page" puzzle [referring to the location where the puzzle is found in The Daily Telegraph].

6d   Finished  extra  six deliveries (4)

In cricket, an over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end. While extra^[5] can also be cricket term (meaning a run scored other than from a hit with the bat, credited to the batting side rather than to a batsman), in this clue it is used is a more general sense.

7d   Absurd notice about six getting the push (8)

While the dictionaries that I consulted all define the push in terms of dismissal from a job or the ending of a relationship, it is not hard to imagine that the term might also be applied to the situation of being kicked out of one's place of residence. To get (or give someone) the push (or shove)^[5] is an informal British expression meaning (1) to be dismissed (or dismiss someone) from a job ⇒ (i) four PR people at head office are getting the push; (ii) it’s hard to psych yourself up to get another job after you’ve been given the push or (2) be rejected in (or end) a relationship.

13d   Watch Attila? (4-6)

In Britain, a hunter^[10] (also called a hunting watch) is a watch with a hinged metal lid or case (hunting case) to protect the crystal. A half-hunter^[10] is a watch with a hinged lid in which a small circular opening or crystal allows the approximate time to be read.

Inverse Wordplay Clues

This clue contains an instance of inverse wordplay. In fact, it goes one step further and uses indirect inverse wordplay. To understand how this type of clue works, it is useful to establish some principles and definitions.

First, let's look at a "normal" cryptic crossword clue. It consists of a definition and wordplay — possibly with a link word or link phrase joining them. The wordplay, in turn, consists of an indicator (a word which specifies the type of operation to be performed — for instance, anagram, reversal, etc. — and fodder (the words that the operation is performed on). In such a clue, the outcome of the wordplay operation forms all or part of the solution to the clue. To reiterate, in such a clue, the wordplay is found in the clue itself and the outcome of the wordplay operation is contained in the solution.

Because most of the clues that we encounter follow this pattern, we tend to refer (rather loosely) to the two major parts of a cryptic clue as the definition and the wordplay. While this suffices for the vast majority of clues, it only serves to confuse matters when dealing with some less-often encountered clue types such as this current one. To understand these types of clues, it is more helpful to use the terms primary indication (rather than definition) and subsidiary indication (rather than wordplay).

In a clue employing inverse wordplay, the solution to the clue is a bit of wordplay (indicator plus fodder) whose outcome would produce the subsidiary indication in the clue. Thus, in contrast to the "normal" clue, where the wordplay is found in the clue itself, it is contained in the solution of a clue employing inverse wordplay. And whereas, in a "normal" clue, the outcome of the wordplay operation is found in the solution, it is contained in the clue itself in a clue employing inverse wordplay.

Today's clue introduces an additional wrinkle, in that the subsidiary indication is not directly the outcome of the wordplay in the solution. Rather we must first perform a substitution for the subsidiary indication to obtain the outcome of the wordplay. Since there is not a direct link between the wordplay in the solution and the subsidiary indication, I refer to this as indirect inverse wordplay.

Hopefully, this will become clearer as we examine the current clue in detail. The primary indication is a definition (watch) for which the solution is HALF-HUNTER. The subsidiary indication (Attila) is not wordplay (at least, not by my definition of wordplay consisting of an indicator plus fodder). To solve the clue, we make use of our knowledge that Attila was a Hun, and substitute "Hun" in place of "Attila". Now we need to find a piece of wordplay that would produce the outcome HUN. Well, "half  hunter" would certainly do the job nicely (half [of] HUN(ter)). So the inverse wordplay (moving from solution to clue) is:

• HALF-HUNTER ⇒ HUN ⇒ Attila

and the forward derivation of the solution (moving from clue to solution) is:

• Attila ⇒ HUN ⇒ HALF-HUNTER

You are probably wondering, "How would I know that this clue employs indirect inverse wordplay?". The answer is that, as for any clue type, one must figure it out from the clue. Expect no banners to be posted to announce the type of clue.

16d   Song from Hair  stars (8)

"Aquarius"^[7] is a song from the 1967 musical Hair^[7]. [We shouldn't be surprised that 'Hair' shed its quotation marks during the voyage across the Atlantic.]

17d   Animated film freak is at a resort (8)

Fantasia^[7] is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney. The film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski; seven of which are performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. The soundtrack was recorded using multiple audio channels and reproduced with Fantasound, a pioneering sound reproduction system that made Fantasia the first commercial film presented in stereophonic sound.

20d   Last broadcast by elected Soviet leader (6)

Joseph Stalin^[7] (1878 – 1953) was the de facto leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953.

24d   Wet head of wretched scallywag (4)

In Britain, wet^[5] is an informal term meaning, as an adjective, (1) showing a lack of forcefulness or strength of character; feeble ⇒ they thought the cadets were a bit wet or (2) Conservative with liberal tendencies, especially as regarded by right-wing Conservatives ⇒ they came across as the most liberal or wet members of the government. As a noun, it means (1) a person lacking forcefulness or strength of character ⇒there are sorts who look like gangsters and sorts who look like wets or (2) a Conservative with liberal tendencies ⇒the wets favoured a change in economic policy. The use of the term wet^[7] in British politics apparently began during the term in office of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher^[7].

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)

Signing off for today — Falcon