Thursday, March 13, 2014 — DT 27338

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27338
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, November 18, 2013
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27338]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Libellule
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

Rufus always seems to come up with a few clues that are easier to solve than they are to explain — and today is no exception.

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. The underlined portion of the clue is the definition.

Across

1a   Nobility and rank may well be a big issue (4,5,4)

10a   Discharges account and leaves (7)

11a   Impose obedience in French Legion (7)

The deceptive capitalisation of "Legion" in the surface reading may well draw one's attention to the French Foreign Legion^[7]. In the cryptic interpretation, however, legion^[10] merely means any large military force.

In French, en^[8] is a preposition meaning 'in'.

12a   They may be fast, but only without running (4)

I did consider DEER or DOES (female deer) which, if standing still, might figuratively be considered to be fast — in the sense of firmly fixed or attached to one spot.

13a   One who doesn't take alcohol in any liquid is smart (5)

14a   We should have a right to assume (4)

According to The American Heritage Dictionary, assume^[3] may mean to put on or don ⇒ The queen assumed a velvet robe. However, since I do not find this meaning of the word in British dictionaries, we may need to look for another explanation. Perhaps assume^[3,4,11] is being used in the sense of to pretend to or feign ⇒ Despite being inwardly troubled by the news, she assumed a cheerful smile so as not to spoil the occasion for her guests.

17a   Game with two essential elements of tennis (7)

Netball^[7] is a ball sport played by two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. The sport is most popular in Commonwealth nations, specifically in schools, and is predominantly played by women.

18a   A commodity extensively used (7)

19a   Mary's favourite skipper (3,4)

Although it is fairly easy to see that the solution must be PET LAMB, the parsing of the clue is rather obscure — at least, it certainly is to me. I looked to Libellule's review for help, but it failed to enlighten me.

Does the wordplay parse as PET (favourite) + LAMB (skipper) or might the clue be a double definition:

• 19a   Mary's favourite skipper (3,4)

where "Mary's favourite" is a PET LAMB and "Skipper" is possibly the name of a pet lamb on some British children's television show? Seemingly not, as my research failed to uncover any evidence to support this.

Maybe skipper refers to England cricketer Allan Lamb^[7] who played for the Northamptonshire County Cricket Club from 1978 to 1995, finishing his career as captain (skipper) of the club. I would rate this idea as conceivable but rather improbable.

The most plausible explanation would seem to be that "skipper" refers in some fashion to the childhood pastime of skipping. Apparently, "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (not necessarily with its original words) is a popular rhyme to recite while jumping rope. Thus, "skipper" might be someone jumping rope or, possibly, a rhyme recited while jumping rope.

22a   US city, smart in the past (7)

24a   Open a pickle container for example (4)

25a   They continue to work for southern transport (5)

26a   Dad's embarked for health resorts (4)

"Has embarked" indicates that Dad is on board a steamship (abbreviation  SS^[10]), by far the preferred mode of ocean travel in Crosswordland.

29a   Flu? See a new prescription giving relief (7)

I would say that the anagram indicator is "new prescription" rather than merely "new".

30a   Regroup in large formation (7)

My progress was impeded by the mistaken assumption that the definition must be "formation" with the anagram indicator being "regroup".

31a   Gambler's hand that should win -- fair and square (8,5)

Down

2d   An enquiry into cause of being late (7)

3d   He takes after his father, presumably (4)

4d   Invest in unit of the open market (7)

Invest^[5] is used in the sense of to formally confer a rank or office on (someone) ⇒ he was invested as Head of State on 1 October 1936.

5d   Plays with the exchange rate (7)

6d   How fire can become widespread (4)

This is one of those clues that virtually defies explanation — a type of clue that Rufus is particularly noted for.

In his review, Libellule says that this clue is "an anagram (how) of FIRE". However, the clue is undoubtedly more complex than that simple explanation would convey.

I do not consider this to be merely a "normal" clue consisting of wordplay, an anagram (how) of FIRE, a link phrase ("can become") and a definition ("widespread"). Rather, I would think it to be some sort of all-in-one clue consisting of a distinct definition ("widespread") [shown with solid underlining] and a subsidiary indication ("how fire can become") [shown with dashed underlining].

To elaborate, I would say that the word how^[2] is used in the sense of "in what condition" (How are you feeling?) rather than "by what means" (How did you do that?). Thus, RIFE would be the condition in which "fire" would find itself if transformed into a word meaning "widespread".

7d   Hill split in flood (7)

8d   Espy an admirer, possibly the answer for this? (7,6)

This is another instance of a clue that is difficult to explain. I suppose that one might say that it is a "normal" clue with wordplay ["espy an admirer, possibly"], a link phrase ["the answer for"], and a definition ["this"].

However, I consider "this" or even "the answer for this" to be far too vague to be considered a definition. One surely has to take the entire clue to be the definition [thus I have underlined the entire clue]. Nevertheless, the clue does have embedded wordplay, and I have shown that portion of the clue with a dashed underline.

9d   It's barred for pedestrians (5,8)

In Britain, a zebra crossing^[5] is an area of road painted with broad white stripes, where vehicles must stop if pedestrians wish to cross.

15d   Rise and fall of pompous young lady? (5)

In Britain, a conceited or bossy girl or young woman is known as a madam^[5] ⇒ she’s a proper little madam.

16d   Fleet Street, containing an awful mixture of printers (5)

Fleet Street^[5] is a street in central London in which the offices of national newspapers were located until the mid 1980s (often used as a metonym for the British Press) ⇒ the hottest story in Fleet Street.

Pi^[10] is a printing term meaning a jumbled pile of printer's type.

20d   Tidy up -- start in passage (7)

I delayed matters by mistakenly looking for an anagram (tidy) of UP START.

21d   Finance record reveals arrears (7)

22d   Tom takes in strip show (7)

23d   Makes a request for one to tuck into fruit (7)

27d   Who ditched England and Wales of all football clubs? (4)

Offa^[5] (died 796) was king of Mercia 757–96 — Mercia being a former kingdom of central England that was established by invading Angles in the 6th century AD in the border areas between the new Anglo-Saxon settlements in the east and the Celtic regions in the west.

Offa organized the construction of Offa’s Dyke^[5], a series of earthworks marking the traditional boundary between England and Wales, running from near the mouth of the Wye to near the mouth of the Dee, originally constructed in the second half of the 8th century to mark the boundary established by his wars with the Welsh.

A dyke^[3,5] (more usually spelled dike in North America) is probably most commonly thought of as an embankment of earth and rock built to prevent floods. In Britain however, the term can be applied to a low wall or earthwork, often of sod, dividing or enclosing lands and serving as a boundary or defence [which applies to Offa's Dyke]. However, a dyke can also be a ditch or watercourse.

I thought that the characterisation of Offa's Dyke as a ditch must be a misrepresentation — perhaps intentional. However, in Ireland, it seems that a ditch^[5] can be a bank made of earth excavated from and placed alongside a drain or stream. Thus, it would appear that ditch and dyke can both mean either a trench or an embankment — leading me to believe that I don't know a dyke from a hole in the ground.

The Football Association^[7], also known simply as the FA, is the governing body of football [soccer] in England. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in England.

28d   His initial character differed before conversion (4)

St Paul^[5] (died circa 64) was a missionary of Jewish descent; known as Paul the Apostle, or Saul of Tarsus, or the Apostle of the Gentiles. He first opposed the followers of Jesus, assisting at the martyrdom of St Stephen. On a mission to Damascus he was converted to Christianity [and changed his name from Saul to Paul] after a vision and became one of the first major Christian missionaries and theologians. His epistles form part of the New Testament.

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)

Signing off for today — Falcon