Thursday, March 6, 2014 — DT 27333

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27333
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27333]
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

I must have been on the right wavelength today as I breezed through this puzzle fairly quickly [quickly, at least, by my standards].

Today I have instituted — or, perhaps, I should say resurrected — a feature that I call Cryptic Crosswords 101, where I plan to discuss some aspect of cryptic crosswords that is illustrated in the puzzle for that day. This feature is expected to appear from time to time.

Cryptic Crosswords 101 — Implicit and Explicit Clue Elements

Cryptic Crosswords 101 is an occasional feature of the blog where I discuss some aspect of cryptic crossword puzzles. Today, I look at explicit versus implicit elements of a clue.

The majority of cryptic crossword clues (excluding clues such as double definitions, cryptic definitions, and & lit. clues) consist of a definition and wordplay (a device such as an anagram or a charade — or some combination of such devices). There may, or may not, be a word or phrase to link the definition and the wordplay (or, looked at another way, to delineate the definition from the wordplay). The link word or phrase serves to join the definition and the wordplay in such a way as to produce a meaningful surface reading. In the cryptic analysis of the clue, the link word or phrase serves to separate the clue into its two components — definition and wordplay.

In the first clue in today's puzzle:

• 7a   Diverting incident involving teams -- in what way? (8)

the word "involving" acts as an explicit link (or point of delineation) between the definition (diverting incident) and the wordplay (involving teams -- in what way?).

In the second clue:

• 9a   Eventually book on time (2,4)

the link (or point of delineation) between the definition (eventually) and the wordplay (book on time) is implicit.

In each of these clues, the wordplay is a charade. In 7a, the wordplay parses as SIDES (teams) + HOW (in what way). Note that there is no explicit charade indicator in the clue; in other words, the charade indication is implicit.

In 9a, the wordplay parses as ATLAS (book) + (on) T (time). In this clue, the word "on" is an explicit charade indicator.

Some purists would likely dispute whether the word "on" has been used appropriately in the latter clue. However, I will leave that discussion for another time.

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

7a   Diverting incident involving teams -- in what way? (8)

In North America, the term side^[3] is used in a very generic fashion that can denote one of two or more opposing individuals, groups, teams, or sets of opinions. While this same general usage would seem to exist as well in the UK, the term side^[5] can also be used there in a more specific sense to mean a sports team ⇒ (i) Previous England rugby sides, and England teams in many other sports, would have crumbled under the weight of such errors.; (ii) They'll face better sides than this Monaco team, but you can only beat what's put in front of you..

9a   Eventually book on time (2,4)

10a   Conflict in street prevalent (6)

11a   Girl, Flower Queen (8)

Queen Mary could refer to either of two reigning monarchs of England, the wife of another reigning monarch, or even either of two ocean liners:

• Mary I of England^[7] (1516–1558), queen regnant of England and Ireland, daughter of Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon; wife of Philip II of Spain and sister of Edward VI and Elizabeth I of England; her executions of Protestants caused her opponents to give her the sobriquet "Bloody Mary".
• Mary II of England^[7] and Scotland (1662–1694), joint sovereign of England, Scotland and Ireland with her husband, William III of England (II of Scotland), daughter of James II of England (VII of Scotland) and Lady Anne Hyde, and sister of Anne of Great Britain.
• Another well-known Queen Mary is Mary of Teck^[7] (1867-1953), wife of King George V.

Two ocean liners were named after Mary of Teck:

• RMS Queen Mary^[7], a Cunard Line ocean liner launched in 1934, now retired as a hotel in Long Beach, California, USA
• RMS Queen Mary 2^[7], a Cunard passenger ship that entered service in 2003

12a   Former PM visiting basic military training ground (9,5)

The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury^[7] (1830–1903) was a British Conservative statesman, Prime Minister 1885-6, 1886–92, and 1895–1902; born Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoigne-Cecil. He supported the policies which resulted in the Second Boer War (1899–1902).

Salisbury Plain^[7] is a chalk plateau in central southern England covering 300 square miles (780 km²). It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, with a little in Hampshire. The plain is famous for its rich archaeology, including Stonehenge, one of England's best known landmarks. Largely as a result of the establishment of the Defence Training Estate Salisbury Plain (DTE SP), the plain is sparsely populated and is the largest remaining area of calcareous grassland in north-west Europe.

15a   Clue would be perfect if shortened (4)

17a   Puzzle concerning old aircraft (5)

Bus^[4] is a [seemingly British] term for a a car or aircraft, especially one that is old and shaky. American dictionaries define bus as an informal term for a large or ungainly automobile^[3] or a passenger automobile or airplane used in a manner resembling that of a bus^[11].

19a   Austen character held in 21 Mansfield Park (4)

Jane Austen^[5] (1775–1817) was an English novelist. Her major novels are Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), Northanger Abbey (1818), and Persuasion (1818). They are notable for skilful characterization, dry wit, and penetrating social observation.

Although the setter makes 21 Mansfield Park appear to be a street address, in the Jane Austen novel Mansfield Park is actually the name of an estate. The numeral 21 appearing in the clue is, in fact, a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 21d in its place to complete the clue. Once this is done, another Jane Austen work can be found hiding in the clue.

20a   Poet having to adjust, badly lamed in battle against English (6,2,2,4)

Walter de la Mare^[5] (1873–1956) was an English poet, known particularly for his verse for children. Notable works: The Listeners (1912).

23a   Born to the west of trendy resort town (8)

Brighton^[5] is a resort on the south coast of England, in East Sussex; population 127,700 (est. 2009). It was patronized by the Prince of Wales (later George IV) from circa 1780 to 1827, and is noted for its Regency architecture.

The term right-on^[10] is used in the sense of modern, trendy, and socially aware or relevant   ⇒ the young, right-on student crowd rather than [what may be a North American usage] absolutely right or perfectly true^[3].

25a   Accustomed to be wearing scarlet around university (6)

27a   Beginning to give lip, reportedly (6)

Sauce^[5] is an informal, chiefly British term for impertinence or cheek ⇒ ‘None of your sauce,’ said Aunt Edie — which, in North America, would be called sass^[5].

The word "source", when pronounced with a non-rhotic^[5] British accent, would sound like "sauce" [or, at least, the way a Brit would pronounce sauce]. Non-rhotic accents omit the sound /r/ in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce /r/ in all contexts.

28a   Dislike a model (8)

Down

1d   Take elevator (4)

Lift^[5] is the British name for an elevator^[5].

2d   Twins, pride and joy (in incubators, initially) (6)

3d   Jug found in drain, missing lid (4)

4d   Ignore sexual advance at university (4,2)

In Britain, up^[5] can mean at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge ⇒ they were up at Cambridge about the same time.

5d   Picnic bun filled with meat (8)

In Britain, a bun^[4] — in addition to being a small roll — can be any of various types of small round sweet cakes.

6d   Shooting star and new moon observed by extremely eager scientist (10)

8d   List to exclude where shoes are mended (7)

A heel bar^[5] (or heelbar^[1]) is a [seemingly British] term for a small shop or stall where shoes are repaired, especially while the customer waits.

13d   Artist, lady who ran off (4,6)

Andy Warhol^[5] (Circa 1928–1987) was an American painter, graphic artist, and film-maker. A major exponent of pop art, he achieved fame for a series of silk-screen prints and acrylic paintings of familiar objects (such as Campbell’s soup tins) and famous people (such as Marilyn Monroe), treated with objectivity and precision.

14d   Fanatical bishop in surprise attack (5)

B^[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.

16d   Fitzgerald's come up with grisly tale (8)

Ella Fitzgerald^[5] (1917–1996) was an American jazz singer, known for her distinctive style of scat singing.

18d   Ridicule when Liberal's involved makes one cross (7)

A saltire^[5] is a diagonal cross as a heraldic ordinary [an ordinary^[5] being any of the simplest principal charges^[5] (a device or bearing placed on a shield or crest) used in coats of arms (especially chief, pale, bend, fess, bar, chevron, cross, saltire)].

21d   Respect Eastern power in speech (6)

22d   Shy type eating second creamy dessert (6)

24d   Close tight (4)

26d   Public school board no good (4)

Eton College^[7], often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent [private] school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor". It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, and is one of the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. [Note: In Britain, "public schools" are a special class of private school; what North Americans would call public schools seem to be referred to in Britain by terms such as state-run or state-funded schools].

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely comes from its use in rating school assignments or tests.

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