Thursday, October 2, 2014 — DT 27487

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27487
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, May 12, 2014
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27487]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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 thought that this puzzle was a bit more difficult than what we are used to seeing from Rufus. Miffypops seems to concur, having given it three stars for difficulty rather than the customary two.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

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.

Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in all-in-one (&lit.) clues, semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

1a   Not seen to take part in the action (3-5)

Often, as in the case here, Rufus creates clues that virtually defy categorization. After due consideration, I have elected to call it a straight cryptic definition (similar to 13a). If the definition were to be "not seen" as Miffypops indicates, then how would one classify the remainder of the clue?

I toyed with marking the clue in a manner similar to 9a, 10a, and 16a as:

• 1a   Not seen to take part in the action (3-5)

but could not convince myself of its validity.

While solving the clue, I was thinking in terms of an actor who is off-stage for the moment not be seen by the audience. However, in his review, Miffypops suggests that the clue refers to the non-acting stage hands and other personnel behind the scenes and perhaps that is what we are intended to glean from "not seen to take part [i.e., an acting role]".

6a   Having clear head in panic /is/ seldom seen (6)

9a   Obtain support perhaps with a beating? (4,2)

10a   Grace coming in disguise? (8)

11a   Snooty // head of a religious order (8)

12a   Journalist taken aback by bad news /for/ country (6)

This anagram of NEWS is actually nothing more than a reversal.

13a   They each go to work on foot (12)

16a   Don't give up working as a judge? (4,2,6)

19a   Whole // country is full of conservationists (6)

Eire^[5] is the Gaelic name for Ireland, the official name of the Republic of Ireland from 1937 to 1949.

In Britain, the National Trust^[5] (abbreviation NT) is a trust for the preservation of places of historic interest or natural beauty in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, founded in 1895 and supported by endowment and private subscription. The National Trust for Scotland^[7], a separate organization, was founded in 1931.

21a   A ruse hatched in attempt /to get/ state funds (8)

23a   Reduction in fuel /is/ enormous (8)

24a   Scoffed // with a guard (6)

The Chambers Dictionary [alone among its peers] defines rail^[1] as meaning to scoff; to use vigorously or mockingly reproachful language; to banter; to revile (usually with at or against) ...

25a   We hear an officer // that's at the heart of things (6)

A clue such as this, in which the definition starts with "that's" must be interpreted as though it read "[something] that's at the heart of things".

You may notice that I have marked the definition differently than Miffypops did.

The wordplay in this clue is "We hear an officer". If we were to accept (as Miffypops suggests) that the definition is "the heart of things", then we must somehow account for the remaining words "that's at". The only way to account for these words would be to declare them to be a link phrase between the wordplay and the definition. However, I do not consider "that's at" to be a valid link phrase and, for that reason, I have rejected Miffypops determination of the definition.

Had the clue been slightly modified, Miffypops choice would work. Suppose that the word "at" were removed from the clue. Then the word "that's" would be a valid link word:

• 25a   We hear an officer /that's/ the heart of things (6)

Admittedly, the surface reading of the modified clue is degraded considerably. However, it serves to prove the point that I wish to make.

26a   Covered // outhouse, full of warmth (8)

In Britain, an outhouse^[5] is a building such as a shed or barn that is built on to or in the grounds of a house rather than — as in North America — an outside toilet.

Down

2d   Secure /with/ business increased (4,2)

As a link word, with^[11] is used in the sense of characterized by or having ⇒ a person with intelligence and initiative.

3d   Approximately one thousand held captive /in/ WW1 battle (5)

Surely, as a synonym for approximately, some is an adverb rather than a noun ⇒ some 2000 protesters descended on city hall.

In this type of clue, the solver must infer some implicit elements, including a pause following the first word of the clue. The clue must be interpreted as "[start with] approximately; [then] one thousand held captive [by it]" which parses as SOME (approximately) containing (held captive) M ([Roman numeral for] one thousand).

I did consider including the word "in" as part of the containment indicator (making it "held captive in"). However, I think that it works better as a link word.

4d   Swimmer able to do the crawl? (9)

5d   Measure lawyers try // to ban (7)

An em^[2] is a unit of measurement used in printing.

6d   Spots -- we hear // they appear before the eyes (5)

7d   Responding to // a phone call about disturbing news (9)

As Miffypops points out, this is the second time in this puzzle that we encounter an anagram of NEWS — although this time the setter mixes the letters more thoroughly.

In his review, Miffypops shows the definition as merely being "responding", thereby implying that "to" is a link word:

• 7d   Responding /to/ a phone call about disturbing news (9)

Under my parsing, ANSWERING is a transitive verb (Answering the question proved difficult) whereas under Miffypops' parsing, it is an intransitive verb (Answering truthfully proved difficult).

As a link word, to^[10] would be a preposition used to indicate equality ⇒ 16 ounces to the pound.

8d   What's inside // pleases (8)

13d   Tropic // island produce (9)

A tropic^[5] is the parallel of latitude 23°26ʹ north (tropic of Cancer) or south (tropic of Capricorn) of the equator.

Capri^[5] is an island off the west coast of Italy, south of Naples. Miffypops' hint "a cereal crop grown on a Mediterranean island" is a verbose way of saying "Capri corn".

14d   Fruitful source of oil (5,4)

15d   Runners are trained by this // tall thin type (8)

Runner^[2] is another term for runner bean^[5], a British name for the plant (Phaseolus coccineus) also known as the scarlet runner (which is the name by which we know it in North America).

17d   Noise-makers // startle unexpectedly (7)

18d   Are such blocks used for building windbreaks? (6)

Breeze block^[5] is a British term for a lightweight building brick made from small cinders mixed with sand and cement ⇒ breeze-block huts and cabins.

20d   After rest, student /gives/ help in the classroom (5)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

22d   Relocate // garment // workers (5)

A rare triple definition.

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