Monday, June 20, 2016 — DT 28043

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28043
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, February 22, 2016
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28043]
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

It has been quite some time since the National Post has published a Rufus puzzle. Looking back over the past few months we seem to get one at the rate of about one per month. This puzzle was published in the UK on the occasion of the eighty-fourth birthday of Rufus — or Roger Squires, as he is otherwise known. To mark the occasion, Miffypops waxes poetic in his review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog.

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 (//). Definitions presented in blue text are for terms that appear frequently.

Across

1a   Housing // settlement (13)

10a   Sheet that doesn't stay put -- it's cold! (3,4)

11a   What's used for path, as relaid around lake? (7)

In this semi-all-in-one clue, the entire clue is the definition while the portion with the dashed underline is the wordplay.

The definition cannot be merely "What's used for path" as indicated by Miffypops since that would mean that the word "path" is being used in both the definition and the wordplay — something that is not permitted except in the case of an &lit.^[7] (all-in-one) or semi-&lit. (semi-all-in-one) clue.

&lit. and Semi-&lit. Clues

In a true &lit. clue[7] (often called an all-in-one clue on Big Dave's Crossword Blog) the entire clue provides not only the definition (when read one way), but under a different interpretation is also the wordplay. In a semi-&lit. clue (otherwise known as a semi-all-in-one clue on Big Dave's site), either the entire clue provides the definition while only a portion of the clue is the wordplay or the entire clue provides the wordplay while only a portion of the clue is the definition..

12a   Take a seat -- it offers // relaxation (4)

13a   As employees may be if apathetic /or/ enthusiastic (5)

14a   Possessed of // intelligence, first among heads (4)

I would think that the definition is "possessed of" rather than merely "possessed" (as shown by Miffypops in his review).

17a   New stage in // harassment (7)

18a   Sending out // terminations (7)

19a   Made a withdrawal, // go into red (7)

22a   One is not bound to enjoy it (7)

24a   Monument // to doctor (4)

"doctor" = MB (show explanation )

In Britain, the degree required to practice medicine is a Bachelor of Medicine^[7] (MB, from Latin Medicinae Baccalaureus), which is equivalent to a North American Doctor of Medicine (MD, from Latin Medicinae Doctor). The degree of Doctor of Medicine also exists in Britain, but it is an advanced degree pursued by those who wish to go into medical research. Physicians in Britain are still addressed as Dr. despite not having a doctoral degree. 

hide explanation

25a   Left in bloodstained // triumph (5)

26a   Note // such a battery is unserviceable (4)

A flat^[5] is a musical note lowered a semitone below natural pitch.

29a   Word for word? (7)

30a   People's leader -- // such as Lincoln? (7)

Abraham Lincoln^[5] (1809–1865) was an American Republican statesman, 16th President of the US 1861-5. His election as President on an anti-slavery platform helped precipitate the American Civil War; he was assassinated shortly after the war ended. Lincoln was noted for his succinct, eloquent speeches, including the Gettysburg Address of 1863.

Behind the Picture

The picture used by Miffypops to illustrate his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog alludes to the nature of Lincoln's death[7]. Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland. Learning that the President and General Ulysses S. Grant would be attending Ford's Theatre, Booth formulated a plan with co-conspirators to assassinate Lincoln and Grant at the theater, as well as Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward at their homes. Without his main bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln left to attend the play Our American Cousin on April 14, 1865. At the last minute, Grant decided to go to New Jersey to visit his children instead of attending the play. Lincoln's bodyguard, John Parker, left Ford's Theater during intermission to drink at the saloon next door. The now unguarded President sat in his state box in the balcony. Seizing the opportunity, Booth crept up from behind and at about 10:13 pm, aimed at the back of Lincoln's head and fired at point-blank range, mortally wounding the President. Major Henry Rathbone momentarily grappled with Booth, but Booth stabbed him and escaped. After being on the run for 12 days, Booth was tracked down and — after refusing to surrender — killed on April 26, 1865.

31a   Thirty-six holes // in rotation (5,3,5)

Like many clues crafted by Rufus, this one raises many questions in the mind of a reviewer. Is it a double definition or not? Is "thirty-six holes" a definition or wordplay? Does "round and round" mean "rotation" or "in rotation"?

With respect to the question of "thirty-six holes" being a definition, I think one could probably make an argument either way (so I have marked it with a dotted underline). As for "round and round", surely the "wheels on the bus go round and round" means that they "go in rotation" — not "go rotation".

Down

2d   Church lease runs out // somewhere in London (7)

Chelsea^[5,7], part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. is an affluent residential district of central London, on the north bank of the River Thames.

3d   Well-produced paintings? (4)

The clue is a cryptic definition consisting of a straight definition (paintings) and some cryptic elaboration (well-produced).

4d   Satisfying // get-together (7)

5d   Sharpshooter // that's employed in the rigging (7)

Deadeye^[5] is an informal, chiefly North American term for an expert marksman ⇒ (i) Chuck here is a deadeye; (ii) [as modifier] a successful field goal requires a deadeye kick.

In sailing, a deadeye^[5] is a circular wooden block with a groove round the circumference to take a lanyard^*, used singly or in pairs to tighten a shroud.

^* a rope used to secure or raise and lower the shrouds and sails of a sailing ship

6d   First-class // spinners (4)

Scratching the Surface
In cricket, a spinner[5] is a bowler who is expert in spinning the ball.

7d   Talk /of/ nothing to share (7)

8d   There's nothing to be said for such dissent (6,7)

9d   Still // concurrent (2,3,4,4)

15d   The craft of the Jumblies (5)

The Jumblies is a poem by English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet Edward Lear^[7] (1812–1888) who is known now mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised. According to the poem, the Jumblies made a voyage in which:

They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,

   In a Sieve they went to sea:

In spite of all their friends could say,

On a winter’s morn, on a stormy day,

   In a Sieve they went to sea!

16d   So long // to suffer in a university (5)

Adieu^[5] (from French: 'goodbye' or 'farewell') is a chiefly literary term that may be used:

1. as an exclamation meaning goodbye; or
2. as a noun meaning a goodbye ⇒ he whispered a fond adieu .

20d   Does it help some men to forget? Yes and no (7)

This is a tricky clue to explain — and even trickier to mark up in a meaningful way (so I have not even tried).

One forms the wordplay by combining the first part of the clue with "yes" and the definition by combining the first part of the clue with "no".

Thus the wordplay is:

• Does it help some men to forget? Yes

meaning that the solution contributes to or is part of (helps [to create]) the phrase "soME MEN TO forget".

The definition is:

• Does it help some men to forget? No

since a MEMENTO helps one to remember — not to forget.

21d   Stupidly dim male /may present/ a problem (7)

22d   Send /in/ advance (7)

23d   Phil bumped into fellow // swimmer (7)

At Oxford and Cambridge universities, a fellow^[10] is a member of the governing body of a college who is usually a member of the teaching staff.

A don^[10] is a member of the teaching staff at a university or college, especially at Oxford or Cambridge.

27d   Is involved with // round within pub (2,2)

28d   Small group // involved in riot (4)

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