Monday, March 12, 2018 — DT 28590 (Published Saturday, March 10, 2018)

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28590
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Setter Unknown setter (aka Mr Ronshow explanation ) The Daily Telegraph Cryptic Crossword (unlike the Toughie Crossword which appears in the same paper) is published without attribution. However, the identity of some of the setters has become known. In some cases, the setter is known on Big Dave's Crossword Blog by the nom de plume he uses when setting Toughie Crosswords or crosswords in other publications while in other cases he is known by an alias he has adopted when commenting on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. In most — if not all — of these cases, the true identity of the setter is also known. Nevertheless, the identity of some setters remains a mystery and some time ago it became the practice on Big Dave's Crossword Blog to refer to these unknown setters as "mysterons"*. Sometime later, the 2Kiwis (Big Dave's New Zealand blogging duo) took to calling the individuals in this group Mr Ron (which sounds like 'mysteron'). One of these mystery setters (now known to be Chris Lancaster who uses the alias Samuel when setting the Toughie Crossword) subsequently adopted the alias Mister Ron when commenting on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. Thus Mister Ron refers to a specific (no longer unidentified) setter and Mr Ron refers to any of the remaining unidentified setters. * The Mysterons are a fictional race of extraterrestrials that are featured in the British science-fiction Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967–68). hide explanation Information on the setters can be found in the article How do you know the names of the setters? on Big Dave's Crossword Blog.
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28590]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Mr K (aka Mr Kitty)
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
Notes
This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, March 10, 2018 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

I found this mental workout to be a gentle start to the week.

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.

Click here for an explanation of conventions and symbols used in parsing and explaining the clues.

The purpose of this article is to explain the conventions and symbols that I use on this blog in parsing and explaining the clues.

Legend: The following symbols may appear in reviews: "*" anagram "~" sounds like "<" indicates that preceding letters are reversed "( )" encloses contained letters "_" replaces letters that have been deleted "†" indicates that the preceding word is present in the clue

The review of a clue takes the following general structure:

#a/d   Clue containing parsing markup (num^*)

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^* num = numeration

Explanations pertaining to the wordplay (or first definition in a double definition)

(Horizontal separator)

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Explanations pertaining to the definition (or second definition in a double definition) and solution.

Explanatory Box

An explanatory box provides additional information about the clue. In most cases this information will not necessarily help in solving the clue but provides information intended to help the North American solver appreciate how the clue may be perceived by a British solver. These boxes may also provide information on people, places, films, television programmes, works of art and literature, etc. mentioned in the clue. Although the titles of these boxes will usually be drawn from a standard list, I do occasionally throw in a title specifically suggested by the subject at hand. The standard titles include: Scratching the Surface - an explanation of the surface reading of the clue Delving Deeper - in-depth information pertaining to a subject mentioned in an explanation Behind the Picture - information about an illustration found on Big Dave's Crossword Blog What did he/she/they say? - an explanation of a remark made in a review or comment on Big Dave's Crossword Blog What are they talking about? - an explanation of a discussion on Big Dave's Crossword Blog One box that may provide information that could prove helpful in solving the clue is the following: Here and There - discusses words whose British meaning differs from their North American meaning

Note that there are many types of cryptic crossword clue and it is not my intention to exhaustively go through all of them here. I will only deal with clue types to the extent necessary to explain the conventions and symbols used on the blog. Furthermore, be aware that, in the world of cryptic crosswords, there seems to be an exception to every rule.

With one exception that I can think of, cryptic crossword clues provide two routes to the solution. These are commonly referred to as the definition and wordplay. While these terms serve well for most clues, there are some cases where the more formal terms of primary indication and subsidiary indication may be more appropriate.

Most cryptic crossword clues consist of a definition (primary indication) and wordplay (subsidiary indication). The definition may be a "precise definition" (a definition that is either taken straight from a dictionary or at least phrased in a non-misleading fashion) or it may be a "cryptic definition" (a definition misleadingly phrased so as to misdirect the solver either with respect to the meaning of the definition as a whole or to an incorrect sense of a word used in the definition).

The only type of clue that I can think of where there are not two ways of finding the solution are those in which the entire clue is a cryptic definition.

I identify precise definitions by marking them with a solid underline in the clue and cryptic definitions by marking them with a dotted underline.

In clues in which both definition and wordplay are present, the two parts of the clue combine to provide an overall meaningful statement (the surface reading) which usually bears no relationship to the underlying cryptic reading of the clue. In some cases, an extra word or phrase will be inserted into the clue to create a meaningful link between the definition and wordplay. I define clues which contain such a link word or link phrase as having an explicit link and clues which contain no link word or link phrase as having an implicit link.

I mark the existence of an explicit link by enclosing the link word or link phrase between forward slashes (/link/) and mark the existence of an implicit link with double forward slashes (//) positioned between the definition and wordplay.

Examples

A few examples may help to illustrate these points more clearly.

The first example is a clue used by Jay in DT 28573:

• 4d   Fellow left work // a failure (4)

Here the definition is "a failure" which is marked with a solid underline to show that it is a precise definition. The wordplay parses as F (fellow; abbrev.) + L (left; abbrev.) + OP (work; abbrev. used in music) which gives us the solution F|L|OP. The double forward slashes (//) between the definition and wordplay indicate the existence of an "implicit link" between the two parts of the clue (that is, no extra words are inserted into the clue to form the link).

The second example is a clue used by Giovanni in DT 28575:

• 29a   Female going to match // travels with mother in advance (10)

Here the definition "female going to match" is cryptic (the setter is attempting to misdirect our thoughts to a sports event rather than a marriage ceremony) and thus is marked with a a dotted underline. The wordplay is {RIDES (travels) + (with) MA (mother)} contained in (in) BID (advance) giving us the solution B(RIDES|MA)ID. As in the first example, the double forward slashes indicate the presence of an implicit link.

The third example is a clue used by Rufus is DT 28583:

• 18d   Knight caught by misplaced big blow /is/ staggering (8)

Here the definition is "staggering" which is marked with a solid underline to show that it is a precise definition. The wordplay parses as N ([chess symbol for] knight) contained in (caught in) an anagram (misplaced) of BIG BLOW producing the solution WOBBLI(N)G. Finally, forward slashes mark the link word (/is/).

I also use distinctive underlining to mark &lit.^[7] and semi-&lit. clues. Note that the reviewers on Big Dave's Crossword Blog generally prefer to refer to these clue types by the less pretentious names of all-in-one or semi-all-in-one clues respectively.

In an &lit. clue^[7] (or all-in-one clue) the entire clue provides not only the definition (when read one way), but under a different interpretation also serves as the wordplay.

In future, I will mark such clues with a combined solid and dashed underline. Although this is a departure from past practice, it would seem to make more sense than using a dotted underline as I have in the past). Henceforth, the dotted underline will be reserved for cryptic definitions.

In a semi-&lit. clue (or semi-all-in-one clue), either:

• the entire clue acts as the definition while a portion of the clue provides the wordplay; or
• the entire clue acts as the wordplay while a portion of the clue provides the definition.

For these clues, I will mark the definition with a solid underline and the wordplay with a  dashed underline. This means that a portion of the clue may have a solid underline, a portion of the clue may have a dashed underline and a portion of the clue may have a combined solid and dashed underline.

One final clue type is what I characterize as a cryptic definition comprised of a precise definition combined with cryptic elaboration. For example, in DT 28560 (setter unknown) the following clue appears:

•  26d   Heroic exploit, whichever way you look at it (4)

As the entire clue is a cryptic definition, it is marked with a dotted underline. The 'precise definition' is "heroic exploit" and is indicated by a solid underline.

Given the numeration, the precise definition could give rise to at least two solutions, DEED or FEAT. However, the 'cryptic elaboration' ("whichever way you look at it") indicates that the solution is a palindrome thereby immediately eliminating one of the two obvious choices.

Note that the part of the clue that I have called 'cryptic elaboration' does not provide a second independent route to the solution (as the wordplay would do in most other types of clue). Rather it merely provides a piece of additional information (elaboration) related to the 'precise definition'.

Again, this approach is a departure from past practice, but like the other changes mentioned previously is intended to remove inconsistencies in the way that I have been applying parsing markup to clues. The markup rules that I have been using until now evolved bit-by-bit over a long period of time resulting in some degree of internal inconsistency.

hide explanation

Across

3a   Disorganised brawl -- // nobody's to be charged (4-3-3)

8a   Nothing about English verse // where 23 Down is (6)

From a British perspective, nada^[5] (from Spanish meaning 'nothing') is an informal North American term meaning 'nothing'.

"verse" = V (show explanation )

In textual references, v^[5] (or v.) is the abbreviation for 'verse'.

hide explanation

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The numeral and directional indicator "23 Down" is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 23d in its place to complete the clue. The directional indicator is customarily included only in situations such as this where both Across and Down clues start in the light^* that is being referenced.

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^* light-coloured cell in the grid

9a   The criminal underworld /in/ Georgia, country without leadership (8)

In official postal use, the abbreviation for the US state of  Georgia is GA^[5].

Scratching the Surface

Georgia[5] is a country in the Caucasus region of south-western Asia, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea and bordering Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. As for law enforcement in Georgia, in 2005 Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili fired "the entire traffic police force"[7] of the Georgian National Police due to corruption, numbering around 30,000 police officers. A new force was built around new recruits.

10a   Certainly // love loud passage (2,6)

"love" = O (show explanation )

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).

hide explanation

"loud" = F (show explanation )

Forte^[5] (abbreviation f^[5]) is a musical direction meaning (as an adjective) loud or (as an adverb) loudly.

hide explanation

What are they talking about?
In Comment #1 on  Big Dave's Crossword Blog, MalcolmR writes I would have liked to see the word “dear” in the clue for 10a. to which Angellov responds at Comment #17 Like MalcolmR the proverbial secret to a happy marriage came to my mind in 10a!. The secret to a happy marriage is to reply to every utterance of one's spouse with Of course, dear.

11a   Response // from a king receiving bad news (6)

"king" = R (show explanation )

In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms^*, Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George — often shortened to GR) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

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^* A Commonwealth realm^[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.

hide explanation

12a   Shows // wide pitches (10)

14a   Pitiful // male going to pieces swamping craft (13)

20a   Scruffy kid, // kid with a cake (10)

22a   Significance /of/ women's rowing crew (6)

W^[5] is the abbreviation for women's (denoting a clothes size).

An eight^[5] is an eight-oared rowing boat or its crew.

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Used as a link word, "of" denotes that the definition is formed from the constituent parts found in the wordplay based on the preposition of^[5] denoting the material or substance constituting something ⇒ (i) the house was built of bricks; (ii) walls of stone.

23a   Rescue /from/ turbulent River Tees, when docked (8)

Scratching the Surface
The Tees[5] is a river of northeastern England which rises in Cumbria and flows 128 km (80 miles) generally south-eastwards to the North Sea at Middlesbrough.

24a   Try fish // an American way (8)

Although the term turnpike is very much in current use in the US, it would apparently be viewed as a historical term by readers across the pond. In the UK, between the mid-16th and late 19th centuries, turnpike^[10] denoted:

• gates or some other barrier set across a road to prevent passage until a toll had been paid; or
• a road on which a turnpike was operated.

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Mr K(itty) refers to the "way" in question as the American name for a toll motorway. Motorway[2,5] is a British, Australian, and New Zealand term for a dual-carriageway road [divided highway] designed for fast-moving traffic, especially one with three lanes per carriageway [direction of travel] and limited access and exit points [controlled access].

25a   Key // member, close (6)

26a   Real money splashed about acquiring foremost of buildings /in/ London area (10)

Marylebone^[7] is an affluent inner-city area of central London, England, located within the City of Westminster and part of the West End. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone, or archaically as Mary-le-Bone.

Down

1d   Leave, // determined to go on Scottish river (3,5)

The Forth^[5] is a river of central Scotland, rising on Ben Lomond and flowing eastwards through Stirling into the North Sea.

2d   Country holding alternative // view (8)

3d   Material/'s/ marvellous, very amusing mostly (6)

4d   Row of bushes, height not shown, /forming/ border (4)

5d   Ardent admirer attends, on the way up, a // Disney film (8)

Fantasia^[7] is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney — the third Disney animated feature film.

Delving Deeper

The film Fantasia 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 shown in stereophonic sound. However, in order to deliver this stereophonic experience, Disney had to lease theatres and install the special Fantasound equipment for each presentation — an expensive proposition. While acclaimed by critics, the film was unable to make a profit due to World War II cutting off distribution to the European market, the film's high production costs, and the expense of leasing and theatres and equipping them with the Fantasound equipment. Nevertheless, the film was subsequently reissued multiple times and, as of 2012, Fantasia has grossed $76.4 million in domestic revenue and is the 22nd highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S. when adjusted for inflation.

6d   Look forward to // a sauce, perhaps (6)

7d   Tail of gull caught, apparently -- /or/ another bird (6)

A linnet^[5] is a mainly brown and grey finch with a reddish breast and forehead.

13d   Small stem bearing flowers? // Any number out of season (5)

"any number" = N (show explanation )

The letter n^[10] is used (especially in mathematics) as a symbol to represent an indefinite number (of) ⇒ there are n objects in a box.

hide explanation

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The question mark indicates that this small stem may bear flowers — or it could bear merely leaves.

15d   Wrong French river /for/ this reptile (8)

The Oise^[7] is a river of Belgium and France, flowing for 341 kilometres (212 mi) from its source in Belgium to the point at which it flows into the Seine in northwestern Paris.

16d   Encroach // on one northern border (8)

Incroach (on) means infringe (on), therefore the definition cannot be "encroach on" as Mr K(itty) shows in his review.

To understand the parsing of the clue, insert a pause in the wordplay as follows "on one, northern border". Thus the clue is telling us to start with [the Roman numeral for] one, "on" which we then add N(orthern) + FRINGE (border).

17d   French wine consumed by Norwegian composer /in/ mourning (8)

The French word for wine is vin^[8].

Edvard Grieg^[5] (1843–1907) was a Norwegian composer, conductor, and violinist. Famous works include the Piano Concerto in A minor (1869) and the incidental music to Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt (1876).

18d   Good aquanaut's beginning to follow injured blue // whale (6)

"good" = G (show explanation )

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely relates to its use in grading school assignments or tests.

hide explanation

19d   Get on with head of corporation in New York // office (6)

21d   Copper, say, reportedly /showing/ courage (6)

21d   Northern half of famous // gambling centre (4)

Reno^[5] is a a city in western Nevada; population 217,016 (est. 2008). It is noted as a gambling resort and for its liberal laws enabling quick marriages and divorces.

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)
^[12] - CollinsDictionary.com (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)
^[13] - MacmillanDictionary.com (Macmillan Dictionary)
^[14] - CollinsDictionary.com (COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon