Monday, March 5, 2018 — DT 28585 (Published Saturday, March 3, 2018)

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28585
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28585]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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 3, 2018 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

Today, Jay puts us through our paces in a most enjoyable fashion that — although not overly strenuous — may cause some of us to work up a modest sweat.

You may note that the boilerplate located at the top of the "Notes on Today's Puzzle" section has shrunk a bit today. I have included the material that formerly appeared there in an article that explains the symbols and conventions that I use when parsing and explaining the clues. You can access this article by clicking on the "Click here" link at the top of the "Notes on Today's Puzzle" section. While this information is intended to be a resource for new visitors to the blog, those of you who are regular visitors may also wish to have a look at the article as it explains some changes that I am making to the way that I apply parsing markup to clues. These changes are being made to address some inconsistencies in the way that I have been marking up clues.

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.

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Across

1a   People in the same company // shifting blame among countries (11)

A stablemate^[1] (figuratively) is a person from the same club, etc as another.

While one might interpret "company" to mean a business enterprise, I believe Jay has intended the phrase "people in the same company" to denote 'people who hang out together'.

9a   A phone that is right /for/ artist's studio (7)

10a   Cold beer like this /is/ rough! (6)

12a   Court official // to suffer in strike (7)

Biff^[5] is an informal term meaning to strike (someone) roughly or sharply with the fist ⇒ he biffed me on the nose.

Here and There

About the only definitive statement that one can make is that a bailiff is a court official as the duties of persons holding this title vary greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. According to Oxford Dictionaries, a bailiff[5] is: (British) a sheriff's officer who executes writs and processes and carries out distraints and arrests (North American) an official in a court of law who keeps order, looks after prisoners, etc. However, when Oxford Dictionaries uses the term "North American", it usually means "US" and this may be the case here. I would say that Canada usually follows the British model in matters of law and government. Wikipedia says that "In parts of Canada, bailiffs[7] are responsible for the service of legal process. In some jurisdictions, duties of the bailiff include the service of legal documents, repossession and evictions in accordance with court judgments, application of wheel clamps and the execution of arrest warrants." These duties would appear to be similar to those of a British bailiff. Nevertheless, "In Ontario, provincial bailiffs provide primary transportation of prisoners between correctional facilities such as jails and prisons. ... Duties normally associated with bailiffs in other jurisdictions, such as residential evictions, seizures, and other processes order by the court, are performed by sheriffs under the office of the Attorney General of Ontario or "private" bailiffs if initiated without a court order."  As for the US, "Many in the United States use the word bailiff[7] colloquially to refer to a peace officer providing court security. More often, these court officers are sheriff's deputies, marshals, corrections officers or constables. The terminology varies among (and sometimes within) the several states.".

13a   Building // horrendous deficit mostly with the west of Europe (7)

... the clue could equally well have been phrased "... with the east of Europe".

14a   River flowing west through 26 // wanting attention (5)

The numeral "26" is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 26a in its place to complete the clue. The directional indicator is customarily omitted in situations such as this where only a single clue starts in the light^* that is being referenced.

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^* light-coloured cell in the grid

The Dee^[5,7] could be any of several rivers in Scotland, England, Ireland, and Australia among which the most prominent are:

• a river in northeastern Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen
• a river that rises in North Wales and flows past Chester and on into the Irish Sea

15a   Worry about god's // creature of burden (9)

In Norse mythology, Thor^[5,7], the son of Odin and Freya (Frigga), is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing and fertility. Thursday is named after him.

17a   Beaten by one minute /and/ seized (9)

The sort of action that might be undertaken by the court official at 12a.

20a   Stag full of energy /and/ courage (5)

"energy" = E (show explanation )

In physics, E^[5] is a symbol used to represent energy in mathematical formulae.

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What did they say?
In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the 2Kiwis tell us that we need A word for a stag used (generally with the adjective white) in numerous hotel names. A Google search of "White Stag Hotel" shows that there are numerous establishments of that name, most of which would seem to be located in Scotland.

22a   Confronts // son during exam retakes (7)

Resit^[5] is a British^* term which means:

• (verb) to take (an examination) again after failing it  ⇒ she is resitting her maths GCSE [General Certificate of Secondary Education]
• (noun) an examination that is resat ⇒ the system allows the office to timetable all resits in a single block

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^* Despite being characterized by Oxford Dictionaries as British, I must say that this term does not sound at all foreign to my ear.

24a   Kingdom /of/ leather (7)

Morocco^[5,7], officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco,  is a country in north-western Africa, with coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

Conquered by the Arabs in the 7th century, Morocco later fell under French and Spanish influence, each country establishing protectorates in the early 20th century. It became an independent monarchy after the withdrawal of the colonial powers in 1956, the sultan becoming king.

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Morocco^[5] is fine flexible leather made (originally in Morocco) from goatskins tanned with sumac, used especially for book covers and shoes ⇒ a small fat volume bound in red morocco.

25a   More than enough as storage /for/ gas (6)

Ethane^[2] (formula C₂H₆) is a colourless odourless flammable gas belonging to the alkane series of hydrocarbons, and found in natural gas.

26a   City /of/ north-east with unknown number in Labour (3,4)

"unknown number" = Y (show explanation )

In mathematics (algebra, in particular), an unknown^[10] is a variable, or the quantity it represents, the value of which is to be discovered by solving an equation ⇒ 3y = 4x + 5 is an equation in two unknowns. [Unknowns are customarily represented symbolically by the letters x, y and z.]

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Scratching the Surface
The Labour Party[5] (abbreviation Lab.[5]) in Britain is a left-of-centre political party formed to represent the interests of ordinary working people that since the Second World War has been in power 1945–51, 1964–70, 1974-9, and 1997–2010. Arising from the trade union movement at the end of the 19th century, it replaced the Liberals as the country’s second party after the First World War.

27a   Classified line of business? (11)

The classifieds^[5] are small advertisements placed in a newspaper and organized in categories.

I recall when these ads would fill an entire section of the newspaper. Now they have virtually disappeared. They are typically very brief, maybe not a single line (as the clue might suggest) but usually only a very few lines in length.

Down

2d   Group of three // attempt to kidnap popular Italian (7)

"Italian" = IT, in reference to either the language or the vermouth (show explanation )

This cluing might be explained in a couple of ways:

• It.^[10] is an abbreviation for Italian (or Italy).


• Italian^[10] is another name for Italian vermouth. It^[5] is an informal, dated British term for Italian vermouth ⇒ he poured a gin and it.

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3d   Graduate teacher snaffles damaged carafe, // showing no shame (9)

A Bachelor of Education^[7] (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools, though in some countries additional work must be done in order for the student to be fully qualified to teach.

Snaffle^[5] is an informal British term meaning to take (something) for oneself, typically quickly or without permission ⇒ shall we snaffle some of Bernard’s sherry?.

4d   Team schemer regularly /sees/ host (5)

5d   Get rid of // sailor from Poland lacking origin (7)

"sailor" = AB (show explanation )

In the Royal Navy, according to Oxford Dictionaries, able seaman^[5] (abbreviation AB^[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary tells us that an able seaman^[10] (also called able-bodied seaman) is an ordinary seaman, especially one in the merchant navy, who has been trained in certain skills.

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6d   English politician has level /that's/ comparatively vacuous (7)

"politician" = MP (show explanation )

In Britain (as in Canada), a politician elected to the House of Commons is known as a Member of Parliament^[10] (abbreviation MP^[5]) or, informally, as a member^[5].

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7d   Vehicle on burning heap full of black // material (6,5)

Carbon fibre^[5] is a material consisting of thin, strong crystalline filaments of carbon, used as a strengthening material, especially in resins and ceramics ⇒ a carbon-fibre brake disc.

What did they say?

In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the 2Kiwis hint that we are looking for a burning heap that might be seen on 5th of November. This puzzle was published in The Daily Telegraph on November 15, 2017 — ten days after the occasion mentioned by the 2Kiwis. In the UK, November 5th is known as Bonfire Night[5], on which bonfires and fireworks are lit in memory of the Gunpowder Plot*, traditionally including the burning of an effigy of Guy Fawkes. * The Gunpowder Plot[5,7] was a conspiracy by a small group of Catholic extremists (one of the principals being Guy Fawkes) to blow up James I and his Parliament during the State Opening of Parliament on November 5, 1605 by detonating 36 barrels of gunpowder hidden beneath the House of Lords. The explosives were discovered during a search of Parliament at about midnight on November 4th.

8d   Instrument // of French iniquity (6)

"of  French" = DE (show explanation )

In French, de^[8] is a preposition meaning 'of'' or 'from'.

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11d   Operate with risk in order /to make/ political restructuring (11)

In the former Soviet Union, perestroika^[5] was the policy or practice of restructuring or reforming the economic and political system. First proposed by Leonid Brezhnev in 1979 and actively promoted by Mikhail Gorbachev, perestroika originally referred to increased automation and labour efficiency, but came to entail greater awareness of economic markets and the ending of central planning.

16d   Basic principles /of/ game obscure -- sent off! (9)

"game" = RU (show explanation )

Rugby union^[10] (abbreviation RU^[5]) is a form of rugby football played between teams of 15 players (in contrast to rugby league^[5], which is played in teams of thirteen).

 Rugby union^[7] is the national sport in New Zealand, Wales, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Madagascar.

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18d   Submitted, // being dispatched across Italy (7)

"Italy" = I (show explanation )

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Italy is I^[5] [from Italian Italia].

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19d   Puts off a void game // to steal the limelight (7)

20d   Presently on the up, supporting firm // secured by industry (4-3)

21d   Without taking sides, fancy short // TV presenter (6)

Presenter^[5] is a British term for a person who introduces and appears in a television or radio programme. In North America, terms such as host, announcer or anchor might be used for such a person.

23d   Wheat/'s/ second skin? (5)

Spelt^[5] is an old kind of wheat with bearded ears and spikelets that each contain two narrow grains, not widely grown but favoured as a health food.

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