Saturday, March 17, 2018 — The Fairest Green of All

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon should put you in the mood to celebrate this glorious day.

As Irish-American poet Mary Elizabeth Blake wrote:

And all the world rejoices in the wearing o’ the green!

For ’tis green, green, green, where the ruined towers are gray,
And it’s green, green, green, all the happy night and day;
Green of leaf and green of sod, green of ivy on the wall,
And the blessed Irish shamrock with the fairest green of all.

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

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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 █ - yet to be solved

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

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

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

The review of a clue takes the following general structure:

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

---

^* num = numeration

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

(Horizontal separator)

---

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 about the clue. In the case of the weekday syndicated Daily Telegraph puzzles, such information is often 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 - for weekday puzzles, information about an illustration found on Big Dave's Crossword Blog What did he/she/they say? - for weekday puzzles, an explanation of a remark made in a review or comment on Big Dave's Crossword Blog What are they talking about? - for weekday puzzles, 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 - for weekday puzzles, 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

1a   Burn part of a forest, keeping U.S. // green (10)

CHAR|TRE(US)E — CHAR (burn) + TREE (part of a forest) containing (keeping) US (U.S.)

6a   Green growth // verges on mouldiness (4)

MO|SS — initial two letters and final two letters of (verges on) MOuldineSS

9a   Mere lad, fresh /and/ green (7)

EMERALD* — anagram (fresh) of MERE LAD

10a   Cryptic clue about alien planet's last // green stuff (7)

L(ET|T)UCE* — anagram (cryptic) of CLUE containing (about) {ET ([Spielberg's] alien) + T (planeT's last [letter])}

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial^[7] (often referred to simply as E.T.) is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. It tells the story of a lonely boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed "E.T.", who is stranded on Earth. He and his siblings help the extraterrestrial return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.

12a   Notice // quote in speech (5)

SIGHT~ — sounds like (in speech) CITE (quote)

13a   Italian composer linked to Spanish painter/'s/ green pigment (9)

VERDI|GRIS — VERDI (Italian composer) + (linked to) GRIS (Spanish painter)

Giuseppe Verdi^[5] (1813–1901) was an Italian composer. His many operas, such as La Traviata (1853), Aida (1871), and Otello (1887), emphasize the dramatic element, treating personal stories on a heroic scale and often against backgrounds that reflect his political interests. Verdi is also famous for his Requiem (1874).

Juan Gris^[5] (1887–1927) was a Spanish painter; born José Victoriano Gonzales. His main contribution was to the development of the later phase of synthetic cubism. His work features the use of collage and paint in simple fragmented shapes.

14a   Opens wide, swallowing red, // purple and green fruits (6)

G(R)APES — GAPES (opens wide) containing (swallowing) R (red; abbrev. found on video connectors, for instance)

16a   Explorer/'s/ questionable cronies (7)

ERICSON* — anagram (questionable) of CRONIES

I thought the spelling of the explorer's name used by the setters to be questionable but this spelling is offered by Oxford Dictionaries as an alternative.

Leif Ericsson^[5] (also Ericson or Eriksson; 970–1020) was a Norse explorer, son of Eric the Red. He sailed westward from Greenland (c.1000) and visited land variously identified as Labrador, Newfoundland, or New England, which he named Vinland because of the vines he claimed to have found growing there.

18a   Old article within had // someone ready to explode (7)

H(O|THE)AD — {O (old; abbrev.) + THE ([definite] article)} contained in (within) HAD (†)

21a   Green // entirely taken in by bully (6)

C(ALL)OW — ALL (entirely) contained in (taken in by) COW (bully; as a verb)

23a   Claim heat ruined // green stone (9)

MALACHITE* — anagram (ruined) of CLAIM HEAT

Malachite^[5] is a bright green mineral consisting of hydrated basic copper carbonate, which typically occurs in masses and fibrous aggregates.

24a   Scale // chestnut's primary branch (5)

C|LIMB — C (Chestnut's primary [initial letter]) + LIMB (branch)

26a   Lost pound, we // confessed (5,2)

{OWNED UP}* — anagram (lost) of POUND WE

27a   Fights about breakfast fare: // greens, maybe? (7)

V(EGG)IES — VIES (fights) containing (about) EGG (breakfast fare)

28a   Lake turned // green (4)

KALE* — anagram (turned) of LAKE

29a   Rise, carrying dish... // green one? (10)

A(DOLE)SCENT — ASCENT (rise) containing (carrying) DOLE (dish; as a verb ⇒ dole out)

Down

1d   Green // Acres series, in part (5)

_CRES|S_ — hidden in (in part) ACRES Series

Green Acres^[7] is an American sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to Petticoat Junction, the series was first broadcast on CBS, from September 1965 to April 1971. Receiving solid ratings during its six-year run, Green Acres was cancelled in 1971 as part of the "rural purge" by CBS.

2d   Someone who gets back // a volume: Green Bananas (7)

A|V|ENGER* — A (†) + V (volume; symbol used in physics) + anagram (bananas) of GREEN

Scratching the Surface
To the best of my knowledge, the volume "Green Bananas" is merely a convenient invention of the setters.

3d   Tribute // to a Saint (5)

TO|A|ST — TO (†) + A (†) + ST (Saint; abbrev.)

4d   Some greens // finish Currier's partner (7)

END|IVES — END (finish) + IVES (Currier's partner)

Currier and Ives^[7] was a successful American printmaking firm headed by Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888) and James Merritt Ives (1824–1895) based in New York City from 1834 to 1907. The prolific firm produced prints from paintings by fine artists as black and white lithographs that were hand colored. Currier founded the business in 1834 under the name "N. Currier, Lithographer". When Ives became a partner in 1857, the name of the company was changed to "Currier and Ives".

5d   Rush around place, /and/ go on a spree (7)

S(PL)URGE — SURGE (rush) containing (around) PL (place; abbrev. found in street addresses)

7d   Overuse adapted // creative works (7)

OEUVRES* — anagram (adapted) of OVERUSE

8d   Family members // pace and call for help around noon (8)

STEP|SO(N)S — STEP (pace) + (and) SOS (call for help) containing (around) N (noon; abbrev.)

11d   Minor // investigation involving six (7)

TRI(VI)AL — TRIAL (investigation) containing (involving) VI ([Roman numeral for] six)

15d   Having holes // connected bit by bit, securing rope at the front (7)

PIE(R)CED — PIECED (connected bit by bit) containing (securing) R (Rope at the front [initial letter])

17d   Green emblem /made of/ counterfeit diamond (8)

SHAM|ROCK — SHAM (counterfeit) + ROCK (diamond)

19d   Remedy for pain: isolated time in retreat (7)

{T|YLENOL}< — reversal (in retreat) of {LONELY (isolated) + T (time; abbrev.)}

20d   Doctor, high as a kite, // came down gradually (7)

D|RIPPED — D (doctor; abbrev., as in MD or PhD) + RIPPED (high as a kite)

21d   Herb // cooked liver after church (7)

CH|ERVIL* — anagram (cooked) of LIVER following (after) CH (church; abbrev.)

22d   Green mineral // oil spilled by runner (7)

OLI|VINE — anagram (spilled) of OIL + (by) VINE (runner)

Olivine^[5] is an olive-green, grey-green, or brown mineral occurring widely in basalt, peridotite, and other basic igneous rocks. It is a silicate containing varying proportions of magnesium, iron, and other elements.

24d   Pens // 100 Generations (5)

C|AGES — C ([Roman numeral for] 100) + AGES (generations)

Scratching the Surface
"100 Generations" would appear to be another work of fiction invented by the setters.

25d   Attack // enemy's leader in defeat (5)

BES(E)T — E (Enemy's leader [initial letter]) contained in (in) BEST (defeat; used as a verb)

Strange Bedfellows
Ironically, as verbs, best and worst are synonyms. Best[5] is a verb meaning to outwit or get the better of (someone) ⇒ she refused to allow herself to be bested. Worst[5] is a verb denoting to get the better of or defeat ⇒ this was not the time for a deep discussion—she was tired and she would be worsted.

Epilogue

The title of today's review is inspired by the sixteen appearances of the word "green" in this puzzle's clues.

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)

Happy St. Patrick's Day — Falcon