Thursday, April 12, 2018 — DT 28613

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28613
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, December 18, 2017
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28613]
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

Enjoy this puzzle. It will be last one you see from this setter.

The following notice appeared with this puzzle in The Daily Telegraph.

A tantalising final puzzle from the great Roger Squires

This Telegraph Crossword is the last in the stellar career of Roger Squires, who is retiring at the age of 85, as reported in yesterday's Sunday Telegraph. Roger has set our crossword 1400 times, and is recognised by Guinness World Records as the most prolific compiler ever. When Roger reached 80, the late Araucaria wrote poetically "Remember this, young Master Squires, no cruciverbalist retires." But Roger, ever his own man, has decided that today is his last day. Bon voyage, Roger — we will miss you.

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 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^*)

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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 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.

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Across

1a   Off Aden, tar moves // from bow to stern? (4,3,3)

Scratching the Surface
Aden[5] is a port in Yemen at the mouth of the Red Sea. Aden was formerly under British rule, first as part of British India (from 1839), then from 1935 as a Crown Colony. It was capital of the former South Yemen from 1967 until 1990.

6a   Grand old politician // with the gift of the gab (4)

While the abbreviation G for "grand" is deemed by British dictionaries to be an Americanism, it seems to be one that is well known to Brits — undoubtedly from American gangster films. It is frequently seen in British crossword puzzles and never seems to garner the abuse that usually greets the appearance of American terms (show more ).

Grand^[5] is an informal term for a thousand dollars or pounds ⇒ he gets thirty-five grand a year. While the term "grand" itself would seem to be commonly used in the UK, the informal abbreviation G^[5] meaning grand appears to be regarded as a North American usage ⇒ I was up nine Gs on the blackjack tables.

G is defined in various British dictionaries as follows:

• Oxford Dictionaries: (North American informal) abbreviation for grand, a thousand dollars)^[5].
• Chambers 21st Century Dictionary: (North American slang) abbreviation for a grand, 1000 dollars^[2].
• Collins English Dictionary: (mainly US slang) a symbol for grand (a thousand dollars or pounds)^[4,10].

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As a political entity, the Liberal Party^[5] (abbrev. Lib.^[5]) is virtually extinct in the UK (show more ).

The Liberal Party in Britain emerged in the 1860s from the old Whig Party and until the First World War was one of the two major parties in Britain. In 1988 the party regrouped with elements of the Social Democratic Party to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, now known as the Liberal Democrats. However, a small Liberal Party still exists although it has no representation in the UK Parliament, no Members of the European Parliament (MEP), no members of the Scottish Parliament, nor any members of the National Assembly for Wales.^[7] Today, he party holds only a handful of seats at the local government level.

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Who is he talking about?

On Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops identifies the political party as one led by Jeremy Thorpe perhaps. Jeremy Thorpe[7] (1929–2014) was a British politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party between 1967 and 1976. In May 1979 he was tried on charges of conspiracy and incitement to murder, arising from an earlier relationship with Norman Scott, a former model. Thorpe was acquitted on all charges, but the case, and the furore surrounding it, ended his political career.

10a   Money /is/ bait that takes many in (5)

"many" = C (show explanation )

In cryptic crosswords,  "(a) number" is very often a Roman numeral and, in particular, terms such as "(a) large number", "many" or "a great many" are frequently used  to indicate that a large Roman numeral — generally C (100), D (500), or M (1000) — is required.

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11a   Shellfish not in // extract? (6,3)

The winkle^[5] (also called periwinkle) is a small herbivorous shore-dwelling mollusc with a spiral shell.

Winkle (something) out^[5] is a British expression denoting to extract or obtain (something) with difficulty ⇒ I swore I wasn't going to tell her, but she winkled it all out of me.

12a   Egg on single girl /to be/ spendthrift (8)

From a British perspective, gal^[5] is an informal North American^* term for a girl or young woman.

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^* Although, like G at 6a, a term that does not appear to raise the hackles of the Brits

13a   Entertainment // from Diana's firm (5)

Here and There
In Britain, disco[5] — in addition to being a style of music or dancing or a club at which such music is performed — can also refer to a party at which people dance to such music.

15a   To want that is right, /though/ comparatively broke? (7)

17a   Scope /of/ the Bard? (7)

Scratching the Surface
The Bard[10] is an epithet of William Shakespeare. * Bard[10] is an archaic or literary term for any poet, especially one who writes lyric or heroic verse or is of national importance.

19a   Landlords /will be/ characters (7)

A letter^[1] is a person who lets, especially on hire. [Among my stable of dictionaries, this definition is found only in The Chambers Dictionary.]

Let^[5] is a British^* term meaning to allow someone to have the use of (a room or property) in return for regular payments ⇒ (i) she let the flat [apartment] to a tenant; (ii) they’ve let out their house.

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^* However, based on its appearance in US dictionaries, I seriously doubt that this word is quite as British as Oxford Dictionaries would have us believe.^[3,11]

21a   Very little // car sickness (7)

Mini^[7] is an automobile brand, currently owned by BMW, but originally introduced as a model under the Austin and Morris marques by the now defunct British Motor Corporation (BMC).

Mal^[1] is a French word meaning 'pain' or 'sickness' — although it is listed in The Chambers Dictionary, likely because it forms part of a number of French terms that have found their way into English such as mal de mer (seasickness), mal du pays (homesickness), and mal du siècle (depression about the state of the world).

22a   Control // force (5)

24a   It's soothing /when you have/ to concentrate (8)

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops makes reference to a pad of lint or other absorbent material which may be placed on a wound to sooth. Lint[5] is a fabric, originally of linen, with a raised nap on one side, used for dressing wounds ⇒ he smeared ointment on a strip of lint. Although this word appears in both British and US dictionaries, it is at the top of the list in the former and at, or near, the bottom of the list in the latter.

27a   Dilapidated inn to fail /in/ time of price increases (9)

My initial thought was to mark the clue as Miffypops has done in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. However, the structure of the clue demands that "time of" be part of the definition.

Collins English Dictionary defines inflation^[10] as the economic situation when prices are rising over time and money loses value.

I think, in this context, "situation" and "time" are at least roughly the same thing.

28a   Computer device // doctor has to operate (5)

"doctor" = MO (show explanation )

A medical officer^[5] (abbreviation MO^[5]) is a doctor in charge of the health services of a civilian or military authority or other organization.

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29a   They accept what is sound (4)

30a   Don boasted about /revealing/ diarist's last words? (3,2,2,3)

Samuel Pepys^[7] [pronounced 'peeps']  (1633–1703) was was an administrator of the navy of England and Member of Parliament who is most famous for the diary that he kept for a decade (1660–9) while still a relatively young man. The diary provides a combination of personal revelation and eyewitness accounts of great events, such as the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War, and the Great Fire of London. Pepys often made entries in the diary before turning in at night, finishing off with the phrase "And so to bed".

A fitting end to Rufus' last puzzle — which I see echoes Big Dave's sentiments!. 

Down

1d   US seasonal // slump? (4)

This clue can be viewed as a double definition if we treat the first part of the clue as an adjective ⇒ the fall collections appear in stores by mid-summer.

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops describes fall as The borrowed word the Americans use for autumn. According to Oxford Dictionaries, fall[5] (also Fall) is the North American term for autumn while Collins English Dictionary characterizes fall[10] as a mainly US term for autumn. The word fall[7] actually came to North America from England. Before the 16th century, harvest was the term usually used to refer to the season, as is common in other West Germanic languages to this day (cf. Dutch herfst and German Herbst). However, as more people gradually moved from working the land to living in towns (especially those who could read and write, the only people whose use of language we now know), the word harvest lost its reference to the time of year and came to refer only to the actual activity of reaping, and autumn, as well as fall, began to replace it as a reference to the season. The term fall came to denote the season in 16th century England. During the 17th century, English emigration to the British colonies in North America was at its peak, and the new settlers took the English language with them. While the term fall gradually became obsolete in Britain, it became the more common term in North America. Notwithstanding the foregoing, I would say that in Canada the terms fall and autumn are used interchangeably and with roughly equal frequency.

2d   Soldiers should meet general // coming back (9)

"soldiers" = RE (show explanation )

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers^[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

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As an adjective, current^[5] can mean in common or general use ⇒ the other meaning of the word is still current.

3d   In the lead -- by so much? (5)

This clue is a cryptic definition comprising a precise definition ("in the lead") combined with cryptic elaboration ("by so much").

Split the solution (1,4) and one gets an expression that describes by how much a horse might be leading in a fairly tight race.

I use the term 'cryptic elaboration' to describe the phrase "by so much" as it does not lead to the solution in its own right but when read in conjunction with the rest of the clue — and only when read in conjunction with the rest of the clue — provides additional information to aid in solving the clue.

As the entire clue is a cryptic definition, it is marked with a dotted underline. The precise definition (embedded within the cryptic definition) is indicated by a solid underline.

4d   Widow/'s/ exhortation to take gamble (7)

5d   Backing group /providing/ cool beat (3,4)

7d   They move around in pride (5)

8d   Waylay // Rose, perhaps (10)

Buttonhole^[5] is a British term for a flower or spray worn in a buttonhole on the lapel of a jacket.

9d   Bishop lounged unsteadily /in/ club (8)

"bishop" = B (show explanation )

B^[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.

A bishop^[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a mitre, that can move any number of spaces in any direction along a diagonal on which it stands. Each player starts the game with two bishops, one moving on white squares and the other on black.

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14d   England supporter /offers/ misplaced help in goal (10)

Scratching the Surface
The England national football team[5] represents England in international football [soccer] and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England are one of the two oldest national teams in football; alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872.

16d   Eric came round /for/ dessert (3,5)

18d   Feeble joke /in/ cracker not dry enough to work? (4,5)

Damp squib^[5] is a British term for a situation or event which is much less impressive than expected ⇒ my moment of power was a damp squib.

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops writes The cracker here is being overworked. First as a Christmas Cracker and secondly as a firework. A cracker[5] is a decorated paper cylinder which, when pulled apart, makes a sharp noise and releases a small toy or other novelty ⇒ a Christmas cracker. The novelty may often be a less than impressive joke.

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A cracker^[5] is a firework that explodes with a sharp noise.

A squib^[5] is a small firework that burns with a hissing sound before exploding.

20d   A part, // once it's revised (7)

21d   Rotational forces — // they last only a short time (7)

Torque^[7] (also known as moment or moment of force) is rotational force. Just as a linear force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist to an object.

23d   Thin disc /made of/ iron used in fighting (5)

The symbol for the chemical element iron is Fe^[5] (from Latin ferrum).

25d   Suspend // terms of reference (5)

Remit^[5] means to cancel or refrain from exacting or inflicting (a debt or punishment) ⇒the excess of the sentence over 12 months was remitted.

Remit^[5] is a British term denoting the task or area of activity officially assigned to an individual or organization ⇒the committee was becoming caught up in issues that did not fall within its remit.

26d   Drove // in another direction (4)

A drove^[5] is a herd or flock of animals being driven in a body ⇒a drove of cattle.

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