Friday, May 4, 2018 — DT 28629

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28629
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, January 6, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28629 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28629 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) gnomethang (Review)
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
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

For the most part, the Brits seem to have raced through this puzzle. However, there are enough British obscurities that my rate of progress was somewhat more subdued.

As I forewarned you yesterday, the clue at 1d is questionable at best — and I would even go so far as to say that it is downright unfair or incorrect. Here is an alternative clue that you might like to use instead. I have hidden it in case the masochists among you might prefer to do battle with the given clue before resorting to using it (show clue ).

• 1d   Captain doffs cap presenting fish (6)

hide clue

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

7a   Vincent accepts Leo running wild /in/ brutality (8)

Before arriving at the correct solution, I first tried to cast Vincent PRICE in a starring role here.

9a   Plain // central stretch of inlet undrained (6)

Although not the Prairies, Canadians should have little difficulty finding this plain (show more ) which, as my mother would have put it, is "hiding in plain sight".

The tundra^[5] is a vast, flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen.

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10a   Ancient city, // not all in South Africa (6)

"South Africa" = SA (show explanation )

SA^[5] is the abbreviation for South Africa.

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Sparta^[2,5], a city in the southern Peloponnese in Greece, was a powerful city state in the 5th century BC, defeating its rival Athens in the Peloponnesian War to become the leading city of Greece. The city was noted for its austerity and its citizens were characterized by their courage and endurance in battle and by the simplicity and brevity of their speech.

11a   Device used when travelling // from Cape Horn? (3,5)

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, gnomethang shows the anagram indicator as being "travelling". Personally, I believe that "travelling" is part of the definition and that the wordplay is implicitly indicated by "from" in combination with the question mark.

12a   Tom caught in falsehood after outing // in three parts (10)

14a   Charged /for/ fodder (4)

Financially stretched

The rarely used verb fee[5] means to to make a payment to (someone) in return for services. I really can't see that this is a synonym for charge. Charge means to incur a financial obligation ⇒ I charged the trip on my credit card. Said financial obligation is not settled until the debt thus incurred has been discharged. Fee (make a payment) would seem to imply a financial obligation that has been settled.

15a   Chatter disturbed tragedian's // waffle (3,3,7)

I solved this clue strictly on the wordplay and was left without a clue (pun intended) as to how to explain the definition. My usual stable of dictionaries failed me — admittedly, I did neglect to pull the Big Red Book (The Chambers Dictionary) off the shelf.

When I found the following, needless to say I was even more confused:

All gas and gaiters^[a] is a dated informal expression denoting a satisfactory state of affairs ⇒ She cries ‘Oh, Freddie darling!’ and flings herself into his arms, and all is gas and gaiters again. — P. G. Wodehouse, Ice in the Bedroom (1961)

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^[a] Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
Origin: This expression was first recorded in Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby (1839):  'Aha!' cried the old gentleman, folding his hands, and squeezing them with great force against each other. 'I see her now; I see her now! My love, my life, my bride, my peerless beauty. She is come at last--at last--and all is gas and gaiters!'.

Finally, I discovered that gas and gaiters^[b] can also mean pomposity and verbosity

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^[b] Wiktionary

The Chambers Dictionary (the source I should have gone to in the first place — although that would have meant not discovering the other sense of the phrase) defines gas and gaiters^[1] as nonsense.

Here and There

Waffle[5] is an informal British term meaning: (noun) lengthy but vague or trivial talk or writing ⇒ we've edited out some of the waffle (verb) to speak or write at length in a vague or trivial manner ⇒ he waffled on about his problems From a British perspective, waffle[5] is: (noun) a US term meaning a failure to make up one's mind ⇒ his waffle on abortion (verb) a North American term meaning to fail to make up one's mind ⇒ Joseph had been waffling over where to go

17a   Find out about scrapping over // record (4)

18a   Shabby // fluff behind foot? (4-2-4)

Conceivably, I suppose, one might consider the latter part of the clue to be a charade. However, I have chosen to mark it as a cryptic definition (which I believe is consistent with gnomethang's interpretation).

Down-at-heel (also down-at-the-heel or down-at-the-heels^[5]) is an expression denoting showing signs of neglect and deterioration or, in other words, shabby ⇒ a down-at-the-heels house.

20a   Eavesdrop // in this direction, you say? (8)

21a   Flood // at home, getting cross after complaint (6)

In Crosswordland, complaints are generally found to be medical in nature.

23a   Go with Queen/'s/ painter (6)

"Queen" = ER (show explanation )

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

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J. M. W. Turner^*[5] (1775–1851) was an English painter. He made his name with landscapes and stormy seascapes, becoming increasingly concerned with depicting the power of light by the use of primary colours, often arranged in a swirling vortex. Notable works: Rain, Steam, Speed (1844); The Fighting Téméraire (1838).

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^* full name Joseph Mallord William Turner

24a   Sure things /should be/ secure, organised best (4,4)

Down

1d   Captain's given / fish / but not head (6)

A kipper^[5] is a herring or other fish that has been split open and cured by salting and drying it in the open air or in smoke.

Who's losing their head here?
I seriously doubt that anyone would attempt to defend the construction of this clue. To get the solution (a processed fish), one must remove the initial letter (head) from another name for the captain of a boat. However, as gnomethang puts it "the clue reads as if one must remove the head letter from a fish to get a captain".

Here is the solution to the alternative clue (show solution )

1d   Captain doffs cap /presenting/ fish (6) 

_KIPPER — [S]KIPPER (captain) with the initial letter (cap) removed (doffs)

hide solution

2d   Endless drink making one do this? (4)

Diverging a bit from gnomethang's approach, I would say that this is a case where the entire clue provides a definition which has wordplay embedded in it — making the clue a semi-all-in-one (show explanation ).

In an &lit. clue^[7] (or, as some prefer to call it, 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 a semi-&lit. clue (or, as some prefer to call it, 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.

hide explanation

One might possibly make an argument that the definition is cryptic and therefore should be marked with a dotted underline. However, having looked into how that might be done, I find it to be difficult — if not impossible — to achieve and any attempt to do so would likely not be supported across different browsers. So we are stuck with a solid underline — which might even be the correct markup in this instance.

3d   Vain son I ordered /to get/ occupation (8)

4d   Look about five, /and/ go hungry (6)

5d   Present // going with birthday suit (2,3,5)

Somewhat ironically, in the "precise" definition (i.e., the definition one would find in a dictionary), the solution is used in a figurative sense while the cryptic definition employs the solution in a literal sense.

6d   They take care of the draught but also sink the spirits (8)

I have to say that I did a bit of a double take on reading gnomethang's review of this clue. However, I quickly realized that a letter "s" is missing in action.

8d   Quarrel -- /and/ produce sword? (8,5)

This is a reverse wordplay clue — specifically a reverse anagram. Contrary to the usual situation (in which the indicator and fodder are found in the clue and the result in the solution), here the indicator and fodder are found in the solution and the result is found in the clue.

The solution is EXCHANGE WORDS (quarrel) which — if interpreted as wordplay — would be an anagram (EXCHANGE) of WORDS leading to the result (produce) SWORD that is found in the clue itself.

13d   Racing foolishly, tense at first /but/ no longer concerned (4,6)

15d   Doctor gives our outcome /to be/ severe (8)

16d   Bagged up // very soon? (2,1,5)

Padded mailers^[7] are padded envelopes used for packaging products for shipment. In the United Kingdom they are known as Jiffy bags after a famous manufacturer, the Jiffy Packaging Company.

18d   Gloomy // organ in arid setting (6)

The split indicator "in ... setting" is equivalent to 'contained in'.

19d   Looking towards heaven, person that's holy and chaste // spouts (6)

22d   Lies // if coming up with abuse regularly (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)
^[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