Tuesday, May 22, 2018 — DT 28641

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28641
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, January 20, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28641 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28641 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) crypticsue (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

Today's setter seems to have thrown a few curve balls at us. In particular, the homophone at 28a involving two words each of which has alternate pronunciations generated a huge amount of discussion when the puzzle first appeared in the UK.

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   Detectives arresting sailor come over // with all having their say (10)

"detectives" = CID (show explanation )

The Criminal Investigation Department (seemingly better known by its abbreviation CID^[2]) is the detective branch of a British police force.

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"sailor" = TAR (show explanation )

Tar^[5] is an informal, dated nickname for a sailor. The term came into use in the mid 17th century and is perhaps an abbreviation of tarpaulin, also used as a nickname for a sailor at that time.

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6a   Help to contain cold // dangerous substance (4)

9a   Very fit /in/ woolly (5)

"very" = V (show explanation )

The abbreviation v (or v.)^[1,2,5,10] stands for very. Although this definition is found in most of my British dictionaries, it does not appear in any of my American dictionaries. Unfortunately no explanation is given as to the specific context in which one might encounter this usage. The only example that I can imagine is when combined with G as a grade of VG (very good) on school tests or assignments.

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10a   They show where letters should be posted (9)

In the cryptic reading, "posted" is used in the sense of placed or positioned. Thus the solution determines the correct order of letters within a word. The surface reading might allude to a sign in a post office.

12a   This writer's shown leading men's energy /is/ great (7)

"this writer's" = IM (show explanation )

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by combining "this writer" with the verb "to be" producing "this writer's" (a contraction of "this writer is") which must be replaced by "I'm" (a contraction of "I am").

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"energy" = E (show explanation )

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

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13a   Female back exercises, // these things counted when one retires (5)

"exercises" = PE (show explanation )

PE^[5] is an abbreviation^* for physical education.

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^* In my experience, phys ed^{[3,6,11,12,14]} is the more common shortened form in North America.

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15a   Extraordinarily nice, she /is/ from a far country (7)

17a   Hobbles in turning for example -- // short sight? (7)

19a   Posh Bond girl that's torn off a // strip (7)

"posh" = U (show explanation )

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective (in respect to language or social behaviour) meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes ⇒ U manners.

The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).

In Crosswordland, the letter U is frequently clued by words denoting "characteristic of the upper class" (such as posh or superior) or "appropriate to the upper class" (such as acceptable). 

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Ursula Andress^[7] is a Swiss film and television actress, former model and sex symbol, who has appeared in American, British and Italian films. She is best known for her breakthrough role as Bond girl Honey Ryder in the first James Bond film, Dr. No.

21a   Terrier /or/ boxer, for instance (7)

Despite having marked it as one, I concede that it is highly questionable whether this clue is truly a double definition. In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, crypticsue does not show it as such. One fighter is found on the battlefield and the second in the ring. Are those too close in meaning to consider this to be a double definition?

Terrier^[5] is an informal British term for a member of the Territorial Army (TA)^[5] which was at one time the name of a volunteer UK force founded in 1908 to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined military personnel for use in an emergency. Since 2013, it has been called the Army Reserve.

22a   Figure that becomes double after spitting (5)

Behind the Picture
The picture used by Big Dave to illustrate his hint on Big Dave's Crossword Blog is taken from Spitting Image[7], a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV television network in the UK between 1984 and 1996.

24a   Oh dear, rejected embracing bad actor /in/ soap! (7)

27a   One would require nineteen more such as this (9)

Whereas crypticsue appears to have thought of "twentieth" as an ordinal number. I thought of it as a fraction. In either case, it would need nineteen companions. As an ordinal number, it would need nineteen predecessors (although they would not necessarily have to be identical — or even similar). As a fraction, it would need nineteen others just like it to make a whole.

28a   It sounds like a female relative // isn't for you? (5)

This homophone will likely not be for you. While I do pronounce "aunt" as is required by the clue (rather than ANT), my pronunciation of "aren't" is in no way similar.

The word "aren't" (), when pronounced in a non-rhotic (show explanation ) accent typical of dialects found in many parts of Britain, sounds like the word "aunt" ().

Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.

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29a   Go out together /or/ go out of style (4)

30a   Exploding star and new moon observed by Queen/'s/ scientist (10)

"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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Down

1d   What cheats do in football // club that's dodgy? (4)

Soccer players [footballers to the Brits] are notorious for performing this act.

2d   Find 22 rocks // blown up (9)

The numeral "22" is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 22a 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

3d   Shout going topless /is/ best (5)

4d   Cab seen breaking down -- // it's registered by someone not here (7)

When a teacher takes attendance, this is what he or she records in the school register for those not present.

5d   Diving bird caught one coming up, // big thing mostly submerged (7)

The grebe^[5] is a diving waterbird with a long neck, lobed toes, and almost no tail, typically having bright breeding plumage used in display.

"caught" = C (show explanation )

In cricket, one way for a batsman to be dismissed is to be caught out^[5], that is for a player on the opposing team to catch a ball that has been hit by the batsman before it touches the ground.

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c.^[2,10] or c^[5] denotes caught (by).

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7d   Tin loaded on old English // vessel (5)

"O + E" or "OE"?

I think one must assume that the wordplay is employing abbreviations for "old" and "English". While OE is the abbreviation for Old English, both words are capitalized in this term. Using "old English" to clue OE would seemingly violate the convention that the setter may misleadingly capitalize words that do not need to be capitalized but may not omit to capitalize words that do need to be capitalized. "old" = O (show explanation ) References: The Chambers Dictionary: O or O.[1] abbreviation old Chambers 21st Century Dictionary: O[2] Old Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary: O[11] Old; o.[11] old Webster’s New World College Dictionary: O[12] Linguistics Old ⇒ OFr; O[12] old Webster's New World College Dictionary is the only one of these references to provide a context, showing O as meaning Old in Linguistics. However, the second entry from the same source showing O meaning old (not capitalized) suggests that the use of this abbreviation is not necessarily exclusive to the field of Linguistics. hide explanation "English" = E (show explanation ) References: The Chambers Dictionary: E[1] abbreviation English Chambers 21st Century Dictionary: E[2] abbreviation English American Heritage® Dictionary: E[3] abbreviation English Collins English Dictionary: E[4,10] symbol for English Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary: E[11] (or E.) English Webster’s New World College Dictionary: E[12] English hide explanation OE[5] is the abbreviation for Old English[5], the language of the Anglo-Saxons (up to about 1150). Also called Anglo-Saxon, it was an inflected language with a Germanic vocabulary, very different from modern English.

8d   Withdraws // expensive limiting ISA on behalf of son (10)

The abbreviation pp^[5] (per procurationem) is used when signing a letter on someone else's behalf, 

Standard Practice Doesn't Make It Correct

The traditional way to use pp when signing a letter on someone else's behalf is to place pp before one's own name rather than before the name of the other person. This is because the original Latin phrase per procurationem means ‘through the agency of’. However, pp is now often taken to mean ‘on behalf of’ and is placed before the name of the person who has not signed, and this has become standard practice in many offices.

Scratching the Surface
In the UK, an ISA[5] (individual savings account) is a scheme allowing individuals to hold cash, shares, and unit trusts free of tax on dividends, interest, and capital gains; in 1999 it replaced both personal equity plans (PEPs) and tax-exempt special savings accounts (TESSAs). This would appear to be similar to a Canadian TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account).

11d   TV guide entry // on the slant (7)

14d   Familiar // kind of service entertains twee daughter (10)

In tennis and similar games, ace^[5] means:

• (noun) a service that an opponent is unable to return and thus wins a point
• (verb) to serve an ace against (an opponent)

Twee^[5] is a British term meaning excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental ⇒ although the film’s a bit twee, it’s watchable.

"daughter" = D (show explanation )

In genealogies, d^[5] is the abbreviation for daughter ⇒ Henry m. Georgina 1957, 1s 2d^*.

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^* Henry married Georgina in 1957. Their marriage produced 1 son and 2 daughters.

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16d   Some ukulele men taking // part (7)

18d   Troubled, let me pour // oil? (9)

20d   They're girls and women, not only children (7)

Had either been an "only child", they would not be this.

21d   Man in monastery touring east // wing part (7)

In the Christian Church, father^[5] is a title or form of address for a priest ⇒ pray for me, father while brother^[5] refers to a member of a religious order of men ⇒ a Benedictine brother. It is the latter that I envisage as living in monasteries. However, there is at least one monastic order who would appear to be known as fathers. The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit^[7], known also simply as Pauline Fathers, is a monastic order of the Roman Catholic Church, founded in Hungary during the 13th century.

According to The Chambers Dictionary, father^[1] is a title of respect applied to a venerable man, to confessors, monks, priests, etc.

23d   Beer and porter, at heart, /will make one/ dozy? The opposite (5)

The phrase "the opposite" informs the solver that the definition is actually the opposite of what has just been provided.

Scratching the Surface
Porter[5] is a dark brown bitter beer brewed from malt partly charred or browned by drying at a high temperature (originally made as a drink for porters).

25d   Learner in distress -- /you should get/ clear (5)

"learner" = L (show explanation )

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

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26d   Step, missing a // beat (4)

Beat as you would eggs for an omelette.

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