Friday, June 8, 2018 — DT 28654

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28654
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, February 5, 2018
Setter Mister Ron (Chris Lancaster)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28654]
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

Today's puzzle is a light mental workout from Mister Ron with a once again topical reference at 4d. I didn't even notice the error in the numeration until it was pointed out by Clive in the comments on Big Dave's site. Given that those of us residing in Ontario had the opportunity yesterday to make our X, 13d is also rather timely.

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   Mad relatives // a potential cause of mishap (6,4)

6a   Short rounds? (4)

Here and There

In the surface reading, both Brits and North Americans might envisage "rounds" in a medical context. However, Brits might also think of it in another sense. Round[5] is a British term meaning a journey along a fixed route delivering goods as part of one’s job or a job involving such journeys ⇒ I did a newspaper round. From a British perspective,  route[5] is a North American term meaning a round travelled in delivering, selling, or collecting goods.

10a   Unusual degree /in/ dance (5)

Rum^[5] is a dated informal British term meaning odd or peculiar ⇒ it’s a rum business, certainly.

11a   Some complain Tiverton/'s/ miserable (9)

Scratching the Surface
Tiverton[7] is a town in the English county of Devon.

12a   It holds arm in place for drawing (7)

13a   European reader // one makes cross (7)

A lector^[5] is a reader, especially someone who reads lessons^* in a church service.

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^* A lesson^[5] is a passage from the Bible read aloud during a church service, especially either of two readings at morning and evening prayer in the Anglican Church ⇒ he went up to read the first lesson.

14a   Lie about Conservative linked with Marxist /gets/ reviewed (12)

"Conservative" = CON (show explanation )

The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.^[10] or Con.^[10].

The Conservative Party^[5] is a a major British political party that emerged from the old Tory Party^* under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s. Since the Second World War, it has been in power 1951–64, 1970-74, and 1979–97. It governed in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats from 2010 until the general election of May 2015, in which it was returned with a majority.

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^* Historically, a Tory^[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.

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Lie^[5] is used in the sense (said of something abstract) to reside or be found ⇒ the solution lies in a return to traditional values.

18a   Like gallery or halls // with no more to pay? (3-9)

21a   Book covering // state of Africa (7)

23a   Expand // area beyond lake in redevelopment of green (7)

24a   Clean, // could become dull in use (9)

25a   Set // location (5)

26a   Pan opponent // hit by boxer (4)

Captain James Hook^[7] is a fictional character, the antagonist of J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up and its various adaptations, in which he is Peter Pan's archenemy. The character is a pirate captain of the brig Jolly Roger.

27a   Constituent // blasted dingier hospital department (10)

"hospital department" = ENT (show explanation )

Should you not have noticed, the ear, nose and throat (ENT^[2]) department is the most visited section, by far, in the Crosswordland Hospital.

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Down

1d   Dawn's reported /offering/ places to sleep (6)

2d   Quick -- // storage unit's engulfed by river (6)

The Nile^[5] is a river in eastern Africa, [disputably (show more )] the longest river in the world, which rises in east central Africa near Lake Victoria and flows 6,695 km (4,160 miles) generally northwards through Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt to empty through a large delta into the Mediterranean.

There are many factors, such as the source, the identification or the definition of the mouth, and the scale of measurement of the river length between source and mouth, that determine the precise meaning of "river length"^[7]. As a result, the length measurements of many rivers are only approximations. In particular, there has long been disagreement as to whether the Nile or the Amazon is the world's longest river. The Nile has traditionally been considered longer, but in recent years some Brazilian and Peruvian studies have suggested that the Amazon is longer by measuring the river plus the adjacent Pará estuary and the longest connecting tidal canal.

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3d   Like a ring /that's/ a little blue? (4,3,7)

Near the knuckle^[5] is an informal British expression meaning verging on the indecent or offensive.

4d   Stand-in covers for each winger /in/ US final (9)

As Clive points out at Comment #16 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the numeration should have been (5,4).

The Super Bowl^[5] is the National Football League championship game played annually between the champions of the National and the American Football Conferences.

Super Bowl LII^[7] was played on February 4, 2018 (the day prior to this puzzle being published in the UK). The NFC Philadelphia Eagles defeated the AFC New England Patriots 41-33.

You can't snub me ... I snubbed you first!
The Eagles had been invited to the White House on Tuesday of this week for the traditional presidential celebration. However, President Donald Trump rescinded the invitation when it became apparent that virtually no members of the team planned to attend.

5d   Traitor that is going around // cross (5)

The trick here is to read the wordplay as a series of instructions or a recipe "Traitor; that is going around" which parses as [Step 1] RAT (traitor); [Step 2] IE (that is; abbrev. for id est, Latin term meaning 'that is') containing (going around) [the result from Step 1]).

7d   Tourism ruined by English // rain? (8)

8d   Supersede // order I've sent out (8)

9d   Like a picture that comes out badly // scrawny (14)

15d   Upset American consumer // that keeps stocking up (9)

Here and There

To the British, suspenders[5] are an elastic strap attached to a belt or garter, fastened to the top of a stocking to hold it up. These are known in North America as garters[5]. In North America, suspenders[5] are a pair of straps that pass over the shoulders and fasten to the waistband of a pair of trousers or a skirt at the front and back to hold it up. These are known in the UK as braces. In my experience, the latter are known in Canada as either braces or suspenders.

16d   Stop opening /in/ Welsh town (8)

Barmouth^[7] is a town in the county of Gwynedd, north-western Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Mawddach and Cardigan Bay.

17d   Regularly nail fine score playing // in The Open (2,6)

Capital Misdirection
Beware the false capitalization in the second instance of "The Open". While cryptic crossword convention considers it fair game for setters to insert capitalization where it is not required, it is deemed unacceptable to omit necessary capitalization.

Scratching the Surface
While to the rest of the world this golf tournament is the British Open, in typical British fashion, it is known in the UK as simply The Open[7].

19d   Make /of/ jalopy that needs injection of energy (6)

"energy" = E (show explanation )

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

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What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops tells us Find another name for a jalopy or old banger .... Banger[5] is an informal British term for an old car in poor condition ⇒ they’ve only got an old banger.

20d   Leave // afters with only one portion of seconds (6)

Afters^[5] is an informal British term for the sweet course following the main course of a meal; or, in British parlance, pudding^* ⇒ there was apple pie for afters.

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^* Whereas in North America, the term pudding^[5] denotes specifically a dessert with a soft or creamy consistency, in Britain the term pudding refers to either:

• a cooked sweet dish served after the main course of a meal; or 
• the dessert course of a meal ⇒ what’s for pudding?.

 The terms dessert, pudding and afters are synonymous in Britain and the response to What’s for pudding? could well be Apple pie.

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Sweet^[5] (used by Miffypops in his review) is another British term for a sweet dish forming a course of a meal; in other words, a pudding or dessert.

22d   Men head off wild animal /for/ hunter (5)

"men" = OR (show explanation )

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks^[5] (abbreviation OR^[5]) refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

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In Greek mythology, Orion^[5] is a giant and hunter who was changed into a constellation at his death.

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