Introduction
I am out of town for a family reunion this weekend. The solution to today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon was composed during breaks in the festivities.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
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
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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
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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:
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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)
Explanatory Box
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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:
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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.
ExamplesI 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.
A few examples may help to illustrate these points more clearly.
The first example is a clue used by Jay in DT 28573:
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).
- 4d Fellow left work // a failure (4)
The second example is a clue used by Giovanni in DT 28575:
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.
- 29a Female going to match // travels with mother in advance (10)
The third example is a clue used by Rufus is DT 28583:
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/).
- 18d Knight caught by misplaced big blow /is/ staggering (8)
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)
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 Certain memory by Sulu recalled // mythic twin (7)
ROM|ULUS< — ROM (certain memory; read only memory) + (by) reversal (recalled) of SULU
5a Bones /and/ friends pursuing vehicle (7)
CAR|PALS — PALS (friends) following (pursuing) CAR (vehicle)
9a Run into Spock and aliens engaging // mechanisms (9)
SP(R)OCKETS — R (run; abbrev.) contained in (into) SPOCK (†) + (and) ETS (aliens; extra-terrestrials)
10a Warp drive /for/ composer (5)
VERDI* —anagram (warp) of DRIVE
11a Help capturing pair from Voyager/’s/ escape (5)
A(VO)ID — AID (help) containing (capturing) VO ([initial] pair [of letters] from VOyager)
12a Skips over // unstable regions (7)
IGNORES* — anagram (unstable) of REGIONS
14a Chekov made audible // mark on a list (5,3)
{CHECK OFF}~ — sounds like (made audible) CHEKOV
16a Doctor cares about a ruler (6)
CAESAR* — anagram (doctor) of CARES containing (about) A (†)
18a What powers a rocket // through Ferengi nebula (6)
_ENGI|NE_ — hidden in (through) FerENGI NEbula
20a Kirk: gent flying // on a great journey (8)
TREKKING* — anagram (flying) of KIRK GENT
23a Scott offering // one truck tool (7)
I|VAN|HOE — I ([Roman numeral for] one) + VAN (truck) + HOE (tool)
24a Stars // near our vicinity attract Enterprise’s leaders (5)
NOVAE — initial letters (leaders) of Near Our Vicinity Attract Enterprise
26a Note Troi saving the last // kind of rocket (5)
RE|TRO_ — RE ([musical] note) + TRO[
27a Uhura’s set out // a collection of related terms (9)
THESAURUS* — anagram (out) of UHURAS SET
28a Phaser’s shot in short passages (7)
PHRASES* — anagram (shot) of PHASERS
29a Time put into zappers /for/ sample consumers (7)
TAS(T)ERS — T (time; abbrev.) contained in (put into) TASERS (zappers)
Down
1d Studied // broadcast again, taking in bridge (10)
RESE(ARCH)ED — RESEED (broadcast [seeds] again) containing (taking in) ARCH (bridge)
2d Fictional detective // depressed when carried by horse (7)
MAR(LOW)E — LOW (depressed) contained in (when carried by) MARE (horse)
3d Jean-Luc, I decide, keeps // clear (5)
_LUC|I|D_ — hidden in (keeps) Jean-LUC I Decide
4d She repeated lines /for/ law officers (8)
SHE|RIFFS — SHE (†) + RIFFS (repeated lines)
5d A coin’s tossed /in/ better place? (6)
CASINO* — anagram (tossed) A COINS
A "better place" is a place frequented by betters.
6d Braver kin, jumping around, // land by a stream (9)
RIVERBANK* — anagram (jumping around) of BRAVER KIN
7d Checks // arrival, estimated by Saturday (7)
ARR|EST|S — ARR (arrival; abbrev.) + EST (estimated; abbrev.) + S (Saturday; abbrev.)
8d Species conveying greeting /for/ vessel (4)
S(HI)P — SP (species; abbrev.) containing (conveying) HI (greeting)
13d Moves on // public relations monsters (10)
PR|OGRESSES — PR (public relations; abbrev.) + OGRESSES (monsters)
15d Animals // go on Ark as arranged (9)
KANGAROOS* — anagram (arranged) of GO ON ARK AS
17d Least extended // cheese party? (8)
BRIE|FEST — BRIE (cheese) + FEST (party) or BRIE FEST (cheese party?)
19d First of guys refuse // to shine (7)
G|LITTER — G (first [letter] of Guys) + LITTER (refuse)
21d The opposite // in poetry (7)
IN|VERSE — IN (†) + VERSE (poetry)
22d Audibly goes riding swiftly over // water slides (6)
CHUTES~ — sounds like (audibly) SHOOTS (goes riding swiftly over; over rapids perhaps)
24d Approaches // first of nine jug handles (5)
N|EARS — N (first [initial letter] of Nine) + EARS (jug handles)
25d Advice about restricted // journey (4)
T(R)IP — TIP (advice) containing (about) R(restricted; film classification)
Epilogue
The theme of today's puzzle should be self evident to most, and especially to Trekkies.Key to Reference Sources:Signing off for today — Falcon
[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)
Good day Falcon and fine folk,
ReplyDeleteAt the onset, I thought this was going to be a difficult puzzle since I am not a big "trekkie". However, after getting a handful of clues on first read-through, the rest filled in very nicely. Nothing too strenuous. Last one in was 4d.
Thank you for posting Falcon and have a good weekend everyone!
Cheers,
MG
Good morning MG and everyone! I'm off to Guelph today, but managed to find a bit of time to do the Cryptic. This one is as close to a read and write as I've seen in a long time. Good puzzling, everyone - and thanks for posting, Falcon.
ReplyDeleteHenry
Good morning,
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with MG.
Except that 22d was my last in and I'm not sure of the parsing: the answer is a homophone of 'goes riding swiftly over'?
Also no sure of the parsing of 1d: I have a ten letter word meaning 'studied' made up of a four letter word for bridge inside rese****ed.
Had to check the thesaurus to get 27a.
Especially liked 17d.
Have a good weekend!
Peter
Hi Peter - for 22d 'shoots' = going over the water/waves quickly? And 1d reseeded = to broadcast (spread out) seed again. And ha-ha to your 27a.
DeleteHenry
My comments are identical to those of MG. Still stymied with 4d.
ReplyDeleteHi Sydney,
DeleteIn case you are not a musician, a riff is a short repeated phrase or chords in a song. Does that help?
MG
Well, if I had put check OFF rather than check OUT, I would have solved 4d. Grr.
ReplyDelete