Tuesday, June 12, 2018 — DT 28656

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28656
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28656]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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

While this puzzle may tend toward the more difficult end of Jay's spectrum, you may find it a bit less difficult than the puzzles from the last two days.

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   Decorate popular curry // place to get new look? (8,4)

9a   Sandown empty and a Grand National winner // that gets beaten! (5,4)

The Grand National^[5] is an annual horse race established in 1839, a steeplechase run over a course of 4 miles 856 yards (about 7,200 metres) with thirty jumps, at Aintree, Liverpool, in late March or early April.

The race may be familiar to many as the setting for National Velvet^[7], a 1944 film based on the 1935 novel of the same name by British author Enid Bagnold (1889-1981). The film stars Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp and a young Elizabeth Taylor.

Red Rum^[7] was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse who achieved an unmatched historic treble when he won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and also came second in the two intervening years. The world-famous steeplechase is a notoriously difficult race that has been referred to as being "the ultimate test of a horse’s courage". The horse was renowned for his jumping ability, having not fallen in 100 races.

Scratching the Surface
Sandown[7] is a seaside resort on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England,

10a   Pace /of/ study after tea being delivered (5)

Here and There

Read[3] could be considered to be a synonym for study in a general sense meaning to discern and interpret the nature or significance of through close examination or sensitive observation? ⇒ The tracker read the trail for signs of game. However, in Britain, read[5] specifically means to study (an academic subject) at a university ⇒ (i) I’m reading English at Cambridge; (ii) he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language lists read[3] in this sense as to study or make a study of ⇒ read history as an undergraduate with no indication of it being a British usage. On the other hand, the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary clearly makes note that this is a British usage, defining read[11] as (British) to study (a subject), as at university.

11a   Changes // the last word -- 'dust', oddly (6)

12a   Relation may garage freezing cold // vehicle for one (8)

13a   Canopy /of/ trees disturbed by what, ultimately? (6)

A tester^[5] is a canopy over a four-poster bed.

15a   Plant // a representative in county (8)

In the UK, the clue appeared as above in the printed edition of The Daily Telegraph but was changed on the Telegraph Puzzles website to read:

• Plant // a parliamentarian in county (8)

"representative / parliamentarian" = MP (show explanation )

In Britain (as in Canada), a politician elected to the House of Commons is known as a Member of Parliament^[10] (abbreviation MP^[5]) or, informally, as a member^[5].

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Shire^[5] is a British term for a county, especially in England. Historically, a shire was an administrative district in medieval times ruled jointly by an alderman and a sheriff.

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Samphire^[5] is a European plant of the parsley family, which grows on rocks and cliffs by the sea. Its aromatic fleshy leaves are sometimes eaten as a vegetable.

18a   Fools // rest, covered in burns (8)

Charlie^[5] is an informal British term for a fool ⇒ what a bunch of charlies.

19a   Starting late, imagine tricky // puzzle (6)

21a   Determination /shown by/ 'X', a population centre (8)

23a   Unpleasant experience /of/ gold trade (6)

"gold" = OR (show explanation )

Or^[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture.

In heraldry, a tincture^[5] is any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms.

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26a   Coffee -- // the second of two unfinished (5)

27a   One plying craft /made of/ log going after fish (9)

28a   Factor // in school session with European journal (12)

A factor^[5] is an agent who buys and sells goods on commission ⇒ his father was chief factor for the Hudson's Bay Company.

Down

1d   Melody /making/ cast end in chaos? (7)

In music, the term descant^[5] denotes an independent treble melody sung or played above a basic melody ⇒ A soaring girl soprano descant adds another heavenly layer to the already rich texture.

2d   Offer a service collecting // excise (5)

3d   Plant // rush successfully (9)

Speedwell^[5] is a small creeping herbaceous plant of north temperate regions, with small blue or pink flowers.

4d   A right to be in US city? // Never! (4)

5d   Capital Italian island with a new following // from another country? (8)

6d   Cop worried about note // one found behind bars (5)

The note in question, ti^[5] (also te),  is the seventh note of the major scale in tonic sol-fa. While North America appears to have standardized on the spelling ti, British dictionaries also list te as a variant spelling — although they differ as to which variant is the principal spelling and which is the alternative spelling (show more ).

A perusal of entries in American and British dictionaries produces some interesting results.

The only recognized spelling in the US would seem to be ti^[3,11] while British dictionaries are split into two camps. On one side, Chambers 21st Century Dictionary and Collins English Dictionary give the principal spelling as te^[2,4,10] with ti^[2,4,10] being an alternative spelling. The Chambers Dictionary and Oxford Dictionaries take the contrary position, giving the spelling as ti^[1,5] with te^[1,5] shown as an alternative spelling.
Note that the sister publications, The Chambers Dictionary and Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, are diametrically opposed on the issue and Oxford Dictionaries has done a complete about face as I have notes in my files from a previous review showing that "Oxford Dictionaries decrees that te is the British spelling with ti being the North American spelling."

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An optic^[5] (British trademark) is a device fastened to the neck of an inverted bottle for measuring out spirits.

7d   Attractive // engraving with female head (8)

8d   Stick // diamonds in a present! (6)

"diamonds" = D (show explanation )

Diamonds^[2] (abbreviation D^[2]) is one of the four suits of playing-cards.

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14d   Stand still, /seeing/ a gun unloaded in Texas, perhaps (8)

16d   Corral beast grabbing Republican // correspondent (3,6)

"Republican" = R (show explanation )

A Republican^[5] (abbreviation R^[5])  is a member or supporter of the Republican Party^[5], one of the two main US political parties^*, favouring a right-wing stance, limited central government, and tough, interventionist foreign policy. It was formed in 1854 in support of the anti-slavery movement preceding the Civil War.

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^* the other being the Democratic Party

In the UK, republican^[5] can refer to an advocate of a united Ireland but the abbreviation does not seem to apply to that usage.

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In Britain, pen friend^[2] is another name for a pen pal.

17d   This might hold // lace worked under canvas structure (8)

18d   Farm stock // let out by lion? (6)

20d   Cause of reaction /that's/ largely violent (7)

22d   How one might come for confession? (5)

24d   Surplus // old paintings put up (5)

25d   Earliest form of human transport? (4)

Pram^[5] is a British term for a four-wheeled carriage for a baby, pushed by a person on foot.

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