Tuesday, July 31, 2018 — DT 28691

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28691
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28691]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Mr K
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

I found this to be a very enjoyable puzzle and a bit less difficult than yesterday's.

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^*)

---

^* num = numeration

Explanations pertaining to the wordplay (or first definition in a double definition)

(Horizontal separator)

---

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.

hide explanation

Across

8a   Many miles off old // Portuguese city (4)

Faro^[7] is the capital of the Algarve region, in southern Portugal. It is the southernmost city in Continental Portugal. Tourism and related activities are extensive, with the Algarve^[7] being the most popular tourist destination in Portugal, and one of the most popular in Europe.

9a   Eggs /in/ line, we hear (3)

10a   Pasta -- // much unfinished after ending in bin (6)

Scratching the Surface
Bin[10,14] (also called dustbin or rubbish* bin) is the British term for a garbage can or trash can. * Rubbish[10,14] is the British term for garbage or trash.

11a   College official keeps me // humble (6)

12a   Devil-worshipper // transforms as saint beginning to tremble (8)

13a   A national lottery you can only lose once! (7,8)

15a   Rush // scoundrel into trial (7)

17a   Sport // that's restrictive? (7)

20a   Surprisingly notable status in lieutenant // ranked highly, though defeated? (4,3,3,5)

23a   A pass between wingers in league // game (8)

In soccer, a cross^[5] is a pass of the ball across the field towards the centre close to one's opponents' goal ⇒ Beckham's low cross was turned into the net by Cole.

25a   Grey // lair behind meadow (6)

26a   Cheese rind proper // breakfast, say? (6)

27a   Son is // relative (3)

28a   Spare // prop (4)

Down

1d   Something latched onto gold // cake (6)

The symbol for the chemical element gold is Au^[5] (from Latin aurum).

---

Gateau^[5] [from French gâteau, 'cake'] is a British term for a rich cake, typically one containing layers of cream or fruit.

2d   Destruction of conifers, // legal (8)

3d   Charity event // I snub, by and large disorganised (5-3-3,4)

Bring and buy^[5] (also bring-and-buy sale^[5,10] or bring and buy sale^[2]) is a British term for a charity sale at which people bring items for sale and buy those brought by others ⇒ (i) we are holding a bring and buy on Tuesday; (ii) Jill organized bring-and-buy sales to raise cash.

4d   Arabian, possibly, consuming small // pudding (7)

The Arabian Desert^[5] (also called the Eastern Desert) is a desert in eastern Egypt, between the Nile and the Red Sea.

Upon reading the foregoing definition, I did a double take as that is not all where I expected to find this desert. A check with Collins English Dictionary reveals that, indeed, there is another Arabian Desert^[10], situated mainly in Saudi Arabia, forming the desert area of the Arabian Peninsula.

Here and There
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 the dessert course of a meal ⇒ what’s for pudding?. The terms dessert and pudding are synonymous in Britain and the response to What’s for pudding? could well be Apple pie.

5d   Musician /showing/ popular rocking talent is about to play guitar (15)

6d   Nut securing top of uncoiled // spring (6)

Nut^[5] is an informal term for a person's head ⇒ he's aiming to break a record by balancing a car on his nut.

Bonce^[5] is an informal British term for a person’s head ⇒ he will be wearing a hat to stop his bonce from burning.

7d   Festivals not starting, // I'm afraid to say (4)

A gala^[10 is a celebration or festive occasion.

14d   Somewhat incompetent, // all fingers and thumbs? (3)

16d   Turkish commander // once more dropping in (3)

In Muslim countries, especially under the Ottoman Empire,  aga^[5,10] (or agha^[10]) could denote:

• a title of respect, often used with the title of a senior position
• a military commander or official

---

Origin: Mid 16th century: from Turkish ağa ‘master, lord’, from Mongolian aqa.

18d   OK for one's teeth // to cut into wire (8)

19d   Scent // popular feeling on the radio? (7)

21d   He painted // a revolver, might you say? (6)

J. M. W. Turner^[5] (1775–1851) was an English painter; full name Joseph Mallord William Turner. 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).

22d   Playground equipment // to observe, now and then? (6)

24d   Top // primate, cross (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