Wednesday, July 25, 2018 — DT 28687

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28687
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, March 15, 2018
Setter Shamus (Philip Marlow)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28687]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Kath
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

It has been a while since we have seen a puzzle from Shamus — or, at least, one that has been identified as one of his. That's a shame as I always find his puzzles to be a lot of fun.

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   Monkey /is/ second in running stream (8)

"second" = MO (show explanation )

Mo^[5,10] (abbreviation for moment) is an informal, British^[5] (or mainly British^[10]) term for a short period of time ⇒ hang on a mo!.

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The marmoset^[5] is a small tropical American monkey with a silky coat and a long tail.

6a   Listless // way of working on ship at sea (6)

MO^[5] (abbreviation for the Latin phrase modus operandi) is the way a particular person tends to do things ⇒ (i) his MO isn’t prescribing the solution but sparking more questions; (ii) Connor can’t figure out the killer’s MO.

9a   Complication /in/ theorist's first opinion (6)

10a   I'm probing a mate/'s/ bitterness (8)

In Britain, mate^[5] — in addition to being a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner — is an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒ my best mate Steve.

11a   Sports event /in/ historic city including one type of jump that's a bit short (8)

Bath^[5] is a spa town in southwestern England. The town was founded by the Romans, who called it Aquae Sulis, and was a fashionable spa in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

The long jump^[5] is an athletic event in which competitors jump as far as possible along the ground in one leap.

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The biathlon^[5] is a Nordic skiing event in which the competitors combine cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.

12a   Little house completed /for/ old President (6)

"little house" (abbreviation for house) = HO (show explanation )

Although not found in most of the dictionaries I consulted, ho.^[10] is the abbreviation for house.

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Herbert Hoover^[5] (1874–1964) was an American Republican statesman, 31st president of the US 1929–33. As president he was faced with the long-term problems of the Depression.

13a   Musical talent/'s/ tense, dark material (7,5)

In grammar, the perfect^[10] (also the perfect tense^[10] ) is the tense of a verb that indicates that the action has been completed.

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Perfect pitch^[5] is the ability to recognize the pitch of a note or produce any given note; a sense of absolute pitch.

16a   Key chart shop doctored /as/ kind of extreme measure (5,7)

The term shock therapy^[10] encompasses a broader range of treatments, including the treatment of certain psychotic conditions by passing an electric current through the brain to induce coma or convulsions (electroconvulsive therapy^[10] or electroshock therapy) and the injection of drugs to produce convulsions or coma.

19a   Fencing, say, by a // Black Sea region (6)

Fencing^[10] is a slang term for the business of buying and selling stolen property.

According to Oxford Dictionaries, Crimea^[5] (usually the Crimea) is a peninsula of Ukraine lying between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. It was the scene of the Crimean War in the 1850s. The majority of the population is Russian.

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Delving Deeper

Seemingly unbeknownst to Oxford — or perhaps just not recognized — Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014[7]. Though Russia has control over the peninsula, sovereignty is disputed as Ukraine and the majority of the international community consider the annexation illegal, as shown by the United Nations General Assembly adopting a non-binding resolution calling upon states not to recognise changes to the integrity of Ukraine. A range of international sanctions remain in place against Russia and a number of named individuals as a result of the events of 2014.

21a   A receptacle holding small article /for/ liqueur (8)

Absinthe^[5,7,10] (also absinth) is a potent green aniseed-flavoured alcoholic drink, technically a gin, originally made with the shrub wormwood. For most of the twentieth century, absinthe was banned in the United States and much of Europe.

What did she say?
In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Kath describes a bin as a large receptacle often used to put rubbish in. 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.

23a   Endless wine, refined hock, with starter of potted // meat (4,4)

"wine" = PORT (show explanation )

Port^[5] (also port wine) is a strong, sweet dark red (occasionally brown or white) fortified wine, originally from Portugal, typically drunk as a dessert wine. The name is a shortened form of Oporto, a major port from which the wine is shipped.

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Scratching the Surface
Hock[5] is a British term for a dry white wine from the German Rhineland. Starter[5] is a British* name for the first course of a meal. * according to Oxford Dictionaries, the term is British, but it is certainly one that I would say is not particularly foreign to Canada Potted[5] is a British term denoting (in reference to meat or fish) preserved in a sealed pot or jar ⇒ potted shrimps.

24a   Last piece I have /should be/ bit of salad? (6)

What's in your salad?

The menu may say endive and chicory but unless you happen to be a botanist you'd be hard-pressed to know for certain what you are eating. Endive[5,7,10,12] is the common name for an edible Mediterranean plant (Cichorium endivia), the bitter leaves of which may be used in salads. I would say that the assertion by Oxford that this is a "British" term is, at best, misleading. The varieties of endive are placed in two groups: curly endive or frisée (Cichorium endivia crispum), with curled leaves, and Batavian endive or escarole (Cichorium endivia latifolia), with smooth leaves. This latter plant is also known as broad-leaved endive, Bavarian endive, grumolo, scarola, and scarole. Chicory[5,7,10,12] is a related plant (Cichorium intybus) that is also used in salads. Again the assertion by Oxford that this is a "British" term would seem to be misleading. Confusion arises from the fact that the common name for curly endive in the United States is chicory and that a particular variety of chicory (Cichorium intybus foliosum) is commonly known (among many other names) as endive, Belgian endive, French endive, or red endive. Thus the chicory in your salad may actually be endive and the endive may in fact be chicory.

25a   Colourful // area missing from holiday destination (6)

26a   Cast spell over // element in umpteenth rally (8)

Here and There
The fact that enthrall is the US spelling of enthral[2,5,10] did not go unnoticed on Big Dave's Crossword Blog.

Down

2d   A man serving in a party // slowly with notes? (6)

"man serving" = GI (show explanation )

A GI^[5] is a private soldier in the US army ⇒ she went off with a GI during the war.

Contrary to popular belief, the term apparently is not an abbreviation for general infantryman, but rather derives from the term government (or general) issue (originally denoting equipment supplied to US forces).

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Do^[5,12] is an informal British^[5] or chiefly British^[12] term^* for a party or other social event ⇒ the soccer club Christmas do.

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^* although Webster’s New World College Dictionary supports the contention by Oxford Dictionaries Online that this usage is British, two other American dictionaries do not characterize do^[3,11] used in this sense as a British term

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Adagio^[5] is a musical term denoting (especially as a direction) in slow time.

3d   Person of limited stature, we're told, /in/ power (5)

4d   Alarm's let off? // Suspect something's up (5,1,3)

5d   Birch maybe retains awe principally in // one learning (7)

Scratching the Surface
Historically, the birch[5] (noun) was a formal punishment in which a person was flogged with a bundle of birch twigs ⇒ there were calls to bring back the birch. As a verb, birch[5] means to beat (someone) with a bundle of birch twigs as a formal punishment ⇒ the school would attempt to birch them into submission.

6d   Swampy ground // damages hospital (5)

"hospital" = H

7d   Shame about old politician with huge // pretentiousness (9)

"politician" = 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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"huge" = OS (show explanation )

The sizes of clothing that North Americans would describe as plus-size^[7] (or often big and tall in the case of men's clothing) would be called outsize (abbreviation OS^[5]) in Britain.

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8d   A period normally follows this // court judgment (8)

As Brits normally refer to a period as a full stop, I was expecting more pushback here than actually materialized.

At Comment #25, LetterboxRoy has the following to say about the word 'period':

Although the dictionary says esp, US and Canada it’s still perfectly valid in [British] English. I presumed it was the origin ‘I’m not doing it, period’ = ‘I’m not doing it, full stop’ as in end of discussion.

13d   Leading figure in a field /offering/ hearty support? (9)

In a figurative sense, the term pacemaker^[5] denotes a person who sets standards of achievement for others ⇒ unbeaten Rangers are the surprise pacemakers.

In its original sense, a pacemaker^* does not necessarily lead the entire field but, rather, sets the pace for a particular runner (or runners) in a field (and, thus, is a "leading figure" for this individual or group). The role of the pacemaker is to set a pace that is sustainable over the duration of the race. Going out too fast at the start might well result in a runner becoming overly tired toward the end of the race and not achieving the best result possible.

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^* A pacemaker^[5] is a person or animal who sets the pace at the beginning of a race, sometimes in order to help a runner break a record ⇒ he acted as a pacemaker for Bannister when he broke the four-minute mile.

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Medically speaking, a pacemaker^[5] is a device for stimulating the heart muscle and regulating its contractions.

14d   Passing // rogue in tent's mobbing artist (9)

"artist" = RA (show explanation )

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[10]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5] (also Royal Academy; abbreviation also RA^[10]), an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain. 

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15d   Kind of grey // church on curve over a lake (8)

"over" = O (show explanation )

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation O^[5] denotes over(s), an over^[5] being a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

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17d   Abridged OT book with more than enough // illustration (7)

Exodus^[5] (abbreviation Exod. or Ex.^[5]) is the second book of the Bible, which recounts the departure of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, their journey across the Red Sea and through the wilderness led by Moses, and the giving of the Ten Commandments. The events have been variously dated by scholars between about 1580 and 1200 BC.

18d   Scoop /in/ southern seaside resort: Liberal comes last (6)

Hove^[5] is a resort on the southern coast of England, a city (with Brighton) from 2000; population.

"Liberal" = L (show more )

The Liberal Party^[5] (abbreviation Lib.^[5] or L^[2])^* in Britain emerged in the 1860s from the old Whig Party and until the First World War was one of the two major parties in Britain. In 1988 the party regrouped with elements of the Social Democratic Party to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, now known as the Liberal Democrats. However, a small Liberal Party still exists although it has no representation in the UK Parliament, no Members of the European Parliament (MEP), no members of the Scottish Parliament, nor any members of the National Assembly for Wales.^[7] Today, the party holds only a handful of seats at the local government level.

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^* Although Lib.^[5] may be the more common abbreviation for the Liberal Party in Britain — likely to distinguish it from the the Labour Party^[5] (abbreviation Lab.^[5]) — Chambers 21st Century Dictionary indicates that L^[2] may also be used.

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20d   Insect // concealed under a plant's head (5)

22d   In discussion, a directorial // low point (5)

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