Tuesday, August 21, 2018 — DT 28708

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28708
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, April 9, 2018
Setter Dada (John Halpern)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28708]
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 offering is a fairly gentle "start of the week" puzzle from Dada — well, it was the start of the week when it made its appearance in the UK.

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 The Story 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   Look to the orchestra // to accept the consequences? (4,3,5)

A double definition, the second being a figurative expression and the first a literal interpretation of that expression.

9a   Listen in, // as dope very briefly translated (9)

10a   Clever // sting (5)

11a   Seen from behind, a chap with a soft // hat (6)

Chap^[3,4,11] is an informal British^[5] or chiefly British^[3] term for a man or boy (show more ) — although a term that is certainly not uncommon in Canada.

Chap^[3,4,11] is a shortened form of chapman^[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar^[a,b].

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^[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler^[14] which, in most senses, is a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
^[b] The current meaning of chap^[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.

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"piano" = P (show explanation )

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

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A panama^[5] (also panama hat) is a man’s wide-brimmed hat of straw-like material, originally made from the leaves of a particular tropical palm tree.

12a   Keep // mum in school, right away (8)

Mum^[3,4,11] is a chiefly British term for mother.

13a   Warm // to a dirty home (6)

15a   Dear me, article penned by communist /is/ erudite (4-4)

18a   Calorific food // party lover eats that's disgusting! (8)

19a   Drawing // done, else half finished (6)

A pastel^[5] is:

• a crayon made of powdered pigments bound with gum or resin
• a work of art created using pastels ⇒ a pastel entitled “Girl Braiding Her Hair

21a   Broken trust in a // person exposed (8)

A naturist is a practitioner of naturism — naturism^[1] being communal nudity or nudity practised openly, especially when done so in the belief that it encourages self-respect, respect for others and a feeling of being in harmony with nature.

The term naturist is generally synonymous with nudist. Among practitioners in the US (and, to some extent, western Canada), the term nudist would seem to be generally preferred while in Europe and much of Canada, the use of the word naturist is more prevalent.

The term naturist is often confused — sometimes to humorous effect — with naturalist^[5], an expert in or student of natural history.

23a   Sexy man I love /get/ workshop (6)

"love" = O (show explanation )

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).

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26a   Extra large // mushroom (5)

Black morel

The morel^[5] is a widely distributed edible fungus (mushroom) which has a brown oval or pointed fruiting body with an irregular honeycombed surface bearing the spores.

27a   One granny and one friend, // lifeless (9)

Nan^[5] is an informal British term for one's grandmother.

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.

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops writes that the "friend" in the clue could also be called a chum or muckerker. Mucker[5] is an informal British term for a friend or companion ⇒ we felt like old muckers.

28a   Happy then, or poorly, youth's beginning // course of treatment (12)

Hyponotherapy^[5] is the use of hypnosis as a therapeutic technique.

Scratching the Surface

Poorly[5]  (adjective) is a British term meaning unwell ⇒ she looked poorly. While North Americans might use the word poorly to mean 'in poor health', we would likely use it as an adverb in a statement such as I am feeling poorly today. On the other hand, Oxford Dictionaries provides the following examples of British usage as an adjective: (i) I didn't manage too many lengths today but I haven't been for 2 weeks since being poorly sick.; (ii) Zoe Bird, 26, was forced to walk for an hour to reach her home with poorly toddler son Ryan after they were forced to leave the car.; (iii) Jakey on the other hand is poorly due to having an injection..

Down

1d   Spring in well, // filthy place (7)

Fleapit^[3,4.11] is chiefly British slang for a room or building, especially a movie theater, that is squalid or rundown.

2d   Cauldron primarily, cooker /for/ witches (5)

Cooker is a British term for a stove used for cooking food. While some dictionaries restrict the term cooker^[5,12] to only appliances heated by gas or electricity, at least one extends the term cooker^[10] to also include devices using oil and solid fuel.

3d   Check light /for/ Ashes encounter, perhaps? (4,5)

A Test match)^[5] denotes an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries ⇒ the Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies.

The Ashes^[10] is a cremated cricket stump in a pottery urn now preserved at Lord's [a cricket ground in London, England]. Victory or defeat in Test matches between England and Australia is referred to as winning, losing, or retaining the Ashes.

Delving Deeper

The concept of The Ashes[7] originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, The Sporting Times, immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval [a cricket ground in London, England], their first Test win on English soil. The obituary stated that English cricket had died, and the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. The mythical ashes immediately became associated with the 1882–83 series played in Australia, before which the English captain Ivo Bligh had vowed to "regain those ashes". The English media therefore dubbed the tour the quest to regain the Ashes.

4d   Make // listener listen, finally (4)

5d   Leader of competition in plan due to fail, // fourth or worse? (8)

In horse racing, unplaced^[5] denotes not being one of the first three competitors to finish in a race or competition.

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops writes I was given Landfill on Saturday it came last by a mile. It was a rubbish tip. Based on information received from a tipster, he bet on a horse named Landfill which trailed the field. The punchline is a pun. Rubbish[10,14] is the British term for garbage or trash and can also denote nonsense. Tip[10] is a British term for a dump for refuse,  etc. Thus "rubbish tip" can mean either garbage dump or useless and misleading information.

6d   Playwright // is barely surviving, eating nothing initially (5)

Henrik Ibsen^[5] (1828–1906) was a Norwegian dramatist. He is credited with being the first major dramatist to write tragedy about ordinary people in prose. Ibsen’s later works, such as The Master Builder (1892), deal increasingly with the forces of the unconscious and were admired by Sigmund Freud. Other notable works: Peer Gynt (1867), A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts (1881).

7d   Bird -- // canary perhaps captivating a collector in the garden (8)

8d   In protest, one ducks // out of it (6)

14d   Real duty abandoned, // cheating (8)

16d   If nothing else, // most foolish? (9)

17d   Problem // rewritten in quotes (8)

18d   Generator // country set up after disheartening day (6)

Oman^[5,7], officially the Sultanate of Oman, is an Arab country at the southeastern corner of the Arabian peninsula.

20d   Private rooms overlooking cathedral city, // approximately (7)

Loo^[5] is an informal British term for a toilet.

Ely^[5] (pronounced EE-lee) is a cathedral city in the fenland of Cambridgeshire, eastern England, on the River Ouse.

22d   Romeo and friend // get better (5)

Romeo^[5] is a code word representing the letter R, used in radio communication.

24d   Short, a // theatrical production (5)

Short^[5] (noun) is a British term for a drink of spirits served in a small measure^* or, as Collins English Dictionary puts it, a short^[10] is a drink of spirits as opposed to a long drink such as beer.

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^* A measure^[5] is a container of standard capacity used for taking fixed amounts of a substance.

Dram^[5] is a Scottish term for a small drink of whiskey or other spirits ⇒ a wee dram to ward off the winter chill.

25d   Don't eat // quickly (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