Friday, August 3, 2018 — DT 28696

Prologue

On Friday, August 3, 2018, the National Post skipped puzzles DT 28694 and DT 28695. Unfortunately, this date happened to coincide with the first day of a camping vacation in an area with very limited Internet access. In anticipation of my retreat from civilization, I had prepared a number of reviews in advance based on the long-established publication pattern^* of the National Post. As a result, my reviews appeared several days late from August 3 to August 13. I have retitled the reviews to reflect the date on which the puzzles were published by the National Post.

---

^* Prior to August 3, I believe that the National Post had not skipped a puzzle since Tuesday, December 19, 2017 on which date two puzzles (DT 28529 and DT 28530) were skipped.

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28696
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, March 26, 2018
Setter Dada (John Halpern)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28696]
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
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 28694 and DT 28695 which were published in The Daily Telegraph on Friday, March 23, 2018 and Saturday, March 24, 2018.

Introduction

Miffypops' asides usually lead one to some interesting discoveries, and today is no different. I do hope you enjoy reading the material contained in the boxes scattered through the review even though it does not necessarily help in solving the clues.

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

1a   Mercury's counterpart, // some other messenger (6)

In Roman mythology, Mercury^[5] is the god of eloquence, skill, trading, and thieving, herald and messenger of the gods. His counterpart in Greek mythology is Hermes.

5a   In brownish-red, a cold // biscuit (8)

Here and There
The British use the term biscuit[3,4,11] to refer to a range of foods that include those that would be called either cookies or crackers in North America. A North American biscuit[5] is similar to what is known in Britain as a scone.

Who is he talking about?

On Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops informs us that The answer is a biscuit favoured by Thora Hird and Alan Bennett. I can certainly tell you who they are but can shed very little light on their connection to the cookies in question. However, the culinary reference would seem to be very familiar to Brits. Dame Thora Hird[7] (1911–2003) was an English actress and comedian of stage and screen, presenter [TV or radio host] and writer. In a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in more than 100 film and television roles, becoming a household name and a British institution. Alan Bennett[7] is an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. The two appeared together in the BBC television programme Talking Heads (broadcast in 1988 and 1998) and were frequently parodied on the BBC radio and television comedy impressions show Dead Ringers. A Google search turns up numerous references to the pair in connection with macaroons, for example this presumably not very serious exchange from The Guardian website: But I thought Bennett was in a committed yet platonic relationship with Thora Hird, based on a shared penchant for Earl Grey and macaroons? Just a media myth, started by Spitting Image* and perpetuated by Dead Ringers. * Spitting Image[7] is a British satirical puppet show. One of the most-watched shows of the 1980s and early 1990s, the series was a satire of politics, entertainment, sport and British culture of the era. It featured puppet caricatures of celebrities prominent during that period.

9a   Model iron horse, about ton, // powerful beast (10)

Ton^[5] is an informal British term for a hundred, in particular a speed of 100 mph, a score of 100 or more, or a sum of £100.

10a   One side // remaining (4)

11a   Loyal // butler set out to get European Union backing (4-4)

Depending on whether you consider "to get" to be a charade indicator or a containment indicator, the wordplay parses as:

{TRUE BL}* + UE< — anagram (set out) of BUTLER + (to get) a reversal (backing) of EU (European Union; abbrev.)

or

{TR(UE<) BLUE}* —  anagram (set out) of BUTLER containing (to get) a reversal (backing) of EU (European Union; abbrev.)

12a   Horse drinks in // seawater (6)

13a   Repeat // filling in multiple choice (4)

15a   Genius -- // mug following one abroad (8)

"the German" = EIN (show explanation )

In German, the masculine singular form of the indefinite article is ein^[8].

hide explanation

---

Albert Einstein^[5] (1879–1955) was a German-born American theoretical physicist, founder of the special and general theories of relativity. His name has become synonymous with genius ⇒ you won't have to be an Einstein to use it.

What did he say?

In his review, Miffypops writes We have ... a [foreign] word meaning a mug which you may associate more with a beer glass. The foreign word referred to by Miffypops apparently only means mug in English. Beer stein[7], or simply stein, is an English neologism for either traditional beer mugs made out of stoneware, or specifically ornamental beer mugs that are usually sold as souvenirs or collectibles. In German, the word stein means stone and is not used to refer to a beverage container. The German name for a beer mug is Krug or Steinkrug. Such Steins may be made out of stoneware, pewter, porcelain, or even silver, wood or crystal glass; they may have open tops or hinged pewter lids with a thumb-lever. It is believed by some that the lid was implemented during the age of the Black Plague, to prevent diseased fleas from getting into the beer. I presume that Vince's comment (Also, a 21a in 15a!) in the thread arising from Comment #8 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog relates to the misspelling of Stephen Hawking's name.

18a   Squid // caught malaria at sea! (8)

"caught" = C (show explanation )

In cricket, one way for a batsman to be dismissed is to be caught out^[5], that is for a player on the opposing team to catch a ball that has been hit by the batsman before it touches the ground.

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c.^[2,10] or c^[5] denotes caught (by).

hide explanation

---

Calamari^[5] (also calamares) is squid served as food.

19a   Travel beyond a river /to get/ legendary vessel (4)

In Greek mythology, the Argo^[10] was the ship in which Jason sailed in search of the Golden Fleece (see yesterday's puzzle).

21a   Typo, say, // students recalled (4-2)

23a   Figure // heading for ruin, one in mess (8)

25a   Lead // sulphate's beginning to encounter dark liquid (4)

Scratching the Surface
Lead sulphate[7] is a salt of sulphuric acid that is often seen in the plates/electrodes of car batteries, as it is formed when the battery is discharged (when the battery is recharged, the lead sulphate is transformed back to metallic lead and sulphuric acid on the negative terminal or lead dioxide and sulphuric acid on the positive terminal).

26a   Use marker pen here: // wet biro had burst (10)

Scratching the Surface
In Britain, biro[5] is a common name for a ballpoint pen. Although it is a British trademark, the name is used generically (in the same way that kleenex has become a generic term for facial tissue). It is named after László József Bíró (1899–1985), the Hungarian inventor of the ballpoint pen.

27a   Study // new careers with minimum of hope (8)

28a   More orderly, // I had to get in line (6)

Down

2d   Queen rings the // number (5)

"Queen" = ER (show explanation )

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

hide explanation

---

"Number" is used in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of 'something that numbs'.

3d   Jerk mentions a // US state (9)

4d   Island // first to strike in hostile manner (6)

Sicily^[5] is a large Italian island in the Mediterranean, off the south-western tip of Italy. It is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina and its highest point is the volcano Mount Etna.

5d   Actress having edited line, re-edit in protest (7,8)

Marlene Dietrich^[5] (1901–1992) was a German-born American actress and singer. She became famous for her part as Lola in The Blue Angel (1930), one of many films she made with Josef von Sternberg. From the 1950s she was also successful as an international cabaret star.

6d   Adhesive holds as // window opening sideways (8)

What did he say?
In his review, Miffypops writes The adhesive here is a powdery substance made by calcining lime and clay and mixing it with water.. Although that is one meaning of cement, I would say that it is also a prime example of a "stretched synonym" (see Miffypops comment in his review of 8d). I would think of cement[5] more in the sense of a soft glue that hardens on setting ⇒ tile cement.

7d   Instrument for measuring // sovereign? (5)

8d   Unsatisfactory finale // causing displeasure (9)

What did he say?

In his review, Miffypops writes start here with a three-lettered stretched synonym for the word unsatisfactory. Perhaps meaning no longer fresh when referred to food.. Off[10] (adjective) is used in the sense of unsatisfactory or disappointing ⇒ (i) his performance was rather off; (ii) an off year for good tennis. Off[10] (said of food or drink) means having gone bad, sour, etc ⇒ this milk is off.

14d   King almost finished eating extravagant // dessert (9)

Charles^[5] is the name of two kings of England, Scotland, and Ireland:

• Charles I (1600–1649), son of James I, reigned 1625–49. His reign was dominated by the deepening religious and constitutional crisis that resulted in the English Civil War 1642-9. After the battle of Naseby, Charles tried to regain power in alliance with the Scots, but his forces were defeated in 1648 and he was tried by a special Parliamentary court and beheaded.
• Charles II (1630–1685), son of Charles I, reigned 1660–85. Charles was restored to the throne after the collapse of Cromwell’s regime and displayed considerable adroitness in handling the difficult constitutional situation, although continuing religious and political strife dogged his reign.

"extravagant" = OTT (show explanation )

OTT^[5] (short for over the top) is an informal British expression denoting excessive or exaggerated ⇒ presenting him as a goalscoring Superman seems a bit OTT.

hide explanation

---

Charlotte^[5] is a pudding^* made of stewed fruit with a casing or covering of bread, sponge cake, biscuits^*, or breadcrumbs.

---

^* see explanation in "Here and There" box following

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. The British use the term biscuit[3,4,11] to refer to a range of foods that include those that would be called either cookies or crackers in North America. A North American biscuit[5] is similar to what is known in Britain as a scone.

What is he talking about?

On Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops tells us that the word meaning extravagant was the name of the Tiswas spin off programme from the early 1980s. Tiswas[7] ("Today Is Saturday Watch And Smile") is a British television series for children which originally aired on Saturday mornings from 1974 to 1982. A late-night show called O.T.T. (standing for "Over the Top") that launched in 1982 was effectively an "adult" version of Tiswas — in other words, it attempted to be just as anarchic, but with swearing and occasional topless women. It was not such a success, running for just one series, and is today chiefly remembered for the naked 'Balloon Dance' performed by the surreal British comedy group The Greatest Show on Legs.

16d   Unfortunately on trial, commercial travellers, // the lot of them! (9)

17d   Staff // machine that cuts round article on page (8)

"page" = P (show explanation )

In textual references, the abbreviation for page is p^[5] ⇒ see p 784.

hide explanation

20d   Still, // lift is fast (6)

"fast" = LENT (show explanation )

In the Christian Church, Lent^[5] is the period preceding Easter, which is devoted to fasting, abstinence, and penitence in commemoration of Christ’s fasting in the wilderness. In the Western Church^* it runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, and so includes forty weekdays [excluding the six Sundays that fall during this period but including Saturdays].

---

^* It would be more correct to say "Protestant churches" as Lent is defined differently in the Roman Catholic Church^[7].

hide explanation

22d   Shilling in spotless // little bag (5)

In the British currency system used prior to the introduction of the current decimal currency system in 1971, a shilling^[5] (abbreviation s^[5]) was a coin and monetary unit equal to one twentieth of a pound or twelve pence.

24d   Massive // lobsters, and raw gulper eels for starters (5)

Scratching the Surface

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 The gulper[5,10] (also called gulper eel) is a deep-sea eel with very large jaws that open to give an enormous gape (giving it the ability to swallow large prey) and with eyes near the tip of the snout. They belong to the Saccopharyngiformes[7], an order of unusual ray-finned fish, superficially similar to eels, but with multiple internal differences. Most of the fish in this order are deep-sea types known from only a handful of specimens caught in deep sea fishermen's nets. Some species are bioluminescent. Some, such as the "swallowers", can live as deep as 3,000 m (10,000 feet) in the ocean. The jaws are quite large, lined with small teeth, and several types are notable for being able to consume fish larger than themselves. Needless to say, they are not an important commercial food fish. In his comment at 18a, Miffypops told us It is always nice to have a bit of food in a puzzle but I find this [calamari] to be like chewing an elastic band. Well, I wonder what he thinks of the gulper eel.

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