Friday, September 7, 2018 — DT 28721

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28721
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28721]
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

A nice bit of fun to usher out the workweek and usher in the weekend.

In a response to Comment #15 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Kitty mentions "Findus lasagne" (The phrase “horses for courses” has been ruined for me, as I can no longer hear it without thinking of Findus lasagne.). Findus^[7] is a frozen food brand which was first sold in Sweden in 1945 and is now marketed across Europe. In 2013, it was revealed that a number of Findus products — including beef lasagne —  contained horse meat^[7] without proper declaration. Some of the products sold had minced meat declared as beef that actually was 60–100% horsemeat. It is thought the reason for the contamination is "highly likely" to have been criminal activity.

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   Fixed price: English // prescription (6)

Recipe and prescription can be synonymous, especially when used in a nonmedical sense.

A prescription^[5] is a recommendation that is authoritatively put forward ⇒ effective prescriptions for sustaining rural communities.

A recipe^[10] is a method for achieving some desired objective ⇒ a recipe for success.

Recipe^[5] (abbreviation r or r.^[1]) is an archaic term for a medical prescription^*.

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^* This is also the origin of the stylized Rx^[10] symbol found on prescriptions. The term is Latin and this usage dates from the 14th century, originally meaning 'take' or 'take it' when written at the top of medical prescriptions, from recipere 'to take'.

4a   Elbow // joint (8)

10a   Describe round object /in/ war game (9)

11a   Row round first of buoys /in/ river (5)

The Tiber^[5] is a river of central Italy, upon which Rome stands. It rises in the Tuscan Apennines and flows 405 km (252 miles) generally southwestwards, entering the Tyrrhenian Sea at Ostia.

12a   Enjoying a run of success // playing a wheel? (2,1,4)

13a   Newspaper covering fields of study /in/ distant countries (3,4)

The Financial Times^[7] (abbreviation FT) is a British international business newspaper that is printed on conspicuous salmon pink newsprint.

14a   Explicit // about Shakespearean hero (5)

King Lear^[7] is a tragedy by English playwright William Shakespeare.

15a   Home // team needs passion up front (8)

"team" = SIDE (show explanation )

Side^[5] is a British term for a sports team ⇒ there was a mixture of old and young players in^* their side.

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^* Note that, in Britain, a player is said to be "in a side" rather than "on a team" as one would say in North America.

In North America, the term side^[3] is used in a very general fashion that can denote one of two or more opposing individuals, groups, teams, or sets of opinions. While this same general usage is also found in the UK, the term side^[5] is also used there in a much more specific sense to mean a sports team, as we can clearly see from the following usage examples ⇒ (i) Previous England rugby sides, and England teams in many other sports, would have crumbled under the weight of such errors.; (ii) They'll face better sides than this Monaco team, but you can only beat what's put in front of you.

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18a   Italian individual backing pub // singer (8)

"Italian" = IT, in reference to either the language or the vermouth (show explanation )

This cluing might be explained in a couple of ways:

• It.^[10] is an abbreviation for Italy or Italian [language].


• Italian^[10] is another name for Italian vermouth. It^[5] is a dated informal British term for Italian vermouth ⇒ he poured a gin and it.

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20a   Tea after instant coffee (5)

Cha (also chai) is an alternative spelling of char^[5], an informal British name for tea [as a drink].

"instant" = 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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23a   Give a false impression about alcoholic drink /and/ soft drink (7)

25a   Able to grab // time with single daughter? (7)

26a   Constant test /for/ underwater growth (5)

In mathematics, C^[5] (or c) is a symbol used to represent the third fixed constant to appear in an algebraic expression, or a known constant.

27a   Problem /caused by/ damaged retina, certainly inside (9)

In Crosswordland, complaints and problems are often medical in nature.

28a   Brought round, a top Conservative /is/ slow to act (8)

29a   Imagined // Lauren being cast (6)

Down

1d   Tick off // salesman over fish (8)

The roach^[5] is an edible Eurasian freshwater fish of the carp family, popular with anglers.

Here and There
Across the pond, the term "tick off" has quite a different meaning than it does in North America. Whereas, here, to tick someone off[5] means to make someone annoyed or angry ⇒ Jefferson was a little ticked off, but he’ll come around, in Britain it means to reprimand or rebuke someone ⇒ (i) he was ticked off by Angela; (ii) he got a ticking off from the magistrate.

2d   Chance shifting round one // part of track, perhaps (7)

A chicane^[5] is a sharp double bend created to form an obstacle on a motor-racing track or a road ⇒ the Austrian's car flew out of control and spun across the chicane.

3d   /What's/ prior up to boiling // a mixture of things? (9)

Despite being placed at the beginning of the clue, the word "what's" plays a role not unlike that of a link word.

Scratching the Surface
In the surface reading, prior[5] denotes the male head of a house or group of houses of certain religious orders, in particular: the man next in rank below an abbot the head of a house of friars

5d   Much suffering priest accepting new role // very quickly (4,3,7)

The phrase hell for leather^[5] denotes as fast as possible ⇒ I tore hell for leather out of my garage.

6d   Total, // say (5)

7d   Fingerprint expert? (3,4)

I would say that this clue is a cryptic definition containing an embedded precise definition. "Dab hand" is merely one of several possible synonyms for the precise definition "expert". The inclusion of the word "fingerprint" is a bit of cryptic elaboration that serves to confirm which synonym of "expert" is needed to solve the clue.

Dab hand^[5] is an informal British term for a person who is an expert at a particular activity ⇒ Liam is a dab hand at golf.

Dab^[5,10] (often plural) is British slang for fingerprint ⇒ the catalogue is being dusted for your dabs.

8d   Find // it in tracks artist laid down first? (6)

"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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Personal Preference

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Mr K provides (in addition to the above parsing) an alternate explanation for this clue, parsing it as an &lit. clue[7] (or, if you prefer, an all-in-one clue). While a musician's first record may well be a rarity and a find to a collector, a record album (or any other collectible) might be a rarity for a host of other reasons. I admit that one could argue that the question mark justifies the record album context of the clue as being a definition by example. As Mr K points out in the note in his review of the clue, the clue can also be parsed (as I have shown) as a "standard" cryptic clue comprising a precise definition and wordplay. Although he considers the &lit. explanation to be "more satisfying", I prefer to reserve the &lit. designation for cases where no other explanation is possible. That is not to say that either explanation is necessarily better or worse than the other. Both explanations work well and which one a solver leans toward is a matter of personal preference.

9d   Rule of law I care about, // the result of suffering many blows? (11,3)

Cauliflower ear^[5] denotes a person's ear that has become thickened or deformed as a result of repeated blows, typically in boxing or rugby.

16d   Dope /may be/ easy to obtain, ultimately (9)

17d   Chief // character in a line (8)

"line" = L (show explanation )

In textual references, the abbreviation for line is l.^[5] ⇒ l. 648.

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19d   Commander, // awfully mad over broken rail (7)

21d   Depressed // prisoner with word of warning (7)

Cave^[5] (pronounced KAY-vee ) is a dated, informal British exclamation (among children) meaning look out!.

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Origin: Latin, imperative of cavere ‘beware’.

22d   Cool // cats, initially in tartan (6)

24d   Earmark // a tax to be raised (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