Wednesday, October 17, 2018 — DT 28751

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28751
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28751]
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

One would certainly be well-served by at least a modicum of cricket knowledge when tackling today's puzzle.

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   Take // sailor by canal (6)

"sailor" = AB (show explanation )

In the Royal Navy, according to Oxford Dictionaries, able seaman^[5] (abbreviation AB^[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary tells us that an able seaman^[10] (also called able-bodied seaman) is an ordinary seaman, especially one in the merchant navy, who has been trained in certain skills.

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4a   An easy putt? Check, // if need be (2,1,5)

I did spend some time trying to understand why "at a pin" constituted an easy putt. Doh!

In basketball, soccer, [or golf], a tap-in^[5] is a relatively gentle close-range kick or tap [or putt] that scores a goal [or causes the golf ball to enter the hole].

"check" = CH (show explanation )

In chess, ch.^[10] is the abbreviation for check^*.

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^* Check^[5] means to move a piece or pawn to a square where it attacks (the opposing king) ⇒ he moves his knight to check my king again.

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At a pinch^[5] is a British^* expression meaning if absolutely necessary ⇒ the rear will accommodate two adults or three smaller people at a pinch.

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^* the equivalent North American expression is in a pinch

9a   Complete // a tirade about Republican (6)

"Republican" = R (show explanation )

A Republican^[5] (abbreviation R^[5])  is a member or supporter of the Republican Party^[5], one of the two main US political parties^*, favouring a right-wing stance, limited central government, and tough, interventionist foreign policy. It was formed in 1854 in support of the anti-slavery movement preceding the Civil War.

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^* the other being the Democratic Party

In the UK, republican^[5] can refer to an advocate of a united Ireland but the abbreviation does not seem to apply to that usage.

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10a   Dog // left abroad, sadly, having nipped rear of traveller (8)

11a   Women who have the potential to succeed (9)

13a   Savings scheme account /for/ man (5)

In the UK, an ISA^[5] (individual savings account) is a scheme allowing individuals to hold cash, shares, and unit trusts free of tax on dividends, interest, and capital gains; in 1999 it replaced both personal equity plans (PEPs) and tax-exempt special savings accounts (TESSAs).

14a   Different age: one parting as a consequence of this? (10,3)

This is a cryptic definition with embedded wordplay.

A Note on Terminology

In the past, I have attempted to explain clues such as this using terms such as &lit. (or semi-&lit.) and all-in-one (or semi-all-in-one). Although the former is a well-established term in the cryptic crossword field, I have discovered that there does not necessarily seem to be a common understanding of exactly what constitutes a semi-&lit. clue. The situation with respect to the terms all-in-one and semi-all-in-one is even more cloudy. While, as I understand it, these terms were coined on Big Dave's Crossword Blog as less pretentious replacements for &lit. and semi-&lit. respectively, in practice they get used with even less precision than the terms they replace. Following a recent incident in which a comment that I made in a review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog instigated a discussion of the precise meaning of these terms, I concluded that simply describing a clue such as the one here as "a cryptic definition with embedded wordplay" is not only simpler but provides far more clarity than trying to use the terms that I have been using in the past.

17a   Comic sat and wrote rhyme /for/ a song (6,7)

"Stormy Weather"^[7] is a 1933 torch song written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler. Ethel Waters first sang it at The Cotton Club night club in Harlem in 1933 and recorded it that year. Her recording of the song was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Library of Congress honored the song by adding it to the National Recording Registry in 2004.

21a   Foreign // article about piece of fiction (5)

23a   Well-thought-of // agent joining university board (9)

Board^[5,10] is an archaic term for a table, especially one used for eating at, and especially when laden with food ⇒ he looked at the banquet which was spread upon his board.

24a   Opiate /given in/ extremely severe case (8)

In the grammar of Latin, Greek, German, and some other languages, the dative^[5] is a case of nouns and pronouns, and words in grammatical agreement with them, indicating an indirect object or recipient.

25a   A red // morel flourishing close to forest (6)

Merlot^[5] is a red wine made from the Merlot grape, a variety of black wine grape originally from the Bordeaux region of France.

Scratching the Surface
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.

26a   Number approaching a hot island /in/ wooden vessel (5,3)

Sark^[5] is one of the Channel Islands (show more ), a small island lying to the east of Guernsey.

The Channel Islands^[5] (abbreviation CI^[5]) are a group of islands in the English Channel off the northwestern coast of France, of which the largest are Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney. Formerly part of the dukedom of Normandy, they have owed allegiance to England since the Norman Conquest in 1066, and are now classed as Crown dependencies.

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Noah's ark^[5] is the ship in which Noah, his family, and the animals were saved from the Flood, according to the biblical account (Gen. 6-8).

27a   Like //  bog containing first of daffodils (6)

Down

1d   Lack of interest /in/ a course beginning in Yeovil (6)

Scratching the Surface
Yeovil[7] is an English town and civil parish in Somerset. It is close to Somerset's southern boundary with Dorset, 130 miles (210 km) from London.

2d   Bold action /of/ duke getting it wrong before party (7-2)

"duke" = D (show explanation )

A duke^[5] (abbreviation D.^[10]) is a male holding the highest hereditary title in the British and certain other peerages^*.

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^* The peerage^[5] is the nobility in Britain or Ireland, comprising the ranks of duke or duchess, marquess or marchioness, earl or countess, viscount or viscountess, and baron or baroness.

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3d   Business // worry (7)

5d   Change affected // place housing refugees, perhaps (7,4)

Transit^[10] is used in the sense of a change or transition.

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A transit camp^[5] is a camp for the temporary accommodation of people, e.g. refugees or soldiers, who are travelling through a country or region.

6d   Entrance to building /in/ harbour one small company used (7)

A portico^[5] is a structure consisting of a roof supported by columns at regular intervals, typically attached as a porch to a building.

7d   Girl // Irish lad stood up (5)

Aidan^[7] is an anglicisation of the Irish male given name Aodhán and the Scottish Gaelic given name Aodhàn.

The Story Behind the Picture
Mr K illustrates his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog with a photo of Irish actor Aidan Turner who played Kíli in the three-part fantasy film The Hobbit.

8d   Printed data/'s/ difficult reproduction (4,4)

12d   Drink /with/ gang in small club (11)

A driver^[5] is a golf club with a flat face and [traditionally] wooden head, used for driving from the tee.

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A screwdriver^[5] is cocktail made from vodka and orange juice.

15d   Blouse // I placed among clothes laid out (9)

Historically, a garibaldi^[5] was a woman's or child's loose blouse, originally bright red in imitation of the shirts worn by Garibaldi and his followers.

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Origin: Mid 19th century: named after Giuseppe Garibaldi^[5], (1807–1882), Italian patriot and military leader of the Risorgimento. With his volunteer force of ‘Red Shirts’ he captured Sicily and southern Italy from the Bourbons in 1860–1, thereby playing a key role in the establishment of a united kingdom of Italy.

16d   Over in Saint-Denis, SAS saw // sniper, say (8)

Scratching the Surface
Saint-Denis[5] is a municipality in France, now a northern suburb of Paris. In the UK, the Special Air Service[5] (abbreviation SAS[5]) is a specialist army regiment trained in commando techniques of warfare, formed during the Second World War and used in clandestine operations, frequently against terrorists.

18d   Record of meeting /in/ petty sessions, principally (7)

19d   Madcap /may be/ possessed, penning circular letter and article (7)

20d   Eye /or/ heart (6)

22d   Test side // batting with rising support (5)

In cricket, a player who is batting is said to be in^[5]. Conversely, a player who is fielding is said to be out^[5]. If you have not seen it before, here is an explanation of cricket for a foreigner (which may leave you unsure whether you are coming or going).

CRICKET: AS EXPLAINED TO A FOREIGNER...

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.

When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.

Simple!

Now, should you have not quite followed that explanation, here is my attempt to clarify the "ins" and "outs" of cricket:

You have two sides [teams], one out in the field and one in [batting]. Each man that's in the side [in Britain, one says "in a side" rather than "on a team"] that's in [batting] goes out [I believe this means that he forgoes the cucumber sandwiches in the clubhouse in order to go out to the pitch to bat], and when he's out [dismissed] he comes in [returns to the clubhouse for more cucumber sandwiches] and the next man goes in [bats] until he's out [dismissed]. When they are all out [all players (but one) on the side are dismissed], the side that's out [fielding] comes in [bats] and the side that's been in [batting] goes out [fields] and tries to get those coming in [to bat], out [dismissed]. Sometimes you get men still in and not out [Since batsmen must always bat in pairs, the team is dismissed once ten of the eleven players have been dismissed, leaving no partner for the lone remaining player. Although the team is "out" (dismissed), the eleventh played is said to be "not out".].

When a man goes out [from the clubhouse to the pitch] to go in [bat], the men who are out [fielding] try to get him out [dismissed], and when he is out [dismissed] he goes in [returns to the clubhouse] and the next man in [scheduled to bat] goes out [from the clubhouse to the pitch] and goes in [bats]. There are two men called umpires who stay out [on the pitch] all the time [(they never get to eat cucumber sandwiches)] and they decide when the men who are in [batting] are out [dismissed]. When both sides have been in [batted] and all the men have been out [dismissed], and both sides have been out [dismissed] twice after all the men have been in [batted], including those who are not out [the eleventh player who has batted but not been dismissed], that is the end of the game [a cricket match consists of two innings with ten "outs" (dismissals) per each half innings (in cricket, the division of play is called an 'innings', rather than an 'inning' as in baseball)].

Simple! (although the details concerning the cucumber sandwiches may not be entirely accurate)

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Test cricket^[7] is the longest form of the sport of cricket and is considered its highest standard. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined and conferred by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The two teams of 11 players each play a four-innings match, which may last up to five days (or longer in some historical cases). It is generally considered the most complete examination of teams' playing ability and endurance. The name Test stems from the long, gruelling match being both mentally and physically testing.

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

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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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There are currently twelve Test-playing men's teams. The teams all represent individual, independent nations, except for England, the West Indies, and Ireland. The teams are listed below with the year of each team's Test debut: 

• England (1877) - represents England and Wales
• Australia (1877)
• South Africa (1889)
• West Indies (1928) - represents 15 primarily English-speaking Caribbean territories
• New Zealand (1930)
• India (1932)
• Pakistan (1952)
• Sri Lanka (1982)
• Zimbabwe (1992)
• Bangladesh (2000)
• Ireland (2018) - represents the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
• Afghanistan (2018)

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