Monday, November 5, 2018 — DT 28764 (Published Saturday, November 3, 2018)

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28764
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28764]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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 puzzle is by "Mr Consistency" (aka Jay). Where puzzles from other setters can, from time to time, exhibit variations in style and level of difficulty, Jay's mantra would seem to be "steady as she goes".

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

7a   Did // he act badly in front of press chief? (7)

Do^[5] (past tense did) is an informal British term meaning to swindle ⇒ a thousand pounds for one set of photos — Jacqui had been done.

8a   Excavate // part of Peru near this (7)

10a   Get round /and/ try to reach a compromise (9)

11a   Suggestion to adopt wife/'s/ tone of voice (5)

12a   Praise has no boundaries /for/ such coffee (5)

Latte^[5] is a type of coffee made with espresso and hot steamed milk, milkier than a cappuccino.

13a   Shrimps and the like /found in/ cat saucer, mysteriously (9)

In zoology, Crustacea^[5] is a large group of mainly aquatic arthropods which include crabs, lobsters, shrimps, woodlice, barnacles, and many minute forms. They are very diverse, but most have four or more pairs of limbs and several other appendages.

15a   A son beset by hunger /will be/ lubricated (7)

17a   Hard group tracking American // partner (7)

"hard" = H (show explanation )

H^[2,5] is an abbreviation for hard, as used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ a 2H pencil.

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18a   Person who won't indulge // reserved seat in bar (9)

As an anagram indicator, reserve is used in the somewhat whimsical sense of 'to serve again' — the implication being that, on the second attempt, the letters comprising the fodder are served up in a different order.

20a   The majority of sea // food coming from India? (5)

The Baltic Sea^[5] is an almost landlocked sea of northern Europe, between Sweden, Finland, Russia, Poland, Germany, and Denmark. It is linked with the North Sea by the Kattegat strait and the Øresund channel.

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According to The Chambers Dictionary and Chambers 21st Century Dictionary^*, balti^[1,2] is a term used in Indian cookery for a style of curry, originating in Britain, in which the food is cooked in and eaten out of the same wok-like dish (which is also known as a balti).

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^* Collins English Dictionary essentially concurs with the definition given by Chambers, defining balti^[4,10] as a spicy Indian dish, stewed until most of the liquid has evaporated, and served in a woklike pot. However, Oxford Dictionaries seems to head off on another tack, telling us that balti^[5] is a term used in Pakistani cooking for a spicy dish cooked in a small two-handled pan known as a karahi.

The question mark tells us that the solution is an example of  Indian food rather than a term for Indian food in general.

21a   Picture // the setter's maturity (5)

"the setter's" = IM (show explanation )

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (the or this) speaker, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or ME) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by combining "the setter" with the verb "to be"^* producing "the setter's" (a contraction of "the setter is") which must be replaced by "I'm" (a contraction of "I am").

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^* Although in the surface reading "the setter's" is showing possession, in the wordplay it is interpreted as a contraction of "this person is".

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23a   Flyer/'s/ Olympic medal perhaps found initially in church (9)

The goldfinch^[5] is a brightly coloured finch with yellow feathers in the plumage. There are four species including the Eurasian goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) and the American goldfinch (Carduelis tristis).

Eurasian Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

24a   No end of film used in planned platinum // wedding (7)

As the definition, "wedding" is used as an adjective.

Nuptial^[5] (adjective) denotes relating to marriage or weddings ⇒ The event, which followed on from the success of last autumn's event at the same venue, saw a host of wedding exhibitions to answer every nuptial need.

25a   Awfully vain yet /showing/ innocence (7)

Down

1d   Women see lights out, /being/ this in space (10)

W^[2] is the abbreviation for women or women's (the latter denoting a clothing size).

2d   Representation /from/ nation hoarding uranium (6)

The symbol for the chemical element uranium is U^[5].

3d   Submitted /and/ made progress (8)

4d   Game's up, with lover outside // office (6)

"game" = RU (show explanation )

Rugby union^[10] (abbreviation RU^[5]) is a form of rugby football played between teams of 15 players (in contrast to rugby league^[5], which is played in teams of thirteen).

 Rugby union^[7] is the national sport in New Zealand, Wales, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Madagascar.

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5d   Develops // conditions after case of gangrene (8)

6d   Killer // caught by rejection of Victoria Cross (4)

Orca^[5] is another term for killer whale.

Scratching the Surface
The Victoria Cross[5] (abbreviation VC[5]) is a decoration awarded for conspicuous bravery in the Commonwealth armed services, instituted by Queen Victoria in 1856.

7d   Fire // Tory and draw attention to allowance (13)

"Tory" = CON (show more )

A Tory^[10] is a member or supporter of the Conservative Party in Great Britain [or in Canada].

The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.^[10] or Con.^[10].

Historically, a Tory^[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.

The Conservative Party^[5] is a a major British political party that emerged from the old Tory Party under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s. Since the Second World War, it has been in power 1951–64, 1970-74, and 1979–97. It governed in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats from 2010 until the general election of May 2015, in which it was returned with a majority.

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9d   Arrogant -- // spaced out and hit gym drunk (4,3,6)

Spaced out^{[2,4,10,12,14]} (also spaced-out^[3,11,14], often shortened to spaced^[2,4,10,12]) is a colloquial term^* denoting being, acting, appearing to be, etc in a dazed, euphoric, stupefied or dreamlike state, especially one that is or seems to be induced by drugs.

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^* originally US^[11,12]

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High and mighty^[5] is an informal expression denoting behaving as though one is more important than others ⇒ Who did she think she was, coming all high and mighty with me?.

14d   Questioned // lines on Spain in altered environment (10)

"lines" = LL (show explanation )

In textual references, the abbreviation for lines (of written matter) is ll.^[5,10] ⇒ ll. 648-650.

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"Spain" = E (show explanation ) 

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Spain is E^[5] [from Spanish España].

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The phrase "in ... environment" is a split containment indicator directing us to place what comes before it inside the word or phrase represented by the ellipsis. That is, 'A in B environment' denotes 'A surrounded by B'.

16d   Cut of meat // as per cooked on bone (5,3)

Spare rib^*[1,2] is a cut of meat that consists of ribs, especially pork ribs, trimmed such that they have very little meat on them.

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^* Other dictionaries show the term as being plural, either as two words, spare ribs^[4,5,10], in British dictionaries or as a single word, spareribs^[3,11,12], in American dictionaries.

17d   Uncompromising // but mostly unlucky (8)

Hard lines (an alternative to hard luck^[5]) is an informal British expression used to express sympathy or commiserations.

19d   Complaint, /seeing/ two grand thrown into river (6)

The use of the letter 'G' as an abbreviation for 'grand' is one North American usage that the Brits appear to have accepted (show more ).

While the abbreviation G for "grand" is deemed by British dictionaries to be an Americanism, it seems to be one that is well known to Brits — undoubtedly from American gangster films. It is frequently seen in British crossword puzzles and never seems to garner the abuse that usually greets the appearance of American terms.

Grand^[5] is an informal term for a thousand dollars or pounds ⇒ he gets thirty-five grand a year. While the term "grand" itself would seem to be commonly used in the UK, the informal abbreviation G^[5] meaning grand appears to be regarded as a North American usage ⇒ I was up nine Gs on the blackjack tables.

G is defined in various British dictionaries as follows:

• Oxford Dictionaries: (North American informal) abbreviation for grand, a thousand dollars)^[5].
• Chambers 21st Century Dictionary: (North American slang) abbreviation for a grand, 1000 dollars^[2].
• Collins English Dictionary: (mainly US slang) a symbol for grand (a thousand dollars or pounds)^[4,10].

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The Nile^[5] is a river in eastern Africa, [disputably (show more )] the longest river in the world, which rises in east central Africa near Lake Victoria and flows 6,695 km (4,160 miles) generally northwards through Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt to empty through a large delta into the Mediterranean.

There are many factors, such as the source, the identification or the definition of the mouth, and the scale of measurement of the river length between source and mouth, that determine the precise meaning of "river length"^[7]. As a result, the length measurements of many rivers are only approximations. In particular, there has long been disagreement as to whether the Nile or the Amazon is the world's longest river. The Nile has traditionally been considered longer, but in recent years some Brazilian and Peruvian studies have suggested that the Amazon is longer by measuring the river plus the adjacent Pará estuary and the longest connecting tidal canal.

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20d   Scientific type/'s/ unwell at home after onset of botulism (6)

Boffin^[5] is an informal British term denoting:

• a person engaged in scientific or technical research ⇒ the boffins at the Telecommunications Research Establishment
• a person with knowledge or a skill considered to be complex or arcane ⇒ a computer boffin

22d   A note about millions /needed for/ rock band's requirements? (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