Saturday, December 15, 2018 — No Small Matter

Introduction

Size definitely does matter in today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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 █ - yet to be solved

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.

hide explanation

Across

1a   Big shot /from/ North, with a shilling (5)

N|A|BOB — N (north; abbrev.) + A (†) + BOB ([British slang for] shilling)

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

4a   Giant: // is he insect? (8)

BE|HE|MOTH — BE (is) + HE (†) + MOTH (insect)

Split the solution (2,2,4) and you get a poetic way of expressing "is he insect".

9a   Memorable // day taken in by tenant to a subtenant? (3-6)

RE(D)-LETTER — D (day; abbrev.) contained in (taken in by) RE-LETTER (tenant to a subtenant)

Letter is used in the sense of one who lets (or rents) property, i.e., makes it available to another in return for an agreed payment. To the tenant, the proprietor is the letter; to the sub-tenant, the tenant is a re-letter.

We are far more apt to use the term sublet rather than re-let. The term letter (as well as re-letter and subletter) are confusing in that they can refer to either party to the transaction — the proprietor or tenant ⇒ (i) As a subletter, I sublet the apartment from my friend while he was studying in Europe.; (ii) As a subletter, my friend sublet his apartment to me while he was studying in Europe.

10a   German car wheel/’s/ sound (5)

AUDI|O — AUDI (German car) + O ([letter that looks like a] wheel)

Delving Deeper
Audi AG[7] is a German automobile manufacturer that is now part of the Volkswagen Group. The company name is based on the Latin translation of the surname of the founder, August Horch. "Horch", meaning "listen" in German, becomes "audi" in Latin. The four rings of the Audi logo each represent one of four car companies that banded together to create Audi's predecessor company, Auto Union.

11a   Left holding cent, // thrilled (7)

EX(C)ITED — EXITED (left) containing (holding) C (cent; abbrev.)

12a   Part of thunder god/’s/ experience (7)

_UNDER|GO_ — hidden in (part of) thUNDER GOd

13a   Marine giant accepting cheers // on a large scale (9)

WH(OLES)ALE — WHALE (marine giant) containing (accepting) OLES (cheers)

15a   Edited prose // lines (5)

ROPES* — anagram (edited) of PROSE

17a   Nothing the way it appears /in/ stereotypical mirage (5)

O|AS|IS — O (nothing; letter that looks like a zero) + AS IS (the way it appears)

19a   Agreeable // conga-line dancing (9)

CONGENIAL* — anagram (dancing) of CONGA LINE

21a   Apply // pine tar haphazardly (7)

PERTAIN* — anagram (haphazardly) of PINE TAR

23a   Stick around London’s earliest // fair (7)

C(L)EMENT — CEMENT (stick) containing (around) L (London's earliest [initial letter])

25a   Spots where lines connect // Neruda’s original poems (5)

N|ODES —  N (Neruda's original [initial letter]) + ODES (poems)

Scratching the Surface

Pablo Neruda[5] (1904–1973) was a Chilean poet and diplomat; born Ricardo Eliezer Neftalí Reyes. He took his pseudonym from the Czech poet Jan Neruda. His Canto General (completed 1950) is an epic covering the history of the Americas. Jan Neruda[7] (1834–1891) was a Czech journalist, writer, poet and art critic; one of the most prominent representatives of Czech Realism and a member of the "May School", a significant group of Czech novelists and poets of the second half of the 19th century.

26a   Like a giant // latte Anna ordered anew (9)

ATLANTEAN* — anagram (ordered anew) of LATTE ANNA

Atlantean^[5] means relating to or characteristic of Atlas, one of the Titans^*, who was punished for his part in their revolt against Zeus by being made to support the heavens ⇒ Atlantean shoulders fit to bear the weight of mightiest monarchies.

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^* In Classical Greek mythology, the Titans and Titanesses^[7] were members of the second order of divine beings, descending from the primordial deities and preceding the Olympian deities. Based on Mount Othrys, the Titans most famously included the first twelve children of the primordial Gaia (Mother Earth) and Uranus (Father Heaven). They were giant deities of incredible strength, who ruled during the legendary Golden Age, and also composed the first pantheon of Greek deities.

27a   Great big // job with clowning (8)

GIG|ANTIC — GIG (job; for a band, perhaps) + (with) ANTIC (clowning)

28a   Cowpoke’s means of catching // young lady love (5)

LASS|O — LASS (young lady) + O (love; nil score in tennis)

Down

1d   Pluck // some finer velvet (5)

_NER|VE_ — hidden in (some) fiNER VElvet

2d   Hurt so bad about $100 notice of debt // outstanding (9)

{BODA(C|IOU)S}* — anagram (hurt) of SO BAD containing (about) C {($100; a C-note) + IOU (notice of debt)}

C^[11] (also C-note) is slang for a hundred-dollar bill.

3d   Inspire // first pair of relays in swim (7)

B(RE)ATHE — RE (first pair [initial two letters] of RElays) contained in (in) BATHE (swim)

4d   Club Edward // held? (5)

BAT|ED — BAT (club) + ED ([diminutive of] Edward)

5d   Formidable, // the woman scrubbed around University (9)

HER|C(U)LEAN — HER (the woman) + CLEAN (scrubbed; as an adjective) containing (around) U (University; abbrev.)

Figuratively Herculean^*[5] means:

• requiring great strength or effort ⇒ a Herculean task
• (of a person) muscular and strong ⇒ the mesomorph, a classic Herculean build

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^* Herculean literally means relating to or characteristic of Hercules^[5] who, in Greek and Roman mythology, was a hero of superhuman strength and courage who performed twelve immense tasks or ‘labours’ imposed on him and who after death was ranked among the gods.

6d   Healer adopting a // stray (7)

ME(A)NDER — MENDER (healer) containing (adopting) A (†)

7d   Royal English family/’s/ kind of compact car, you might say? (5)

TUDOR~ — sounds like (you might say) TWO-DOOR (kind of compact car)

The House of Tudor^[5] was the English royal dynasty which held the throne from the accession of Henry VII in 1485 until the death of Elizabeth I in 1603.

8d   Huge // deficit in fossil fuel (8)

CO(LOSS)AL — LOSS (deficit) contained in (in) COAL (fossil fuel)

13d   Great, // with jumping (8)

W|HOPPING — W (with; abbrev.) + HOPPING (jumping)

14d   Daniel wearing a perfume // on the rise (9)

A|SCEN(DAN)T — DAN ([diminutive of] Daniel) contained in (wearing) {A (†) + SCENT (perfume)}

16d   Very valuable // diamonds left in iron (9)

PR(ICE|L)ESS — {ICE ([slang for] diamonds) + L (left; abbrev.)} contained in (in) PRESS (iron)

18d   Welsh port // as new as Mobile? (7)

SWANSEA* — anagram (mobile) of AS NEW AS

Scratching the Surface
The surface reading alludes to the city of Mobile[7] , the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama and Alabama's only saltwater port.

20d   Net Earl tangled // without end (7)

ETERNAL* — anagram (tangled) of NET EARL

22d   Sun god with 502 // arm bones (5)

RA|DII — RA ([Egyptian] sun god) + (with) DII ([Roman numeral for] 502)

23d   Problem for the young // company with suspended licence? (5)

CO|LIC_ — CO (company; abbrev.) + (with) LIC (suspended licence; LIC[ENCE] with the latter part removed [suspended, like a sentence suspended by the courts])

24d   Like some beach bums, leave // dance (5)

TAN|GO — TAN (like some beach bums) + GO (leave)

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