Saturday, December 8, 2018 — Swept Away

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon takes us on a journey down the yellow brick road. While you should not need an explanation of the allusions found in the clues — after all, according to the US Library of Congress, the 1939 film version of the story is the most seen film in movie history — I have included a synopsis of the story in the Epilogue.

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.

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Across

1a   Roughly separated, a party // means to get to Oz (7)

TORN|A|DO — TORN (roughly separated) + A (†) + DO (party)

5a   Ask curiously about tin one going back // home to Auntie Em and Uncle Henry (6)

{K({A|NS}<)AS}* — anagram (curiously) of ASK containing (about) reversal (going back) of {SN ([symbol for the chemical element] tin + A (one)}

8a   Pulls in // or pulls off (5,2)

{ROLLS UP}* — anagram (off) of OR PULLS

9a   Like a city of Oz, // in ephemeral dusk (7)

_EMERAL|D_ — hidden in (in) ephEMERAL Dusk

11a   Oz baddie // with impatient craving (5)

W|ITCH — W (with; abbrev.)  + ITCH (impatient craving)

12a   Traveller in Oz // cowers, troubled about conveyance (9)

{S(CAR)ECROW}* — anagram (troubled) of COWERS containing (about) CAR (conveyance)

13a   Twice as far as // traveller in Oz (4)

TO|TO — TO (as far as) repeated (twice)

14a   Stood // in favour of interrupting function (6)

U(PRO)SE — PRO (in favour of) contained in (interrupting) USE (function)

19a   Give lots of money to // Cher in Nuts (6)

ENRICH* — anagram (nuts) of CHER IN

Scratching the Surface
Cher[7] (born Cherilyn Sarkisian) is an American singer and actress known as the Goddess of Pop. Nuts[7] is a 1987 American drama film starring Barbra Streisand and Richard Dreyfuss. The screenplay is based on American playwright Tom Topor's 1979 play of the same name. In reality, Cher did not appear in Nuts — either on Broadway or in the film adaptation.

20a   Oz character // stretchin’ the truth, you might say (4)

LION~ — sounds like (you might say) LYIN' (stretchin' the truth)

24a   Eat with family and small // people in Oz (9)

MUNCH|KIN|S — MUNCH (eat) + (with) KIN (family) + S (small; abbrev.)

26a   Taking right, follow // path (5)

T(R)AIL — TAIL (follow) containing (taking) R (right; abbrev.)

27a   New brain that hurts // polychromatic sight (7)

RAINB*|OW — anagram (new) of BRAIN + OW (that hurts; exclamation of pain)

28a   Strange mood captured by pale // Oz character (7)

W(OODM*)AN — anagram (strange) of MOOD contained in (captured by) WAN (pale)

29a   Oz character/’s/ one last letter found in city district (6)

W(I|Z)ARD —  {(I [Roman numeral for] one) + Z (last letter [of the alphabet])} contained in (found in) WARD (city district)

30a   Peculiar door next to your // heroine in Oz (7)

DORO*|THY — anagram (peculiar) of DOOR + (next to) THY (your)

Down

1d   Tossed // high chair in the sound (6)

THROWN~ — sounds like (in the sound) THRONE (high chair; a cryptic description of a chair occupied by a person of high rank)

2d   Tell // judge about train above street level (6)

R(EL)ATE — RATE (judge) containing (about) EL (train above street level)

The El^[5] is a US term for:

• an elevated railway [or, in the US, railroad] (especially that in Chicago)
• a train running on an elevated railway [or, in the US, railroad] ⇒ the El rumbled by

3d   Tasteful // Neptune’s Kingdom returned with The Jerk (9)

AES<|THE|TIC — reversal (returned) of SEA (Neptune's Kingdom) + (with) THE (†) + TIC (jerk)

In Roman mythology, Neptune^[7] is the god of water and of the sea. His counterpart in Greek mythology is Poseidon.

4d   Counterpart // to pope is reformed (8)

OPPOSITE* — anagram (reformed) of TO POPE IS

The words counterpart and opposite — which are essentially antonyms — can only be considered to be synonyms in a very narrow sense.

A counterpart^[5] is a person or thing that corresponds to or has the same function as another person or thing in a different place or situation ⇒ the minister held talks with his French counterpart.

An opposite^[5] is a person or thing that is totally different from or the reverse of someone or something else ⇒ (i) we were opposites in temperament; (ii) the literal is the opposite of the figurative.

The words may be considered to be synonyms when opposite^[10] is used as a rare word for opponent. So in a situation where two parties are involved in a contentious negotiation (such as Brexit), I suppose one might say  the British minister held talks with his European opposite.

5d   Persist with // reversal of time: a glimpse (4,2)

{KEEP| A|T}< — reversal of (†) {T (time; abbrev.) + A (†) + PEEK (glimpse)}

6d   Error admitted by pleasant // girl to her aunt and uncle (5)

NI(E)CE — E (error; baseball term) contained in (admitted to) NICE (pleasant)

7d   A pearly material adorning // Greek poet (8)

A|NACRE|ON — A (†) + NACRE (pearly material) + ON (adorning)

Anacreon^[5] (c.582–485 BC) was a Greek lyric poet, best known for his celebrations of love and wine.

10d   Drag // leader of delinquents in front of proprietor (6)

D|OWNER — D (leader [initial letter] of Delinquents) preceding (in front of) OWNER (proprietor)

15d   Wine // mixed in portion (5,4)

{PINOT NOIR}* — anagram (mixed) of IN PORTION

16d   Juicer // this writer put in back (6)

REA(ME)R — ME (this writer;show explanation ) contained in (put in) REAR (back)

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.

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17d   Exotic bird is in // Italian city (8)

BRINDISI* — anagram (exotic) of BIRD IS IN

Brindisi^[7] is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.

18d   Funny jade wigs // cut in an intricate way (8)

JIGSAWED* — anagram (funny) of JADE WIGS

21d   Struggle we had // seen (6)

VIE|WED — VIE (struggle) + WED (we had; contracted as we'd)

22d   Corrupt French word /for/ “rodent” (6)

MAR|MOT — MAR (corrupt) + MOT (French word; the French word meaning 'word')

23d   Potter’s stuff captivating North Carolina // spy novelist (6)

CLA(NC)Y — CLAY (potter's stuff) containing (captivating) NC (North Carolina; abbrev.)

Tom Clancy^[5] (1947–2013) was a US novelist. His works, usually techno-military thrillers, include The Hunt for Red October (1984), Patriot Games (1987), Rainbow Six (1998), and The Teeth of the Tiger (2003).

25d   In church, a blasphemer // speaks in Spanish (5)

HABLA — hidden in (in) churcH A BLAsphemer

Habla^[a] is the third person singular of the present tense of the Spanish verb hablar 'to speak (to)'.

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^[a] SpanishDict

Epilogue

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz^[5] is an American children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow, originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900. It has since seen several reprints, most often under the title The Wizard of Oz, which is the title of the popular 1902 Broadway musical adaptation as well as the iconic 1939 musical film adaptation.

The story chronicles the adventures of a young farm girl named Dorothy [30a], a niece [6d] who lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry and her little dog Toto [13a] on a farm in the Kansas [5a] prairie. One day, Dorothy and Toto are caught up in a cyclone (Baum uses the word cyclone while describing a tornado [1a]) that deposits her farmhouse into Munchkin Country in the magical Land of Oz. The falling house has killed the Wicked Witch of the East [11a], the evil ruler of the Munchkins [24a]. The Good Witch of the North arrives with three grateful Munchkins and gives Dorothy the magical Silver Shoes — transformed by Hollywood into ruby slippers in the 1939 film — that once belonged to the Wicked Witch. The Good Witch tells Dorothy that the only way she can return home is to go to the Emerald City [9a] and ask the great and powerful Wizard of Oz [29a] to help her.

On her way down the yellow brick road (a path or trail [26a]), ... Dorothy frees the Scarecrow [12a] from the pole on which he is hanging, applies oil from a can to the rusted connections of the Tin Woodman [28a], and meets the Cowardly Lion [20a].

The 1939 film version of the story won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Over the Rainbow" [27a].

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