Tuesday, December 11, 2018 — DT 28790

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28790
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, July 13, 2018
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28790]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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

Despite this being a Giovanni puzzle, I found it none too taxing.

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   Shared an understanding /with/ shyest maid, trembling, keeping quiet (11)

"quiet" = P (show explanation )

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

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7a   City // oddball, one with two females in tow (7)

Cardiff^[5] is the capital of Wales, a seaport on the Bristol Channel.

8a   Upset // daughter is the opposite of sweet, rolling over (7)

"daughter" = D (show explanation )

In genealogies, d^[5] is the abbreviation for daughter ⇒ Henry m. Georgina 1957, 1s 2d^*.

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^* Henry married Georgina in 1957. Their marriage produced 1 son and 2 daughters.

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Brut^[5] (an adjective used to describe sparkling wine) means unsweetened or, in other words, very dry^*.

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^* Dry^[5] (said of an alcoholic drink) means not sweet ⇒ a dry, medium-bodied red wine.

What did they say?
In Comment #19 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, bryngwyn writes We’re not really into champers in my neck of the woods! Champers[5] is an informal British name for champagne.

10a   Form of technology -- // something hard engineers initially attempt (8)

11a   Play /in/ small country community (6)

Hamlet^[7] (in full The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark) is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare at an uncertain date between 1599 and 1602. (show more )

Set in Denmark, the play dramatises the revenge Prince Hamlet is called to wreak upon his uncle, Claudius, by the ghost of Hamlet's father, King Hamlet. Claudius had murdered his own brother and seized the throne, also marrying his deceased brother's widow.

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13a   Language // used by loud Russians in retreat (4)

Urdu^[5] is an Indic language closely related to Hindi but written in the Persian script and having many loanwords from Persian and Arabic. It is the official language of Pakistan, and is also widely used in India and elsewhere, with about 50 million speakers worldwide.

14a   Come by // to fight /or/ bless? (3,5,2)

16a   Day of celebration /with/ everyone needing permits to go round hospital (3,7)

"hospital" = H

All Hallows^[5] is another name for All Saints' Day^[5], a Christian festival in honour of all the saints in heaven, held (in the Western Church) on 1 November.

18a   That's contemptible, /having/ Greek character shut up (4)

Pi^[5] is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Π, π).

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Pish^[5] is a dated exclamation used to express annoyance, impatience, or disgust.

21a   Puts up with // spectators' accommodation (6)

22a   One telling tales // in class with little hesitation (8)

In Britain, a form^[5] is [or, perhaps more correctly,was] a class or year in a school, usually given a specifying number. Thus what we in North America would call a grade would be — or once was — known in Britain as a form, although the numbering system for forms and grades are vastly different. (show more )

The term "form" seems to have become passé as Miffypops in his review of DT 28163 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog refers to "sixth-former" as "What a schoolchild would be during the year before university back in the old days. This would now be known as year 13 or 14." Furthermore, Wikipedia (see table below) characterizes the term "form" as an "alternative/old name".

A form^[7] is a class or grouping of students in a school. The term is used predominantly in the United Kingdom, although some schools, mostly private, in other countries also use the title. Pupils are usually grouped in forms according to age and will remain with the same group for a number of years, or sometimes their entire school career.

Forms are normally identified by a number such as "first form" or "sixth form". A form number may be used for two year groups and differentiated by the terms upper and lower [in general, this would seem to apply primarily for the sixth form]. Usually the sixth form is the senior form of a school [although this apparently does not hold true for New Zealand where they would appear to have a seventh form]. In England, the sixth form is usually divided into two year groups, the lower sixth and upper sixth, owing to the 3-year English college/university system. In Scotland or North America, the 6th form is usually a single year, owing to the 4-year college/university system. If there is more than one form for each year group they will normally be differentiated by letters, e.g., "upper four B", "lower two Y". Schools do not follow a consistent pattern in naming forms [in the foregoing quotation witness Miffypops' reference to "year 14",  a term which does not appear in the table below].

Wikipedia would appear to be at best ambiguous and at worst inconsistent on the relationship between the British and American systems of naming school years. The article from which the table below is excerpted shows that the British first form is equivalent to the American 6th grade. On the other hand, the article cited above states "In North America, the 1st Form (or sometimes 'Form I') is equivalent to 7th Grade." However, this latter statement may in fact be a comparison between the few North American schools to use the form system and the vast majority of North American schools that don't rather than a comparison between British and American schools.

Naming of School Years (British System vs American System)[7]
Age Range	British System		American System
	Name	Alternative/Old Name	Name
11-12	Year 7	First form	6th grade
12-13	Year 8	Second form	7th grade
13-14	Year 9	Third form	8th grade
14-15	Year 10	Fourth form	9th grade
15-16	Year 11	Fifth form	10th grade
16-17	Year 12	Lower sixth form	11th grade
17-18	Year 13	Upper sixth form	12th grade

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24a   Footballer around half-time's first // person to grumble (7)

While the surface reading of the clue could transplant across the pond, the wordplay would not as there are no wingers in North American football.

A winger^[5] is an attacking player in football [soccer] as well as in other sports, such as hockey [which, to the Brits, would mean field hockey] and ice hockey [the word "ice", of course, being redundant to a Canadian].

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Here and There

Whereas North Americans merely whine, it would seem that Brits both whine and whinge. Whinge[5] is an informal British term that means: (verb) to complain persistently and in a peevish or irritating way ⇒ stop whingeing and get on with it!  (noun) an act of complaining persistently and peevishly ⇒ she let off steam by having a good whinge This may connote a stronger level of complaint than a whine[5] which is defined as: (verb)to complain in a feeble or petulant way ⇒ (i) she began to whine about how hard she had been forced to work; (ii) My legs ache,’ he whined (noun) a feeble or petulant complaint ⇒ a constant whine about the quality of public services

25a   Greek lady that is // one of a senior generation (7)

Gr.^[2] is the abbreviation for Greek.

26a   Greedier man troubled // officers abroad (11)

For Canadians, there is no need to go abroad as we have the Gendarmerie royale du Canada (Royal Canadian Mounted Police^[7]).

Gendarmerie^[5] denotes either a force of gendarmes or the headquarters of a force of gendarmes. A gendarme^[5] is a paramilitary police officer in France and other French-speaking countries ⇒ he was hauled off by a gendarme to the police station [or perhaps he might have been taken to the gendarmerie].

Down

1d   Before start of December fir /gets/ nicely dressed (7)

Aside from the fact that they both happen to be conifers, one might say that these two trees bear about as much resemblance to each other as tigers do to lions. However, Deep Threat is wrong when he states that they are members of different families. While the trees belong to different genera (fir to Abies and spruce to Picea) and Subfamilies (fir to Abietoideae and spruce to Piceoideae), they do belong to the same family (Pinaceae).

Fir^[5] is an evergreen coniferous tree of the genus Abies with upright cones and flat needle-shaped leaves, typically arranged in two rows. Firs are an important source of timber and resins.

Spruce^[5] is a widespread coniferous tree of the genus Picea which has a distinctive conical shape and hanging cones, widely grown for timber, pulp, and Christmas trees.

A Voice in the Wilderness

The Chambers Dictionary (as Daily Telegraph puzzles editor Chris Lancaster points out in Comment #15 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog) defines fir as the name of several conifers, especially of the genera Abies and Picea ... I have searched fairly thoroughly and failed to find any support for Chambers contention that a fir tree can be of the genus Picea. Just because the information is found in Chambers does not necessarily make it correct (it certainly wouldn't be the first error that I have encountered in Chambers) but it does make it acceptable in the DT Cryptic Crossword which considers The Chambers Dictionary to be its Bible.

2d   Edmund early in the morning upset // lass (6)

Several readers on Big Dave's Crossword Blog had trouble parsing this clue even with Deep Threat's hint. One must first substitute "one a.m." for "early in the morning". The clue then parses as a reversal (upset) of {NED [diminutive of] Edmund) + I ([Roman numeral for] one) + AM (in the morning; abbreviation for ante meridiem)}.

Ned^[7] is an English given name and variant of Ed^*, sometimes short for Edward, Edmund, Edgar, or Edwin.

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^* "Ned" may have risen from generations of children hearing "mine Ed" as "my Ned" (an example of a process linguists call rebracketing).

3d   A story about company // that may be ratified (10)

4d   Keep secret // identity when entertained by the fellow (4)

5d   With blemishes all around, America // suffers (8)

6d   SS /and/ similar folk (7)

Although, in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat marks this clue as a double definition, the numeration does not work in the case of his first definition which would have to be either (6,1) for DOUBLE S or possibly (6-1) for DOUBLE-S.

I must confess to having missed the rebus and had merely supposed the clue to be a cryptic definition based on SS being a double with the addition of the phrase "and similar folk" making it plural. I must admit that I did have a brief misgiving about SS being referred to as folk but determined that SS^[5] was being used in the sense of the Nazi special police force.

Whatever are they talking about?

On Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat refers to 6d as a dingbat. This term has appeared several times recently on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — in fact, as recently as yesterday in pommers' review. I knew dingbat[5] to be a typographical device other than a letter or numeral (such as an asterisk), used to signal divisions in text or to replace letters in a euphemistically presented vulgar word. I also knew the term to be Archie Bunker's favourite appellation for his wife Edith[7]. However, the Brits are using the term in reference to a British board game called Dingbats[7]. The game, for two or more people, involves solving rebuses: puzzles in which a common word or saying is hidden in a cryptic or otherwise unique arrangement of symbols. The board game is marketed in North America under the name WHATZIT?. The puzzles are also syndicated internationally in newspapers, under various names such as "WHATZIT?" in North America, and "KATCH-ITS" in Australia. The publisher of the game may have avoided the name "Dingbats" in North America (as well as in Australia and New Zealand) due to the derogatory nature of the term (as used by Archie Bunker) on this side of the pond. Not only do Australians and New Zealanders use the term in the same sense as we do in North America to mean a stupid or eccentric person, they also use dingbats[5] to mean delusions or feelings of unease, particularly those induced by delirium tremens. In the UK, dingbat[7] has come to be used as another word for rebus (derived from the game).

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In the second definition, double^[10] is being used in the sense of a duplicate or counterpart, especially a person who closely resembles another.

7d   One goes round very quickly and one's teeth are on edge (8,3)

9d   Club against money demanded /for/ police action (5,6)

Baton charge^[10] is a British term for a crowd dispersal technique in which police, protected by shields, charge into a crowd with batons, clubbing people.

12d   Famous Argentinian side lifted cup -- // what gets those gnashers going? (7,3)

"famous Argentinian" = CHE (show explanation )

Che Guevara^[7] (1928–1967) was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture.

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A gnasher^[10] is a tooth.

15d   A darn cig ruined // jacket (8)

A cardigan^[12] is a sweater or jacket, usually knitted, that opens down the front and is usually collarless and long-sleeved.

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Origin^[5]: Mid 19th century (Crimean War): named after James Thomas Brudenel, 7th Earl of Cardigan (1797–1868), leader of the Charge of the Light Brigade, whose troops first wore such garments.

Here and There

Oxford Dictionaries Online defines cardigan[5] as a knitted jumper fastening down the front. In Britain, a jumper[5] is a knitted garment typically with long sleeves, worn over the upper body (in other words, a sweater). The dress that North Americans call a jumper[5] is known to the Brits as a pinafore[5] — defined as a collarless sleeveless dress worn over a blouse or jumper [sweater]. Thus, if a British lass were to wear a pinafore over her jumper and a North American gal were to wear a jumper over her sweater, they would be dressed identically.

17d   Man on board goes down after short jump -- when the vessel's this? (7)

A cryptic definition with embedded wordplay.

19d   Huge // fellows squeezed into semi, getting sozzled (7)

20d   Locks to secure old books? /That's/ silly talk! (3,3)

"old books" = OT (show explanation )

In Crosswordland, the term "books" — or phrases such as "collection of books" or "religious books" — are commonly used to clue either the Old Testament (OT) or the New Testament (NT). Often the clue does not specify whether the reference is to the former or the latter. However, today's setter is very precise.

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23d   Fast runner heading off over a // field (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