Tuesday, December 4, 2018 — DT 28785

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28785
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, July 7, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28785 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28785 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) crypticsue (Review)
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
Notes
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

After struggling with this puzzle and requiring extensive electronic support to complete it, I was more than a little relieved to see that crypticsue had awarded it five stars for difficulty.

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   Place to hang hospital garment? (8)

The entire clue is a cryptic definition which has embedded within it some rather cryptic wordplay. A precise definition would be merely "place to hang garment" or WARDROBE. Adding the word "hospital" to the clue makes the definition cryptic. The embedded wordplay gives us WARD ROBE (a cryptic description of a hospital garment).

5a   Reversible raincoats // to take to the cleaners (4)

Mac^[5] is an informal name for a mackintosh^[5], a British term for a full-length waterproof coat.

9a   Bar runner /from/ club with pain needing treatment (8)

"Bar runner" is a deceptively phrased (i.e, somewhat cryptic) description of someone who owns or manages a bar.

Publican^[5] is a British term for a person who owns or manages a pub.

The Story Behind the Picture
The bloke in the picture in Big Dave's hint is Miffypops, the regular Monday reviewer on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, who is the proprietor of The Green Man, a pub in Long Itchington, Warwickshire, England.

10a   Drive /to find/ area next to concert hall maybe (6)

11a   Very loud penetrating poet is sadly // on the wrong track ... (3-5)

"very loud" = FF (show explanation )

Fortissimo^[5] (abbreviation ff^[5]) is a direction used in music to mean either (as an adjective) very loud  or (as an adverb) very loudly.

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A piste^[5] is a ski run of compacted snow.

Off-piste^[5] is a skiing term denoting away from prepared ski runs ⇒ (i) off-piste slopes; (ii) heli-skiing is an expensive way of skiing off-piste. The term is used figuratively to describe a deviation from what is conventional, usual, or expected ⇒ (i) on this occasion I went off-piste and booked in at The Griffin, a place none of us had ever visited before; (ii) an off-piste show.

12a   ... hence, having no beginning or end, poem /causes/ scramble (6)

14a   Severe // forecast -- ring entrepreneurs for clothing (10)

18a   One relays creepy messages // of courses in Paris and Berlin by management (5,5)

In French, oui^[8] is an adverb meaning 'yes' — or 'of course'.

In German, ja^[8] is an adverb meaning 'yes' — or 'of course'.

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A Ouija board^[5] (trademark in the US) is a board with letters, numbers, and other signs around its edge, to which a planchette, movable pointer, or upturned glass moves, supposedly in answer to questions from people at a seance.

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Origin: Late 19th century: of uncertain origin: possibly from French oui ‘yes’ + German ja ‘yes’.

22a   Drive // home's ending? (6)

The question mark is certainly apropos in this clue. The explanation for the wordplay did occur to me but I dismissed it as inconceivable. That turns out not to be the case. The final letter (ending) of homE is E^[5] which, in physics, is a symbol used to represent energy in mathematical formulae.

23a   Beg // surgeon for facelift, having caught cold (8)

24a   Bothered to take time for seconds, /resulting in/ round figure (6)

Shirty[5] is an informal British term for bad-tempered or annoyed ⇒ she got quite shirty.

25a   Villain receiving old-fashioned look after page/'s/ introduction (8)

"old-fashioned look" = LO (show explanation )

Lo^[5] is an archaic exclamation used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event ⇒ and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them.

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"page" = P (show explanation )

In textual references, the abbreviation for page is p^[5] ⇒ see p 784.

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In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I hesitate to point out that crypticsue has mis-parsed the clue. The P comes from an abbreviation for 'page' rather than from "page's introduction". The word "introduction" is the definition.

26a   Animal // pelt (4)

Pelt^[5] is an informal term meaning to run somewhere very quickly ⇒ I pelted across the road.

Hare^[5] is a British expression meaning to run with great speed ⇒ he hared off between the trees.

27a   Risky material, // 'First Love' penned by idiot (8)

"love" = O (show explanation )

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).

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Down

2d   After hesitation, turned up nude, /getting/ slap in the face (6)

3d   Fruit // is planted amid downpour (6)

4d   Fine meadow or riverside, perhaps, /for/ Mole! (6,4)

Scratching the Surface
Mole[7] is one of the main characters in The Wind in the Willows[7], a children's novel by British writer Kenneth Grahame (1859–1932), first published in 1908.

6d   Binding agreement // mysterious group's used to crush worker (8)

"worker" = ANT (show explanation )

The word "worker" and the phrase "social worker" are commonly used in cryptic crossword puzzles to clue ANT or BEE.

A worker^[5] is a neuter or undeveloped female bee, wasp, ant, or other social insect, large numbers of which do the basic work of the colony.

In crossword puzzles, "worker" will most frequently be used to clue ANT and occasionally BEE but I have yet to see it used to clue WASP. Of course, "worker" is sometimes also used to clue HAND or MAN.

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7d   Staffing // that's opposed by feminists? (8)

Split (3,5) we get what is opposed by feminists.

8d   Light meal the French originally shelled out for (8)

Presumably the French invented this dish — they certainly gave it its name.

9d   Rugby player // that's employed in theatre (4)

In rugby, a prop^[5] (also called prop forward) is a forward at either end of the front row of a scrum (show more ).

In rugby, a scrum^[5] is an ordered formation of players, used to restart play, in which the forwards of a team form up with arms interlocked and heads down, and push forward against a similar group from the opposing side. The ball is thrown into the scrum and the players try to gain possession of it by kicking it backwards towards their own side.

The front row of the scrum is comprised of three players — a hooker^[5] in the middle with a prop^[5] on either side.

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13d   Makes tracks in advance /of/ drunken rep's order to come round clubs (10)

"clubs" = C (show explanation )

Clubs^[2] (abbreviation C^[1]) is one of the four suits of playing-cards.

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15d   Row // of homes? (8)

Domestic^[5] is an informal British term for a violent quarrel between family members, especially a couple ⇒ they are often called to sort out a domestic.

16d   Food supplement /put/ team on course (4,4)

"team" = SIDE (show explanation )

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

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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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17d   Butcher cutting son /causes/ hysterics? (8)

19d   Club's number one /in/ part of India -- tall story! (6)

Goa^[5] is a state on the west coast of India. (show more )

Formerly a Portuguese territory, it was seized by India in 1961. It formed a Union Territory with Daman and Diu until 1987, when it was made a state.

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Squad numbers^[7] are used in association football [soccer] to identify and distinguish players that are on the field. Numbers were originally used to also indicate position, with starting players being assigned numbers 1–11. While no longer mandatory, numbers 1–11 are often still worn by players of the previously associated position with the number "1" typically being used by the starting goalkeeper (or goalie).

20d   Man whose limit may be one across and two down? (6)

... or one across and two up, or two across and one down, or two across and one up.

A man^[5] is a figure or token used in playing a board game. A chessman^[5] [or informally man] is a solid figure used as a chess piece ⇒ ivory chessmen stood on an inlaid board.

A knight^[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a horse’s head, that moves by jumping to the opposite corner of a rectangle two squares by three. Each player starts the game with two knights.

As the across move can be either to the left or to the right, there are eight possible locations to which the knight can jump (unless restricted by the edge of the board or other chess pieces).

21d   Present // that bloke goes on about (4)

"that bloke" = HE (show explanation )

Bloke^[5] is an informal British^* term for a man ⇒ he’s a nice bloke.

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^* Very British, but certainly also very familiar to anyone on this side of the pond who has ever watched a British film or television programme

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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