Wednesday, December 12, 2018 — DT 28791

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28791
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, July 14, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28791 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28791 – 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

The puzzle is fairly gentle and the comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog relating to Donald Trump's visit to the UK are quite subdued. I did like the Matt cartoon which Big Dave shares with us in the thread at Comment #11.

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   Problem jazz fan picks up /in/ gossip (8)

Cat^[5] is an informal North American term (especially among jazz enthusiasts) for a man ⇒ (i) this West Coast cat had managed him since the early 80s; (ii) the cat went crazy on the horn.

9a   Four articles about medium/'s/ curse (8)

"medium" = M (show explanation )

M^[5] is the abbreviation for medium (as a clothes size).

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10a   Worry // about appearing in business paper (4)

The Financial Times^[7] (abbreviation FT) is a British international business newspaper that is printed on conspicuous salmon pink newsprint.

11a   Working with stars, // fool collects prize (that's right) (12)

13a   Engineer gets best clothes /for/ chemical plant (8)

"engineer" = RE (show explanation )

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers^[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

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15a   Shed // small amount of light on tea that's stewed (4-2)

16a   Simple plant // found in several gardens (4)

Alga^[5] (plural algae) is a simple, non-flowering, and typically aquatic plant of a large group that includes the seaweeds and many single-celled forms. Algae contain chlorophyll but lack true stems, roots, leaves, and vascular tissue.

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Origin: Latin ‘seaweed’

17a   Group popular in the Nineties touring East /being/ less happy (5)

Blur^[7] are an English rock band, formed in London in 1988. In the early 1990s, the band achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a chart battle with rivals Oasis in 1995 dubbed the "Battle of Britpop". In 1997, their single "Song 2"^[7] went to #6 in the US and #1 in Canada on the alternative rock charts.

18a   Give out // ecstasy in front of Cambridge college (4)

"ecstasy" = E (show explanation )

E^[5] is an abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy^* or a tablet of Ecstasy ⇒ (i) people have died after taking E; (ii) being busted with three Es can lead to stiff penalties.

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^* Ecstasy^[5] is an illegal amphetamine-based synthetic drug with euphoric effects, originally produced as an appetite suppressant. Also called MDMA (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine).

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This college is found in Cambridge, Massachusetts rather than Cambridge, England. (reveal more )

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology^[5] (abbreviation MIT) is a US institute of higher education, famous for scientific and technical research, founded in 1861 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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20a   Reconnoitring with a view to breaking // cover (6)

... not only breaking, but entering as well.

I've marked this as a cryptic definition on account of the length of time it took me to realize that the first definition is more than merely "reconnoitring".

21a   Achieve success /through/ Republican Party ties (2,6)

GOP^[5] stands for Grand Old Party, a nickname for the Republican Party in the US.

23a   Planes in navy crashed // somewhere in USA (12)

26a   Good message to departed // stagehand (4)

"good" = G (show explanation )

The abbreviation G^[a] for good comes from its use in education as a mark awarded on scholastic assignments or tests.

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^[a] Collins English to Spanish Dictionary

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Grip^[5] is a term for a stagehand in a theatre or a member of a camera crew responsible for moving and setting up equipment.

27a   Report of events /from/ all directions found (8)

Found^[5] is used in the sense of to make (an article) by melting and moulding metal.

28a   Strongly criticise // directors' salary? (8)

Down

2d   Renegade caught by Henry /makes/ a bloomer (8)

Hal^[nameberry] is a venerable nickname for Henry, Harry [itself a variant of Henry]^* and Harold, famously used by Shakespeare in King Henry IV as the name of the king's son, the future Henry V.

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^* Harry was considered the "spoken form" of Henry^[7] in medieval England. Most English kings named Henry were called Harry. At one time, the name was so popular for English men that the phrase "Tom, Dick, and Harry" was used to refer to everyone.

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Harebell^[5] (also called bluebell, especially in Scotland) is a widely distributed bellflower with slender stems and pale blue flowers in late summer.

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Origin: Middle English: probably so named because it is found growing in places frequented by hares.

The flower commonly known in North America as the bluebell is the Virginia bluebell^[7] (Mertensia virginica) rather than the Scottish bluebell^[7] (Campanula rotundifolia). In Britain, outside of Scotland, the name bluebell would be understood to refer to the common bluebell^[7] (Hyacinthoides non-scripta).

Scratching the Surface
Bloomer[5] is a dated informal British term for a serious or stupid mistake ⇒ he never committed a bloomer.

3d   Italian Trot, a revolutionary // dictator? (12)

Scratching the Surface
Trot[5] is an informal, chiefly derogatory term for a Trotskyist or supporter of extreme left-wing views ⇒ (i) a band of subversive Trots; (ii) he declared that the Corporation was a ‘nest of long-haired Trots’.

4d   Travel at speed // damaged outside of limousine (6)

5d   Mexican food // cheers company (4)

Cheers^[5] is an informal British expression of gratitude or acknowledgement for something ⇒ Billy tossed him the key. ‘Cheers, pal.’.

Ta^[5] is an informal British exclamation signifying thank you ⇒‘Ta,’ said Willie gratefully.

6d   Composer with uplifting part /for/ one unaccompanied (8)

Johann Sebastian Bach^[5] (1685–1750) was a German composer. An exceptional and prolific baroque composer, he produced a massive body of work — not to mention twenty children. (show more )

Bach produced works ranging from violin concertos, suites, and the six Brandenburg Concertos (1720–1) to clavier works and sacred cantatas. Large-scale choral works include The Passion according to St John (1723), The Passion according to St Matthew (1729), and the Mass in B minor (1733–8). He had twenty children: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–88) wrote church music, keyboard sonatas, and a celebrated treatise on clavier playing, and Johann Christian Bach (1735–82) became music master to the British royal family and composed thirteen operas.

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7d   TV cook // endlessly found in food shop (4)

Delia Smith^[7] is an English cook and television presenter [host], known for teaching basic cookery skills in a no-nonsense style. One of the best known celebrity chefs in British popular culture, Smith has influenced viewers to become more culinarily adventurous.

8d   What one may do during cheese course /or/ entree? (8)

The cheese course of a full-course dinner^[7] comprises a cheese selection accompanied by an appropriate selection of wine which might well include port. Port^[7] is commonly served after meals as a dessert wine in English-speaking countries, often with cheese, nuts, and/or chocolate; white and tawny ports are often served as an apéritif. In Europe all types of port are frequently consumed as aperitifs.

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Entrée^[10] is used in the sense of the power or right of entry.

Passport^[10] is used figuratively in the sense of a quality, asset, etc, that gains a person admission or acceptance.

12d   Theatre worker, // a star that's upcoming caught by surprise (5,7)

The stage manager^[5] is the person responsible for the lighting and other technical arrangements for a stage play.

14d   Canadian singer-songwriter, no longer this? (5)

This would seem to amount to a precise definition embedded within (for want of a better alternative) a somewhat cryptic definition.

Neil Young^[7] is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. In a career that has spanned nearly sixty years — including stints as a member of the groups Buffalo Springfield (1966-1968) and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young (1969-1970) — he has amassed achievements and garnered awards far too numerous to even attempt to mention. Just let it be said that Young has received several Grammy and Juno awards. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him twice: as a solo artist in 1995 and in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield.

16d   Single-handedly captures international // gangster (2,6)

International^[5] (noun) is a British term for a player who has taken part in an international game or contest.

Cap^[5] is a British term for:

• a cap awarded as a sign of membership of a particular sports team, especially a national team [a team representing a country in international competition] ⇒ he has won three caps for Scotland
• a player to whom a cap is awarded ⇒ a former naval officer and rugby cap.

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Al Capone^[5] (1899–1947), nicknamed  Scarface (show more ), was an American gangster of Italian descent. He dominated organized crime in Chicago in the 1920s and was indirectly responsible for many murders, including the St Valentine’s Day Massacre^* .

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^* The St Valentine's Day Massacre^[5] was the shooting on 14th February 1929 of seven members of the rival ‘Bugsy’ Moran's gang by some of Al Capone's men disguised as policemen.

Capone^[7] was born in Brooklyn (New York) and began his life of crime in New York City before moving to Chicago. Capone inadvertently insulted a woman while working the door at a Brooklyn night club and was slashed by her brother Frank Gallucio. The wounds led to the nickname that Capone loathed: "Scarface". Capone's boss, racketeer Frankie Yale, insisted that Capone apologize to Gallucio, and later Capone hired him as a bodyguard. When photographed, Capone hid the scarred left side of his face, saying that the injuries were war wounds. Capone was called "Snorky", a term for a sharp dresser, by his closest friends.

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17d   Someone scary // ravaged money bag (8)

19d   Person hard to satisfy // that is boxing former boxer (8)

Muhammad Ali^[5] is an American boxer; born Cassius Marcellus Clay. He won the world heavyweight title in 1964, 1974, and 1978, becoming the only boxer to be world champion three times.

22d   Colour in a kind of statistical chart // a small digit (6)

Big Dave sees "colour" as a noun but I think it works just as well — if not better — as a verb with ink^[1] (verb) being used in the sense of to mark, daub, cover, blacken or colour with ink.

24d   Pond creature // wife caught in appropriate item (4)

The wordplay is not entirely independent of the definition as the word "appropriate" clearly refers back to "pond creature" (i..e, we need an item appropriate for catching a pond creature). However, the structure of the clue does not lend itself to any sort of markup that would allow me to indicate such a linkage.

25d   Division // of Novotel (4)

Both Big Dave and crypticsue have parsed the clue as shown above in which the solution is hidden in (of) NoVOTEl where the hidden word indicator is the single word "of".

I wondered if this might not be a sort of all-in-one clue in which the entire clue constitutes the wordplay in which the definition is embedded:

• Division of Novotel (4)

This interpretation would give us the solution hidden in (division of) NoVOTEl where the hidden word indicator is 'division of'.

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Division^[5] denotes an instance of members of a legislative body separating into two groups to vote ⇒ the new clause was agreed without a division.

Scratching the Surface
Novotel[7] is a hotel brand within the AccorHotels group. There is a Novotel Hotel here in Ottawa although it is not included in the rather limited list found in the Wikipedia article.

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