Wednesday, December 19, 2018 — DT 28796

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28796
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, July 20, 2018
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28796]
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

I received a bit of outside help to finish this puzzle — including some that was unasked for at 10a. This reminds me of the story of Jimmy who arrived at a boy scout meeting late and looking rather disheveled. When asked to explain, he replied that he had stopped to help an elderly lady to cross the street. The scoutmaster responded Why Jimmy, that was admirable of you. But how did your uniform get so messed up? Jimmy replied, Because she didn't want to go.

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

7a   Initially joyless, viewer's // good-humoured (7)

The latter part of the charade is "viewer's" — not merely "viewer".

8a   Drink /of/ disgusting cola provided by dad (7)

Here and There
Alcopop[5] is an informal British term for a ready-mixed drink that resembles a soft drink but contains alcohol. In Canada, such a beverage is known as a cooler[7].

10a   One may get stuck into a literary work (9)

A bookplate^[5] (also called ex libris^[5]) is a decorative label stuck in the front of a book, bearing the name of the book's owner.

Post Mortem
I was thinking along the lines of a bookmark — and was looking in an online dictionary to see if BOOKPLACE might be another term for such an item in Britain when I was presented unexpectedly with the correct answer. Thus, I have to admit to receiving electronic help — albeit unsolicited — in solving the clue.

11a   Friend taking Ecstasy /in/ passage (5)

"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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12a   Knowing // secret place, Rex escapes (5)

"Rex" = R (show explanation )

In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms^*, Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George — often shortened to GR) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

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^* A Commonwealth realm^[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.

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13a   A game, // a dance and a wee dram? (9)

Wee^[5] is a Scottish adjective meaning little ⇒ (i) when I was just a wee bairn; (ii) the lyrics are a wee bit too sweet and sentimental.

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^* The word may be of Scottish origin but, like the Scots themselves, the word has migrated around the world.

Dram^[5] is a Scottish term for a small drink of whiskey or other spirits ⇒ a wee dram to ward off the winter chill.

15a   Goodness me, a new blemish /in/ the country! (7)

The Union of Myanmar (prior to 1989, known as Burma^[5]) is a country in southeast Asia, on the Bay of Bengal. (show more )

Annexed by the British during the 19th century, Burma was occupied by the Japanese from 1942 to 1945 and became an independent republic in 1948. In 1962 an army coup led by Ne Win overthrew the government and established an authoritarian state. The National League for Democracy (NLD) won the election held in May 1990, even though its leader Aung San Suu Kyi was under house arrest; however, the military regime did not relinquish power, and held it until the general elections of 2015, at which the NLD won a majority.

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17a   PM facing test // in respect of Boris Johnson at one time? (7)

Theresa May^[7] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party^*, having served as both since July 2016. She is the second female Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader in the UK after Margaret Thatcher.

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^* at least for the moment; Brexit may prove to be her Mexit

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Boris Johnson^[7] is a British Conservative MP who was Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2016 to July 2018 when he resigned his cabinet post due his opposition to Theresa May's Brexit strategy.  Prior to joining the cabinet, he had served as Mayor of London  from 2008 to 2016.

18a   Message to decomputerise? // Jolly well tell me! (3,4,2)

Interpreted literally, the solution could be a demand to get rid of computers.

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Jolly well^[5] is an informal British phrase used for emphasis, especially when one is angry or irritated ⇒ I'm going to keep on eating as much sugar as I jolly well like.

20a   Smart // police operation (5)

21a   Thus rodent goes around // edible plants (5)

Taro^[5] (also called dasheen or cocoyam) is a tropical Asian plant of the arum family which has edible starchy corms and edible fleshy leaves, especially a variety with a large central corm grown as a staple in the Pacific.

23a   Maybe they are no longer funny // trees (9)

The phrase an old chestnut^[5] denotes a joke, story, or subject that has become tedious and uninteresting through constant repetition ⇒ the subject under discussion is that old chestnut, public or private financing of the arts.

24a   Children's author // didn't manage the whole lot (7)

Arthur Ransome^[5] (1884–1967) was an English novelist and journalist, best known for the children's classic Swallows and Amazons (1930).

25a   Articles /exposing/ the top people (7)

Leader^[10] (also called leading article) is a mainly British term for the leading editorial in a newspaper.

Down

1d   Noble worker kept under by a cold // bean-counter? (10)

A count^[5] is a foreign [from a British perspective] nobleman whose rank corresponds to that of a British earl.

"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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2d   Secretive about work and quiet -- /or/ careless? (6)

"work" = OP (show explanation )

In music, an opus^[5] (Latin 'work', plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.

The abbreviation Op.^[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..

Opus^[5] can also be used in a more general sense to mean an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒ he was writing an opus on Mexico.

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"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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3d   Person in pulpit /shows/ power, one getting somewhere (8)

"power" = P (show explanation )

In physics, P^[10] is a symbol used to represent power [among other things] in mathematical formulae.

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4d   From which we may deduce Eva's // to keep some money by (4,2)

This is an instance of inverse wordplay. The solution (SAVE UP), were it to be interpreted as wordplay, would produce the result EVAS (Eva's) with the word SAVE being reversed (written up) in a down clue. I call it 'inverse wordplay' because the wordplay occurs in the solution and the result of executing the wordplay is found in the clue itself — the inverse of the usual situation.

5d   Reticent about Conservative traitor, about /to become/ irritable (8)

"Conservative" = C (show explanation )

The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.^[10] or Con.^[10].

The Conservative Party^[5] is a a major British political party that emerged from the old Tory Party^* under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s. Since the Second World War, it has been in power 1951–64, 1970-74, and 1979–97. It governed in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats from 2010 until the general election of May 2015, in which it was returned with a majority.

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^* Historically, a Tory^[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.

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6d   Stone // circle with china buried under it (4)

In Britain, china^[5] is an informal term for a friend (or, as the Brits would say, a mate^*). This meaning comes from cockney rhyming slang (show explanation ), where china is the shortened form of china plate which rhymes with 'mate'.

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^* In Britain, mate^[5] — in addition to being a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner — is an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒ my best mate Steve.

Rhyming slang^[5] is a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in cockney rhyming slang.

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7d   Escort from abroad undermining task /is/ unhelpful ally (4,9)

Don't Be Led Astray
There is an error in Deep Threat's explanation for this clue on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. The "contracted form of 'is'" does not factor into the wordplay; the S in the solution comes from ESCORT.

Job's comforter^[5,10] denotes a person who, while purporting to give sympathy, succeeds only in adding to distress.

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Origin: Mid 18th century: alluding to the biblical story (Job 16:1-5) of the patriarch Job.

In the Bible, Job^[5] was a man whose patience and piety were tried by undeserved misfortunes. However, in spite of his bitter lamentations, he remained confident in the goodness and justice of God. His name has come to epitomise patience ⇒ In dealing with this series of difficult circumstances, she displayed the patience of Job.

9d   Scientists // working in school's pigsty (13)

14d   Time at home, takes advantage of // Victoria and others (10)

London Victoria station^[7], generally known as Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground [subway] complex named after nearby Victoria Street ( the latter being named after Queen Victoria). London Victoria is the second-busiest terminus in London (and the UK) after London Waterloo.

16d   Report of man wounded /in/ something through the letter box? (8)

Mailshot^[5] is a British term meaning:

• (noun) a dispatch of mail, especially promotional material, to a large number of people ⇒ retail multiples use targeted mailshots to support new branches
• (noun) an item sent in a mailshot ⇒ I have just received a mailshot from another firm
• (verb) to send promotional material to (a large number of people) ⇒ you mailshot your prospect list with an offer

17d   Like sort of woman /providing/ test -- the female's lovely but totally heartless! (8)

In the UK, MOT^[5] (also MOT test) refers to a compulsory annual test for safety and exhaust emissions of motor vehicles of more than a specified age. It is an abbreviation of Ministry of Transport, which introduced the original test.

19d   Journalist and boss // gained unauthorised access online (6)

A hack^[5] is a writer or journalist producing dull, unoriginal work ⇒ Sunday newspaper hacks earn their livings on such gullibilities.

20d   Day with vehicle going wrong way -- should have used this? (6)

This is a cryptic definition with embedded wordplay.

Satnav^[5] is navigation dependent on information received from satellites. In North America, we would refer to such a system as GPS. However, GPS is merely one of several global or regional satnav systems.^[7]

Delving Deeper

Currently, there are only two global systems operational — the US NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian GLONASS. Two other systems — China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System(BDS) and the European Union's Galileo — are scheduled to be fully operational by 2020. Besides these global systems, a number of regional systems are being implemented. The British term is more generic than the North American term. GPS is like kleenex or xerox (or, in the UK, hoover[7]) — a brand name that has become a generic term. The Brits might also avoid using the term GPS merely because of its US origins (although US lineage has not affected the British adoption of the word "hoover").

22d   Unpleasant // row (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