Thursday, January 31, 2019 — DT 28827

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28827
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, August 25, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28827 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28827 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) gnomethang (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

This is certainly a very gentle mental workout on a cold, crisp day.

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^*)

---

^* num = numeration

Explanations pertaining to the wordplay (or first definition in a double definition)

(Horizontal separator)

---

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.

hide explanation

Across

2a   Back with cord /used in/ alternative plan (6,6)

The expression second string^[5] (often in the phrase a second string to one's bow) denotes an alternative resource or course of action in case another one fails ⇒ he was principally a batsman and bowling was the second string to his bow.

8a   Initially, Frenchman eats the artisan // cheese (4)

9a   Short-time worker delayed /producing/ pattern (8)

10a   Hurry around /in/ this vehicle (8)

11a   No Republican hit back, /as/ usual (6)

"Republican" = {R | REP} (show explanation )

A Republican^[5] (abbreviation R^[5] or Rep.^[5])  is a member or supporter of the Republican Party^[5], one of the two main US political parties^*, favouring a right-wing stance, limited central government, and tough, interventionist foreign policy. It was formed in 1854 in support of the anti-slavery movement preceding the Civil War.

---

^* the other being the Democratic Party

In the UK, republican^[5] can refer to an advocate of a united Ireland but the abbreviation does not seem to apply to that usage.

hide explanation

12a   Natural impulse about Diane // isn't clear (10)

I would dare say that Diana (usually appearing in its diminutive form Di) is likely the leading contender for most popular female name in Crosswordland. Today's setter gives us a slight variation on the theme.

13a   Reportedly drunken sailor /with/ takeover bid! (6)

As a link word, I would imagine that with^[5,10] is being used in the sense of caused by or prompted by ⇒ (i) shaking with rage; (ii) trembling with fear.

"sailor" = JACK (show explanation )

The entry for jack in The Chambers Dictionary would fill a page if it were not spread over parts of two pages. Among the definitions, one finds jack^[1] defined as (often with capital) a sailor.

hide explanation

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, gnomethang tells us that the second part of the charade is JACK for a sailor (Jlly [sic] Jack Tar). A bit of a typo there. He clearly intended to write Jolly Jack Tar. In addition to jack (see above), both jolly and tar are informal terms for a sailor: Jolly[10] is British slang for a member of the Royal Marines[5] (abbreviation RM[5]), a British armed service (part of the Royal Navy) founded in 1664, trained for service at sea, or on land under specific circumstances. Tar[5] is an informal, dated nickname for a sailor. The term came into use in the mid 17th century and is perhaps an abbreviation of tarpaulin, also used as a nickname for a sailor at that time. Jack Tar[7] (also Jacktar, Jack-tar or Tar) is a common English term originally used to refer to seamen of the Merchant or Royal Navy, particularly during the period of the British Empire. By World War I the term was used as a nickname for those in the U.S. Navy. Both members of the public, and seafarers themselves, made use of the name in identifying those who went to sea. It was not used as a pejorative and sailors were happy to use the term to label themselves. A Wikipedia article on English Folk Music[7] informs us that the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1797–1815) saw "the emergence of a stereotype of the English seaman as ‘Jolly Jack Tar’, who appeared in many ballads and on stage."

16a   In Colombo, he avoided // tea (5)

Bohea^[5] is a black China tea that comes from the last crop of the season and is usually regarded as of low quality.

17a   Sport is as frenzied /in/ the country (6)

"sport" = RU (show explanation )

Rugby union^[10] (abbreviation RU^[5]) is a form of rugby football played between teams of 15 players (in contrast to rugby league^[5], which is played in teams of thirteen).

Rugby union^[7] is the national sport in New Zealand, Wales, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Madagascar.

hide explanation

18a   Comedian unravelled a rope /in/ absurd emotional situation (5,5)

A comic opera^[5] is an opera that portrays humorous situations and characters, enhanced by much spoken dialogue ⇒ (i) a new recording of Rossini's frothiest comic opera; (ii) he looked like a character from comic opera. The Chambers Dictionary also gives comic opera^[1] the figurative meaning of an absurd emotional situation.

21a   Adversely criticise // assault (6)

23a   Restrain // worker on strike (8)

24a   Folk music /from/ one American during parade on island (8)

Mariachi^[5] is a type of traditional Mexican folk music, performed by a small group of strolling musicians ⇒ But even love's lament is upbeat in mariachi, a musical genre bursting with the passion of Mexico.

25a   It flies // north-east after little hesitation (4)

Erne^[5] is a literary name for the sea eagle^[5], a large Eurasian fish-eating eagle that frequents coasts and wetlands.

26a   Not concerned /from/ tune resident played (12)

Down

1d   Profit /from/ ticket (6)

Return^[5] is a British term for a ticket which allows someone to travel to a place and back again ⇒ (i) Commuter fares from the city centre to Raheny, for example, now € 1.50 for a single, will increase to € 1.55, while a €2.70 return will cost €2.80.; (ii) From New York, Amtrak trains take about 13 hours to Toronto; returns cost £95.^*.

---

^* Of twenty-one usage examples given by Oxford Dictionaries Online, eighteen use the term "return ticket" rather than "return" — thereby hardly being illustrative of the point the site is attempting to convey. The two usage examples cited here use "return" in the sense of "return ticket" while the remaining one uses it in the sense of "return fare" ⇒ You can get to Strasbourg by Ryan Air for £29.09 return from Stansted.

2d   Lustful // Sarah, with Bill, promises to pay (9)

Sal^[7] is a diminutive form of Sally^[7] — which, in turn, is a diminutive form of Sarah.

3d   Actor confused about victor/'s/ frolic (6)

Victor^[5] is a code word representing the letter V, used in radio communication.

4d   Notts County (15)

Notts.^[5] is the abbreviation for Nottinghamshire, a county in central England.

Scratching the Surface

Were I to know anything about the lower tiers of English football, this clue might have struck me as slightly more cryptic than was my initial bewildered impression. Notts County Football Club[7], nicknamed the Magpies, is an association football [soccer] club based in Nottingham, England. Founded in 1862, they are the oldest professional association football club in the world. They participate in League Two, the fourth tier of English football, as of the 2018–19 season.

5d   South African fellow removed hat /for/ a lady (8)

No Means of Support?
SA[5] is the abbreviation for South Africa — but nowhere did I find it listed as an abbreviation for South African. I even considered the letters separately but found no listing for A as an abbreviation for African (or Africa for that matter).

As an anagram indicator, remove^[5] (or remove to) is used in the dated sense of to change one’s home or place of residence by moving to (another place) ⇒ he removed to Wales and began afresh.

6d   Overrule Robert hoarding // stationery (5)

While I tend to think of stationery^[10] as writing paper and envelopes, it also includes other writing materials such as pens, ink, rulers, etc.

7d   Produce egg after fruit /for/ songbird (8)

The nuthatch^[5] is a small songbird with a stiffened tail, which climbs up and down tree trunks and feeds on nuts, seeds, and insects.

14d   Stuffed // conserve in case (3-6)

A conserve^[10] is a preparation of fruit in sugar, similar to jam but usually containing whole pieces of fruit.

15d   Verse /from/ Iraq aunt translated (8)

A quatrain^[5] is a stanza of four lines, especially one having alternate rhymes.

16d   Support aircraftsman before he /is/ a pain (8)

AC^[1,5] is the abbreviation for aircraftman^[1,5] (or aircraftsman^[1]) or aircraftwoman^[1,5] (or aircraftswoman^[1]), a man or woman who holds the lowest rank in the RAF, below leading aircraftman^[1,5] (or leading aircraftsman^[1]) or leading aircraftwoman^[1,5] (or leading aircraftswoman^[1]).

19d   Is unable // to put girl into bed (6)

What did he say?
In his hint on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Big Dave refers to a cot as a child’s bed). In Britain, a small bed with high barred sides for a baby or very young child is called a cot[5] rather than a crib[5] as it is known in North America.

20d   Clarify, // almost cultured (6)

22d   Bring into line, // a line, say (5)

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

Wednesday, January 30, 2019 — DT 28826

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28826
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, August 24, 2018
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28826]
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

The Queen — who uncharacteristically failed to make an appearance in yesterday's puzzle by RayT — shows up a day late.

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^*)

---

^* num = numeration

Explanations pertaining to the wordplay (or first definition in a double definition)

(Horizontal separator)

---

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.

hide explanation

Across

1a   Unfortunately a pest will eat little // plant (5,3)

"little" = WEE [Scottish] (show explanation )

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.

---

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

hide explanation

9a   Something uttered by minister // is clever, devious (8)

A versicle^[5] (usually versicles) is a short sentence said or sung by the minister in a church service, to which the congregation gives a response.

10a   Gloomy // sailor going to doctor (4)

"sailor" = AB (show explanation )

In the Royal Navy, according to Oxford Dictionaries, able seaman^[5] (abbreviation AB^[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary tells us that an able seaman^[10] (also called able-bodied seaman) is an ordinary seaman, especially one in the merchant navy, who has been trained in certain skills.

hide explanation

11a   Story from the past // about small fuss involving Conservative (12)

"Conservative" = C [political party] (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.

hide explanation

13a   Protected // with weapons, having to guard old biblical city (8)

"biblical city" = UR (show explanation )

Ur^[5] is an ancient Sumerian city formerly on the Euphrates, in southern Iraq. It was one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia, dating from the 4th millennium BC, and reached its zenith in the late 3rd millennium BC. Ur^[7] is considered by many to be the city of Ur Kasdim mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the birthplace of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham.

hide explanation

15a   Abandon // hot place noted for its rats (6)

Desert Rat^[5] is an informal name for a soldier of the 7th British armoured division in the North African desert campaign of 1941–2. The badge of the division was the figure of a jerboa (a desert-dwelling rodent).

16a   Distinguished man /has/ house in which to entertain Her Majesty (4)

"house" = HO (show explanation )

Although not found in most of the dictionaries I consulted, ho.^[10] is the abbreviation for house.

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"Her Majesty" = ER (show explanation )

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

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As a link word, has^[5] is used in the sense of to be made up of or comprise ⇒ in 1989 the party had 10,000 members.

17a   Having multiple involvement, except for a // small bit (5)

18a   What makes man worry regularly, /being/ amiss (4)

20a   Polish // match official in trouble ultimately (6)

An association football [soccer] match is officiated by a referee, who has "full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed" (Law 5), and whose decisions are final. The referee is assisted by two assistant referees. In many high-level games there is also a fourth official who assists the referee and may replace another official should the need arise. Video assistant referee (VAR) has also been increasingly introduced to assist officials through video replay to correct clear and obvious mistakes.^[7]

21a   Demeanour /of/ a bishop, one enthralled by experimental composer (8)

"bishop" = RR (show explanation )

Right Reverend^[5] (abbreviation RR^[2]) is a title given to a bishop, especially in the Anglican Church ⇒ the Right Reverend David Jenkins, Bishop of Durham.

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John Cage^[7] (1912–1992) was an American composer, music theorist, writer, and artist. Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4′33″, which is performed in the absence of deliberate sound; musicians who present the work do nothing aside from their presence for the duration specified by the title. The content of the composition is not "four minutes and 33 seconds of silence," as is sometimes assumed, but rather the sounds of the environment heard by the audience during performance.

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The word "of" is used as a link word between the definition and wordplay. (show explanation )

When used as a link word, "of" denotes that the definition is formed from the constituent parts found in the wordplay.

This is based on the preposition of^[5] denoting the material or substance constituting something ⇒ (i) the house was built of bricks; (ii) walls of stone.

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23a   State of America -- // is it wavering, wobbling? (4,8)

26a   Fifty had a meal // past normal bedtime? (4)

27a   Feature of climate /has/ artist getting home before autumn (8)

Here and There

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat characterizes "fall" as what our American cousins call autumn. According to Oxford Dictionaries, fall[5] (also Fall) is the North American term for autumn while Collins English Dictionary characterizes fall[10] as a mainly US term for autumn. The word fall[7] actually came to North America from England. Before the 16th century, harvest was the term usually used to refer to the season, as is common in other West Germanic languages to this day (cf. Dutch herfst and German Herbst). However, as more people gradually moved from working the land to living in towns (especially those who could read and write, the only people whose use of language we now know), the word harvest lost its reference to the time of year and came to refer only to the actual activity of reaping, and autumn, as well as fall, began to replace it as a reference to the season. The term fall came to denote the season in 16th century England. During the 17th century, English emigration to the British colonies in North America was at its peak, and the new settlers took the English language with them. While the term fall gradually became obsolete in Britain, it became the more common term in North America. Notwithstanding the foregoing, I would say that in Canada the terms fall and autumn are used interchangeably — possibly even in the course of the same conversation — and with roughly equal frequency.

28a   Raiders // for years on the rampage (8)

Down

2d   Arab in conflict? (8)

The Story Behind the Picture

Deep Threat illustrates his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog with a scene from War Horse[7], a play based on the book of the same name by children's writer Michael Morpurgo, adapted for stage by Nick Stafford. Originally Morpurgo thought "they must be mad" to try to make a play from his best-selling 1982 novel; nonetheless, the play was a success. The play features life-size horse puppets by the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa.

3d   Bert is gloomy -- // medical expert // sorts that out (12)

This clue has a rather unusual structure in which the definition is positioned between the anagram fodder to the left and the anagram indicator to the right. Since the pronoun "that" refers to the antecedent clause "Bert is gloomy", the clue (from a cryptic analysis perspective) could be restructured to read:

• Medical expert // sorts out 'Bert is gloomy' (12)

4d   3R for instance /will get/ this textbook (6)

A prime number^[3,5] (or simply prime^[5]) is a positive integer that is greater than 1 and is not divisible without a remainder by any positive integer other than itself and 1 (e.g. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11).

5d   French plane I ditched /in/ river (4)

Avion^[8] is the French word for 'plane'.

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Avon^[5] is the name of two rivers in England. The better known is a river of central England which rises near the Leicestershire–Northamptonshire border and flows 154 km (96 miles) south-west through Stratford to the River Severn. The other is a river of south-western England which rises near the Gloucestershire–Wiltshire border and flows 121 km (75 miles) through Bath and Bristol also to the River Severn.

6d   Ran campaign -- // gangs helped, becoming audible (8)

A rare homophone that works on this side of the pond.

7d   Image /of/ trendy company included (4)

8d   Daughter, see, saving a bit of money // in proper fashion (8)

"daughter" = D [genealogy] (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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A see^[10] is the diocese (show more ) of a bishop, or the place within it where his cathedral (show more ) or procathedral (show more ) is situated.

A diocese^[5] is a district under the pastoral care of a bishop in the Christian Church — or, more precisely, episcopal churches.

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A cathedral^[5] is the principal church of a diocese, with which the bishop is officially associated.

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A pro-cathedral^[5] (or procathedral^[10]) is a church used as a substitute for a cathedral.

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The Diocese of Ely^[7] is a Church of England diocese in the (ecclesiastical) Province of Canterbury, headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in the city of Ely.

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat identifies the diocese as being located in East Anglia. East Anglia[5] is a region of eastern England consisting of the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and parts of Essex and Cambridgeshire. Ely[7] is located in Cambridgeshire.

A cent^[5] is a monetary unit in various countries^*, equal to one hundredth of a dollar, euro, or other decimal currency unit. However, in Britain — despite having adopted a decimal currency system — one hundredth of a pound is known as a penny rather than a cent.

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^* Although Deep Threat in his review refers to it as "American small change", Collins English Dictionary exhaustively defines cent^[10] as a monetary unit of American Samoa, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Brunei, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Dominica, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Micronesia, Monaco, Montenegro, Namibia, Nauru, the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, the Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Surinam, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, the United States, the Vatican City, the Virgin Islands, and Zimbabwe. It is worth one hundredth of their respective standard units.

12d   Fleet Street area friend keeping still /or/ showing great delight? (12)

Fleet Street^[5] is a street in central London in which the offices of national newspapers were located until the mid 1980s (often used as a metonym for the British Press) ⇒ the hottest story in Fleet Street.

Fleet Street is located mostly within the City of London (show more ). The setter uses "Fleet Street area" to represent the EC postcode^* which serves the City of London. The EC (Eastern Central) postcode area^[7] (also known as the London EC postcode area) is a group of postcode districts in central London, England. It includes almost all of the City of London as well as parts of several other London boroughs.

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^* postcode being the British counterpart of the Canadian postal code or American zip code

The City of London^[7] (not to be confused with the city of London) is a city and ceremonial county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, but the conurbation has since grown far beyond the City's borders. The City of London is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. It is one of two districts of London to hold city status, the other being the adjacent City of Westminster.

The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City (often written as just "City" and differentiated from the phrase "the city of London" by capitalising "City") and is also colloquially known as the Square Mile, as it is 1.12 sq mi (2.90 km²), in area. Both of these terms are also often used as metonyms for the United Kingdom's trading and financial services industries, which continue a notable history of being largely based in the City. This is analogous to the use of the terms Wall Street and Bay Street to refer to the financial institutions located in New York and Toronto respectively.

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14d   Greek // party with king or queen in charge (5)

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

"in charge" = IC (show explanation )

The abbreviation i/c^[2,5] can be short for either:

• (especially in military contexts) in charge (of) ⇒ the Quartermaster General is i/c rations
• in command (of) ⇒ 2 i/c = second in command.

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Doric^[5] is the ancient Greek dialect of the Dorians^*.

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^* The Dorians^[5] were a Hellenic people thought to have entered Greece from the north c.1100 BC. They settled in the Peloponnese and later colonized Sicily and southern Italy.

The Story Behind the Picture

Deep Threat illustrates his review with a picture of Doric columns. Doric[5] is a classical order of architecture characterized by a sturdy fluted column and a thick square abacus* resting on a rounded moulding. * The abacus[5] is the flat slab on top of a capital (the distinct, typically broader section at the head of a pillar or column), supporting the architrave (a main beam resting across the tops of columns).

16d   Difficult conflict ending with unreliable // equipment (8)

17d   Writer/'s/ lowest point, upsetting after famous novel (8)

She^[7], subtitled A History of Adventure, is a novel by English writer Henry Rider Haggard (1856–1925). (read more )

Sir Henry Rider Haggard^[5] (1856–1925) was an English novelist. Published under the name H. Rider Haggard, he is famous for adventure novels such as King Solomon’s Mines (1885) and She (1889).

She, first serialized in The Graphic magazine from October 1886 to January 1887, is one of the classics of imaginative literature, and as of 1965 with over 83 million copies sold in 44 different languages, one of the best-selling books of all time. Extraordinarily popular upon its release, She has never been out of print.

The story is a first-person narrative that follows the journey of Horace Holly and his ward Leo Vincey to a lost kingdom in the African interior. There they encounter a primitive race of natives and a mysterious white queen named Ayesha who reigns as the all-powerful "She", or "She-who-must-be-obeyed". In this work, Rider Haggard developed the conventions of the Lost World subgenre, which many later authors emulated.

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Richard Brinsley Sheridan^[5] (1751–1816) was an Irish playwright and politician. His plays are comedies of manners and include The Rivals (1775) and The School for Scandal (1777). In 1780, he entered Parliament, became a celebrated orator, and held senior government posts.

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat identifies the playwright as the inventor of Mrs Malaprop. Mrs. Malaprop[7] is a character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals. Mrs. Malaprop frequently misspeaks (to comic effect) by using words which don't have the meaning that she intends but which sound similar to words that do. The term malapropism[7] — denoting the use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance — comes from her name. An example is the statement by baseball player Yogi Berra, "Texas has a lot of electrical votes", rather than "electoral votes".

19d   Record // held by player, e.g., is terrific (8)

22d   Church musician, // one who shouldn't be playing? (6)

This musician is a bell-ringer^[10] (or ringer for short), a person who rings church bells.

Ringer^[5] is a US^[10] or chiefly US^[2] term for an athlete or horse fraudulently substituted for another in a competition or event ⇒ it was discovered that the winning horse was a ringer.

24d   Miss out /as/ captain (4)

A skip^[5] is the captain or director of a side [team] at bowls [lawn bowling] or curling.

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As a link word, as^[10] is used as a preposition meaning 'in the role of or being'.

25d   Chasm /making/ female pull up (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