Tuesday, January 22, 2019 — DT 28820

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28820
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, August 17, 2018
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28820]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Senf (subbing for 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

Today's puzzle is reviewed on Big Dave's Crossword Blog by my fellow Canadian blogger, Senf who hails from Winnipeg.

The puzzle was a good mental workout but I did manage to finish without outside help. It helped that I was working with the revised version of the puzzle from the Telegraph Puzzles website and not the original version published in the newspaper.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Error in Today's Puzzle

This puzzle contained an error when it was published in The Daily Telegraph and that error will most assuredly appear in the National Post.

The following clue:

• 5d    Bird with yellow part, one concealed (6)

was later corrected on the Telegraph Puzzles website to read:

• 5d    Bird with round part, one concealed (6)

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   Both comrades sadly // out of action (4,2,6)

The adjective hors de combat^[5] denotes out of action due to injury or damage ⇒ their pilots had been rendered temporarily hors de combat.

---

Origin: French, literally ‘out of the fight’.

9a   Fellow /producing/ article in Paris about our country (4)

"article in Paris" = LE (show explanation )

In French, the masculine singular form of the definite article is le^[8].

hide explanation

"our country" = UK [it is, after all, a British puzzle]

10a   Involve // troublemaker, one Conservative entering after time (9)

"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.

---

^* 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

12a   Minister of religion is beginning to embrace // change (6)

13a   Loyalist // to begin tackling man and wife (8)

15a   Essential lodger, // type who can type (10)

16a   Model // to disapprove of, not given work (4)

"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.

hide explanation

18a   Observe // one in a bar? (4)

A double definition — the second somewhat cryptic.

Here and There

A bar[7] (or measure) is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats, each of which are assigned a particular note value. The word bar is more common in British English, and the word measure is more common in American English, although musicians generally understand both usages. Originally, the word bar derives from the vertical lines drawn through the staff (or stave)* to mark off metrical units. In British English, the vertical line is also known as a bar, but often the term bar-line is used in order to avoid confusion between the two meanings of bar. In American English, the word bar stands for the lines and nothing else. * In standard Western musical notation[7], the staff[7], or stave, is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that each represent a different musical pitch—or, in the case of a percussion staff, different percussion instruments—on which a musical score is written. For British musicians, stave[5] would seem to be the name of choice whereas in North America,  staff[1,2,3,4,10,11] is likely the more commonly used term. (show more ) Both Oxford Dictionaries and Collins English Dictionary characterize stave[1,2,3,4,5,10,11] as a British term, although American dictionaries do not seem to consider this to be the case. Furthermore, most dictionaries show stave[1,2,3,4,10,11] as an alternative term for staff[1,2,3,4,10,11]. Oxford Dictionaries, on the other hand, takes a contrarian view, listing staff[5] as an alternative term for stave[5]. hide

20a   More than one celebrity // is unreal -- I'm knocked for six (10)

Knock someone for six^[5] (or hit someone for six) is an informal British expression meaning to utterly surprise or overcome someone⇒ this business has knocked her for six.

---

Origin: I would guess that the expression might come from cricket where a six^[5] is a hit that reaches the boundary without first striking the ground, scoring six runs.

23a   Stones // thrown by mere lads (8)

As an anagram indicator throw may be used in the sense of to form (ceramic ware) on a potter's wheel ⇒ further on a potter was throwing pots. Thus the phrase "thrown by" is equivalent to "created by".

24a   Maybe worker on paper pursuing beast /is/ presented dramatically (6)

26a   Socialists wanting fruit mostly /and/ fish (3,6)

Red salmon^[5] is any salmon having reddish flesh, especially the sockeye salmon, or the flesh of such a fish, especially canned.

27a   Spies looking both ways (4)

In this cryptic definition, the phrase "looking both ways" does not provide a second independent route to the solution. Rather, it provides cryptic elaboration about the structure of the solution — namely that it is a palindrome.

28a   Animal // husband kept in nasty old pen running free (8,4)

The Shetland pony^[10,12] is a very small sturdy breed of pony, originally from the Shetland Islands^*, with a long shaggy mane and tail and a shaggy coat in winter.

---

^* The Shetland Islands^[5] (also the Shetlands or Shetland) is a group of about 100 islands off the north coast of Scotland, north-east of the Orkneys, constituting a council area of Scotland; population 21,800 (est. 2009); chief town, Lerwick. Together with the Orkney Islands the Shetland Islands became a part of Scotland in 1472, having previously been ruled by Norway and Denmark.

Down

2d   Maybe maidens, getting passionate, // went too far (8)

"maiden"  = M [cricket term] (show explanation )

In cricket, a maiden^[5], also known as a maiden over and denoted on cricket scorecards by the abbreviation m.^[10], is an over^* in which no runs are scored.

---

^* An over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

hide explanation

3d   Attractively thin /in/ general (4)

Although I was unfamiliar with the British army officer, I suspected that there would be some meaning of "general" that would be meaningful to the Brits and that I had never heard of.

William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim^[10] (1891–1970) was a British field marshal^*, who commanded (1943–45) the 14th Army in the reconquest of Burma (now called Myanmar) from the Japanese. He served as governor general of Australia (1953–60).

---

^* Field marshal^[5] is the highest rank of officer in the British army.

4d   English politician vigorous, putting out line // expressing fellow-feeling (10)

"politician" = MP (show explanation )

In Britain (as in Canada), a politician elected to the House of Commons is known as a Member of Parliament^[10] (abbreviation MP^[5]) or, informally, as a member^[5].

hide explanation

"line" = L [publishing] (show explanation )

In textual references, the abbreviation for line [of written matter] is l.^[5] ⇒ l. 648.

hide explanation

---

Fellow feeling^[5] (also fellow-feeling^[14]) is sympathy and fellowship existing between people based on shared experiences or feelings ⇒ (i) a common culture could help unite the classes and promote fellow feeling; (ii) he had a shy manner which evoked a fellow feeling in me.

5d (original)   Bird /with/ yellow part, one concealed (6)

As mentioned above, there was an error in the clue as published in The Daily Telegraph which was later corrected on the Telegraph Puzzles website.

The original clue parses as OR ([heraldic term for] yellow) + ROLE ([theatrical] part) containing (concealed) I ([Roman numeral for] one) which produces the result ORRIOLE which is an incorrect spelling and obviously does not fit in the space provided in the grid.

5d (revised)   Bird /with/ round part, one concealed (6)

The revised clue parses as O (round [letter]) + ROLE ([theatrical] part) containing (concealed) I ([Roman numeral for] one) which produces the correct result ORIOLE.

6d   A daughter in shout of acclaim /shows/ bluster (7)

"daughter" = D [genealogy] (show explanation )

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

---

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

hide explanation

7d   One's opponents /in/ a land beyond? (3,5,4)

Other side^[5] may denote:

• (the other side) the enemy, the opposing side
• (the other side) the afterlife; the spirit world, the abode of the dead
• (chiefly Australian and New Zealand slang^*) any place, especially a state or country, separated from the speaker by a border, sea, etc., or by a great distance

  ---

  ^* Note how Oxford Dictionaries Online — which always refers to British colloquialisms as "informal" speech — terms this Australian and New Zealand colloquialism "slang".

8d   Scrutiny /of/ nasty loveless voyeurs (6)

Survey^[10] is used in the sense of a critical, detailed, and formal inspection.

11d   What Lothario leaves behind? // He's rat, possibly! (6,6)

This is a reverse wordplay clue — specifically a reverse anagram. Contrary to the usual situation (in which the indicator and fodder are found in the clue and the result in the solution), here the indicator and fodder are found in the solution and the result is found in the clue.

The solution is BROKEN HEARTS (what Lothario leaves behind) which — were one to  interpret it as wordplay — would be an anagram (BROKEN) of HEARTS that could produce (indicated by the word "possibly" in the clue) the result HE'S RAT which is also found in the clue.

---

A Lothario^[5] is a man who behaves selfishly and irresponsibly in his sexual relationships with women ⇒ they are seduced by a handsome Lothario who gains control of their financial affairs.

---

Origin: From a character in the play Fair Penitent (1703) by English playwright Nicholas Rowe (1674–1718).

14d   Worker on field /has/ nasty dung on arms (10)

Groundsman^[5] is the British term for a groundskeeper, a person who maintains a sports ground, a park, or the grounds of a school or other institution.

17d   Quiet worker /is/ devoted to a cause (8)

"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.

hide explanation

19d   Lever // altered, made loose (7)

21d   Fires /created by/ one beginning to end (6)

Ingle^[5,10] is an archaic or dialect term (originally Scots) for a domestic fire or fireplace.

22d   Actress /giving/ bishop a visit (6)

"bishop" = B [chess notation] (show explanation )

B^[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.

A bishop^[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a mitre, that can move any number of spaces in any direction along a diagonal on which it stands. Each player starts the game with two bishops, one moving on white squares and the other on black.

hide explanation

---

Lauren Bacall^[5] (1924–2014) was an American actress who co-starred with her husband, Humphrey Bogart, in a number of successful thrillers, including The Big Sleep (1946) and Key Largo (1948).

25d   Lose temper /with/ little son needing sleep (4)

"little son" (abbreviation for son
) = S [genealogy] (show explanation )

In genealogies, s^[5] is the abbreviation for son(s) ⇒ m 1991; one s one d^*.

---

^* married in 1991; one son and one daughter.

hide explanation

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