Tuesday, January 29, 2019 — DT 28825

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28825
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, August 23, 2018
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28825]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Kath
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

Although Her Majesty has taken the day off, this puzzle is a RayT creation.

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   Six-footer/'s/ since ruined front of trousers (6)

While creatures such as spiders and ticks (each of which have eight legs) as well as centipedes (which can have from 30 to 354 legs) are often loosely called insects, a true insect^[10] is a small air-breathing arthropod of the class Insecta, having a body divided into head, thorax, and abdomen, three pairs of legs [and thus six feet], and (in most species) two pairs of wings. Insects comprise about five sixths of all known animal species, with a total of over one million named species.

4a   Gauche // Tory leader pretends to welcome the French (8)

"the French" = LES (show explanation )

In French, the plural form of the definite article is les^[8].

hide explanation

9a   Initially, person always taking regular old nook? (6)

This initialism (or acrostic) type of clue is a hallmark of RayT puzzles. The entire clue constitutes the wordplay in which the definition — cryptic, in my view — is embedded.

Patron^[5] is used in the sense of a customer of a shop, restaurant, etc., especially a regular one. In this case, I would say we are dealing with the patron of a pub who can always be found ensconced in his favourite corner.

10a   Bishop accepting first female objective /becoming/ minister (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.

hide explanation

"first female" = EVE (show explanation )

In the Bible, Eve^[5,10] is the first woman, mother of the human race, fashioned by God from the rib of Adam, companion of Adam and mother of Cain and Abel^* [Genesis 2:18-25].

---

^* not to mention Seth and her other sons and daughters [Gen 5:4]

Disobeying God, Eve^[7] succumbs to the serpent's temptation to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and shares the fruit with Adam. As a result, the first humans are expelled from the Garden of Eden.

hide explanation

11a   Clear//  container maintained by record temperature (8)

"temperature" = T [physics] (show explanation )

In physics, T^[5] is a symbol used to represent temperature in mathematical formulae.

hide explanation

13a   Pans // left corroded on board (6)

"on board" = 'contained in SS' (show explanation )

In Crosswordland, you will find that a ship is almost invariably a steamship, the abbreviation for which is SS^[5]. Thus phrases such as "aboard ship" or "on board ship" (or sometimes merely "aboard" or "on board") are Crosswordland code for 'contained in SS'.

hide explanation

---

Slate^[5] is an informal British term meaning to criticize severely ⇒ his work was slated by the critics.

15a   Prison rebel is turning // reckless ... (13)

18a   ... adapting pine bed's nails /to make/ key (13)

22a   Force /of/ speech for the audience (6)

The word "torque" , when pronounced in a non-rhotic (show explanation ) accent typical of dialects found in many parts of Britain (especially southeastern England), sounds like "talk" (as pronounced by a Brit).

Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.

hide explanation

24a   Sporty // cyclist's end in ethical upset (8)

26a   Bond // part involves hell, occasionally (8)

27a   Heartless sucker embracing former wife? That's // more sensual (6)

28a   Sailor's plan to circle opening of the // deep (8)

"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

29a   Breed's first bird // dog (6)

Down

1d   This compiler's exercise does, oddly, // hinder (6)

"this compiler's" = IM (show explanation )

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (the or this) speaker, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or ME) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by combining "this compiler" with the verb "to be"^* producing "this compiler's" (a contraction of "this compiler is") which must be replaced by "I'm" (a contraction of "I am").

---

^* Although in the surface reading "this compiler's" is showing possession, in the wordplay it is interpreted as a contraction of "this compiler is".

hide explanation

"exercise" = PE (show explanation )

PE^[5] is an abbreviation^* for physical education.

---

^* In my experience, phys ed^{[3,6,11,12,14]} is the more common shortened form in North America.

hide explanation

2d   Settled, one's nourished keeping middle of insides // full (9)

3d   Archbishop's cross // about more ruddy ... (7)

"about" = C (show explanation )

The preposition circa^[5] (abbreviation c^[5] or ca^[5]), usually used preceding a date or amount, means approximately [or about] ⇒ (i) the church was built circa 1860; (ii) Isabella was born c.1759; (iii) he was born ca 1400.

hide explanation

---

A crosier^[10] (or crozier) is a staff surmounted by a crook or cross, carried by bishops as a symbol of pastoral office.

5d   ... bishops perhaps after a // final word (4)

A bishop^[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a mitre. (show more )

Unless obstructed by another piece, a bishop 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

A man^[5] is a figure or token used in playing a board game — such as chess.

6d   What's used to hold bloomers up? (7)

A bloomer^[5] is a plant that produces flowers at a specified time ⇒ fragrant night-bloomers such as nicotiana.

Scratching the Surface
Bloomers[5] are women's loose-fitting knee-length knickers [underwear], considered old-fashioned.

What is she talking about?

On Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Kath write(s) these ‘bloomers’ aren’t voluminous pants and neither are they long crusty loaves of bread. In Britain, the word pants[5] does not mean trousers* as it does in North America. Rather, it refers to underwear — specifically men's undershorts or women's panties (the latter otherwise known as knickers[5] to the Brits). * Then again, the following observation was made by Lincoln Latic in a comment on my review of DT 28909 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. I didn’t see this [pants used as a synonym for trousers] as an Americanism. I grew up in the northwest of England (before the big influx of Americanisms into the language) and ‘pants’ was the usual term for trousers. You had short pants as a real youngster then progressed into long pants as you got older which for most of us was when you were nearly at the end of primary school probably around aged 9 or 10. What most people consider ‘pants’ refers to now, were called underpants because they went under your pants. Bloomer[2] is a British term for a longish crusty loaf of white bread, with rounded ends and several diagonal slashes across the top.

7d   Take part in eleven, team // fixture (5)

Fixture^[5] is a British term denoting a sporting event arranged to take place on a particular date ⇒ the team's last away fixture of the season.

8d   Avoid // son, despite changes (8)

"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

12d   Bite, eating for instance, // nut (6)

14d   Fancy outfit /revealing/ bodice (6)

Fancy^[5] (also fancy that!) is an exclamation of surprise or disbelief.

Cor^[5] is an informal British exclamation expressing surprise, excitement, admiration, or alarm ⇒ Cor! That‘s a beautiful black eye you’ve got!.

---

A bodice^[10] is a tight-fitting corset worn laced over a blouse, as in certain national costumes, or (formerly) as a woman's undergarment.

16d   'Living' // undergarment clothing sweetheart's body (9)

"sweetheart" = E (show explanation )

A common cryptic crossword construct is to use the word "sweetheart" to clue the letter 'E', the middle letter (heart) of swEet.

hide explanation

17d   Climber /is/ wariest scrambling round island (8)

Wisteria^[5] (also wistaria) is a climbing shrub of the pea family, with hanging clusters of fragrant flowers, typically pale bluish-lilac in colour. Native to eastern Asia and North America, ornamental varieties are widely grown on walls and pergolas.

The "correct" spelling for our purposes is WISTERIA as that is what is supported by the letters provided by the fodder in the clue. As mentioned in a couple of comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Kath has mistakenly given the alternative spelling in her review.

19d   Hesitate /then/ speak following good person (7)

"good person" = ST [abbreviation for saint] (show explanation )

Aside from its religious sense, saint^[5] is an informal term for a very virtuous, kind, or patient person ⇒ she's a saint to go on living with that man.

hide explanation

20d   Contradict victory over European // judge (7)

V^[10] is the symbol for victory. The victory-freedom sign^[7] is famously associated with British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill in World War II.

---

Judge^[10] is used in the sense to believe or suspect (something) to be the case.

21d   /It's/ rare /to see/ Conservative in panic (6)

Although it does not sit entirely between the definition and wordplay, the construct "it's ... to see" serves the same purpose as a link word.

"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

23d   Regrets holding Liberal // principles (5)

"Liberal" = L (show more )

The Liberal Party^[5] (abbreviation Lib.^[5] or L^[2])^* in Britain emerged in the 1860s from the old Whig Party and until the First World War was one of the two major parties in Britain. In 1988 the party regrouped with elements of the Social Democratic Party to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, now known as the Liberal Democrats.

However, a small Liberal Party still exists (founded in 1989 by members of the original Liberal Party opposed to its merger with the Social Democratic Party) although it has no representation in the UK Parliament, no Members of the European Parliament (MEP), no members of the Scottish Parliament, nor any members of the National Assembly for Wales. Today, the party holds only a handful of seats at the local government level.^[7]

---

^* Although Lib.^[5] may be the more common abbreviation for the Liberal Party in Britain — likely to distinguish it from the the Labour Party^[5] (abbreviation Lab.^[5]) — Chambers 21st Century Dictionary indicates that L^[2] may also be used.

show less

25d   Slumber // party on boat? (4)

"boat" = SS (show explanation )

In Crosswordland, a ship — or even a boat — is almost invariably a steamship, the abbreviation for which is SS^[5] ⇒ the SS Canberra.

hide explanation

---

Doss^[5] is an informal British term meaning to sleep in rough accommodation or on an improvised bed  ⇒ he dossed down on a friend’s floor.

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