Tuesday, January 8, 2019 — DT 28810

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28810
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, August 6, 2018
Setter Mister Ron (Chris Lancaster)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28810]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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

This was a Monday puzzle in the UK and therefore intended to be on the easier end of the difficulty scale. That doesn't stop it from being an enjoyable bit of mental exercise, though.

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

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary is intended to serve as a supplement to the review of this puzzle found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

Click here for an explanation of conventions and symbols used in explaining the parsing of clues.

The purpose of this article is to explain the conventions and symbols that I use on this blog in explaining the parsing of clues.

Legend: The following symbols are used in reviews: "*" anagram "~" sounds like "<" indicates that the preceding letters are reversed "( )" encloses contained letters "_" replaces letters that have been deleted "†" indicates that the word is present in the clue

The review of a clue takes the following general structure:

#a/d   Clue containing parsing markup (num^*)

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^* num = numeration

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

(Horizontal separator)

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Explanations pertaining to the definition (or second definition in a double definition) and solution.

Explanatory Box

An explanatory box provides additional information about the clue. In most cases this information will not necessarily help in solving the clue but provides information about the clue. In the case of the weekday syndicated Daily Telegraph puzzles, such information is often intended to help the North American solver appreciate how the clue may be perceived by a British solver. These boxes may also provide information on people, places, films, television programmes, works of art and literature, etc. mentioned in the clue. Although the titles of these boxes will usually be drawn from a standard list, I do occasionally throw in a title specifically suggested by the subject at hand. The standard titles include: Scratching the Surface - an explanation of the surface reading of the clue Delving Deeper - in-depth information pertaining to a subject mentioned in an explanation The Story Behind the Picture - for weekday puzzles, information about an illustration found on Big Dave's Crossword Blog What did he/she/they say? - for weekday puzzles, an explanation of a remark made in a review or comment on Big Dave's Crossword Blog What are they talking about? - for weekday puzzles, an explanation of a discussion on Big Dave's Crossword Blog One box that may provide information that could prove helpful in solving the clue is the following: Here and There - for weekday puzzles, discusses words whose British meaning differs from their North American meaning

Note that there are many types of cryptic crossword clue and it is not my intention to exhaustively go through all of them here. I will only deal with clue types to the extent necessary to explain the conventions and symbols used on the blog. Furthermore, be aware that, in the world of cryptic crosswords, there seems to be an exception to every rule.

With one exception that I can think of, cryptic crossword clues provide two routes to the solution. These are commonly referred to as the definition and wordplay. While these terms serve well for most clues, there are some cases where the more formal terms of primary indication and subsidiary indication may be more appropriate.

Most cryptic crossword clues consist of a definition (primary indication) and wordplay (subsidiary indication). The definition may be a "precise definition" (a definition that is either taken straight from a dictionary or at least phrased in a non-misleading fashion) or it may be a "cryptic definition" (a definition misleadingly phrased so as to misdirect the solver either with respect to the meaning of the definition as a whole or to an incorrect sense of a word used in the definition).

The only type of clue that I can think of where there are not two ways of finding the solution are those in which the entire clue is a cryptic definition.

I identify precise definitions by marking them with a solid underline in the clue and cryptic definitions by marking them with a dotted underline.

In clues in which both definition and wordplay are present, the two parts of the clue combine to provide an overall meaningful statement (the surface reading) which usually bears no relationship to the underlying cryptic reading of the clue. In some cases, an extra word or phrase will be inserted into the clue to create a meaningful link between the definition and wordplay. I define clues which contain such a link word or link phrase as having an explicit link and clues which contain no link word or link phrase as having an implicit link.

I mark the existence of an explicit link by enclosing the link word or link phrase between forward slashes (/link/) and mark the existence of an implicit link with double forward slashes (//) positioned between the definition and wordplay.

Examples

A few examples may help to illustrate these points more clearly.

The first example is a clue used by Jay in DT 28573:

• 4d   Fellow left work // a failure (4)

Here the definition is "a failure" which is marked with a solid underline to show that it is a precise definition. The wordplay parses as F (fellow; abbrev.) + L (left; abbrev.) + OP (work; abbrev. used in music) which gives us the solution F|L|OP. The double forward slashes (//) between the definition and wordplay indicate the existence of an "implicit link" between the two parts of the clue (that is, no extra words are inserted into the clue to form the link).

The second example is a clue used by Giovanni in DT 28575:

• 29a   Female going to match // travels with mother in advance (10)

Here the definition "female going to match" is cryptic (the setter is attempting to misdirect our thoughts to a sports event rather than a marriage ceremony) and thus is marked with a a dotted underline. The wordplay is {RIDES (travels) + (with) MA (mother)} contained in (in) BID (advance) giving us the solution B(RIDES|MA)ID. As in the first example, the double forward slashes indicate the presence of an implicit link.

The third example is a clue used by Rufus is DT 28583:

• 18d   Knight caught by misplaced big blow /is/ staggering (8)

Here the definition is "staggering" which is marked with a solid underline to show that it is a precise definition. The wordplay parses as N ([chess symbol for] knight) contained in (caught in) an anagram (misplaced) of BIG BLOW producing the solution WOBBLI(N)G. Finally, forward slashes mark the link word (/is/).

I also use distinctive underlining to mark &lit.^[7] and semi-&lit. clues. Note that the reviewers on Big Dave's Crossword Blog generally prefer to refer to these clue types by the less pretentious names of all-in-one or semi-all-in-one clues respectively.

In an &lit. clue^[7] (or all-in-one clue) the entire clue provides not only the definition (when read one way), but under a different interpretation also serves as the wordplay.

In future, I will mark such clues with a combined solid and dashed underline. Although this is a departure from past practice, it would seem to make more sense than using a dotted underline as I have in the past). Henceforth, the dotted underline will be reserved for cryptic definitions.

In a semi-&lit. clue (or semi-all-in-one clue), either:

• the entire clue acts as the definition while a portion of the clue provides the wordplay; or
• the entire clue acts as the wordplay while a portion of the clue provides the definition.

For these clues, I will mark the definition with a solid underline and the wordplay with a  dashed underline. This means that a portion of the clue may have a solid underline, a portion of the clue may have a dashed underline and a portion of the clue may have a combined solid and dashed underline.

One final clue type is what I characterize as a cryptic definition comprised of a precise definition combined with cryptic elaboration. For example, in DT 28560 (setter unknown) the following clue appears:

•  26d   Heroic exploit, whichever way you look at it (4)

As the entire clue is a cryptic definition, it is marked with a dotted underline. The 'precise definition' is "heroic exploit" and is indicated by a solid underline.

Given the numeration, the precise definition could give rise to at least two solutions, DEED or FEAT. However, the 'cryptic elaboration' ("whichever way you look at it") indicates that the solution is a palindrome thereby immediately eliminating one of the two obvious choices.

Note that the part of the clue that I have called 'cryptic elaboration' does not provide a second independent route to the solution (as the wordplay would do in most other types of clue). Rather it merely provides a piece of additional information (elaboration) related to the 'precise definition'.

Again, this approach is a departure from past practice, but like the other changes mentioned previously is intended to remove inconsistencies in the way that I have been applying parsing markup to clues. The markup rules that I have been using until now evolved bit-by-bit over a long period of time resulting in some degree of internal inconsistency.

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Across

1a   Note // job's somewhere underground, reportedly (10)

6a   Lock up // mature Conservative first (4)

"Conservative" = C (show explanation )

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

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

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

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9a   Nurse // about to enter vehicle (5)

10a   Imagined // meal irked criminal (9)

12a   Impossible to feel // limber with piece rewritten about gym (13)

"gym" = PT (show explanation )

PT^[5] is a British^* abbreviation for physical training^[5], the systematic use of exercises to promote bodily fitness and strength. 

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^* Oxford Dictionaries Online considers the abbreviation to be British — but not the term for which it stands.

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14a   Sport news: genuine backing /for/ person coming second (6-2)

I see the wordplay parsing as RU (sport; abbrev. for rugby union) + NN (news; two instances of the abbrev. for new) + reversal of (backing) PURE (genuine).

"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.

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Deciphering Miffypops' Explanation

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops tells us to Begin with a synonym of a meaning of sport caper or romp. Add the Abbreviation for News (two of them!). .... He is clearly suggesting that the first element of the charade is RUN (sport; in the sense of caper or romp) and that the second is NN. Adding the reversal of PURE, this would result in an extra N in the solution (RUN|NN|ER UP). A clue to what happened can be found in Miffypops' reply to Hastalosco Jones in the thread at Comment #23 on Big Dave's site where he states I toyed with Rugby Union and then News being plural to give a double N. I would guess that he has changed the first part of the explanation in his review replacing RU (Rugby Union) with RUN but neglected to modify the reference to the double-N (news). N is the abbreviation for "new" and setters are known to use "news" to whimsically clue NN. I don't believe that N can be considered to be a recognized abbreviation for "news".

15a   Keen // artist recalled depression (6)

"artist" = RA (show explanation )

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[10]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5] (also Royal Academy; abbreviation also RA^[10]), an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain. 

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17a   Kidnap // sailor on canal (6)

"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.

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19a   More rum /for/ foreigner (8)

Rum^[5] is a dated informal British term meaning odd or peculiar ⇒ it’s a rum business, certainly.

21a   Prisoner stupid to maintain // corruption (13)

24a   Flabbergasted // getting a direction to join scrum (9)

In rugby, a ruck^[5,10] is a loose scrum formed around the ball when it is on the ground or around a player with the ball on the ground ⇒ players will be encouraged to go to the ground when tackled to form a ruck.

25a   Somebody bad at bridge ... /and/ online? (5)

The implied structure of the clue is:

• Somebody bad at bridge ... /and/ [somebody bad] online? (5)

In Scandinavian folklore, a troll^[5] is one of a class of supernatural creatures that dwell in caves or mountains and are depicted either as dwarfs or as giants.

The clue alludes to the Norwegian fairy tale "Three Billy Goats Gruff"^[7] in which a bridge over which the three billy goats must pass is guarded by a troll who threatens to eat the goats — but who in the end outsmart him and send him on an unplanned trip downstream.

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A troll^[5] is a person who makes a deliberately offensive or provocative online post ⇒ one solution is to make a troll's postings invisible to the rest of community once they've been recognized.

26a   Unhappy about new // beach (4)

27a   Write down // rubbish ape recited (10)

Down

1d   Fairy // that's seen on the ice? (4)

In English folklore, Puck^[5,7] — sometimes known as Robin Goodfellow^[5] — is a mischievous domestic and nature sprite, goblin, demon, or fairy believed, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, to haunt the English countryside.

Puck, referred to as Robin Goodfellow and Hobgoblin, appears as a vassal of the Fairy King Oberon in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, and is responsible for the mischief that occurs.

2d   The Queen and bishop overwhelmed by Welsh girl/'s/ language (7)

"The Queen" = 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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"bishop" = B [chess] (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.

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Siân^[7] (also Sian, Shân, Sharn, and Shan) is a Welsh feminine given name, equivalent to the English Jane, Scottish Sheena or Irish Siobhán.

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Pronunciation: Shan (where the "a" is pronounced like the "a" in "father")

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Serbian^[5] is the Southern Slavic language of the Serbs, almost identical to Croatian but written in the Cyrillic alphabet (Croatian being written in the Roman alphabet).

3d   Quarrel over French sea shanty? // One's dealing with rubbish (5,8)

The French word for 'sea' is mer^[8].

Here and There

A shanty[5] (also known in Britain as sea shanty) is a song with alternating solo and chorus, of a kind originally sung by sailors while performing physical labour together. Origin: Mid 19th century: probably from French chantez! ‘sing!’, imperative plural of chanter. Apparently the original spelling in Britain was chantey[5] (or chanty) — corresponding to the spelling of the French word chantez from which it was derived — and which remains the dominant spelling in North America. The spelling in Britain likely changed to match the pronunciation as ch- is pronounced in French like sh- in English.

Chant^[10] is used in the sense of a simple song or melody.

The Story Behind the Picture

The photo used by Miffypops to illustrate his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog comes from Steptoe and Son[7], a British sitcom about a father-and-son rag-and-bone* business that aired on the BBC from 1962–65, followed by a second run from 1970-74. The series was the "inspiration" for the US series Sanford and Son. The series focused on the inter-generational conflict of father and son. Albert Steptoe, a "dirty old man", is an elderly rag-and-bone man, set in his grimy and grasping ways. By contrast, his 37-year-old son Harold is filled with social aspirations, not to say pretensions. The show contained elements of drama and tragedy, as Harold was continually prevented from achieving his ambitions. * A rag-and-bone man[7] collects unwanted household items and sells them to merchants. Traditionally this was a task performed on foot, with the scavenged materials (which included rags, bones and various metals) kept in a small bag slung over the shoulder. Some rag-and-bone men used a cart, sometimes pulled by horse or pony.

4d   [Weapon used in trap with fine result? (5,3)

5d   Part /in/ epic shot by European (5)

7d   Pleasant // stroll around Iowa (7)

8d   Simple // copper perhaps uncovered nark before Yard (10)

Scratching the Surface

A copper, of course, is a police officer. Nark[5] is an informal British term for a police informer ⇒ I’m not a copper’s nark. The Yard[5] is an informal British term for Scotland Yard[5], the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police, situated from 1829 to 1890 in Great Scotland Yard off Whitehall, from 1890 until 1967 in New Scotland Yard on the Thames Embankment, and from 1967 in New Scotland Yard, Westminster.

11d   Mercenary // friend runs deli, ultimately, with celebrity in charge (13)

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

"runs" = R [cricket term] (show explanation )

On cricket scorecards [not to mention baseball scoreboards], the abbreviation R^[5] denotes run(s).

In cricket, a run^[5] is a unit of scoring achieved by hitting the ball so that both batsmen are able to run between the wickets, or awarded in some other circumstances.

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In the wordplay, celebrity^[5] is used as an adjective ⇒ [as modifier] a celebrity chef.

The A-list^[5] denotes a real or imaginary list of the most celebrated or sought-after individuals, especially in show business ⇒ [as modifier] an A-list celebrity.

"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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What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops lists the following as synonyms of mate: friend, chum, oppo, pal, china. Oppo[5] is an informal British term for a colleague or friend ⇒ an old oppo of mine. Origin: 1930s: abbreviation of opposite number. In Britain, china[5] is an informal term for a friend (or, as the Brits would say, a mate). This meaning comes from cockney rhyming slang (show explanation ), where china is the shortened form of china plate which rhymes with 'mate'. Rhyming slang[5] is a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in cockney rhyming slang. hide explanation

13d   Struggling actors get to keep ace // clothes (10)

"ace" = A (show explanation )

A^[5] is an abbreviation for ace (in card games).

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16d   One criticising // tat played by famous clarinettist? (8)

Acker Bilk^[7] (1929–2014) was an English clarinettist and vocalist known for his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register clarinet style, and distinctive appearance – of goatee, bowler hat and striped waistcoat. Bilk's 1962 instrumental tune "Stranger on the Shore" became the UK's biggest selling single of 1962: it was in the UK charts for more than 50 weeks, peaking at number two, and was the first No. 1 single in the United States by a British artist in the era of the modern Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.

Scratching the Surface

Tat[5] is an informal British term for tasteless or shoddy clothes, jewellery, or ornaments ⇒ the place was decorated with all manner of gaudy tat. Tat would seem to refer only to objects but perhaps tasteless music might be called tat — although I could find no evidence of that usage. Wikipedia defines tat[7] as a British colloquial term for cheap and tasteless trinkets or for personal possessions, particularly when at a music festival. Or perhaps I am trying too hard to explain a surface reading which actually makes little sense.

18d   Waste long time /in/ prison (7)

20d   Try an old broken // boat (7)

22d   Hip operation /that's/ not free (2,3)

23d   Tip-off that might lead to squares being populated? (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