Wednesday, February 13, 2019 — DT 28836

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28836
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28836]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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

A quick and enjoyable solve (and writing the review was not onerous either). Now to tackle the truly onerous task of dealing with the foot of snow that fell overnight.

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   Latest // requirement to protect tooth during walk, oddly (10)

What did they say?

In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the 2Kiwis remark We liked the Russian doll structure of 1a .... Matryoshka dolls[7], also known as a Russian nesting dolls, stacking dolls, or Russian dolls, are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another. The name "matryoshka", literally "little matron", is a diminutive form of Russian female first name "Matryona" or "Matriosha". In the West, Matryoshka dolls are often erroneously referred to as "babushka dolls", babushka meaning "grandmother" or "old woman". Clues, such as this one, where the solution is formed by nesting one piece inside a second piece and, in turn, nesting the result inside yet another piece are often described as such.

6a   A cheap buy /in/ nick? (4)

Snip^[5,10] is a mainly British term for a surprisingly cheap item; in other words, a bargain ⇒ the wine is a snip at £3.65.

Scratching the Surface
In the surface reading, nick[5] is possibly being used in the informal British sense of a prison or police station ⇒ (i) he’ll end up in the nick for the rest of his life; (ii) he was being fingerprinted in the nick.

9a   Chamois tends to absorb // water (7)

10a   Prevents // the majority of the verrucas (7)

A verruca^[10] is a wart, especially one growing on the hand or foot.

12a   Tear off, certain with voter out /for/ wealth (8-5)

14a   Ready // before standard European debate's beginning (8)

In golf, par^[5] (noun) is:

• the number of strokes a first-class player should normally require for a particular hole or course ⇒ (i) Woosnam had advanced from his overnight position of three under par; (ii) the sixteenth is a par five 
• a par score at a hole ⇒ a card that showed 16 pars, one eagle, and one birdie

15a   Credit one's doubled /for/ a time of extreme difficulty (6)

17a   Went out // thrilled, with no end of traffic (6)

19a   Person who may fall for an actor (8)

21a   Made out? // This genius did badly (13)

24a   University politician under 20? // Lots! (7)

"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].

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25a   Independent lines may follow trouble with // animosity (3-4)

"independent" = I (show explanation )

I^[1] is the abbreviation for independent, in all likelihood in the context of a politician with no party affiliation.

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

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

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26a   Profile // team (4)

"team" = SIDE (show explanation )

Side^[5] is a British term for a sports team ⇒ there was a mixture of old and young players in^* their side.

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^* Note that, in Britain, a player is said to be "in a side" rather than "on a team" as one would say in North America.

In North America, the term side^[3] is used in a very general fashion that can denote one of two or more opposing individuals, groups, teams, or sets of opinions. While this same general usage is also found in the UK, the term side^[5] is also used there in a much more specific sense to mean a sports team, as we can clearly see from the following usage examples ⇒ (i) Previous England rugby sides, and England teams in many other sports, would have crumbled under the weight of such errors.; (ii) They'll face better sides than this Monaco team, but you can only beat what's put in front of you.

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27a   Extensive // adjustments made to caller's age (5-5)

Down

1d   A person's reputation /is/ protected in Latin America (4)

2d   This may be blown, // although keeping silent on the outside (7)

3d   Developing state aim and theme // simultaneously (2,3,4,4)

4d   Criminal/'s/ feeling of great anxiety in Germany (8)

Angst^[5] is a feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about the human condition or the state of the world in general ⇒ (i) the existential angst of the middle classes; (ii) rock and pop have a tradition of celebrating adolescent angst.

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Origin: 1920s: from German, ‘fear’.

"German" = GER (show explanation )

Ger.^[10] is the abbreviation for German or Germany.

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5d   Consumer // that warms up leaving hotel (5)

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

7d   Rushed up with arguments /for/ contracts (7)

8d   Having // groups of friends, sign off (10)

Posse^[5] is an informal term for a group of people who socialize together, especially to go to clubs or raves.

11d   Public houses // seeing fresh growth in lease (8,5)

Public house^[5] is the formal British name for a pub.

13d   Fork out about fifty on excursions with no time /for/ such wonders (10)

16d   Creating // a remarkable end to match? (8)

Possibly I am being overly harsh on myself in rating my performance on this clue. I did get the correct solution, but had originally parsed the clue as a cryptic definition with an embedded precise definition:

• Creating a remarkable end to match? (8)

I hadn't twigged to the possibility of "creating" being a third definition until I read the 2Kiwi's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. This interpretation was suggested by Gazza in a response to Comment #2 (and possibly may not even have occurred to the setter). However, the 2Kiwis' parsing of the clue:

• Creating // a // remarkable // end to match? (8)

results in a stranded letter "a" (a fact also mentioned in a comment from Kitty on Big Dave's Crossword Blog).

To account for the letter "a", I parsed the latter part of the clue as a cryptic definition with an embedded precise definition — similar to my original interpretation of the clue.

18d   Popular drink with one daughter, /but/ bland (7)

20d   Wine // marinade blended with no end of gin (7)

Madeira^[5] (also Madeira wine) is a fortified wine from Madeira, the largest of the Madeiras, a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean off north-western Africa which constitutes an autonomous region of Portugal.

22d   Information on unprotected road /in/ port (5)

Gen^[5] is an informal British term for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

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Genoa^[5] is a seaport on the northwestern coast of Italy, capital of Liguria region. It was the birthplace of Christopher Columbus.

23d   Fill up, oddly, in front of village's last // outlet (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