Friday, March 15, 2019 — DT 28858

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28858
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, October 1, 2018
Setter Dada (John Halpern)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28858]
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

Today's offering is like a quartet of mini-puzzles with only the most minimal of linkages joining them.

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   Table of records, // those to be rubbed out? (3,4)

5a   Reportedly bankrupt, work /in/ waiter's place (3,4)

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops suggests that we start a "homophone of a word which means to go bankrupt". Well, rather than a word, it is really merely a collection of letters.

"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 other contexts to denote an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒ he was writing an opus on Mexico.

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9a   White on the table, // let the party start! (3,4)

The cue ball^[5] is the ball, usually a white one, that is to be struck with the cue in snooker, billiards, etc.

10a   Country // music player drinking water (7)

11a   South American greeting // Japanese food (5)

12a   Unpleasant // people welcomed by nasty client (9)

13a   Dining partner gobbling final piece of salmon // up (7)

14a   Conservatives working /to be/ with it (5-2)

"Conservative" = RIGHT [political alignment] (show more )

The Conservative Party^[5] is a major right of centre British political party promoting free enterprise and private ownership 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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Right-on^[5] is an informal, often derogatory, term meaning in keeping with fashionable liberal or left-wing opinions and values ⇒ It would seem that many right-on groups have decided that we're all so stupid that we are unable to exercise our own judgement and should rely on them to do so for us.

Delving Deeper

It seems that what one one dictionary editor considers to be "liberal or left-wing" strikes another as merely "modern, trendy, and socially aware or relevant" or "up-to-date and sophisticated". (show more ) Collins English Dictionary defines right-on[10] as an informal term denoting modern, trendy, and socially aware or relevant ⇒ (i) The people that come to watch the play are all those right-on left-wing sort of people.; (ii) right-on green politics; (iii) the young, right-on student crowd. The American Heritage Dictionary lists right-on[3] as meaning up-to-date and sophisticated. hide

16a   Dogs, // primarily brave, useful things (7)

19a   Problem about student // put to one side (7)

"student" = L [driver under instruction] (show explanation )

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

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22a   Character, outstanding on the radio, // that's hard to see through (3-6)

Pea-souper^[5] is an informal British term for a very thick yellowish fog ⇒ he was alone in one of London's infamous pea-soupers.

24a   Bird gripping bunny's tail, a // scavenger (5)

25a   Sneeze -- // say what may catch it? (7)

Atishoo^[10] is a British representation of the sound of a sneeze.

26a   Electricity // in the news? (7)

27a   General struggling // to grow (7)

28a   Top, // one visibly under pressure? (7)

Here and There

In his review, Miffypops describes the solution as a "woolly jumper". In Britain, a jumper[5] is a sweater. The dress that North Americans call a jumper[5] is known to the Brits as a pinafore[5] — defined in British dictionaries as a collarless sleeveless dress worn over a blouse or jumper [sweater]. Thus, if a British lass were to wear a pinafore over her jumper and a North American gal were to wear a jumper over her sweater, they would be dressed identically.

Down

1d   Journalist witnessed // something used for cutting (7)

2d   That's criminal /putting/ last of sugar in cuppa, boy! (7)

Cuppa^[3,4,11] is an informal British term for a cup of tea.

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops makes reference to "your morning cuppa cha". Cha (also chai) is an alternative spelling of char[5], an informal British name for tea [in the sense of a drink].

3d   Put on a slope, // it is held by girl (9)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops hints that the girl is a Liddell one. Alice Hargreaves, née Liddell[7], (1852–1934) was, in her childhood, an acquaintance and photography subject of Lewis Carroll (pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). One of the stories he told her during a boating trip became the children's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

4d   Effective // narration (7)

5d   Heavy // delivery (7)

A heavy^[5] is a large, strong man, especially one hired for protection ⇒ From the casino floor, you go through a door in the corner of the casino, guarded by a heavy.

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In cricket, a bouncer^[5] is a ball bowled [delivered] fast and short so as to rise high after pitching^*.

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^* In cricket and golf, pitch^[5] (in reference to the ball) means to strike the strike the ground in a particular spot ⇒ the [golf] ball pitched, began to spin back, and rolled towards the hole.

Delving Deeper

In cricket, most deliveries bounce although only a ball bowled in the specific manner described above is called a bouncer. As the website Cricket Explained puts it "When the ball is bowled to the batsman, it's okay for the ball to bounce off the ground before it reaches the batsman. In fact, this is preferred. A ball that doesn't bounce on the ground before reaching the batsman (called a "full-toss") is too easy to hit."

6d   Growth /that's/ good, certain to impress (5)

As a containment indicator, impress^[5] is used in the sense of to force (someone) to serve in an army or navy ⇒ a number of Poles, impressed into the German army.

7d   Spear // I had found in river (7)

The Trent^[5] is the chief river of central England, which rises in Staffordshire and flows 275 km (170 miles) generally north-eastwards, uniting with the River Ouse 25 km (15 miles) west of Hull to form the Humber estuary.

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A trident^[5] is a three-pronged spear, especially as an attribute of Poseidon [the Greek god of the sea], Neptune [the Roman god of the sea], or Britannia [the personification of Britain, usually depicted as a helmeted woman with shield and trident].

8d   Lie in pool endlessly // somewhere in Lancashire (7)

Preston^[5] is a city in northwestern England, the administrative centre of Lancashire, on the River Ribble. It was the site in the 18th century of the first English cotton mills.

15d   Remarkable foresight // unappreciated animal presented? (4,5)

The expression look a gift horse in the mouth^[5] means to find fault with something that has been received as a gift or favour.

16d   Winger // moving in, able to collect first of passes (7)

Scratching the Surface
A winger[5] is an attacking player on the wing in soccer, hockey [by which the Brits would mean field hockey], and other sports [such as what the Brits refer to as "ice hockey" — the word "ice", of course, being redundant to a Canadian].

Open To Interpretation

Not only is the recipe ambiguous, so may be Miffypops' explanation. He explains the clue as an "Anagram (moving) of IN ABLE together with the first letter of the word Passes". From this one might infer that this is a charade where we are to write the anagram followed by the letter P (whiich is clearly wrong). Thus he must mean that we are to perform the operations in the reverse order — adding the letter P to the anagram fodder before performing the anagram operation. I, on the other hand, would explain the clue as an "Anagram (moving) of IN ABLE containing (collecting) the first letter of the word Passes". It all comes down to "Do you add the olive to the martini before or after stirring?".

17d   Best friend, perhaps, // leaps in, barking (7)

As an anagram indicator, barking^[5] is used in an informal British sense meaning completely mad or demented ⇒ (i) we are all a bit barking; (ii) [as submodifier] has she gone completely barking mad?.

18d   Expect // to drink with model (7)

"drink" = SUP (show explanation )

As a verb, sup^[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i) she supped up her soup delightedly; (ii) he was supping straight from the bottle.

As a noun, sup^[5] means

• a sip of liquid ⇒ he took another sup of wine
• (in Northern England or Ireland) an alcoholic drink ⇒ the latest sup from those blokes at the brewery

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19d   Credits switched /for/ points (7)

20d   Mountain // most uncompromising, peak unseen (7)

Mount Everest^[5] is a mountain in the Himalayas, on the border between Nepal and Tibet. Rising to 8,848 m (29,028 ft), it is the highest mountain in the world; it was first climbed in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

21d   Sample including old // electrical device (7)

Taster^[5] is a British term for a small quantity or brief experience of something, intended as a sample ⇒ the song is a taster for the band’s new LP.

23d   Different // relative doffing cap (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