Saturday, March 9, 2019 — Contain Your Enthusiasm

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon appears to be a drill designed to develop our skills with one particular style of clue.

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

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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 █ - yet to be solved

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   Group circling a // chair (4)

SE(A)T — SET (group) containing (circling) A (†)

3a   Woeful experiences, catching popular // TV fare (10)

M(IN)ISERIES — MISERIES (woeful experiences) containing (catching) IN (popular)

9a   Unbelieving, // he is lodged in upstairs room (9)

AT(HE|IS)TIC — {HE (†) + IS (†)} contained in (in) ATTIC (upstairs room)

11a   Hand in part containing Sondheim’s first // song (5)

P(S)ALM — PALM (hand in part) containing (†) S (Sondheim's first [initial letter])

Scratching the Surface
Stephen Sondheim[7] is an award-winning American composer and lyricist known for more than a half-century of contributions to musical theatre.

12a   Shakespearean king keeps one name // straight (6)

L(I|N)EAR — LEAR (Shakespearean king) containing (keeps) {I ([Roman numeral for] one) + N(ame)}

King Lear^[7] is a tragedy by English playwright William Shakespeare.

13a   Hubbub interrupting English // final (6)

EN(DIN)G — DIN (hubbub) contained in (interrupting) ENG(lish)

16a   Be guilty of // chatter about E.R. mascot (10)

P(ER|PET)RATE — PRATE (chatter) containing (about) {ER (E.R.) + PET (mascot)}

18a   Doctor West frames a // sketch (4)

DR(A)W — {DR (doctor; abbrev.) + W(est)} contains (frames) A (†)

Scratching the Surface
The name "Doctor West" likely has no intended significance. However, the Eminem album Relapse (2009) opens with a skit titled "Dr. West". Given that sketch is another term for skit, one might infer a connection. However, the less said about this album — or Eminem, in general — the better.

20a   Feline possessing orange // fur? (4)

C(O)AT — CAT (feline) containing (possessing) O(range)

21a   Asian country sheltering cold // rodent (10)

CHIN(CHILL)A — CHINA (Asian country) containing (sheltering) CHILL (cold)

23a   Mineo stupidly accepts $100 // salary (6)

{IN(C)OME}* — anagram (stupidly) of MINEO containing (accepts) C ($100)

Scratching the Surface

The name is really just a convenient arrangement of letters and not necessarily a reference to any individual in particular. Although there are a handful of possibilities, the best known namesake would have to be Sal Mineo[7] (1939–1976), born Salvatore Mineo, Jr., an American film and theatre actor and director. Mineo is chiefly known for his performance as John "Plato" Crawford opposite James Dean in the film Rebel Without a Cause (1955). Mineo was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, once for his role in Rebel Without a Cause and once for his role in Exodus (1960). A 1950s teen idol, Mineo's acting career declined in his adult years. He was murdered in 1976.

24a   Sam and I eating a large deli item (6)

S(A|L)AM|I — {SAM (†) + (and) I (†)} containing (eating) {A (†) + L(arge)}

28a   Lodging // he left while carrying Old Testament (5)

H(OT)E|L — {HE (†) + L(eft)} containing (while carrying) OT (Old Testament; abbrev.)

29a   Doug catches strange lobed // insect (9)

DO(ODLEB*)UG — DOUG (†) containing (catches) anagram of (strange) LOBED

Doodlebug^[3,4] is a chiefly Southern US name for either;

• the larva of the antlion^[3,4,11] (or ant lion), an insect which resembles a dragonfly or damselfly and is most common in tropical regions. The larva has very large jaws and preys upon ants and other insects at the bottom of a conical sand trap with only its mandibles exposed;
• the pillbug^[3] (or pill bug), a woodlouse having the ability to roll into a tight ball.

30a   Sharp displeasure about worries // of rascals (10)

PI(CARES)QUE — PIQUE (sharp displeasure) containing (about) CARES (worries)

Picaresque^[11] is an adjective denoting of, pertaining to, or resembling rogues.

31a   Sign // on, embracing me (4)

O(ME)N — ON (†) containing (embracing) ME (†)

Down

1d   Slow tempo /of/ “Studs in Space” (6,4)

S(NAIL'S) PACE — NAILS (studs) contained in (in) SPACE (†)

A stud^[10] is a a large-headed nail or other projection protruding from a surface, usually as decoration.

Scratching the Surface
I was somewhat apprehensive about what a search for "Studs in Space" might turn up. However, all I found was information dealing with wood frame construction.

2d   She wears article // lacking colour (5)

A(SHE)N — SHE (†) contained in (wearing) AN (article)

4d   Bit // I love, thanks to the Brits (4)

I|O|TA — I (†) + O (love; nil score in tennis) + TA (thanks to the Brits)

Ta^[5] is an informal British exclamation signifying thank you ⇒‘Ta,’ said Willie gratefully.

5d   Prisoner, in blink of an eye, /is/ unfaithful (10)

IN(CON)STANT — CON (prisoner) contained in (in) INSTANT (blink of an eye)

6d   Vigour /of/ priest after conversion (6)

ESPRIT* — anagram of (after conversion) PRIEST

7d   Beginning // in August, beside Asian range (9)

IN|AUG|URAL — IN (†) + AUG(ust) + URAL (beside Asian range)

I had initially considered parsing this clue as:

• IN|AUG|URAL — IN (†) + AUG(ust) + (beside) URAL (Asian range)

where the word "beside" serves as a charade indicator. I was not satisfied with this parsing as, to my mind, the Asian range is either the Ural Mountains or the Urals and not simply the Ural. However, Ural could be an adjective denoting in the vicinity of the Ural Mountains (beside Asian range).

8d   Indefinite amount /of/ math problem recited (4)

SOME~ — sounds like (recited) SUM (math problem)

10d   Island wizard’s // pictures (6)

I|MAGE|S — I(sland) + MAGE (wizard) + S ('s)

14d   War god has rung /for/ a Greek thinker (10)

AR(CHIMED)ES — ARES (war god) contains (has) CHIMED (rung)

In Greek mythology, Ares^[5] is the war god, son of Zeus and Hera.

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Archimedes^[5] (c.287–212 BC) was a Greek mathematician and inventor, of Syracuse. He is famous for his discovery of Archimedes' principle (legend has it that he made this discovery while taking a bath, and ran — naked, in some accounts — through the streets shouting ‘Eureka!’); among his mathematical discoveries are the ratio of the radius of a circle to its circumference, and formulas for the surface area and volume of a sphere and of a cylinder.

15d   Transgression keeps eroding // official ceremony (8-2)

S(WEARING)-IN — SIN (transgression) containing (keeps) WEARING (eroding)

17d   Practical // about Ali’s mannerism (9)

RE|ALI|S|TIC — RE (about) + ALI (†) + S ('s) + TIC (mannerism)

After all the containment-type clues that preceded this clue, I immediately assumed that the word "about" would be yet another containment indicator.

Scratching the Surface
Muhammad Ali[5] is an American boxer; born Cassius Marcellus Clay. He won the world heavyweight title in 1964, 1974, and 1978, becoming the only boxer to be world champion three times. Ali was afflicted with Parkinson's disease and so experienced tremors rather than tics.

19d   Homer, stuck in exaggerated // state of servitude (6)

T(HR)ALL — HR (homer; home run) contained in (stuck in) TALL (exaggerated)

Thrall^[5] is a literary term denoting the state of being in someone's power, or of having great power over someone ⇒ We live in a world dominated by the private sector and governments in thrall to it.

22d   Climber // clears out (6)

SCALER* — anagram (out) of CLEARS

25d   American League enthusiast/’s/ picture book (5)

AL|BUM — AL (American League; one of the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball) + BUM (enthusiast)

A bum^[3] is one who spends a lot of time doing a particular recreational activity
⇒ (i) a beach bum; (ii) a ski bum.

26d   Crack from the cold // fellow (4)

CHAP — double definition

27d   Vegan protein // on display in Toronto function (4)

_TO|FU_ — hidden in (on display in) ToronTO FUnction

Epilogue

If variety is the spice of life, there is not much spice in this puzzle. All of the across clues and nearly 40% of the down clues are of the containment type.

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