Tuesday, April 30, 2019 — DT 28890

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28890
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28890]
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

I would think that most will agree that today's puzzle is definitely at the easier end of Jay's range.

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 program, 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 directly from a dictionary or at least phrased in a non-misleading fashion similar to one that would be found in a dictionary
• 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 (for example, defining topiary as "clip art")
• a "whimsical definition": a definition "invented" by the setter often by extrapolating a non-existent meaning for a word from a similar word (for example, defining a bird as a "winger" [something possessing wings] or a river as a ''flower" [something that flows] or to extrapolate that, since disembowel means 'to remove the innards of ', that discontent must mean 'to remove the contents of')
• a "definition by example": the presence of one of these is often flagged with a question mark (for example, defining atoll as "coral?" where an atoll is but one form that coral may take).

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 other varieties of definition (such as cryptic definitions, whimsical definitions, definitions by example, etc.) 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

Across

1a   Verify // angry European broadcast (10)

6a   Volunteers needed in case of shooting // party (4)

"volunteers" = TA [Territorial Army] (show explanation )

In the UK, Territorial Army^[5] (abbreviation TA^[5]) was, at one time, the name of a volunteer force founded in 1908 to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined military personnel for use in an emergency. Since 2013, this organization has been called the Army Reserve.

hide explanation

10a   Show // lover must have change of heart (5)

11a   Ship // that might bear fruit? (9)

Used figuratively, the expressions "bear fruit" and "flower" both denote to flourish or be successful.

---

The Mayflower^[5] is the ship in which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from England to America.

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I'm afraid that I overlooked the figurative use of the expression "may flower" that the 2Kiwis have put forward in their review. I took the latter part of the clue to be a cryptic definition of the hawthorn.

• Ship // that might bear fruit? (9)

It is entirely possible that either the 2Kiwis or myself have seen something that did not even occur to the setter.

Here and There

The British mayflower bears fruit; not so the North American mayflower. To North Americans, mayflower is the common name for the trailing arbutus[5,10] (Epigaea repens), a creeping evergreen plant of the heath family, Epigaea repens, of eastern North America, having clusters of fragrant pink or white flowers. The mayflower[7] is the provincial flower of Nova Scotia and the state flower of Massachusetts. In the UK, mayflower is another name for the hawthorn[5], a thorny shrub or tree of the rose family (especially Crataegus oxyacantha), with white, pink, or red blossoms and small dark red fruits (haws). Native to north temperate regions, it is commonly used for hedging in Britain.

12a   President with hotel must accept one // notable success (7)

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

Scratching the Surface

One branch of the Trump empire has hardly proven to be a notable success. Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc.[7] is a gaming and hospitality company that once owned and operated a number of properties but now owns only a single property, the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, that is currently shuttered and vacant. Formerly known as Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, the company was founded in 1995 by Donald Trump, now 45th president of the United States. Having filed for bankruptcy in 2004, 2009 and 2014, it has been a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises since 2016.

13a   Poles covered by characteristic // passage (7)

14a   A couple of million swallowed by rising prices /may be/ a cause of pain (12)

18a   Illustration /that could be/ precise, if not funny (12)

21a   Profile Royal Marines by answer /and/ weapon (7)

"Royal Marines" = RM (show explanation )

The Royal Marines^[5] (abbreviation RM)^[5] is a British armed service (part of the Royal Navy) founded in 1664, trained for service at sea, or on land under specific circumstances.

hide

23a   Repugnant // prospect offered to old boy (7)

"old boy" = OB (show explanation )

In Britain, an old boy^[5] (abbreviation OB^[2])  is:

• a former male student of a school or college ⇒ an old boy of Banbury County School
• a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒ the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards

It is also a chiefly British affectionate form of address to a boy or man ⇒ ‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.

hide

24a   Amazed -- // area seemed to protect them initially (9)

25a   Sponge // pudding from the east with filling of jam (5)

Here and There

Whereas, in North America, the term pudding[5] specifically means a dessert with a soft or creamy consistency, in Britain it denotes a much broader range of sweetened usually cooked desserts. While the word pudding clearly does not encompass every dessert, it would seemly include the vast majority — certainly far more than in North America (as the inclusion of fool in this clue would demonstate). Collins COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary describes dessert[14] as a sweet dish such as fruit or a pudding, that you eat at the end of a meal. In the UK, pudding[5] is also another name for the dessert course of a meal. Although it would sound bizarre to a North American ear, if a Brit were to ask What’s for pudding? , the response might well be Apple pie. The word dessert[10,12] can also have different meanings in Britain. As in North America, it can mean the sweet, usually last course of a meal. However, it can also denote (especially formerly) fruit, dates, nuts, etc, served at the end of a meal after, or in place of, the sweet course. So, it would appear, one might conclude a meal with a pudding course followed by a dessert course.

Fool^[5] is a chiefly British name for a cold dessert made of pureed fruit mixed or served with cream or custard ⇒ raspberry fool with cream.

---

A loofa^[2] (also loofah or luffa) is the roughly cylindrical dried inner part of a tropical gourd-like fruit, used as a kind of rough sponge.

26a   Bring in // listener before end of bulletin (4)

27a   Stationed // last of troops in turbulent Rio Grande (10)

Scratching the Surface
The Rio Grande[5] is a river of North America which rises in the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Colorado and flows 3,030 km (1,880 miles) generally south-eastwards to the Gulf of Mexico, forming the US-Mexico frontier from El Paso to the sea.

Down

1d   Man of the church /is/ correct to ignore bill (6)

In the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, a curate^[5,7] is member of the clergy engaged as assistant to a vicar, rector, or parish priest.

2d   Appoint minister /by/ name after radio broadcast (6)

3d   Important case developed about university /is/ a bit of an exaggeration (5,2,1,6)

'A storm in a teacup'^[5] is the British equivalent to the North American expression 'a tempest in a teapot'.

4d   Carers /from/ hospital composed poems about Hades mostly (4,5)

"hospital" = H

In Greek mythology, Hades^[10] is the underworld abode of the souls of the dead. In the New Testament, Hades is the abode or state of the dead. Hades (often not capitalized) is also an informal term for hell.

---

Home help^[5] is a British term for a person employed, especially by a local authority^*, to help in another's home.

---

^* Local authority^[5] is a British term for an administrative body in local government ⇒ (i) you will need planning permission from your local authority; (ii) local authority housing.

5d   Parliament vacated after scream /in/ vault (5)

7d   Origin of this personal transport /for/ urban area (8)

8d   Generally gutted sailor /must be/ spinning (8)

Rating^[5] is a British term for a non-commissioned sailor in the navy ⇒ the rest of the new crew was made up of naval ratings.

---

Origin: So named from the position or rating held by a sailor, recorded on a ship's books.

9d   Beer goes on board ship after permission /for/ trade events (9,5)

"ship" = SS [steamship] (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

15d   Type of purchase /made by/ man reportedly having class (4,5)

16d   Staff ego unfortunately // not visible to the audience (3-5)

17d   A daughter may be in list /for/ such a car (8)

"daughter" = D [genealogy] (show reference )

In genealogies, d^[5] is the abbreviation for daughter ⇒ Henry m. Georgina 1957, 1s 2d^*.

---

^* Henry married Georgina in 1957. Their marriage produced 1 son and 2 daughters.

hide

19d   Engineers currently unknown may find fame (6)

"engineers" = RE [Royal Engineers] (show more )

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers^[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

hide

"unknown" = N (show explanation )

The letter n^[10] is used (especially in mathematics) as a symbol to represent an indefinite number (of) ⇒ there are n objects in a box.

hide

I thought there might be some squeals of protest on Big Dave's Crossword Blog from the math pedants arguing that N represents an 'indefinite number' rather than an 'unknown number'. But there is nary a peep.

20d   Precursor /of/ some peripheral devices (6)

22d   Communication channels // raising target to incorporate education (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

Monday, April 29, 2019 — DT 28889 (Published Saturday, April 27, 2019)

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28889
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28889]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Mr K
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
Notes
This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, April 27, 2019 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

Today, a fairly gentle British "Tuesday" puzzle to start our week. This puzzle appeared in the UK on the day of the American mid-term elections.

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 program, 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 directly from a dictionary or at least phrased in a non-misleading fashion similar to one that would be found in a dictionary
• 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 (for example, defining topiary as "clip art")
• a "whimsical definition": a definition "invented" by the setter often by extrapolating a non-existent meaning for a word from a similar word (for example, defining a bird as a "winger" [something possessing wings] or a river as a ''flower" [something that flows] or to extrapolate that, since disembowel means 'to remove the innards of ', that discontent must mean 'to remove the contents of')
• a "definition by example": the presence of one of these is often flagged with a question mark (for example, defining atoll as "coral?" where an atoll is but one form that coral may take).

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 other varieties of definition (such as cryptic definitions, whimsical definitions, definitions by example, etc.) 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

Across

1a   Section of Rubicon I consider // very famous (6)

The Rubicon^[5] is a stream in north-eastern Italy that marked the ancient boundary between Italy and Cisalpine Gaul. Julius Caesar led his army across it into Italy in 49 BC, breaking the law forbidding a general to lead an army out of his province, and so committing himself to war against the Senate and Pompey. The ensuing civil war resulted in victory for Caesar after three years.

5a   Turncoat // failing men (8)

"men" = OR [other ranks] (show explanation )

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks^[5] (abbreviation OR^[5]) refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

hide

9a   Popular party game, unfinished // as a result (2,11)

Consequences^[7] is an old parlour game in which each player takes a turn writing a word or phrase forming part of a set structure in order to build a story. The resulting story — often comical or nonsensical — is then read aloud. The game is traditionally played by writing the words on paper and folding the paper so as to hide the previous words before passing it to the next player.

10a   American soldier cutting orange in pieces /for/ girl (8)

"American soldier" = GI (show explanation )

A GI^[5] is a private soldier in the US army ⇒ she went off with a GI during the war.

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Origin: Contrary to popular belief, the term apparently is not an abbreviation for general infantryman, but rather derives from the term government (or general) issue (originally denoting equipment supplied to US forces).

hide

11a   Fertiliser /in/ plant container has worked (6)

Potash^[7] is any of various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. It is as a major component of fertilizer, potassium being the third major plant and crop nutrient after nitrogen and phosphorus.

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Facts: The name derives from pot ash, which refers to plant ashes soaked in water in a pot, the primary means of manufacturing the product before the industrial era. The word potassium is derived from potash. Canada holds the largest global reserves of potash (more than 25%) and is by far the largest producer of potash on the planet (accounting for nearly 30% of world production).

12a   Dance, ignoring a // Greek character (6)

The lambada^[5] is a fast erotic Brazilian dance which couples perform in close physical contact.

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Lambda^[5] is the eleventh letter of the Greek alphabet (Λ, λ).

14a   Instrument: // I'm clued cryptically, by first of reversals (8)

The dulcimer^[5] is a musical instrument with a sounding board or box, typically trapezoid in shape, over which strings of graduated length are stretched, played by plucking or especially by being struck with handheld hammers. The term hammered dulcimer is sometimes used, especially in the US, to distinguish these from plucked instruments such as the Appalachian dulcimer.

16a   Visit Democrat /in/ decline (2,2,4)

"Democrat" = D (show explanation )

A Democrat^[5] (abbreviation D^[5]) is a member or supporter of the Democratic Party^[5], one of the two main US political parties (the other being the Republican Party), which follows a broadly liberal programme, tending to support social reform and minority rights.

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Scratching the Surface
This puzzle was published in The Daily Telegraph on the day of the US mid-term elections — in which the Democrats were anything but in decline!

19a   Mentally slow, // not acute? (6)

An acute angle^[5] is one that is less than 90°.

An obtuse angle^[5] is one that is more than 90° and less than 180°.

21a   A poet eating nothing // on a train perhaps (6)

23a   Clear French own goal /in/ game (8)

In soccer, an own goal^[5] (abbreviation o.g.^[10]) is a goal scored inadvertently when the ball is struck into the goal by a player on the defensive team.

25a   Astonished /as/ lorry makes a loud noise at the front (13)

Lorry^[5] is the common name in the UK^* for the vehicle known in North America as a truck^[5].

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^* The word truck would also seem to be well known to the Brits. In fact, Oxford Dictionaries Online rather circularly defines a lorry as being a truck and a truck as being a lorry.

26a   Piece of evidence, not so great, /leaves one/ bewildered (8)

The link phrase "leaves one" can be interpreted as 'produces the result for the one solving the puzzle'.

27a   Stop working /and/ go to bed (6)

Down

2d   Fancy // that man entering running race (7)

A chimera^[5] (also chimaera) is a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve ⇒ the economic sovereignty you claim to defend is a chimera.^* }

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^* In Greek mythology, the Chimera^[5] was a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.

The Story Behind the Picture
Mr K's takes a biological approach in illustrating his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog with a picture of a genetic chimera[5], an organism containing a mixture of genetically different tissues, formed by processes such as fusion of early embryos, grafting, or mutation.

3d   More attractive // Mediterranean resort close to Gibraltar (5)

Nice^[5] is a resort city on the French Riviera, near the border with Italy.

Scratching the Surface

Gibraltar[5] is a British overseas territory near the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula, at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar (show more ). Occupying a site of great strategic importance, Gibraltar consists of a fortified town and military base at the foot of a rocky headland, the Rock of Gibraltar. Britain captured it during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1704 and is responsible for its defence, external affairs, and internal security. hide

4d   Potential MP maybe // frank over high tea (9)

Scratching the Surface

Tea may be either a drink or a meal, especially in Britain. The British distinguish between afternoon tea and high tea, although both may be referred to simply as tea[10]. Afternoon tea[2,5,7,10] (or low tea) is a light afternoon meal, typically eaten between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm, at which tea, sandwiches, biscuits [British term for cookies or crackers] and cakes are served. High tea[7] (also known as meat tea) is the evening meal or dinner of the working class, typically eaten between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Traditionally high tea was eaten by middle to upper class children (whose parents would have a more formal dinner later) or by labourers, miners and the like when they came home from work. The term was first used around 1825 and high is used in the sense of well-advanced (like high noon, for example) to signify that it was taken later in the day.

5d   Stop living with firm // traditionalist (7)

6d   Dowdy woman // following behind (5)

"following" = F [publishing] (show explanation )

In publishing, the abbreviation f.^[10] (plural ff.) is used to denote following (page).

hide explanation

7d   Against inflexible // limit (9)

8d   Be responsible for // poetry written in Old English (7)

Old English^[5] (abbreviation OE^[5]), also known as Anglo-Saxon, was the language of the Anglo-Saxons (up to about 1150), a highly inflected language with a largely Germanic vocabulary, very different from modern English.

13d   Lose one's temper /with/ a female wearing shirt-like garment (4,1,4)

15d   Take care of // a rook left injured (4,5)

Scratching the Surface
The rook[5] is a gregarious Eurasian crow with black plumage and a bare face, nesting in colonies in treetops.

17d   Like the M25 // section spoken about? (7)

As an adjective^*, orbital^[5] is a British term meaning (with respect to a road) passing round the outside of a town.

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^* As a noun, orbital^[5] is short for orbital road^[5], a British term for a road passing round the outside of a town.

The M25^[7] or London Orbital Motorway^* is a 117 mile (188 km) long highway encircling almost all of Greater London, England.

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^* Motorway^[2,5] (abbreviation M^[5]) is a British, Australian, and New Zealand term for a dual-carriageway road [divided highway] designed for fast-moving traffic, especially one with three lanes per carriageway [direction of travel] and limited access and exit points [controlled access].

18d   Spanish girl // learning to gatecrash parties (7)

Dolores^[7] is a feminine given name of Spanish origin.

Delving Deeper

The Spanish word dolores is the plural form of dolor, meaning either sorrow or pain. However, the usage of Dolores as a given name has its origins in the strong influence that the Roman Catholic Church has on Spain and, by extension, Spanish-speaking countries. The name is a reference to Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, one of the many titles of Mary, Mother of Jesus, typically translated to Our Lady of Sorrows in English.

20d   Corner netted by rising reserve /in/ game (7)

A reserve^[5] (abbreviation res.^[2]) is an extra player in^* a team, serving as a possible substitute ⇒ he was reserve hooker [a position on a rugby team] for the World Cup team.

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^* Note that the Brits say "in a team" rather than "on a team"

22d   Avoid // bumper car? Not quite (5)

Dodgem^[5] (also dodgem car) is a British term for a bumper car^[5], a small electrically powered car with rubber bumpers all round, driven in an enclosure at a funfair [a fair consisting of rides, sideshows, and other amusements] with the aim of bumping into other such cars ⇒ he wanted to go on the dodgems.

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Origin: 1920s: US proprietary name (as Dodg'em), from the phrase dodge them.

24d   Source of inspiration /in/ spring (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

Saturday, April 27, 2019 — Going in Circles

Introduction

I found today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon to be a bit tricky to solve. However, after composing the review, I cannot see why this should have been the case. I guess my brain is just stuck in low gear.

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 program, 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 directly from a dictionary or at least phrased in a non-misleading fashion similar to one that would be found in a dictionary
• 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 (for example, defining topiary as "clip art")
• a "whimsical definition": a definition "invented" by the setter often by extrapolating a non-existent meaning for a word from a similar word (for example, defining a bird as a "winger" [something possessing wings] or a river as a ''flower" [something that flows] or to extrapolate that, since disembowel means 'to remove the innards of ', that discontent must mean 'to remove the contents of')
• a "definition by example": the presence of one of these is often flagged with a question mark (for example, defining atoll as "coral?" where an atoll is but one form that coral may take).

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 other varieties of definition (such as cryptic definitions, whimsical definitions, definitions by example, etc.) 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

Across

1a   Feature about North-south // passage (7)

TRA(N|S)IT — TRAIT (feature) containing (about) {N(orth) + S(outh)}

5a   Go fast /in/ small RV (7)

S|CAMPER — S(mall) + CAMPER (RV)

9a   A hunk returned // some wood (5)

{BALS|A}< — reversal of (returned) {A (†) + SLAB (hunk)}

10a   Televise bum eating 100 // chosen courses (9)

{ELE(C)TIVES}* — anagram of (bum) TELEVISE containing (eating) C ([Roman numeral for] 100)

11a   Maori carving cut afresh /for/ world traveller (15)

CIRCUMNAVIGATOR* — anagram of (afresh) MAORI CARVING CUT

12a   Miss // place with a scenic view (8)

OVERLOOK — double definition; the first a verb, the second a noun

14a   Audibly scrape // sailing ship (6)

BARQUE~ — sounds like (audibly) BARK (scrape)

17a   Cold as a bishop with a // melon (6)

C|AS|A|B|A — C(old) + AS (†) + A (†) + B (bishop; abbrev., chessman) + A (†)

18a   Caterpillar // in room containing loose chow (8)

IN(CHWO*)RM — {IN (†) + R(oo)M} containing (†) anagram of (loose) CHOW

21a   Well-known sailor // breaking up fracas is drinker (3,7,5)

{SIR FRANCIS DRAKE}* — anagram of (breaking up) FRACAS IS DRINKER

24a   Spot a scar borne by // actor in Chicago Hope (4,5)

AD|A|M ARK| IN — AD ([commercial] spot) + A (†) + MARK (scar) + IN (borne by)

My efforts to give the role to his papa proved rather futile.

25a   Around four, beer /is/ still not gone? (5)

AL(IV)E — ALE (beer) containing (around) IV ([Roman numeral for] four)

26a   Out of practice, // insulted about half of us (7)

DIS(U_)SED — DISSED (insulted) containing (about) U ([initial] half of U[S])

27a   Passé // amusement in December time (7)

DE(FUN)C|T — FUN (amusement) contained in (in) {DEC(ember) + T(ime)}

Down

1d   Company set after explorer brought back // weed (7)

TOBAC<|CO — CO(mpany) following (set after) reversal of (brought back) CABOT (explorer)

The explorer could be either of two Venetians, John Cabot^[5] (c.1450–c.1498) or his son Sebastian Cabot^[5] (c.1475–c.1557), who made voyages of discovery to North and South America on behalf of England and Spain.

2d   Everything green’s awfully // irritating stuff (9)

ALL|ERGENS* — ALL (everything) + anagram of (awfully) GREENS

3d   University supporters returning // mess (5)

{SNAF|U}< — reversal of (returning) {U(niversity) + FANS (supporters)}

SNAFU is a military acronym standing for "Situation Normal — All F***ed Up".

4d   Two extended periods after end of August, I // get drunk (3,3,2)

T|I|E ON|E ON — {EON + EON} (two extended periods) following (after) {T (end [final letter] of AugusT) + I (†)}

5d   Perform a duty, taking west // turn abruptly (6)

S(W)ERVE — SERVE (perform a duty) containing (taking) W(est)

6d   Tossed group hat, a // collector’s item (9)

AUTOGRAPH* — anagram of (tossed) GROUP HAT A

7d   Turn // to big cheese on the way back (5)

{PIV|OT}< — reversal (on the way back) of (turn) {TO (†) + VIP (big cheese)}

8d   Coolness // about free verse (7)

RE|SERVE* — RE (about) + anagram of (free) VERSE

13d   Some Africans // left with some Europeans (9)

L|IBERIANS — L(eft) + (with) IBERIANS (some Europeans)

15d   Cost estimate /is/ too quaint, cryptic (9)

QUOTATION* — anagram of (cryptic) TOO QUAINT

16d   Confused us, ending // with no contract (8)

UNSIGNED* — anagram of (confused) US ENDING

17d   Something cheesy about station/’s/ eggy concoction (7)

CU(STA)RD — CURD (something cheesy) containing (about) STA(tion)

19d   Old Hollywood star/’s/ sheep involved in tangle (3,4)

MA(E WES)T — EWES ([female] sheep) contained in (involved in) MAT (tangle [of hair])

20d   Twisted // sculptor’s first nude (6)

S|NAKED — S (Sculptor's first [initial letter]) + NAKED (nude)

22d   Heard Eternal City’s // strays (5)

ROAMS~ — sounds like (heard) ROME'S (Eternal City's)

23d   Stunt // encountered in standard warfare (5)

_D|WARF_ — hidden in (encountered in) standarD WARFare

Epilogue

Sir Francis Drake carried out the second circumnavigation of the world^[7] in a single expedition (and on a single independent voyage), from 1577 to 1580. The first had been the Castilian ('Spanish') Magellan-Elcano expedition of August 1519 to September 1522, started by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and completed by Spanish Basque navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano after Magellan's death.

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