Friday, April 5, 2019 — DT 28873

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28873
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, October 18, 2018
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28873]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Kath
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 managed to complete the puzzle without fully understanding aspects of a couple of the solutions — an archaic theatrical term and a hitherto unknown characteristic of cockney speech.

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

Error in Today's Puzzle

Heads up! You are likely to discover an error in today's puzzle as it appears in the National Post. Clue 8d, which should read:

• 8d   Funny socialists ultimately revolt, seizing power at last (10)

is likely to be missing its final two words.

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   This compiler's critical taking time /for/ cryptic (10)

"this compiler's" = MY (show explanation )

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (the or this) speaker, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or ME) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by placing "this compiler" in a possessive^* context.

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^* Although in the surface reading "this compiler's" is a contraction of "this compiler is", in the wordplay it is interpreted as showing possession.

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6a   Bird // regularly in bliss (4)

The ibis^[5] is a large wading bird with a long downcurved bill, long neck, and long legs.

9a   Scorch sealing hot // cut (5)

10a   Buyer /of/ tea's in cleaner surroundings (9)

The split indicator "in ... surroundings" is equivalent to 'surrounded by ...' (or 'contained in ...').

Cha (also chai) is an alternative spelling of char^[5], an informal British name for tea [in the sense of a drink].

12a   Loot /is/ piled so high (7)

13a   More enthusiastic // 'Fortnite' player?? (5)

Fortnite^[7] is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017.

15a   Section of Government ran Chequers // section (7)

Either instance of "section" could equally well serve as definition or indicator.

Tranche^[5] denotes a portion of something, especially money ⇒ they released the first tranche of the loan.

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Origin: Late 15th century: from Old French, literally ‘slice’.

17a   Old luvvies // falter heartlessly before show's opening (7)

Luvvie^[5] (also luvvy) is an informal British term (often derogatory) for an actor or actress, especially one who is particularly effusive or affected ⇒ everyone is singing his praises—from the luvvies at Cannes to various political figures in the US.

Stager^[5] is an archaic term for an actor — the "archaic" aspect explaining why the setter has clued it as "old luvvies".

What did she say?
In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Kath writes that a synonym for falter ... has a double letter in the middle – remove one of them .... Technically, it is only the first of this pair of letters that is in the middle — and thus the one we are instructed to remove.

Here and There
From a British perspective, stager[5] is a North American term for a person whose job is to style and furnish properties for sale in such a way as to enhance their attractiveness to potential buyers ⇒ (i) it's common for stagers to declutter and depersonalize homes by putting furniture and family photos into storage; (ii) hiring a home stager can make your house stand out from other listings.

19a   Cap owner after vacation // alfresco (7)

Cap^[3] is used in the sense of to follow with something better; in other words, to surpass or outdo ⇒ the magician capped his last trick with a disappearing act that brought the audience to its feet.

 The phrase "after vacation" is an indication to remove the contents (interior letters) from the word "OwneR". Vacation^[10]  is likely used in the sense of the act of departing from or abandoning property, etc. (i.e., vacating the premises). Thus the setter would seem to be suggesting that the interior letters pack up and leave.

21a   Time to accept revolutionary Labour leader/'s/ position (7)

"revolutionary" = CHE (show explanation )

Che Guevara^[7] (1928–1967) was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture.

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Brace yourself for an outburst on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. Brits would consider eon to be the US spelling of aeon^[5].

Scratching the Surface

The Labour Party[5] is a left-of-centre political party in Britain. (show more ) The party was formed to represent the interests of ordinary working people that since the Second World War has been in power 1945–51, 1964–70, 1974-9, and 1997–2010. Arising from the trade union movement at the end of the 19th century, it replaced the Liberals as the country’s second party after the First World War. hide

22a   Glue /is/ finished by end of tube (5)

24a   Component of part is annealed /for/ mechanic (7)

Open to Debate?

I think we have seen the argument before about whether a mechanic qualifies as an artisan. The case for qualification is hardly bolstered by Oxford Dictionaries Online, which defines artisan[5] as a worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand ⇒ street markets where local artisans display handwoven textiles, painted ceramics, and leather goods. However, The Chambers Dictionary defines artisan[1] as a handicraftsman or mechanic, a skilled manual worker.

27a   Narcissist, // say, old bloke in charge across America (9)

"bloke" = MAN (show explanation )

Bloke^[5] is an informal British^* term for a man ⇒ he’s a nice bloke.

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^* Very British, but certainly also very familiar to anyone on this side of the pond who has ever watched a British film or television programme

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"in charge" = IC (show explanation )

The abbreviation i/c^[2,5] can be short for either:

• (especially in military contexts) in charge (of) ⇒ the Quartermaster General is i/c rations
• in command (of) ⇒ 2 i/c = second in command

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Take a bow, Donald!

28a   Cockneys' excitement /seeing/ gathering (5)

A cockney^[5,10] is a native of East London [specifically that part of East London known as the East End^[5]], traditionally one born within hearing of Bow Bells (the bells of St Mary-le-Bow^[7] church).

Cockney is also the name of the dialect or accent typical of cockneys, which is most famously characterised by dropping the aitch (H) from the beginning of words as well as the use of rhyming slang (show explanation ).

Rhyming slang^[5] is a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in cockney rhyming slang.

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However, those are apparently not the only distinguishing characteristics of Cockney speech. According to Kath's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, it’s common for a TH sound to be pronounced as F.

Delving Deeper

From a previous puzzle, I learned that Del is the "Cockney diminutive" of Derek. According to a discussion on Digital Spy Forums, it is apparently common for Cockneys to replace "R" with "L" in nicknames. Thus, in addition to Derek becoming Del, Gary become Gal, Terry becomes Tel, and Karen becomes Kal. In other parts of England, it seems that "R" is replaced with "Z" with Gary becoming Gaz or Gazza, Terry becoming Tez or Tezza, and Karen becoming Kaz or Kazza or Kazzie. One contributor comments "I grew up in Leyton [a district of east London] and have to say in general we use a mix whatever rolls of[f] the tongue easiest at that moment hehe! [My] mum is Carol she gets called Cal, Caz, Cazzie, Cazza, however nobody calls my son Harry Hal that would sound weird its always "shortened" to Hazza, but my friend Gary is always Gal not Gaz its confusing eh".

29a   On any occasion // first lady precedes Queen (4)

"first lady" = EVE (show explanation )

In the Bible, Eve^[5,10] is the first woman, mother of the human race, fashioned by God from the rib of Adam, companion of Adam and mother of Cain and Abel^* [Genesis 2:18-25].

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^* not to mention Seth and her other sons and daughters [Gen 5:4]

Disobeying God, Eve^[7] succumbs to the serpent's temptation to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and shares the fruit with Adam. As a result, the first humans are expelled from the Garden of Eden.

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"Queen" = R (show explanation )

Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.

Q^[5] is an abbreviation for queen that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.

Qu.^[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.

In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms^*, Regina^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth — often shortened to ER) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

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^* A Commonwealth realm^[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.

Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution.

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30a   Looking back, // honour involves stardom occasionally (10)

Down

1d   Not noticed audibly /in/ fog (4)

2d   Firm // date's changed going on diet (9)

3d   French bread? (5)

The euro (sign: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of the eurozone or euro area, which comprises 19 of the 28 member states of the European Union — including France (show more ).

Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain

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4d   One learning about politician /in/ press (7)

"politician" = MP (show explanation )

In Britain (as in Canada), a politician elected to the House of Commons is known as a Member of Parliament^[10] (abbreviation MP^[5]) or, informally, as a member^[5].

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5d   Opens out // posh new motor (7)

"posh" = U (show explanation )

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective (in respect to language or social behaviour) meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes ⇒ U manners.

The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).

In Crosswordland, the letter U is frequently clued by words denoting "characteristic of the upper class" (such as posh or superior) or "appropriate to the upper class" (such as acceptable). 

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Motor^[5] is an informal British term for a car ⇒ we drove out in my motor.

Rolls^[10] is an informal name for a Rolls-Royce^[10], a make of very high-quality, luxurious, and prestigious British^* car.

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^* Although the Rolls-Royce company is no longer British-owned.

7d   Flourish acquiring small // chest (5)

"small" = S [clothing size] (show reference )

S^[5] is the abbreviation for small (as a clothing size).

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8d   Funny // socialists ultimately revolt, seizing power at last (10)

This clue is likely to appear in the National Post with its final two words missing — as was the case in the print edition of The Daily Telegraph.

11d   Bunk // wife included in house rent (7)

"wife" = W [genealogy] (show explanation )

The abbreviation for 'wife' is w^[1,2,12] or w.^[3,4,10,11] [although no context is provided, it may come from the field of genealogy].

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"house" = HO (show explanation )

Although not found in most of the dictionaries I consulted, ho.^[10] is the abbreviation for house.

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14d   Climate // unfortunately heats more round top of pole (10)

As an initial letter indicator, top^[10] is used in the sense of beginning ⇒ (i) the top of the hour; (ii) at the top of the programme; (iii) let's run through the piece one more time from the top.

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Climate^[5] is used in the sense of the prevailing trend of public opinion or of another aspect of life ⇒ the current economic climate.

16d   Short depression during cold period /provokes/ illness (7)

18d   Insect concealed by such as border // plant (9)

Eglantine^[5] is another name for sweet briar^[5], a Eurasian wild rose with fragrant leaves and flowers.

20d   Effect // behind untruths, reportedly (7)

The wordplay parses as sounds like (reportedly) {REAR (behind) + LIES (untruths)}.

While North Americans should have little difficulty with the latter portion of the double homophone, the first part may be a challenge. The key is recognizing that the word "REAR" , when pronounced in a non-rhotic (show explanation ) accent typical of dialects found in many parts of Britain (especially southeastern England), sounds like "REE-ah".

Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.

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21d   One seduces // jerk embraced by upstanding Frenchman (7)

René — if not the most popular name for a Frenchman in Crosswordland — certainly ranks among the leading contenders.

23d   Heart following spades // produces points (5)

Depending on whether you consider the solution to be a verb or a noun, the definition could be "produces points" (as I have shown) or merely "points" (as Kath shows in her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog). Using Kath's option, the word "produces" would be considered to be a link word.

"spades" = S [card suit] (show explanation )

Spades^[2] (abbreviation S^[1]) is one of the four suits of playing-cards.

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25d   Endless band around iron // strongboxes (5)

The symbol for the chemical element iron is Fe^[5] (from Latin ferrum).

26d   Stomach consuming large // surfeit (4)

"large" = L [clothing size] (show explanation )

L^[5] is the abbreviation for large (as a clothing size).

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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