Thursday, April 11, 2019 — DT 28877

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28877
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28877]
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

Introduction

Reading through the comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog convinces me that Red Rose tea really was more of a novelty to the Brits than I previously realized.

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

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary is intended to serve as a supplement to the review of this puzzle found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

Click here for an explanation of conventions and symbols used in explaining the parsing of clues.

The purpose of this article is to explain the conventions and symbols that I use on this blog in explaining the parsing of clues.

Legend: The following symbols are used in reviews: "*" anagram "~" sounds like "<" indicates that the preceding letters are reversed "( )" encloses contained letters "_" replaces letters that have been deleted "†" indicates that the word is present in the clue

The review of a clue takes the following general structure:

#a/d   Clue containing parsing markup (num^*)

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^* num = numeration

Explanations pertaining to the wordplay (or first definition in a double definition)

(Horizontal separator)

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Explanations pertaining to the definition (or second definition in a double definition) and solution.

Explanatory Box

An explanatory box provides additional information about the clue. In most cases this information will not necessarily help in solving the clue but provides information about the clue. In the case of the weekday syndicated Daily Telegraph puzzles, such information is often intended to help the North American solver appreciate how the clue may be perceived by a British solver. These boxes may also provide information on people, places, films, television 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.

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Across

1a   Perhaps chicken soup // to do: form of being treated after onset of cold? (7,4)

What did he say?
In Comment #35 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Shropshirebloke writes 1 across, ... eluded me almost until the end, when & while eating bubble and squeak the answer leapt out at me, 1 across sort of grub indeed. Bubble and squeak[5] is a British term for cooked cabbage fried with cooked potatoes and often meat. Origin: Late 18th century: from the sounds of the mixture cooking.

7a   Take offence at group/'s/ attitude (7)

8a   Power shown by different black plant (3,4)

"power" = P [symbol used in physics] (show reference )

In physics, P^[10] is a symbol used to represent power [among other things] in mathematical formulae.

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"black" = B [grade of pencil lead] (show reference )

B^[5] is an abbreviation for black used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ 2B pencils.

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A pot herb^[1] (or pot-herb^[2,5] or potherb^{[3,4,10,11,12]}) is any plant having leaves, flowers, stems, etc, that are used in cooking for seasoning, flavouring or garnishing, or are cooked and eaten as a vegetable.

10a   Quite // fresh (5)

Clean^[5] as an adverb is used informally to emphasize the completeness of a reported action, condition, or experience ⇒ (i) he was knocked clean off his feet; (ii) I clean forgot her birthday.

11a   Sign // letters written by conductor (9)

Post^[5] is a chiefly British^* term for mail^[5] as either a noun (i.e., letters and parcels sent or received) or a verb (i.e., to send letters and parcels).

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^* In an ironic twist, the post in Britain is delivered by the Royal Mail while, in Canada, the mail is delivered by Canada Post.

The Story Behind the Picture
Land's End[5] is a rocky promontory in southwestern Cornwall, which forms the westernmost point of England. John o'Groats[5] is a village at the extreme northeastern point of the Scottish mainland. As the sign indicates, a journey by road from Land’s End to John o’Groats would cover 874 miles (approximately 1,400 km) [about the same as a trip from Ottawa to Thunder Bay].

12a   Records number to accommodate one //  manager of pop groups (7)

"record" = EP (show explanation )

EP^[10] (abbreviation for extended-play) is one of the formats in which music is sold, usually comprising four or five tracks.

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Brian Epstein^[5] (1934–1967) was an English businessman and music journalist as well as manager of the British pop and rock group the Beatles.

14a   Seemingly endless // point learnt afresh (7)

15a   Engine // needing check in US state (7)

"check" = CH [chess] (show explanation )

In chess, ch.^[10] is the abbreviation for check^*.

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^* Check^[5] means to move a piece or pawn to a square where it attacks (the opposing king) ⇒ he moves his knight to check my king again.

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18a   Send off // wine wanted by eccentric type (3-4)

In soccer and some other games, red card^[5] (noun) denotes a red card shown by the referee to a player who is being sent off the field ⇒ Guerra was shown the red card for a foul on Meijer. As a verb, red-card^[5] means (for a referee) to send (a player) off the field by showing a red card ⇒ Price was red-carded for a foul on Ferguson.

20a   Rash, // king in ancient African city bearing westward (9)

"king" = R [abbreviation for Rex] (show explanation )

In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms^*, Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George — often shortened to GR) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex 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.

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Utica^[10] was an ancient city on the northern coast of Africa, northwest of Carthage.

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Urticaria^[5] (also called nettle rash or hives) is a rash of round, red welts on the skin that itch intensely, sometimes with dangerous swelling, caused by an allergic reaction, typically to specific foods.

21a   Dog drinking drop of one/'s/ tea (5)

Peke^[5] is an informal short name for a Pekinese dog.

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Pekoe^[5] is a high-quality black tea made from young leaves.

Only in Canada? Pity!

I was amazed by the remarkable number of Brits professing on Big Dave's Crossword Blog to having never heard of pekoe tea. I thought if anyone were to be well versed in the varieties of tea, it would be the Brits. It brought to mind the Red Rose Orange Pekoe tea commercials of old where an upper crust Brit is introduced to the beverage and utters the inevitable tag line "Available only in Canada, you say? [sips tea] Pity!" in a very posh accent.

22a   Pattern /shown by/ former politician getting into drink (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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23a   Sit near suspect, // crying (2,5)

24a   Go back /for/ a moment (5-6)

Down

1d   Becomes the winner, reportedly, /in/ children's game (7)

In Britain, conker^[5] is a name given to the hard, shiny dark brown nut of a horse chestnut tree and conkers^[5] is a children’s game in which each has a conker on the end of a string and takes turns in trying to break another’s with it.

2d   Mother, very nervous initially, /becomes/ a member of society (5)

Mason^[5] is another term for Freemason^[5], a member of an international order established for mutual help and fellowship, which holds elaborate secret ceremonies.  (show more )

The original free masons were itinerant skilled stonemasons of the 14th century, who are said to have recognized fellow craftsmen by secret signs. Modern freemasonry is usually traced to the formation of the Grand Lodge in London in 1717; members are typically professionals and businessmen.

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3d   Figure // old trick involving label (7)

4d   Joint // highest team (7)

"team" = SIDE (show explanation )

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

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

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

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Joint^[5] is a British^* term for a large piece of meat cooked whole or ready for cooking ⇒ a joint of ham.

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^* or perhaps not so British^[3,11]

Topside^[5] is a British term for the outer side of a round of beef ⇒ roast topside.

5d   Getting better, // continuously swallowing them (2,3,4)

6d   Quieten // doe unsettled in swirling wind (3,4)

7d   Simple // Disney character (6,5)

9d   Struggle to get clothes, // soldier's uniform (11)

Battledress^[5] is combat dress, particularly as worn by British soldiers during the Second World War.

13d   Special reforms, including work // of bishops (9)

"work" = OP (show explanation )

In music, an opus^[5] (Latin 'work', plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.

The abbreviation Op.^[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..

Opus^[5] can also be used in other contexts to denote an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒ he was writing an opus on Mexico.

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16d   Old sailor's sword // wounded girl (7)

"girl" = LASS (show more )

Lass^[5] is a Scottish and Northern English term [although one that I would think is extremely well-known in Canada] for a girl or young woman ⇒ (i) he married a lass from Yorkshire; (ii) village lasses.

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A cutlass^[5] is a short sword with a slightly curved blade, formerly used by sailors.

17d   Serious // article penned by Shackleton, maybe (7)

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton^[5] (1874–1922) was a British polar explorer. (show more )

During one of his Antarctic expeditions (1914–16), Shackleton's ship Endurance was crushed in the ice. Shackleton and his crew eventually reached an island, from where he and five others set out in an open boat on a 1,300-km (800-mile) voyage to South Georgia to get help.

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18d   Existing on island, English // cotton on (7)

Cotton on^[5] is an informal expression meaning to begin to understand .

19d   Uncomfortable // week in a room in hospital (7)

21d   Primate /in/ European river, too far up (5)

The Po^[7] is a river that arises in the Cottian Alps and flows eastward across northern Italy entering the Adriatic Sea through a delta near Venice.

"too far" = OTT (show explanation )

OTT^[5] (short for over the top) is an informal British expression denoting excessive or exaggerated ⇒ presenting him as a goalscoring Superman seems a bit OTT.

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The potto^[5] is a small, slow-moving nocturnal primate with a short tail, living in the tropical forests of Africa.

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