Tuesday, April 23, 2019 — DT 28885

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28885
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, November 1, 2018
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28885]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By pommers and Jane (pomagne)
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 am sure that few will argue that this is not the most difficult puzzle we have seen in quite some time.

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   Belief follows opening of scriptural // passage (6)

A screed^[5] is a long speech or piece of writing, typically one regarded as tedious ⇒ her criticism appeared in the form of screeds in a local film magazine.

4a   'The Sun', perhaps // insane carrying a Sun article (8)

"sun" = S (show explanation )

S^[1] (or S.) is the abbreviation for sun (so sayeth The Chambers Dictionary) [although no context is provided, I presume it would be in astronomy or astrology].

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The Sun^[7] is a daily tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Ireland by a division of News UK, a wholly owned subsidiary of Australian-born American publisher and media entrepreneur Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Here and There
In Britain, masthead[5] denotes the title of a newspaper or magazine at the head of the first or editorial page. In North America, masthead[5] refers to the listed details in a newspaper or magazine referring to ownership, editorial staff, advertising rates, etc.

9a   Brochure's ideally describing // stay (6)

The use of the word "describing" as a hidden word indicator is a common cryptic crossword device which seems to rely on describe^[1,2,12] being used in the sense of to trace out or delineate ⇒ skaters describing circles on the ice.

10a   A Parisian loo contains posh // lotions (8)

"a Parisian" = UN (show more )

In French, the masculine singular form of the indefinite article is un^[8].

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Loo^[5] is an informal British term for a toilet.

The gents^[5] is an informal British term for a men's public toilet.

"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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What did they say?

In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the blogging duo pomagne write I doubt that the answer is to be found in a French pissoir!. Pissoir[11] is a French term for a street urinal for public use*, especially one enclosed by a low wall or screen. * The term "public use" could mean 'use by the general public' or "use in public' — and, in this case, both would be correct. I presume that our bloggers' remark alludes to the fact that a pissoir is merely a urinal on the street and does not have facilities at which to even wash one's hands, let alone a supply of lotions  — posh or otherwise. However, were lotions to be found there, they would most asuredly be labelled onguents. Paris Pissoir with three stalls, circa 1865 Modern Paris Uritrottoir ("sidewalk urinal"), circa 2018

11a   Riddle // for each partner embracing sweetheart (8)

"sweetheart" = E (show explanation )

A common cryptic crossword construct is to use the word "sweetheart" to clue the letter 'E', the middle letter (heart) of swEet.

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13a   About to go round in circle // going fast (6)

15a   Defiant // criminal undoes Britain (13)

18a   Unlike // 'Rogue One' he's circling round alien star (13)

"alien star" = ET ["star" denoting main protagonist] (show explanation )

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial^[7] (often referred to simply as E.T.) is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. It tells the story of a lonely boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed "E.T.", who is stranded on Earth. He and his siblings help the extraterrestrial return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.

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Scratching the Surface

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story[7] (or simply Rogue One) is a 2016 American epic space-opera film. It is the first installment of the Star Wars anthology series (a series of films outside the three Star Wars trilogies), set just before the events of A New Hope*, and follows a group of rebels on a mission to steal the plans for the Death Star, the Galactic Empire's superweapon. * The success of Star Wars (released in 1977) led its creator, George Lucas, to make it the basis of an elaborate film serial comprising a trilogy of trilogies with the original film becoming the fourth of nine episodes. To fit into the new master plan, the original film was retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope for its 1981 rerelease.

22a   Leaders to make overdone utterances though hardly speaking (6)

I would say that this is a clue where the entire clue constitutes the wordplay in which a cryptic definition has been embedded — a hallmark of RayT. I consider the definition to be cryptic as it is phrased in a convoluted fashion to produce the correct sequence of initial letters to satisfy the needs of the wordplay.

Unfortunately, as is also pointed out in numerous comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the definition leads to the solution MOUTH (to make overdone utterances though hardly speaking or, in other words, move your lips without making a sound) rather than the solution required by the wordplay (and the space available in the grid) which is MOUTHS.

Although RayT makes his customary visit to Big Dave's Crossword Blog at Comment #26, he carefully avoids offering any explanation for the discrepancy.

24a   Significant // the man's Conservative, almost in charge (8)

"Conservative" = TORY [member of British political party] (show more )

The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.^[10] or Con.^[10].

The Conservative Party^[5] is a major right of centre British political party promoting free enterprise and private ownershipthat emerged from the old Tory Party^* under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s. Since the Second World War, it has been in power 1951–64, 1970-74, and 1979–97. It governed in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats from 2010 until the general election of May 2015, in which it was returned with a majority.

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^* Historically, a Tory^[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.

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"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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26a   English politician unchanged, absorbing hard // priority (8)

"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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"hard" = H (show explanation )

H^[2,5] is an abbreviation for hard, as used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ a 2H pencil.

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27a   Office // Romeo possesses pure guts? (6)

Here and There
In case you are puzzled by the illustration in pomagne's review: In Britain, a bureau[5] is a writing desk with drawers and typically an angled top opening downwards to form a writing surface. In North America, a bureau[5] is a chest of drawers.

28a   Fools possibly upset /getting/ nervous (8)

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.

29a   One crushes // pain facing the French (6)

"the French | the Parisian | article in Paris" = LE (show explanation )

In French, the masculine singular form of the definite article is le^[8].

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Down

1d   Sharpens // exercises somersaulting (6)

2d   Stop shouting, maintaining one/'s/ self-control (9)

3d   Some pretend lesson /gets/ monotonous (7)

5d   End of chin covered in wicked // spots (4)

Wicked^[5] is used in the informal sense of excellent or wonderful ⇒ Sophie makes wicked cakes.

6d   High roller? (7)

I did myself no favours by initially entering THUNDER here. It was only after solving the anagram at 15a that I twigged to my errror.

Roller^[5] is used in the sense of a long swelling wave that appears to roll steadily towards the shore.

7d   Lack of interest from Macron? (5)

Ennui is a French word that has been adopted into English — thus a word that metaphorically comes from French President Emmanuel Macron^[5] and his countrymen (and countrywomen). As pomagne allude in their review, Mr T (Ray Terrell who set the puzzle) is an expatriot Brit who has adopted Paris as his home.

Post Mortem
Although I was eventually forced to conclude that the explanation had to be as stated above, I did spent an inordinate amount of time trying to work out a solution implicating the diacritical mark. A macron[5] is a written or printed mark (¯) used to indicate a long vowel in some languages, or a stressed vowel in verse.

8d   Fall in grave before battle's ultimate // clash (8)

12d   Land inside over // island (6)

Tobago is one of two islands off the northeastern coast of Venezuela that together comprise the country of Trinidad and Tobago^[5] (show more ).

Much the larger of the two islands is Trinidad, with Tobago to the north-east. Trinidad, inhabited by Arawaks, was visited by Columbus in 1498 and settled by the Spanish; Tobago, occupied by Caribs, was colonized by the French and later the British in the 18th century. Trinidad became British during the Napoleonic Wars and was formally amalgamated with Tobago as a Crown Colony in 1888. Trinidad and Tobago became an independent member state of the Commonwealth in 1962 and finally a republic in 1976.

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14d   Career that's overturned supporting British // state (6)

Brunei^[5] (official name Brunei Darussalam) is a small oil-rich constitutional sultanate on the north-western coast of Borneo, divided by parts of Malaysia's state of Sarawak. (show more )

In the 16th century Brunei dominated Borneo and parts of the Philippines, but its power declined as that of the Portuguese and Dutch grew, and in 1888 it was placed under British protection. It became a fully independent Commonwealth state in 1984.

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16d   Spongy // sailor's tendency to pinch gold (9)

"sailor" = AB (show explanation )

In the Royal Navy, according to Oxford Dictionaries, able seaman^[5] (abbreviation AB^[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary tells us that an able seaman^[10] (also called able-bodied seaman) is an ordinary seaman, especially one in the merchant navy, who has been trained in certain skills.

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"gold" = OR (show explanation )

Or^[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture.

In heraldry, a tincture^[5] is any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms.

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17d   Cramps coming after cold // drink (8)

Champers^[5] is an informal British term for champagne.

19d   Practise endlessly /producing/ tries again (7)

20d   Old boy, impolite, taking time // to butt in (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.

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21d   Bring charges /as/ copper's caught by super (6)

"copper" = CU (show explanation )

The symbol for the chemical element copper is Cu^[5] (from late Latin cuprum).

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23d   High // tea without small starter (5)

Tea may denote 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. It typically consists of a hot dish such as fish and chips, shepherd's pie, or macaroni cheese [macaroni and cheese to North Americans], followed by cakes and bread, butter and jam. Occasionally there would be cold cuts of meat, such as ham salad. 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.

So SUPPER could be clued by either "high tea" or simply "tea" — a fact the setter uses to his advantage here.

Here, the S is explicitly clued by the phrase "small starter" ["starter" indicating 'initial letter'] rather than being implicitly clued as an abbreviation for small as a clothing size (show reference ).

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

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Scratching the Surface
Starter[5] is another name* for an appetizer or the first course of a meal. * although British dictionaries consider this term to be British[5] (or chiefly or mainly British[4,10,14]), this usage of the word would seem to have become well established in North America[3,12]

25d   Perform // play (4)

In the first instance, give^[5] is used as a verb in the sense of to carry out or perform (a specified action) ⇒ (i) I gave a bow; (ii) he gave the counter a polish.

In the second instance, give^[5] is used as a noun in the sense of capacity to bend or alter in shape under pressure  ⇒ plastic pots that have enough give to accommodate the vigorous roots.

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