Friday, May 3, 2019 — DT 28893

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28893
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, November 10, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28893 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28893 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) crypticsue (Review)
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
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

Today's setter provides us with a very gentle mental workout to end the week.

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

7a   Make smaller // container holding very little (8)

It is interesting to note that Big Dave and crypticsue parsed this clue differently.

According to Big Dave, the wordplay parses as;

• D(I|MIN)ISH — DISH (container) containing (holding) {I ([Roman numeral for] one) + MIN (minute; abbrev.)} (very little)

although in his response to Comment #15 he admits that he misread the clue as "very little time".

On the other hand, crypticsue has it as:

• DI(MINI)SH — DISH (container) containing (holding) MINI (very little)

For the record, I followed in crypticsue's footsteps.

9a   Letting // one make a call after husband (6)

Ring^[3] (often used with up) is a chiefly British term meaning to call (someone) on the telephone ⇒ (i) She rang me at noon; (ii) Let's ring her up.

"husband" = H [genealogy] (show reference )

The abbreviation for husband is h^[1,2] or h.^{[3,4,10,11,12]} or H^[12] or H.^[4,10,11,12]) [although no context is provided, it may well come from the field of genealogy].

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Here and There

Let[5] is a British* term meaning to allow someone to have the use of (a room or property) in return for regular payments ⇒ (i) she let the flat [apartment] to a tenant; (ii) they’ve let out their house. * However, based on its appearance in US dictionaries[3,11], I seriously doubt that this word is quite as British as the editors of  Oxford Dictionaries Online would have us believe. Hire[5] is a British term meaning: to obtain the temporary use of (something) for an agreed payment ⇒ we flew to San Diego, hired a car, and headed for Las Vegas to grant the temporary use of something for an agreed payment ⇒ most train stations hire out cycles Thus both let and hire are synonyms for rent (a word which the Brits would also seem to use). The former term is used in relation to renting accommodation and property, while the latter is used with respect to renting things such as cars, boats, bicycles, movies to watch at home, etc. In North America, while the word let is not unknown (although it may be somewhat passé), one would be far more likely to rent an apartment than to let one. However, we hire people and rent things.

10a   Father with posh girl /is/ thrifty (6)

"Father" = FR [priest's title] (show explanation )

Fr^[5] is the abbreviation for Father (as a courtesy title of priests) ⇒ Fr Buckley.

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"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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From a British perspective, gal^[5] is an informal North American term for a girl or young woman.

11a   Type of critic with no standing? (8)

12a   Moderate // Jack to plug debts (10)

"Jack" = sailor = AB (show explanation )

The entry for jack in The Chambers Dictionary would fill a page if it were not spread over parts of two pages. Among the definitions, one finds jack^[1] defined as (often with capital) a sailor.

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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14a   Come across // swarm on the way back (4)

15a   When athletes run // without delay (4,3,4,2)

A double definition, the first deriving from a literal interpretation of the solution.

17a   Hit // record with force first (4)

"force" = F [symbol used in physics] (show explanation )

In physics, F^[5] is a symbol used to represent force in mathematical formulae.

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18a   Having a trying time before play opens (10)

20a   Tart  initially  can  be  consumed  -- on this? (7)

The entire clue is a sort of cryptic definition of "something on which one might consume a tart" — although it does strike me as rather poor manners for the diner to be "on the table" rather than "at the table" (a sentiment also expressed by Angellov at Comment #3 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog). The wordplay is embedded in the clue.

Tea table^[10] is a British term for a table that is being used for a meal eaten in the late afternoon or early evening — what North Americans might call the supper table (as differentiated, for example, from the breakfast table). Note that while North Americans think of a tea table^[11,12] as a small table for holding a tea service or a table, usually small, at which or from which tea is served, for the Brits it is a table at which one eats tea (tea being the name for the evening meal in Britain).

21a   Aristocracy // attempt to get primary information (6)

Gen^[5] is an informal British term for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

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Aristocracy and gentry hardly seem synonymous to me:

• Aristocracy^[5] (usually the aristocracy) denotes the highest class in certain societies, typically comprising people of noble birth holding hereditary titles and offices.
• Gentry^[5] denotes people of good social position, specifically the class of people next below the nobility in position and birth.

23a   Collided with // second vehicle (6)

24a   Precise // in theatre? (8)

Down

1d   Flier the setter's sent up /in/ this vein? (6)

"the setter's" = IM (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 combining "the setter" with the verb "to be" producing "the setter's" (a contraction — in the wordplay^* — of "the setter is") which must be replaced by "I'm" (a contraction of "I am").

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^* Although in the surface reading "the setter's" is a contraction of "the setter has", in the wordplay it is interpreted as "the setter is".

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A midrib^[5] is a large strengthened vein along the midline of a leaf.

2d   Player // to be successful, good (4)

"good" = G [academic result] (show reference )

The abbreviation G^[a] for good comes from its use in education as a mark awarded on scholastic assignments or tests.

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^[a] Collins English to Spanish Dictionary

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In soccer, rugby, and [field] hockey, wing^[5] denotes the part of the field close to the sidelines or an attacking player positioned near to one of the sidelines. [Similar terminology applies in (ice) hockey.]

3d   Certificate before tea say, /for/ ambassador (8)

4d   Father going to sea? (6)

The Thames^[5] is a river of southern England, flowing 338 km (210 miles) eastwards from the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire through London to the North Sea.

Old Father Thames is a river god who serves as a personification of the River Thames.

A statue of Old Father Thames by Raffaelle Monti

at St John's Lock, Lechlade, Gloucestershire, England.

5d   Old mathematician // distributed nameless merchandise (10)

Archimedes^[5] (c.287–212 BC) was a Greek mathematician and inventor, of Syracuse. (show more )

He is famous for his discovery of Archimedes’ principle (legend has it that he made this discovery while taking a bath, and ran — naked, in some accounts — through the streets shouting ’Eureka!'); among his mathematical discoveries are the ratio of the radius of a circle to its circumference, and formulas for the surface area and volume of a sphere and of a cylinder.

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6d   Anchorite not about to turn into // undignified leading character (4-4)

8d   How gymnasts might fall in love? (4,4,5)

Tumble^[5] (a term that is synonymous to fall in a general sense) means to perform acrobatic feats, typically handsprings and somersaults in the air. Thus the setter suggests that gymnasts take the same approach with their love lives as they do when tumbling^* on the mat.

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^* Ironically, tumble^[5] is also an informal term for an act of sexual intercourse.

13d   Pensive, // not empty-headed, so to speak (10)

15d   High // river battle (8)

The River Fal^[5] flows through Cornwall, England, rising at Pentevale on Goss Moor (between St. Columb and Roche) and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth. The River Fal separates the Roseland peninsula from the rest of Cornwall.

16d   Greenhouse /in/ another colour over railway (8)

Ry^[5] is the abbreviation for railway.

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An orangery^[5] is a building like a large conservatory where orange trees are grown.

18d   Reprimand // junky occasionally sitting in spilt beer (6)

Junky^[5] (variant spelling of junkie^[5]) is an informal term for a drug addict.

19d   Ordinary // novice supporting lady (6)

"novice" = L [driver under instruction] (show more )

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

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22d   Brad /and/ Angelina originally in love (4)

"love" = NIL [tennis term] (show explanation )

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).

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Scratching the Surface

Angelina Jolie[7] is an American actress who was involved in a twelve-year "supercouple"[7] relationship with American actor Brad Pitt[7] which began following — or perhaps sparked — Pitt's separation from American actress Jennifer Aniston in 2005. They had their first child in 2006, became engaged in 2012, married in 2014, separated in 2016, and their divorce became final in 2019. If you look very carefully, you will see that Big Dave has totally removed Angelina from the scene in his hint for this clue.

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