Monday, May 6, 2019 — DT 28894 (Published Saturday, May 4, 2019)

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28894
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, November 12, 2018
Setter Mister Ron (Chris Lancaster)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28894]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
BD Rating
Difficulty - ★★	Enjoyment - ★★
Falcon's Experience ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools █ - solved but without fully parsing the clue █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by solutions from Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - yet to be solved
Notes
This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, May 4, 2019 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

The planets have once again aligned such that this week the National Post will publish the puzzles on the same day of the week as they appeared in the UK. However, the crossword universe is about to undergo some upheaval. As you may read in Miffypops' review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, today's offering is the final "Monday" puzzle from Chris Lancaster (whose puzzles will now occasionally appear on "Tuesday" in the UK) and the puzzle we saw on April 26 was the last "Monday" puzzle from Dada (John Halpern) who will move to the "Sunday" slot in the UK. As the National Post does not carry The Sunday Telegraph puzzles, we will see no more puzzles from him.

As a final note, for those who visit Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the formatting issue that had earlier affected Miffypops' review has now been corrected.

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   A group not bothered about chaps // leaving (11)

"chaps" = MEN (show explanation )

Chap^[3,4,11] is an informal British^[5] or chiefly British^[3] term for a man or boy — although a term that is certainly not uncommon in Canada. It is a shortened form of chapman^[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar^[a,b].

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^[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler^[14] which, in most senses, is considered by the Brits to be a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
^[b] The current meaning of chap^[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.

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What did he say?
In hi review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops refers to these "chaps" as blokes Bloke[5] is an informal British* term for a man ⇒ he’s a nice bloke. * 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

9a   Soft rock // gets Blair in a lather? (9)

Tony Blair^[5] is British Labour statesman and former British Prime Minister (1997–2007). (show more )

He was elected leader of the Labour Party in 1994. His landslide victory in the election of 1997 gave his party its biggest-ever majority and made him the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812.

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In Comment #6 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the setter of the puzzle (Chris Lancaster) explains that this clue was inspired by an old friend of mine who used to go the same Durham gym as Tony Blair, before he (Blair, not my friend) was Prime Minister. My friend said that he had seen Blair naked in the shower on many occasions — and that his friends there called him ‘Tone’. I can only infer from this that the nickname alludes to Blair's well-toned body — although that interpretation hardly jives with Miffypops' observation I would get lathered up if I had his name and were referred to by the awful version used here.

I can find no evidence to support this being among the commonly-encountered nicknames for Tony Blair^[7] who was known variously as Tony Blur (used during his time in opposition to describe his "clear image" but not what he stood for), Bambi (Blair had been the youngest prime minister for nearly 200 years), Bliar (associated with the Iraq War. Blair was accused of misleading parliament and the country over weapons of mass destruction), America's Poodle (a reference to his Special Relationship with the President of the United States, George W. Bush), Tory Blair (in reference to his centrist New Labour political stance which distanced itself from traditional Labour Party values), and Teflon Tony.

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Soapstone^[5] is a soft rock consisting largely of talc. Steatite^[5] (mentioned by Miffypops in his review) is the mineral talc occurring in consolidated form, especially as soapstone.

10a   Supporter: 'Five-nil? // Well done!' (5)

11a   Piece on board that is // green (6)

A rook^[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top in the shape of a battlement. (show more )

A rook can move (if not obstructed by another chess piece or pawn) any number of spaces in any direction along a rank or file on which it stands. Each player starts the game with two rooks at opposite ends of the first rank.

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Green^[5] is an adjective meaning (of a person) inexperienced or naive ⇒ a green recruit fresh from college.

Rookie^[5] is a noun (here used as a modifier) denoting a new recruit, especially in the army or police ⇒ a rookie cop.

12a   Important // friend facing hearing when leader quits (8)

In Britain, the word "mate"^[5] — in addition to meaning a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner — can also be an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒ my best mate Steve.

13a   Shark served with last of salad // was tender (6)

The nurse^[5] (also called grey nurse) is a greyish Australian shark (Odontaspis arenarius) of shallow inshore waters.

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops identifies a different shark (which is also the one that first came to my mind). The nurse shark^[5] is any of three species of shark with barbels on the snout, in particular Ginglymostoma cirratum, a slow-swimming brownish shark of warm Atlantic waters.

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Tender is used in a whimsical sense as a noun meaning someone who tends or provides care.

15a   Being tactile /could be/ moving (8)

18a   Authorise // punitive measure (8)

Sanction^[5] is an interesting word, effectively being almost its own antonym. It can mean either official permission or approval for an action or a threatened penalty for disobeying a law or rule.

19a   Slough /needs/ men in service (6)

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

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

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Mass^[5] is the celebration of the Christian Eucharist, especially in the Roman Catholic Church.

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A slough^[5] is a swamp or, figuratively, a situation characterized by lack of progress or activity ⇒ the economic slough of the interwar years.

A morass^[5] is an area of muddy or boggy ground or, figuratively, a complicated or confused situation ⇒ she would become lost in a morass of lies and explanations.

21a   One picking holes /in/ fancy cake and tart (8)

23a   End exercise to seize power /in/ French town (6)

"exercise" = PE [phys ed] (show explanation )

PE^[5] is an abbreviation^* for physical education.

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^* In my experience, phys ed^{[3,6,11,12,14]} is the more common shortened form in North America.

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"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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Dieppe^[5] is a channel port in northern France, from which ferries run to Newhaven and elsewhere. In August 1942 it was the scene of an unsuccessful amphibious raid by a joint force of British and Canadian troops to destroy the German-held port and airfield.

26a   Dope /from/ China going to Portugal (5)

In Britain, china^[5] is an informal term for a friend (or, as the Brits would say, a mate^*). This meaning comes from cockney rhyming slang (show explanation ), where china is the shortened form of china plate which rhymes with 'mate'.

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^* As we saw at 12a, in Britain, mate^[5] — in addition to being a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner — is an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒ my best mate Steve.

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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The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Portugal is P^[5].

27a   Adult you and I hit /is/ stunned (9)

"adult" = A [film certificate] (show more )

The A (Adult) certificate is a former film certificate^[7] issued by the British Board of Film Classification. This certificate existed in various forms from 1912 to 1985, when it was replaced by the PG (Parental Guidance) certificate. [Despite its demise in the real world, it continues to find widespread use in Crosswordland.]

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28a   Not reliable, sadly, /and/ beyond the pale (11)

The phrase beyond the pale^[5] denotes outside the bounds of acceptable behaviour ⇒ the language my father used was beyond the pale.

Delving Deeper

A pale[5] is a wooden stake or post used with others to form a fence. The word pale[7] derives ultimately from the Latin word pālus, meaning stake, specifically a stake used to support a fence. From this came the figurative meaning of boundary and eventually the phrase beyond the pale, as something outside the boundary. Also derived from the "boundary" concept was the idea of a pale as an area within which local laws were valid. Thus those regions "beyond the pale" were outside the bounds of authority.

Down

1d   Out-of-place athlete? (4-3)

Here and There
In North America, place[5] (noun) denotes the second position, especially in a horse race. However, in Britain, place[5] (noun) means any of the first three or sometimes four positions in a race (used especially of the second, third, or fourth positions). As a verb, place[5] means (in Britain) to be among the first three or four in a race or (in the US) the first three.

2d   Warning having lost right old // battle (5)

The Alamo^[5] is a mission in San Antonio, Texas, site of a siege [the Battle of the Alamo] in 1836 by Mexican forces^*, in which all 180 defenders were killed.

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^* At the time, Texas was fighting to break away from Mexico, of which it then formed a part, in a conflict known as the Texas Revolution.

3d   Rebel // Democrat insisted on change? (9)

"Democrat" = D (show explanation )

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

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4d   Without agreement, // retreat (4)

5d   Lift // to reveal changes (8)

Lift^[10] is the British^* name for an elevator^[10].

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^* However, the setter obviously expects his British audience to be very familiar with the North American term.

6d   Board // rebel battleship, partly capsized (5)

Board^[5,10] is an archaic term for a table, especially one used for eating at, and especially when laden with food ⇒ he looked at the banquet which was spread upon his board.

7d   Kick member /appearing as/ pirate (7)

8d   Simple article about the Italian // church (8)

In Italian, the masculine singular form of the definite article is il^[8].

14d   Call on faithful // to stand up (4,4)

Here and There

Ring[5] is an informal — more or less British (show details ) — term for: (noun) a telephone call ⇒ I'd better give her a ring tomorrow (verb) to call by telephone ⇒ (i) I rang her this morning; (ii) Harriet rang Dorothy up next day; (iii) she rang to tell him the good news In North America, the word would seem to be more accepted as a noun (I'll give you a ring) than as a verb (I'll ring you). According to various dictionaries, the word ring used in this sense is: (noun) British[2,5], chiefly British[4], mainly British[10,14], or not specified as being British[1,3,11,12] (verb) British[5], chiefly British[2,3,4,12], mainly British[10,14], or not specified as being British[1,11] hide

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The expression ring true^[a], meaning to seem to be genuine or convincing, comes from the old method of testing for a counterfeit coin by listening to the sound it made when it struck stone.

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^[a] Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group

16d   Singer // first to be seen in piece of work by Queen (9)

"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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17d   Promise /made by/ witches over a set of religious books (8)

"set of religious books" = NT (show explanation )

In Crosswordland, the term "books" — and related phrases such as "collection of books" or, as today, "set of religious books" — are commonly used to clue either the Old Testament (OT) or the New Testament (NT).

Today, as is often the case, the clue provides no indication whether the reference is to the former or the latter.

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18d   Some sense ancestors -- at these? (7)

The entire clue constitutes the definition in which the wordplay is embedded. I've marked the definition as being a cryptic definition but it could almost be considered a precise definition.

20d   Spot // what hen does in case of small eggs, initially (7)

22d   Endless piracy ruined // island (5)

Capri^[5] is an island off the west coast of Italy, south of Naples.

24d   Kind of line that's fruity, we hear (5)

I see this clue as a cryptic definition in which a precise definition is embedded with the remainder of the clue providing cryptic elaboration about the nature of the precise definition — namely that it is homonym for a type of fruit.

25d   Do business /in/ Kent town (4)

Deal^[7] is a town in Kent, England which lies on the English Channel, eight miles northeast of Dover. (show more )

Deal is a former fishing, mining and garrison town. Close to Deal is Walmer, a possible location for Julius Caesar's first arrival in Britain. Deal became a 'limb port' of the Cinque Ports in 1278 and grew into the busiest port in England; today it is a seaside resort, its quaint streets and houses the only reminder of its history. The coast of France is approximately twenty-five miles from the town and is visible on clear days.

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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