Saturday, May 11, 2019 — Gardening Naturally

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon is directed at the gardeners among us — perhaps especially at those who need a bit more sunscreen than most.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers in our readership.

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

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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 █ - yet to be solved

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   Soil conditioner // improved most peas (4,4)

{PEAT MOSS}* — anagram of (improved) MOST PEAS

5a   Overuse // breed of plant (6)

STRAIN — double definition

10a   Auditor’s pierced // squash, perhaps (5)

GOURD~ — sounds like (auditor's) GORED (pierced)

11a   Stone on either side of Otto’s mutant // rhizome (9)

RO(OTSTO*)CK or R(OOTST*)OCK^* — ROCK (stone) containing (on either side of) anagram of (mutant) OTTOS

^* Thank you to Henry for pointing out the alternate parsing.

12a   Exhibit // in yard is playful (7)

_D|IS|PLAY_ — hidden in (in) yarD IS PLAYful

13a   Added up, // everything inside matched (7)

T(ALL)IED — ALL (everything) contained in (inside) TIED (matched)

14a   Laurel engulfing shady bunch and live // vegetable (6,4)

ST(RING| BE)AN — STAN (Laurel; English comedian Stan Laurel of the Laurel and Hardy comedy duo) containing (engulfing) {RING (shady bunch [of crooks]) + (and) BE (live)}

Stan Laurel was a "string bean" in comparison with his rather rotund partner Oliver Hardy.

17a   Little yellow // flower (4)

LIL|Y — LIL (little; abbrev.) + Y(ellow)

Delving a Li'l Deeper

"Lil" is a prefix and is the short form of "little". It is often spelled with an apostrophe as "Lil'" or "Li'l", and is a common name trope in Hip-Hop culture. When used as a prefix in comic or animation it can refer to a specific style of drawing where the characters appear in a chubby, childlike style. These are normally characterisations of adults (real or fictional) and are particularly common in manga or satire (such as Lil Bush). The above article fails to mention Li'l Abner[7] who was first to mind for me  — which I guess seriously dates me.

19a   Officer eating red // farm produce (4)

C(R)OP — COP (officer) containing (eating) R(ed)

20a   Signal spot on North American // poisonous plant (10)

BELL|AD|ON|NA — BELL (signal) + AD ([commercial] spot) + ON (†) + NA (North America)

The poisonous plant is deadly nightshade (also known as belladonna^[5]) and not the belladonna lily^[5], a South African amaryllis [note the word in the grid immediately above this clue].

23a   English chapter covering a vegetable (7)

SPIN(A)CH — {SPIN (English; spin imparted to a ball in pool or billiards) + CH(apter)} containing (covering) A (†)

Delving Deeper
Also known as side spin, english[7] (which is usually not capitalized) is spin placed on the cue ball when hit with the cue tip to the left or right of the ball's center. The British and Irish do not use this term, instead preferring "side". "English" is sometimes used more inclusively, to colloquially also refer to follow (top spin) and draw (back spin).

24a   Poorly rate ivy // cultivar (7)

VARIETY* — anagram of (poorly) RATE IVY

26a   Blue flowers // mature upon being put in liquors (9)

AGE|R(AT)UMS — AGE (mature) + AT (upon; upon the stroke of midnight, Cinderella's coach turned back into a pumpkin) contained in (being put in) RUMS (liquors)

Post Mortem
Carelessly misspelling the solution at 22d created difficulties here. Once I finally twigged to the correct solution to this clue, I was able to correct the error in the intersecting clue.

27a   In prosperous time, left // flower (5)

B(L)OOM — L(eft) contained in (in) BOOM (prosperous time)

28a   Observe almost identical // sort of seed (6)

SE_|SAME — SE[E] (observe) with the final letter removed (almost) + SAME (identical)

29a   2001 computer lies about revolutionary // flower (8)

HA(REBEL)L — HAL (2001 computer) containing (lies about) REBEL (revolutionary)

HAL 9000^[7] is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series. First appearing in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) is a sentient computer (or artificial general intelligence) that controls the systems of the Discovery One spacecraft and interacts with the ship's astronaut crew.

Delving Deeper

Observers have noted that the acronym HAL is offset by one letter from IBM. Both Clarke and 2001 director Stanley Kubrick have denied that this was intentional. Clarke addressed the issue in his book The Lost Worlds of 2001: ...about once a week some character spots the fact that HAL is one letter ahead of IBM, and promptly assumes that Stanley and I were taking a crack at the estimable institution ... As it happened, IBM had given us a good deal of help, so we were quite embarrassed by this, and would have changed the name had we spotted the coincidence.

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Harebell^[5] (also called bluebell, especially in Scotland) is a widely distributed bellflower with slender stems and pale blue flowers in late summer.

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Origin: Middle English: probably so named because it is found growing in places frequented by hares.

The flower commonly known in North America as the bluebell is the Virginia bluebell^[7] (Mertensia virginica) rather than the Scottish bluebell^[7] (Campanula rotundifolia). In Britain, outside of Scotland, the name bluebell would be understood to refer to the common bluebell^[7] (Hyacinthoides non-scripta).

Down

1d   A deity seen in father’s // temples (7)

P(A|GOD)A|S — {A (†) + GOD (diety)} contained in (seen in) {PA (father) + S ('s)}

2d   Branches holding last of kudzu // flowers (5)

AR(U)MS — ARMS (branches) containing (holding) U (last [final letter] of kadzU)

The arum^[5] is a European plant which has arrow-shaped leaves and a broad leafy spathe enclosing a club-shaped spadix. Pollination is by small flies which are temporarily trapped by the plant.

Scratching the Surface
The kudzu[5] (also kudzu vine) is a quick-growing East Asian climbing plant with reddish-purple flowers, used as a fodder crop and for erosion control.

3d   Fictional schoolgirl // created row (8)

MADE|LINE — MADE (created) + LINE (row)

Madeline^[7] is a media franchise that originated as a series of children's books written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian-American author. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series and a live action feature film. The adaptations are famous for the closing line, a famous phrase Ethel Barrymore used to rebuff curtain calls, "That's all there is, there isn't any more." The stories, often written entirely in rhyme, take place in a Catholic boarding school in Paris. Much of the media start with the line "In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines ..."

4d   Turn a hose on // bunch of flowers (5)

SPRAY — double definition

6d   Bum lets us // fight (6)

TUSSLE* — anagram of (bum) LETS US

7d   Banning // crude oil in boat (9)

ABOLITION* — anagram of (crude) OIL IN BOAT

8d   Led Yank astray // in a brazen way (7)

NAKEDLY* — anagram of (astray) LED YANK

9d   Oxygen taken up by water plant/’s/ back flap (8)

C(O)ATTAIL — O ([symbol for the chemical element] oxygen) contained in (taken up by) CATTAIL (water plant)

15d   Digs in marsupial’s // space (9)

ROO(MINES)S — MINES (digs) contained in (in) {ROO (marsupial; informal Australian name for a kangaroo) + S ('s)}

16d   After chopping, then cube // forest fruit (8)

BEECHNUT* — anagram of (after chopping) THEN CUBE

18d   Bear load prepared /for/ darling (8)

ADORABLE* — anagram of (prepared) BEAR LOAD

19d   Leads // vehicles around Circle Street (7)

C(O|ST)ARS — CARS (vehicles) containing (around) {O ([letter that looks like a] circle + ST(reet)}

21d   Edges away from baby, small /and/ pathetic (7)

_ABY|SMAL_ — [B]ABY SMAL[L] with the outer letters removed (edges away from)

22d   Greeting // mom, sadly turned (6)

{SALA|AM}< — reversal of (turned) {MA (mom) + ALAS (sadly)}

Post Mortem
I carelessly misspelled the solution — which then created havoc at 26a.

24d   Roman goddess // in harvest attire (5)

_VEST|A_ — hidden in (in) harVEST Attire

In Roman mythology, Vesta^[5] is the goddess of the hearth and household. Her temple in Rome contained no image but a fire which was kept constantly burning and was tended by the Vestal Virgins.

25d   Wear down // Queen Elizabeth with verse (5)

ER|ODE — ER (Queen Elizabeth; Elizabetha Regina) + (with) ODE (verse)

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

Epilogue

Given the overall theme of the puzzle combined with 8d, it would have been appropriate for this puzzle to have appeared a week ago as the first Saturday in May is World Naked Gardening Day^[5]. But if you missed the event, don't despair. Due to the first Saturday in May not being generally conducive to gardening in Canada — let alone gardening in the nude, in 2012 the Federation of Canadian Naturists declared the first Saturday in June to be Naked Canadian Gardening Day. On this day, naturists across Canada will be shedding their clothes to work in their gardens — and they won't have a pile of dirty laundry at the end of the day!

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