Saturday, May 4, 2019 — Wearing Two Hats

Introduction

In today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon, the setters have furnished us with a dozen instances of what is normally a very seldom seen type of clue and topped off the performance with an even rarer specimen.

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^*)

---

^* num = numeration

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

(Horizontal separator)

---

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.

hide

Across

1a   Recording // label including hole marker (6)

TA(PIN)G — TAG (label) containing (including) PIN (hole marker [on a golf course])

4a   Ruffle // Diana’s lock of hair (8)

DI|S|TRESS — DI ([diminutive for] Diana) + S ('s) + TRESS (lock of hair)

9a   Smallest // meadow west of street (5)

LEA|ST — LEA (meadow) preceding (west of [in an across clue]) ST(reet)

10a   Congenial dancing? (5,4)

{CONGA LINE}* — anagram of (dancing) CONGENIAL

The entire clue is not only a cryptic definition (I wonder, is there such a thing as uncongenial dancing?) but also the wordplay.

11a   Exercising lasses dig // ballet steps (9)

GLISSADES* — anagram of (exercising) LASSES DIG

12a   Small instrument // tuned too high (5)

S|HARP — S(mall) + HARP (instrument)

A sharp^[5] is a musical note raised a semitone^* above natural pitch.

---

^* For those among us who are musically challenged, a semitone^[12] is the difference in pitch between any two immediately adjacent keys on the piano. A black key plays the sharp of the key immediately to its left.

13a   Picture // Tatum playing jazz (3)

ART — double definition

Art Tatum^[5,7] (1910–1956) was an American jazz pianist, considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. Born with cataracts in both eyes, he was almost completely blind. He became famous in the 1930s for his solo and trio work.

14a   Moon-starers, maybe? (11)

ASTRONOMERS* — anagram of (maybe) MOONSTARERS

Here is another instance where the entire clue is not only a cryptic definition but also the wordplay ...

16a   Fanciful name for ship? (1,1,1,8)

{HMS PINAFORE}* — anagram of (fanciful) NAME FOR SHIP

... followed by yet another.

H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor^[7] is a comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, in May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical theatre piece up to that time. H.M.S. Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivan's fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation.

20a   Sailor // in Antarctica (3)

_TAR_ — hidden in (in) AnTARctica

21a   Stanley has one // blot on the reputation (5)

STA(I)N — STAN ([diminutive for] Stanley) containing (has) I ([Roman numeral for] one)

22a   Pitching arm tires after a // steady wind current (9)

AIRSTREAM* — anagram of (pitching) ARM TIRES following (after) A (†)

24a   Sporting, lithe acts? (9)

ATHLETICS* — anagram of (sporting) LITHE ACTS

Here we encounter the fourth instance where the entire clue is not only a cryptic definition but also the wordplay ...

25a   A sort of ring? (5)

A|TOLL — A (†) + TOLL (sort of ring)

... with the fifth instance close on its heels.

26a   Georgia went bad, /getting/ strangled (8)

GA|ROTTED — GA (Georgia; abbrev.)  + ROTTED (went bad)

Garotte is an alternative spelling of garrotte^[5] (or US garrote), a verb meaning to kill (someone) by strangulation, especially with a length of wire or cord ⇒ he had been garrotted with piano wire.

27a   A no-good Liberal, Ed // schemed (6)

A|NG|L|ED — A (†) + NG (no-good) + L(iberal) + ED (†)

Although one could further decompose the wordplay into N (no) and G (good; for instance, a grade received on a school assignment or test), NG^[3,4,11] (also N.G., ng, and n.g.) are listed in several dictionaries as abbreviations for no good.

Down

1d   Great help in code? (9)

TELEGRAPH* — anagram of (in code) GREAT HELP

Instance number six. Telegraph messages are transmitted using Morse code.

2d   One is found in orchestra area? (7)

PI(AN|IS)T — {AN (one) + IS (†)} contained in (found in) PIT (orchestra area)

Instance number seven, although in this case I think the definition can likely be considered to be a precise definition rather than a cryptic definition.

3d   Tones, put another way? (5)

NOTES* — anagram of (put another way) TONES

Instance number eight.

5d   Playwright // one put before one’s company (7)

I|ONE|S|CO — I ([Roman numeral for] one) preceding (put before) ONE (†) + S ('s) + CO(mpany)

Eugène Ionesco^[5] (1912–1994) was a Romanian-born French playwright, a leading exponent of the Theatre of the Absurd. Notable plays: The Bald Prima Donna (1950), Rhinoceros (1960).

6d   Change one’s parts? (9)

TRANSPOSE*  — anagram of (change) ONES PARTS

Instance number nine. I dithered over whether to mark the definition as a precise definition rather than a cryptic definition but eventually concluded that it is rather cryptic.

7d   Emily and I judge // Dubai, for one (7)

EM|I|RATE — EM ([diminutive for] Emily) + (and) I (†) + RATE (judge)

8d   Takes clothes off the wrong way /for/ nap (5)

SLEEP< — reversal of (the wrong way) PEELS (takes clothes off)

10d   Military student/’s/ cat eating two pieces of dessert (5)

CA(DE)T — CAT (†) containing (eating) DE (two pieces [initial letters] of DEssert )

14d   Lamenting lousy // coordination (9)

ALIGNMENT* — anagram of (lousy) LAMENTING

15d   Split, ran? (9)

SCRAM|BLED — SCRAM (split; depart) + BLED (ran; like dye)

Instance number ten. I think the definition relates to scramble in the sense (said of aircraft) to take off as fast as possible in order to intercept enemy aircraft.

17d   Smear // bit of shaving foam (7)

S|LATHER — S (bit [initial letter] of Shaving) + LATHER (foam)

18d   A sin involving a bit of rapacity? (7)

A|V(A|R)ICE — A (†) + VICE (sin) containing (involving) {A (†) + R (bit [initial letter] of Rapacity)}

Instance number eleven. I would say that the definition is a mite understated.

19d   Monsters // in progress (5)

_OGRES_ — hidden in (in) prOGRESs

20d   Work keeping referee /in/ clover (7)

T(REF)OIL — TOIL (work) containing (keeping) REF(eree)

21d   Part of this language? (5)

_S|LANG_ — hidden in (part of) thiS LANGuage

Instance number twelve.

23d   Coach?? (5)

TRAIN — implied double definition [indicated by the double question mark]

In this clue, the clue functions not as both wordplay and definition but as two definitions.

---

In one definition, coach^[3] (verb) means to train or tutor.

---

In the other definition, coach^[11] (verb) is used in the sense of to go by or in a [railway (or other type of)] coach.

Train^[11] (verb) means to travel or go by train.

Epilogue

In today's puzzle, we find a baker's dozen of instances in which the clue is doing double duty (or wearing two hats). In a dozen cases, the clue is serving as both definition and wordplay while, in the other case, the clue is implicitly supplying both parts of a double definition.

A clue in which the entire clue is not only the definition (when read one way), but also the wordplay (under a different interpretation) is formally known as an &lit. clue^[7]. This is normally a fairly rare type of clue, so it is highly unusual to find so many appearing in one puzzle.

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