Thursday, May 30, 2019 — DT 28912

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28912
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, December 3, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28912]
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

Introduction

Today's offering is a very gentle bit of mental exercise unlikely to raise a sweat.

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   Morse upset by new // lecture (6)

Scratching the Surface

For Brits, the surface reading of this clue would likely evoke an image of Inspector Endeavour Morse[7], a fictional character in the eponymous series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter (1930–2017) as well as the British television drama series Inspector Morse[7] produced between 1987 and 2000. Morse is a senior CID (Criminal Investigation Department) officer with the Thames Valley Police force in Oxford, England.

4a   Team full of power beginning to respect // spinner (6)

"team" = SIDE (show explanation )

Side^[5] is a British term for a sports team ⇒ there was a mixture of old and young players in^* their side.

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^* Note that, in Britain, a player is said to be "in a side" rather than "on a team" as one would say in North America.

In North America, the term side^[3] is used in a very general fashion that can denote one of two or more opposing individuals, groups, teams, or sets of opinions. While this same general usage is also found in the UK, the term side^[5] is also used there in a much more specific sense to mean a sports team, as we can clearly see from the following usage examples ⇒ (i) Previous England rugby sides, and England teams in many other sports, would have crumbled under the weight of such errors.; (ii) They'll face better sides than this Monaco team, but you can only beat what's put in front of you.

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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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Scratching the Surface
The surface reading alludes to cricket, where a spinner[5] is a bowler who is expert in spinning the ball.

8a   Victim at heart of sincere // denial (8)

10a   Take it, heading off /for/ start again (6)

11a   Not wanting to work // in Madrid, lecturing (4)

12a   Lucrative // for female, I suggest (10)

Here, There and Elsewhere

In Britain, as in Canada, table[5] means to present formally for discussion or consideration at a meeting ⇒ more than 200 amendments to the bill have already been tabled. On the other hand, in the US, the term table[5] has essentially the opposite connotation, meaning to postpone consideration of ⇒ I'd like the issue to be tabled* for the next few months. * In Canada, we might say that the issue has been shelved or put on the back burner — expressions which I suspect may also be well-known in the US and the UK.

13a   Fervent preacher, // powerful active type full of charm (3,9)

Hot^[5,10]  might mean powerful in any of several senses; in particular, when it denotes expressing or feeling intense emotion, such as embarrassment, anger, or lust ⇒ All I felt was frustration and anger and hot emotions roiling through me.

A goer^[10]  is an energetic person.

How's That?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops tells us that goer can mean a sexually unrestrained woman. Yes, goer[5] is an informal British term for a sexually unrestrained woman ⇒ she was a right goer, I can tell you.

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Hot gospeller^[5] is an informal term for a zealous evangelist, someone who engages in the fervent propounding of religious beliefs ⇒ The pioneer of American religious broadcasting was not a Protestant hot gospeller, but a devout Catholic Archbishop.

16a   Causing great sadness, // direction blocking trial (5-7)

20a   Gay old eccentric prima donna, // the subject of a legendary tale (4,6)

Lady Godiva^[5]  (d.1080) was an English noblewoman, wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. According to a 13th-century legend, she agreed to her husband's proposition that he would reduce unpopular taxes only if she rode naked on horseback through the marketplace of Coventry. According to later versions of the story, all the townspeople refrained from watching, except for peeping Tom, who was struck blind as a punishment.

21a   Go round // almost all of French city (4)

Tours^[5] is an industrial city in west central France, on the River Loire.

22a   European // refinement (6)

23a   Exploit amazingly large // survey (4,4)

"large" = L [clothing size] (show explanation )

L^[5] is the abbreviation for large (as a clothing size).

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24a   Conjecture /made by/ those people importing gold (6)

"gold" = OR [heraldic term] (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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25a   Lethal // dose heartlessly given by deranged lady (6)

Down

1d   Keep calm /in/ stable, working (6,2)

The phrase steady on!^[5] is a British expression used as a way of exhorting someone to calm down or be more reasonable ⇒ Steady on, Mark! You're talking about my best friend.

2d   Drive off on East // course (5)

3d   Leader of team employed by small company brought in work /for/ ink producer (7)

In music, an opus^[5] (Latin 'work', plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.

Opus^[5] can also be used in other contexts to denote an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒ he was writing an opus on Mexico.

5d   The old man is on trial, unfortunately // biased (7)

6d   Southern couple, during performance, // lost heart (9)

Did you catch it?
Miffypops often — intentionally, he has sometimes claimed — slips in an anomaly to see if we are on our toes. Today, it is inserting "The abbreviation for small" in place of "The abbreviation for Southern" in his hint for this clue.

7d   Go for a long walk /with/ English novelist, right to the top (6)

Eric Ambler^[7] (1909–1998) was an influential English author of thrillers, in particular spy novels, who introduced a new realism to the genre. He also worked as a screenwriter. Ambler used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for books co-written with Charles Rodda.

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Ramble^[5] means to walk for pleasure in the countryside.

9d   Plant, // most unconfined, abundant (11)

The entire clue here could well serve as the definition for this plant (at least the one with which I am familiar).

Loosestrife is a common name for plants within two different genera:

• Lysimachia^[7] is a genus consisting of 193 accepted species of flowering plants including the yellow pimpernel (Lysimachia nemorum) which may be one of the plants to which Miffypops refers in his review
• Lythrum^[7] is a genus of 38 species of flowering plants native to the temperate world. Commonly known as loosestrife (a name they share with Lysimachia, which are not closely related)

The plant with which I am familiar is purple loosestrife^[7] (Lythrum salicaria). Although not native to North America, it has been introduced here and become naturalized. This invasive species is a curse of monumental proportions. It spreads rapidly (a single plant may produce up to 2.7 million tiny seeds annually), is virtually impossible to eradicate, and has dire environmental impacts.

14d   Drive way out in rental, /then/ break down (2,7)

Go means energy or drive as in the expression get-up-and-go^[5]. When my mother was feeling tired and unenthusiastic, she would often say my get-up-and-go has got up and left.

Here and There

Hire[5] (verb) 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 Hire[5] (noun) is the action of hiring someone or something ⇒ (i) car hire is recommended; (ii) a hire charge. In North America, we hire people and rent things.

15d   A nun abroad, joined by associate // every year (8)

17d   A further // part of 'Candida'? No, 'The Rivals' (7)

Contrary to what Miffypops shows in his review, I would say that the word "part" does not form part of the definition.

Scratching the Surface
Candida[7] is a comedy by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, written in 1894 and first published in 1898. The Rivals[7] is a comedy of manners by Irish playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan which was first performed in 1775.

18d   Inspect // former pit round area (7)

19d   Pay /and/ display (3,3)

Scratching the Surface

21d   Unenthusiastic /in/ assembly over bringing in piano (5)

Diet^[2] is is the name of the legislative assembly of certain countries, e.g. Japan.

"piano" = P [music notation] (show explanation )

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

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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