Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 28905 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, November 24, 2018 | |
Setter
Navy (Lucy Evans) | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28905 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28905 – Review] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By
Tilsit (Hints)crypticsue (Review) | |
BD Rating
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| 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
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Notes
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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.
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Introduction
Today sees the debut of a new setter, Navy, a rare female in the field of setting cryptic crossword puzzles. You can find out a bit more about her in the thread at Comment #2 on crypticsue's review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog in which she mentions that "Navy clues" is an anagram of her name — which is Lucy Evans. You can find out a lot more about her in an interview, Meet the Setter - Navy, published on The Guardian Crossword Blog. What is truly amazing is that this remarkable young woman is only seventeen years old and received her first introduction to cryptic crosswords a mere seven months prior to having her first puzzle published in The Telegraph. |
| Navy (Lucy Evans) |
The puzzle may have rated only a single star for difficulty but I encountered a mental block on 12a and needed to resort to a bit of electronic assistance.
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:
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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)
Explanatory Box
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| 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:
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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).
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.
ExamplesI 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.
A few examples may help to illustrate these points more clearly.
The first example is a clue used by Jay in DT 28573:
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).
- 4d Fellow left work // a failure (4)
The second example is a clue used by Giovanni in DT 28575:
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.
- 29a Female going to match // travels with mother in advance (10)
The third example is a clue used by Rufus is DT 28583:
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/).
- 18d Knight caught by misplaced big blow /is/ staggering (8)
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)
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 Mortgage deal not usually// collected (12)
9a Spiritual vessel? (4,5)
10a A large individual /yet/ solitary (5)
"large" = L [clothing size] (show explanation )
11a Turn up // at start of the finale (6)
12a Fashions without diamonds covering new // veils (8)
It is a relief to see that this clue was also a challenge for Tilsit. I did decipher the wordplay fairly readily once my electronic assistants had assembled a lineup of possible suspects from which to choose.
"diamonds" = D [card suit] (show explanation )
"new" = N [in place names] (show explanation )
13a One living a bare existence // playing in dust (6)
15a Moves // modern steeples (8)
What did she say?
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In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, crypticsue writesI believe she is basing her statement on a strict interpretation of the word "steeple" as meaning the tower on a church with the word "spire" denoting the pointed or conical structure that sits atop this tower.I should point out that they aren’t quite the same thing, as you can have a steeple without a spire but you can’t have a spire without a steeple!. Collins English Dictionary defines steeple[10] as:
* Oxford Dictionaries Online characterizes this sense of the word as archaic[5] Thus steeple can seemingly mean either the tower alone, the tower plus the spire, or the spire alone. The latter might be the case where a spire is affixed directly to the roof of a building rather than to a tower. |
18a Path through Scottish mountains /gets/ wider (8)
Ben[5] (used especially in place names) is Scottish for a high mountain or mountain peak ⇒
Ben Nevis*.
* Ben Nevis[5] is a mountain in western Scotland. Rising to 1,343 m (4,406 ft), it is the highest mountain in the British Isles.
19a Got in a tizzy // with being carried by horse (6)
The Story Behind the Picture
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| Tilsit illustrates his hints with a photo of Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg in the roles of John Steed and Emma Peel from the British espionage television series The Avengers[7] (1961–1969). |
21a Main outfit /for/ nightcap? (8)
23a Update // regarding temptress (6)
26a Openings of very old legends encourage strangling // rodents (5)
27a What's often used in evidence /and/, strangely, in frescos (9)
28a Did like others /and/ pursued executive (8,4)
What did he say?
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In his hints on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Tilsit describes the second word in the solution asa nickname for an executive or businessman (often used in the City).
The City is the financial district of London — the British counterpart of Wall Street in New York or Bay Street in Toronto. (show more )
The City[5] [or simply City] is short for the City of London[5] (a borough of — and not to be confused with — the city of London). The City of London[7] is a city and ceremonial county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, but the conurbation has since grown far beyond the City's borders. The City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. It is one of two districts of London to hold city status, the other being the adjacent City of Westminster. It is widely referred to simply as the City (often written as just "City" and differentiated from the phrase "the city of London" by capitalising "City") and is also colloquially known as the Square Mile, as it is 1.12 sq mi (2.90 km2), in area. Both of these terms are also often used as metonyms for the United Kingdom's trading and financial services industries, which continue a notable history of being largely based in the City. This is analogous to the use of the terms Wall Street and Bay Street to refer to the financial institutions located in New York and Toronto respectively. hide The photo used by Tilsit to illustrate his hints shows British comedian John Cleese performing in "The Ministry of Silly Walks"[7], a sketch from a 1970 episode of the British television comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus. |
Down
1d Playing tabs in a // refrain (7)
2d Type of writer /that gives/ good present? (5)
"good" = G [academic result] (show reference )
Present[10] (verb) is a British term meaning to introduce and compere* (a radio or television show).
* Compere[10] (verb) is a British term meaning to act as a master of ceremonies who introduces cabaret, television acts, etc.
3d Orchestrated // grandiose changes (9)
4d Dash // to hide in desolate land (4)
The Story Behind the Picture
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| Tilsit illustrates his hints with a photo of a Lotus Elan[7]. The cars used in The Avengers[7] television series became almost as famous as the actors. Over the course of the series, Steed primarily was seen driving various models of Bentley and Rolls Royce automobiles. Emma Peel drove Lotus Elan convertibles (a white 1964 and a powder blue 1966). The yellow model shown by Tilsit is clearly not one driven by Mrs. Peel. |
5d Harmonious // like child with a set of books (8)
"set of books" = NT (show explanation )
In Crosswordland, the term "books" — and related phrases such as "collection of books", "set of books" or "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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In Crosswordland, the term "books" — and related phrases such as "collection of books", "set of books" or "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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Rummaging Through the Poet's Tool Chest
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| As crypticsue alludes in her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, one must do a bit of detective work to conclude that assonant means harmonious. I could find no dictionary that explicitly defines it as such. However, one can infer that assonant is the antonym of dissonant[5] which means lacking harmony and, so, assonant must mean possessing harmony. Assonant is an adjective corresponding to the noun assonance[2] which denotes a correspondence or resemblance in the sounds of words or syllables, either between their vowels, eg in meet and bean, or between their consonants, eg in keep and cape. Assonance is one of the poetic devices — along with such others as alliteration and rhyme — that a poet uses to create harmony. |
6d Destroy // European resistance on choppy sea (5)
"European" = E (show explanation )
E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
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E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
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"resistance" = R [symbol used in physics] (show explanation )
7d Future // friend of Dick and Harry or Barney? (8)
Barney[5] is an informal British term for a quarrel, especially a noisy one ⇒
we had a barney about his being drunk.
8d Past, present and future // contracts? (6)
14d John held up in delay, /getting/ frantic (8)
Loo[5] is an informal British term for a toilet.
What did she say?
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In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, crypticsue writesIn Britain and North America, the term lavatory can refer either to a room or to a fixture or fixtures within that room — however, the fixture(s) in question may be understood differently in the UK than in North America.john being another informal term for a lavatory. In Britain, lavatory[5] means:
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Doolally[5] is an informal British term meaning:
- temporarily deranged or feeble-minded ⇒
Uncle's gone doolally again
- transported with excitement or pleasure ⇒
a return on capital that the City [the London financial district] would go doolally over
Origin: originally doolally tap, Indian army slang, from Deolali (the name of a town with a military sanatorium and a transit camp) + Urdu tap ‘fever’
16d Girl reportedly twisted /and/ dotty? (9)
17d Tunnel oddly useless /for/ criminal (8)
18d Experience after live // act (6)
20d Down payment // is returned in store (7)
22d Blow over, /causing/ delight (5)
"over" = O [cricket term] (show explanation )
24d To the French embracing the German, // goodbye! (5)
"to the French" = AU (show explanation )
"the German" = DIE (show explanation )
What did she say?
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In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, crypticsue describes die asShe would have been more precise to call itthe German feminine definite article. a German feminine definite articleas her statement is true only for the nominative and accusative cases. In the dative and genitive cases, the feminine form of the definite article is der. The German definite article can take several forms — das, den, dem, der, des, die — depending on gender, case, and whether it is singular or plural. However, each form of the definite article can correspond to various combinations of these factors — and recognizing which combination it represents apparently can be vitally important. As an article on Definite and Indefinite Articles found in a German course from the University of Wisconsin-Madison states Whenever you encounter der, you need to know that you are dealing with either nominative masculine, dative feminine, genitive feminine, or genitive plural. This reading skill is sometimes going to be crucial for understanding the structure of German sentences. |
Adieu[5] is a chiefly literary term that means:
- (exclamation) goodbye
- (noun) a goodbye ⇒
he whispered a fond adieu
Origin: French: 'goodbye' or 'farewell'
25d Bishop leads procession /to find/ temple (4)
"bishop" = B [chess notation] (show explanation )
B[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.
A bishop[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a mitre. Unless obstructed by another piece, a bishop can move any number of spaces in any direction along a diagonal on which it stands. Each player starts the game with two bishops, one moving on white squares and the other on black.
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B[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.
A bishop[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a mitre. Unless obstructed by another piece, a bishop can move any number of spaces in any direction along a diagonal on which it stands. Each player starts the game with two bishops, one moving on white squares and the other on black.
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As He Says ...
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In Comment #1 to crypticsue's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Jose complainsTo take Jose's argument a step further, one might question whether brows and temples are evenI’ve still got a bee in my bonnet about 25d. Brows and temples are of course both parts of the forehead, but they are in recognised different positions and named separately. Heels and soles are, similarly, both adjacent parts of the foot but are not synonymous. both parts of the forehead: The latter definition clearly indicates that the temple is not part of the forehead but rather is adjacent to the forehead. |
Key to Reference Sources:Signing off for today — Falcon
[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)
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