Introduction
I posted a link to the puzzle on Saturday from my tent in a rustic off-grid campground. Of course, my software would pick that very inopportune time to act up making posting a bit of a challenge. Now that I am back at home, I've prettied things up a bit.
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
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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 | Family /of/ fifty in jail (4) |
C(L)AN — L ([Roman numeral for] fifty) contained in (in) CAN (jail)
| 3a | One’s jail room, among many // odds and ends (10) |
M(I|S|CELL)ANY — {I ([Roman numeral for] one) + S ('s) +CELL (jail room)} contained in (among) MANY (†)
| 10a | Massage in a top-grade // Caribbean place (5) |
A(RUB)A — RUB (massage) contained in (in) {A (†) + A (top-grade [on an academic assignment or test])}
| 11a | A pop swore, /and/ gently tapped (9) |
PER|CUSSED — PER (a pop; each) + CUSSED (swore)
| 12a | Ornate // ring in archaic boat (7) |
BAR(O)QUE — O ([letter that looks like a] ring) contained in (in) BARQUE (archaic boat)
| 13a | Rob // tossed old pies (7) |
DESPOIL* — anagram of (tossed) OLD PIES
| 14a | Rogue /in/ church space overheard (5) |
KNAVE~ — sounds like (overheard) NAVE (church space)
| 15a | Twilights // happening at mid-month (9) |
EVENT|IDES — EVENT (happening; noun) + (at) IDES (mid-month)
| 18a | Sought // quote within firm (9) |
SOLI(CITE)D — CITE (quote) contained in (within) SOLID (firm)
| 20a | Said, “I’ll // row” (5) |
AISLE~ — sounds like (said) I'LL (†)
| 22a | Eccentric married // fan (7) |
ADMIRER* — anagram of (eccentric) MARRIED
| 24a | Vermin eating Brie wrecked // cheesy dish (7) |
RA(REBI*)T — RAT (vermin) containing (eating) anagram of (wrecked) BRIE
| 25a | Understanding /of/ popular college payment (9) |
IN|TUITION — IN (popular) + TUITION (college payment)
| 26a | Leaders of Nootka and Ojibwe mistook Inuit // girl’s name (5) |
N|A|O|M|I — initial letters of (leaders of) Nootka And Ojibwe Mistook Inuit
Scratching the Surface
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| The Nootka[5] are an indigenous people of Vancouver Island, Canada. The Ojibwe[7], Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people of Canada and the United States. The Ojibwe are believed to have originated from the mouth of the St. Lawrence River on the Atlantic coast of what is now Quebec from where they migrated westward. They are now found on both sides of the US-Canada border from western Quebec to eastern British Columbia. The Inuit[5] are an indigenous people of northern Canada and parts of Greenland and Alaska. |
| 27a | Strangely drone tune’s // subtle notes (10) |
UNDERTONES* — anagram of (strangely) DRONE TUNES
| 28a | Drink of orange, // brown, and green (4) |
TANG — TAN (brown) + (and) G(reen)
Tang[7] is an artificially flavored drink mix that was first marketed by General Foods Corporation in 1957. The Tang brand is currently owned by Mondelēz International, a 2012 North American company split off of Kraft Foods Inc.
Down
| 1d | Patties filled with meat /for/ cookouts (9) |
C(LAMB)AKES — CAKES (patties) containing (filled with) LAMB (meat)
| 2d | Fish tanks, // as in song (7) |
A(QUA)RIA — QUA (as; in the capacity of) contained in (in) ARIA (song; operatic solo)
| 4d | Tool // some simple men tweaked (9) |
IMPLEMENT* — hidden in (some) sIMPLE MEN Tweaked
| 5d | Made hollow // cable for listeners (5) |
CORED~ — sounds like (for listeners) CORD (cable)
| 6d | Lunatic insults our late // 1950s P.M. (5,2,7) |
LOUIS ST LAURENT — anagram of (lunatic) INSULTS OUR LATE
Louis St. Laurent[7] (Saint-Laurent or St-Laurent in French, baptized Louis-Étienne St-Laurent; 1882–1973) was the 12th prime minister of Canada, from November 1948 to June 1957.
| 7d | Terribly bad cons // escape and hide (7) |
ABSCOND* — anagram of (terribly) BAD CONS
| 8d | Went ahead with Yiddish lament, returning // off-peak call? (5) |
{YO|DEL}< — reversal of (returning) {LED (went ahead) + (with) OY (Yiddish lament)}
Yodel[10] denotes an effect produced in singing by an abrupt change of register from the chest voice to falsetto, especially in popular folk songs of the Swiss Alps.
| 9d | Alien acquires jet car /for/ explorer (7,7) |
{JACQUES CARTIER}* — anagram of (alien) ACQUIRES JET CAR
Jacques Cartier[5] (1491–1557) was a French explorer. The first to establish France's claim to North America, he made three voyages to Canada between 1534 and 1541.
| 16d | Dee can run all over, /showing/ stamina (9) |
ENDURANCE* — anagram of (all over) DEE CAN RUN
| 17d | Covering // old New York stadium object (9) |
SHEA|THING — SHEA (old New York stadium; former home of the New York Mets) + THING (object)
| 19d | Box top keeps little bug // confined (7) |
LI(MITE)D — LID (box top) containing (keeps) MITE (little bug)
| 21d | Brother in southern USA // secretly (3,4) |
S|U(B RO)SA — BRO (brother) contained in (in) {S(outhern) + USA (†)}
| 22d | Stop wearing gold // so long (5) |
A(DIE)U — DIE (stop) contained in (wearing) AU ([symbol for the chemical element] gold)
| 23d | Greek character carries in // African beast (5) |
RH(IN)O — RHO (Greek character; seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet) containing (carries) IN (†)
Epilogue
The title of today's review is inspired by the solutions to 27a and 3a.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)
