Monday, July 1, 2019 — DT 28937 (Published Saturday, June 29, 2019)

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28937
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28937]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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
Notes
This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, June 29, 2019 edition of the National Post. I am currently on vacation. Today's posting was prepared prior to my departure and provides a link to the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog for the puzzle that I expect to be published today. However, the National Post has been known to alter its publication schedule unexpectedly, so there is no guarantee that my forecast will necessarily prove to be accurate.

Introduction

Happy Canada Day!

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	Artist/'s/ second record admitted by criminal court (8)

"record" = LP (show explanation )

An LP^[10] (abbreviation for long playing record^[10]) is a long-playing gramophone record: usually one 12 inches (30 cm) or 10 inches (25 cm) in diameter, designed to rotate at 33 1⁄3 revolutions per minute.

From a British perspective, long play^[10] is a US term for long-playing record.

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5a	A decent chap, mostly chasing fine // material (6)

"chap" ⇒ 'man' (show more )

Chap^[3,4,11] is an informal British^[5] or chiefly British^[3] term for a man or boy — although a term that is certainly not uncommon in Canada. It is a shortened form of chapman^[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar^[a,b].

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^[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler^[14] which, in most senses, is considered by the Brits to be a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
^[b] The current meaning of chap^[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.

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Brick^[5] is a dated informal British term for a generous, helpful, and reliable person ⇒ ‘You are really a brick, Vi,’ Gloria said.

"fine" = F [pencil lead] (show explanation )

F^[5] is an abbreviation for fine, as used in describing grades of pencil lead.

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Note: Surprisingly, Oxford Dictionaries Online characterizes this usage as British

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9a	Lively pub's motto /offering/ cheers (7,2)

Cheers^[5], as used here, is an informal expression of good wishes before drinking ⇒ ‘Cheers,’ she said, raising her glass.

11a	African country losing love for a // dance (5)

The Congo^[5] (also called the Republic of Congo or Congo-Brazzaville) is an equatorial country in Africa, with a short Atlantic coastline. (show more )

The region was colonized in the 19th century by France, and as Middle Congo formed part of the larger territory of French Congo (later, French Equatorial Africa). The country became independent in 1960.

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"love" = O [tennis term] (show explanation )

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).

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The conga^[5] is a Latin American dance of African origin, usually with several people in a single line, one behind the other.

12a	Delighted // journalist after having seen story rejected (6)

13a	Teachers /seeing/ riddles initially dismissed (8)

A riddle^[5] is a large coarse sieve, especially one used for separating ashes from cinders or sand from gravel.

15a	Words of love // now -- he's setting out (5,8)

18a	Cleaner // reprimands person in tears (6-7)

Carpet^[5] is British^* slang meaning to reprimand severely ⇒ the Chancellor of the Exchequer carpeted the bank bosses.

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^* Although we do not use this expression in North America, we certainly use the possiblely related expression to be called on the carpet^[5].

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A carpet sweeper^[5] is a manual household implement used for sweeping carpets, having a revolving brush or brushes and a receptacle for dust and dirt.

22a	Demote // European envoy after resistance (8)

"European" = E (show explanation )

E^[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number^*).

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^* 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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A legate^[2] is an ambassador or representative, especially from the Pope.

"resistance" = R [symbol used in physics] (show explanation )

In physics, R^[5] is a symbol used to represent electrical resistance in mathematical formulae.

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Relegate^[5] is a British term meaning to transfer (a sports team) to a lower division of a league ⇒ United were relegated to division two.

Delving Deeper

Sports leagues in the UK typically operate on a process of promotion and relegation[7] in which teams are transferred between two divisions based on their performance for the completed season. The best-ranked teams in the lower division are promoted to the division above, and the worst-ranked teams in the higher division are relegated [moved down] to the division below. In some leagues, play-offs or qualifying rounds are also used to determine rankings. This process can continue through several levels, with teams being exchanged between levels 1 and 2, levels 2 and 3, levels 3 and 4, and so on. An alternate system of league organisation which is used in the US, Canada and Australia is a closed model which always has the same teams playing, with occasional admission of expansion teams and relocation of existing teams, and with no movement between the major league and minor leagues.

23a	Element /that's/ key on horse (6)

A cob^[5] is a powerfully built, short-legged horse ⇒ he’s got a nice young bay cob if you want to hack^*.

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^* hack^[10] is a British term meaning to ride (a horse) cross-country for pleasure

26a	Sing the praises of // former tax cut (5)

27a	New foal ready /for/ a long drink (4,2,3)

Long drink^[5] is a (seemingly British) term for a large and refreshing cold drink in which alcohol, if present, is not heavily concentrated ⇒ the summer menu features long drinks served in pitchers.

Collins English Dictionary defines a long drink^[10] as a drink containing a large quantity of non-alcoholic beverage. However, it would appear to contradict itself by defining a short^[10] as a drink of spirits as opposed to a long drink such as beer.

Yard of ale^[5] is a British term for a serving of beer (typically two to three pints) held by a narrow glass about a yard high.

28a	No reply from this worker is out of the question (3-3)

"No reply" must be read as a reply of "no".

29a	Barred areas for young // song writer in case of process (8)

Lay^[5] is a literary term for a song ⇒ on his lips there died the cheery lay.

The use of the word "writer" to clue PEN would likely be slightly more cryptic to the Brits than it is to us on this side of the pond. (show explanation )

The setter has almost certainly used "writer" as a cryptic allusion to an implement used for writing. While North American dictionaries also define pen^[3,11] as a writer or an author ⇒ a hired pen, British dictionaries do not list this meaning although they do show pen^[2,4] (or the pen^[5,10]) as symbolically denoting writing as an occupation.

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Down

1d	Rent, /with/ advance sale collapsing on beginning of exchange (8)

Sub^[5] is a British term for an advance or loan against expected income ⇒ ‘I've got no money.’ ‘Want a sub?’.

2d	Powerful traditions constrain // such an extremist (5)

An ultra^[3,4,11] is an extremist, as in politics, religion, or fashion.

3d	Stick out /for/ a planned undertaking (7)

4d	Throw out // leader ducking mediaeval tournament (4)

Historically, a joust^[5] was a medieval sporting contest in which two opponents on horseback fought with lances ⇒ the king and the young knights at court passed their time in jousts, tournaments, and the chase.

6d	Legal case covering university // sale (7)

7d	People well-placed in the race for gold? (7-2)

Here and There
In North America, place[5] (noun) denotes the second position, especially in a horse race. However, in Britain, place[5] (noun) means any of the first three or sometimes four positions in a race (used especially of the second, third, or fourth positions). As a verb, place[5] means (in Britain) to be among the first three or four in a race or (in the US) the first three.

8d	Rough // rows in church (6)

Oar^[5] (verb) means to propel with or as if with oars; row ⇒ (i) oaring the sea like madmen; (ii) oaring through the weeds.

"church" = CE [Church of England] (show explanation )

The Church of England^[10] (abbreviation CE^[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

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10d	Spend some money /on getting/ a grip (8)

14d	Bad spellers test patience of // this city (8)

"Bad spellers" must be interpreted as persons who cast evil spells.

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Coventry^[5] is an industrial city in central England.

16d	Steps up, /being/ formerly involved in unusual cases (9)

In addition to meaning dead, the term late^{[1,2,3,4,5,10,11]} can also mean former or immediately preceding the present one ⇒ (i) the late attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould; (ii) the company's late president gave the address^*.

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^* Notwithstanding this usage being found in virtually every dictionary that I consulted, were I to see or hear this statement, I would certainly envision a message from beyond the grave! 

Collins English Dictionary offers the following judicious advice on usage^[10] Since late can mean deceased, many people think it is better to avoid using this word to refer to the person who held a post or position before its present holder: the previous (not the late) editor of The Times.

Based on the above, I was attempting to construct an argument to demonstrate that late means former rather than formerly. However, the usage example I composed seems to prove me wrong ⇒ P. K. Subban, formerly of (or late of) the Nashville Predators, is now a New Jersey Devil.

17d	Horses /needed by/ rag-and-bone men crossing river (8)

Although their business models vary, a rag-and-bone man and a totter do work in the same field:

• Rag-and-bone man^[5] is a British term for a person who travels round an area buying old or unwanted clothes and household items in order to sell them on [resell them].
• Totter^[5] is an informal British term for a person who makes a living by salvaging saleable items from dustbins [trash cans] or rubbish heaps [garbage dumps] ⇒ Coney Street in York was a totter's paradise on Tuesday morning.

What did they say?
In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the 2Kiwis describe rag-and-bone men as people like Steptoe and Son Steptoe and Son[7] is a British sitcom about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business that aired on the BBC from 1962–65, followed by a second run from 1970-74. The program was the "inspiration" for the US television series Sanford and Son.

19d	Like a monarch -- one with answer /for/ badges of office (7)

20d	New money will cover firm /for/ financial system (7)

21d	Prince with no crown must protect the empty // blood line (6)

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex^[7] is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, and is sixth in the line of succession to the British throne.

24d	Humble // a graduate -- she has no heart (5)

25d	Test // part of door alarmed (4)

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