Friday, September 13, 2019 — DT 28999

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28999
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, March 15, 2019
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28999]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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 puzzle from Giovanni is a pleasant enough solve. However, as you will see from Big Dave's Crossword Blog, British solvers had another matter on their minds. On the day that this puzzle appeared in the UK, a terrorist conducted shooting attacks at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand^[7], during Friday Prayer. The attacks killed 51 people and injured 49.

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	Cringe maybe /as/ a cricketing failure (4)

In cricket, a duck^[5] (short for duck's egg) is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck. This is similar to the North American expression goose egg^[5] meaning a zero score in a game.

3a	Disorderly males in bus // that cannot be overlooked (10)

9a	Good antique? // It's very valuable (4)

10a	Like relatively cheaper goods // not considered (10)

11a	Equipment carried by wicked English // group (7)

13a	Descended from mountain maybe /and/ became depressed (3,4)

14a	/What's/ patriot done wrong /to become/ exile? (11)

Effectively the split phrase "what's ... to become" constitutes the equivalent of a link phrase. It is split due to the interrogative nature of the clue. Were the clue to be phrased in a declarative fashion rather than an interrogative manner, it might read:

• Patriot done wrong /has to become/ exile (11)

which would have a non-split link phrase.

18a	Pilgrim's passage, // very short, a road so fouled up with oil (3,8)

The Via Dolorosa^[7] is a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem, believed to be the path that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion. The route is a celebrated place of Christian pilgrimage.

21a	Gem // fairy's presented to Dorothy (7)

In Persian mythology, a peri^[5] is a mythical superhuman being, originally represented as evil but subsequently as a good or graceful genie or fairy.

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Peridot^[5] is a green semi-precious mineral, a variety of olivine.

22a	Sword // inflicted wound on girl (7)

23a	Appealed to // umpire -- not out! -- start of debate thereafter (10)

Scratching the Surface

In cricket, one way for a batsman to be dismissed is to be caught out[5], that is for a player on the opposing team to catch a ball that has been hit by the batsman before it touches the ground. However, even though the ball may have been caught, the batsman is not actually dismissed until the fielding team appeal to the umpires for a decision, traditionally using the expression "How's that" (or "Howzat"). That is, the fielder will claim a catch out by appealing to the umpires for a decision. In cricket, it seems, umpires do not deliver a decision until requested to do so by the players.

24a	From what we hear, disease // was airborne (4)

25a	Over-scrupulous // activity of school nurse? (3-7)

26a	Children's game // is quiet before end of party (1-3)

"quiet" = 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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Down

1d	Menial worker // torments organisation (8)

Dogsbody^[5] is an informal British term for a person who is given menial tasks to do, especially a junior in an office ⇒ I got myself a job as typist and general dogsbody on a small magazine.

2d	Manage to include everybody and one /could be/ an inspiration for poets (8)

In Greek and Roman mythology, Calliope^[5] is the Muse^* of epic poetry.

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^* In Greek and Roman mythology, the Muses^[5] are the nine goddesses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who preside over the arts and sciences. (show more )

The Muses are generally listed as Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Euterpe (flute playing and lyric poetry), Terpsichore (choral dancing and song), Erato (lyre playing and lyric poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Thalia (comedy and light verse), Polyhymnia (hymns, and later mime), and Urania (astronomy).

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4d	Uproar // is interrupting one terribly (5)

5d	Belonging to firm, idiot in journey /is/ hiding identity (9)

Nit^[5,10] (short for nitwit)  is an informal British term for a foolish person ⇒ you stupid nit!.

6d	Excluding /from/ building in street, home with disease (8,3)

7d	Cigarette end on // bit of the mattress? (6)

8d	Posting the first bit out /and/ the last (6)

12d	Succeed for the first time, having cried desperately /for/ so long (11)

Arrivederci^[5] is an Italian exclamation of farewell meaning goodbye until we meet again.

Explanation of "ARVE Error"

Those who visit Big Dave's Crossword Blog will see an "ARVE Error" message (show explanation ) in place of the video that Deep Threat presumably included in his review. ARVE (Advanced Responsive Video Embedder) is a plugin for the WordPress content management system — the platform on which Big Dave's Crossword Blog operates. I would guess that parameter values that were valid at the time that Deep Threat's review was written in December 2018 are no longer supported, thus causing the error message to be displayed. hide

15d	One wild young fellow // easily made money (1,4,4)

16d	Work set up on benches, // drinks // being provided (8)

"work" = OP (show explanation )

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

The abbreviation Op.^[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..

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.

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Due to the clue structure employed by the setter, the definition appears in the middle of the clue followed by the link phrase. A more straight-forward clue structure would place the definition at the end of the clue:

• Work set up on benches /provides/ drinks (8)

17d	Perish, /taking/ a route south of col (4,4)

A col^[5] is the lowest point of a ridge or saddle between two peaks, typically providing a pass from one side of a mountain range to another.

19d	Possibility /of/ non-parents taking caring role with a daughter not wanted (6)

20d	A sort of hollow -- // pram is awkward going over it (6)

Scratching the Surface
Pram[5] is a British term for a four-wheeled carriage for a baby, pushed by a person on foot.

22d	Cold meat /must be/ hygienic (5)

Lean^[5] denotes the lean part of meat ⇒ the man who eats no fat and the wife who eats no lean.

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 Advanced 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