Saturday, September 21, 2019 — Dashing

Introduction

I found that the top half of today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon fell fairly readily but the bottom half put up stiffer resistance.

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

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	One doomed floor stocked with total uranium (4,4)

DE(AD D|U)CK — DECK (floor) containing (stocked with) {ADD (total; verb) + U ([symbol for the chemical element] uranium)}

5a	Intolerance actress accepting of // simple card game (2,4)

G(O F)ISH — GISH (Intolerance actress) containing (accepting) OF (†)

Intolerance^[7], a 1916 silent film by American film director D. W. Griffith (1875–1948), regarded as one of the great masterpieces of the silent era. The three-and-a-half-hour epic intercuts four parallel storylines, each separated by several centuries. The scenes are linked by shots of a figure rocking a cradle, representing Eternal Motherhood, played by American actress Lillian Gish^[7] (1893–1993).

10a	Sport for youngsters // to be announced line by line (1-4)

T-BA|L|L — TBA (to be announced; abbrev.) + L(ine) + (by) L(ine)

11a	Clever, Len repaired // part of a ganglion (5,4)

{NERVE CELL}* — anagram of (repaired) CLEVER LEN

12a	In Montreal, the trial pictures // delayed opening (4,5)

LA|TE ST|ART — LA (in Montreal, the; French word meaning 'the') + TEST (trial) + ART (pictures)

13a	Titanium clip // assisted goal (3-2)

TI|P-IN — TI ([symbol for the chemical element] titanium) + PIN (clip)

The definition definitely applies to hockey; possibly also to basketball.

• In hockey, a tip-in^[3] is a goal scored at close range by a short stroke of a stick, especially by a deflection of a shot by another player. Where a player tips in a shot from a teammate, the former is credited with a goal and latter with an assist.
• In basketball, a tip-in^[3] is a field goal scored by tapping a rebound into the basket with the fingertips. I have found no evidence that an assist is awarded for such a basket (but also no evidence to the contrary). Perhaps a basketball fan will let us know.

14a	Vague threat /for/ golfer Ernie, stuck in rocky stuff (2,4)

OR (ELS)E — ELS (golfer Ernie; South African pro golfer Ernie Els^[7]) contained in (stuck in) ORE (rocky stuff)

16a	Sheep covered with dirt // from Portland, ME, to Toronto? (3,4)

DU(E WE)ST — EWE (sheep) contained in (covered with) DUST (dirt)

The question mark indicates that the definition is an example of the solution.

19a	A tirade about my // mover in a column (4,3)

A|R(MY) ANT — {A (†) + RANT (tirade)} containing (about) MY (†)

An army ant^[3] (also called legionary ant) is any of various tropical ants that hunt live prey in columns or swarms.

21a	Be furious // about infiltrating germ (3,3)

SEE (RE)D — RE (about; concerning) contained in (infiltrating) SEED (germ)

23a	Caesar appearing in live // number paired with a hit (1-4)

B-(SID)E — SID (Caesar; American comedian Sid Caesar^[7]) contained in (appearing in) BE (live; exist)

I don't think this is necessarily true; on rare occasions, might not the B-side have become the hit!

Wrong Caesar
When I solved the puzzle, I mentally parsed the wordplay as SIDE (Caesar [salad]) contained in (in) BE (live). It was only when composing the review that I realized that I had one too many letters in the solution.

25a	Sort of letter // on sin pope distributed (6-3)

POISON-PEN — anagram of (distributed) ON SIN POPE

27a	Sporting a tooth broken by Mary Jane /is/ something hard to handle (3,6)

{HOT (POT)ATO}* — anagram of (sporting; frolicking) A TOOTH containing (broken by) POT (Mary Jane; slang for marijuana)

28a	Crooner // featured in London hotel (3,2)

_DON HO_ — hidden in (featured in) LonDON HOtel

Don Ho^[7] (1930–2007) was an American traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer from Hawaii. He is best known for the song "Tiny Bubbles" from the album of the same name.

29a	Prime minister keeps repetitious regimen // for the moment (3,3)

P(RO TE)M — PM (Prime Minister; abbrev.) containing (keeps) ROTE (repetitious regimen)

30a	Weary // tiger Ted shot (3,5)

{GET TIRED}* — anagram of (shot) TIGER TED

Down

1d	Dorothy bent pipe//—no kidding (2,4)

DO T|ELL — DOT ([diminutive for] Dorothy) + ELL (bent pipe)

Do tell^[a] is a colloquial phrase used to express surprise about something, as in Jane's getting married again? Do tell!  This expression does not necessarily ask the speaker to provide more details but merely expresses one's astonishment. It is equivalent to the expression You don't say!.

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^[a] The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms

2d	Not including // new frat in a school dance (5,4)

A|P(ART F)*ROM — anagram of (new) FRAT contained in (in) {A (†) + PROM (school dance)}

3d	Low-grade // piece of liver stuffed in cooked spud (1-4)

{D-P(L)US}* — L (piece [initial letter] of Liver) contained in (stuffed in) anagram of (cooked) SPUD

4d	Swindle // me after dance (3,4)

CON GA|ME — ME (†) following (after) CONGA (dance)

6d	Clear and present // World War I song (4,5)

OVER T|HERE — OVERT (clear) + (and) HERE (present)

"Over There"^[7] is a 1917 song written by American composer and lyricist George M. Cohan (1878–1942), that was popular with the United States military and public during both world wars. It is a patriotic song designed to galvanize American young men to enlist in the army and fight the "Hun". The song is best remembered for a line in its chorus: "The Yanks are coming."

7d	Get frosty // bit of espresso in one mug (3,2)

I|C(E) UP — E (bit [initial letter] of Espresso) contained in (in) {I ([Roman numeral for] one) + CUP (mug)}

8d	Playing E-flat horn without right // musical character… (4,4)

{HALF TONE}* — anagram of (playing) {E FLAT HO[R]N with R(ight) removed}

9d	…was an irritant // for any audience (1-5)

G-RATED — GRATED (was an irritant)

This fails to qualify as a double definition as the numeration of the first part does not match what is given in the clue.

15d	Turning heel, move a // venture out of the house (5,4)

{LEAVE HOME}* — anagram of (turning) HEEL MOVE A

17d	Surprise // Eeyore, cavorting around corral (3-6)

{EYE-O(PEN)ER}* — anagram of (cavorting) EEYORE containing (around) PEN (corral)

Scratching the Surface
Eeyore[7] is a character in the Winnie-the-Pooh books by English author A. A. Milne (1882–1956). He is generally characterized as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, anhedonic*, old grey stuffed donkey who is a friend of the title character, Winnie-the-Pooh. * Anhedonia[7] is a psychiatric term denoting the inability to feel pleasure in normally pleasurable activities.

18d	Cut // left in the morning at British Columbia spring (4,4)

L|AM|B C|HOP — L(eft) + AM (in the morning) + (at) BC (British Columbia) + HOP (spring)

20d	As far as rad // headwear… (3,3)

TO|P HAT — TO (as far as) + PHAT (rad; both terms are slang meaning 'excellent')

21d	…do without, and cheer accessory at Whistler (3,4)

SKI P|OLE — SKIP (do without) + (and) OLE ([Spanish] cheer)

Whistler^[7] is a ski resort in British Columbia.

22d	Suspended // ring, New Hampshire antique (2,4)

O|N H|OLD — O ([letter that looks like a] ring) + NH (New Hampshire; abbrev.) + OLD (antique)

24d	Divided // tavern as well, according to hearsay (2,3)

{IN TWO}~ — sounds like (according to hearsay) {INN (tavern) + TOO (as well)}

26d	Second item includes // piece of gossip (2-3)

_ON-D|IT_ — hidden in (includes) secON|D ITems

The phrase on dit^[5] (or on-dit^[1]) is a noun meaning a piece of gossip; a rumour ⇒ the latest on dit on Karl.

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Origin: Early 19th century from French, literally ‘they say’.

To Hyphenate or Not ...
I found this expression only in British dictionaries. It is hyphenated in The Chambers Dictionary[1] but not in Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online)[5] or Collins English Dictionary[4,10]. The term on-dit (noun) is hyphenated in French: Elle ne tient aucun compte des on-dit. [She takes no notice of gossip.] Je ne prête pas attention aux on-dit. [I pay no attention to rumours.]

Epilogue

The plethora of hyphens in today's puzzle was rather appropriate as I spent the whole day dashing from one commitment to another.

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