Saturday, February 15, 2020 — Traversing the Solar System

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon demands a knowledge of the classics together with a sprinkling of chemistry.

On a personal note, I have now been discharged from hospital after spending nearly three months there. However, my recovery is far from complete; I now continue my physiotherapy while living at home. Despite not having written a review in a few months, I was surprised by how quickly I got back into the swing of it.

I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Henry and Peter for stepping into the breach to provide solutions to the puzzles published during my hospitalization.

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

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

8a	Observes Perseids traversed by // Venus (6)

VES|PER —hidden in (traversed by) obserVES PERseids

Vesper^[5] is a literary name for the planet Venus as the evening star.

Scratching the Surface
The Perseids[5] are an annual meteor shower with a radiant in the constellation Perseus, reaching a peak about 12 August.

9a	Fruit // adapted to Capri (7)

APRICOT* — anagram of (adapted) TO CAPRI

Scratching the Surface
Capri[5] is an island off the west coast of Italy, south of Naples.

10a	Mars // project for a civil engineer with lots of time (7)

DAM|AGES — DAM (project for a civil engineer) + (with) AGES (lots of time)

11a	Earth // pulverized (6)

GROUND — double definition

12a	Dwarf // bison: a mutant (6)

BONSAI* — anagram of (mutant) BISON A

A bonsai^[5] is an ornamental tree or shrub grown using the art of bonsai*.

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^* the art of growing ornamental, artificially dwarfed varieties of trees and shrubs in pots.

13a	Do “Saturn” meandering around // planetarium rooms (8)

ROTUNDAS* — anagram of (meandering around) DO SATURN

14a	Leave out // captain of a curling team (4)

SKIP — double definition

16a	Pluto // darkens, ignored at first (5)

_HADES — [S]HADES (darkens) with the initial letter removed (ignored at first)

In Greek mythology, Hades^[5] (also called Pluto) is the god of the underworld*, one of the sons of Cronus.

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^* The underworld, the land of the spirits of the dead, is itself also known as Hades.

18a	Aggressive-sounding // dog’s bark (4)

RUFF~ — sounds like (sounding) ROUGH (aggressive)

20a	Stance I had on // Neptune (8)

POSE|ID|ON — POSE (stance) + ID ([contraction for] I had) + ON (†)

In Roman mythology, Neptune^[5] is the name of the god of water and of the sea; known in Greek mythology as Poseidon^[5].

23a	Bar // changing orbits (6)

BISTRO* — anagram of (changing) ORBITS

25a	Pronounced Jupiter’s companion // “place for Alaskans” (6)

JUNEAU~ — sounds like (pronounced) JUNO (Jupiter's companion)

Juno^[5] is the most important goddess in Roman mythology, wife of Jupiter.

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Juneau^[5] is the state capital of Alaska, a seaport on an inlet of the Pacific Ocean in the south of the state.

26a	Suggesting // Mercury, filled with hot metal (7)

H(IN|TIN)G — HG ([chemical symbol for the element] mercury) containing (filled with) {IN (hot; popular) + TIN (metal)}

27a	Old airline // terminal of Rome, toward the rear (7)

E|ASTERN — E (terminal [final letter] of RomE) + ASTERN (toward the rear)

Eastern Air Lines^[7], also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major American airline from 1926 until its dissolution in 1991.

28a	Oral contracts // issue from Uranus (6)

TITANS~ — sounds like (oral) TIGHTENS (contracts)

In Greek mythology, the Titans^[5] are the older gods who preceded the Olympians and were the children (issue) of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth). Led by Cronus, they overthrew Uranus; Cronus' son, Zeus, then rebelled against his father and eventually defeated the Titans.

Down

1d	Deal gone bad in wharf // stalemate (8)

D(EADL*)OCK — anagram of (gone bad) DEAL contained in (in) DOCK (wharf)

2d	Foams // mess up fluid (6)

SPUMES* — anagram of (fluid) MESS UP

Spume^[5] is a literary term denoting:

• noun froth or foam, especially that found on waves ⇒ the spume of the white-capped waves
• verb to form or produce a mass of froth or foam ⇒ water was spuming under the mill

3d	Moralistic /and/ stubborn about restricted movie rating (8)

P(R)IGGISH — PIGGISH (stubborn) containing (about) R (restricted movie rating)

Pigs, bulls and mules share the reputation of being stubborn animals. According to the website Writing Explained, It is unclear why people think of pigs as stubborn animals. One source speculates that the more intelligent an animal is, the more likely people will call that animal stubborn. Scientists have shown pigs to be very smart. Other sources say that the stubborn label more likely comes from the fact that pigs often won’t move or relocate where people want them to move..

4d	Fish // deep in sound (4)

BASS — double definition

5d	Alarm // female conservative (6)

F|RIGHT —  F(emale) + RIGHT (conservative; adjective denoting position on the political spectrum)

6d	Church invested in earlier // ship (8)

S(CH)OONER — CH(urch) contained in (invested in) SOONER (earlier)

7d	Station adopting a New Zealand // metrical unit (6)

ST(A|NZ)A — STA(tion) containing (adopting) {A (†) + NZ (New Zealand; abbrev.)}

13d	Gun carried by // sculptor (5)

ROD|IN — ROD (gun; US slang name for pistol) + IN (carried by)

Auguste Rodin^[10] (1840–1917) was a French sculptor, noted for his portrayal of the human form. His works include The Kiss (1886), The Burghers of Calais (1896), and The Thinker (1905).

15d	Preteens slightly altered // excuse (8)

PRETENSE* — anagram of (slightly altered) PRETEENS

17d	Executives lying about roll // ingredients? (8)

SUBUNITS — SUITS (executives) containing (lying about) BUN (roll)

19d	Iron stocks northwestern state // predetermined (8)

F(OREGON)E — FE ([chemical symbol for the element] iron) containing (stocks; keeps a supply of) OREGON (northwestern state)

21d	In performance, employs // weights (6)

ON|USES — ON (in performance) + USES (employs)

22d	Immersed // uranium in given medications (6)

DO(U)SED — U ([chemical symbol for the element] uranium) contained in (in) DOSED (given medications)

24d	Quiet, absorbed by // religion (6)

SH|INTO — SH ([exhortation to be] quiet) + INTO (absorbed by; intensely interested in)

Shinto^[5] is a Japanese religion dating from the early 8th century and incorporating the worship of ancestors and nature spirits and a belief in sacred power (kami) in both animate and inanimate things. It was the state religion of Japan until 1945.

26d	Aaron/’s/ unlimited gratitude (4)

_HANK_ — [T]HANK[S] (gratitude) with the initial and final letters removed (unlimited)

Henry "Hank" Aaron^[7], nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank," is a retired American Major League Baseball (MLB) right fielder who serves as the senior vice president of the Atlanta Braves. He played 21 seasons for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves in the National League (NL) and two seasons for the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League (AL), from 1954 through 1976. Aaron held the MLB record for career home runs for 33 years, and he still holds several MLB offensive records.

Epilogue

It does not take much effort to find a theme in this offering.

Like Henry (in his comment below), The Planets^[7], an orchestral suite by English composer Gustav Holst also came to mind. However, his work includes only seven movements. "The concept of Holst's work is astrological rather than astronomical (which is why Earth is not included, although Sun and Moon are also not included while including the non-traditional Uranus and Neptune): each movement is intended to convey ideas and emotions associated with the influence of the planets on the psyche, not the Roman deities." Pluto was discovered only in 1930, fourteen years after Holst finished composing the piece.

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