Saturday, February 29, 2020 — You Can Say That Again!

Introduction

Much of what we discover in today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon bears repeating.

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

1a	Small vehicle // parked by tee hit with a golf club (4-4)

PUT|T|-PUTT — PUT (parked) + T (tee) + PUTT (hit with a golf club)

A putt-putt^[3] (also put-put) is a vehicle, such as a boat, that is operated by a small gasoline engine.

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Origin: Imitative of a running engine.

5a	Reproach // tenor wearing ballet outfit at opening of “Tosca” (3-3)

TU(T)-TU|T — T(enor) contained in (wearing) TUTU (ballet outfit) + T (opening [initial letter] of "Tosca")

Tosca^[7] is an opera, first performed in 1900, by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.

9a	Card // performed, including some radio broadcasting (7)

DI(AM|ON)D — DID (performed) containing (including) {AM (some radio) + ON (broadcasting)}

10a	Witty about a // knife (7)

CLE(A)VER — CLEVER (witty) containing (about) A (†)

11a	Cashier knows how to // dance (6)

CAN-CAN — CAN (cashier; dismiss from employment) + CAN (knows how to)

12a	Fashioned of fur, our // costume ornamentation (4-4)

FROU-FROU — anagram of (fashioned) OF FUR FOR

Frou-frou^[5] denotes frills or other ornamentation, particularly of women's clothes.

14a	A place of vice and evil in Kingsley/’s/ German spa (5-5)

B(A|DEN|-BAD)EN — {A (†) + DEN (place of vice) + (and) BAD (evil)} contained in (in) BEN (Kingsley)

Sir Ben Kingsley^[7] (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji) is an English actor with a career spanning over 50 years. He is best known for his starring role as anti-colonial Indian nationalist Mohandas Gandhi in the 1982 film Gandhi, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

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Baden-Baden^[5] is a spa town in the Black Forest of Germany that was a fashionable resort in the 19th century.

15a	Silence a // cuckoo (4)

GAG|A — GAG (silence) + A (†)

17a	Father // returned a baby’s food (4)

{PAP|A}< — reversal of (returned) {A (†) + PAP (baby's food)}

19a	Australian outback // featured in scene Verne versified (5-5)

_NE|VER-NE|VER_ — hidden in (featured in) sceNE VERNE VERsified

Never-Never^[5] is an Australian term for the unpopulated desert country of the interior of Australia; the remote outback.

23a	Murmur, having liquor aboard // locomotive (4-4)

C(HOO-CH)OO — COO (murmur) containing (having ... on board) HOOCH (liquor)

24a	Repeatedly jeer at // mistake (6)

BOO-BOO — two instances of (repeatedly) BOO (jeer at)

26a	Talk offhand /and/ quickly (7)

RAP|IDLY — RAP (talk) + IDLY (offhand)

27a	Artist // posed among group of actors (7)

CAS(SAT)T — SAT (posed) contained in (among) CAST (group of actors)

Mary Cassatt^[5] (1844–1926) was an American painter, who worked mostly in Paris. Her paintings display a close interest in everyday subject matter.

28a	Nomadic invader/’s/ dental problem (6)

TARTAR — double definition

A Tartar^[5] was a member of the combined forces of central Asian peoples, including Mongols and Turks, who under the leadership of Genghis Khan conquered much of Asia and eastern Europe in the early 13th century, and under Tamerlane (14th century) established an empire with its capital at Samarkand.

29a	That’s right, // the woman’s keeping a big bird (4,4)

HE(A|R-HEA)R — HER (the woman's) containing (keeping) {A (†) + RHEA (big bird)}

Down

1d	Wildly epic bad // ride powered by foot (7)

PEDICAB* — anagram of (wildly) EPIC BAD

2d	Prepared for a race, // time came down (7)

T|RAINED — T(ime) + RAINED (came down)

3d	Poison // penman’s first letter to New England state (8)

P|TO|MAINE —  P (Penman's first letter) + TO (†) + MAINE (New England state)

4d	Rise and fall, // even when audited (4)

TIDE~ — sounds like (when audited) TIED (even)

Tide^[5] is used figuratively in the sense of a powerful surge of feeling or trend of events ⇒ (i) he drifted into sleep on a tide of euphoria; (ii) he could not control the growing tide of violence.

6d	Uranium fuel’s questionably // of value (6)

U|SEFUL* — U ([chemical symbol for the element] unranium) + anagram of (questionably) FUELS

7d	Busted TV near a // Greek restaurant (7)

TAVERNA — anagram of (busted) TV NEAR A

8d	Rotgut ruined a // pirates’ haven (7)

TORTUG*|A — anagram of (ruined) ROTGUT +A (†)

Tortuga^[7] is a Caribbean island that forms part of Haiti, off the northwest coast of Hispaniola, that was a pirate stronghold in the 17th-century.

10d	Was concerned about darling /being/ rugged? (8)

CAR(PET)ED — CARED (was concerned) containing (about) PET (darling)

Setters often use a question mark to signal that there is something out the ordinary about the clue. Here, it tells us that rugged is used whimsically as an adjective in the sense of covered with a rug.

13d	Blanchett: characteristic of a horror-film // type (8)

CATE|GORY — CATE (Blanchett) + GORY (characteristic of a horror film)

Cate Blanchett^[7] is an award-winning Australian actress and theatre director. Her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in the biopic The Aviator (2004), earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for playing a neurotic former socialite in the drama Blue Jasmine (2013).

16d	Arrest figure skating champion/’s/ supporter (8)

END|ORSER — END (arrest) + ORSER (figure skating champion)

Brian Orser^[7] is a Canadian former competitive and professional figure skater. He is the 1984 and 1988 Olympic silver medallist, 1987 World champion and eight-time (1981–88) Canadian national champion.

17d	One who compulsively saves // agreement taking boat back (4,3)

PAC(KRA<)T — PACT (agreement) containing (taking) a reversal of (back) ARK (boat)

18d	Genteel about small // flourish (7)

PRO(S)PER — PROPER (genteel) containing (about) S(mall)

20d	Shake // ill-behaved child in struggle (7)

VI(BRAT)E — BRAT (ill-behaved child) contained in (in) VIE (struggle)

21d	List including bagel and chicken (7)

R(O)OSTER or RO(O)STER — ROSTER (list) containing (including) O ([letter that looks like a] bagel)

22d	Spot in a spy agency/’s/ French-speaking section? (6)

A|C(AD)IA — A + AD (spot; commercial message) contained in (in) CIA ([US] spy agency)

Acadia^[3] was a region and former French colony of eastern Canada, chiefly in Nova Scotia but also including Prince Edward Island and the coastal area from the St. Lawrence River south into Maine. During the French and Indian War (1754-1763) many Acadians migrated or were deported by the British to southern territories, including Louisiana, where their descendants came to be known as Cajuns.

25d	Came prepared /for/ summit (4)

ACME* — anagram of (prepared) CAME

Epilogue

Today's theme is readily seen. Today's theme is readily seen.

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