Saturday, March 14, 2020 — Emerald Isle

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon turns out to be a bit of an Irish geography test.

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	Left me and Rick outside one // town (8)

L(I)ME|RICK — {L(eft) + ME (†) + (and) RICK (†)} containing (outside) I ([Roman numberal for] one)

Limerick^[5] is a town on the River Shannon in the west of the Republic of Ireland.

5a	Saint gets old // presents (6)

ST|AGES — ST (saint; abbrev.) + AGES (gets old)

9a	Get out // small pack (5)

S|CRAM — S(mall) + CRAM (pack)

10a	Suggestion by Matthew in Friends about a // county (9)

TIP|PER(A)RY — TIP (suggestion) + (by) PERRY (Matthew in Friends) containing (about) A (†)

Ottawa-raised American-Canadian actor Matthew Perry^[7] played Chandler on the NBC television sitcom Friends (1994-2004).

12a	County // nearly put a stop to challenge (7)

KIL_|DARE — KIL[L] (put a stop to) with the final letter removed (nearly) + DARE (challenge)

Kildare^[5] is a county of the Republic of Ireland, in the east, in the province of Leinster.

13a	Town // lake is subject to combustion (7)

LISBURN — L(ake) + IS (†) + BURN (subject to combustion; the word 'subject' is a verb, to test fireprooof materials, subject them to combustion)

Lisburn^[5] is a city in Northern Ireland, to the south-west of Belfast, on the border between Antrim and Down.

14a	Call Liberal in // capital (6)

_DUB(L)IN — DUB (call) + L(iberal) + IN (†)

Dublin^[5], the capital city of the Republic of Ireland, is situated on the Irish Sea at the mouth of the River Liffey.

Post Mortem
Given that the theme of the puzzle was evident, I should have easily solved this clue. However, I wandered down the garden path searching for a six-letter word meaning 'call' composed of L(iberal) inside a five-letter capital city.

16a	Needlefish taking to // amphibious reptile (5)

GA(TO)R — GAR (needlefish) containing (taking) TO (†)

19a	A mostly emerald // suit (5)

A|GREE_ — A (†) + GREE[N] (emerald) with the final letter removed (mostly)

Suit^[3] is used as a verb in the sense of to be in accord; agree or match.

I am not entirely convinced of the equivalence of the words 'suit' and 'agree'. It seems to me that 'agree' would virtually always — if not, in fact, always — be followed by the word 'with'.

20a	Three in Italy holding beer /and/ port (6)

TR(ALE)E — TRE (three in Italy; Italian word meaning 'three') containing (holding) ALE (beer)

Tralee^[5], the county town of Kerry, is a port on the south-western coast of the Republic of Ireland.

23a	Assemble around northern // province (7)

MU(N)STER — MUSTER (assemble) containing (around) N(orthern)

Munster^[5] is a province of the Republic of Ireland, in the south-western part of the country.

25a	County // finished with lass (7)

DONE|GAL — DONE (finished) + (with) GAL (lass)

Donegal^[5] is a county in the extreme north-west of the Republic of Ireland, part of the old province of Ulster.

26a	Town/’s/ anthem composer embraced by skiing great (9)

KILL(ARNE)Y — ARNE (anthem composer) contained in (embraced by) KILLY (skiing great)

Thomas Arne^[5] (1710–1778) was an English composer noted for the British patriotic song ‘Rule, Britannia’ (whose words are attributed to James Thomson) and for his settings of Shakespearean songs.

Jean-Claude Killy^[6] is a French alpine skier. He won three gold medals at the 1968 Olympic games and was winner of the World Cup 1967, 1968.

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Killarney^[5] is a town in the south-west of the Republic of Ireland, in County Kerry, famous for the beauty of the nearby lakes and mountains.

27a	Love role/’s/ 1960s style (2,3)

O|P ART — O (love; love being a nil score in tennis and the letter 'O' looking like the number '0') + PART (role)

Op art^[5] (a term coined by Time magazine in 1964^[7])  is a form of abstract art that gives the illusion of movement by the precise use of pattern and colour, or in which conflicting patterns emerge and overlap.

28a	Gnawing beast/’s/ lair surrounded by rubbish (6)

RO(DEN)T — DEN (lair) contained in (surrounded by) ROT (rubbish; nonesense)

29a	Pearson gaining in // province (8)

LE(IN)STER — LESTER (Pearson) containing (gaining) IN (†)

Lester Pearson^[5] (1897–1972) was a Canadian diplomat and Liberal statesman, prime minister of Canada 1963–8. As Secretary of State for External Affairs (1948–57) he acted as a mediator in the resolution of the Suez crisis (1956) for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (l957).

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Leinster^[5] is a province of the Republic of Ireland, in the south-eastern part of the country.

Down

1d	Lesotho’s capital, by us also known as // Zambia’s capital (6)

L|US|AKA — L (Lesotho's capital [initial letter]) + (by) US (†)  + AKA (also known as; abbrev.)

Lusaka^[5] is the capital of Zambia.

2d	Spoken in half-mean // spirit (6)

M(ORAL)E_ — ORAL (spoken) contained in (in) ME[AN] (half-mean; half of the word 'MEAN', in this case, the initial half)

3d	Regarding me with a certain // gauge again (9)

RE|ME|A|SURE — RE (regarding) + ME (†) + (with) A (†) + SURE (certain)

4d	Song on an album that is // darling (5)

CUT|IE — CUT (song on an album) + IE (that is; abbrev. for 'id est')

6d	Extra force failing to open // lock (5)

_TRESS — [S]TRESS (extra force) with the initial letter removed (failing to open)

7d	Tip // Cobb after playing guitar (8)

GRATUI*|TY — TY (Cobb) following (after) anagram of (playing) GUITAR

Ty Cobb^[7] (1886–1961), nicknamed The Georgia Peach, was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers and finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1999, editors at the Sporting News ranked Ty Cobb third on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players".

8d	A Saroyan novel/’s/ parting word (8)

SAYONARA* — anagram of (novel) A SAROYAN

Sayonara^[3,4,5] is a Japanese word expressing farewell that has entered US English.

Scratching the Surface
William Saroyan[7] (1908–1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film adaptation of his novel The Human Comedy.

11d	Dad, eating bagel, given // Italian dish (7)

P(O|LENT)A — PA (dad) containing (eating) {O ([letter that looks like a] bagel) + LENT (given)}

Polenta^[5] can mean either:

• maize [corn] flour as used in Italian cooking; cornmeal
• a paste or dough made from polenta, which is boiled and typically then fried or baked

15d	In the wee hours, managed // site in Rome (7)

LATE|RAN — LATE (in the wee hours) + RAN (managed)

Lateran^[5] is the site in Rome containing the cathedral church of Rome (a basilica dedicated to St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist) and the Lateran Palace, where the popes resided until the 14th century.

16d	Recast GH: one ER nurse /is/ newbie (9)

GREENHO*|RN — anagram of (recast) GH ONE ER + RN ([registered] nurse; abbrev.)

Scratching the Surface
General Hospital[7] (commonly abbreviated GH) is an American daytime television medical drama that premiered in 1963 and continues to this day. ER[7] is an American medical drama television series created by novelist and medical doctor Michael Crichton that aired from 1994 to 2009,

17d	Edited a rhyme about Alaska // punch (8)

{HAYM(AK)ER}* — anagram of (edited) A RHYME containing (about) AK (Alaska; postal abbrev.)

18d	Cold rain whirling // hard and fast (8)

IRONCLAD* — anagram of (whirling) COLD RAIN

21d	Element of gag has teacher // horrified (6)

_AG|HAS|T_ — hidden in (element of) gAG HAS Teacher

22d	Northern Ireland/’s/ mixed result (6)

ULSTER* — anagram of (mixed) RESULT

Ulster^[5] is a former province of Ireland (before the Partition of Ireland^[7] in 1921) in the north of the island. The nine counties of Ulster are now divided between Northern Ireland (Antrim, Down, Armagh, Londonderry, Tyrone, and Fermanagh) and the Republic of Ireland (Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan). However, in general use, the term is now used — improperly, in the eyes of many — to refer to Northern Ireland.

24d	Old airline accepted // Shania (5)

TWA|IN — TWA (old airline) + IN (accepted)

Trans World Airlines^[7] (TWA) was a major American airline that existed from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001.

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Shania Twain^[7] (born Eileen Regina Edwards) is a Canadian singer/songwriter who holds the distinction of being the best-selling female artist in country music history.

25d	Scottish writer/’s/ ration including last bit of candy (5)

DO(Y)LE —DOLE (ration) containing (including) Y (last bit [letter] of candY)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish novelist and short-story writer, chiefly remembered for his creation of the private detective Sherlock Holmes.

Epilogue

The puzzle put me in mind of this Johnny Cash tune.

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