Monday, November 1, 2021 — DT 29749 (Published Saturday, October 30, 2021)

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph DT 29749
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, August 9, 2021
Setter Campbell (Allan Scott)
Link to full review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29749]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by pommers
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
Notes
This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, October 30, 2021 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

This is Campbell's 500th "back-page" puzzle published in The Daily Telegraph. As he also sets other puzzles for The Daily Telegraph as Campbell as well as puzzles for other publications under at least one other pseudonym, his total production would far surpass 500.

As pommers says in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, 8d should immediately alert one to be on the lookout for a pangram. My pangram radar was triggered by that clue but by the time I finished the puzzle it had slipped my mind and I failed to follow through in checking for a pangram.

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.

Markup Conventions
"//" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when no link word or link phrase is present "/[link word or phrase]/" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when a link word or link phrase is present	"solid underline" - precise definition "dotted underline" - cryptic definition "dashed underline" - wordplay "wavy underline" - whimsical and inferred definitions
Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog.

Across

1a	Gay old eccentric eager to return // Cockney's fiver? (4,6)

A cockney^[5,10] is a native of East London [specifically that part of East London known as the East End^[5]], traditionally one born within hearing of Bow Bells (the bells of St Mary-le-Bow^[7] church).

Cockney^[5] is also the name of the dialect or accent typical of cockneys, which is characterised by dropping the aitch (H) from the beginning of words as well as the use of rhyming slang (show explanation ).

Rhyming slang^[5] is a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in cockney rhyming slang.

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Fiver^[5] is an informal British name for a five-pound note.

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Pronunciation: In the non-rhotic Cockney dialect, pronounced FI-vah

Lady Godiva is Cockney rhyming slang for 5 pounds.

Delving Deeper

Lady Godiva[5]  (d.1080) was an English noblewoman, wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. According to a 13th-century legend, she agreed to her husband's proposition that he would reduce unpopular taxes only if she rode naked on horseback through the marketplace of Coventry. According to later versions of the story, all the townspeople refrained from watching, except for peeping Tom, who was struck blind as a punishment.

6a	Not as many // to anoint? Bishop's not required (4)

"bishop " = B [chess piece]

B^[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.

A bishop^[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a mitre. Unless obstructed by another piece, a bishop

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9a	Drink /supplied by/ editor -- I'm unwell, sickly, outside (6,4)

10a	List /of/ soldiers with unit initially (4)

12a	Keep away from // car crash, having taken time off (4)

As a verb, shunt^[2,10] is an informal British term meaning to crash (a car), especially one in the back of another and, as a noun, shunt^[2,5,10] denotes a minor motor vehicle accident, especially a collision of vehicles travelling one close behind the other ⇒ a lorry [truck] shed [spilled] its load, causing an eight-vehicle shunt.

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, pommers writes In his younger days the F1 driver James Hunt was called “Hunt the ?????” because he had more than his fair share of prangs. Prang[5] is an informal British term meaning: (verb) to crash (a motor vehicle or aircraft) ⇒Ernie pranged his sports car last month (noun) a crash involving a motor vehicle or aircraft ⇒ he had numerous prangs and near misses in his motoring life

13a	Country importing a Greek // perfume (9)

Gr.^[2] is the abbreviation for Greek.

15a	Kiss and cuddle // Charlie, a silly person (8)

"Charlie^* " = C [NATO Phonetic Alphabet]

In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet^*[7],  Charlie^[5] is a code word representing the letter C.

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^* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet

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16a	Rare // panic involving copyright (6)

C^[5] (also C. or ©) is the abbreviation for copyright.

18a	Live /with/ rest, not posh (6)

"posh " = U [upper class]

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective (in respect to language or social behaviour) meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes ⇒ U manners.

The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).

In Crosswordland, the letter U is frequently clued by words denoting "characteristic of the upper class" (such as posh or superior) or "appropriate to the upper class" (such as acceptable).

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20a	Battle // station (8)

The Battle of Waterloo^[5] was a battle fought on 18 June 1815 near the village of Waterloo (in what is now Belgium), in which Napoleon's army was defeated by the British (under the Duke of Wellington) and Prussians. The allied pursuit caused Napoleon's army to disintegrate entirely, ending his bid to return to power.

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Waterloo station^[7], also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, located in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth.

23a	Mates brought back put up with // custard-pie comedy? (9)

In Britain, mate^[5]—in addition to meaning a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner—can also be an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒ my best mate Steve.

I had initially supposed that the setter was using the word "with" as a link word (which I thought was questionable). Upon reading pommers hint (where he has "stick" meaning to "put up with"), I did some further research and discovered that this is British slang.

Stick^[10] is British slang meaning to tolerate or abide ⇒ I can't stick that man.

24a	No more than // fair (4)

26a	Check // strange diet (4)

27a	I must go in to protest at // decline (10)

Deprecate^[5] is used in the sense of to express disapproval of ⇒ what I deprecate is persistent indulgence.

I dithered about whether to declare the word "at" to be a link word or part of the wordplay, eventually opting for the later.

To protest (against, at, about, etc.)^[10] means to to make a strong objection (to something, especially a supposed injustice or offence).

28a	Informed // team's leader, getting on in years (4)

29a	Vessel catching sole at sea /for/ bulk trader (10)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, pommers tells us to start with the type of vessel commanded by Captain Ahab. Captain Ahab[7] is a fictional character in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851), the monomaniacal captain of the whaling ship Pequod.

Down

1d	Farm animal, // male, put in place for scientific research (4)

2d	Party left public house with popular // swimmer (7)

"party " = DO

Do^[5,12] is an informal British^[5] or chiefly British^[12] term^* for a party or other social event ⇒the soccer club Christmas do.

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^* Although one US dictionary (Webster’s New World College Dictionary^[12]) supports the contention by Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English)^[5] that this usage is at least chiefly British, two other US dictionaries^[3,11] do not.

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Public house^[5] (abbreviation PH^[a]; used to identify the location of a pub on a map) is the formal (British) name for a pub.

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^[a] Acronyms (TheFreeDictionary.com)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, pommers refers to ... the two letter abbreviation of Public House as used on OS maps .... In the UK, the Ordnance Survey[5] (abbreviation OS[5]) is an official survey organization, originally under the Master of the Ordnance, preparing large-scale detailed maps of the whole country.

3d	Old fire engine /in/ Dresden goes out after end of bombing (5,7)

Green Goddess^[7,10] is a colloquial name for a make of fire engine once used by the British army.

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 Origin: so-called because of its green livery [identifying design and colour scheme]

Delving Deeper
The Green Goddess[7] formed part of Britain's civil defence infrastructure from the early 1950s until 1968. The machines were not primarily fire engines; they are more correctly titled "self-propelled pumps". Their main role was to pump huge quantities of water from lakes, rivers, canals and other sources into cities hit by a nuclear attack. Firefighting was a secondary role.

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, pommers comments Fortunately this clue has got nothing to do with Diana Moran!!!!. Diana Moran[7] is an English model, fitness expert and journalist. Her greatest fame was achieved between 1983 and 1987, when she hosted the popular exercise segment of BBC1's Breakfast Time programme. Because of her trademark green leotard, she became known as the "Green Goddess".

Scratching the Surface
Dresden[5] is a city in eastern Germany, the capital of Saxony, on the River Elbe. Famous for its baroque architecture, it was almost totally destroyed by Allied bombing in 1945.

4d	Collapse // having crashed on trip (8)

5d	One maliciously damaging // vehicle, youth going north (6)

7d	One of the Roosevelts // confused one earl (7)

Eleanor Roosevelt^[5] (1884–1962) was an American humanitarian and diplomat. She was the niece of Theodore Roosevelt, and married Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1905. She was involved in a wide range of liberal causes; as chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights she helped draft the Declaration of Human Rights (1948).

Scratching the Surface
An earl[5] is a British nobleman ranking* above a viscount and below a marquess. * the third highest of the five ranks of British nobility — duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron

8d	Musical instrument /in/ grip on top of case (7-3)

Squeeze box^[5] is an informal name for an accordion or concertina.

11d	Sailor tucking into biscuits, // quality items (12)

"sailor " = JACK

The entry for jack in The Chambers Dictionary would fill a page if it were not spread over parts of two pages. Among the definitions, one finds jack^[1] defined as (often with capital) a sailor.

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"biscuits " = CRACKERS

The British use the term biscuit^[3,4,11] for a range of foods that include those that would be called either cookies or crackers in North America. Cookies might be referred to as sweet biscuits and crackers as savoury biscuits.

A North American biscuit^[5] is similar to what is known in Britain as a scone.

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From a British perspective, crackerjack^[5] is an informal North American term^* for an exceptionally good person or thing.

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^* in case you are wondering, the expression predates the confection

Delving Deeper
Cracker Jack ad from 1918 (note that sailors are informally referred to as "Jackies")

14d	On which a duck may be recorded? (10)

"duck " = O [cricket term]

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.

In British puzzles, "duck" is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the digit "0" to this letter.

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17d	Fish // in the morning up overlooking turbulent creek and lake (8)

19d	Sales pitch about a new // dog (7)

"new " = N [abbreviation used on maps]

N^[5] is an abbreviation (chiefly in place names) for New ⇒ N Zealand.

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21d	Famous guitarist /from/ LA -- EP's unusual, extremely unusual (3,4)

Les Paul^[5] (1915–2009) was an American jazz guitarist and guitar designer; born Lester Polfus. In the 1940s he pioneered the development of the solid-body electric guitar.

Scratching the Surface
EP[10] (abbreviation for extended-play) is one of the formats in which music is sold, usually comprising four or five tracks. An EP contains more cuts than a single[5] but fewer than an LP or long-playing[5] record.

22d	Snag involving base // using the latest science? (2-4)

In mathematics, e^[5] is the transcendental^* number that is the base of Napierian or natural logarithms, approximately equal to 2.71828.

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^* A transcendental number^[5] is a number such as e or π that is real but not a root of an algebraic equation with rational coefficients.

25d	Behind, // in arrears (4)

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Key to Reference Sources: 

  ^[1]   - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition

  ^[2]   - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)

  ^[3]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)

  ^[4]   - TheFreeDictionarycom (Collins English Dictionary)

  ^[5]   - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (Oxford Dictionary of English)

  ^[6]   - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (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)

^[15]   - CollinsDictionary.com (Penguin Random House LLC/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd )

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Signing off for today — Falcon

Saturday, May 1, 2021 — The Right Stuff

Introduction

For me, today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon was no write-in and I failed to spot the theme while solving. I only noticed it later while composing the review.

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

Symbols and Markup Conventions
"*" - anagram "~" - sounds like "<" - indicates the preceding letters are reversed "( )" - encloses contained letters "_" - replaces letters that have been deleted  "†" - indicates that the word is present in the clue	"//" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when no link word or link phrase is present "/[link word or phrase]/" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when a link word or link phrase is present "solid underline" - precise definition "dotted underline" - cryptic definition "dashed underline" - wordplay "wavy underline" - whimsical and inferred definitions
Click here for further explanation and usage examples of the symbols and markup conventions used on this blog.

Across

1a	Cast go rest with // author behind the scenes (5,5)

{GHOST WRITE}* — anagram of (cast) GO REST WITH

In the definition, "author" is a verb.

6a	Czar, // the fourth one (4)

IV|AN — IV (the fourth; e.g., Ivan IV is pronounced "Ivan the fourth") + AN (one)

Ivan IV^[7] (1530–1584), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first tsar of Russia from 1547 to 1584.

10a	Anti-art // platform adopted by mother (7)

DA(DAIS)M — DAIS (platform) contained in (adopted by) DAM (mother [horse or other animal])

Dadaism^[5] was an early 20th-century movement in art, literature, music, and film, repudiating and mocking artistic and social conventions and emphasizing the illogical and absurd.

11a	After a while, // Liberal dined with Howard in Hollywood (5,2)

L|ATE|R ON — L(iberal) + ATE (dined) + (with) RON (Howard in Hollywood; American film director, producer and actor Ron Howard^[7])

12a	Morsel of food // ruined divan (5)

VIAND* — anagram of (ruined) DIVAN

Viand^[5] (usually viands) is an archaic term for an item of food

13a	Part of the Catholic church // in Rhode Island splitting coffee order (5,4)

LAT(IN| RI)TE — {IN (†) + RI (Rhode Island)} contained in (splitting) LATTE (coffee order)

Latin Rite^[12], Western Church and Latin Church^[7] are other names for the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest of the 24 Churches constituting the Catholic Church, the 23 others being referred to as a group as the Eastern Catholic Churches.

14a	Maroon // thread (6)

STRAND — double definition

16a	Tore around lake // with little waves (7)

RIPP(L)ED — RIPPED (tore) containing (around) L(ake)

The definition is a past participle acting as an adjective.

19a	Large vessel // I had on the back of wagon carrying oxygen (7)

CAR(O)T|ID — ID (I had; contracted as I'd) following (on the back of) CART (wagon) containing (carrying) O ([chemical symbol for] oxygen)

The carotids^[5] are the two main arteries which carry blood to the head and neck.

21a	Mat // so long, I’m taken aback (6)

TATA|MI< — TATA (so long) + reversal of (taken aback) IM

Ta-ta^[3,4] is an informal British expression meaning goodbye or farewell.

Hyphens can make a difference
In cryptic crosswords, it is often said that one should ignore punctuation except where it cannot be ignored. Here's a case where a hyphen makes a difference. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, tata[3] is vulgar slang for a woman's breast.

A tatami^[5] (also tatami mat) is a rush-covered straw mat forming a traditional Japanese floor covering.

23a	Utter // “thing” word when upset (9)

DOWNRIGHT* — anagram of (when upset) THING WORD

25a	Dog ingests stylish // calendar picture (3-2)

P(IN)-UP — PUP (dog) containing (ingests) IN (stylish)

26a	End Tim’s bad // attitude (7)

MINDSET* — anagram of (bad) END TIMS

27a	Running out, // drink like a dog and croon (7)

LAP|SING — LAP (drink like a dog) + (and) SING (croon)

28a	Found among tribal societies, // too (4)

_AL|SO_ — hidden in (found among) tribAL SOcieties

29a	In predicament, troubled wary // dramatist (10)

PL(AYWR*)IGHT — anagram of ( troubled) WARY contained in (in) PLIGHT (predicament)

Down

1d	Travel with prima donna, // legendary lady (6)

GO|DIVA — GO (travel) + (with) DIVA (prima donna)

According to legend, Lady Godiva^[7] rode naked – covered only in her long hair – through the streets of Coventry to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation that her husband imposed on his tenants. By the way, the name "Peeping Tom" for a voyeur originates from later versions of this legend, in which a man named Thomas watched her ride (disobeying orders to stay inside with shutters closed) and was struck blind or dead.

2d	Celebrated painter // repositioned art models (3,6)

{OLD MASTER}* — anagram of (repositioned) ART MODELS

3d	Ego involved in traditional // small group (5)

TR(I)AD — I (ego) contained in (involved in) TRAD (traditional [genre of jazz or folk music])

4d	Sheep, milked, // meandered (7)

RAM|BLED — RAM ([male] sheep) + BLED (milked; exploited or defrauded by taking small amounts of money over a period of time)

5d	Satellite // reflected informant’s permit (7)

{TEL|S|TAR}< — reversal of (reflected) {RAT (informant) + S ('s) + LET (permit)}

Telstar^[5] was the first of the active communications satellites (i.e. both receiving and retransmitting signals, not merely reflecting signals from the earth). It was launched by the US in 1962 and used in the transmission of television broadcasting and telephone communication.

It also gave The Tornados a number one hit in 1962.

7d	In Denver, direct // big name in opera (5)

_VER|DI_ — hidden in (in) DenVER DIrect

Giuseppe Verdi^[5] (1813–1901) was an Italian composer of many operas, such as La Traviata (1853), Aida (1871), and Otello (1887). Verdi is also famous for his Requiem (1874).

8d	Game giant // mean in denial (8)

N(INTEND)O — INTEND (mean) contained in (in) NO (denial)

9d	Do nothing // in addition to occupying Irish hero, briefly (5,3)

ST(AND) PAT — AND (in addition to) contained in (occupying) ST PAT (Irish hero, briefly; St. Patrick)

15d	Star // Garr’s included in query (8)

AS(TERI|S)K — {TERI (Garr; American actress Teri Garr^[7]) + S ('s)} contained in (in) ASK (query)

17d	Bewailing // shifted alignment (9)

LAMENTING* — anagram of (shifting) ALIGNMENT

18d	Scholastic life // Dorothy’s aunt introduced to French colony (8)

ACAD(EM)IA — EM (Dorothy's aunt) contained in (introduced to) ACADIA (French colony)

Dorothy Gale^[7] is the fictional protagonist of the classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as well as most of its sequels by American author L. Frank Baum (1856–1919). In the Oz books, Dorothy is an orphan raised by her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry in the bleak landscape of a Kansas farm.

Acadia^[5] is a former French colony established in 1604 in the territory that now includes Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island in Canada. Contested by France and Britain, it was ceded to Britain in 1763, and many French Acadians were deported to other parts of North America. Many later settled in Louisiana.

20d	Sort of watch // bore talk endlessly about self (7)

DIG(I)TAL_ — {DIG (bore) + TAL[K] with the final letter removed (endlessly)} containing (about) I (self)

21d	Add friend // without reservation (7)

TOT|ALLY — TOT (add) + ALLY (friend)

22d	Southern private eye acquired // tap (6)

S|PI|GOT — S(outhern) + PI (private eye) + GOT (acquired)

24d	Orchestra section // meanders (5)

WINDS — double definition

25d	Irrational number for each // musician (5)

PI|PER — PI (irrational number) + PER (for each)

In mathematics, an irrational number^[5] is a number that is not expressible as a ratio of two integers, and having an infinite and non-recurring expansion when expressed as a decimal. Examples of irrational numbers are the number π (pi) and the square root of 2.

Epilogue

The setters throw four different spellings of the theme word at us today. Thank you to Richard for the title for today's review.

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Key to Reference Sources: 

  ^[1]   - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition

  ^[2]   - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)

  ^[3]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)

  ^[4]   - TheFreeDictionarycom (Collins English Dictionary)

  ^[5]   - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (Oxford Dictionary of English)

  ^[6]   - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (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)

^[15]   - CollinsDictionary.com (Penguin Random House LLC/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd )

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Signing off for today — Falcon

Friday, June 7, 2019 — DT 28918

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28918
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, December 10, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28918]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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

Miffypops last reviewed DT 28912 which was published in the National Post on Thursday, May 30, 2019. Should you happen to recall, the solution to clue 20a in that puzzle was LADY GODIVA. At the time, several visitors to Big Dave's Crossword Blog commented on the lack of an illustration for the clue. Today, Miffypops has atoned for that oversight with a battery of illustrations featuring the sparingly clad lady.

Lady Godiva^[5] (d.1080) was an English noblewoman, wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. According to a 13th-century legend, she agreed to her husband's proposition that he would reduce unpopular taxes only if she rode naked on horseback through the marketplace of Coventry. According to later versions of the story, all the townspeople refrained from watching, except for peeping Tom, who was struck blind as a punishment.

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

7a	British, in a spot, // don't vote (7)

9a	The acre? Wrong: you need a bigger measure of land (7)

The entire clue is a cryptic definition of "a measure of land larger than an acre" in which the wordplay is embedded.

The hectare^[5] is a metric unit of square measure, equal to 100 ares (2.471 acres or 10,000 square metres).

10a	Keen to press old // skirt (5)

As a containment indicator, perhaps we can think of press^[5] in the sense of to apply pressure to (a flower or leaf) between sheets of paper in order to dry and preserve it.

11a	Conductor /of/ opera, name in Italy (9)

Tosca^[7] is an opera by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica (1857–1919) and Giuseppe Giacosa (1847–1906). It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome in 1900.

"Italy" = I [IVR code] (show explanation )

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Italy is I^[5] [from Italian Italia].

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Arturo Toscanini^[5] (1867–1957) was an Italian conductor. He was musical director at La Scala in Milan (1898–1903; 1906-8) before becoming a conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, New York (1908–21).

12a	Punishment given after assault: article by school principal // became prominent in the news (3,3,9)

In Britain, head^[5] is short for headmaster^[5] (a man who is the head teacher in a school), headmistress^[5] (a woman who is the head teacher in a school), or head teacher^[5] (the teacher in charge of a school).

13a	Personal assistant brought in important // item of stationery (7)

PA^[5] is an abbreviation used in Britain^* for personal assistant.

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^* It is the use of the abbreviation that is British, not the term itself. Even in North America, I would think the abbreviation is not entirely unheard of.

16a	Nobleman's wife // expected short game (7)

A duchess^[5] is either:

• the wife or widow of a duke
• a woman holding a rank equivalent to duke in her own right

19a	Foremost of Spaniards during Iraq tour, dining out -- // Torquemada, perhaps (5,10)

Tomás de Torquemada^[5] (c.1420–1498) was a Spanish cleric and Grand Inquisitor^*. A Dominican monk, he became confessor to Ferdinand and Isabella, whom he persuaded to institute the Inquisition in 1478. He was also the prime mover behind the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in and after 1492.

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^* Grand Inquisitor^[5] was the title of the director of the court of Inquisition, especially in Spain and Portugal. The Spanish Inquisition^[5] was an ecclesiastical court established in 1478 and directed originally against converts from Judaism and Islam but later also against Protestants. It operated with great severity and was not suppressed until the early 19th century.

23a	Sweetheart gets upset about ending in adventure // novel (4,5)

Beau Geste^[7] (1924)  is an adventure novel by English writer P. C. Wren (1875–1941), which details the adventures of three English brothers who enlist separately in the French Foreign Legion following the theft of a valuable jewel from the country house of a relative.

24a	Permission // to depart (5)

25a	Draw // large aquatic mammal close to quay (7)

"large" = L [clothing size] (show explanation )

L^[5] is the abbreviation for large (as a clothing size).

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26a	Remove // another carat (7)

Carat^[5] (abbreviation ct^[5]) is the name of two measures:

• a measure of the purity of gold, pure gold being 24 carats
• a unit of weight for precious stones and pearls, equivalent to 200 milligrams

Down

1d	Race // the old lady runs with floppy hat on (8)

"runs" = R [cricket notation] (show explanation )

On cricket scorecards [not to mention baseball scoreboards], the abbreviation R^[5] denotes run(s).

In cricket, a run^[5] is a unit of scoring achieved by hitting the ball so that both batsmen are able to run between the wickets, or awarded in some other circumstances.

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2d	Difficulty /encountered in/ powerful vessel (8)

3d	Grab // small part (6)

Miffypops parses this clue as a double definition:

• Grab // small part (6)

Honestly, I was so focussed on "small" being used to clue S that I never considered this possibility.

This led to a lengthy search to explain "part" being used to clue "natch" — a search which, in fact, was successful.

According to The Chambers Dictionary:

• natch² (dialect) noun the rump

So, not being averse to grabbing a small rump when the opportunity presents itself, I have chosen to go with that option.

4d	Untidy writing /produced by/ son on edge (6)

"son" = S [genealogy] (show explanation )

In genealogies, s^[5] is the abbreviation for son(s) ⇒ m 1991; one s one d^*.

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^* married in 1991; one son and one daughter.

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5d	Good-natured tolerance /of/ coppers going round at one (8)

Pence^[5] is a plural form^* of penny^[5], a British bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound and the smallest denomination in Britain's modern decimal currency system. The abbreviation for penny or pence is p^[5].

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^* Both pence and pennies have existed as plural forms of penny since at least the 16th century. The two forms now tend to be used for different purposes: pence refers to sums of money (five pounds and sixty-nine pence) while pennies refers to the coins themselves (I left two pennies on the table). The use of pence rather than penny as a singular (the chancellor will put one pence on income tax) is not regarded as correct in standard English.

6d	Careless, // extremely rude young lady (6)

8d	Tobacco // tin open (5)

The symbol for the chemical element tin is Sn^[5] (from late Latin stannum).

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Snout^[5] is an informal British term for tobacco or a cigarette.

9d	Partner, // hot on American group (7)

14d	Still coming over to cover separate // social event (3,5)

15d	Republican vacating flat, and unpleasant // house (7)

"Republican" = R (show explanation )

A Republican^[5] (abbreviation R^[5] or Rep.^[5])  is a member or supporter of the Republican Party^[5], one of the two main US political parties^*, favouring a right-wing stance, limited central government, and tough, interventionist foreign policy. It was formed in 1854 in support of the anti-slavery movement preceding the Civil War.

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^* the other being the Democratic Party

In the UK, republican^[5] can refer to an advocate of a united Ireland but the abbreviation does not seem to apply to that usage.

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House^[5] is used in the sense of a noble, royal, or wealthy family or lineage; in other words, a dynasty ⇒ the power and prestige of the House of Stewart.

17d	Choose randomly /from/ play's actors on a great deal (4,4)

18d	Italian resort, // resort on high (8)

Sorrento^[5] is a town on the west coast of central Italy, situated on a peninsula separating the Bay of Naples, which it faces, from the Gulf of Salerno.

19d	Chatter /from/ Hollywood star about principal character in 'Betrayed' (6)

Clark Gable^[5] (1901–1960) was an American actor, famous for films such as It Happened One Night (1934), for which he won an Oscar, and Gone with the Wind (1939).

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Gabble^[5] means:

• (verb) to talk rapidly and unintelligibly ⇒ he gabbled on in a panicky way until he was dismissed
• (noun) rapid unintelligible talk ⇒ she wasn't very good at the random gabble of teenagers

Scratching the Surface
Betrayed[7] is a 1954 war drama film starring Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Victor Mature, and Louis Calhern. The picture, Gable's last for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, was filmed on location in the Netherlands and England, and was based on the story of turncoat Dutch resistance leader Christiaan Lindemans.

20d	Determined // old magistrate imprisoning leader of gang, and daughter (6)

Historically, a doge^[5] was the the chief magistrate of Venice or Genoa.

"daughter" = D [genealogy] (show reference )

In genealogies, d^[5] is the abbreviation for daughter ⇒ Henry m. Georgina 1957, 1s 2d^*.

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^* Henry married Georgina in 1957. Their marriage produced 1 son and 2 daughters.

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21d	Not fairly matched // in fun event (6)

22d	Headdress, // first-class, shown in painting put up (5)

"first-class" = AI (show explanation )

A1^[4][5] or A-one^[3] meaning first class or excellent comes from a classification for ships in The Lloyd's Register of Shipping where it means equipped to the highest standard or first-class.

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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 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