Tuesday, June 30, 2009 (DT 25861)

This puzzle was originally published Wednesday, February 25, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Although it was difficult to find a starting point in today's puzzle, once I finally did manage to get under way, the solution unfolded fairly smoothly. However, I did have an incorrect solution for one clue and missed some wordplay on one or two others.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

hook - a type of cricket stroke

make the running - Brit. to be the person who causes things to happen and develop

OR - military other ranks (abbrev. defn. 3)

ratty - Brit. informal bad-tempered and irritable (defn. 4)

River Forth - a major river in Scotland

River Test - a river in Hampshire, England

Tourist Trophy (TT) - a motorcycle racing event held on the Isle of Man

trad - traditional jazz or folk music

Today's Links

Big Dave's efforts to promote his site may be paying off as I found no questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. Or maybe the Brits just found this puzzle to be very easy.

Libellule's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25861].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

23ac Otter represented in colour by old painter (10)

By my reading, the wordplay in this clue is slightly more complex than the review on Big Dave's blog would tend to suggest. Rather than being simply an anagram-type clue, I believe it is a combination of an anagram-type clue and a containership-type clue, as illustrated by the following parsing:

23ac {OTTER represented (anagram indicator) → TORET} {in (containership indicator) colour [TIN^T]} {by (positional indicator)} old [O] /\ painter [TIN(TORET)T|O] (10)

While the the wordplay in a clue may sometimes be such that the order of operations is not clearly specified, I don't think that is the case with this clue. However, I always stand ready to be corrected.

As an aside, it may be informative to consider a couple of variations on this clue:

Variant 1: Represented otter in colour by old painter (10)

In this (admittedly, not very elegant) variant, the order of the operations is ambiguous. One could justifiably first execute the containership operation specified by "otter in colour" (producing, say, [TI(OTTER)NT]) and then perform the anagram on the result or one could first perform the anagram operation on OTTER (producing [TORET]) followed by the containership operation (as in today's actual clue).

Another variant might be:

Variant 2: Otter in colour represented by old painter (10)

In this clue, the order would clearly be the containership operation first followed by the anagram operation.

6d Firm on the up organized a social round noon? It's infrequent (10)

As I am writing this, Big Dave's blog shows a couple of extra letters appended to the solution (i.e., OCCASIONALLY, rather than OCCASIONAL). However, judging by past experience, this may well have changed by the time you check his blog.

8d State-of-the-art description of East End gardener with shears? (7, 4)

I followed the wordplay well enough to get the correct solution, but I missed the bit about the dropped "h". Instead I wasted time searching fruitlessly for a district named Cutting in the East End of London.

25d Leo, say, has token Al discarded (4)

I thought Leo might be the name of a LION - which of course turned out to be a red herring in this clue.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, June 29, 2009 (DT 25860)

This puzzle was originally published Tuesday, February 24, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

For the remainder of the summer, the National Post will not produce a printed edition on Mondays. For this week, at least, the puzzle that would normally appear on Monday has been included in Saturday's paper - thus explaining why you are seeing this post a couple of days earlier than usual.

Today's puzzle was a fairly easy effort, although I did make a couple of wrong choices early on that slowed my progress until I discovered them. And I failed to solve one clue due to my ignorance of British baby-talk.

Having spent the afternoon pruning a large maple tree in my back yard, I am going to go out on a limb once again and suggest some differences in the wordplay on one or two clues from what appears on Big Dave's site.

Today's Links

I found only one question on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. It (together with the clues to which it relates) are:

AnswerBank [DT 25860]-a: 4ac, 23ac, 2d, 3d, 13d

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25860].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

10ac Wire cable (8)

This has to be about the weakest double definition that I have ever seen - the two words ("wire" and "cable") mean exactly the same thing, don't they!

I have always understood that the two elements of a double definition should each be synonyms of the solution without being synonyms of each other.

18ac Turning Labour leader in rebellion (10)

Speed bump #1 - I thought the solution might be REVOLUTION - it isn't.

22ac Passes on for strikers (8)

Author's Note: The following is not an explanation of the correct wordplay for this clue - which can be found on Big Dave's blog. Rather, it describes the round-about route that I took to arrive at the solution, having overlooked the obvious wordplay. Although the first sentence was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, the effort seems to have fallen flat. Furthermore, on rechecking the references, I see that one of the individuals is not even British. My sincere apologies to British football fans. - Falcon

Could these strikers be British footballers Jamie Ward and Stephen Ward? - "for strikers" then becoming "for wards". And, of course, I expect that "passes" itself may be intended to strengthen the football (soccer) reference.

23ac Horse, say, in Lego components creates wonder (6)

Apparently British children refer to a horse as a GG - a fact that was totally unknown to me.

Big Dave's blog suggests that "components" is an anagram indicator. However, I would like to propose a different interpretation. I see the components of "Lego" as LE and GO. If we insert GG in the components of Lego (the order being unspecified in the clue, but only one of the two possible orders makes sense), we get GO(GG)LE. So, if I am correct, this is a container-type clue rather than an anagram-type clue. [And I am also sure that Greenhorn might feel much better if it is true.]

26ac Risk bitterness following scrap (8)

In addition to the wordplay suggested by Gazza on Big Dave's blog, "scrap" can also mean END in the sense of a small piece left at the end of a roll of carpet or fabric - as in the expressions "odds and ends".

7d Force to confess, say (6)

Talk about a twisted clue! This is a "sounds like" clue, as indicated by the word "say". However, I hazard to say that the solution likely rolls off the British tongue easier than it is picked up by the North American ear - sounding a bit wrenching to us, I'm afraid.

19d Post's cancelled preceding frost (6)

Speedbump #2: My initial choice of NOTICE as the solution to this clue messed me up until I found the error.

21d Empty pub with topless bird (6)

To fully appreciate the wordplay in this clue, North Americans should keep in mind that "bird" in the UK is an informal term for a young woman (although that knowledge may only prove distracting - especially to male readers).

Solution to Today's Puzzle

A full review of today's puzzle is published on Big Dave's blog (see link above).

I have stopped producing solutions for the DT puzzles as it seems to me that the review on Big Dave's site is likely more than sufficient for most readers. However, I am giving readers an opportunity to comment on this decision. You will find a survey gadget at the top of the sidebar to the right where you can indicate whether or not you agree with this decision.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, June 27, 2009 - Canada Day Fireworks

Introduction

In honour of the upcoming celebration of Canada Day on July 1, Cox and Rathvon provide plenty of fireworks in today's puzzle.








Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition
	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1ac AC(ROB|A)T

5ac BOL(ET)US

9ac S(K|YR)OCKET

10ac G(RE)ER - feminist author Germaine Greer

11ac S(TUCK) ON

12ac A(R)CADIA - Acadia: name given by French to area that is now Canada's Maritime Provinces

13ac TOUR|BILLIONS

18ac PYROTECHNICS* - {NIP SCOTCH RYE}*

21ac CAN(A)STA

23ac CO|WE|RED

24ac L|ET ON

25ac G(I)RAND|OLE

26ac DE(COD)ED

27ac MUSKRAT* - {US KMART}*; Kmart: North American department store chain

Down

1d ASSES|S

2d {RAY GUN}~ - sounds like REAGAN

3d B(LOCKS) OUT

4d TO|KEN - Griffey: Major League Baseball player Ken Griffey (Sr. or Jr.)

5d BAT|TAL(I)ON

6d LOG|IC

7d T(HE IDI)OT

8d SARGASSO* - {GROSS AS A}*

14d RECHARGED* - {HER CD RAGE}*

15d LA|C|EWINGS - Dallas: American prime-time television soap opera about the Ewing family that ran from 1978 to 1991

16d S(PECK)LED - Iditarod: annual Alaskan sled dog race

17d GRANITIC* - {CIGAR TIN}*

19d A(R)MOUR

20d A|D(V)ENT

22d {SYN|OD}< - Do: get along (as in, "How is she doing in her new job?")

23d CAROM* - MACRO*

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, June 26, 2009 (DT 25859)

This puzzle was originally published Monday, February 23, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I found the puzzle today to be a bit more of a challenge than the one yesterday - but a more satisfying one as it contained a lot of fairly clever wordplay. However, as usually seems to be the case, my opinion seems to run contrary to the Brits. While I was not able to solve today's puzzle especially quickly, I did do so relatively unaided - being down to three or four unsolved clues before digging into my tool chest.

What do Readers Value?

As producing this blog every day requires a not inconsiderable investment of time, I would like to ensure that I am devoting my effort to areas that readers value. Therefore, over the next while, I will be asking for some feedback from readers about which features of the blog they find useful. As you have probably noticed, for the last few days I have not produced a Solution to Today's Puzzle section since Big Dave's site provides a very thorough review of the puzzle. Although Big Dave may provide hints rather than full solutions to some clues, I assume that is sufficient for most people. To support that notion, I point out that I have offered on numerous occasions to provide full explanations to anyone who needs them and I have yet to be asked to do so. So, please take a moment to respond to the survey question that you will find in the sidebar to the right.

Today's Links

I found two questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. They (together with the clues to which they relate) are:

AnswerBank [DT 25xxx]-a: 21ac, 23ac

AnswerBank [DT 25xxx]-b: 6ac

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25859].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

11ac Quotation on cost shows outlay required (5,3)

I missed "(Latin) quotation" being a reference to "tag". However, even without using this aspect of the wordplay, there are still two solid elements in the clue, since a "price tag" literally shows the outlay required and a "price tag" figuratively is an estimate ("quotation") of the cost (as in the expression, "Could you put a price tag on that?").

Solution to Today's Puzzle

See the review on Big Dave's site. And don't forget to respond to the survey question.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, June 25, 2009 (DT 25858)

This puzzle was originally published Saturday, February 21, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Tip of the Day

Today, I believe we have an example of a clue where a word is doing "double duty".

8d One who revises stories removing first and last bits democratically initially within (6)

In this clue, the word "revises" is part of the definition for EDITOR ("one who revises") as well as serving as an anagram indicator for the string TORIE (what remains after deleting the first and last letters from STORIES). In parsing the clue, I have included the word "revises" twice to illustrate this point.

8d One who revises [EDITOR] /\ {revises (anagram indicator)} {STORIES removing first and last bits (delete first and last letters) → [_T^ORIE_]} {democratically initially (first letter) → [D]} {within (containment indicator)} (6)

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

Littleport - a village in Cambridgeshire

ram-raid - crash a vehicle into a shop to facilitate looting

up-and-under - a type of kick in rugby

Today's Links

It being a Saturday prize puzzle today, there is heavy traffic on AnswerBank. Aside from a carry over from yesterday of the discussion regarding the DT's "screw up" of the online puzzle and a rather spirited sparring match between Big Dave and Beatrice, it is the usual AnswerBank fare. Due to the large number of questions (there being some fourteen of them), I am providing only a link to a Google search list:

• AnswerBank [DT 25858]

Big Dave's day-of-publication hints for today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25858] - Hints and Libellule's post-submission-deadline review is available at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25858] - Review.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

18ac Allowed to return during visit at this home (7)

I may be way out in left field (as I often find myself), but I have to question the structure of this clue. The solution, STATELY, would appear to be an adjective which replaces the word "this" in the clue. This would seem to violate the convention that the solution replaces either the first or last component of the clue. I don't see how STATELY could be considered to replace the phrase "this home" which is a noun - although the problem could be resolved (in my mind) by rewording the clue as:

Allowed to return during visit at this type of home (7)

where I think STATELY could legitimately be used as a substitute for "this type of home". Perhaps the argument may be that we should implicitly perceive "this type of home" when we see "this home".

23d This speaker is strongly audible (4)

Essentially the same device is used in this clue where the solution is obtained by substituting LOUD for "this". It may be inconsistent on my part, but I find it more acceptable in this clue - perhaps merely because "this" is the first word in the clue.

6d Composer mainly hidden (4)

Although I got the reference to an "iceberg", I must admit that I read this clue quite literally thinking that "mainly" meant merely "for the most part", missing the subtle wordplay involving the fact that "main" is also a synonym for "sea".

Solution to Today's Puzzle

For a full review of today's puzzle, see the link to Big Dave's site above.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 (DT 25857)

This puzzle was originally published Friday, February 20, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I personally found today's puzzle to be considerably more difficult than yesterday's. In fact, I nearly capitulated with four clues left to solve, but luckily I did stumble upon the correct Spanish resort - after which the solutions to the remaining clues fell rapidly into place.

Tip of the Day - Postscript

I see xwd_fiend has left a comment regarding my musings yesterday on the possible structure of a clue that references a second clue in the particular case where there are two possibilities for the referenced clue (i.e., both a down and an across clue). It seems that I was being far too creative in my imaginings and that the structure of such a clue would actually be much simpler than I had supposed.

I also should have pointed out that, in any clue which references another clue by clue number, one should expect the reference (i.e., the number of the referenced clue) to be written as a numeral (e.g., it should be written as "10" rather than "ten"). I do recall one case where it appeared that this was practice was not followed which led to a large hue and cry on the blogs regarding the failure by the setter (or editor) to observe this convention.

Update:

I note that Big Dave has recently left a comment to yesterday's post that "Some setters have been known to put the clue reference in words, not digits!" While this doesn't necessarily refute my own experience that I described above, it may indicate that such an occurrence may not be the isolated incident that I had assumed it to be.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

crumbs - colloq an expression of mild surprise, dismay, etc.

lam - Brit. slang to thrash or strike

palinode - a poem in which the poet retracts a view or sentiment expressed in a former poem

Rees - a Welsh name

Today's Links

I found three questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. They (together with the clues to which they relate) are:

AnswerBank [DT 25857]-a: 1ac

AnswerBank [DT 25857]-b: none

AnswerBank [DT 25857]-c: 26ac

Some of the chatter on AnswerBank concerned problems with the online version of the puzzle.

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25857].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

3d British leader, one held to be a stupid leader (8)

The wording of this clue seems a bit awkward to my ear. I also felt - similar to Peter Biddlecombe writing on Big Dave's blog - that one does not need to be a leader to be a BONEHEAD. However, Peter does appear to (somewhat grudgingly) accept the wording within the context of the clue. For a brief moment I had the thought that the wording might be improved by changing the word "leader" to "one" - then I realized that idea was pretty well precluded by fact that the word "one" already appeared in the clue.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

I have not produced a solution today, as Big Dave's review seems more than adequate. If you have difficulty deciphering any of the clues, please leave a comment asking for an explanation and I will be more than happy to oblige.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 (DT 25856)

This puzzle was originally published Thursday, February 19, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Having found today's puzzle relatively easy as compared to yesterday's puzzle, I was surprised to see the British blogs rate it as more difficult. In fact, I was able to get down to only three clues remaining before even opening my tool chest. Moreover, unlike yesterday, I was able to solve most clues based on the wordplay (rather than "reverse engineering" the wordplay after finding the solution). Maybe my brain is just wired differently than the British brain :-)

Tip of the Day

Today's puzzle contains a type of clue that occurs fairly rarely - one that incorporates the solution of another clue through a reference using its clue number.

4d Display of 24 on church show (6)

In clue 4d ("the referencing clue"), the number "24" is a "reference" to clue 24d ("the referenced clue"). Here, the wordplay indicates that the solution to the referenced clue is to be substituted for the reference in the referencing clue. That is, the referencing clue is to be read as:

4d Display of vein on church show (6)

for which the solution is:

4d {Display of (anagram indicator) VEIN → EVIN} {on (positional indicator)} church {CE (Church of England)} /\ show [EVIN*|CE] (6)

Note 1: This clue is dependent on there being only a single clue starting in cell 24 (i.e., there is no clue 24ac in this puzzle). Although I do not recall ever having seen this type of clue occurring in a situation where more than a single clue originates in the referenced cell position, it may be possible (see following section).

Note 2: Since this is a down clue, the positional indicator {on} shows that EVIN precedes (i.e., is on top of) CE.

Reference by Clue Number (Two Clues Starting at Referenced Cell Position)

I do not recall ever having seen a clue involving a reference by clue number in an instance in which there is both an across and a down clue starting in the referenced cell position, but I suppose it might be possible. Clearly, such a clue would need to incorporate wordplay to identify which of the two clues originating at the referenced cell position is the clue being referenced.

I have attempted to construct an example of such a clue. If my example is too outlandish, I am sure it will elicit a comment - or two.

In a puzzle, suppose the solution to clue 4d is POINT and there also happens to be a clue 4ac in the same puzzle (for the purposes of this discussion, we don't care what that clue is). I postulate that a referencing clue along the lines of:

Player 4 dropping watch (5, 5)

might be used to produce the solution POINT GUARD (a position on a basketball team, i.e., "player") where the word "dropping" is used to indicate which of the two clues starting in cell 4 is the clue being referenced (in this case, 4d) .

I emphasize that I have never seen a clue like this and I am only surmising that such a clue might be possible. Moreover, given that this is a hypothetical example, it may well fail to comply with cryptic clue conventions on other grounds.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

U - Brit. colloq. acceptable ( to the upper classes) (defn. 2)

Today's Links

I found three questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. They (together with the clues to which they relate) are:

AnswerBank [DT 25856]-a: 1ac, 13ac

AnswerBank [DT 25856]-b: 17ac

AnswerBank [DT 25856]-c: 20ac

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25856].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

21ac Was undecided and fiddled around that place (8)

Before reading Gazza's review, I hadn't fully appreciated why "fiddled" means "did".

3d Appropriate remark left unfinished - almost certain to cover a source of tension (12)

In solving this clue, I had the same debate with myself that Big Dave and Gazza have on Big Dave's blog. My conclusion was the same as Gazza's final suggestion - that "almost certain" in this clue must have been intended to mean SURE.

5d Argument following fine after this, oddly (4)

"Following fine" producing FF - I got it, but it's hardly the most elegant of clues.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition
	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1ac W(AR CHES)T - [W]ai[T] + (ARCHES)

9ac {ICE CREAM}~ - sounds like {I SCREAM}

10ac A|TOM_ - A + [TOM]e

11ac MEN OF LETTERS - CD

13ac COUNT_ESS - [COUNTLESS] - [L]osses

15ac A|G|END|A

16ac MEN|U

17ac CUR(S)E

18ac DE_FY - [DEIFY] - [I]

20ac S(CRAM)S

21ac DI(THERE)D

23ac {HAVE COLD FEET}* - {CHEF VOTED ALE}*

26ac ERA*|S_ - ARE* + [S]aving

27ac EPITHETS* - {PISTE THE}*

28ac HARD SELL - CD

Down

2d ANTE|LOPE

3d COMMEN_|SUR(A|T_)E - [COMMEN]t + SUR^E + (A + [T]ension)

4d EVIN*|CE = VEIN* + CE

5d T_I_|FF - [T]h[I]s + FF

6d GEN|ERA|T|E

7d FE(T)E

8d E|MISS|A|R_Y - [R]ac[Y]

12d TREND|SETTERS

14d SH|RED

16d M(IS)CHIEF

17d C(USTOMER*)R - C^R + {SUE TOM}*

19d F|REE F|ALL

22d _TREMOR_ - withou[T REMOR]se

24d VEIN

25d D|A|S|H

Signing off for today - Falcon