Tuesday, November 27, 2018 — DT 28780

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28780
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, July 1, 2018
Setter Dada (John Halpern)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28780]
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

This was a fun puzzle although a bit of a challenge, especially with cricket and rugby in the same clue — and rather than official terminology from the Laws of Cricket^[7], it was cricket slang.

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^*)

---

^* num = numeration

Explanations pertaining to the wordplay (or first definition in a double definition)

(Horizontal separator)

---

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 programmes, 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 straight from a dictionary or at least phrased in a non-misleading fashion) or it may be 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).

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 cryptic definitions 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.

hide explanation

Across

1a   Be informed, as should an orchestral musician? (4,3,5)

I classify this as a cryptic definition with an embedded precise definition as the latter part of the clue provides cryptic elaboration pertaining to the precise definition rather than a second independent route to the solution.

9a   Fuel // for glass (7)

10a   Skilled worker // from Hobart is annoying (7)

Scratching the Surface
Hobart[7] is the capital and chief port of the Australian state of Tasmania; population 209,287 (2008).

11a   Smokier bombs, // irritating (7)

12a   Islamic office // I consider to be behind me, contrarily (7)

Emirate^[10] is used in the sense of the rank or office of an emir^[5], a title of various Muslim (mainly Arab) rulers.

13a   Fine, // daily limits? (5)

14a   Duck managed to eviscerate an // Asian animal (5-4)

Cricket 101
"duck" = O (show explanation ) 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. hide explanation

The orang-utan^[2,10] is a large mainly solitary anthropoid arboreal ape (the only tree-dwelling great ape) with long shaggy reddish-brown hair, long strong arms, and hooked hands and feet, native to the tropical forests of Borneo and Sumatra.

---

Alternative spellings: orangutan^[5], orangutang^[5], orang-utang^[10] or orang-outang^[2,10]

16a   Cross // noted? (9)

This is a double definition in which the second definition is whimsical (cryptic).

Crotchet^[5] is the British name for a quarter note, a note having the time value of a quarter of a semibreve^* or half a minim^**, represented by a large solid dot with a plain stem.

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^* Semibreve^[5] is the British name for a whole note.
^** Minim^[5] is the British name for a half note.

19a   Cram // facts (5)

In the second definition, stuff^[5] is used in the [catchall] sense of matter, material, articles, or activities of a specified or indeterminate kind that are being referred to, indicated, or implied ⇒ (i) She does well at Trivial Pursuit 'cause she knows a lot of stuff; (ii) He's forgotten more stuff than most people could learn in a lifetime.

21a   Fiendish // setters always take assumed names in crosswords, initially (7)

23a   Spoons bent right // back (7)

24a   Work // over, repeat in error (7)

Cricket 102
"over" = O (show explanation ) On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation O[5] denotes over(s), an over[5] being a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end. hide explanation

25a   Ebbing brown river, // pure (7)

The Ural River^[5] is a river, 1,575 miles (2,534 km) long, that rises at the southern end of the Ural Mountains in western Russia and flows through western Kazakhstan to the Caspian Sea at Atyraū.

26a   Flier // spouse distributed in school (5,7)

Harrow School^[5] (informally Harrow) is a boys' public^* school in northwest London, founded under Queen Elizabeth I in 1571.

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^* although North Americans would consider it to be a private school (show more )

In Britain, an independent school^[10] is a school that is neither financed nor controlled by the government or local authorities; in other words, an independent school^[2] is not paid for with public money and does not belong to the state school system.

In Britain, a public school^[2] is a particular category of independent school, namely a secondary school, especially a boarding school, run independently of the state and financed by a combination of endowments and pupils' fees.

Another category of independent school is the private school^[2,5] which is a school run independently by an individual or group, especially for profit and supported wholly by the payment of fees.

What we in North America would call a public school^[2], is known in the UK as a state school^[5] or a maintained school^*.

---

^* In England and Wales, a maintained school^[5] is a school that is funded by a local education authority.

hide

The house sparrow^[5] is a common brown and grey sparrow that nests in the eaves and roofs of houses. Native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, and much of Asia, its intentional or accidental introductions to many regions, including parts of Australasia, Africa, and the Americas, make it the most widely distributed wild bird.^[7]

Down

1d   Innings one short -- // foul play (5-2)

Cricket 103

Knock[5] is an informal cricket term for an innings, especially of an individual batsman ⇒ a splendid knock of 117 against Somerset [the batsman scored 117 runs during a turn at batting (innings in sense 3 below)]. In cricket, innings[5] (plural same or informally inningses) can denote any of: each of two or four divisions of a game during which one side has a turn at batting ⇒ the highlight of the Surrey innings a player’s turn at batting ⇒ he had played his greatest innings the score achieved during a player’s turn at batting ⇒ a solid innings of 78 by Marsh. In the first sense, the term innings (spelled with an 's') would correspond somewhat to an inning (spelled without an 's') in baseball. One significant difference is that an innings in cricket denotes one team's turn at batting. Thus team A is batting in the first and third innings (referred to as team A's innings) and team B in the second and fourth innings (referred to as team B's innings). In baseball, the visiting team bats in the top of each inning and the home team in the bottom of each inning (these might be referred to as team A's half of the inning and team B's half of the inning respectively). The second sense would be roughly equivalent to an at bat in baseball. One difference is that a cricket player can have only one innings (sense 2) per innings (sense 1) although a turn at batting can be quite lengthy (long enough for Marsh to score 78 runs in the usage example for sense 3). In baseball, it is possible for a player to have more than one at bat during a single inning (players continue to bat around the order until the fielding team achieves three outs and if the batting team has more than nine at bats during an inning, one or more players will have multiple at bats in the inning).

Rugby 101
In rugby, knock-on[10] (noun) denotes the the infringement of playing the ball forward with the hand or arm.

2d   Centre in form, a politician /demonstrating/ eloquence (7)

"politician" = TORY (show more )

A Tory^[10] is a member or supporter of the Conservative Party in Great Britain [or, for that matter, in Canada].

Historically, a Tory^[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.

The Conservative Party^[5] is a a major British political party that emerged from the old Tory Party under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s. Since the Second World War, it has been in power 1951–64, 1970-74, and 1979–97. It governed in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats from 2010 until the general election of May 2015, in which it was returned with a majority.

hide

3d   So // front is lower than that place (9)

4d   Bring joy to // people finally, pushing up the daisies (5)

5d   Hurtful // piece taken from newspaper (7)

A cutting^[10] (also called, especially in the US and Canada, clipping) is an article, photograph, etc, cut from a newspaper or other publication.

6d   After unfortunate arrest, time // to begin afresh (7)

7d   Judg/ment? (5,8)

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops writes I am underlining nothing here to which Big Dave interjects maybe the question mark should be underlined!.

This is the ideal situation to use a dotted underline. The question mark indicates that the clue exhibits an unusual nature. I would say that this is a sort of "visual" clue along the lines of using the letters OO to clue "spectacles" (or vice versa). In a way, it is similar to a rebus.

Judgment vs. Judgement

In his intro at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops asks Where did the letter E go? to which Big Dave interjects It’s one of those alternative, i.e. US, spellings. Well, perhaps that is too hasty a rush to judgment ... or judgement. Big Dave's statement seems to be backed by Oxford Dictionaries Online which tells us that judgment is an alternative spelling of judgement[5]. According to Oxford, "In British English the normal spelling in general contexts is judgement. However, the spelling judgment is conventional in legal contexts, and in North American English [when Oxford says North American English, it usually means US English]." However, an article on the Grammarist blog sheds a different light on the question of Judgment vs. judgement. In British popular usage, judgment was traditionally the preferred form, but judgement has gained ground over the last couple of centuries and is now nearly as common as judgment. Pay no attention to the myth, widely repeated on the web, that judgement is the original spelling and that judgment is a 19th-century American invention. This is simply untrue ... The Grammarist article links to a graph showing how the frequency of use of the two spelling variants has changed over time. It also links to Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (11th Edition, 1797) which gives the spelling as judgment with no mention of a variant spelling. As is the case with some other variations* between British and American English, it would seem that early colonists brought the then-current British spelling of judgment to the New World. It is the British spelling that has changed over the intervening centuries while Americans kept the original spelling. * for instance, the use of the names fall and autumn for the season of year

8d   Zero call for an end to change, // finally (4,3,3,3)

15d   Very great depth in one, a // nation of old (9)

Abyssinia is the former name for Ethiopia^[5], a country in north-eastern Africa, on the Red Sea. (show more )

Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, having a recorded civilization that dates from the 2nd millennium BC. Little known to Europeans until the late 19th century, it was invaded and conquered by Italy in 1935. The emperor Haile Selassie was restored by the British in 1941 and ruled until overthrown in a Marxist coup in 1974. The subsequent period was marked by civil war, fighting against separatist guerrillas in Eritrea and Tigray, and by repeated famines; after the fall of the government in 1991 a multiparty system was adopted.

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17d   Always busy, // he got on badly (2,3,2)

18d   What politician may do /with/ coarse material on son (7)

19d   Arm // photographer? (7)

20d   Staff after cakes removing lid, /so/ open (7)

Bun^[5] is used in the sense of a small cake, typically containing dried fruit, rather than in the sense of a bread roll.

22d   The mating game? (5)

In chess, mate^[5] (short for checkmate^[5]) is a position in which a player’s king is directly attacked by an opponent’s piece or pawn and has no possible move to escape the check. The attacking player thus wins the game.

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

Monday, November 26, 2018 — DT 28779 (Published Saturday, November 24, 2018)

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28779
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, June 30, 2018
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28779 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28779 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Tilsit (Hints) gnomethang (Review)
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
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review. This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, November 24, 2018 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

Even though I completed the puzzle, I found myself unable to parse 14a — severely hampered by a total lack of knowledge of the British television programme to which it alludes.

Having enjoyed the video of British singer Kirsty MacColl posted by Tilsit in his hints, I researched her tragic death and its aftermath^[7] which proved to be a sickening account of intolerable privilege and injustice even by Mexican standards.

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^*)

---

^* num = numeration

Explanations pertaining to the wordplay (or first definition in a double definition)

(Horizontal separator)

---

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 programmes, 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 straight from a dictionary or at least phrased in a non-misleading fashion) or it may be 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).

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 cryptic definitions 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.

hide explanation

Across

1a   Meant /to get/ lower classes free (10)

The term "lower classes" is a reference to the NRS social grades^[7], a system of demographic classification used in the United Kingdom. The categories were originally developed by the National Readership Survey to classify readers, but are now used by many other organisations for wider applications and have become a standard for market research. They were developed over 50 years ago and achieved widespread usage in 20th Century Britain. The classifications, which are based on the occupation of the head of the household, are shown in the following table.

Grade	Social class	Chief income earner's occupation
A	Upper middle class	Higher managerial, administrative or professional
B	Middle class	Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional
C1	Lower middle class	Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional
C2	Skilled working class	Skilled manual workers
D	Working class	Semi and unskilled manual workers
E	Those at the lowest levels of subsistence	Casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners and others who depend on the welfare state for their income

While I could see that "meant" and "deliberate" could both be synonyms for "intended", it took me a while to come up with a usage example in which the words were interchangeable.

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Deliberate^[5] is used in the sense of done consciously and intentionally ⇒ This perceived insult may not have been deliberate.

6a   Cooker right /to make/ jelly (4)

Cooker^[12] is a British term for a stove used for cooking food. While some dictionaries restrict the term cooker^[5] to only appliances heated by gas or electricity, others extend the term cooker^[10] to also include devices using oil and solid fuel.

The AGA cooker^[7] (trademark) is a high-end gas stove popular in medium to large British country houses — not to mention British crosswords (show more ).

Brits use the term cooker^[10] in the sense that North Americans use the word range, namely a stove used for cooking food. In Britain, the term range^[5] has a much more restricted meaning, being a large cooking stove with burners or hotplates and one or more ovens, all of which are kept continually hot. This latter characteristic ("kept continually hot") seems to be the determining factor in deciding whether or not an appliance is considered to be a range. Thus stoves heated by solid fuel (wood or coal) and oil would almost certainly be ranges while stoves heated by gas or electricity would generally not be ranges (provided that the burners and ovens could be turned off when not in use).

As a heat storage stove, the AGA cooker works on the principle that a heavy frame made from cast iron components can absorb heat from a relatively low-intensity but continuously-burning source, and the accumulated heat can then be used when needed for cooking. Thus it is considered to be a gas burning range in Britain.

Its popularity in certain parts of English society (owners of medium to large country houses) led to the coining of the term "AGA Saga" in the 1990s, referring to a genre of fiction set amongst stereotypical upper-middle-class society.

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Agar^[5] (also called agar-agar) is a gelatinous substance obtained from certain red seaweeds and used in biological culture media and as a thickener in foods.

9a   Prospect /of/ time filling in travel document (5)

The word "of" is used as a link word between the definition and wordplay. (show explanation )

When used as a link word, "of" denotes that the definition is formed from the constituent parts found in the wordplay.

This is based on the preposition of^[5] denoting the material or substance constituting something ⇒ (i) the house was built of bricks; (ii) walls of stone.

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10a   Rails bearing one by top of stairs? (9)

This is what is known technically as an &lit. clue^[7] (or, less technically, as an all-in-one clue). The entire clue — under different interpretations — provides both the wordplay and the definition.

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The clue relies on a meaning for rail^[1] that I was able to find nowhere other than The Chambers Dictionary:

rail² verb, intransitive to scoff; to use vigourously or mockingly reproachful language; to banter; to revile (usually with at or against)

As an initial letter indicator, top^[10] is used in the sense of beginning ⇒ (i) the top of the hour; (ii) at the top of the programme; (iii) let's run through the piece once more time from the top.

12a   Garden role not adapted /by/ urban area (7,6)

The word "by" is used as a link word  between the wordplay and definition (show explanation )

I can see a couple of possible explanations for the use of the word "by" as a link word.

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By^[5] might be indicating a term to which an interpretation is to be assigned ⇒ what is meant by ‘fair’?

In this case, depending on the order in which the definition and wordplay appear in the clue, the structure of the clue could be generallized as either:

• {The solution given by the definition} is an interpretation of {the wordplay}
• {The wordplay} is an interpretation of {the solution given by the definition}

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Alternatively, by^[5] could be indicating the means of achieving something ⇒ malaria can be controlled by attacking the parasite.

In this case, the structure of the clue could be generallized as either:

• {The solution given by the definition} is a means of achieving {the wordplay}" 
• {The wordplay} is a means of achieving {the solution given by the definition}"

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Greater London^[5] is a metropolitan area comprising central London and the surrounding regions. It is divided administratively into the City of London^*, thirteen inner London boroughs, and twenty outer London boroughs.

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^* not to be confused with the "city of London" (show explanation )

The City of London^[7] is a city and ceremonial county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, but the conurbation has since grown far beyond the City's borders. The City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. It is one of two districts of London to hold city status, the other being the adjacent City of Westminster.

It is widely referred to simply as the City (often written as just "City" and differentiated from the phrase "the city of London" by capitalising "City") and is also colloquially known as the Square Mile, as it is 1.12 sq mi (2.90 km²), in area. Both of these terms are also often used as metonyms for the United Kingdom's trading and financial services industries, which continue a notable history of being largely based in the City. This is analogous to the use of the terms Wall Street and Bay Street to refer to the financial institutions located in New York and Toronto respectively.

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14a   Pointless friend losing head and gathering speed /for/ Armstrong, perhaps? (8)

This clue certainly adheres to the principles of the obscure (to a North American audience) television show to which it alludes.

Pointless^[7] is a quiz show that has aired on the BBC since 2009. The object of the game is for contestants not only to provide correct answers, but also provide the most obscure possible correct answers. A high score (to a maximum of 100 points) is awarded for well-known answers and a low score for obscure answers. The team with the lowest score is the winner. The maximum score of 100 points is also awarded for an incorrect answer.

The main presenter [principal host] of the programme is British comedian Alexander Armstrong^[7] and the co-presenter (who one might consider to be a sidekick or friend) is the show's creator, Richard Osman^[7].

The name Armstrong juxtaposed with the name of the televison programme would likely be meaningful to British solvers but is certainly obscure to the nth degree on this side of the pond.

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Neil Armstrong^[5] (1930–2012) was an American astronaut. He commanded the Apollo 11 mission, during which he became the first man to set foot on the moon (20 July 1969).

15a   Remained // sober as reported (6)

17a   Residential area // as far as the outskirts of Wigan (6)

Uptown^[5] is a North American term for the residential area of a town or city ⇒ (i) Cambridge's uptown; (ii) [as a modifier] uptown Manhattan.

Scratching the Surface
Wigan[5] is a town and metropolitan district in north-western England, near Manchester.

19a   Mother crossing on old airline /gets/ night light (8)

Mom^[2,10] is a mainly US and Canadian^* informal word for mother. The usual British spelling would be mum^[5].

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^* On the other hand, Oxford Dictionaries declares mom^[5] to be a British and North American informal or dialect word for one's mother.

BEA^[5] is the abbreviation for British European Airways^[7], a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974.

21a   Avant-garde recordings // could be so ... um ... eccentric (8,5)

Concrete music^[5] is another term for musique concrète^[5], music constructed by mixing recorded sounds, first developed by experimental composers in the 1940s.

I think it should be obvious to readers that gnomethang, in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, has mistakenly used ERRATIC where he should have used ECCENTRIC.

24a   Old fusspot forgetting answer -- that is coming in // handy (9)

25a   In agreement // to make amends (5)

26a   Number // regularly found in Indian tea (4)

27a   Throws away meal given king -- // not the finest cut of meat (5,5)

Tea may be a meal as well as a drink, especially in Britain. (more )

The British distinguish between afternoon tea and high tea, although both may be referred to simply as tea^[10]. Afternoon tea^[2,5,7,10] (or low tea) is a light afternoon meal, typically eaten between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm, at which tea, sandwiches, biscuits [British term for cookies or crackers] and cakes are served.

High tea^[7] (also known as meat tea) is the evening meal or dinner of the working class, typically eaten between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm. It typically consists of a hot dish such as fish and chips, shepherd's pie, or macaroni cheese [macaroni and cheese to North Americans], followed by cakes and bread, butter and jam. Occasionally there would be cold cuts of meat, such as ham salad. Traditionally high tea was eaten by middle to upper class children (whose parents would have a more formal dinner later) or by labourers, miners and the like when they came home from work. The term was first used around 1825 and high is used in the sense of well-advanced (like high noon, for example) to signify that it was taken later in the day.

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"king" = K (show explanation )

K^[5] is an abbreviation for king that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.

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Chuck steak^[10] is another name for chuck^[5], a cut of beef that extends from the neck to the ribs, typically used for stewing.

Down

1d   Female captivates very // peaceful type (4)

"very" = V (show explanation )

The abbreviation v (or v.)^[1,2,5,10] stands for very. Although this definition is found in most of my British dictionaries, it does not appear in any of my American dictionaries. Unfortunately no explanation is given as to the specific context in which one might encounter this usage. The only possibility that I can imagine is when combined with G as a grade of VG (very good) on school tests or assignments.

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2d   Rang a salad bar up reserving // pasta dish (7)

The solution is hidden (reserving) and reversed (up; in a down clue) in "rANG A SALad bar". Even though the hidden word does not actually extend into the word "bar", its use in the clue is permissible as the term "salad bar" functions as an entity.

Should you peruse the comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, you will see at least one remark  concerning the spelling of lasagna. It would seem that lasagne is the preferred British spelling^* of the Italian dish that, in North America, is more apt to be spelled lasagna. Of course, in Italy, lasagna is the plural of lasagne^[8].

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^* In Britain, lasagna is an alternative spelling of lasagne^[4] while, in North America, lasagne is an alternative spelling of  lasagna^[3].

3d   British hail American // dystopian novel (5,3,5)

Ave^[5] is a literary term used to express good wishes on meeting or parting.

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Brave New World^[7] is a novel written in 1931 by English author Aldous Huxley (1894–1963), and published in 1932. Set in London in the year AD 2540 (632 A.F.—"After Ford"—in the book), the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning that are combined to profoundly change society.

4d   Subject of jokes in actual // denial (8)

5d   Singer /from/ English National Opera visiting Turkey (5)

English National Opera^[7] (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Turkey is TR^[5].

7d   When weather is miserable // it sounds first-class (4,3)

8d   Rebellion lacking enthusiasm /for/ old comedy programme (6,4)

Damp^[11] is used in the sense of unenthusiastic, dejected, or depressed ⇒ a rather damp reception.

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Rising Damp^*[7] is a British sitcom originally broadcast from 1974 to 1978. The programme revolves around a miserly, seedy, and ludicrously self-regarding landlord of a run-down Victorian townhouse who rents out his shabby bedsits to a variety of tenants.

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^* Rising damp^[5] is a British term for moisture absorbed from the ground into a wall ⇒ he is looking at ways to halt rising damp.

11d   Filming top actors -- // they have meteoric careers (8,5)

In the cryptic definition, career^[10] is used in the sense of a course or path, especially a swift or headlong one.

13d   Shield // wounded guerrilla imprisoned by flipping beak (10)

"guerrilla" = CHE (show explanation )

Che Guevara^[7] (1928–1967) was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture.

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16d   Company brought up articles about // improving superficial appearance (8)

18d   Camping equipment -- // something to bowl at, taking wicket ultimately (4,3)

A tenpin^[10] is one of the pins used in tenpin bowling.

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Tent pin^[1] is another name for tent peg.

Scratching the Surface
The surface reading of the latter part of the clue is intended to suggest cricket where the phrase take a wicket[5] means to dismiss a batsman which could be accomplished, for example, by bowling a ball past the batsman and knocking down the wicket.

20d   Surround // space nearby (7)

In printing, the en^[5] is a unit of measurement equal to half an em and approximately the average width of typeset characters, used especially for estimating the total amount of space a text will require.

22d   Support article that's reduced // effective powers (5)

In golf, tee^[5] can denote either:

• a cleared space on a golf course, from which the ball is struck at the beginning of play for each hole
• a small peg with a concave head which can be placed in the ground to support a golf ball before it is struck from a tee

23d   Stupid person // preserved beef (4)

According to Collins English Dictionary, jerk^[10] is mainly US and Canadian slang for a person regarded with contempt, especially a stupid or ignorant person. However, if I were to write the definition, I would say that a jerk is a rude and inconsiderate person, especially one who deliberately acts in such a manner.

Jerk^[10] is another name for jerky.

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