Links to solutions:
A full review of today's puzzle is available on Times for the Times [ST 4327].
A couple of the clues are addressed on the Saturday Star Cryptic Forum [ST 4327].
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
It was gratifying to see that many of the reservations that I had concerning this puzzle were also raised by talbinho in his Times for the Times post:
- the seemingly extraneous "during" appearing in 1ac
- the wording of 4d
- the use of "fruit" as an anagram indicator in 17d
- the wording of 24d
25ac Sudden inspiration doesn't start in bad weather (9)
Sudden inspiration [BRAINSTORM] doesn't start [-B] → RAINSTORM
bad weather → RAINSTORM
It seems to me that the word "in" is being employed here to represent equality (rather than inclusion) - which does not sound entirely right to my ear.
Having studied mathematics, I know a mathematician would handle this situation by defining the set of all subsets of the entity RAINSTORM to include the entity itself. Having done so, RAINSTORM is "in" RAINSTORM from this mathematical perspective. [Mathematicians - not unlike cryptic crossword setters - are quite adept at defining things to suit their purposes.]
However, I am wondering if there is a linguistic explanation as to why RAINSTORM is "in" RAINSTORM.
A True British Experience - Warts and All
Those of us on this side of the Atlantic now have convincing evidence that we are, indeed, enjoying an authentic British experience with The Sunday London Times cryptic crossword. It seems that, despite appearing here six weeks following its publication in Britain, The London Sunday Times syndicates the exact puzzle that appeared in the paper's U.K. print edition - right down to the errors. The solution to today's puzzle printed in the Citizen indicates that the solution to 22d is PIGOUT - the very same error that a correspondent on Times for the Times reported as having appeared in the print edition of The Sunday London Times.
Signing off for this week - Falcon
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