Sunday, June 6, 2010 (ST 4379)

This puzzle was originally published in The Sunday London Times on May 2, 2010

Introduction

I found today's puzzle to be not too difficult, and was able to complete almost all of it before hauling out the Tool Chest. However, I did miss the wordplay on one clue.

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in Clues

do¹ - verb 14 colloq to cheat someone

rum - adjective Brit. informal, dated odd; peculiar

Appearing in Solutions

banshee - noun (in Irish legend) a female spirit whose wailing warns of a death in a house

boloney - alternate spelling of baloney

cakehole - noun Brit. informal a person’s mouth

ice tea - according to Wikipedia, a corruption of iced tea

Links to Solutions

A review of today's puzzle by talbinho can be found at Times for the Times [ST 4379].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

14a ... and one at church leaves cold drink (3,3)

Judging by talbinho's comments, the ellipsis was missing from the puzzle published in the online version of The Sunday London Times. The inclusion of the ellipsis is meant to indicate that clues 13a and 14a are linked. I thought perhaps that the pronoun "one" was referring back to the previous clue, and that the second clue therefore should be interpreted as either "a Conservative at church ..." or even possibly as "an Archdeacon at church ...". However, I think that neither of these postulates is true. The two clues would appear to stand alone without any additional information provided by linking them. The only connection that I can see between them is that the first clue mentions "Archdeacon" and the second mentions "church", and that mere fact alone must have seemed sufficient in the mind of the setter to create a link between the clues.

On the other hand, perhaps the ellipsis in 14a is alluding to the fact that it is a charade type clue (the solution to 13a being CHARADES)!

1d This classification protects mole finally threatened (3-6)

Although I managed to obtain the correct solution, the wordplay eluded me as I missed seeing the anagram.

5d Drunk man goes to leading expert in private (8)

The wordplay seems to be {SOT (drunk) + ERIC (man)} attached to (goes to; in this case, following) E (leading expert; i.e., the initial letter in the word "expert") which makes E + SOT + ERIC or ESOTERIC. The definition must therefore be "in private" (or merely "private", if "in" is considered to be a link word between the wordplay and the definition). Chambers has esoteric meaning "understood only by those few people who have the necessary special knowledge; secret or mysterious" and private as "kept secret from others; confidential". Methinks there is a difference between esoteric and confidential, but who am I to quibble with the setter.

On the other hand, if I were to plant my tongue firmly in my cheek, I might suggest that this is an &lit. (all in one) clue with the reading of the full clue providing a definition by example of the term "esoteric".

12d Fast winger starts to order some truffles with lots of bread (7)

This winger may be fast, but it definitely won't fly.

Signing off for this week - Falcon