Sunday, July 11, 2010 (ST 4384)

This puzzle was originally published in The Sunday London Times on June 6, 2010

Introduction

It is summer and, here in Ottawa, it seems like the first decent one in three years. There are so many wonderful things that one can be doing, it is hard to fit them all in, which has reduced the time available to work on crossword puzzles. Consequently, I sometimes find myself running late in getting posts to my blog. Time would not be such a problem if I could finish puzzles in under ten minutes like the Brits. However, I need at least an hour or two. Perhaps, with more practice I can aspire to achieve such incredible solving times.

Error in Today's Puzzle

18d Keep finding alien in the showers (7)

There is a minor error in the clue, which has been carried forward from its appearance in the U.K. The word "keep" should be replaced by "keeps", as follows:

18d Keeps finding alien in the showers (7)

Today's Glossary

con⁵ -verb [with object] archaic study attentively or learn by heart (a piece of writing): the girls conned their pages with a great show of industry.

glutton² - noun a wolverine.

harebell -noun a widely distributed bellflower with slender stems and pale blue flowers in late summer. Also called bluebell, especially in Scotland.

lob - noun another name for a pollock or pollack.

lobworm - noun a lugworm, a large marine worm which burrows in the sand and soft earth on sea-shores and river estuaries and which is often used as fishing bait.

Matilda² - [American Heritage Dictionary] noun Australian The pack or bundle containing the personal belongings of a swagman; a swag.

newsmonger - [Collins English Dictionary] noun Old-fashioned a gossip.

tie-break (or tie-breaker) - noun an extra game, series of games or question that decides which of the competitors or teams is to win a match which has ended in a draw. [Note: the tie-break version is new to me, having always heard it as tie-breaker]

Links to Solutions

A review of today's puzzle by talbinho can be found at Times for the Times [ST 4384].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

11a Large flyer needing entrance, we hear, to study (6)

The definition is "large flyer" for which the solution is CONDOR. The wordplay elements in this charade type clue are DOR (entrance, we hear; sounds like DOOR) and CON (study). I believe that the word "to" is being used in the sense of "in contact with" as in the well-known phrases "shoulder to the wheel" and "nose to the grindstone". Thus "DOR to CON" could mean "DOR in contact with CON", which seemingly could be either DORCON or CONDOR. Perhaps there is a convention concerning the charade indicator "to" similar to the one for "on" that establishes that in an across clue "X on Y" always implies YX.

My initial interpretation had been that we might be expected to read "entrance to study" as "con door" (similar to "entrance to kitchen" being "kitchen door"). However, as con is a verb (rather than a noun) this construction does not seem very plausible.

16a Roofless dwelling by river (4)

The definition is "river" and the river we are seeking is the OUSE, which is also a "roofless dwelling" - HOUSE with the first letter deleted. I thought that this would have worked far better as a down clue.

27a Poles supporting pipe when icebound, sway (9)

The definition is "sway" with the solution being INFLUENCE. The poles are both N (north), rather than a north and a south. This is a container within a container type of clue. First we put FLUE (pipe) inside the two poles [N(FLUE)N] and then put the result inside ICE (it being icebound) to obtain I(N(FLUE)N)CE. In his review talbinho wonders "how does 'X supporting Y' mean 'X around Y'?". I believe that the answer is that we actually have N plus N supporting Y. I can certainly accept that a pipe might well be supported by a pole at either end.

28a Appease with second small return after taxes (7)

Of course, talbinho's comment should read "rev. of NET" (rather than "rev. of TEN") where "return" is the reversal indicator and "after taxes" is NET.

3d Bait supplied when a Frenchman rows out after pollock (8)

The definition is "bait" for which the solution is LOBWORMS. The wordplay is an anagram (out) of {M (a Frenchman; i.e., monsieur) + ROWS} following (after) LOB (pollock).

According to Webster, lob is an English name for either of two species of fish. One is Pollachius carbonarius, a marine gadoid fish native both to European and American coasts. Seemingly known as the pollock in North America, in England it is called coalfish, lob, podley, podling, pollack, etc. The second is Pollachius virens, or pollack, a marine gadoid food fish of Europe that is also known as greenfish, greenling, lait, leet, lob, lythe, and whiting pollack.

However, according to Oxford pollock and pollack are names for yet another fish, namely Pollachius pollachius.

Not really caring to pursue this matter further, I will leave it to the reader to sort out their pollocks from their pollacks.

5d At home, compelling attendance in Sunday School creates rebels (10)

In his review, talbinho states that "URGENT (= 'compelling attendance')" and he has "in" as the containment indicator. I would interpret the wordplay in this clue in a slightly different manner, with URGENT = compelling and "attendance in" serving as the containment indicator.

24d In a state secret? (5)

As usual, I failed to see the wordplay in this homophone (sounds like) clue that plays on the fact that Brits (or at least some of them) pronounce "a" as "er". The definition is "secret" having the solution INNER. In the wordplay, we have IN + ER (a state; i.e., "a" sounds like (state) ER).

Signing off for this week - Falcon