Introduction
Although it took me some time to find a starting point, having finally gained a foothold, the solution to the puzzle unfurled fairly smoothly.
Today's Glossary
Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle
Appearing in Clues
kit1 - noun 2 British the clothing used for an activity such as a sport: a football kit.
rota - noun 1 British a list showing when each of a number of people has to do a particular job: a cleaning rota.
Appearing in Solutions
Banco - another name for the parlor game, Bunco. [Note: this definition appears on the Wikipedia disambiguation page but not in the article itself.]
dehisce - verb [no object] technical (of a pod or seed vessel, or a cut or wound) gape or burst open.
escallop - noun 2 another term for scallop (sense 2 of the noun)
- scallop - noun 2 (usually scallops) each of a series of convex rounded projections forming an ornamental edging cut in material or worked in lace or knitting in imitation of the edge of a scallop shell.
red rag (as in the expression a red rag to a bull) - an object, utterance, or act which is certain to provoke someone: the refusal to discuss the central issue was like a red rag to a bull.
trestle - noun short for trestle table, a table consisting of a board or boards laid on trestles.
twinset - noun chiefly British a woman's matching cardigan and jumper.
Victoria plum - noun British a plum of a large red dessert variety.
Links to Solutions
A review of today's puzzle by talbinho can be found at Times for the Times [ST 4392].
It seems that talbinho is in a rather testy mood today, finding much fault with the puzzle. While I certainly took issue with some aspects of the puzzle myself, I did think he might have been a bit harsh in some of his criticisms. I rather liked the mirrored pairing of 14a and 16d (with their mutual cross-references) for which he commented that "[16d is] not great: this is essentially the same clue as 14ac". On the other hand, he is right on target in most of his comments. If nothing else, this puzzle generated more comment on Times for the Times than I have seen in quite some time.
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
1a Softwood tradesperson (7)
The definition is "tradesperson" who happens to be a PLUMBER. The wordplay is P (soft; from the musical direction piano, denoting a soft or quiet musical passage) + LUMBER (wood).
I was surprised to see lumber used to mean "wood", as Oxford shows this as a North American meaning. In Britain, according to Oxford, lumber means "articles of furniture or other household items that are no longer useful and inconveniently take up storage space". Is this evidence of North American usage creeping into Britain?
14a Youngster keen to be prepared could be going on sixteen (3,5)
In this clue, the word "sixteen" is a cross-reference to clue 16d. While the word has the sense of "sixteen years of age" in the surface reading, it must be replaced by the solution to clue 16d for the cryptic analysis, giving "Youngster keen to be prepared could be going on JAMBOREE". The the clue is a cryptic definition of a BOY SCOUT, someone whose motto is "Be prepared" and who might eagerly anticipate attending a jamboree, a large gathering of Scouts who rally at a national or international level.
In cross-reference clues such as this, it has been my experience that it is more common for the number to appear as a numeral rather than be spelled out, as here. However, this just proves that we solvers must be prepared for whatever setters throw at us. [Note: Peter Biddlecombe, in a comment on Times for the Times, suggests that spelling out the word is a work around necessitated by a deficiency (bug) in the software used by the Times for their online version.]
25a Model heard to struggle with folding table? (7)
The model is one produced by Henry Ford, the Model T as it turns out. The definition is "folding table" and the wordplay is T (model) + RESTLE {sounds like (heard) WRESTLE (to struggle)} resulting in the solution TRESTLE. Apparently a trestle (trestle table) can be folded - or, at least, the setter seems to think so. Given that it would appear to be merely some boards laid across a pair of trestles, I have to wonder how one would fold it! Perhaps the meaning of the term has been expanded to include some type of folding table.
5d Rotten scale cut off seafood (8)
The definition is "seafood" and the wordplay is ESCAL {an anagram (rotten) of SCALE} + LOP (cut off) with the solution being ESCALLOP. However, according to Oxford, escallop is a synonym for scallop only in the sense of "an ornamental edging" and not when used to mean "seafood".
6d Soft edge on girl's bloomers (9)
I played with this clue for a long time - and it brought a smile when the penny finally dropped. The word "bloomer" can have several meanings in Britain. In addition to a lady's undergarment, it can be a stupid mistake or a loaf of bread. However, today it is a flowering plant.
8d Kit worn to match cause of test win dispute (7)
The surface reading is all about cricket with "kit" being the British term for team uniform, "match" being the cricket game, and "test" (short for "test match") being "an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries". However, the cryptic reading seems to have little to do with cricket. "Kit" would appear to be a British term for clothing, in general. Although neither Oxford nor Chambers give this definition explicitly, it is implicit in the expression "get one's kit off" which Chambers deliciously defines as "slang to remove one's clothes, especially prior to sexual intercourse". Thus the definition is "kit worn to match" or TWINSET (a woman's matching cardigan and jumper) and the wordplay is an anagram (dispute) of TEST WIN.
As for the words "cause of", I would consider them to be link words between the definition and wordplay. Link words are words or expressions that convey either the idea of equality between the definition and wordplay (e.g., the clue takes the form 'definition' is 'wordplay') or the idea of causality, that executing the wordplay produces the definition, (e.g., the clue takes the form 'wordplay' makes 'definition'). The equality or causality may be expressed in either direction (i.e., it may appear as either 'definition' is 'wordplay' or 'wordplay' is 'definition'). Link words expressing equality may be words and expressions such as is, equals, is equivalent to, while examples of those expressing causality are makes, creates, produces, happens, arrives (see 20d).
16d Spree where lad of 14 meets more troops? (8)
Turnabout being fair play, this clue cross-references clue 14a. Again, in the surface reading, the number suggests "14 years of age" but in the cryptic reading "lad of 14" is the BOY SCOUT from clue 14a. Thus, the clue is interpreted as "Spree where BOY SCOUT meets more troops?", a cryptic definition for JAMBOREE, a rally where members of many scout troops gather.
In this clue, note that the setter has chosen to display the number as a numeral.
20d Change rota as vessels arrive (6)
The definition is "vessels" (in this case, blood vessels) and the wordplay is an anagram (change) of ROTA AS producing the solution AORTAS. What role does the word "arrive" play? I had to think about this question long and hard before concluding that one must interpret "arrive" in the sense of "happen". If one does so, and adds a bit of extra punctuation (which is often a requirement in the cryptic reading of clues), the result is "Change rota as, vessels happen". In other words, if one changes the order of the letters in ROTA AS, one gets a word meaning "vessels". Note that, due to the inverted word order in the clue, the link word "arrive" actually appears at the end of the clue with the definition in the middle (the latter, while typically frowned on in American puzzles, is considered permissible in British puzzles).
Signing off for this week - Falcon
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