Sunday, December 19, 2010

Sunday, December 19, 2010 (ST 4407)

The Sunday London Times Puzzle Number
ST 4407
Publication Date in The Sunday London Times
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Link to Full Review
Times for the Times [ST 4407]
Times for the Times Review Written By
Talbinho

Introduction

I needed quite a bit of assistance from my Tool Chest to complete this puzzle, as well as help from Talbinho's review to understand the wordplay in several clues (in particular 20a, 22a, 17d and the Briticism at 30a).

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Clues

boozer - noun British informal a pub or bar.

Cobweb - a fairy, servant to Titania (Queen of the Fairies) in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.

rum2 - adjective British informal , dated odd; peculiar: it's a rum business, certainly.

Appearing in Solutions

Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40 AD – 93 AD) - Roman general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain.

fairy lights - noun British small coloured electric lights used for decoration, especially at festivals such as Christmas.

fly3 - adjective informal
  1. British knowing and clever: she's fly enough not to get tricked out of it
  2. North American fashionably attractive and impressive: a fly dude
I'm afraid that I am unfamiliar with the North American meaning, let alone the British one.
light1 - noun 8 British (in a crossword puzzle) a blank space to be filled by a letter.

local - noun British informal a pub convenient to a person's home: a pint in the local.

mere2 - [Collins English Dictionary] noun 1. Dialect or archaic a lake or marsh.
Ottawa residents will likely be acquainted with this term from Kingsmere, the estate of former Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, in Gatineau Park.
Plumbago - a genus of 10-20 species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. Common names include plumbago and leadwort (names which are also shared by the genus Ceratostigma).

pp - abbreviation 3 music pianissimo, adverb performed very softly; adjective very soft.

RA - abbreviation [3rd entry] (in the UK) Royal Academician, a member of the Royal Academy of Arts.
Royal Academy of Arts (also Royal Academy) - an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose was to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain. Sir Joshua Reynolds was its first president and he instituted a highly influential series of annual lectures.
RU - abbreviation 2 Rugby Union.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the full review at Times for the Times, to which a link is provided in the table above.

5a On the way back toboggan's speed is out of control (8)

"On" is a very multi-talented word. As a charade indicator, it may mean either 'before' or 'after' (which may vary depending on whether we are dealing with an across or a down clue). It can also serve as a containment indicator. However, in this clue it is used as part of a reversal indicator.

I believe the definition to be "control" (verb), and the solution REGULATE, making the wordplay a reversal (on the way back) of LUGE (toboggan, a definition open to debate) contained in (has ... is out of) RATE (speed). As does Talbinho, I am presuming that the 's (apostrophe-s) stands for 'has' in this clue. The containment indicator would seem to be a bit awkward, but I can't really see any other possibility. Unless I am misinterpreting his words, Talbinho's explanation would seem to imply that he regards the definition as being "out of control" ('Reversed LUGE has RATE is {definition}'). But I don't believe "out of control" could possibly be the definition for REGULATE.

9a Decorative twinkler or a clue for Cobweb? (5,5)

I'm afraid that my knowledge of Shakespeare is not what it might be. Thus I needed to do some research to figure out who Cobweb is. My search initially took me down some wrong - though rather interesting - back alleys. The first character that I encountered was an American comic book heroine named the Cobweb who is described thus:
Cobweb's only apparent powers were allure and the ability to make an entrance. ... Artist [Melinda] Gebbie's deep background in feminist erotica showed in the depiction of the Cobweb, whose costume consisted of pulled-back 1940s-style hair, a domino mask, a diaphanous purple nighty, garters and, apparently, no panties. Her sidekick and lesbian lover, Clarice, was a leggy blonde in skimpy chauffeur's outfit, also with domino mask.
Eventually, I was to discover that the Cobweb referred to in the clue is a fairy character in Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. In Britain, Christmas lights are called fairy lights.

Talbinho ponders whether the word 'light' in the solution refers to crossword puzzle terminology ("... a 'light' in a crossword means an entry in the grid, hence 'clue for Cobweb?'"). However, I find this a bit difficult to accept, since a light is a blank cell in a crossword grid (which consists of light cells and dark cells) in which a letter of the solution (not the clue) is entered. If not as explained by Talbinho, perhaps light is somehow related to the following meaning:
light1 - noun 3 understanding of a problem or mystery; enlightenment: she saw light dawn on the woman's face
16a From cacti Ron produced funny drug (8)

Here the definition is "funny drug" alluding to the substance in question being an illegal drug.

20a Gentle 21 - no way! (6)

I needed help from Talbinho here. The definition is "gentle", with the solution being TENDER. The wordplay is NURSERY (the solution to 21d, as indicated by the cross reference 21) with the final RY removed (no way). Here, way is used in the sense of 'a transportation route'; more specifically, a railway (abbreviation Ry).

22a Tumbledown with damage to the rear and hair back to front (10).

Perhaps I just did not put enough thought into this clue, but once again I had to rely on Talbinho to explain the wordplay. The definition is "tumbledown" with the solution being RAMSHACKLE. The wordplay is a two-part charade where the first part is a reversal (to the rear) of MAR (damage), and the second part is HACKLES (hair) with the final (back) letter (S) moved to the beginning (front).

2d At heart of trial judge is enraged (5)

Talbinho does not like the construction of this clue ("either 'At' or 'is' needs to go"). However, if one interprets "at" as a charade indicator in the sense of 'beside' or 'next to' (at - preposition 4 with, by, beside, next to, etc), the clue is saying "Beside I (heart of trial) RATE (judge) is IRATE (enraged)" which seems okay in my books.

17d Element of symbolically backing biblical city (9)

Yet again, I needed Talbinho's explanation of the wordplay. One commenter on Times for the Times opines "the clue itself is hard to parse; why the 'of'?" My sentiments precisely. Strike out the "of" and the clue probably makes more sense. The clue is a cryptic way of saying "Element whose chemical symbol reversed is a biblical city".

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Sunday, December 12, 2010 (ST 4406)

The Sunday London Times Puzzle Number
ST 4406
Publication Date in The Sunday London Times
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Link to Full Review
Times for the Times [ST 4406]
Times for the Times Review Written By
Talbinho

Introduction

A relatively less difficult puzzle today, in that I was able to complete it without electronic aids. As often is the case, there are some questionable clues in today's puzzle. Not out-and-out errors; just poorly crafted clues. Talbinho discusses several of these in his review.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Solutions

hurling - noun an Irish game resembling [field] hockey, played with a shorter stick with a broader oval blade. It is the national game of Ireland and may date back to the 2nd millennium BC.

steam radio - noun chiefly UK, informal radio, as opposed to television; a radio set, especially an old fashioned one; a radio broadcast.
The expression steam radio is apparently based on the belief, widespread at the advent of television, that radio would be displaced by the new medium just as steam locomotives had been obsoleted by diesel locomotives.
Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the full review at Times for the Times, to which a link is provided in the table above.

1d Strike a questioning attitude (4)

Talbinho attempts to analyze this clue as if it were a double definition, with self-professed unsatisfying results. I had supposed it to be a cryptic definition, where "to strike an attitude" is to pose and the insertion of the adjective "questioning" plays on another sense of the word, namely "to pose a question".

13d Old medium-wave broadcast during asteroid storm (5,5)

This is another clue where one cannot be too rigorous about the parsing. What we know for sure is that the solution is STEAM RADIO, a British expression alluding to the belief that radio would be displaced by television, just as steam locomotives were displaced by diesel locomotives. Apparently, in addition to this instance, "steam" is used in other British expressions to denote "old-fashioned". Thus "old" could be STEAM and "medium-wave broadcast" could be radio. However, this seemingly can't be the case, as the wordplay must be AM (medium-wave broadcast) contained in (during) an anagram (storm) of ASTEROID. This would seem to leave the word "old" alone to be the definition for STEAM RADIO - an implausible idea. Moreover, the clue doesn't appear to work as either a cryptic definition or an & lit. clue. So I think we just have to accept it as a poorly crafted clue.

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Sunday, December 5, 2010 (ST 4405)

The Sunday London Times Puzzle Number
ST 4405
Publication Date in The Sunday London Times
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Link to Full Review
Times for the Times [ST 4405]
Times for the Times Review Written By
Talbinho

Introduction

Even once I had all the correct solutions entered in the grid, I remained puzzled as to the wordplay in a few clues. As always, I was able to find the answer at Times for the Times.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Clues

corporation - noun 3 dated , humorous a paunch

David Ellis - this may be an invented name; although Wikipedia provides a half dozen possible candidates, they seem far too obscure to be the person to whom the clue refers.

Sir Winston Churchill - British painter, perhaps better known as the Prime Minister who led Britain through World War II

express 1 - verb 2 press out (liquid or air)

poll - noun 4 old use the head

time - noun 2 British the moment at which the opening hours of a pub end: the landlord called time

Appearing in Solutions

decree nisi (from the Latin nisi, meaning "unless") - a court order that does not have any force until such time that a particular condition is met, such as a subsequent petition to the court or the passage of a specified period of time
This form of ruling has become a rarity in recent times, with one exception: in some jurisdictions it is still a standard stage of divorce proceedings. In England and Wales, section 1(5) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 provides that "Every decree of divorce shall in the first instance be a decree nisi and shall not be made absolute before the expiration of six months from its grant", and section 9(1) allows any person (including the Queen's Proctor), before the decree is made absolute, to "show cause why the decree should not be made absolute by reason of material facts not having been brought before the court".
don 1 - noun 1 British a university teacher, especially a senior member of a college at Oxford or Cambridge

fell 3 - noun a hill or stretch of high moorland, especially in northern England

fell running - also known as mountain running and hill running, the sport of running and racing, off road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty

Huntingdon - a market town in the county of Cambridgeshire in East Anglia, England

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the full review at Times for the Times, to which a link is provided in the table above.

1a Having more than enough of a corporation? (8)

I could understand Canadians and Americans having enough of Bell (the name of large telecommunication companies in both countries), but the Brits! As best as I could discover, the Bell name has never been used extensively in Britain - certainly not like it is in North America. In the clue, however, "corporation" has nothing (aside from the surface reading) to do with the name of a company. It is slang for a potbelly. Apparently, the term is not even specifically British - just old-fashioned.

9a Express poll, support unchanged (2,2)

I must confess that I failed to see the wordplay in this clue - but, then again, it was a mystery to Talbinho as well. A visitor to Times for the Times explains it as:"express (to force out or emit) poll (head) of basis (support) = as is (not changed)".

2d Trip to Danube beginning in Strasbourg is this (9)

I missed the anagram here, supposing the clue to be a cryptic definition (which hardly seemed cryptic). This is, in fact, a semi & lit. (or all-in-one) clue. The entire clue provides the definition. The wordplay is an anagram (trip, likely in the sense of 'to dance') of {TO DANUBE + S (beginning of Strasbourg)} giving EASTBOUND.

Signing off for this week - Falcon