Sunday, July 24, 2011 - ST 4438

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4438
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, June 19, 2011
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4438]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, July 16, 2011

Introduction

I found this puzzle to be a bit more difficult than usual and needed electronic help to solve the last three clues (2d, 25a, and 26a). On the first, I often have difficulty when the clue calls for a random name and I never got past thinking of tenor in its musical sense.

Today's Glossary

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

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the National Post Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

keep - noun 3 the strongest or central tower of a castle, acting as a final refuge.

Appearing in Solutions

Dogs of war - a phrase from Act 3, Scene 1, line 273 of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war".

Stockton-on-Tees - a market town in North East England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority area and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. ... Stockton Castle is first referred to in 1376. It was captured by the Scots in 1644 and was occupied by them until 1646, but was destroyed on the orders of Oliver Cromwell at the end of the Civil War. There is now a shopping centre, called the Castlegate Centre, where the original castle stood.

stay² - [American Heritage Dictionary] noun 2. A strip of bone, plastic, or metal, used to stiffen a garment or part, such as a corset or shirt collar. 3. stays A corset.

Weston-super-Mare - a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, 18 miles (29 km) south west of Bristol.

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.

25a   Yen to drop old-fashioned underwear is leading to arrest (6)

I hate this clue construction in which (as I interpret it) there is an implied 'from' to make the clue read "Yen to drop [from] old-fashioned underwear is leading to arrest". The "old-fashioned underwear" is STAYS (a type of corset) from which we drop Y (yen) and then add IS (included in the clue) to get (leading to) STASIS (arrest). I was familiar with a stay being a strip of bone to stiffen a corset but did not know that a stays is a corset.

5d   Idiot crowding round interior of broken convertible? (6-2)

I looked in vain for a definition here, finally concluding that the clue must be intended to be a & lit. This supposition is confirmed by the banter on Times for the Times. The entire clue serves as the definition, describing someone who seems to be brazenly gawking at an automobile accident, for which the solution is LOOKER-ON. The entire clue (read another way) also serves as the wordplay, and is LOON (idiot) containing (crowding round) {an anagram (convertible) of the "interior [letters] of bROKEn"}.

Signing off for this week - Falcon