Sunday, August 7, 2011 - ST 4440

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4440
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, July 3, 2011
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4440]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, July 30, 2011

Introduction

I found the puzzle to be a tad easier than some that we have seen lately. There were a few new expressions but I was able to figure them out from the wordplay. One bit of wordplay did elude me (26a) where I tried vainly to insert one of the four cardinal points of the compass into ACTOR (which I thought might qualify as an "active person"). Eventually, I resorted to my electronic aids which revealed that only a single candidate matched the checking letters.

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.

Chinese - noun 2 [a] a native or inhabitant of China, or a person of Chinese descent. [b] British informal a Chinese meal. [c] British informal a Chinese restaurant.

Appearing in Solutions

curé - noun a parish priest in a French-speaking country.

*ER - abbreviation Queen Elizabeth. [from Latin Elizabetha Regina]

G-man - 1 US informal an FBI agent. [Origin: (1930s) probably an abbreviation of Government man]

OK! - British weekly magazine specializing in celebrity news.

pleasure garden - a garden that is opened to the public for recreation. They are differentiated from other public gardens by containing entertainments in addition to the planting; for example, concert halls or bandstands, rides, zoos or menageries.

Purim - noun a lesser Jewish festival held in spring (on the 14th or 15th day of Adar) to commemorate the defeat of Haman's plot to massacre the Jews as recorded in the book of Esther.

purism - noun 1 scrupulous or exaggerated observance of or insistence on traditional rules or structures, especially in language or style. 2 (Purism) an early 20th -century artistic style and movement founded by Le Corbusier and the French painter Amédée Ozenfant (1886–1966) and emphasizing purity of geometric form . It arose out of a rejection of cubism and was characterized by a return to the representation of recognizable objects.

ranker¹ - noun 1 chiefly British [a] a soldier in the ranks; a private. [b] a commissioned officer who has been in the ranks.

S² - abbreviation [1^st entry] (chiefly in Catholic use) Saint: S Ignatius Loyola

yuan - noun (plural same) the basic monetary unit of China, equal to 10 jiao or 100 fen.

Signing off for this week - Falcon