Sunday, September 25, 2011

Sunday, September 25, 2011 - ST 4447

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times
ST 4447
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Link to Full Review
Times for the Times [ST 4447]
Times for the Times Review Written By
Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Link to Solution at Saturday Star Cryptic Forum
Saturday Star Cryptic Forum [ST 4447]

Introduction

I am in the midst of preparing to leave on vacation, so today's blog is necessarily rather abbreviated. During my absence, postings will be of a similar abbreviated nature containing brief facts about the puzzle with a link to the review at Times for the Times. I have also included a link to the solution posted at the Saturday Star Cryptic Forum.

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Sunday, September 18, 2011 - ST 4446

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times
ST 4446
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Link to Full Review
Times for the Times [ST 4446]
Times for the Times Review Written By
Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star
Saturday, September 10, 2011

Introduction

This puzzle is a strange mix of rather easy clues mixed with several very difficult (or obscure) ones. I needed to study up on linguistics to solve 13d and take a refresher course in physics for 19d (after incorrectly guessing LUMIENT - only to discover that this word has yet to be invented). The 14-letter word at 15a was also a revelation to me. I almost got it correct  - interchanging the first "I" and the "E". Perhaps this word is more common in the U.K., given that the usage example in Oxford is "the valetudinarian English". As for 23a, I was even more in the dark than Dave Perry concerning the wordplay, overlooking the fact that the first letter of "university" is the symbol for the element in question (it seems that I should have brushed up on chemistry as well). Finally, having failed to recognize (more correctly, never having heard of) the British composer and conductor in 19d, I may need some music lessons.

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 Solutions

collocation - noun 1 Linguistics [a] the habitual juxtaposition of a particular word with another word or words with a frequency greater than chance: the words have a similar range of collocation [b] a pair or group of words that are habitually juxtaposed: ‘strong tea’ and ‘heavy drinker’ are typical English collocations

dis - noun informal speak disrespectfully to or criticize: [i] I don’t like her dissing my friends; [ii] a campaign of forum postings and emails dissing the company; [iii] maybe you should stop dissing psychics and discover that part of yourself  [Origin: (1980s) abbreviation of  disrespect]

Dis - [Collins English Dictionary] noun 1. (Also called Orcus or Pluto) the Roman god of the underworld.

il - Italian the

lambert - noun a former unit of luminance, equal to the emission or reflection of one lumen per square centimetre.

Constant Lambert - (1905 – 1951), British composer and conductor.

*lo - exclamation archaic used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event: and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them

love - noun 4 (in tennis, squash, and some other sports) a score of zero; nil: love fifteen [apparently from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money); folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero]

*M2 - [1st entry] abbreviation Cricket (on scorecards) maiden, noun 2 (also maiden over) an over in which no runs are scored.

moot - verb 2 intransitive to dispute or plead, especially as a form of academic exercise.

OT - abbreviation [3rd entry] Old Testament [cryptic crossword convention books]

Educating Rita - a stage comedy by British playwright Willy Russell which premiered in 1980. It is a play for two actors set entirely in the office of an Open University lecturer. The play follows the relationship between a young Liverpudlian working-class hairdresser and a middle-aged university lecturer, during the course of a year. The play was adapted by Russell for a 1983 film with Michael Caine and Julie Walters, directed by Lewis Gilbert.

tent2 - noun a deep red sweet wine chiefly from Spain, used especially as sacramental wine.

U2 - symbol the chemical element uranium.

*(River) Ure - a river in North Yorkshire, England, approximately 119km long from its source to the point where it changes name to the River Ouse

[Walt] Whitman - (1819–92), American poet. In 1855 he published the free verse collection Leaves of Grass, incorporating ‘I Sing the Body Electric’ and ‘Song of Myself’; eight further editions followed in Whitman’s lifetime.

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.

23d   What this person does sometimes in a card game sets a pattern (5)

The definition is "pattern" with the solution being IDEAL. The wordplay is "what this person does sometimes in a card game". Here "this person" is the setter of the puzzle referring to himself (or herself) and needs to be replaced by 'I'. This usage is similar to a journalist referring to himself or herself in a newspaper article as "this writer". Thus, "what I do sometimes in a card game" is "I deal". The word "sets" acts as a link word between the wordplay and the definition. Similarly, when words such as "setter" or "compiler" appear in clues, one must replace them with a first person pronoun such as "I" or "me", depending on the particular situation.

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Sunday, September 11, 2011 - ST 4445

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times
ST 4445
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Link to Full Review
Times for the Times [ST 4445]
Times for the Times Review Written By
Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star
Saturday, September 3, 2011

Introduction

On the whole, the puzzle did not seem overly difficult, but there are a few tricky clues. I needed Dave Perry to explain the wordplay at 22d where the name of the British middle distance runner does not ring a bell, although I do recall the other two members of the trio mentioned in the Wikipedia entry cited below.

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.

*leg - noun 5 (also leg side, on or on side) Cricket the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.  The opposite of off.

neat2 - noun archaic [a] a bovine animal. [b] [mass noun] cattle.

organ - noun 4 a newspaper or periodical which promotes the views of a political party or movement: he repositioned the journal as a leading organ of neoconservatism

pong - noun British informal a strong, unpleasant smell: corked wine has a powerful pong

Domenico Scarlatti - (1685 – 1757), Italian composer who today is known almost exclusively for his 555 keyboard sonatas mostly written for the harpsichord or the earliest pianofortes. According to Wikipedia, "[By 1709] Scarlatti was already an eminent harpsichordist: there is a story of a trial of skill with George Frideric Handel at the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni in Rome where he was judged possibly superior to Handel on that instrument, although inferior on the organ."

Appearing in Solutions

Steve Cram - British retired athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s.

crambo - noun a game in which a player gives a word or line of verse to which each of the other players must find a rhyme.

hook - noun 4 [2nd entry] Cricket a stroke made to the on side with a horizontal or slightly upward swing of the bat at shoulder height.
on - (also on side) noun Cricket the leg side (or, simply, leg) [see definition for leg in Appearing in Clues section above]
mock turtle soup - noun imitation turtle soup made from a calf’s head.

Edvard Munch - (1863–1944), Norwegian painter and engraver. He infused his subjects with an intense emotionalism, exploring the use of vivid colour and linear distortion to express feelings about life and death. Notable works: the Frieze of Life sequence, incorporating The Scream (1893).

Quentin Tarantino - American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor.

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.

27a   Traditional dancing venue for a day? Stick with it! (7)

According to Wikipedia, a maypole is "a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, particularly on May Day, or Pentecost (Whitsun) although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer. In some cases the maypole is a permanent feature that is only utilised during the festival, although in other cases it is erected specifically for the purpose before being taken down again." Since people traditionally dance around the maypole during these festivals, it is a "traditional dancing venue for a day" (in Britain, the festival seems to occur on a single day, May 1 or May Day). But what about the rest of the clue ("Stick with it!"). Well "stick" is certainly a reference to the maypole, and since the maypole is reputed by some to be a phallic symbol, the "it!" may be intended to mean "sex appeal". This would make the maypole a stick with sex appeal.
it1 - pronoun 8 (usually ‘it’) informal sexual intercourse or sex appeal
22d   Athlete's natural pong coming after game (6)

The definition is "game" and we are looking for CRAMBO (a game that I had never heard of). The wordplay is a charade of CRAM (athlete) and BO (pong). Steve Cram is a retired British middle distance runner and pong is British slang for an unpleasant smell - such as body odour (BO).

24d   Pirate's powerful shots to side of leg (5)

This is a double definition, with one definition being "pirate" for which the solution is HOOK, the pirate captain from Peter Pan. The second definition is "powerful shots to the side of the leg". Here "to the side of the leg" means the 'leg side' (also called the 'on side') of a cricket field. In cricket, a hook is a "powerful shot" to the "on side" (or "leg side") of the field.

Signing off for this week - Falcon