Sunday, November 6, 2011 - ST 4453

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4453
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, October 2, 2011
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4453]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, October 29, 2011

Introduction

This puzzle definitely seems to have a degree of difficulty that exceeds what we usually get. I eventually was able to complete it - but only through extensive use of electronic aids and a good deal of reverse engineering.

Notes 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.

10a   From whom Sun magazine unopened is ordered in Gloucestershire town (9)

Newent⁷ is a small market town in Gloucestershire, England. I had initially put Newmarket in here, as I found through a Google search that there is a town of that name in Gloucestershire, albeit one that is apparently even more obscure than Newent. I only realized my error when I solved 4d.

Dave Perry makes a comment concerning " 'is ordered' apparently doing nothing". I don't think it is necessarily "doing nothing" but it is seemingly incongruously situated in the middle of the wordplay. I would say the intended sense is "From whom is ordered Sun magazine unopened in Gloucestershire town" or, only slightly more eloquently, "From whom one would order Sun magazine unopened in Gloucestershire town". All in all, a clue with quite an ugly surface reading.

12a   Absolute English fool (5)

A fool⁴ is a British dessert made from a purée of fruit with cream or custard.

13a   Fellow close to the Queen concerning escort (8)

Dave Perry saw the wordplay as CHAP (fellow) + thE (close to the; i.e., closing letter of 'the') + R (Queen; regina) + ON (concerning). I interpreted it a bit differently, as CHAP (fellow) + (close to; i.e., near or beside) ER (the Queen; Elizabetha Regina) + ON (concerning). Which just goes to prove that all roads lead to Rome.

21a   Merchant's an actor (7)

Perhaps I am being a bit picky, but I would say that Dave Perry has a superfluous apostrophe in his solution. To my mind, the solution is SELLERS (from actor Peter Sellers) and the wordplay is SELLER (merchant) + S ('s).

27a   First and second behind Charles perhaps half obscured (5)

Charles, of course, is Prince Charles, heir to the British throne. Mo² is British slang meaning a short while or a moment.

6d   "Dog" is term of abuse - so is this (5)

I only understood the wordplay here after reading Dave Perry's review. It is CUR (dog) + S ("is" must be replaced by "'s" [apostrophe + s] which then gives us the S) + E (term of abuse; i.e., the terminal letter of "abuse").

7d   TV presenter over a long period of time in northern city (9)

In the UK, a television host or news anchor is called a presenter.

8d   Jack to some extent despatched bugs (4)

Again, despite having found the correct solution, I needed Dave Perry's assistance to comprehend the wordplay. I mistakenly supposed that "Jack" referred to 'tar' (sailor) and that "Jack to some extent" was therefore TA ("tar" with the final letter deleted). Of course, my attempts to explain the PS lead to nothing but dead ends.

16d   Dad never gets it as Inter play in friendly (9)

Only die-hard soccer fans likely got the surface meaning of this clue. Football Club Internazionale Milano⁷, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. Friendly⁵ is a British term (which I believe is also used in Canada in reference to games such as soccer and rugby) meaning a game or match that does not form part of a serious competition. Maty⁵ (usually spelled matey) is British slang meaning familiar and friendly or sociable.

20d   For example, bit of pranking in quiet interval (3-4)

Prank⁴, as a verb, means to dress or decorate showily or gaudily or to make an ostentatious display.

21d   Time to drop lies in charges (7)

When Dave Perry says "STORIES (lies) with the T dropped", he is not indicating that the T is deleted. Rather, he means that it drops to a lower rank, from second place in STORIES (lies) to fourth place in SORTIES (charges; i.e., attacks).

References: 
¹ - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
² - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
³ - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
⁴ - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
⁵ - Oxford Dictionaries Online (Oxford Dictionary of English)
⁶ - Oxford Dictionaries Online (Oxford American Dictionary)
⁷ - Wikipedia

Signing off for this week - Falcon