Sunday, October 28, 2012 - ST 4505

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4505
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, September 30, 2012
Setter Jeff Pearce
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4505]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, October 20, 2012 [unconfirmed]
Date of Publication in the Vancouver Sun Saturday, October 27, 2012
Notes This puzzle appears on the Sunday Puzzles pages in the Saturday, October 27, 2012 edition of The Ottawa Citizen. The Date of Publication in the Toronto Star is unconfirmed as there is no entry for this date on the Saturday Star Cryptic Forum blog.

Introduction

Compared to the rather difficult challenges that we have encountered in recent weeks, today's offering is a welcome respite. I was able to solve approximately half the clues unaided (these being heavily concentrated on the left hand side of the puzzle) but needed to resort to electronic aids in order to progress on the remaining clues.

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.

1a   It may provide drink for artist in restaurant (6)

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[5]) is a member of the Royal Academy of the Arts^[5], an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain.

5a   Flop down on one? (6)

Question marks — and exclamation points — are usually a flag that something a bit out of the ordinary is taking place in the clue. In this double definition, the two definitions are "flop" and "down on one?" where the second definition is to be interpreted as 'an example of something on which down could be found'. Down is found on birds, and a turkey is an example of a bird (as well as being a theatrical flop).

10a   A strange type of lily (4)

Rum^[5] is a dated British term meaning odd or peculiar.

12a   Number deviates wildly (8)

Here number is used in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of something that induces numbness.

16a   Spots great serve around end of Wimbledon (4)

Wimbledon^[7] is a district in South West London, England. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas of common land in London.

18a   Function with German relish (4)

Despite holding a degree in Mathematics, it took me forever to recognize what kind of function was required here.

19a   Top barrister almost takes Hector around old French province (8)

The definition is "old French province" and the wordplay is a reversal (around) of {SIL [SILK (top barrister) with the final letter deleted (almost)] containing (takes) ANNOY (hector)}.

Lyonnais^[10] is a former province of east central France, on the Rivers Rhône and Saône. This area is now occupied by the present-day departments of Rhône and Loire.

In Britain, silk^[5] is an informal term for a Queen’s (or King’s) Counsel [so named because of the right accorded to wear a gown made of silk].

Queen's Counsel^[7] (postnominal QC), known as King's Counsel (postnominal KC) during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law. Membership exists in various Commonwealth jurisdictions around the world, while in some other jurisdictions the name has been replaced by one without monarchical connotations. Queen's Counsel is a status, conferred by the Crown, that is recognised by courts. Members have the privilege of sitting within the Bar of court.

As members wear silk gowns of a particular design , the award of Queen's or King's Counsel is known informally as taking silk, and hence QCs are often colloquially called silks.

The practice of appointed Queen's Counsel continues in a number of Canada's provinces, although appointments ceased in Ontario in 1985, and the federal government ceased the practice in 1993. No substitute distinctions have been implemented in these jurisdictions as it is felt that the practice is a form of political patronage and is best discontinued entirely. However, existing title holders continue to use the Q.C. postnominal letters.

21a   Liking for Cage melody (8)

John Cage^[7] (1912 – 1992) was an American composer, music theorist, writer, and artist. Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4′33″, which is performed in the absence of deliberate sound; musicians who present the work do nothing aside from their presence for the duration specified by the title. The content of the composition is not "four minutes and 33 seconds of silence," as is sometimes assumed, but rather the sounds of the environment heard by the audience during performance.

27a   Make formal offer to nurse? (6)

I stand to be corrected, but my interpretation is that this clue is a cryptic definition which encompasses within it a double definition. My rationale is that the two definitions must be "make formal offer" (verb) and "nurse" (noun). I don't think that the word "to" can be considered to be part of the first definition and it is definitely not part of the second definition — making it superfluous to the double definition. The setter solves his dilemma of how to incorporate the word "to" (required by the surface reading) by phrasing the clue as a cryptic definition (as indicated by the question mark).

28a   Soldier, say, owing money made long speech (6)

My first choice for a solution was RANTED (made long speech) and my second choice was RANKER (soldier). However, I could not figure out how to make the wordplay work for either option.

As Dave Perry notes, the clue contains "a cheeky little bit of wordplay that crops up from time to time" — and one which always seems to elude me. Since another term for "owing money" is to be "in the red", we have ANT (soldier) contained in (in) RED giving us RANTED. The wording "soldier, say" indicates that a soldier is an example of the term that we need. A soldier^[5] is a wingless caste of ant or termite with a large specially modified head and jaws, involved chiefly in defence.

2d   Trouser pocket (11)

In British slang, trouser^[5] is a synonym for pocket, meaning to receive or take (something, especially money) for oneself.

4d   Part of hospital gets drunk, up for port (8)

The most frequently visited part of the Crosswordland hospital would certainly seem to be the ear, nose and throat (ENT^[5]) department.

An entrepôt^[10] is a trading centre or port at a geographically convenient location, at which goods are imported and re-exported without incurring liability for duty.

6d   New radiator developed as a means of moving freight (4,5)

Road train is an Australian term for a line of linked trailers pulled by a truck, used for transporting stock, etc.

Try passing this sucker!

A road train (or roadtrain)^[7] is a trucking concept used in remote areas of Argentina, Australia, Mexico, the United States and Canada to move freight efficiently. The term "road train" is most often used in Australia. In the U.S. and Canada the terms "triples," "turnpike doubles" and "Rocky Mountain doubles" are commonly used for longer combination vehicles (LCVs). A road train consists of a relatively conventional tractor unit, but instead of pulling one trailer or semi-trailer, a road train pulls two or more of them.

8d   Harry set to call in on Draco, perhaps (13)

For the benefit of the few of you — who like myself — have never read J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels, Draco Malfoy^[7] is a fictional character and a major antagonist in this series. He is a Slytherin student in Harry Potter's year. He is frequently accompanied by his two accomplices, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who act as henchmen. He is portrayed as a spoiled, cowardly bully who uses magic to get what he wants, often by force.

13d   Dressing Royal in vintage tie if going out (11)

Regina^[5] (Latin for queen) or Rex^[5] (Latin for king) — either of which is abbreviated as R^[5] — is part of the official title of a monarch, now used chiefly in documents, legal proceedings, and inscriptions on coins. It may be used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, or ER^[5], for Queen Elizabeth; Georgius Rex, or GR^[5], for King George) or in the titles of lawsuits, e.g. Regina v. Jones: the Crown versus Jones [which would often be written simply as R. vs Jones].

17d   Messenger takes in end of Hamlet for Rosenkrantz, say (8)

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern^[7] are characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. They are courtiers who are sent by the king to spy on Hamlet, using their claimed friendship with him to gain his confidence.

25d   Alcohol can make you dim when put under pressure (3)

To get this clue, one must put just the right twist on the (intentionally) ambiguous wording. The phrase "can make you dim" does not mean 'can make the reader become dim' (which is the natural interpretation) but rather 'can produce for you the result dim'. The clue could be stated a bit more verbosely — and less ambiguously — as "Alcohol [that] can make dim [for] you when put under pressure". That is, should you choose to place ALE (an example of alcohol) under P (the abbreviation for pressure) — this being a down clue — the result would be PALE (dim).

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[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 (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7]   - Wikipedia
^[8]   - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
^[9]   - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)

Signing off for this week — Falcon

Sunday, October 21, 2012 - ST 4504

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4504
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, September 23, 2012
Setter Tim Moorey
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4504]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, October 13, 2012
Date of Publication in the Vancouver Sun Saturday, October 20, 2012
Notes This puzzle appears on the Sunday Puzzles pages in the Saturday, October 20, 2012 edition of The Ottawa Citizen.

Introduction

Not only did I think that I might not finish this puzzle, I feared for a while that I might not even be able to start it. On first read through, I was able to solve but one clue (25d — the very last clue in the puzzle!). On second read through, I cracked one more (26a). And there I stalled. After staring at the puzzle for some considerable period of time and making no further progress, I dipped into my Tool Chest of electronic puzzle solving aids. By using every weapon at my disposal, I slowly began to make some headway and eventually finished the puzzle.

I did need help from Times for the Times to understand the wordplay at 2d. Technically, I had an incorrect solution for 18a. However, I would be prepared to argue that my solution may actually be superior to the "correct" solution. The English novelist and English DJ are equally well-known to me (meaning not at all) and, while Mark may not be as prominent an icon from a religious perspective as Mary, I think that the word mark could denote an icon.

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.

5a   This man could be cover for cover (7)

To understand this clue, it is essential to know a bit about cricket. Cricket^[7] is a game played between two teams of eleven players each. Substitute fielders (only) are permitted in cases of injury or illness. Cover^[5] is short for cover point^[5], which is (1) a fielding position a little in front of the batsman on the off side and halfway to the boundary or (2) a fielder at cover point ⇒ an easy catch by Hick at cover. The boundary^[2] is the marked limits of a cricket field. The off^[5]  (also called off side) is the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) towards which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.  The other side of the field is known either as the leg^[5] (also called leg side) or on (also called on side). The pitch is a rectangular area (22 yards long by 10 feet wide) in the centre of the cricket field. The bowler delivers the ball from one end of the pitch to a batsman positioned at the other end.

The first instance of "cover" in the clue means a substitute or backup and the second instance refers to the fielding position.

9a   Hot red meat sandwiches not available in Pret A Manger? (5,4)

The question mark indicates that "Pret A Manger" is an example of the solution (in other words, this is a definition by example — which you may sometimes see abbreviated in Dave Perry's reviews as DBE). Pret a Manger^[7] (French for "ready to eat")  is a British sandwich retail chain.

10a   A Councillor I caught around and about (5)

The abbreviation for Councillor is Cr^[10].

11a   Rabbit’s popular with butchers (4,2)

A female rabbit is called a doe^[5], as is a female deer, hare, rat, ferret, or kangaroo.

I expended not an inconsiderable effort in pursuing a couple of dead-end paths here, thinking that rabbit^[5] might be used in the British slang sense of to talk at length, especially about trivial matters and that butchers^[5] might be rhyming slang for look (from "butcher's hook").

16a   Bet with old money abroad (4)

This being a British puzzle, "abroad" refers to some place outside the UK. Punt^[4] is British slang meaning to gamble. Prior to the introduction of the euro in 2002, the punt^[5] was the basic monetary unit of the Republic of Ireland, equal to 100 pence [punt being the Irish Gaelic word for pound].

18a   Wesley: a religious icon (4)

Dave Perry comments "about as obvious a dd as I've seen, providing you know the author Mary Wesley, of course". I didn't, but I did manage to identify English disk jockey Mark Wesley^[7], whose chief claim to fame appears to consist of being the person who "announced the death of Elvis Presley in a news bulletin on the station in August 1977, the first reporting of the singer's death in Europe". I reasoned that an icon might be considered to be a mark with St. Mark accounting for the religious angle. I may not have been that far off the mark (pardon the pun), judging by the comment at Times for the Times from Peter Biddlecombe (Sunday Times Crossword Editor) that "our collective judgment was that Mary W was better known than a DJ called Mark, by a wide enough margin".

Mary Wesley^[7] (1912 – 2002) was an English novelist. During her career, she was one of Britain's most successful novelists, selling three million copies of her books, including 10 best-sellers in the last 20 years of her life.

19a   If you’re this down, the game may be up! (3,7)

It sometimes seems that everything in cricket is called a wicket. A wicket^[10] may be (1) either of two constructions, placed 22 yards apart, consisting of three pointed stumps stuck parallel in the ground with two wooden bails resting on top, at which the batsman stands; (2) the strip of ground between these [constructions] (i.e., the pitch); (3) a batsman's turn at batting or the period during which two batsmen bat ⇒ a third-wicket partnership; or (4) the act or instance of a batsman being got out ⇒ the bowler took six wickets.

Depending on the type of cricket match being played, each team has one or two innings^[7] apiece (innings ending with 's' in both singular and plural form).

The main aim of the bowler, supported by his fielders, is to dismiss the batsman. A batsman when dismissed is said to be "out" and that means he must leave the field of play and be replaced by the next batsman on his team. When ten batsmen have been dismissed (i.e., are out), then the whole team is dismissed and the innings is over. The last batsman, the one who has not been dismissed, is not allowed to continue alone as there must always be two batsmen "in". This batsman is termed "not out".

There are ten ways in which a batsman can be dismissed, four of which (bowled, run out, stumped or hit wicket) require his wicket to be put down. Thus "ten wickets down" would constitute ten dismissals meaning the end the batting team's innings and possibly the game.

I fully expect that there may well be subtleties associated with the wording used in this clue that I have failed to grasp.

22a   Loaf on the Sussex coast perhaps (3,5)

Rye^[7] is a small town in East Sussex, England, which now stands approximately two miles from the open sea. In medieval times, however, as an important member of the Cinque Ports confederation, it was at the head of an embayment of the English Channel and almost entirely surrounded by the sea.

23a   Cat’s second employer (6)

In the UK, mo^[5] is an informal term for a short period of time (hang on a mo!) [abbreviation of moment].

27a   Shocked actor Timothy caught in a brawl (3-6)

Timothy West^[7] is an English film, stage and television actor. Ruck is British slang for a quarrel or fight, especially a brawl involving several people ⇒ there was a rare old ruck before the police arrived.

29a   Express tears over one secret agent (7)

Sleeper^[3,4] is the British name for a railway tie^[3,4] (also called a crosstie^[3]).

1d   See bonkers close up in German city (7)

I managed to identify the correct German city — but initially for all the wrong reasons! I guessed that pots might be a British expression meaning potty (crazy). With dam meaning to close up, I got Potsdam. When a dictionary search failed to confirm the former part of this analysis, the correct interpretation eventually dawned on me. The wordplay is a reversal (up) of {MAD (bonkers) + STOP (close)}.

2d   Keep bottles of Italian white wine (5)

In his review, Dave Perry states "I've never studied Italian, so I didn't know that the Italian for 'of' was O ...". He is wrong, of course, a fact that is pointed out in the Comments section of the blog. As it happens, o'^[10] is an informal or archaic shortened form of the preposition of ⇒ a cup o' tea.

5d   First person to show what the Queen passes daily ( it’s said) (3,5,2)

In Britain, Australia and New Zealand, wee^[4] is an informal term for urine.

7d   Nothing withheld, uproar about corrupt unit in Cabinet? ( 9)

As one would expect, the setter uses the British spelling (furore^[3]) rather than the US spelling (furor^[3]).

8d   Do shed tea cans (7)

Cans^[4] is an informal name [possibly British] for headphones.

15d   Nanny working in Suriname with daughter (9)

Suriname^[10] is an alternate spelling of Surinam.

18d   Cherry’s further left, look! (7)

Lo^[5] is an archaic exclamation used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event • and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them. Morello^[5] is a dark cherry of a sour kind used in cooking.

20d   One not working as a forward (7)

In soccer, a forward is called a striker^[5].

21d   Ring Himalayas? You may need their help (6)

I would say that this is a semi-& lit. clue, a type of clue where the entire clue serves as the definition but only a portion of the clue constitutes the wordplay. The wordplay is O (ring) + RANGE (Himalayas) giving ORANGE as the solution. The clue, in effect, is saying 'You may need their help to place a call to (ring) the Himalayas'. 

Orange^[7] is a French multinational telecommunications corporation and represents the flagship brand of the France Telecom group. It is a global provider for mobile phone, landline, Internet, mobile internet, and IP television services, and, under the brand Orange Business Services, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies.

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[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 (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7]   - Wikipedia
^[8]   - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
^[9]   - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)

Signing off for this week — Falcon

Sunday, October 14, 2012 - ST 4503

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4503
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, September 16, 2012
Setter Dean Mayer (Anax)
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4503]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, October 6, 2012
Date of Publication in the Vancouver Sun Saturday, October 13, 2012
Notes This puzzle appears on the Sunday Puzzles pages in the Saturday, October 13, 2012 edition of The Ottawa Citizen.

Introduction

As usual, Anax gives us some masterfully clever wordplay. I must admit that even though I completed the puzzle correctly, I needed help from Dave Perry's explanations to fully appreciated the wordplay in a couple of clues.

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.

16a   Sculptor’s endless chipping away ( 5)

Auguste Rodin^[5] (1840–1917), was a French sculptor. He was chiefly concerned with the human form. Notable works include The Thinker (1880) and The Kiss (1886).

17a Bone made of iron — strange, on reflection ( 5)

The symbol for the chemical element iron is Fe^[5]. Rum^[5] is dated British slang meaning odd or peculiar.

26a   How one may see guts of crippled patient? ( 6- 6)

My electronic assistants suggested that softly-softly was about the only possible solution. While Dave Perry says that it took him a while to work out the wordplay, I admit that I never was able to work it out on my own. Softly-softly^[5], which means gradual, cautious, and discreet, would appear to be a British expression.

1d   Run into bar for scrap? ( 7)

On cricket scorecards, R^[5] appears as an abbreviation for run(s).

4d   Way cats exercise? ( 9)

Cat^[10] is a [seemingly British] slang word meaning to vomit. Thus the wordplay is ST (way; street) + RETCHES (cats; vomits).

8d   Country garden in Cornwall? ( 6)

Cornwall^[5] is a county occupying the extreme south-western peninsula of England.

13d   Author’s praise, or otherwise, for manager ( 10)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as setter, compiler, author, or writer to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must usually substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used  in the clue. Today, the setter complicates matters a tad by requiring us to insert I'm (I am) in place of author's (author is).

19d   Boozer’s body found in squat, covered in refuse ( 7)

Again, I needed Dave Perry to explain the wordplay. The definition is "boozer's body" (more on that later) and the wordplay is SIT (squat) contained in (covered in) DENY (refuse; as in to refuse admittance to someone).

"Boozer's body" is to be interpreted as what the word "body" would mean to someone who drinks a lot of alcohol beverages. One meaning of body^[10] is the characteristic full quality of certain wines, determined by the density and the content of alcohol or tannin ⇒ a Burgundy has a heavy body. In particular, density could refer to the concentration of alcohol or alcohol by volume^[7]. It is this particular characteristic of the wine that is likely of most interest to the "boozer" as opposed to the wine connoisseur, for whom other attributes would be of at least equal significance. As a contributor at Times for the Times points out, using "Boozer's body" in this manner is akin to cluing the word 'un' as "Napoleon's one".

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[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 (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7]   - Wikipedia
^[8]   - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
^[9]   - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)

Signing off for this week — Falcon

Sunday, October 7, 2012 - ST 4502

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4502
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, September 9, 2012
Setter Jeff Pearce
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4502]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, September 29, 2012
Date of Publication in the Vancouver Sun Saturday, October 6, 2012
Notes This puzzle appears on the Sunday Puzzles pages in the Saturday, October 6, 2012 edition of The Ottawa Citizen.

Introduction

Having been away for the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, it has taken me nearly a week to get caught up on my blogs. Today's puzzle by Jeff Pearce has a good mix of clues. There are some fairly easy clues which offer an entry point as well as several rather tricky clues to provide a challenge.

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.

1a   Chap going round back of Primark after plain rag (9,4)

Primark^[7] is an Irish clothing retailer that also has operations in the United Kingdom and a number of other Western European countries.

12a   Gorge on cooked 8 initially (6)

The number "8" in the clue is a cross reference to clue 8d. You must substitute the solution to 8d in place of the number 8 to complete the clue.

21a   Supplement making you become angry and speechless if Doc’s around? (8)

In Britain, the degree required to practice medicine is a Bachelor of Medicine^[7] (MB, from Latin Medicinae Baccalaureus), which is equivalent to a North American Doctor of Medicine (MD, from Latin Medicinae Doctor). The degree of Doctor of Medicine also exists in Britain, but it is an advanced degree pursued by those who wish to go into medical research. Physicians in Britain are still addressed as Dr. despite not having a doctoral degree.

24a   Study before exam — (Latin) — stops one being sociable (9)

Con^[5] is an archaic term meaning to study attentively or learn by heart (a piece of writing) ⇒ the girls conned their pages with a great show of industry.

In Britain, a viva voce (often shortened to viva^[5]) is an oral examination, typically for an academic qualification ⇒  (i) candidates may be called for a viva voce; (ii) assessment of the PhD is by thesis and viva voce. Viva can also be used as a verb meaning to subject (someone) to an oral examination ⇒ facing them sat the youth who was being vivaed.

Viva voce may also be used (1) as an adjective indicating (especially of an examination) oral rather than written ⇒ a viva voce examination or (2) as an adverb signifying orally rather than in writing ⇒ we had better discuss this viva voce. To the best of my knowledge, this term is used in North America only as an adjective or adverb. I suspect that the these forms may predate its usage as a noun, and that this may be yet another example of the British propensity to turn adjectives into nouns.

25a   Colour of Loch Restil (5)

Loch Restil is located at the top of the scenic Rest and Be Thankful pass (what a great name) in Argyll And Bute, Scotland. I drove through that area a few years ago when travelling from Glasgow to Oban and remember it as being very picturesque.

1d   Being abundant fill up ten jars (9)

The anagram indicator is "jars" whose use I can only presume may be based on the rationale that if one were to jar (severely jostle) the letters forming FILL UP TEN, they just might happen to rearrange themselves in such a manner as to form the solution to the clue.

4d/20a Prosperous bank has incentive to host it but it`ll end up in smoke! (10,6)

The definition is "it'll end up in smoke" for which the solution is CAMBERWELL CARROT. Camberwell carrot^[10] is British slang for a large, almost conical, marijuana cigarette. Supposedly this particular style of rolling marijuana cigarettes originated in Camberwell^[7], a district of south London, England that forms part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is a built-up inner city district located 2.7 miles (4.3 km) southeast of Charing Cross [which is considered to mark the centre of London]. 

The wordplay is rather tricky. It helps to add a bit of punctuation to the clue so that it reads "Prosperous, bank has incentive to host it". Since the pronoun "it" refers to the word "prosperous", the clue can be simplified to "bank has incentive to host prosperous" which parses as {CAMBER (bank; as on a road) + (has) CARROT (incentive)} containing (to host) WELL (prosperous).

In Britain, one meaning of camber^[5] is a tilt built into a road at a bend or curve, enabling vehicles to maintain speed [or, in other words, a bank].

I was skeptical that prosperous and well meant the same thing. However, I find that one meaning for well^[10] (as an adjective) given by Collins English Dictionary is prosperous or comfortable.

6d   Topless louts with stories about clubs and bars (9)

Yob^[5] (back slang for boy) is an informal British term for a rude, noisy, and aggressive youth. In the cryptic reading, clubs refers to a suit in a deck of cards.

7d   Occasionally the best possible present can be found at a new Department — Next? (5,3,3,4)

Every^[5] must be interpreted in the sense of all possible or the utmost (used for emphasis) ⇒ you have every reason to be disappointed.

8d   Tin contains an unknown colour (4)

In mathematics, an unknown^[10] is a variable, or the quantity it represents, the value of which is to be discovered by solving an equation ⇒ 3y = 4x + 5 is an equation in two unknowns. [Unknowns are typically represented symbolically by the letters x, y and z.]

17d   Pick lots of bait to get tasty treats (5,4)

In Britain, cream tea^[5] is a meal taken in the afternoon consisting of tea to drink with scones, jam, and cream. The wordplay is CREAM (pick) + all but the final letter of (lots of) TEAS[e] (bait). Cream^[10] is used in the sense of to take away the best part of [or, in other words, cherry pick].

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[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 (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7]   - Wikipedia
^[8]   - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
^[9]   - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)

Signing off for this week — Falcon