Sunday, December 30, 2012 - ST 4514

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4514
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, December 2, 2012
Setter Jeff Pearce
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4514]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, December 22, 2012
Date of Publication in the Vancouver Sun Saturday, December 29, 2012
Falcon's Experience ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Times for the Times
Notes This puzzle appears on the Sunday Puzzles pages in the Saturday, December 29, 2012 edition of The Ottawa Citizen.

Introduction

I would heartily concur with Dave Perry's assessment that this is "the easiest puzzle for a while".

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.

Across

1a   Feeling very self conscious in say, Arab country, returning first- class (8)

A1^[4][5] or A-one^[3] meaning first class or excellent comes from a classification for ships in The Lloyd's Register of Shipping where it means equipped to the highest standard or first-class.

5a   Hold on — complaint’s not finished! (4)

8a   One leaves editor struggling with pressure put on tabloid (3- 3)

In British slang, a red-top^[4] is a tabloid newspaper characterized by sensationalism (the name coming from the colour of the masthead on these publications).

9a   Mammal meat — there’s a kilo out on balance (8)

10a   Doctor Who finally enters after international designer (4)

Doctor Who^[7] is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior appears as a blue police box. The show has had widespread distribution in North America and apparently is currently available in Canada on the SPACE specialty channel on cable and satellite.

11a   Presence of minister with bad acne (10)

12a   Being tortured heretics fled town (12)

Chesterfield^[7] is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England.

16a   Expose loft and cause a massive disturbance? (5,3,4)

18a   For a tower, draughtsman may use this (10)

Draughtsman^[3,4] is the British spelling of draftsman, a person who practises or is qualified in mechanical drawing, employed to prepare detailed scale drawings of machinery, buildings, devices, etc.

20a   Perhaps Rosemary’s in another bed (4)

21a   Conservative has to manage radical writer (8)

Raymond Chandler^[7] (1888 – 1959) was an American novelist and screenwriter who is considered to be one of the founders of the hard-boiled school of detective fiction.

22a   Damage caused by couple on motorway when on the way back (6)

The M1^[7] is a north–south motorway (multi-lane controlled access highway) in England connecting London to Leeds.

23a   A place to hide port (4)

Aden^[7] is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden).

24a   Being game Bolt put medal around Powell’s head (4- 4)

Gong^[5] is an informal British term for a medal or award.

Usain Bolt^[7] is a Jamaican sprinter widely regarded as the fastest person ever. He is the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder in the 100 metre and 200 metre sprint and (together with his Jamaican teammates) the 4×100 metres relay.

Asafa Powell^[7] is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 m world record between June 2005 and May 2008. At the 2008 Olympics, Powell won a gold medal and set the world and Olympic records as part of the Jamaican 4×100 metres relay team. Powell was not able to compete for Jamaica in the men's 4×100 m relay at the 2012 Olympics due to an injury sustained earlier in the games during the 100 metre sprint event.

Down

1d   Sense approval amongst the crew (8)

Eight^[5] denotes an eight-oared rowing boat or its crew.

2d   Take power from wizard’s fur (5)

Harry Potter^[7] is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of a wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

3d   How KLM are organised? (14)

Not the airline, but a sequence of letters. Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V., operating under the name KLM Royal Dutch Airlines^[7], is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands.

4d   Trendy set’s contribution (5)

5d   Duck and oranges do mix well together (9)

6d   Heartless vet’s a loathsome creature (6)

7d   Dishy bloke providing brief about new church before tea (6,8)

The British meaning of dishy^[5] is (in reference to a man) sexually attractive. In North America, the term means scandalous or gossipy ⇒ she’s the perfect candidate for a dishy biography.

13d   If it’s low you may get depression or tension when worried (9)

14d   Charge for iron’s expensive at first (3)

The symbol for the chemical element iron is Fe^[5].

15d   Saying rude things about old blood sport (8)

Coursing^[5] is the sport of hunting game animals such as hares with greyhounds using sight rather than scent ⇒ (i) [with modifier] hare coursing; (ii) [as modifier] coursing grounds.

17d   Bloomer made by silly 10 hugging companion (6)

The numeral "10" is a cross-reference indicator showing that the solution for clue 10a must be inserted in its place to complete the current clue.

19d   Bones starts to run as Spock is taken ill (5)

I didn't fully grasp the wordplay in this clue until I read Dave Perry's review. It is an anagram (ill) of the initial letters of (starts to) Run As Spock Is Taken.

The surface reading is an allusion to the American science fiction television series Star Trek^[7], where Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy^[7] is the Chief Medical Officer and Mister Spock^[7], a being of mixed human-Vulcan heritage, is the science officer and first officer on the starship Enterprise.

20d   Old doctor drops boxes — one’s very heavy! (5)

Hippocrates^[5] (circa 460–377 BC) was a Greek physician, traditionally regarded as the father of medicine. His name is associated with the medical profession’s Hippocratic oath from his attachment to a body of ancient Greek medical writings, probably none of which was written by him.

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)

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year — Falcon

Sunday, December 23, 2012 - ST 4513

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4513
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, November 25, 2012
Setter Tim Moorey
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4513]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, December 15, 2012
Date of Publication in the Vancouver Sun Saturday, December 22, 2012
Falcon's Experience ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Times for the Times
Notes This puzzle appears on the Sunday Puzzles pages in the Saturday, December 22, 2012 edition of The Ottawa Citizen.

Introduction

As you can see from the colourful chart above, I needed lots of help from my electronic assistants today.

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.

Across

1a   Courage not on tap, deliveries leaving a lot to be desired (2,5)

In cricket, a no-ball^[5] is an unlawfully delivered ball, counting one as an extra to the batting side if not otherwise scored from ⇒ we also bowled far too many no-balls and wides.

An extra^[5] is a run scored other than from a hit with the bat, credited to the batting side rather than to a batsman.  A wide^[5], also known as a wide ball, (abbreviation W^[10]) is a ball that is judged to be too wide of the stumps for the batsman to play, for which an extra is awarded to the batting side.

5a   F Field and B Silver in run- down hotel (7)

The symbol for the chemical element silver is Ag^[5].

9a   One remains to occupy post in water plant (5,4)

In Britain, the post^[5] is (1) the official service or system that delivers letters and parcels ⇒ (i) winners will be notified by post; (ii) the tickets are in the post, (2) letters and parcels delivered ⇒ she was opening her post, or (3) a single collection or delivery of mail ⇒ entries must be received no later than first post on 14 June. As a verb, post is a chiefly British term meaning to send (a letter or parcel) via the postal system ⇒ I’ve just been to post a letter; (ii) post off your order form today. In Canada, the word post may sometimes be used in this sense as a verb — but virtually never as a noun. The word mail is used instead (both as a verb and a noun). However, the word post lives on in the name of the service which delivers the mail — Canada Post. Did you notice the phrase "first post on 14 June" in one of the usage examples above? Apparently, the post is still delivered more often than once per day in Britain!

10a   Just about live in elegance (5)

Collins English Dictionary lists L^[10] as an abbreviation for live.

11a   Island  holiday time (6)

Easter Island^[5] is an island in the SE Pacific west of Chile; population 3,300 (est. 2009). It has been administered by Chile since 1888. The island, first settled by Polynesians in about ad 400, is famous for its large monolithic statues of human heads, believed to date from the period 1000 to 1600.

12a   Private parking near New Orleans (8)

14a   Fruit celebrity requests one’s overlooked (4,6)

A star apple^[5] is an edible purple fruit with a star-shaped cross section produced by the evergreen tropical American tree Chrysophyllum cainito.

16a   Put down mug returned (4)

I got to the answer through a rather indirect route with mug ⇒ face (of a person) ⇒ face (of a clock) ⇒ dial. However, in the UK there would be a much more direct route. In Britain, dial^[5] is a slang term for a person’s face ⇒ he must be one of the new batch—I haven’t seen his dial before.

18a   Newlywed not good in kitchen? (4)

The question mark indicates that this is a definition by example (DBE) with kitchen being one instance of the solution.

19a   Laughing a lot  as one may be on leaving the theatre? (2,8)

A double definition (DD) with the second being cryptic (as flagged by the question mark).

22a   After rough handling, Roget did get worn out (3- 5)

"Roget", of course, refers to Roget's Thesaurus^[7], a widely used English language thesaurus, created by Dr. Peter Mark Roget (1779–1869) in 1805 and released to the public in 1852. The original edition had 15,000 words, and each new edition has been larger.

The name "Roget" is trademarked in parts of the world, such as the United Kingdom. By itself, it is not protected in the United States of America, where use of the name "Roget" in the title of a thesaurus does not necessarily indicate any relationship to Dr. Roget; it has come to be seen as a generic thesaurus name, like "Webster" for dictionaries.

23a   William gets love — a lot if like this! (5-1)

Billy-o^[5] (in the phrase like billy-o) is British slang meaning very much, hard, or strongly ⇒ I had to run like billy-o. Note that the definition very carefully sets out that billy-o means "a lot" when used in the phrase 'like billy-o'.

26a   Basket producer there is only backed in part (5)

A willow twig used in basket-making can be found reversed and hidden in "theRE IS Only".

27a   Get garage rebuilt and you may need this (9)

This is a semi & lit. clue, one in which the entire clue serves as the definition and a portion of the clue provides the wordplay.

28a   Bums are on view from behind in say, swimming costumes (7)

I believe that "swimming costumes" is meant to be a definition by example (DBE) which is indicated by the word "say". It had occurred to me that this certainly seemed to be a very specific instance of a very general class of items. However, in addition to its primary definition of clothes ⇒ running togs, Oxford Dictionaries Online provides a secondary definition of tog^[5] as Australian/NZ & Irish a swimming costume.

Toerag^[5] is British slang for a contemptible or worthless person.

29a   I defy you to give boozer present (2,5)

Down

1d   Book for anaesthetists? (7)

I got off to a bad start by entering SLEEPER here, a sleeper^[5] being a film, book, play, etc. that eventually achieves unexpected success after initially attracting very little attention. Well, it did seem appropriate at the time.

Number is used in the whimsical Crosswordland sense of 'something that numbs'.

2d   Mugs from a county (5)

It certainly didn't help matters that I misread "county" as "country" (although, if I were a Brit, that might have set me on the right track).

Mug is a chiefly British slang term for a victim or dupe^[3] or a gullible person, especially one who is swindled easily^[4].

Berk^[5] is British slang for a stupid person. Its origin is an abbreviation of Berkeley or Berkshire Hunt, rhyming slang for [a vulgar term for a private area of the female anatomy].

Berks. is the abbreviation for Berkshire, a county of southern England, west of London.

3d   City girl hanging around star (3,5)

4d   Mock Bob performing clumsily on stage (4)

In the UK, a shilling (abbreviation s)^[2] was a monetary unit and coin, in use prior to the introduction of decimal currency in 1971, worth one twentieth of a pound or 12 old pence (12d). Bob^[2] is an informal term for a shilling.

5d   Plates can be represented as the feet around Bow in London (5,5)

The definition is "plates" and the wordplay is an anagram (can be represented) of AS THE FEET containing the first letter (bow; as the front of a ship) of London giving the solution FALSE TEETH.

The surface reading is far more complex — at least to a non-Brit. Plates is Cockney rhyming slang for feet (from 'plates of meat'^[5]). I do observe that "plates can be represented as the feet" seemingly reverses the normal order of things (in which the feet are represented as plates).

A cockney^[5] is a native of East London [specifically the East End], traditionally one born within hearing of Bow Bells (the bells of St Mary-le-Bow^[7] church). Cockney is also the name of the dialect or accent typical of cockneys, which is characterised by dropping the H from the beginning of words and the use of rhyming slang^[5].

Bow^[7] is part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. People often believe that to be a true Cockney you need to be born within earshot of the sound of Bow Bells and that these are the bells of Bow Church in the heart of Bow. However, the saying actually refers to St Mary-le-Bow which is approximately 3 miles west on Cheapside, in the City of London.

6d   Short on top, egotistical and mischievous (6)

7d   Condition of lingerie at the laundry? (9)

8d   A fish squeezed gets confused (7)

Squeeze^[10] is used in the sense of to exert pressure on (someone) in order to extort (something) ⇒ to squeeze money out of a victim by blackmail. Bleed^[10] means to to obtain relatively large amounts of money, goods, etc, especially by extortion.

13d   Cadge a lot in personal containers (6,4)

Bags^[5] (bags of) is a chiefly British informal term meaning plenty of ⇒ I had bags of energy. In Britain, a sponge bag^[5,10] is a small bag made of plastic, etc, that holds toilet articles, used especially when travelling.

15d   Rogue dealing so close to a bank (9)

... although seemingly it could just as well be close to anything else, other than a bank.

17d   Second missile is urgent (8)

The Trident missile^[7] is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) equipped with multiple independently-targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV). The Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) is armed with nuclear warheads and is launched from nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). Trident missiles are carried by fourteen active US Navy Ohio-class submarines, with US warheads, and four Royal Navy Vanguard-class submarines, with British warheads. The original prime contractor and developer of the missile was Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

18d   Endure a southern resort mentioned? Unacceptable (4,3)

Ryde^[7] is a British seaside town, and the most populous community on the Isle of Wight, with a population of approximately 30,000. As a resort, the town is noted for its expansive sands that are revealed at low tide.

20d   Language being taken up? Nothing in it (7)

In the field of metaphysics, ens^[10] is (1) being or existence in the most general abstract sense or (2) a real thing, especially as opposed to an attribute; entity. Unless I am mistaken, an ens is either an abstract thing or a non-abstract (real) thing — which would appear to encompass just about anything!

21d   This is evidently the first and last in saloon cars (6)

The "first letter and the last [letter] in Saloon carS" is S which is represented in radio communication by the code word sierra^[5].

In Britain, a saloon car^[5] (or simply saloon) is an automobile having a closed body and a closed boot [trunk] separated from the part in which the driver and passengers sit ⇒ a four-door saloon. In North America, such a vehicle would be called a sedan^[10].

The Ford Sierra^[7] is a large family car that was built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was mainly manufactured in Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom, although Sierras were also assembled in Argentina, Venezuela, South Africa and New Zealand. In the USA, the Ford Sierra was offered under the now defunct Merkur brand. The Sierra was imported as a three-door only, and called the XR4Ti. The Sierra name was not used by Ford in the US; the market had already seen the similar-sounding Oldsmobile Ciera, and the Sierra name was used and trademarked by General Motors Corporation from the 1970s as a trim level on its pickup trucks. Moreover, selling the Sierra in North America would have interfered with sales of the similarly-sized, American-made Ford Taurus.

24d   Let pound drop a bit (5)

I did toy for a while with the idea that the solution might be LEAVE (leave/let well enough alone^[5]). Of course, the wordplay did not work for that choice.

The pound^[5] (also pound sterling) is the basic monetary unit of the UK, equal to 100 pence. While the symbol for pound is £, it is often written as L^[10].

Let^[5] is a chiefly British term meaning (as a verb) to allow someone to have the use of (a room or property) in return for regular payments ⇒ (i) she let the flat to a tenant; (ii)they’ve let out their house or (as a noun) either (1) a period during which a room or property is rented ⇒ I’ve taken a month’s let on the flat [apartment] or (2) a property available for rent ⇒ an unfurnished let.

25d   Potential birdies, maybe eagles (4)

The surface reading suggests golf, but the clue really concerns ornithology.

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)

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas — Falcon

Sunday, December 16, 2012 - ST 4512

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4512
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, November 18, 2012
Setter Dean Mayer (Anax)
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4512]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, December 8, 2012
Date of Publication in the Vancouver Sun Saturday, December 15, 2012
Falcon's Experience ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Times for the Times
Notes This puzzle appears on the Sunday Puzzles pages in the Saturday, December 15, 2012 edition of The Ottawa Citizen.

Introduction

As you can see from the chart above, I made very minimal progress before calling in the reinforcements to help with today's puzzle. Even with their assistance, it proved to be a challenging and mind-stretching exercise — but a lot of fun, nonetheless.

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.

Across

1a   Suit covered in salt sent back to be repaired (9)

6a   Dead fish all over lake (4)

8a   Poet’s house given to nation (6)

Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65 BC – 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace^[7], was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.

9a   End of bit coming down drill (8)

10a   Unknown form of organic nitrate (5,9)

11a   Supply lines for start of military exercise (6)

I learn from Dave Perry that the wordplay — which I completely failed to decipher — is PRO (for) + M (start [first letter] of Military) + PT (exercise; physical training).

13a   Get  a bargain (8)

15a   Road menace obviously gutted if trapped by strong drink (3,5)

Boy racer^[5], is British slang for a youth or young man fond of driving very fast and aggressively in high-powered cars ⇒ (i) the car is the dream of every boy racer; (ii) [as modifier] the company’s series of ‘boy-racer’ machines has proved highly successful.

17a   Chap, apparently owing money, put away (6)

This clue contains a rather devious cryptic crossword device. To solve the clue, one must first replace a phrase appearing in the clue with a phrase having the same meaning. Another term for "owing money" is 'in the red', making the phrase "apparently owing money"  equivalent to 'seen to be in the red'. Thus the wordplay is MAN (chap) contained in (seen to be in) RED.

19a   7 17 — he hurt me a lot? (5,3,6)

The numerals (7 and 17) are cross-references to other clues. To unveil the full clue, one must first solve the cross-referenced clues and then substitute the solutions to those clues in place of the cross-reference indicators. Thus this clue becomes:

• Lunatic remand — he hurt me a lot? (5,3,6)

The wordplay is an anagram (lunatic) of REMAND HE HURT ME. The definition is "a lot?" with the question mark indicating that this is a definition by example — "a lot" (at an auction) being something that is UNDER THE HAMMER.

22a   Dictator, ultimately from animated cartoon (8)

23a   Natural part of black cherry (6)

24a   Sound from bolted shaft (4)

25a   Unite? Yes, and break up midweek (9)

Down

1d   Chicken or duck in a roll (7)

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck. In cryptic crossword puzzles, duck is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the numeral "0" to this letter.

2d   Lead around locks (5)

Circa (abbreviation c. or ca)^[5] is a Latin word that has been adopted into English. It is a preposition (often used preceding a date) meaning approximately [or around] ⇒ the church was built circa 1860.

3d   Opening of cage after funny line — it’s a stiff! (9)

4d   Island? Oops! (1,5,9)

The definition is "Oops!" — something that one might say upon realizing that they had made a mistake. The wordplay is "island?" — where the question mark is crucial. It indicates that the solution is something that "island" might be. Had one initially misspelled this word as ISTAND, then ISLAND would be ISTAND CORRECTED.

5d   Relief for Australian when mounting copy (5)

I never did find the solution here, as I had never heard of this copying process and I was also convinced that we needed to find some obscure bit of Australian slang.

The wordplay is a reversal (when mounting; it being a down clue) of OZ (Australian) + AID (relief). I hate to reveal how much time I wasted scanning glossaries of Australian slang for a term meaning "relief".

Diazo^[7] refers to a type of organic compound called diazo compound that has two linked nitrogen atoms (azo) as a terminal functional group. Diazo^[5] (also diazotype) is also the name of a copying or colouring process using a diazo compound decomposed by ultraviolet light ⇒ [as modifier] diazo printers. This process also goes by the names whiteprinting^[7] or blue-line process [not to be confused with the blueprint process]. Whiteprinting [blue-lining] replaced the blueprint process in reproducing architect's and engineer's drawings, because the process was simpler, and involved fewer toxic chemicals. A blue-line print [whiteprint] is not permanent and will fade if exposed to light for weeks or months, but for many purposes a drawing print that lasts only a few months is sufficient.

6d   Problem at the address of sister’s house (9)

While I arrived at the correct solution, I had no idea why. The only piece that was clear to me was NUN (sister). As Dave Perry explains, "at the address of" is used to clue C/O (in care of) and drum^[5] is British slang meaning a house or flat [apartment].

7d   Fifty nuts in a cut fruitcake (7)

L^[5] is the Roman numeral for 50.

12d   The end of it is — in this (5,4)

14d   River mole in simple story (9)

16d   To have an object that the opposition may thank you for? (3,4)

In soccer, an own goal^[5] is a goal scored when a player inadvertently strikes or deflects the ball into their own team’s goal. The term is also used informally in Britain to describe an act that unintentionally harms one’s own interests ⇒ government scores own goal by assisting organized crime in London.

18d   9 November Surrey riots (7)

The numeral 9 is a cross-reference to clue 9a whose solution serves as the definition for this clue. November^[5] is a code word representing the letter N, used in radio communication. I'm not sure whether the surface reading refers an actual instance of rioting in Surrey. A Google search was dominated by hits related to the involvement of individuals from Surrey, British Columbia in the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot^[7].

20d   Light rug  put on floor (5)

21d   4 by turning into 7 (2,3)

Again we have a clue containing a pair of cross-reference indicators. Fleshed out, it becomes:

• I stand corrected by turning into lunatic (2,3)

The definition is "I stand corrected" — with the solution being a slangy modern day version of something that might be said when one's error becomes evident. The wordplay is a reversal (turning ...) of BY contained in (... into) MAD (lunatic). The phrase "turning into" serves the dual purposes of reversal indicator and containment indicator (which is why I have inserted the ellipses).

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, December 9, 2012 - ST 4511

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4511
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, November 11, 2012
Setter Jeff Pearce
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4511]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, December 1, 2012
Date of Publication in the Vancouver Sun Saturday, December 8, 2012
Falcon's Experience ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Times for the Times
Notes This puzzle appears on the Sunday Puzzles pages in the Saturday, December 8, 2012 edition of The Ottawa Citizen.

Introduction

Perhaps I am having an off day, but this puzzle severely tried my 1a. I usually find some redeeming quality about any puzzle but I found that this one really did not provide much enjoyment. What with obscure words (such as the solution to 14a) and wordplay that I couldn't fathom, it was a hard struggle to try and reach the finish line — and, in the end, I collapsed just short of it.

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.

Across

1a   Meat spread contains nice minced game (8)

In Britain, patience^[5] is any of various forms of card game for one player, the object of which is to use up all one’s cards by forming particular arrangements and sequences. The North American name for this game is solitaire^[5]. In Britain, solitaire^[5] is a game for one player played by removing pegs one at a time from a board by jumping others over them from adjacent holes, the object being to be left with only one peg.

5a   Returning to endlessly taunt and scold somebody (6)

From the latter two checking letters, it seemed that the solution must be either BIGWIG or EARWIG, but,  try as I might, I could make no case for either.

Wig^[5] is an informal and dated British term meaning to rebuke (someone) severely ⇒ I had often occasion to wig him for getting drunk.

10a/11a   Dray- horses like to roam around scenic area (9,5)

The Yorkshire Dales^[7] (also known as simply The Dales) is an upland area of Northern England dissected by numerous valleys. Most of the area falls within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, created in 1954 and now one of the fifteen National parks of Britain.

12a   Batting? Get help with spin if against them! (5)

In cricket, in^[5] signifies batting ⇒ which side is in?. The wordplay is IN (batting) + (get) a reversal (with spin) of AID (help). Although I have underlined the word "them" as being the definition, this word would really seem to be inadequate on its own to serve as a definition. Therefore, I would think that the entire clue must provide the definition. thereby making this a type of all-in-one clue known as wordplay intertwined with definition (WIWD).

13a   Academic in favour of encasing ship in iron and gold (9)

As is typically the case in cryptic crosswords, the ship referred to in the clue turns out to be a steamship (abbreviation SS^[5]).

The symbol for the chemical element iron is Fe^[5]. Or^[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture. In heraldry, a tincture^[5] is any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms.

14a   Virtually complete time machine — order for a many- legged creature (10)

The TARDIS^[7] (Time and Relative Dimension in Space) is a time machine and spacecraft in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who and its associated spin-offs. A properly maintained and piloted TARDIS can transport its occupants to any point in time and any place in the universe. The interior of a TARDIS is much larger than its exterior, which can blend in with its surroundings using the ship's "chameleon circuit". In the series, the central character (known simply as the Doctor) pilots an unreliable, obsolete TT Type 40, Mark 3 TARDIS. Its chameleon circuit is faulty, leaving it stuck in the shape of a 1960s-style London police box after a visit to London in 1963.

A tardigrade^[7] (commonly known as waterbear or moss piglet) is a small, water-dwelling, segmented animal with eight legs.

17a   Extra  roomy (4)

In cricket, an extra^[5] is a run scored other than from a hit with the bat, credited to the batting side rather than to a batsman. A wide^[5] is a ball that is judged to be too wide of the stumps for the batsman to play, for which an extra is awarded to the batting side.

19a   Spot mole on middle of green (4)

20a   Harsh American requiring strict attention to the rules (10)

22a   Maybe last person to run chilly port has staff for a long time? (9)

I did manage to arrive at the correct solution — once I had sufficient checking letters. Nevertheless, I had absolutely no idea with regard to working of the wordplay.

Anchorage^[5] is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska.

24a   Behind back of loo there’s grim pong (5)

Pong^[5] is British slang which, as a noun, denotes a strong, unpleasant smell • corked wine has a powerful pong and, as a verb, means to smell strongly and unpleasantly • the place just pongs of dirty clothes.

26a   Clubs are things for an evening out (5)

The second definition here ("things for an evening out") is cryptic and means 'things for taking the wrinkles out (of clothing, for instance)'.

27a   Explain salute with weapon to some soldiers at the front (9)

Present arms^[5] means to hold a rifle vertically in front of the body as a salute. The Corps of Royal Engineers (RE)^[5] is the field engineering and construction corps of the British army.

28a   Write note on old healthy drink (6)

Today, we get the common North American spelling ti which, for the Brits, would likely be a variation from the more common spelling in Britain, te^[5]. Sane^[5] has the obsolete or archaic meaning of healthy.

29a   Priest carries coffee and then small dishes (8)

Down

1d   Masseur happiest when relaxing with history (15)

2d   After time, one wine’s stale (5)

3d   Extremely euphoric and still over the moon (8)

4d   Primate takes one elected person beneath holy building (5)

6d   Where bat is put to get discussed? Yes (6)

This is yet another instance in which I got the correct solution without understanding why (at least, until I had read Dave Perry's review).

7d   Flags on top of Headingley anger county (9)

Headingley^[7] is a suburb of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Its major claim to fame would appear to be as the location of Headingley Stadium^[7], home of home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie (formerly known as Leeds Tykes). Wiltshire (abbreviation Wilts.)^[5] is a county of southern England.

8d   When touring station register complaint (15)

I have seen "touring" (bases on the meaning 'going around') used as a containment indicator. However, today's setter chooses to use it as an anagram indicator, presumably based on "touring" meaning 'moving around'.

9d   Instrument Queen used on an album (8)

By tradition, the ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs use initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus the cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

15d   Greedy au pair with cos salad (9)

A salad typically being a mixture of ingredients, and thus constituting an anagram indicator.

16d   She got up to get betrothed right away! (8)

18d   Cheeky bathers here off Hampshire? (8)

The Solent^[7] is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the county of Hampshire on the mainland of England. Thus someone swimming off Hampshire would find themselves "in Solent".

21d   Heart of French fish extracted for toxin (6)

The French word for fish is poisson^[10].

23d   North- eastern China is a hilly part of asia (5)

Nepal^[7] is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India.

In Britain, china^[5] is an informal term for a friend (or, as the Brits would say, a mate^[5]). This comes from Cockney rhyming slang, where china is the shortened form of china plate which rhymes with 'mate'.

25d   Without cycle training Seb Coe would get chubby (5)

Sebastian Coe^[7], often known as Seb Coe, is a British former athlete and politician. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including the 1500 metres gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. Following his retirement from athletics, he was a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party from 1992–97, and became a Life Peer in 2000. He headed the successful London bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics and became chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. He is currently a vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations as well as chairman of the British Olympic Association.

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, December 2, 2012 - ST 4510

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4510
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, November 4, 2012
Setter Tim Moorey
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4510]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, November 24, 2012
Date of Publication in the Vancouver Sun Saturday, December 1, 2012
Falcon's Experience ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Times for the Times
Notes This puzzle appears on the Sunday Puzzles pages in the Saturday, December 1, 2012 edition of The Ottawa Citizen.

Introduction

I got off to a slow start but made steady progress once I had established a toehold. However, the last half dozen clues proved to be extremely stubborn and mounted a vigorous challenge that gave me a strenuous workout — even with the aid of my electronic helpers. I could get nowhere against 19a — although it does not seem so daunting in hindsight.

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.

Across

1a   Close relative holding small, prepared fur (8)

I concluded that the definition is "prepared fur" based on sealskin^[10] being the skin or pelt of a fur seal, especially when dressed with the outer hair removed and the underfur dyed dark brown.

5a   Troublesome kid has teaspoonful by mistake (6)

Collins English Dictionary tells us that t.^[10] is the abbreviation for teaspoon(ful). Let's hope no cook mistakes it for ton!

10a   A barrier put around unfinished tomb in compound (9)

11a   Cycle with a couple on island such as this (5)

Capri^[10] is an island off W Italy, in the Bay of Naples that has been a resort since Roman times. Technically, the definition is "this" which, of course, is a demonstrative pronoun referring back to "island". This device allows "island" to effectively perform double duty (serving as part of the word play as well as being the definition) without actually doing so.

12a   Part of chair back left in row (5)

13a   Opener coming from Irish city second team (9)

Cork^[10] is a city and port in S Republic of Ireland, county town of County Cork, at the mouth of the River Lee.

14a   Each walking purposefully in part of Yorkshire (4,6)

East Riding of Yorkshire^[10] is a county of NE England, a historical division of Yorkshire on the North Sea and the Humber estuary.

17a   Fly recklessly leaving Lord behind (4)

In Britain, fly^[5] is an informal term meaning knowing and clever ⇒ she’s fly enough not to get tricked out of it.

19a   Mean adult from the east giving present? No (4)

I guess I developed a severe mental block on this clue as I failed to decipher it even with the help of all the electronic assistance that I could muster. The definition is "present? No" which, of course, denotes the opposite of present — or, in other words, absent.

20a   Ghastliest works? Burns (4,6)

22a   What some alcohol reformers might do in grounds (9)

Note that a superfluous S has sneaked into the solution given in Dave Perry's review. One's position on an issue might be based on specific grounds or a particular rationale.

24a   Course, one that’s not English (5)

Ascot Racecourse^[7] is a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races. The course is closely associated with the British Royal Family, being approximately six miles from Windsor Castle.

"One that's not English" might be a Canadian, or a Dane ... or "a Scot".

26a   Stones hit making a comeback on disc (5)

27a   Boldness going wrong in Democrat party (7- 2)

28a   Given recurrent idea in southern sea (6)

From a British standpoint, "the Med" (Mediterranean) would be considered a "southern sea". Unfortunately, I spent virtually all of my time searching for a large body of water in the Southern Hemisphere.

29a   Final courses, flipping tense (8)

In the surface reading, flipping^[5] is an informal British expression used for emphasis or to express mild annoyance ⇒ (i) are you out of your flipping mind?; (ii) [as submodifier] it’s flipping cold today.

Down

1d   Where to find sad train-spotter getting lost? (8,7)

This is a kind of semi all-in-one (semi &lit.) clue that Scchua, one of my fellow bloggers on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, likes to describe as 'wordplay intertwined with definition' (WIWD). The entire clue serves as the definition with a portion of the clue ("sad train-spotter getting lost") constituting the wordplay — an anagram (getting lost) of SAD TRAINSPOTTER.

In Britain, a trainspotter^[5] is a person who collects train or locomotive numbers as a hobby. The term is also used, often in a derogatory fashion, for a person who obsessively studies the minutiae of any minority interest or specialized hobby ⇒ the idea is to make the music really really collectable so the trainspotters will buy it in their pathetic thousands.

Here the setter appears to have based his spelling of "train-spotter"^[2] on Chambers (which spells it with a hyphen). Oxford spells it as a single word^[5], while Collins has it as either a single word or two separate words (without a hyphen)^[10].

London Stansted Airport^[7] is a passenger airport located at Stansted Mountfitchet in the local government district of Uttlesford in Essex, 48 km (30 mi) northeast of Central London. Stansted is a hub for a number of major European low-cost carriers, being the largest base for low-cost giant Ryanair with over 100 destinations served by the airline. In 2011, it was the fourth busiest airport in the United Kingdom after Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester.

The clue indicates that a trainspotter might be rather unhappy should he get lost and find himself at Stansted Airport. However, all might not be lost. He could seemingly engage in his pastime at the Stansted Airport railway station^[7].

2d   Theatre supporter, a name back stage (5)

3d   Leading act is surprise on vessel (4,4)

Star turn is a British name for the person or performance that is the most interesting or exciting^[10] or the person or act that gives the most heralded or impressive performance in a programme^[5] ⇒ (i) he was stopped by the arrival on stage of the star turn; (ii) she was the star turn of the night.

4d   Tax- efficient investment on account for Sarah’s son (5)

In the Bible, Isaac^[5] is a Hebrew patriarch, son of Abraham and Sarah and father of Jacob and Esau. ISA^[10] is an acronym for individual savings account: a tax-free savings scheme introduced in Britain in 1999.

6d   Cop out? Former case of sabotage keeps copper in (6)

Cu^[5] is the symbol for the chemical element copper.

7d   Recording left in Niger accidentally (9)

8d   It’s a slow train? Ay, change for Charing Cross and Queen Street perhaps (7,8)

Charing Cross railway station^[7], also known as London Charing Cross, is a central London railway terminus in the City of Westminster, England. It is the fifth busiest rail terminal in London.

Glasgow Queen Street^[7] is a railway station in Glasgow, Scotland, the smaller of the city's two main line railway termini and the third-busiest station in Scotland. Cardiff Queen Street railway station^[7] in Cardiff, Wales is the second busiest railway station in Wales.

9d   One finally invested in bank that’s lost sense of direction (8)

Barings Bank^[7] (1762 to 1995) was the oldest merchant bank in London, founded and owned by the German-origined Baring family. The bank collapsed in 1995 after one of the bank's employees, Nick Leeson, lost £827 million ($1.3 billion) due to speculative investing, primarily in futures contracts, at the bank's Singapore office.

Thus, the phrase "bank that's lost" could be interpreted in either of two fashions. It might mean a 'bank that has lost [money] — big time!' or a 'bank that is lost (no longer exists)'.

15d   Type of broadcast that doesn’t get much of a greeting? (5,4)

16d   Fan had rides in blimps (8)

In Britain, a blimp^[10] (or Colonel Blimp) is a person, especially a military officer, who is stupidly complacent and reactionary. The term is based on a character created by Sir David Low (1891–1963), New Zealand-born British political cartoonist. In North America, a blimp^[5] is a fat person ⇒ I could work out four hours a day and still end up a blimp. Diehard^[5] is noun (often used as a modifier) that refers to a person who strongly opposes change or who continues to support something in spite of opposition ⇒ (i) my stepfather was a diehard Republican; (ii)a diehard Yankees fan.

18d   Jump into suits? Not for these cinemas (8)

I must admit that I totally overlooked the containment type wordplay in this clue. Instead, I supposed that it was merely a cryptic definition alluding to the fact that one would not bother putting on a suit before going to such a place of entertainment. I think this could be considered another wordplay intertwined with definition type clue where the entire clue serves as a cryptic definition and a portion of the clue constitutes the wordplay. Fleapit^[5] is an informal British term for a dingy, dirty place, especially a run-down cinema.

21d   Sweet American appearing in some cast (6)

In Britain, sweet^[5] is another name for pudding or dessert.

23d   Look around outskirts of Rimini for a top spot (5)

25d   Smoke fish, one caught up in leading position (5)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c^[5] indicates caught (by) • ME Waugh c Lara b Walsh 19.

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