Sunday, January 13, 2013 - ST 4516

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4516
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, December 16, 2012
Setter Tim Moorey
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4516]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, January 5, 2013
Date of Publication in the Vancouver Sun Saturday, January 12, 2013
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, January 12, 2013 edition of The Ottawa Citizen.

Introduction

I become bogged down in the southeast corner and even my electronic assistants provided little relief. I eventually threw in the towel and sought illumination from Times for the Times.

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   Beer cans beginning to bother expert (4)

4a   Since the situation is so bad, anaesthetic ether initially not used (2,4,4)

9a   Military aide involved in plan for terror (6)

10a   Access for transport (8)

11a   Rhythm is reversed in satisfactory round (8)

Canon^[4], as a musical term, denotes a piece of music in which an extended melody in one part is imitated successively in one or more other parts. A round^[4] is a part song in which the voices follow each other at equal intervals at the same pitch.

13a   You’ll find them in oceans? Not normally! (6)

14a   Try hard to get back into base for burrowing rodents (6-4)

16a   Singer in the nude, get her off! (4)

17a   Cold bass recalled by polar explorer (4)

Dry^[10] is presumably used in the sense of lacking warmth or emotion; cold ⇒ a dry greeting.

Richard Byrd^[5] (1888–1957) was an American explorer, naval officer, and aviator. He claimed to have made the first aircraft flight over the North Pole (1926), although his actual course has been disputed. He was the first to fly over the South Pole (1929).

18a   Traders out to acquire a Lely? Not half! (3,7)

Sir Peter Lely^[5] (1618–80) was a Dutch portrait painter who was resident in England from 1641. He became principal court painter to Charles II. Notable works include Windsor Beauties, a series painted during the 1660s.

20a   Helium’s omitted from wordbook? Bull! (6)

The symbol for the chemical element helium is He^[5].

21a   Central characters in December’s traditional cheer (8)

23a   State and its way of expressing individuality gets trouble (8)

24a   Repeatedly lengthy talk about seat that’s flexible to the end (3,3)

Sag bag^[10] [presumably a British term] is another name for beanbag^[10], a very large cushion loosely filled with foam rubber or polystyrene granules so that it moulds into a comfortable shape: used as an informal low seat.

26a   This is the time for a tip? (7-3)

Dave Perry calls this a double definition. However, by my reckoning it is a cryptic definition.

27a   RAC competitor contracted this girl (4)

I knew that RAC provides what the Brits refer to as "breakdown cover" or what we in North America would call emergency roadside assistance. I also recognized that we needed to shorten the name of a competitive breakdown cover provider to get a girls name. However, even though it was staring me in the face, I failed to recognize the service because I neglected to include the definite article.

The Royal Automobile Club^[7] (RAC) is a British private club. Founded in 1897 with the aim of encouraging the development of motoring in Britain, today the Royal Automobile Club is one of London’s finest private members' clubs. Like many other "gentlemen's clubs" in London today, the Royal Automobile Club now has women as well as men as members.

RAC Limited^[7] is a private limited company based in the United Kingdom supplying roadside assistance as well as other products and services for motorists. It started its existence as part of the Royal Automobile Club but has since been divested. 

The Automobile Association (The AA)^[7], a British motoring association founded in 1905, was demutualised in 1999 to become a private limited company which currently provides breakdown cover and other motoring-related services.

Down

2d   Female stole Bishop Noah’s heart (3)

3d   Lord Archer’s one on two counts (2- 3)

Jeffrey Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare^[7] is an English author and former Conservative politician whose political career ended with his conviction and subsequent imprisonment (2001–03) for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

4d   Not directly declared, one politician lived out of centre (7)

5d   Extreme point of turnaround? It’s D (3,3,2,3,4)

After due consideration, I concluded that the two "definitions" here must be "extreme point of turnaround" (i.e., once you reach the end of the road, you have no choice but to turn back) and "D" which is the last letter (end) of 'the roaD'.

My first thought was that the definitions might be "extreme point" (the end of the road) with "of turnaround, its D" being the second, indicating that D is the last letter of "turnaround" (which I supposed might be a type of road in Britain). However, Oxford Dictionaries Online characterises turnaround^[5], meaning a space for vehicles to turn round in, especially one at the end of a driveway, as being a North American usage — rather than British.

6d   Charges a levy reportedly (7)

7d   Letters supporting stores getting strong protection (5,4)

8d   Ravel orchestrated short and sweet Viennese composition (11)

Maurice Ravel^[5] (1875–1937) was a French composer. His works are somewhat impressionistic in style, employing colourful orchestration and unresolved dissonances. Notable works: the ballets Daphnis and Chloë (1912) and Boléro (1928) and the orchestral work La Valse (1920).

Of course, "ravel" has quite a different meaning in the cryptic reading.

 A Sachertorte^[5] is a chocolate gateau with apricot jam filling and chocolate icing. Gateau^[5] is a chiefly British term (obvious imported from French) for a rich cake, typically one containing layers of cream or fruit.

12d   Taste of Indian meal not large for toady (5,6)

15d   Where to find doges in Oxford listings, especially unfavoured ones (9)

18d   Sit on the fence in a second- class spot (7)

19d   A couple of seconds to break into complex maybe — that’s the mission (7)

22d   Just  hurry up! (5)

25d   What’s put away at regular intervals in peacetime (3)

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