Sunday, January 27, 2013 - ST 4518

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4518
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, December 30, 2012
Setter Jeff Pearce
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4518]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, January 19, 2013*
Date of Publication in the Vancouver Sun Saturday, January 26, 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 *The Date of Publication in the Toronto Star is unconfirmed as there is no posting on the Saturday Star Cryptic Forum for that date.

Introduction

This is by far the easiest puzzle we have seen in quite some time — a welcome relief after the daunting challenge we were faced with last week. British Christmas crosswords are like Christmas dinners, way more than one should consume at one sitting.

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   Scottish fellow is outside right for this country (4)

In Crosswordland, you will find that a Scotsman is almost invariably named Ian.

3a   Try rings if cooking — Chinese style? (4-6)

Words can't do double duty in crossword clues, so "cooking" is an anagram indicator — and not technically part of the definition. However, the construction of the clue (together with the question mark) clearly convey the idea that "Chinese style" implicitly refers to cooking.

10a   Information on literary style (5)

Gen^[5] is British slang for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

11a   With Conservative gone, New Labour act to turn around city (4,5)

The Conservatives^[7] (C^[5] being the abbreviation for a Conservative) and Labour^[7] are British political parties. New Labour^[7] refers to a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, led by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Ulan Bator^[7] is the capital and by far the largest city of Mongolia. [It is popularly believed to be the only capital city in the world that is colder than Ottawa — although this week, apparently, even that was untrue.]

12a   Bored pupil’s view is often  disregarded (3,2,3,6)

To go out (of) the window^[5] (with respect to a plan or pattern of behaviour) is to no longer exist or disappear ⇒ all pretence at unity went out of the window as cabinet colleagues traded insults.

14a   Legendary King returned traitor — one of five (7)

Tarquin^[5] is the anglicized name of two semi-legendary Etruscan kings of ancient Rome — Tarquinius Priscus (reigned circa 616-circa 578 BC) and Tarquinius Superbus (reigned circa 534-circa 510 BC).

In Britain, the short form for quintuplet is quin^[4] whereas, in the US and Canada, it is quint.

15a   Gave up and ended resistance (7)

This double definition is spoiled by the fact that "gave up" can mean "ended resistance" (surrendered). The clue is only valid if yield^[3] (in the first definition) is interpreted in some other sense such as to give forth by or as if by a natural process, especially by cultivation ⇒ a field that yields many bushels of corn.

17a   Spice girl hosts one act about to be nice on the ear (7)

Melanie Chisholm^[7] is a British singer-songwriter, actress and businesswoman professionally known as Melanie C. She is one of the five members of the Spice Girls (a British pop group), in which she was nicknamed "Sporty Spice".

19a   After party theres strong drink. I swallowed tranquilliser (7)

Librium^[5] is a trademark for chlordiazepoxide^[5], a tranquillizer of the benzodiazepine group, used chiefly to treat anxiety and alcoholism. The Liberals^[7] (abbreviation Lib.^[5]) are a British political Party.

My first attempt to formulate this drug failed when I tried to use the wrong political party as an ingredient — Labour^[7] (abbreviation Lab.^[5]).

20a   Being drunk dad quarrels with one officer (8,6)

23a   Work too hard? Try some cricket and have a shot at golf (9)

In cricket, an over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end. In golf, drive^[5] means to strike (a ball) from the tee, typically with a driver ⇒ I’m driving the ball really well and my irons are good.

24a   Some comedy about Republican seen in the fringe (5)

Skirt^[10] is used in the sense of a margin or outlying area.

25a   Near London, supply banned stuff that dodgy athletes seek (10)

Nandrolone^[5] is an anabolic steroid with tissue-building properties, used unlawfully to enhance performance in sport.

Admittedly being inept in chemistry, my first attempt at formulating this drug had an A and O reversed.

26a   Wise men having no leader for years (4)

Down

1d   How the drummer should play  quickly (2,4,4)

2d   Dad's sister tours a river and lake with nothing on (2,7)

The River Ure^[7] is a stream in North Yorkshire, England, approximately 74 miles (119 km) long from its source to the point where it changes name to the River Ouse.

4d   Make strong but not huge after training (7)

5d   Route for traffic going to theatre district if attending blockbuster’s opening (7)

Broadway^[5] is a street traversing the length of Manhattan, New York. It is famous for its theatres, and its name has become synonymous with show business.

Attending^[10] is used in the archaic sense (which is very close to its French roots) of waiting for. Thus BROADWAY would be only ROADWAY prior to the arrival of its opening letter {waiting for (attending) Blockbuster's opening [letter]}.

The only thing that entered my mind was RAILWAY —  which, obviously, didn't even fit. For some reason, my brain refused to make the tiny leap to the correct solution.

6d   Barrister boned roasted bird (5,9)

7d   Up against rook in this opening (5)

Into^[10] is used in the sense of against or up against ⇒ he drove into a wall. This is the type of clue that I think of as a recipe, i.e., a list of instructions. In these type of clues, the instructions are run together and we must mentally insert breaks in the correct spots to decipher the correct instructions. Here, we are told at Step 1 to start with a word meaning "up against" (which is INTO). Then at Step 2 we are instructed to insert R (rook; chess notation) into the result from Step 1.

8d   He’s right, and happy about it (4)

I'm not sure if the solution is a reference to anyone in particular. The only right-wing British politician named Gary that I was able to identify is Conservative backbencher Gary Streeter^[7] whose chief call to fame appears to be that he "is a committed Christian who believes in faith healing". Dave Perry does not indicate that the name has any special significance.

9d   Islander put green light in sink (14)

Light^[10] is employed in the sense (especially with respect to birds) to settle or land after flight.

13d   Overshadows stupid judge while un the outside (10)

16d   Finally untangled spool with fish gradually disappearing (9)

A ling^[5] is any of a number of long-bodied edible marine fishes, in particular a large East Atlantic fish (Molva molva) related to the cod which is of commercial importance.

18d   Warm  drink (7)

19d   It’s light to carry (7)

21d   You might see her and "tails" in sequential run (5)

Dave Perry reports that it took him "a while post-solve to see the wordplay". I only saw it when he pointed it out. The solution is a word that together with TAILS might constitute the fodder for an anagram (run) that would produce the outcome SEQUENTIAL.

22d   Blue  feathers (4)

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