Sunday, January 26, 2014 — ST 4570

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4570
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, December 29, 2013
Setter Tim Moorey
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4570]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Dave Perry's Solving Time ★★[Note 2]
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, January 18, 2014
Date of Publication in The Vancouver Sun Saturday, January 25, 2014[Note 2]
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 █ - solved but without being able to fully parse the clue █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Times for the Times
Notes [1] This puzzle appears on the Sunday puzzles pages in the Saturday, January 25, 2014 edition of the Ottawa Citizen. [2] Due to the paywall that has been erected on its web site, I am no longer able to verify the puzzle that is published in The Vancouver Sun. [3] Excludes additional parsing time. In his review, Dave Perry states "Solving time: About 25 minutes to solve, but much longer to parse."

Introduction

This is a puzzle where I often arrived at the solution without having parsed the clue — and where it frequently took longer to parse the clue than than to find the solution, and longer yet to research and compose the blog entry.

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. The underlined portion of the clue is the definition.

Across

1a   Midshipman before leaving is relaxed (4-5)

Mr. Midshipman Easy^[7] is an 1836 novel by British author Frederick Marryat (1792–1848), a retired captain in the 19th century Royal Navy. The novel is set during the Napoleonic Wars, in which Marryat himself served with distinction.

6a   Nag man to adopt a change of direction (4)

I was so obsessed with the idea that the final letter must signify "east" that I failed to notice the other directional indicator.

Nag^[5] is used in the sense of a horse, especially one that is old or in poor health.

8a   Eastern language that's secure reportedly (3)

According to Collins English Dictionary, Tai^[10] is a variant spelling of Thai. However, Oxford Dictionaries Online states that Tai^[5] is an adjective relating to or denoting a family of tonal southeast Asian languages, including Thai and Lao, of uncertain affinity to other language groups (sometimes being linked with the Sino-Tibetan family).

As one comment on Times for the Times puts it:

... for completeness' sake: "Tai" is not another way of spelling "Thai". Rather, Thai is one of several Tai languages. To avoid confusion, "Siamese" is still favoured in some circles to refer to the Thai language.

However, while the definition in the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary^[2] corresponds to that in Collins, American dictionaries (The American Heritage Dictionary and Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary) list both meanings^[3,11].

9a   What a commercial fisherman takes home? (3,8)

11a   Rod's game (5)

12a   Novel joke named as a winner (9)

Nap^[5] is a British term meaning to name (a horse or greyhound) as a probable winner of a race ⇒ Harbinger is napped to win the Novices' Hurdle.

Kidnapped^[7] is a historical fiction adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894).

13a   No quiet idle chats, they're noisy (7)

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

14a   Traditional clothing worn in minaret (7)

The anagram indicator in this clue, "worn in", is one of many of several found in this puzzle that are — shall we say — thought provoking. Although I did not the term in any dictionary, I presume that "wear in" is synonymous with "break in" — something you might need to do, for instance, with a pair of new shoes before they feel comfortable.

Raiment^[5] is an archaic or literary term for clothing ⇒ ladies clothed in raiment bedecked with jewels. The use of the adjective "traditional" in the clue alludes to the fact that the solution is an archaic word.

16a   Get Gale under the table? One's there already! (4-3)

As an anagram indicator, under the table^[10] is used in the sense of drunk rather than done illicitly and secretly.

A gate-leg table^[10] is a table with one or two drop leaves that are supported when in use by a hinged leg [gate-leg] swung out from the frame.

18a   Loud recorded beat (7)

Forte^[5] (abbreviation f^[5]) is a musical direction meaning (as an adjective) loud or (as an adverb) loudly.

19a   Fastidious, having not a bit of pepper on the joint (9)

21a   Horses groomed in Basra (5)

23a   School grant in time ending (ll)

As an anagram indicator, school is used as a verb meaning to train.

24a   Bachelor's last words almost in language designed for everyone (3)

Ido^[7] is a language created to be a universal second language for speakers of diverse backgrounds. Ido was specifically designed to be grammatically, orthographically, and lexicographically regular, and above all easy to learn and use. In this sense, Ido is classified as a constructed international auxiliary language. Ido was created in 1907 out of a desire to reform perceived flaws in Esperanto, a language that had been created for the same purpose 20 years earlier.

25a   England's opening bowler disheartened in a short time (4)

I was able to decipher the overall intent of the setter, but didn't identify the specific cricketer referenced by the clue.

England refers to the England cricket team^[7], the team that represents England and Wales (and until 1992 also Scotland) in international cricket.

Jimmy Anderson^[7] is an English cricketer who plays first-class cricket for Lancashire and has also represented England in over 80 Test matches and over 160 One Day Internationals.

A Test (short for Test match)^[5] is an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries ⇒ the Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies.

I am really not sure why Anderson is referred to as "England's opening bowler". On occasion, especially earlier in his career, he seems to have been an opening bowler (one of the two bowlers who start a match) but I could find no evidence that he continues to regularly fill this role. Of course, he may well do so — as my knowledge of cricket is rather rudimentary and my investigation was rather cursory.

26a   With which a deer sees what's happened? (9)

A hind^[10] is the female of the deer, especially the red deer when aged three years or more.

Down

1d   Most excellent father starts to drop off in bar (5)

Estop^[5] (usually found in the phrase be estopped from) is a legal term meaning to bar or preclude by estoppel ⇒ the company may be estopped from denying either statement. In his review, Dave Perry indicates that "in bar" may suggest that this is a legal term — although the word does, in fact, mean "bar".

Estoppel^[5] is the legal principle which precludes a person from asserting something contrary to what is implied by a previous action or statement of that person or by a previous pertinent judicial determination:

2d   Don't give up a despicable person after criticism (5,2,2)

Tit^[5] is British slang for a foolish or ineffectual person.

Stick^[5] is an informal British term for severe criticism or treatment ⇒ I took a lot of stick from the press.

3d   Poll tree in fall, for example, once fine leaves lost (7,8)

4d   How directors make a film for new recruits (7)

An intake^[5] is the people taken into an organization at a particular time ⇒ the new intake of MPs.

An intake is not "a new recruit" but, rather, all the new recruits considered collectively. The word might be used in the plural when comparing the intake in one year to that of another year ⇒ intakes since 2005 have had a larger representation of women than was the case in previous years.

5d   You get more contented in summer after good half-century (7)

Summer is used in the whimsical sense of someone who sums up numbers.

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely comes from its use in rating school assignments or tests.

6d   Fruit for Sir Humphrey? (8,7)

Sir Humphrey Appleby^[7], GCB, KBE, MVO, MA (Oxon), is a fictional character from the British television series Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. In Yes Minister, he is the Permanent Secretary for the Department of Administrative Affairs (a fictional department of the British government). In the last episode of Yes Minister, he becomes Cabinet Secretary, the position he retains during Yes, Prime Minister.

A mandarin^[5] is a powerful official or senior bureaucrat, especially one perceived as reactionary and secretive ⇒ a civil service mandarin.

By the way, this clue seems to have garnered a lot of criticism in the UK, being characterised as "very weak" and "feeble in the extreme". Nevertheless, I rather liked it.

Initially a grand short, called for significant rise (3-2)

10d   Sitting around Land's End, calmed down (7)

Land's End^[5] is a rocky promontory in southwest Cornwall, which forms the westernmost point of England. The approximate distance by road from Land’s End to John o’Groats^[5] (a village at the extreme northeast point of the Scottish mainland) is 1,400 km (876 miles) — about the same distance as from Ottawa to Halifax.

13d   What's prevalent in the club? Going topless (7)

Regnant^[5] means currently having the greatest influence; in other words, dominant ⇒ the regnant belief.

In the club^[5] (or the pudding club) is an informal British expression meaning pregnant.

15d   Engineer's overlooking wild artwork (9)

17d   Giant mystic rock fan to contain trouble coming up (7)

In the Bible, Goliath^[5] is a Philistine giant, according to one tradition slain by David (1 Sam. 17), but according to another slain by Elhanan (2 Sam. 21:19). The name has come to signify a person or thing of enormous size or strength ⇒ the two unassuming hippies took on a corporate Goliath.

A Goth^[4] (sometimes goth) is an aficionado of Goth music, a style of guitar-based rock with some similarities to heavy metal and punk and usually characterized by depressing or mournful lyrics.

18d   Forefinger wagging ref expressed as not appropriate (7)

20d   Current cuts change Italian city (5)

In physics, I^[5] is the symbol for electric current.

Turin^[5] is a city in northwest Italy on the River Po, capital of Piedmont region; population 908,825 (2008). Turin was the capital of the kingdom of Sardinia from 1720 and became the first capital of a unified Italy (1861-4). In Italian, it is known as Torino.

22d   Neat and kind engaging husband (5)

Short^[5] is an adjective denoting (of a drink of spirits) undiluted or neat. This may be a British usage, as I found it only in Collins English Dictionary and Chambers 21st Century Dictionary.

In another British usage, as a noun, a short^[5] is a drink of spirits served in a small measure or, as Collins English Dictionary puts it, a drink of spirits as opposed to a long drink such as beer^[10].  

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)
^[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)

Signing off for this week — Falcon

Sunday, January 19, 2014 — ST 4253

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4253
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, December 2, 2007
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4253]
Times for the Times Review Written By Peter Biddlecombe
Peter Biddlecombe's Solving Time ★
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Not published[Note 3]
Date of Publication in The Vancouver Sun Saturday, January 18, 2014[Note 2]
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 █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by solutions from Times for the Times
Notes [1] This puzzle appears on the Sunday puzzles pages in the Saturday, January 18, 2014 edition of the Ottawa Citizen. [2] Due to the paywall that has been erected on its web site, I am no longer able to verify the puzzle that is published in The Vancouver Sun. [3] On Saturday, January 11, 2014, the Toronto Star published ST 4569, a Christmas-themed puzzle that first appeared in the Sunday, December 22, 2013 edition of The Sunday Times.

Introduction

Today, as is the annual practice, the editors at the Ottawa Citizen dip into the archives for a puzzle to replace the seasonally-themed puzzle that appeared in the UK just prior to Christmas. They have come up with ST 4253, a puzzle that was first published in The Sunday Times on December 2, 2007. This puzzle would likely have been carried by the Citizen sometime in January 2008 — before the inception of my blog.

The Toronto Star usually follows this same practice by replacing the Christmas-themed puzzle with a substitute, although — if memory serves me correctly — not necessarily with the same one chosen by the Ottawa Citizen. However, this year, the Star has chosen to publish the Christmas-themed puzzle — on Saturday, January 11, 2014. It is a giant puzzle having a 23x23 grid (rather than the normal 15x15 grid).

It is interesting to note that the Toronto Star appears to have made a substitution the previous week (Saturday, January 4, 2014), running an unknown puzzle in place of ST 4568. Perhaps, the editors got a bit over-anxious and sent the sub in a week early!

I have no real way of knowing whether the substitution of puzzles is done by editors at the Sunday Times which distributes the syndicated puzzle or by editors of the papers in which it is published. However, the fact that the Ottawa Citizen and Toronto Star carry different puzzles suggests that the decision is made locally. Perhaps if it had been the editors at the Sunday Times who made the selection, they would not have chosen a puzzle exhibiting the warts seen in this one (as evidenced by 23d).

Nevertheless, this change does give us a bit of a breather from the very challenging series of puzzles that were pitched at us during the previous three weekends.

As a final note, Peter Biddlecombe's review at Times for the Times gives no solution for several of the clues in this puzzle. There are so many missing solutions, in fact, that I suspect the omissions may have been deliberate. Perhaps, Peter considered those clues to be so easy that they did not merit being included in the review.

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. The underlined portion of the clue is the definition.

Across

1a   Not a direct flight coming out of Alsace airstrips (6,9)

9a   Rattle perhaps, in car (7)

Sir Simon Rattle^[5] is an English conductor. Principal conductor with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra 1980–91, he became chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 2000 and its artistic director in 2002.

The Austin Maestro^[7] is a compact five-door hatchback car (and two-door van derivative) that was produced from 1983 to 1995, first by the Austin Rover subsidiary of British Leyland (BL), and from 1988 by its successor, Rover Group. It was first sold as an Austin and a MG. Later models have sometimes been referred to as the Rover Maestro, but the model never wore the Rover badge. Descendants of the Maestro are still being produced in China.

10a   Vehicle contest date that is rejected (7)

11a   School managed without pressure (4)

In North America, a co-ed^[10] (spelled coed^[5] by Oxford Dictionaries Online) is a female student at a co-educational institution. However, in Britain, the term refers to a school or college providing coeducation. I suspect that this is but one more instance of the British propensity to convert adjectives into nouns. Thus co-ed school becomes shortened to co-ed in the same manner that an Indian restaurant becomes simply an Indian and an estate car [the British name for a station wagon] is known commonly as an estate.

In physics, the symbol for pressure is p^[10].

12a   Wise person includes time to teach diligence? (10)

Diligence^[10] is a historical term for a stagecoach. The name is a shortened form of the French expression carosse de diligence, which translates literally as 'coach of speed'.

13a   Two of us (according to Eastenders) wander about (7)

An East Ender^[10] is a native or inhabitant of the East End of London, an area whose residents are also referred to as cockneys. 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].

Thus a cockney lad would refer to himself and his girlfriend as "me and 'er".

15a   Continues to travel in Laos moving around south (5,2)

Peter seems to have skipped over this clue in his review. The solution is SAILS ON, which is an anagram (moving) of IN LAOS containing (around) S (south).

17a   Nag's Head, for instance, accommodates awfully true characters (7)

19a   Could be jokers catching a number with unfounded stories (7)

20a   Engineer vacates pit entrances (10)

And Peter skips yet another clue. The solution is CAPTIVATES with the wordplay being an anagram (engineer) of VACATES PIT. In this clue, "entrances" plays the role of a verb, not a noun.

22a   Girl over in US restaurant getting bottom pinched (4)

The setter employs the phrase "US restaurant" as the term clued by it is apparently not used in the UK. Oxford Dictionaries Online defines diner^[5] as a North American term for a small roadside restaurant with a long counter and booths.

25a   Stop without proper gear on the warpath? (7)

The use of "proper" as an anagram indicator did spark a question in my mind. I presume that the rationale behind its use is that the letters making up the word GEAR must be rearranged in order to be "suitable or appropriate" for use in the solution.

26a   Calm prisoner alone (7)

27a   Approach training with careful consideration (6,2,7)

In his review, Peter Biddlecombe questions "training" being used as a synonym for "training". I would say that school may be intended in the sense of a place or sphere of activity that instructs ⇒ the school of hard knocks. I think the equivalence works better when the two phrases are considered in their entirety, with "school of thought" being viewed as a cryptic definition of "training with careful consideration".

Down

1d   French novelist climbing in tree (5)

Albert Camus^[7] (1913–1960) was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century.

2d   Gauche line sadly taken on say. worker (9)

According to longstanding custom, much of the work in Crosswordland is accomplished by ants.

3d   Singer in the nude, get her off! (4)

4d   "Observer" featuring the inventor of Gamesmanship briefly (7)

The surface reading is an allusion to The Observer^[7], the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. A sister paper to the daily The Guardian^[7], it takes a similar liberal or social democratic line on most issues.

Gamesmanship^[7] is the use of dubious (although not technically illegal) methods to win or gain a serious advantage in a game or sport. It may be inferred that the term derives from the idea of playing for the game (i.e., to win at any cost) as opposed to sportsmanship, which derives from the idea of playing for sport. The term originates from a humorous 1947 book by British author Stephen Potter (1900–1969) entitled The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship (or the Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating).

The name of the originator (inventor) of the term Gamesmanship might be briefly expressed as S. Potter.

5d   Delegates behind arresting banner (7)

Ass is another North American term, although the setter does not make note of this fact as he did in 22a.

Ass^[3,4,11] is the North American term for the part of the body that is known in Britain as the arse^[3,4,11].

This word is clearly considered to be less vulgar in the UK than it is on this side of the Atlantic. With respect to the use of the word arse, Collins English Dictionary says:

Dating back at least a thousand years, and taboo till around the middle of the 20th century, this venerable "Anglo-Saxon" word now seems unlikely to cause offence in all but the most formal contexts. Its acceptability has possibly been helped by such useful verb formations as "to arse about'' and "I can't be arsed''.

The dropping of r before s seems to be a common fixture in North American English. In addition to the formation of ass from arse, we find cuss^[3,4,11] having been formed from curse in the same manner as well as passel^[3,4,11] from parcel.

6d   Editing a work on origin of Dada movement (9)

Dada^[5] is an early 20th-century movement in art, literature, music, and film, repudiating and mocking artistic and social conventions and emphasizing the illogical and absurd. Dada was launched in Zurich in 1916 by Tristan Tzara and others, soon merging with a similar group in New York. It favoured montage, collage, and the ready-made. Leading figures: Jean Arp, André Breton, Max Ernst, Man Ray, and Marcel Duchamp.

7d   Some maniac cracked in capital (5)

This makes three clues that Peter has skipped in his review. The solution is hidden (some) in maniAC CRAcked.

Accra^[5] is the capital of Ghana, a port on the Gulf of Guinea; population 1,970,400 (est. 2005).

8d   Hears? Nope, when sporting these (9)

I would say that this is a semi-& lit. clue. The entire clue serves as the definition, while the first part of the clue (in fact, all except the final word) constitutes the wordplay.

As an anagram indicator, sport is used as a verb meaning to play in a lively, energetic way^[5] or frolic^[3] ⇒ the children sported in the water.

13d   Handles detractors around N Ireland (9)

Skipped clue number four — and counting.

The solution is MONICKERS with the wordplay being MOCKERS (detractors) containing (around) NI (N Ireland).

Northern Ireland^[5] (abbreviation NI^[5]) is a province of the United Kingdom occupying the northeast part of Ireland; population 1,775,000 (est. 2008); capital, Belfast.

14d   Brave actions going wrong in Democratic party (7-2)

16d   Alert child good with alluring music (5.4)

Siren song^[5] (or siren call) is a phrase used in reference to the appeal of something that is alluring but also potentially harmful or dangerous ⇒ a mountaineer who hears the siren song of K2 [the second highest mountain in the world, located in the Karakoram Range on the border between Pakistan and China].

The expression is an allusion to the sirens of Greek mythology whose singing lured unwary sailors on to rocks.

18d   Two notes from awkward customer (2-3-2)

Awkward^[2] is used in the sense of difficult or inconvenient to deal with ⇒ an awkward customer.

I found British dictionaries to be rather more polite in their definitions of so-and-so than are American dictionaries.

• Oxford Dictionaries Online: informal a person who is disliked or is considered to have a particular characteristic, typically an unfavourable one ⇒ nosy old so-and-so!^[5]
• Collins English Dictionary: (euphemistic) a person or thing regarded as unpleasant or difficult ⇒ which so-and-so broke my razor?^[10]
• Chambers 21st Century Dictionary: a word in place of a vulgar word or oath ⇒ You crafty little so-and-so!^[2]
• American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Informal A son of a gun^[3]
• Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary: a bastard (used as a euphemism)^[11]

19d   Hairstyle for the team? (4,3)

This is likely an instance of the origin of term having become lost with time resulting in a definition appearing to be cryptic when, in fact, it is not. As Peter Biddlecombe alludes to in his review, the term crew cut^[4] comes from from the style of haircut worn by the boat crews at Harvard and Yale Universities.

21d   Measure of freshwater fish (5)

We finally arrive at the last of the skipped clues.

This is a double definition in which the first definition is an obscure unit of measure and the second definition is a (presumably) well-known freshwater fish.

A perch is a historical unit of measure that was once used in Britain. A perch^[5] (also called a pole or a rod) is a measure of length, especially for land, equal to a quarter of a [surveyor's] chain
 or 5½ yards.

A chain^[3,4] (abbreviation ch.^[10]) is either of two units of length. In surveying, it is a unit of 66 feet (Gunter's chain) while, in engineering, it is a unit of 100 feet (engineer's chain).

To further confuse matters, a perch (also known as a square perch, pole, square pole, rod, or square rod) is a measure of area, especially for land, equal to 160th of an acre or 30¼ square yards.

All of which goes a long way to explaining why we needed the metric system!

23d   A house in Germany you and I left empty (5)

I spent considerable time trying to discover why "house" would mean "dwelt". Apparently, judging by the very strong remarks of Peter Biddlecombe in his review, there is no explanation. The clue is just plain incorrect.

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Germany is D^[5] [from German Deutschland].

24d   Gen's pregnant. Al's gone missing! (4)

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

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)
^[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)

Signing off for this week — Falcon

Sunday, January 12, 2014 — ST 4568

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4568
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, December 15, 2013
Setter Jeff Pearce
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4568]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Dave Perry's Solving Time ★★★★★
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Not published[Note 3]
Date of Publication in The Vancouver Sun Saturday, January 11, 2014[Note 2]
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 █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by solutions from Times for the Times
Notes [1] This puzzle appears on the Sunday puzzles pages in the Saturday, January 11, 2014 edition of The Ottawa Citizen. [2] Due to the paywall that has been erected on its web site, I am no longer able to verify the puzzle that is published in the Vancouver Sun. [3] The Saturday Star Cryptic Forum shows that the Toronto Star published a different puzzle on January 4, 2013.

Introduction

It would appear that the setters are attempting to outdo each other in raising the difficulty level of the puzzles. I worked at this one off-and-on all week. It was somewhat of a relief to see that the Brits also found this puzzle challenging.

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. The underlined portion of the clue is the definition.

Across

1a   Outside old church Mormon destroyed Egyptian work of art (10)

E^[10] is the symbol for Egypt or Egyptian.

A monochrome^[10] is a painting, drawing, etc, done in a range of tones of a single colour.

6a   A crowd leaves Python show for food (4)

Monty Python's Spamalot^[7] is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, although it differs from the film in many ways. The title comes comes from a line in the movie which goes: "we eat ham, and jam and Spam a lot." The original 2005 Broadway production won three Tony Awards, including the Tony Award for Best Musical of the 2004–2005 season and received 14 Tony Award nominations. Although Dave Perry identifies it as "a West End musical", the show actually originated in the US with the British production following later.

9a   Rips up the greatest possible fabric (10)

Tattersall^[10] is a fabric, sometimes brightly coloured, having stripes or bars in a checked or squared pattern.

10a   Legendary Scandinavian sculptor beheaded (4)

In Norse mythology, Odin^[10] was the supreme creator god; the divinity of wisdom, culture, war, and the dead.

Auguste Rodin^[10] (1840–1917) was a French sculptor, noted for his portrayal of the human form. His works include The Kiss (1886), The Burghers of Calais (1896), and The Thinker (1905).

12a   It's only right to leave scrap (6)

Even after figuring out the solution, it took some digging to explain the definition. One must interpret only^[10] as a sentence connector used to introduce an exception or condition   ⇒ play outside: only don't go into the street.

13a   Set on eating this? (2,6)

15a   Cycle along with extremely loathsome bear -- did it do for Dr Black? (11)

Dave Perry may have been able to "write this one straight in from the definition and enumeration alone" but, prior to some extensive research, I hadn't a clue what this was about.

Dr. Black is the perpetual victim in the British version of the board game Clue (known in the UK as Cluedo^[7]). In the North American version of the game, the victim's name is Mr. Boddy. A candlestick is one of the six possible murder weapons that may have done him in.

Do for^[10] [which, it would appear, might be a British usage] means to cause the ruin, death, or defeat of   ⇒ the last punch did for him.

Stick^[10] is chiefly British slang meaning to tolerate or abide ⇒ I can't stick that man.

18a   Novice backing baritone is worried (11)

21a   Tramp in cinema entertaining a member of the clergy (8)

Charlie Chaplin^[5] (1889–1977) was an English film actor and director. He directed and starred in many short silent comedies, mostly playing a bowler-hatted tramp, a character which was his trademark for more than twenty-five years. Notable films: The Kid (1921) and The Gold Rush (1925).

22a   Hood and hat carried with emblem at the front (6)

Al Capone^[5] (1899–1947) was an American gangster, of Italian descent. He dominated organized crime in Chicago in the 1920s and was indirectly responsible for many murders, including the St Valentine’s Day Massacre.

24a   Spirit shown by city after start of blitz (4)

25a   Not as healthy after wound -- being without a source of relief? (10)

Two explanations have been advanced with respect to this clue. The version that most people have arrived at (including Dave Perry as well as myself) is:

• ILLER (not as healthy) following (after) PINK (wound) containing (without) A

while the alternative explanation put forward by a couple of individuals in comments on Times for the Times is:

• ILLER (not as healthy) following (after) {PAIN (wound) + K[A] (being) with the A deleted (without A)}

Pink^[10] means to to prick lightly with a sword or rapier.

In ancient Egypt, it was believed that ka^[10] was an attendant spirit dwelling as a vital force in a man or statue.

26a   Foul and disgusting  fare might be found here (4)

In Britain, a rank^[10] is a place where taxis wait to be hired.

27a   In hollow at end of lake, there's small area of water that's blue (10)

Down

1d   Mare, dead carp, grouse and beef (6)

The abbreviation for mare is m.^[10] [I presume this may arise from a horse breeding or racing context.]

One must interpret dead^[10] as being an intensifier ⇒ (i)a dead stop ; (ii)a dead loss. Collins English Dictionary offers a list of synonyms for this sense of the word, including total, complete, and utter.

Mutter^[10] is used in the sense of to grumble or complain [or, in other words, to carp, grouse, or beef].

2d   Bill's unpleasant -- heartless (6)

3d   Little creature from horrible borough near Gatwick on the radio (6-6)

I think I may be overly harsh in charging myself with having used outside assistance on this clue. I pored over a map of England until I located Crawley just south of Gatwick. As soon as I saw the name, the solution popped to mind.

Crawley^[7] is a town in West Sussex, England. It is 28 miles (45 km) south of Charing Cross [considered to mark the centre of London], and had a population of 106,597 at the time of the 2011 Census. Gatwick Airport, one of Britain's busiest international airports, is situated on the edge of the town.

4d   Adjourned for some wine (4)

5d   Bitter lemon valet prepared (10)

7d   Fan painted Celtic quibbling (8)

As an anagram indicator, fan^[10] would be used in the sense of to agitate or move (air, smoke, etc) with or as if with a fan.

Among other possibilities, the abbreviation C.^[10] may stand for Celtic.

8d   Explorer goes south of isle for medicinal plant (8)

Sir Francis Drake^[5] (circa 1540–96) was an English sailor and explorer.

The Isle of Man^[5] (abbreviation IOM^[5]), an island in the Irish Sea, is a British Crown dependency.

Mandrake^[5] (Mandragora officinarum) is a Eurasian solanaceous plant with purplish flowers and a forked root. It was formerly thought to have magic powers and a narcotic was prepared from its root.

11d   Show contempt and tear into awful thesis (12)

14d   One dollar hidden in china cow (10)

The abbreviation d.^[10] stands for dollar or dollars.

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'.

16d   Key opening hostelry (5,3)

Hostelry^[10] is an archaic or facetious name for an inn.

17d   Imitate all the people present (8)

Do^[10] means to act like or imitate ⇒ he's a good mimic – he can do all his friends well.

19d   Miner trimmed dog (6)

20d   About to enter camp hidden from general view (6)

23d   Cut and scratch from a vegetable (4)

Scratch is used in the sense of 'the required standard' as in the phrase up to scratch^[5] ⇒ her German was not up to scratch.

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)
^[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)

Signing off for this week — Falcon

Sunday, January 5, 2014 — ST 4567

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4567
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, December 8, 2013
Setter Tim Moorey
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4567]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Dave Perry's Solving Time ★★★★
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, December 28, 2013[Note 3]
Date of Publication in The Vancouver Sun Saturday, January 4, 2014[Note 2]
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 █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by solutions from Times for the Times
Notes [1] This puzzle appears on the Sunday puzzles pages in the Saturday, January 4, 2014 edition of The Ottawa Citizen. [2] This information is unconfirmed as a paywall on its web site precludes verification of the puzzle published in the Vancouver Sun. [3] This information is unconfirmed as there is no entry on the Saturday Star Cryptic Forum for Saturday, December 28, 2013.

Introduction

As seems to be the norm recently, I solved this puzzle during several sittings spread over a week. Of course, by the time I sat down to write the blog, I had forgotten most of the clues that had been solved a week previously. It was, therefore, a bit eerie to look at the solution to the first clue and realize that I was listening at that very moment to a Billie Holiday album. Was it a coincidence that I had chosen to put that selection on or was it my subconscious at work?

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. The underlined portion of the clue is the definition.

Across

1a   Leave to the end tab that's for an American singer (6,7)

Billie Holiday^[5] (1915–1959) was an American jazz singer; born Eleanora Fagan. She began her recording career with Benny Goodman’s band in 1933, going on to perform with many small jazz groups.

8a   Seamen with daughter run for it (7)

In the Royal Navy, able seaman^[5] (abbreviation AB^[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. [Note that, in the clue, the plural is used.]

In Spanish, con^[8] is a preposition meaning with ⇒ chile con carne (chilli pepper with meat).

9a   No smooth backing in structure on bottom of ship (7)

A keelson^[5] is a structure running the length of a ship and fastening the timbers or plates of the floor to its keel.

11a   Notable  Mousetrap attraction! (3,6)

The capitalization of "Mousetrap" is likely intended to suggest the stage production of that name.

The Mousetrap^[7] is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The Mousetrap opened in the West End of London in 1952, and has been running continuously since then. It has the longest initial run of any play in history, with its 25,000th performance taking place on 18 November 2012.

12a   Eastern inn used by lesser airline (5)

13a   Rogue to be announced in tabloid (6)

14a   Indeed so flipping unfair (3-5)

Ratbag^[5] is British slang for an unpleasant or disliked person ⇒ (i) she’s a snobby old ratbag (ii)  they blamed the ratbag photographer.

17a   They could be shifting in the chase (8)

19a   Very new head of administration set about at work (6)

22a   Slightly wet Chinese communist article discounted (5)

A Maoist^[5] is an adherent of the communist doctrines of Mao Zedong as formerly practised in China, having as a central idea permanent revolution and stressing the importance of the peasantry, small-scale industry, and agricultural collectivization.

24a   Forty-five right for second tenor in Italian musical foursome (7,2)

Are "fory-five" and "quarter to" really synonymous? Yes, twelve forty-five is a quarter to one — but the terms are used in relation to two different points in time.

The abbreviation for tenor is t.^[10].

In Italian, quartetto^[8] means quartet.

25a   A cracking lodge in US city (7)

26a   One terribly boring fat man (7)

27a   Reformatory man to charm head of State, ER (6,7)

As an anagram indicator, reformatory^[5] is used as an adjective meaning tending or intended to produce reform.

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of King Edward was ER^[5] — from the Latin Edwardus Rex.

Thomas Cranmer^[5] (1489–1556) was an English Protestant cleric and martyr. After helping to negotiate Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon, he was appointed the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury in 1532. He was responsible for liturgical reform and the compilation of the Book of Common Prayer (1549). In the reign of Mary Tudor Cranmer was tried for treason and heresy and burnt at the stake.

For the benefit of those whose knowledge of 16th century English monarchs^[7] might be a bit rusty, Henry VIII ruled from 1509-1547. He was succeeded by his son, the "boy king" Edward VI who ruled from 1547 until his death at the age of 15 in 1553. His period on the throne was followed by the disputed reign of Lady Jane Grey (a Protestant great-granddaughter of Henry VII) who ruled for nine days (July 10-19, 1553) before being displaced by Mary I (the Catholic daughter of Henry VIII and half-sister to Edward VI).

Down

2d   Clear understanding in place for auditors (7)

3d   Latrine hard work? Nothing in it with say, Ajax (9)

The surface reading may suggest a well-known brand of toilet bowl cleanser.

In Greek mythology, Ajax^[5] was either (1) a Greek hero of the Trojan war, son of Telamon, king of Salamis. He was proverbial for his size and strength or (2) a Greek hero, son of Oileus, king of Locris..

4d   Gutted England side unexpectedly goes down the plughole (6)

In the surface reading, "England side" refers to a sports team (side) representing England in international competition.

Plughole^[5] is the British name for the drain in a bath, basin or sink.

The Ashes^[5] is a trophy for the winner of a series of Test matches [also commonly referred to as the Ashes] in a cricket season between England and Australia. The name arises from a mock obituary notice published in the Sporting Times (2 September 1882), with reference to the symbolical remains of English cricket being taken to Australia after a sensational victory by the Australians at the Oval [an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth].

In his comments, Dave Perry is referring to the 2013-14 Ashes series played in Australia in December 2013 and January 2014. At the time that he wrote his remarks, Australia had already scored decisive victories in the first two matches and were very likely leading in the third match as well (which they eventually won by a margin of 218 runs). Australia went on to defeat England in the final two matches of the series to hand England a 5-0 drubbing in the series.

5d   Forsaken wild plants (3,5)

The oak fern^[5] is a delicate fern of woods and damp places in the uplands of northern Eurasia and North America.

6d   Thoughts of top team as getting relegated (5)

In the surface reading, relegate^[5] is used in the sense to transfer (a sports team) to a lower division of a league ⇒ United were relegated to division two. However, in the cryptic reading, it is likely used in the more general sense of to assign an inferior rank or position to ⇒ they aim to prevent women from being relegated to a secondary role.

7d   Charlie got better opener out without doubt (7)

Charlie^[5] is British slang for a fool ⇒ what a bunch of charlies.

8d   Absurd but clear aims I put out as a writer (6,5)

Albert Camus^[7] (1913–1960) was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century.

10d   Nothing inspires English rock singer (4,7)

Neil Diamond^[5] is a US pop songwriter and singer. Among his many hits are “Cherry, Cherry” (1966), “Sweet Caroline” (1969), “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” (1978, a duet with Barbra Streisand), and “Hello Again” (1980).

15d   Defeat appeared to restrict Old Testament study (5,4)

Do^[5] is used in the sense of to learn or study ⇒ I’m doing English, German, and History.

16d   Major retreat in the past, for example in board game (8)

Chequers^[10] is the British spelling of the board game checkers^[10] — which is also known as draughts^[10] in the UK.

Chequers^[5,10] is a Tudor mansion in Buckinghamshire, England which serves as the official country residence of the British prime minister [the British equivalent of Camp David (US) or Harrington Lake (Canada)].

Sir John Major^[5] is a British Conservative statesman who was Prime Minister of the UK from 1990 to 1997.

18d   Commemoration: mine's in messy heap (7)

20d   Start of crop area, for example could be represented as this (7)

21d   Standard clothing lines on order primarily showing whiteness (6)

23d   Sort of pole to carry with difficulty on motorway (5)

In Britain, a motorway^[5] is a dual-carriageway road [divided highway] designed for fast traffic, with relatively few places for joining or leaving [controlled access].

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)
^[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)

Signing off for this week — Falcon