Sunday, January 8, 2012 - ST 4462

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4462
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, December 4, 2011
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4462]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, December 31, 2011

Introduction

As usual, there is some rather tricky wordplay in this puzzle

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the full review at Times for the Times, to which a link is provided in the table above.

1a   Sergeant mostly seen in fleece (4)

The Phil Silvers Show^[7] (originally titled You'll Never Get Rich) is a comedy television series which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959. The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko of the United States Army. Bilko and his men seemed to spend very little time actually performing their duties—Bilko in particular spent most of his time trying to wheedle money through various get-rich-quick scams and promotions, or to find ways to get others to do his work for him. His soldiers regularly helped Bilko with his schemes, but were just as often Bilko's "pigeons" ripe for the plucking.

13a   Nothing new, heroin user's blighted careers (8)

Career^[2] is used in the sense of a swift or headlong course.

17a   Outside broadcast display of emotion is repellent (7)

In Britain, an outside broadcast (abbreviation OB)^[5] is a radio or television programme that is recorded or broadcast live on location and not in a studio.

19a   Very Italian covering say, for spear made from wood (7)

The Italian word for "very" is assai^[8]. An assegai^[5] (or assagai) is a slender, iron-tipped, hardwood spear used chiefly by southern African peoples.

21a   What may be swotted in usual offices in a cold manner? (7)

In Britain, swot^[4] is a slang term meaning to cram (to study a subject intensively, as for an examination) as well as being a variant spelling of swat. The "usual offices^[5]" is a British euphemism for a loo^[5] (toilet). Thus, "what may be swotted (swatted) in usual offices" is A LOO FLY (a fly that is found in a loo).

24a   Labour, both sides of Atlantic backing secret plotters (5)

In the cryptic reading, "Labour" (abbreviation Lab.)^[5] refers to the British Labour Party. The surface reading, may be intended to refer to the "labour movement" in a more general sense (as it specifies "both sides of Atlantic"). In the cryptic reading, "both sides of Atlantic" indicates the first and last letters of AtlantiC.

27a   A letter opener (5)

I am not sure that I completely understand this clue. Alpha^[5] is a code word representing the letter A, used in radio communication as well as the first (opening) letter of the Greek alphabet. Perhaps a bit more of a stretch, alpha is also the first (opening) part of the word 'alphabet^[5]', the set of letters or symbols in a fixed order used to represent the basic set of speech sounds of a language.

28a   Comfortable place with standards? (3,2,5)

I had guessed that "standards" might refer to flags, and specifically to those that might have been flown during the War of the Roses^[7]. However, as Dave Perry points out, a standard^[5] is a shrub grafted on an erect stem and trained in tree form (usage example from Oxford Dictionaries: [as a modifier] a standard rose).

30a   Neat container of bay trees used at regular intervals (4)

Neat^[5] is an archaic term for a bovine animal and byre^[5] is a British name for a cowshed. Thus a "neat container" would be a BYRE. The wordplay indicates that we are to use a regular series of letters from the word sequence "BaY tReEs". Such a series could be either the even-numbered letters or (as is the case today) the odd-numbered letters.

1d   Associated with two parties, oil company worker adopts one (10)

The "oil company" is British Petroleum (BP) - of Gulf of Mexico infamy.

2d   Imaginatively, Rice contributes to this (5)

The clue refers to British lyricist Tim Rice^[7] who collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on musicals such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, and The Wizard of Oz. The entire clue serves as the definition while the first part only of the clue constitutes the wordplay (thus the clue is a semi-& lit.). The solution is imaginatively hidden (indicated by "contributes") in "imaginativeLY RICe".

5d   Sterling Post Office lost, therefore experience needed (7)

As an adjective, sterling^[5] may mean excellent or valuable (which is how it is used in the surface reading). The cryptic reading, on the other hand, relies on the fact that  sterling^[5] and pound^[5] (or  pound sterling^[5]) both refer to the basic monetary unit of the UK. The definition is "experience" (which, as is sometimes the case in British puzzles, is placed in the middle of the clue). The word "needed" acts in a similar fashion to a link word - even though it does not appear between the wordplay ("Sterling post office lost, therefore") and definition ("experience"). The sense of the clue is that the solver needs to find a synonym for "experience" that also satisfies the wordplay.

9d   Good chums going round catch up immediately (4-4)

Slap-bang^[4] is an informal British expression meaning directly or immediately, equivalent to the North American expression slam-bang^[4].

18d   What can be found on mountain tops? THESE! (8)

I thought that I must have overlooked some exceedingly clever aspect of this clue. However, judging by Dave Perry's comments I didn't. It seems that the entire clue is a charade with "What can be found on mountain tops?" being SNOW and "THESE!" being CAPS with the whole clue serving as a definition of SNOWCAPS. I'm no more impressed than Dave Perry appears to be.

20d   Your setter's finished with leader of Opposition laying it on thick (7)

As usual, the phrase "your setter" calls for a first person pronoun. In this case, "your setter's finished" must be replaced by "I'm past" (IM PAST). Add to this the first letter (leader) of Opposition to get IMPASTO. Impasto^[5] is the process or technique of laying on paint or pigment thickly so that it stands out from a surface. In countries having a Westminster System of parliamentary government, the leader of the largest party not in government carries the title Leader of the Opposition^[7].

22d   Henry in cheap eatery gets something worth little (7)

In physics, the henry^[5] (abbreviation H) is the SI unit of inductance, equal to an electromotive force of one volt in a closed circuit with a uniform rate of change of current of one ampere per second. Caff^[5] is British slang for a café.

References: 
^[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)

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, December 25, 2011 - ST 4460

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4460
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, November 20, 2011
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4460]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, December 17, 2011
Notes This puzzle was published in the Ottawa Citizen edition of Saturday, December 24, 2011

Introduction

Posted: January 8, 2012

This posting is rather tardy as I fell considerably behind in tending my blogs over the holiday period. Hopefully, my schedule will soon return to normal.

I am not really in a position to comment on the difficulty of this particular puzzle, as it was completed in dribs and drabs over a period of a couple of weeks. Judging by the comments on Times for the Times, the Brits did not seem to find it overly taxing. However, I must say that, in general, I feel that the level of difficulty of the Sunday London Times Crossword does seem to have increased recently.

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the full review at Times for the Times, to which a link is provided in the table above.

1a   Some corn needed initially to make bread? (4)

The phrase "needed initially" indicates the first (initial) letter of Need. "Bread" is used in the slang sense of money.

10a   Loss of reputation after cricketer follows beautiful woman without husband (8)

A "beautiful woman" might slangily be called a DISH, from which we must delete the H (without a Husband). W.G. Grace^[7] (1848 – 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, and who was important in the development of the sport.

11a   Being drunk with Germans do I scoff like a 28? (10)

Here "28" is a cross-reference to clue 28d (we know that it must be 28d as there is no 28a in this puzzle). Substitute the solution to 28d in place of "28" to get the full clue "Being drunk with Germans do I scoff like a pig?".

14a   First third of fabric removed for cloak (4)

Both "cloak" and the solution MASK are used as verbs in a figurative sense.

17a   One slow to learn finally eliminated with an innovative dancer (6)

Isadora Duncan^[7] (1877 — 1927) was a dancer, considered by many to be the creator of modern dance. Born in the United States, she lived in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50. In the United States she was popular only in New York, and only later in her life. She performed to acclaim throughout Europe.

30a  Old Master has year in Indian Territory (4)

Francisco Goya^[7] (1746 – 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goa^[7], a state located in South West India, is that country's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population.

3d   Jade knight with silver as base (3)

Archaic meanings of jade^[5] are (1) a bad-tempered or disreputable woman or (2) an old or worn-out horse. Take your pick as to which one the setter intended.

6d   Butcher perhaps bearing a small present (9)

The definition is "Butcher perhaps" with Butcher referring to "one of the fictional families in the BBC soap opera Eastenders^[7]" (thanks to Dave Perry for that info). I don't feel too bad at not understanding that - from reading the comments on Times for the Times, it seems that several of the Brits were equally in the dark. The wordplay is E ([compass] bearing) + A (explicit in the clue) + S (small) + TENDER (present; as a verb). I did get the solution based on the wordplay and (perhaps incorrectly) supposed that the East End might be the area of London where butcher shops or slaughterhouses were concentrated.

The East End^[7] is an area of London, England, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Use of the term East End in a pejorative sense began in the late 19th century, as the expansion of the population of London led to extreme overcrowding throughout the area and a concentration of poor people and immigrants. The East End became synonymous with poverty, overcrowding, disease and criminality. Despite improvements such as the Canary Wharf development, improved infrastructure, and the Olympic Park, some parts continue to contain some of the worst poverty in Britain.

7d   A large travelling bag for brunch? (11)

Dave Perry's reference to "DbE" means 'definition by example'.

8d   One function hosted by Northern Ireland at a city (7)

A cosine (abbreviation cos) is a trigonometric function.

12d   Person taking risks for a rise, but after initial deduction remuneration is poor (11)

North Americans will likely fail to fully appreciate this clue. In Britain, an increase in pay is called a rise (rather than a raise, as it is known in North America). In the wordplay, "after initial deduction" indicates that we are to delete the first letter of "remuneration" and "is poor" indicates that we form an anagram of the remainder. Thus the first part "person taking risks for a rise" could be read as either someone taking chances in hopes of getting a salary increase or a cryptic definition of a mountaineer.

16d   Colour telly and Wii Henry broke (4-5)

For Brits, the surface reading would refer to a colour television set and a Wii game console. In physics, the henry^[5] (abbreviation H) is the SI unit of inductance, equal to an electromotive force of one volt in a closed circuit with a uniform rate of change of current of one ampere per second.

19d   The Spectator's solution is nonesense too (7)

The Spectator^[7] is a weekly British current affairs magazine.

21d   After end of season Surrey built new facility for learners (7)

Surrey^[7] is a county in the South East of England, and one of the home counties^[5] (as the counties surrounding London are called). The surface reading may actually be a reference to the Surrey County Cricket Club^[7], a professional cricket club based in Surrey.

26d   Bloomers on line blowing around in field (3)

Bloomers^[5], in addition to being flowers, are women’s loose-fitting knee-length knickers (panties), considered old-fashioned.

28d   Unforged metal regularly used when making springs (3)

The definition is "unforged metal" with the solution being PIG. A pig^[4] is a mass of metal, such as iron, copper, or lead, cast into a simple shape for ease of storing or transportation. The wordplay tells us that the letters in the solution also constitute the even-numbered letters in (regularly used when making) "springs" (sPrInGs). As "regularly" could indicate either the 'even-numbered' or 'odd-numbered' letters (since either of these is a regular series), we are left to chose the one that fits the circumstances.

References: 
^[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)

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, December 18, 2011 - ST 4459

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4459
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, November 13, 2011
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4459]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, December 10, 2011*
Notes * As no solution is posted at the Saturday Star Cryptic Forum site (as of the time of writing), I can only assume that this puzzle appeared in the Saturday Star in accordance with the normal publication schedule.

Introduction

The difficulty level was fairly typical of a Sunday Times puzzle, heightened somewhat by a few new (to me) British expressions.

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the full review at Times for the Times, to which a link is provided in the table above.

1a   Employees in one section "The Week" magazine? (3,7)

THE WEEK^[7] is a British weekly news magazine, first published in 1995, which also has American and Australian editions. It is also the name of a defunct Canadian publication which was in existence from 1883-1896. The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition defines Man Friday (plural Man Fridays), which it spells with the first word in upper case, as a factotum or servile attendant while the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, which spells the term as man Friday (plural man Fridays) with the first word in lower case, has it as either (1) a faithful or devoted manservant or male assistant or (2) a junior male worker given various duties, especially in an office. The American Heritage Dictionary also spells it as man Friday, but with the plural being either men Friday or men Fridays.

7a   Extra score (4)

Score is used in the sense of to cut. Gash^[3] is (seemingly British) slang for surplus to requirements; unnecessary, extra, or spare.

11a   Pressure one found in Diplomacy recalled another game (6)

Diplomacy^[7] is a strategic board game. Tipcat^[9] is "another game" - apparently one played in days gone by - in which a short piece of wood, tapered at both ends, is struck lightly at one end with a bat, causing the wood to spring into the air so that it can be batted for a distance.

17a   RPO is involved with theatrics from here? (9,3)

RPO^[5] is the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

20a   Book on English party: discuss at length (8)

According to Chambers, the abbreviation for "book" is b^[1].

22a   Second plate is fashionable (6)

Mo^[5] is an informal, chiefly British term meaning a short period of time • hang on a mo!

4d   Hopeless writer's shown up in appeal (5)

Appeal here denoting sex appeal or 'it' (pronoun, sense 8)^[5].

7d   End with mean scoring ratio (4,7)

Goal average^[5] is a soccer term denoting the ratio of the numbers of goals scored for and against a team in a series of matches, sometimes used in deciding the team’s position in a table (table is a British term which appears to be equivalent to standings) • the first club to win the league on goal average.

8d   No lager's served up in such clothing (4-2)

Pils^[5] is a type of lager beer similar to Pilsner. The wordplay is a reversal (is served up [it being a down clue]) of {NO (from the clue) + PILS (lager)}. Note that the S in the solution comes from Pils and not the 's on the end of lager (which is a contraction for is in the cryptic reading as well as the surface reading).

12d   A firm tummy (11)

I likely only got this as I recalled having seen it before or, as Dave Perry suggests, it is "an old chestnut". Corporation^[5] is a dated, humorous term for a paunch.

18d   Printing mistake is dumb, keeping a bishop up (7)

If you solved the Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword which was published in the National Post on Friday, it should be fresh in your mind that Right Reverend (abbreviation RR)^[5] is a title given to a bishop, especially in the Anglican Church.

24d   Scottish resort? Yes, right (3)

Ayr^[7] is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. During the 19th and 20th centuries Ayr became a popular holiday resort. This was due to its fine sandy beach and its popularity was increased by the building of a rail link to Glasgow in 1840.

References: 
^[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)

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, December 11, 2011 - ST 4458

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4458
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, November 6, 2011
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4458]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, December 3, 2011*
Notes * As no solution is posted at the Saturday Star Cryptic Forum site (as of the time of writing), I can only assume that this puzzle appeared in the Saturday Star in accordance with the normal schedule.

Introduction

I found this to be a rather challenging puzzle and my electronic assistants were called into action early and often. I was also in the dark on parts of the wordplay in a couple clues until I read Dave Perry's 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.

1a   Emulate Mrs Clinton and fall short of total success? (8)

The clue is a reference to an episode that occurred during the 2008 US election campaign. Presidential candidate (and former First Lady) Hillary Clinton admitted in late March that her repeated campaign statements about having been under hostile fire from snipers during a 1996 visit to U.S. troops at Tuzla Air Base in Bosnia-Herzegovina were not true.



6a   Who boasts a disturbed heart? (6)

I think this must be seen as a semi & lit. (semi-all-in-one) clue? The wordplay is clearly "boasts a disturbed heart". The entire clue could serve as the definition, in which case it would be a semi & lit. clue. The only alternative would appear to be for the single word "who" to be the definition - which seems to be a bit inadequate for the job.

9a   Hook - and its double shape, of course (6)

Hook^[3][4][5] is used in the sense of to steal (a new meaning for me, but one that I did find it in both British and American dictionaries - although Oxford describes this usage as archaic). S comes from "its double shape", i.e., the letter S from the word "its" (presumably because the shape of an S is a double curve). NATCH is slang for 'naturally' which Dave Perry characterizes as Shakespearean.

13a   Old river with extremely fertile fish (4)

Here, "extremely fertile" means to use the letters found on the extremities of the word "fertile" - i.e., FertilE. The orfe^[5] (also called the ide) is a silvery freshwater fish of the carp family, which is fished commercially in eastern Europe.

14a   Sacred text journalist found in museum (4)

The Veda^[5] is any or all of the most ancient sacred writings of Hinduism. The Victoria and Albert Museum^[7] (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design. Thus the wordplay is ED (journalist; editor) contained in (found in) {V + A (V&A)}.

 15a   Officer, not dated soldier? (10)

There is a maxim associated with cryptic crosswords that one ignores the punctuation. Of course, there is a caveat (which I failed to invoke) that one must ignore the maxim when required. In this clue, the comma plays a key role with the wordplay being COMMA (,) + ND (not dated) + ANT (worker). The abbreviation n.d. (no date)^[5] is apparently one that is used especially in bibliographies.

19a   Miss World finalist found behind topless joint (4)

The term "lift and separate" used by Dave Perry in his review is a favourite among British commentators on cryptic crosswords. It alludes to a situation where a word or phrase in the surface reading of a clue must be split into two components playing differing roles in the cryptic reading. Here, in the phrase "Miss World", the first word (miss) is the definition and the second word (world) must be combined with the following word to produce "world finalist" (signifying D, the final letter of "world"). In other words, the phrase "Miss World" (which, on the surface, would appear to be a single unit) must be 'lifted and separated'. The expression 'lift and separate' is one that has long been associated with brassieres (and I suspect that Dave Perry's use of it in relation to this clue is likely no mere coincidence).

24a   Blessed on river of Wales (8)

This clue is overflowing with British references. Brian Blessed^[7] is an English actor, known for his sonorous voice. The River Cam^[7] is a tributary of the River Great Ouse in the east of England (there are also a couple of other rivers by the same name in England). Cambrian^[5] means Welsh (i.e., 'of Wales').

25a   It helps to make weather balloon like rocket, for example (6)

Rocket^[5] is the British name for arugula^[5].

27a   On the pull? It's infuriating (3,3)

In British slang, pull means an attempt to attract someone sexually (an eligible bachelor on the pull). So "on the pull" has a very similar meaning to "on the make"^[5]. However, that is a bit of a red herring (or misdirection) in this clue. The definition alludes to the expression a red rag to a bull^[5] meaning an object, utterance, or act which is certain to provoke someone. The wordplay is RE (on [the subject of]) + DRAG (the pull).

3d   One drinks shorts regularly (3)

In Britain, a short^[5] is a drink of spirits served in a small measure. In this definition, measure might be intended to mean "a standard quantity or amount" but I think it might well mean "a container of standard capacity used for taking fixed amounts of a substance (gifts have included silver measures from a whisky company)". I had thought that maybe short was just the British term for shot^[5] (a small drink of spirits). However, it would seem that the term shot is also used in the UK. I suspect that the difference may be that a short is a small but well-defined quantity of spirits while a shot is a small but imprecise amount.

8d   Steel traps as it were on marshland (7)

I have to admit that, despite finding the correct solution, I had to rely on Dave Perry to explain the first part of the wordplay. I certainly knew that FEN meant marshland, which gave me the second part of the solution. Dave Perry attributes the expression fit up to "American cop shows". However, it is not an expression with which I am familiar and Oxford and Collins state that fit up^[4] or fit-up^[5] is British slang meaning frame-up (which is what I would expect it to be called in North America). Thus, 'fits up' (traps) indicates a reversal (up [in a down clue]) of FITS or STIF which gives us the first part of the solution STIFFEN.

12d   Old court giving 8 caution? (4,7)

The Star Chamber^[5] was an English court of civil and criminal jurisdiction that developed in the late 15th century, trying especially those cases affecting the interests of the Crown. It was noted for its arbitrary and oppressive judgements and was abolished in 1641. The "8" in the clue is a cross reference to 8d and indicates that we need a synonym for the solution to that clue. Thus the wordplay is STARCH (stiffen; the solution to 8d) + AMBER (caution; an amber traffic light is a caution signal).

18d   Puts pants on mature dwarf? (7)

Pants^[5] is British slang for rubbish or nonsense (he thought we were going to be absolute pants). Here it plays the role of an anagram indicator.

20d   Passage over court (7)

Passage^[5] is used in the sense of a short extract from a book or other printed material. Over and extra are likely used in the sense of 'to spare' (i.e., more than necessary). Thus if you needed five points to win a competition and you scored eight, you would have three points to spare (or three points extra) or be three points over. [While this example almost works, I am sure there must be more appropriate ones.] The equality between the two words almost seems to be more apparent when over- used as a prefix, with an overcoat being an extra coat.

23d   Starts to rail against new council housing estate (5)

While North Americans would probably not apply the term estate^[4] to a ranch, the definition (a large piece of landed property, especially in the country) may technically fit. In the UK, an estate may also mean a large area of property development, especially of new houses or (trading estate) of factories. "Council housing"^[5] refers to government subsidized housing. The wordplay directs us to use the starting letters of (starts to) "Rail Against New Council Housing".

26d   Like a recruit with supporting soldiers (3)

The soldiers are the Royal Artillery (RA)^[7]. The wordplay is W (with) following (supporting) RA. RA is considered to be supported by W because (in a down clue) RA is written on top of W. Of course, this bit of wordplay does not work in an across clue.

References: 
^[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)

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, December 4, 2011 - ST 4457

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4457
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, October 30, 2011
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4457]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, November 26, 2011

Introduction

This puzzle had a very high quotient of unfamiliar words, words with unfamiliar meanings, and Briticisms. However, I did manage to complete it – with a lot of help from my electronic aids.

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the full review at Times for the Times, to which a link is provided in the table above.

5a   Slightly crazy and spiteful after school (6)

Scatty^[5] is an informal British expression meaning absent-minded and disorganized. It originated as an abbreviation of scatterbrained. Like many of the Brits, I wondered about S being an abbreviation for "school". However, one visitor to Times for the Times reports finding it in Collins (presumably the print version as I did not find it in the online version).

9a   Phone left out by prison for avid collector (5-4)

Blower^[5] is an informal British term for a phone. Bird^[4] is British slang for a prison or a term in prison (shortened from birdlime, rhyming slang for time). A bowerbird^[5] (in addition to Oxford, Chambers^[2] and Collins^[4] also spell the word without a hyphen) is a strong-billed Australasian bird, noted for the male’s habit of constructing an elaborate run or bower adorned with feathers, shells, and other objects to attract the female for courtship.

11a   Small and dainty starters of mince, gnocchi and onions (6)

In this clue, one might be tempted to interpret "starters" (being plural) as calling for one starting letter from each of the three words. However, the plural actually indicates that we need to take two starting letters (from each word). Mignon^[2] (a word adopted into English from French) means small and dainty.

16a   Taking top off fish basket reveals this part of angler's kit (4)

Although kit^[3] meaning a set of articles or implements used for a specific purpose is found in The American Heritage Dictionary, I think a North American would be more apt to use the word gear rather than kit.

18a   Cut and scratch from a vegetable (4)

In golf, a scratch golfer is one with no handicap. I have only ever seen this word used as an adjective. However, British dictionaries list it as a noun as well as an adjective. As a noun, scratch^[5] means a handicap of zero, indicating that a player is good enough to achieve par on a course (with the usage example being "he plays off scratch in University golf"). In his review, Dave Perry also uses the expression "off scratch" as well as "off par". I suspect that this use ("off scratch" and "off par") may be particularly British. I am guessing that the term scratch may have been adopted into golf from racing where scratch is "the starting point in a race for a competitor that is not given a handicap or advantage" and a such a competitor is said to run "off scratch" (rather than, presumably, starting from a point closer to the finish line).

21a   Chief Constable, say, is a social reformer (8)

I failed to decipher the wordplay here, mistakenly thinking that "say" might be a homophone (sounds like) indicator. Chartists^[5] were adherents of Chartism, a UK parliamentary reform movement of 1837–48, the principles of which were set out in a manifesto called The People’s Charter and called for universal suffrage for men, equal electoral districts, voting by secret ballot, abolition of property qualifications for MPs, and annual general elections. John Constable^[5] (1776–1837) was an English painter. Finally, Ch. as an abbreviation for Chief is found in The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition.

22a   Conservative took cover behind yellow plant (6)

In heraldry, or^[5] is yellow or gold as a tincture^[5] [any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms].

24a   Immediately like the other set of clues (4)

"Immediately" means down^[5] in the sense (with reference to partial payment of a sum of money) made initially or on the spot ("pay £5 down and the rest at the end of the month").

26a   Academic tours a new food shop for some salad leaves (9)

In Britain, a don^[5] is a university teacher, especially a senior member of a college at Oxford or Cambridge.

28a   Skilful poise adopted in river – right on time (6)

The poise^[5] (abbreviation P^[5]) is a unit of dynamic viscosity, such that a tangential force of one dyne per square centimetre causes a velocity change one centimetre per second between two parallel planes separated by one centimetre in a liquid [and a term which is new to me].

1d   Novice with puppet is a great hit (6,5)

In Britain, rabbit^[4] is an informal term for a novice or poor performer at a game or sport. Punch^[5] is a grotesque, hook-nosed humpbacked buffoon, the chief male character of the Punch and Judy puppet show. A rabbit punch^[4] is a sharp blow to the back of the neck that can cause loss of consciousness or even death.

3d   Limitless claret, say, for ancient king (5)

Edwin^[7] (c. 586 – 632/633) was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. [Note: Contrary to the statement in Dave Perry's review, Edwin was king in the 7th century AD.] Claret^[5] is a red wine from Bordeaux, or wine of a similar character made elsewhere.

4d   Poor tenor – he'd a lamentable song (8)

A threnode (or threnody)^[5] is a song or ode of lamentation, especially for a person's death.

5d   Holy man taking a learned theologian into a quiet university (6)

A saddhu (or sadhu)^[5] is a nomadic Hindu holy man, living an austere life and existing on charity. Sh (or shh)^[5] is an exclamation used to call for silence. DD^[5] is the abbreviation for Doctor of Divinity.

6d   Plant adorns oar at sea (6,3)

Aaron's rod^[4] is a widespread Eurasian scrophulariaceous plant, Verbascum thapsus, having woolly leaves and tall erect spikes of yellow flowers.

13d   Topping official making you late for work (11)

A cryptic definition of an official whose job (for work) is to make you late (by topping you just above the shoulders).

17d   Obese lot struggling being out of practice (8)

In the phrase "out of practice", the word practice^[4] is used with the meaning 'a usual or customary action or proceeding' rather than its usual sense of 'the condition of having mastery of a skill or activity through repetition'.

23d   Councillor and one politician wave (5)

Cr^[5] is the abbreviation for Councillor.

25d   Topless yob's unconscious (3)

Yob^[5] is British slang for a rude, noisy, and aggressive youth. It is back slang (slang in which words are spoken as though they were spelled backwards) for boy.

References: 
^[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)

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, November 27, 2011 - ST 4456

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4456
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, October 23, 2011
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4456]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, November 19, 2011

Introduction

I found some of the wordplay today to be quite tricky. I needed to dip into my Tool Chest early and often for assistance.

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.

7a   What's behind bar? Tango (4)

Tango^[7] is a carbonated soft drink sold primarily in the United Kingdom and Ireland as well as Sweden, Norway and Hungary. In the cryptic reading, "bar" means 'but' (as in "all but one were successful") and "tango^[5] " is a code word representing the letter T, used in radio communication.

9a   Even British Airways facing cut (8)

Of course the solution is BALANCED (not BALANCING, as shown in Dave Perry's review). [At least I'm not the only blogger to occasionally make a typo].

10a   Haggard tart heads off for her older relative? (6)

I initially thought that this clue might contain a reference to British novelist H. Rider Haggard^[7] . If so, it would be a bit of planned (or unplanned) misdirection by the setter.

11a   Woody entrance to field initially sunken (6)

For me, this was the last clue to be solved. I was quite positive that there must be an F involved in the solution, but was unsure whether it was being clued by "entrance to field" or "field initially". As it turns out, it is the former. The wordplay is F {entrance to field initially; i.e., the first letter of (entrance to) "field" is placed first (initially)} + ALLEN (Woody; i.e., American filmmaker Woody Allen^[7] ). To understand the intent of the clue, we must mentally insert a pause in the cryptic reading of the wordplay "Woody, entrance to field initially".

17a   Fools train having drunk gallons, left to drop (7,5)

In his review, Dave Perry says "I'm not quite sure why 'train' = STRING". Lest any readers be similarly perplexed, train^[5] may mean 'a series of connected events or thoughts' which is similar to string^[5] in the sense of 'a sequence of similar items or events'.

20a   Ford's blooming strike off (5,3)

The definition is "strike off" with the solution being CROSS OUT. I believe the wordplay is CROSS (ford; as "to ford a river") + (has; where, in the cryptic reading, the 's is interpreted as "has") OUT (blooming; as in "It must be spring, the dandelions are out").

21a   Being excessively close to Washington restricts a North American city (6)

I certainly hope that no local reader failed to solve this clue. I wonder - should we take this clue to be a bit of political commentary?

22a   Home Alone? Boots may be holding it (6)

Home Alone^[7] is a 1990 American comedy film about an eight-year-old boy, played by Macaulay Culkin, who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation. Boots^[7] is a leading pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom, with outlets in most high streets (primary business streets) throughout the country. As an alternative - and, in my opinion, less likely - interpretation, a boot^[5] is the trunk of a car in the UK.

26a   Subject of talk: northern hollows and heights (3,7)

The Mendip Hills^[7] (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England.

2d   An amusing situation repeatedly found in popular British novels (3,5)

I initially suspected that "an amusing situation" might be 'a gag'. However, I eventually came to the realization that it is 'a gas'. The "popular British novels" are Aga sagas. An Aga saga is a type of popular novel, set in middle England and populated by the middle classes of the sort that typically own Aga cookers. Agas are kitchen ranges, often very large and expensive, that are seen as epitomizing the prosperous and cosy middle-class English country lifestyle. [read more^[7]]

4d   A nut's what might be said to be under the bed (5)

I recall a tour guide in Texas explaining that the "proper" pronunciation for the name of the nut is puh-KAWN, not PEE-can, explaining that a PEE CAN was what his father used to carry in the car on long family trips to cut down on the number of pit stops.

6d   Doctor Who's after run of publicity from these? (4,5)

I wondered where the O came from, but o' is a short form for 'of' (as in o'clock). Doctor Who^[7] is a British science fiction television programme which should be familiar to most readers on this side of the Atlantic due to its widespread distribution in North America.

8d   Chicken pieces smelling bad in vans of Tesco and Sainsbury (6)

Tesco^[7] and Sainsbury^[7] are respectively the largest and third largest grocery retailers in the UK.

12d   Up-to-date position from selectors at ground (6,5)

"Up-to-date position" is LATEST SCORE. I guess "position" might be considered to equate to 'score' with "how well did you score in the competition?" having a similar meaning to "what was your position in the final standings?". The wordplay is an anagram (ground; as a verb) of SELECTORS AT.

18d   Yahoo's that corrupted on a test (2,5)

If you look very carefully at the surface reading, it makes little sense. You can read it as either "Yahoo is that corrupted on a test" or "Yahoo has that corrupted on a test", neither of which have much meaning. However, I only noticed this when I tried to parse the clue. I think the brain may subconsciously adjust the words to produce the more meaningful "Yahoo that's corrupted on a test". In the cryptic reading, the definition is "Yahoo has that" with the wordplay being an anagram (corrupted) of ON A TEST. Yes, a Yahoo has no taste.

21d   Individual cases I caught being delayed (2,3)

The definition is "being delayed" and the wordplay is ONE (individual) containing (cases; as a verb) {I + C (caught; an abbreviation appearing on scorecards in cricket)}.

References: 
^[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)

Signing off for this week - Falcon

Sunday, November 20, 2011 - ST 4455

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Sunday Times ST 4455
Date of Publication in The Sunday Times Sunday, October 16, 2011
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4455]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Date of Publication in the Toronto Star Saturday, November 12, 2011

Introduction

Although I completed the puzzle, I got 3d solely from the definition and 26a seemed to be the only conceivable word which matched the checking letters. In both cases, I needed Dave Perry's explanation to understand the wordplay.

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the full review at Times for the Times, to which a link is provided in the table above.

1a   Very high liquid content in this food (4)

The well-hidden wordplay is SO (very) + UP (high).

3a   Poor, but thought to satisfy according to Spooner (6-4)

 The wordplay alludes to a Spoonerism, a verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect, as in the sentence "you have hissed the mystery lectures" [named after the Reverend W. A. Spooner (1844–1930), an English scholar who reputedly made such errors in speaking].

10a   Dance outfit - a party's on (8)

In the surface reading, the 's is a contraction of is. However, in the cryptic analysis, it must be read as a contraction of has and is a charade indicator. Thus the wordplay is RIG (outfit) + A (explicit in the clue) + DO (party) + (has) ON (explicit in the clue).

26a   Great cup of tea's gulped down (10)

Once again, the 's takes on different meanings in the surface and cryptic readings. In the wordplay, we have THING (cup of tea) containing (has gulped) UNDER (down). Dave Perry explains why "cup of tea" becomes THING. I missed the wordplay in this clue myself. The best stab that I could make is the "thundering tea" which is a part of the "three cups of tea" served to guests by the Bai people of China.

3d   My round swallowed by pub's dog (5)

In Britain, coo^[5] is an informal exclamation used to express surprise (‘Coo, ain’t it high!’ Mary squeaked) and public house is the formal term for pub.

5d   Went thick as did smoke - extremely dismal in there (7)

The definition is "went thick" with the solution being CURDLED. As I see it, the wordplay is CURED (did smoke) containing (in there) DL (extremely dismal; i.e., the extreme [outer] letters of DismaL) with the word "as" serving as a link word between the definition and wordplay.

References: 
^[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)

Signing off for this week - Falcon