This puzzle was originally published in The Sunday London Times on May 17, 2009
Introduction
A relatively easy effort for a Sunday Times puzzle, although one clue stumped me.
Links to solutions:
Times for the Times
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
24d When any theatre is set up? Inside, you'll find drama critic (5)
I failed to find the solution to this downer of a clue - correctly interpreting "up inside" would have provided the key to success.
Signing off for this week - Falcon
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009 (ST 4328)
Today's puzzle was originally published in The Sunday London Times on May 10, 2009
Links to Solutions
A full review for today's puzzle is available at Times for the Times.
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
Some of the clues in today's puzzle were, shall I say, thought provoking. If I were in a less charitable mood, I might use synonyms such as questionable and irritating. I found it gratifying, in a number of cases, to see that my opinions on several clues aligned with those of talbinho in his Times for the Times blog.
Perhaps my views were soured by getting the solutions for a couple of clues incorrect.
1ac Recollect entire chain of succession (11)
I have absolutely no problem with this clue - I just think it is worthy of comment. The wordplay suggests that if a set of letters were collected once to form ENTIRE CHAIN, the same set of letters could be collected again (re-collected) in a different order to form another word.
13ac Dial and ring about a false notion (5)
Since IDOLA is the plural of IDOLUM or IDOLON, the clue should have read (IMHO):
13ac Dial and ring about false notions (5)
18ac Choosing to cut off electric halfway through - leading to chaos (8)
Due to a couple of faulty choices - thinking that "choosing" was a verb, rather than a noun; and missing the substitution of "into" for "leading to" - I ended up with ELECTING as a solution (one, of course, for which I could not fully reconcile the wordplay). This error was also directly responsible for my getting 17d incorrect.
20ac Gemstones military commander set off to obtain (6)
I am not sure whether the anagram indicator is intended to be the phrase "off to obtain" or whether the phrase "to obtain" is merely padding to improve the surface reading. I am sure that I have often seen "off" used on its own as an anagram indicator. Certainly, with a modified construction, such as:
Military commander set off to obtain gemstones (6)
the phrase "to obtain" would be quite logical as linking words.
28ac The blue-blooded, overbearing actor is star (11)
Like talbinho, I am mystified by the use of "overbearing" as an anagram indicator.
17d The pools could have formed in them (8)
Not only did I miss the anagram, but due to the error discussed at 18ac, the only possible solution appeared to be ANTHILLS (of course, as with 18ac, the wordplay being irreconcilable).
19d Vehicle surfaces carrying king, the Queen and follower (7)
I initially thought that the solution to this clue might be TRAILER, where I was relying on the following substitutions: "king" → R (rex), "the Queen" → ER, "vehicle" → TRAILER, and "follower" → TAIL. Of course, I had no explanation for the wordplay and the situation was further complicated by the fact that "follower" might also mean TRAILER. Furthermore, this wrong turn imposed an obstacle to solving 26ac. Luckily, I did eventually find the correct solution for 26ac which, in turn, put me back on TRACK for this clue as well.
21d Allure leading girl to love in France (7)
Since no objections were raised on Times for the Times, I presume that the subsitution of "l'amour" for "love" is within the bounds of cryptic license, despite a precise translation of "l'amour" being "the love".
Welcome to summer and Happy Father's Day to all fellow Dads - Falcon
Links to Solutions
A full review for today's puzzle is available at Times for the Times.
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
Some of the clues in today's puzzle were, shall I say, thought provoking. If I were in a less charitable mood, I might use synonyms such as questionable and irritating. I found it gratifying, in a number of cases, to see that my opinions on several clues aligned with those of talbinho in his Times for the Times blog.
Perhaps my views were soured by getting the solutions for a couple of clues incorrect.
1ac Recollect entire chain of succession (11)
I have absolutely no problem with this clue - I just think it is worthy of comment. The wordplay suggests that if a set of letters were collected once to form ENTIRE CHAIN, the same set of letters could be collected again (re-collected) in a different order to form another word.
13ac Dial and ring about a false notion (5)
Since IDOLA is the plural of IDOLUM or IDOLON, the clue should have read (IMHO):
13ac Dial and ring about false notions (5)
18ac Choosing to cut off electric halfway through - leading to chaos (8)
Due to a couple of faulty choices - thinking that "choosing" was a verb, rather than a noun; and missing the substitution of "into" for "leading to" - I ended up with ELECTING as a solution (one, of course, for which I could not fully reconcile the wordplay). This error was also directly responsible for my getting 17d incorrect.
20ac Gemstones military commander set off to obtain (6)
I am not sure whether the anagram indicator is intended to be the phrase "off to obtain" or whether the phrase "to obtain" is merely padding to improve the surface reading. I am sure that I have often seen "off" used on its own as an anagram indicator. Certainly, with a modified construction, such as:
Military commander set off to obtain gemstones (6)
the phrase "to obtain" would be quite logical as linking words.
28ac The blue-blooded, overbearing actor is star (11)
Like talbinho, I am mystified by the use of "overbearing" as an anagram indicator.
17d The pools could have formed in them (8)
Not only did I miss the anagram, but due to the error discussed at 18ac, the only possible solution appeared to be ANTHILLS (of course, as with 18ac, the wordplay being irreconcilable).
19d Vehicle surfaces carrying king, the Queen and follower (7)
I initially thought that the solution to this clue might be TRAILER, where I was relying on the following substitutions: "king" → R (rex), "the Queen" → ER, "vehicle" → TRAILER, and "follower" → TAIL. Of course, I had no explanation for the wordplay and the situation was further complicated by the fact that "follower" might also mean TRAILER. Furthermore, this wrong turn imposed an obstacle to solving 26ac. Luckily, I did eventually find the correct solution for 26ac which, in turn, put me back on TRACK for this clue as well.
21d Allure leading girl to love in France (7)
Since no objections were raised on Times for the Times, I presume that the subsitution of "l'amour" for "love" is within the bounds of cryptic license, despite a precise translation of "l'amour" being "the love".
Welcome to summer and Happy Father's Day to all fellow Dads - Falcon
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009 (ST 4327)
This puzzle was originally published in The Sunday London Times on May 3, 2009
Links to solutions:
A full review of today's puzzle is available on Times for the Times [ST 4327].
A couple of the clues are addressed on the Saturday Star Cryptic Forum [ST 4327].
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
It was gratifying to see that many of the reservations that I had concerning this puzzle were also raised by talbinho in his Times for the Times post:
25ac Sudden inspiration doesn't start in bad weather (9)
Sudden inspiration [BRAINSTORM] doesn't start [-B] → RAINSTORM
bad weather → RAINSTORM
It seems to me that the word "in" is being employed here to represent equality (rather than inclusion) - which does not sound entirely right to my ear.
Having studied mathematics, I know a mathematician would handle this situation by defining the set of all subsets of the entity RAINSTORM to include the entity itself. Having done so, RAINSTORM is "in" RAINSTORM from this mathematical perspective. [Mathematicians - not unlike cryptic crossword setters - are quite adept at defining things to suit their purposes.]
However, I am wondering if there is a linguistic explanation as to why RAINSTORM is "in" RAINSTORM.
A True British Experience - Warts and All
Those of us on this side of the Atlantic now have convincing evidence that we are, indeed, enjoying an authentic British experience with The Sunday London Times cryptic crossword. It seems that, despite appearing here six weeks following its publication in Britain, The London Sunday Times syndicates the exact puzzle that appeared in the paper's U.K. print edition - right down to the errors. The solution to today's puzzle printed in the Citizen indicates that the solution to 22d is PIGOUT - the very same error that a correspondent on Times for the Times reported as having appeared in the print edition of The Sunday London Times.
Signing off for this week - Falcon
Links to solutions:
A full review of today's puzzle is available on Times for the Times [ST 4327].
A couple of the clues are addressed on the Saturday Star Cryptic Forum [ST 4327].
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
It was gratifying to see that many of the reservations that I had concerning this puzzle were also raised by talbinho in his Times for the Times post:
- the seemingly extraneous "during" appearing in 1ac
- the wording of 4d
- the use of "fruit" as an anagram indicator in 17d
- the wording of 24d
25ac Sudden inspiration doesn't start in bad weather (9)
Sudden inspiration [BRAINSTORM] doesn't start [-B] → RAINSTORM
bad weather → RAINSTORM
It seems to me that the word "in" is being employed here to represent equality (rather than inclusion) - which does not sound entirely right to my ear.
Having studied mathematics, I know a mathematician would handle this situation by defining the set of all subsets of the entity RAINSTORM to include the entity itself. Having done so, RAINSTORM is "in" RAINSTORM from this mathematical perspective. [Mathematicians - not unlike cryptic crossword setters - are quite adept at defining things to suit their purposes.]
However, I am wondering if there is a linguistic explanation as to why RAINSTORM is "in" RAINSTORM.
A True British Experience - Warts and All
Those of us on this side of the Atlantic now have convincing evidence that we are, indeed, enjoying an authentic British experience with The Sunday London Times cryptic crossword. It seems that, despite appearing here six weeks following its publication in Britain, The London Sunday Times syndicates the exact puzzle that appeared in the paper's U.K. print edition - right down to the errors. The solution to today's puzzle printed in the Citizen indicates that the solution to 22d is PIGOUT - the very same error that a correspondent on Times for the Times reported as having appeared in the print edition of The Sunday London Times.
Signing off for this week - Falcon
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009 (ST 4326)
This puzzle was originally published in The Sunday London Times on April 26, 2009
Links to solutions:
A solution for today's puzzle is available at Times for the Times [ST 4326].
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
After checking the solution on Times for the Times, I see a missed a bit of the nuance in the wordplay for:
10ac Two foreign articles we put on are not English pants and vest? (9)
I had taken "put on" to mean "wear" and had missed the WE + ARE - E wordplay.
19ac Floater taking limited number - gosh! (4)
I missed this one entirely. Although being far from confident in my solution, I had settled on NEAT (where "Neat!" would be a slang exclamation meaning "Gosh!").
24ac Foster maybe to admit what he didn't quite do! (5)
I got the correct solution (being the only word that fit), but had no idea of most of the wordplay (other than, possibly, "admit" being "own" - as in "own up"). I guess I've been away from nursery rhymes too long.
1d Having the enemy in to complete a quartet? (4-11)
I got the solution based on part of the clue, but see from Times for the Times that I missed a key aspect of the wordplay dealing with "time".
21d Coloured rod with fish on (6)
I had the correct solution, but wasn't content with my understanding of the wordplay. I am not any happier with the explanation on Times for the Times. The solution given there would seem to imply that "coloured rod" is CRAYON which is composed of "fish" [CRAY] plus "on" [ON]. The problem is that, to the best of my knowledge, while a "crayfish" is a crustacean somewhat similar to a lobster, no fish exists called a "cray". I had assumed that the "fish" was a RAY, but that leaves the "C" unaccounted for. As always, I stand to be corrected.
Signing off for today - Falcon
Links to solutions:
A solution for today's puzzle is available at Times for the Times [ST 4326].
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
After checking the solution on Times for the Times, I see a missed a bit of the nuance in the wordplay for:
10ac Two foreign articles we put on are not English pants and vest? (9)
I had taken "put on" to mean "wear" and had missed the WE + ARE - E wordplay.
19ac Floater taking limited number - gosh! (4)
I missed this one entirely. Although being far from confident in my solution, I had settled on NEAT (where "Neat!" would be a slang exclamation meaning "Gosh!").
24ac Foster maybe to admit what he didn't quite do! (5)
I got the correct solution (being the only word that fit), but had no idea of most of the wordplay (other than, possibly, "admit" being "own" - as in "own up"). I guess I've been away from nursery rhymes too long.
1d Having the enemy in to complete a quartet? (4-11)
I got the solution based on part of the clue, but see from Times for the Times that I missed a key aspect of the wordplay dealing with "time".
21d Coloured rod with fish on (6)
I had the correct solution, but wasn't content with my understanding of the wordplay. I am not any happier with the explanation on Times for the Times. The solution given there would seem to imply that "coloured rod" is CRAYON which is composed of "fish" [CRAY] plus "on" [ON]. The problem is that, to the best of my knowledge, while a "crayfish" is a crustacean somewhat similar to a lobster, no fish exists called a "cray". I had assumed that the "fish" was a RAY, but that leaves the "C" unaccounted for. As always, I stand to be corrected.
Signing off for today - Falcon
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009 (ST 4325)
This puzzle was originally published in The Sunday London Times on April 19, 2009
Introduction
After quickly solving several clues, I thought this puzzle would be easy. However, I soon found that my initial rapid pace was not to endure. I did end up correctly solving all but one clue, even without completely understanding the wordplay associated with a number of them. Thankfully, most of my bewilderment was dispelled by Times for the Times.
Links to solutions:
A full solution and explanation is provided by Times for the Times.
Three of the clues are discussed at the Saturday Star Cryptic Forum. Among them, are two that gave me grief.
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
The Briticism's did me in today. Although I only failed to find the solution to one clue, there were several for which I did not completely follow the wordplay. The clue that I missed is:
25d Nearly leave the army in protest (4)
With virtually no confidence in its correctness, I had settled on VETO as the solution. The term 'demob' never occurred to me as I was solving the puzzle (although, in hindsight, I do remember having encountered it in the past). Also, I would personally use 'demo' as a short form for 'demonstration' only in the sense of a 'product demo' and never in the sense of a 'protest' - although I do see that this latter usage is supported by at least one dictionary. Interestingly, I was surprised to find that most of the dictionaries that I consulted did not include 'protest' among the meanings for 'demonstration'.
While I was able to obtain the correct solution, the wordplay in the following clues was largely lost on me.
1ac Do you get it with an attractive kipper? (6,5)
I did not know that 'kip' is British slang for 'sleep'. A search on 'kipper' did not turn up this meaning. Too late, I discovered that I would have easily found it by searching on 'kip' or 'kipping'.
10ac It could be Parisian cheer - or cheers! (6,5)
I didn't fully understand the wordplay until I saw it explained on Times for the Times. It was the definition of 'cheer' as 'food' that was unfamiliar to me. Even now, I'm not sure I would readily associate toast (even French toast) with "festive food and drink" (which is how I saw it defined in one dictionary).
18ac Oscar is bad about blocking station entrance, leads to certain conflict (9,6)
I solved this through a combination of the constraints imposed by the letters in the cross entries (I presume this may be what the author of Times for the Times refers to as "checking letters") and the phrase "leads to certain conflict". The complex wordplay in the first part of the clue went totally over my head until I saw the explanation on Times for the Times. I was also puzzled as to why 'Oscar' could be abbreviated as 'O' - until I suddenly remembered that it is a constituent of the phonetic alphabet.
27ac Nonsense, mate! (4)
Apparently 'tosh' means 'mate' (pal) to the British, but the only definition I could find, despite checking numerous sources (including dictionaries of British slang), was 'nonsense'.
20d Repair wall front but not top (6)
Kudos to the setter - the wordplay in this very clever clue totally escaped me. (See Times for the Times for an explanation).
Signing off until next Sunday - Falcon
Introduction
After quickly solving several clues, I thought this puzzle would be easy. However, I soon found that my initial rapid pace was not to endure. I did end up correctly solving all but one clue, even without completely understanding the wordplay associated with a number of them. Thankfully, most of my bewilderment was dispelled by Times for the Times.
Links to solutions:
A full solution and explanation is provided by Times for the Times.
Three of the clues are discussed at the Saturday Star Cryptic Forum. Among them, are two that gave me grief.
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
The Briticism's did me in today. Although I only failed to find the solution to one clue, there were several for which I did not completely follow the wordplay. The clue that I missed is:
25d Nearly leave the army in protest (4)
With virtually no confidence in its correctness, I had settled on VETO as the solution. The term 'demob' never occurred to me as I was solving the puzzle (although, in hindsight, I do remember having encountered it in the past). Also, I would personally use 'demo' as a short form for 'demonstration' only in the sense of a 'product demo' and never in the sense of a 'protest' - although I do see that this latter usage is supported by at least one dictionary. Interestingly, I was surprised to find that most of the dictionaries that I consulted did not include 'protest' among the meanings for 'demonstration'.
While I was able to obtain the correct solution, the wordplay in the following clues was largely lost on me.
1ac Do you get it with an attractive kipper? (6,5)
I did not know that 'kip' is British slang for 'sleep'. A search on 'kipper' did not turn up this meaning. Too late, I discovered that I would have easily found it by searching on 'kip' or 'kipping'.
10ac It could be Parisian cheer - or cheers! (6,5)
I didn't fully understand the wordplay until I saw it explained on Times for the Times. It was the definition of 'cheer' as 'food' that was unfamiliar to me. Even now, I'm not sure I would readily associate toast (even French toast) with "festive food and drink" (which is how I saw it defined in one dictionary).
18ac Oscar is bad about blocking station entrance, leads to certain conflict (9,6)
I solved this through a combination of the constraints imposed by the letters in the cross entries (I presume this may be what the author of Times for the Times refers to as "checking letters") and the phrase "leads to certain conflict". The complex wordplay in the first part of the clue went totally over my head until I saw the explanation on Times for the Times. I was also puzzled as to why 'Oscar' could be abbreviated as 'O' - until I suddenly remembered that it is a constituent of the phonetic alphabet.
27ac Nonsense, mate! (4)
Apparently 'tosh' means 'mate' (pal) to the British, but the only definition I could find, despite checking numerous sources (including dictionaries of British slang), was 'nonsense'.
20d Repair wall front but not top (6)
Kudos to the setter - the wordplay in this very clever clue totally escaped me. (See Times for the Times for an explanation).
Signing off until next Sunday - Falcon
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009 (ST 4324)
This puzzle was originally published in The Sunday London Times on April 12, 2009
Links to Solutions
A solution to today's puzzle may be found at Times for the Times [ST 4324].
From now on, I will not bother linking to the Toronto Star site unless I find some discussion of potential interest there. Usually this site just publishes the completed grid of the puzzle - which the Citizen prints in the same edition of the paper in which the puzzle appears. I presume the Toronto Star must delay publishing the solution to the puzzle, thus creating the demand for the blog to publish the solution. Rarely - very rarely - this blog has some discussion concerning the puzzle.
Comments on Today's Puzzle
15ac Raw beginners for example, getting taken in by swindles (7)
I take issue, as does Times for the Times, with the use of "i.e." (rather than "e.g.") to mean "for example" in the solution to this clue.
8d Headmaster brought into cooperation with the abused (8)
The comments posted on Times for the Times comprise, for the most part, a discussion concerning whether the usage of "Headmaster" in this clue is appropriate.
Citizen Cryptic Crossword by Susannah Sears
On Sundays, the Citizen also publishes a cryptic crossword puzzle created specifically for the paper by Susannah Sears whose website contains a variety of material of potential interest to cryptic crossword fans.
That's all for this week.
Links to Solutions
A solution to today's puzzle may be found at Times for the Times [ST 4324].
From now on, I will not bother linking to the Toronto Star site unless I find some discussion of potential interest there. Usually this site just publishes the completed grid of the puzzle - which the Citizen prints in the same edition of the paper in which the puzzle appears. I presume the Toronto Star must delay publishing the solution to the puzzle, thus creating the demand for the blog to publish the solution. Rarely - very rarely - this blog has some discussion concerning the puzzle.
Comments on Today's Puzzle
15ac Raw beginners for example, getting taken in by swindles (7)
I take issue, as does Times for the Times, with the use of "i.e." (rather than "e.g.") to mean "for example" in the solution to this clue.
8d Headmaster brought into cooperation with the abused (8)
The comments posted on Times for the Times comprise, for the most part, a discussion concerning whether the usage of "Headmaster" in this clue is appropriate.
Citizen Cryptic Crossword by Susannah Sears
On Sundays, the Citizen also publishes a cryptic crossword puzzle created specifically for the paper by Susannah Sears whose website contains a variety of material of potential interest to cryptic crossword fans.
That's all for this week.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009 (ST 4323)
This puzzle was originally published in The Sunday London Times on April 5, 2009
Links to Solutions
A solution to today's puzzle, with an explanation for the wordplay, may be found at Times for the Times [ST 4323].
Although there is also a solution at Saturday Star Cryptic Forum [ST 4323], it provides no explanation of the wordplay, and is therefore merely equivalent to the solution published in the Citizen.
Links to Solutions
A solution to today's puzzle, with an explanation for the wordplay, may be found at Times for the Times [ST 4323].
Although there is also a solution at Saturday Star Cryptic Forum [ST 4323], it provides no explanation of the wordplay, and is therefore merely equivalent to the solution published in the Citizen.
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