Sunday Times Cryptic No 4921 by David McLean — Oh honest brain disorder it’s not

Author   Guy du SablePosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
There was nothing 11 (down) about any of the clues here—indeed, this may be the easiest offering from Harry that I’ve blogged. However, I was spooked by seeing the first word in the first clue: “Whizz,” with a second Z that in terms of the surface meaning looked odd to me (as an American). Not sure of how to take that, and fearing that it was the definition, I started instead at the bottom and worked my way up, encountering very little resistance. “Wow, another easy anagram!” (I must have heard of that Robinson chap before.) Before long, the northwest held the only blanks. Now, the cryptic 3 and the Australian slang in 2 may have been the hardest clues here anyway, and it wasn’t just the oblique definition in 9 that threw me (we’ll get to that), but I looked with trepidation until the very end at 1 across, when suddenly it dawned on me that this was yet another easily gettable anagram and “Whizz” its odd anagrind.

I indicate (as granma)* like this, and italicize anagrinds in the clues.

ACROSS
 1 Whizz outclasses those without hope of success (4,6)
LOST CAUSES — Seems rather tautological. (outclasses)* The sense of “whizz” that would justify it as an anagrind was elusive, but it can only be that of mixing together, blending as a cook does with a hand mixer or food processor. “Whizz it, whip it, knead it or beat it, the choice is yours.” Sometimes spelled “wizz.”
 6 Item that’ll stop dog biting end of tail (4)
PLUG — P([-tai]L)UG
 9 Jumpy soldier capturing Malta’s city (5)
PARMA — PAR(M)A Finally seeing that PARAtrooper was meant by “Jumpy soldier,” I had to accept this as the answer, though I couldn’t find any substantiation for M by itself signifying “Malta” (the ISO abbreviation is MT). I wondered if the word “capital” had been inadvertently omitted before “city.” But the actual clue is more difficult than that perfectly acceptable hypothetical variation, as it relies upon your knowing that M alone does stand for “Malta” in the International Vehicle Register, of whose existence Keriothe had to remind me (I do remember that we’ve had its E for Spain before). I neither cook nor drive.
10 Highly offensive males too awful, husband admitted (9)
LOATHSOME — (males too + H)*
12 Familiar bit of research in office presentation (13)
DEMONSTRATION — DEMON, “familiar” + ST(R)ATION
14 I will forgive a British person like yourself (8)
ABSOLVER — A, “a” + B(ritish) + SOLVER
15 Pure heroin smuggled by group from India (6)
CHASTE — C(H)ASTE
17 African seen in Bali by a Norwegian (6)
LIBYAN — Hidden
19 Turn red, having left uni performance in a state (8)
COLORADO — COLO[-u]R, “Turn red” (in embarrassment, say), the missing U being “uni” + ADO, “performance” in the sense (British, informal) of “a display of exaggerated behavior or a process involving a great deal of unnecessary time and effort; a fuss.” (I don’t know how I missed seeing this in Lexico earlier! Thanks, Jackkt!) In Spanish, colorado means colo(u)red specifically red; the eponymous river got its name from its infusion of red sandstone. The US state is, politically, more a shade of purple.
21 We fit lighting out setting bars up (13)
WEIGHTLIFTING — (We fit lighting)* The definition is somewhat cryptic.
24 English No 10 I had put on my strip (9)
EXCORIATE — E(nglish) + X, “No 10” + I HAD, “I ate” straddling COR, “my(!)”
25 Mogul ultimately involved in rise of The Sun (5)
SOLAR — Paging Rupert Murdoch… SO(L)AR
26 Action making dogs possibly run the other way? (4)
STEP — PETS<=“run the other way”
27 He warned, “no going out for the time being” (4,3,3)
HERE AND NOW — The lockdown tightens. (He warned no)*

DOWN
 1 Drinks rounds? (4)
LAPS — DD
 2 Outfits about to transport free trousers to Oz (7)
STRIDES — SETS, “Outfits” reversed around (transporting, so to speak) RID, “free”
 3 One might get used to Polish vehicles (6,7)
CHAMMY LEATHER — CD The thought of “chamois” gave me the top part. “Shammy” is an alternative spelling that is eliminated definitively only by the checker.
 4 Sherpa possibly less than enthralled climbing mountain (8)
UPLANDER — U(ALP<=“climbing”)NDER
 5 Call for Congress to reject second bill (5)
EXACT — [-s]EX, “Congress” + ACT, “bill”
 7 Family stays in Battle for short visits (4-3)
LOOK-INS — LOO(KIN)S The WWI Battle of Loos (just around this time in 1915) was when the British first used poison gas. There’s a pun in there somewhere, but it would be in very poor taste.
 8 Young male lead seen with new flapper (5,5)
GREEN HERON — GREEN, “Young” + HERO, “male lead” + N(ew)
11 Sadly, her noon habits can be absurdly complex (5,8)
HEATH ROBINSON — (her noon habits)* After a cartoonist (1872–1944) whose drawings detailed elaborate mechanical devices for the achievement of simple tasks, predecessor of the American Rube Goldberg (1883–1970), whose name also became synonymous with such contraptions.
13 Youth succeeded in breaking local news (10)
CALLOWNESS — (local news + S)*
16 Prisoner at liberty to ring Republican brother at work (8)
CONFRERE — CON, “Prisoner” + FRE(R)E
18 Dash about, getting ambassador something for lunch? (7)
BRIOCHE — BRIO, “Dash” + C(irca), “about” + HE, His Excellency, “ambassador”
20 National record sent up in article repeatedly (7)
ANGOLAN — AN(LOG<=“sent up”)AN
22 Will time off from work cause split? (5)
LEAVE — QD—quadruple definition! Anyway, I think it is meant to be. Maybe. After seeing what “Will” was up to, I wondered if “cause” might also be in on the game, but I couldn’t quite see how. It seemed a missed opportunity that could have been met with the alternative I would have suggested, “Will time off from work permit split?” But Collins has as a definition of LEAVE “cause to be or to remain in a specified state,” as in “paying his bills left him penniless.” Well, then it caused his pennilessness. You wouldn’t substitute “leave” for ”cause” and say that it left his pennilessness or left him to be penniless…. Hmm… But “It will LEAVE a bitter taste in your mouth” is fairly close, anyway, to “It will cause a bitter taste in your mouth.” Isn’t it? That latter formulation is awkward too.
23 Pull out your gun and charge in the wrong direction (4)
DRAW — WARD<=“in the wrong direction”

19 comments on “Sunday Times Cryptic No 4921 by David McLean — Oh honest brain disorder it’s not”

  1. Somewhat easier than Harry’s recent puzzles, but I hardly whizzed through it (I see I have ‘whizz?’ in the margins). DNK STRIDES, DNK that spelling of ‘chamois’, DNK LOI GREEN HERON. COD to HERE AND NOW.
  2. I couldnt parse 2dn with RIDE as that leaves STS only – wondered if is was a military abbreviation like RE. Am I missing something?
    Thanks
    1. It’s not RIDE inside SETS<= ; it’s RID, “free”—as I should have remembered. Revised above.

      Edited at 2020-09-27 02:36 am (UTC)

  3. Apologies if I’ve misunderstood your comment at 19 but you’ve written A DO and then discussed “do” meaning “performance”. I think it’s ADO = “performance” as in “a difficult or annoying procedure” (SOED)

    Edited at 2020-09-27 05:14 am (UTC)

    1. Could very well be that you’re right! It bothered me that I hadn’t accounted well for the A. But I had looked for a dictionary definition of “performance” that fit ADO in that sense and come up with nothing. Obviously, I just gave up too soon. This will be edited forthwith. Thanks!

      Edited at 2020-09-27 05:35 am (UTC)

      1. Brit colloquial I think. Collins has (for performance): informal: mode of conduct or behaviour, esp when distasteful or irregular – what did you mean by that performance at the restaurant?
        My iPad Merriam-Webster has no such meaning.
  4. Pretty straightforward.
    Thanks for the DEMON in DEMONSTRATION, Guy, and for explaining BRIOCHE.
    That use of ‘congress’ in 5d reminded me of one of my favourite clues:
    “Leader of House of Congress enraged army with regular cuts”: MADAM.
  5. The NE was tricky and I was over 40 minutes on this. I biffed DEMONSTRATION not knowing that meaning of FAMILIAR and checked out the bird. They’re only green from the algae on the lake here. It had to be CHAMMY LEATHER but I would use either SHAMMY or CHAMOIS. COD to HERE AND NOW, although there certainly have been better times. And who started sticking pins into an effigy of our mascot Lofty the Lion some ten years ago? I wish they’d stop. I’m saying goodbye to COLORADO. Thank you Guy and Dean.

    Edited at 2020-09-27 06:31 am (UTC)

    1. After the invading Welsh left your boys still pointless (and goalless) yesterday, I share your pain. I’m seriously concerned that you might be slated to visit Altrincham next season (should we survive in the National of course !)

      I’ve always suspected that CHAMMY was a dodgy pronunciation of chamois, and have never spelled it with an S – it was an early write-in.

      I needed to eliminate the anagrist for HERE AND NOW.

      Some of my crossword friends had unkind comments to make on this puzzle, but I found it perfectly OK.

      FOI LOST CAUSES
      LOI EXCORIATE
      COD HEATH ROBINSON
      TIME 12:38

  6. FOI was WEIGHTLIFTING which did a lot of heavy lifting for me as solver. I got 12 clues in my first 20 minutes. Then I returned for my lunchtime session and the last five also took 20 minutes with LOI GREEN HERON. Finished at 2pm so quite quick for me.
    Also dnk Demon in this sense. Thought Chamois was spelt thus but pronounced differently. Went with S before the necessary correction. Enjoyed the puzzle. No need to excoriate Harry for this one.
    David
  7. Enjoyed this puzzle, with only the unfamiliar CHAMMY causing hesitation. 24:34. Thanks Harry and Guy.
  8. I found this quite tough, taking 1hr 15 mins to complete it. Not helped by my bunging in SHAMMY instead of CHAMMY. I agree that both are acceptable. That left 1ac impossible to see. L-S- SAUCES just didn’t work! Never did parse 12ac so thank you Guy for the explanation. Another one who did not know that Demon means familiar.
  9. Hesitated to put in STRIDES, as it is rather obscure and dated Oz slang. Perhaps the owner of the Times does the crossword and the setter knows this. It would certainly have been current when he went to school in Australia.
    31:16 for a clear round for the week!
    1. I picked it up several decades ago from an Australian comedian on TV, Barry Humphries or Paul Hogan perhaps.
  10. 43:11. I found this a bit of a struggle, the NW in particular where it took a while for it to occur to me that whizz might be an anagrind. I didn’t think much of 3dn. The capitalisation of polish was fairly transparent as a cryptic device, for me at least. I feel I have seen 26ac or some variation of it repeatedly in recent solves. I did like excoriate, exact, Heath Robinson and draw.
  11. as an unknown and I stuck in GREEN BERET (!!) at 9dn and plain forgot all about COLORADO (one of my favourite Stephen Stills’ tracks).

    FOI 9ac PARMA – M is for MALTEASER

    COD 1ac LOST CAUSES I don’t think ‘Cheez Whiz’ is enjoyed in UK as it is Stateside, since 1952.
    Once one whizzes cheese in Wales it becomes a Welsh rarebit. In 2018 a Green Heron was spotted in Pembrokeshire for only the second ever recorded time. Making it a Welsh rarebird one supposes.

    WOD Whizz! Remember ‘Whizzer and Chips’?

  12. Thanks David and guy
    Certainly wasn’t on the same wavelength as the setter in this one – having to mostly prise each clue out one by one with very few runs of solved clues eventuating. On reflection, it is a bit hard to understand why, though.
    Whilst the NW occupied the latter stages of the solve, it was the SW that caused most of the hold-up and was the last to fall. Having an unparsed EXTIRPATE in at 24a didn’t help the cause. Only a couple of ‘unknowns’ – HEATH ROBINSON (imminently gettable from the fodder) and GREEN HERON (where it took an age to get past HE to HERO in the word play). Can remember the term STRIDES being used as a youngster, but it is very rarely used these days – it was also entered closer to the end than the beginning. Thought that the definition for PARMA was very cleverly disguised and it did involve a trawl through the cities of Malta before it fell
    Ended up cracking BRIOCHE to then correct EXCORIATE and see the more generic PETS for ‘dogs’ and reverse it to get STEP as the last one in..

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