Club Monthly 20140 May 2012 – Language lessons again

Author   JerryWPosted on Categories Monthly Club Special
Solving Time:
My clever spreadsheet tells me that this is monthly crossword 20140, the last cryptic I blogged (as I write this, at the beginning of May) was 25140, and this is my blog no…. 40. Spooky, eh? I didn’t find it too difficult, about 50mins in all and well up to standard as regards quality, one clue excepted.

cd = cryptic definition, dd = double defintion, rev = reversed, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as *(–)

Across
1 mujik – “recalled one spring” = I + JUM(P) rev., + “bleak in the far east” = K
4 marxisant – MARS + ANT containing cross = X + “interfering initially” = I
9 nose candy – “no sec ‘andy” – surely a truly awful clue and quite unworthy of this otherwise fine crossword. And I do object to having drug cant rubbed in our faces by the Times. Last time it was heroin, this time it’s cocaine. Are they all on it, do you suppose?
10 goety – YeT wE lOnG, rev.
11 zingiberaceae – buzz = ZING, + I, + BEE containing RACE + A. A very clever clue, though not hard if you look up ginger in a dictionary..
14 ells – ExceptionaL LewdnesS
15 weak sister – woolly top = (S)WEATER, containing *(KISS)
18 animadvert – train = AIM containing nitrogen = N, + trailer = ADVERT
19 etat – polish off = EAT containing beginning to turn = T
21 indian tobacco – *(CACTI ON BONDI + A). Another very ingenious clue.
24 hoick – (C)HOIC(E) + K
25 de integro – OR + GET + NI + ED, all rev. Lovely surface
27 minim rest – MINIST(ER) containing M + RE
28 umiak – superior = U + exploit = MILK, with the L replaced by area = A. A umiak is a large kayak, essentially.
Down
1 muntz metal – MUM containing NT + Z, with others = ET AL. I have come across muntz metal before. It was patented as an improved method of cladding ships’ hulls, cheaper and stronger than the copper-bottoming it replaced. And Muntz Metals ltd eventually became an early component of ICI..
2 jus – dd. Latin for law, and nowadays a pretentious word for gravy..
3 kochia – KO + tea = CHA containing I
4 Mendeleev – MEND + E + LEE + V. Ah, now we’re talking, a chemistry (and physics) superstar, the inventor of the periodic table. Those who believe Nobel prizes go only to the deserving should read this link. You can go round his house, if you happen to be in St Petersburg – much more interesting than some boring old art gallery 😉
5 rhyta – vodkA aT partY witH partneR, rev. Plural of rhyton, a horn or similar shape with a hole in the bottom to drink from. Messy..
6 in gremio – Yet more latin, INGRI(D) + 0, containing ME
7 atelectatic – A + LET rev., + EC(S)TATIC, ie “this finally” is removed.. I have come across “without let or hindrance,” pompous, redundant legal phraseology, but have never spied an unaccompanied let in the wild. Except in tennis, now that I think about it..
8 tryp – touchdown = TRY + “plane avoiding road” = P(LANE), a deceptively difficult clue. Trypanosomes, or tryps, cause sleeping sickness and are a Bad Thing, unless you’re playing scrabble in which case they may be a godsend
12 nullifidian – hidden, rev., in westerN AID IF ILL UNder. Another one that took me forever to find. With hidden clues I either see them straight away or have endless trouble with them. This, the latter..
13 grotto work – ROT + TOW + OR inside Greek = Gk.
16 karateist – *(TAKES T(O) AIR). I suppose “chopper” is adequate as a definition, but if I were a proponent of what is one of the more august and long standing sports, I don’t suppose I’d be too happy
17 zaddikim – maiden = M + I KID + DAZ(E). A word I’ve come across before, but as Tzaddiq. The word means “righteous,” a compliment in religious circles apparently
20 abattu – sailor = AB, + *(TAUT). The word is a French one, meaning pissed off – or blue
22 addle – This was my last one in and took me forever to work out. I think it is “how to make two” = ADD + LE(SS) and the def. is “confused.” But. Shouldn’t it be confuse, not confused? And how does “small sons less” = LE? Is the “less” somehow doing double duty here? I think I must be missing something..
23 shim – pipe down = SH + “the middle in time” = IM. Chambers defines a shim as “A thin slip of metal…”
26 ghi – So, fed the wrong way is DEF, and the three characters in a row after that are of course GHI. Another neat clue

Author: JerryW

I love The Times crosswords..

11 comments on “Club Monthly 20140 May 2012 – Language lessons again”

  1. … first DNF ever in a Monthly. I usually leave this aside and do a clue or two now and then over the month. Always happy to get it out in whatever time it takes.

    Problem was with the last three: 4ac/6dn/8dn. Saw MARXISANT about 10 minutes ago; but failed on IN GREMIO (wha?) and TRYP.

    22dn: ADDLE. I think the conceit here is that if you take S (for son) twice, you can make it “LESS” if you … add LE. So ADD,LE. The def., “confused” has to be adj/adv as in “-pate” or “-pated” I suppose. Though there is an archaic adjective, “addle” meaning “rotten”. Don’t think it’s that one though.

  3. Enjoyed having a stab at this and using Jerry’s excellent blog and other aids to nurse me across the line. For the daily crossword, ‘walls’ as a ‘surroundicator’ and ‘for’ as a letter replacement indicator provided useful practice amongst all the esoteric stuff. Particularly liked HOICK and thought NOSE CANDY was good too. ‘For Cockney…readily available’ was elegant. Now it’s the cricket season, perhaps we’ll get some ‘chin music’…

    Edited at 2012-05-26 07:13 am (UTC)

  4. I’ve always been slightly bemused by the squeamish reaction to drug references in cryptic clues. Can we not use terms like “nose candy” without implying that the Times setters are all off their heads on crack cocaine and the like? 🙂

    Just off for a quick snort in the garden (!)

    1. Thank you setter for taking the trouble to respond

      I always suspect that people who take your view of drug abuse have no real experience of the issues involved.

      For many years my wife and I were foster carers to damaged teenagers. In that role we had to deal with the effects of “recreational” drugs on young people.

      We have seen a girl lock herself screaming into a wardrobe convinced that the people she can see coming through the walls are out to kill her. We have attended police stations and courts as petty crime commissioned in the funding of a drug habit is lamentably dealt with by the so called system.

      It is possible that as a result of these and many more similar experiences we have lost our perspective but we can never condone any approach to drug taking that appears casual and fails to reflect the truely awful reality of the situation

      1. But wars, murders and lots of other unpleasant things cause untold distress and misery also and yet we don’t object to seeing them referenced in puzzles. That said, we do steer away from certain diseases.
  5. I shoud have add(l)ed that “ADDLE” in the meaning of “confused” is listed in Chambers.

    And thanks to Jerry for the blog. Excellent and informative as always.

    1. Like the crossword then! I look forward to it every month.
      As a final word [from me] on the drugs issue, I guess I simply don’t appreciate being expected to know, or to want to know, about such criminal things. It stands out a bit less in a crossword like this, where half the words are obscure anyway, but drug references are common enough in the other crosswords too. If you are “always bemused,” that slightly implies that such comments are regularly made, in which case can I suggest a change of policy, if only to keep the customers happy? After all, there are already quite a number of attitudes and vocab. that cannot reasonably be displayed in a Times crossword. Adding criminal drug slang to the list does not feel like a dramatic step.
      1. How do we know the majority aren’t perfectly happy and take it in their stride. You are unlikely to see a comment such as “I really loved that reference to heroin today”.
        Above all, being deprived of the right to use “Ecstasy” would be a blow, so to speak, for setters everywhere.
        I’d of course draw the line at a clue that implied that the taking of dangerous addictive drugs was something to be admired
        1. I will allow an exemption for e = ecstasy, which if nothing else everyone already knows anyway..
          On the upside, this is surely the most comments ever, for a monthly blog 🙂
        2. Well as you mention it, for the record I for one am entirely relaxed about the use of drug slang. Sure there are problems associated with drug abuse but far worse health and social issues stem from alcohol and tobacco. And as for illegality, are we going to ban Al Capone? Heaven forbid!

          Edited at 2012-05-27 08:04 pm (UTC)

Comments are closed.