Club Monthly 20143 August 2012 – Who can’t spell their own name?

Solving Time: About 1hr 10m, though I’m usually in no great hurry. Most annoyingly however, the Crossword Club website claims I have one wrong. I see no typos; maybe doing the blog will uncover the culprit. (Later: it did, see 19dn).

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

Across
1 impi – puck = IMP + I. Impi are familiar from such sources as Zulu, or the Flashman series of historical diaries. Flashman was of course present at both Rorkes Drift and Isandlwana
3 atramental – A dry animal’s skin = A TT A(NIMA)L containing noodles in broth = RAMEN
10 slammakin – rap = SLAM + MAKIN(G).
11 jooks – Scottish sweetheart = JO + passes = OK’S.
12 elytral – measure once = ELL containing creative = ARTY, rev.
13 onycha – horseman = (P)ONY CHA(P). Onycha was one of the ingredients of early Jewish incense, but it seems we don’t actually know what it is.. though it may or (more likely) may not have involved sea snails.
15 milites gloriosi – *(I limit GI roles so). An unfamiliar (to me) word for a familiar role, in the style of eg. Shakespeare’s Falstaff
18 eleutherophobia – energy = E + field = LEA, containing UTHER (Pendragon, father of King Arthur), cooker = HOB and work = OP.
21 sepmag – yawns = GAPES rev., containing M = introduction to maths
23 tsaddiq – T (time) + SAD (dejected) + DI (Detective Inspector) + Q = question
26 afear – distantly = AFAR containing (VERS)E
27 zamindari – Z(AMBI)A + guard = MIND + ARI(D)
28 pasquilers – warrant = PASS containing QUIL(L) and queen = ER
29 smit – TIMS rev., eg Tim Curry & Sir Tim Rice.
Down
1 Ijsselmeer – one jibe = I + JEER containing M + LESS, rev. I had trouble with this one, which I found a right nuisance to spell, frankly. Also the wordplay is not as crystal clear as is usual here. Is “upright” really a synonym for “reversed?” I shall speak out fearlessly, and say: no, it jolly well isn’t. Not so = less also seemed just a bit iffy, though on reflection it does work I think. not so heavy = less heavy, for example. Anyway, much is forgiven because the Ijsselmeer and its associated works are so remarkable, one of the greatest engineering feats of the human race. if we still did Wonders of the world, they would surely be one of them. Oh but I forgot, here in crosswordland, engineer usually = “mechanic.” Also I note that in this absurd competition it was not even mentioned.
2 peavy – power = P + (H)EAVY. Peavey/peavy is a handy tool invented by the blacksmith and logger Joseph Peavey. Given that it is named after him, and is still made to this day by the Peavey Manufacturing Co., it is hard to see why Peavy would be considered acceptable, though Chambers says it is. Perhaps spelling his own name isn’t a lumberjack’s strong point. Also see tiu/tiw/tyr, below,
4 tokoloshe – commonest word = THE containing *(SO LOOK)
5 amnio – even letters of bAtMaN and rObIn converging, ie with the OI rev. An informal shortening of amniocentesis, and surely a very cleverly constructed clue.
6 enjoyer – contrary republican view = EYE + R containing denial = NO containing judge = J. so, E(N(J)O)YER
7 toothcomb – burial place = TOMB containing CH + TOO, rev.
8 lisk – a hazard = RISK, with the R(ight) replaced by L(eft).
9 amoret – hidden, rev., in intricaTE ROMAntic.
14 sinarquist – evil = SIN + T(HEN), containing (M)ARQUIS
16 liegeless – stories = LIES containing set = GEL + tablets = ES, an E being this month’s drug reference. One E, two Es…
17 lion-tamer – *(IN REAL TOM)
19 timarau – war-god = TIU containing to harm a = MAR A. It seems this is the one I got wrong. I had tamarau, tau being an evil south American spirit. But not strictly a war god, unlike Tiu, who rather irritatingly is listed in Chambers only under Tiw but is more generally known as Tyr and anyway was god of the skies according to wiki, and only war god on the side, along with Odin. And the buffalo can be spelt either way. Hmph. What use is a war god who can’t even spell his own name?
20 hyaena – ANY H rev., containing A + E
22 gazal – GAZ(E) + AL(L)
24 dwalm – doctor = MD containing litigation = LAW, all rev.
25 jaup – magistrate = JP containing gold = AU, (and not, on this occasion, OR).

Author: JerryW

I love The Times crosswords..

One comment on “Club Monthly 20143 August 2012 – Who can’t spell their own name?”

  1. 47:39 for me. This was one of those satisfactory puzzles where either the wordplay or the definition was enough to make each clue solvable without recourse to Chambers, though I had to dredge one or two answers up from the back of my mind.

    I was quite happy with “upright” in 1dn, arguably better than “reversed” in a down clue.

    I’m familiar with TIU from his day, even though that’s spelled differently again. The French and Italian versions (mardi and martedi) are more obviously related to the Roman war god.

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