Club Monthly 20152 May 2013 – Error-strewn edition

Author   JerryWPosted on Categories Monthly Club Special
Solving Time: Not too bad, something around the hour I think, but sadly with two errors somewhere. I can’t see any typos, so I hope they will surface as I write the blog… (they did, see 4dn and 18dn). Unlike my solution, the crossword itself is the usual precise and craftsmanlike offering we have come to expect (and look forward to)

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

Across
1 virtuosa – hidden, rev., in hAS OUTRIValled
5 ajowan – N(OT) AVAILABLE) + W(ITH)O(UT) + JA = German agreement, all rev.
9 lozenges – thought school = ZEN in boxes = LOGES
10 scrive – SC(ILICET) + RIVE(T). Scrive is a useful (in this blogging age) Scottish word that means “To write, with copious fluency.” a more common relation is “scrivener”
12 Pembroke table – E(NGLISH) + MB in for = PRO, + volunteer army = TA in Oxford college = KEBLE. Pembroke is itself an Oxford (and Cambridge) college, which gives some potential for confusion here
15 kofta – put out cold = KO + F(E)TA. Not my favourite cheese, and not my favourite meatballs either
16 iprindole – current = I + source of zest = RIND in boom = POLE. Iprindole is an antidepressant, useful when you make two errors in a crossword..
17 slickened – *(DECK LINES)
19 putid – position = PUT + ID = credentials. A virtual synonym of putrid
20 wicket maidens – appalling misses = WICKED MAIDENS, with T(IME) replacing the first D(UKE)
22 maraca – old woman = MA + artist = RA + not exactly = CA.
23 Enzedder – Z in blushed briefly = REDDENE(D) rev. Why or when this awkward word would be preferable to just “New Zealander” is a mystery
25 styrax – (B)R(E)A(D) in underground waterway = STYX .. and we had Lethean, too, earlier this month in a daily cryptic
27 razor cut – MEN = OR in organized labour = T(RADE) U(NION) + authority = CZAR, both rev. Tricky to parse this intricate clue, since to start with I thought it was not TU but TUC..
Down
1 volapukist – VOL(UME) + UK + I + S(MALL) in fitting = APT. Volapük was an early “international language” a la Esperanto. Astonishingly, it is still in some use, and there is a Volapük version of Wikipedia
2 riz – reward without tips = (P)RIZ(E</s>). “Der spring is sprung/Der grass is riz/I wonder where dem boidies is? Der little boids is on der wing,/Ain’t dat absoid? Der little wings is on de boid!” (Anon)
3 ulnaria – of moon = LUNAR, with the L sunk = ULNAR, + I + (REVE)A(LING)
4 specktioneer – small spot = SPECK + I = ONE in deck = TIER. this is one of my mistakes, I think, since I carelessly put the alternative “specksioneer.” Amazingly this word was known to me, from the unique and wonderful novel Moby Dick. It didn’t help!
6 Jacobin – before Christ = A(NTE) C(HRISTUM) + B(ISHOP), separately in sign up = JOIN
7 white bottle – IT in *(BLEW TO THE). An alternative name for bladder campion, and if you look at the picture you will see why..
8 nyes – referendum options = NO/YES without the O(VER). It turns out that nye is a variant of nid, an archaic word for a pheasant’s nest or brood
11 pteridomania – private = PTE + shot = RID (as in “got shot of”) + Arab = Omani + A(BANDONED). The word means “A passion for ferns,” and is thus uncommon, though I will admit to being a pteridophilist.
13 muffin-worry – bungle at home = MUFF + IN, + Y(OU)R + ROW rev. Another curious word, worry I think being used in the sense of worrying a bone, or in this case, a teacake
14 jeu d’esprit – *(R(UNS) + DEEP + JUST + I). A cracking clue, this one
18 kuchcha – CH(AIN) twice in diver = AUK rev. And here is my second error, as I stupidly put KACHCHA. Although that is indeed a valid alternative spelling, how I would have justified the wordplay, I can’t imagine..
19 primero – like old maid = PRIM, + ER(G)O. Not a card game I’ve ever played, and in fact it is so ancient the rules are lost, and only modern guesses as to what they might have been now exist
21 Amos – (CROS)S (T)O (CLAI)M (STIGMAT)A, rev.
24 doc – = “DOCK”

Author: JerryW

I love The Times crosswords..

One comment on “Club Monthly 20152 May 2013 – Error-strewn edition”

  1. This took me an hour and a half in a couple of goes, but I also fell into the KACHCHA trap. I had worked out that the chains would be CH, so I had K?CHCHA. When I went through the alphabet I immediately came across KACHCHA, which is defined as “same as cutcha”. The definition of “cutcha” doesn’t mention KUCHCHA, and it didn’t occur to me that there might be another word that fitted K?CHCHA, so I just bunged it in without checking the wordplay. Drat.

    Edited at 2013-05-24 09:02 am (UTC)

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