With so much comment flying around concerning the Saturday and Sunday ordinary cryptics, this turned out to be a middle of the road puzzle that was simply fun to solve and none the worse for that.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | IAMB – I-(l)AMB; independent=I; foot is definition; a reference to the politician Michael Foot; |
| 4 | PORKPIES – PORK(P)IES; rhyming slang for lies=PORKPIES which is abbreviated in speech to “porkies”; |
| 9 | CLARETED – CLARE-TED; |
| 11 | POTICARIES – POT-I-CARIES; notable=VIP=POT; old pharmacist like Nostradamus for example; good clue; |
| 12 | CATARRHS – sounds like Qatar’s; |
| 15 | SITAR – S(I)TAR; in=I; |
| 16 | PILA – (A-LIP all reversed); Roman javelins about 2 meters long; |
| 17 | PUTAMINA – PUT-A(MI-N)A; add=PUT; two notes = MI and N; rock=AA; fruit stones; |
| 18 | EMICATES – ME Country=Emirates then replace r=rule by c=conservative; sparkles; |
| 20 | OCTA – OCT-A; meteorological unit meaning one eighth of the sky used to describe cloud cover; |
| 22 | REGAR – REGAR(d); black, rich soil; |
| 25 | ITERANCE – (certain + e=echo)*; repitition; |
| 26 | TRAVERTINE – TR(AVERT)INE; go=TRINE; precipitated calcium carbonate that forms stalactites etc; |
| 27 | LIKENESS – LIKE-NESS; as=LIKE; |
| 28 | CHENOPOD – CH(ONE reversed)POD; church=CH; school=POD; a goosefoot plant, one of which is called good-King-Henry according to C so I think the omission of the hyphens in the clue is a tad misleading; |
| 29 | YATE – (E-TAY reversed); tea=TAY; old word for gate; |
| Down | |
| 1 | ICECAP – ICE-CAP(e); |
| 2 | ALKALIMETRY – (materially + k=potassium)*; measurement of the strength of an alkali such as caustic soda; |
| 3 | BROAD – B-ROAD; |
| 4 | PETRA – PET-(AR reversed); Arab=AR; ancient Jordanian city identified by Pliny the Elder; |
| 5 | RECHATED – REC-HATED; tooting for hounds; |
| 6 | PARTIM – (RAP reversed)-TIM (Moorey); partially; |
| 7 | IDIOTICON – IDIOT-I-CON; a dictionary of rhyming slang perhaps; |
| 8 | SASTRA – (ARTS AS reversed); tricks=ARTS; for instance=AS; knowledge which is based on principles that are held to be timeless; |
| 10 | SEMANTICIST – (sites)* surrounds MANTIC; divination=MANTIC; |
| 13 | TALIGRADE – T(A-LIG)RADE; American=A; idle=LIG; walking on the outer edge of one’s foot, as one does; |
| 14 | OUTSTRIP – OUTS-TRIP; |
| 18 | EROTIC – ER-O-T-IC; old=O; tenor=T; fine=ERIC; a love poem, amongst other meanings; |
| 19 | CALVIN – CAL-VIN; John Calvin 1509-64 who helped stoke the protestant reformation. His philosophy is the basis of Presbyterianism that the Scots enshrined in the Act of Union 1707; |
| 21 | A-PER-SE – three meanings 1=a; 2=first class; 3=blue cloth; |
| 23 | WRIED – sounds like ride = fairground entertainment (a carousel); |
| 24 | NANNY – NA(NN)Y; indeed=NAY; name=N; Nothing primarily=N; |
Peter Biddlecombe, Sunday Times Crossword Editor
Edited at 2012-02-26 02:24 pm (UTC)
I had some Chambers-related queries in the end though:
> According to Chambers PORK PIES is two words
> I can’t find “Ar” for “Arab”
> Likewise “rec” for “record”
I was using the mobile app though so I may just be uncovering more weaknesses in it.
Ar=Arab and rec=record are both in the book (and both long standing abbreviations)
I was so pleased to discover this app but it seems to be missing quite a lot. Still, it’s a vast improvement on nothing and I can’t really take the book on an plane!