Quite a mixed bag. Several relatively straightforward clues providing a soft underbelly through which to attack the puzzle, a few trickier ones, one which I thought was decidedly tough and another one which I must admit I found about as impenetrable as a set of flat pack furniture assembly instructions.
On a whimsical note, nice to see a missionary and an erotic entertainer crossing paths during the puzzle…
And (yet again) the puzzle is not available online as at time of posting. I had to resort to our now familiar “backdoor”:
http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20140604/170/
| Across |
| 1 |
BUDAPEST –European capital is the definition part of the clue. Answer is also derived from BUD (“Begin to develop”) with A PEST (“a pain”) |
| 5 |
TIFF –Row (as in argument rather than “blade on the feather” activity) is the definition. Answer also derived from wordplay through reversal of FIT (“well going backwards”) with an additional F (“first of finishers” – i.e. first letter of finishers) |
| 8 |
SPURN –reject is the definition. The wordplay also providing the answer is ShiP (“Ship empty”) with URN (“vessel”) |
| 9 |
MELANGE –Mixture is our definition. The answer is also an anagram (signalled by “cracked”) of “enamel” with G included (“good to fill”) |
| 11 |
LILY-LIVERED –Yellow (as in cowardly) is the definition. Answer also derived from the wordplay of LIVE (“as it happens”) with RED (“colour”) “on” LILY (“flower”). Nicely constructed clue (and one of the trickier ones – but the number of cross checkers gave everyone a sporting chance) |
| 13 |
PAPAYA –Fruit is the definition. Answer is also derived from PA (“Old man”) “with” PAY (“money for working”) “and A” |
| 14 |
UNLESS -Let me preface this one by saying I am not entirely confident of the answer and parsing – the one referred to as “decidedly tough” in my intro – so here goes (any corrections gratefully received). If not is the definition. The wordplay (I think) is “leaden” meaning SUNLESS (as in “leaden skies”) without the initial letter S (“no lead”). If correct, I’d say this was somewhat 7 down! |
| 16 |
STRIPTEASER –tempter is the definition. The answer also comes from STRIP (“cartoon”) with TEASE after (“puzzle behind”). At this point, I have to pay homage to Sotira (who seldom stalks the mean streets of the Quickie but is invariably found contributing on the main cryptic). A couple of weeks ago she was blogging the Sunday Times cryptic 4590 and launched into a compelling discourse on (inter alia) strippers: in so doing (and to describe a particular exponent of this art form), she coined what for me is one of the great phrases of our time – “lady of deciduous habit”- which I vowed to allude to whenever a suitable occasion arose: this is the first such occasion |
| 18 |
A LITTLE –Some is the definition. Answer also derived from slightly complex wordplay: anagram of TALE (signalled by “fabricated”) with LIT included within the rearranged letters of tale (“drunk admitted”). In Crosswordland, LIT often crops up as meaning drunk: must admit that I have never come across this usage outside of Crosswordland, notwithstanding many decades in the company of those who might qualify for the epithet on a frequent basis |
| 19 |
ORDER -Double definition – to order is to “command”, and an order can be a “class” of people (e.g. the “lower orders”) |
| 20 |
YOGA –Hindu exercise is the definition. The answer is also derived from the last letters – “ends” – of “agony – so inspiring Buddha” |
| 21 |
STRESSES –Emphasises is the definition bit. The wordplay also giving the answer is S (“initially short”) with TRESSES (“long hair”) |
| Down |
| 1 |
BASH -Double definition – one of the “soft underbelly” offerings |
| 2 |
DOUBLE-PARKING -OK, here we go. This for me was the “impenetrable” one. Based on the cross checkers and a part of the clue, I believe the answer must be correct – but I’m struggling (to put it mildly) with the parsing. All assistance gratefully received! I believe the definition is Blocking tactics (although this seems an odd definition of double parking). As for the “supporters and opponents” part of the clue, I spent an age trying to make sense of this and relate it to double-parking. I went down many rabbit warrens, but ultimately came up with nothing other than the most tenuous connection between double-parking and “alternate side parking”- which might conceivably explain “supporters and opponents” (these being “alternate sides”). However, from what I can see, double-parking and alternate side parking really have nothing in common other than that they tend to show up on the same Google search pages. Either I have missed something obvious (in which case profuse apologies to our setter for sounding off about this – and huge embarrassment for me) or this is a strange clue. On edit: thanks very much to Z8 for shedding light on this one – see below for his explanation regarding the PP in each of supporters and opponents. |
| 3 |
PENALTY SPOT –Mark on the pitch is our definition. Answer also derived from PENALTY “(“fine”) and SPOT (“place”) |
| 4 |
SOMALI –African is the definition (a Somali being a person from Somalia). The answer is also derived from SO (“thus”) with MALI (“African country”) |
| 6 |
INNER HEBRIDES –Islands is the definition. The wordplay delivering the answer (which islands are we talking about?) is INNER (“private”) with HE (“man”) and BRIDES (“married women”) |
| 7 |
FIENDISH –Very difficult is the definition. Answer is also derived from anagram (signalled by “cryptic”) of “finished” |
| 10 |
LIVINGSTONE –Explorer in Africa is the definition. Answer also derived from the wordplay of LIVING (“quick” – as in the quick and the dead) “put on” STONE (“weight”) |
| 12 |
APOSTASY –Abandonment of faith is the definition, and also an anagram (signalled by “after conversion”) of “say so apt”. Maybe slightly exotic vocabulary, but familiar to those who have studied European history (apostates cropped up all over the place during the religious strife of the 15th to 18th centuries) – and (sadly) the word also has currency with the tragic situation of the lady in the Sudan who is charged with this “offence” |
| 15 |
DEFECT -One of the easier ones, I thought. Double definition: to defect is to leave the country and go to the other side, and a defect is a mistake |
| 17 |
IRIS –flower is the definition. Answer also derived from wordplay of I RISE (“I get up briefly”- i.e. with the last letter removed) |
I thought that sotira was a she but the only evidence I have is the rabbit’s appearance.
Edited at 2014-06-04 11:51 am (UTC)
Keeping the ecclesiastical theme, ‘Nick the oblate’, perhaps?
That 25 minutes doesn’t include parsing 2dn on which I had given up but saw immediately on revisiting it several hours post completion. I parsed 14ac as (f)UNLESS but would agree that Nick’s (s)UNLESS is better and almost certainly what the setter had in mind as ‘leaden skies’ seems more likely that the ‘leaden humour’ I had in mind.
FUNLESS but also like jackkt I thinkSUNLESS is better.For 19ac, an ORDER is a sub category of a CLASS in taxonomy, above family, genus and species…..
Is there a rule to work out the backdoor routes — I can see the date there but is that just a sequential number after it? I tried to get this puzzle online in the early hours of this morning but to no avail,
Secondly, when I finally trekked outside in the rain to get paper copy from the mailbox, I couldn’t do it anyway! I went with Livingstone and Stripteaser early on and then discounted both because they didn’t fit in with other answers so I got in a right muddle. I’m so disappointed that 9a isn’t AMALGAM as I sit here still nursing the toothache which kept me awake last night! Am I right in thinking I was duped by the “surface” meaning of that clue? Your blog makes the seemingly incomprehensible clues answers so simple in hindsight — I wonder if the day will come when I ever find them easy.
For some reason, the site had your comment as spam – have unspammed it.
Re. backdoor, yes, the last three digits are just a sequential number (so Thursday should be date with 171 on the end, Friday with 172 and so on). That said, a couple of times in the past it has taken an inexplicable leap – then we are all in a bit of a quandary…
Re. amalgam, yes, I can see where you are coming from. I think the thing that might indicate to you that amalgam might not be right is that it does not really make any use of the word “good” which is included in the clue. Generally, every word in the clue (apart from the odd conjunction) plays a specific role in the solution: if you find that you have a “solution” that does not somehow utilise all of the main words in the clue then you probably want to be suspicious of it – maybe pencil it in as a “provisional” and see if it subsequently ties in with checkers from other answers of which you are more certain.
And overall, yes this was very tricky in parts (as most of the comments reinforce). Keep the faith!
LOI DEFECT, which was almost my CON (clue of the night) but I had to award it to PENALTY SPOT.
Stinker of a puzzle to blog, Nick-the-no-longer-novice, and you did it superbly.