Saturday Times 26070 (11th April)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Well, my “holiday” is over. Sue’s back at work now (although still a bit sore) and Olivia’s out in the wilds opening up “The Rhinebeck Place”. In my mind’s eye I’m imagining something like the Overlook Hotel from Stephen King’s The Shining! Anyway, as for the puzzle, I solved it in about 18 mins, and it was strange how it went. Four anti-clockwise blocks of entries NW, SW, SE and finally NE. The NE corner especially was completely blank when I got there, and probably accounted for half the solving time.

Across
1 Fat fellow with dog getting past (6)
FLABBY – F(ellow) + LAB (dog) + BY (past).
4 Film trophy concealed by men (5,3)
PALME D’OR – PALMED (concealed) + OR (other ranks, men). My LOI, just after 7D. I nearly always get thrown by foreign-language answers with apostrophes, which are never indicated in the enumeration. It’s a gold palm leaf awarded to the best film at the Cannes Film Festival.
10 Long distance to go? Not a time for heavy activity? (5-4)
LIGHT-YEAR – double vague definition, I suppose. I doubt if anyone struggled with it though.
11 Constant abuse will do for attraction (5)
CHARM – C(onstant) + HARM (abuse).
12 Ambassador involved in appeals about matter of record? (7)
SHELLAC – HE (His (or Her) Excellency, ambassador) inside CALLS (appeals) reversed. Loved the definition. I first came across shellac as a varnish in woodwork classes at school in the 1970s, so I was amazed when I found out that they used to make the old 78 rpm records out of it!
13 Submariner prepared to receive onset of water in dark period (3,4)
NEW MOON – NEMO (submariner) + ON (prepared?) around W(ater). I’ve been trying to think of a substituton test where “prepared” could mean “on”, but I’ve failed. To me, “on” means “in progress” whereas “prepared” means “finished”. Whatever, it didn’t hold me up while solving.
14 Cracked head? Totally gutted (5)
NUTTY – NUT (head) + T(otall)Y.
15 Expert smothers company junior in praise (8)
ACCOLADE – ACE (expert) around CO LAD (company junior).
18 Loved ones, cross, rebuffed attempt to interview? (8)
DOORSTEP – PETS (loved ones) + ROOD (cross), all reversed.
20 Look cross, initially faced with seats some way back? (5)
FROWN – F(aced) + ROW N (aka row 14, seats some way back).
23 Souvenir article retaining little power – a facsimile (7)
REPLICA – RELIC (souvenir article) around P(ower) + A.
25 Rotten set of products not appearing on the Net? (3-4)
OFF-LINE – OFF (rotten) + LINE (set of products).
26 Wide support for boot or other part of car (5)
WHEEL – W(ide) + HEEL (support for boot).
27 Unusually clear — having some sense in committing crime (9)
LARCENOUS – (clear)* + NOUS (sense).
28 Clooney, perhaps, revolted by misbehaviour of army (8)
ROSEMARY – ROSE (revolted) + (army)*. Ref George Clooney’s auntie, who was a successful singer and actress in the 50’s and 60’s.
29 Scientist is probing connection after setback (6)
EDISON – IS inside NODE (connection) reversed. I suppose he was a scientist – maybe the setter thought “inventor” would be too much of a giveaway.

Down
1 Musical genre, loud and no good, receiving ugly looks (8)
FOLKSONG – F (loud) + NG (no good), around (looks)*. I was expecting this to be hyphenated at least. There’s no such word in any of my dictionaries.
2 Increase millions invested by chap chasing gold (7)
AUGMENT – M(illions) inside AU (gold) + GENT (chap).
3 Minor component had effect: reduced pressure level (3,6)
BIT PLAYER – BIT (had effect) + P(ressure) + LAYER (level).
5 Excellent place for boxing trophy, on table in warm spot (6,8)
AIRING CUPBOARD – A1 (excellent) + RING (place for boxing) + CUP (trophy) + BOARD (table).
6 Parrot about to fill stomach (5)
MACAW – CA (circa, about) inside MAW (stomach).
7 Satisfied about a male with acceptable suit component (7)
DIAMOND – DID (satisfied) around A M(ale) + ON (acceptable).
8 Hint the writer’s mostly in debt? (6)
REMIND – MIN(e) (the writer’s, mostly) inside RED (i.e. in the red, in debt).
9 Clothing manufacturer scrapped torn material ripped apart by chief (8,6)
MERCHANT TAILOR – (torn material)* around CH(ief). I was puzzled by some comments on the Crossword Club forum about this clue. What possible alternative spelling could there be? Why did a couple of people think it was a bad clue?
16 Retired hurt, perhaps, in unlikely situation (4-5)
LEFT-FIELD – LEFT FIELD (cricket reference, as a phrase only referring to batsmen).
17 I note main item in issue now available (2,6)
IN SEASON – I + N(ote) + SEA (main) + SON (item in issue?). I can’t say I ever heard my dad introduce me as his “item in issue”. Maybe I’m missing something.
19 Legendary musician: King and he appearing separately in musical work (7)
ORPHEUS – R (rex, king) and HE separately inside OPUS (musical work).
21 Old negative quality about love is generating unease (7)
OMINOUS – O(ld) + MINUS (negative quality) around O (love).
22 Prince with payment reduced prior to conflict (6)
PREWAR – P(rince) + REWAR(d) (payment reduced). Another one that should have been hyphenated (and that’s how it’s listed in Chambers).
24 Religion is supported by priest, though not entirely (5)
ISLAM – IS + LAM(a) (priest not entirely).

24 comments on “Saturday Times 26070 (11th April)”

  1. Welcome back Andy. I’m glad your wife is on the mend. I had a similar experience with this one as it took me 17 mins and I finished in the NE with PALME D’OR after REMIND and DIAMOND. Count me as another who entered FOLKSONG with a shrug.
  2. Happy to defer to our US-based colleagues but I believe that ‘coming out of left field’, in the sense of being unexpected, is a baseball term.
    1. I know nothing about cricket–didn’t even know they have left fields–but ‘out in left field’ is baseball-based, although it means something like ‘oddball’. Never seen ‘left-field’ used by itself as a modifier other than literally (a left-field fly).
  3. Glad to hear that Mrs L is doing well, and welcome back.

    I didn’t find this one particularly difficult, though I had a similar experience as yourself in enjoying the “matter of record” definition but being less enamoured of “item in issue”, plus I had expectations of a space/hyphen in FOLKSONG and PREWAR but assumed they would be supported by some dictionary somewhere. I hadn’t heard of the phrase in 9D, however I HAD heard of the string of schools called Merchant Taylors, and I would guess that people in the same boat may well have put in the latter without noticing that it didn’t fit the wordplay.

    Small typo in the parsing of 11A – needs abuse not attraction.

  4. hmm, prepared/on.. how about “Are you on for Friday, Andy?” or maybe “The oven is on for lunch” .. ODO has “The match is still on..” there has to be something there somewhere, anyway it didn’t bother me much at the time

    Folksong: Collins has “folk song or folksong.” I would not use the latter myself, but my opinion is seldom sought in these matters

    Having commuted to the City for 30 years, fully familiar with Merchant Tailors.

    1. ‘Are you on for Friday’ is the sort of thing I thought of, and it seemed fine to me at the time.
      I used to work very close to Merchant Tailors’ Hall, and I’ve been to a number of events there over the years, so no problems there.
      I found this quite tricky, and got stuck for quite a while on the unindicated French apostrophe. I prefer it this way though: you need a convention for these things and showing the apostrophes in the enumeration would in many cases (including this one) make the clue too easy. In Mephisto you don’t get hyphens either, so we can count ourselves lucky.
      23:52.
      1. Having never heard of merchant tailors or merchant taylors, I did a quick google. I’m guessing you worked very close to and went to a number of events at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall without ever noticing the odd spelling. Google refuses to countenance the existence of a Merchant Tailors’ Hall. Fortunately Chambers knows of merchant tailors, but not merchant taylors.
        With the rest in Palme D’Or being last in, a slowish 33 min.
        Rob
  5. Couldn’t agree more. As a linguist of sorts, I find this very irritating. I know that one curmudgeonly grumble from someone with a less Anglocentric point of view than the average won’t change a long-established convention, but it is irksome and off-putting. The worst example a few weeks back was ‘commedia dell’arte’, clued as 2 words when it is in fact 3
    1. Are you sure you are agreeing? I could swear you are disagreeing with keriothe’s (and my) preference for not showing such enumerations, might be wrong… Why shouldn’t the London Times have an Anglocentric viewpoint? What annoys me is Americanisms clued without comment as if they are proper English, a regular feature these days. Each to their own 🙂
      1. His comment was before keriothe’s – it’s just a trick of the blank avatar that means it looks like a response to it.
  6. 16:15 … glad to hear Sue is properly on the mend, linxit, and good to see you back. I love your vision for “The Rhinebeck Place”. I had been thinking more Chandleresque noir (“I turned into the driveway of the Rhinebeck place right on time. When I reached the house I was ten minutes late.”)

    I thought George as soon as I saw Clooney. I had no idea Rosemary was his aunt, or (on further investigation) that she was responsible for one of the classic ear worms, Mambo Italiano. Wiki reveals that song to have been written in true Tin Pan Alley style — “Merrill [Bob] wrote it under deadline, scribbled hastily on a paper napkin in an Italian restaurant in New York, .. using the wall pay-phone to dictate the melody, rhythm and lyrics to the recording studio pianist.”

    1. My own view of the Rhinebeck Place is straight from Sleepy Hollow. Whatever, it sounds a fantastic place for a Sloggers & Betters meeting..
  7. Continuing my run of slow but steady solves, this one took me just over an hour. Enjoyable with no queries other than a raised eyebrow at “item in issue”. ‘On’ for ‘prepared’ didn’t seem a problem at the time, I just thought if one’s on for something one’s prepared to do it.

    Edited at 2015-04-18 06:43 pm (UTC)

  8. In my copy the clue for 8D reads:

    “Nudge object underneath note (6)”

    Was it changed in a later, or earlier, edition?

    1. Yes, there’s been comment about this in the Times forum but no explanation or apology from the editorial team.
  9. Good to see you back Andy. This was all going swimmingly well until I hit the NE corner, which I found totally impenetrable for a long time. Eventually saw CHARM and then the rest began to fall into place.
  10. I hate the hidden apostrophe, but I don’t see how it could be included in the enumeration. Anyway, in this case D__R was enough to tell me the solution wasn’t English. 9d took me ages; I don’t recall the Forum discussion, but I did discover after solving the existence of the Merchant Taylor school. But of course there’s no Y in the clue. LOI, and COD, to 12ac.
  11. I may not have expressed myself very well. I was agreeing with the “I nearly always get thrown”. When that happens, I am annoyed that the enumeration has deceived me.
    My “Anglocentric” comment meant that I couldn’t conceive of someone say, French or Italian, cluing Palme d’or or Commedia dell’arte as 2 words as they are in fact three.
    And I’m fully in agreement with you about Americanisms!
    1. It’s not just French or Italian: I remember O’NEILL causing me problems not so long ago.
  12. I did this in catch-up mode early last week and clocked up the predictable typos as a result. Dashed it off in 16.38 without doing much parsing en route now that Andy is back in the driver’s seat. Very glad to hear Mrs. Linxit is doing well.

    Re apostrophes, see my comment re SOU’WESTER (12d) in the Saturday blog for 26085 (March 28th).

    Re the Rhinebeck place, I’m just glad Andy didn’t liken it to the Bates Motel but I did enjoy Sotira’s Chandleresque idea. Jerry came the closest however. You’ll need a microscope to view the pic but that’s how it looked when we had a tent parked on our front lawn like an aircraft carrier for our elder daughter’s wedding.

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