ST 4233 (Sun 15 Jul) – A cruciverbal revolt

Author   talbinhoPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time: 5:34

I don’t know why mistakes in Sunday Times crosswords contain to surprise me, but they do. See 17ac for this week’s gaffe.

* = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’.

Across
11 COIN, from ICON
17 LACTOVEGETARIAN; (A CATERING REVOLT A)* – but the anagram doesn’t work, having one ‘R’ too many.
18 S(PEAR)S
20 MID-AIR – I don’t really understand this clue (“Region in which there could be intersecting planes“); is it an attempted pun on ‘plane’ = ‘aeroplane’?
21 YU(CAT)AN – a region of Mexico.
22 [ward]ROBE
25 I’M + PISH + NESS
26 [m]ARTY
27 RINGMASTER; (ME STARRING) – nice &lit.
Down
2 HEAT (double definition)
3 [t]EACH[ing]
4 MODERN; rev. of RED in MON[day]
7 PIANO TUNER; (AN ERUPTION)*
12 CRICKET + BAT – I didn’t think crickets could fly, but some research suggests otherwise.
13 BIG(O)TRY
14 TAMAR + IN
15 MILLSTREAM; (SMALL-TIMER)* – Chambers defines ‘race’ as ‘a channel bringing water to or from a millwheel’.
19 SUMMER (double definition) – ‘summer’ can mean ‘a great horizontal beam or lintel’.
24 A + SHE – Arthur Ashe won Wimbledon in 1975, and remains the only player of African descent to do so.

6 comments on “ST 4233 (Sun 15 Jul) – A cruciverbal revolt”

  1. I understood 20A to be an allusion to MID-AIR collisions… or is that too obvious?

    24D: well I think both the Williams have won Wimbledown as recently as this year.

    1. 20ac: That was my best guess.

      24d: Sorry, I should have said ‘…to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon’.

  2. The setter apologises for omitting to type the words ‘right away’ in the foodie clue.
  3. To be fair, the problem is not with all the Sunday Times crosswords, only the cryptic. I have long since given up solving it at all, because I expect it to be similar to the daily cryptic and it simply isn’t; More Charlton than Chelsea. The Mephisto on the other hand is consistent and seems rigorous, at least to my untutored eye. I recommend it.
  4. 7:09 for me. Fortunately I just shoved in LACTOVEGETARIAN without looking properly at the anagram. Overall I found this a very enjoyable puzzle, and I particularly liked 27A.
  5. The odd slip-up on an anagram does not really make for a poor puzzle does it? Maybe it could be a problem for the 100wph+ super-speedsters but not for most of us when trying to solve at ca 30 – 60 wph. I agree with TS’s final comment – a very enjoyable solve.

    There are 10 “easies” left out of the blog:

    1a Published composition with many notes (5,5)
    SHEET MUSIC

    8a Vehicle duty is cut by 50% (4)
    TAX I(s)

    10a Member of clergy (once has car)* smashed up (10)
    ARCHDEACON

    13a A woman’s game – taking time! (7)
    BRIDGE T

    15a Man needs public vehicle getting back home (6)
    MART IN. Tram backwards and IN = Home.

    16a Person who is cruel and unhappy is caught finally (6)
    SAD IS T

    5d Result of good performance that has people cheering up (8,7)
    STANDING OVATION

    6d Waste in the Civil Service comes to an end (6)
    C LOSE S. This relies on waste = LOSE. As it is “in” the Civil Service it must be “government work” and therefore close enough?

    9d One into Arab lingo, tricky native language (10)
    ABOR1GINAL. Anagram of one = 1 and Arab lingo.

    20d Thirty one days with border in chaos (6)
    MAY HEM

    23d Below roof of barn, observe soaring insects (4)
    B EES. Observe soaring = SEE upside down.

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