ST 4271 (Sun 6 Apr) – Bo selecta

Author   talbinhoPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time: 3:16

A pretty straightforward puzzle – I think I’ve already seen another member of this site’s blogging team claim a much-improved PB for this.

Would any Estonians in the audience like to comment on the accuracy of ‘Tallin’ in 18dn? My shiny new Times Atlas of the World (mini edition) gives ‘Tallinn’, which I think is the only spelling I’ve seen.

* = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’.

Across
1 RHINO (= ‘money’) + CEROS (= SCORE*)
9 WAITRESS (cryptic definition)
10 RA + RELY
11 GATHER; (THE RAG)*
13 TRAVESTY; rev. of ART, + VEST + Y
14 CHAIN SMOKERS; (CRIMSON + SHAKE)* – nice clue.
17 DONKEY’s YEARS
20 WATER + LOO – ‘office’ is a euphemism for ‘toilet’.
21 P + UTTER
22 SEE + SAW (= ‘gnome’, as in a saying or maxim)
23 IR(R,I,T)ATE
25 B(O)AR
26 RUNNER BEAN; (NON-RETURNABLE – LOT)* – very unusual to see a compound anagram like this in a normal blocked crossword.

Down
2 HEAD + A + CHE
3 NIT; “KNIT”
4 CLEAR (double definition)*
5 RISOTTO; ([f]IT TORSO)*
6 STREAKERS (cryptic definition) – this doesn’t really make sense but the answer is clear enough.
7 HORNET’S NEST; (TO HENS + TERNS)* – according to Chambers, the apostrophe here can go before or after the ‘S’, unlike in 17ac where only donkey’s years is correct.
8 PO(LIT)E
12 HAIRDRESSER (cryptic definition)
15 SUNFLOWER – I think this is just a cryptic definition, based on the fact that sunflowers rotate their heads so they point at the sun.
16 GREEN TEA; (TEENAGER)*
18 E[s]TONIAN – when I saw ‘Tallin’ (sic) I thought ‘Latvian’ and wasted far too long before realising my mistake.
19 GAZE + BO – not sure I’ve seen ‘bo’ in a blocked puzzle before, though it crops up in barred puzzles regularly.
21 PURSE[r]

3 comments on “ST 4271 (Sun 6 Apr) – Bo selecta”

  1. I didn’t do the puzzle but I just checked Collins which gives both Tallin and Tallinn as the capital of Estonia
    1. I have my own pictorial ways of remembering capital cities – for Tallinn I simply think of a ‘tall inn’ made of stone (for Estonia).
      During a drive across the USA a few years ago, I learnt all the state capitals by painting fun pictures in my mind. I still remember them all.

      I did this puzzle in 7m30s; previous best for a Sunday Times was about 17m.

  2. Just the 2 omissions:

    7a Some pusHY PErson’s sensational promotion (4)
    HYPE

    24d Objection about bath (3)
    TUB. Yer but, no but ….

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