Sunday Times 4201/mistakes

Author   ilancPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Apparently this puzzle was published online with more than a couple of mistakes. I think I’ve been able to identify them…

Across

1 BLUESTOC+KINGS – (close but)* followed by KINGS for “top blokes”, I suppose the slang is justified since BLUESTOCKINGS is a slangish term for female intellectuals. I’m not sure why two anagrinds (anagram indicators) are needed: seems like “terribly” is enough – unless “upset” is intended to give the whole thing an &lit reading.
10 RE(CAST+IN)G – another man’s name: this time it’s REG (could have been Tim, Don, Les, or… Sam (see 16A))
11 CL+A+RA – Pretty sure that CL meant to be abbrev(class) though it’s not in Chambers and RA is a member of the Royal Academy (of arts).
13 SCAPE+GO+A+T – This is one of the mistaken clues: supposedly there was an “a” missing somewhere. The online version read: “Namely, animal to depart to a desert, finally” (9). GO is “depart”, and “desert, finally” yields T. But then it seems that SCAPE is also “depart” (in its escape sense – ref. Chambers). So is the whole thing an &lit since the SCAPEGOAT was allowed to escape into the desert?
16 JET+SAM – Finally a chance to see JETSAM without flotsam! SAM is our 3-letter guy this time.
19 SITTER – quite different double meanings: an artist’s model and an easy shot.
20 CHAT ROOM – CHAT is a kind of bird (had to look this up) followed by rev(moor=desolate area). In an across clue going “west” (to the left) can indicate reversal.
24 SAT.+ED. – The Saturday Editor I guess is the guy who does the last issue of the week (isn’t that Sunday though?).
26 NEOLOGISM – (Go on, smile!)*. Apparently there was a mistake in the online version as well – an extra “a” was added: “Go on, smile! That’s funny new word” (9). Seems to me like an “a” is missing actually.
27 PROGNOSTICATE – (got “pre-actions”)*

Down

2 LOCKE+DOUT – Not a bad clue. DOUT=”doubt”. And John Locke is our philosopher (turns out that watching “Lost”has its educational benefits after all).
3 E+S+SAY – “student’s original” yields S since it’s not a standard abbrev, “this” refers to the answer.
4 TAIL+SPIN – Not a bad way to hide a homophone: TAIL=”tale” indicated by “telling”!
5 C+OG+NAC –rev(go+c))+rev(can). Since this is a down clue, taking “to altitude” means go up, i.e. indicates reversal. In this case this includes word as well.
6 IN+CLEMENT – Trendy is IN (fashionable), “to begin with” tells us to prepend it to CLEMENT Atlee who was the guy who beat Winston even before VJ day.
7 GUAN+O – Turns out that GUAN is a kind of bird. An egg looks like an O and I knew about this particular kind of animal excrement.
8 BROTHERS GRIMM – (big terror? Hmm, s)* but where’s the missing S come from? Seems like they meant “terrors”. Presumably a printing error.
9 PANTOMIME DAME – (Matinee Mom, pad)*: I realized this had to be an anagram given the shaky surface and had D?M? already. A PANTOMIME DAME is a man in drag playing a woman.
15 OVER+A+WING – For non-Brits, an over is the fundamental unit of cricket deliveries (bowls), namely, six. Van def 4 can also mean WING.
22 BEEF – Last clue for me. As in joint of BEEF. The other common edible cryptic complaints are grouse and carp.

4 comments on “Sunday Times 4201/mistakes”

  1. Thge Brothers Grimm clue was an author mistype – for which abject apologies. The printer and I between us …!
    However the week really does end on Saturday, not Sunday!
    1. I thought this was a bit of a shocker, to be honest:

      1ac: Clever ladies can get terribly close but upset top blokes (13) (BLUESTOCKINGS)
      Duplicate anagram indicator (‘terribly’ and ‘upset’) for (CLOSE BUT)*.

      11ac: Girl in class, a distinguished artist (5) (CLARA)
      ‘Class’ = CL isn’t in (online) Collins, the (online) COD or Chambers (1998 or 2003).

      13ac: Namely, animal to depart to desert, finally? (9) (SCAPEGOAT)
      Should read ‘to a desert‘ (see above). Also a weak &lit, even with the biblical reference.

      26ac: Go on, smile! That’s a funny new word! (9) (NEOLOGISM)
      Should read ‘That’s funny‘ (see above).

      2d: Philosopher, having voiced suspicion, is kept away (6,3) (LOCKED OUT)
      I very rarely object to homophones but I have to speak very affectedly to pronounce LOCKED OUT as “LOCKE DOUBT”, rather than “LOCKE TOUT”.

      5d: Brandy container to become cold when taken to altitude (6) (COGNAC)
      I can’t convince myself that ‘taken to altitude’ can really mean ‘turned upside down’. If a bird flies to altitude, its feet don’t go above its head.

      6d: Severe Labour MP trendy to begin with (9) (INCLEMENT)
      ‘Labour MP’ = ‘Attlee’ maybe, but not ‘Clement’. ‘Labour PM’ for ‘Clement’ I could just about accept.

      8d: Storytellers to conjure up big terror? Hmm! (8,5) (BROTHERS GRIMM)
      A missing ‘S’ in the anagram (see above).

      18d: Maybe hears what is to be distributed (5-3) (SHARE-OUT)
      I can find no justification in any dictionary for SHARE-OUT meaning the shares that are to be distributed, as opposed to the process of distributing them.

      I acknowledge that two or three of the above are probably the typesetter’s fault rather than the setter’s/editor’s, and there were some good clues – I liked SATED and PANTOMIME DAME particularly (though Ilan disagrees!) – but overall I thought this was a poor offering.

      1. I’m not as shocked as my fellow soccer fan…
        1A: I think the 2nd anagrind (“upset”) serves an &lit surface.

        11A: I did find an online reference for CL as abbrev(class): http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cl.&r=66

        13A: I agree… a mess.

        2D: I dunno… sound close enough to me. I’d attach a .wav file, if I knew how, of my rhotic accent pronouncing the two.

        5D: Again, “taken to altitude” can certainly mean “going up”.

        6D: Good point. I wonder if you’re right… another typo (inverting PM).

        18D: Again I found another online reference for the nounal form of SHARE-OUT: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/share-out.

  2. 13a was my last one in (LOI. I solved the crossing 4d TAILSPIN and 13a SCAPEGOAT in the morning after the night before with quite a long time staring blankly at these two without light bulb moments in the night.

    But – my leisurely style of solving does sometimes allow complete appreciation of the setter’s efforts without the pressure of the stopwatch.

    13a Namely, animal to depart to a desert, finally? = SCAPEGOAT

    The correct parsing appears to be:

    Namely = SC – latin abbrev equivalent to namely , animal = APE, to depart = GO to a desert finally = A T

    The literal appears to be the whole clue – called an &lit in these here parts – where the animal is allowed to escape to the desert but also, perhaps, a scapegoat might be named when something goes wrong?

    Here are the rest of the answers omitted from the original blog:
    12a Very small number full of energy by end of day = T E EN Y
    14a English getting funny, keeping on about system of money = E CO NO MIC or E C ON OMIC – depends how you want to interpret the clue
    22a Vehicle about to come to the fore? It must pull back = RE TRACTOR
    25a African graduates of the highest quality = MAS AI
    17d Rot, perhaps, from the best candidates = SHORT LIST – where the short list = rot(a)
    18d Maybe hears what is to be distributed = SHARE OUT – where hears = share “out” or anagram of
    21d Strong drink, stale ale poured out before home game = ST IN GO – where ST = stale wi’out ale, IN = home and GO = (board) game. Stingo is perhaps a strong beer? I think I remember drinking “SPINGO” at the Blue Anchor in Helston when on a field trip to Cornwall in my youth.
    23d A shocking thing that could make you (stare)* = TASER
    24d Endless criticism about nothing? I’ll show little emotion = ST O IC – where the criticism = STIC(K)?

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