Sunday Times 4417 (23 Jan 2011)

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: 30 minutes exactly, with one mistake.

I found this a pretty steady solve. I spent a couple of minutes staring at the last clue, before I realised I wasn’t going to get it with any degree of certainty, so I took my best guess at 9 (which was wrong). But, all in all, a pretty solid Sunday Times offering, or so I thought…

I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but it turns out that this is a (near) exact copy of ST 4393 from 8-Aug last year which was blogged by talbinho here. The only differences are a mistake at 3d which was corrected, a new definition in 7d with a restructuring of the wordplay, and some entirely new wordplay in 26a to replace a highly questionable homophone. If it’s any consolation, these changes are all improvements. But clearly this was an unfortunate oversight, and Peter has admitted as much both in the Times discussion forum and on last week’s blog.

cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (–)*, and removals like this

Across
1 P(E + ER + SOFT + HERE)ALM
9 COR + TON + A – Although I’m not convinced about TON as a french word for fashion. TON in french usually means ‘your’. The best I can find is ‘Tone’ as in ‘manner of speaking’, but even that’s a bit of a stretch. Needless to say, this is the one I got wrong having plumped for CORMODA. I wasn’t convinced by MOD without a final E, but it was the best I could come up with.
10 Move + A + TAD + OR
11 F(I)AN rev
12 (STRAIN TOES)*
13 CU(RAT + O)R
15 VISIBLE with R for V
17 AUStralia after LAND
19 hidden
20 (IDEA SETTER)* – Not keen on the throwaway ‘Let’s have’ at the start.
22 TANG rev
25 TEMP + LARk – I didn’t know a TEMPLAR could be a lawyer, but I assumed it was derived from Temple Bar in London and it is.
26 C + bRUISER – much better than the highly dubious homophone that was originally printed in 4393.
27 cd, and quite a neat one.
Down
1 PE(CA)N
2 EAR + (LONER)* about I
3 S + TOP
4 dd
5 H + AMSTERdam
6 (PATIO’S)* in RON
7 A(DD)LE
8 dd – one literal, one colloquial
13 COLLECT + OR – I wasn’t aware of the prayer meaning of COLLECT until I looked it up for blogging purposes.
14 T(RAVe)ELLER – I assume Traveller’s Tales are tall stories of some kind, although I couldn’t find a reference to it in the dictionary. I am, however, familiar with the Video Game company best known for their Lego based adventure games.
16 (GREBES IN A)*
18 SET + FREE
19 M(ODIC)UM – where ODIC = of an ode, hence ‘of poetry’. The ‘of’ is all important.
21 SUM + AC – I recognized this as a word, but couldn’t have told you it was a tree
23 T + ERSE – An &lit clue, or possibly semi-&lit.
24 SNUB rev

8 comments on “Sunday Times 4417 (23 Jan 2011)”

  1. The first Sunday Times I’ve done for some time. The general untaxing nature of the puzzle and plethora of errors put me off. I did this one (not having seen it before) to get a measure before any PB influence kicks in.

    At 9A “ton” means fashion or people of fasion – you’ll find it in Chambers and I expect elsewhere.

    No mistakes that I spotted. Pleased to be spared the homophone. Still a rather easy puzzle.

  2. My only query was DD for ‘designated driver’ which seems such a new concept. It’s not in Collins or the SOED but it’s in Chamber’s much to my surprise.

    TON for ‘fashion’ is something of a chestnut by now so I’m a bit surprised that you are querying it, Dave. It’s in Collins, Chamber’s and the Oxfords.

    I was delighted to find that today’s puzzle (2012) is the first ST to print with a proper grey grid since the makeover.

  3. In French Le ton means “tone,” both in the musical sense and also as in de bon ton, politesse or haute monde. It was a fashionable phrase in Regency and Victorian England, as we Georgette Heyer fans know 🙂
    This was quite an easy crossword, and its absence of errors and the two corrected clues since its last appearance makes me think PB’s influence is already kicking in.
  4. For some reason still unknown to me I just assumed Chaucer and banged in TRAVELLER. Cue the theremin.
  6. Would it kill you to post ALL the answers. People do not always have access to the answers, particularly if one travels and does not have access to the answers the next week in Britain and up to 4 weeks later here in Ontario.
    1. I didn’t see the point in giving all the answers again when the puzzle has already been blogged before. If you read the preamble above, you will find a link to this blog.
      If there’s a particular answer you’re still struggling with that isn’t mentioned in either of these blogs, you are more than welcome to ask about it and I will endeavour to assist you.

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