Sunday Times 4440 (3 Jul 2011)

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: 37:06

Apologies for the late blog. I clean forgot about it. Still, better late than never.

Most of this I found quite straightforward, but there were a few – PURIM, CURVE and a few others, that had me rather stumped for a while, which is reflected by my time.

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

Across
1 PLEASURE GARDENS = (PURE GREEN SALADS)*
9 C(HE + ER)UP
10 RANCOUR = “RANKER”
11 YUAN = NAY about U all rev – the currency of China
12 FARE + A + STERN
13 S(beacH)INGLE
15 TE(ENA + G)E
17 NIGGLES = GIN rev + (LEGS)*
19 EXTRA + aCT
20 HOPPING MAD = H + OP + (GP + ADMIN)*
22 CHIC = CHICK with Kindness removed
25 ThE + R + RACE
26 A + DO(PT)ER
27 COME TO THE RESCUE = COMET + (THE COURSE)* + E
Down
1 P + ICKY
2 ELEVATING = (EVIL AGENT)*
3 hw – baSER Folk
4 REP + LACE
5 G(ARM)ENT
6 RENASCENT = (ENTRANCES)*
7 EV(OK)E
8 ST + RANGE + ST
13 SYNTHETIC = (CITY THEN’S)*
14 G(ALL)I + VAN + T
16 A + PA + THE + TIC
18 SE(G-MEN)T
19 E + MAN + ATE
21 PURIsM – My last in. I hadn’t heard of the Jewish holiday, and PURISM was not a word that came readily to mind, even with the checkers.
23 CUR(V)E – I didn’t know a curé was a parish priest, but I assumed there was a common derivation with CURATE.
24 POLE – dd

7 comments on “Sunday Times 4440 (3 Jul 2011)”

  1. 30 minutes, with 24d being my LOI. And I got it wrong to boot. I have no idea in retrospect why I couldn’t come up with POLE, but I couldn’t; thought up ‘zone’ instead–one below zero, thinking maybe the clue referred somehow to the euro zone. Ah, well. I’d never heard of OK the magazine, but figured there had to be one; having just looked it up, I don’t see why there does.
  2. Solved in several short sessions so no overall time. 21 was my last in and I needed aids to verify my guess.
  3. A certain looseness in 11ac, after we established only a few weeks ago that the renminbi was the currency of the PRC and the yuan the primary unit of that currency. PURIM no problem, in fact I seem to remember (I often do Sunday’s online) this was relatively stress-free.

    Yesterday’s (4441) from Tim Moorey is quite a different kettle of fish. Following Saturday’s cracker, it’s been a long weekend.

    1. Aside from the difficulty of writing RENMINBI in a 4-letter slot …

      I guess the Yuan/renminbi distinction exists, but for the vast majority of people I suspect it’s irrelevant. See ODE on renminbi for example.

      Peter Biddlecombe, Sunday Times Puzzles Editor

  5. if we can equate fastidiousness with ‘puritanism’, then the ‘saint’ falls out quite nicely
    1. I can see where you’re coming from, but I think I’ll stick by my original breakdown. There is no indication that it’s an anagram of SAINT that needs to be removed, rather than SAINT itself. I don’t think even the Sunday Times would require the solver to make this kind of logical double-step.
      S for saint may not be as common as ST, but it crops up from time to time, and while PURISM is not as well-known as PURITANISM, it is still a word.

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