Sunday Times 4442 (17 Jul 2011)

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: 49:45

Not as tough as last week, but still probably harder than usual. I found the NE corner the trickiest, with the unknown TALLITH, the unfamiliar COLUMBINE, and I still struggle to adjust my thinking to include living people on Sundays so BECKHAM was more of a struggle than it should have been. BATWOMAN came quite quickly, but I struggled to justify it.

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

Across
1 RICe + OTT + A
5 BECK + HAM – Quite possibly the most famous footballer (if not person) in the world, so I trust we’ve all heard of him! He’s living, but the ST has no qualms about that, unlike the daily.
9 ACRONYM = (CRY + MOAN)*
10 TALLITH = (HAT IT’LL)* – I hadn’t heard of this shawl, but with the checkers in place there was only one possible permutation of the letters
11 THE SOUND OF MUSIC – dd
12 DO(TAG)E
14 TALISMAN = Tourism + (ANIMALS)*
18 T + ERROR
21 A MONTH OF SUNDAYS = (HOT + FUSSY MADONNA)*
24 CHIME + RAdio
25 PORT + I.C.O.
26 LANOLIN = L + AN + (OIL)* + N
27 OPERA + TiresomE
Down
1 R(OAST)ED – although the ‘hot’ seems entirely superfluous, adding to neither the wordplay or the surface
2 CARP + ENTER
3 TANGO – A pilot would describe ‘this’ as Tango Hotel India Sierra
4 A + LeMON + D
5 BATWOMAN – dd, although both are fairly obscure. A military term for a female servant in any of the armed forces, and a Jewish lesbian superhero from DC Comics.
6 COLUMBINE = L (large) + U (united) with COMBINE (group) outside – I didn’t know the plant, but I knew the infamous High School and Michael Moore film.
7 HEIRS – cd – that’s ‘passed’ as in passed away.
8 MO + H + I + CAN
13 GREAT SEAL = GREAT DEAL with S (shillings) for D (pennies)
15 MARGARITA – I think there may be a mistake here. It appears to be (TiA MARIA + G)*, but there is an R missing. Unless German is GR, but I’ve never seen that before. Besides, GR would generally be clued as Greek, wouldn’t it?
16 AUTOBAHN – cd
17 C(Hanging)ANCEL
19 RISSOLE = SIR rev + SOLE
20/17a A SOP TO CERBERUS = A + S + (PROSECUTOR + BE)*
22 OR + I + ON
23 NERVE – dd

5 comments on “Sunday Times 4442 (17 Jul 2011)”

  1. 49 minutes here too!

    Also not heard of TALLITH, also think there’s an error at 15dn. Is ICO an official abbreviation for In Charge Of (25ac)?

    Amused by DOE – a female deer, at 12ac following on from the previous Across answer!

    1. Apologies for the unstopped anagram slip-up at 15.

      In 25A, IC = “in charge”, and O’ = “of”.

      Peter Biddlecombe, ST Puzzles Editor

      1. Thanks. I meant also to query the capital B in 20ac but looking at it again I think Bribe is actually the first word of the clue which would account for it. 17A. not 17 A surely?

        The whole layout of this clue with its additional parenthesis appears very odd and I was expecting some devious trick to be in play rather than just an obscure saying that I have never met before.

  2. I saved this to do in bed this morning as a Sunday treat. But I’ve left it upstairs and am too lazy to fetch it. So can’t comment in detail. I remember it took 22 minutes – so must have been easier than usual. Like others, I hadn’t heard of TALLITH but it sounded like it might be a Jewish sort of word and fitted the anagram. I think certain bloggers might consider this puzzle to be a Sunday stroll in the park.
  3. 36 minutes of steady going, so far as I can tell; my copy is almost devoid of notes or flags on clues. If I recall, there was some discussion of 10ac, since the romanization of Hebrew varies: tallit, tallith, tallis; Succos, Succoth, Succot (we’ve had the not widely known Purim already, so I suppose we should prepare for Succoth).
    Did anyone find NERVE awkward as a type of gas? I certainly would in non-puzzle English.

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