Sunday Times 4468 (15 Jan 2012)

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: About 43 minutes, but with three silly mistakes.

I’ve been on jury duty this week so I printed this off to do between sessions. It was certainly easier than last week’s nightmare, but I made heavy weather of it. I put BEACHES for 13a even though the tense should have been obvious, which led me to put OLD BOYS at 4d despite it not fitting the wordplay at all. I could only think of FLIRT at 21, not getting the Jackie Mason reference, although I spotted that one when I came to complete the grid online after I got home.

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

Across
1 CARRY CONVICTION = CARRY-ON about (CONVICT + I)
9 CHARRED = “CHARD”
10 COURIER – dd – I couldn’t break this down at the time, mainly because I wasn’t familiar courier meaning ‘a tour guide for a travel agency’, but I also failed to see the ‘type’ definition that referred to the computer font.
11 ESPY – rev hidden in torY PSEphology
12 NORTH KOREA = (OK NO RATHER)*
13 BrEACHED
15 STIMULI = (LIMITS)* about U
17 LESOTHO = LO about (THOSE)*
19 WAGGERY = JAGGERY with W for J – another one I couldn’t parse at the time. Jaggery is a coarse, dark sugar that I’ve never heard of.
20 EFFRONTERY = (FREE Y-FRONTs)*
22 G + RUB
25 lIMIT + lATE
26 A + LIGHT + grasS
27 ASTRONOMER ROYAL = (EARLY STAR OR MOON) – semi-&lit
Down
1 C + ACHE
2 REAP + PEARS
3 YARD = DRAY rev, although I put the wrong one in to start with which cost me several minutes to unpick
4 OLD GOLD = Green in between 2 OLDs
5 VACATES = (TEA)* in VACS
6 CHUCK + LING
7 I + CIdER
8 NORMALITY = (ROYAL MINT)*
13 BALLERINA = B + ALL + (ARE IN)*
14 HOT POTATO – dd, the cryptic being a reference to a Jersey Royal potato, although these are equally tasty when served cold in a potato salad.
16 UNEARTHLY = (HUNT RELAY)*
18 mONTH + EG + O
19 WARFARE = WA + RE about FAR
21 FOIST – comedian Jackie Mason had a strong New York accent and so would have pronounced ‘first’ in this way.
23 BASIL – dd – ‘serially’ here hints that the chaotic character comes from a TV series. It’s Basil Fawlty, of course, from Fawlty Towers. There are many, many clips I could link to, but here is my personal favourite.
24 LIAR = RAIL rev

11 comments on “Sunday Times 4468 (15 Jan 2012)”

  1. I was feeling rather pleased with myself for getting this in 24′, until I discovered that I had an error. And a dumb one at that: I put in ‘spiculi’–thinking (if that’s the word) that it must be a plural for ‘spicule’–never thinking of STIMULI. At least no checkers were involved.
    I was surprised to find Jackie Mason in a clue. And I wonder if in fact he would use the Brooklyn pronunciation of words like ‘first’.
  2. 20 minutes exactly, so my best Times crossword for ages.

    I didn’t know ‘jaggery’ but the answer was easy enough with the checkers in place and I was able to work out what was going on, so having completed the grid I looked up ‘jaggery’ with confidence.

    I’m a big fan of Jackie Mason and saw him at the London Palladium some 22 years ago so I had no problems with 21dn and there is absolutely no doubt that his pronunciation fits the clue. Having said that I don’t think it’s a very good one because it’s too easy if you know the reference that’s handed out on a plate, and too obscure and unguessable if you’ve never heard Mason speak and you don’t know his background.

    Edited at 2012-01-22 11:00 am (UTC)

  3. I’d never heard of former rabbi Yacov Moshe Maza, AKA Jackie Mason, but that proved no handicap at all. It’s interesting how often the various ‘motion’ verbal meanings of ‘light’ are cropping up these days. 31 minutes.
  4. 14:05 .. some fun stuff, including the Jackie Mason FOIST, which sounds right to me., and the cheeky Y-fronts.

    Good Sunday entertainment.

  5. I was reading Friday’s Times this morning and came across an article on p37 lamenting the demise of the old New York accent. It was quite a coincidence to then see the reference to the accent in the crossword which I attempted straight after reading the article. I don’t think I would have got FOIST if it hadn’t been fresh in my mind. I’ve never heard of JAGGERY so WAGGERY went in as a guess. 25 minutes
  6. 26 across What is the significance of using ‘grass’ in clue & signif. of using only the final letter?

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