Sunday Times 4469 (22 Jan 2012)

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: About 20 minutes offline.

Still on jury duty this week so, again, I printed this off to do while waiting to be assigned to a jury. Very straightforward this week. The easiest for a few months, so not much to talk about.

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

Across
1 PASS – dd
4 BALDERDASH = D between ALDER & ASH after B
9 URBANE = BA + Newnham in URE (a river in Yorkshire)
10 TAPESTRY = (PRETTY AS)*
11 ENVISION = (VENISON + juIce)*
13 Solicitor + HR + INK
14 APOLOGISED = (GAOLED + POISoner)*
16 Young Oafs Boorish + Surly
17 SweeT + AG
18 WEATHERMAN – cd
20 MASTICate
21 RE + GI + CIDEr
23 GERONIMO = (MORE GIN + Opposition)*
24 A + GATE + S
26 RE(S)TRAINED
27 TOGA = GOT rev + A
Down
2 fAIR
3 SWAM + I
4 BRiE + WING
5 LET ONES HAIR DOWN = (IS THE LONDONER + W + A)*
6 EXPOSED = EX + D about POSE
7 DESTROYER = (RESTORED + dinghY)*
8 SPRINGBOARD – cd
12 NAPHTHALENE = (AN ELEPHANT)* about Hippodrome
15 LIGHTS OUT – dd
18 WI + CHIT + A – Not the most obvious meaning of the word CHIT, but it’s in the dictionary as ‘a child or young person, especially a pert girl’
19 HAGGARD – dd – Rider Haggard, author best known for his character Allan Quatermain who featured in the book King Solomon’s Mines and served as a template for Indiana Jones.
22 C + RAFT
25 ERG – dd – another meaning I didn’t know. An erg can be a flat area of desert covered with wind-swept sand.

5 comments on “Sunday Times 4469 (22 Jan 2012)”

  1. 15 minutes; nice to have a quickie like this after a series of excruciatingly slow solves (with a DNF or two thrown in). Never heard, of course, of the sandy erg, but what with ‘work’ in the clue, I felt pretty sure it wasn’t ‘egg’ (but it was my LOI). I can’t say I care much for ‘more than 50%’ (=67%) in 20ac.
  2. 32 minutes. Didn’t know the sand but thanks to my O-level physics I knew the unit of work so 25dn went in straight away. And I remembered NAPHTHALENE from O-level chemistry despite not passing that exam. Does anyone still use moth-balls, I wonder?

    I’m not sure I have met the ‘quickly leaves’ meaning at 15dn which COED says is chiefly North American.

    This was more my idea of a Sunday puzzle.

    1. It seems to me this came up a while back. I don’t know where the ‘quickly’ comes from; but then, it’s not part of my idiolect, and indeed the only example I can think of is Huckleberry Finn’s famous final words, “But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can’t stand it. I been there before.”
      1. Yes it probably came up before and slipped through my sieve of a brain. Chambers defines it as ‘decamp’ which on looking up suggests no element of hurry, but COED and Collins both specify ‘quickly’ with Collins adding ‘as if being chased’ for good measure.
  3. For the longest time I had ENVIRONS in there (got hung up on “in the middle” thinking it might be the definition. I know, makes no sense) Only when I realised BREWING was the obvious answer to 4 down did the penny drop. Otherwise it was one of the easier ones. Suits me fine!

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