Sunday Times 4523 (3 Feb 2013) by Jeff Pearce

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: 44:08

This wasn’t particularly to my taste, I’m afraid. It wasn’t too difficult, although there were a few where I struggled to understand the wordplay until post-solve. There were a few where I disagreed with the definitions – 1, 7 & 12, and I thought John Snow was too obscure to be classed as general knowledge.

There were quite a few clues that I did like, mind you – 8, 9 & 24 jump to mind. But I’ll give my COD to 11d.

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

Across
1 STAY-AT-HOME – cd – although I wasn’t aware that the phrase had any particular connection with having a good time.
6 A(CT)S
9 PLA(STICk + I)NE
10 GALA = LAG (arrest) rev + A (American)
12 ENIGMA = E/N (points) + sIGMA – I don’t like the definition ‘solution of mystery’. Surely an enigma is a puzzle or mystery, not a solution to one. Even the Enigma machine, I don’t think I’d call a solution to a mystery as such.
13 AMARILLO = AMO (Latin for I love) about A + RILL (brook)
15 CONTRAPTION = (CANNOT TIP OR)*
18 CROSS SWORDS = CROSSWORDS about Sunday – Not the first time I’ve seen this clue, or something very similar to it.
21 TORE + A + DO + summeR
22 REV + ERE
24 INTO = SHINTO (eastern philosophy) without (S + H)
25 FISHMONGER – cd
26 G + APE
27 DEATH’S-HEAD = (HAD HEADSET)* – A weak anagram as HEAD was already given to you.
Down
1 SUP(P)ER
2 A + GAR + I + C
3 ANTIMACASSAR = (MASCARA STAIN)* – Not a word I knew so I struggled with this one, needing all the checkers in place before I could hazard a guess.
4 HOCK – triple def
5 MONTMARTRE = (TRAM)* in (MERTON)*
7 CHAPL(A)IN – I’m afraid I don’t understand why a chaplain is a ‘sky pilot’. Is it because he’s steering people towards heaven? If so, then I’m not keen.
8 SEAGOING = (AGEING SO)* – ‘Big tankers are’ is the definition, albeit by example.
11 PREPOSTEROUS = PROUSt about (thE + POSTER)
14 SNOWMOBILE = SNOW + MOBILE – John Snow was an England fast bowler from the 1960s and 70s. I’m quite happy with the general sprinkling of cricket references that usually crops up in these puzzles, but this is going a bit far surely? I know a thing or two about cricket, although I’m no expert, but I’d never heard of him.
16 SCATHING = rasH (rash on the bottom) after CAT (chap) all in SING (grass, as in inform on)
17 DOORSTEP = PETS + ROOD all rev
19 Bark + EAGLE – the ellipsis implies that the definition of dog comes from the previous clue
20 SEE RED = SEE (visit) + DER (the German) rev
23 CHAT = Hapless in CAT

6 comments on “Sunday Times 4523 (3 Feb 2013) by Jeff Pearce”

  1. I’ll second Dave’s objection to 12ac; and ‘solution to’ does no useful work in the clue in any case: ‘Mystery points …’ would have been fine. And shouldn’t 24ac read ‘…DISappearance…’? (Not that I’d call Shinto a philosophy.) And do we need ‘See’ in 22ac? DNK ‘paceman’, let alone Snow the paceman. 19d is, I think, the first clue I’ve seen where the suspension dots actually had a function. COD to 16d.
    ‘Sky pilot’=preacher apparently goes back to the 19th century; there was a 1921 movie with that title. I think the ‘[military] chaplain’ meaning dates from WW2.
    When I was 10 or so, there was a quiz in the newspaper’s Sunday supplement where you named objects in pictures, and the words you used would reveal your age (eg tricycle vs. velocipede). I marked the antimacassar as an antimacassar (not doily), inter alia; turns out I was in my 50s.

    Edited at 2013-02-10 05:04 am (UTC)

  2. I made copious notes of queries on this puzzle but I think that Dave and Kevin have already covered most of them.

    It took me 31 minutes but on revisiting to check the wordplay I found I had not completed 2dn and it’s a word I didn’t know so I had to look it up. Apparently the clue is referring to ‘fly AGARIC’, a type of mushroom, so it appears to be missing a definition other intimating we are looking for a word that ‘may have gone after fly’. In my view this is insufficient for such an obscure term so I’ll add that to the list of quibbles.

    I think the idea at 1ac is that one might expect to go out for a good time(on the town, on the tiles) but a STAY-AT-HOME doesn’t; he may be content with his choice or as miserable as hell without it affecting the clue. Although I had the right answer here, when I became stuck on 2dn I started to wonder if ‘stop-at-home’ might be an alternative and this added to my difficulties with the adjoining Down clue.

    I wonder if we are intended to read 12ac as “(ENIGMA is the) solution to (the clue) mystery points towards decapitated old character”? If so, I still don’t like it much

    At 10ac, LAG = ‘arrest’ was completely new on me.

    I had no problems coming up with ANTMACASSAR as my grandparents’ sitting room had them on every chair.

    I also had PREPOSTEROUS ticked as an excellent clue.

    Edited at 2013-02-10 07:23 am (UTC)

  3. Hadn’t heard of sky pilot meaning CHAPLAIN but the wordplay didn’t really allow any other alternatives. I’m no cricket fan but for some reason John Snow is one of the few names that comes to mind if I’m thinking of English fast bowlers.

    COD to 16D

    1. Indeed. I forgot say that I knew of Snow as a cricketer (although not his first name nor what he did)and anything I know about cricketers is by osmosis as I’ve never followed it. Fortunately the answer was clear from the definition alone and I only needed the surname to justify the wordplay.

      ‘Sky pilot’ for CHAPLAIN has come up here before because I remember it catching me out.

      Edited at 2013-02-10 01:38 pm (UTC)

  4. The old 60s hit from Eric Burdon and the Animals. Everyone sing along.

    He blesses the boys as they stand in line
    The smell of gun grease and the bayonets they shine
    He’s there to help them all that he can
    To make them feel wanted he’s a good holy man
    Sky pilot…..sky pilot
    How high can you fly
    You’ll never, never, never reach the sky
    He smiles at the young soldiers
    Tells them its all right
    He knows of their fear in the forthcoming fight
    Soon there’ll be blood and many will die
    Mothers and fathers back home they will cry
    Sky pilot…..sky pilot
    How high can you fly
    You’ll never, never, never reach the sky
    He mumbles a prayer and it ends with a smile
    The order is given
    They move down the line
    But he’s still behind and he’ll meditate
    But it won’t stop the bleeding or ease the hate
    As the young men move out into the battle zone
    He feels good, with God you’re never alone
    He feels tired and he lays on his bed
    Hopes the men will find courage in the words that he said
    Sky pilot… sky Pilot
    How high can you fly
    You’ll never, never, never reach the sky
    You’re soldiers of God you must understand
    The fate of your country is in your young hands
    May God give you strength
    Do your job real well
    If it all was worth it
    Only time it will tell
    In the morning they return
    With tears in their eyes
    The stench of death drifts up to the skies
    A soldier so ill looks at the sky pilot
    Remembers the words
    “Thou shalt not kill”
    Sky pilot…..sky pilot
    How high can you fly
    You never, never, never reach the sky

  5. I’m surprised at all the nit-picking over this one. After the recent obscure offerings from Tim Moorey, I found this puzzle from Jeff Pearce to be a good, traditional crossword, and a pleasure to solve.

Comments are closed.