Sunday Times 4533 (14 Apr 2013) by Dean Mayer

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: About 45 minutes offline.

It’s another supremely witty offering from Dean, and a lot of fun to solve. So many good clues that it’s very difficult to pick a COD. Actually, that’s not true, as there was one clue that stood out from the rest. What I mean is that there are many other clues that would I would quite happily given COD to in any other grid. 9a gave a nice twist on a standard, 7d had a very sneaky definition, 14d was devilishly cheeky, plus 19a, 2d, 18d were all good, and many others as well.

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

Across
1 F(ACE)T
4 PR(ACT)ICES
9 A LA CREOLE = ALl (most of all) + ACRE (a) + OLE (call at BULLFIGHT) – I have seen ‘acre’ or ‘are’ used to define A many times, but very seldom have I seen the reverse.
10 cARSON – Willie Carson being the famous jockey
11 CATCH A GLIMPSE OF = AG in (CHEF CLAIMS TOP)*
12 B(ARM)AN
13 SNEEZING = (SEEN)* + ZING (go) – ‘a cold shower’ is the definition, i.e. an indicator of a cold – a brilliant clue and my COD.
16 LONE STAR = wilL + (SENATOR)*
17 PRISON = NO SIR (absolutely no) + P (pressure) all rev – I rather liked this one.
19 FIVE-STAR GENERAL = FERAL (brutal) about IV (drip) + (SERGEANT)*
22 GARB + O
23 S(CABBIES)T
24 TeacheR + ENCHANT
25 YON + KisS
Down
1 F(RAN)C
2 CHAPTER AND VERSE – clever dd
3 TURN HEADS = RUT rev + (AND HE’S)*
4 PL(O)UG + H
5 APERIENT = IE in (PARENT)*
6 T(R)AMP
7 COSMETIC SURGEON = (EGO CONCURS TIMES)* – ‘features editor’ is the sly definition
8 SON OF A GUN – dd – ‘My’ being the main definition, the other being a play on GUN for ‘arms’
12 BULLFIGHT = “FULL BITE” for ‘strong grip’ with the initial letters swapped. Sport is in quotes, presumably as there must be very few people outside of Spain who would consider bullfighting as such.
14 ERRAND BOY = RANDY (hot) about BO (smell) all after hER (her untipped) – A fag being a public school term for junior boys used to run errands for senior ones.
15 MALAYSIA = A (one) + LAY (song) + IS rev all in MA (mother)
18 A(G + HAS)T
20 STOIC = S + COT rev about I
21 LOTUS = LOT (Where American would park) + US (American)

10 comments on “Sunday Times 4533 (14 Apr 2013) by Dean Mayer”

  1. Yes, this was great fun that occupied me for 63 minutes but I didn’t mind that at all. The clues to SNEEZING, ERRAND BOY and COSMETIC SURGEON were exceptional.
  2. 33:06, a very good Sunday time for me, marred only by 3 errors. Well, one error and a typo; the typo being a G instead of a T where AGHAST & TRENCHANT meet. At 13ac I put in ‘sneering’ in desperation (showing coldness?); the Z occurred to me exactly–exactly–as I pressed the ‘submit’ button. But it was a lot of fun anyway. DNK Carson, and just barely remembered YONKS. COD–as Dave says, there were many fine clues to choose from–to 7d.
  3. 65 minutes, with my favourite being PRISON. Knew neither TAMP not APERIENT, though the latter didn’t keep me stuck for long…

    As I parsed it, the literal in 3dn is ‘full references’, while the rest of the clue, ‘provided in CV?’, is the wordplay, the CV referring to the rather obscure (hence the question mark?) Confraternity Version of the Bible. (If the setter had used AV, the item would have been too easy; this way, the clue was in the acronymic parallelism.) As soon as I saw chapter and verse, I was looking for a Biblical reference. At any event, I don’t think it works as a dd.

    Edited at 2013-04-21 04:21 am (UTC)

    1. I think Dean is simply referring to C(hapter) & V(erse).. the question mark being because that is not what CV actually stands for..
  4. Another very entertaining puzzle but perhaps not quite as difficult as some Anax puzzles. I actually worked my way down the grid, top to bottom, left to right, apart from 9A where I needed 12D before I could solve.

    I did wonder, is A LA CREOLE a recognised phrase used in English? The wordplay made solving easy (AL to start and ending OLE once 12D was known) but I did hesitate before putting it into the grid even though 2D and 3D verified the checking letters.

    1. Mindreader, Jim!
      PB and I did discuss A LA CREOLE and agreed that, while it wasn’t a dictionary phrase, it was based on a standard construction for which ‘creole’ could be supplanted with a huge number of valid alternatives – possibly the reason why such examples don’t have dictionary support; there are just too many to list.
  5. Good morning all and thanks to Dave for a top blog.
    Jerry’s right – C[hapter]/V[erse] was the intention, and if I’d been aware of Ulaca’s alternative interpretation I might have looked for something else. In fact I agonised over this one for a while – Chapter/verse leapt out immediately but it was only finding an overall def to tie in with it that persuaded me to keep the idea. That said, I was glad when the def emerged. Long answers like this demand either a supremely clever CD or yet another anagram; I thought I’d used enough of the latter and lacked the brainpower to find something suitable for the former.
    Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone.
    1. Thanks for clearing that up, Dean. I have to say I’d never heard of that particular version of the Bible – not being RC; it was only at the post-solve stage that I wondered if that might be the intended referent.
  6. I enjoyed this puzzle immensely. Thank you Dean for an entertaining hour over Sunday breakfast. Two missing at the end (Aperient and Sneezing) and too many excellent clues to pick a COD but I really liked Errand Boy.
    Dave – thanks for explaining Five-Star General. I couldn’t figure out the wordplay for Five-Star.
    Interesting reading Dean’s comments above (it would be nice if more setters commented here) and his discussion with PB re A La Creole.

Comments are closed.