Sunday Times 4534 (21 Apr 2013) by Tim Moorey

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: 39:02

I thought this was an excellent offering from Tim this week – one of his best. Not too tricky, but with some excellent wordplay in a few places. I particularly liked the two long anagrams at the top and bottom, 11a, 16a and the cheeky 7d, but I give my COD to the rather clever &lit at 19d.

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

Across
1 ORCHESTRA PITS = (STRATOSPHERIC)* – An impressive anagram to start with.
10 SO + P + RANI
11 PAROLEE = A + ROLE all in PalacE – a well-disguised definition ‘person no longer inside’
12 A(B)IT
13 DELI + BERATE
14 P + RAISED
16 ELEMENT – dd – the first being ‘He’s one’ as He is the chemical symbol for Helium.
18 MUD PIES = (IMP USED)* – a bit of a double definition going on here as well as the mud pies kids play with are made of real mud, while Mississippi Mud Pies are edible desserts.
20 SEETHES – hidden
22 DONE + G(A + LB)AY
24 wEDGE
26 MARTIN + I – A martin is a bird that’s a type of swallow
27 dREADING
28 TONGUE TWISTER = (STUTTERING WOE)* – another excellent anagram, and an &lit
Down
2 REPRIMAND = (REPAIR DAMN)* with one of the As removed (only one answer)
3 HEAL = “HEEL”
4 S(TIP)END
5 REPTILE = (LET RIP)* + E
6 PER + SEVERE
7 TULSA = A (amateur) + SLUT (pro, as in prostitute) all rev – I can sense eyebrows raising all over the country!
8 AS + HARP
9 BE(HE)ST
15 SWING(E)ING
17 EPHEDRINE = (DoPE + HEREIN)* – ‘nothing less’ is the instruction to remove the O
18 MAD + AME – Apparently âme is French for ‘soul’. I didn’t know this, but the answer was fairly self-evident
19 SALTIRE = (EARLIeST)* – ‘not English’ is the instruction to remove one of the Es. A clever &lit this. A saltire is a heraldic cross that runs diagonally in the shape of an X. St Andrew’s cross, which features on the Scottish flag, is a saltire, and it is believed to be the oldest continuously used sovereign flag in the world.
20 SPAR + ROW
21 SLEIGH = “SLAY”
23 NAR(C)O – I was only vaguely familiar with Oran as an African port on the Mediterranean, but I got this from the definition and checkers.
25 RATS = RAPS (strikes) with P replaced by T – Damn! Is the definition

5 comments on “Sunday Times 4534 (21 Apr 2013) by Tim Moorey”

  1. 32 minutes and a welcome relief after last weekend’s Saturday ordeal. Not knowing AME, ORAN or EPHEDRINE didn’t delay me unduly but were just tricky enough to make me miss my 30 minute target.
  2. Very enjoyable puzzle. Knew “ame” from Charles Trenet’s song, “L’Ame des Poets”; his 1951 studio recording features the Ondioline, an early synthesizer.
  3. Tim always seems to judge the Sunday level puzzle just right – enough to make you think a bit but just right for after Sunday lunch leaving time to get on with other stuff (or just fall asleep in the chair). A very enjoyable 8 minutes for me. Thanks to setter and blogger too
  4. 46 minutes but sledge instead of sleigh – last in and COD to persevere.

    Agree that this week’s Jeff Pearce has quite a kick to it.

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