Sunday Times 4537 (12 May 2013) by Tim Moorey – How rude!

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: 27:34

I rattled through this one pretty quickly for me. I don’t get under 30 minutes very often.

I enjoyed this one quite a lot, particularly the rather rude 5d, which is probably my clue of the year so far! Anyway, I should have posted this already, so I’d better get on with it.

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

Across
1 BAR MEN – dd
5 MUG’S + GAME
9 BA(RENTS)SE + A
10 Street + PRY
11 AS IS – I got this from the definition (unchanged) and checkers. I couldn’t work out the wordplay then, and I still can’t now. Can someone fill me in, please?
12 HEARTBREAK – HEART = (EARTH)*, although the clue doesn’t seem quite sure what it is. There seem to be two anagrinds – ‘Moving’ and BREAK. I suppose it’s true that an anagram of EARTH would also be an anagram of HEART.
13 T + R + IPOD
15 ESPECIAL = (PLAICe + SEEn)*
17 CHICK + PE + Abnormality – A perfectly sound clue, albeit not a very politically correct one!
19 CANNES = SENNA + C all rev – for those not up on the F1 motor racing, Ayrton Senna was the three time champion driver who was killed during the ’94 San Marino Grand Prix
21 FAIRY TALES = Fiction Advanced + (REALITY’S)* – &lit
23 S + PIN – I have no idea what the surface is supposed to mean though.
25 USER = (SURE)*
26 ADULT + E + RATE
27 F + LAWLESS
28 NIGHt + ON – Are evening and night synonymous? I suppose under certain circumstances they might be.
Down
2 A + DAMS
3 MEET + SUP – Meet being an old-fashioned word for ‘proper’
4 NOTCHED UP = (DUTCH OPEN)*
5 MASSAGE PARLOURS = (ORGASMS ARE A PLUS)* – That’s a brilliant anagram, one of the best I’ve seen. A bit cheeky, but easily my COD.
6 G + RAFT
7 GAS + TRICk – ‘corporation’ for stomach is an old chestnut that’s always worth keeping an eye out for.
8 MARMALADE = (ALARM)* in (MAD + E)* – a well-disguised definition
14 REHEARSAL = REAL about (SHARE)*
16 PACK SIT-IN
18 C(O + RN)ROW – I didn’t know the term, but it was easy enough to get from the wordplay
20 NOSE RAG = (ORANGES)*
22 TEASEr
24 INTRO = (TRIO)* about N

11 comments on “Sunday Times 4537 (12 May 2013) by Tim Moorey – How rude!”

  1. 26 minutes with an ! against 5dn. I’m not sure what the ‘express’ is doing in 11, but I read it as take the top off (poll) basis (underlying support).
  2. 16:20 .. very nice, pithy clueing. I blushed at 5d. I do hope there are some people innocent enough not to understand the clue!

    The clue for AS IS doesn’t quite seem to work.

    A number of excellent clues but I really like FLAWLESS – just the sort of economical, manageable clue that first got me hooked on cryptic crosswords.

    As a side note, it seems my ‘Club only’ membership renewed this week without any requirement to upgrade to an all-access newspaper subscription. So, thank you to NI for that. I understand this policy is under review but I dearly hope they opt to stick with the sensible, pragmatic approach.

  3. Re 11ac, this is (at least) the THIRD time we have blogged this clue. Once here, once in Mephisto 2525 and once in ST Cryptic 4405. All Tim Moorey.

    The explanation I gave last time was: “express (to force out or emit) poll (head) of basis (support) = as is (not changed).”

    1. Thanks, Jerry, and actually I had just thought of the ‘squeeze out’ meaning and had come back to edit my comment accordingly. Having come up with it, I am surprised that meaning does not seem to appear in all the usual sources as it’s common enough, I would have thought.
    2. Phew! Just checked and ST 4405 was just before I took over ST blogging duties from talbinho. I thought I might have failed twice on the same clue! It’s a small comfort to see that Neil couldn’t break it down either. I had considered removing the head from basis, but I’ve not come across that meaning of poll before, so I couldn’t really make it work. I guess I should have persevered with it.
      1. As I recall Jimbo didn’t parse it either! And nor did I, until I sat and thought about it.

        Also, see 14ac in today’s cryptic! (Monday 20 May)

  4. 27 minutes with 19 as my last in which I solved only by picking a word that fitted the grid and the definition. I know nothing about cars driving round in circles.

    I also had 11ac as ‘basis’ with its head chopped off and am still none the wiser as to what ‘express’ is supposed to be doing in the clue. It would be nice if somebody could explain as it’s a bit much if words that are obviously not padding are suddenly going to turn up randomly.

  5. Like Jack, I’m (blissfully) ignorant of auto racing, or any racing come to think of it, but in retrospect I think I’ve seen the name here before.HEARTBREAK seemed unproblematic until Dave called attention to it; now I’m bothered. COD to the Mooreyesque 5d.
    1. To be honest, it seemed perfectly acceptable when I solved it. It was only when I came to write the blog that I spotted what seemed to me to be a flaw.
  6. Orgasms are a plus. Brilliant anagram. Whoever came up with that one has far too much time on their hands!

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