Sunday Times 4542 (16 Jun 2013) by Dean Mayer

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: 55:14

I started off quickly enough, getting the 11/13 combination before I’d finished reading the clue, but then slowed down considerably, and crawled over the line nearly an hour later. It felt like a good time, though, nonetheless.

Lots of good stuff here. I liked 6d, 17a, 1a but the anagram at 11/13 just gets my COD as it’s a classic of the genre.

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

Across
1 MIST + RU(S)T – ‘Lift & separate’ required on Film Society
5 B + RANCH
9 DEFILED – rev hidden
10 GUNBOAT = U (you casually) + NB (note) all in GO AT (attack)
11/13 THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST = (VOTING’S SO CONTENTIOUS HERE) – I remember seeing a similar anagram last month when the contest was on – VOTING SECTION’S ONEROUS, I think it was – and it was close enough for this to jump immediately into my head. This is an excellent anagram though.
14 ARM – hidden
15 RUT – dd
16 ALTERATIONS = (TREAT)* in A + LIONS
17 CLINT EASTWOOD = COD (joke) about A in (TINSEL TOWn)*
20 SPLURGE = Lover in SPURGE
21 IMBIBER = I’M BI + BEeR
22 DO + RAD + O – a bit colloquial, this one. DO is visit as in ‘I’m doing Florida this June’, and RAD is an informal form of ‘radical’ meaning fantastic. A dorado is one of several unrelated species of fish.
23 AG(REM)ENT – I’m not entirely convinced by AGENT for ‘Means’. This was my LOI and held me up for a bit at the end, as I didn’t know the word, and the wordplay was far from obvious
Down
1 MIDI = I + DIM (not promising) all rev
2 SAFETY NET = SAT (placed) about FiercE + TYNE (river)
3 ROLLERCOASTERED – cd – a play on the word ‘fair’ as rollercoasters can be found at fairs. I needed most of the checkers in place before the penny dropped.
4 SODIUM NITRATE = (AND MOISTURE IT)*
6 RUNS INTO TROUBLE – the wordplay is in the solution here – ‘Brother’ is R (runs) in BOTHER (trouble)
7 NAOMI = IN rev about (A + OM) – In the Old Testament Book of Ruth, Naomi is Ruth’s mother-in-law.
8 HIT + AND + MISS
10 GLOBETROTTING = GET (grab) about LOB (to throw) + ROTTING (off)
12 OSTRACISED = (A DISSECTOR)*
14 AVOIDABLE = (I + DAB) in (A + VOLE)
18 IDLER – rev hidden
19 F(R)AT

9 comments on “Sunday Times 4542 (16 Jun 2013) by Dean Mayer”

  1. 33′ online, failing only to get AGREMENT, and that I put in after 3 or 4′ later. I wasn’t bothered by ‘agent=means’, although the association was a long time coming, but I couldn’t remember ‘agrement’ for a long time and wasn’t convinced even then that it was a word (in English). THE EUROVISION thing came late, but in a flash with a couple of checkers. I normally don’t care for clues that refer to other clues, but this time 14ac reassured me that 5ac was indeed BRANCH.
  2. I posted this in the forum last week and have little to add other than to cite DORADO and AGREMENT as examples of clues I’m not happy with:

    I’m not over-impressed with this one as it seems to be something of a departure from the norm of Mr Mayer’s usually excellent offerings and includes a number of somewhat vague or stretched definitions, some of them of unfamiliar words. I’m sure this level of difficulty has its place but I would question whether it’s in the ST cryptic slot. I commend the setter on the brevity of his clue writing but in a few cases I feel this is at the expense of sufficient information to give us lesser mortals a fair crack of the whip. I don’t tackle Mephistos and there’s a good reason for that!

    Edited at 2013-06-23 05:16 am (UTC)

  3. Time unrecorded (which is just as well). It took me 3 sessions over 2 days, and then I managed a silly mistake (Niami) just to complete the frustration.

    I never began to tune into the wavelength of this, although apparently not everyone found it so hard. Frankly, I was left so addled by the experience that I have no idea if it was me or the puzzle.

  4. Didn’t know DORADO or AGREMENT, and I would agree that the wordplay for the latter wasn’t exactly a gimme. It was helpful to find out that I’ve been using COD incorrectly all my life (I’d thought it meant fake rather than joke).

    I don’t get the appeal of clues like 6D where one can only solve it from the definition and checkers, at which point the wordplay makes sense. Can’t say I’m a fan of linked clues either. And what the heck, while I’m at it, I feel short-changed by multi-light answers. But despite those pet hates, there were still some good examples of this setter’s amusing style, not least the Eurovision anagram.

  5. A slightly strange puzzle. It gave me less trouble than Anax puzzles usually do and was somehow less satisfying to solve. Indeed some clues are too easy in my view – 1D for example

    Yes, parts of it do border on bar crossword land, particularly 22A and 23A. That doesn’t bother me but I can see that folk like Jack would be unhappy.

    I thought both 3D and 6D weak offerings and agree 6D is a classic reverse-engineer job from checkers and definition. The anagram at 11A sticks out a mile and once “contest” is removed the rest falls readily into place.

  6. I’d vaguely heard of DORADO. I think it makes occasional appearances in crosswordland but I didn’t think AGREMENT was a real word – even after I’d bunged it in in desperation. I spent the first half hour with an almost empty grid but then, as so often with this setter’s puzzles, it slowly began to come together. Another Sunday morning pleasantly wasted. 75 minutes. (Btw, I’ve just noticed that my spell-checker doesn’t think AGREMENT is a real word – or DORADO for that matter! Good job I never use the damned thing) Ann
  7. Just over 25 minutes for this: I seem to have been on Dean’s wavelength, relatively speaking, although it took me forever to see the long anagram at 11 & 13 because I didn’t have a pen and paper and I couldn’t be bothered to get off my backside!
    I had no problem with DORADO: I’m certain it’s come up before, and the wordplay seems perfectly clear to me. Admittedly “rad” is a bit modern, but it’s perfectly familiar (not that I’d ever say it, of course) and if I’m expected to know things like Bradshaw…
    I’ve more sympathy with AGREMENT: it’s a decidedly obscure word, and in that context I think “means” for “agent” is a bit unfairly oblique.
    I quite liked 3dn, although I’ll admit it’s a bit dodgem.

    Edited at 2013-06-23 08:02 pm (UTC)

    1. DORADO was one of the very few I got quickly – but then I am pretty hip and down with the kids, obviously. I also think it’s cropped up before.
      1. For real.
        I’m also sure it’s come up before, although on top of being achingly cool I have the advantage of knowing “dorade” from French.

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