Sunday Times 4547 (21 Jul 2013) by Jeff Pearce

Posted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: Just under 40 minutes

I got the four 13 letter answers quite quickly, which helped a lot at the start, but I ran into trouble towards the bottom with 22/23/25/26/27 all taking a long time to crack, particularly 26.

Anyway, I don’t have much time at the moment as it’s my son’s birthday today, and my wife isn’t very well.

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

Across
1 FRENCH HORN – I’m not entirely sure how this works. I think it’s a couple of references to famous people. Comedienne Dawn French (‘Funny Girl’) and author Nick Hornby. I got it from the enumeration and checkers – although my first thought was double bass.
6 C + ROC
9 ROUTE = ROUE about dirT
10 BEAUTIFUL = AU (gold) in BET (punt) + I (one) + FULl (not quite loaded)
12 ADMINISTRATOR = (SINATRA + ROD + stewarT)* about MI
14 OPEN FIRE – dd – a ‘heater’ being a colloquialism for a gun
15 PARDON – dd
17 LOGJAM – cd
19 LILLIPUT = “LILLEE” + PUT – Dennis Lillee was an Australian fast bowler in the 1970s and early 80s.
21 TURN THE CORNER – dd
24 REFURBISH – (FIRE + BRUSH)*
25 ELUDE = UDo in (EEL)*
26 LEEK = LEE (a river in Southern Ireland, flowing through Cork) + K (Kilobyte = a lot of bits) – My LOI and I wasn’t keen on it. ‘Some food’ seems a very vague and unsatisfactory definition, and the river is a little obscure.
27 FEATHERBED – cd – a play on down for feathers.
Down
1 FARE – dd
2 EDUCATE = E (English) + E (Earl) about DUCAT (old gold coin)
3 CREAM OF TARTAR = (FARM TEA + CARROT)*
4 HABANERA = HERA about (A + BAN) – I didn’t know the dance but worked it out from the wordplay
5 RE(A)DS
7 REFUTED = REF + (DUET)*
8 CHLORINATE = (O + CLARINET + bleacH)*
11 TURN A BLIND EYE = (UNDENIABLE TRY)*
13 COLLATERAL – ‘Security’ is the definition, and LATERAL is ‘by side’ or perhaps ‘side by side’, but I don’t see where the COL comes from. A col is a mountain pass but that doesn’t help me. I thought L might be ‘side’ which would leave ‘running’ for CO, but that doesn’t seem to help either. I’m sure I’m missing something obvious.
16 PINOCHET = (O + CHE) in PINT
18 GIRAFFE = GAFFE (howler) about (I + R)
20 PERTURB = PERT (gay) + B about chURch
22 EXILE = IL (the Roman, i.e. Italian for ‘the’) in EXE (river in Devon)
23 DEED – DE is part of the alphabet, and mirrored it becomes DEED. Another weak clue I thought.

9 comments on “Sunday Times 4547 (21 Jul 2013) by Jeff Pearce”

  1. re 26ac, I assumed the river in question was this one, even though I would normally spell it Lea.

    Re 13dn I wonder if COL = mountainside + LATERAL was intended, thus making a side by a side.. but I would say a col was a saddle between two sides, rather than a side in itself.

    Sometimes Jeff Pearce does excellent crosswords, and sometimes not. This time, not..

  2. I’d have written much the same blog on this one including the solving time which in my case was 36 minutes.

    I also don’t like 26 nor do I understand COL in 13dn. Not entirely convinced about ‘bet’ = PUT at 19ac and ‘gay’ = PERT at 20dn either.

  3. I don’t really understand the negative comments about this puzzle. At 1a we have (Dawn) FRENCH + (Nick) HORN(by) – ‘drops BY’ – at 13d COLLATERAL is a dd – Chambers defines it as ‘running parallel’ – at 20d, PERT for gay seems fine to me. Which leaves us with the River ‘Lee’, which, well, has a country park named after it.

    Anyway, I enjoyed the 58 minutes I spent solving this, and thought LOGJAM a beaut.

    Edited at 2013-07-28 12:29 pm (UTC)

  4. I recall the line “Don’t get gay with me” (meaning “Don’t be impertinent”) in an old film (1930s, 40s?) but can’t for the life of me remember what it was.
    1. I think the full quote might be:

      “Hey, what’s the big idea?”
      “I have no ideas. In fact, I’m quite bewildered.”
      “Now don’t get gay with me!”
      “Gay, sir? I’m far from gay.”

      Does that help? It’s used as in intro to a track by a, shall we say, uncompromising rapper – MF Doom. Definitely not for your maiden aunt!

      Otherwise, there’s a similar usage of it in Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye (the book, but perhaps it made it into the film):

      “Don’t get gay with me, cheapie. You’re out of time for all that. You got told and you got told nice. When I take the trouble to call around personally and tell a character to lay off – he lays off, or else he lays down and don’t get up.”

      1. Thanks, Sotira. That first quote sounds very familiar, though I certainly didn’t hear it from Mr Doom! I thought perhaps someone like Eric Blore (The Gay Divorcee, Top Hat, Shall We Dance?) Good excuse for spending a few evenings watching Fred and Ginger in an attempt to put my mind at rest.
  5. Who needs an excuse? I love watching those movies (much more my cup of tea than Mr Doom, too, although my brief excursion around him on Google earlier suggested he is at least not dull).

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