Sunday Times 4568 (15 Dec 2013) by Jeff Pearce

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: About 1:10

Over the hour for what seems a tough but fair puzzle. It’s hard to see, looking back, quite why it was so tough, but I certainly struggled with it. And judging by some of the comments in the online forum, so did many other people.

1d seems to be a bit of a Marmite clue – I’m not keen myself. A lot of good clues here, without any standout ones, so picking a COD is quite tricky. I think I’ll go for 12a for the easy surface reading.

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

Across
1 MONOCHROME = (O + CH) in (MORMON)* + E
6 SPAM = SPAMALOT (Python show, i.e. the West End musical based on the comedy of Monty Python) with A LOT removed.
9 TATTERS + ALL
10 rODIN
12 EXCErPT – the wordplay was well disguised in a smooth surface
13 TV DINNER – cd
15 C + AND + LoathsomE + STICK (bear) – one of the weapons in the board game Cleudo, in which Dr Black is the victim. I could write this one straight in from the definition and enumeration alone.
18 PROBATIONER = PRO (backing) + (BARITONE)*
21 CHAPL(A)IN – ‘Tramp in cinema’ being a reference to Charlie Chaplin and his ‘little tramp’ character that appeared in several films.
22 CAP + ON + Emblem
24 Blitz + RIO
25 PAINKILLER = ILLER after PINK (wound) about A – I’m not convinced about PINK for ‘wound’. It’s a method of cutting cloth, but not people surely?
26 RANK – dd – A fare might be found at a taxi rank.
27 DESPONDENT = DENT (hollow) about lakE + S + POND (area of water)
Down
1 MUTTER = M (Mare) + UTTER (dead), ”carp, grouse and beef’ offer three similar definitions. I’m unsure about ‘dead’ as a definition for UTTER. I assume it’s as in ‘The football match was dead good’, but that’s more UTTERLY rather that UTTER, or am I being overly pedantic?
2 NOT nICE
3 CREEPY-CRAWLY = CREEPY (horrible) + “CRAWLEY” – I used to live in Sussex, so I knew that Gatwick is on the outskirts of Crawley.
4 ROSE – dd
5 MALEVOLENT = (LEMON VALET)*
7 PEDANTIC = (PAINTED)* + C – ‘Fan’ is an unusual anagrind
8 MAN + DRAKE
11 DISSERTATION = DISS (Show contempt) + (TEAR INTO)*
14 INTIMIDATE = (I + D) in INTIMATE (china, as in friend – CRS: china plate, mate)
16 SPACE + BAR
17 DO + NATION
19 COLLIEr
20 SEC(RE)T
23 SNIP = PARSNIP without PAR (scratch)

18 comments on “Sunday Times 4568 (15 Dec 2013) by Jeff Pearce”

  1. I was wondering about Dr. Black, who I’d never heard of (or Cluedo, for that matter); luckily, the wordplay obviated the need to have heard of him. I have a ? by 22ac, and for good reason: I put in ‘capote’ (a hooded cloak), noticing ‘hat’ in the clue and failing to come back and think. I rather liked 1d, although it took me forever. And I was fairly sure that there was some sort of stabbing meaning for ‘pink’, and indeed SOED gives several, although most of them seem obolete.
  2. I was wondering if Jeff had been asked to up his difficulty level somewhat. This if far more challenging than his other recent efforts. I much preferred it and found it an enjoyable solve
  3. MUTTER had me undone. The expression “utter crap” comes to mind.

    Much prefer Marmite … which I had for breakfast this morning while finishing the Xmas Jumbo offering.

    Edited at 2013-12-22 11:23 am (UTC)

  4. A little over the hour for this mostly enjoyable puzzle. I also went for CAPOTE at 22ac but corrected it when I revisited all the wordplay.

    My only grumble is with overuse of apparently random single-letter abbreviations which I find rather lazy as there’s no end of possibilities and it becomes rather boring if they’re thrown in whenever a setter can’t think of anything better. Mare, Celtic and dollar are today’s candidates. I’ve heard it rumoured that for the daily Times there is an approved list of these but if it exists I’ve never tracked it down, and anyway anything and everything may change there when the new regime is properly under way.

    PINK, meaning to prick lightly with a sword, is in Collins and not indicated as obsolete, but I can’t find it in the other usual sources.

    Edited at 2013-12-22 09:03 am (UTC)

  5. 50 minutes or so but with CAPOTE. I read the triple definition in 1D as indicating ‘MUTTER, MUTTER, MUTTER’ , an expression which I have used and must have heard somewhere. An enjoyable solve (almost!)

    Edited at 2013-12-22 09:21 am (UTC)

  6. Would agree that this was much harder than average for Jeff Pearce, including the single-letter abbreviations mentioned by jackkt, none of which were known to either me or my copy of Chambers. Still enjoyed it though.

    I went for mither at 1D, as I thought it meant “to complain” and I guessed that it might be some obsolete word for mare as well.

  7. I with those thinking some of the cluing was close to the line – utter, for example. I knew that sense of pink, but I think DIS is spelled with only one S. Still don’t know CAPONE, my OED doesn’t have it. Can someone help there? With all that said, I liked the puzzle oversell, and also the increased difficulty if that is true.

    Meanwhile, for those interested in nuances of usage, today’s NYTimes has an interactive story, in which you are asked to pick the word you use for 25 common items (ie, is it a water fountain, a drinking fountain, a bubbler, a cooler, etc). The results are mapped geographically in the US (so of direct interest only to about five of us), but a good number of the words have British choices (lorry shows up) and the general idea is good fun.

      1. Ah. Yes. The penny finally drops. Hard to believe I am the one who got fooled by an American clue. I think when I start solving, I blank all the Americanisms out – if I don’t I end up chasing all over the place.
  8. Fully agree with jackkt about random single letter abbreviations- spoilt a good crossword. And the mutter clue, which deservedly induced carping, grousing and beefing.
  9. 53:45. It’s all been said, really. This was an absolutely first-class crossword, much better – and harder – than I have come to expect from Jeff Pearce. The abbreviations mentioned by Jack were a little bit irritating at the time, but I regard it as a style thing and I could very quickly get used to it. So Jeff, if you read this, more of the same please!
  10. Belated comment on 25a. How about PAIN (wound), KA, but without A? – Ka is a being or spirit dwelling within man.
  11. I also think the correct parsing is that the K comes from Egyptian KA without the a. Wound is then pain. Without seems to mean two things in cryptic crosswords. I also deplore the use of single letter abbreviations for such things as emblem, not even capitalised.
    1. Yours and Peter’s treatment of PAINKILLER is certainly possible. I think I still prefer my breakdown of it, as I’m not keen on the idea of cluing an unusual two-letter word like KA and then removing half of it. But, of course, you may well still be right.
      As for emblem, it isn’t being clued as an abbreviation at all. The clue refers to ’emblem at the front’, specifying the first letter only, so it could be any word beginning with E. It’s really no different to ‘start of blitz’ in 24a, or ‘end of lake’ in 27a.
  12. If it’s true that Jeff Pearce has been asked to up his difficulty level, I have to say that I prefer the old Jeff Pearce. His use of dodgy single-letter abbreviations and questionable synonyms in this puzzle left me cold.
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