Sunday Times 4579 (2 Mar 2014) by Tim Moorey

Solving time: 51:44

Not a bad test. There were a couple of potential traps for the unwary where similar words would fit the checkers – 16a and 17d, but both were clear from the wordplay. I stumbled over 22a for ages, which ended with a real forehead-slapping moment as I grew up in Hutton, about 3 miles from the town in question. It is quite a small town, though, so I wonder how many others have heard of it.

There was a big discussion on the forum this week about the merits of the forum compared to this blog, and about how the forum is heavily censored while this one is not. Of course, by the time I publish this blog, everyone’s moved on to the next puzzle. The forum got 34 comments. I wonder how many I’ll get…

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

Across
1 RIDING – dd – a ‘bay’ being a horse of a different colour. I didn’t know Canada had Ridings as well as Yorkshire.
5 BARB(ADO)S
9 A + TALL + TIMES
10 N + cAFF
11 GO + Battle Ie
12 W + ELLINGTON – not the first time I’ve come across this clue (or at least something very similar to it)
14 SAILOR – cd – An AB on the “sea”
16 NUGATORY = NG + A + TORY all about U – not a word I knew, but gettable from the wordplay
18 STAGE SET = (GET SEATS)*
20 PA(D)RE + September
22 BILL(ERICA)Y – This one held me up for an embarrassingly long time, mainly because I was trying to put LING in something. I grew up about 3 miles from Billericay. Doh!
24 NABS – rev hidden
26 W(IF)I
27 B MINOR MASS = MINOR (junior) + M all in BASS – a phrase I didn’t know but worked out.
29 CHI(SW1)CK
30 HASLET = Song in HALE + T
Down
2 INTRO = (TRIO)* about N
3 ILL WILL = 2 WILLs with the 1st W removed
4 GO + TO + WAR + DS
5 BUM = BUMP without the Position – that’s bad as in ‘a bum deal’ or ‘a bum steer’
6 RISHI – hidden
7 A + T(N)IGHT
8 OFF-COURSE = OF COURSE (naturally) about F (France)
13 LUNATIC – dd
15 ANTI-IRISH = (I AIR THINgS)*
17 GIPSY MOTH = (SO MIGHTY + mishaP)* – Sir Francis Chichester’s ship. Technically, it was the Gipsy Moth IV that he circumnavigated the globe in, but the other three also existed so that’s OK. I think the spelling caught a few people out here. It’s named after the aircraft (which Chichester used to fly) not the insect.
19 GILLIES = GIRLIES with the R changed to L.
21 DYNAMOS = DOS about MANY rev
23 RABBIt
25 BASTE = T in BASE (fleet HQ) – I wasn’t sure about the definition, but Baste is listed in the dictionary as ‘to beat with a stick; thrash’ so that’s fine. I also wasn’t sure what the word ‘fleet’ added. It seemed quite superfluous to both wordplay and surface to me.
28 IRK = KIRK (church) with shocK removed from the front.

20 comments on “Sunday Times 4579 (2 Mar 2014) by Tim Moorey”

  1. I don’t recall this as particularly difficult but this is academic as I got the spelling in 17dn wrong for which there is no excuse as it is an anagram.

    The censorship of comments on prize crosswords on the forum is fun to watch, especially the reaction of serial zappers when they are zapped themselves. Peter B has the ability to unzap a post and has done this on occasion.

  2. I always try to comment on weekend puzzles (not least because I blog weekend puzzles and don’t get many comments on them because as you say everyone has moved on!)
    This one took me just under 11 minutes and as far as I can remember it didn’t cause me many problems.
  3. Another gYpsy moth here – phooey. I always thought “gillie” had an H in it so I dithered a bit there. A busy day that on the Club cryptic forum without adding much substance, but there was one notable comment in which a zap on the General forum was explained. The zapped comment was quite stunningly offensive.
  4. Spent a while on LOI GILLIES because, even though I was sure it was the answer, I was thinking that the young women were FILLIES and couldn’t see how F->G meant “a change of direction”.

    I don’t find the forum appealing to use at all – among other reasons, the serif font, limit of 10 posts per page, and lack of avatars just don’t grab me – so I rarely use it.

  5. Apart from the obligatory zapping of comments giving away answers (which is fair enough for prize puzzles), what amazes me is the prudishness of the software which automatically replaces words like COCK, DICK, BUM etc with ****, even when they’re answers in the grid!

    Anyway. No excuse for GYPSY MOTH, it was an anagram, that’s just careless. I also expected GILLIES with an H, but Chambers gives it as an alternative spelling, surprisingly. For some bizarre reason I misread BASTE on my printed-out copy and entered BASLE instead when submitting. Phooey indeed!

  6. A rare sub-30 for me (26 minutes in fact), which was most welcome after the basting I received the previous Friday (and was to be in store for me on Tuesday, although I didn’t know that at the time of course).

    RISHI was unknown but the hidden word indicator was clear so it didn’t delay me.

    BILLERICAY was famous for a while on General Election nights as on several occasions it was the first constituency to declare its result and it continued to strive for this dubious honour.

    CHISWICK = W4 struck me as a little unkind to those who wouldn’t have any reason to know. Fortunately I spent a very happy time there as a student in the 1960s so it was no problem for me.

    Edited at 2014-03-09 01:41 pm (UTC)

    1. I don’t think Chiswick was any more unfair than Billericay. I had no idea that W4 was Chiswick, but that didn’t stop me getting the answer. For W4 I just read ‘London borough’ and that was enough.
      1. Good point. Maybe my additional knowledge prevented me from reading it objectively.
  7. 21:29 … Sunday puzzles have been good lately – just different enough to have their own identity but not too off the wall.

    The arrival of Gipsy Moth in Plymouth is probably my earliest memory of watching television news with the family. I’ve been compelled by boats ever since. I must admit that I was unaware until reading the Wiki entry on Sir Francis just now of his health problems, which make the whole thing all the more inspiring, especially for anyone whose life has been touched by similar illness.

    I’m generally a lurker on the Club Forums. Like BigTone I enjoy watching the fine art of talking around clues in the weekend posts, and equally enjoy the reactions of those who get zapped for falling short. Weekends here may be quiet, but I like to think they’re a contemplative oasis for those of exemplary good taste and philosophical bent.

    I’m really looking forward to seeing what a raft of (I hope) less experienced solvers do with blogging the Concise Cryptic puzzles this week. It would be nice if they didn’t feel obliged to follow the established conventions of this site and were given space to develop their own way of doing things. Venerable institutions such as TfTT (2006? that’s the virtual Palaeolithic age) need an infusion of fresh blood from time to time.

    Sorry for rambling. I’m putting off the inevitable — I now have to go and grout some bathroom tiles. I hate grouting with all my heart.

    Edited at 2014-03-09 02:31 pm (UTC)

    1. We will see tomorrow but lets hope that RR gives some sort of mention to TfTT otherwise the blogging is for nothing.
      1. It’s surprising how people find their way here, how people find there way anywhere. Believe it or not, the Christmas Turkey puzzle is still getting new visitors — I get a weekly stats report on it and am constantly amazed to see more people visiting and solving it. It’s close to 1,000 now, which isn’t bad for an amateur effort.
          1. Heh, and I don’t blame you!

            But seriously, the stats I get distinguish between new and repeat visitors (and web-bots) and we’re still getting new visitors. Sadly, no reports on how the robots are getting on with solving the puzzle. To me, artificial intelligence won’t be a reality until a machine can solve a Dean Mayer puzzle — one of his no holds barred ones — and parse all the clues. Call it my take on the Turing Test (is the Sotira Criteria too vain?).

            1. I suspect if that were the criterion there would be only 5 or 6 intelligent human beings on earth.
              Though on second thoughts that’s probably a fair estimation 😉

              Artificial intelligence used to be defined as “what computers can’t do yet.” For a while it was: beat the world champion at chess; then Kasparov lost ignominiously to Deep Blue.

              I reckon Turing had it right – AI was achieved ages ago.
              Rob

  8. Put me with BigT and Ms Sotira – the Forum has high amusement value in a voyeuristic kind of way, but I learn something here. What I learnt this week was that I didn’t know Gipsy Moth no matter how it is spelled, nor Rishi, but Rishi is easier to work out. Many towns in New England are named after English towns (which can be startling whilst driving around if you are expecting, for example, Ipswich to be south of Yarmouth). One town that didn’t get it quite right is Billerica, no Y, in Massachusetts, whose founding town fathers cost me a good five or 10 minutes of head scratching.
  9. I wondered if Billericay may cause problems by being fairly unknown. I managed not to suffer the same embarrassment as daveperry – I went to school there but spotted it early in this crossword!

    Others may have heard of it as the home of Gavin in the sitcom Gavin and Stacey or captured in song by Ian Dury with ‘Billericay Dickie’.

  10. I am a newcomer to cryptic crosswords from Australia and just wanted to say how much I appreciate this blog. As a learner your explanations are helpful and contribute to my process of learning how to tackle each clue. I look for the process of problem solving not just the answer.
  11. Dave,
    I have been trying to master the AUS ST crossword for years and so find your blog, most illuminating. We are a few weeks behind so forum is of no use and I am more interested in the solving.
    Strangely some days I have success where you struggle but mostly I have only a few clues in by the time you have solved whole puzzle.
    Thanks for your write ups, much appreciated
    1. I’d echo anonymous’ thanks, as another Antipodean.
      Strangely, Billericay was not a problem – I must have come across it several times in the past. First the song, but then at least one other occasion was needed to associate the spelling with pronunciation.

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