Sunday Times 4614 (2 Nov 2014) by Dean Mayer

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: 39:28

Quite a tough one it seemed to me from Dean this week. I loved the deception in 16d so that gets my COD.

There was talk on the forum about a nina, but apparently it was news to Dean himself, so any connection amongst the across clues is clearly acciental. Not sure what people are seeing myself. Clearly 1 & 9 are Hitchcock films, but I don’t see any others. Unless you count Rope which is contained in 17.

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

Across
1 PSYCHO = PS (By the way) + YOu about (C + H)
5 P(HARM)ACY
9 DIAL M FOR MURDER = (LURID DREAM FROM)* – Classic Hitchcock
10 P + IMPLIER
12 T(Y + C)OON
13 BULL – dd – 16d (TORO ROSSO) is Red Bull in Italian, and the bull’s eye on a dartboard is surrounded by the 25 point ring
14 THIS MINUTE = (HIT TUNE)* about ISM
17 ALLOT + ROPES
18 HA(R)D
19 CRAFTS = ContaineR + AS about FT
22 ICE STORM = IM about (SECTOR)*
23 SIGN OF THE CROSS – dd
25 LISTENER = SeTtEr in LINER – There can’t be many who would dispute that The Listener crossword is tough
26 RIB + BoOiNg
Down
2 SPIn + RITUAL
3 COLt
4 OFF(KILT)ER
5 PORTRAIT-PAINTER = PORTER (one carrying) about (TRAIT + PAIN)
6 A + DULl + T
7 MEDICI + NE(H)AT
8 CAR + GO
11 PILLOW FIGHT – cd
15 M(USK)ET + E + ER
16 TORO ROSSO = OR x2 (double yellow) in TOSS (throw) + O (ordinary) – I loved the deception of double yellow lines
20 ROSTI – hidden
21 SCORe + N
24 R + repUBlic

18 comments on “Sunday Times 4614 (2 Nov 2014) by Dean Mayer”

  1. Some claimed to see six linked across entries.. I look forward to seeing what they might be. Just different film titles? Surely 22ac and 23ac are.
    Since Tony Sever was one of them maybe it’s true, and everyone including the setter is in for a surprise!

    Some lovely clues as usual, I did particularly like 7dn, tres elegant indeed. I gave up watching F1 decades ago.. when Mansell retired.. but Red Bull/Toro Rosso wasn’t too hard.

    Edited at 2014-11-09 11:14 am (UTC)

  2. 23:17 on the club timer. I found this tough but very enjoyable. I had an error at 10ac, where I hastily bunged in DIMPLIER, thinking the copper was a DI. Of course this left me with an I doing double duty and an answer that doesn’t really match the definition, but apart from that Mrs Lincoln…
    I don’t know anything about Formula 1 but TORO ROSSO was gettable from wordplay. My knowledge of darts is similar so thanks for explaining 13ac, which I didn’t understand. I was wondering what BULL had to do with the Listener.
    Oh, and on the accidental NINA (which I didn’t notice) TYCOON , the ICE STORM, and the SIGN OF THE CROSS are all movies. I can’t see a sixth, unless you count Raging BULL…

    Edited at 2014-11-09 11:40 am (UTC)

  3. 39:54 … I had to take a little walk round the garden with BULL unsolved and TORRO ROSSO uncertain, and a big question mark over how LISTENER related to either, but somewhere near the compost heap the penny dropped.

    I haven’t really taken any interest in Formula 1 since James Hunt stopped driving and they stopped painting the cars like cigarette packets, but TORRO ROSO sounded a bit familiar all the same.

    The clue for BULL is quite deliciously unscrupulous – using 16 to indicate a clue number and 25 to indicate 25 … frankly, that’s the product of a twisted mind. I love it.

  4. Psycho,
    Dial M for Murder,
    (Raging) Bull,
    Sign of the Cross,
    Ice Storm,
    Tycoon,
    Cargo
    (Right) This Minute,
    (The) Listener,
    (The) Musketeer,
    Pillow Fight.(1897)!
    and there are probably more
    1. There are obscure films called:
      “The Medicine Hat” (USA, 1924), “Çöl” (Turkey, 1983) and “Adult” (orig. “Vuxen”) (Sweden, 2014).
      Also note that MUSKETEER crosses with THREE (row 14).
      Isn’t IMDB wonderful … despite the alleged intention of the author (below)?

      Edited at 2014-11-10 06:13 am (UTC)

  5. I outdid Keriothe by seeing his ‘dimplier’ and raising him a ‘drafts’ at 19a – as in ‘drawer’ emptied. Not even especially close to the cigar. Great puzzle.
  6. Thanks as ever for the blog, Dave.
    Well, now they’ve been pointed out I can see the film titles, but I promise you nothing was planned. Even when ‘links’ were mentioned on the Club forum I had no idea what was being referred to.
    Funnily enough the NW corner was completely rebuilt at one point, PSYCHO being a replacement for an answer I’d struggled to clue. Given the obscurity of most of the other films, the very well-known PSYCHO and DIAL M… probably caused solvers to look further.
    1. A wonderful crossword, but apparently the entire grid is made from film titles, Dean. A dignified silence, or perhaps a cryptic comment to the effect that you didn’t quite expect the nina to be found… might have preserved the mystique a tad longer. Evidently you are just watching too much tv! 🙂
  7. Loved it, all been said above. Not difficult especially as I knew the F1, but great fun.
  9. Thankyou for the explanation and link. Think that may be a leap too far me, but I will keep trying! maryht
  10. I know “toon” as Scots/N. Country for “town”, but why Newcastle in particular, please?
      1. Well I guess “toon” could possibly mean Gateshead or Sunderland, but Newcastle seems fairer as well as just bigger – “Toon Army” being fans of the Magpies. As a similar example, we just might use Paris or Lyons to indicate “cité”, but somewhere like Argenteuil would be for a Mephisto clue only.
        1. According to Wikipedia, The Magpies, The Toon, and Geordies are all nicknames for Newcastle United FC
  11. I call foul on TORRO ROSSO having never heard the F1 team called that. Also I thought answers should be in English
  12. These are actually two different F1 teams sponsored by Red Bull and I presume one uses the Italian name to distinguish itself from the original

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