Sunday Times 4645 by Tim Moorey

22 comments on “Sunday Times 4645 by Tim Moorey”

1. So does Chard get exchange vampires? But I digress. My heart tends to sink when I see e.g. ‘Somerset town’ or ‘town in northern England’ in a clue, but almost always the wordplay or checkers compensates for my geographical ignorance. I was grateful for the previous Dodd reference–the first time I’d heard of him–as it made this one easier. (I went to YouTube after Googling him last time; put me in the ‘not funny’ camp.)

   Edited at 2015-06-15 02:57 am (UTC)

   1. My heart sinks when I see “Girl”or “Boy.” Seems everything’s a name nowadays (you’re in America? Footballers, in particular, have some doozies) – we’ve had IVETA & IRENA in the weekday Times recently, and neither of them are names . So my stupid choice for the non-name was Genovica… not helped by speaking Italian and trying to remember the strange names setters call Italian cities – Genova, Turin, Milan, Venice, et al. Otherwise quite straightforward except the parsing of TOTALLY, saw CATS so Yusuf went straight in, too.
2. Stumped by GAM(a)Y otherwise enjoyable enough. I understand some of he objection to 19ac was that he changed his name but I don’t see why that should be an issue. I still have some of his records and they still say Cat Stevens.
   1. Thanks, Jack, for the supreme common sense analysis!
      1. Brilliant, jackkt! There really is, as they say, no answer to that (at least, not a good one).
3. Thank you for the blog, sir.

   I think in 8 d, “to” = “against” and a credit record is the tally (per my interpretation of the various Chambers’ definitions).

   Re Cat Stevens, I wondered why the clue ended in “me” – shouldn’t it be “him”?

   1. Thanks very much Adrian – I think your analysis of TOTALLY is spot on – had not picked up the to = against point, but as Mrs Novice has just helpfully pointed out, “Obvious innit? Hand to hand combat…”

      Re. him / me, I think either probably works OK, but I have noticed setters often go for a first person type of clue when the answer is a specific individual.

      1. I think the use of ‘me’ and its derivatives in cryptic clues is validated by the ancient tradition of riddles, “My first is in this, but not in that etc…who/what am I?”

         Edited at 2015-06-14 12:44 pm (UTC)

4. 17:14 .. nice, pithy puzzle with OFF PAT and BUTT standing out (how weird that sounds).

   Have to say the Spoonerism is a bit of a stinker. The best ones involve a phrase someone might actually say, but has anyone ever referred to a “mate hail”? (incidentally, Nick, you seem to have your deSpoonerised version back to front, generously making it slightly less improbable).

   I got myself in a real tangle with several creative spellings of MONMARTRE before crossing letters sorted it out.

   CAT STEVENS last in by some distance.

   1. Thanks Sotira – I do get in a jumble with Spoonerisms (which I suppose is entirely appropriate). I’ll endeavour to fix the blog with out wiping everything out – a hazardous business…
   2. I think you’re being a bit demanding here sotira: the first few examples thrown up by google are ‘piggery jokery’, ‘bumming herd’, and a clue where SPOONER was the answer and neither the spoonerised or unspoonerised version really qualifies: ‘server of food’ and ‘fervour of pseud’.
      1. You’re right. I was getting myself turned around … seems Spooner can do that to a person. I meant that the regular, unSpoonerised phrase should be plausible, which, of course, in HATE MAIL it is. So I have no idea what I was complaining about.
         1. Spoonerisms seem to be a bit of a ‘love it or hate it’* thing. I’m a fan, I must say.

            * I’d say ‘Marmite’ but 1) I rather resent the way the language has been co-opted by the Unilever marketing department, even if I admire it and 2) I think Marmite is nice enough but I can take it or leave it.

            Edited at 2015-06-14 11:45 am (UTC)

            1. Mate Hail,

               Please don’t get me started on the problems us Brits have here in Australia on getting proper Marmite (basically, you can’t). There is a local variant called “MyMate” (which is nowhere close to the real deal), and a few independent stores stock a South African version which is reasonably close to authentic but lacks that je ne sais quoi.

               I’d trade Bondi Beach for a proper jar of Marmite any day…

               Edited at 2015-06-14 12:25 pm (UTC)

               1. Isn’t Vegemite the same thing? Or is suggesting that some form of sacrilege?
                  1. Sacrilege is too soft a word!! Very different
                     1. Sorry, mate.
               2. From Unilever site: “Marmite — yeast extract spread (except in Australia and New Zealand, called Our Mate”

                  Our Mate, made by Unilever in UK can be bought in Australia at several outlets. It is the real deal.

5. A 12 minute romp, I know my grapes and Somerset towns (but not their twins), not a fan of Mr Dodd or Mr Stevens but the wordplay was clear. I too was a bit vague about the parsing of 8d, wheter TOT ALLY or TO TALLY, but if TO can = AGAINST then I agree with Adrian.
   I would classify 14a as &lit. as the definition is ‘In Paris…. here’.

   Well blogged, Nick. Time you became Nick the No-worse-than-the=rest=of-us.

   1. Thanks Pip, most kind. But, my novitiate status is still confirmed every now and again as with Dean’s ST 4644 which – fortunately – fell to my brother in arms Keriothe to blog!
6. 12:41. Not difficult this, but a fine puzzle.
   I thought 16ac was a bit rude about poor old Gamay, which is a fine grape. Beaujolais Nouveau has a lot to answer for.
7. I thought GAMY was borderline unfair, but good stuff otherwise.

Comments are closed.