Sunday Times 4647 by Dean Mayer

Author   nick_the_novicePosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Some of the comments on the Forum this week suggested this may have been one of Dean’s easier offerings (such things are, of course, relative) – but for me it was tricky enough!

I thought this was a beautifully crafted puzzle. Others have waxed lyrical in the past about the economy of cluing that is the hallmark of our setter, and here it was again on show – in spades. Hard to single out a clue of the day from such a rich crop of candidates, but for me 5ac just “edged” 6dn, with 5dn, 23ac and 16ac (lovely surface) well worthy of mentions in despatches.

I’m posting this in advance using the delayed time feature on the web site for the first time as I will be en route from Australia to the UK at the appointed hour for publication – hopefully it will appear by magic at the right time, but apologies in advance if it pops up unexpectedly ahead of schedule. Similarly, if there are any formatting glitches I won’t be able to fix them until I land…

Thanks, as ever, to Dean for a highly enjoyable puzzle.

Definitions underlined, DD = Double Definition, anagrams indicated by *(–)

Across
1 Food which uses spinach in a way (7)
LASAGNE – LANE (a way) containing SAG (spinach as ordered in your local Indian diner, saag paneer being a personal favourite: I’ve only ever seen it spelled with a double “a”, but it seems the single “a” version is sometimes used). I guess the vegetarian version of this dish could also qualify as an & Lit, but not the traditional Italian job
5 Takes away help to stop crossing channel (7)
ABDUCTS – Definition supported by some witty and neat wordplay: ABS (helps to stop – advanced breaking system) “crossing” DUCT (channel)
9 Lifting not just any old foot (5)
THEFT – THE (not just any old – i.e. a specific) FT (foot), with “lifting” being an alternative term for nicking (not sure if this particular euphemism is widely in use outside the UK)
10 Soldiers will copy someone depraved (9)
REPROBATE – RE (Soldiers – our old friends the Royal Engineers) + PROBATE (will copy – as in an official copy of a will). Simple but neat
11 It’s usually hot or fairly cool? (6)
RADISH – DD, with the first referring to the feisty tuber, and the second being a play on RAD (trendy slang for “cool”, apparently – derived from radical)
12 A film about hilarious old company in 18 (8)
AEROFLOT – A + ET (film) around (about) ROFL (hilarious – text speak for Roll Over Floor Laughing for non-initiates) + O (old), giving the Russian (refer to 18dn) airline company of indifferent repute
14 Bird‘s rotting flesh cut by beast feeding before (7,6)
CARRIER PIGEON – CARRION (rotting flesh) “cut” by ER[PIG]E: PIG (beast) “feeding” (getting inside) ERE (before)
16 Chocolates chewed by the woman who has class? (13)
SCHOOLTEACHER – *(CHOCOLATES) with “chewed” as the anagrind + HER (the woman). Great surface
19 Confident United about to intensify attack (8)
UNAFRAID – U (united) + FAN reversed (about to intensify) + RAID (attack). A lot of stuff packed into yet another very economical clue
20 Son’s direct descendants (6)
STRAIN – S (Son) + TRAIN (direct), giving the biological line
22 With wisdom, plan is yet to develop (9)
SAPIENTLY – *(PLAN IS YET) with “to develop” as the anagrind
23 Follower of golf starts to hear of the easy life (5)
HOTEL – In the phonetic alphabet HOTEL follows GOLF. Answer also comes from first letters of (starts to) Hear Of The Easy Life. Very neat
24 A biological matter being discussed (2,5)
AT ISSUE – Play on A TISSUE (biological matter)
25 Praise Ford Scorpio, extremely hard to reverse (7)
HOSANNA – ANNA+SO+H all reversed. H from Hard, SO extremes of Scorpio, and Anna the newsreader and TV presenter from the ’70s & ’80s who stimulated a significantly increased level of interest in current affairs across swathes of the male population at the time. An obscure reference for overseas players, but the cross checkers coupled with the definition probably made it relatively attainable
Down
1 Healthy and vigorous education? (8)
LITERACY – LITE (healthy) + RACY (vigorous). Did not readily equate racy with vigorous, but Chambers includes zesty and spirited as meanings of racy so no problems there
2 Thin girl’s bottom shown in poster (7)
SLENDER – L (girl’s bottom) “shown in” SENDER (poster).
3 With distortion one’s stereo might fall apart (2,2,11)
GO TO SMITHEREENS – *(ONES STEREO MIGHT), “with distortion” being the anagrind
4 Shade found in English vineyard (4)
ECRU – E (English) + CRU (vineyard) giving the rather dull yellowy grey shade. Did not know the colour, but the clue was generous
5 See prize rise in value (10)
APPRECIATE – Triple definition. Went in easily enough based on the last of the three definitions, but took me a while to fully, um, appreciate what was going on here. Masterful economy of cluing
6 How to make edge of screen? (4,4,7)
DROP ONES AITCHES – [H]EDGE. Very fine cryptic clue, raising a chuckle if not a full ROFL
7 Film maker‘s place in company (7)
CHAPLIN – PL (place) “in” CHAIN (company). Wondered a bit about chain for company, until thinking of “Subway is a chain of sandwich shops” (etc.)
8 Hot clothes not right in dirty accommodation (6)
SWEATY – WEAR (clothes without the R – not right) “in” STY (dirty accommodation). Straightforward enough once you spot the wordplay, but this one sent me down a load of dead ends (some of which were quite picturesque though, it has to be said) until seeing the light
13 Traveller from literature toddler gets excited about (2,8)
DR DOLITTLE – *(TODDLER) with “gets excited” as the anagrind, “about” LIT (literature) and an & Lit. The man who aspired to confer with our furry friends was not the first literary traveller to come to mind, but I guess his calling inevitably took him around the world to have discussions with intellectual llamas and what not
15 Dry fruit all over flower (8)
PRUNELLA – PRUNE (dried fruit) + ALL reversed (all over), giving the herbaceous plant
16 Dog that is rejected after biting (4-3)
SHAR PEI – SHARP (biting) with IE reversed (that is rejected) coming “after”. Went in based on wordplay and cross checkers as I had never heard of this creature. Research indicates it is Chinese and looks a bit like a pug
17 Buoy made of clay’s hard on top (7)
HEARTEN – EART{H}EN (made of clay) with the H lifted and shifted to the beginning (hard on top)
18 A leather article is certainly short from the bottom (6)
RUSSIA – A (article) + IS + SURE (certainly short – i.e. minus its last letter) all reversed (from the bottom), giving a particular type of leather distinguished by a special process involving birch oil, as subsequent research revealed. I’m now none the wiser, but I am significantly better informed (as the old legal gag goes)
21 Jeremy Thorpe’s inner fantasy (4)
MYTH – Hidden in JereMY THorpe. Let’s not go there…

21 comments on “Sunday Times 4647 by Dean Mayer”

  1. Which is to say an easy Anax for me. I might have saved some time if I hadn’t read ‘depraved’ as ‘deranged’ at 10ac. DNK ABS or Anna Ford; 25ac BIFD. LITE=healthy didn’t occur to me; still doesn’t. And ‘chain’ for ‘company’ (which, like Nick, I also got post hoc) struck me as pushing things a bit; although it was nice not to have CO (nice, but I persisted in looking for it). ECRU, Nick, is yet another NY Times chestnut. I never read any of the Dr. Dolittle books, but I have read the linguist Stephen R. Anderson’s fascinating “Doctor Dolittle’s Delusion”, which has passages from the stories as chapter epigraphs; I can’t imagine a more boring bunch of children’s lit. COD to 6d, or maybe 19ac.

    Edited at 2015-06-28 01:55 am (UTC)

  2. Untimed as I solved it while making 12lb of strawberry jam. I do remember that I enjoyed solving and that AEROFLOT was last in.

    Off to pick more strawberries for more jam – I expect this week’s puzzle solve won’t be timed either!

  3. 25 mins or so … I remember taking a long time at the end to convince myself about GO TO SMITHEREENS. I think I only ever use or hear smithereens with “blow/blew/blown to” and it feels odd seeing it in any other context. Looking it up, I find there’s also a verb ‘to smithereen’ (“to break into small fragments”). I’ve got to find a way to use that.

    RUSSIA as a type of leather was certainly new to me. That, and the linked AEROFLOT were last in, and a very nice penny-drop moment with the latter. Loved DROP ONES AITCHES.

    Thanks, DM, for the usual extravaganza of epigrammatic excellence. And thanks, Nick for another entertaining blog. Welcome back to Blighty.

    1. Thanks Sotira – great to be back! Just arrived in London and, on cue, it’s started raining… but hey, I’ll be with all my old buddies so who cares!
      1. I’m amazed you’re awake, Nick! Either you’re so jet-lagged you’ve come out the other side, or you have creditable stamina, or … I trust you didn’t do the Rod Marsh thing of downing 44 tinnies en route. Actually, I’ve just looked that up and apparently Marsh was eclipsed by David Boon in 1989 with a score of 52 (and presumably out). Almost as impressively, Boon averaged 55 on the tour that followed. Those were the days …

        Edited at 2015-06-28 12:00 pm (UTC)

  4. 15:44, so a relatively easy one from Dean by my reckoning.
    At the risk of banging on a bit too much about &Lits, I don’t think 1ac can qualify, and for the same reason as yesterday’s: in the cryptic construction of the clue ‘food which uses’ plays no part in the wordplay, so we have separate wordplay and definition even if (at a bit of a stretch) the whole thing can be read as a definition.
    1. If you have access, there’s a lovely &lit — I’m sure it’s an &lit! — among a number of fine clues in today’s Telegraph.
      1. Thanks, I’ll see if I can pick up a copy later (I don’t have access).
        Having consulted the Don’s Crossword Manual I think both of these clues are what he calls ‘semi-&Lit’.
    2. Thanks keriothe – yes, the whole & Lit / semi & lit is a bit of a grey area for me still. I will use your comment as guidance for future reference.
      1. Don Manley is a much better guide! I’d recommend his Chambers Crossword Manual: a new edition was published last year. He gives this example of an &Lit:
        No Fellow for Mixing (4,4)
        All of the clue is both the wordplay (an anagram of NO FELLOW) and the definition of LONE WOLF.
        He gives this example of a ‘semi &Lit’:
        Denomination spreads abroad ‘Christ doeth much’? (9,6)
        Here there is wordplay (spreads abroad ‘Christ doeth much’) and a separate definition (denomination), but the whole clue can also be read as a definition of METHODIST CHURCH.
    2. See above: it’s a clue where the whole thing is both wordplay and definition.
  7. 69 minutes, with “excellent” marked against this one on my scribble pad. 6d and 9a got ticks. Puzzled about the grammar whereby ” go to smithereens” can mean “with distortion” (!) but equally as puzzled as many here by the expression itself.
      1. The phrase I grew up with is “smashed to smithereens”, when something’s broken into tiny pieces, beyond all possibility of repair. Chambers gives it as from an Irish word, but without any example phrases.
        1. It may not be shown in the usual dictionaries, but it seems from Google searches that smithereens are like “pieces” – you can be blown to pieces, or you can go to pieces, which matches “fall apart”.
  8. “lite” is not “healthy” and it is a serious reflection on the power of the food industry that those with “literacy” should find problems with “racy” being “vigorous” rather than the first part of the clue.

    Please don’t let this be an accepted crossword reference for “healthy”!

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