I enoyed this a lot more than the last Pearce entry it was my duty to blog. No complaints this time about any of the double definitions (or anything else). Nothing too far out, but creative—there are a couple clues that almost defy classification, though they work perfectly well.
(gamarans)* like this, definitions underlined…
ACROSS
| 1 | Surgery by medical practitioner on part of mouth—the cause? (8) |
| GUMDROPS—GUM(DR)(OP)S. It took me a minute to see the definition, but the candy might cause (or create the need for) surgery (though I don’t know how it would make your gums drop). The definition is intertwined with the wordplay, but I was still hesitant to mark it as an &lit. | |
| 5 | Small bag of yen found in street (6) |
| SACHET—S(ACHE)T | |
| 10 | Uranium and oil developed with Asian state (9) |
| LOUISIANA—(U+OIL+ASIAN)* | |
| 11 | A child related to Spike and Brad (5) |
| SPRIG—But isn’t this really a triple definition? The first part could have been the amusing UKism “sprog,” but not the last two. Besides being “A descendant or younger member of a family or social class” (Oxford), a SPRIG is also a “small, headless brad,” as per Collins. (Headless Brad? That could have been fun) and, according to Oxford, “A stud on the sole of a shoe or boot”—usually in the plural—so there’s your “spike.” All these definitions are not always found in the same source. (There’s also one relating to pottery…) | |
| 12 | Untrustworthy person loses women’s support (5) |
| EASEL—[w]EASEL | |
| 13 | Outrage, sadly, drinking litre after litre—one might (5,4) |
| LAGER LOUT—(outrage, L, L)* Not an expression you hear in the States. This must be meant as an &lit, as the definition cannot be understood without taking into account the wordplay. | |
| 14 | Underground community member is excellent in new version of “Porridge” (7,3) |
| PRAIRIE DOG—“Excellent” = A1, AI to us, in (porridge)*. Cute definition. | |
| 17 | Cover old pool (4) |
| LIDO—LID+O | |
| 19 | See red bit of cloth on end of line (4) |
| RAGE—RAG + E | |
| 20 | Single out a copper concealing money before judge—that’s not right! (10) |
| ACCENTUATE—A + C(CENT)U + [r]ATE. | |
| 22 | Prisoner and guards carrying iron and gold for priest (9) |
| CONFESSOR—CON(FE)SS(OR). SS in Hitlerland stood for Schutzstaffel—literally, Protection Squad. | |
| 24 | Often a Jamaican opera starts in the middle (5) |
| RASTA—opeRA STArts | |
| 26 | Make one old coin (5) |
| UNITE—Double definition. How often do you find a verb acting as a noun? I had to look up the English piece of gold, in circulation from the years 1604 to 1619. | |
| 27 | We hear you left idiot in disguise to do several jobs (9) |
| MULTITASK—MA(U)(L)(TIT)ASK | |
| 28 | Put uniform on the Spanish cardinal (6) |
| ELEVEN—“The[,] Spanish” = EL + “uniform” = EVEN. | |
| 29 | A boiling hot day when composer tours church (8) |
| SCORCHER—SCOR(CH)ER |
DOWN
| 1 | After 50th anniversary insurance policy for pilot gives lavish payout (6,9) |
| GOLDEN PARACHUTE—The 50th anniversary is traditionally said to be GOLDEN, and the “insurance policy for pilot” is of course the meticulously packed bundle of silk on his back… Too obvious? | |
| 2 | Openers for Middlesex are usually lively and skilful batters (5) |
| MAULS—M(iddlesex)A(re)U(suallY)L(ively) and S(kilful). | |
| 3 | Stocktaking is their aim (8) |
| RUSTLERS—Cryptic definition. | |
| 4 | Ring includes ruby at the front and this? (5) |
| PEARL—PEA(R)L. Is this an &lit? I wasn’t sure if I shouldn’t underline just “this.” | |
| 6 | Insist on having a lock-up (6) |
| ASSERT—A + TRESS<—- | |
| 7 | Instrument heard to injure girl (9) |
| HARMONICA—Hurt Lewinsky? | |
| 8 | Wasted painter, say, has to escort top lady to see Polish circus act (9,6) |
| TIGHTROPE WALKER—“Wasted” = TIGHT, “painter” = ROPE (definition by example) + “escort” = WALK + “top lady” = E(lizabeth) R(egina). “Polish” is, I finally realized, a pun relating to the long pole the performer uses for balancing. | |
| 9 | Cabinet minister follows staff around river—one’s more suited to swamps! (8) |
| MANGROVE—“Staff” = MAN + (Michael) G(R)OVE. | |
| 15 | South American broker grabs rand in central part of Kimberley (9) |
| ARGENTINE—A(R)GENT IN (Kimb)E(rley) | |
| 16 | What a dance! (6,2) |
| EXCUSE ME—Double definition. I didn’t know about the dance. | |
| 18 | Having worse weather about, one maiden goes off to the North (8) |
| STORMIER— RE + I (1) + M + ROTS <—- | |
| 21 | See member of clergy briefly before worship (6) |
| REVERE—REV + ERE | |
| 23 | Roman Catholic priest retained a bit of old religious tradition (5) |
| RELIC—R(ELI)C… “Eli” being possibly the most famous priest in biblical history (to crossword solvers, anyway). | |
| 25 | Legendary guitarist left band outside (5) |
| SLASH—S(L)ASH. I’ve heard that it is not a tradition with the Sunday Times puzzles, as it is with the dailies, to use only the names of deceased persons. But I checked to make sure that the Guns N’ (sic) Roses axman was still among the living. |
I liked the different meanings of “see” in 19ac and 21d but I don’t “see” Slash as a “legendary guitarist”. Well-known, even famous, but not legendary. Hendrix, Clapton and Page, yes, but not Slash.
Finally, I think the use of “Polish” in 8d to indicate tightrope walking is far too far-fetched, so there!
Edited at 2018-07-08 04:57 am (UTC)
Comforting to see some Brits also going for SPROG; I was rather chuffed to have remembered it.
I thought today’s ST had some terrific clues; the only problem I found with it was that I couldn’t for the life of me figure out one clue, and gave up.
Edited at 2018-07-08 04:44 am (UTC)
Oh dear! I haven’t started on it yet!
Edited at 2018-07-08 08:09 am (UTC)
Specifically, yesterday’s Saturday puzzle I can’t complete because of a glitch at the end of 1a / start of 4d.
And today’s puzzle won’t display online for me at all. Had to print it.
Edited at 2018-07-08 08:44 am (UTC)
eta: yep, both puzzles work fine on Chrome, so I’m compelled to submit to our great Google overlord
Edited at 2018-07-08 10:06 am (UTC)
Rather than, say, oh, apologizing for the problem and offering to look into it?
“You site doesn’t work on my computer”
“Get a different computer”
I remember enjoying it; 1d got me started.
I was surprised to meet Slash in a crossword;am equally surprised that he is still alive and turns up in the BBC 4 rock documentaries which I watch sometimes.
Did not know Unite as a coin but guessed it. And I’m pretty sure I was another SPROG. Could not parse 8d -thanks for that. David
I agree with SB that the homophone doesn’t work.
Today’s was a bit of a beast.
Next Sunday I will be in remote Canadian lake country with my son, so possibly unable to respond to my blog. Depending on how things go on Wednesday though I may have to move heaven and earth to ensure some kind of data connection for the World Cup Final. Let’s see.
How’s you ear?
As for my ear, I hate to say “the same,” as the sensations on that side of my face are changing and even becoming more intense (I am going to consult a neurologist), which I hope means I’m still healing. But that ear is also still deaf.
Edited at 2018-07-09 12:24 am (UTC)
1dn?
The question is about “on” in 19a. A couple months ago there was a discussion, and I thought we concluded that “a on b” in an across clue always meant “b followed by a”. Or did we conclude that it usually meant that, but sometimes could mean “a followed by b”? I don’t think I’ve noticed any of the unsigned dailies using the “a followed by b” structure; on the weekends, Jeff does it occasionally.
The whine is about “cardinal”, which is an adjective. When applied to “eleven” it tells you what kind of number “eleven” is. But at the same time it can be applied to signs, winds, ideas, symptoms, points, directions, and a couple other things, and when it is it tells you what kind of sign, wind, etc you’re dealing with. “Cardinal” is not a synonym for “number of a certain kind”. An analogy might be a “blue” car. Blue, like cardinal, can be applied to many things, and when either is it tells you what specific kind of that thing you are dealing with. But neither defines the thing itself: even in crossword-land we wouldn’t permit “blue” to clue “car”. I get that “cardinal” has become an accepted clue for a whole number, mostly because the other cardinals (signs, directions, ideas, etc are much less frequently found); my whine is that it should not have been allowed to do so.
Edited at 2018-07-08 05:14 pm (UTC)
On the second point, I may not have fully understood your objection but the usual sources also list ‘cardinal’ as a noun meaning ‘cardinal number’ of which ‘eleven’ is an example. I don’t see a problem.
Edited at 2018-07-08 07:33 pm (UTC)
Re cardinal, I’ll just stew in silence. Noted from both JKKT, and Guy below, that it’s commonly used to mean number, and that it’s in some of the sources (though not, I think, the OED). Now my whine is that I’m turning into a pedant. Probably on firmer ground with that one.
As for “cardinal” tout court for “cardinal number”: A point that has been impressed upon me numerous times, especially by such linguists who like to inveigh against the “etymological fallacy” and other such prescriptivist follies, is that usage is the last word. Conceded. The Cambridge online dictionary gives more than one citation for “cardinal” used in just this manner, and the sense would have been perfectly clear in their original contexts: “The finite cardinals are just 0, 1, 2, 3 and so on”; “There is no complete way to specify all possible large cardinals.”