Sunday Times Cryptic 4845, 7 April 2019, by Robert Price — Pour me another one!

Author   Guy du SablePosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Well, that went down easily, a very smooth blend with some vivid, if uncomplex, notes, which left me with a warm feeling inside.

I am just back from the fantastic Guggenheim show of the heretofore-unsung pioneering heroine of abstraction, Hilma af Klint, and then sharing a pizza with my sculptor friend David, briefly back in his old SoHo stomping grounds (though this part is now called NoHo) and staying for a couple weeks in a $15,000-a-month apartment one of his rich collector friends has on the market now. So I hope no one minds that I’m getting to this a little later this week, but I had to have a second Remy Martin.

I do (argnasam)* like this, and italicize anagrinds in the clues.

ACROSS
 1 Soldier going this way is unbriefed? (8)
COMMANDO — CD. We all know that “going commando” means doing without underpants, but there seems to be no consensus on where or when the term originated.
 5 Ruddy green used in sketch again! (6)
REDRAW — ”Ruddy” being RED and “green” being RAW, I bet no one had to go back to the drawing board on this one.
 9 Current craft beer stores, offering a choice (1,2,5)
A LA CARTE — ALE, “beer,” “stores” AC (“current”) and ART, “craft.”
10 A posh couple’s nanny (2,4)
AU PAIR — A + U (upper-class, “posh”) + PAIR
12 Bloated stomach, wind periodically expelled (5)
TUMID — TUM + every other letter of wInD
13 Students should read this old morning tabloid (4,5)
EXAM PAPER — EX + AM + PAPER
14 Are film icons pitching in these? (12)
INFOMERCIALS — &lit. (are film icons)*
18 Tennis match associated with oversized shorts (5,7)
MIXED DOUBLES — MIXED is “associated” and “oversized shorts” are drinks, DOUBLES (great time savers. Ha).
21 Dish to accompany a poet’s mutton chops (9)
SIDEBURNS — SIDE is the accompanying dish, and the poet is BURNS.
23 On a telephone call for work (5)
KNEAD — Sounds like “need,” or “call for.”
24 Maybe cricket’s stylish division (6)
INSECT — IN is “stylish” and SECT “division.”
25 What not to ask a lady about Italian traditions (8)
HERITAGE — HER(IT) AGE. Does anyone here deem this a passé sexist trope? Just kidding, let’s not start…
26 Putting a stop to topless relaxation (6)
EASING — Prudes! [-c]EASING
27 Rambles close to canal welcomed by swimmers (8)
BLATHERS — B([-cana]L)ATHERS

DOWN
 1 Hunted for an auditor that’s not corrupt (6)
CHASTE — ”Chased”
 2 Bad atmosphere some teams aimed to overturn (6)
MIASMA — Hidden rev.
 3 A forbidden drinking party? Crazy! (9)
ABANDONED — A BAN(DO)NED
 4 Perform, working in a film starring Nicole Kidman as host (2,3,7)
DO THE HONOURS — DO is “perform,” and “working” is ON, which is in(serted into) THE HOURS, which does indeed star Nicole Kidman, though it is actually Julianne Moore who plays the host(ess) (one of two in the film; the other is played by Meryl Streep) who is planning a party for her hubby though having difficulty in putting down the book by VIrginia Woolf (Kidman) about a woman in a similar situation (Mrs. Dalloway. I’ve read the book, but haven’t seen the movie). I don’t think this clue is wordy or over-specific at all, but a rather elegant fusion of wordplay and definition that nevertheless keeps the two parts strictly separate.
 6 Supply crack online? (5)
EQUIP — CD, “E(lectronic)-QUIP,” har har
 7 Gather fruit is to make a comeback (8)
REAPPEAR — REAP + PEAR
 8 Guard in combat gear (8)
WARDRESS — Not a DD, as “war dress” is two words. Enumeration counts.
11 This biographer styled small jobs “wee” (5,7)
JAMES BOSWELL — (small jobs “wee”)* Who else?!
15 Reminder, itemised bill has tip added (9)
CHECKLIST — Obviously an American restaurant… CHECK + LIST, “tip” as in “tip over”
16 Love letter is prone to leave things out (8)
OMISSIVE — O + MISSIVE
17 Former wives restrict comic duo’s outgoings? (8)
EXODUSES — EX (duo)* ES
19 Not the first sign great service is under threat (6)
MENACE — [-o[MEN + ACE
20 Runs off with large sum? We do (6)
ADDERS — [-l]ADDERS, “runs” in stockings, that is. Grammatical infelicity disconnects the second from the first sentence, hinting at what’s up.
22 Black fleece worn by a famous artist (5)
BACON — B(A)CON. Rasher artist? The punkish Francis favored black leather jackets, but I can imagine him swanning around in something more plush.

16 comments on “Sunday Times Cryptic 4845, 7 April 2019, by Robert Price — Pour me another one!”

  1. You all may know about going COMMANDO, but I only learned the term here, a few months ago, and barely remembered it. No idea about the oversize shorts or Nicole Kidman. Not as impressive as Robert’s debut puzzle, but quite enjoyable. I liked ADDERS and A LA CARTE.
  2. ….is a good film, Guy. Nicole Kidman barely recognisable as VW as she has a prosthetic nose. Ed Harris as a poet with AIDS?

    Thanks particularly for that clue and for MENACE, ABANDONED and REDRAW. My favourite was CHECKLIST as I liked the idea of LIST = TIP.

    My notes say “SE corner hard but rest straightforward.
    56m 31s

  3. One suggestion as to its origin, Guy, is that it dates back to the Vietnam War. Certainly a Vietnam Vet I knew back in the 80s “went commando”.
  4. ….that I couldn’t think of BOSWELL’s christian name, and had to break down the anagrist on paper. I was also delayed for just under two minutes on my LOI. DNK INFOMERCIALS but worked it out without difficulty.

    An enjoyable puzzle.

    FOI COMMANDO
    LOI ADDERS
    COD BACON
    TIME 10:30

  5. My grid was completed in my neatest hand-writing and no workings in the margins, which suggests I found it a steady solve without any major hold-ups. 38 minutes, but I missed the reference at 1ac thinking something along the lines COMMAND = brief and 0 indicates the lack of one. It was my LOI or next to last and I was confident of the answer so I didn’t spend much time on the parsing.

    Edited at 2019-04-14 05:34 am (UTC)

  6. 40 minutes. DO THE HONOURS was biffed from definition and crossers and then deconstructed to reveal ‘The Hours’. That was a movie I didn’t see when released. In my defence, at that stage our youngest wasn’t yet seven, and we were more likely going to ‘Toy Story’ or whatever. I haven’t read ‘Mrs Dalloway’ either. I did manage ‘To the Lighthouse’ but had no desire to go back there. I HAM FILM TALK is a sculpture of HILMA AF KLIMT. although according to Google her surname was KLINT, Guy. I hadn’t heard of INFOMERCIALS, which took a while coming. COD to EXODUSES, which I’d biffed as EXPENSES until I remembered my SIDEBURNS of younger days. We usually called them SIDEBOARDS back then. Thank you Robert and Guy for a fun puzzle and blog.
  7. I remember this took me a long time but I got there in the end. FOI was BACON and I have noted my last four as 12a, 23a, 15d and 20d. LOI was TUMID, a word which was probably new to me but seemed feasible.
    I did not know the GK this week; have never seen The Hours and was absent for Boswell’s christening.
    I did wonder about SHEDBARDS at 21a and EXPENSES at 17d. David
  8. Enjoyed this and preferred it to Robert’s previous effort .. not quite so hard, but smoother clues
  9. 24:40. I made very heavy weather of this. I think it may take me a while to get the hang of Myrtilus’s style.
    I got completely stuck on I think three clues at the end, but I’m now not sure which. Certainly ADDERS, my last in. A huge penny-drop moment when I finally saw what the definition was.

    Edited at 2019-04-14 08:39 am (UTC)

  10. Another lovely puzzle from Myrtilus which kept me happily occupied for 32:01. INFOMERCIALS was my LOI after the SE corner which caused me the most brain ache. KNEAD was a long time coming after MENACE and ADDERS. COMMANDO was no problem. I didn’t know the referenced film at 4d and was working on THE OTHERS, but I got there in the end. Had to work out Boswell’s first name from the fodder. Thanks Myrtilus and Guy.
  11. This was an entertaining solve with nothing too obscure. Like Jackkt my copy is completed in best block capitals and with limited marginal notes.

    My first attempt at the 11d biographer was JAMES BELLOWS – possible biographer of Brian Blessed?
    The fodder at 14a gave me INFOMELICARS – a first generation of autonomous Black Cabs where the cheery cabbie is replaced by Alexa who will answer any question you have – usually by “I don’t know that yet” in my experience.

    Thanks to GdS and RP.

  12. Fine puzzle, my print out says 17 minutes, no big issues, liked COMMANDO. And will try to use TUMID in conversation more often.
  13. 26:30 a nice steady solve. Took some time to work out infomercials but otherwise a fairly gentle affair. The e-quip was a bit of a chestnut but the guard in combat gear and the oversized shorts kept the entertainment levels up.
  14. SE corner gave problems, for some reason took for ever to see 23a until 20d dawned on me. Otherwise a nice and steady solve. Thanks to setter and blogger.
  15. Thanks Robert and Guy
    Took longer than normal due to mainly to a lot of interruptions whilst doing it – a bit under an hour and a half.
    No real holdups except for writing in EXPENSES at 17d initially – quickly patched up after SIDEBURNS came back.
    Finished in the NE corner with ABANDONED (which I found not easy to parse), TUMID (a new word) and CHASTE (which I had to sleep on and wrote in immediately the next morning … wondering why I found it so hard previously).

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