Sunday Times Cryptic 4959, by Robert Price — strength in numbers

I really enjoyed this. There are no answers shorter than five letters, and (but of course, it’s Bob!) many slick surfaces evoking amusing images that may distract you so much that you skate right over the hidden point—starting with some advice that echoes Baudelaire (“Il faut être toujours ivre, tout est là ; c’est l’unique question. Pour ne pas sentir l’horrible fardeau du temps qui brise vos épaules et vous penche vers la terre, il faut vous enivrer sans trêve”—Mind you, he follows up by saying you can get drunk on anything, even water or virtue), and a well-considered fashion tip.

A few weeks ago, I met with an 4 in regards to the hernia operation I underwent on June 3, and I am glad to report that a couple days ago I allowed myself to return to making 15. Santé !

I indicate (a ragman’s)* like this, and italicize anagrinds in the clues.

ACROSS
1 Sober? Drink punch! (8)
DOWNBEAT — “Drink” is DOWN and “punch” is BEAT.
5 Wearing sandals on vacation, remove socks (6)
SWIPES — Please! S(WIPE)S… “on vacation” indicating that “SandalS” is eviscerated and “remove” meaning WIPE
9 Fine veal stuffed in this? (4,4)
VINE LEAF — (fine veal)*, &lit! I hesitated over this because, though fond of stuffed grape leaves, I wasn’t aware that VINE LEAF has dictionary status. Found it in Collins (“…of any vine, especially a grapevine”), which has no entry for “grape leaf.” It’s not in Lexico, but probably in Chambers… everything seems to be in Chambers.
10 Stands back, in part sorrowful (6)
ROSTRA — Hidden, “back”
12 Rash beginning in someone poorly (5)
SILLY — S[-omeone] + ILLY, “poorly”
13 Vehicle’s bodyguards keeping step with it (9)
SPACESHIP — S(PACE)S, the “bodyguards” being Hitler’s SS, the Schutzstaffel (“Protection Squadron”), flanking PACE, “step” + HIP, “with it”
14 Delighted flights are so untroubled (5-7)
LIGHT-HEARTED — Both “delighted” and “flights” have LIGHT in the HEART, or the core. HEART in this solution is not just the letter, or two letters, in the very middle, as usually in clues.
18 Rudest dancing in underwear, cast if required (12)
UNDERSTUDIES — UNDIES with (rudest)* inserted
21 First course at Pisa, not soup (9)
ANTIPASTO — (at Pisa not)*… I like this anagrind a lot.
23 Cover that excludes son’s condition (5)
INURE — IN[-s]URE
24 Annoyance about working hard finally decreased (6)
IRONED — IR(ON, “working”)E + [-har]D
25 Did alarm as dad locked up (8)
PANICKED — PA, “dad” + NICKED, “locked up”
26 Bogus appeal put in to head off physicist (6)
ERSATZ — [-H]ER(SA)TZ… In words: This is the great scientist whom the frequency unit is named after with his “head off” and SA, “appeal” (Sex Appeal, cryptic crossword chestnut for real, not seen now anywhere else ever!) inserted.
27 Deliberate hoax by helter-skelter rides (8)
CONSIDER — CON, “hoax” + (rides)*… This is a great anagrind with “rides” (♬ “When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide / ♪ Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride /♩ Till I get to the bottom and I see you again”♫). It’s a little hard to imagine what a “hoax by…rides” would mean, a deception mounted by inanimate objects, but I’m not complaining.

DOWN
1 Strip clubs opening from tomorrow (6)
DIVEST — At last, back to normalcy! DIVES, “clubs” + T[-omorrow]
2 With fish, work craftily (6)
WANGLE — W(ith) + ANGLE, “fish”
3 Volume of goat used by pork pie producer (5,4)
BILLY LIAR — BILLY, “goat” + LIAR, “pork pie [CRS] producer”… I had heard of the movie, but Keith Waterhouse’s 1959 novel was also the basis of a play, a musical and a TV series, and has been referred to in popular songs (Wikipedia).
4 Number Ten is at haste to shift position (12)
ANAESTHETIST — (Ten is at haste)* Cwinkydink: Two weeks ago, as I reported here, I worked three puzzles in one day that used “number” to refer to anæsthetics, but in this case the answer refers to the person numbing (the anæsthesiologist, as I would be more apt to say) rather than to the substance that numbs. My friends at the Out of Left Field blog said their—probably unattainable—ideal is to use every cryptic “chestnut” just once (they would have to rethink one of those clues). But I regard “number” in this sense rather as a cryptic staple, a trusty standby whose use is justified if it helps to create a vivid, deceptive and original surface. I would say the same about “decrease” for IRON, as in 24.
6 A vocalist’s opening sound (5)
WHOLE — “hole,” opening
7 Digs end up hiding crack (8)
POTSHOTS — POT(SHOT)S… STOP<=“up” with SHOT, “crack” (as in “take a crack at”) inside
8 Flight impressed those at the rear (8)
STAMPEDE — STAMPED, “impressed” + [-thos]E
11 Staple fare to a top cryptic? (6,6)
MASHED POTATO — (to a top)* = POTATO, MASHED (i.e., anagrammed!)
15 Drinks provided in parties, on the rocks (9)
APERITIFS —  IF, “provided” in (parties)*
16 Set eleven without a reserve (3,5)
PUT ASIDE — PUT, “Set” + SIDE, “eleven” have A, literally, inside.
17 Issues rabble-rousing leader put to the other side (8)
EDITIONS — SEDITION, with S “put to the other side”
19 Submerged in canal, to one’s ears (6)
DUCKED — “duct,” or “canal, to one’s ears”
20 Raw volunteer (6)
TENDER — DD
22 Loveless philosopher’s welcomed back to the fold (5)
PLEAT — Hmm, well, not Schopenhauer, he did care for his cats… PLAT[-o] takes in [-th]E, “back to the”

15 comments on “Sunday Times Cryptic 4959, by Robert Price — strength in numbers”

  1. I had a couple of MERs–rash=silly? rabble-rousing=sedition?–but generally this was an enjoyable, if tough, puzzle. I’ve got check marks in the margin for DOWNBEAT, SWIPES, SPACESHIP, INURE, PLEAT.
  2. …in my book (Thesaurus Random) these are mutually synonymous.

    Time around the hour.

    FOI 2dn – WANGLE that sort of fish! My first thought was WRASSE, often seen in the streams of Crosswordland.

    LOI 6dn WHOLE (Pah!)

    COD 11dn MASHED POTATO – once were a dance move from James Brown!

    WOD 3dn BILLY LIAR – Keith Waterhouse (of Hunslet) was a hugely popular writer – his best book was ‘The Theory and Practice of Lunch’ 1987 – highly recommended. Also ‘Mrs Pooter’s Diary’ 1983

    Further on Waterhouse, I was aching to stick in RIGHT GRADELY (pr. reet gradely)at 14ac. Happen!

    Edited at 2021-06-20 04:41 am (UTC)

    1. The line I always remember from Billy Liar was “What make piano?” when the previous evening’s television was being discussed.
    2. Waterhouse also wrote the delightful play ‘Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell’ best seen with Peter O’Toole in the lead role. It was later filmed live at The Old Vic, so saved for posterity. Not available on DVD apparently, but somebody has kindly put it up on Facebook.
  3. My only query was ‘rash = SILLY’ which I see has been picked up by Kevin. Eventually I found ‘rash = foolish’ in Collins which seems close enough.
  4. Great crossword as always from Robert. COD to ROSTRA which was well hidden and my LOI.
  5. FOI and COD was BILLY LIAR, a novel I loved when young men were otherwise angry. I was 43 minutes over this, but it was another fine Robert puzzle with some lovely clues. I liked UNDERSTUDIES particularly, which could have been COD if I’d thought more about it. I wonder, Guy, if vine/grape leaves is a transatlantic difference. I’ve always eaten my Dolmades out of vine leaves. Thank you both.
    1. That was my assumption. The Collins entry, as I somehow thought unnecessary to note above, was listed as British, not as American.
  6. All but the NE went in delightfully in around 20 minutes but I just couldnt crack that quarter. SPACESHIP and STAMPEDE arrived but just couldn’t find the middle 4 letters of SWIPES even though I knew what I was looking for.

    So 4 short after 35 mins. Should have persevered

    Agree that ROSTRA was v well hidden. I was even looking for a hidden but maybe should have put my glasses in 🙂

    Thanks to Bob for another cracking puzzle with some superb surfaces (1d and 1a to name two) and to Guy

  7. ….to struggle in the NE corner, which I reached at around 10 minutes despite only starting on my eighth clue.

    FOI UNDERSTUDIES
    LOI SWIPES
    COD ANAESTHETIST (very prophetic !)
    TIME 14:19

  8. Perhaps a sign of my development as a crossword solver? My FOI was Anaesthetist.
    After that I have noted that I had solved 19 clues by 1.30pm; so quite tough. And on my paper copy the whole NE is blank. So I’m another who struggled in that corner.
    Can’t remember exactly what happened in the end, but I think I failed on SWIPES.
    Also had BOILED POTATO on the menu for a long time.
    As always a pleasurable challenge from Bob.
    David

  9. or Dolmades preferred as per the boltonwanderer – as a 21ac. Quite easy to make from the leaves preserved in brine.Some of the world’s finest cuisine is to be found in London. Greek, Italian, Thai, Indian but little British – except for Rules of Maiden Lane, since 1798! But my COD to ERSATZ. Time the wrong end of 23 minutes.

    Edited at 2021-06-20 12:54 pm (UTC)

  10. 28:55, but I can’t spell ANAESTHETIST. Drat. Apart from that I found this a stiff but very enjoyable challenge. I don’t remember having such a toughie from Bob before.

    Edited at 2021-06-20 02:39 pm (UTC)

  11. Thanks Bob and guy
    Just over the hour to solve but stretched across most of last Sunday. Was one of those puzzles which started with entries scattered around the grid until getting a foothold in the SW corner.
    A good mix of devices used throughout along with the clever surfaces made for an enjoyable solve. Marked ERSATZ and SPACESHIP the best of a very good bunch of clues.
    Finished in the NW corner with DOWNBEAT (which I thought was a stretch to be ‘sober’), BILLY LIAR (which I haven’t read) and SILLY the last few in.

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