First, a follow-up on my last blog headline … Congratulaions, Andy Murray.
Today, there’s yet another good Times puzzle, complete with all manner of devices. Sorry, I am a bit tardy with this blog as I got diverted to watch Rolf Harris on youtube and then caught Eric Morecambe’s version; followed by some more of the twosome’s hilarious performances.
Today, there’s yet another good Times puzzle, complete with all manner of devices. Sorry, I am a bit tardy with this blog as I got diverted to watch Rolf Harris on youtube and then caught Eric Morecambe’s version; followed by some more of the twosome’s hilarious performances.
ACROSS
1 THUMBS UP THUMB (to turn the pages of a book rapidly with the thumb) + SUP (drink)
9 LLANELLI L (large) LANE (section of motorway) LLI (rev of ILL, in need of hospital) for a town in Wales
10 BRANDO BRAND (line of goods, say) O (old) for the Marlon Godfather who made an offer you cannot refuse
11 PETERSHAMS Ins of T in PEER (member of aristocracy) + SHAMS (things put on) for a heavy greatcoat designed by Lord Petersham (1790-1851), an English army officer
12 LIAR Rev of RAIL (bar)
13 RIOT POLICE *(TO OIL PRICE)
16 FERVOUR Ins of E (English) + RV (Revised Version of the Bible) in FOUR (cardinal number)
17 WIND-BAG WIND (turn) BAG (secure)
20 BLIND DRUNK What a graphic cd
22 KNOT Rev of TONK (strike hard like with a cricket bat)
23 AT THE READY Ins of THERE (present) in A TAD (slightly) + Y (last letter of nervy)
25 APLOMB AP (rev of PA, dad) + ins of M (maiden) in LOB (loft) which reminds me of when the great Tiger Woods played at a golf tournament in Kuala Lumpur and a rich tycoon bid successfully for the right to partner him at the Pro-Am. After the game, Mr Richie asked his Club Pro to interprete Tiger’s advice on his golf game “He said ‘Your problem is LOFT’. Does this mean that I should angle my shots at a steeper incline, or what?” “No, replied the Club Pro “he is telling you Lack Of F***ing Talent”
26 CAROLLER CA (circa, roughly, about) ROLLER (flattening instrument)
27 ADHERENT Ins of HER (that woman) in A DENT (depression)
DOWN
2 HORNPIPE Ins of RN (Royal Navy, sailors) in HOP (dance) I (one) PE (exercising) for a lively dance, usually by one person, traditionally popular amongst sailors. A rare &lit
3 MENU-DRIVEN Ins of V (very) in *(UNDERMINE)
4 SHOP AROUND SHOP (betray, peach) A ROUND (slice of toast)
5 PLATOON Ins of TOO (also) in PLAN (design)
6 HAIR Allusion to “Keep your hair on” meaning “Stay cool”
7 ph value greater than 7 – ha deliberately omitted
8 GINSBERG *(BG SINGER) Irwin Allen Ginsberg (1926 – 1997) was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s
14 PRICKLY ASH Ins of RICK (haystack) in PLY (regularly go) + AS (when) H (hard)
15 LADY-KILLER cd? Apparently not. This &lit was so well written that I did not see the wordplay while listening to Rolf Harris’s Two Little Boys (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdbVogOKjUw) until prompted by Anonymous@2. LAD (fellow) + *(LIKELY) + nuRse (heart of …)
16 FOB-WATCH Ins of OB (obituary, he died) in F (following) + WATCH (guard) for a watch attached to a waistcoat by a chain. What a lovely definition one with hands chained – for that, my COD
18 AS ONE MAN A SON (young man) + EMAN (rev of NAME, established star)
19 SUMATRA Rev of ART (craft) + AMUSE (divert) minus E
21 IN TURN Sounds like INTERN (imprison, shut up)
24 ROLF FLOOR (stump) minus O for Harris, the talented Australian singer who gave the world Jake The Peg. Have a watch at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OfE7NBviTc , simply cockles warming
++++++++++++++
Key to abbreviations
dd = double definition
dud = duplicate definition
tichy = tongue-in-cheek type
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(FODDER) = anagram
yfyap88 at gmail.com = in case anyone wants to contact me in private about some typo
I found 16a rather contrived – my favourite was APLOMB, closely followed by HAIR and KNOT.
Having seen Rolf Harris’s portrait of the Queen, I would say stick to singing – if I hadn’t heard his singing first.
Edited at 2013-07-11 03:33 am (UTC)
Incidentally, I beg to differ with you on 18d. I thought it was a fine clue – revivifying a nice expression that has fallen foul of the PC hygienists – the repetition of ‘man’ constituting a cunning bit of misdirection in a clue which proved harder than expected not least because you were looking for ‘all’, ‘the’ or ‘and’ as the second word. Not that I noticed the repetition at the time!
Edited at 2013-07-11 07:08 am (UTC)
Edited at 2013-07-11 07:32 am (UTC)
Had several goes at both 23 and 18, as the literals raise many possibilities. I don’t think I really noticed the repeat of “man”.
The hyphenation for WIND-BAG was not an off-put for me on the grounds that it might just as well be. Sources tell me that the hyphen is used when describing the air-sac used by some birds for display or sounding. Part of bagpipes?
Rolf Harris is one of those unfortunate 60’s-onwards stars whose name has been tainted by Jimmy Saville- like allegations, which is a great shame whether or not he deserves it, as such mud currently sticks. If you can ignore that, try his Stairway to Heaven to truly understand his extraordinary appeal.
Edited at 2013-07-11 08:31 am (UTC)
*research suggests that hope is forlorn, even though he died in 1967.
It took me much too long to see FOB WATCH once I had the “f” and “b” checkers.
Thanks to Uncle Yap: I believe that we are ‘of an age’, and I also went to Newcastle Uni, but as a geriatric, completing my degree at the age of 60 in 2006.
A Mohs scale based on my times would make this about an 8, where 1 is under 10 minutes, 4 is standard at about 18 minutes, 9 is “had to look things up” and 10 is DNF even with aids. My times seem to approximate to 3 Magoos
1) I’m on it
2) Jason out-Magooed Magoo
Link to Tony’s Leader Board
Edited at 2013-07-11 12:15 pm (UTC)
PRICKLY ASH and PETERSHAMS were today’s unknowns. I have some sympathy with Andy B: I agree that “things put on” is a bit loose in the context of a rather obscure word. By sheer luck I hit on the right answer though, which of course means the clue is entirely fair.
MENU-DRIVEN is not a very nice term. It somehow smacks of the kind of management guff I have been excessively subjected to this week.
SE corner was hardest: I didn’t see wordplay at 15, was trying to make something of ATTIC at 25, and NEM CON at 18, I did wonder about KNOB as a possible for 22, but this isn’t Cyclops!
COD … LADY-Killer
Edited at 2013-07-11 03:07 pm (UTC)
A small, but important, point: in 9ac, ILL = “in need of hospital – perhaps”.