Sunday Times Cryptic 4455 Sunday October 16th 2011

[dwil]

5d Went thick as did smoke - extremely dismal in there C?R?L?D
17d Bunk's corner used to be hard
I assume 5d is circled but why? and I read that 17d is hogwash but why?
I am finding these days that with the ST not only can I not get the answer but cannot understand it when I'm told. I think the Xword is now too difficult for its intended solvers.

[vallaw]

5 curdled
hogwash

[Oldred]

5d cur dl ed

[vallaw]

5d is cured as in smoked round dl for extremes of dismal

[vallaw]

17 hog as in hog the food = corner, was = used to be h = hard, all is hogwash = bunk

[Oldred]

17d hog =corner, was = used to be, h =hard

[Lie-in King]

5d Curdled - d(isma)l (in) 'cured' (did smoke, such as ham etc)
17d Hogwash (bunk) - 'hogs' (corners) + was + h(ard)

[dwil]

Thanks. Can understand curdled. Still prob with hogwash.
I now see bunk = hogwash & was +H at the end . Where does hog come in? Does it mean corner?

[vallaw]

And that was not a hard crossword - Tim Moorey's are hard.

[Calibax]

Hog Was H
Hog = corner (as in corner the market) +was + H(ard)
hogwash = bunk (nonsense)

[dwil]

Thanks all. Our posts crossed.

[ossian]

I think that in recent times the quality of many of the crosswords is very poor. As far as clue writing is concerned there is far too much hammering square pegs into round holes, metaphorically speaking. The deterioration is not just the crossword puzzle but the Sunday Times in general. Does anyone else agree?

Stewart