This issue should not happen any longer, so I'm a bit disconcerted. What is the version table for your ttf-mscorefonts-installer package?
$ apt-cache policy ttf-mscorefonts-installer
Can you confirm that there are no font-related partial downloads in /var/lib/update-notifier/package-data-downloads/partial/ (if there are, just delete them), and that the issue you report happens when reinstalling ttf-mscorefonts-installer?
This issue should not happen any longer, so I'm a bit disconcerted. What is the version table for your ttf-mscorefonts -installer package?
$ apt-cache policy ttf-mscorefonts -installer
Can you confirm that there are no font-related partial downloads in /var/lib/ update- notifier/ package- data-downloads/ partial/ (if there are, just delete them), and that the issue you report happens when reinstalling ttf-mscorefonts -installer?
$ sudo apt-get purge ttf-mscorefonts -installer -installer
$ sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts