Solving time : 58 minutes. Quite happy with that time. I was left with two to get and was unsure if I’d beat an hour… Just did it!
I enjoyed this puzzle – a nice range of clues and answers and pretty fair.
I didn’t manage to do any of last week’s puzzles as I was out and about all week. However, I had with me a book of Independent crosswords and a book of Times crosswords (I did one of each per day) and a copy of ‘Ximenes on the Art of the Crossword’ – I think I learnt a lot!
When I began doing the Times crossword earlier this year I got hardly any clues on first reading and often could not finish whole puzzles. Now I fill in quite a few clues straightaway and normally finish each puzzle, nearly half the time in under an hour.
So my aim for next year is to regularly complete in under an hour!
Across
1 | GET THE PICTURE – it is not often you see a clue that is shorter than its answer, I thought this was a neat example |
9 | NELLIE DEAN = (Linden Lea, E)* – I’ve never heard of this old song, but I wrote it in near the end with most of the letters already in place |
10 | STEADY ON – (one day it’s)*, without the I |
11 | PERIS,H – another one where the checked letters helped a lot, I had not come across peri before (must brush up on my Persian mythology) |
16 | EYAS – hiding in ‘they assume’ |
17 | STIR – double definition, this was the last one I wrote in; not very difficult but I think I was confused by the dashes between this and the previous clue |
18 | YOURS TRULY – (slurry out)* + y(=end of day), I think already having 13A helped me get this quite quickly |
20 | G(RAT)IS – GI is an often used soldier in crosswords |
22 | RECLOTHE – lecher* outside TO<= |
26 | GANG – Scottish word for ‘go’ – I wrote this in having seen it before, then looked it up to be sure |
27 | D(I,SAPPE(A)R)ANCE – I wrote this in from the definition and looked at the wordplay afterwards: Lancers is a type of dance, which I didn’t know; a sapper is a Royal Engineer, which I did know |
Down
1 | GHOSTWRITER – (got withers)*,R |
2 | TONG,A – I don’t think I’d seen tong (Chinese secret society) before – I doubt it will come up too often, doesn’t look the most useful string of letters |
4 | PAL,I(NG)S – NG=no good |
6 | UNDERWEAR – Wear is a river, I recognised it from Tyne and Wear |
7 | ETA – a letter and its estimated time of arrival – I thought this was pretty neat |
12 | SMALL CHANGE – the first of two different coppers today – somehow I got this straight away, on another day it might have taken longer |
14 | CARAT,A,CU’S – precious stones are weighed in carats, copper=Cu is one of the chemical symbols that I have seen most often in crosswords; I was aware that Caratacus was an English king from the past – I did not know he was around in the 40s |
19 | UK,RAINE(=”reign”) |
21 | SCRAP=parcs<= you only need basic French vocab for the Times crossword, or so it seems so far |
TONG comes up more than you might think – about as often as TONGA, in fact!
Wil Ransome
Can I complain gently about 19D, where “verbally” seems to be being used as a homophone indicator? I know few people now distinguish between “verbal” and “oral”. Yet strangely most people are still able to use “non-verbal” correctly.
Is it unreasonable to hope for higher standards of pedantry from the Times Crossword?
On the whole quite an easy one, I thought. I managed it in about 30 minutes without having to check anything during solving. I did look up EYAS, CARATACUS after the event, but I knew my answers had to be right.
Did you see the fascinating witches
Who put the scintillating stitches
In the britches
Of the boys
Who put the powder
On the noses
On the faces
Of the ladies
Of the harem
Of the court
Of King Caractacus?
Well you’re too late
They’ve just passed by!
Thankyou Rolf Harris
Mike O, Skiathos
13a Gordon Bennett being kind to eighteen = GRACIOUS ME – 18 is yours truly = me and being kind = gracious. I also had goodness to start with – see comments above
24a Instrument in a recital earlier = CONCERT IN A
3d Attractive fish is excellent = HUNKY DORY – David Bowie’s 4th album in 1971. The final track was The Bewlay Brothers – I lived at Beaulieu Road in the New Forest with some fellow geology undergraduates in the early 70s so we became the Beaulieu Brothers. Happy days.
5d Primate in church accompanied by one policeman = CHIMP – church = ch or ce, one = i and policeman = mp – must be a military type?
15d Simple job for academic, making furniture = EASY CHAIR – sinecure for professor of carpentry?
23d Periodical notes issue from this = ORGAN (another DD)
25d Getting on with One’s Life – Drudgery, principally = OLD