Time taken to solve: About 40 minutes, half of which was spent on 21 across.
A very enjoyable puzzle with lots of clues that read really well. I thought I was in for a record solve today but 21A put paid to that idea, however I was grateful for an easier one than I have had to blog of late.Â
Across | |
---|---|
1 | SADDO – StAnDs + DO. A brilliant clue! My COD straight away |
9 | A,BUN,DANCE |
10 | A GREE(n) |
11 | DO,TARD – DRAT (rev) provides the second part. I’m not sure I have met “dotard” before but I knew “dotage” so it was easy to work out from the wordplay. |
12 | BUM,P INTO – Two American words combine to give us the answer here. Does anyone remember the Country song “Hallelujah, I’m a bum!”? |
14 | NAN,N(otabl)Y, GO, A,T(omatoes) – Another very good clue and a noble attempt to hide the definiton in among the foodstuffs, but “butter” for “goat” is an old favourite so it didn’t take much thinking about |
16 | S(US)AN |
17 | D(1,CT)A – Watching Perry Mason all those years ago taught me that a District Attorney runs the prosecution so it’s amusing he is required here to serve for the defence in order to make the clue work |
19 | CHECKED IN – Sounds like “cheque tin” where “cheque”= “order to bank” and “tin”=”money”. No complaints from me about this homophone. |
21 | LE (m)AN(s)-BURN – A beastly clue! It was my last in and I spent as long on this as the whole of the rest of the puzzle. I didn’t know the expression but eventually got it from the wordplay having spent ages convinced that the first word must be LEAD. I nearly gave up and settled for LEAD-BARS. On reflection I’ve a horrible feeling we have had LEAN-BURN before, since I started reading Times for the Times, and apparently I didn’t learn from it. |
22 | S(C)YLLA – ALLY’S (rev) around C for “Cape”. Another word I didn’t know but again the wordplay provided the answer . Scylla was a mythological sea-monster apparently. |
25 | V,ROOM – Also a candidate for COD and the second onomatopoeia in two days following yesterday’s BOING |
27 | ROSINANTE – (ONE TRAINS)* I think Don Quixote’s horse has a C for the S so I was confused here for a moment, but anyway according to Collins the S version means an emaciated old horse. |
28 | FRYER – No problems with this homophone either |
 | |
Down | |
1 | STAND AND DELIVER – Reputed to have been said by highwaymen in days of yore |
3 | ORDERLY – Two meanings |
4 | SING(les) – I’m a tennis fan so this came easily |
5 | IN,EQUITIES |
6 | GRAMP(U)S – A second sea-monster, this time a killer-whale. It’s also a dolphin but that’s not the meaning here. |
7 | HARD-NOSED – Pinocchio, the wooden boy with the nose that grows |
8 | THE MORNING AFTER – (MEET FOR A NIGHT + RN)* The clue reads very well. |
13 | FOR CE,R(e)TAIN |
15 | NECTAROUS – Curvaceous must indicate (COURTESAN)*. Yet another new word leant here but again easy enough to work out. |
18 | ALBUMEN – (BLUE MAN)* The white of an egg. Anagrams coming thick and fast now. |
23 | LA(IT)Y – IT for anything to do with computers has become a chestnut already. We need some new ideas. |
24 | MOTE(l) – Thanks to years of bible studies in my childhood I am very familiar with motes and beams |
I loved Saddo as COD, and have not seen it in a crossword before. Vroom and Abundance too.
“Scylla” was a lot more common in the olden days when schools taught Classics and the expression “between Scylla and Charybdis” was used for what is now “between a rock and a hard place”.
Scylla being a monster on one side of the Strait of Messina, and Charybdis a whirlpool on the other.
(I suppose Cilla Black would be just as much a deterrent as either of those, though)
This one took about 30 mins, but I had to confirm 27A and 15D with a dictionary. I’ll go for 26A as COD – simple but very elegant. I’m a bit puzzled by 20D – is it just a double definition?
In terms of this clue that may be a slight disappointment. The term – as I understand it – is lifted directly from its usual meaning, i.e. the start of a soccer match.
Edited at 2008-02-29 01:33 pm (UTC)
Most enjoyable again. I must echo PBs comment on another thread that February has been a belter of a month for crosswords. It took 21:10 today, but I was slightly handicapped by simultaneously eating fish & chips, so we’ll call it 21:08. I’ve gone on a bit today, so I’ll finish now with my choice for COD, 14a.
Have a nice weekend
7dPenguin will probably complain about the fryer/friar homophone, and I’m not convinced that checked in and cheque tin sound the same. Cheque din maybe.
I’ve some across lean burn before in the context of modern car engines so that one didn’t stump me.
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen similar clueing for abundance before but neat nevertheless. Also liked nanny goat but 1a has to be COD for the end result.
Jon
Jon
A hasty ‘affluence’ for ABUNDANCE at 9ac was unhelpful, and I had a pretty slow finish on the top left and LEAN BURN; 10:35 total.
A second thought, is it a Times no-no for the definition to be the answer to the question posed by the whole clue? Q. Who stands…? A. saddo.
Many people I know look forward to their annual return to the WA coast so they can swim alongside them.
As far as I know, seals, sea lions, etc., don’t do the Times crossword, even if the odd Penguin does!
ragaman
Henry Blofeld and/or his dad were friends with Noel Coward apparently. Blo-ers described NC’s recipe for a Dry Martini: “add plenty of gin and then wave the glass somewhere in the region of Italy”. Gin and IT – a crossword drink if ever there was one.
Just the 4 left out of the blog:
4a Gin based drink – small amount is enough to knock you out (9)
SLING SHOT. It appears that a “Singapore Sling” would contain gin and a small tot might sort you out a bit?
26a (I stop goal)* playing as a defender (9)
APOLOGIST. Nice footer surface.
2d Cow kept by ageD AUNTie (5)
DAUNT
20d Match’s beginning to flare up (4-3)
KICK-OFF.