Saturday Times 25317 (10th Nov)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time 16:38, so about average for a Saturday puzzle. I don’t have a lot of time again this morning, so I’ve had to keep it fairly brief. I was a bit surprised that 14D doesn’t appear in any of the usual dictionaries, but it was familiar enough to me, so maybe neither the setter or the editor checked it either.

Across
1 DATABASE – A TAD (rather) reversed + BASE (sordid).
5 BREWED – sounds like “brood”.
9 PANEGYRIC – PANIC (show fear) around [ E.G. (say) + YR (your) ].
11 MANIC – MAC (Scotsman) around N.I. (Northern Ireland = Ulster).
12 CORTEGE – [ O.R. (other ranks = men) + GET reversed], inside EC (city) reversed.
13 NOTABLE – NOT ABLE
14 FIRST-NIGHTERS – “nursed fighters”, according to the Reverend Spooner.
16 SLAP ON THE BACK – (Can shop talk be)*
20 EMBARGO – E (drug) + BARG(e) (docked boat) inside MO (instant).
21 ANTIQUE – ANT (worker) + (p)IQUE (irritation after losing head).
23 SCI-FI – hidden inside “prolific scribbler”.
24 SWITCHING – SING (make notes) around [ C(onservative) inside WITH (and) ].
25 SEETHE – EH (what) + TEES (river), all reversed.
26 INVENTOR – INVENTOR(y) (short list). Samuel Morse was co-inventor of the telegraph as well as giving his name to the code.

Down
1 DEPICT – D(u)T(y) around EPIC (long, arduous task).
2 TENOR – sounds like “tenner” (note).
3 BUGBEAR – BUG (tap) + BEAR (shoulder).
4 SURREPTITIOUS – I inside (I put, trousers)*.
6 REMATCH – RE(d) (left-winger nearly) + MATCH (striker in box).
7 WINDBREAK – WIND (snake) + BREAK (crack).
8 DECREASE – DECREE (law) around AS (eg).
10 CONSIDERATION – double definition.
14 FRAMBOISE – (I am sober)* after F(ine). Raspberry brandy, surprisingly not in Chambers or Collins, and only in the Shorter OED as another word for a raspberry or its colour. Edited link to appease the alcoholic pedants below!
15 ASSESSES – (m)ESS (muddle, not the first) inside ASSES (fools).
17 OARFISH – OAFISH (stupid) around R(iver). A gigantic fish that can grow up to 50ft long, seen much more often in crosswords than it is in the wild!
18 ARTICLE – [ I (one) + C (about) ] inside (alert)*.
19 BEGGAR – GG (two grand) inside BEAR (chap selling shares).
22 QUIET – QUITE (to some extent) swapping the last two letters around.

11 comments on “Saturday Times 25317 (10th Nov)”

  1. Andy, “framboise” is in Collins (2007 edition and the latest one) and also in the Concise Oxford (2006), both as a brandy.

    I knew it as a Belgian beer that I have bought occasionally but have not met it as a brandy before.

    56 minutes of very steady solving but no resort to aids and no unknown words or meanings other than the brandy mentioned above. Very enjoyable.

    Edited at 2012-11-17 10:34 am (UTC)

    1. That explains it then – my Collins is a 2006 reprint of the 2004 edition. I’m still surprised it’s missing from Chambers though. I also knew it as a Belgian lambic beer – the missus occasionally likes a bottle but it’s not to my taste.
  2. Framboise is in the ODO. I would never call it a brandy myself though, it’s an eau de vie. Brandy I would only ever use as a word for grape-based drinks such as cognac or marc. In theory, brandy can mean other fruit-based spirits but it’s a bit like calling a rook a castle: nobody would ever do it, who knew what they’re talking about..
    No problems otherwise, some very elegant clues eg 16ac, 3 & 17dn
    1. Well for that matter if you really know what you’re talking about why would you ever use the word “brandy”? As if Cognac and Armagnac are remotely similar… the very idea!
  3. The Framboise in the picture is not a brandy or an eau de vie, it’s a sweet ‘creme’ drink made from neutral spirit alcohol, sugar and raspberry fruit, used to make ‘kir framboise’ in the same way as cassis is used. I have never heard or seen ‘framboise’ as a form of brandy, or heard of cassis as ‘blackcurrant brandy’, I agree with jerrywh brandy is a grape based drink… not a sweet alcohol concoction.
    The puzzle was otherwise straightforward for a Saturday offering.
  4. @ Jerry and Pip – sorry, I just googled for images of framboise and didn’t look too closely, shame on me! I’ve edited the link now.
    1. I don’t think I criticised you Andy, and I don’t think I said anything terribly pedantic. I didn’t even spot that you had provided a link
      1. Sorry Jerry, that was supposed to be a light-hearted comment. Apologies if it came over as a bit grumpy, that wasn’t the intention at all.
  5. 48′, although I was ready to fold at 42, with 19d, 21ac, 22d, & 26ac seemingly beyond my reach, but then suddenly transparent. Never heard of a drinkable framboise–not that it sounds that drinkable to a scotch drinker like me–but it seemed the only choice. COD to 25ac.
  7. Must have been right on the wavelength, finishing in 25 mins compared to the usual 40-ish.

    Started slowly but the big difference was the end – no hold-ups, instead of the usual 2 or 3 crossing words that just refuse to be solved.

    Rob

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