Times Crossword 25,140 – 2012 Championship second qualifier

Author   JerryWPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving Time: Not quite as simple as the first qualifier, but very nearly so. We are far too well bred to discuss times here please, for these qualifying puzzles. All I would say is that the difference between this and the crosswords you are likely to meet on The Day is quite marked, to say the least!

cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev = reversed, anagrams are *(–). ODO means the Oxford Dictionaries Online

Across
1 octopus – O + C (TOP) U’S. Chambers has this meaning of the word: “a person or organization, etc with widespread, often harmful or destructive, influence”
5 monarch – M (ON) ARCH
9 stringent – line = STRING + ENT, the cliché hospital department for use in crosswords
10 chill – check, in the chess sense = CH, + ILL
11 omega – hOME GAme
12 phonetics – *(ON PITCHES)
14 go up in the world – dd, I suppose, or perhaps d + cd.
17 to the four winds – *(FURTHEST IN WOOD)
21 dismantle – DI’S + MANTLE = role, another less familiar meaning which is in the ODO
23 email – energy = E + MAIL, sounds like male.
24 opals – OS containing PAL
25 whaleboat – *(AHAB + WE LOT). A reference to one of the very great books of the world, Moby Dick – a unique book, literally as well as literary, which achieves the remarkable feat of being both a great work of classical fiction and being gripping, at the same time. Well I thought so, anyway. Maybe the best American novel ever.
26 sweater – end of holidays = S + WEATER, sounds like wetter
27 katydid – little katherine = KATY + DID. An Americanism for a bush cricket. The casual insertions of Americanisms without any acknowledgment worries me a bit…
Down
1 on show – son’s new = ON S, + HOW
2 torpedo – *(OPTED) containing OR. Apparently there is a fish called a torpedo ray
3 pineapple – a dd; being both a fruit and a slang term for a hand grenade. ODO says not slang, but “informal.” What could be more informal than a hand grenade?
4 stepping out – determined = STOUT containing EPPING, a forested area apparently full of bodies and murderers on the run, as befits its London location
5 mat – coaster = MAT(e). Mate = (ship’s) officer has turned up a few times recently
6 niche – NIC(H)E
7 Rainier – (G)RAINIER. Mt Rainier is a serious mountain by anyone’s standards, being 14,411ft (4392m) high, having 23 glaciers, and being an active and dangerous volcano to boot. I want to go up it!
8 hillside – hole up = HIDE containing ILLS
13 on horseback – *(RANCHES BOOK)
15 white belt – chess player = WHITE + BELT = beat. I remember my 12 year old son starting to learn karate. In no time at all it changed him into a confident, disciplined and considerate young man…
16 studious – STUDIO + US
18 to scale – oper = TOSCA + LE = the, in French
19 diamond – MAID rev. + ON + D(resser)
20 elated
22 asset – (B)ASSET (hound)
25 war – WAR(DEN)

Author: JerryW

I love The Times crosswords..

14 comments on “Times Crossword 25,140 – 2012 Championship second qualifier”

  1. Agree with you on difficulty level – too cynical a ploy to garner funds for my taste. Also at 27A KATYDID has not crossed the pond in usage and should be identified as a US word
    1. You mean like those phone-in competitions on the TV shows….

      Where is the Eiffel Tower? Is it:

      a) In Paris

      b) In Ipswich

      c) On Mars

      All calls cost £4 per minute. Minimum call length 2 hours. Some calls may be….

        1. TfTT Top Tip: triple your chances of winning by calling three times and giving all three answers!
          1. Hi Sotira. I’m guessing maths wasn’t your long suit. Since by definition 2 of the answers are wrong by following your tip one trebles the cost without altering the chance of winning. Keep smiling!!
  3. Solved within my personal target. Only unknown was the fish. The mountain rang the faintest bell.

    Edited at 2012-04-26 09:13 am (UTC)

  4. Read Moby Dick in December 2009 – what a work of literature that is!

    COD to Hillside for the teasing “hole up” misdirection. Didn’t understand Octopus so thanks Jerry for explaining that one.

    I saw a distant Mount Rainier from a hilltop above Vancouver when I was there in 1996.

    1. I’m glad to see it’s still being read, and outside of the classroom. ‘There is a wisdom that is woe, but there is a woe that is madness.’ Love that line.
  5. I had the same feeling last time around as with these: namely what Jimbo says. Actually, I would have taken forever because of 15d; I had everything but the B and L, and could only come up with ‘white meat’, which even I knew couldn’t be right. I had to cheat, after 13 minutes of staring, by going to my dictionary.
    1. Well it might have been easy, but you can still get wrong answers for total guesses: I had KATEDID for the unknown insect.

      Guessed correctly the unknown TORPEDO, so 50% right.

  6. Well this was the first cryptic that i completed everything, though with a few mistakes. Still, much better than my attempts from a few weeks ago when i would only get one or two clues out. Many thanks to this site and all of you for teaching me the language of the clues. It all makes much more sense now.
    1. Welcome! Indeed, you can learn more from the answers you don’t get than from the ones you do. You will be finishing all of them, in due course, no doubt..
      You don’t have to get a Livejournal ID if you don’t want to but supplying a name helps us

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