Saturday Times 23456

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time 15:34

I was going to mention the interesting puzzle number with consecutive digits, and that the next time this happens will be some time in 2042, but Pete beat me to it last week 🙂 Sorry for the briefness, not a lot of time today…

ACROSS

1 AWAY – although actually it was only postponed for a day (they played on Sunday last week)
11 L(OTTER)Y – LY=”extremely” LovelY
12 MEN,AGERIE=(I agree)*
13 RIP,ON – I was fooled into looking at maps of Croatia…
18 CHANC(ERY LAN=nearly*)E
21 A,KIT,A – know your unusual dog breeds!
24 MARITAL – “mar it al(l)”
26 PLAID CYMRU – (Pyramid Clu(b))*

DOWN

1 ANTI,MON(e)Y
2 A(LIE,NA)TE
5 COL,LEAGUE – “level” = “league” seems a bit loose
7 EX,E(MP)T – film = E.T. is very common (another one useful to setters is “She”)
8 S(AY)ING – a nicely misleading clue, but what else could it be with the checking letters?
10 PIGEON-HEARTED – (“in here a pet dog”)* – a new phrase for me
16 MANIFEST – I’m sure I understood this last week, but can’t see it now…
17 REVERSED – as the final clue (23d) is a palindrome
19 WAR,MUP(pet)
20 SIERRA – S (Signal “originally”) is Sierra in the NATO phonetic alphabet

5 comments on “Saturday Times 23456”

  1. 16D: I remember struggling with this as well. I read it as:
    MANIFEST = express (as in: to make express your wishes)
    O = two finally
    and it’s a subtraction clue. my bete noire.
  2. I guess i should complete what i started: manifesto is the platform, and “two finally” departs from it to get MANIFEST.
    1. Yes, I remember now…I had worked it out last week – can’t believe I managed to forget again so soon!
  3. I remember doing puzzle 12345 with my mother (I guess I must have been a teenager) which contained an answer “a fish alive” which required you to notice the puzzle number. I was expecting a something similar this time but it was not to be.
  4. 3a Weighty exercise found in papers on work table = BENCH PRESS
    9a Tourist – one giving baksheesh without resistance = T R IPPER – baksheesh is Arabic for a freebie, hand out or tip in this case
    14a Subject: where motor race starts – plenty of power here = NATIONAL GRID – national = subject and F1 starts on the grid
    22a Work for a spell as one behind bars may do = SERVE TIME – no slang for prison related stuff this time
    25a Competence revealed by match point = FIT NESS – where match = fit and Ness = headland = point
    27a Boss gambling with cards = STUD – DD

    4d Bug a naughty child’s decapitated = ERROR – (t)error
    6d (It’s pretty neat)* especially as a way to identify the old man = PATERNITY TEST
    15d Having relations with collaborator makes one a laughing stock = AUNTS ALLY
    23d Send up and down = REFER – the up and down bit indicates a palindrome but getting send = refer required all the crossing letters for me!

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