Saturday Times 26466 (16th July)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
15:30 for this one, which saved most of its trickiness for the shorter answers. 1ac went straight in, quickly followed by most of the downs hanging off it, so I was off at a sprint. I then dried up for a few minutes, and finally limped home with PARR my LOI. COD to ROAM for the neat double wordplay.

Across
1 UN demand: equal reforms for remote territory (5,4,4)
QUEEN MAUD LAND – (UN demand equal)*. Norwegian territory in Antarctica comprising about 20% of the surface area.
8 Report of land when crossing Pole (4)
BANG – BAG (land) around N (Pole).
9 Porter following close to Trappist prior to counter gossip (4-6)
TALE-TELLER – ALE (porter) after (Trappis)T + TELLER (counter).
10 Found vase a major attraction (4-4)
STAR-TURN – START (found) + URN (vase).
11 Jumbo’s superlative, if a shade funny, we’re told (6)
HUGEST – sounds like “hue jest” (a shade funny).
13 One putting stretcher down in heap covered by black blanket (10)
BRICKLAYER – RICK (heap) inside B(lack), LAYER (blanket).
16 Range of different memory types, retaining nothing, or ace (4)
ROAM – RAM (Random Access Memory) around O (nothing), or ROM (Read-Only Memory) around A(ce).
17 Royal wife finally getting one out of two right (4)
PARR – I (one) removed from PAIR (two) + R(ight). Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s sixth wife.
18 Like coward in region of thoroughfare, displaying sign of caution (6,4)
YELLOW CARD – YELLOW (like coward) + CA (circa, in region of) + RD (thoroughfare).
20 Letter-writer’s way with heartbroken recipient of one? (2,4)
ST JOHN – ST (way) + JOHN (heartbroken recipient). I was surprised to find that according to Chambers a Dear John letter is a US invention.
22 Converted newly as English Methodist (8)
WESLEYAN – (newly as E)*.
24 Refuse to handle medium number in police vehicle (5,5)
BLACK MARIA – BLACK (refuse to handle) + M(edium) + ARIA (number). A prison transport van.
26 Like to have record within range (4)
ALPS – AS (like) with LP (record) inside.
27 Small family, we consume frugally, save energy continuously (4,2,4,3)
WEEK IN WEEK OUT – WEE (small) + KIN (family) + WE + EKE OUT (consume frugally), minus the E for energy.

Down
1 Put up with over time (7,4)
QUARTER PAST – QUARTER (put up) + PAST (over).
2 Old king, upset, departs in fury (5)
EDGAR – D(eparts) inside RAGE (fury), all reversed. King of England 959-975.
3 Plea from one to stop frightful gluttony (3,6)
NOT GUILTY – I (one) inside (gluttony)*.
4 To spare a penny given, ultimate in generosity (7)
APLENTY – A + P(enny) + LENT (given) + (generosit)Y.
5 The other half / that’s often double? (5)
DUTCH – double definition of a couple of slang terms.
6 Completely self-obsessed, like man with Lazarus briefly portrayed in parable? (9)
ALLEGORIC – ALL EGO (completely self-obsessed) + RIC(h) (like man with Lazarus, briefly).
7 One hardly in stag party to take drugs (3)
DOE – DO E (take drugs) plus a cryptic definition.
12 One having a nap on the flight? (5,6)
STAIR CARPET – cryptic definition.
14 Wheels nearly came in contact with frame (9)
CARTOUCHE – CAR (wheels) + TOUCHE(d) (neary came in contact with. I thought the definition was a bit loose.
15 Elevated view of a corpse being moved (9)
ROOFSCAPE – (of a corpse)*.
19 Crude, having the Blues Brothers initially fall out (7)
LOWBROW – LOW (having the blues) + B(rothers) + ROW (fall out).
21 Rings selfish local conservationist, perhaps, to listen (5)
NIMBI – sounds like NIMBY (selfish local conservationist, acronym for Not In My Back Yard).
23 Possible inspiration behind Valentine Day’s ethos, regularly (5)
ERATO – I think this is ERA (day) + (e)T(h)O(s), with a long definition of the Muse of Love Poetry.
25 Old Bill? (3)
LAW – just seems to be a weakish cryptic definition. Am I missing something? [Edit: Yep, thought I might be – see top two comments from Zabadak and Jackkt. ]

11 comments on “Saturday Times 26466 (16th July)”

  1. … was the one I struggled with, not because there was anything much else it could be, but because of the extra information provided by “Valentine” – something to do with Eros, perhaps? – and making “day” fit “era”. In the end, crossed fingers and submitted.
    I thought LAW rather clever, the Old Bill being the Rozzers and Bill for draft Act of Parliament, which I suggest becomes old when it becomes Law

    Edited at 2016-07-23 07:09 am (UTC)

  2. Something of a biff-fest here. Only 35 minutes to solve it but there was some tricky parsing that required longer, and even then I failed to spot how QUARTER meant “put up”. I assumed it was something to do with “mercy” but now I think it’s about providing accommodation. I was pleased to work out the Lazarus thing at 6dn and interested to learn that Dives was not the rich man’s name but merely a word meaning “rich”. I agree with Z8 about Old Bill which I think is an excellent clue.

    Edited at 2016-07-23 07:57 am (UTC)

  3. Thanks, Andy. I’m glad others puzzled over what could only be ERATO. This was one of those puzzles for me where I thought some of the clues were quite clever – PARR and BANG in particular – so pleasing me when I saw them quickly. I also kind of liked ROAM. But also a puzzle where the ones that gave me trouble – BLACK MARIA – didn’t seem at all so tricky once I had them in. About 45 minutes, which is fast time for me.
  4. Watching The Open meant I spent less time on this than normal. But I found this the hardest for weeks with a number of incorrect or blank answers: 2d, 8a 14d, 20a, 21d and 25a (where I might have guessed Law).
    I was pleased to get 1a as I had never heard of Queen Maud Land.
    I thought 14d was almost unfair as it seems so obscure and Frame has many meanings. I only knew Cartouche as a gun cartridge from the French.
    Anyway I live and learn as ever. David
  5. 29 minutes, with COD to LAW, so easier for me than today’s. Times, I should add, as Paul’s Prize Guardian was a real head-scratcher.
  6. 19 minutes, but missed the double meaning of LAW, until now. Thanks Andy / z8.
  7. Spent a lot of time laying out garden paths to go up, like taking ‘Porter’ to refer to Cole, trying to justify ‘rani’ for ‘royal wife’ (this was my LOI), thinking ‘rings’=torii at 21d, etc. DNK BLACK in the relevant sense, but it had to be BLACK MARIA. I actually got the double meaning of 25d, surprisingly.

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