Saturday Times 25795 (24th May)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
No time for this as I fell asleep half-way through and picked it up again later. Probably around the half-hour altogether, as I had got stuck before I dozed off. I felt it had a strangely old-fashioned feel to it, with loads of double and cryptic definition clues, and some unusual straight definitions too (e.g. ENTAILS, PERORATE, CRETACEOUS).

Across
1 A black panther maybe breaks fall, making step down (8)
ABDICATE – A + B(lack) + [CAT (panther maybe) inside DIE (fall)].
5 To fail to understand is comprehended by diplomats (6)
CLOSED – LOSE (fail to understand) inside CD (Corps Diplomatique, diplomats). New abbreviation for me, and a hard-to-spot definition too.
10 At bottom, those emotional outbursts are private (6,3,6)
BEHIND THE SCENES – BEHIND (bottom) + THE SCENES (those emotional outbursts).
11 The state of one’s belongings (10)
MEMBERSHIP – cryptic definition, what one belongs to rather than what one owns.
13 Tea and Daily… (4)
CHAR – double definition. Strange clue as it stands, because online they never include the dots at the beginning of a clue, which 15ac requires in order for this one to make any sense. I’ve added them myself below.
15 …Express: nothing in the news, read no more? (7)
NONSTOP – O (nothing) inside N,N (news) + STOP (read no more?).
17 The principal store, without exception (3,4)
BAR NONE – or BARN ONE for the principal store.
18 Exit for such healthy pursuits (7)
OUTDOOR – double definition.
19 Run out of guts, reaching limits of will (7)
ENTAILS – R(un) removed from ENTRAILS (guts). Some kind of legal term to do with inheritance.
21 Apply pressure with stick (4)
PROD – P(ressure) + ROD (stick), &lit. (i.e. the whole clue is the definition).
22 Showing skill, nice to move into surplus (10)
PROFICIENT – (nice)* inside PROFIT (surplus).
25 Uptight oneself, start to object to broadcast mistake one hears (4,2,3,6)
SLIP OF THE TONGUE – (uptight oneself, O)*, the O as the first letter of object.
27 Not a Boat Race rehearsal, then (3,3)
DRY RUN – cryptic definition, as a Boat Race rehearsal would presumably involve water.
28 If only I could manage to hold small probe (8)
OTOSCOPE – “O TO COPE” (if only I could manage) around S(mall).

1 White Book seen at intervals (7)
ALBUMEN – ALBUM (book) + (s)E(e)N.
2 Note acknowledgment of stupidity (3)
DOH – double definition, the second courtesy of Homer Simpson.
3 Deceive with lie, but not in meeting (10)
CONVENTION – CON (deceive) + (in)VENTION (lie, not in).
4 Prominent at last in rising become emperor (5)
TITUS – T (last letter of prominent) inside SUIT (become) reversed. 10th Roman emperor (79-81 AD).
6 Personally clean a little paint (4)
LICK – double definition, although surely the first only applies if you’re a cat!
7 Get time together, but waste empty hour in coyness (11)
SYNCHRONISE – (hr in coyness)*.
8 Show one is worthy to leave the army? (7)
DESERVE – if to be in the army is to SERVE, then to leave is to DE-SERVE.
9 Honest, and once more responsible? (8)
RELIABLE – similar to the last clue, if LIABLE is responsible then RE-LIABLE is responsible once more.
12 Battle site partially cleared in old city for ugly skyscraper? (11)
MONSTROSITY – MONS (battle) + [SIT (i.e. SITE partially cleared) inside TROY (old city)].
14 Roughly redesigned crease out of chalk (10)
CRETACEOUS – C (circa, roughly) + (crease out)*. I knew this was a prehistoric period, but didn’t know it had anything to do with chalk.
16 Waffle about love endlessly, then finish speaking (8)
PERORATE – PRATE (waffle) around ERO(s) (love endlessly). Another word where I didn’t know the required meaning.
18 Hostile power pretended to support NATO’s rear (7)
OPPOSED – P(ower) + POSED (pretended), underneath O (last letter of NATO).
20 Triumphant put-down of alien in Kent? (2,5)
SO THERE – OTHER (alien) inside SE (South-East, hence Kent with the question mark).
23 Old prison ships (5)
FLEET – double definition, the first a London debtors’ prison which was closed in 1844.
24 Some hint of umami in Asian dish… (4)
TOFU – hidden in “hint of umami”.
26 …sticky stuff, not quite satisfying (3)
GOO – GOO(d) (not quite satisfying).

6 comments on “Saturday Times 25795 (24th May)”

  1. Wasn’t terribly keen on this crossword, not entirely sure why, though I did like 7dn which I thought clever.
    I didn’t like 13ac, though I suppose it is a little better, now that I see it goes with 15ac.
  2. Managed to chew my way through this one (over an inordinate amount of time) and get it right, giving me a sense of triumph – albeit not a particularly exciting one in terms of memorable clues.

    A couple I struggled to parse fully (5 ac, 15 ac), so thanks for a supremely clear blog Andy.

    Maybe I’m being overly picky for Crosswordland, but thought 11ac was a bit iffy in that the clue seemed to indicate a plural kind of answer?

    No real standouts, but 17ac and 27ac raised a titter. And 28ac was very elegant.

    Edited at 2014-05-31 10:15 am (UTC)

  3. 30 mins. I thought this was a cleverly constructed puzzle. ENTAILS went in from the wordplay, SO THERE took longer to see than it should have done, and CLOSED was my LOI after I finally remembered CD.
  4. I enjoyed this, happy with it all except spelling CHAR for tea, not CHA?
    1. According the Chambers CHAR is a ‘Cockney spelling of cha’.
      This took me half an hour, so it was obviously a bit tricky, but I don’t really remember anything about it.
  5. I had a few niggles marked up to report on this one but looking at them again a week later I think they were all groundless. Not easy, but quite a steady solve for me completing in 54 minutes.

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