Saturday Times 24377 (Nov 7th)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time – just under an hour I reckon, but it took three sessions to finish. I had 20 minutes or so last Saturday before going out and thought that would be plenty of time, but I had no more than a third of it finished. Came back and had another crack while tea was on, but had to abandon it again with maybe 6 still to get. Finally polished it off that evening. No tricky vocabulary was to blame, but I just couldn’t get onto the setter’s wavelength. I was slightly relieved when comments last week suggested others also had difficulties with it, as for a while I thought it was just me having an off day. There’s nothing unfair here at all. In fact nearly every clue is a gem – as I was blogging this I was able to appreciate the puzzle more and more.

Across
1 PROHIBITED – HI (welcome) + BITE (meal) inside PROD (egg on).
6 HOST – HO(i)ST. Anchor meaning TV presenter.
8 RELIANCE – (real in)* + C.E.
9 CYBORG – BY rev inside CORG(i)
10 AFAR – A FAR(e).
11 ILL-ADVISED – I LED (took van) around LAD + (lo)VI(ng).
12 NUMBER TWO – R inside (women but)*
14 JEANS – J(ungl)E + N(itrogen) inside AS (when).
17 DOUSE – DO USE!
19 AVALANCHE – H(ot) in A VALANCE
22 NEOCLASSIC – (nice)* around O (round) + CLASS.
23 TAXI – TAX + 1. Easy clue, but I unthinkingly stuck in TIRE, seeing it as a double definition with an alternative spelling. Really held me up in that corner.
24 REFLAG – REF + LAG. I looked this up afterwards, as the definition didn’t seem to fit. It has a specific meaning, to fly the flag of a more powerful nation on a ship for protection.
25 ARTERIAL – RT inside AERIAL.
26 STAY – T in SAY (for example). Normally we see this the other way round.
27 PLEASANTRY – PLEAS + A + N(ew) + TRY. A new meaning of sally for me. Chambers has “a witty remark or retort” as one of the definitions.

Down
1 PERTAINED – PERT (fresh) + DENIA(l) reversed.
2 OIL PALM – O(ld) + ILL (crook) around PA, + M(arried).
3 BANDITRY – BAN (sanction) + IT inside DRY (flat).
4 THE OLD WIVES’ TALE – (he dealt + two lives)*. A novel by Arnold Bennett, published in 1908.
5 DECODE – COD (joke) inside DEE(d).
6 HEBRIDEAN – HE (the man) + BRIDE (she married) + AN(d)
7 SURGEON – SO around URGE, + N
13 BASICALLY – AS I CALL (when I ring number) inside BY (close).
15 SPECIALTY – (e[ver]y plastic)*, definition “bag in America”, as in England it would be speciality.
16 PLACATES – PLACES around (r)A(n)T.
18 OVEREAT – EA inside OVERT.
20 CHARIOT – 1 + O (form of wheel) inside CHART.
21 BANG UP – PUG (small dog) + NAB (collar) reversed.

12 comments on “Saturday Times 24377 (Nov 7th)”

  1. How really very strange. For some reason I had no trouble with this puzzle and had it finished in under 30 minutes. It all seemed so straightforward that I was amazed when I saw the comments earlier in the week. I guess I must just have clicked with the setter.

    I even had some quibbling doubts about a couple of definitions. Is “without thinking” synonymous with ILL ADVISED? Sometimes doing something without thinking can save a life! And whilst an AVALANCHE is a slip is it the avalanche that is cold or is it the snow? I liked SPECIALTY with the clever use of “plastic” next to “bag in America”

    Now this week’s puzzle – that I have struggled with so await lots of blogs saying how easy it is!!

  2. Neither were easy in my book, but I think (for some unknown reason) last weeks was noticeably so. This one probably took a similar time, and was at the hard end, yet if anyone asked me in days to come, I would still remember how “hard” last weeks was and not this. Odd.
  3. The difference between this week’s and last week’s for me was that today whilst solving I was in no doubt that my answers were correct and I more or less understood each element of each clue. It took me just under an hour. Last week I gave up after 90 minutes with about a quarter of the grid incomplete because I had 6 or 7 other answers that I was sure were correct but I could hardly begin to explain why. Frankly I got bored with the whole exercise and couldn’t be bothered to persevere.
  4. I did three-quarters on Saturday, the rest on Sunday apart from specialty, which I did not get until Monday. Similar quibbles to those expressed above about loose definitions. What about prohibited for criminal? So its criminal to walk on the grass is it?
  5. This is just to say a big thank you for the blog and also to thank all the other contributors for your helpful comments. I got hooked on crosswords a couple of years ago. When I started I was only able to solve a few clues unaided. A combination of reading Don Manley’s Crossword Manual and coming here regularly has helped so much that I just about get there most days unaided.

    Tahnks once again.

  6. Surprisingly difficult for a puzzle whose answers are generally well known. I think it was due to the clever surfaces diverting attention away from the solution eg 14, 15, 19.

    Nick

  7. Unusual puzzle, in that no very rare words were used, very little general knowledge was required but nonetheless was very hard. It was clue trickery and misdirection all way through. I enjoyed teasing it out but it did take me quite a while, 72 mins. Liked PROHIBITED, RELIANCE, PERTAINED, BANDITRY. Thanks for explaining DOUSE, that was the one wordplay I did not understand.
  8. 39:30 in my post-holiday catch-up – the toughest puzzle of the three weeks for me, though I might plead a bit of jetlag. I wouldn’t call yesterday’s 24383 easy but it was in the normal range – just over 11 minutes.

    Folks talking about “this week and last week”: I can’t tell for certain whether you mean 24377 and 24371, or 24383 and 24377.

    Edited at 2009-11-15 10:10 am (UTC)

    1. For myself, by posting a message on 14th November referring to “this week’s” I meant 24383 but I can see there may be room confusion since the blog is referring to “last week’s” puzzle 24377.
  9. “Source of material for soap – old crook admitting father’s married (3,4)”.

    I got this, but “crook” doesn’t clue ILL for me. According to dictionary.com it’s Australian slang.

    John (ex-Brit) in USA

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