Saturday Times 24448 (Jan 30th)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time – a dozy 35:30, on the train last Monday morning. I knew I was still half asleep and would have been better off leaving it till the journey home, but I persevered and got there in the end. There doesn’t seem to be anything that difficult here looking at it again now, so it was just me.

Sorry this arrived so late – I did it early this morning and forgot to post it!

Across
1 BLOBBY – L (student taking wheel) in BOBBY (slang for a policeman). One definition is “a round spot”, and Mr. Blobby definitely had spots!
4 IDIOT BOX – slang for TV (as is tube), but I don’t get the wordplay.
10 DEAD AS A DODO – DADAS round E (a tablet) + A + DO twice. The first of several metaphorical phrases appearing in the puzzle.
11 FUR – RUF(f) reversed.
12 OLIVIER – I in OLIVE + R(oom). Great surface reading to clue one of our greatest actors.
14 EMULATE – EMU + LATE (like the dodo).
15 ENEMY AT THE DOOR – just a cryptic definition. [ Um, no it isn’t. As mctext pointed out it’s a really good anagram &lit. (enter home today)* – I really didn’t notice, got it from the enumeration and checking letters and thought it was a bit lame. My bad. ]
17 BATHING MACHINE – BA + THING + MACH (Ernst Mach, famous for the Mach number and a lot else besides) + IN + E. “Location for a change” is the definition, one of those changing rooms on wheels so Victorian ladies could take the waters without anyone seeing their ankles.
21 ARTEMIS – A + RTE (Irish equivalent of the BBC) + MIS(t). Greek goddess of hunting, equivalent to the Roman Diana.
22 WOOLLEN – NELL (Nell Gwyn, mistress of Charles II) reversed next to WOO (court), Cashmere being an old spelling of Kashmir, as the current spelling for the wool would be too much of a giveaway.
23 OWE – O (ball) with W,E (team doing tricks, i.e. in bridge). Definition “are in red”. Perhaps the setter’s having a joke about the recent “football team colours” clues!
24 RAILROADING – RAILING around ROAD.
26 FISHCAKE – (I ask chef)*
27 AT REST – ARREST (nick) with one R replaced by T.

Down
1 BEDSORES – hidden in “throbBED, SO RESt”. Nicely worded and well hidden.
2 OVA – OVA, e.g. Navratilova, Sharapova, Kuznetsova, several others high in the WTA rankings…
3 BEATIFY – BEAT + 1 + F(airl)Y
5 DO ONE’S HOMEWORK – DORK around (someone who)*, definition “mug up”.
6 OROTUND – O(ld) + ROT + UND (German for and, not also, but OROTAUCH doesn’t fit).
7 BUFFALO BILL – BUFF (Polish) + A(ce) + LOB (shot up) + ILL. Well put together, shame about the capitalised Polish, although I think that’s allowed according to Ximenean rules if the surface requires it.
8 XERXES – SEX (the other) + REX, all reversed.
9 CARROT AND STICK – (N or dark tactics)*
13 INEXACTNESS – (I c Texan)* above NESS.
16 HEN NIGHT – HE + NT (books) house, i.e. contain, NIGH. Another good clue, which I was slow to work out.
18 HOMERIC – HOME RIC(h)
19 COOLANT – CAN around LOO reversed, + T. I thought CAN was the toilet, which held me up a bit. An opportunity missed for a double-toilet clue perhaps?
20 FAR-OFF – FAFF (waste of time) around R + O (button shape). Buttons don’t have to be round, so perhaps this should have been phrased as a question.
25 ICE – (r)ICE. This little one had me scratching my head for a while, as I thought “Top” meant “take the first letter off…” but it’s “top cake” as a verb for the definition, and the pudding ingredient RICE with the last letter of maker removed.

6 comments on “Saturday Times 24448 (Jan 30th)”

  1. 4A is “one often had”=IDIOT; “strike”=BOX; and as you say “the tube”=TV=IDIOT BOX

    I enjoyed this puzzle with original little twists like “location for a change” and “team doing tricks” for W-E. The hidden word BEDSORES is excellent. About 25 minutes to solve.

  2. Snap on the BLOUSY, vinyl. I too put it in with some conviction, which did not waver until I eventually decided BEATIFY had to be it, some hours later. “It’s blobbing blobby!”, I said to myself with some consternation. I too didn’t understand IDIOT BOX. I don’t think it was just you, There was some exceptional trickery here. COD to XERXES by a whisker. Great stuff.
  3. > 15 ENEMY AT THE DOOR – just a cryptic definition.
    And the anagram? So I guess it’s an &lit? And not a bad one either.
  4. I thought this was excellent with lots of nice little tricks and turns. No real obscurity, and a scientist for Jimbo.

    (Vinyl, I had a lovely wrong answer at 1ac in this week’s Saturday puzzle, but more of that next week!)

  5. This puzzle was right at the limit of my current skill level and I was chuffed to bits to complete it without aids in two dogged hours. Many were the times I ground to a complete halt only to pull inspiration from thin air and fill in a few more white squares.

    Too many terrific clues to mention. In particular I liked BEDSORES, XERXES, RAILROADING, AT REST and HEN NIGHT, but my COD goes to IDIOT BOX because I love the Times’s use of slang.

    Thank you setter – brilliant entertainment!

    Daniel

Comments are closed.