Saturday Times 25107 (10th March)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time 19:11 for this very literary offering, with appearances from Shakespeare (twice), Dickens, Swift and Cardinal Newman.

Across
1 BUBBLE AND SQUEAK – BUBBLE (seem joyful) AND (with) SQUEAK (a little excited sound). Fried leftovers, basically.
9 FESTERING – RING (call) next to FESTE (clown). Feste is the clown in Twelfth Night.
10 TOOTS – O (love) inside TOTS (children). Mr Toots is a character in Dombey and Son who, “when he began to have whiskers, left off having brains”.
11 OUTING – double definition.
12 HEIRLOOM – HEIR (next in line to) + LOO (gents) + M(ale).
13 NEWMAN – NEW MAN, if that’s what baptism does for you. John Henry Newman (1801-90) was an Anglican priest who switched sides, eventually becoming a Roman Catholic cardinal. He also wrote The Dream of Gerontius.
15 CROUPIER – double definition, one a bit fanciful.
18 SWIFTIAN – I inside SWIFT (hasty) + AN (article). “Ferociously satirical” is a good description of Jonathan Swift’s writing.
19 STATUS – STAT (figure) + US (see 21).
21 AMERICAN – AMEN (last word) around RICA (one of the Costas).
23 SCOTER – STER(n) (back, minus the tail) around CO (firm).
26 KRAAL – LARK (bit of fun) reversed around A.
27 FREE-RANGE – FREE (having no charge) + RAN (managed) + EG (say) reversed.
28 PILED ON THE AGONY – (phony delegation)*

Down
1 BUFFOON – BUFF (naked in this) + O ON (i.e. nothing on)
2 BESOT – BET (predict) around SO (in this way).
3 LIE IN WAIT – LIE IN (fail to get up) + AIT (island), around W(ind). I don’t think “hover” is an adequate definition, as in this sense it’s more like just milling around rather than getting ready to pounce.
4 AXIS – A + SIX (throw of the dice) reversed.
5 DOGBERRY – DERRY (Irish town) around (bog)*. A “self-satisfied night constable” in Much Ado About Nothing.
6 QATAR – Q(uestion) + A TAR (sailor). Not sure what cup we’re talking about here…
7 ECONOMIST – S(ucceeded) inside (emoticon)*
8 KASHMIR – sounds like “cash”, “mere”.
14 WHITEHALL – HIT (knock) + EH (what), inside WALL (partition).
16 URTICARIA – (I cut, R)* + ARIA (big number = operatic song?). Nettle rash is another name for it, from the nettle genus Urtica.
17 PARAFFIN – PAN (container) around RAF (airmen) + FI(t).
18 SHACK UP – HACK (journalist) inside SUP (drink).
20 SORCERY – SORRY (pathetic) around CE (church).
22 IDLED – (w)I(n)D + LED (light(-emitting diode)).
24 TENNO – hidden in “forgotten, noble”. The formal title of the emperor of Japan.
25 SETH – SET (decided) + H(usband). Seth was the younger brother of Cain and Abel.

10 comments on “Saturday Times 25107 (10th March)”

  1. A very acceptable Saturday puzzle which I completed in 30 minutes exactly with some guesses along the way as I didn’t know TOOTS, or TENNO. And as somebody who can’t stand soccer at any price I amazed myself by actually knowing the cup reference at 6dn.
    1. I forgot to mention that my bookmark and short-cut button to timesforthetimes stopped working yesterday and instead took me to a goat message “Page not found”, so I have had to come here by other means and create a new bookmark which has a slightly different url. I wonder if anyone else experienced problems? My own LJ page was not affected.
      1. Yes, the same thing happened to me today. I’ve changed my bookmark, but woder if it’s only temporary?

        Good time, by the way. I seem to remember this one taking me ages, with many unknowns like TENNO, TOOTS, FESTE, KRAAL, the cup QATAR won and so on.

  2. Didn’t know Tenno or Feste, but still managed to complete this otherwise attractive offering in c22 minutes.
    I am assuming the Qatar reference is to their astonishing victory in the bidding for the 2022 football world cup? My daughter lives in Qatar.. it is really just a very large sand dune covering the worlds largest gas field, and not a great deal more. It will be fun to see how the fans cope with Qatari policing methods.. few countries in the world have less of a sporting legacy, so you have to admire their chutzpah. Summer temperatures in excess of 50degC may also cause problems but nevertheless, I fully expect them to bid for the winter olympics next 🙂

    Edited at 2012-03-17 10:15 pm (UTC)

  3. 14:30 here for a most enjoyable puzzle. No problem with any of the literary stuff, but I don’t recall coming across TENNO before (despite a few years of Japanese evening classes – though that was some time ago and my memory ain’t what it was).

    I’m another who surprised myself by knowing the Qatari reference (and even which century we’re talking about ;-).

  4. I kept this puzzle to do this morning. Now I’m trying to comment and watch the rugby at the same time. (Wales has just scored again. Oh frabjous day!) I enjoyed this very much – probably because of all the Eng. Lit. references. I got hung up on one or two so my time is quite slow at 37 minutes. LOI was SWIFTIAN which should have been obvious but I was trying to fit an anagram of “hasty” into the mix. (This post has been interrupted by a visit from my neice and her family who are playing in the Welsh Brass Band Championships at a venue down the road and who wanted to watch a bit of the rugby while they wait their turn to perform. It’s a day for getting your priorities right!) Held up at 18d because I was expecting the ubiquitous “ed” for the journalist. Nice to have a change. (Btw, just when I thought we’d finally kicked TIEPOLO into touch he pops up in today’s concise! Maybe BRA will be the next to emigrate)
  5. A speedy (for me, for Saturday) 38′. I was surprised to find TENNO; it had never occurred to me that this would be known generally in English (I’ve certainly never seen it). (In Japanese, it’s always Tennoo-heika ‘His Majesty the Emperor’–most people in Japan don’t know the fellow’s name. Back before the war, a couple was charged with lese-majeste for trying to register their new-born son as Hirohito.) I had no idea what Qatar had to do with what cup, but with the initial Q, there wasn’t much else to choose.
    I’d been having trouble on my computer in Japan (I’m in San Francisco at the moment), where logging in immediately ended the otherwise interminable wait. I’ve had the goat here since yesterday, but somehow–I’ve already forgotten how–got on.
  6. Got the goat again, clicked on ‘recent entries’, and here I am, stilled logged in; go figure.
  7. Just over 17 minutes for this. I didn’t know TENNO either, so it went in on a wing and a prayer here, but when it appeared the next day in Mephisto it was a rare gimme!

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