Saturday Times 25125 (31st March)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time 17:15. Fairly straightforward puzzle, nothing much contentious. I don’t know why it took me so long, to be honest.

Across
1 AXLE – L(eft) inside AXE (cutting tool with blade).
3 GOALTENDER – (a lot)* inside GENDER (male, possibly). For a while I was thinking M for male, so it had to be GOALMINDER. Slowed me down a bit expecting 6D to start with an I.
10 CAVIARE – RE (about), after CAVA (wine) around I.
11 TAGALOG – TAG (mark) A LOG (diary). Main language of the Philippines.
12 TURN IN ONE’S GRAVE – TURN IN (give up) ONE’S GRAVE (accent). The grave accent in French, over an à or è.
13 CLOTHO – LOT (one fate) inside CHO(ice). One of the three Fates in Greek mythology, responsible for spinning the thread of human life.
14 CLEMATIS – CAT (tom) IS around LEM(on).
17 COLANDER – (or lanced)*.
18 INFIRM – IN (current) + FIRM (concern).
21 MEXICAN HAIRLESS – CHAIRLESS (unable to sit) around AN, accompanying ME (setter), X (cross), I (one). The official name for this breed is Xoloitzcuintli, so hardly surprising they came up with another one!
23 BONKERS – BOERS (old Dutch) around N,K (knight and king in chess notation).
24 DUNEDIN – DIN (row) next to DUNE (sand). Port and one of the main cities of New Zealand.
25 DENOMINATE – (mentioned a)*.
26 TRAY – TRY (go) around A.

Down
1 ASCETIC – CITE (name) + C(onservative) + SA(d) (blue, not entirely), all reversed.
2 LIVERPOOL – LIVER (meat) + POOL (collect). Side as in football side.
4 OCELOT – O (nothing) + (pastur)E inside CLOT (ass).
5 LATTERLY – LATTE (coffee) + (o)R(a)L(l)Y.
6 ENGAGEMENT RING – ENGAGEMENT (battle) + RING (arena).
7 DELIA – DELI (food shop) above A.
8 REGRESS – SERGE (material) + R(un) reversed, + S(on).
9 VANISHING CREAM – (remaining chavs)*.
15 TAIL-ENDER – AIL (pain) inside TENDER (nurse). The obligatory cricket reference.
16 TENNYSON – (sonnet)* around NY (New York, state).
17 CAMP-BED – CAMP (affected) + BED (plot).
19 MASONRY – MARY (virgin mother) around SON (Jesus, say).
20 BANDIT – BIT (scrap) around AND.
22 XENON – hidden reversed in volcaNO NEXt.

6 comments on “Saturday Times 25125 (31st March)”

  1. 50 minutes, held up by three DKs (GOALTENDER, TAGALOG, MEXICAN HAIRLESS) and one forgotten (CLOTHO).

    Edited at 2012-04-07 07:30 am (UTC)

  2. Not my finest hour (sic): 1 cheat (the Fate) and 4 wrong, including an invention at 1dn, ‘hecatic’, ‘engagement line'(??) and a new breed of dog, the ‘Mexican tailless’.
  3. Plain sailing for me too, though I did spend a minute or two wondering what Mexican Barriers might be..
  4. This took me about half an hour, of which ten at the end to get the dog. I’ve never heard of it and just couldn’t get past the idea that “unable to sit” was going to involve “can’t”. Doh!
  5. 15:16 for me, with the unfamiliar (and slightly unlikely sounding) GOALTENDER holding me up at the end. I vaguely recalled MEXICAN HAIRLESS, but felt the need to check the wordplay rather than just banging in the answer as I often do (though I always check after I’ve clicked on my stopwatch).
  6. I think I finished this in under 30′, which would be my first such for a Saturday (yesterday’s would then be my 2d; what’s going on?). 10ac slowed me down, as I’d never heard of Cava. Having got MEXICAN, I suppose it was association of ideas that led me to tentatively put in ‘standoff’ (unable to sit?), until reason, and some checkers, prevailed. I’d thought the Mexican hairless was the same as the Chihuahua; in either case, they don’t count as dogs in my book.

    Edited at 2012-04-08 02:34 am (UTC)

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