Saturday Times 25185 (9th June)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
A fairly average 15:13 for this, would probably have been faster if I was concentrating harder. Unusually for me, I solved this on Saturday – usually I don’t have much time at the weekend and save them for the train on Monday morning. Looking at my printout today, I’m reminded by the neatness of the writing that I was sat at my desk at home for this one!

Across
1 MISHMASH – H(orse) inside M1 SMASH.
5 SHADOW – (l)AD(y) inside SHOW (e.g. Crufts, the dog show), which ties in nicely with the definition.
9 ACRIDITY – RID (cleared) inside A CITY.
10 ALTAIR – AIR (appearance), after (h)ALT (interval without the first letter). A bright start in the constellation Aquila, and a common destination in science fiction, from Forbidden Planet to Star Trek.
12 LIANA – A NAIL reversed. Convenient mode of transport for Tarzan.
13 SUNDOWNER – alternate letters of S(p)U(r)N(e)D + OWNER (person who has). Mine’s a Scotch, cheers!
14 PARADE GROUND – PARA (soldier) + (complete)D + [ROUND (circuit) next to EG (such as)].
18 PROTESTATION – ROT (corruption) inside PE (outer letters, or walls, of POLICE) + STATION (headquarters).
21 CONCOURSE – CON (study) + COURSE (lectures). I thought the definition was a bit dubious, but Chambers has “(an) assembly of people for some event”, so it’s OK.
23 EYE UP – YE (you) + UP (high), next to E(cstasy).
24 LOOKER – L(arge) + (c)OOKER (baking apple minus its first letter).
25 COVERAGE – C (a hundred) + OVERAGE (too old).
26 BUFFER – double definition.
27 SENTINEL – SENT (transported) + LINE (rail) with the L moved to the end.

Down
1 MEANLY – (laymen)*
2 SCREAM – S(econd) + CREAM (best).
3 MADE A DATE – DEAD (former) inside MATE (friend).
4 SATISFACTORY – I(ntelligence) inside SATS (exams) + FACTORY (works).
6 HALLO – ALL inside HO(me).
7 DRAWN-OUT – double definition, one cryptic. If you’ve had enough as a cartoonist, you could well be DRAWN OUT. Edit: or better, as pointed out by Anonymous below, sounds like “DRAW NOWT”.
8 WAR BRIDE – A RIDE around BR(itain), next to W(ife).
11 UNDER THE ROSE – (rented house)* around (summe)R. I knew the Latin expression sub rosa, but not this English translation!
15 ROOSEVELT – (sole vote)* underneath R(epublican).
16 SPACELAB – PAC(k) (no end of stuff) inside BALES (bundles) reversed. Spacelab was a part of the space shuttle, so not really a remote research base (apart from during missions).
17 SOUND OFF – double definition, one which means loud noise, the other silence. You gotta love the English language!
19 RETAIN – REIN (control) around TA (army).
20 APPEAL – sounds like a Peel. Sir Robert Peel, prime minister 1834-5 and 1841-6.
22 OBESE – hidden reversed inside these boxers.

7 comments on “Saturday Times 25185 (9th June)”

  1. I made heavy weather of this one. Two unknowns UNDER THE ROSE and ALTAIR and four clues in the NW corner were the cause of my anguish. I completed it in 59 minutes with a couple of look-ups.
  2. 56 minutes, but had to cheat to get ALTAIR, as my sci-fi reading is pretty much limited to CS Lewis’s trilogy, Lindsay’s ‘Voyage to Arcturus’ and Wells’s ‘First Men in the Moon’.
  3. On 7 down – the presence of the word “say” suggests that the reference is to “draw nowt”, to be read also as “drawn-out” ie for too long
    1. sorry, that wasn’t meant to be anonymous but I can’t see where to enter my nom de guerre
    2. Yes, I think I prefer your version – I’ll edit the blog. To add your nom de guerre you need to sign up for a free account with LiveJournal. It’s fairly painless, from what I recall.
  4. 31′, maybe my quickest Saturday ever. Could have been faster if I hadn’t wasted time at 24ac (LOI) racking my brains trying to come up with apple names. (Similarly with 1ac, where I tried for too long to get ‘cob’ or ‘nag’ to fit in.) Another argument for Anon’s interpretation of 7d is that the ‘drawn out’ version would seem to require ‘lacking’ not ‘lack’, no? COD to 11d for its lovely surface.
  5. 9:40 for me. I’d have been a minute or so faster if I hadn’t had a complete brainstorm over 9ac. When I came to it a second time with A‑R‑D‑‑‑ in place, I remembered there was a “dog” mentioned in an early clue and spent simply ages trying to justify AIREDALE from the clue to 5ac. The really ridiculous bit is that I’d already solved 5ac first time through. (Poor old chap – must be losing his marbles. Sigh!)

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