Saturday Times 25197 (23rd June)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time 9:29, definitely on the easy side as I don’t dip below 10 minutes very often these days. The first 6 acrosses went straight in with hardly any hesitation – in fact the whole top half probably took under 3 minutes, but then I got a touch of vertigo at those Goodliffesque heights and went blank for a bit.

Across
1 CLOBBER – double definition.
5 PUMPKIN – PUMP (shoe) + KIN (issue).
9 BOTTOMS UP – BOTTOM (worst) + SUP (drink).
10 CROWN – N(ame) behind CROW (one going straight).
11 LIE-IN – LIEN (right) around I(sland).
12 AT PRESENT – (tap)* + RESENT (dislike).
13 PRE-RAPHAELITE – (later happier)* + E(nglish).
17 IN THE DISTANCE – HE’D inside IT reversed, all inside INSTANCE (case).
21 HOPSCOTCH – HOP (bound) + SCOTCH (a drink).
24 WORLD – sounds like “whirled”.
25 OSAKA – hidden reversed in “bleak, a southern”.
26 CHOCOLATE – CHAT (talk) around LOCO reversed (flippin’ mad) + ‘E.
27 LIGHTLY – (s)LIGHTLY (a bit, minus the first letter).
28 KINDEST – (send)* inside KIT (clothing).

Down
1 COBALT – ALT (key) under COB (sturdy mount).
2 ON THE SPOT – double definition.
3 BROWNIE – double definition.
4 RAS TAFARI – RA (god) + SAFARI (holiday in Africa) around T(ime).
5 POP UP – PO (one of the Teletubbies) + PUP (youngster).
6 MACHETE – CHE (revolutionary) inside MATE (ally).
7 KRONE – K (1,000) + R(upees) + ONE (single).
8 NINETIES – (Einstein)*.
14 HITCHCOCK – HITCH (problem) + COCK (bird).
15 INEBRIATE – BEN (mountain) + I reversed, then I inside RATE (reckon).
16 NIGHT OWL – NIGH (close) + TO + W(aking), L(ate).
18 ENCHANT – (t)ENCH (decapitated fish) + ANT (six-footer).
19 NEW MOON – (women)* + ON.
20 ADVENT – V (see, from Latin vide) inside A DENT (depression).
22 PRANG – P (quietly) + RANG (pressed the bell).
23 TACKY – double definition.

5 comments on “Saturday Times 25197 (23rd June)”

  1. Quick and straightforward, as you say Andy. Still, finally I understand why they call them Rastafarians..!
  2. 42 minutes but needed a little help at 4dn because I baulked at the thought of a 3-letter word to fit R?S. If the setter had clued the more familiar 9-letter version I’m confident I would have worked it out unassisted. Not sure about ‘surrealist’ as anagrind at 13ac.

    Edited at 2012-06-30 08:02 am (UTC)

  3. 20 minutes and nothing to say. But I don’t want Linxit to think that his efforts are unread and unappreciated. Ann
  4. 8:20 for me – starting incredibly slowly, but then at last finding the setter’s wavelength and finishing quite briskly. So, a rather different experience to yours, Andy: I missed the first two acrosses (could only think of SON for “issue” in 5ac and couldn’t get DAMSON out of my head), as well as 12ac (AT PRESENT) which must have been nearly my LOI.

    At least I had no problem with RAS TAFARI, whom I’ve only ever seen spelled as two words.

  5. Most annoying: I finished in 17 1/2 minutes, orders of magnitude faster than any Saturday puzzle I’ve ever done, took 30 seconds to reconsider 19d and correct it, and then typed it in wrong. 4d was a quickie, actually, with ‘Africa’ and ‘old Emperor’ enough (with the enumeration); figured it out after. I do hope knowing the names of the Teletubbies is not going to be required GK!

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