Solving time 16:38, so about average for a Saturday puzzle. I don’t have a lot of time again this morning, so I’ve had to keep it fairly brief. I was a bit surprised that 14D doesn’t appear in any of the usual dictionaries, but it was familiar enough to me, so maybe neither the setter or the editor checked it either.
Across |
1 |
DATABASE – A TAD (rather) reversed + BASE (sordid). |
5 |
BREWED – sounds like “brood”. |
9 |
PANEGYRIC – PANIC (show fear) around [ E.G. (say) + YR (your) ]. |
11 |
MANIC – MAC (Scotsman) around N.I. (Northern Ireland = Ulster). |
12 |
CORTEGE – [ O.R. (other ranks = men) + GET reversed], inside EC (city) reversed. |
13 |
NOTABLE – NOT ABLE |
14 |
FIRST-NIGHTERS – “nursed fighters”, according to the Reverend Spooner. |
16 |
SLAP ON THE BACK – (Can shop talk be)* |
20 |
EMBARGO – E (drug) + BARG(e) (docked boat) inside MO (instant). |
21 |
ANTIQUE – ANT (worker) + (p)IQUE (irritation after losing head). |
23 |
SCI-FI – hidden inside “prolific scribbler”. |
24 |
SWITCHING – SING (make notes) around [ C(onservative) inside WITH (and) ]. |
25 |
SEETHE – EH (what) + TEES (river), all reversed. |
26 |
INVENTOR – INVENTOR(y) (short list). Samuel Morse was co-inventor of the telegraph as well as giving his name to the code. |
Down |
1 |
DEPICT – D(u)T(y) around EPIC (long, arduous task). |
2 |
TENOR – sounds like “tenner” (note). |
3 |
BUGBEAR – BUG (tap) + BEAR (shoulder). |
4 |
SURREPTITIOUS – I inside (I put, trousers)*. |
6 |
REMATCH – RE(d) (left-winger nearly) + MATCH (striker in box). |
7 |
WINDBREAK – WIND (snake) + BREAK (crack). |
8 |
DECREASE – DECREE (law) around AS (eg). |
10 |
CONSIDERATION – double definition. |
14 |
FRAMBOISE – (I am sober)* after F(ine). Raspberry brandy, surprisingly not in Chambers or Collins, and only in the Shorter OED as another word for a raspberry or its colour. Edited link to appease the alcoholic pedants below! |
15 |
ASSESSES – (m)ESS (muddle, not the first) inside ASSES (fools). |
17 |
OARFISH – OAFISH (stupid) around R(iver). A gigantic fish that can grow up to 50ft long, seen much more often in crosswords than it is in the wild! |
18 |
ARTICLE – [ I (one) + C (about) ] inside (alert)*. |
19 |
BEGGAR – GG (two grand) inside BEAR (chap selling shares). |
22 |
QUIET – QUITE (to some extent) swapping the last two letters around. |
I knew it as a Belgian beer that I have bought occasionally but have not met it as a brandy before.
56 minutes of very steady solving but no resort to aids and no unknown words or meanings other than the brandy mentioned above. Very enjoyable.
Edited at 2012-11-17 10:34 am (UTC)
No problems otherwise, some very elegant clues eg 16ac, 3 & 17dn
The puzzle was otherwise straightforward for a Saturday offering.
Started slowly but the big difference was the end – no hold-ups, instead of the usual 2 or 3 crossing words that just refuse to be solved.
Rob