Saturday Times 25472 (11th May)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Didn’t have time to finish this today, so look out for it later tonight. Actually I didn’t get back home till nearly midnight, but here it is eventually. Three cryptic definitions in the one puzzle is a bit high for the Times, but they weren’t bad ones. Solving time was about 15 minutes I think (forgot to make a note of it).

Across
1 PLAINTIFFS – PLAIN (unaffected) + TIFFS (arguments).
6 AVID – AV (Authorised Version = bible) + ID (papers).
9 IMHOTEP – IMHO (txtish for “in my humble opinion”) + PET (favourite) reversed.
10 RESIDED – i.e. RE-SIDED
12 ON CUE – ONE (I) around CU (copper, a great conductor).
13 STIR-CRAZY – cryptic definition.
14 PHOTOJOURNALISM – another cryptic definition.
17 NUMBER-CRUNCHING – (Munich, Nurnberg)* around C(old).
20 GAS-FITTER – GAS (rabbit) + FITTER (more appropriate).
21 ISLET – IS LET (has tenant).
23 ACADEME – ACE (one club perhaps) around (made)*.
24 OSBORNE – O’S (appeal’s) + BORNE (supported). Nice to see “appeal” meaning something other than IT or SA.
25 SPEW – S(afe) + PEW (seat).
26 SEA SERPENT – SPENT (all in) around EASE (move gradually) + R(ight).

Down
1 POISON PEN – PO (Post Office) + IS OPEN (has started up) around N(ew).
2 AD HOC – “ADD HOCK”
3 NOT BEFORE TIME – (OBE, merit, often)*
4 IMPASTO – I (one) + MO (doctor) around PAST (by).
5 FERRIER – double definition, the first Kathleen Ferrier (1912-53). Never heard of her!
7 VODKATINI – (it on avid k)*, where avid is the answer to 6ac.
8 DADDY – DAY (Sun, maybe) around DD (daughters).
11 SOCIAL CLIMBER – cryptic definition.
15 ON-MESSAGE – MESS (confusion) inside ON AGE (over date).
16 MIGHTIEST – MIG (jet fighter) + (it’s the)*.
18 CAT’S-EYE – YE (you) underneath CASE (box) around T(ime).
19 UPROOTS – hidden reversed in “pesto or puree”
20 GRASS – GRASPS (picks up) without the P for “quietly”.
22 LARGE – last letters of “football, idea for completing the“.

12 comments on “Saturday Times 25472 (11th May)”

  1. Saturdays have become walks in the park suddenly: I virtually never get under a half-hour, not that often under an hour, and for the last 3 Saturdays (including yesterday) I’ve had 3 under 20′ pb’s. I wish I could credit me for the improvement. Anyway, I rather liked the cd in 13ac (although not in 14).I thought 9ac was something of a giveaway, even though I didn’t know IMHOTEP. DNK VODKATINI, I’m happy to say, but I suppose it was inevitable–the word, not the solution. COD to 26ac, which was my LOI.
  2. Kathleen Ferrier was a much-loved contralto of the 1940s and 50s. Her recordings of Blow The Wind Southerly and Che Faro were regularly heard on record request programmes such as Two-Way Family Favourites. Her recording of Mahler’s Um Mitternacht can be heard on You Tube and is profoundly moving.
    1. I remember my father having kittens when I asked him why that woman on the radio couldn’t sing properly, because …her voice kept wobbling.
      Actually, I still think that
  3. 49 minutes.

    DK IMHOTEP but worked it out. Didn’t quite finish parsing 7dn but I’d heard of the drink so it went in quite easily. Enjoyed “great conductor”.

    After the past week I welcomed yesterday’s walk in the park

  4. My Saturday lunchtime pub “team” usually solve about 1/2 -2/3 before giving up so that gives you an idea of our standard. After 40 minutes with increasing desperation we thought that 15d was on message but couldn’t see why.At that stage having probably avoided the bagel, we gave up. One man’s meat etc but best guess is that the beer was at fault.
    Better effort yesterday.
  5. Thanks for parsing VODKATINI. I was fixated on 6 being ‘vi’ and I couldn’t see where the ‘ad’ came from. Had it been a Guardian crossword then looking at the answer in 6 would have been one of the first things I did.
    1. Identical experience here.
      Is this word actually in any of the “standard” dictionaries?
      1. It’s not in Chambers, Collins or the Oxford Reference Dictionary, but it is in the Shorter OED and the Bloomsbury dictionary. Yes, I have far too many dictionaries!
        1. Thanks!
          It seems to be passing out of usage: if you ask for a Martini these days you usually get asked if you want gin or vodka.
  6. I’m a relative newbie and would appreciate someone pointing out to me the connection between ‘appeal’ and either OS, IT or SA? Many thanks.
    1. SA = sex appeal
      “It” (not an acronym) means sex appeal (or just plain sex).
      OS can be read as the plural of O, which is used (generally in verse or plays) to indicate an appeal to a person/thing, e.g. “O mistress mine, where are you roaming?” from Twelfth Night. I suppose it’s the vocative indicator.

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