Saturday Times 25502 (15th June)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time was around 22 minutes for this, but I got one wrong (21ac), and have an unsatisfactory explanation for 1ac. Quite a testing puzzle, some long anagrams that required a bit of work to unravel, and quite a few tongue-in-cheek definitions that required some lateral thinking.

Across
1 DOCK – reads like a triple definition: Cut / sort of brief / weed, but I can’t justify the middle one, so maybe it’s just an excessively verbose DD? [ Edit: “dock brief” explained in comments below, so my first assumption was correct.]
3 LONG ISLAND – LONGS (pines) around I (one) + LAND (part of Germany).
10 PARQUET – PART (a bit) around QUE (question in Spanish).
11 RIBBING – RIB (bone) + BING(e) (almost overindulge).
12 CHARLES DE GAULLE – (alleges duel)* next to CHAR (daily). I wasted a bit of time trying to make something out of (alleges duel goes)*.
13 SWITCH – double definition.
14 MUTINOUS – MOUS(e) (IT equipment being short), around U(niversity) + TIN (can).
17 PING-PONG – PIN (fix) + GONG (medal) around (la)P(el).
18 LAPTOP – APT (fit) + OP (work), next to L(ine).
21 OPPORTUNITY COST – OPPORTUNITY (chance) + S(leep) inside COT (bed). Never come across this economics term before, so instead of trusting the wordplay I reluctantly put in OPPORTUNITY LOST instead, as it sounded somehow more feasible.
23 BOASTER – S(on) inside BOATER (hat).
24 PRAIRIE – R(un) inside PAIR (couple) + IE (that’s).
25 SEMIDESERT – (remedies)* inside ST (way).
26 HEWN – W(idth) inside HEN (layer).

Down
1 DEPICTS – DICTS (word books, briefly) around EP (record).
2 CARNATION – definition + cryptic definition (CAR NATION).
4 OBTUSE – double definition, the first referring to an angle of more than 90°.
5 GORGEOUS – double definition, the first tongue-in-cheek, i.e. like a gorge.
6 SABBATICAL YEAR – (a basic betrayal)*, obvious anagram fodder but still took me a while to work it out.
7 ARIEL – hidden in Marie Louise, this is the character from Shakespeare’s The Tempest who was trapped in a “cloven pine” by the witch Sycorax and rescued by Prospero.
8 DIGRESS – RE (about) inside DIGS (rooms) + S(mall).
9 PUBLIC-SPIRITED – PUBLIC (a sort of bar) + SPIRITED (stocked with whisky?).
15 OUTSOURCE – (courteous)*
16 INQUIRES – IN QUIRES (a measure of 24 or 25 sheets of paper, 1/20th of a ream).
17 PHOEBUS – sounds like “fee” (charge) + BUS (public transport). The Roman name for Apollo, the Greek sun god.
19 PATTERN – PATTER (move rapidly but quietly) + N(orth).
20 TIPPER – double definition.
22 PSALM – S(ons) inside PALM. The Book of Psalms in the Bible is usually attributed to David.

6 comments on “Saturday Times 25502 (15th June)”

  1. I didn’t time this one but I remember it being on the harder side of average.

    I didn’t know OPPORTUNITY COST but I trusted the wordplay and then checked it in my Chambers post-solve. CHARLES DE GAULLE was one of those clues where I saw the answer almost immediately so didn’t bother to parse it.

  2. No problems with this one, in contrast with today’s. I knew OPPORTUNITY COST (and also STRAW MAN, which we had recently) from, of all things, a US basketball forum that I occasionally frequent. The definition in 7D went completely over my head.
  3. As given by the prisoner in the dock to a solicitor/barrister provided on the spot. Featured in a B&W film of the same name starring Peter Sellers and Richard Attenborough based on the radio play by John Mortimer
  4. No solving time for this one as I abandoned it overnight. When I came back to it with less than half completed I rattled off the remainder in 17 minutes.

    Didn’t understand the Ariel reference but I was fine with all three definitions in 1ac as I once saw a stage production of “The Dock Brief” performed by Not the National Theatre. I’m sure I’ve seen the film too, but I don’t remember it.

  5. 25:28 .. tricky in parts. I think all but one of the long answers caused me problems.

    I really liked ‘courteous dissembling’ for OUTSOURCE.

  6. 34 minutes so on the wavelength here. I think the idea with 22d is that around half of the psalms in the Book of Psalms are attributed to David but it’s a nice point.

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