Saturday Times 25538 (27th July)

Posted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time 18:02, which seemed pretty quick for this one. Indeed, after 5 minutes I only had three answers in place, but then something clicked and I raced away with the rest of it. Great puzzle, with a lot of cricket references if you look hard enough. The best clue has to be 4dn though – has a surface reading ever been so far removed from the answer?! 7dn also deserves a mention for the long hidden.

Across
1 ADHESIVE – HE’S (man’s) inside A DIVE (a place that’s seedy).
5 H-BOMBS – alternate letters of “the bloom a bush”.
9 TUTELAGE – E.G. (for one) + ALE (drink) + TUT (we don’t approve of this), all reversed.
10 PLUCKY – LUCKY (happy) following (in pursuit of) P (cuP ultimately).
12 READY, STEADY, GO – STEADY (firm) + GO (attempt) after READY (money).
15 HUMID – ID (passport for example) replacing the P (page) of HUMP (sulk).
16 BLASPHEME – SHE (female) around P(ressure), all inside BLAME (rap).
17 VENEZUELA – EZ (Euro Zone initially) inside VENUE (place) + LA (“the” in French, Italian or Spanish).
19 PROWL – PROW (where you’ll find stem, “a curved timber at the prow of a ship”) + L(arge).
20 ST CRISPIN’S DAY – (Son is dynastic PR)*. Famous speech by the king in Shakespeare’s Henry V.
22 ELIJAH – J(udge) + I (one) inside HALE (fit), all reversed.
23 VITAMIN A – TA (I’m obliged) + MIN(ute) (half the time) inside VIA (by way of).
25 LEG BYE – BYE (so long) next to LEG (stage). An extra in cricket.
26 AS IT WERE – (grac)E after (waiter’s)*.

Down
1 AFTERSHAVE – AFTER (in search of) + SH (peace) + AVE (hail).
2 HAT – WHAT (pardon) minus the first letter.
3 SPLAYED – S.P. (starting price, betting) + LAY (not ordained) + ED (boss to run daily).
4 VEGETABLE OIL – (leg, a love bite)*
6 BELLY-UP – cryptic definition.
7 MICROSECOND – hidden in “Academic rose, condemning”
8 SKYE – SKY (put up) + (slim)E. An inch is a small Scottish island.
11 BANANA SPLITS – BAITS (enticements) around NANA’S (grandmother’s) PL(ace).
13 ADMONISHING – A (article) + DISHING (serving) around MON (a day).
14 SELL-BY DATE – LL (fifties) + BY (times) inside SEDATE (collected).
18 ZACHARY – CHARY (guarded) next to alternate letters of zeal.
19 PENDANT – PANT(s) (short trousers) around END (design).
21 VEIL – (live)*
24 ICE – NICE (precise) minus the N (some number).

5 comments on “Saturday Times 25538 (27th July)”

  1. Top class effort this one.. thanks setter! lots of nice clues; I particularly liked 17ac and 11dn as well as 4dn
  2. Minor quibble. The famous speech in Henry V takes place on the eve of St Crispin’s day about the battle that will occur the following day, not on the day itself. Since it is an anagram, St Cripspin’s Eve is clearly wrong but…
    1. Maybe you’re right, I don’t know the play, but the bit I’ve linked to starts:

      This day is called the feast of Crispian:
      He that outlives this day, and comes safe home…

      A few lines further on it mentions “To-morrow is Saint Crispian”, but in the context of reliving it in later years if you survive.

  3. A very enjoyable puzzle where in some cases working out the wordplay was as enjoyable as coming up with the answer. Took for ever to spot how 7d worked, so congrats to the setter for the very long hidden word.

    Edited at 2013-08-03 08:48 am (UTC)

  4. 28:46 .. a lot of good stuff but VEGETABLE OIL is so striking (not to mention thought-provoking) that it’s hard to see past it. That’s one seriously edgy clue.

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