Saturday Times 25801 (31st May) – reassortment remonstrates?

Posted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Well, that was a fun puzzle! I have to admit that I didn’t see any of the symmetrical anagrams until well after I’d finished the puzzle and was typing it into the Crossword Club for the competition entry. I’d just done TREPAN and PARENT and thought it was a coincidence, but then I typed in SALUT and remembered TULSA, and started looking properly. So we have 7 pairs of symmetrically placed mutual anagrams in the grid:

SIGNORA / SOARING, SARTRE / ARREST, TULSA / SALUT, TREPAN / PARENT, STARTING-POINT / TRAIN-SPOTTING, OMASA / SAMOA, SUREST / RUSSET.

There’s also another symmetrical pair that could be said to be related – ROUND-UP with the palindromic ROTATOR, but I don’t think that can be counted as thematic. My solving time was 14:52, although a few went in without full understanding of the wordplay, which was quite convoluted in places.

Across
1 Topless dress is to be sent back to Italy, madam (7)
SIGNORA – (s)ARONG (topless dress) + IS, all reversed.
5 Writer’s skill showcased in series regularly (6)
SARTRE – ART (skill) inside S(e)R(i)E(s).
8 What’s used for carving in the manner of turkey roaster (9)
ALABASTER – A LA (in the manner of) + BASTER (turkey roaster).
9 Suspect Democrat known to have pocketed billions (5)
DOUBT – D(emocrat) + OUT (known) around B(illions).
11 City that’s beginning to get large in America (5)
TULSA – T(hat) + [L(arge) inside USA].
12 Conservative fool with artillery is one anticipating disaster (9)
CASSANDRA – C(onservative) + ASS (fool) + AND (with) + R.A. (Royal Artillery). Trojan prophetess who was cursed by Apollo so that no-one ever believed her.
13 Lumpy, old and mostly uninteresting in smell (8)
NODULOSE – O(ld) + DUL(l) (mostly uninteresting), inside NOSE (smell).
15 Showing cheek put back with a new cut through bone (6)
TREPAN – PERT (showing cheek) reversed, + A + N(ew).
17 Seeming not to have used any precautions initially? That’s me (6)
PARENT – APPARENT (seeming), without A(ny) P(recautions). &lit, i.e. the whole clue is the (somewhat cryptic) definition.
19 Call for rapid movement over deficit (5,3)
TRADE GAP – PAGE (call for) + DART (rapid movement), all reversed.
22 Break put to rest game point (9)
INTERRUPT – INTER (put to rest) + RU (Rugby Union = game) + PT (point).
23 University gets involved in rating your health (5)
SALUT – U(nivesity) inside SALT (rating, i.e. sailor).
24 Magnetic attraction revealed in bronze colossus (5)
TITAN – IT (magnetic attraction) inside TAN (bronze).
25 Volcano — one to throw up a lot of extra tons with sulphur about (9)
STROMBOLI – I (one) + LOB (throw up) + MOR(e) (a lot of extra) + T(ons) + S(ulphur), all reversed. An active volcanic island near Sicily.
26 Seize time for relaxation after a run (6)
ARREST – REST (time for relaxation) after A + R(un).
27 Flying high is frightening with little oxygen where it’s cold (7)
SOARING – SCARING (frightening), with the C for cold replaced by O for oxygen.

1 Celebrity can get doctor round in time for birth (8-5)
STARTING-POINT – STAR (celebrity) + TIN (can) + GP (doctor) + O (round) + IN + T(ime).
2 Rugged Derek called over (7)
GNARLED – DEL (Derek) + RANG (called), all reversed.
3 Ruminants’ stomachs like a second going over (5)
OMASA – AS (like) + A + MO (second), all reversed.
4 Classical elegance consumed endlessly, thus it elevated millions (8)
ATTICISM – AT(e) (consumed endlessly) + [SIC (thus) + IT reversed] + M(illions).
5 Most confident squirrel oddly finds a way (6)
SUREST – S(q)U(i)R(r)E(l) + ST (street = way).
6 Concerned with heads of Dorking hens exposed as foxes appear (3-6)
RED-HAIRED – RE (concerned with) + D(orking) + H(ens) + AIRED (exposed).
7 A collection of cattle made into mince that’s no good (5-2)
ROUND-UP – GROUND UP (made into mince), without the G for good.
10 Interest in people that have not gone off the rails (5-8)
TRAIN-SPOTTING – cryptic definition.
14 Lake above country house is effective at a distance (4-5)
LONG-RANGE – L(ake) + ON (above) + GRANGE (country house).
16 Star of a Roman Catholic channel backed America (8)
ARCTURUS – A + RC (Roman Catholic) + RUT (channel) reversed + US (America).
18 Turner is rubbish at men (7)
ROTATOR – ROT (rubbish) + AT + OR (other ranks = men).
20 Italian playwright’s work put on in centre of Cagliari (7)
GOLDONI – GO (work) + [DON (put on) inside LI (centre of (Cag)LI(ari)]. Carlo Goldoni (1707-93). I’d never heard of him, but his most famous work, Servant of Two Masters, was recently adapted as One Man, Two Guv’nors and became a major success in the West End and on Broadway.
21 Apple with fungal disease mostly covering batch (6)
RUSSET – RUS(t) (fungal disease mostly) + SET (batch).
23 Polynesian group dance British made into disc (5)
SAMOA – SAMBA (dance), with the B for British changed to an O (disc).

12 comments on “Saturday Times 25801 (31st May) – reassortment remonstrates?”

  1. I have to admit that I didn’t see the pairs of anagrams in the grid! I did notice though that there were no anagrams in the cryptics – presumably the ones in the grid were enough.

    I did enjoy solving this one . The only thing I don’t quite understand is “people” in 10dn.

    Edited at 2014-06-07 10:32 am (UTC)

    1. It’s the “people who have not gone off the rails”, i.e. who presumably still like them, whose interest is train-spotting.
  2. Managed to complete this one, maintaining my successful run of Saturday puzzles (brain is usually too fried at the end of the working day to do anything other than the Quickie during the week). That said, it took about 4 hours on and off – but a year ago I’d have struggled to have done a quarter of it. So, pretty happy with progress. And I’ve just knocked over today’s, so feeling decidedly celebratory!

    Several I got from wordplay/checkers but had to subsequently validate – GOLDONI, ARCTURUS, OMASA and NODULOSE. And could not fully parse PARENT, so thanks to linxit for explaining that one.

    My COD was ALABASTER, closely followed by RED-HAIRED.

    Edited at 2014-06-07 10:48 am (UTC)

  3. Sorry, should have added I did not spot the symmetrical anagram pattern at all – very cunning! Similarly, I totally missed the D-Day theme in yesterday’s Quickie (which was excellent and well worth looking at for anyone who missed it).

    I guess I miss the big picture through focusing intensely on the (for me) fiendishly complex individual clues…

  4. 28:41 … wow, I had no idea. It’s like having lunch with a rocket scientist then being told a week later that he’s also a concert pianist.

    Every now and then I scan a puzzle for Ninas etc but I invariably pick the wrong days to do it. I think I’ve spotted about one in all the years I’ve been solving.

    Nice effort with the blog title, Andy!

  5. 20 mins, with GOLDONI my LOI after TRADE GAP. I didn’t spot the matching pairs, but after this and yesterday’s D-Day themed Quick Cryptic maybe I should start to look out for ninas and themes from now on. Very un-Times-like. I couldn’t parse PARENT so thanks for that, Andy.
  6. I especially liked some of the vocabulary – train spotting, trepan, Cassandra, alabaster are all nice words to find I a grid – and the elegant cluing. Parent got a smile. Didn’t spot the anagrams, and had to try several incorrect versions of the half remembered Strombonini and Arcturus before it worked. Nice blog, Andy. And
    Nick’s comment has got me enthusiastic about getting to today’s directly.

    Edited at 2014-06-07 01:09 pm (UTC)

  7. Lopdoni ought to be an Italian author, I reckon. He certainly held me up long enough…..totally missed all the thingies.
  8. Good puzzle, had to check OMASA and the Italian chap, otherwise a 25 minute breeze watching the tennis. Missed the finer points of double anagrams though, nice blog Andy well observed.

    When time allows could you please update the blogging calendar as I might forget I’m mctext sometimes as well as me.

    1. Calendar’s now fully up-to-date with all the latest re-shuffling. Thanks for reminding me.
  9. Yes, all the excellent detail was lost on me too, but I was pleased to finish this in 41 minutes despite not knowing ARCTURUS or OMASA. Knew GOLDONI from seeing two adaptations of SERVANT prior to the more recent revival.

Comments are closed.