Saturday Times 25837 (12th July)

Posted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
I didn’t note my time for this one, but I remember getting stuck on a few odd ones – DISINHERIT, AQUILINE and FUNDRAISER were all slow to arrive, but SWAM was my LOI. Certainly harder than the past couple of weekends anyway, with a few stand-out clues. 23ac was my COD though for a new twist on a familiar clue type, and 13dn made me smile as I always have to pronounce it “GuadalaKHKHKHKHara” now (see link below).

Oh, and as mohn2 points out below, it’s a pangram too.

Across
1 Baked dish having smooth skin with patches (7)
PIEBALD – PIE (baked dish) + BALD (having smooth skin).
5 Wayward lass put in religious building (2,5)
ST PAUL’S – (lass put)*
9 After this stain, Ken poses a question of Scottish recognition (3)
DYE – As in “D’ye ken John Peel, with his coat so gay?”
10 Company try local area network around Spanish region (5,6)
COSTA BLANCA – CO(mpany) + STAB (try) + LAN (local area network) + CA (around).
11 Stop short among a range of goods, hooked (8)
AQUILINE – QUI(t) (stop short) inside A LINE (a range of goods).
12 Judge with viewpoint leading to clash (6)
JANGLE – J(udge) + ANGLE (viewpoint).
15 Stick hairpiece on back to front (4)
TWIG – WIG (hairpiece) next to (fron)T. Nice idea, “back to front” to indicate a T. Don’t think I’ve seen it before.
16 Frenchman’s from hereditary unit with naughty corruption (10)
DEGENERACY – DE (Frenchman’s from) + GENE (hereditary unit) + RACY (naughty).
18 Benefit enjoyment is exhausting – where names goes, I’m not sure (10)
FUNDRAISER – FUN (enjoyment) + DRAI(n)S (exhausting, minus the N) + ER (I’m not sure). There’s a typo in this clue, should be “name”, not “names”.
19 Provide fill-in music‘s volume with sound equipment (4)
VAMP – V(olume) + AMP (sound equipment). Easy wordplay, but I didn’t know that meaning, and apparently Chambers doesn’t either – the closest they have is “to improvise inartistically (music).
22 Opera with debut for baritone as replacement for and alternative to bass? (6)
TURBOT – TURANDOT (opera) with B(aritone) replacing AND.
23 Switching heads, chap needing a shave maybe said a prayer (4,4)
HAIL MARY – if you switch the initial letters, it sounds like “Male hairy”. A reverse Spoonerism? Whatever next!
25 Timber in winch behind colonist who collects pieces (11)
ANTHOLOGIST – LOG (timber) inside HOIST (winch), after ANT (colonist).
27 Grey colour like hard wood (3)
ASH – double definition with some wordplay in the middle: AS (like) + H(ard).
28 Long to receive important viewer’s complaint (4-3)
PINK-EYE – PINE (long) around KEY (important). Another name for acute contagious conjunctivitis.
29 Staff unhappy about insurance’s core building cover (7)
MANSARD – MAN (staff) + SAD (unhappy) around (insu)R(ance). A roof having its angle divided to slope more steeply in the lower half than in the upper.

Down
1 Online recording of old Washington in bygone days (7)
PODCAST – O(ld) + DC (Washington) inside PAST (bygone days).
2 Person getting to top in his career (11)
EXECUTIONER – cryptic definition.
3 Bend terms of legacy with mischief in mind? (6)
ARCHLY – ARCH (bend) + L(egac)Y.
4 Daughter has entered hospital with mounting fatigue, cut off (10)
DISINHERIT – D(aughter) + IS IN (has entered) + H(ospital) + TIRE (fatigue) reversed.
5 Did reel cut end of Far from the Madding Crowd? (4)
SWAM – SWARM (Madding Crowd?) with the R (end of Far) removed.
6 Tablet, one not rejuvenating, spoils taker (8)
PILLAGER – PILL (tablet) + AGER (one not rejuvenating).
7 Ornamental vessel erected near university (3)
URN – NR U(niversity) reversed.
8 Pretty pasture, empty, with loose rock around (7)
SHAPELY – P(astur)E inside SHALY (with loose rock).
13 An Indian royal youth with month to raise Mexican city (11)
GUADALAJARA – A RAJA (Indian royal) + LAD (youth) + AUG (month), all reversed. Always reminds me of Tom Lehrer’s In Old Mexico.
14 Males fired after wrecking principle of union (10)
FEDERALISM – (males fired)*
17 What island stocks is old, therefore preservative is the answer (8)
CREOSOTE – CRETE (island) around O(ld), SO (therefore).
18 Note law overturned by politician: it seeks reduction in visitors (3,4)
FAT CAMP – FA (note) + ACT (law) reversed + MP (politician).
20 Pressure on lead for Scotland Yard to keep revolutionary excited (7)
PSYCHED – P(ressure) + S(cotland) + YD (yard) around CHE (revolutionary).
21 Storyteller possibly tone-deaf? Not entirely (6)
BLYTON – hidden in “possibly tone-deaf”
24 Practise Buddhism with reduction in sleep (4)
DOZE – DO ZEN (practise Buddhism), minus the last letter.
26 Volunteers on new beat (3)
TAN – TA (Territorial Army, volunteers) + N(ew).

11 comments on “Saturday Times 25837 (12th July)”

  1. This was quite a tricky one, with much time spent at the end resisting the urge to put in span for 5D. GUADALAJARA stuck in my mind from the 1986 World Cup.

    The puzzle number is 25837. Looks like a pangram too.

    1. Oops, fixed. Oh yes, I spotted the pangram last week but forgot about it this morning.
  2. Thanks Andy. I didn’t get swarm without cheating. I couldn’t get past span for did reel but couldn’t justify it.

    I came here to find out how Guadalajara was parsed (it always makes me think of Steely Dan’s My Old School) and the issue now transpires to have been a careless H instead of the J.

    Definitely a toughie. The hidden was my second to LOI.

  3. … tried a mutual solve with galspray over a couple of coffees on the Saturday morning. He laughed at 2dn. I didn’t. A very interesting occasion. The coffee was good (I’m told). I had the hot chocolate. We may do it again. Too far from here to Sloggers & Betters.
  4. No time for this one because I was falling asleep when I started it and I decided to give it up as a bad job. When I came back to it I still couldn’t see a few of the answers and I had to revisit it a couple more times before I finally finished it. Definitely much tougher than the last few prize puzzles. It took me a good while to justify SWAM from both a definition and wordplay perspective, and CREOSOTE was my LOI after FUNDRAISER.
  5. 41:43. I found this tough, but in a good way. SWAM didn’t cause me a problem, but I thought ‘reel’ for ‘swim’ was a bit loose. I needed the wordplay to spell GUADALAJARA.
  6. 15 mins and I did notice the pangram (I noted it on the piece of paper!) but can’t remember much else about the puzzle.

    Thanks to setter and blogger

  7. Ideal for a flight from HK to Bangkok. Share galspay’s gallows humour but show my age by remembering the Mexican city from the tournament that held the title of best World Cup till the latest edition – 1970, with Rivelino, Jairzinho, Pele, Peter Bonetti et al.
    1. I thought Gordon Banks was still in the side in 1970? Best save ever, from Pele, etc etc?
      [then googles Bonetti] .. ah, I see it now, he was scapegoated, in the modern parlance, as we were knocked out by Germany in his only world cup experience ever. Since Banks has never had to buy another drink after “that” save, it must have been a difficult time for poor Peter!
  8. Did this in gaps in a week’s holiday in the South of France so took my time and slowly got there – except for 5dn. Thanks for the explanation. Found 22ac really hard but then I’m not good at operas.

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