Saturday Times 25951 (22nd Nov)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Pretty easy one for a Saturday last week, solved in 11:30 despite being held up for a couple of minutes at the end by 11ac and 8dn. However, looking at the stats on the Crossword Club there weren’t many genuine times quicker so maybe I was just on the setter’s wavelength for a change. COD to 1dn but 7dn also deserves an honourable mention for a great anagram.

Across
1 Wine container church required to hold a service (6)
CARAFE – CE (church) around A, RAF (service).
4 Mad attempt to park initially in reverse (8)
CRACKPOT – CRACK (attempt) + [TO, P(ark), reversed]
10 The writer’s bird and mollusc, say, like some bacilli? (11)
MICROCOCCAL – sounds like “my crow cockle”.
11 Business established by end of village green (3)
ECO – CO (business) after (villag)E.
12 Distribute drink around east of France (7)
BESTREW – BREW (drink) around EST (French for East).
14 Article recalled tips for horrific videos? (7)
NASTIES – AN (article) reversed + STIES (tips).
15 Weight of chap in bar with British engineer (14)
COUNTERBALANCE – ALAN (chap) inside COUNTER (bar), B(ritish), CE (engineer – the C can stand for chemical, chief or civil, take your pick!).
17 Repairman beginning to tackle siren, accepting foreign cash (14)
TROUBLESHOOTER – T(ackle) + HOOTER (siren) around ROUBLES (foreign cash).
21 Very low temperature press employee’s Cockney idol reported (7)
SUBZERO – sounds like SUB’S ‘ERO (sub being short for subeditor).
22 Cunning individual set out to be entertainer (7)
ARTISTE – ART (cunning) + I (individual) + (set)*.
23 Priest taking books from George or Thomas Stearns? (3)
ELI – ELIOT (George or TS) without OT (books).
24 Comic entering school management’s communications centre (11)
SWITCHBOARD – WIT (comic) inside SCH(ool), BOARD (management).
26 Get a lute repaired, giving instruction (8)
TUTELAGE – (get a lute)*.
27 Attempt to secure half of pitch with it (6)
TRENDY – TRY (attempt) around END (half of pitch).

Down
1 What rock bands may make, some of them occasionally? (8)
COMEBACK – COME is hidden BACK in “them occasionally”. Clever clue, probably my favourite of the bunch.
2 Verbally trash small pleasure area (3)
REC – sounds like “wreck”. More homophones than usual this week.
3 First of Friesians run round rings: with this disease? (4-3)
FOOT-ROT – F(riesians) + TROT (run) around OO (rings).
5 Survey study written in Dante’s time (14)
RECONNAISSANCE – CON (study) inside RENAISSANCE (Dante’s time).
6 Instrument with keys the French army used? (7)
CELESTA – C,E (keys) + LES (the French) + T.A. (army).
7 Polls Liberal held in various bits and pieces (11)
PLEBISCITES – L(iberal) inside (bits, pieces)*.
8 Sweetheart standing on youth leader’s foot (6)
TOOTSY – TOOTS (sweetheart) + Y(outh). I always thought a tootsy was a toe rather than a foot, but Chambers says it can mean either.
9 Go-ahead, like monarchist outside hospital offices? (7-7)
FORWARD-LOOKING – FOR KING (like monarchist) around WARD LOO (hospital offices?).
13 Chunky quad bike’s first I invested in last month (6-5)
SQUARE-BUILT – SQUARE (quad) + B(ike) + [I inside ULT (last month)].
16 Favourable directions in force, delivered extremely loftily (8)
FRIENDLY – E,N (directions) inside F(orce), RID (delivered), L(oftil)Y.
18 University developed silent kitchen gadget (7)
UTENSIL – U(niversity) + (silent)*.
19 For several weeks, outside court, turned up to show further disapproval? (7)
OCTOBER – CT (court) inside RE-BOO (show further disapproval) reversed.
20 Declare a sure winner in speech (6)
ASSERT – yet another homophone, sounds like “a cert”.
25 Bristle, displaying anger with new leaders (3)
AWN – first letters of anger with new.

10 comments on “Saturday Times 25951 (22nd Nov)”

  1. Didn’t know MICROCOCCAL, though didn’t help myself by assuming it would start with MY, and wondered about the WARD+LOO=hospital offices equivalence. Liked the RE-BOO in 19D.
    1. under office, Chambers has “a euphemism for lavatory” as one of the definitions (I checked because I wondered about that too).
      1. My concern was the plural, but having just looked at Collins Online it says that the euphemism is usually plural.
  2. 49 minutes steady solve with no major hold-ups though I think I got the majority of answers from wordplay that took some time to think through. However I failed to spot the hidden reverse at 1dn.

    Edited at 2014-11-29 09:58 am (UTC)

  3. Pleased to have completed this one, albeit over several hours of wrangling – found it very challenging.

    A few I could not parse fully (OCTOBER, NASTIES and COMEBACK) but they all went in on a wing and a prayer. Thanks to Andy for clearing those up in the blog.

    Particularly liked 21ac.

  4. 67 minutes – a bit too scientific for me. Last in was COMEBACK, whose parsing went right over my head. I still don’t think the hospital offices clue quite work unless a) ward is equivalent to hospital or b) I’m missing something.
    1. You have to take it as a whole phrase, so “hospital offices” could be “ward loo”, whereas (“hospital” = “ward”) + (“offices” = “loo”) doesn’t work.
  5. 25 minutes, with a few not really parsed (e.g. the WARD LOO bit and COME backwards) although only because too busy watching sport on TV). Thanks for blog.
  6. Some anxiety about the 30′ deadline, with 10ac my LOI; like mohn I was expecting MY-. DNK 14ac. COD to 19d, which I got from ‘several weeks’ plus ‘court’, then parsed, and chuckled.

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