Saturday Times 26238

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Okay make that “tomorrow”. I was kept away a lot longer than I expected, then there was the rugby final, then something else happened, then my PC crashed and I had to type it up again from scratch this morning (I hate that). Anyway, here it is. Quite an easy one for a Saturday, solved in 10:04 on the train. I think the only obscurity was VAD for nurse (maybe before my time, but I’ve never seen it before in crosswords either).

Across
1 Current problem about to restrict favourite’s momentum (7)
IMPETUS – I (current) + SUM (problem) reversed, around PET (favourite).
5 Bird shelters exist in eastern highland region (5)
TIBET – TIT (bird) around BE (exist).
9 Loves contributing to a paper doing the rounds (5)
AFOOT – OO (loves) inside A, FT (paper).
10 Ace flew round when sent flying (9)
WONDERFUL – (flew round)*.
11 Max Ernst possibly Pop Artist? Not right (7)
DADAIST – DAD (pop) + ARTIST minus RT (not right).
12 Wife oddly resolved to pen note (3,4)
OLD LADY – (oddly)* around LA (note).
13 US lawyer stumbling across judge in part of India (10)
DARJEELING – DA (US lawyer) + REELING (stumbling) around J(udge).
15 Unknown individual’s belt (4)
ZONE – Z (unknown) + ONE (individual).
18 Great writer needs energy to replace old ending (4)
HUGE – HUGO (writer Victor) with E(nergy) replacing O(ld).
20 Presumption about Republican’s lack of discretion (10)
IMPRUDENCE – IMPUDENCE (presumption) around R(epublican).
23 Canadian natives getting Cuba and Rio confused (7)
CARIBOU – (Cuba, Rio)*
24 One’s used to clean defending from this player? (7)
SWEEPER – double definition.
25 Pupil finally stops enjoying lecture (7-2)
TALKING-TO – (pupi)L inside TAKING TO (enjoying).
26 Language that’s divine (one time only) (5)
INUIT – INTUIT (divine) without one of the T’s.
27 Steer clear of old nurse injecting drugs? Quite the opposite (5)
EVADE – VAD (old nurse) inside E,E (drugs), i.e. the opposite of the wordplay. I’d never heard of a VAD, which stands for Voluntary Aid Detachment, an organization of volunteer nurses in wartime.
28 Following couple around in part of army (7)
RETINUE – UNITE (couple) reversed inside RE (Royal Engineers, part of army).

Down
1 Home Rule might be appropriate (2,5)
IN ORDER – IN (home) + ORDER (rule).
2 Venomous creature seen in box one musician keeps hidden (3-5)
PIT-VIPER – TV (box) + I (one), inside PIPER (musician).
3 That is nothing an idiot will admit (2,3)
TO WIT – O (nothing) inside TWIT (idiot).
4 Star has depressing experience after drink (9)
SUNDOWNER – SUN (star) + DOWNER (depressing experience).
5 Hip replacement for the queen arranged, say, finally (6)
TRENDY – last letters of “replacement for the queen arranged say“.
6 Expert oilman oddly heading north for port on East Coast (7)
BUFFALO – BUFF (expert) + odd letters of “oilman” reversed. According to Wikipedia there are about 20 places in the USA called Buffalo, but none of them are ports on the East Coast. Maybe the setter was thinking of the one in South Africa?
7 He abandons the league match (5)
TALLY – T (The without HE) + ALLY (league).
8 Snobbish resort I had repeatedly left (3-2-3)
LAH-DI-DAH – (I had had L)*; anagram of I, “had” twice and L(eft).
14 Food served up in green room, primarily cheese (9)
LIMBURGER – GRUB (food) reversed, inside LIME (green) and R(oom).
16 Deplore judge supporting senior manager (8)
EXECRATE – RATE (judge) underneath EXEC (senior manager).
17 One said originally to possess hard grip (8)
ADHESION – (one said)* around H(ard).
19 Primate, finding question hard, possessing zero answer (7)
GORILLA – GRILL (question hard) around O (zero), + A(nswer).
21 Record number following new God (7)
NEPTUNE – EP (record) + TUNE (number) after N(ew).
22 Do a favour for unnamed peer, investing one grand (6)
OBLIGE – (n)OBLE (unnamed peer) around I (one), G(rand).
23 Share that is for a pretty girl (5)
CUTIE – CUT (share) + IE (that is).
24 Brief opportunity to overcome resistance (5)
SHORT – SHOT (opportunity) around R(esistance).

8 comments on “Saturday Times 26238”

  1. 11 mins, so from time alone probably the easiest for a while. I biffed EVADE and had to check the “VAD” element of the answer post-solve.
  2. Similar experience to Andy, but it took me ten minutes more. Today’s offering had me broadening my knowledge of the middle east and honing my Googling skills.
  3. I imagine this is my fastest Saturday. Like Andy, I biffed EVADE; unlike him, I never got around to checking VAD. BUFFALO is a port, all right, but hardly on the East Coast; it’s on Lake Erie, about 400km. from the Atlantic. Still, New York’s on the East Coast, Buffalo is in New York, QED, I suppose.
  4. Thanks for the VAD explanation, Andy. With Kevin, I decided that the St Lawrence seaway arguably makes Buffalo an east coast port – though if it does, then Detroit and Chicago qualify, too.
    1. New York’s an East Coast state; whatever states Detroit and Chicago are in aren’t. So Buffalo works for me as an East Coast port, in the same way Chicago and Detroit don’t. Chicago would be a mid-west port?
      A quick 18 min with the last 1 or 2 trawling the alphabet for an alternative to EVADE, and INUIT biffed, not seeing INTUIT.
      Rob
      1. That’s as may be – though Cleveland, for example, is still closer to its nearest Atlantic Ocean port (Baltimore) than Buffalo is to its nearest (Newark / NYC). Seems to me a bit like arguing that Glasgow is a North Sea port because Scotland touches the North Sea.
  5. This must have been at the easier end since I managed to finish it (in about 50 mins – might be a record for me).

    Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable workout (& also to the blogger).

    Limburger was a new one on me but fairly clued. Darjeeling had me scratching my head as to the inner workings and was Hugo a “great writer” or just a “writer”?

    1. Les Misérables is one of the best books ever written (in my opinion), so there’s no doubt as to Victor Hugo’s status as a writer – but in this clue he’s just a wordplay element. Great is the definition of the answer.

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