Saturday Times 26370 (26 March)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
No time for this, solved in the paper for a change over a leisurely pint. Probably no more than 15 minutes though, as it wasn’t too difficult. Very enjoyable solve though (apart from 3dn).

Across
1 Poison barrister, oddly withdrawn and not entirely pleasant (7)
ARSENIC – ARSE (hidden in alternate letters of bArRiStEr) + NIC(e) (not entirely pleasant).
5 Company with inventor of phone that locates roaming animal (7)
COWBELL – CO + W(ith) + BELL (Alexander Graham). So what was said on that first ever phone call in 1876? Apparently it was “Mr. Watson–come here–I want to see you.”
9 The Queen and German don give part of speech in Latin (9)
GERUNDIVE – ER (the Queen) + UND (and in German) inside GIVE. Vaguely remembered from Latin O-Level – QED (quod erat demonstrandum) seems to be an apt example, where demonstrandum is a gerundive.
10 Schoolkid on vacation trapping brown bear (5)
STAND – S(choolki)D around TAN (brown). Great clue for a pretty boring word where you’d normally expect a DD.
11 Changing lane, hooted and hit battered bangers (4-2-3-4)
TOAD-IN-THE-HOLE – (lane looted hit)*.
13 Provide cover for unhorsed jockeys (8)
ENSHROUD – (unhorsed)*.
15 Unconcerned about right and wrong marks in a viva (6)
AMORAL – M(arks) inside A + ORAL (viva). Hmm, more Latin from school. Short for viva voce, an oral exam (although I only had to do one in German).
17 Book of Numbers referred to in church? (6)
HYMNAL – cryptic definition – a “number” is usually a song in a cryptic clue (when it’s not an anaesthetic).
19 Staple factory, Scot’s own (8)
PLANTAIN – PLANT (factory) + AIN (Scottish spelling of own). I get that this is an age-old crossword convention, backed by Chambers Dictionary, but do Scots (apart from Robert Burns) really spell English words the way they pronounce them?
22 Old Sauterne, pud, and endless fizz (13)
SUPERANNUATED – (Sauterne pud an)*.
25 One regularly stopping Hutton perhaps staying in bed (3-2)
LIE-IN – LEN (Hutton perhaps), regularly interrupted with an I (one). For those not into cricket, Len Hutton was one of the best batsmen of his generation, and his test score of 364 against Australia in 1938 (in only his 6th test match) held the world record for 20 years (and still hasn’t been beaten by an English player).
26 Credit starts to be refused to Dick, Peter and Grace? (9)
CRICKETER – CR(edit) + (d)ICK + (p)ETER. More cricket! W. G. Grace is possibly the most famous cricketer of all time, even though he died over 100 years ago.
27 Society girl pursuing house party organiser (7)
HOSTESS – S(ociety) + TESS (girl) after HO(use).
28 Hard object audibly strains legendary guitarist (7)
HENDRIX – H(ard) + END (object) + RIX (sounds like “ricks”, strains). I once met the guy who owned the rights to all Jimi Hendrix’s recordings. In fact I proposed to my wife in his house in the New Forest (or at least while I was staying there). Very controversial figure in his day, but he was on his last legs when we met him.

Down
1 Seaweed from coastal Galway (4)
ALGA – hidden in coastal Galway.
2 Strike half failing, trade union’s under a cloud (7)
STRATUS – STR(ike) + TU’S (Trade Union’s) under A.
3 Idiot’s new, back-to-back articles (5)
NANNA – N(ew) + AN + An reversed (back-to-back articles). Wordplay’s fine, but the spelling isn’t. NANA (short for BANANA) is OK, but with the double-N it can only mean grandmother. I’ve checked several dictionaries and haven’t found one that disagrees with me. The pronunciation would be wrong for a start.
4 Periodically acerbic and quite outrageous review (8)
CRITIQUE – CRI (alternate letters of aCeRbIc) + (quite)*.
5 Box containing English produce (6)
CREATE – CRATE (box) around E(nglish).
6 Used to be a Munster laundry worker (9)
WASHERMAN – WAS (used to be) + HERMAN (a Munster – comedy Frankenstein from the 1960s US TV series).
7 Rebelliously sport zero hair, making entrance (7)
ENAMOUR – RU (Rugby Union, sport) + O (zero) + MANE (hair), all reversed (rebelliously = up).
8 Addition to staff took charge of German course (6,4)
LEDGER LINE – LED (took charge of) + GER(man) + LINE (course). A line above or below the stave in music notation to cater for very high or low notes. So that’s what it’s called!
12 Large amount of champagne and drug-taking upset Shakespeare’s prince (10)
METHUSELAH – METH USE (drug-taking) + HAL (Shakespeare’s prince) reversed. A 6-litre bottle, so quite a large amount!
14 Move around on Scottish island and get lost, finally (9)
REARRANGE – RE (on) + ARRAN (Scottish island) + GE(t).
16 Fifty of us in school are doing really well (8)
FLOURISH – L (fifty) + OUR (of us) inside FISH (school). Another very good clue, with not a syllable wasted.
18 Liable to get lost, maybe, in trees with son (7)
MAPLESS – MAPLES (trees) + S(on).
20 Gold thread primarily used in fashion house, one hears (7)
AUDITOR – AU (gold) + T(hread) inside DIOR (fashion house).
21 Criticises / batting performances (6)
KNOCKS – double definition, and yet more cricket.
23 Nominal fine ten pounds (5)
TOKEN – OK (fine) inside TEN.
24 Vintage Times puzzle (4)
CRUX – CRU (vintage, as in French wine) + X (times). I thought the definition was a bit iffy, but the dictionary backs it up in one sense.

11 comments on “Saturday Times 26370 (26 March)”

  1. 11m, no problems other than NANNA, which does look wrong. Nice puzzle: I especially liked 11ac, and it’s nice to see HENDRIX.
    There is an unindicated definition by example at 12dn, because a METHUSELAH doesn’t have to be champagne. But it’s one that shows why it’s a bit silly to be super-strict about these things.

    Edited at 2016-04-02 09:10 am (UTC)

  2. Very enjoyable but not quite within my 30 minute target – nearer 40, but some of that was as a result of the error in the clue at 3dn which gave me pause for thought.

    Also I lost time early on (before checkers) considering “slates” at 21dn which might well have been correct given the vast vocabulary of cricketing terms.

    We had STAPLE relating to food quite recently and on checking I found it cluing rice, maize, tater and “tati” within the past year or thereabouts. Is there an official list of what foods can be described as such? PLANTAIN is not a staple food as far as I’m concerned as I’m not aware of ever eating it.

    1. I had the same thought: it’s certainly not a staple in the UK. But according to Wikipedia: ‘Plantains are a major food staple in West and Central Africa (Cameroon and DR Congo), Central America, the Caribbean islands (Haiti,Dominican republic Jamaica and more) and northern, coastal parts of South America (Colombia, Venezuela, etc.). Their attractiveness as food is that they fruit all year round, making them a reliable all-season staple food.’
  3. Similar experience, an enjoyable solve but with NANNA looking dodgy and the definition of CRUX a little unusual. Despite that it’s a great clue. Liked CRITIQUE too.
  5. 25 minutes. The use of ‘batting’ not indicating IN was good and HYMNAL was a fine CD.
  6. Thanks, Andy. Nice blog. My maternal grandmother also thanks you (or would do) for clearly articulating the difficulty with 3d. I had to look crux up, too. Otherwise a) could not agree more with Keriothe regarding staple foods and Hendrix and b) was a bit surprised to hear him twice this afternoon on two different piped music systems (a bar and, oddly, in a doctor’s clinic): Are You Experienced, and The Wind Cries Mary. Who would’ve thought? Question of the week: which of Verlaine’s bands will make a pleasant surprise by popping up on a piped soundtrack 45 years from now?
    (At the clinic, when I commented favorably, the receptionist politely told me “if you were to get one of those ‘how did we do?’ questionnaires, you might just forget to mention that we were playing rock over the system”)

    Edited at 2016-04-02 11:18 pm (UTC)

  7. My most enjoyable solve for many a month. Not overly difficult (15 mins) but awash with the smoothest of surfaces and smile-raising wordplay. 3D didn’t feel right at the time and now I see why. However, setter, you are totally forgiven, the rest was near perfection!
    GeoffH
  8. I got most of this over the weekend and enjoyed the puzzle with the noted exception of 3d which I out in without any confidence.
    I just couldn’t see how Ledger Line worked at 8d as it was unknown to me and I couldn’t get away from the idea of staff as either people or a stick. I did have Ledger and Line noted as words that fitted.
    And I failed to get the excellent (I now see) 7d and 16d. David
  9. I got most of this over the weekend and enjoyed the puzzle with the noted exception of 3d which I out in without any confidence.
    I just couldn’t see how Ledger Line worked at 8d as it was unknown to me and I couldn’t get away from the idea of staff as either people or a stick. I did have Ledger and Line noted as words that fitted.
    And I failed to get the excellent (I now see) 7d and 16d. David
  10. If Grace was perhaps the most famous cricketer, he was perhaps most famous for cheating. Given out, he reportedly informed the umpire that the crowd came to see him bat, not to see the umpire umpire, and he refused to go. He could teach modern-day socceristas a thing or two.
    Otherwise famous, as an “amateur” for being paid more than all the professionals combined, for “expenses.”
    He sounds like a total arsehole.
    Crossword: nice, but a fail. Missed knocks, and ledger line. You write stave, which I know, not staff, which doesn’t sound right. Couldn’t think of anything except ladder rung (LADDER? It’s got add in it / RUN = took charge / G = german).
    Bugger.
    Rob

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