Saturday Times 26478 (July 30th)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time 16:36, so I found it fairly tricky. It was a pangram too, and they generally are harder than average. Having said that, I can’t remember what held me up now, as there was no obscure vocabulary and hardly any fiddly wordplay either. LOI was DESCRY.

Across
1 Failing / to change sides (6)
DEFECT – double definition.
4 Foolish Northerner’s conversation with retired premier (8)
CRACKPOT – CRACK (Northerner’s conversation) + TOP (premier) reversed.
10 Where disgraced husband may be after too much opportunity? (5,4)
SPARE ROOM – SPARE (too much) + ROOM (opportunity). Been there, done that!
11 Capital of China — area millions will visit (5)
PALMA – PAL (China) + A(rea) around M(illions). Actually the capital of Majorca.
12 Endlessly penned nonsense (3)
ROT – endlessly penned = (w)ROT(e).
13 Buy a number of beers, say, for bully? (5,6)
ORDER AROUND – to buy a number of beers, you’d ORDER A ROUND.
14 Works out change of direction at start of The Ladykillers (6)
SOLVES – WOLVES (“The Ladykillers”) with a change of direction at the start (W for west changed to S for south).
16 I moan about drink, returning to sink gill, oddly (7)
NIGGLER – RE (about) + GIN (drink), all reversed around G(i)L(l).
19 Call girl hours before result is out (7)
HUSTLER – H(ours) + (result)*.
20 Straw mat covering goodbye note (6)
TATAMI – TA-TA (goodbye) + MI (note).
22 Oddly updates can’t use text moving facility (3,3,5)
CUT AND PASTE – (updates can’t)*.
25 Cut times in A&E (3)
AXE – X (times) inside A & E.
26 Capture views of speaker (5)
SEIZE – sounds like “sees” (views).
27 Besieges one with sisters outside court (9)
INUNDATES – I (one) + NUNS (sisters), around DATE (court).
28 Worker I dismissed, worker that’s easy-going (8)
TOLERANT – TOILER (worker) without the I, + ANT (another worker).
29 Country’s circulating report, impressing journalist (6)
SWEDEN – NEWS (report) reversed around ED (journalist).

Down
1 Catch sight of key in flat (6)
DESCRY – ESC (key) inside DRY (flat).
2 Divided about Republican being difficult to control (9)
FRACTIOUS – FACTIOUS (divided) around R(epublican).
3 Belief socialist’s shown in leading pair of communists (5)
CREDO – RED (socialist) inside CO(mmunists).
5 Like artist’s work man requested, shown originally outside Britain (14)
REMBRANDTESQUE – (man requested)* around BR(itain).
6 Patent stupidity finally admitted by policeman and Tory (9)
COPYRIGHT – (stupidit)Y inside COP (policeman), RIGHT (Tory).
7 Sauce served up on a primarily unappetising dish (5)
PILAU – LIP (sauce) reversed + A + U(nappetising).
8 Following road, not turning in one direction then the opposite (2,3,3)
TO AND FRO – (Following, road not)*.
9 List of tasks from what could be man noted for patience in adversity (3,11)
JOB DESCRIPTION – double definition, the second referring to Job from the Bible.
15 Tender tune lover played (9)
VOLUNTEER – (tune lover)*.
17 Criticised innocent person lost without wife (9)
LAMBASTED – LAMB (innocent person) + WASTED (lost), minus the W for wife.
18 Close and friendly crowd in squat (8)
THICKSET – THICK (close and friendly) + SET (crowd).
21 There’s one of us for every child (6)
PERSON – PER (for every) + SON (child).
23 Hearing of leader in tactical retreat after uprising (5)
TRIAL – T(actical) + LAIR (retreat) reversed.
24 Stump up for party held in centre of Greenwich (5)
ENDOW – DO (party) inside ENW (centre of Greenwich).

21 comments on “Saturday Times 26478 (July 30th)”

  1. My notes say that I was down to three left in an hour. After some more prodding, DESCRY and SWEDEN fell, but then I fell at the last hurdle, finally and desperately bunging in SEASON for 21d. I think this may have been a clunky guess based on “a man for all seasons”, or similar. I also got “Turn! Turn! Turn!” stuck in my head.

    I eventually worked out that it should be PERSON on my own, but quite a while later. Looking at the discussion on the club board, at least I didn’t have any problems with wolves, and my tatami mat was correctly rolled up.

  2. Around 30 minutes for this one. Rather enjoyed the Ladykillers clue. Having watched the wonderful Arsenic and Old Lace recently (Cary Grant to Peter Lorre: ‘Stop underplaying, I can’t hear you’ – http://youtu.be/l2k0peKkcus), maybe I should give the Alec Guiness vehicle another viewing.

    Edited at 2016-08-06 12:40 pm (UTC)

  3. No problems with this one except for my habitual hesitation over how to spell “seize” (is there a mnemonic that actually works?) and also 18dn took time to filter through the mush that surrounds my grey cells these days ..
      1. The rule I was looking for concerns when it’s ei and when it’s ie .. the point being that “I before E except after C” does not work
        But there is no rule that works, so don’t fash yourself…
  4. 50 minutes of enjoyable solving. My only unknown was TATAMI which I guessed from wordplay and was pleased to find was correct.
  6. I didn’t take a note of my time but it must have been just over 30 mins

    DNK 19ac TATAMI but not too difficult from the wordplay.

    LOI 1dn DESCRY as per Mr. Bloggs!

    Fortunately 5dn REMBRANDTESQUE came in a flash.

    I initially had 6dn as DOWNRIGHT but mothing worked with it and COPYRIGHT worked a lot better.

    COD 11ac PALMA quite deceptive.

    I once received a book token for my entry for the TSXw but the post takes too long from Shanghai!

    horryd

  7. 15m. I knew TATAMI (from past puzzles, no doubt) but it occurred to me at the time that it’s uncommon enough to merit unambiguous wordplay.
  9. Mystery solved. My “mistake” was neither W/SOLVES nor TATAM?, but a simple T rather than X in AXE. I concede that AXE is the better answer, but having entered ATE I couldn’t see it as wrong, thinking along the lines of etching where acid eats into the plate, so both cut and ate in past tense. Another appeal I’d be annoyed not to win, probably on the basis that “times” would be TT in this variation. The times I spent…
    1. I think you might struggle, as it’s really ‘eat AWAY’ and it’s not really ‘cut’. Sowwy.
      1. Yeah, for sure. But it felt fine on entry and I never considered rechecking, even though I could see nothing else wrong.
        1. I did it too, thinking “ate into”. My view is that if you can call a copyright a patent – which it definitely is not – then ate and cut are synonyms too. (Sadly, I cannot make any case for catch = desire.)
          Also took a while to decide that the grammar of S/Wolves could not work either way and did clearly point to S.

          Paul-in-London

  10. There is also no particular reason, other that antiquity or being legalese (it’s a sounzlike) why 26a SEIZE can’t be SEISE. Just saying.
  11. Like Z8, mystery solved. It was nothing to do with W/SOLVES. I chose ORDERS ROUND iso ORDER AROUND, thereby ignoring the lack of an S at the end of ‘BUY’.
  12. Too hard for me this week. A number unsolved: 11a,16a,20a etc.
    Could not see the Rembrandt answer and so had a lot of gaps.
    Did not know get Pilau, was looking for a sauce.
    A couple of unknowns too. David
  13. How does “The Ladykillers” refer to WOLVES in 14a? Annoyingly, there are several oblique references (“rather enjoyed the Ladykillers clue”), but there is no explanation. Normally Google is my friend. But in this case it throws up no obvious connection.

    I’m probably missing something really simple. Could someone please explain.

    Edited at 2016-11-07 01:37 pm (UTC)

    1. My dictionary has, for wolf:

      informal a man who habitually seduces women: he’s the archetypal wolf in Armani threads.

      …which would also be a “ladykiller”:

      an attractive, charming man who habitually seduces women: he has a reputation as a real ladykiller.

      Edited at 2016-11-07 01:39 pm (UTC)

  14. Thanks gothick_matt. Of course! I could only think of the pack of wolves consuming the unfortunate females.

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