Saturday Times 26544 (15th Oct)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
13:40 on a printout, but with one silly error. I put BUTTING IN at 19ac before I had any checkers (not that it would have made any difference), meaning to go back to it and check the wordplay later. Of course, I forgot. I also have a whinge about the enumeration for 11ac, but apart from that it was an interesting puzzle with a few helpfully-clued obscurities. Slightly clumsy to use frenzy and frenzied for mania and manic in 2dn and 15dn, but I only noticed that while typing up the blog.

Across
1 Individual not half hacked off kept at it (10)
PERSEVERED – PER(son) (individual not half) + SEVERED (hacked off).
6 A party starts with loud Portuguese dance (4)
FADO – A + DO (party), after F (loud).
8 Male in a fund-raising event with tin knocked back drink (8)
ARMAGNAC – M(ale) inside A RAG (fund-raising event) + CAN (tin) reversed.
9 European money provides defensive erection around home (6)
FORINT – FORT (defensive erection) around IN (home). The currency of Hungary, not worth much – 346 of them to the pound!
10 Spirits of the dead endlessly appearing – it’s hairy (4)
MANE – MANES (Roman spirits of the dead) minus the last letter.
11 System for training singer could produce awful solo, in fact (5,5)
TONIC SOLFA – (solo in fact)*. The enumeration should be (5,3-2)? I can’t find any alternative without the hyphen in any of my dictionaries, although it is one American online dictionary (which doesn’t count – harrumph).
12 Storage boxes guides carried across street (3,6)
TEA CHESTS – TEACHES (guides) around ST(reet).
14 Outburst when script full of rubbish gets returned (5)
STORM – MS (script) around ROT (rubbish), all reversed.
17 Drug giving children inner power (5)
SPEED – SEED (children) around P(ower).
19 Interrupting something destined to grow fashionable (7,2)
CUTTING IN – CUTTING (something destined to grow) + IN (fashionable).
22 Sit restlessly, perhaps, in a position of great depression (4-6)
ROCK-BOTTOM – ROCK BOTTOM (sit restlessly perhaps).
23 Political group stop monarch being deposed (4)
BLOC – BLOCK (stop) minus the K for king (monarch).
24 Capital of country besieged by army (6)
TIRANA – IRAN (country) inside TA (Territorial Army). Actually it’s the capital of Albania.
25 Opportunity for buying a lot, so be excited (4,4)
BOOT SALE – (a lot so be)*.
26 Once defeated, only some surrender (4)
CEDE – hidden in “Once defeated”.
27 See style that exudes energy in famous author (10)
CHESTERTON – CHESTER (see) + TONE (style) minus the E for energy. Probably best known for his Father Brown detective stories.

Down
1 My pals, being naughty, had to be kept in – group of kids messing about?
PLAYMATES – (my pals)* around ATE (had).
2 Country gets nothing right after revolution – frenzy ensues (7)
ROMANIA – O (nothing) + R(ight) reversed, then MANIA (frenzy).
3 Behind vehicle one attaches useless objects (8)
VANITIES – I (one) + TIES (attaches), behind VAN (vehicle).
4 Brutal concrete’s unfortunately getting OK for building again (15)
RECONSTRUCTABLE – (brutal concrete’s)*.
5 Brilliant form of therapy? There’s something not quite right (6)
DEFECT – DEF (brilliant, hip-hop slang) + ECT (electroconvulsive therapy).
6 Neglected female obtained American soldiers for cuddling (9)
FORGOTTEN – F(emale) + GOTTEN (obtained, in American English) around OR (other ranks, soldiers).
7 Dull-looking quartet said to be ruined (4,3)
DONE FOR – sounds like “dun four” (dull-looking quartet).
13 See how chum is getting along when the game is up (9)
CHECKMATE – CHECK MATE (see how chum is getting along).
15 Frenzied female protecting a sort of religious believer (9)
MANICHEAN – MANIC (frenzied) + HEN (female) around A. A follower of the 3rd-century Persian prophet Mani.
16 Get rid of a politician with tough exterior (5,3)
STAMP OUT – A + MP (politician) inside STOUT (tough).
18 Supply personal documentation entering show (7)
PROVIDE – ID (personal documentation) inside PROVE (show).
20 Brave worker overcome by irritation (7)
GALLANT – ANT (worker) under GALL (irritation).
21 US agency’s order set up in accordance with ancient law (6)
MOSAIC – CIA’S (US agency’s) + OM (Order of Merit), all reversed. As in the Mosaic Law, that given to the Jews by Moses at Mount Sinai.

17 comments on “Saturday Times 26544 (15th Oct)”

  1. I think I toyed with ‘butting in’, too, but checked the wordplay. On the other hand, I typed ‘reconstructIble’, even though I had the anagrist right before my eyes, thus ruining a Saturday pb. FADO (pronounced ‘fadu’, if anyone cares) is Portuguese music; I’ve never heard of a dance so called, or seen anyone dancing to fado.
  2. I got through this in reasonable time for me for a Saturday puzzle (c40 minutes) but with one error at 8ac where I trusted to incorrect wordplay and decided there must be an alternative spelling of the brandy, namely “Almagnac” based on “gala” as the “fund-raising event. I even found some google hits that at a cursory glance appeared to justify it.

    I was pleased to come up with the unknown MANICHEAN where my faith in wordplay proved more successful.

    I didn’t know (or had forgotten) “manes” to explain 10ac but just biffed the correct answer and moved on.

  3. Count me as another who biffed MANE, never having heard of “manes”. Sadly fell at the last hurdle after 50m, having to look up TIRANA, which for me could just as well have been RIRANA.

    At some point in the future I’ll spend a week or two learning the capitals of the world by heart, but I might have to wait for retirement.

    Edited at 2016-10-22 10:07 am (UTC)

  4. Musical terminology and science (SUPERCONDUCTORS just yesterday!) are constantly to be found loitering with intent hereabouts.

    11ac TONIC SOLFA was pefectly OK, David – brush up!

    FADO is given by Chambers as a song or dance! Regional variations?

    Like Vinyl I was done in 45 minutes.

    9ac FORINT was a biff but the cluing was helpful enough.

    COD 19 as CUTTING IN WOD MANICHEAN

    1. It’s easy to be smart when you know the answer. Please make allowances for those of us not as clever as you are.

      Edited at 2016-10-22 01:49 pm (UTC)

  5. I solved most of this very quickly in contrast to most weeks. I even managed to correct my original Butting In. However I was left with three clues which remained unsolved for the whole week: 11a, 23a and 20d. No problem with 23a or 20d (which I should have got).
    I do think that 11a is in the wilful obscurity category and was not really solvable despite seeing the anagram unless you had musical knowledge; I had Tonic but not the other word. Loafs is an English word but maybe not recommended for singers. David
    1. Knowledge of a number of subjects is assumed, including music, literature, art … but not usually science, sadly
  6. Sorry, I was being horryd.

    David noted that this was a ‘wilful obscurity’.

    Surely an over statement that required correction!It’s simply the italianate musical nomenclature for:-

    do-re-mi-fah-so-lah-ti-do

    C D E F G A B C

    This is the very basis of musical sight notation since the early nineteenth century: hardly a wilful obscurity.

    I find Shakespearian Lords from ASYLI far more obscure and Verlaine and others cleverly told us they knew the answer! Bravo!

    I am brushing up on ASYLI.

  7. 22 minutes, with MOSAIC unknown but a guess from WP. I have endured FADO, knew my SOLFA, have tried to go to Tirana, and did MANICHEAN from WP then thought it rang a vague bell. I don’t see why anyone would put BUTTING at 19a, when a cutting is clearly something destined to grow. Thanks for blog Andy.
      1. I must be being thick, but I still don’t get it. Why does the fact that Chester has a cathedral mean that – Chester = See?
        1. I’m guessing you might be fairly new to cryptic crosswords then? There’s a jargon you need to learn, and you only really get it by experience. A see is another word for a diocese, an area around a cathedral. It’s very common usage in crosswords, although mainly for Ely (a cathedral city in Norfolk), as those three letters crop up quite regularly!

Comments are closed.