Saturday Times 26574 – please be patient!

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
It’s ok, I haven’t forgotten about it today. I had it half-finished about 8:00 this morning when I got an urgent message from work asking for help, and then I had to go out at 10. They kept me busy till approx 9:59, so I didn’t even have time to leave a placeholder. It’s nearly finished now but I have to go out again for a bit. I hope to publish it by 5pm though.

Okay then, so here it is. Sorry for the delay. Solved in the usual approx 15 minutes (no exact time noted). One DNK in the required meaning of WINCHESTER, but the rest was fairly straightforward. Great clue for POPEYE I thought.

Across
1 Form of self-discipline – that’s unknown in pirates’ home (8)
PENZANCE – PENANCE (form of self-discipline) with a Z (unknown) inside. As in the G&S comic opera The Pirates of Penzance.
5 Place bringing back Mexican food, cutting the French (6)
LOCATE – TACO (Mexican food) reversed, inside LE (the French).
8 Troublesome child emperor (3)
IMP – double definition. The second one is an abbreviation of the Latin imperator, as might be found on some old coins.
9 Ring girl about party drug (10)
BELLADONNA – BELL (ring) + ANNA (girl) around DO (party).
10 Self-guiding car not out? I am surprised (8)
AUTONOMY – AUTO (car) + N.O. (not out) + MY (I am surprised).
11 Wild goats mating returned to half of Iberia (6)
IBEXES – SEX (mating) reversed, after IBE(ria).
12 Missing what’s said when coffee’s given out cold (4)
DEAF – DECAF (coffee, sort of) without the C (given out cold).
14 Vineyard business mostly imports large box for bottle (10)
WINCHESTER – WINER(y) (vineyard business mostly) around CHEST (large box). A narrow-necked bottle for liquid chemicals, definitely a DNK for me.
17 Neither son needs to wave around cheap sparkler (10)
RHINESTONE – (neither son)*.
20 Craft outlet has unit for the old (4)
SHIP – SHOP (outlet) with I (unit) replacing the O(ld).
23 Shopkeeper concerned with dog endlessly returning (6)
GROCER – RE (concerned with) + CORG(i) (dog endlessly), all reversed.
24 One walking street — bird up for a tumble? (8)
STROLLER – ST(reet) + ROLLER (bird). I thought the rest was padding for the surface image of a streetwalker, but Chambers defines roller (among other things) as a kind of tumbler pigeon.
25 With wings wrapping Vermont volume does it (10)
ALLITERATE – ALATE (with wings) around LITER (Vermont volume), &lit.
26 Barman every so often offers cups for women (3)
BRA – alternate letters of BaRmAn.
27 Queer fish seen in dam discharge (6)
WEIRDO – WEIR (dam) + DO (discharge).
28 Trouble turning steel nut (8)
UNSETTLE – (steel nut)*

Down
1 Play around with quiet Scotsman, losing good husband (9)
PHILANDER – P (quiet) + HIGHLANDER, minus the G(ood) and H(usband).
2 Oil in container brought up hot? Not quite that (7)
NAPHTHA – PAN (container) reversed + H(ot) + THA(t).
3 Area on floor covering includes black being near to white (6)
ALBINO – A(rea) + LINO (floor covering) around B(lack).
4 Journalist has line inserted in sloppy miscount (9)
COLUMNIST – L(ine) inside (miscount)*.
5 Did lash out like a young bloke (7)
LADDISH – (did lash)*.
6 General agreement to deceive public survey reported (9)
CONSENSUS – CON (deceive) + homophone of census (public survey reported).
7 Circus bar where some get high during show (7)
TRAPEZE – cryptic definition.
13 Some railways are so enjoyable — no region in particular (9)
FUNICULAR – FUN (enjoyable) + (part)ICULAR.
15 Oblige those against to be instructed (9)
CONSTRAIN – CONS (those against) + TRAIN (to be instructed).
16 Passion about English wine which flows from the press? (9)
REPORTAGE – RAGE (passion) around E(nglish), PORT (wine).
18 What’s appropriate in present content of kitchen garden? (7)
HERBAGE – BAG (appropriate) inside HERE (present).
19 River creatures return about end of August, making fast passage (7)
STRETTO – OTTERS (river creatures) reversed around T (end of August).
21 Stop eating regular helpings of big blue fish (7)
HALIBUT – HALT (stop) around alternate letters if (b)I(g) B(l)U(e).
22 Religious leader followed by the old man of the sea (6)
POPEYE – POPE (religious leader) + YE (the old).

13 comments on “Saturday Times 26574 – please be patient!”

  1. Sympathise..

    Jimbo used to tell me that I should do the blog as soon as I’ve done the crossword … it is quicker and easier to do it then. Unfortunately, this is wise counsel that I have never been able to implement fully myself .. so I pass it on to you; it will either benefit you, or we will at least be in the same boat together 🙂

    1. I’ve done that occasionally in the past, but rarely have the time. I sometimes try to get it done on a Friday night, but thought I had plenty of time this morning. So much for that.
  2. Never realised halibut were so big till a recent University Challenge. I think we all likes 22 down.

    Edited at 2016-11-26 05:19 pm (UTC)

  3. Around 45 minutes. DK the bottle, the ROLLER bird or IMP for “Emperor”. LOI PENZANCE, absolutely infuriatingly, as it should have been so obvious.
    1. I remembered the title Ind Imp which our monarch George V used to have on the obverse of his coins. It’s short for IDIAE IMPERATOR ie Emperor of India
  4. Despite not knowing a number of these words I managed to finish this puzzle in pretty quick time for me. Normally I have a go on Saturday, get about 25% and then return to it on Sunday etc. However I managed to finish this puzzle on the day, on a long train journey.
    Last ones in were Alliterative , Locate and Albino.
    New words were Stretto, Herbage and Winchester.
    Was puzzled by Stroller but it fitted. Also think Do = Discharge is quite obscure, but it had to be.
    Today’s seems harder. David
    1. Do your duties, discharge your duties… I’d have thought those usages were fairly common, not obscure?
      Found it hard to get into, rushed through the middle, then a few minutes at the end on ALLITERATE, which seemed like it had to be the answer but I couldn’t parse. ROLLER in with a shrug, unknown.
      Rob
  5. My notes say my time was the “best part of two hours”, but they also detail the quite terrifying hangover under which I was labouring. Drinking from 5pm on a Friday with LADDISH erstwhile colleagues is a bad idea. FOI IBEXES, LOI WINCHESTER, I think.

    My notes also say that I’m not sure how 20a worked. I seem to remember trying very hard to figure out what SI unit “I” was, rather than just thinking that unit == 1 == I, as seems perfectly plain now. Ah well. Thanks, setter and blogger.

    I was back on form today.

    1. It’s just the American spelling of litre. The setter chose Vermont for the alliteration, could have been any American place otherwise.
  7. 11ac IBEXES FOI LOI & COD 22dn POPEYE

    WOD WINCHESTER or ‘Boston Round’- usually in brown glass screwcap

    Time 40 minutes.

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