Saturday Times 26628 (21st Jan)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solvng time 16:48. Found this one hard to get into, solved mostly from the bottom up. Looking back at it this morning I’m not sure why – they all seem pretty straightforward apart from a couple. COD is a dead heat between 11ac and 4dn.

Across
1 With nothing going in, judge compilers to be hard (7)
CALLOUS – CALL US (judge compilers) around O (nothing).
5 Wayward lot – and bars – found here? (7)
BORSTAL – (lot bars)*, anag &lit.
9 Plan works that’s led by staff (9)
MANOEUVRE – MAN (staff) + OEUVRE (works).
10 Leafy plant keeping men in light shade (5)
IVORY – IVY (leafy plant) around OR (men).
11 Supplier of pants and bra? They have supply centre in here (5,8)
HEAVY BREATHER – (bra they have)* + (h)ER(e).
13 Plumber finally blocks cracked pipes about to release liquid (8)
PERSPIRE – (plumbe)R inside (pipes)* + RE (about).
15 Dry boring part’s cut in two (6)
BISECT – SEC (dry) inside BIT (part).
17 Medic involved in row getting deal? (6)
TIMBER – MB (medic) inside TIER (row).
19 Go and fish in taxing place (8)
TURNPIKE – TURN (go) + PIKE (fish).
22 Butcher cons us on lamb, hiding one premium cut (2-6,5)
NO-CLAIMS BONUS – (cons us on lamb)* around I (one).
25 How Euridice, Salome and Alceste end is silly (5)
INANE – all three names end IN AN E.
26 Foolishly expect a university to admit learner free of charge (9)
EXCULPATE – (expect a U)* around L(earner).
27 Good journalist, absorbing entertainer, wrote for someone else (7)
GHOSTED – G(ood) + ED (journalist) around HOST (entertainer).
28 Rent found at the rear of Carol’s undergarment (7)
SINGLET – LET (rent) after SING (carol).

Down
1 Mass puncturing ceiling in temporary quarters (4)
CAMP – M(ass) inside CAP (ceiling).
2 Hands seizing a French revolutionary? He may scoff (7)
LUNCHER – L,R (hands) around UN (a French) + CHE (revolutionary).
3 Principal in Oxford wants fantastic last term? (5)
OMEGA – O(xford) + MEGA (fantastic).
4 Frenchman‘s carts carrying eggs around (8)
SAVOYARD – DRAYS (carts) around OVA (eggs), all reversed.
5 Exhausted old king stopping by (6)
BLEARY – LEAR (old king) inside BY.
6 Losing millions, contemplating failure (9)
RUINATION – RUMINATION (contemplating), without the M for millions.
7 Foot‘s hard and firm, climbing through part of forest (7)
TROCHEE – H(ard) + CO (firm) reversed, inside TREE (part of forest).
8 Man entering order: soup, maybe chicken wraps (3,7)
LAY BROTHER – BROTH (soup) inside LAYER (maybe chicken).
12 Honest if repeatedly not lying? (10)
UPSTANDING – UP + STANDING (two synonyms for “not lying”).
14 River dividing Upper Vaal evenly has fast current (9)
PREVALENT – R(iver) inside even letters of “Upper Vaal” + LENT (fast).
16 Workers’ group, after volte-face, supports austerity measures (8)
CUTBACKS – TUC (workers’ group) reversed, + BACKS (supports).
18 It could make model city for pilgrims running up (7)
MECCANO – MECCA (city for pilgrims) + ON (running) reversed.
20 Establish where mount may be at start of race. (7)
INSTALL – IN STALL (where mount may be at start of race).
21 Repairman’s confession, having saved power loom (6)
IMPEND – I MEND (repairman’s confession) around P(ower).
23 Yarn‘s many longueurs trimmed down (5)
NYLON – hidden in “many longueurs”.
24 Stone walls in one-time church’s office (4)
SEXT – ST(one) around EX (one-time).

14 comments on “Saturday Times 26628 (21st Jan)”

  1. Re-18dn MECCANO – are we now allowed band names on a Saturday?

    I have no problem but what is the current thinking?

    COD 4dn SAVOYARD WOD EXCULPATE

  2. No time for me I’m afraid as I dip in and out – folded paper copy always in the pocket.

    I really liked 11a where “pants” – so often an anagrind to some people’s consternation in these parts – is part of the literal. I did not find the rest of the underwear retail surface particularly easy to follow but – once one had twigged the literal and with a few checkers – the answer was a write-in.

    Thanks to setter & blogger for the entertainment.

  3. Completely off the wavelength, but got there after a very slow but enjoyable 43 minutes.
    Horryd, brand names seem to be creeping in to the weekday crossword as well. Used to be only Times and Sky that appeared, but in the past few years many more have snuck in. It would be tempting to blame the Tantrumocracy, but it started well before then.
    Andy, hope it’s not your (or my) new script that’s messed up 20 down clue 😉
    1. Oops, no, I messed up manually in a couple of places. I fixed one of them quickly but didn’t spot that one.
  4. Definitely a learning experience for me this week. Despite putting a lot of time into it, I was left with the NW virtually blank. Failed to get 1a, 1d 2d 3d and 4d. With not much to go on also failed to get 11a where I wanted the anagram to be of Supplier of and Bra. The Frenchman eluded me as did 24d -I presume Stone is a weight here and so can be abbreviated?
    Having hit the wall with this one, I looked at last Sunday’s puzzle and solved it fairly quickly. So I think this was hard. David
  5. I also worked from the southern part of the grid upwards and then struggled to complete in the NW quarter. Good puzzle though, with SEXT as my only unknown. I’m saying no more on the subject of brand names as my comments last time caused some controversy (not that I was saying I had a problem with them).

    Edited at 2017-01-28 02:14 pm (UTC)

    1. I also note that NYLON was originally a trademark but like your comment on Hoover last week it has become a generic(hoovering). It came from the twinning of the cities of NY and LONDON much like Thames & Hudson.
  6. I found this extremely hard going and almost gave up with the NW corner still undone (apart from 1d.) Had another cuppa and went back to it. Once I’d seen SAVOYARD the rest went in easily. As usual, post-solve it’s difficult to see why this proved to be such a challenge. 65 minutes. Ann
  7. I found this difficult but very enjoyable. Slow but steady progress. I didn’t know SEXT (but obviously knew sexton so it wasn’t hard) and I smiled to myself thinking that it would be clued a little differently on sunday by some of our compilers. No time since it was in several sessions, but probably over the hour in total.
  9. Dearie me,SAVOYARD & TROCHEE took me two days to get but glad to have completed it eventually.Ong’ara,Kenya.
  10. As I recall, I struggled getting the last couple in, the LOI being 1ac, which I finally biffed. I liked SAVOYARD (although I associate the word with Gilbert and Sullivan instead of France), but somehow ‘eggs around’ immediately triggered ‘OVA–>AVO’, which made solving fairly easy. I also liked RUINATION, among others, and ‘supplier of pants’ as a definition.
  11. I always have a paper copy of a crossword with me to fill any dull times. This one filled quite a lot and I eventually turned to the blog (thank you) for 9ac, 3dn and 5dn. Works=oeuvre, omega=last term need to be learned – Lear needs to be remembered.

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