Times 24,678 – Times for The Times

Timed at 19:09, which seems about right for what I found a very two-paced puzzle – more than half the across clues went in on first look, but things slowed rapidly after that, particularly in the SW corner.

Across
1	FRICASSEE – [CAS(h) in 1’S] in FREE.
9	LA PLATA – LAP + (~~mea~~)L + A ‘TA’.
10	deliberately omitted
11	EASEL – EASE + L(~~ength~~).
12	GREEN BELT – (GENTREBEL)*. As the old joke goes, if you get a green belt in judo, you can defend yourself from people who want to build houses on you.
13	RELIGHT – (THEGIRL)*.
15	SET TO – backwards in MOT test.
17	CRUSH – double def.
18	CHIVY – C.H. + IVY. I’d always thought this had a double V, but it appears either is acceptable.
19	SCENE =”SEEN”, as in “Don’t make a scene”.
20	REDCOAT – RED + C.O. + AT. Once more, our North American contributors’ favourite soldier makes an appearance.
23	PARKINSON – PARK + [SO in INN]. I was picturing Michael Parkinson with a badge and a gun until I remembered Parkinson’s Law.
25	FACED – (DECAF)rev.
27	BRAVADO – B(~~oyfriend~~) + RAV(e) + A DO. “Bottle” here being courage, rather than the Jeroboam type vessel I was half looking for.
28	EMIRATE – EMIGRATE without (~~kin~~)G.
29	RIDGE TENT – RID + [(Os)TE(nd) in GENT].

Down
1	FORAGE – F.O. RAGE, though these days it would have to be FCORAGE, which doesn’t quite work.
2	ILL BE BOUND – cryptic def.
3	ASTONISH – AS + (N.I. in TOSH). “Tosh” as “mate” was last discussed in July.
4	SADIE – S.A. + DIE. As has been discussed at length here, I think S.A. in its “Sex Appeal” meaning (there are others, of course) is one of those expressions that lives on in crosswords and nowhere else in the world, and perhaps ought to be allowed to fade away itself.
5	ELECTRODE – ELECT (the adjectival sense as in President Elect) + (~~Mahle~~)R + ODE.
6	APPEAL =”A PEEL“.
7	PADS – double def. (I spent a long time weighing up BARS as a double def. with an added &lit. because of the third, musical, definition; however, I couldn’t quite make “flats” tally with this – I was thinking a sand bar might be a flat, but the dictionary was adamant that it’s a ridge, and thus definitely not a flat). Particularly with the unhelpful _A_S checkers, this is the sort of clue that you could easily see causing a slip under championship conditions.
8	HARLOTRY – LOT in HARRY.
14	GOING SPARE – double def.
16	TEST PAPER – (PETERSAPT)*.
17	CAREFREE – C. A REF(e)REE.
18	CELIBATE – (ELI + BAT) in C.E. In the modern vernacular, celibacy seems to be more about sex than marriage, but the OED, at least, does not follow (celibate=unmarried, rather than abstaining from intercourse).
21	OLDHAM – HOLD with the H pushed forward/down, + A M(~~otorway~~).
22	ON FOOT – the Foot in question being the former Labour leader.
24	RABID – (BIRDA)*, with two possible anagram indicators confusing the issue.
26	CHIT – C(~~harts~~) + HIT.

60 comments on “Times 24,678”

1. This was a tough puzzle for the colonials, as others have noted. (a) I do not recall ever hearing or seeing the expression “going spare.” I do not understand what it could have to do with “getting angry,” and I do not see how it could mean “having been made redundant” – shouldn’t it be “being made redundant?” (b) I also did not get Oldham – I guessed Ordway, but Ordway is a town of only about 1,000 souls in Colorado and not likely to appear in a crossword puzzle. Still, “roadway” (“motorway”) with the “a” removed (“down”) and the “heading right” (“r”) moved “down” almost fits with the rest of the clue.
2. I also did not get “Sadie” and agree that “SA” for sex appeal is lame.
3. I had “bars” for 7 dn and find the ambiguity of the clues and answers annoying instead of interesting.
Overall, not one of my favo(u)rite puzzles.

The Ashes have started. A wicket from the third ball.

Pads was my last in, and I support all those who block a ball with their pads and hope not to be out LBW.

Go Aussie!

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