Times 24716 – In The Hot Seat

Author   yfyapPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
What a challenging puzzle this is. The variety and sheer complexity of the cryptic devices used almost overwhelmed me and I felt I was in the hot seat, both metaphorically and physically. Yes, I have returned to 30 degree Celcius Malaysia after more than a fortnight of sub-zero temperatures in London, complete with snow and all. It will be a long time before I consider going back to Brrritain, especially in winter.

ACROSS
1 JACKAL JACK (fellow in suit) A L (large) What a delightfully outrageous way of calling Jack a fellow in suit!
4 PRESS-UP Cha of PRE (before) S (second) SUP (drink)
9 ha deliberately omitted
10 IRON OXIDE Ins of ON OX (steer as in bovine) in I RIDE (travel) for what is commonly called RUST, which makes this almost an &lit
11 WOODEN LEG WOODEN (lacking expression) LEG (stage) Another splendid def, walk-on part indeed!
12 MAFIA Rev of AIFAM, ins of FA (Football Association or footballers) in AIM (goal)
13 RUFF Sounds like ROUGH (not even)
14 MONEY TALKS *(YET MAN’S OK Left) Ironic sounding clue
18 HEAVEN-SENT Ins of N (northern) in HEAVES (lifts) ENT (ear, nose and throat, hospital department)
20 WHEN The last letters of noW thougH onE caN
23 CANOE Ins of O (over) in CANE (stick)
24 SOBRIQUET SO (rev of OS, Ordinary Seaman or sailor) BRIQUET (brick-shaped block made of compressed coal dust, charcoal, etc) for a nickname; an assumed name.
25 JUXTAPOSE *(Jack Old US EXPAT)
26 QUITO capital of Ecuador. Thanks to paulmcl, sounds like key toe (crucial kick)
27 NUDGERS Ins of E (ecstasy) in *(New DRUGS)
28 BELIZE Ins of LIZ (familiar form of Elizabeth) in BEE (worker) (formerly British Honduras) a democratic constitutional monarchy, and the northernmost Central American nation. I love this setter’s description of Elizabeth Regina II as female leading us! Priceless!

DOWN for a
1 JOBSWORTH A minor official who regards the rigid enforcement of petty rules as more important than providing a service to the public. Thanks to paulmcl, J (judge) BOSWORTH (a battle ground) with letter B pushed to second
2 CRY WOLF Cha of CRY (keen as in lamentation) WOLF (bolt as in food)
3 AMULET Ins of MULE (slipper) in AT (rev of TA, cheers) Thanks to paulmcl of California for a charm worn to ward off evil
4 PRONG PRONE (lying) minus E + G (good)
5 ENORMITY *(mine Tory)
6 SKILFUL SKIPFUL (pile of building waste) with L substituted for P, the middle letter
7 PIETA PIE (shepherd’s pie, geddit?) TA (rev of AT) The Pietà is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most often found in sculpture like the masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture by the renowned artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
8 ZILLIONS ZIL (rev of LIZ, an informal handle for Elizabeth) LIONS (common name for rugby team)
15 ENNOBLED ENNOB (rev of BONNET, hood minus T) LED (light-emitting diode) and what a cheeky def, got up to peer !
16 SUNSTROKE SUN (Sunday, regarded as first day of the week) STROKE (the leading member of a crew of 8 oarsmen)
17 BEVERAGE BE + AVERAGE (mean) minus first A
19 ANNEXED AN (indefinite article) + ins of X (symbol for times or multiplication in arithmetics) in NEED (poverty) Yet another fantastic def, did appropriate!
21 HOUDINI HOUR (time) minus R DIN (racket) I, the escape artist so audaciously defined as tie-break ace! Bravo!
22 RISQUE R (resistance) IS QUE (that in French, clued as coming from De Gaulle)
23 CAJUN CA (rev of AC, account or bill) JUN (June with 30 days) descendant of the French-speaking Acadians deported from Canada to Louisiana in 1755; often associated with settling in marshy places like the answer in 9 Across
24 SCOTS Rev of SeT fOr CaSt

Key to abbreviations
dd = double definition
dud = duplicate definition
tichy = tongue-in-cheek type
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram

48 comments on “Times 24716 – In The Hot Seat”

  1. 25 minutes with 1 mistake – like Richard I put in SKIPFUL and I didn’t even agonise over this as I didn’t pick up on the possible ambiguity.
    Excellent and tough puzzle although, for me, yesterday was tougher
  2. I really took a liking to this by the time I was about a third of the way along, and was still pleased at the end. Last entry was SKILFUL, which I thought was changed from SKIDFUL, and for which I needed to remember the UK spelling of what we write as ‘skillful’. JOBSWORTH was also new to me, and was more of a guess than a real understanding of the wordplay. Otherwise, the definitions used by the setter today are for the most part imaginative and fun. I liked BELIZE and the connected ZILLIONS, and the ‘get up to peer’ def. Thanks to the setter. Regards to all.
  3. Apoogies for the SKIPFUl/SKILFUL confusion. As Peter rightly points out, although you’ll struggle to find SKIPFUL in any dictionary, the solver can’t really be expected to disregard a possibility which the setter has himself alluded to in the clue!
    I think those with SKIPFUL as the answer should consider it correct 🙂
    2. That is truly a thrill, as I count myself as another with just that one wrong. Thanks indeed!
  4. I solved this slowly on a long train journey, but did finish correctly after looking up JOBSWORTH in a dictionary (having all the crossing letters) to see that there really was such a word. That was my last in, and second to last was IRON OXIDE after wondering for hours what an IRON OLIVE might be. I quite agree with all the comments praising this delightful puzzle. Hard to choose a COD, but I did like BELIZE and the “female leading us” very much, also RUFF, IRON OXIDE and many more.

Comments are closed.