Times 24775 – Smooth As Glenmorangie

Author   yfyapPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
I normally tackle the biggies (long answers) first as their solutions often open the way for other clues. This morning, after solving 2D and 7D, I smiled all the way through this delightful offering. The setter has taken great pain to smoothen the edges off the surface reading; so solving them will give you much pleasure and enjoyment.

ACROSS
1 SOCRATES Ins of CRATE (case) in SOS (urgent message)
5 FARMER Ins of M (male) in FARE (food) + R (river) What a lovely imagery of a hungry and tired agricultural worker tucking into a ham sandwich at midday by the stream
10 SWEATSHOP cd
11 OPTIC OP (opus, work) TIC (twitching)
12 HINT THIN (little substance) with T (time) to the back Thanks to McText
13 STAIRWELL cd
15 AT ALL TIMES A TALL (towering) TIMES (this newspaper)
17 MINE dd Thanks to astonvilla1
19 Homophone answer deliberately omitted
20 FORTHRIGHT FORTH (Scottish river) RIGHT (sounds like RITE, ceremony)
22 STRONG-ARM *(TORMentS GRAN minus ear, nose and throat, a hospital department)
24 HOUR HO (house) UR (Rev of Rugby Union, game)
26 EVADE Ins of A D (daughter) in EVE (sinful woman)
27 REBOUNDED Ins of O (ring) in *(UNDER BED)
28 SPEEDY Ins of EED (river DEE is receding) in SPY (mole)
29 ALDEHYDE ALDER (tree) minus R + HYDE Park in London

DOWN
1 SASH SMASH (hit) minus M (first letter of Music)
2 CHEMICAL WARFARE *(AIRCREW CAME HALF) I wonder whether this qualifies to be called an &lit. In any case, what a superb surface!
3 ASTUTELY AS (like) TU (trade union) TELLY (tv) minus L
4 ETHOS ETH (a letter, a barred D, used in Old English without distinction from thorn for voiced or voiceless th, in Icelandic and by phoneticians used for the voiced th, thorn standing for the voiceless th) OS (outsize, very big)
6 ABOARD AB (able-bodied seaman) hOARD (hEAP)
7 MOTHERING SUNDAY *(NERDY SON HUG MA IT) Another &lit! a rural English custom of visiting the mother church or one’s parents on mid-Lent Sunday
8 RECOLLECTS RE (religious education or Bible lessons) COLLECTS (prayers)
9 APPARENT AP (rev of PA, dad) PARENT (mum)
14 BARRISTERS Ins of ST (street) in BARRIERS (obstructions) Cute surface
16 IDOLATRY I (one) + *(arty old)
18 ART HOUSE Ins of THOU’S (half of a thousand or 500) in ARE
21 INDEED Ins of D (diamonds) in I NEED (I must have)
23 MABEL M (married) A BELL (ring) minus L
25 IDLE I (one) DOLE (handout) minus O (nothiong less)

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

69 comments on “Times 24775 – Smooth As Glenmorangie”

  1. Of course it is ROWS, meaning “IS one of eight” and sounding like the girl’s name Rose. And the leaderboard (which I actually got onto today, since my time was not as astronomical as usual) says my solution is correct.

    I also agree that MINE is a double definition.

    As for HINT, my wordplay goes THIN(G) as “little substance”, with T moved to the end. I suppose it doesn’t matter.

    9d is the clue I liked best (or found most amusing), and most of the rest was fairly easy, with ETHOS, STAIRWELL and ABOARD going in last, after a 15 minute pause. Solving time about 35 mins if one doesn’t count the pause, close to my best time.

  2. 11:15 .. pretty straightforward. I didn’t find this nearly as inspiring as did Uncle Yap, but he’s a much nicer person than I am and looks for the best in everything.

    Always happy to see SOCRATES, however, because I can’t see the name without hearing Martin Jarvis as William Brown pronouncing it ‘so-crates’ (as in ‘thus, wooden boxes’), and that makes me smile every time. Makes me blush, as well, with the memory of total humiliation in an early Latin class when I was asked to read out my homework translation to the class, unaware that Pericles didn’t rhyme with ‘sphericals’. How they laughed…

    Last in IDOLATRY

    1. Reminds me of the old joke about Mr Sidebottom and Mr Balls holidaying as a Turkish gentleman, Mr Sidi-botaam and his Greek friend, Mr Testicles. When I was a kid I thought this was very funny!
  3. Please explain why this is stairwell. I’m a novice who is trying desperately to improve! Thanks
      1. Hi. I’m anon from before (not the rude one). I’ve set up an account since then.I understand the flight bit-it’s the “is taken close to” bit that I don’t see.Stairwell in the Oxford dict. is given as the shaft in which stairs are housed but is this clue meaning the bottom of the flight? Thanks
        1. I think the setter means that the flight of stairs is close to=near to, adjacent to, the stairwell

          It’s a cryptic definition (and neither particularly original nor good as far as I’m concerned) so don’t look for too precise a construction. You’ll get used to seeing flight, tread, riser and so on and thinking stairs – which is all that is required to solve this clue

  4. Yet another very easy puzzle. Less than 15 minutes even after playing golf.

    Our anon friend above is presumably the person that wakes one up in the middle of the night being totally ignorant of time differences around thye world. Thank you all for coming to UY’s defence.

  5. And I still remember how my oldest brother laughed when I told him I was reading Shaw’s Androckals and the Lion.
  6. 7:23 for another easy puzzle.

    I’ve never heard of ROWA as a girl’s name. She’s not in Chambers (2003) and the only mention I can find of someone with that name in wikipedia (in this entry) is not one that I think would lead a setter to include her in a Times crossword – those of delicate sensibilities are warned! Anyway I don’t think ROWA fits the clue.

    1. Cough, splutter…. having just read that scandalous reference, Tony, I’m fairly confident that particular Rowa won’t be making an appearance in the Times crossword any time soon. Guardian, possibly, but The Times? Surely not!

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