Times 25,932: Critique of Impure (Reason*)

Author   VerlainePosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
It’s half-term and the kids are plonked open-mouthed and vacant-eyed in front of Q Pootle 5, so I probably out to keep it brief today! Fortunately this was a quick solve, about 10 minutes on the nose, with pauses to refill Weetabix bowls and lift toddlers in and out of chairs. Not nearly as spooky as I’d have liked given the date (happy Hallowe’en everyone!) but I suppose 12D is adequately seasonal?

My FOI was the fairly transparent 20A and then clues started going in pretty quickly, including 14D which caused no problems for a Latinist. 17A was the only unknown vocabulary this week, but the setter played fair and it was completely obvious from the wordplay and given the final letter. I proceeded round the grid in a clockwise fashion, taking way too long to remember where Borsetshire was, and ending with a LOI of 19D, which my brain had been rather obsessed with trying to make end with -ED.

Overall an enjoyable crossword I thought, with a few clues that felt a bit too instantly forgettable, but more than compensated for by loads of excellent syntheses of wordplay and surface – I really do like it when it a surface comes together completely sensically – and more than one really rather clever &lit clue. I think I’ll make my COD one of the &lits – 2D gets an honourable mention for being the most tortuous to parse, but I’ll give first place to 9A. Thanks setter!

Across
1 BUSINESS CLASS – “comfortable standard”: (BASICS UNLESS*) “travelling” + S [second], &lit
8 SWAN – bird: SWAN{k} [impressive display “cut short”]
9 ROOF GARDEN – ROO [jumper] + F [flirting “initially”] + (DANGER*) [“awful”], &lit
10 ALARMIST – “tending to cause panic”: ALAR MIST [winged cloud]
11 REFUSE – rubbish: REUSE [recycle] “getting round” F [fine]
13 RECONSIDER – review: RESIDE [lie] “about” CON [Conservative] + R [right]
16 IRON – “smoother”: I [“reduced” (ie abbreviation for) current] + R [river] + ON [running]
17 RIMU – New Zealand tree: “featuring in” Mao{RI MU}tiny
18 SCHOOL YEAR – “a number of terms”: (REAL CHOOSY*) [“about”]
20 EGGCUP – “that often carries shells”: E{n}G{a}G{e} [“regularly”] + CUP [vessel]
22 MARIACHI – Mexican music: MARIA [Callas perhaps] + C [cautious “at first”] + HI [greeting]
24 TABLE LINEN – “material intended for board”: TABLE LINE [put forward policy] + N [new]
26 OUCH – “that was painful”: TOUCH [make contact] – T [“forgetting” time]
27 CAMBRIDGE BLUE – sportsperson: CLUE [hint] “about” AMBRIDGE B [Borsetshire village bachelor]

Down
1 BEWILDERING – puzzling: BE WILDER [grow more excited] “over” IN G [popular and good]
2 SANER – (REASON*) – O [“less” “short” of (ie O{f})] [“ordered”] &lit
3 NARCISSUS – plant: NARC [US agent] IS “above” SUS [suspiciou]
4 SPOTTED – “like a cheetah”: SPED [raced] “around” OTT [too much]
5 CIGAR – smoke: IG [soldier… overturning] “trapped in” CAR [vehicle]
6 AIRY-FAIRY – delicate, insubstantial: AI [first class] RY{e} [whisky “short”] + FAIRY [spirit]
7 SHE – novel: SHE{w} [display old “unfinished”]
12 STOMACH ACHE – “result of E. coli outbreak”: STOMA [pore] “over” CHA [tea] + CHE{f} [kitchen head “mostly”]
14 OPUSCULUM – a little work: OP [Pilot Officer ie PO “rising”] “over” (CUMULUS*) [“strange”]
15 RIO GRANDE – film: O GRAN [old relative] “taken on board” RIDE [roller coaster, say]
19 HOMINID -“one from our own line”: MINI [dress] in HOD [carrier]
21 POLAR – “in very cold regions”: P [power] + {s}OLAR [from the sun “hasn’t succeeded”]
23 ATOLL – island: A TOLL [a charge for crossing bridge]
25 ARC – “be rapidly discharged”: “involved in” w{AR C}rimes

70 comments on “Times 25,932: Critique of Impure (Reason*)”

  1. About 15 minutes to get through this offering from the simpler end of the spectrum I ended with SWAN/SANER also. As the other Kevin said earlier, we use ‘swank’ as an adjective over here, so that caused a delay. Regards.
  2. 11:00 for me, going through a bad patch at the moment. (Sigh!)

    Thanks for explaining 2dn: I was pretty sure it was an &lit, but my brain simply wouldn’t cope with parsing it.

  3. Excellent puzzle; one of the most enjoyable this month.
    Thank you, setter, whoever you are and the blogger, too
  4. This belated comment is one for the lexicographers. The sudden popularity of “Yo!” could stem from this film (if I’ve got the right John Wayne – there were an awful lot). It’s sentimental and simplistic, probably because screened during the war. I don’t think indigenous “Indians” would approve of their portrayal, for instance. But it’s centred on a bunch of cavalry recruits, who at roll call are told “Don’t say ‘Yes Sir!’, just say ‘Yo!'” So they all do, with enthusiasm.

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