Times 26464 – in good company at least…

Author   glhPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time : 13:38 but the club timer said I had two incorrect (which is two better than yesterday). Usually this means I have a typo in a checking letter and fortunately it was an easy one to spot when I opened it back up, I had an S at the crossing of 18 and 20. I also note that another blogger has the same score – maybe we had the same typo.

Odd puzzle this one – probably amenable to biffing, but in a lot of places the wordplay is very very good, particularly in my last entry (11 across) where I definitely needed the wordplay.

Away we go…

Across
1 PETROLHEAD: a term I don’t think I have heard since Australia in the 80s – ROLE(function) containing H(horse) inside PET(animal), AD
7 RAG,A
9 CONJUROR: the companion in the box could be a CO-JUROR – put an N in it
10 WICKED: double definition
11 BOREAS: the North wind – RE(about) in BOAS
13 ILL-FATED: or I’LL FA(musical note) TED
14 MIND-BOGGLING: MIND(object to), then O,GG(since 8 is GEEGEE) inside BLING
17 RHYMING SLANG: anagram of HANGS,GRIMLY containing (in)N
20 TEA CHEST: TEST(trail) containing A,CHE
21 FURORE: O(over – here’s today’s cricket), RE (soldiers) with FUR
22 TIVOLI: anagram of TOIL containing IV
23 NEGATIVE: GEN reversed then EVITA reversed
25 R,ELY
26 ELEMENTARY: ELEMENT(air is one of the ancient ones) then Y with AR(ne)
 
Down
2 ECONOMIC: ON(more cricket) inside E,COMIC
3 RAJ: JAR reversed
4 LORIS: replace the D in LORDS with an I
5 EARRING: EARNING with R for the first N
6 DOWELLING: here it is spelled with only one L – DO WELL, then IN, (fixin)G
7 RECTANGULAR: REGULAR surrounding C(opper),TAN(beat)
8 GEE-GEE: G, then four Easts surrounding another G
12 EX-DIRECTORY: EX(old), then RECTOR inside DIY
15 OXYGENISE: anagram of SEXY,GI,ONE
16 ENGRAVER: E and N are the bridge players, then GRAVER – not sure we’ve seen CHASE for etching in the daily before
18 INTENSE: IN TENS, E(xam)
19 DEFINE: FIN(swimming aid) in DEE
21 FUGUE: I was rather taken by this clue – first letters of For Ukelele, then the last letter of usinG, and alternating letters in lUtE. Fun clue for a tricky word
24 TAT: double definition

63 comments on “Times 26464 – in good company at least…”

  1. I fought shy of BOREAS for quite a while because I read ‘neckwear’ as singular instead of plural. Have I missed something?
    I did enjoy “companion in box” = CO(N)JUROR, except I put an E instead of a second O. I also enjoyed “one who chases” = ENGRAVER, except I thought an engraver was another word for grave digger……
    Lastly, I enjoyed the two letter replacement clues but was surprised to find them next to each other (4d,5d).
    1. Martin, I don’t have a problem with “neckwear” as both singular and plural, much the same way as I don’t have a problem with sheep and fish being both singular and plural.
      1. Yes, of course; but I can imagine a comedy sketch (“Are You Being Served”?) where a woman asks for a boa and the shop assistant pulls out a real, live snake!
  2. 10:49 for me. A slow start, followed (once I’d got going) by a brisk biff-fest, followed by a long pause as I tried to fathom 11ac (BOREAS).
  3. But I’m taking 10 minutes off that because of a talkative colleague who failed to observe my cone of silence.

    LOI by a long way was BOREAS.

    Thanks setter and George.

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