Times 26683 – Done Like a Kipper

Author   ulacaPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
I had all bar three (19, 20, 25) done in less than 13 minutes (or thought I had), but then took ages to finish that corner off, only to find on submission (on the Times website puzzle page) that I had one wrong. I couldn’t find that after a few minutes hunting about, and then, after clicking the Reveal button, I was red-faced to see I’d fallen for the old ‘I know what the answer is, I won’t bother to parse the clue properly’ – or ‘until the ruddy end’, as CS Lewis used to say – trick.

I wonder how many of you will join me in donning the Dunce’s Hat today, and how many suffered from a terrible bout of vocalophobia (fear of vowels) in the SW corner.

ACROSS

1. SOBER – OBE in SR.
4. HOODWINK – [e]DWIN in HOOK.
8. CLAUSTROPHOBIA – anagram* of AT CLUB OR SHOP + I + A; not claustrophobic!
10. NOTORIOUS – O + RIO in NOT + US.
11. YAHOO – OO on HAY reversed.
12. COIN-OP – whimsical clue for a great British institution.
14. ANTEROOM – ANT + E + MOOR reversed.
17. UPPER-CUT – a type of pugilistic punch.
18. OBERON – [s]OBER + ON reversed.
20. IDOLA – plural of idolum; DO + L in IA. Generous cluing for those who had forgotten this one.
22. LEASTWISE – ‘at any rate’; E in LAST + WISE (way once)
24. APPLE CHARLOTTE – C (key) + HARLOT (working girl – no char here) in LATE PPE*. Clever, if rather wasted, wordplay.
25. HUMANELY – ‘with sympathy’; sounds like HUGH + MAINLY.
26. DWELT – WEL in DT; ‘well’ as in ‘They live well and vote Labour’.

DOWN

1. SECOND COUSIN – SECOND + [US in CO + IN].
2. BOAST – S in BOAT; a pram is a dinghy with a snub nose, as it were.
3. RESERVOIR – ERRORS + VIE*.
4. HEREON – E in HERON.
5. OPPOSING – OP + POSING.
6. WOOZY – WOO + ZY.
7. NEIGHBOUR – BORING + HUE*.
9. COMMENCEMENT – MEN + CE in COMMENT.
13. IMPROMPTU – um, it’s I’M PROMPT + U.
15. EMBATTLED – ‘in conflict’; E + MB + [r]ATTLED.
16. CURLICUE – CUR + U in LICE.
19. VAGARY – AG in VARY; seems so easy now…
21. ALLOA – ALL + O + A; a place known to most Sassenachs c/o James Alexander Gordon.
23. ISTLE – T in ISLE; more generous wordplay prevents further embarrassment.

43 comments on “Times 26683 – Done Like a Kipper”

  1. 13 mins, so a fair bit slower than some of you but at least 8ac went in correctly. VAGARY was my LOI after HUMANELY. Although the enumeration didn’t hold me up I’d always spell 17ac as one word.

    As far as Penfold’s mini gripe about 4ac is concerned I didn’t have a problem with the idea behind it.

  2. I first wrote in 8a with IC at the end, and then realized that IA would fit too so I’d better check the wordplay. So I avoided that one.

    For some reason, took me forever to see HUMANELY and then I thought HUMAN must be the fellow and was trying to work out why ELY was “largely read aloud”. But I got there in the end. Solved on paper but probably about 25 mins.

  3. Things were going pretty well until (as you hinted) vocalophobia took hold in the SW corner. I struggled home eventually, but my 10:39 compares unfavourably with Magoo’s 3:04.

    I biffed CLAUSTROPHOBIA, having failed to spot that CLAUSTROPHOBIC was even a possibility, though I think I may have glimpsed “one with a” out of the corner of my eye. Or perhaps just subliminally?

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