ACROSS
1 Flat has covered parking — that’s essential (6)
STAPLE – STALE has covered P
5 Element detected around large island with uniform mass (8)
SELENIUM – SEEN around L, + I with U M
9 A drink and a piece of meat brought over for Indian chief? (8)
MAHARAJA – A JAR and A HAM “brought over”
10 Result of bombing run by old plane (6)
CRATER – R by CRATE
11 One sitting in car arrested by copper’s careful (8)
CAUTIOUS – I, sitting in AUTO, “arrested by” CU’S
12 In such activity bell sounds — seconds out, round eleven (6)
BOXING – BONG{s}, “round” XI, semi-&lit
13 Lie about insect being in food that’s sent back (8)
STAGNATE – GNAT being in reversed EATS
15 Aces high, for example (4)
CASE – (ACES*) [“high”]
17 Top place to go on a ship (4)
HEAD – double def, where “to go” means “to use the facilities”
19 Prevail upon journalist, a US agent, to turn (8)
PERSUADE – reverse all of ED, A US REP
20 Heading for somewhere where it’s extremely hot, wearing these? (6)
SHADES – S{omewhere} + HADES, semi-&lit
21 Books that are used only when needed (8)
RESERVES – double def
22 State‘s serial criminal (6)
ISRAEL – (SERIAL*) [“criminal”]
23 Democrat’s gripped by sudden anxiety — it’s all over (8)
PANDEMIC – DEM’s gripped by PANIC. If only it was all over in the *other* sense too…
24 Making U-turn, body of scientists cite negative results in DNA research (8)
GENETICS – hidden reversed in the body of {scientist}S CITE NEG{ative}
25 Winger‘s reminder to cover both sides and find width (6)
CURLEW – CUE to “cover” R + L, and find W
DOWN
2 Timid at first, I’m on song, getting a drink (3,5)
TIA MARIA – T{imid} + I AM on ARIA
3 Jimmy’s outside Acton, having dropped off on train (8)
PRACTISE – PRISE [jimmy] is outside ACT{on}
4 Worry about American workers on strike, finally getting involved (9)
ELABORATE – EAT “about” LABOR [American workers], on {strike}
5 Support military bands holding African state’s flag (5,3,7)
STARS AND STRIPES – STAND STRIPES [support | military bands] holding RSA (= the Republic of South Africa)
6 Part of body Eastern lady initially covered with a gown (7)
EARLOBE – E, + L{ady} “covered by” A ROBE
7 Given international platform, Europe set up scheme (8)
INTRIGUE – INT. + RIG [(oil) platform] + reversed EU
8 Flower girl goes off with a mod (8)
MARIGOLD – (GIRL + A MOD*) [“goes off”]
14 Tail of aircraft worked very nicely, shortening by 50% around Mach 1 (9)
TRANSONIC – {aircraf}T + RAN [worked] + SO NIC{ely}
15 Arrested by coastguard, composer’s cut short ferry journey (8)
CROSSING – “arrested by” C.G., ROSSIN{i}
16 Square craft around naval unit (8)
SQUADRON – SQ + (AROUND*) [“craft…”]
17 I approve of the girl drinking vodka, ultimately — same again! (4,4)
HEAR HEAR – HER [the girl] “drinking” {vodk}A, bis
18 Dad’s upset, having little enthusiasm (8)
APPETITE – reversed PA + PETITE
19 Front page has concerning message (7)
PRETEXT – P has RE [concerning] TEXT
Only now do I remember that SQUADRON was a biff I left unparsed.
Just ordered a new printer today, so this was worked online, and it was one day when I wasn’t so tired of working at the computer that I could actually enjoy tackling one of these. (I used to have the commuting time, at least!)
It is curious that ‘hear, hear’ appears in both the Quickie and the 15 x 15 today. Surely the editor should be able to control the scheduling….one would think.
I haven’t gotten to it yet myself.
I try above all to avoid similar clues to the same answers, and to avoid “stand-out” phrases, especially long ones, repeating too soon, but I am fairly relaxed, odd as it may seem, about two answers appearing in different puzzles on the same day.
And there is always the chance in any case that something will be missed.
Time: bang on an hour.
FOI 5dn STARS AND STRIPES
LOI 22ac ISRAEL
WOD 5ac SELENIUM 3rd in after 8dn MARIGOLD (more mods)
I thought 15ac CASE was a crap clue. And 17ac HEAD I never even attempted!
Edited at 2020-04-17 05:06 am (UTC)
You see like an interesting cove. Your comments always amuse me so thank you.
Midas
Verlaine, thank you for the blog, and I am curious: was Wednesday your PB? Hard to imagine you could go faster than 3:43!
Little Plum
When you think about it, under a minute seems fairly easily achievable … 100wpm is nothing unusual for a touch typist, and there are only 29 words in today’s. The only thing to slow one down is the need to press enter after each word. Assuming that actually solving the clues has already been attended to, of course 🙂
Edited at 2020-04-17 09:26 am (UTC)
Another unknown or forgotten abbreviation was CG for Coast Guard, or ‘coastguard’ as the puzzle has it.
SELENIUM delayed me too which was bad considering my knowledge of the less common elements relies on the Tom Lehrer lyric and SELENIUM gets its name-check at the end of the very first line.
I was also thrown by the definition at 16dn which is by example and unsignalled. Although a SQUADRON can be a division or unit in any of the armed forces (more usually just ‘squad’ in the army) I tend to associate it more with the Royal Air Force because it appears in the rank Squadron Leader and names such as 617 Squadron (The Dam Busters) and 633 Squadron (fictional, used as a film title and the stirring march written for the soundtrack).
Edited at 2020-04-17 05:52 am (UTC)
Rich
I think I enjoyed the topical reference at 23; I definitely enjoyed the sunglasses at 20.
SQUADRON LOI, but knew the word. Dnk TRANSONIC, an ugly word, Chambers has ‘see trans-sonic’, which makes sense.
COD to PANDEMIC.
19′ 14″ thanks Verlaine and setter.
Edited at 2020-04-17 07:23 am (UTC)
COD looked cool in SHADES.
40 mins with yoghurt etc.
I liked it, mostly: Crater and COD to Shades.
Thanks setter and V.
COD: SHADES, and SQUADRON a close second.
Yesterday’s answer: the intersection I was looking for was escapologist David Copperfield (groan, sorry).
Today’s question: which is the only chemical element without any of the letters of the word mackerel?
Sincerely,
Arthur A. Bleeker – Hunstanton
Edited at 2020-04-18 08:49 am (UTC)
I was also conscious that I hadn’t a clue what was going on neither with Old Glory, nor SQUADRON, and was surprised to emerge with no pink, even if neither could be anything else.
I’ll add my voice to the chorus of approval for the spectacular reverse hidden.
Somewhere at the back of my collection I believe I have a bottle of Tia Maria, so old it’s probably turned to toffee by now.
No problem with squadron. Vague memories of squadrons being deployed in the Battle of Jutland etc. Took me ages to see the anagram.
Entering PRACTICE held things up.
As for TRANSONIC, a B747 cargo aircraft belonging to an airline I used to work for once went transonic briefly when a defect in an onboard computer caused the plane to roll and dive. The pilots managed to pull it out safely
Squadron in a naval context: “The other’s clay-like features changed indefinably as his attention, like a squadron of slow old battleships, began wheeling to face this new phenomenon, and in a moment or two he was able to say: ‘Margaret.'”
Thanks v; amazing time, btw.
Like others I was also on the wrong continent trying to make HIAWATHA and GERONIMO fit.
I biffed SQUADRON and STARS & S but thought the clues for BOXING and GENETICS were excellent.
The word SQUADRON dates from the 16th century, so I think it’s probably fair to say the RAF meaning didn’t come first. Having said that this was one of the ones that held me up for ages, and I never did figure out the wordplay.
Edited at 2020-04-17 09:42 am (UTC)
I made very heavy weather of this, and missed my target. Never parsed SQUADRON, and only cracked STARS AND STRIPES afterwards.
NHO TRANSONIC in any form.
FOI CAUTIOUS
LOI STAGNATE
COD PANDEMIC
TIME 21:14
Edited at 2020-04-17 10:59 am (UTC)
FOI marigold, last two case and squadron. Still not sure I get case.
On the right-hand side, under Links, there’s a glossary explaining lots of these terms 🙂
FOI Curlew
LOI Appetite
COD Shades
But most of this went in quite easily,if from erroneous assumptions-another Jimmy Riddle?? at 3d;and SQUADRON.
Hear hear to hear hear. And another outing for Rossini I notice.
Ended up with gaps at the bottom. LOI was APPETITE; ADHESIVE was stuck in my brain.
I now see that my 2LOI was wrong. Thought FRONT = PRESENT eg a TV programme. That was good enough for me, and a message is sent; should have thought harder.
Enjoyable puzzle. COD to BOXING. David