Times 9572 – the blog

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Other Crosswords
Posted on behalf of john_from_lancs – the solution and notes on yesterday’s bonus puzzle.

Across

1. (shape)*→HEAPS

4. Sally is the girl from our alley (take your pick from the Henry Carey poem or the Gracie Fields film and song) + (port = gate) → SALLYPORT, “an opening in fortifications from which defenders may make a sally”.

9. REBUTTING: it’s what goats do.

10. To LOBBY = to influence; also a small entrance hall or enclosure.

11. IONIC = one of the three orders of Grecian architecture, and relating to electric charge.

12. (ENTRANCE)+(D) (The pre-decimalization penny is 1D)

13. ANCHORS. Not too difficult to deduce this from the checked letters if you don’t know the
quotation.

15. You used to find RAFFLES along with tombolas and white-elephant stalls at church bazaars; the clue also refers to E. W. Hornung’s Arthur J. Raffles, the amateur cracksman.

18. (Mere)* + son → EMERSON

20. Ran reversed in (bees = hivers) → BENARES

21. TRACK-SUIT: it suits the track?

23. (I etch)*→ ETHIC

25. ON(I)ON

26. HESITATOR “He who hesitates is lost” and The Hesitation Waltz

27. (PERI)(STYLE) = fashion in fairy land.

28. PRESS

Down

1. Refers to Croze HERMITAGE and the Leningrad museum.

2. This might be alluding to St ALBAN’s ell and also to St ALBAN’s Street near Piccadilly. Gentlemen doing the crossword over breakfast in the clubs of St James’s Square and Pall Mall would have been familiar with this street.

3. (see a scout)*→SETACEOUS

4. (insteps)*→SPINETS

5. Double definition of LIGHTER

6. Ro(YALTA)rtan

7. ORBICULAR = round, and suggests to do with the eye (orb = eye-ball).

8. TOYED = had fun, and suggests a toy breed.

14. Oh, Charlie is my darling,
My darling, my darling;
Oh, Charlie is my darling,
The youngCHEVALIER.

16. FINGER-TIP (never mind the quality, feel the gratuity)

17. (cash+dross)*→ SASH-CORDS; no definition here.

19. NAUGHTY (sounds like nought-y)

20. A bit of Miss Bates is muddle with it. (Bates+it)→ BATISTE. I’m not entirely convinced by my explanation, so if you know of a better one…

21. TRO(O)P Don’t know what happened to the “de” in “de trop”.

22. “The time has come,” the Walrus said,
–“To talk of many things:
Of shoes – and ships – and sealing-wax –
–Of cabbages – and KINGS –
And why the sea is boiling hot –
–And whether pigs have wings.”

24. HYTHE: one of the Cinque Ports.

6 comments on “Times 9572 – the blog”

  1. 2 wrong – 23 and 24. Actually got 23 right at first, but was defeated by the reference to ‘Five’ at 24, Googled it, came up with Artie [Shaw] (whose early band was called Gramercy Five), and changed it (23) to ‘elaic’! Thanks to John and his virtual amanuensis.
  2. Very interesting! I found it noticeably harder than today’s fare, and rather unsettling that quite often it is unclear if you have the right answer or not.. but fun to do on occasion.
    Hermitage is an appelation in its own right, as well as Crozes-Hermitage. Expensive stuff!
    I think the reference in 2dn is most likely to The Albany, a famous gentlemen’s club cum apartment block in Piccadilly.
    20dn is clearly an anagram of Bates + it, I think maybe the clue is just sloppily written.
    Many thanks John, and everyone, check your attics..
  3. I had to cheat to finish, as I totally messed up the NW corner with ALTAR (RoyAL TARtan) and MONOCULAR, which made SALLYPORT, LOBBY and ENTRANCED impossible. Apart from that, I found it reasonably accessible for a 50-year-old puzzle. Having solved them before I knew what to expect, but I definitely prefer the modern style!

    Before everyone starts checking their attics though, a word of caution – the Times legal department only agreed to let us reprint this puzzle online as a one-off (or maybe a two-off, as there were two papers).

  4. Thanks for posting this puzzle here, I found it very hard, and 22d was a guess, amazingly enough not even 1 wrong.
    Looking forward to the next one.
  5. I was considering the cinque ports.

    I looked at kings, but never saw the Carroll reference – odd for me.

    Orbicular – what a beauty! I tried all sorts of ocular ideas to no avail.

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