Times Crossword 25,619 – Championship First Preliminary, Second Crossword

… at least I hope it is, since I am writing this blog up in advance, having done the crossword on the day. I did complete all the three crosswords in Prelim. 1 (as a guest) – almost, but not quite, inside the hour. It took me about 1hr 10m in all, of which this one perhaps 25 mins. Since the Prelim 2 crosswords were significantly harder, and the finals were harder still, this tells me all I need to know about the prospect of entering the competition next year..

However this is not in fact a particularly hard crossword; and in the privacy of your own armchair, with a nice glass of 5ac, should not take you too long.

cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev = reversed, anagrams are *(–), homophones indicated in “”

ODO means the Oxford Dictionaries Online

Across
1	clanger – CLass + ANGER
5	Chablis – drink = CHA + BLISs. One of my favourite drinks.. it always annoys me in pubs when they say they have “a Chardonnay,” and what they mean is some anonymous Australian plonk (sorry mc 🙂 and never Chablis..
9	signature – GIS rev., + NATURE. That totally illegible thing that is supposed to tell people who you are..
10	Donne – “done,” and of course not “don.”
11	Arras – ARRAyS. Arras is a very pretty town, an easy hour or so’s drive from Calais along the autoroute and just right for a weekend getaway.. it has one of the best markets in Northern France, on a Saturday. Sorry, Samedi
12	Ezra Pound – Ezra, a book of the Hebrew bible, + POUND
14	ran out of petrol – a cd, I suppose
17	hedges ones bets – *(OBSESSED GENT HE). However hedging one’s bets does not so much “reduce the chance of losing,” as to mitigate the consequences of losing. The original bet still stands.
21	dead march – another clue I struggled with, slightly. A dead march is a piece of music suitable for a funeral, so far so good.. but why would a wintry March be dead? More likely the opposite, surely? Snow, gales.. maybe I’m missing something
23	riser – king = R + IS + queen = ER
24	ogham – Old + GAM containing Hard. Gam = school is typical crosswordese, not seen elsewhere. I defy anyone to say it came up in conversation only the other day.. even marine biologists would say “pod.”
25	bee-eaters – BEEfEATERS. Neat clue
26	DR + A GOON.. meaning a cavalier, in the sense of a horse rider.
27	Tuscany – abroad you = TU, + survey = SCAN, + ItalY. Where Chianti comes from, hurrah!
Down
1	casbah – BAnk in money = CASH. An easy clue with checkers in place, not so easy though as a means of getting started
2	Algeria – *(ELGAR) + very good = A1, rev.
3	Gladstone – the old age concerned being the stone one..
4	Rouge et Noir – *(ERRONEOUS GIT) without the Spades. Rouge et Noir is the name of a dull game similar to what English people call “patience,” and a much more interesting game played in casinos at which you may actually win; it has the highest winning odds of any casino game.
5	cue – “q”estion
6	add up – A DD UP.. a doctor of divinity at university
7	languor – *(GUANO) in two hands = L + R
8	steadily – Small + TEA + DaILY
13	refreshment – new intake = FRESHMEN in about = RE + Time
15	ember days – *(SAD MY BEER). Ember days being fasting days in some christian liturgies
16	shedload – HE’D + LO in grave = SAD
18	drachma – CHurch in crisis = DRAMA. Greek currency before they went berserk with the Euro
19	tessera – TESS + ERA, Tess being Tess Durbeyfield/D’Urberville. I wish I liked Thomas Hardy’s books more than I do
20	frisky – F + RISKY
22	mambo – doctor = MB in MAO. I knew mambo only as a dance I would never do – one of many – but it has a surprising number of other meanings too
25	bin – BINgo