Times Crossword 25,762 – First Championship Qualifier

Solving Time: Apparently there is a tradition that we do not state times for completing qualifiers, as it might be either seen as boasting or off-putting, depending presumably on the time. (query: doesn’t that go for any crossword, not just these?). So anyway, let us just say this was not a difficult crossword. (Having said that, I can’t check that my answers are correct as I don’t have access to the paper and I’m writing this on the day it came out anyway.. so, fingers crossed)

In particular it was not a fraction so difficult as the 1961 vintage crossword that I attempted earlier today, and after which I am still very much Mr Grumpy, so watch out…

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

ODO means the Oxford Dictionaries Online

Across

1 stablemate – B(usiness) in position on board = STALEMATE, the def. being “Maybe fellow Arab.”
6 gulp – PLUG, rev.
8 elephant – anagram of (T)HE PLANET(S). Clever clue..
9 granny – quarters = points of compass = NN in (Thomas) GRAY. Granny flats being what the fortunate ones may end up in, as opposed to nursing homes
10 mete – “meat,” a source of protein.
11 affiliated – a horse = “a filly” = AFFILI + a chap = A TED (note, not a hooligan this time, Jimbo!)
12 herculean – a woman’s = HER + *(CLUE) + AuNt
14 sting – dd
17 pshaw – scrape = PAW containing S(econd) H(usband). I struggle to remember ever having heard the word in my life. PAH, now that would be different matter..
19 bluebeard – sad = BLUE + confront = BEARD. Bluebeard is a sexist French folktale
22 illuminant – sick deer = ILL (R)UMINANT
23 lima – city = LA containing I’M, the def. being “capital.” Tricky..
24 breech – “breach”
25 emigrate – E(nergy) + MIG + speed = RATE. MiG, more accurately Mikoyan, is now part of United Aircraft Corporation
26 celt – Church of England, CE + LT, a lieutenant
27 litter-lout – a cd. I loathe them with a passion

Down

1 steamship – small squads joint = S + TEAMS + HIP
2 abetter – dd, abetter and a better
3 erasable – of times = ERAS, + L(eader) in ABE (Lincoln). A text, is of course erasable
4 act of parliament – Irish boy = LIAM in ACT OF PARENT.
5 Engels – French for “in” is EN, + set = GEL, + S(on). A former resident of Primrose Hill, London with a most impressive beard and some hugely wrong-headed political theories.
6 guarantee – U(niversal) A(id) in beneficiary = GRANTEE
7 lantern – six-footer = ANT in LE(A)RN> Another very neat clue
13 crapulent – *(PART UNCLE). What a horrid word.. it comes from from Latin crapula, ‘inebriation,’ which itself comes from the Greek: kraipalē ‘drunken headache’. Nice to know they have a long history..
15 godparent – *(A DROP) in fellow = GENT
16 bestride – dd.. bestride & best ride
18 splurge – pounds = L in plant = SPURGE
20 agitato – hidden, and very well hidden too..
21 withal – intelligence = WIT + (Prince) HAL. A nickname given to Henry V by Falstaff, according to Shakespeare

Author: JerryW

I love The Times crosswords..

15 comments on “Times Crossword 25,762 – First Championship Qualifier”

  1. … on this, but probably not enough to qualify. Would have been quicker by a long chalk if I hadn’t spent a while trying to justify LETTER-POST at 27ac (“distributing papers etc.”??). Always looking for something more in cryptic defs.
  2. Took me 41 minutes. What’s with this ‘rule’, by the way. It should surely go the way of the dodo and the leave-one-out-of-your-analysis-to-boost-the-Times-revenue ones! LOI and COD to ERASABLE.
    1. Hah! I agree, and with the next qualifier will suit my action to our brave words… pity I can’t remember how long this one took me; around the 20 mins mark I think, about average for a blogging day
  3. Nowhere near fast enough to qualify, but some nice clues. I had litter pest, because I mistakenly put agitate in instead of agitato (et tu, Jerry).
    My thinking on pshaw isn’t exactly that it’s a made up word – it does exist. It is that words which are replications of sounds can, and I think sometimes are, spelled many different ways, which can be unfair. This wasn’t unfair, I don’t think. The goofy spellings are more a problem with US puzzles, where the setter sometimes needs non-standard junk to complete a grid.
    1. Yes.. corrected, thanks Paul. I did get it right in the grid, and advance 27ac as evidence..
      1. I assumed a typo. It was your 27a that wised me up. I know litter lout, but am more used to litter bug, so an easy step to my error w agitate and pest.
  4. For some reason, I found this quite tricky so it wasn’t my usual speedy solve and definitely wouldn’t have got me anywhere if I’d entered it!
  5. I’m with Ulaca, although when I mentioned how stupid it seemed not to give our times this time last year I was shot down in flames by one of the regulars. Can’t remember who. Anyway, 16 mins for this one so if I had entered it I may have been accepted. ELEPHANT was my LOI after ERASABLE.
  6. One missing (erasable – couldn’t parse it). No trouble with the others.
  7. I’ve no objection to cryptic definitions generally, and I’m happy with UK-centric clues, but the combination of the two was too much for me.

    I can state with full confidence that I have never heard or seen the term litter-lout in my life. And with no wordplay to guide me home, it was unsolvable.

    Disappointing, as I breezed through the rest of the puzzle.

  8. I’m relieved to see that I wasn’t the only one who found this tricky. I’m glad it’s been used as a qualifier, and not saved until finals day!
  9. I found this easier than average but certainly not among the easiest of these puzzles. I wonder if my time of [censored!] will be enough to prevent me wasting another £15.
  10. Time: about two months.

    “Like text of Times leader initiated in Lincoln? (8)”
    You say “A text, is of course erasable”.
    I do not understand this.
    A text carved in stone, may, with difficulty, be erasable.
    But the universe of erasable entities seems so vast (drawings, memories, people, buildings, files, etc) that so give “like text” as a definition part for ERASABLE seems unfair to me.
    I could, of course, be overlooking some subtlety.


    Clive Tooth

    1. Hello Clive
      I think the setter is (most likely) referring specifically to a text – as in texting – on a mobile phone. In which case easily erasable/deletable. I agree the clue doesn’t specifically say so though.
      Clearly the definition part, “like text,” whilst therefore accurate, could be a lot more obvious. But they are cryptic clues.. so many of the definitions are deliberately vague, obscure or unclear in some way. I didn’t see this one as unfair but others may well do so. Certainly this clue has attracted other comments above, both pro & con

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