Solving time: 38 minutes with the unknown 3dn as my last one in entirely responsible for me missing my half-hour target. Other than that this seemed quite easy.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. I usually omit all reference to positional indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification. I apologise if experienced solvers find some of my explanations are too detailed or obvious, but I am increasingly aware that our readership is expanding by the day to include solvers making the journey from the Quick Cryptic to the 15×15 and my intention is to ease their path.
| Across | |
| 1 | Entrance with pipes passing back (5) |
| DEBUT : TUBED (with pipes) reversed [passing back] | |
| 4 | House party I left, vermin hosts (8) |
| DOMICILE : DO (party), then MICE (vermin) contains [hosts] I + L (left) | |
| 8 | Question on insurance claim form: how much should we pay? (5,3,6) |
| WHATS THE DAMAGE : A cryptic hint precedes the main definition. ‘Damage’ is ‘expense’ or ‘cost’ in 18th century slang. | |
| 10 | Important figure in the Met once in action, wandering round capital of Spain (9) |
| TOSCANINI : Anagram [wandering] of IN ACTION containing [round] S{pain} [capital]. Maestro Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) managed the Metropolitan Opera in New York 1908-1915. ‘The Met’ in the UK usually refers to the London police service, Scotland Yard and all that. | |
| 11 | Time repeatedly invested in game — it’s a gamble (5) |
| LOTTO : T T (time repeatedly) contained by [invested in] LOO (game). Not a game I know but it seems ot be a variation on whist in which there are financial penalties for playing a wrong card. | |
| 12 | Such as British beef in kitchen container (6) |
| EGGBOX : EG (such as – for example), GB (British), OX (beef) | |
| 14 | Cut doubled, quickly (4-4) |
| CHOP-CHOP : CHOP (cut) CHOP [doubled]. Usually an instruction to get a move on. | |
| 17 | In the morning, bus dropping back behind schedule — walk! (8) |
| AMBULATE : AM (in the morning), BU{s} [dropping back], LATE (behind schedule). Even more old-fashioned than the old-fashioned but more familiar ‘perambulate’. | |
| 18 | Fruit hangs loosely, it’s said? (6) |
| DRUPES : Sounds like [it’s said] “droops” (hangs loosely). A type of fruit rather than a specific one, including peach, plum and cherry. | |
| 20 | Confident, furthermore, entering business (3-2) |
| CAN-DO : AND (furthermore) contained by [entering] CO (business) | |
| 22 | Restore checks meeting sugar daddy? (9) |
| REINSTATE : REINS (checks), TATE (sugar daddy?). Sir Henry Tate (1819 – 1899) was an English sugar merchant and philanthropist noted for establishing the Tate Gallery in London. No doubt shortly to be declared persona non grata if he hasn’t been already. His name also survives in the brand name, Tate & Lyle. | |
| 24 | Freshener spraying patterns in air to mask pong, primarily (14) |
| ANTIPERSPIRANT : Anagram [spraying] of PATTERNS IN AIR containing [to mask] P{ong} [primarily], with more than a cryptic hint in the wordplay. | |
| 25 | Needing no introduction, top series set apart (8) |
| ESTRANGE : {b}EST (top) [needing no introduction], RANGE (series) | |
| 26 | Part of the family‘s great talent avoiding one (5) |
| GENUS : GEN{i}US (great talent) [avoiding one – i] | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Call from drinker as he put in blue straws (4,3,5) |
| DOWN THE HATCH : DOWN (blue), then HE contained by [put in] THATCH (straws – used as roofing). Yet another of the delightful drinking toasts that ornament our language. | |
| 2 | The necessary part of the orchestra (5) |
| BRASS : Two meanings. ‘Brass’ as in money – ‘the necessary’ being the money required for a particular purpose. | |
| 3 | Introducing sliding scale to work, what makes sparks fly? (5,4) |
| TESLA COIL : TOIL (work) containing [introducing] anagram [sliding] of SCALE. I worked this out eventually but didn’t know it. Here’s how SOED defines it: a type of induction coil invented by Nicola Tesla, employing a spark gap in place of an interrupter and capable of producing an intense high-frequency discharge. | |
| 4 | Hibiscus originally captured by artist, a flowering plant (6) |
| DAHLIA : H{ibiscus} [originally] contained [captured] by DALI (artist), A. Knowing that ‘hibiscus’ is a bush – GK acquired when writing my 15×15 blog last week – was of no assistance as it’s not relevant here. | |
| 5 | Suggestion of G 12 (8) |
| MIDNIGHT : MID-NIGHT. One of those clues that relies on a reverse wordplay. ‘Midnight’ appears frequently in clues to suggest the letter G in an answer. | |
| 6 | Artist escaping sweet animal (5) |
| CAMEL : CA{ra}MEL (sweet) [artist – RA – escaping] | |
| 7 | Vessel arrives on land with it (9) |
| LIGHTSHIP : LIGHTS (arrives on land), HIP (with it – cool, Man!) | |
| 9 | Rotter is gathering people together (6,6) |
| COMPOS MENTIS : COMPOST (rotter) + IS, containing [gathering] MEN (people). ‘Together’ – in one’s right mind. | |
| 13 | See red, green and yellow items (2,7) |
| GO BANANAS : GO (green – traffic lights), BANANAS (yellow items). Monkeys and apes like bananas and go frantic to try to seize them. ‘Go ape’ comes from the same source. | |
| 15 | Arctic wasting away (9) |
| PERISHING : Two meanings – very cold, and dying | |
| 16 | Mallet finally breaking bones in fish (8) |
| STURGEON : {malle}T [finally] contained by [breaking] SURGEON (bones – slang) | |
| 19 | Wipe face on tablecloth, kids! (6) |
| TISSUE : T{ablecloth} [face on …], ISSUE (kids). ‘Wipe’ needs to be a noun, as in ‘hand wipe’. | |
| 21 | Wood in fire is offered up (5) |
| OSIER : Hidden [in] and reversed [up] in {fi}RE IS O{ffered}. Osier shoots are used in basket weaving etc so it seems strange to describe osier as ‘wood’, but I suppose that’s what it is. | |
| 23 | Military official elected — for a second term? (5) |
| AGAIN : AGA (military official), IN (elected) | |
I was 7 clues in before kicking off, but after that it all fell into place without any real difficulty. A similar time to yesterday’s, but I felt this was definitely a trickier puzzle. Very enjoyable.
FOI CHOP-CHOP
LOI TISSUE
COD MIDNIGHT
TIME 7:17
This goes against Chambers Dictionary online which lists EGGBOX (6), and as mentioned in my blog, was the only one of the ‘usual sources’ to support the appearance of EGGBOX (6) in today’s puzzle.
This anomaly sent me to my printed edition of Chambers, always more comprehensive than their free online version, only to find that they don’t list EGGBOX (6), only EGG BOX (3,3) and EGG-BOX (3-3), the latter not being the being an item for food storage but architectural jargon for a style of building.
This is very odd as it leaves us without any justification for EGGBOX (6) – not that The Times daily puzzle is supposed to be relying on Chambers anyway. It’s also the only occasion I can recall when a word in Chambers online is not in the printed edition, although the opposite is often true.
Edited at 2020-12-22 06:24 pm (UTC)