20.20 for my time, if not for my vision. After yesterday’s oddity with little regard for surface readings, I thought this one was a fair representation of how it should be done, if for the most part the cluing was pretty straightforward and especially helpful for the two or three words not in common use. I guess the Vicar at 1d might puzzle a few, but the original is actually in Chambers where he’s named as Simon Aleyn.
Definitions underlined in italics
| Across | |
| 1 | Tricky account is hard to keep in line (8) |
| TICKLISH – TICK is the kind of account you want, add IS in plain sight and H(ard), the whole keeping in L(ine). In the days when we used to use cash and didn’t always have it, your friendly corner shop or even pub would allow you to put your purchases on tick, a list behind the counter, against the day you won the pools. | |
| 5 | Part of London well-liked, but not for top people (6) |
| POPLAR – Making a welcome return after only 3 days, and with a much more familiar clue. Well-liked POPULAR, without the U because top people and Nancy Mitford don’t like it. | |
| 8 | Folly and rudeness — there’s little right in that (10) |
| IMPRUDENCE – Rudeness is IMPUDENCE insert a little R(ight) | |
| 9 | Thought to bring article forward for assistant (4) |
| AIDE -Thought is IDEA, advance the indefinite article to the front. | |
| 10 | Financial specialist in car, hard worker and certain winner? (8,6) |
| MERCHANT BANKER – Perhaps the setter hopes product placement will be noticed by the Stuttgart marketing department. MERC is your car (hopefully), then H(ard) (worker) ANT, and BANKER is the dead cert filly you bet on to cover your losses on the rest which turn out to be elderly carthorses. | |
| 11 | Cook putting out a drink talks from here? (7) |
| ROSTRUM – Cook is ROAST, put out the A, add RUM (often a sound idea for a drink) | |
| 13 | Stand up, somehow, ground level collector (7) |
| DUSTPAN – Cute definition, and an anagram (somehow) of STAND UP | |
| 15 | County girl has performed at the front (7) |
| DONEGAL – GAL for a slightly disguised girl, with DONE for performed ahead. The largest county in Northern Ireland, so still enjoying the benefits of the EU, while having no government to speak of. | |
| 18 | Walk backwards across a road to find explosive devices (7) |
| PETARDS – As far as I know, the only thing you can do with one is to be hoisted by it. Walk backwards is PETS, insert A R(oa)D | |
| 21 | Friendly mixing is reason rift ain’t spreading (14) |
| FRATERNISATION – An anagram (spreading) of REASON RIFT AIN’T. Local church ministers and theological colleges are still debating whether they have fraternals now most of the participants are from the monstrous regiment. | |
| 22 | Excellent moneymaker (4) |
| MINT – Two definitions, the second mildly jocular. | |
| 23 | Very worried daughter is given lesson about e.g. writing (10) |
| DISTRAUGHT – D(aughter) IS (hello again) given lesson TAUGHT with one of the three R’s, two of which including this one aren’t. | |
| 24 | Liqueur given a sign of approval (6) |
| PERNOD – Tastes of aniseed, more hopeful product placement. A gives you the PER (tuppence a/per bag) plus NOD for a sign of approval. | |
| 25 | Evidence of editorial changes certain to be found in Times? (8) |
| ERASURES – SURE for certain inside ERAS for times. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Vicar of Bray perhaps less fat (7) |
| TRIMMER – From an 18th century song, the earliest version of which was entitled “The Religious Turncoat; Or, the Trimming Parson” The Vicar of Bray humorously (take my word for it or follow the link) adjusted his churchmanship and politics to suit the prevailing fashion. At a stretch, we have two definition, one by example, hence the perhaps. | |
| 2 | Ornamental cloth and headgear being worn to hide a knight turning up (9) |
| CAPARISON – Usually on a horse but with a derivative meaning nearer to our definition. Headgear: CAP, being worn: ON insert A and a backwards (turning up) SIR for knight. | |
| 3 | One finds things funny? That’s horrible in genuine upset! (7) |
| LAUGHER -REAL for genuine “upset” with UGH for “that’s horrible” inserted. | |
| 4 | Bone in bird swallowed by tot (7) |
| STERNUM – Your bird is a TERN, taken in by SUM for tot. | |
| 5 | What baby may be — innocent, clutching mater excitedly (9) |
| PREMATURE – Innocent gives PURE, insert an anagram (excitedly) of MATER | |
| 6 | Cat perhaps with need to chew piece of material (7) |
| PLACKET – My what?! word of the day. Cat Is a generic PET (though they don’t think so), insert LACK for need, and hope for the best. As well as several archaic meanings, a placket is that bit of material that forms the back of your pocket in you shirt or skirt. | |
| 7 | An artist holding stick up in the country (7) |
| ANDORRA – A small country tucked away in the Pyrenees, most of whose population turn out to form a football team, when they’re know as Andorra Nil. AN plus RA for artist, holding a stick: ROD backwards | |
| 12 | Girl put right or left alone? (9) |
| UNAMENDED – Random girl UNA is put right: MENDED | |
| 14 | Vessel in harbour, almost one that could be mistaken for another (9) |
| PORRINGER – An Elizabethan pudding basin, usually made of wood or pewter, but here of POR(T) for harbour almost plus RINGER for a doppelganger. | |
| 16 | Out-of-form team wrongly positioned on field (7) |
| OFFSIDE – Out of form is OFF, and team SIDE. The offside rule is very simple. It’s when Manchester City score a winning goal at Spurs in the Champions’ League and VAR takes pity on the long suffering Tottenham supporters. | |
| 17 | Something fibrous turning up in eggs — and beer! (7) |
| ELASTIN – Contained in your tendons and sinews. Eggs are NITS, beer is ALE, reverse the whole lot. | |
| 18 | Playwright entertaining a man of colour? (7) |
| PAINTER – The playwright is Harold (long silence) PINTER (a drip splashes in a bucket). Insert A. | |
| 19 | What you’d find in the kitchen — Aga best for cooking? (3,4) |
| TEA BAGS – Well I’ve got one in the mug on my desk, but there are indeed more in my kitchen. Anagram (for cooking) of AGA and BEST | |
| 20 | Governing bodies in London region given additional seat (7) |
| SENATES – London region is I suppose, just SE. NATES being but-tocks are a singular seat in case you thought it should be plural. | |
72:29 today. Found this very hard for some reason – setter and I very much on different wavelengths or brain not just not working. NHO NATES for buttocks, and the Vicar of Bray eluded me but got the answer from crossers. Got PLACKET from the wordplay.
Thanks to more generous cluing of unknowns (in at least one case, more likely unremembereds) this was not much harder than today’s QC and infinitely more entertaining. I wish I had the time to come here more often. FOI AIDE, LOI SENATES, COD PAINTER, which put me in mind of a play where nothing happens buta chance meeting between two old boys who had been at college together fifty years before. It became apparent that they had hated each other then and still did, but they were so frightfully polite. Acted by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellern and hilarious. Thanks setter and Z
15.45
Late entry.
Followed the instructions and didn’t worry too much if I didn’t recognise what emerged for a few of them
Liked the simple PERNOD
Thanks Setter and Zabadak
Snitching at 84 when I tried it, I did my standard hour then checked with IMPRUDENCE and PLACKET left and my effort at CAPARISON wrong. Pleased with that and was able to get down to PLACKET before needing a couple of checks to complete in 1hr08. NHO TRIMMER,CAPARISON, PLACKET, ELASTIN, PORRINGER, NATES.
For a while I had FINE for “excellent moneymaker” 🤣 and went in the wrong direction with the AGA biffing TOP-OVEN. Disappointingly ANDORRA where I’ve skied twice eluded me for a while despite having all the components to it.
Liked this a lot – mainly because I completed it in a (relatively) short time, but despite having 1a and 1d wrong. POPLAR went straight in (thanks to recent exposure), ditto PREMATURE and (!) ANDORRA. Heard of PLACKET from old school sewing lessons, and CAPARISON another recent (and vaguely-remembered) word from Shakespeare, along with PETARDs, without knowing they had anything to do with bombs! Of any sort…
Raced through the rest, with only a hesitation at SENATES ( forgotten meaning of seats), but my insistence on sticking with slimmer for 1a was my downfall.