Someone asked recently how hard Saturdays are, compared with the SNITCH of weekday puzzles. My guess would have been typically perhaps 90-100 on the SNITCH, although some may say more. Certainly, unless I was just off the wavelength, this one might have rated higher! How did all you solvers get on? How hard was it? Regardless, there were a lot of very nice clues here! I can’t altogether explain the mysterious 4 across.
Note for newcomers: The Times offers prizes for Saturday Cryptic Crosswords. This blog is for last week’s puzzle, posted after the competition closes. So, please don’t comment here on this week’s Saturday Cryptic.
Definitions are in bold and underlined.
| Across | |
| 1 | Support NHS organisation finally taking a step back (5) |
| TRUSS – an NHS organisation would be a TRUST. Take the final T one step back, replacing it by an S. | |
| 4 | Means of levelling up appears to include origins of New Deal (9) |
| SANDPAPER – this looks like an anagram of APPEARS with an N and a D added. Sadly, I can’t identify the anagram indicator. UP doesn’t seem a likely candidate! What do you all make of it? | |
| 9 | Violent individual and fool bother social worker (9) |
| ASSAILANT – ASS + AIL + ANT. | |
| 10 | Band members making a comeback (5) |
| STRAP – PARTS making a comeback. | |
| 11 | Attract by exciting desire authentic emotion captures (6) |
| ENTICE – hidden (captured) in authENTIC Emotion. | |
| 12 | Sucker easily exploited career (8) |
| GREENFLY – GREEN (easily exploited) + FLY. | |
| 14 | Confused author had recalled being gripped by gut feeling (10) |
| INDISTINCT – DI (I’D=the author had, recalled) gripped by INSTINCT. | |
| 16 | Dull person lacking in enthusiasm has change of heart (4) |
| CLOD – COLD, with a change of heart. | |
| 19 | Ordered to go cycling around secluded place (4) |
| NEST – SENT, with the T moved to the front (cycling), then the whole thing turned backwards (around). Try not to get dizzy as you do all that! | |
| 20 | Answer disrupted session about right’s claims (10) |
| ASSERTIONS – A (answer) + anagram (disrupted) of SESSION about RT. | |
| 22 | Girl embraces boy by the sea (8) |
| MARITIME – MARIE embraces TIM. | |
| 23 | Simple shot of model (6) |
| SITTER – two meanings: an easy shot at golf (say), or a subject of portraiture. | |
| 26 | Organ interrupted by start of indescribable racket (5) |
| NOISE – NOSE interrupted by I. | |
| 27 | What is rarely said about church breaking new promise? (5,4) |
| NONCE WORD – ON (about) + CE (church) breaking N + WORD (promise). For examples of nonce words, you need go no further than Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky! |
|
| 28 | Restrict aim of person inside (9) |
| CONSTRAIN – CON’S (of person inside) + TRAIN (aim, a gun say). | |
| 29 | Principle that is maintained by observers from both sides (5) |
| TENET – a palindrome (from both sides). | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Player who gives the crowd nothing to celebrate? (9) |
| TRAGEDIAN – cryptic definition. | |
| 2 | Defeat leading group (5) |
| UPSET – UP (leading) + SET. | |
| 3 | One legal action after another is something one should pack in (8) |
| SUITCASE – SUIT + CASE. | |
| 4 | MP’s constituency car (4) |
| SEAT – two definitions. The SEAT car company is now a Volkswagen subsidiary. | |
| 5 | Trucker can supply one opening food store (10) |
| NUTCRACKER – anagram (supply) of TRUCKER CAN. “Supply” as an anagram indicator always amuses me. |
|
| 6 | Market researcher wanting lines for part of publicity campaign? (6) |
| POSTER – POLLSTER wanting LL. | |
| 7 | Responsibilities of minister and of riot police lacking formality somehow (9) |
| PORTFOLIO – anagram (somehow) of OF RIOT POL (POLICE, lacking ICE=formality!) | |
| 8 | Pressure to open bank counter (5) |
| REPLY – P to open RELY. | |
| 13 | Drunk man is paid to get over drinking problem (10) |
| DIPSOMANIA – anagram (drunk) of MAN IS PAID O. | |
| 15 | What warranted punishment and what carries charge? (9) |
| DESERTION – DESERT (punishment, as in “just deserts”) + ION (what carries electrical charge). Cunning clue. |
|
| 17 | Lack of confidence in record embarrassed Congress (9) |
| DISCREDIT – DISC + RED + IT (sexual congress, in Times Crossword parlance). | |
| 18 | Urgent step covering considerable ground finishes off Republican movement (8) |
| STRIDENT – STRIDE (step covering considerable ground) + N + T (ends of the last two words in the clue). | |
| 21 | Road test failing on plugs (6) |
| STREET – RE (on) plugs STET (anagram of TEST). | |
| 22 | Apparently, male boss is “ludicrously busy” (5) |
| MANIC – MAN I/C (in charge). | |
| 24 | Hospital charging rent for character no longer employed (5) |
| THORN – H charging TORN. “Charging” as in “ladies and gentlemen, charge your glasses”. Thorn was an old English letter, þ, representing the “th” sound. Still used in Icelandic, it seems. |
|
| 25 | Release chapter from author’s authorised works soon (4) |
| ANON – CANON. | |
4A I convinced myself that “up” was synonymous with “in revolt” so it seemed like a likely anagram indicator at the time.
I didn’t think twice about it, but you’re right. “Up” has been accepted as an anagrind for a long time. Definition 18 at Dictionary.com is simply “in a state of agitation.”
I found this a little more difficult. While there were write-ins like suitcase and nutcracker, I got stuck on a few like truss and tragedian, my LOI. I just biffed sandpaper, avoiding the problems with the cryptic.
Time: 55 minutes
One of Mallarmé’s sonnets, “Ses purs ongles très haut…,” contains what I’d always taken to be a nonce word (he needed it for the rhyme!), ptyx, which has only a vague sense there but is highly suggestive (“Aboli bibelot d’inanité sonore“)—much ink has been spilled. But I’ve learned that it (or a homonym) had earlier appeared in a poem by Hugo—where, however, it has a clearly different meaning (whatever Mallarmé’s was).
I found this hard and needed 61 minutes to complete the grid. I’d say at least 10 of these were spent on my last two in, 15dn and 19ac where I had been torn between ‘secluded place / NOOK or NEST’. Eventually I spotted how NEST could work in a ‘cycling’ clue* and plumped for that.
Then DESERTION went in as something of a guess as I understood the wordplay for ION but not for DESERT which I’m certain I have never seen in the singular with this meaning. The dictionaries all give ‘just deserts’ as an example of usage but nothing for the singular although they admit its existence. Also it doesn’t have to involve punishment, it can be a reward.
* In the recent bout of ‘cycling’ clues this is the first time we’ve had one that employs a reversal indicator [around] so if you use the ‘wheel’ method of working these out you need to be ready to consider going anti-clockwise instead of clockwise. Jerry has kindly added this possibility to the entry in the TfTT Glossary.
101m 52s
Needed aids for TRAGEDIAN, INDISTINCT, DESERTION and NEST.
I, too, couldn’t find an anagram indicator for SANDPAPER and didn’t think UP sufficed but opinion thus far says it does, Oh, well.
In 14ac, INDISTINCT, I worked for a long time on using ‘hunch’ or ‘stitch’ for gut feeling.
Thanks, Bruce.
Snap! Almost.
Guessed that UP was the anagram indicator, with raised eyebrow.
Last 4 in were the intersecting INDISTINCT DESERTION NEST TRAGEDIAN in that order. I did get them, but needed to step away from the puzzle to clear the mind, so elapsed time was days, not minutes.
In case anyone hasn’t noticed, Mick Hodgkins has announced today that the ban on ‘live’ people other than the monarch, has been lifted for all cryptics not just the ST cryptic.
Didn’t he do that, already?!
If he did, I missed it.
Couldn’t have told you what DIPSOMANIA is, not familiar with the term NONCE WORD, don’t remember parsing PORTFOLIO in full and didn’t quite see how DESERTION worked, but no problems otherwise.
Thanks branch and setter.
FOI Anon
LOI Nest
COD Indistinct
I had put PLOD for 16ac, no idea any more how I thought that worked. Apart from that, it seems I finished in 48 mins.
I remember never having heard of NONCE WORDs.