I found this fairly easy going, in contrast to the Friday Fright the day before. How did you do?
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 | Creature that flies past insect swatter, sometimes? (7,3) |
| CRICKET BAT – CRICKET (insect) + BAT (creature that flies). Some cricket shots are “swats”, no doubt. |
|
| 7 | Information in more than one novel? (4) |
| NEWS – novel=new, so two of them = NEWS! | |
| 9 | Procedure or boring work that keeps estate operating smoothly? (5,3) |
| MOTOR OIL – M.O. (modus operandi=procedure) + OR boring TOIL. | |
| 10 | Champion, one retiring? (6) |
| BACKER – cryptic hint. | |
| 11 | Lower garment (6) |
| JERSEY – two definitions, the first a dairy cow. | |
| 13 | Musical device used in bar to keep time (8) |
| OPERATIC – OPTIC (device used in bar to measure spirits) to keep ERA (time). | |
| 14 | Writer’s drawn on amendment to legal document (5,7) |
| RIDER HAGGARD – RIDER (amendment to legal document) + HAGGARD (drawn). | |
| 17 | Bloody Mary perhaps in fur coat? (4,2,3,3) |
| HAIR OF THE DOG – cryptic hint. Metaphorical definition. Is there an emerging theme of alcohol? |
|
| 20 | Cotton on wheels in English city (8) |
| CARLISLE – CAR (wheels) + LISLE (a cotton thread). | |
| 21 | Major league has defended blood sport (6) |
| BIKING – BIG has defended KIN. | |
| 22 | Party with hoofing? (4,2) |
| STAG DO – cryptic definition. More alcohol, in all likelihood. | |
| 23 | Message shortening lease is returned (8) |
| TELEGRAM – reversal (returned): MARGE (shortening, for pastry) + LET (lease). | |
| 25 | Alcoholic drink: too much to pass to the left? (4) |
| PORT – TROP (French word, meaning too much) backwards (to the left). More alcohol, too. |
|
| 26 | Bit into unfinished cherry, a meaty thing (10) |
| MORTADELLA – TAD (a bit) into MORELLo + A. I looked at the helpers and thought “MOZZARELLA”. No, wait, isn’t that a cheese? |
|
| Down | |
| 2 | Old country I adore has less heart for revolution? (8) |
| RHODESIA – anagram (for revolution): (I ADORE HS), taking the heart out of HaS. | |
| 3 | I’m surprised by report of revolting action (3) |
| COO – sounds (by report of) COUP. | |
| 4 | Dark wood inlay in marquetry no better when raised (5) |
| EBONY – hidden (inlay), backwards (when raised). | |
| 5 | Having drunk large amount, upset facile jerk (7) |
| BILTONG – BILG (GLIB, upset) having drunk TON. | |
| 6 | Small white crystals at best, all shaken (5,4) |
| TABLE SALT – anagram (shaken): (AT BEST ALL). | |
| 7 | Very close, scrawny couple? (4,3,4) |
| NECK AND NECK – cryptic hint. I looked at the enumeration and thought, “neck and crop”. Then good sense intervened. |
|
| 8 | Petite dish in Love Story, say (6) |
| WEEPIE – WEE + PIE. A 1970 movie, definitely of the genre suggested. |
|
| 12 | Stew low on calories — get it! (3,3,5) |
| SEE THE LIGHT – SEETHE (stew) + LIGHT (low on calories; often spelled LITE these days). Who tried to find an anagram (“stew”)? |
|
| 15 | Shower of pellets also hit various soldiers (9) |
| HAILSTORM – anagram (various): (ALSO HIT) + RM. I’m not sure you should call a Marine a “soldier” to his face? |
|
| 16 | County councillor accepting nothing new disheartened everybody (8) |
| CORNWALL – CR (councillor) accepting O + NW (NeW, disheartened) + ALL. | |
| 18 | Pole owns home rated as inadequate? (3-4) |
| ONE-STAR – OAR owns NEST. | |
| 19 | Personalised work of art, garbage I might add (6) |
| TATTOO – TAT + TOO. | |
| 21 | American flag hoisted in wood (5) |
| BALSA – A (American, as in U.S.A) + SLAB (pavestone or flag), all backwards (hoisted). | |
| 24 | Letter in my word! (3) |
| GEE – two definitions. I’m still always surprised when I see the name of a letter spelled out like this! |
|
The ‘estate’ features quite regularly so MOTOR OIL went in pretty quick. I’ve only known the dried beef as ‘jerky’. Took a while to see CRICKET BAT after getting confused about which goes first. Liked JERSEY for lower. RIDER HAGGARD was only vaguely familiar. Liked Bloody Mary for HAIR OF THE DOG. Nice puzzle all round and nothing too tricky.
Thanks B.
DNK LOI MORTADELLA. I also didn’t know ‘jerk’–jerky, yes, but not jerk–and I had no idea what a BILTONG was, but biffed it. I might call a marine a soldier, but never a jolly. I liked SEE THE LIGHT.
I can’t name any clues I was stuck on but my solving time of 63 minutes would suggest I found this something of a long slog. No problem with MORTADELLA though as I remember buying it regularly from the delicatessen at Bishop’s Food Stores many years ago. I assume it’s still available at other outlets although I can’t recall seeing it and haven’t gone looking for it.
75m 13s but I put MORTADELL O. I was thinking of the jazz drummer Joe Morello who played in Dave Brubeck’s quartet but forgot to lop off the O and put an A
After a rather hectic week I see, on revisiting this, that I haven’t made any notes, which means I probably didn’t submit it. But I don’t recall any problems, except trying to remember what the thingy was called that dispensed shots in a pub! BILTONG was familiar precisely from reading many adventure books as a child by authors like RIDER HAGGARD, who appears to have sunk into obscurity along with John Buchan and Dornford Yates. LOI was probably BIKING, entered because it couldn’t be anything else. This had a slightly old-fashioned feel to it, but none the worse for that.
19dn very similar to 10ac yesterday (29189).
– Can’t recall seeing ‘big’ in the singular to refer to a Major League (I’ve heard of ‘the bigs’)
– Didn’t know lisle as cotton for CARLISLE
– Also didn’t know marge as shortening for pastry for TELEGRAM
– Took ages to get the first word of MOTOR OIL despite clocking what ‘estate’ was getting at early on
Thanks branch and setter.
FOI Gee
LOI Rhodesia
COD Motor oil
Not massively keen on PORT as though ‘too much’ can be translated as either ‘trop’ or ‘de trop’ in French, depending on the context, ‘trop’ is not an English word and normally just means ‘too’. ‘De trop’ does just about exist as an English phrase used by the pretentious though.