Times Cryptic No 27942 – Saturday, 3 April 2021. Late to the party.

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I’m writing this blog well after the event, so I don’t remember much about the experience. I did love the cunning definition at 2dn! There were other touches of enlightenment I remember too. Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle. How did you all get on?
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Notes for newcomers: The Times offers prizes for Saturday Cryptic Crosswords. This blog is posted a week later, after the competition closes. So, please don’t comment here on the current Saturday Cryptic.

Clues are blue, with definitions underlined. Deletions are struck through.

Across
1 Cold with developing catarrh’s very disturbing thing to watch (3-5,2)
CAR-CRASH TV – C for cold, then (developing) an anagram of CATARRHS V.
7 Use sponge, perhaps, to hold water (4)
WASH – double definition, the second metaphorical, as in “that won’t wash”.
9 Remote location of Society — neurologist’s first in the field (2,6)
ST. HELENA – S for Society, then N for Neurologist in THE LEA.
10 Painter might open the door? It’s dried (6)
RAISIN – RA or painter IS IN after he opens the door!
11 Neck displayed by low cape: button it all round (6)
SMOOCH – aah, that kind of necking! Not drinking for once. MOO for low, C for cape, all inside SH or “button it”.
13 Bad liver, somehow ok for a steer? (8)
DRIVABLE – (somehow) an anagram of BAD LIVER.
14 Jack in Blockbuster for Dynasty, that’s becoming addictive (5-7)
HABIT-FORMING – AB or jack tar, in HIT or blockbuster of the movie kind; then FOR (literally) and MING for dynasty.
17 Encourages law restricting feature of Highlands poacher’s work? (4,8)
EGGS BENEDICT – EGGS or encourages and  EDICT or law, restricting BEN, a Highlands feature. Poaching of eggs … nothing to do with the Highlands!!
20 No longer be in black tie, having left earlier (8)
OVERDRAW – OVER or left, then DRAW or tie.
21 One’s short-lived, cautious assessment of feasibility? (6)
MAYFLY – the cautious assessment is, “that idea may fly”.
22 Kick or attack — start running! (4-2)
TURN-ON – triple definition! An emotional kick, a physical attack, or to start an engine.
23 Army a long time producing prisoners (8)
HOSTAGES – HOST or army, then AGES.
25 State that, unfortunately, one must retire to read (4)
UTAH – hidden answer that one must “read in retirement” i.e. backwards.
26 Fire blonde involved in argument (3,5,2)
SET LIGHT TO – LIGHT in SET-TO.

Down
2 Network shared brief, upsetting showing of The Fall of Atlanta (8)
AUTUMNAL – LAN or (local area) network, MUTUAl or shared, briefly. All reversed or upset. The definition references Atlanta, Georgia, as a reminder of the American name for autumn. I spent quite some time wondering if this was to do with classical mythology.
3 What has power to make the black disappear? (3)
CUE – reference to snooker. On edit: also perhaps a very cunning algebraic reference, as suggested by a anonymous comment below.
4 Foreign character in public house after beer (5)
ALEPH – ALE, Public House. Hebrew alphabet this time.
5 Squirrel of greyish-white turning red (7)
HOARDER – HOAR, RED ‘turning’.
6 Madly in love, I’m putting Romeo in the shade (9)
VERMILION – (madly) anagram of IN LOVE IM R (for Romeo).
7 Feb 6 NZ celebration — postponing to Feb 7 after exchange of letters? (8,3)
WAITANGI DAY – move Feb 6 to Feb 7 by WAITING A DAY. Then swap the A and the I. I knew of Waitangi Day, which commemorates the signing of the treaty in 1840. I couldn’t have told you when it fell.
8 Catching line, quickly thrown as safeguard (6)
SHIELD – SHIED for ‘quickly thrown’, ‘catching’ L for line.
12 None, as it happens, refuse church’s conciliatory offer (5,6)
OLIVE BRANCH – O or none, LIVE or as it happens, BRAN or refuse, CH or church.
15 Items carved from fruit filled with water one’s made? (9)
FIGURINES – FIGS filled with URINE. ’Nuff said!
16 Elastic’s dispatched with most plates (8)
SCALIEST – (dispatched) anagram of ELASTICS.
18 Surrenders burning missile range (7)
BOWSHOT – BOWS, HOT. I thought of BAGSHOT at first, but that went nowhere.
19 Bible: gold part of it split, once (6)
AVAUNT – AV or bible, AU or gold, NT or part of bible. An answer I didn’t know and don’t expect to remember.
21 African people married when without a match? (5)
MASAI – M or married, AS or when, A1 or matchless.
24 Response to throat specialist, perhaps, oddly zapped earache (3)
AAH – even letters of earache.

33 comments on “Times Cryptic No 27942 – Saturday, 3 April 2021. Late to the party.”

  1. like our blogger, I don’t remember much about this, other than thinking Waitangi Day was a brilliant clue, but to a word that would have been hopelessly unfair before Google and Wikipedia, and was still pretty tough with them. I liked Eggs Benedict best. thx, brnchn. ditto setter
    1. An antipodean clue that might stump the UK solvers? Whatever next? Heard of Waitangi day, no idea when it was or how to spell it – had an H in it at first – but guessed and the cryptic confirmed it.
      Otherwise some nice tricky clues, enjoyable puzzle. AUTUMNAL RAISIN and SHIELD last in.
        1. Sorry, hadn’t actually meant to reply to you. I’ve heard of it as I’m Australian, and there’s no shortage of New Zealanders and New Zealand news here.
      1. I don’t know if you are being serious, but of course it’s not an indirect anagram, the “exchange of letters” referring to A swapping with I
  2. I took 3D to be an &lit. In maths a CUBE is a power (i.e. a number to the power of 3) from which B{lack} gets removed to make CUE?
    1. I see the cryptic, but what’s the definition?

      Edited at 2021-04-10 02:05 am (UTC)

      1. Definition: “What has power to make black disappear” = CUE
        Wordplay: What has power (CUBE) to make B{lack] disappear = CUE

        I’m suggesting that the clue in its entirety serves as both the definition and wordplay.

        SD

        1. Ah. I see. Still a snooker reference, but a more tangible way to get to the needed letters. Cute.

          Edited at 2021-04-10 03:32 am (UTC)

    1. Didn’t even try to make sense of the wordplay; Googled ‘NZ holidays’ or some such.
      1. Puts it in the realms of an unfair clue, in my book. Even worse than anagrams of obscure foreign words where at least one might make a lucky guess. The wordplay here was surely only deducible by reverse-engineering.
        1. Having found WAITANGI in my Google search, I just moved on, but yes, it’s a crap clue, cf. paulmcl and jerrywh.

          Edited at 2021-04-10 12:41 pm (UTC)

    2. I did, but my bit of paper has a couple of alternatives written down so clearly it was done on a “best guess” basis rather than certainty.
  4. Defeated by WAITANGI DAY and couldn’t be bothered to Google it. I’m not sure wordplay counts as clever if it doesn’t guide someone who doesn’t know the answer to the correct word.
  5. 28 minutes. Some terrific clues , 3d, 7d, the disgusting 15 d, 17a, 21a, and one or two weak ones, eg 20a. COD to EGGS BENEDICT. I have a good friend who’s been living in NZ for forty years so WAITANGI DAY was known. I didn’t parse AUTUMNAL, assuming the fall was the definition. Thank you B and setter.

    Edited at 2021-04-10 06:11 am (UTC)

  6. I’d not heard of WAITANGI DAY
    But New Zealand’s a long way away
    At that time of year
    Cold and rainy round here
    So I won’t join the party, OK?
  7. Had to Google WAITANGI DAY and work out the NHO AVAUNT. Otherwise a 46:00 slog with a few smiles along the way. Thanks setter and Bruce.
  8. 20 minutes of fun. Particularly liked the clue for WAITANGI DAY, which is well known to anyone of modest education (!), but I rather agree that the wordplay only really worked as a post-solve wow! moment.
  9. I wonder how many people were WAITING7 DAYS for the answer to 7d?
    My paper version tells the story of my solve: pretty much all done apart from the NE.
    I eventually got AUTUMNAL. Had no idea about 19d; I think I guessed AVAUNT. The other blanks were in the NE. Could not get RAISIN etc: Might open the door = is in???
    So a defeat for me. My favourite was MAYFLY.
    David
  10. ….for WAITANGI DAY. It clashes with the anniversary of the Munich air disaster, so it would obviously pass me by on a regular basis. A clever clue once I Googled it, but totally lost on me (and the majority I would guess).

    I spent some time at 18A trying to justify Bagshot, where the army have shooting ranges.

    FOI SMOOCH
    LOI WAITANGI DAY
    COD HABIT-FORMING
    TIME 12:56 with aids

    Edited at 2021-04-10 09:12 am (UTC)

    1. I considered Bagshot too. I have a friend lives near there and we regularly drove past Bisley, but I couldn’t parse it so thought again.
  11. DNF. The top half half empty or wrong (car-chase tv?). Never mind. I enjoyed the blog
  12. NHO Waitangi Day and the clue is (therefore!) unfair in my opinion. The “wordplay” is just showing off, isn’t it? As an aid to solving the clue, no use at all..
    2. I thought the same about Rastafarianism the other day. If the w/p is so clever/contrived that everyone has to fall back on biffing then we might as well do the concise.
    3. I don’t really agree.
      You have W_I_A_G_ D_Y which the checkings in.
      Then you have to think of WAITING A DAY ..

      I agree that that is maybe a bit of a leap, but not surely an impossible one.

  13. Had to cheat for 7d, the NZ holiday.
    Was grumbling to self about Car Crash TV. A pal of mine sends me a few clips from time to time, but I never thought it had a name… until I found it in my list of dodgy words that crop up in Xwords, so it must have come up before.
    Andyf
  14. Chiming in with the consensus here. After getting everything else, it was frustrating to have to use aids for this. The clue is essentially an indirect anagram, something that is for good reason verboten: You first have to fetch up the exact phrase “waiting a day” and then make something of it. Having “waiting a day” in the actual clue would have made it fair.

    Edited at 2021-04-10 04:57 pm (UTC)

    1. There is no shame in having to go to the dictionary to finish a puzzle.
      Especially on a Saturday
      I still maintain that a bit of lateral thinking would have got people there 🙂

      FGBP

  15. 7dn WAITANGI DAY – Kiwi-Smart-arse Clue of the Year!

    FOI 6dn VERMILION

    LOI 1ac CAR-CRASH TV

    COD 3dn CUE

    WOD 17ac EGGS BENEDICT Yum!

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