I confess that once I saw the helpers for 14dn, I decided I had no interest in trying to guess where the B, D and N went, so I looked it up! Everything else is gettable, even 18ac where the wordplay gave the spelling. I didn’t quite understand 28ac, although the answer is obvious. Dire Straits? Cue Mark Knopfler!
Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle. How did you all get on? Here we go.
[Read more …]
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 | Have operation slightly less dangerous than Damocles? (2,5,3,5) |
GO UNDER THE KNIFE – better than under a sword, I agree. | |
9 | I indicate we are to leave miserable cell (4,5) |
BLUE PETER – the Blue Peter was originally a blue maritime signal flag meaning “P” or “outward bound”, flown to warn a ship’s crew in port of an imminent sailing. Take BLUE for miserable, and add PETER which we now discover can mean prison cell. | |
10 | Engrave plaque initially unwanted by playwright (5) |
INTER – |
|
11 | Drunk, though a round behind (6) |
LAPPED – double definition. The milk is drunk, or the track racer is lapped. | |
12 | Like Elizabeth, popular online, full of spirit (8) |
VIRGINAL – GIN in VIRAL. One of my last. | |
13 | Make pet harmless, the rule at Christmas? (6) |
DECLAW – or DEC LAW: is the law in December any different from other months? | |
15 | Spotting row containing fruit, mostly good (8) |
DAPPLING – APPL |
|
18 | Repetitive disease spares one small shrub (8) |
BERBERIS – BERI-BERI is the disease. Take out (spare) an I, add S for small. Generous wordplay. | |
19 | Grotesque figure runs into battle (6) |
FRIGHT – R in FRIGHT. | |
21 | Stingy type is irrational, love held in contempt (8) |
SCORPION – PI is an irrational number. 0 is love in tennis. Put them both in SCORN. You need to read the definition with a hard G. | |
23 | Affected elegant greeting (3-3) |
CHI-CHI – CHIC is elegant, HI is the greeting. | |
26 | Old character returning in Sky feature (5) |
DRACO – O for old, CARD for character. Turn it all round. The sky feature is a northern constellation. | |
27 | End of fighting in Crimea: it’s ruined (9) |
ARMISTICE – anagram (ruined) of CRIMEA ITS. | |
28 | In dire straits after reputation collapsed, a first for relatively wealthy area (11,4) |
STOCKBROKER BELT – I’m not sure I quite understand this clue, so if anyone can help, please comment!
I think STOCK = reputation, BROKE = collapsed. With less confidence, BELT = in dire strait(s), although I’m not quite sure how that last bit fits. Chambers does say ‘belt’ can mean ‘strait’, or vice versa, but I don’t know why ‘straits’ plural would become ‘belt’ singular. Anyway, insert R from R |
Down | |
1 | Ate so fast, mouth appeared injured (7) |
GOBBLED – his GOB BLED! | |
2 | Our faction in revolt about king — who did this? (5) |
USURP – US + UP around R. A clue where it’s hard to pin down how much is the definition! | |
3 | Protest against fall in value — I missed out (9) |
DEPRECATE – take an I out of DEPRECIATE. | |
4 | Wrap is sexy, shortened at both ends (4) |
ROTI – take the ends off |
|
5 | Hard rain disturbed shrew (8) |
HARRIDAN – anagram (disturbed) of HARD RAIN. | |
6 | Flooring put round in one of the clubs, perhaps (5) |
KOING – put a round O in the KING of clubs. The answer is flooring as in K.O.-ing. | |
7 | Meaning one attached to how the Book of Revelation may be seen? (9) |
INTENDING – I for one, then the book in question is the N.T. ENDING, since it’s the very last book of the Bible. | |
8 | It is put in the canal to limit waves (7) |
EARPLUG – cryptic definition. | |
14 | Can do boar stew or beef stew (9) |
CARBONADO – anagram (stew) of CAN DO BOAR. The answer is in Chambers, but to me it’s still basically a foreign word, unhelpfully clued as an anagram. | |
16 | Ship’s officer drinking tea he buys (9) |
PURCHASER – PURSER drinking CHA. | |
17 | Monster (“bully”) youngster clutches almost tight (8) |
MINOTAUR – MINOR clutches TAU |
|
18 | Places for well-mannered doctor, having a day out too (7) |
BESIDES – take a D out of the doctor’s BEDSIDES, where he/she displays that bedside manner. Very clever. | |
20 | Divide up equally to sample sparkling wine, say (7) |
TRISECT – try |
|
22 | Board given nothing to replace a cheap bottle (5) |
PLONK – take a PLANK and change an A to an O. | |
24 | For recitation, get up this poetic tract (5) |
CLIME – sounds like CLIMB. | |
25 | Rooms known to be reduced in snowy city (4) |
OMSK – hidden answer. |
FOI GO UNDER THE KNIFE
LOI CLIME
COD EARPLUG
TIME 14:41
On ROTI, Collins has it under American English as a soft, round flat bread of India, often served wrapped around a filling as of curried meat.
NHO PETER as ‘cell’.
Edited at 2021-05-01 04:52 am (UTC)
Edited at 2021-05-01 05:27 am (UTC)
Andyf
Apart from this, everything came together well, though I had to enter the unknown DRACO and BERBERIS from the wordplay and I agree about that unexplained final T in TRISECT. Still, it made a change from ‘asti’ for ‘sparkling wine’.
Favourites were GO UNDER THE KNIFE, and OMSK for the Tom Lehrer reminder.
Thanks to setter and blogger
FOI 28ac STOCKBROKER BELT
LOI 18dn BESIDES
COD 4dn ROTI
WOD 22d PLONK – Rodney!
Time Immemorial
Edited at 2021-05-01 02:55 am (UTC)
Otherwise I hesitated over KOING; guessed DRACO; biffed STOCKBROKER BELT as close enough; and guessed the NHO CARBONADO.
MY favourite was DECLAW.
Berberis is in the garden and so is one of the few plants I know; it’s very sharp.
David
Most dictionaries define CARBONADO as a type of grilled meat. The setter may have confused it with ‘carbonade’, which is a beef stew, although Chambers does give this meaning for CARBONADO.
The wine in TRISECT is clearly sekt. The dictionaries say it’s pronounced zekt as Kevin says, but on the rare occasions I’ve heard the word it’s been anglicised to ‘sect’.
No idea about STOCKBROKER BELT. I’d like to hear from the setter or editor.
I almost came unstuck bunging in what was clearly the only word that could possibly fit those checkers, AMOK.
When I was a kid we had a dog whose pedigree name was Jade de Berberis. She was known as Snodger.
CARBON in that meat dish’s name was some help with the anagram, but it seems, as you say, that this spelling is rare for this definition.
(I didn’t mean this to be a personal reply, but what’s the difference…)
Edited at 2021-05-01 11:14 pm (UTC)
jackkt
From Richard Rogan
STAFF
Yes there was an error in the clue, which was drawn to my attention when a confused colleague had difficulty parsing it. He always has difficulty parsing certain clues, mind you, but on this occasion he was right. I think as it was a prize puzzle, and in fact we received as far as I know not a single email about it other than the one just mentioned, it probably got forgotten about, but has been corrected should it appear in a future book.
Edited at 2021-06-03 09:20 am (UTC)