Times Cryptic No 28164 – Saturday, 18 December 2021. Happy Christmas!
This blog appears on Christmas Day, so solvers’ attention may be elsewhere! This puzzle should have been a good way to ease into the season. Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle. How did you all get on?
[Read more …]Clues are blue, with definitions underlined. Deletions and commentary are in (brackets).
| Across | |
| 1 | English poet not going as far as Burns? (8) |
| BROWNING – jocular reference to sun-bathing, perhaps. Not much of that in London at this time of year! | |
| 6 | They could be out with rep (6) |
| TROUPE – anagram (could be): OUT + REP. Definition relating to repertory theatre. | |
| 9 | Forecast return of European unspoken composition for voice or piano (13) |
| PROGNOSTICATE – reversal (return) of E=European + TACIT + SONG + OR + P. | |
| 10 | Knife worn with tips reversed (6) |
| DAGGER – RAGGED, with ‘tips reversed’. | |
| 11 | Top soldier in anti-aircraft defence (8) |
| APOLOGIA – POLO=top + GI=soldier, in A.A. The definition is a defence, in writing. | |
| 13 | Dashing jet-black hue, less hot for navy man (10) |
| BLUEJACKET – anagram (dashing): JET + BLACK + (h)UE, ignoring H=hot. | |
| 15 | Identical twin’s a meanie, somewhat (4) |
| SAME – hidden in (twin)S A ME(anie). | |
| 16 | Returning birds, a thousand lost, are blown across the sky (4) |
| SCUD – DUC(k)S, ‘returning’. | |
| 18 | Job equality corporation provides on maternity leave? (10) |
| POSTPARTUM – POST=job + PAR=equality + TUM=corporation. A new mother might or might not be on maternity leave, so I suppose that’s why there’s a question mark. | |
| 21 | Layabout’s habitual route round cemetery? (8) |
| DEADBEAT – like a policeman’s beat, the cemetery patrol might be the DEAD BEAT. | |
| 22 | Motorcyclist maintaining maximum speed is to go on (6) |
| BICKER – according to Einstein’s theory, nothing can go faster than C, the speed of light. Put that C in BIKER. | |
| 23 | Wow supporter of Israel but not unknown painter (13) |
| IMPRESSIONIST – IMPRESS + (z)IONIST. | |
| 25 | Spirit yielding name to current age, … (6) |
| PERIOD – PERNOD changes its N to an I=the symbol for electrical current. | |
| 26 | … one such near decade’s end curtailed grand desire (8) |
| YEARNING – YEAR NINE is near the end of a decade. Drop the E and add G=grand. | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Royal Academy help a struggling artist (7) |
| RAPHAEL – R.A. + anagram (struggling) of HELP A. | |
| 3 | Misguided man has to rove about in baffled wonder (5-6) |
| WRONG-HEADED – GAD=rove about HE=man, all in an anagram (baffled) of WONDER. | |
| 4 | Successful competitor missing wide part of target (5) |
| INNER – (w)INNER. | |
| 5 | Breathing aid genetically modified, when inserted on request (3,4) |
| GAS MASK – AS=when in G.M. + ASK. | |
| 6 | Both sons leave the thing here without pause, having no mop! (4,2,3) |
| THIN ON TOP – THI(s) NON(s)TOP. | |
| 7 | Essentials for reproduction: volume in old amp (3) |
| OVA – O=old + V=volume + A=amp (ampere, not amplifier). | |
| 8 | Umpire misrepresented maiden’s great worth (7) |
| PREMIUM – anagram (misrepresented) of UMPIRE + M=maiden. | |
| 12 | Leaderless rabbles start off the disturbance in bar (11) |
| OBSTRUCTION – (m)OBS + T(he) + RUCTION. It took me a while to see what ‘leaderless rabbles’ were about. | |
| 14 | Get software run with what purpose? (9) |
| APPREHEND – APP + R + EH=what? + END=purpose. A string of standards! | |
| 17 | Crack squad almost on top of immorality (7) |
| CREVICE – CRE(w) + VICE. | |
| 19 | To meet, for example, it’s fine inside (7) |
| SATISFY – ’TIS + F(ine), inside SAY. | |
| 20 | Last from menu to make more presentable still on the plate? (7) |
| UNEATEN – men(U) + NEATEN. | |
| 22 | A place’s living occupants, born with very little (5) |
| BIOTA – B=born + IOTA=very little. ‘Not an iota’! | |
| 24 | Letter from Web access company being set up (3) |
| PSI – ISP=internet service provided, ‘set up’. | |
BROWNING, SCUD and DEADBEAT were all good but COD to PERIOD.
Thanks for explaining APOLOGIA and YEARNING, Bruce. I solved both but couldn’t parse them.
DNK BIOTA.
Hope your Christmas is a good one, Bruce. Here in the Bay of Plenty it’s in the mid 20s with blue skies, a bluish/turquoise sea and a pleasant SE breeze.
I liked the poetic surface of 16a.
20:29
Couple of typos but I’m not counting today
Probably a quickish time for me. Some of the harder ones (DEADBEAT) sprang to mind and I even managed to get the tricky PERIOD (good clue) as my LOI with only 2 minutes of alpha trawling
Festive greetings to one and all — thank you for your company over the year
I only parsed WRONG-HEADED afterwards. Apart from my COD, I also enjoyed BROWNING, DEADBEAT, THIN ON TOP and OBSTRUCTION.
FOI TROUPE
LOI PSI
COD SCUD
TIME 23:25 with a cheat
re GRATE a place for nuts might refer to ‘nuts’ of solid fuel rather than chestnuts. When we had a closed solid fuel burner it burnt coal nuts which were supposed to be better and less messy than real coal.
I spelt MYNAH MINAH so am in the corner with the D hat on.
Edited at 2021-12-25 12:26 pm (UTC)
FOI 4dn INNER
LOI 11ac APOLOGIA
COD 25ac PERIOD
WOD 21ac DEADBEAT
23ac Impressionist painter of the day Paul Signac – The Port at Sunset etc.