Solving time 12:35
In retrospect that seems like a fairly indifferent time, as there don’t seem to be too many tricky clues, although there are a few interesting answers. I remember taking a while to sort out the anagram at 2dn, but I can’t recall anything else causing me problems.
ACROSS
| 1 | DELACROIX – (Cordelia)*,X. This was an immediate put-in for me, as I have a copy of Goethe’s Faust with illustrations by Eugène Delacroix. |
| 12 | OVERDRAFT – (drove)*, RAFT – I liked the definition “lack of balance” |
| 14 | BAR,B – bar as in sandbar, that is. The barb is a common aquarium fish. |
| 18 | RESOLUTE – (our steel)* – One of the rare clues where firm doesn’t mean “CO”, but the anagram fodder was very easy to spot. |
| 21 | A,NATO,MIST(“missed”) |
| 22 | AC(UT)E – “ut”=note. It’s the old equivalent to “doh”, as in doh-re-mi etc. I’ve seen it a few times in advanced cryptics like the Listener, Mephisto etc, but don’t remember coming across it in a daily cryptic before. Interesting where it comes from – this explains it. |
| 25 | NOSEBAG – (be o nags)*, &lit. |
| 27 | T,REA(SURE)R – I think the definition “Money dealer” is a bit loose though. “Money holder” might have been better… |
DOWN
| 1 | DR,AMA(h) – I remembered “amah”=”nurse” from reading Noble House by James Clavell, quite a few years ago. |
| 2 | LAST SEEN WEARING – (Ales ‘n’ Wagnerites)* – I left this until I had most of the checking letters, as I’ve never read any of the Morse books (sorry Colin), but I know enough from the TV series that it’s a very apt anagram. |
| 3 | CO(U)RTES,(povert)Y – cortes for Spanish parliament is something I just knew, I have no idea from where. |
| 5 | X,ER,X,E(r),S(ucceeded) – he was the Persian king whose army of 1,000,000 men were held by a few thousand Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae. |
| 6 | I,M(P)EDE – more Persians. The Medes were conquered by Cyrus the Great in 550BC. |
| 7 | COOL AS A CUCUMBER – got this straight away from the enumeration. |
| 13 | PAN,HANDLE – nice wordplay, but I didn’t get it until I had all the checking letters |
| 15 | SENT(i)ENCE |
| 16 | M.O.(=modus operandi),LASSES |
In SE 11, poor old artist (7) – the answer to 11ac was INEPT, so it was an anagram of “SE inept”. Reminds me of a limerick I heard once:
There’s a notable family named Stein,
There’s Gert and there’s Ep and there’s Ein.
Gert’s prose is all bunk,
Ep’s sculpture just junk,
And nobody understands Ein.
9a WAS SAULT Thus concealing attack = ASSAULT – HA
10a Mutual understanding is left after strike = RAP PORT – where strike = rap and left = port (nautical)
11a Something useful, like radio = AS SET
13a Place that’s relaxing and making one happy = PL EASING
17a Scientist forgetting old name for creature = NEWT (ON)
24a After key victory by duke, the French become weaker = D WIN D LE
26a Composer’s fury over rival’s finale being included = E L GAR – rage back’rds with l inside it
4d Going away? Blooming limit = OUT BOUND
8d List furniture that may be taken round = ROTA TABLE
19d Monks following bishop’s line = B ORDER
20d Urgent court command = DIRE CT – this was my LOI – I did not find this to be an “easy” at all!
23d Fellow that is climbing mountain = EIGER – Reg i.e. climbing aka back’rds
We currently have a vacancy for the Friday Times Quick Cryptic if you’re interested.