Times Saturday 23551

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time: approx 15 mins.

I was in London last week to meet up with some Irish friends for St. Patrick’s Day, so I solved this from the paper while sat in Covent Garden having a coffee and listening to the singing.
Very pleasant, and a very pleasant crossword too – nothing too tricky, although there were a few clues requiring specific general knowledge. It’s almost a pangram too, with just X missing. I suppose that makes it an X lipogram then.

Across

5 C,HORIZO(n)
9 CAVE CANEM – the only cryptic part of this clue is “boxer” for “dog”
13 TON,G(dUdE,IN,CH)EEK
21 VICE,S,QUAD – nice use of Scotland Yard in the clue.
24 HO((sadl)Y)LE – Fred Hoyle, the astronomer and science fiction writer.
25 NERVI (“nervy”) – Pier Luigi Nervi, who designed the Rome Olympic stadium.
26 SOJOURNED – didn’t understand the wordplay last week and still don’t…any offers? [Explained by paul, thanks. I knew it was a replacement clue, but still didn’t see it. Replace AD from ADJOURNED (rose) with SO (note).]
27 E,P(1,THE)T

Down

1 FA(CIA)L – the river Fal in Cornwall – perhaps it should be added to the 3-letter rivers list
2 NAVIGAT(V a giant*),OR=other ranks=men. Henry the Navigator, the 15th c. Portuguese prince.
4 BENBECULA (Enable cub*) – inch is a Scottish word for an island.
5 COM(B)E
6 O(LYMP(“limp”))1,C – I think “of champion” is a very loose definition though.
7 I.E.,U(sk),A,N – a fairly common name in Wales, e.g. Ieuan Evans, the former Welsh rugby captain. The name is pronounced “Y-eye-an”.
8 ON(S)TRIKE – definition just “out”
16 S(CA)VEN,GE=e.g. rev.
18 1p,SWICH(“switch”)
22 CORGI – another straightish cryptic definition, which runs into…
23 UP,SET – mostly clues which are run together with ellipsis are only linked for the surface reading, but this actually reuses the last two words of 22 in the wordplay too.

8 comments on “Times Saturday 23551”

  1. Could you explain this one please? I have INSIDE JOB as the solution. Is it a feeble double definition that fails to define specifically in either part, or am I missing something?

    Buzzword

    1. INSIDE JOB is correct. I read it as a double definition, with one of them cryptic. Sewing mailbags is a job for people “inside”, and it’s a crime “committed with the aid of someone associated with the victim” according to Collins. Strangely enough, Chambers doesn’t have it at all.
      1. Thanks. Must admit in my haste I had foolishly overlooked “inside” meaning in prison. This makes the clue fairer than I thought and not feeble after all.

        Buzzword

  2. I hate it when the one I get stuck on doesn’t appear in the blog – makes me feel a bit thick!

    Can’t get anywhere with “Torch-bearer who joins with church official” – I’ve got -E-D-R and “leader” comes to mind for torch-bearer, but…. Help?

    Sarah

  4. please explain why “acceptable to stop” is U. wearing stockings = in hose, right?
    tks, jay.

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