Times Saturday 24670 (16th Oct)

Author   linxitPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Solving time 20:18. I was held up for a while in the NW corner, as I’d put DEMONSTRATION in for 10D without reading it properly. Apart from that, there were several words which you could describe as “not often used in conversation”, e.g. DRAMATURG, TRIMETER, PARADOR – but all had precise wordplay and didn’t hold me up for long.

Across
1 CONVERGE – C(yclists) ON VERGE
5 CREDIT – double def.
9 TERRIFIER – TERRIER (soldier) around IF (condition).
11 MIAMI – AIM rev + M1 (fast road, that’s a laugh – not with all those roadworks it ain’t!)
12 AUSTRIA – (f)AUST + AIR rev. Mozart was born in Salzburg.
13 MAN-MADE – MAD inside MANE.
14 BOARDING HOUSE – HO(pe) after BOARDING (entering), + USE (employment).
16 ON A SHOESTRING – O(ld) + NASH + (to resign)*. The architect here is John Nash (1752-1835).
20 PARADOR – PARA + ROD rev. A Spanish castle or country house converted into a hotel.
21 ASPHALT – AS + P + HALT.
23 DUCAL – (Claud)*
24 THIRTY ONE – (in the Tory)*
25 PASTOR – PAS + TOR.
26 ANGSTROM – ROM (memory) with ANGST in front.

Down
1 CATHAR – CAT + HAR(d)
2 NORMS – alternate letters of “iN cOuRt, MoSt”
3 ERITREA – A + TIRE (flag) reversed around RE(bel).
4 GRIN AND BEAR IT – (Danger Britain)*
6 ROMANSH – R(etire) + OMAN + SH. One spelling of the four official languages of Switzerland. I’ve seen it more often with SCH at the end.
7 DRAMATURG – MATUR(e) inside DRAG. I knew a dramaturge was a playwright, but a dramaturg is different. From Chambers: “a member of a theatrical company who selects the repertoire and may assist in the arranging and production of the plays, compiling notes for the programme, etc.”
8 TRIMETER – TRIER around ME + (wai)T. A line of verse of three measures.
10 REMONSTRATION – RE + [T(ommy) + RATION after MONS].
14 BOAT RACES – OAT(h) inside BRACES.
15 COOPED UP – (dope)* inside COUP
17 HIDALGO – hidden reversed in “sO GLAD I Had”.
18 IMPETUS – 1 + E(nglish) TU’S around MP. I wondered if MP was OK for police, but Chambers gives “Metropolitan Police; Military Police(man); mounted police; Municipal Police (N Am)“, so I guess it’s OK…
19 STREAM – ST + R + E(x)AM
22 AMOUR – AM + OUR. You can’t get a much more British-centric clue than that!

8 comments on “Times Saturday 24670 (16th Oct)”

  1. Just over the hour, once again; though I ought to have seen TRIMETER and MIAMI sooner. Can’t say I’ve heard of ROMANSH: “Sean Connery speaks of love?”
  2. I enjoyed this puzzle which I worked steadily through without any pyrotechnics. I was also expecting an E on the end of 7D but the word play ruled that out and I looked it up afterwards. Some high quality clues here so thank you setter.
  3. 80 minutes with solvers invoked after an hour. A dreadful struggle from start to finish for me. This Saturday’s was even worse.
  4. A gentle work-out for a Saturday afternoon (after golf and listening to jazz) completed in 50 minutes.
    No serious hold-ups and no COD. Sorry!
  5. Agree with vinyl this week’s is a bit of a slog. Had to look up CATHAR and PARADOR but the rest fell into place readily between batters as I watched the baseball playoffs.
  6. Thank you. Saved me from having to buy the paper to get the answers tomorrow. Foolishly thought I could solve a Times Crossword after I used to do the Guardian one with my Mother years ago. No hope.

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