Brendan is today’s Guardian inquisitor
I sometimes struggle with Brendan’s puzzles, and sleeping in this morning, I was worried that this would take me ages to complete. As it turned out, I was on Brendan’s wavelength today and getting both long across answers quite quickly certainly helped. I was held up towards the end by HORSEMEN which I just couldn’t see. I was disappointed with the clue for OPPOSITE but Brendan was obviously trying to get “four” into the clue or solution somewhere as that number or some form of quartet appears in all of the other clues.
Thanks, Brendan
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | OPPOSITE |
Like ten to four on some watches (8)
|
| (Not very) cryptic definition | ||
| 9 | NABBED |
Outlaw returned four-poster, say, under arrest (6)
|
| <=BAN (“outlaw”, returned) + BED (“four-poster, say”) | ||
| 10 | CROTCHET |
Time put into needlework producing not a lot of note? (8)
|
| T (time) put into CROCHET (“needlework”) | ||
| 11 | QUARTO |
Volume finished with old size of paper (6)
|
| QUART (a measure of “volume”) with O (old) | ||
| 12 | INTERPROVINCIAL |
Contrive, in April, reorganised event featuring Irish quarters (15)
|
| *(contrive in april) [anag:reorganised] | ||
| 15, 16 | ON ALL FOURS |
Reversal of plain boundaries not proceeding in upright way (2,3,5)
|
| [reversal of] LLANO (“plain”) + FOURS (“boundaries” in cricket) | ||
| 16 |
See 15
|
|
| 20 | FOUR-DIMENSIONAL |
Inside normal UFO, possibly, covering space and time (4-11)
|
| *(inside normal ufo) [anag:possibly] | ||
| 21 | WITH IT |
In very small piece, it’s certainly not square (4,2)
|
| IT in WHIT (“very small piece”) | ||
| 23 | RAMPARTS |
Male quadruped breaks barricades (8)
|
| RAM (“male quadruped”) + PARTS (“breaks”) | ||
| 25 | LENNON |
Sign name over two others, one of four famous ones (6)
|
| LEO (star “sign”) + N (name) over N+N (“two other” (names)) | ||
| 26 | HORSEMEN |
Four up, ominously, as the end approaches? (8)
|
| Cryptic definition, referring to the four HORSEMEN of the Apocalypse | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SPARING |
Economical inclusion of key in opening part of an Italian composition (7)
|
| Inclusion of A (“key”) in SPRING (“opening part of” The Four Seasons (“an Italian composition”)) | ||
| 2 | SOUTHERNER |
Native from one quarter runs to here when thrown out (10)
|
| *(runs to here) [anag:when thrown out] | ||
| 3 | FISH |
eg sole four-letter word, in itself, is harmless (4)
|
| A “four letter word” hidden [in] “itselF IS Harmless” | ||
| 4 | SENT FOR |
Become aware of crew reportedly being summoned (4,3)
|
| Homophone [reportedly] of SCENT (“become aware of”) + FOUR (“crew”) | ||
| 5 | INIQUITOUS |
Not just 25% of invested capital held by one rich country (10)
|
| [25% of] IN(vested) + QUITO (“capital”) held by I (one) + US (“rich country”) | ||
| 6 | ABBA |
Quartet unchanged by upsetting spell (4)
|
| If you spell ABBA backwards (or upwards in this case), it still spells ABBA. | ||
| 7 | WEST HAM |
One of four players, not a good one, in football club (4,3)
|
| WEST (“one of four (bridge) players”) + HAM (“not a good one” (player)) | ||
| 13 | PALLIATING |
Making easier page without fourth line I penned in old language inside (10)
|
| L (line) + I penned in LATIN (“old language”) inside PAG(e) [without fourth] , so PA(L(L(I)ATIN)G | ||
| 14 | CARBONATED |
Four-wheeler put away, held by agent still? Not so (10)
|
| CAR (“four-wheeler”) + ATE (“put away”) held by (James) BOND (secret “agent”) | ||
| 17 | MOTIVES |
Reasons with number of Romans in specs, so to speak (7)
|
| IV (four, a “number of Romans”) in MOTES (“specks” a homophone [so to speak] of SPECS) | ||
| 18 | HEARTHS |
Husband wearing suit in domestic circles (7)
|
| H (husband) wearing HEARTS (“suit”) | ||
| 19 | MATTHEW |
Part of format the writer used for book (7)
|
| Hidden in [part of] “forMAT THE Writer” | ||
| 22 | HAND |
Needle that’s four inches in length (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 24 | MARK |
Observe 19’s follower (4)
|
| Double definition, the second referring to the book in the bible that follows Matthew (the solution to 19dn) |
Another superb puzzle with a simple theme. Too many ticks but loved the Irish INTERPROVINCIAL anagram and INIQUITOUS. HORSEMEN was my loi also. Brendan on top form.
Ta both.
SENT FOR and WITH IT need separated loonapick.
Quite a tough one, had to cheat on OPPOSITE to finish; not the best of clues. I also thought the clue for SPRING was a little vague. Otherwise enjoyed the rest of this.
I noticed WEST and SOUTH, but couldn’t spot the other four quarters.
CROTCHET is a quarter note.
Thanks loonapick and Brendan
Well, that was a tour de fours!
Americans refer to a CROTCHET as a “quarter note”.
This sort of grid often produces accidental ninas, as in this case.
My thanks to Brendan and loonapick.
So now “crew” is four rather than eight.
Liked ON ALL FOURS, WITH IT & HORSEMEN
Is the SOUTH a quarter?
Thought the def for LENNON was pretty poor
Cheers L&B
As you say, DE @3!
AlanC @1: you are excellent at getting in with that first comment. Almost as excellent as Brendan is at coming up with elegant, teasing masterpieces. I really enjoy this kind of crossword – quite an overt theme – as loonapick says, it appears in every clue and a number of solutions. And yet it didn’t feel intrusive as the theme topic was treated in so many ways. I can even forgive OPPOSITE as a result.
Particular favourites – I could have ticked virtually any clue – include the two beautiful anagrammatic surfaces for INTERPROVINCIAL and FOUR-DIMENSIONAL, WITH IT, LENNON, FISH (glorious hidden), INIQUITOUS, WEST HAM and CARBONATED. What a splendid experience.
Thanks Brendan and loonapick
…and April is the fourth month.
Crispy @5, there are rowing crews that are both fours and eights, so both/or not instead.
I wasn’t on Brendan’s wavelength this morning but also found some things easier than others seem to have. I did think OPPOSITE as I read through that clue but dismissed it until I had the crossers.
Thank you to loonapick and Brendan
4d FOR as a homophone of FOUR? Nae whair am frae, it’s no.
Auriga @4, an apt, if accidental, Nina in the 5th column?
Very cleverly put together, entertaining and head-scratching in places. I was held up by HORSEMEN as well and also couldn’t convince myself of OPPOSITE without crossers but who cares with so much else going on?!
Thanks to B & l
Re WEST HAM – I wondered is the WEST possibly just “one of four” and the HAM is “players, not a good one”?
Otherwise the “players” is doing double-duty? Not something that bothers me much but I know some people don’t approve
Also, bonus point for the homophone of “spec” – can’t remember seeing a homophone used like that before. Bravo!
I know, Nicola @11 – it grates but I have learned to accept it as the crossword norm. Sometimes.
OPPOSITE and HORSEMEN were my first because they’re not cryptic just write-ins, other than that good fun
Took a while but I finished it, with lots of unparsed-but-clearly-correct solutions in there. The theme actually helped for once. Some great clues but also a few I found somewhat tenuous, though forgivable in the circumstances!
By the way I confidently put in DIAGONAL instead of OPPOSITE as my FOI, which held me up for a few minutes until I realised that none of the crossers really worked…
Cheers both.
I am ashamed to say that the theme was so blindingly obvious that I missed it. First I thought we were having a bible theme (Matthew, Mark, the four Horsemen), then I was seeing some musical theme (crotchet, ABBA, Lennon, Fish, Verdi). I ended up overcomplicating things so much that I dropped the ball completely.
Shanne @10. You else get pairs and singles, not to mention the participation of the cox, so I’ll look for crew to mean anything from 2 to 9. Apologies – I’m not getting at you, just the inaccuracy of the word “crew”, which I’ve only ever seen used to mean eight. I guess roman numerals also have a variety to pick from.
Thanks for a great puzzle, Brendan. You never fail to please. I loved the “fours” theme which was relevant in so very many quirky ways. As is my wont I particularly liked the scriptural “fours” alluded to in 26a HORSEMEN, 19d MATTHEW and 24a MARK, although my studies revealed that MARK was actually “written” first, some 10-15 years before MATTHEW. 14d CARBONATED and 17d MOTIVES were my other favourites. Sorry I didn’t know about the INTERPROVINCIAL event before today but it is always helpful when an unfamiliar solution is clued with one of Brendan’s devious anagrams, and clearly as an Irishman Brendan would be very familiar with this cricket event which I had to googole to confirm. Thanks loonapick for your explanatory blog.
[Grrr! “google”]
Tough but good. I don’t understand ‘hand’ for ‘needle’ but it’s obviously a usage I have not encountered.
Thank you loonapick. I can’t believe I left the 2 long anagrams across the middle until last. I thought I’d wait until I got a few crossers, but that didn’t help. Also the defs weren’t obvious (to me).
A masterpiece in engineering from Brendan, and the clues were a challenge and delight to solve.
Did anyone else try ”diagonal” for OPPOSITE (ten to four) before crossers?
Misdirected by the ‘famous four’ in LENNON. Had me looking up children’s books.
Another famous four are MATTHEW, MARK, Luke and John, of which we have two.
My favourite was the central signpost ON ALL FOURS, second one in.
FOI WEST HAM, amusing wordplay, chuffed to get it as don’t know much about football.
Chuckles for the defs in CROTCHET and CARBONATED.
Rode fairly steadily though this in Brendan’s four-in-hand. Like Rob T @16 my first thought for my first entry was DIAGONAL at 8ac, but a quick check of the down clues disabused me and OPPOSITE was, oddly, my LOI.
Good long anagrams and I enjoyed INIQUITOUS, PALLIATING, CARBONATED and the ‘reversal of plain boundaries’.
bodycheetah @13: I don’t interpret ‘players’ as doing double duty – which is where a word in a clue serves two distinct functions. Here the word ‘one’ is an anaphora – the usual syntactic method of avoiding a repetition. The meaning of the sentence is clearly: ‘One of four players, not a good player. There is a play on two different types of player – bridge and theatrical – but such ambiguities are a normal part of crosswordese surely? 🙂
Sorry, I forgot to thank Brendan and loonapick for their splendid efforts.
Tough but enjoyable.
Liked CROCHET, WITH IT.
Thanks, both.
Auriga @4, 🙂 … I had to be told to look for them by the G-ers, as per. And that’s the second time recently that llano has been a ‘dnk’ … ze little grey cells are aging. I actually quite liked ‘ten to four’ for opposite, and the Four Horsemen … simple, like where my mind seems to be at. Ditto Lennon’s wordplay [and just heard a long talk wth Epstein’s PA, Joanne Peterson]. Clever puzzle, and quite fun. Thanx both.
George @21: Took me a long time to get it, but the hand of a clock is sometimes called a needle.
George@21. I took the HAND and needle to be the things on the clock, between 10 to 4.
YesMe3.
Great stuff, as always from Brendan.
Many thanks to him for a lot of fun and to loonapick for a fine blog.
Auriga@4 & Salad@12,
I still don’t see the nina you mention – am I missing something?
Thanks to B & L
Sorry Rob T. Didn’t see your post@16 re DIAGONAL. Great minds!
As well as Diagonal at 8a, Rob T @16, paddymelon @22, Gervase @23 I also toyed with Diameter instead of OPPOSITE, but then that’s the hopeful mathematician in me.
I was going to post a teasing comment about homophones in SENT FOR along the lines of “surely nobody’s going to complain about…..” but then FOR is apparently not a homophone for Four!! Is someone going to tell us that Scent is not a homophone of SENT? Can we at least agree that “reportedly” is not an exact synonym of “homophone”.
Definitely a DNF for me without some outside help but I did like CROTCHET.
I found this really tough. I was on the lookout for a NINA and started with dolls so thought there must be something connecting them, no – all four nothing!
I was helped to find MARK by ‘Matthew, Mark, Luke and John went to bed with their trousers on’. Good play on four.
Thanks Brendan and loonapick.
?BaldyB @31 – there is RADIO in the 5th column. As in BBC R4. I don’t know if this is what Auriga meant but it’s a neat happenstance.
Mindblowing stuff, Even in 12 April is the 4th month, 5 -25% is a fourth
And in 14 I noticed that Carbon is tetravalent
Another masterclass!
He is fast becoming my favourite setter
Thanks all.
I really loved this. I suppose that as this puzzle (like all Brendan’s) is for me so far over in the ‘loved it’ spectrum, inevitably it will be something that some others don’t enjoy. I felt a bit sad seeing some of the early comments on the Guardian page, and sometimes wonder why some do cryptics at all – but that’s just another skewed subjective comment, so I should take it back. For me, those clues e.g. SPARING, CROTCHET, where you have to have a second thought to find the ‘four’ reference are just another layer of enjoyment. And unlike loonapick I took some time to get OPPOSITE! Thank you Brendan, your work in grid-filling and in clueing is very much appreciated here, I can assure you. I loved INIQUITOUS and CARBONATED also.
B presumably started off from the ON ALL FOURS idea (what a great clue – thank you loonapick for llano rev. which I missed at first). My first thought had been ‘haven’t seen this grid before’ and with those two lights paired giving 6/10 unchecked, it could be seen as unfair. However, once you know what you’re looking for, the definition part becomes quite easy, so it’s certainly no problem. All beautifully calculated. Thanks to loonapick and to the Prince of the Pacific.
Thank you Copmus for even more stuff I hadn’t seen!
Didn’t get MOTIVES and I’m kicking myself; didn’t parse SPARING, ditto; glad it’s not just me thinking that OPPOSITE is a bit thin.
But some delightful stuff here – favourites were INTERPROVINCIAL (getting this with a seemingly apt surface was excellent), ON ALL FOURS (the crossworder’s “plain” comes in handy again!), FOUR-DIMENSIONAL (again, a brilliantly apt surface), SOUTHERNER, INIQUITOUS, PALLIATED, CARBONATED.
Thanks both
After a relatively qentle stroll around 3 of the quarters I got bogged down in the NW. I finally convinced myself that 8ac was opposite and then rushed my LOI 1dn with Operand thinking key = mathematical symbol and opera = Italian composition. Stupid I know. Thanks B and l.
Tim C @33: Scottish pronunciation has not undergone the coalescence of the vowel sounds in ‘for’ (as in ‘paw’) and ‘four’ (as in ‘too’). And since their speech is also rhotic, ‘maw’, ‘more’ and ‘moor’ are all distinct, whereas they are homophones to most southrons.
My brain is now swimming with “fours”. The Sign of Four nearly made it in at 25a, but I searched in vain for the Four Tops. Another gem from Brendan.
Well beyond me, looking forward to the explanations.
Thanks both.
So, which takes the petit four?
Coat is already on.
And by ‘distinct’ you mean pronounced as they are spelled Gervase @4. 😉
Gotta love a crossword with my name as an answer. Thanks for a great puzzle Brendan and for my missing parsings loonapick
Robi @34, as well as the ‘trousers on’ aid to learning, I remember from the dim and distant past “Matthew sent Mark to Luke for John, to Acts the Romans where he’d gone”. It sort of fell over when you got to Corinthians.
Yes, I know Gervase @41. I’m sure some of my early dialect would have pronounced 4 as something like fuwor, but note my comment that “reportedly” is not an exact synonym of “homophone”. Even if it were, clues never specify which pronunciation style or dialect is intended. In the Aussie vernacular… “near enough’s good enough, she’ll be right maaaate”. 🙂
Tim C @47: Indeed. And as you say, ‘reportedly’, which has a connotation of dubiety, is, like ‘some say’ a good indicator for a possibly iffy homophone. 🙂
I confidently entered STRAIGHT for 8a – the first clue I looked at – just think of the two hands (which BTW, I have never heard called needles) at that time. Kicked myself when I finally twigged to OPPOSITE. The Verdi reference was far to oblique for me. Thanks to copmus @36, I think that all then ‘4’ references I noted have been mentioned already – I loved spotting the tetravalent CARBON when I finally got that. I’m with TimC on the ‘near enough…’ front. I did go looking for Luke and John (and found the latter, indirectly, at 25a). My write-in was FOUR-DIMENSIONAL from the definition. Great crossie. Thanks, Brendan and loonapick.
Thanks for the blog, AlanC at number 1 yet again , my hat is removed.
OPPOSITE is very weak but the rest is very strong. MrPostMark has a typically good list, I will add PALLIATING, my favourite sort of clue. I also liked the use of SPECS . Strange how often LLANO turns up in puzzles.
HEARTS is the second suit but it is one of FOUR .
I forgot to say that HAND is also sometimes used for compass needles.
What is the Verdi reference? I see a Vivaldi one.
I was finding this really tough for the first half dozen solves, until I picked up on the theme: and from then on the solutions just flowed as I started hunting for the fours.
But it was a bit of a joyless solve. A themed puzzle which led the setter into some pretty arid and tortured clueing, I think.
A tough tour de fours indeed.
Many thanks to Brendan and loonapick
A few have suggested that there is a “4” reference in every clue and/or answer. I’m afraid I can’t see them all. I’m struggling with 10a (unless it’s the quarter note mentioned @3 and @4); 23a (unless it’s “square”, which could be so many (infinitely many, even) other numbers); 1d; 18d; 19d; and 21d (unless the last two are just “one of four”).
In any case, many thanks to Brendan and loonapick.
Bear @55 a few ideas, 23A is quadraped, 1D Four Seasons, 18D Hearts one of four suits, similar for 19D, 21D and gospels.
Thanks Brendan & Loonapick. Found this hard work but very satisfying, so pretty much the norm for Brendan.
Gervase @23 – thanks for the new word, anaphora. My reading of the clue was exactly as yours, but I didn’t know the name for the rhetorical device. Useful!
TassieTim @49 – I know you meant Vivaldi… took me a long time to spot that one but once I twigged the theme, that helped narrow it down a bit. Likewise Lennon and the horsemen – just had to think of things there are four of.
I think that if we viewed homophones like we do synonyms there’d be fewer causes for grumbling. For example, nobody thinks that equating needle with hand in a clue means that they are interchangeable in all contexts, rather that one meaning of hand corresponds to one meaning of needle. Likewise, if some substantial group of people pronounce a pair of words the same way, they are fair game as “exact” homophones. Sometimes a regional indicator is necessary.
I think there is another test too, for the more iffy kind of homophone. If in speech you substitute the one word for the other and there’s no consequent “huh?”, then they’re close enough. Again like the substitution test for near-synonyms.
Just my too sense. Tx.
Very nicely constructed! And fun to solve.
Favourite was INTERPROVINCIAL, a brilliant anagram and surface.
Thanks Brendan and loonapick
Thanks Brendan and loonapick
Sorry to disagree with so many, but I thought there was a lot of very loose clueing here. I don’t remember a puzzle in which I had so many correct answers that I felt the need to “check” before entering – 8, 10, 11, 25, 1, 3, 6, and 22.
Thanks Brendan for the excellent four-play. CARBONATED alone was worth the price of admission. Other ticks went to FOUR-DIMENSIONAL, LENNON, MOTIVES, and the nicely hidden MATTHEW. I didn’t find the crossword easy — I needed a word finder for OPPOSITE and SOUTHERNER and I couldn’t parse ON ALL FOURS, SPARING, and HAND but none of that spoiled the fun. Thanks loonapick for the blog.
Thank you Muffin @60. I wasn’t going to post as I seemed to be so much at odds with the general mood. Thought it was just me. 8 across is a shocker.
Thanks to Auriga, at comment four, for that pun.
A Boatman-like theme for Brendan today, which was a surprise to me, and it is surely trying too hard. This compiler is too good for all that nonsense.
A five star effort from Brendan, no better make it four, fantastic anyway.
Loads of clues ticked, but in particular I do appreciate a well hidden solution such as MATTHEW. Had to confirm LLANO and QUITO on Google, so now my general knowledge has been increased by two facts (the square root of four facts!).
Thanks Brendan and loonapick
Much enjoyed: puzzle and fourful blog. Thought I’d cracked it but had forced NORTHERNER in place of SOUTHERNER: justified by runs = RN + RN to make the anagram work. Oh dearie me.
ON ALL FOURS my favourite. Did not know LLANO but hopefully now do.
The hand are not quite straight or opposite at ten to four
@66 Chrisp
10 o’clock and 4 o’clock are straight opposite on the dial though (the clue doesn’t mention hands; “ten to four” is a misdirection).
…just the numbers
Thanks Brendan and loonapick
In 8, I thought ‘ten to four on some watches’ was a neat misdirection, as it could also refer to the actual duration of a watch on board a ship.
A magnificent puzzle, which I failed on because of WITH IT. I didn’t parse MOTIVES but the crossers forced it in and even though I hadn’t seen the theme (there’s a reason my uni nickname was Captain Observant) I had the IV for the Roman number in my head which helped.
Too many great clues to choose from, but INTERPROVINCIAL and FOUR-DIMENSIONAL have to take the chapeau.
DrWhatsOn @58 – funnily enough I had pretty much the same ‘homophone’ thought while I was walking the dogs earlier, though you articulated it better than I would have… (and LOL at your sign-off!). People give other clue formats all kinds of latitude and interpretation, but for some the very idea that two words or phrases might not be exact soundalikes is cause for complaint.
I wondered if it had anything to do with one’s pride in one’s own accent? It’s quite a personal thing, an accent – much more so than, say, whether you consider two words or concepts to be synonyms, or whether you knew of a particular Croatian river. Hence the increased umbrage sometimes taken.
Anyway, ever since I saw it in one of his puzzle in July, all talk of homophones makes me think of Paul’s outrageous clue equating HAVE LUNCH with AVALANCHE. If that gets published, anything goes!
Rob@71 I seem to remember Paul had some reference to French , or possibly Italian, for AVALANCHE.
One way around the homophone issue is to have “some say” or some sort of equivalent in the clue. As long as somebody says something a certain way I am not too bothered.
Fine Sesame Street puzzle. This one’s brought to you by the number 4…
I too didn’t get the needle/hand connection. Thanks to commenters for the clock/compass info. Otherwise, thoroughly enjoyed. Before the theme had really crystallised in my head, I did wonder why the “four-letter word” part of 3 was there. Favourites were PALLIATING, WEST HAM, LENNON and INIQUITOUS.
Thanks, Bren and loona.
That Brendan. He often comes to the fore you know.
As no-one else has quibbled about 10A, I will. I raised an eyebrow at describing crochet as needlework. My needlework consultant, when asked, said “it’s hooks, not needles” – I suppose that’s what the name suggests.
A tour de force (we hear) from Brendan and thanks to loonapick for unpicking some of the knottier wordplay.
Roz @72 – it was French, although Italian might have made more sense given the extra vowel in the middle 🙂
I guess my general view on ‘homophones’ (the word crossworders use doesn’t help, given the dictionary definition!) is that I find it helps to mentally read all of them with ‘some say’ in mind. I don’t think the setter needs to qualify it every time, as whether solvers consider it close or tenuous is so subjective.
It just amuses me how controversial ‘homophones’ can be, of all the clue formats. It doesn’t need to be a quibbling issue, if people just gave them the kind of interpretive leeway that most other clue formats enjoy.
Salad @52, Widdersbel @57: Ah. Just goes to highlight how ignorant I am in that area of knowledge. SimonS @69 – I also went down the ship’s watches rabbit hole.
I’m a very occasional Guardian crossword visitor these days. ( A couple of weeks a year when on holiday).
This was the worst Brendan (my namesake and past favourite) I have encountered.
The paper is sadly in need of a proper crossword editor ( this world equally apply to the paper’s editor)
I’m with Morrisey on this one. (Although I haven’t got the tee-shirt yet!)
The paper and crossword are sadly missed.
… or, (@71, 72, 76) .. we could grade them by Fourier analysis. Coat already on ..
An abject failure for me. 🙁 I got about half, and even when I ‘cheated’ this morning by looking at some of the answers I was missing, I still couldn’t fill in many of the others. Thank you to loonapick and others for sorting it out for me. Without this blog I would be a very frustrated moth, still banging my head against the light.
There’s been an amount of denigration of the clue for 8a, with people saying it’s not cryptic or a bit feeble. Well I found it so difficult that I never even solved it! Maybe that’s just me, but there is a deal of misdirection going on here. The use of ‘ten to four’ immediately gets us thinking of the time as shown by the hands on a clock (or in this case watch) face, but anyone with an analogue timepiece will be able to tell you that the hands are not in a straight line at that time. Also the thought of ‘watches’ kept aboard ship might occur, though there the time is in terms of the number of bells rung – seven bells of the forenoon watch would be half an hour before 12 noon, so 11:30. The actual definition part of the clue is ‘like ten to four’, or “as ten is in relation to four”, but even after coming here to see the answer it still took a few seconds for the penny to drop. The strength of a good cryptic clue is that when the solver fails to identify any wordplay elements, it is difficult to go back to looking at a pure surface reading. Subsequent revisits to the clue then tend to focus on previously unseen wordplay, and repeat.
[I was amused to see a typo in the comment @68 from Brendan (not that one) – this is often seen when someone complains about the lack of an efficient editor!]
Thanks to Brendan and loonapick.
Simon S @66 – watches on ships are usually four hours long, not six, at least in the Royal Navy. The exceptions are the two dog watches which are two hours each. By having seven watches in a twenty-four hour period and the two teams of crewmen, confusingly also called ‘watches’ alternating between on-watch and off-watch, this ensures that crewmen are not on watch at the same time on two consecutive days. Concisely explained here if you need more.