One to take a little time over?
The theme in this puzzle is very obvious from the start, with every clue having some reference to time, measurement time, way of recording time or the passage of time. It was a very straightforward puzzle, with only the unusual use of DUN in DURATION being a little obscure. The two longer entires forming a cross in the middle were probably my favourite clues. A very clever puzzle, if over a bit too quickly (and perhaps containing too many double definitions for my liking).
Thanks Brendan.
| ACROSS | ||
| 5 | POPS IN |
Old man’s at home, thus visits for little while (4,2)
|
| POP (“old man”)’S IN (“at home”) | ||
| 6 | TOWERS |
Recovery vehicles? Some have clocks (6)
|
| Double definiton | ||
| 9 | ASCEND |
Climb in a second, somehow dropping nothing (6)
|
| A + *(secnd) [anag:somehow] where SECND is SEC(o)ND dropping O (nothing) | ||
| 10 | PRECIOUS |
Affected as minutes may be (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 11 | EONS |
Lots of the past one’s misrepresented (4)
|
| *(ones) [anag:misrepresented] | ||
| 12 | PHILANDERS |
Two-times quiet husband one defames first off (10)
|
| P (piano in music notation, so “quiet”) + H (husband) + I (one) + (s)LANDERS (“defames”, first (letter) off) | ||
| 13 | TIME IS MONEY |
Saying there’s no difference between porridge and bread (4,2,5)
|
| TIME (in prison) (“porridge”) IS (i.e. “there’s no deifference between”) MONEY (“bread”) | ||
| 18 | BIOLOGICAL |
Starts off by installing one sensible kind of clock (10)
|
| [starts off] B(y) I(nstalling) O(ne) + LOGICAL (“sensible”) | ||
| 21 | ITEM |
Broadcast time for piece of news (4)
|
| *(item) [anag:broadcast] | ||
| 22 | DURATION |
Apply pressure about ten to three, say? As long as it takes (8)
|
| DUN (“apply pressure”, especially for payment) about RATIO (10:3 or “ten to three”, say) | ||
| 23 | CLOCKS |
Records hits (6)
|
| Double definition, the first referring to recording the time it takes someone to do something. | ||
| 24 | ELEVEN |
Team’s schedule for tea-break (6)
|
| Double definition, the second referring to 11am (time for elevenses) | ||
| 25 | TIMELY |
Tiny fellow, see, is punctual (6)
|
| (Tiny) TIM (“fellow”) + ELY (a diocese or “see” in East England) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | APRES-SKI |
A smooth king I joined for relaxing stretch after runs (5-3)
|
| A + PRESS (“smooth”, as in iron) + K (King, in chess notation or on a playing card) + I | ||
| 2 | WIND UP |
Storm increased? Ensure operation of watch (4,2)
|
| WIND (“storm”) + UP (“increased”) | ||
| 3 | MODERATO |
Guidance on tempo, contemporary inspiration for poets (8)
|
| Mod. (modern, so “contemporary”) + ERATO (Muse of lytic poetry, thus “inspiration for poets”) | ||
| 4 | PERIOD |
Spell as part of school learning (6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 5 | PASTOR |
Minister in bygone days supported by some troops (6)
|
| PAST (“in bygone days”) supported by OR (other ranks, so “some troops”) | ||
| 7 | SQUARE |
Piece of crossword that’s out of date (6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 8 | SPLIT SECOND |
Left supporter for very brief moment (5,6)
|
| SPLIT (“left”) + SECOND (“supporter”) | ||
| 14 | EGG TIMER |
Send up kind of person to begin with that can help one cook breakfast (3,5)
|
| [send up] <=REMIT (“timer”) with EGG (“kinf of person” as in “he’s a good egg”) to begin with | ||
| 15 | EPISODES |
Is dividing lyric poems – they’re presented on separate occasions (8)
|
| IS dividing EPODES (“lyric poems”) | ||
| 16 | MINUTE |
Extremely small fraction of hour (6)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 17 | WEEKLY |
Reported with minimal impact in periodical (6)
|
| Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [reported] of WEAKLY (“with minimal impact”) | ||
| 19 | LOANER |
Recluse concealing a source of something for days or more (6)
|
| LONER (“recluse”) concealing A | ||
| 20 | LOCK IN |
Part of clock I never restrict the movement of (4,2)
|
| Hidden in [part of] “cLOCK I Never” |
I didn’t think it was that easy but loonapick certainly makes a convincing case. I was messing about with IO as ten and N as three say on DURATION and my classical knowledge wasn’t quite good enough for ERATO or EPODES. I prevailed though and it didn’t take as long as I thought. I also liked those crossing clues in the middle and thought APRÈS SKI was good. (Even I saw the theme today.)
Thanks Brendan and loonapick
‘source of something for days or more’ = loaner? Can someone explain?
‘Dun’ was a new one for me.
Failed on 19d, and seeing the solution I’m not surprised. No doubt some will say acceptable, but I say “distinctly dodgy!”. Otherwise nice puzzle. Thanks both.
Mark @2: a loaner is a temporary replacement car/computer/etc. while yours is being serviced. A “source of something” seems rather loose; I guess “source” here stands for “procure” (“to source something temporarily”) but how does it work as a noun I don’t know.
Overall though, a very enjoyable puzzle and a thoroughly worked theme (constraint?) as always with Brendan, and a rather easy one this time – I would agree with loonapick. Thanks both!
Liked PHILANDERS, MODERATO (erato must be most popular crossword muse) and BIOLOGICAL. Wasn’t entirely convinced by TOWERS or LOANER, but perhaps that’s just me. Mark@2, I think the idea is that you borrow something for a while from a LOANER, but as I said, I wasn’t convinced by the definition, though the wordplay was clear (with the help of crossers). Thanks to Brendan and loonapick.
Tough puzzle, took me a while to get going on it. Theme helped me solve a few clues.
New for me: EPODES; 6ac TOWER = tow truck (I think it is more American than British English?)
I could not parse 22ac.
Favourite: PHILANDERS, SPLIT SECOND.
I’m surprised by the people saying it was tough, most of the acrosses went in on the first pass and the only chewy ones were LOANER, PRECIOUS, DURATION (DUN was a new word for me). ELEVEN (bit of a weak clue I thought), and MODERATO (MOD for contemporary being not immediately obvious to me, but ERATO was the clincher and then “all mod cons” came to mind). EPODES was new to me too, the answer was obvious from the crossers but I was thinking “EP means lyric?”.