24806 – Not so glorious 25th March

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
This took me a good hour and left me with several things to look up and check before writing the blog. As so often recently I’m not sure whether it really was as hard as it seemed or whether it was blogger’s nerves getting to me again. I read through most of the clues more than once before finding one (at 12ac) where the answer suddenly jumped out at me. I suspect that those who understood the reference at 1ac and wrote the answer in early on will have had a much easier solve than those like me who had to leave the NW corner until much later.

Across
1 ST PETER,SBUR,G – ST PETER as the keeper of the keys to the kingdom of heaven is followed by RUBS (reversed) then Grand. Peter the Great regarded the city as Russia’s “Window on the West” apparently. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t know this.
9 fRIDGE
10 F(IN)ANCIER
11 TA(SH)KEN,T – It’s in Uzbekistan. After 1ac we were fortunate not to be expected to know this is called “the Stone City”.
12 MO(RM)ON – My first in today.
13 HARD(COR)E – Anagram of HEARD surrounding ChOiR. I didn’t know this meaning of the word which I associate with building rubble or pornography and not with music.
15 BOUNTY – Fletcher Christian was the leader of the mutineers on the Bounty. Cornucopia is a goat’s horn and symbol of bounteousness.
17 SM,ARMY – SM from MS (manuscript = writing) reversed.
18 CAUSE,W,AY – AY being a poetic term for “ever”.
20 Got to leave one out folks and it might as well be this one.
21 POMPIDOU – Cryptic definition of the exhibition centre in Paris named after the former President.
24 FREE-LIVER – I originally had this as FOOD-LOVER which caused problems solving 2dn. On reflection I couldn’t see how to justify ‘gift from butcher’ so it became obvious that something was amiss.
25 TAIGA – It’s a forest that sounds like a tiger. An unfamiliar word that really needed a better alternative way to it than “one”.
26 TWELFTH NIGHT – This is a reference to the “Glorious Twelfth” (of August), the beginning of the grouse shooting season in the UK. Not so glorious for the birds or for some of our overseas solvers, I imagine.
 
Down
1 STRETCH – Double definition.
2 PEDESTRIAN,ISED – The last four letters being SIDE*.
3 T(W)EAK
4 RE,FINERY
5 BUN,G
6 RAN,CO,ROUS – Chief Executive Officer RAN COmpany + SOUR*. I rather liked this one.
7 DIAMOND WEDDING – (ADDING WOMAN DID)*
8 BRAND,Y
14 COMMON LAW – Anagram of CALM NOW and MO for ‘doctor’. This type of law derives from custom and precedent rather than legislation.
16 TABOURET – (ROBE TAUT)* – A frame used in embroidery etc. Never ‘eard of it!
17 Shrink,Evenly, T OFF – One colour may ‘set off’ another by way of contrast, for example.
19 YOU WAIT – Double definition
22 PATENt   – This is the plate that’s used often in the Eucharist.
23 Better leave another out, but it’s hidden backwards if you didn’t get it. It’s also our cricketing reference for today.

30 comments on “24806 – Not so glorious 25th March”

  1. Tabouret new to me also. Tricky little number altogether. Had Plenty for some time, as in Horn of, for Bounty. 33 minutes finally and much enjoyed.
  2. A fine puzzle full of misdirection and guile. The ‘gourmand’ alone had me proffering four stabs at the first word (‘food’, ‘good’ and ‘fine’ before finally getting ‘free’) and a couple at the second (‘lover’ as well as ‘liver’). It was a similar story in a couple of other places, notably 1dn, where I plumped for ‘stirred’ at first. Must swat up on my bromes, as I hazarded ‘trila’ at 25ac – my last in – for the unknown TAIGA, which I don’t think much of as a clue either. COD to OVAL, a fine example of the species cricketing-clue-that-never-fails-to-hold-me-up.

    An hour and a half for this piece of voluntary putting self though mill.

  3. Ditto Ulaca although perhaps 2 hours after dismal start. The Oval is where I might be on Monday for an aptly titled “Warm-up” match.
  4. Wow! I found this one surprisingly easy, and managed to finish it (with one incorrect, but with FU of all others) in what must be one of my quickest times!

    Was a little held up in SW, as I’d never really considered a gourmand to be a FREE LIVER, but it had to be that, given the ‘gift’ ref.

    The one I got wrong (I guess I won’t be alone in this) was TAIGA. I went through the alphabet (as you do), and scribbled in (the name?) TRISA (as in TREES ARE … found in a forest!). Didn’t surprise me to find it was wrong…

    Anyway, a good start to my day. Hope you all have a lovely weekend! Janie

  5. 24 minutes, with the longest hold up in the SE, where I thought the clues were dodgy. Is the Pompidou the only centre in Paris? “One” in 25 across was horribly indirect, especially since it wasn’t the answer. 19d (once I saw it) was quite clever, though I think “just you wait” (Henry Higgins?) is more conventional for there may be trouble ahead.
    Other hold ups were of my own making: flushed with getting ST PETERSBURG straight off (even if guessing the west window shenanigans) I essayed LENINGRAD (Len in something or other) for 10a, and until last clue in, BRANDY, had MORMON unaccountably ending in M. If it ain’t working, fix it.
    CoD to BOUNTY, if only because it will initially annoy those who don’t like religious references. Even PATEN doesn’t have to have a religious connotation. My old printer had one. RANCOROUS I also liked.
  6. Another fine effort.. some fine surface readings 🙂
    Personally I would not equate gourmand and free-liver
  7. I don’t like to grumble but I really think 25ac is a terrible clue, and not just because I didn’t get it, honest!
    If you don’t know the word (which I didn’t) there is no way into it. Even if you do know the word you might be put off by the fact that a) it’s not really a forest (forest is to Taiga as country is to Europe) and b) there aren’t any tigers in about 95% of it. And on my reading the clue points clearly towards an answer of which “one” is an example: number, integer, pronoun, song by U2… not tiger. Surely for the definition to work it should read “one may be found…”?
    Anyway, 15 minutes to that point. I didn’t know St Petersburg was a window so thanks to Jack for that.
    Harumph.
    1. It is really a forest, at least accoring to the Oxford Dictionary: “the swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia”
      1. Fair enough: a more reliable source than mine, which was Wikipedia! According to that the Taiga is a collection of forests rather than a forest but I’ll admit that’s a bit quibblish.
        Whatever it means, if you ain’t heard of it you ain’t going to solve the clue.
  8. Over the hour in two sittings, having given up disgusted with myself at the first. I had no idea why it was ST PETERSBURG, TWELFTH NIGHT or TAIGA (apart from it possibly sounding like tiger, or more like tiger than tiiga or thiga did). TABOURET could have been a little drum (which I suppose was how it got its name), so that made up for my ignorance of needlework (apart from voodoo, of course). POMPADOU was strangely weak (I wanted it to be Invalides or something) amongst some strikingly good clues, like YOU WAIT, BRANDY, RANCOROUS, FREE LIVER (dodgy definition forgiven), SET OFF and my COD PEDESTRIANISED. I don’t know why it is, but you seem to draw a lot of short straws in the blogging department, Jack.
    1. It seems to be Friday thing, koro, but I had an easy one last time so I won’t complain.
      1. I agree that Friday’s tend to be a little tougher than the rest of the week. But not always. This was definitely the toughest of the this week for me. 49:17, but there was some use of aids in that. I’m very glad this was your week and not mine, Jack!
  9. Interesting to see people being so kind to a puzzle that contains more than its fair share of below par clues including a couple of real stinkers.

    25A TAIGA is simply awful.21A POMPIDOU isn’t cryptic and “the” is inaccurate. 1A ST… has too many obscurities rolled into one clue, particularly with no reference to Russia, Peter the Great, Christian myth and so on. The definition at 24A FREE LIVER is wrong. I could go on.

    The only clue really worthy of the name is 6D RANCOROUS

  10. more moans from this corner. gave up after about 22 mins when my train was getting in so banged in HORNEY (cornucopia=horn) and a really lame TWITA (twitter – bird – no idea)

    will concede BOUNTY as a slightl kick myself moment, although TAIGA is the real let down – i agree with all the comments above, and wouldnt have let this one through if I was editing.

    That said there were some good “friday style” clues in this, but the entirety may have been let down by some sloppy parts.

  11. I thought I was going to enjoy this. Lots of challenging and well-wrought clues but then came to a grinding halt. My guesses for TABOURET (based on anagram) and FREE-LIVER (what else could it be – but it’s not in online OED or Chambers) proved to be ‘correct’; I ended up as dissatisfied as everybody else with TAIGA (never got close to it) and PATEN (unknown).

    Thank you, jackt, for the excellent blog and to everybody else for comments which have mitigated my frustration!

  12. It is in the online OED: “A person who lives freely; a person who gives free indulgence to his or her appetites.”
    And it’s in Chambers: “A person who freely indulges his or her appetite for eating and drinking: a glutton.”
    1. Interesting!

      I’ve re-checked and still can’t find them. Is there a regional difference? The OED online that I’m using does include ‘Version=region-uk’ in the full web address; the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary that I’m using includes ‘chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers’ in the full web address. In both cases, of course, these are freebie, not paid services …

  13. Is Blake the missing link in 25ac: “Tiger, tiger, burning bright, in the forests of the night”?
    1. Hadn’t thought of that, and you could well be right but I’m afraid it just makes the clue even worse in my opinion.
  14. Not bad grammar, but ref to 20ac. My last in, and the solution apparently unworthy of mention. I assume it is “tripod”? Is “ip” the same as “one penny”? Am I just moaning or is this a little weak?
    1. Hello and welcome. Can I refer you to “About this blog” at the very top of this page to explain about clues “unworthy of mention”?

      Your answer to and interpretation of 20ac are correct but I would describe it as standard fare rather than weak. Your opinion is just as valid of course.

  15. I’m glad to see the dissatisfaction was more general than just me. Jimbo pretty much said it all, although I’d add that ‘vessel that comes from a cornucopia’ is the sort of surface reading that is usually confined to the ST. 6d and 22d were nice, though. Didn’t know BUNG, and definitely didn’t understand the ‘glorious day’ refernce; thanks, jackkt.
  16. Did this early am but just got home to check the blog. Lots of weird clues I thought. I got TAIGA almost straight away from the William Blake , just the association of ideas – not any proper working out of the clue. I think Jimbo was a little hard on 1a. ST PETERSBURG seemed a fair answer. Surely St Peter in his role of gatekeeper is familiar to all anti religous types, including me, with a modicum of GK. And the city’s role as “Window to the West” is, again, a reasonable piece of GK. I learned it in school over 50 years ago. A slow solve though. 42 minutes.
  17. I thought this was a very good puzzle. About 25 minutes, ending with TAIGA, because I knew the word as the Siberian forest. I didn’t understand the cryptic part, and never thought of it sounding like tiger. I also knew of the westward lookingness of St. Petersburg, so that wasn’t bad. BOUNTY, I thought wonderful. I didn’t know of TABOURET before today, or BUNG, or why any TWELFTH might be glorious, but they didn’t hold me up very much. I really liked the wheels coming off, the FREE LIVER, THE CEO who RAN CO in addition to the Christian vessel. They all certainly outweigh the trouble with TAIGA, which I agree is one of those close to unsolvable if you don’t know the word, which today I happened to know. Regards to all, including the setter.
  18. I think the “Glorious Twelfth” expression is used by Orangemen for the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, July 12th – although before the Gregorian canendar came in, the date was July 1st! John
  19. 10:16 for me. Once again I felt I should have been a lot faster, but I failed to pick off some of the easy ones like FINANCIER and BRANDY first time through. Nevertheless I enjoyed it very much as it was just my sort of puzzle with some nice clues – and no whinges at all!
  20. I also enjoyed this, particularly 1ac, which fooled me completely until I saw it could be nothing else – it looked for all the world like the answer must be a saint’s name.
    Then I remembered my Russian history 🙂
    A little Russian knowledge also helps with TAIGA – v. easy if you know the word I suppose tough if you don’t. I used to wonder if that was where the Taiga got its name (!)
  21. After an hour’s solving late last night, I printed the puzzle out this morning and discovered ST PETERSBURG while walking to the village to do some shopping. After that, and once I realised that 2d could not entirely be an anagram, so PEDESTRIAN = uninspired was an acceptable beginning to it, it was not too difficult to fill the remaining gaps correctly, but I agree with Jimbo about the number of sub-par and unfair clues. I’m a bit tired of having to find obscure answers by guessing, as for TABOURET, which of several possible anagrams is likely to be a real word, and although TWELFTH NIGHT was obviously going to be the only play to fit into the grid at 26ac, the obscure second reference was quite beyond me. 1d at least gave me a smile (once I rejected STIR as prison).

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