25703 They don’t come much easier

58 comments on “25703 They don’t come much easier”

1. On my way to a speedy 10 minute solve, one glance at 14d was all I needed to see the reversal of ‘ad’ inside ‘mention’, et voila! nous avons la solution — MENDATION — et une grande screw-up. La prochaine, s’il vous plaît.

   p.s. Crumulent [sic] ou cromulent, z8?! [the Urban Dictionary is good on the former!]

   1. I intended the latter, of course. Let’s leave it in as a perfect example of the use of SIC!
      1. So … that’s where you got it from:
         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_the_Iconoclast
         Please return it before I embiggen.
   2. Screw-up is feminine?
2. ….would be stumped by the CD for ‘Hansard’. Not here, I blew through this one in just a little short of 23 minutes without thinking very hard.

   ‘Alar’ is a stock word in US puzzles; just remember, it can also be a banned pesticide.

   As for Proteus, he is a Greek myth, and also a book in Ulysses where Stephen Dedalus goes through a series of mental gymnastics while walking on the beach.

   1. I cannot see Ulysses without thinking of Battery Sergeant Major Williams in ‘It Aint Half Hot, Mum’ (Windsor Davies). Rummaging through the books of one of the team, he says “What’s this? Useless, by James Joyce’
3. Not so fast as the crew on deck so far. A mixed bag suitably summed up by the crossing CHAMELEON and PROTEAN.

   I really do wish that the mind/brain conflation (a very dangerous one in my book) wasn’t promulgated in The Times (14dn).

4. I thought I might actually get under 10′, but 12ac, 9ac (LOI), and 5d slowed me down. The only PM’s I could come up with for a long time were North and Pitt (figured Campbell-Bannerman was out). In another life, I worked at the UC library’s government documents department, and we received Hansard, the command papers, and just about everything else HMSO cranked out. COD to BANGALORE. And I second Mctext’s animadversion on mind/brain.
5. 26 minutes for all but two, MENTATION and PROTEAN which delayed me for another 9 minutes. My pleasure at finding it so easy was offset by feelings of concern about the stinker which no doubt awaits my turn of blogging duty tomorrow.

   Edited at 2014-02-06 02:58 am (UTC)

6. And that was with interruptions, so definitely on the cruisy side.

   Great blog as usual Z. Agree with your choice of INTENSE for COD.

   Had wrongly assumed that HANSARD was uniquely Australian, but I see it’s yet another term you Brits have copied from us.

   1. Not to mention nicking that bit out of the corner of our flag.

      Edited at 2014-02-06 03:32 am (UTC)

      1. And don’t get me started on town names.
         1. I am sure many a Pom cricket supporter wishes you Aussies would copy their unique brand of playing cricket!! By the way I don’t suppose you Aussies want to copy the English in this field and sack your best batsmen?

            Nairobi Wallah

7. back in the Double 600 club (concise & cryptic).

   COD: Thanks z for explanation of intense, put in solely on clue/checkers as mention around A & T.
   Hope 2mrw’s not too much of a stinker for you Jack!

   Had to bite the bullet today, and get a new Desktop, and am currently building it completely from scratch (suspect corrupted s/w = dodgy backups).
   So done mixed in with umpteen software downloads & installations, otherwise sure I’d have been 600+.

8. 
   About 30 or so minutes, so a quickie for me too. But I got one wrong: I had ‘protein’ at 12ac, missing the anagram (there seemed quite a few in this one…). Hadn’t come across that word (but then nor had I come across MENTATION), and hadn’t worked out the wp (but then hadn’t worked out MARSALA, either). Thanks for the blog.

9. 20 minutes, so a stroll in the Jimboesque park. Could have been enlivened by the odd obscure makar (sic), I thought – the discussion if not the puzzle.
10. This is fast for me as I am the slowest typist in the world so I must have attuned to the setter’s wavelength. I liked 18D

    Edited at 2014-02-06 09:24 am (UTC)

11. Can’t disagree – this is a 15 minute comfortable wade in the bog. I also liked 18D although I’m sure it’s not original.

    Thanks for enquiry z8. Some statistics are now emerging. For example in the last 8 weeks we have had 50% of our annual average rainfall. Local beaches are being rearranged at an alarming rate and trees are falling over in all directions.

    Forecast is heavy rain for next 3 days plus 100mph winds. Can’t wait!

12. Another zippy sub-10 minuter, perfectly good puzzle on the easier side of things (as demonstrated by the fact I still only just managed to achieve my main daily target of beating 2 x Magoo).

    Admittedly, had there not been a checker in place, I would have followed through with my own invented word for 14dn in MENTITION (obviously the brain equivalent of DENTITION for teeth).

13. Wot no decimal point @ 18D? Well all right then, and a nice clue in a nice puzzle. 18 mins for this slowcoach, mentation up creek, very probably.

    This week’s been an odd one in terms of difficulty, but nearly all the puzzles have been well scribed.

    Decent blog, for which many thanks.

    Chris.

14. Nice blog, as usual. Thank you.
    I was up late, and this was just the right speed for a post-midnight solve. Agree with all others regarding INTENSE, but enjoyed most other clues as well.
15. Easyish but enjoyable puzzle (mind, that doesn’t mean I completed it in anything remotely close to the lightning times recorded above). Held up by 14D (my LOI) where, like Sotira, I originally had MENDATION but then decided to check in the dictionary and came up with MENTATION, at which point the wordplay immediately became clear.

    Thanks for the entertaining blog, Z8

16. I should have added that I too thought INTENSE was very good.
17. First post here: been following you good people for a couple of months, which has given me great insights to assist in my slow climb from the foothills of the Sydney Morning Herald cryptic to the Olympian Heights… Thanks so much for all the insights and the wit.

    Knocked this one over in a tad over two hours. A puny effort by your standards, but a major triumph for a bloke who – until recently – found a calendar more useful than a clock in measuring completion times.

    Struggling with the parsing of 16 down – appreciate any insights. Got it through letters I already had and definition “that’s surprising”. Also get the “coming round” bit – but what’s the “certain view” piece of the clue?

    Thanks again for all the blogs and comments -this has got to be one of the most civilised venues on the internet.

    1. Welcome, Nick – always good to have new blood and new perspectives.

       At 16, the ‘to a certain view’ works I think to distinguish ‘eye-opener’ from say ‘waker’ or ‘riser’ by highlighting the visual aspect of the return to consciousness, in this tongue-in-cheek literal.

       1. Thanks, ulaca, for the explanation and also for the welcome. Very subtle additional layer to the clue.
    2. Welcome Nick, and congratulations. Ulaca forgot to mention how thrilled he’ll be to have another Aussie on board.
       1. I was trying to put a brave face on things. I’m hoping that the worrying quantitative aspect will be offset by an overall average gain in quality.

          Edited at 2014-02-06 01:31 pm (UTC)

    3. Welcome, Nick.

       Another Aussie? Blimey, there goes the neighbourhood.

    4. Welcome aboard, Nick … not all of us manage supersonic speeds, but still get just as much pleasure and insight from the bloggers and posters on this, as you say, most civilised of venues.
    5. Yup, welcome to the group., Nick. I agree with everything said above. Even The Times Crossword Club can be more brutal than here.
    6. Welcome indeed, and welcome to the slow coach club, I too take about two hours but thoroughly enjoy it. Good to have you on board.

       Nairobi Wallah

18. 8:57 with MENTATION my last one in, the word play was very clear, I just hadn’t ever heard of it.
19. Many years of commitment and attitude have led, oh so slowly, to this – a sub-half hour time and PB of 28 minutes. Possibly having been distracted of late by the Winter Olympics, I have had DNF after DNF of late so (to use Slopestyle Ski terminology) I’m so truly stoked at this awesome result that I feel like doing a triple misty switch-grab! :-)))
    1. Well done Chris – although I have to say that a triple misty thingummy does sound a bit like something Thud n’ Blunder might treat!
20. 12 mins. A straightforward but enjoyable solve. I also got PROTEAN from the anagram fodder once all the checkers were in place, and MENTATION was my LOI from the wordplay.
21. 9:48 and plenty of entertainment along the way. As with others mentation and that particular meaning of protean where unknown, as was RAM in 19, so it’s testament to the setter’s craft that
    this lack of GK didn’t slow me down.

    Interesting to see Bangalore in the Rawalpindi slot. Hyderabad down there tomorrow?

    COD to sleep for the definition. It was also my LOI.

    Thanks to setter and blogger and congrats to Chris above on the PB. Next target 15 minutes.

    Edited at 2014-02-06 01:51 pm (UTC)

22. This seems like a good time to mention that the son of chrisw91 (above) — James “Woodsy” Woods — will be competing for GB in the Olympics next week, and, if the wind and the judges are set fair, is a realistic medal prospect.

    I should mention that I twisted chrisw91’s arm for permission to mention this — he feared it would be “un-British” to say anything.

    Woodsy competes in the ski version of Slopestyle (not today’s snowboard version). He is, without doubt, awesome and sick (in a good way). He does things that make you go ‘ooh’ and ‘ouch!’. Watch a lovely sample of his work and an interview with the young man himself at:

    http://xgames.espn.go.com/skiing/article/10195937/james-woods-uk-top-ski-contender-x-games-aspen

    I’m sure all regulars will join me in wishing James, and his nervous dad, every success next week (the 13th, I think).

    I believe the expression is “Kill it, Woodsy!”

    1. Go Woodsy.
    2. Heart-warming stuff. ‘Add oil, Woodsy!’, as they say in these parts.

       [Sheffield a rugby league city?! ‘Eresy!]

       1. We have a good friend who plays for:
          http://www.sheffieldtigers.co.uk
          True Union man – and by that I don’t mean ‘Trades’.
    3. Yay, go Woodsy!

       That’s certainly something to watch out for on telly. It seems to involve a lot more skill than sliding downhill on a tea tray.

       1. Nice to have a reason to root for a particular competitor. Also looking forward to the day “octograb” appears in the crossword.

          P.S. On the subject of tea-tray sliding, I like Jerry Seinfeld’s observation that the luge is probably the only sporting event which would be exactly the same if the competitors were being forced to take part against their will.

    4. 
       Awesome stuff… best of luck to ‘fridge kid’ Woodsy!
23. Welcome Nick, and Go Woodsy!

    A most enjoyable amble today, but over all too soon – must have hit the exact wavelength, finished under 20 minutes.

    The setter obviously moves in different circles to mine: to me, a DIAMOND, single, marks the end of dating, to him a diamond choker no doubt “might be useful” at the beginning … is he, I wonder, a CAD?

    Amusing crossing of SENTIENCE and MENTATION. Even more amusing RUMBA with HARPSICHORD, my COD! Beecham didn’t like ’em – “like two skeletons copulating on a corrugated tin roof”. He had a point, but whisper it not to my “original instrument” fanatic friends.

24. Hi, have been following for a week or so. This blog has helped me improve rapidly, so thanks for all your work. Still, my performance still varies wildly. Finished both Saturday puzzles same day for a first, then made a hell of a mess on Monday, yesterday close but dnf… This did seem the easiest i’ve seen but maybe I ought just to be grateful for a new PB, well under 20 minutes.
    Mann was the first German writer to come to mind, and if you’d given me an hour probably would still be the only one!
    Still an ok puzzle. Maybe one down was a bit easy.
    I do the ‘I’ as well. Diamonds,Indian cities, and sambas/tangos/rumbas seem to be flavours of the week.

    Edited at 2014-02-06 04:53 pm (UTC)

    1. Welcome, counterfly.
    2. Hi, counterfly. Hope that you enjoy it here.
25. 16m. I liked this one, but don’t seem to have found it as easy as some. Thanks for explaining INTENSE.
    Welcome to our new visitors and go Woodsy!
26. Welcome to Nick and counterfly, and best of luck to Woodsy.

    Yes it was easy, but I have to confess to being the American who didn’t know of the HANSARD. Had to look it up, so technically a DNF, although I went through the rest of it pretty straightaway. And thanks to newcomer Nick for mentioning how civil we appear to be (most days). Regards to all.

27. Well, I agree on a lot of things, such as the welcome to Nick and counterfly and that it was easy. This was 38 minutes for me (but two hours is more like my usual time). Still, I enjoyed the puzzle and the blog and the comments and I still can’t quite stop laughing.

    I’m one of the Americans who did know HANSARD — it’s been in other puzzles recently. And a lot shorter than the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, which would only fit in a Jumbo.

    I thought ONION was quite clever and was rather amused by CANTATA and REBUT.

28. Late starter today but a welcome sub-30 at 28m today. Hello up in NW for a good 10m of that and hesitated over the unknown MENTATION. Add me to the 18d for COD club too. Thanks for entertaining blog.
29. Easy even for me today, with CLIENTELE and ALIEN my LOsI. MENTATION didn’t faze me (not sure where I’d come across it before), and nor did PROTEAN, by good fortune.

    I see that Indian cities have made another appearance, but at least this was one I’d heard of. Wasn’t Bangalore previously called something else? Or am I thinking of Basingstoke?

    Enjoyed the “ONION” clue. For some reason, ONION always seems like it ought to be an uncharged particle, alongside cation and anion.

30. 7:42 for me, held up as usual by stupid things – like trying to make REPEL fit the wordplay of 21dn.

    A nice puzzle with some interesting twists.

31. Thought that I’d completed in 14m 31s but when I checked the grid I found that I’d failed to fill in ‘cad’ at 7a, so it’s a dnf for me.
    Good wishes to the new contributors, I hope that they continue to find the site helpful, and that it will help them to avoid daft mistakes like mine.
    Best wishes too to Chris’s son: I’m not a winter sports aficionado. but would love to see the British competitors do well in a spirit of true sportsmanship. I always felt sorry for Eddie the Eagle, who came in for much derision, but there is no way you would ever have got me to attempt what he did.
    Good luck too to the Jamaican bobsleigh team; I think they deserve it.
    1. Funny you should mention sportsmanship. I’ve been getting more interested in this ‘new’ winter sports – freestyle, slopestyle, half-pipe, snowboard cross etc. Once you get past the initial culture shock and the language barrier (!) they seem to have a much more sporting ethos than many of the traditional sports in their professional manifestations.

       The competitors seem to do it for love. They watch each other compete with great enthusiasm and get excited by great performances from rivals. Where professionalism seems to have sucked the joy out of so many of our traditional sports, the new sports don’t seem to have that problem. It’s like amateurism (in its true sense) with a half-decent living to be made for the most successful, and everyone seems just fine with that. Very refreshing.

32. I only missed three. I didn’t know the wine at 19D or the MP at 5.

    But I’m annoyed at myself for not getting 12. “Protean” is a very Lovecraftian word and a passing fan like me should have remembered it.

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