27754 Thursday, 27 August 2020 “David and Solomon lived very merry lives”

Author   ZabadakPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
My time shows up on the board as 18.48, but that’s only because I had to sort out an internet fubar which delayed the submission of my pink square blemished grid by some 4 minutes. I guess you’ll have to say I found this pretty straightforward, but there are enough TLS bits and pieces to keep it interesting and less arty types may have found it opaque in places.
There are a lot (a lot!) of single letter additions and subtractions throughout the grid which rather gets wearing as you work through.
For reasons stated, I liked the clue for 4ac, and that occasional visitor, the definition as punctuation mark which puts in a cheerful appearance.
I’ve given the clues below in italics, the definitions in underlined italics, and the solutions in BOLD CAPITALS

Across
1 City university in Zambia originally having money to burn? (6)
ZURICH Zambia originally is Z, having money to burn is RICH, and U(niversity) is found therein
4 Clairvoyant visited by Saint David, most famously (8)
PSALMIST A rather nice confusion of Bible stories disguises the wordplay, in that the person who visited a clairvoyant, the “witch of Endor” was David’s regnal predecessor Saul. Of course, you don’t need to know that to solve the clue, but you do need to know that, traditionally at least David is celebrated as the writer of (some of) the Psalms, and insert a S(aint) into PALMIST for clairvoyant.
10 A second individual torn apart by current slur (9)
ASPERSION “Torn apart” is rather excessive as a containment indicator, but that’s what it is. A S(econd) PERSON (individual) has an I, for (electrical) current placed gently at an appropriate point.
11 Explosive material in container brought back by sappers (5)
NITRE Potassium nitrate or saltpetre, a component of gunpowder, here represented by a TIN container reversed and added to the R(oyal) E(ngineers), known as sappers
12 Keep wife in cricket side (3)
OWN For cricket sides, you can select from ON, OFF and LEG. Pick the two letter one and insert W(ife)
13 Extremely brazen, his sister’s cultivated national identity (11)
BRITISHNESS An anagram (cultivated) of the extremes of BrazeN, HIS and SISTER (ignore the ‘s, here it’s just “is”)
14 Chatting with judge in flight? (6)
JAWING Judges are often shortened to J in this court, here added to A-WING for in flight
16 One who gives out marks missing in term-time mix-up (7)
EMITTER Another anagram (mix-up: anagram indicators don’t come more blatant). Create the letter salad from TERM-TIME with one of the M(arks) missing
19 Latvian allows husband to pen note (7)
LETTISH I wish I could say it was Sean Connery’s nationality in The Hunt for Red October, which would allow me to say something frightfully witty about his salad, but he was Lithuanian. Drat. Allows: LETS H(usband) “penning” the note TI
20 Choirboy to shake with fear, having missed Mass (6)
TREBLE Shake with fear TREMBLE, delete the M(ass). Decent surface
22 Mind food shop, taking first of compounds like LSD? (11)
PSYCHEDELIC Still looks wrong to me, but isn’t. PSYCHE for mind (not psycho, then), DELI for food shop, add the first of Compounds
25 See about providing shelter for western bird (3)
OWL See provides LO to be reversed (about) and become a shelter for W(estern)
26 Gather in a New England state, briefly (5)
AMASS A in plain sight, MASS(achusetts)
27 Relaxed midshipman, one captivated by medal (4-5)
EASY-GOING Perhaps the best known of all midshipmen, EASY from the novel by Frederick Marryat. I (one) is “captured” by GONG for medal
28 Generous with funds ultimately invested in refuge, perhaps (8)
HANDSOME where it helps to remember that “with” sometimes is more than a filler word, here translating to AND. Add S for the end of fundS and insert into HOME which might as well be a refuge
29 Some unhealthy phenomenon that’s in centre of Guinea-Bissau (6)
HYPHEN Today’s hidden in unhealtHY PHENomenon, also hidden in plain sight in the dead centre of Guinea–Bissau

Down
1 Unknown European group infiltrated by a fanatic (6)
ZEALOT The unknown this time is Z, with a E(uropean) LOT (group) and an A inserted
2 Contrite worker who’s been confined again? (9)
REPENTANT Worker is a worker ANT, and if he’s confined again he is (fancifully) RE-PENT
3 Native American in hired vehicle touring Rhode Island (5)
CARIB The hired vehicle is a CAB, “touring” R(hode) I(sland)
5 Soft-hearted type’s feeling about first of many top people? (14)
SENTIMENTALIST Feeling is SENTIENT with the first of Many inserted and added to the A-LIST top people
6 Vessel dropping off a US magazine in midday break (9)
LUNCHTIME The vessel is a LAUNCH which drops it’s a before accepting TIME, the US magazine. “All time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so”
7 Girl regularly leaves tough meat, finding fibre (5)
ISTLE So tough meat is GRISTLE, and the odd letters of GiRl are subtracted
8 Time to restore confidence to a son missing love? (8)
TREASURE T(ime), restore confidence to REASSURE, remove an S(on)
9 Enjoying realised ambition, having led with merit at sea (6,3,5)
LIVING THE DREAM An anagram (at sea) of HAVING LED and MERIT. What competitors in the X-Factor do before crashing out in the semi-finals to someone with a more heartbreaking back-story
15 National idioms a woman found going over a chap’s manuscript (9)
IRISHISMS “Why do Irish people say everything twice? To be sure, to be sure” Today’s random woman is IRIS, over the top of HIS (a chap’s) MS for manuscript
17 Like some fat Tudor composer keeping old wife and horse (9)
TALLOWISH Thomas TALLIS (c. 1505 – 23 November 1585, so definitely Tudor) composed some magnificent music, including the incredible motet Spem in Alium for forty (40!) different voices. Place O(ld) W(ife) at a point to be deduced and add a H(orse) at the end
18 Slovenly hotel dejected chums are upset over (8)
SLAPDASH So it’s H(otel) SAD PALS all reversed, though more precisely in the wordplay the SAD PALS are reversed over the H(otel). Same difference
21 Attempt to divide open tart and a measure of wine (6)
FLAGON GO is attempt and FLAN the open tart it divides. I thought of flagon as any large jug or tankard of indeterminate size, which it is, but is also a bottle of 2 pints capacity, so a specific measure
23 Long story about Eeyore, primarily (5)
YEARN The story is a YARN, and you only need the first letter of Eeyore
24 Wary when star of US gangster movies drops in at last (5)
CAGEY James CAGNEY, pretty much the quintessential gangster actor, usually impersonated by a breathy “You dirty rat, you killed my brother” (which he never said). The last letter of in is N, remove it.

62 comments on “27754 Thursday, 27 August 2020 “David and Solomon lived very merry lives””

  1. This seems to have left no impression on me; my only note says that I biffed PSALMIST and parsed post-submission. It took me a while to remember with=AND. I liked 29ac, mainly because for once I spotted the hidden immediately.
  2. It felt quicker than 27 minutes

    FOI 2dn REPENTANT

    LOI 8dn TREASURE

    COD 4ac PSALMIST

    WOD 13ac BRITISHNESS – up the Grenadiers!

    Edited at 2020-08-27 02:31 am (UTC)

  3. 14 minutes for me, which counts as really easy. I don’t remember being held up my much (is tallowish a word? Or Lettish? were the most dubious)
  4. Quick for me, but I found it entertaining with some good “lift and separate” clues. There do seem to be quite a few answers using “ish” and “ist”.
  5. as I worked it while masochistically watching the Republican convention. I could use a PSYCHEDELIC (or a stronger one).
    I didn’t know before this that a FLAGON was also an amount.
      1. We had two stories going live afterward that I would have to work on, so I almost feel it’s a matter of professional responsibility, though no one told me I had to watch. Stephen Colbert had a live show for the occasion afterward, and still couldn’t bring himself to tune in. There’s also the factor of morbid curiosity. I could look away to the crossword when things got too gruesome.
  6. 25 minutes. Easy. My only unknown was CARIB but I wrote it in with confidence because of helpful wordplay and knowledge of the word CARIBOU with which I assumed some sort of connection.
      1. I dare say, but the misplaced assumption gave me confidence to write in the correct answer.
        1. One of the words we retain from the original Micmac is the confection ‘Caramac’, from the mac-in-tosh sub-tribe.
  7. This felt harder to me than it’s SNITCH rating though a WITCH of 105 suggests I was pretty much on par. Before I got IRISHISMS I was a little baffled by 26A as I knew Maine was in New England but not Massachusetts and so I wondered about an unlikely looking AMAIN. With my very scant bible knowledge my LOI PSALMIST was also a little tricky until I thought about sticking a P at the start instead of a vowel.
  8. Given that I’d NHO Frederick Marryat or Thomas Tallis*, and didn’t know that David was a PSALMIST, I think I did quite well to finish off in 30 minutes. Strategically getting FOI 5d SENTIMENTALIST helped, and then it was fairly straightforward, with the NE corner proving hardest. LOI 4a where it took me a long time to remember “palmist” and then take the definition on trust.

    *Though when I want to enter him in my Big List of Useful Crossword Stuff, I found him already there, so clearly this is a fairly loose definition of “NHO”…

    Edited at 2020-08-27 06:21 am (UTC)

  9. I blazed through this (well, for me – not quite at Verlaine’s incredible 3m rate!) and was set for a very fast time until stalled for ages at 14a by a misspelled REPENTENT, which would be Treebeard in a rather larger prison than the ant. Enjoyed this very much; it felt bright and breezy. Thanks setter and Z.
  10. 16 minutes, with LOI PSALMIST, solved without consulting the Witch of Endor. I did know Thomas Tallis, which was as well as otherwise I’d have been nervous about TALLOWISH. COD to CAGEY. It’s going to be a tough one tomorrow after this pleasantly easy puzzle. Thank you Z and setter.
  11. 30 mins with yoghurt, banana, granola, blueberries.
    And a chunk of time went on Psalmist. Don’t you just hate those covert Ps?
    Some silly words in this: Tallowish, Lettish. But all forgiven due to the delightful Slapdash.
    Thanks setter and great blog Z.
  12. 11:54. I tried to make 1A HARARE in vain, otherwise not much trouble. I liked the wordplay for ISTLE and PSALMIST best.
  13. Very easy today, I thought. Under 10m.
    In midshipman terms Mr Easy vies with Mr Hornblower for top spot I would think. The Hornblower books are far better, and better than O’Brians,’ the best of all those about Nelson’s navy. Coincidentally one of the boats Hornblower sails (stolen from the French) is called the Witch of Endor.
      1. Ha, good spot but actually I should have said recaptured. The Witch was an English cutter, captured by the French some months earlier. Hornblower’s exploit in recapturing it got him a knighthood and fame, not to mention the Duke of Wellington’s lovely sister, Barbara ..
  14. Finished in about an hour, treasure, psalmist, emitter, and tallowish were the last few in.

    Dnk midshipman easy or the composer.

    COD Emitter

  15. It’s nice when the setter kindly gets oñ your wavelength, and even includes a bird you’ve actually heard of for a change.

    Spent almost as long on 4A as the rest of the puzzle.

  16. Enjoyable-ish (BRITISHNESS, IRISHISMS, LETTISH, TALLOWISH) and didn’t misspell PSYCHEDELIC, luckily. Was thinking of Michaelangelo’s David rather than the PSALMIST.

    COD: TREMBLE – nice surface.

    Yesterday’s answer: a very bright meteor is a fireball, apparently.

    Today’s question: which abbreviation has treble the number of syllables of the thing it stands for?

    2. Michaelangelo’s David and the psalmist/shepherd/warrior/king are the same person of course, though Michaelangelo sculpted from imagination rather than life, omitting the small detail of circumcision (!). There is a recorded instance of David appearing in public (almost) as he appears in the sculpture, dancing the while.
  17. DNF. I had all but 4ac done in five minutes, but eventually had to give up on that one. Absolutely no idea what was going on with the biblical shenanigans and didn’t think of PALMIST as a clairvoyant.
      1. It would be helpful if they could label these puzzles somehow so I could sit them out. We could have similar labels for botany and spoonerisms.
  19. I’ve just joined LiveJournal after watching in the background for some time. Since Covid solving online rather than on the Central Line.

    I think today is the first time I’ve completed the main puzzle quicker than the QC (9:13 vs 9:23).

    1. Welcome! I used to do (or rather try to do, I often didn’t finish in those days) the puzzle on the Central Line every morning.
  20. < 14′, wasted 3′ because of misspelt REPENTENT.

    Poor people had tallow candles in Elizabethan times, could be eaten if necessary.

    Thanks z and setter.

      1. A light meal, surely? Taxi for two!
        On ewdit – Ooops! Three!

        Edited at 2020-08-27 01:09 pm (UTC)

  21. 5m 16s but it felt slower – possibly because the top half was trickier than the bottom half, where I biffed a few. Good job I didn’t have to think about who ‘Easy’ was, as I’ve never heard of him, but I did have to pause to work out the wordplay for PSYCHEDELIC vs. PSYCHODELIC.

    One of those days where I thought I might have given Verlaine a run for his money… until I looked at the leaderboard and saw his incredible time. In my dreams.

  22. No particular difficulty here, good satisfying puzzle. Good to see Tallis featured, very tasty Spam in Alium.
  23. Juddered at the end trying to parse jawing, ridiculously. 15’21. How these things can be done in three minutes-odd I find incomprehensible. Let Verlaine and his ilk never fear the ravages of time…

    Edited at 2020-08-27 10:08 am (UTC)


  24. Had to think hard about TALLOWISH and check the parsing, but if I ever meet a fat Tudor I’ll be sure to use it.

    Nice to see my biblical namesake get a mention.

    Thank you to setter and blogger.

    Dave.

  25. ….and Letts do it”, and after a series of poor attempts, so did I. This struck me as a “failed” pangram, with a Z in the first square, and a J appearing soon afterwards as I worked through the NW corner. Ultimately, KQX failed to appear.

    The PSYCHEDELIC OWL sounds like a wondrous thing of which Pip Kirby might well approve.

    FOI ZURICH
    LOI PSALMIST
    COD EMITTER (vaguely topical I thought)
    TIME 8:36

  26. The QC blog blew up today, fulminating about one poor clue. A couple of posters said the 15×15 was worth a shot. So I was pleased to give it a shot and come up with just a couple short after the 60 min cut-off.

    Lots of ISH-es in this puzzle, even having put in BRITISHNESS I didn’t see IRISHISMS, but half marks for de-constructing the clue correctly. And LETTISH? Wow, that one had me beat.

    I liked PSALMIST and was pleased to get TALLOWISH early doors.

    COD HYPHEN

    1. Monty, the setter, has posted an apology but more importantly explained the excellent nina that no-one spotted.
  27. After seeing him in your heading Z I thought you were going to say “stay me with FLAGONs”. Which reminds me that it’s almost apple-picking season here – always a comfort. As our blogger says, rather a TLS flavour to this which was nice because this is one of the 2 weeks in the year when we don’t get one of their puzzles. 15.56
  28. Mostly easy here, grimaced at the several “-ish”s and “ism”s, and wrote DBE at the Treble/Choirboy (though DBE isn’t much of a problem in a case like this when it doesn’t make things overly general). I liked Slapdash. Nice blog, as usual, z
  29. After yesterday’s spelling lesson, extra care was spent double-checking every word today. All ending well in 20:23.
    IRISHISM felt a little forced, though Americanism and Australianism do provide precedents.
  30. Seems I was on my own with NITRO. After which TROUSERS made no sense at all in 8D.

    Edited at 2020-08-27 12:54 pm (UTC)

  32. Some fun to be had here, but I got completely stuck on PSALMIST. Now you’ve explained the full background, Z, I can see that it’s a brilliant clue, but – unfortunately – on this occasion the P did not drop!

    Other likes go to TALLOWISH – a pretty ghastly word but a great surface, and YEARN – I can just picture Eeyore yearning for some thistles.

    FOI Nitre
    CODTreble
    DNF in about 40 minutes

    Thanks setter, and Z8 for the illuminating and entertaining blog 😊

  34. 17.38 at an even pace. Nothing especially taxing though psalmist was my last in. Just couldn’t see it straight off though it should have been straightforward
    I got Lettish pretty quickly though I think lettish for Latvian is a bit contrived. Nice puzzle so thanks setter, not forgetting blogger.
  35. I enjoyed this one and after 25 minutes I only had a few unparsed answers – PSALMIST (DNK David was one), LETTISH (didn’t think of the note ‘ti’) and HANDSOME (I totally missed the ‘with’/’and’ connection).
    Lots of great clues, including TREBLE, HYPHEN and IRISHISMS (lovely word!) and my COD has to be SLAPDASH for its wordplay.
    Thanks to the setter and to Z for the amusing and helpful blog.
  36. …another pinkie, this time for PSYCHODELIC which is the obvious spelling if not quite old enough to remember the sixties (i was born in ’64 but don’t recall much before the early 1970s).

    Didn’t get the EASY reference at first though guessed something to do with Marryat’s books.

  37. 27:33, so very easy, and no spelling mistakes today. My only unknown was ISTLE (except, of course, for the Z in ZURICH, a city with the narrowest parking garage and most expensive ice cream I have ever seen, although the latter was worth the price). I chuckled over REPENTANT and was a bit amused about the cluing of SENTIMENTALIST, since the setter could have saved himself the trouble of inserting M in SENTIENT, as a SENTIMENT is also a feeling (of course, I don’t know whether that shortcut would actually have improved the clue in any way).
  38. Pleasant puzzle with a slightly Monday-ish feel to it. TALLOWISH is one of those words which one suspects is clinging to its place in the dictionary by its fingernails, as it surely can’t get out much these days.
  39. ‘To be sure to be sure’ is a mangled translation from Gaelic Irish. It simply means ‘to double check’.
  40. 14:41. I went through this like a hot knife through butter untroubled by such things as not knowing the midshipman or the fibre, at least until I got to 4ac where I took a while to identify the David in question whereupon the clairvoyant fell correctly into place around the Saint.

    Edited at 2020-08-27 07:43 pm (UTC)

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