27934 Thursday, 25 March 2021 From Maternity to Here

Author   ZabadakPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
A perfectly acceptable birthday present of a puzzle (I’m one short of the Biblical limit, unless I turn out to be strong) which I completed in a smidge over one score and 2 minutes. There was enough misdirection, or downright ambiguity, to cause a few holdups, but 6 down adequately describes the quality.
Jack initiated a consideration of the later clues in the set being rather less taxing, as if the setter was running up against a deadline, and I would stand this up as an example to verify the suggestion. Certainly the down clues (all of them) are collectively shorter than the across ones, and the last few do seem to be on the perfunctory side.
None of the vocabulary seemed to come from the deeper recesses of the dictionary, though I knew the Ethiopian King better when he was pretending to be a glass of warmed and spiced sherry. Perhaps he had a touch of the George III about him.
You have below clues, definitions, SOLUTIONS and well-intended waffle which I hope doesn’t obscure exegesis too much.

Across
1 King leaving boat in East thanks military leaders (5)
JUNTA The boat in east is JUNK, remove the K(ing) and add TA for thanks. Juntas are usually military governments following a coup, but can also be civil government agencies and such.
4 Limit placed on common use of straw hat in service (6,3)
FORAGE CAP As worn by everyone in the Walmington-on-Sea platoon except Captain Mainwaring. A common use of straw is as FORAGE, to which you add a limit in the form of a CAP. A pretty lift and separate deception.
9 Graduate takes ages, heading off for period around arrival time (9)
MATERNITY MA is the graduate, and the age taken is ETERNITY with the heading E removed
10 Business van (5)
TRUCK I might have no truck with a van being described as a – um – truck, but it’s a passable double definition
11 Conservatively speaking they lost at sea, beaten (2,3,3,5)
TO SAY THE LEAST An anagram (beaten) of THEY LOST AT SEA
14 Bad, as it happens to point the wrong way (4)
EVIL As it happens is LIVE, which then points in the opposite direction as instructed
15 Leaving money in account not collected? (3,7)
OFF BALANCE Leaving is (I’m) OFF, money in account (if you have any) is a BALANCE, and not collected is a neat misdirection, which you should take as not calm, discomforted.
18 Fifty in a hundred sacked, English included, without warning (10)
UNHERALDED Fifty is its Latin equivalent L, tucked into an anagram (sacked) of A HUNDRED, with an E(nglish) thrown in for good measure.
19 Never again paid for by church (4)
ONCE So I know CE is a common crossword abbreviation for church so I have to make paid for produce ON. Ah, ok, the Milky Bars are on me. Paying for whatever is ON C.E.
21 Extremely remote date for renewal of contract? (13)
REAPPOINTMENT This is where I lost time with a (perfectly acceptable) REARRANGEMENT. Extremely remote indicates the two ends of the word, R and E. Then think of a word for date and stick it on. Make sure the word you choose is APPOINTMENT. ASSIGNATION also works.
24 A Hebraic drink with degree of acidity (5)
ALEPH Cheeky definition requiring knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet, or of set theory in mathematics. Drink is (what better than good English) ALE, and degree acidity is defined by the PH number. Again a neat clue, the quality of drinks being measure in part by their acidity.
25 Buoyant composer reflected on complete suite, perhaps (9)
UPHOLSTER Especially because HOLST was the composer best known for The Planets Suite, this clue is well crafted. There he is feeling UP (buoyant) with on: RE “reflected”. The definition is verbal, not adjectival.
27 Specified son with copy from author caught in act (9)
DESCRIBED S(on) is attached to CRIB, or copy from author, with both placed in DEED for act.
28 Leading old African general returning from America  (5)
NEGUS Arthur disguised his African roots rather well, don’t you think? In fact, Chambers describes Negus succinctly as the king of Ethiopia, noting its historic use. General just provides the abbreviation GEN to be returned, and from America provides the US.

Down
1 Article supporting politician in gaol leads UN to act prematurely (4,3,3)
JUMP THE GUN So article is THE, supporting MP for politician, placed inside JUG for gaol with UN following. Phew.
2 Head teachers getting together (3)
NUT The teachers union is also the N.U.T., source of much ribaldry amongst schoolboys everywhere.
3 Boys out of bounds in middle of narrow ravine (6)
ARROYO The (larger) middle of nARROw contains bOYs without bounds
4 Horrendous fine legal (9)
FRIGHTFUL F(ine plus RIGHTFUL. Easy once you think of the word wanted for legal, or the word wanted for horrendous.
5 Yankee in retreat used up foreign currency (5)
RIYAL Y(ankee) from NATO, in LAIR for retreat “used up”.
6 For one mounted, running battle’s a possibility (8)
GETTABLE My last in, not spotting which end the definition was. For one is EG, which is mounted (another reversal indicator, we’ve had a few) and then an anagram (running) of BATTLE.
7 Face matter better with husband absent (11)
COUNTENANCE (To) matter is (to) COUNT, and(to) better) is (to) ENHANCE. Remove the H(usband).
8 Gentle reminder acceptable during exercise (4)
POKE I’ve had some less-than-gentle pokes in my time, but it’s OK, acceptable, in PE, exercise.
12 These miners supply bits and pieces (11)
SMITHEREENS Usually very small and unidentifiable bits and pieces, but OK. An anagram (supply) of THESE MINERS
13 Sides of bridge between teeth forming bonds (10)
DEBENTURES (because indentures doesn’t work) The sides of BridgE go between the (false) teeth DENTURES.
16 Faulty line inscribed in medal I cast (9)
BLEMISHED Another time consumer for me. The Medal you want is the British Empire one, inscribe a L(ine) and add I SHED for I cast.
17 Queen under pressure to contact evangelist (8)
PREACHER Under P(ressure) goes REACH for contact, and Her Maj follows in the version of her name she uses on post-boxes.
20 Dictator‘s address cut short in error (6)
STALIN Well, if he wasn’t a dictator, what was he? Address gives TALk which is cut short, and error gives SIN. Put one in t’other
22 Choice bishop makes directly (5)
PLUMB Which works as “directly” if followed by, say, down the middle. PLUM is from choice, and B(ishop) from the chess piece. My local Bishop uses +.
23 Where you’d hope to recover charge (4)
WARD Two definitions, one rather whimsical.
26 One identifying secret agent’s features (3)
TAG Ah, right, today’s hidden, kept to the last, in secreT AGent

54 comments on “27934 Thursday, 25 March 2021 From Maternity to Here”

  1. BLEMISHED my loi, which I couldn’t see until I got my poi OFF BALANCE. I’m not sure I even knew there was a BEM medal. No doubt we’ve had NEGUS before, but I didn’t remember it, although the wordplay was generous. No problem with ALEPH since I’m familiar with aleph-null.

    BTW ER has her initials on the postbox like that, with a small II in between. But no II in Scotland, because Elizabeth the first was never queen of Scotland.

  2. By the way, I think that the reason the last down clues often seem a bit perfunctory is that they are all the shortest words in the grid (well, the shortest down clues anyway).
    1. By the same token, since grids are symmetrical, wouldn’t the same apply to the Down clues at the top?
      1. The first few down clues can be long ones, but the last ones are always short. Today for example the penultimate clue is WARD but it’s equivalent at the top is 8dn. The symmetrical equivalent of 1dn is 7th from last, etc.

        Edited at 2021-03-25 08:15 am (UTC)

  3. Slowed down by an attack of dimness, but all was finally made clear. FOI TO SAY THE LEAST, which gave me a few downs. But I took a lot of time to fill in __CAP–and as it turns out I didn’t know what a forage cap is–to parse STALIN, and to get TAG (POI) NEGUS (LOI)(I’d forgotten that there’s a royal negus as well as an alcoholic one). I also persisted in taking ‘mounted’ to be UP, failing to see ‘for one’ for what it was. DNK BEM, but assumed it was some sort of medal. Liked GETTABLE.

    Edited at 2021-03-25 03:26 am (UTC)

  4. Off to a flying start, and thought perhaps this one would be on the easier side. But I really had to grind out the last ones: UPHOLSTER, BLEMISHED, etc, and before I knew it I’d crossed the half hour mark. I was concerned I’d never get WARD, my last one in.
  5. Top half went in in nanoseconds, bottom half was much more chewy – plumb, Stalin, debentures, described, blemished, upholster even tag all excellent clues that took a long time. But no idea on ward/aleph, had to put it down and come back before noticing I’d misspelled smithereens. I had an A so the drink was tea or cha, making ward impossible, all obvious once corrected.
    Thanks setter and blogger.

    Edited at 2021-03-25 04:05 am (UTC)

  6. Like Isla, I was off to a flying start but got slower and slower as the time passed and I ended up completing the grid in 44 minutes.

    DNK (OHF – or had forgotten) ARROYO but its wordplay was friendly. Wasted time trying to justify HITLER (perhaps I should rephrase that) at 20dn when L was the only checker in place. Knew ALEPH, and NEGUS.

    Edited at 2021-03-25 05:05 am (UTC)

  7. Like Jack and isla3, I zipped through the top half very quickly but then got held up in the bottom half with words like BLEMISHED UPHOLSTER and DESCRIBED.
    Regarding DESCRIBED, until reading Z’s blog, I thought the setter had over-egged the clue. I thought “son with copy from” could have been left out altogether and the clue would still have worked: DE (SCRIBE) ED.
    COD to UPHOLSTER and BLEMISHED.
  8. Happy birthday Z 🥳

    I found a lot of clues didn’t yield to their initial reading today which I guess is a sign of a good crossword. Like Z’s LOI, my POI was GETTABLE which seems kind of ironic. A nicely constructed clue, so also my COD.

    Edited at 2021-03-25 07:16 am (UTC)

  9. As many others, flew through the top half, biffing JUMP THE GUN and TO SAY THE LEAST from enumeration and instinct but then ground to a halt at BLEMISHED/UPHOLSTER/DESCRIBED, not helped by having entered a querulous REASSIGNATION which is not, I think, a real word. LOI was WARD, which I couldn’t see for ages. Thanks setter and Z and congrats on the birthday! I hope I’m as mentally sharp as you when I get to that impressive age!
  10. 968 is an impressive tally although my knowledge of the bible is sketchy. Chugged through this crossword with no real problems. COD to GETTABLE.
  11. 47 minutes on this, with LOI NEGUS. I started well but then was caught OFF BALANCE as the clues got harder. I would have given COD to GETTABLE, but that was too close to contravening the Trade Descriptions Act. I did know ALEPH and that was neat, so it gets today’s award. I found this a pretty tough puzzle. Thank you setter and Z. Have a good birthday.
  12. …That Nature lends such Evil dreams?

    30 mins pre-brekker, so just right. And some great clues and surfaces. Mostly I liked: Upholster, Off Balance and COD to Countenance.
    Thanks setter and Happy Birthday Z.

  13. I found this quite tricky. Some very devious clues. STALIN/NEGUS my last two in. ARROYO did take a bit of working out too, though once I saw it, I realized I knew it. NHO FORAGE CAP but bunged it in anyway. Thanks Z and setter.
  14. Flying today, slowed down by brain fade on REAPPOINTMENT. Knew ALEPH from mathematics, aleph null being the first infinity.

    I believe the NUT has amalgamated with another union.

    I am not totally convinced by jack’s hypothesis. Would all setters, or indeed solvers, deal with the across clues first?

    Happy birthday z.

    10’44” thanks z and setter.

  15. 20:23 After a reasonably quick start I found this a bit chewy in parts, but got there in the end. FOI JUNTA LOI BLEMISHED. Happy Birthday z.

    Edited at 2021-03-25 08:13 am (UTC)

  16. 11:39. Like others I started quickly on this, and slowed down steadily. I’m not sure I knew that FORAGE CAP was a military thing, in any case it didn’t come to mind very readily. I hesitated over ARROYO: the wordplay is clear but it’s a somewhat odd-looking word. I don’t remember seeing BEM before. My last in was ONCE: ‘paid for by’ for ON took a while to see.
    And happy birthday Z8!

    Edited at 2021-03-25 09:41 am (UTC)

  17. OFF BALANCE, (but not in a flap)
    Reassignation caught me in its trap
    But with STALIN done
    I reworked twenty one
    Got the rest without further mishap
  18. Happy birthday from me too – we must be contemporaries 🙂
    I was going to ask about the NUT because as has been observed it no longer exists. Would that normally be flagged in a 15 x15 or would we only get that help in the quickie?
  19. Despite slow-running computer, whizzed through this with barely a pause, luckily biffing a couple along the way (which I rechecked before submitting). Some neat diversions in the definitions, and less common bits of wordplay (e.g. B.E.M); LOI should have been more quickly GETTABLE.
    (Was surprised to see Jason tad tardy today. Long time since I clocked in quicker than he; other speed merchants still beat me, as ever)
  20. A bit chewy today, where GETTABLE wasn’t. As our blogger, I had the clue the wrong way round and was trying to justify SITTABLE. LOI WARD which needed an alphabet trawl, and was the wrong end of the alphabet. Also held up by COUNTENANCE where again I had the clue upside down and was looking for COUNTER….
    NHO NEGUS but obvious from the clue.
  21. One of the few times an encyclopedic knowledge of Georgette Heyer was unhelpful because I only knew the drink. Like WEND earlier in the week WARD meant trekking to the bottom of the alphabet. DEBENTURES were the source of an appalling non-PC joke (the kind that makes you giggle out of sheer nerves) at the time I was sitting the bar exam. 18.42

    And HBTYZ!

  22. This lasted just long enough. Forage cap and Arroyo both new to me. I’ve only ever seen Negus in crosswords, but it comes up fairly regularly. Upholster and Off Balance were the pick of the bunch for me. (It’s a nice word, upholstery).

    Thanks to setter. Thanks and happy birthday to z8b8d8k.

  23. 22 mins, with generous cluing (and fortuitous crossers) smoothing the way to the unknown FORAGE CAP and the similarly unknown BE medal. ARROYO a write-in from travels in Spain.
  24. An excellent puzzle, one of the best for a while I thought, with some really lovely clues. I unfortunately didn’t know FORAGE CAP or that meaning of forage, so went for the implausible (and… no, I’ll leave politics out) FARAGE CAP. Silly, really, as forage was much more likely. 7m 41s with that error.
    1. FARAGE CAP occurred to me just before submitting (surely a flat cap) but I managed to avoid it.
  25. JUNTA was my FOI and the rest of the NW followed quickly, even the previously unknown ARROYO. Like many others I then slowed down, but still made steady progress, finishing in the NE with FORAGE CAP and GETTABLE.PLUMB got me to the correct date at 21a. FRIGHTFUL took an age to spot. 31:27. Thanks setter, and thanks and birthday felicitations to our erudite blogger!
  26. 15 mninutes for the top half, then a break to bank a cheque (I know, do they still exist?) and secure a bun from Lidl, then 10 minutes for the lower half. ALEPH is about the only Hebrew letter I know, aided by PH which was a giveaway.
    NEGUS was a guess from wordplay.

    Edited at 2021-03-25 12:29 pm (UTC)

  27. 28.36. I found this pretty tricky despite a fast start. FOI junta, LOI upholster which I thought a lovely clue which took ages and only finally came when I solved blemished, another good clue.

    Certainly enough help to work out the answers but a bit of foreknowledge helped particularly on negus which I vaguely remembered and parsed just to make sure.

    COD arroyo, not many clues formed from two clipped words I think. Also liked debentures.

    Thanks setter and blogger- and Happy Birthday to You🎉🥃🍺🍹🍷

  28. Arroyo no problem for Breaking Bad fans; it’s part of the White family’s address.
    Decent puzzle.
    Thanks z; happy birthday 🙂
  29. all very 6d, though the bonds required for 13d took some deep thought. I was looking for a type of chemical bond. Having the _E_E_T_ _ _S checkers, SELECTRONS were selected as candidates to provide one, though parsing was a problem. Supersymmetry proved a broken concept when DEBENTURES came to the rescue.
    26’43”
  30. Didn’t know the boat meaning of junk, but JUNTA couldn’t have been anything else. Hadn’t heard of ARROYO, NEGUS or RIYAL, so relied on the wordplay for them. ALEPH was my LOI, as it took me a long time to realise it wasn’t “A” + “Hebraic drink”, and ONCE also took a while to come. On the whole it was an enjoyable workout.

    FOI Junta
    LOI Aleph
    COD Jump the gun

  31. A few unknowns — FORAGE CAP, ARROYO (though had heard the word), NEGUS in that sense, ALEPH, RIYAL — though all quite 6d for a steady solve.

  32. Another mixture of write-ins and some very artful clues with misdirections and unlikely definitions. FOI Junta, LOI Debentures, COD Upholster (for “suite” in the definition). Couldn’t parse the ON in Once, but then it couldn’t have been anything else. An enjoyable 30 minutes.
  33. Being reasonably new to cryptics (and also being a Russian) I was fascinated to discover an active English-speaking community hosted on LiveJournal!

    Today I finally managed one (almost) without aids for the first time and so thought I might just as well post a comment.

    This was quite enjoyable, apart from not being too keen on making REAPPOINTMENT out of RE and APPOINTMENT.

    LOI: Gettable.
    Time: About an hour, which is hopefully not too much below par for a non-native speaker.

    2. It took me well over an hour (lost track of exactly how much) and I am feeling pleased with my progress so for a non-native speaker I find your time impressive. Welcome. I’ve only recently begun commenting but have been learning from others’ comments for years so do join in too.

      I really enjoyed this. Nearly gave up after a while but all the clues were 6dn with patience and with flexibility of thought. LOI plumb POI upholster.

      1. Thank you!

        I know it was (and I’m rather sad about all the subsequent developments and where it ended). But I believe that it never played a role in the English-speaking blogosphere similar to the one it had in the Russian-speaking one (but even that is almost dead now).

  34. DNF for me today. Off to a flying start in NW then delayed by NHO forage cap slowing down the NE.

    Eventually stumped on NHO ALEPH and ARROYO. Would have got aleph if ward had come to mind (and why did ale not come to mind with drink — — E in the grid?) but could not see the device for Arroyo.

    Great puzzle that defeated me.

    Thanks Z and setter

  35. Congratulations on your brilliant effort!

    As English is not your first language, you have excelled yourself.

    Keep persevering.

    Privyet. Greetings from a fellow Russian speaker and crossword aficionado.

  36. Happy birthday, Zed! You still look remarkably young for one entering their eighth decade…
  37. Happy Birthday, Z, and thank you for a clear and amusing blog. FOI to say the least, then it went quite well for a while. Used help to dig myself out of a quagmire, then got going again but was defeated by gettable and arroyo. I think I’ve heard of arroyo maybe once, but never used it, so forgot it. Used aids so much this was a DNF. I did get there in the end with the help. Sometimes I don’t manage that much. I spent a happy hour and more grappling with this, and was pleased with the half I managed on my own. Thanks also to setter for a very enjoyable puzzle. GW.
  38. I might not have anything to add about this puzzle (but it was great) after I read the other comments.
  39. Apologies for the nit-picking but a retired Chemistry teacher cannot let PH pass. The scale of acidity as measured by the hydrogen ion concentration is the pH scale.
    The erudition, wit and general bonhomie in these blogs make joyful reading, just as edifying as doing the crossword itself.
    1. Quite right, too. In my defence, where the letters are part of the answer, it’s my custom to put them in capitals, so Mr would go in as MR, and He(lium) as HE, sacrificing grammatical purity to unambiguous presentation. I’ll acknowledge pH is the odd way round!
  40. 28.40. Went through most of this pretty quickly but held up by a couple at the end. I enjoyed upholster, spent too long trying to work with a reversed Ravel somehow. I did not know or did not remember the fodder meaning of forage and did not know or did not remember the cap so checked forage cap before submitting.

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