24715

Author   petebiddlecombePosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time: 8:23

This felt harder work than the time might suggest, so maybe I was in good form today – I finished faster than one or two people on the Club leaderboard who have beaten me in the past. Solved without full wordplay understanding: 21, 7, 15, 17. Last in: 4, 11, 6, 8 – probably not in that order.

Across
1 NAGOYA – NA = “recalling an” (to recall being to bring back), GOYA = artist from Spain
4 BLAN(CHE (Guevara))D, with “vanilla” for BLAND – solved by thinking of “blancoed” and then seeing which parts worked and which didn’t. (Seb Coe was a Tory in his political career, but more importantly for Times xwd purposes, is still alive.)
10 TENACIOUS = (use action)*
11 MOUSE – 2 defs, one referring to the device I’m just about to use to put the cursor in the right place for the next answer
12 QUARTER-POUNDER – CD referring to a crown as 5 shillings or 25p – a quarter of 20 shillings or 100p. It was 5 shillings in the days when you could actually spend one, though in my life it was rarely seen but known about, as a half-crown was 2 shillings and sixpence, and the going rate as a birthday gift from a distant or honorary relative. Commemorative crowns have been nominally worth £5 since 1990.
14 ELGAR = “Worcestershire barman” – L = line, in rev. of rage = fashion – a mild pity that the clue couldn’t be made to suggest Worcestershire sauce
16 DEVILFISH = ray – F = female, in DEVILISH. ODE has the fish as one word, before anyone asks
18 TARDINESS = “being behind quality” – (red stains)*
20 STEER – 2 defs. Some might say that “cattle” means more than one beast …
21 PL(A, INCH = little bit, OCOL = rev. of loco = nuts)ATE – the combination of nuts and chocolate gives me a feeble excuse for this bit of nostalgia
25 RUM,BA(ll)
26 D from “imprisoned”, INNER = secret, SET = group – “China” being the def. Beginners: take note of the two possible readings when “A at last B” appears in a clue
27 HAY FEVER – cryptic def
28 today’s omitted clue for you to work out
 
Down
1 NE(TIQUE = quiet*)TT,E – here’s an old example of the moral code
2 GENOA = “d’you know ‘er?”
3 YACHTER = sailor – C = clubs, in hearty*
5 LA(SS = Nazis)O(s)
6 NO(r)M(IN)AL
7 HO(b), U from dusting, SEW = mend clothes, I, FE = iron
8 DEE,R – easy construction to spot, but it took a while to find the right choices
9 PORRIDGE – 2 defs – the first presumably from porridge being a heated dish that warms you up on a chilly morning, and the second this kind of “time”
13 CHARLESTON = (short clean)*
15 GO(R)B,LIMEY = Briton – a nice example of a “functional” def (“Briton’s expression of amazement”) from which you’re maybe more likely to see the answer than from the true def according to cryptic clue rules (“expression of amazement”)
17 VI = “figure of our last king“, SCOU(N)T
19 IMITATE = “do” – IT = “sex appeal”, in I MATE. Nicely deceptive clue, suggesting an “AM I …” trick
20 SLOVEN = ragamuffin,E
22 CA(D)GE – the “pound” being the kind for dogs
23 A from argument,SSAM = rev. of mass
24 (l)ARCH

51 comments on “24715”

  1. Interesting mix of short clues (12, 20 and 27 ac) and the short story at 7dn. My COD to IMITATE – with all the sex about, men at any rate (computer programmers excluded, of course!) were bound to be led down the Garden path. 81 minutes in fits and starts with the SW last to fall.

    Was anyone else tempted by ‘white chocolate’, attracted to ‘whit’ by ‘little bit’?

  2. 55 minutes, but worth the effort. Quite a range of clues from the concise to the convoluted. Liked the Worcestershire barman; does he serve lager?
  3. I find PB’s time quite astonishing. Well over an hour for me. Last one in ‘blanched’, saw the answer quite early but not the wordplay.
  4. Put and unexplained Bleached in 4 across and so was unable to get 6 down. Struggled in the South West as it took me a long time to remember that a barman could indicate a composer and even longer to get 15 down (having resorted to aids by this point).
    Louise
  5. White Chocolate went in first here, with “echate” being some sort of dish. This was a mildly irritating one for me, taking three short bursts over some 25 minutes total. YACHTER is a horrible word. and I’m going to cross it out of my dictionary! Not sure about ragamuffin=sloven – for me the former is a street urchin, the latter an untidy, in less pc days, woman. One who doesn’t do all the chores in 7d, presumably, another nearly great clue let down by the clunking of gears in an attempted all in one. Didn’t know NAGOYA, so another 1a waited for crossing letters. While I get the workings of HAY FEVER, is “irritating” close enough to a definition, even by example? Is MOUSE really a “worker” under hand, other than in the sense that that’s where it’s used?
    On the other hand, loved QUARTERPOUNDER, my CoD
  6. 53 minutes. This is the toughest puzzle I have seen for a long time. I had WHITE CHOCOLATE (didn’t think past ‘whit’) for a long time which cost me about 10 minutes on the SW corner. Never heard of NETIQUETTE and that took ages as well even though I had the Q earlyish. PORRIDGE definitely raised a wry smile as it was -7 degrees here this morning and I only had cornflakes.
    Too many to pick for a COD – let’s just put it in running for POY 🙂
  7. 35 minutes for this delightful puzzle. Didn’t know NAGOYA or DEVILFISH but both came easily through wordplay. Too many good clues to pick a COD, but those to NETIQUETTE, GORBLIMEY, VISCOUNT, MOUSE, PLAIN CHOCOLATE, QUARTER-POUNDER and HOUSEWIFE all stand out. For some unknown reason the play at 27ac was my last but one in yet it is a favourite that I have enjoyed many times on stage, TV and radio.

    I also wasted time on WHITE CHOCOLATE and BLEACHED.

  8. About 55 minutes so above average difficulty. Particular problems around CADGE, IMITATE and the NE corner where I confidently put BLEACHED, and for some extraordinary reason DODO for 8d, before belatedly seeing the error of my ways.
  9. Early visit to aids here and still struggled to complete (me too with whit for little bit problem). Just here to show appreciation for the puzzle generally, the Malvern maestro and the 5 bob burger in particular.
  10. Very testing. PB’s time seems pretty damn quick to me. I came up with nothing at all on the first read through, and had only 4 after half an hour. But then one word – BLANCHED – got everything moving, and the rest came steadily, if not quickly. Didn’t get the ‘crown’ part of QUARTER-POUNDER until coming here, so that earns my COD nomination.
  11. Overall an interesting and testing puzzle – 25 minutes to solve. I like challenging puzzles and this one certainly fits that bill. There are quibbles – always will be I guess if the setter is trying to be original but forgiveable in the overall excellent mix.
  12. About 40 minutes for me, longest for quite a while. It is crosswords like this that keep me away from Cheltenham (or wherever 🙂

    Didn’t manage to wrest that particular meaning of “crown” from the recesses of my memory, until coming here. And I look forward to the comments of the homophone police re 2dn!

    This was a fine crossword, no complaints at all and much enjoyment. But I need a lie down, now..

  13. Normally I solve the daily cryptic in somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes. Peter almost always is significantly quicker than me, and I usually put that down to my leisurely approach – writing anagrams in a circle if necessary, insisting on understanding all the wordplay, not bothering to rush, drinking coffee etc etc. (the alternative explanation “He’s just a lot better at it” is obviously not acceptable :-)).

    Sometimes though, like today, it is clear he is doing something very different, or MUCH better. Any ideas as to what it might be? I am wondering if today’s was a crossword where reducing the clue to its component parts, and completely ignoring the surface, might count for more than usual? Or just more difficult mental connections to make? Most seem to agree that it was hard, but why was it?

    Whatever, 8:23 for this is mighty impressive!

    1. First, Jerry, we can’t escape the fact that Peter is simply very good at this.

      Second, he has a lot of practice at speed solving – something neither of us really goes in for (me because I know I could never be as quick as Peter and the whole process frustrates me. I get more enjoyment from the slower approach) – and has appropriate techniques

      This puzzle was harder than usual I suspect because a lot of it is original. I certainly get used to a number of clichéd responses to clue structures and there were I suspect fewer of those today

      Interestingly perhaps the only time my speeds compare to Peter’s are in solving Mephisto where analysis ignoring surface reading followed by synthesis is at a premium.

    2. Not sure what I can find to say about this that I haven’t said before, but I’ll have a go.

      One thing that probably helps is long experience in my early days, of solving without understanding how precise cryptic clues often were, and therefore not being too bothered about getting an answer from a definition and some scrap of wordplay.

      When I read Don Manley’s book and clues suddenly made much more sense, I could combine logical analysis (also practised in barred grid puzzles) with my less scientific methods, and reduce the number of wrong answers as well as often seeing the whole significance of a clue quickly and hence reducing the number of hopeful punts.

      Sometimes there are puzzles like today’s where although you know you’ve been solving fairly tricky clues, you get enough lucky breaks to finish quickly, and no spells of being badly stuck. There’s also a lot of recognition of likely answers from checking letters. I suspect a lot of my competitive success over the years is down to puzzles like this one.

  14. Didn’t find this too hard (comparatively…), started quickly with the two animals and managed to do the whole thing bar two in about an hour (without understanding wordplay for BLANCHED, tho). The two that finally eluded me were GORBLIMEY, as, having most of the crossing letters, I couldn’t see past GORAL— (R in GOAL), and HAY FEVER (hadn’t heard of the play). Nor had I heard of NAGOYA, but managed that one from wordplay.

    CoD to PORRIDGE.

    1. I doubt you’ll get this post . Don’t feel too bad about Nagoya , it took me ages to see it and I used to live there!
  15. A slow solve today over two sessions, taking over an hour. I filled most of the bottom reasonably quickly but got bogged down in the top half, particularly the NW corner. When I went back to it, having seen the answer to 10 during the drive home, the rest fell fairly soon after that.
    Lots of original clues with deceptive definitions, but I would call 7, though ingeniously constructed, a failed &lit, since the grammatical form of most of the clue cannot be read as defining the answer, unlike the last three words, which do. 9,14 and 18 were the best in my view, though I wouldn’t want ‘barman’ for composer to become as common as ‘banker’ for river. Here, it was a nice surprise.
  16. Excellent puzzle today but exceptionally hard I thought. Over an hour and I usually aim for about 15 mins. COD to 7D but a unconvinced as yet by vanilla = bland in 4A. Help?
    1. How can I put this delicately? Isn’t vanilla a term used by … er … more adventurous types to describe those of us who … um … like things plain and simple?
    2. Years ago when I was working I used to assist computer hardware and software manufacturers to tailor their products to the financial markets. They would always refer to the basic “factory” product as “the vanilla version” and my job was to, essentially, flavour it for say insurance intermediaries.
  17. 37:51 – very heavy weather for me. Delayed for ages by WHITe chocolate, got Housewife but couldn’t work out why. I put it down to solving it at midnight – pleased to see it gave others problems too!
  19. An odd one, in that it felt very difficult until I had a couple of crossing letters and then everything started to fall into place very rapidly. So while difficult, easier for me than most of last week’s. COD 12ac.
  20. A slow, but thoroughly enjoyable and challenging, solve: probably a bit over an hour altogether. There was something about this crossword which convinced me, that if I persevered, I would eventually get there. All the clues/answers seemed accessible; nothing abstruse, overly technical or specialist. Thank you, setter.
  21. 23:52 .. Brilliant wee puzzle that called for a lot of synaptic rewiring (or pre-existing short circuits).

    Very enjoyable. A few minutes becalmed at the end over ARCH/HAY FEVER before the penny dropped.

    COD to the convoluted HOUSEWIFE, which may read a little awkwardly but gets points in my book for sheer ambition.

  22. 48 minutes. I found this very difficult and was pleased to finish. I read through all the across clues without putting anything in. I also put in WHITE CHOCOLATE, which wasted a bit of time. Never heard of NAGOYA or the play. Didn’t fully understand HOUSEWIFE (“hob”) or VISCOUNT (“figure or our last king”), so thanks Peter.
    A very good puzzle with lots of original stuff. QUARTER POUNDER my favourite I think.
  23. This was a steady 41 minutes for me. I thought I was being exceptionally slow until I came here and read about the dificulties other people were having! One of the things I like about this blog is that it puts your efforts in perspective. We can’t all aim for PB’s times but this forum gives a lot of enouragement to those of us struggling in the ranks.
  24. Slow pace to start with but finished on a roll. 31 minutes. This one has a buzz about it. In two minds about Housewife: both awkward and clever. Netiquette new to me but the quarter-pounder helped.
    COD 15.
  25. 8:23 for this is awesome Peter.

    I chipped away at it all day but moments ago decided enough was enough and fell four short, outwitted by the hamburger, ARCH, HAY FEVER and PORRIDGE. Thought ELGAR, MOUSE and GENOA were terrific. Thank you setter for the entertainment.

  26. 29:27 for me, held up in the bottom corner for far too long after putting in WHITE CHOCOLATE. When I finally re-analysed it properly and got the right answer, the last few went in in under a minute.
  27. Just when I think I’m getting better at these, a puzzle like this comes along. I came up with Cythera for 3d, then wasted time trying to figure out what Venus and sailing had to do with each other. And I’d never heard of ‘porridge’ in the slang sense.
    I do have one niggle: Mating isn’t the same as breeding (and a good thing, too!); necessary condition vs. sufficient.
  28. I got all the others, eventually, but just couldn’t think of 9D. Eventually put in ‘hoursdue’with the following reasoning: ‘Och, Seamus, d’ye think the hour’s due for a wee dram te keep oot the cold?’ Which, of course, eventually became a word in its own right, meaning a tot of something invigorating, on a winter’s evening.

    Or not.

  29. A very clever puzzle, which took about 45 minutes. I didn’t understand the ‘HO’ in 7D (still really don’t), that ‘polled’ means ‘to take the top off’, that ELGAR was from Worcestershire, and the crown connection in 12A. I also was tempted by ‘White’ in 21, and ‘bleached’, but not strongly enough to write them in. Last entries were the crossing ARCH/HAY FEVER. I hadn’t heard of the play, but H_Y _E_E_ couldn’t be anything else. Amid all the very clever stuff used here – salute to the setter -, I’ll go out on a limb and nominate the silly GENOA for COD, for making me laugh. (Note to PB: It took me longer to read this puzzle than it took you to finish!) Regards to everyone.
    1. The “Cooker” is a HOB, then “that’s black to be scrubbed” is a rather fiendish way of indicating the deletion of the B. ({B = black} is from UK/European pencil grades)

Comments are closed.