Times 24524 – What’s Up, Doc?

34 comments on “Times 24524 – What’s Up, Doc?”

1. Regards Uncle Yap. Thanks as always for the informative blog tonight. I salute you for explaining those I didn’t get while solving: why Wednesday has anything to do with SHEFFIELD, and that the ‘drag performer’ was a smoker. I’m with you on GEORGETOWN, it needs another ‘G’. And I didn’t know London had a KIT-CAT CLUB, remembering it as the setting in Cabaret, which certainly wasn’t set in London. Over here we have ‘vendors’, never VENDER(s), so that was my last entry, from wordplay alone, about 20 minutes all told.

   But, I think ‘in the region’ in 1A is CA, as in CIRCA, not necessarily any specific region. Also, I have 23D as ADELE, ‘dele’ as in ‘strike that out’. As you say, lots of clever constructions here. I liked OXBOW and, of course, BUGS BUNNY.

2. Nice puzzle and a good blog as usual, Uncle Yap.

   Nice to see “clobber” = kit, clothes, yet again – we’ll not forget that in a hurry!

   10ac GEORGETOWN is a hidden word, not an anagram

   At 29ac I had V(ery)+ END + OR (men).

3. I had seen the hidden GEORGETOWN, even put parentheses around it, while solving, but then forgot all about it. Quite a yutz am I. Thanks for pointing that out, Kurihan.
4. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t enter over and over. But, Kurihan, I’m with Uncle Yap on VENDER. I looked it up post-solve, and COED has VENDER as a seller, and it fits the wordplay quite well, methinks.
   1. I don’t think VENDER works quite well enough: In “One flogging men with very short tail”, it accounts for “One flogging” (def.), “with” (wordplay/def link), “very short” (V) and “tail” (ENDER). But there is no role for “men”. Even in the “def by example” world of the current Times crossword, I don’t think “One flogging” would be changed to “One flogging men” without some indication that the person being defined could flog something else.
      1. Upon some morning reflection, I cede the point readily. The ‘men’ require some recognition, as ‘OR’ in VENDOR, me now thinks.
5. Some seriously nutty (in both senses) wordplay in this one that made it hard to get much of a toehold to begin with. Slogged away for just under the hour 7:00am to 7:58am to be precise! Queries: Quibble => PUN: OK it’s in several dictionaries and is signalled here by “old” but … hmm. Is no one else a bit peeved by “Ha” (I’m surprised), OHO, RAH and HOW-D’YE-DO all in the one puzzle? And “news” for NN? NB: not complaints — I enjoyed the battle immensely — just queries. My COD to LIGHT for sheer cheek.
6. DNF. Found wanting with A?E?E. DELE new to me. Was rather more enthusiastic about yesterday’s than most here (home too late to bother about commenting) which I thought easy but inventive in parts nevertheless. Similarly I thought today’s was magnificent and was delighted to finish (sans ADELE) without aids albeit slowly. Numerous marked as potential COD but LIGHT gets the prize closely followed by KNEE and the ingenious INJURED. Bravo setter.
   (Don’t understand why KISS-OF-LIFE is thrilled?)
   1. By a process of elimination (cross out the anagram fodder and definition), “thrilled” must be the anagram indicator. Sounds pretty iffy until you look in COED and find “quiver or tremble” as a verb meaning for “thrill”.
      1. So I was thinking revival was the anag indicator and thrill the definition. Thick what?
         1. A mistake we’ve all made, I should think. Moral: if baffled by the def in an anagram clue, try a job exchange between AI and def.
   2. KISS-OF-LIFE = revival
7. 15:34 for this, which I found quite a struggle. Another vote for ca. = circa = “in the region of” at 1A – “region” for CA = Central America or similar should be too vague for the Times to allow.

   Briefly had the same thought about Georgetown until I saw it, likewise initially wrote KIT-KAT, but the absence of a “sounds like” indicator for CAT had me jotting C/K next to the clue for 3D which would settle the question. Pondered CUTIE, ANNIE at 23 based on the usual meaning of “that is”.

8. This was a very clever and enjoyable puzzle which I wish I had been able to give my full attention but as usual on commute days I had to do it in three sessions with various other distractions along the way. After 45 minutes in total I arrived at work with several on the LH side unsolved.

   My problem in the NW was putting KIT-KAT CLUB which gave me P???K?Y at 3dn and the only word I could think of that might just fit the bill was PRICKLY but I wasn’t convinced. Once I had realised my mistake at 11ac PREACHY was an obvious alternative and KNEE fell into place at 9ac.

   In the SW I had to cheat to get HAJJ which I’m sure I have met before but possibly with an alternative spelling. Then I guessed ADELE without knowing the meaning of DELE. And finally I came here for CERISE which on reflection was obvious once the checkers were in place and I should have spent more time thinking about before giving up the ghost.

   I’m surprised to see 30ac again so soon after last Friday’s puzzle despite it being an alternative spelling.

9. A long struggle in many sessions. Was clueless about the drag reference at 4d, and who Curry was at 15d, so thanks for the explanation Uncle Yap. I thought the swinger at 7d was the cat o’nine tails; I think I prefer your version. Nice to see BUGS getting the recognition he deserves (voted number three in Animal Planet’s 50 Greatest Movie Animals (2004), behind Mickey Mouse and Toto). A very tricky puzzle for me. COD to HEART THROB.
10. Couldn’t finish this. Actually, delighted that I had only an hour for the puzzle today and could bale out.

    Thanks, Yap Suk, for the fine blog, but could someone confirm if RAH is an &lit? I think, anway, it merits more than a deliberate omission for most of us non-advanced brigade!

    Talking of crews, what work if ‘force’ doing in 28ac. Might this be considered a triple definition, along Delta Force lines?

    1. I think you’re right about 28: force and eight work well as individual defs for “crew” – better, I think, than “force eight”. I have made similar mistakes myself for clues with more than the usual two parts.

       27: I would say not an &lit: “Cheer up the school after loss of race at Henley” cannot, for me, define RAH, which is cheer (or rather a cheer), rather than “cheer up”, even allowing the rest of the clue as an example of who you might cheer up and when. Just to confirm, the wordplay is Harrow (school), losing row=”race at Henley”, and then reversed.

       1. Thanks. Definitely not in the too-easy-to-bother-with category, I would say.
11. I thought region of Pacific was California CA.
    1. This does fit into a logical overall structure, leaving “resort” as the def. But “region of Pacific” would allow for a vast range of abbreviation possibilities. You may say “So does ‘state’ for anywhere from ME=Maine to HI=Hawaii” but that’s at least established xwd tradition. I think “in the region of” as an inventive alternative to “about” for ca.=circa is much more in keeping with the apparent aims of most Times setters than a new style of geographical vagueness, and therefore much more likely to be the intended reading.
       1. I’m sure you’re right. I only mentioned it because that’s how I arrived at the solution (“I thought” above is meant quite literally). Less vague than “Central America”, but still too vague. And a state’s a state …
          1. Ah – if only language was precise – then I’d know whether “I thought” was completely literal, or a gentle version of “Another perfectly valid alternative is …” or even “No, the right interpretation is …”. But if language was precise, cryptic crosswords probably couldn’t exist!
12. Delighed to cross the line in 18 minutes, though having to return to HEART-THROB and PREACHY for understanding of the wordplay. I keep filing away the device that “a head” or even just “a” means “each” but today it resolutely refused to be recovered, making this for me definitely a clue where the definition helps in understanding the word play, quite the wrong way round! HEART-THROB is surely an &lit, otherwise there’s no definition.
    I mentally raised a question mark over LEGUMES, not knowing pulse can be plural.
    I liked this one so much I forgave the spectacles at 5. CoD to BUGS BUNNY, both for the chuckle it provided and for the ingenious use of news as a plural.
    1. HEART-THROB – absolutely right – I missed this when reading (too quickly) the original report.
       1. Indeed, it’s an &lit., no doubt about it. But if that’s one’s idea of a heart-throb, one has multiple problems! I repeat my earlier remarks: liberties are being taken all over the place today.

13. ….but still messed up a few of the easier ones. I should have gone back and checked my work, but I was tired and went to bed instead.

    I did correct a number of mistakes and misconceptions, such as thinking ‘Georgetown’ was an anagram, and change ‘Kit Kat’ to ‘Kit Cat’.

    The puzzle was very high quality, with many good clues, and unusual techniques.

14. Again I’m glad others found this a struggle, and I suppose a time of over 15 minutes from Peter indicates a very tricky one indeed! I didn’t even come close to finishing, with seven unsolved after about an hour and a half. This is proving a tough week.
15. Wow… couldn’t finish this last night, was rudely awoken at 4 in the morning and figured I’d have another sleepy bash at it, got up again at a “normal” time and saw PREACHY, KNEE and DELE and was done. Probably 30 minutes stretched out over 7 hours.
16. 19:50 After a couple of weeks of intermittent solving (partly down to the ash)I wondered if it was just me who was struggling with this one but I see otherwise. Hadn’t seen HAJJ splet this way before. Didn’t understand HEART THROB until now – that’s my COD along with 6d.
    My ignorance of Mexican geography led me to dismiss ACAPULCO at first – I assumed it was on the Gulf.
    An excellent puzzle.
17. What an entertaining puzzle that caused me to struggle a bit for 35 minutes after wrestling with the golf course. There are some excellent clues here, in particular KNEE and HEART THROB. Thank you setter and well done Uncle Yap
18. Probably a little over 20 mins over two sessions here, and the most enjoyable solve for some time. All sorts of trickery, and great entertainment. COD to HEART-THROB, and head in hands for failing to see the hidden GEORGETOWN until I’d put it in. One day I’ll spot a hidden clue straddling two lines. One day . . .
19. About 45 minutes and failed to get Preachy and Knee and Cat, going for Prickly and Kat (I know) and throwing in Anti for Knee. I think just to solve this one puts one in the A division, never mind the time. I loved the new take (for me ) on ‘news’ in 6 down. Good to be reminded of the magic skating of John Curry.
20. Ifound this very very difficult….finished but hadnt come across “dele” before…need to look it up!

    My some of these were toughies…it took me ages to see acapulco and concierge!

    perhaps a late night contributed to the hardness. Knee was a great clue!

21. 7ONWwV Thanks so much for the article post.Really looking forward to read more. Much obliged.

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