24449 – 80th anniversary puzzle + links for today’s historic puzzles

Author   petebiddlecombePosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Today’s puzzle will almost certainly be a bit different, as today is the 80th anniversary of the publication of Times Crossword No. 1, on 1/2/1930 – report now filed below.

There’s an article about current champion Mark Goodliffe tackling three puzzles from the past (1940, 1960, 1981) – Times crossword champion Mark Goodliffe takes on puzzles of the past. The article includes links to copies of the three puzzles from the Times Online archive service. Note that for the 1940 puzzle, there’s a “multimedia” file with a copy of the puzzle retyped, which prints more cleanly and suggests that the archive version may be tricky to read. We’ll have reports on all these puzzles up by the end of the day, so please DON’T comment on these puzzles here.

There will also be a webchat on the Times website at 1 p.m. (GMT) today. This is being called How to solve the Times crossword but I suspect there’ll be a bit of chat about the anniversary too. Like the previous webchats, it’s open to all, not just members of the crossword club. I hope to see some of you there, whether as learners or mentors.

After defending the policy of anonymity of setters in today’s webchat (still viewable at the link above if you missed it), Richard Browne signed off with “And thank you Joyce Cansfield for providing today’s puzzle.” Perverse folks, these crossword types …

Solving time: 9:20

Today’s puzzle at first appeared to have no “80th anniversary” special content at all, but I think there’s thought there was something, as explained below. Apart from this it was quite a lively puzzle of about average difficulty. Today’s answers written without full wordplay understanding: 14, 1D, 17.

Across
1 HU(MAN)E – first of two cross-references to 16 = CHAP. As the other, 22A, uses 3 16s, this means the puzzle has a total of 5 x 16 = 80, on the eightieth anniversary – and I’m guessing that it’s a subtle way of celebrating. Writing up blog reports is a considerable help in spotting things like this – and in seeing things that aren’t actually there – I’m informed that this was a fluke – because of the webchat, the puzzle was intended to be a standard one.
4 ODDBALLS = “odd balls” – a “chinaman” in cricket is an unusual type of bowling delivery – origin explained here. I initially wondered whether Chinese invention of gunpowder included Christmas entertainment in the form of CRACKERS but didn’t write it in.
9 RELAPSE = rev. of espal(i)er = “trained tree”
11 Today’s choice for omission – my first answer and easy from checking letters.
12 PL.,EAT = tuck (noun or verb, when relating to cloth)
13 FABRICATE = (if cabaret)*
14 R=right,E(DISCO)VER – disco not clued by “party” for a change
16 CHAP – 2 defs, one often relating to lips
19 SOME = “sum”
20 GET KNOTTED – 2 defs. The easier one to deal with is “hop it” = “go away”. The other seems to be a reference to jumping the broomstick – an unofficial marriage ceremony. I think the setter’s idea is that “knotted” = married – from “tie the knot” = to marry, although “getting hitched” might get you there by a less direct route.
22 CHA-CHA-CHA – cha(p) = “16 – not quietly”, three times
23 SP.=special,RIG – “sprig” is an archaic name for a young man
25 CHIC=smart,KEN=bloke
26 TURN IN = retire,G(o)
27 S(IN)ISTER
28 STROKE – 2 defs, the latter as heard in swimming commentaries – “Adrian Moorhouse won the 100 breast in 1988”. Probably not in your dictionary but pretty clear from “breaststroke”
 
Down
1 HER=woman,B(PAR)IS = “in twice the average” – “bis” being French for twice – check out the etymology of “biscuit” if you’d like a way to remember this for next time
2 MeEk LiEgEs
3 NEPOTISM = (me in post)* – nepotism being the one-word version of “jobs for the boys”
5 DOGS BREAKFAST + (drag baskets of)*, with “crackers” as the anagram indicator, and “into” as a wordplay/def link
6 BLEW IN = “blue inn” = the clue’s “dismal pub”
7 LIKE A SHOT – invented definition and real definition
8 S = “start of service”,IN,CE = church (of England)
10 EFF=”euphemism to express anger”,LORE=learning,SC(i)ENCE = “not one ology”. Here is the inevitable clip
15 DAM=mother,NATION=land – strict Ximeneans will be damning this clue as there’s no reason to split a word like motherland into two parts. “Naughty but nice” for me
17 P.E.,D(AGOG=eager)UE – “due = directly” seems wrong but is the Concise Oxford’s def for due as in “we headed due south”
18 BOW=”to show respect”,SP(i)RIT = “I must abandon attitide”. The “first” in the clue indicates that the BOW part comes first – but as it would do so without any indication, this is arguably unnecessary.
21 SHAKES – hake = fish, inside old xwd favourite SS = (steam)ship
22 COCKS = “cox” = leader of crew. And cocks “crew” when they woke you up this morning if you live in the countryside
24 RHINO = (I=one,horn)*

33 comments on “24449 – 80th anniversary puzzle + links for today’s historic puzzles”

  1. I thought today’s puzzle was rather good and a fairly tough start to the week, but other than that I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Mind you, I failed to spot the Dr Johnson theme, so it’s quite likely I’ve completely missed the point…
  2. Forgot about the anniversary, perhaps a good thing as I might not have bothered recalling a recent Telegraph special where solvers demanded the head of the setter.
    Early during the solve I did wonder if the Times had secured Araucaria at the eleventh hour of the January transfer window, but otherwise noticed nothing particular in what I thought was a terrific puzzle. Finished wih a guess at 20 and await explanation.
    1. It’s GET KNOTTED. “Jump the broomstick” is to go through an irregular sort of marriage ceremony. Some may remember the song “Let’s Jump the Broomstick” by Brenda Lee back in 1961.
      1. It’s funny how often something I have just encountered in reading appears in the crossword. This was my first in – I have just finished Great Expectations where Magwitch and Molly were married “over the broomstick (as we say)”. The note explains “A folk marriage ceremony with no legal status”. I hadn’t heard of this until then.
      2. in my youth, “living over the brush” was the normal term for a couple cohabiting out of wedlock. presumably the same origin.

        It was MUCH less common then than it is now, of course, and quite a source of scandal.

  3. Likewise nothing out of the ordinary (of course having said that I’m sure there’s something blindingly obvious that will trigger much auto-kicking).

    20A is a bit of mystery to me as well — at least half of it. 1A rather clever.

  4. Add me to the list of those who failed to notice an anniversary theme, although it was undeniably a good puzzle (with the possible exception of 1dn, where i think i’m missing something in the cryptic and await enlightenment).
      1. I got all the constituent parts but couldn’t make sense of it. Until now, when i’ve finally realised that the woman ‘takes’ and doesn’t ‘take in’. Doh! How exasperating. But all part of the fun, isn’t it?
  5. 27 minutes. Didn’t see anything special here but a certain sauciness. Thought the anagram at 5dn was pretty good. And re 20ac, the first lines are:

    “Well, come-a little baby let’s jump the broomstick,
    Come-a let’s tie the knot”.

    Except I know it in the cover version by the great Sandy Denny on The North Star Grassman and the Ravens. As ever, Thomson’s guitar is the best.

    Anyone interested in what actually happened on 1st Feb 1930 can find it here.

        1. Especialy when (as he does) he plays in a duo with Danny Thompson. But then the band name, The Thompson Twins, is already taken.
  6. About 45 minutes though most of it was done within 30. I didn’t know HERB PARIS or BOWSPRIT, nor ESPALIER needed to explain 9ac.
  7. I seem to be at the back of the pack today – this took me almost 90 minutes, although i got there unaided in the end. In addition to the uncertainty over HERB PARIS mentioned above, i also struggled with BLEW IN, even though it was obvious where the clue was heading, and only got ODDBALLS when the ‘b’ appeared.
    Some good deceptive clues though. The surface for NEPOTISM was very neat, and i was fooled by COCKS. When the first ‘c’ appeared i assumed i had found the leader of crew, which led inexorably to ‘Clive’. Sorted it all out eventually, but for me it was one of those days.
  8. Just over 30 minutes, finsihing with the 1a/1d combination. I had been thinking of the wrong word for woman and was fixated on MS before I finally got HUMANE.

    Steady solve throughout with no spurts or long pauses. Liked the anagram for DOGS BEAKFAST and the clue for PEDAGOGUE.

    DAMNATION seems to have cropped up in a lot of different crosswords in different publications ecently with ‘Motherland’ becoming a bit of cliche.

  9. This was tricky and entertaining. I finished with Herb Paris: the wordplay was convoluted but I had heard of herb bennet and Herb Robert so I managed to get there. I see from Chambers that there are also herbs Christopher, Gerard and Peter. I vaguely recollect an Araucaria themed puzzle using them.

    No problems with 20, thanks to that irritating Brenda Lee song.

  10. One of those puzzles in two halves for me, with the RHS mostly falling quickly and then the LHS resolutely refusing to budge beyond the obvious. I didn’t know where to look with all those balls & cocks; indeed the whole puzzle had a Rabelaisian feel, which is another link to Jerry’s 1980’s puzzle. The rationale for getting knotted escaped me until I came here, so thanks Peter and others. Perhaps links to the earlier puzzles will emerge as time progresses. DOG’S BREAKFAST was a cracking anagram but COD to EFFLORESCENCE.
  11. 25 minutes of heaven after wading through the 1960s puzzle. Anybody who wants to complain about the wordplay here should give that puzzle a go and then see if you’ve changed your mind. Or just read the blog to get the flavour!

    I failed to spot even the potential link to the 80th birthday. I kept looking for names of old editors and that sort of thing. Nice puzzle, shame that no theme was present.

  12. About 40 minutes here, and I look forward to pulling up the old ones and having a stab at them. ‘GET KNOTTED’ was somewhat new but recognizeable, unlike the ‘jump the broomstick’ idiom, which I didn’t know. Not familiar with HERB PARIS either, but that wasn’t too bad. Fun puzzle. BOWSPRIT took too long since I thought the spar was ‘sprit’, following a ‘take the ‘i’ out of ‘attitude’ word. Regards.
  13. Just half a dozen to complete after the hour but couldn’t for the life of me work out those nasty grumblie grimlies at 19 across SOME, 6 down BLEW IN and 22 down COCKS. New words of the day included A HERB PARIS and BOWSPRIT. Particularly enjoyed ESPALIER and NEPOTISM. An excellent puzzle.
  14. Couldn’t finish it last night, didn’t have either of the 1s. This morning saw HUMANE first, then guessed HERB PARIS from part wordplay.
  15. I think the “first” in 18 down means that you remove the first “I” from SPIRIT, a word with two “I”s.
  16. You might be interested to know that today’s The One Show featured a brief segment on the crossword, culminating in the item’s presenter Alex Riley trying to solve the puzzle at the same time as me. In the interests of accuracy, I will claim that the stated time of 11 minutes included stopping to film ‘humorous’ lines and do close-ups and retakes. In Alex’s defence, I thought it quite impressive that a complete novice solved one clue correctly (CHAP) and knew the meaning of ‘jump the broomstick’ (which I didn’t), enabling him to try GET MARRIED at 20.

    On the one hand, it was a shame in terms of depth of coverage that so much of what was filmed languishes on the cutting-room floor (the same is certainly true of John Grimshaw’s and Martin Bell’s segments), though on the other hand I would have looked even more pompous had it been shown.

    1. I remember that BBC editing too – in 2004 I appeared on Mastermind, coming equal third of 4 after a hopeless GK round. My specialist subject had been the musical mafia special “Instruments of the Symphony Orchestra”, and some of the chat with John Humphries was about newspaper stories reporting complaints from rank and file string players about higher wages paid to wind players who play for less time in most works. Having learned the trombone at school I was with the wind players. My reasoned comments about having to play a line of music on your own ended up on the cutting room floor, and the most conspicuous bit kept was a very grumpy-sounding “If you don’t like it, don’t play the fiddle!”
  18. All TV and film productions that are not live film a lot more material than they can use. Selecting the best material and editing it is a very skilful part of the production process (ask my daughter who directed several episodes of The Apprentice). My experience with the BBC4 crossword programme was very good. They really did select the best bits, and my only criticism of the whole programme would have been over the time they gave to the feature on the underground crossword artwork. The One Show gave a very brief glimpse which was very much shorter than we would have liked but (given the short time) they did convey some interesting snippets about our pastime. Well done, those who appeared. DFM
    1. Although disappointed by the length of the item on the One Show I wasn’t surprised. And we have to bear in mind that these little items are not really for our benefit but for the vast majority who have little or no knowledge of the Times crossword (but have probably heard of it). In this respect any publicity at all is to be welcomed.
      I did wonder at Magoo’s time. I suspected that he’d been blindfold for part of it.
      It was also nice to enjoy a classic Joyce Cansfield puzzle today (ref Peter’s comment I think there is a slight difference between attribution of a puzzle on a special occasion, as an off-the-cuff, and a daily “outing”. Whether one agrees with it or not.)
  19. Breast fondling, balls, cocks, get knotted, eff… ooer, vicar. I hoped 15D would turn out to be SPEARMINT to go with RHINO at 24D. Alas, it was not to be.
    1. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to Joyce Cansfield, but have seen her at various championship events. As you’ll gather from the picture here, it’s hard to imagine her as the kind of setter who might enjoy getting this stuff past their editor, but you never know – I’ve learned over the years not to assume that smutty humour is restricted to the young.

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