23640 – Keep ireless

Author   dhoggPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Despite some of the tricky clues, this wasn’t overly difficult – once I had some answers in, many of the others jumped out at me and it was a simple matter of checking that the clue fitted in with the appropriate word that came into my head.

My solving time – 9 mins 3 secs.

Across
1 T(ISSUE-P)APER
9 THUMBNAIL
12 T(RIB)UNE
15 RE(P-U)GNANT – U = “privileged”, as in “upper-class”, although I think this probably only aplys in Crosswordland these days?
17 REM(A)INDER – almost always clued in this way, although this was fairly clever – a question mark at the end, maybe?
19 BACON – as in Francis Bacon (1910-1992), Irish-born painter with a distinctive style
20 O(BSc-E)NE
22 BUFFALO – a city in New York state
24 TRIPE – the definition is “load of rubbish” and as some misguided Englishmen eat tripe, “swallowed” is just about OK as a secondary indication, especially with the question mark at the end
25 PULMONARY – (your n(ew) lamp)* – “lights” is another word for “lungs” especially those of farm animals.
28 SILICON CHIP – (I pinch coils)*
 
Down
3 (c)UMBRIAN – as in a native of Umbria, a region of central Italy
4 PLASTERED – double definition, ceilings may be plastered and “under the table” and PLASTERED both mean drunk
5 (<=TO LIP)
6 READING – where Wilde wrote “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”, “penned” doing double duty as an adjective (kind of) meaning jailed and as a verb meaning “wrote”
7 FORMULAIC – (of rum)*-LAIC
8 R(e)AL-LENT-AND-0 – musical term for “slowing”
11 P(A-TERN)OSTER
16 P(ARAB)OLIC(e)
18 (w)IRELESS – I can only find one online dictionary where IRELESS appears (Random House Unabridged on dictionary.com)
19 BUFFOON – (<=O-OFF) in BUN
26 YAP – an indirect cryptic – “give me the money” = “pay up” = YAP

15 comments on “23640 – Keep ireless”

  1. 8:15 here – also kicked my self over REMA(IN)NDER. (w)IRELESS and YAP = “pay up” were my last two – playing safe and making sure it couldn’t be “yip”. I still struggle a bit with indirect clues like this.
  2. 9 minutes for me on this one, of which I spent at least 2 trying to recall people who might have broadcast things in Greek mythology for 18D (was it IRENEUS or someone who broadcast those dragons’ teeth, I was wondering?) I may have had an edge on PATERNOSTER, with which I am familiar given that I often sing at St. Paul’s Cathedral next to Paternoster square (apparently the streets nearby are named after where the priests had got to in some prayer they used to chant in procession). Irrelevantly, I wonder whether people know the London Underground version of this prayer: Our Father, which art in Hendon, thy Kingston come, thy Wimbledon… This crossword seemed a bit workaday to me – although the REM(A)INDER chestnut was well concealed and it took me a while to see it. Jason J
    1. Unless it’s a recent addition, it’s not in Collins or Concise Oxford, the usual reference dictionaries, nor Chambers. Perhaps two setters had a bet about who could sneak the first non-legit word past the xwd ed?
      1. I wondered how exactly wireless = broadcaster but I suppose “means of broadcasting” covers both. I think of a wireless as a receiver rather than a broadcaster but I suppose it’s an age thing.
  4. Wasn’t too happy with the SE corner – luckily I don’t know too many words that start with a ‘B’ 🙂

    I hope someone explains these:
    TRIPE – didn’t get the “swallowed load” bit
    PULMONARY – didn’t understand the definition

    Btw, is rotten=OFF (ref. BUFFOON) something beginners like me should make a note of?

  5. A rare sub-15′ for me… though I don’t get the def of PULMONARY as “connected to lights?” (given it’s connected to lungs).
  6. The current Times xwd ed seems reluctant to be tied down to hard and fast rules. I guess the policy is that words like this formed from others plus common prefixes/suffixes to make new words whose meaning is perfectly clear may be allowed even if not in the usual references, as long as the clue makes it clear exactly what the answer is – true in this case unless you’re so 21st-century that ‘wireless’ is only a kind of mouse, keyboard or network.

    The two offal issues are dealt with by David – though I think these days the French probably eat more tripe than the English, and wonder whether David eats Haggis?

    OFF = rotten (as in milk) – yes, well worth noting.

    1. I sure do eat (and love) haggis – no capitalisation required). The “tripe” comment was only a friendly dig!

      If any of you have not tried haggis, you genuinely are missing out on a treat, but given that I couldn’t imagine eating jellied eels or tripe, I can imagine why some people may baulk at eating offal, oatmeal and spices cooked in a sheep’s intestine, although these days you are just as likely to find it in a plastic substitute. The intestine itself is not eaten, of course!

      1. Surely not. If you tried to make haggis with a length of intestine, you would get some sort of sausage. If you are not happy with plastic, it is the sheep’s stomach you should use.
      2. Sorry, didn’t mean to get all liverish over a light-hearted dig in the ribs – I liked haggis too the few times I’ve had it. Ditto ris de veau, and andouilettes before I knew exactly what they were made of. But not jellied eels, tripe, or (when in Iceland once) sheep testicles pickled in whey. All in the mind, I’m sure.
  7. Very slow today (14:16), possibly still recovering from yesterday (and waiting for the other shoe to drop!), but I think this was the sort of puzzle I always find tricky.
  8. Some great vocab today including a Roman soldier and his descendants’ word for slowing down. X “easies” oggi:

    7a Not entirely hard wood (3)
    FIR(m). Entirely softwood really.

    10a Quality attributed to learner of some sense (5)
    AURA L

    11a Loyalist Irishman having boisterous time (7)
    PAT RIOT. Nothing to do with the DUP!

    13a Transport union’s lengthy item (5)
    TRAIN. A sort of DD where the two unions connected to this are the NUR and a wedding.

    27a Dash to work (3)
    RUN

    1d Bird with interchangeable wings (3)
    TIT. Presumably – TIT backwards.

    2d Compact residence occupied (5)
    SQUAT

    14d Notice calling for acceptance (9)
    AD MISSION

    21d Remove old skin, shedding tail (5)
    EX PEL(t)

    23d Shame to have a go (5)
    A BASH

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