Times Cryptic 28981

73 comments on “Times Cryptic 28981”

1. 25 minutes. I was on target for a PB of 15 minutes today which would have included marking up my printout as I solved as I always do as if I was going on to prepare a blog. But it was not to be because 17dn came as a sting in the tail – a word I never heard of. Even when I eventually deduced it from wordplay I thought it looked somewhat doubtful so that when I checked it I was quite surprised to find it in the dictionary.

   APPANAGE (not recognised by my spell-checker) has appeared only once before in the whole TfTT era and that was in a Mephisto puzzle 4 years ago when it was defined as ‘perk’ short for ‘perquisite’. At least that was a direct definition whereas today’s ‘no new benefit’ seems somewhat oblique to me.

   Anyone with time on their hands after this easy puzzle (the above word aside) and an easy QC might like to give Saturday’s Jumbo a try as it’s quite approachable.

   1. Thanks for the heads up on the STCJ Jack. I was travelling over the weekend so didn’t do it. I just have and it was very enjoyable, bar the two words I didn’t know. You know the ones! 43d was brilliant.

   2. Not sure if I’m being a bit dense, but I can’t see Saturday’s Jumbo. Not on the app, anyway.

      1. Here’s the link to it.
         https://www.thetimes.com/puzzleclub/crosswordclub/puzzles/crossword/47549

         Can’t help with the app, I’m afraid, as I never use it.

2. 7.35
   Had to guess LOI APPANAGE, but the friendly wordplay meant it didn’t cause much delay.
   PRESBYTERians had me thinking of Britney Spears, T REX of Steve Peregrine Took (today being the 70th anniversary of publication of the first Lord of the Rings book, I happen to know).
   COD INSOBRIETY

3. 13 minutes with LOI the unknown but hastily constructed APPANAGE. I can’t write much faster. Everything else was known and brought to mind readily. COD to OPPROBRIUM. Enjoyable while it lasted. Thank you Kitty and setter.

4. Easy, except for APPANAGE that was my LOI (probably most people’s) and where I spent a lot of time trying to get an N out of something before just ignoring that bit of the clue and crossing my fingers.

5. I took 10 minutes and 5 seconds last night, and was really annoyed with myself for not waiting until this morning, when I would have been fresh and maybe beaten 10 minutes for the first time ever. Still, it’s my fastest time ever on a regular puzzle, by over a minute, and gives me hope that one day I’ll beat the 10 minute mark…
   Thanks setter and blogger

6. 16:09, with the rather unlikely-looking APPANAGE holding me up for a few minutes at the end. I couldn’t make a great deal of sense of the definition either, and like Paul above I was trying to make a replacement work. Still not convinced by ‘no new’ for an archaic indicator, but never mind.

   Thanks both.

   1. I’m also not convinced that ‘no new’ is indicating an archaic term. My reading was that the benefit referred to is historical, i.e. a perk of a job, rank or status that was established in the past and is automatically passed on to subsequent holders of the position.

      1. Ah, that would make more sense, thanks.

7. After the pre-publicity about this one on the QC blog I was relieved to find it as easy as everyone was saying, my 13.52 being a few seconds outside my PB (and a few seconds outside my time for today’s quickie). Same same re APPANAGE. For those of us who have done these for a while words like DIDO, RANI and LING for heather come easily, but I remember a time when they would have left me in DNF territory.

   From Hurricane:
   All of Rubin’s cards were marked IN ADVANCE
   The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance
   The judge made Rubin’s witnesses drunkards from the slums
   To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum
   And to the black folks (might leave it there…)

8. Bunged in Appalage thinking a long time would be a + l + time. Rest of it was pretty enjoyable though.
   Thanks Kitty and setter.

   1. Yes. I solve on paper and the quick cryptic was on top of the stack when I commented. Must be more careful about that. Thanks

   2. Me too 😞

9. 7’21”, all-time PB.

   Liked OPPROBRIUM. Nho APPANAGE, or indeed royal ICING.

   Thanks Kitty and setter.

10. 11:29
    That just about sneaks in as my fastest recorded time.

    As above, my only unknown was APPANAGE but as I couldn’t think of another word that fitted I just trusted the wordplay.

    A mild start to the week but I am far from complaining.

    Thanks to both.

11. Very quick today. Nho appanage, but I did know pannage, the right to graze pigs in a forest.. used to happen a lot hereabouts, in times gone by, and I believe still is done in the Ashdown forest. So only a hop to appanage.

12. 9:42, under 10′ for the first time in ages; faster than the Quickie. I ‘knew’ APPANAGE, i.e. knew it was a word, so it didn’t hold me up. NHO royal ICING, but no matter. TOT & T REX Quickie material. Liked OPPROBRIUM..

13. 18:01 (1 error)

    FOI: OPTIC
    LOI: RANI

    As with others, I rattled through this and only slowed with APPANAGE, but somehow managed to botch up 4D. Thank you, Kitty and the setter.

14. Yup, another PB here at 18 mins. And, another NHO APPANAGE, but worked out from wp.

    Generally good fun, I liked GIN PALACE.

    Thanks kitty and setter.

15. 15 minutes, as I decided to take a punt on APPANAGE being a word rather than spend more time thinking about it. Not a PB, sadly, but only a minute or two off, think.

    Maybe I’d’ve been quicker without the cold; as it is I’ve got to find something else to do while I finish my Lemsip…

16. 62 seconds faster than the QC! A proper Monday puzzle, though I knew my LOI was a word without knowing what it meant.

    FOI OPTIC
    LOI APPANAGE
    COD AWAY IN A MANGER
    TIME 5:59

17. 13 minutes to get everything apart from APPANAGE, then about that same time again before I finally put it in with fingers crossed.

    I started to put ‘timer’ for 5d before I realised the clue might work the other way around, confirmed by getting OVERAMBITIOUS; I initially put ‘inapparent’ before OPPROBRIUM made me correct it to UNAPPARENT; and I didn’t know royal icing so ICING went in with a shrug.

    Thanks Kitty and setter.

    FOI Rally
    LOI Appanage
    COD Nil

18. 8:06. Slow to start but the down answers flew in when I got to them. Held up trying to justify ICING never having heard of royal ICING and the same unknown as everyone else – APPANAGE, where I eventually gave in trying to find a word I knew and trusted to the wordplay. Thanks Kitty and setter.

19. 7:10 – a PB here as well, by more than 2 minutes. Also NHO APPANAGE but the wordplay seemed kind. And STAGNATION has to be my favourite clue in months. Thanks Kitty, and a huge thank you to setter for a lovely puzzle!

20. 22 minutes. APPANAGE! Frustration comes with the territory for the much put upon cryptic solver, but I wouldn’t call it a perk myself. An enjoyable and otherwise very gentle start to the week.

    Thanks to Kitty and setter

21. A PB here too- about 11 minutes so pleased that appanage was the required word. LOI was DIDO even though I have seen that clue before.
    Thanks to setter and blogger.

22. Another one thrown by APPANAGE. In my case, because I saw that it would fit, but was only familiar with it from medieval history, in the first sense given by Chambers: ‘a provision for maintenance, esp. of a king’s younger child’. I had not come across it in the broader sense of a benefit, so was slightly confused.

23. Under 10, but a few held me up, especially the NHO APPANAGE, where I was rather expecting a pink square or two.

    9:50

24. 11 mins, APPANAGE seemed rather out of place in such a quickie style crossword, but I’ve even seen NHO’s in the quickie occasionally.

25. Under 30 minute. Lots of easy clues. IVY LEAGUE and STAGNATION were write-ins NHO APPANAGE but word play solves it.

26. A rare foray into the 15×15, flagged by numerous comments on the Quickie blog, led me to a PB at 15 minutes. As it happens I had heard of everyone else’s nemesis at 17D, and that apart many of the clues were definitely close to QC territory.

    Thank you Kitty for the blog
    Cedric

27. 11:55
    Like many others this would have been a PB if it hadn’t been for APPANAGE. Had never hear of Royal ICING probably becase I can’t stand the stuff. I liked the combination of INSOBRIETY and GIN PALACE, and with TOT and OPTIC there is almost a theme.

    Thanks to Kitty and the setter

28. I thought I had heard of Apanage, but the double p was a surprise. It is a verb as well but I didn’t bother to put the verb endings into Cheating Machine, but did add the double pp noun.
    Can’t spell 4d Presbyter, but there’s only 1 home for the y so easy enough.
    Mum used to cook with 8d Trex… I wonder if it still exists?

    1. I used to bake using Trex when I was a youngster.

       1. Mrs W still does. She is not one for new-fangled ideas ..

    2. It was made by Bibby’s in Liverpool back in 1964. I spent the six months before going up to Oxford working there in their research facility, mainly pushing hundredweight drums of vegetable or animal fat up and down the Dock Road. The girls on the lard plant gave this fresh-faced kid a hard time! Marie McKevitt, if by some freak you read this, that’s you! Trex is still available apparently, made by Princes Foods in Liverpool.

29. Maybe I’ve earned my first appearance here by solving all but two, a PB by far? Thanks to those in the QC who advertised the approachability of this one. So: failed NAIVE (knuckle rapped), and NHO APPANAGE (no chance there). NHO royal ICING (what’s that?) but it had to be. Thanks to Kitty and to friendly setter who made a Good Start to the Day.
    May I add this? It did occur to me that “programme” might refer to a computer program, but I discarded it due to the final -me. So can APP be clued by either program or programme?

    1. The original word is ‘programme’, but creeping Americanism makes ‘program’ more widely known.

       1. Thank you! That’s interesting: I thought that here in the UK it was always a concert programme but a computer program. Are others agreed that a computer programme is also sometimes found? I’ve never seen it.

          1. The OED says ‘now usually in form program’, and the only citation using the -mme spelling is from 1971, which suggests that this setter is just a bit behind the times!

          2. I started computer programming in the UK as (what turned out to be) a career in 1977, and it’s always been ‘program’

             While I’m here: I enjoyed this one, even though it was relatively easy. I don’t keep a record of my completion times, but today’s 12:05 must be one of my fastest, fwiw.

    2. Yes, the dictionaries refer to an alterative spelling with extra ‘me’ for a set of coded software instructions as a secondary meaning, so can have either.

30. 22:19
    I was on target for a PB, then like many of you, got breezeblocked by 17d. I had not helped myself by mistyping ALOAH for ALOHA. Eventually, when stumped by 17d I checked all the crossing words, found my mistake, then spotted APPANAGE, which I knew in its Medieval history sense.

    Thanks Kitty and setter

31. No problems. Quick time. At least the only unknown could be constructed without too much sweat.

32. 23:54 pretty quick for me. I saw APPANAGE fairly early on but didn’t commit until I had to (and agree with others that the ‘no new’ indicator is a bit oblique). Otherwise enjoyable puzzle. LOI PETROLEUM. COD STAGNATION (perhaps a bit of a chestnut?)

33. A new PB of 14:35 with a hopeful LOI of APPANAGE.
    Was the feeling the pressure after reading the QC comments prior to solving as the regulars suggested this was easier than most.
    I felt rather like I did when I improved at skiing. As a skiing novice, most of the day is spent picking yourself from a fall and putting your skis back on. As an experienced skier, most of the day is spent queuing or on a chairlift with very little time needed to go down the slopes.
    Today, I somewhat missed that wonderful crossword moment when having stared at a clue for ages, the penny finally drops and you realise you are looking at the clue the wrong way round.
    Nonetheless, I will spend the rest of day enjoying my PB as much as the first time I made it down to the bottom of a black run with both skis still attached!

34. 6:52. Another breezeblock here, with a good minute or two fretting over APPANAGE at the end. Having failed to come up with anything better I crossed my fingers and submitted and the all-green grid was a relief.

35. Error on ‘appanage’. This puzzle seemed to me to have Donnish fingerprints on it.

36. 20 minutes, with — as one would expect from the SNITCH — no problems. Like some others I’d never heard of royal ICING, and APPANAGE was vaguely at the back of my mind as a thing so I took it on trust. Now to Google royal icing to find out what on earth it is.

37. 16:30

    Thanks Kitty and setter.

38. DNF – I plumped, uniquely it seems and after a suitable period of dithering, for APPALAGE, the correct answer being one to file away and forget

39. Seeing how easy this was supposed to be, I started off very slowly, having a hard time getting a foothold. Stagnation, unapparent, and Away in a Manger finally sent me on my way.

    I did solve Mephisto 3137 in which appanage appears, but I seldom remember Mephisto words unless they appear several times. However, it did seem vaguely familiar, and the cryptic is quite simple.

    Time: 15 minutes

40. 10:21

    Fast solve somewhat spoiled by the inclusion of a word that no one appears to have heard of – almost as if the setter had thought, “Oh dear, I’ve left myself with _P_A_A_E to clue” – it appears that there are no other English words that fit that combination. I’ll be honest, I looked it up once I’d pencilled it in, as the disappointment of an unknown word spoiling a fast time would have been too much.

    Thanks Kitty

    1. From Wikipedia:
       “Apparition is a magical form of teleportation, through which a witch or wizard can disappear (“disapparate”) from one location and reappear (“apparate”) in another. It is usually accompanied by a cracking or popping sound, though the more skilled wizards such as Dumbledore can apparate “so suddenly and silently” that they seem to have “popped out of the ground”.”

       .. few muggle dictionaries include the word, though it is in the OED (as a noun)

41. Oddly enough, I wasn’t phased by APPANAGE, even though I hadn’t heard of it, and put it in before all the crossers were there, so it actually helped me to ALOHA and AWAY IN A MANGER. The clueing seemed so straightforward I just went with what was indicated. LOI was INSOBRIETY, once the checkers made the anagram easier.

    1. *fazed
       (sorry, it’s what I do)

       1. Ouch, how did I miss that! It’s usually me correcting spelling, if only mentally!

42. Was going really well (on a phone as well!) with nearly all done at the 20 minute mark. Then got ALPHA/ALOHA, but APPANAGE was well beyond me. An app is a computer program, I don’t buy the discussion above. No-one in IT would ever call it a “programme”, a “computer programme” would be an entire IT strategy, a complete programme. Surely the setter could have just put “program”, the clue is hard enough as it stands!

    I also managed to put PRESBETYR, I knew that I didn’t know which way those last two vowels go, and I don’t know how to spell Presbyterian either.

    COD OPPROBRIUM and CHORAL

43. Drifted across having (eventually) completed Don’s milestone QC to see whether this was as easy as others had said. In parts yes, but with a smattering of memory testers (Paramour, Rani), nho (Presbyter) and dnk (Appanage – the ‘no new’ bit really didn’t help) that kept things interesting. Around 40mins. . . so a PB 😂 Invariant

44. All straightforward apart from the NHO 17d. However, the wordplay seemed solid so in went LOI, APPANAGE. 12:59. Thanks setter and Kitty.

45. Get a radar gun on that blogger! Thanks, kitty. Mostly, I liked Aloha for being able to work in three different setter-like ways to refer to alphabetical letters.

46. 12 and a bit, but done on phone standing in queue at Paris prefecture de police, so not ideal conditions. No one who ever watched the Generation Game will forget the ‘silver salver’ that always came round on the belt.

47. 14.09 PB, w00t! Quicker than the quickie today. APPANAGE was a guess. Thanks Kitty.

48. Gosh – I managed my second ever 15×15! I seldom even look… It did take me nearly an hour and since some contributors suggest they managed it quicker than their QC I expect that will take me into a second Costa later on this afternoon. I printed the QC and see it’s an Izetti, so am expecting hard but very fair!

49. This was very easy indeed but until twenty mins my mind was a blank and only had five in. Then stopped for a coffee and did in twenty six. Of course that option is only available to we old-school paper people.

50. I’m not the first to have tried the 15×15 after reading comments on the QC. Success has given me hope for future attempts, although probably not as readily completed as this!

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