Times 29017 – One bump or two?

Author   ulacaPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

This was another tricky Monday, I thought. A bit of heretical religious stuff (can you believe people used to live in times where you could be thrown in jail or worse just for disagreeing with the prevailing orthodoxy?), a bit of mountebankery, a bit of literature, a bit of opera…not to mention good old(en?) MIT.

31:07

Across
1 Religious rebel showing a refusal to accept suggestion (8)
ANTIPOPE – TIP in A NOPE (refusal)
5 Papa recalled row about opening of clothes drawer (6)
PENCIL – P (Papa in NATO alphabet) C (opening of Clothes) in LINE reversed
9 Collapse after losing one marathon? (3)
RUN – RUiN
10 Unpleasant odour circulating? Only odour is on the way out (11)
OBSOLESCENT – BO (body odour) reversed SOLE (only) SCENT (odour)
12 A bumpy approach to one’s way of thinking? (10)
PHRENOLOGY – cryptic definition; phooey involving the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. Give me strength…
13 Popular account brought back ancient language (4)
INCA – IN AC reversed; the language also known as Quechua
15 Old man and old woman receiving large then small quantity of blood (6)
PLASMA – L then S in PA and MA; the fluid part of blood, as opposed to the corpuscles
16 Impressive archer getting middle of rings (7)
TELLING – TELL (William) rINGs
18 Composer put out missing opening in capital of Italy (7)
ROSSINI – cROSS (CROSS minus its initial letter, C) IN (from the clue) I (capital letter of Italy); the composer of 16 across, which was his final opera
20 I’m quiet — is he primarily mischievous? (6)
IMPISH – I’M P IS (from the clue again) H (initial letter of He)
23 A, B, C, D, F or G? (4)
NOTE – NOT E among all these other notes
24 Vocalist in boy group’s initial worry (10)
SONGSTRESS – SON G (Group‘s initial letter) STRESS
26 Fail to understand consumerist in action (11)
MISCONSTRUE – anagram* of CONSUMERIST
27 Apostle lacking universal example of friendship (3)
PAL – PAuL
28 One entertaining the mature trifle? Wow! (3,3)
TOY BOY – TOY (trifle, as in ‘Don’t toy/trifle with my emotions!’) BOY (as in ‘Boy/Wow! Is that a crime now too?!’)
29 Mother leading plot in a European novel (4,4)
ADAM BEDE – DAM (mother) BED (plot) in A (from the clue) E (European); George Eliot’s first novel, featuring honest yokels and aristocratic bounders
Down
1 Unexpected power in a classification of wine (6)
ABRUPT – P in A BRUT
2 A lot of birdsong around close part of plant (7)
TENDRIL – END in TRILl
3 Favouring Christian philosopher’s prediction (10)
PROGNOSTIC – PRO GNOSTIC; a Gnostic believed in arcane knowledge revealed only to a select few. I wonder if Keir Starmer would be one…
4 Mean-spirited American blocking medicine, hatred swamping love (13)
PUSILLANIMOUS – US in PILL O in ANIMUS; I had a wretched time assembling this word. I must remember that ‘pusillus’ means ‘very small’ in Latin, thus ‘small-minded.’
6 Simple question to get out of rough? (4)
EASY – quEASY, as in ‘I’m feeling pretty rough/queasy’
7 Islands stocking dyestuff for Indian city (7)
CHENNAI – HENNA in CI (Channel Islands); we will know that the name change has really taken effect when we are offerd ‘Chicken Chennai’ in Indian restaurants.
8 Greatly upset about husband’s aversion to any action? (8)
LETHARGY – H in GREATLY*
11 “Delicately flavoured” identified as description for dips? (5-8)
LIGHT-FINGERED – LIGHT (delicately flavoured) FINGERED (identified – by the police, if/when they’re in solving crime mode); ‘dips’ here are pickpockets
14 Fielders leading colleagues restricting runs in follow-on? (10)
SLIPSTREAM -SLIPS (cricketing fielders) R (runs) in TEAM (colleagues); is ‘follow-on’ accurate? If you slipstream someone, you follow them closely; but ‘follow-on’?
17 Studies I should leave US institute to conduct (8)
TRANSMIT – TRAiNS MIT (good old Massachusetts Institute of Technology, beloved of setters); ‘train’ in its intransitive use, meaning to undergo training, or study
19 Answer fits awkwardly into speech (7)
SATISFY – FITS* in SAY (as in ‘Bruce has had his say, let Caitlyn have hers’); my last in
21 Expensive policy not popular for part of church (7)
STEEPLE – STEEP (expensive) LinE
22 Operatic heroine is historic, not new (6)
ISOLDE – IS OLDEn; the reference is to Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde
25 Prepare celebration for old-fashioned person (4)
DODO – DO (do the vegetables) DO (‘We’re  having a do on the 17th’)

61 comments on “Times 29017 – One bump or two?”

  1. 45 minutes reflects the higher level of difficulty than is usual on a Monday. I worked my way though it slowing to crawl by the time the end was in sight.

    I thought the definition of PAL at 27 was odd and ungainly. So much so that although I had thought of it early on I didn’t write it in until confirmed by checkers.

    A reference to William Tell as an archer came up in a puzzle I blogged a couple of months ago when we established that technically he wasn’t an archer because he used a crossbow. That makes him an ‘arbalist’, ‘arbelist’ ‘arbelister’ or ‘arcubalist’ depending on the source, and probably other variations are available. As ulaca has noted, at 18ac we have ROSSINI who wrote an opera about him that’s most famous for its Overture. Hi-yo, Silver!

    1. Rossini also wrote the execrable ‘Petit Messe Solennelle’, which is not small, and definitely not solemn.

      1. Oh, but it’s fun to sing and doesn’t require an orchestra, requiring an harmonium and a piano, thus much loved of the smaller and more cash-strapped provincial choirs.

    2. Yes, 27 ac was a bit of a travesty. The solution ‘pal’ is an informal noun whereas the defining word in the clue ‘friendship’ is an abstract noun. Ergo, one cannot define the other ‘cos they are different parts of grammar!

  2. 21 minutes with LOI the clever TOY BOY. COD to PHRENOLOGY. I guess the slightly higher religious quotient than normal played to one of my few strengths. I liked this! Thank you Jack and setter..

  3. Solved on paper in an estimated 25 mins.

    I felt I never got to grips with this one, with the longer clues holding me up no end. I spotted PROGNOSTIC early but was unsure until all checkers were in place and I was thankful for the helpful cluing and checkers for PUSILLANIMOUS. The relatively simple ABRUPT and TOY BOY caused me the most issues.

    A very chewy Monday.

    Thanks to both.

  4. 12.13. I had to be careful with the spelling of PUSILLANIMOUS. A fun puzzle that required a little more brain than the typical Monday.

    Thanks both.

  5. Around 75 minutes. I found this quite hard and the SW corner really held me up. FOI INCA LOI DODO. I found TOY BOY hard but extremely easy to parse knowing the answer. Liked OBSOLESCENT since it is unrelated to all the smells. Liked POLLINATOR.
    Thanks to both

  6. As others have said, this was distinctly tougher than your average Monday puzzle. I biffed ROSSINI without parsing its opening 4 letters, and attempted to enter ‘parsimonious’ at 4D. Luckily it wouldn’t fit, as it would have seriously hampered any attempt to solve OBSOLESCENT. I lost time on my LOI, which eventually jumped out and kicked me on the shin.

    Any of you who do my “Weekend QC” on johninterred’s site will have recognised the clue for NOTE.

    FOI ANTIPOPE
    LOI DODO
    COD TOY BOY
    TIME 9:28

  7. 15:11. Held up in the SW corner where I resisted putting in ROSSINI until I eventually saw {c}ROSS. TOY BOY and DODO my last 2 in. I amused to see PHRENOLOGY make an appearance. Has anyone practised this pseudo-science since the 19th century, I wonder? Thanks Ulaca and setter.

  8. DNF, a return to OWL club with ‘toy box’ rather than TOY BOY – I figured out that the definition was ‘one entertaining the mature’ but didn’t think of boy=wow.

    – Don’t know if I’ve come across PROGNOSTIC as a noun before but the cluing helped
    – Didn’t fully parse LIGHT-FINGERED;
    – Wasn’t quite sure how speech=say for SATISFY
    – Had forgotten ADAM BEDE the novel, but the wordplay got me there

    Thanks ulaca and setter.

    COD Pencil

  9. 31.19 with a couple of interruptions. FOI OBSOLESCENT, L PHRENOLOGY. Some great clues here and all up an enjoyable puzzle. Like others I found the left side hardest, especially the SW corner. Thanks Ulaca, let’s see how long it takes for me to forget everything I’ve just learned about crossbows…

    From Highlands:
    She says I know you’re an artist, draw a picture of me.
    I say I would if I could, but I don’t do sketches from memory.

    She says I’m right here in front of you, or haven’t you looked?
    I say All right I know, but I don’t have my drawing book.
    She gives me a napkin, she says You can do it on that.
    I say Yes I could but, I don’t know where my PENCIL is at.

  10. 39m 29s
    As others have said, a tad tougher than the average Monday puzzle.
    Mention of Rossini and opera reminds me of one of my favourite YouTube videos: a flash mob performance by a small group of the aria ‘Largo al Factotum’ from Rossini’s ‘The Barber of Seville’ and performed at Berlin’s Tegel Airport. Great fun!
    Thank you, ulaca. I didn’t know ‘quechua’ was/is a language. I have some tops bought at the French outdoor chain, Decathlon, which are branded Quechua.

  12. Solo? Hobo? Yoyo? Mono? Ah, DODO. Stumped for ages. Hats off to setter. I liked ‘not E’ though it didn’t detain long, nice clue in the ‘largesse’ mould (the clue was S? if I remember rightly). 42 mins, slow and steady. Thanks blogger.

    Leigh Hunt and his friends got merry one day in a tavern at the height of the phrenology craze, and tormented a poor man having a quiet pint who they thought had an interesting shaped skull. Hunt kept going back to him saying “Oh do let me feel his bumps”. Obviously wasn’t a rough pub or I don’t think Hunt would have left undamaged…

  13. 17.10, which I count as medium, and in this case rather fun. I even liked the CD for the pseudo science, exercised in a more violent way by di Caprio’s villainous character in Django. And it’s always nice to have a “perfect ” anagram for such as MISCONSTRUE. And to have a quirky NOT-E.
    Now, about those slightly naughty questions in Ulaca’s excellent and entertaining blog:
    In the prologue: no imagination needed, coming to an America near you…
    On TOY BOY: Currently it’s a crime if you’re his teacher.
    On Kier Starmer as GNOSTIC: first you have some arcane ideas.

  14. 19:35

    I enjoyed this – some tricky clues particularly the south west where TOY BOY and DODO held me up for some time. “An example of friendship” seems weak for PAL.

    COD was PHRENOLOGY. On a bookshelf I have an ancient copy of “Heads and How to Read them: A Popular Guide to Phrenology”” by Stackpool E. O’Dell. I’ve not read it but chapter headings include “How to choose servants” and “Men Women should not marry”. This would seem to advocate bump-feeling as part of both recruitment and courtship. Oddly, neither seems to have caught on.

    Thanks to Ulaca and the setter

  15. I was pleased to finish in 29:25
    I was left with 1dn, 12ac and 7dn and feeling a bit despairing, then for 7dn I thought of Henna and realised Chennai rang a bell, that gave me motivation to keep going… Then I remembered the Sherlock Holmes story where somebody is admiring his skull and that got me to Phrenology. Finally I got the LOI ABRUPT and realised (I‘m not a wine expert!) of course, Brut.
    Tricky and a little stressy but in the end enjoyable puzzle
    Thanks setter and blogger
    Steve

  16. 45′ and all parsed which is unusual for me (albeit some of the parsing was post-biff). Liked the bumpy head and the miser but probably ANTIPOPE takes the prize for me. As for Gnostic, I think Ms Truss is a better fit for that description… Thanks Ulaca and setter.

  17. I found this tough taking just over the hour. LOI TOY BOY once TRANSMIT came to life.

    I liked the notes & LIGHT FINGERED. Not sure about ABRUPT for unexpected, but hey.

    Thanks U and setter.

  19. 10:38. Moderate difficulty, no major hold-ups.
    These days you can’t even disagree with the prevailing orthodoxy while committing violent crime or they put you back in prison. It’s political correctness gone mad I tell you.

  20. 1a Anti-what? took an age until “Nope” came to me.
    16a ????ing; had the setter hinted at CROSSbows it would have been a write in.
    POI 7d Chennai; I now know how to spell it. Reminds me of the skipper/navigator who couldn’t tell his Madras from his Elba.
    Had always assumed a Gnostic was the opposite of an agnostic; how wrong I was.
    COD 26a ToyBoy.

  22. 32.24. Rather a lot of looseness in this puzzle I thought. I hampered myself by confidently entering ‘Tartini’ at 18a: a good answer until it didn’t fit the crossers.

  23. RUN went in first, followed by TENDRIL. ANTIP was next, but OPE didn’t arrive until much later when PUSILLANIMOUS invoked the Doh! moment. The NE gave some easy pickings, although EASY didn’t go in until (qu)EASY presented itself. SONGSTRESS and LIGHT FINGERED provided plenty of help with the rest of the grid. The SW and NW held out longest, with ABRUPT eventually yielding and confirming the bumpy technique. Then TRANSMIT, TOY BOY and DODO rounded off the proceedings. 20:55. Thanks setter and U.

  24. Yep, a touch trickier than normal for the time of week.

    Worked through it all smartly enough, with only ROSS from ROSSINI being unparsed. LOI was PENCIL. However, all for naught, as the curse of the fat finger made me enter PUSILLANINOUS.

    17:32 but..

  25. 12:44

    I agree that this was a little trickier than a “normal” Monday, notwithstanding a sub-100 personal NITCH.

    Pusillanimous known thanks to The Rutles’ Another Day

    You’re so pusillanimous, oh yeah
    Nature’s calling, and I must go there

  26. I had some trouble with 11dn since I never twigged the dips. Once I submitted a clue for NOTE using the not-E idea to a crossword editor, who rejected it, saying that it was an absolute chestnut. He was right. 36 minutes, on a crossword that was a bit chewy (is that a chestnut, a cliché, or just a word?) for a Monday.

  27. I must have been slap bang on the wavelength of the setter, since I was done and dusted in 6:13 with everything understood. Liked TOY BOY and ANTIPOPE.

  28. Agree this was a bit more challenging than the usual Monday offering. All done in 28 minutes, much of it spent trying to unravel the SW corner. For a change most of the three- and four-letter words did not cause a major hold-up, other than DODO.
    FOI – RUN
    LOI – TELLING
    COD – ISOLDE.
    Thanks to ulaca and other contributors.

  29. Not convinced this was trickier than a usual Monday, polished off in 14 minutes. The long ones and clues around the edge went in quickly, which helped that. Putting a H between the P and R of 12a held me for a minute or two at the end.
    It’s still Chicken Madras at our Indian.

  30. 28.35

    Also struggled a fair amount but got there in the end. Tried to make something of taking the I out of MIT before seeing the obvious and that pretty much summed up my effort. Will blame it on a very hectic weekend

    Thanks Ulaca and setter

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