Times 29065 – Back to basics

82 comments on “Times 29065 – Back to basics”

1. Wow, first in today. Very gentle start to the week, a top ten easily.

   Really liked SPRINGFIELD. I heard what is possibly a myth that every US state has a Springfield – and it’s the state capital of Illinois (so why Massachusetts?).

   7’55”, thanks ulaca and setter.

   1. Like you the Illinois version would have seemed likelier but maybe the setter thought the audience were Simpsons fans.

   2. Not so; Connecticut does not. I believe there are about 35 or so.

      1. Apparently it used to be in Connecticut! Until 1638 …

   3. Maybe Springfield, MA is better-known? It’s where my dad’s family is from, though, and I’ve never lived in the US, so perhaps I’m biased.

      If Brenk1 is suggesting that the MA version is the Simpsons one, then this can’t be true as they famously keep it unspecified (or at least had done until the show went down the drain some 20+ years ago; don’t know about since then).

      1. I wasn’t meaning to suggest that. I thought, mistakenly as I have now discovered, that the Illinois version was the location was the home of the Simpsons. I will now adjourn to a dark room….

   4. The Massachusetts Springfield was apparently the first, which gives it some claim to selection here.

2. A surprising p.b. for me, coming in at a smidge under 12 minutes, all parsed.

   Then, of course, with a full cup of tea on hand and plenty of time left in my morning, I decided to take on the QC, and managed stuff up an earlier correct answer by overtyping a wrong answer without noticing, finishing with two errors. That’s overconfidence for you…

   1. Congrats!

      1. Thanks! It’s always nice to see my p.b. go down (though I hate to think what my *average* time looks like!)

3. O Rose thou art sick.
   The invisible worm,
   That flies in the night
   In the howling storm …
   (The Sick Rose, William Blake)

   15 mins pre-brekker. Very gentle. I don’t think the off-putting quite works, but it didn’t putt me off.
   Ta setter and U.

4. 29 minutes. I too have doubts about OFF-PUTTING.

   Last week we had a Belgian town I never heard of and today there’s an unknown Swiss one despite having travelled in both countries.

5. 25 mins so no probs today. As I will be off putting tomorrow I suppose it works, just.

   Argumentation looks like an odd word too, but, hey, the anag left no doubt.

   All quite enjoyable really.

   Thanks U and setter.

6. 12.49

   Slightly breezeblocked at the end on _E_N being only able to think of lean, whilst I totally misunderstood the parsing for the dog (obvs thinking the initial was the b) but fortunately knew the breed (from these things).

   All correct though which makes a pleasant change

   1. There are 2 dogs, 4d & 23d. The _E_N looks like 17a.

7. 8.25, for a gentle start to the week.

   Thanks both.

8. Should have been a personal best of under 30 minutes but for two reading errors. I wasted time trying to fit 19D clue into 15D space. Worse however was putting wrong solution in 8A. I saw the first crosser was wrong when filling in SPRINGFIELD. However I forgot the other crosser was wrong and spent ages trying to solve 2D with crossers U_E_A. FOI ADA LOI CRIB Time around 45 minutes. Parsed all except one BASENJI where I read “bed originally” instead of “originally inapt”.
   Thanks U.

9. 18:05. Wow. My third fastest time.
   FOI 1dn Dusty SPRINGFIELD, who comes to my mind much more readily than, say, SZA (who featured in a recent QC). LOI CREDENTIAL, which took a while to emerge from the anagrist.
   I liked CORGI for the wrong-footing “king’s dog” (if you fail to lift and separate) or did he inherit them…?

   1. you may not read this but no the king did not inherit the queen’s corgis… Sarah Ferguson (fergie) sometime wife of prince Andrew took them on…

      1. Thank you. I didn’t know that, and I do like a happy ending. Good for her

10. 11.52, my fastest for a while so it must have been an old style Monday. Greater challenges to come no doubt.

11. 6:06. Yes, this was pretty easy. Sign me up for the 13ac doesn’t really work club.

    1. I think it’s a PUTT in the OFFING, which is actually pretty good.

       1. Yes, that’ll be it.

       2. Ah yes. Too clever for me!

       3. What can a mere mortal add?

       4. Thank you – this turns a ‘shrug’ into a jolly good clue.

          13:01, which is lightning for me. Thoroughly enjoyable crossword.

12. 15:50, very gentle puzzle
    Thanks setter and blogger

13. 25:51, very fast for me

    Saw that SPRINGFIELD fitted but didn’t see the Dusty connection until later, thrown a bit by Massachusetts.

    NHO SION. or BASENJI, which looked like a really unlikely set of letters

    FOI SQUARE BASHING, LOI ATROCITY

    COD LANCASTRIAN

14. 19.58 for me which must be right up there with best efforts so definitely a gentle one.

    LOI: SHREW which quickly became apparent once I had solved SQUARE BASHING

    COD: quite liked JANITORIAL

15. 9.00
    Nice gentle start to the week.
    “I am his highness’s dog at Kew
    Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?”
    LOI NHO BASENJI
    COD SPRINGFIELD

16. 10:50
    Biffed SPRINGFIELD from the S and F, no idea why dusty until I finally thought, Oh, Dusty! Irritating memory lapse when I couldn’t think of Stormont, failing to get away from Phoenix. Getting all three checkers helped. Guerrillas aren’t the same as terrorists.

    1. I am a freedom fighter, you are a guerrilla, he is a terrorist.

17. 8:25 today, which earns it a spot on my Greatest Hits album I think.

    Hesitated at the end over BASENJI. I wasn’t totally confident about the spelling and thought that “bed initially” was B which left me trying to account for ASEI = inapt. Eventually bunged it in and parsed it later.

    Sterling effort from the blogger today, a typically gritty into-the-wind spell. Old school.

18. Yes, not hard. I had to biff basenji, as I couldn’t see the parsing and wasted time trying to use an anagram of inapt. I too had never heard of the Swiss city.

    Time: 19:22

19. Credit due to galspray for his excellent parsing of 13 ac.

    1. Credit goes to the setter four legger, if only we knew who it was…?

20. About 10 minutes. Took a while to remember BASENJI and needed the checkers to get the obvious-in-retrospect STORMONT, but no other issues.

    Thanks ulaca and setter.

    FOI Gel
    LOI Atrocity
    COD Springfield

21. 9:55. A gentle start to the week, indeed. I wouldn’t know a basenji if I saw one but they seem plentiful in crosswordland. Thanks U and setter.

22. 15:37

    Very straightforward. Only INVASION gave me pause as I’d never hear of the Swiss town. I too was left with ASEI for inapt but I’d heard of the dog . I know my Homer so SPRINGFIELD was easy.

    Thanks to ulaca and the setter

23. I’ve been doing the full cryptics for nearly a year and this was a pleasant confirmation of the value of experience, specifically with regard to SQUARE-BASHING and BASENJI. I remember both coming up in previous months and wondering how on earth I’d ever be able to guess such odd words. This time, straight in. I agree that if galspray’s parsing of OFF-PUTTING is correct, then it’s fantastic.

24. 9.20 First time under 10 minutes for me.

25. 27:30. No particular issues and everything parsed under 30 mins which is a good result for me. My reading of 13ac was in line with galspray’s. Had to dredge up BASENJI from memory – had seen it before in cryptics so couldn’t claim a NHO…

    MER as to why we should have heard of Springfield in context of Massachusetts. Should have got there much more quickly with ‘Dusty’ though.

    Thanks u and setter!

26. As is so often the case, I’d only heard of Sion because their football team have played in the Europa League from time to time, while the non-barking dog was a write in. Otherwise this was as Mondayish as we have a right to expect.

    FOI ABSTRUSELY
    LOI ATROCITY *
    COD OFF-PUTTING **
    TIME 7:23

    * A friend of mine had an extremely tatty and unreliable Austin Metro City, from which he removed the “me” on the rear and stuck on an “a” in its place.

    ** I only saw just how clever this was during my post solve review – COD was going to be JANITORIAL until the pdm.

27. Just snuck into my top 10. Would have been much quicker if I’d heard of Sion.

    COD to OFF PUTTING, though I didn’t really get it while solving. LOI INVASION.

    9:29

28. Another who didn’t know Sion, so INVASION was LOI. SQUARE BASHING started the proceedings. Failed to see the brilliance of OFF-PUTTING. Nice one Galspray! Managed to parse BASENJI. 12:26. Thanks setter and U.

29. 18:50

    FOI WARBLE. Although it was relatively gentle I thought it was classy, with some great clues, not a chestnut fest gentle. Would have been quicker but for looking at ATROCITY and LOI INVASION the wrong way round for a few minutes.

    Thanks Ulaca and setter.

30. 4:05 According to the SNITCH that was my second fastest time ever. Lots of biffing went on. The golf clue was masterful. I think I must have read (in my youth) too many conspiracy theories about the Priory of Sion, so that went straight in, and basenjis are common currency in crossword-land. A very pleasant Monday morning stroll down the fairway, and COD to OFF-PUTTING.

    1. Your mention of the Priory of Sion (though not the Swiss version) prompted a quick search of the subject. Wiki’s version of this astonishing hoax which has become central to conspiracy theories make compelling reading. Mind you, we all know that Wiki is controlled by the Anunnaki and the lizards to distract attention from their plans for world domination.

       1. I hope you had an interesting trip down that rabbit hole. When I was much younger I must confess to devouring all the Graham Hancock (Nutter in Chief) books. If you take a closer look you’ll find out that the Sion is indeed (at least the modern version) the Swiss one! Pierre Plantard (Chief Hoaxer) himself came from those parts if I’m not mistaken.

31. An uneventful solve until I got to the last two. JANITORIAL required an alphabet trawl for the girl, though the second part went straight in. My LOI, ATROCITY, I can’t really explain. I just couldn’t see it – a combination perhaps of thinking, aha, ‘wicked’ is candle and a brain freeze for the ‘historical war site’, as I was convinced it would be one from fairly recent history rather than ancient. I’m not very good at seeing alternate letters and fitting in the obvious answer either! Still, I completed without aids, though never parsed the mysterious SPRINGFIELD – d’oh!, as Homer might have said.

32. How does the wordplay in 7 work? On getting a rise = on getting a leg up?

    1. On means leg side in cricket. LEG is reversed.

       1. Thank you!

33. Nice gentle Monday fare, all done in 19 minutes. No doubt greater challenges await us later in the week.
    FOI – WARBLE
    LOI – ATROCITY
    COD – GEL
    Thanks to ulaca and other contributors.

34. Did this so long ago I can’t remember much. 22.57.

    From High Water Rising (For Charley Patton):
    The cuckoo is a pretty bird, she WARBLEs as she flies
    I’m preaching the word of God, I’m putting out your eyes

35. 18 mins. A MER about the I in JANITORIAL resolved by coming here. Btw very much enjoyed some of Dean’s clues yesterday, one in particular….

    1. Yes. I think it’s an even direr homophone than the blogger suggests.
       It’s ‘ Jan-at-Oriel’, which some would say (incorrectly) is how ‘janitorial’ is pronounced.

36. Strangely, OFF-PUTTING was my FOI and I saw how it worked and liked it. When we started to put the clue in the blog I was rather against it. Not now. I can’t be bothered to go across the room and start up my tablet and bring up the crossword so that I can see the clue. When remote controls on the TV came in I was similarly against them, but not now. All very easy (although I had to take Sion on trust). 19 minutes.

37. Failed with my LOI LEEN! Nobody else seems to have been troubled by _E_N so it’s just me.
    FOI SQUARE BASHING
    COD SPRINGFIELD

    1. Not just you, I was also flummoxed and couldn’t get the idea that in ‘lean times’ the fields are unproductive out of my head. A DNF but could’ve been a PB if not for that!

38. All correct, but had to look up “bull” for synonyms (lots for such a short word).
    Nice puzzle.

39. Quick today, and how nice to see Dusty put in an appearance, one of our most underrated female vocalists ever. I had a PDM many years ago when I watched a Motown Special she hosted on TV and thought, hang on, she was easily the best thing on it!

40. 16 mins – with SPRINGFIELD and CRIB providing the obligatory hold-up. OFF-PUTTING went in without parsing and therefore appreciating how good a clue it is. Thanks for the explanation.

41. Pretty much a top to bottom solve.
    10a Invasion NHO the Swiss town (AFAIK). On second thoughts the photo in Wiki looks familiar, so just forgot.
    13a Off-put. Putt me down for a “fine by me”. Oh; just seen the PUTT in OFFING above, so the clue is better than I am!

42. Easy like a Monday morning (no time though, looking after granddaughters, so had a number of quick visits…
    I can’t remember there being “inset” days when I was at school). Anyways, good clueing, esp now OFF-PUTTING has been explained. Spent some time thinking “Swiss Town” was a definition until the pieces fell into place (my lot played Sion some years ago). Wiki tells me there are 67 inhabited “Springfields” in the US, though there are many more Fairviews it seems. Thanks Ulaca and setter.

43. 10:59.

    I wanted to put SCRUM as the answer to 21 down but I couldn’t convince myself there was a Scrotum Castle in Ulster.

    COD: OFF-PUTTING

    1. Even if there were, they’d be bound to pronounce it in a weird way, ‘Shroom’, or something.

    2. If there isn’t, there jolly well should be..

44. 13.46 DNF with two hasty errors. I misspelled the dog as basanji and biffed educes for EDICTS. INVASION was LOI. I have heard of the Priory of Sion mentioned above but not the unrelated Swiss town. Thanks ulaca.

45. A fairly pedestrian 33:49 for me. I may have put myself under pressure having seen the low SNITCH Rating! I was slow to get started but sped up towards the end. I took an age to decipher most of the longer anagrams.

46. 25 minutes so pretty fast for me.
    Initially entered Janatorial until 14dn made clear it was an I, not an A.
    Good puzzle.

47. Just missed having a sub-10 in an afternoon solve. I can’t add to the OFF-PUTTING applause because I just didn’t see it, solving from the definition and the evident golf allusion. SION remembered from a long ago Mephisto, I think, though it’s impossible to confirm with the search facility.
    Did anyone else feel slightly disconcerted by the singular CREDENTIAL?

    1. I think most of the OFF-PUTTING applause has come from people who didn’t see it while solving, in fairness – although I’m less enamoured!

48. Just back from seeing my son and family in Switzerland. Saw no Basenji in Sion but worked it out from the clue which is good as it was my best ever 19 mins and a bit.

49. 22:06 very fast for me.
    NHO of Sion in Switzerland, but had to be.
    LOI GEL, since I forgot to think about cricket terms.

    Thanks Ulaca and setter

50. I think it’s Jan at Oriel that is picked up…

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