Quite mentally tired from working on math homework for several hours, I decided to stream myself solving here (https://www.twitch.tv/plusjeremy) to force myself awake. Just before 29 minutes, I had a guess for the last answer, but it looked absurd. I then proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes trying every other possibility, before finally looking up the answer, only to discover that my first guess was right.
| Across | |
| 1 | Heard private detective cry out for Magnum? (3,5) |
| ICE CREAM – homophone of EYE SCREAM
We have Magnum bars here. Nice surface. |
|
| 5 | Caught tenor playing musical instrument (6) |
| CORNET – anagram of C TENOR | |
| 9 | Crafts turning north, back around port (9) |
| STRANRAER – ARTS reversed + N + REAR reversed
Infuriating. |
|
| 11 | Pupil that displeases me with low grades (5) |
| TUTEE – TUT + E + E | |
| 12 | Crush Charlie and speed inside school (7) |
| SCRUNCH – C + RUN in SCH | |
| 13 | Parts of service briefly show successful periods (7) |
| TEACUPS – TEAC{h} + UPS | |
| 14 | One facilitating temporary connections in current affairs? (9,4) |
| CROCODILE CLIP – cryptic definition
I think we call these alligator clips here. Points to me for getting this despite being an American. |
|
| 16 | Following pressure, virile boy hit out in a forbidding way? (13) |
| PROHIBITIVELY – P + anagram of VIRILE BOY HIT | |
| 20 | Press dismissed resolve (4,3) |
| IRON OUT – IRON + OUT | |
| 21 | Dog wearing smile, not inclined toward being recalled (7) |
| GRIFFON – OFF (not inclined toward) reversed, in GRIN | |
| 23 | Heads off idle remarks about quotes in Arabic dialect (5) |
| IRAQI – first letters of IDLE REMARKS ABOUT QUOTES | |
| 24 | Din, daily one, semi-uncertain (9) |
| CHARIVARI – CHAR + I + VARI{able}
More points. |
|
| 25 | Attempt to keep close in (6) |
| TRENDY – TRY around END | |
| 26 | British, with the exception of Times readers, comment on expulsion? (5,3) |
| BLESS YOU – B + LESS YOU (with the exception of Times readers) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Forcefully demand where publicity should go to expose sadist (6) |
| INSIST – AD goes “in SIST” to make SADIST | |
| 2 | Dropping cover, tearaways blunder (5) |
| ERROR – {t}ERROR{s} (tearaways) | |
| 3 | Meet in Turin on base (3,4) |
| RUN INTO – anagram (base) of TURIN ON | |
| 4 | Article Cambridge’s lead historian possibly carbon dated wrongly (13) |
| ANACHRONISTIC – AN + anagram of C{ambridge} HISTORIAN + C | |
| 6 | Indignation of Republican consumed by loss of power? (7) |
| OUTRAGE – R in OUTAGE | |
| 7 | Innocent outing ruined — this’ll upset everybody, ultimately (3,6) |
| NOT GUILTY – anagram of OUTING + last letters of THIS’LL UPSET EVERYBODY | |
| 8 | Believer in divine wisdom hopes to fake death at the end (8) |
| THEOSOPH – anagram of HOPES TO + {deat}H | |
| 10 | Means to hold up a bank? (9,4) |
| RETAINING WALL – cryptic definition | |
| 14 | Brown bird eating nuts thrown over fence at the back (9) |
| CHOCOLATE – CHAT around LOCO reversed + {fenc}E | |
| 15 | One’s positive Tim’s wearing cycling top (8) |
| OPTIMIST – TIM IS in TOP, with letters cycled | |
| 17 | Setter strove to get hold of gold supplied with teeth (7) |
| IVORIED – I VIED around OR | |
| 18 | Draws forth a lot of criticism about supporting priest (7) |
| ELICITS – STIC{k} reversed under ELI | |
| 19 | Fashionable model joins university, occupying appropriate position (2,4) |
| IN SITU – IN + SIT + U | |
| 22 | Stupid criticism — end of story (5) |
| FLAKY – FLAK + {stor}Y | |
45 minutes. Tricky but by no means as tough as many a Friday so it looks like poor William may cop it again next week!
I took far too long to come up with ICE CREAM although we have Magnum bars here too. I was distracted by thinking the first word was EYE.
At 9 the two independent reversal indicators distracted me too.
We had a discussion about CROCODILE / ALLIGATOR CLIP here re a QC last December.
I accept there is a cryptic reading available at 10dn but the whole clue also stands as a completely straight definition.
I was pleased to write in CHARIVARI with confidence having read no further than only ‘din’ and ‘daily’.
Isn’t that true of pure cryptics generally though? They stand alone as a definition but the setter hopes we’ll be misled into reading them a different way?
If we happen to read the clue “correctly” the first time (which I suspect many will have done in this case) then it tends to fall flat and appear totally non-cryptic.
Yes, I think that’s right. It certainly describes my experience with this clue anyway. My first thought was HA-HA and I just had to think of a synonym for that to fill the space available.
sorry to add this to your comment but I’d just like to say to all yesterday’s commenters about tom being used for a bell that in bell ringing circles great tom or tom is used to describe the biggest bell in the tower. I know this because my dear old mother was as ardent bell ringer and only gave up at 93 because the stairs to the tower were too steep!
Thank you Clare, what a lovely story
Didn’t see how INSIST worked. Still have no idea how ‘current affairs’ works in CROCODILE CLIP.… ah ha! Just realised that they are the clips for temporary electrical connections. I know them as ‘alligator clips’ too. With STRANRAER I just followed the wordplay and moved on, although I don’t know of it I assumed it was in Scotland. Liked RETAINING WALL and COD to IVORIED.
Thanks Jeremy.
38:38
NHO Magnum bars, no idea what was going on with the clue, but ICE CREAM it was. It took me a very long time to recall the CROCODILE of __CLIP (I didn’t know ‘alligator clip’), and another long time to recall STRANRAER, which I came across once, here. Didn’t see how CITS worked. Like Jack, I saw ‘din’ and ‘daily’ and that was enough.
10:45. On the wavelength for the first time in quite a while – my WITCH is 100+ for the past 9 weeks which suggests I’m getting slower! I had a good start when ICE CREAM and INSIST went straight in, soon followed by all the long ones, which I’m usually slower on. I finished off with THEOSOPH where I had struggled to make anything out of the ANAGRIST but with hindsight I should have spotted the prefix THEO earlier.
Fortunately, I had heard of Stranraer – it comes up in some 1930s mystery, maybe The Five Red Herrings? And I remembered the whole thing about alligator and crocodile clips. Ice cream was my LOI, and I biffed it without getting either the literal and the cryptic, realizing much later that it must be eyes scream.
Time: 32:10
You’re right – or at least half-right – about STRANRAER and 1930’s mysteries. As you can see from your comment in the TfTT blog the last time STRANRAER appeared a couple of years ago, as well as “The Five Red Herrings” the other is “Sir John Magill’s Last Journey” by Freeman Wills Crofts; who knows, there could be more.
24.43. Really nice puzzle, and thanks to Jeremy for shedding light on some of the obscurities. INSIST turns out to be a great clue, I had no real idea. Not sure about RETAINING WALL, either it’s not cryptic or I don’t get it (10-1 it’s the latter).
From Forever Young:
May God BLESS and keep YOU always, may your wishes all come true
May you always do for others and let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung
May you stay
Forever young
One of my all-time favourites.
DNF but would have been just over the half hour. went for GRIFF-IN rather than -ON having not parsed it properly. V enjoyable puzzle once on the wavelength.
21:18 (Almost) like Jack and Kevin, I saw “din” and “daily” and immediately thought “bugger, that’s that CHARI…. word I can never remember”.
Combining that with the unknown dog, I was becalmed in the south-east until the penny dropped for FLAKY. After eventually resolving that mess I spent ages muttering about arcane religious rituals until realising we were dealing with a different type of service at 13ac.
Points decision to the setter today, well played. And thanks Jeremy.
37m 06s
Seems our setter had sweet treats on his or her mind: Row 1 and 22d+14d.
Possibly this setter’s 99th puzzle?
😊
Ha ha!!
I’m not sure where I know STRANRAER from—possibly my enjoyment of Scottish crime fiction, possibly just passed a road sign for it on the way to the Islay festival—but I’m certainly glad I did. See also GRIFFON, which I think has come up here in the last year or two, otherwise I might’ve gone with GRIFFIN too.
Can’t quite believe THEOSOPH took me so long given that I’ve been to the Bristol Theosophical Lodge within the last six months; that corner took me the longest. 34 mins all told.
If you saw a roadsign for Stranraer on the way to Islay, I’d suggest you were very much lost.
Here is a giant sign on the M6 North just beside Gretna, featuring Stranraer. This might actually be the sign I was remembering it from: https://maps.app.goo.gl/bxgitLCdVuSN21RA7
Ha! I hadn’t thought about starting in England. (Strictly speaking there would be an exit sign for the A75 at Gretna, but you’d have to start south of the border to see it.)
12.57, without parsing INSIST. I needed all the crossers and a bit of thought for RETAINING WALL, which makes sense but I’d not heard of. At least it wasn’t the alternative, REVETMENT!
STRANRAER probably familiar to Brits but yes, it does look unlikely.
Thanks both.
Err….. it >is< a British crossword, guys…. (and it's quite an important ferry port to get to Ireland, hence the road sign)
Took the first half hour to get 2 answers and after an hour I probably had 6 or 7. Then suddenly answers came at a regular rate and I finished in another half hour. Not a clue with some of parsing.
Thanks Jeremy
26 minutes. I can well remember the day in the Clarendon Lab when I couldn’t get my circuit, power source an HT battery, to work. It wasn’t the best idea to investigate by putting the two metal crocodile clips of an avometer across the battery while still holding them. I lived to tell the tale, which I do on every possible occasion. I enjoyed this as Ihad the knowledge but I couldn’t see much cryptic about the retaining wall. COD to BLESS YOU. Thank you Jeremy and setter.
I pretty quickly saw the intended reading, but the setter’s trying to make us think of a bank heist, no?
Having overseen the construction of a retaining wall which collapsed within 24 hours thereof, 10dn was rather too obvious for me.
NHO CHARIVARI but hope to retain it for future service.
Is ‘char’ ever used nowadays other than in crosswords?
Punch, the magazine, was also known as the London charivari
13:15. Held up at the end by the unknown dog, needing to see FLAKY before I could derive it. Thanks Jeremy and setter.
Quick for a Friday, but I enjoyed this much more than last Friday.
Ice cream cornet, ha ha…
DNF. Gave up approaching the hour with the NHO dog and CHARIVARI along with FLAKY all missing.
Took far too long to twig the CLIP which confirmed the NHO THEOSOPH and led to the tricky CHOCOLATE. I have seen and heard Stonechats in the Powys hills but its not an obvious leap from “bird”.
I thought this was difficult and was staggered to see the average time so low. Just me I guess. Enjoyed STRANRAER though.
Thanks both.
27 mins but had to look up crocodile clip. Can anyone tell me how that is a cryptic clue?
Same question applies to retaining wall which I thought was very limp.
NHO crocodile clip and would have only known it if my local electrician had told me about it!
On balance I prefer to be tortured for an hour by a clever crossword than frustrated by something I just don’t know of.
Rant over, just off to kick the cat.😱
In both cases it’s simply a question (as in all cryptic definitions) of a surface reading that differs from the literal. In one a slightly convoluted reference to networking in the news industry, in the other a more convincing reference to a bank heist.
DNF. Defeated by CHARIVARI and FLAKY. I went with CHARIMESI and FIERY.
COD: TEACUPS
CROCODILE CLIP brought back memories of school physics, where the fun in attaching them to others’ clothes quickly wore off.
15’46”, thanks jeremy and setter
P.S. Why are you doing maths homework?
Jeremy is going for his PhD in math.
38 minutes. I’m glad this wasn’t as tough as last Friday’s puzzle. CROCODILE CLIP was the one I found most dificult and I could only solve it thanks to enumeration and crossers. NHO THEOSOPH by itself but it wasn’t hard given the words derived from it. Helped by CHARIVARI having appeared in another place within the last week; a good crossword land word.
Finished in around 14 minutes except for the 10 minutes or so sorting out the right hand aberrations. TEACUPS resisted because CUPS just might be successful periods and I couldn’t work out how TEA? meant show. I don’t particularly like TEAC[H] for show either. The WALL with its Bonnie and Clyde diversion is OK, I suppose, but as with the CLIP, there’s no way of getting to the answer except by guessing what the setter has in mind. The dog was unknown, at least in that spelling, so FLAKY took a while to arrive. I have wondered, since he hasn’t commented yet, whether the esteemed Myrtilus had anything to do with this with the characteristic headline, but I’m not sure the aberrations are typical!
From ERROR to GRIFFON in 29:24. Had GRI—N for ages and was trying to insert a 3 letter dog. Eventually did an alphabet trawl for 22d and came up with FLAKY. That allowed me to postulate the unknown pooch. Also held up mightily by CROCODILE CLIP (I’ve used plenty of them over the years!), CHCOLATE and THEOSOPH (I was fixated on theist). Remembered CHARIVARI for once! Thanks setter and Jeremy.
Relatively friendly Friday for me.
Pretty good throughout, though I’d begun to hate the CLIP before realising that it isn’t for holding together one’s papers. Thus a DOH/PDM combination, with love for the ‘current affairs’ aspect.
Fave clue the hold-up, all in 40 minutes. Thanks setter and plusj.
Guessed the NHO GRIFFIN, but defeated by the NHO CHARIVARI. TEACUPS was LOI after a lot of umming and awwing. Could have been a lot worse for a Friday.
30 mins.
Nice puzzle. Theosoph a new one to me.
Thanks, pj.
An entertaining puzzle – very good variety of clues.
I like tyrotim’s suggestion that it may be the setter’s 99th puzzle.
Thanks to Jeremy and setter – well is it?
31:50
Very tricky but worth the effort. Struggled over CROCODILE CLIP, THEOSOPH (irrationally thinking it must end in PHIST) and STRANRAER. My parents-in-law have a GRIFFON, which helped.
I like the little Nina spotted above.
Thanks to William and the setter
Thanks for unpicking 4d Jeremy. I just assumed the leading historian must be Chronist 1 and moved on!
Well, after last Friday’s horror about which I permitted myself some caustic remarks here, what an enjoyable, “old-fashioned” puzzle, with every thing soluble from the cluing – some of which were lovely. A great relief that Tim turned out not to be some never heard of five minute famous sleb and to solve in less than half plusjeremy’s time has rather made my day. Pathetic isn’t it…