Times 27628 – in which I do not advance

Well I am well and truly beaten! After about 20 minutes, I gave up and bunged in answers for the two that I could not make head or tail of, and hit submit. One of my guesses turned out to be correct, one of my guesses did not, though I had one letter correct.

This is a difficult puzzle, I made a very slow start, picked up for a while and thought I was going to come in around 13-15 minutes, but the last two held me up for a long time until I couldn’t take starting at them any more.

With the puzzle being available for about an hour now, there are two correct solutions (both over 20 minutes), so maybe someone will put me out of my misery.

Stay safe and well people… away we go!

Across
1 Very different energy and skill required by staff (5,5)
POLES APART – SAP(energy) and ART(skill) with POLE(staff)
6 While away, approve advances (4)
PA?S – I guessed PAYS for advances, but that is incorrect. It could be PASS, but that wouldn’t be plural. Edit: PASS as a triple definition. Or double, or something.
9 Made up post-paid packages in foil (10)
DISAPPOINT – anagram of POST-PAID containing IN
10 Exaggerated praise a drag (4)
PUFF – double definition, the second being a drag on a cigarette
12 Put up with person battering some fast food (7,7)
QUARTER POUNDER – QUARTER(put up, board), POUNDER(person battering)
14 Some milk bottles close to sofa one’s smashed with stick (6)
PINATA – a PINTA milk (which I can only think of in the context of Hancock’s Half Hour) containing the last letter of sofA
15 In front of sink, see red sandal (4-4)
FLIP-FLOP – FLOP(sink) with FLIP(see red, lose it) first
17 Solicitors arriving between late April and mid-March? (8)
NOTARIES – born in that time you are NOT ARIES
19 One who receives end of rapier? (6)
FENCER – best clue in the puzzle by far – an all-in-one where the wordplay is the clue – FENCE(one who receives) then the last letter of rapieR
22 Fine novel learned of, alas, to be ignored (4,2,4,4)
FALL ON DEAF EARS – F(fine), then an anagram of LEARNED,OF,ALAS
24 Anniversary of Polish-Yankee get-together (4)
RUBY – RUB(polish), Y(Yankee)
25 Pick two blokes, when one’s short, as dishwashers? (10)
ELECTRICAL – ELECT(pick), and the two blokes are RICK and AL – shorten RICK
26 Old scribe penning last letter in time (4)
EZRA – Z(last letter of the alphabet) in ERA. Biblical scribe
27 Purchase not considered large I use my pub to exchange (7,3)
IMPULSE BUY – anagram of L(large),I,USE,MY,PUB
Down
1 Cabins where Pat worked on Lewis, perhaps, in earlier years (4)
PODS – this was my other guess. A little googling suggests that there are camping pods that are popular on Lewis, but I can’t make this one out. Lucky guess. Edit: this clue contains references to Inspector Morse (where Lewis was a DS) and Postman Pat (who worked at the PO), and I’ll admit I have not read or seen either of them
2 One’s smart to have earlier left Irish city (7)
LISBURN – I’S (one’s), BURN(smart, sting), after L(left)
3 Major celebrity of late briefly wearing policeman’s medal (12)
SUPERSTARDOM – TARDY(late) missing the last letter, inside SUPER’S(policeman’s), OM(medal)
4 False subject of litmus test over twelve month period (6)
PHONEY – litmus tests pH then ONE, Y (twelve month period, one year)
5 Right one invalid? Doctor visiting sort of can (4-4)
RING-PULL – R(right), I(one), NULL(invalid) containing GP(doctor)
7 Castle requiring a single key (7)
ARUNDEL – A, RUN(single), and the DEL key – castle I only know from there being Ashes warm-up matches played there
8 Set off to tour a remote island tourist attraction (6,4)
SAFARI PARK – SPARK(set off) surrounding A, FAR(remote), I(island)
11 Fancy Scottish side to get medals abroad (6,6)
PURPLE HEARTS – PURPLE(fancy), HEARTS(Hearth of Midlothian football club)
13 Special English scripture tailored to Anglicans is something all used (5,5)
SPENT FORCE – SP(special), E(English), NT(New Testament, scripture), FOR(tailored to), CE(Anglicans)
16 Swinger cavorting nude bedded by half 11 (8)
PENDULUM – anagram of NUDE inside PLUM(since half of 11 down is PURPLE)
18 Rail travellers can pass on payment (7)
TOLLBAR – if you pass on payment you could BAR the TOLL (at least I think that is what is going on). Edit: there is a suggestion this is a cryptic definition, which makes sense.
20 My corporal maybe beginning to bawl: in the ear, that is! (7)
CORNCOB – COR(my), then NCO(non-commssioned officer, corporal), and the first letter in Brawl
21 People collectively associated with China, mostly (6)
MANCHU – another all-in-one – MAN(people collectively) and then most of CHUM(China)
23 Boxer, once lethargic, finally is on song (4)
CLAY – last letter of lethargiC, and LAY(song) for the boxer Cassius

86 comments on “Times 27628 – in which I do not advance”

  1. I came up with LISKEEN, which has an Irish sound to it but doesn’t appear in the Wikipedia list of the 100 most populous municipalities. Nor does LISBURN, and now I know why: LISBURN is in Northern Ireland.

    Edited at 2020-04-02 02:45 am (UTC)

  2. PASS as a triple definition: while away, approve, (flirting) advances.
    No idea about tollbar.
    Very tricky, way off the wavelength, but finished all correct in about 35 minutes.
  3. PODS, my only guess is Lewis from a British crime show is a DS? Or a DI who once was a DS? And where Postman Pat worked is a post office.

    Edited at 2020-04-02 02:46 am (UTC)

    1. I think that’s right. Lewis was a DS when he was Morse’s oppo and then became a DI when he got his own series. I had to biff it at the time. Premier Inn now do Pods which are very small cheaper hotel rooms.

      Edited at 2020-04-02 03:27 am (UTC)

  4. I spent a long time on the last few too. Eventually I realized PASS was a triple definition. And PODS was “where Pat worked” in the Post Office (although he worked in his big red van most of the time) and I knew vaguely that Lewis was Morse’s sidekick although had no idea of his rank. I ahdn’t a clue about TOLLBAR, and wasn’t even sure it was a word. I thought it might be something like TELEPAY (which doesn’t fit) as being something rail travellers could do to buy a ticket on their mobile phone (living in the US I have no idea exactly what payment options are available in the UK on the train these days). So I was pleasantly surprised to be all green. But it was tough.
  5. 3dn passed me by as I had set my compass at 17ac as NEREIDES Greek sea nymphs who solicited unwary lascars – nere – ides which (from memory) occur in March and April! Oh! Lor’!

    With ROLLBAR firmly fixed at 18dn SUPERSTARDOM was unattainable and I pressed the DNF button and called the BarSteward for a gin.

    FOI 26ac EZRA

    COD 6ac PASS

    WOD 15ac FLIP-FLOP

    Re 27ac I would rather use IMPULSE PURCHASE and 14ac PIN(Y)ATA is not in my vocab yet, but it is forever being used on American chat shows. PINTA is! George – sorry to be pedantic but the PINTA episode wasn’t ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’ (radio), but in ‘Hancock’ The Blood Donor (tv) 23 June 1961, and ran for just 25 minutes. In October that year it was re-recorded for release as an LP – with ‘The Radio Ham’ – on the Marble Arch label.

    Edited at 2020-04-02 06:09 am (UTC)

    1. Absolutely right on Hancock (as I would expect) but perhaps it should also be pointed out that PINTA was really nothing to do with Hancock or his writers. In his boredom whilst waiting to see Dr MacTavish, Hancock was reading from a Milk Marketing Board poster on the wall of the waiting room containing the slogan, ‘Drinka Pinta Milka Day’.
      1. Jack. I am aware the original ad was written by Rod Allen at Ogilvy (who later formed Allen, Brady & Marsh), but this scene was in fact scripted by Galton & Simpson and not ‘ad-libbed’- if you’ll pardon the pun.
        1. Indeed, but I think we’re at cross-purposes. I meant that the term PINTA was originally nothing to do with Hancock. George said that he only knew of it in the Hancock context, but the slogan was well-known to just about everyone in the UK long before that from TV ads and hoardings and posters such as the one that caught Hancock’s attention in the waiting room.

          On a slightly different tack, Tony recorded ‘The Blood Donor’ whilst still suffering the after effects of an accident and couldn’t remember all his lines so he used idiot boards for the first time. When you know this you can see his sight lines are all wrong, but it’s still one of the funniest episodes ever made for TV.

          Edited at 2020-04-02 08:50 am (UTC)

  6. Not just me who found this tough then. I had to take a break during which my final two, TOLLBAR and NOTARIES came to me, so my time is not quite a true reflection.

    I don’t remember having seen any real obscurities in the answers for a few days now. I wasn’t sure about LISBURN but I wouldn’t think it was particularly obscure. Maybe the settlers have some nice ones in store for us 🙂

  7. That felt longer than it was. Some tricky clues in there.

    I think 1dn is indeed that Postman Pat worked in a P.O. and Morse’s Lewis was a D.S.
    5ac is while away (pass the time), approve (pass as OK), advances (make a pass at)
    18dn is a rail that travellers can pass upon payment
    Interesting that sap (1ac) means energy as well as remove energy
    LISBURN became a city in 2002 as part of the Golden Jubilee

    As dishwashers wasn’t quite the definition I was expecting, being electrical isn’t the first thing that springs to mind.

    COD 17ac NOTARIES, was trying to get L and IDES in there

    Yesterday’s answer: Immanuel Kant allegedly never left Koningsberg in his lifetime, and indeed his grave is on the island connected by the famous bridges.

    Today’s question: which is the only team in the English football league (premiership, championship, league one, league two) not to contain any of the letters of the word ‘mackerel’? It’s not just tube stations!

      1. Who in 1938 famously played at Wembley in the FA Cup Final and the following week at the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final, also at Wembley?
          1. Close enough Penfold! The Band of the Coldstream Guards!

            In which year did Uruguay win the European Cup?

  8. Another day, another 45-minute puzzle—that seems to be around my average this week. Pleased with myself for working out 1d PODS in the end: the first one I looked at and my last one in. I really shouldn’t try to second-guess myself sometimes—Postman Pat and “Robbie” Lewis seemed a little too quotidian, and I was expecting it to be something obscure involving Pat Metheney and CS Lewis, or something…

    Liked 20d CORNCOB, with its invitation to biff COCHLEA and snooker oneself, and the crossing 19a FENCER.

  9. 30 mins to leave the two dodgy clues, then gave up, while chewing yoghurt, granola, etc.
    I was going to say nice things about Notaries and Safari Park, but the dodgy ones were the ha’porth of tar.
    Thanks setter and G.
  10. Wowee! Here and amazingly all correct in 53 minutes. LOI SUPERSTARDOM, which I’m now claiming but which was my only biff. I was happy with the three definitions of PASS. Penultimate in was PODS. I saw Detective Sergeant Lewis once DISAPPOINT disabused me of CS, but whether it was PADS or PODS took a long time. It caused a slight MER anyway, because Mrs Goggins works in the Post Office, Pat and Jess are out in the van. And not all electrical goods are DISHWASHERs, nor all DISHWASHERS are electrical. This is a job which even today can be done manually. That caused a major eyebrow raise, or am I missing something? Tough but very enjoyable puzzle. Thank you George and setter.
    1. Mrs. Groggins (Scots) is indeed listed at the GPO officially as Postmistress of Greendale. What a doll!
      John – a PC MER at your DISHWASHER comment as we have three methods here at Splendid City: electrically, manually and womanually.
      1. Washing up is beneath Mrs BW. She’s the Cordon Bleu Chef. I know my place.
    2. Have you ever noticed that all the children in Greendale are ginger, but that none of the adults are… apart from their postie. Makes you wonder.
  11. Agree with the parsing of PODS, PASS and TOLLBAR, all thankfully understood before submitting.
  12. That was very enjoyable, though tough. I was surprised to be at number 4 on the leaderboard at 8.30, though now slipping fast. The surface reading in 1dn was good, as there are indeed a good number of luxury pods on the Isle of Lewis. I’ve never seen more than a few minutes of Inspector Morse or Postman Pat but these are so well ingrained in Brits of a certain age that the clue presented no problem. 21dn was a very neat &lit, as was 19ac, but I think my COD was 18dn, which I’m surprised caused folk problems. I’m not sure the bar was quite a rail but something close I guess. Thank you setter. More like this please.
  13. 20.38, with PODS a slight preference over PADS
    I reasoned that Pat was somehow a Police Officer and Lewis the Detective Sergeant, and that Morse didn’t figure, but not that Pat, then.
    I thought TOLLBAR was rather good, which considering I don’t much like cryptic definitions should say something.
    I was less convinced by MANCHU, though I suppose it works as an &lit. I would have thought the Manchu were entirely from China, but a) that’s just being picky and b) may well be historically wrong.
    Well played George – think I’m glad it wasn’t mine.
        1. Two of which make it white, down at the Chinese laundry!

          I’ll fetch me coat!

  14. A difficult puzzle that needed a lot of head scratching. Some of it is very good with FENCER a stand out clue. Some of it is far more questionable with the definition “as dishwashers?” at 25A well below par. Well blogged George
  15. A very enjoyable struggle, again, we’ve had a few of those lately. I wonder if the ed. is consciously advancing some of the more challenging puzzles in the pipeline to keep us entertained in these lockdown days. 1dn took a long time to parse, but was rewarding when it did (though as the penny dropped, I thought it required a particular coming-together of cultural reference points which might not hit home for all solvers…); however, my LOI was 18dn, which isn’t obscure in hindsight, but requires a mental reset to stop yourself thinking about trains.

    Glad to find I’m not the only one who rolled out their Hancock impression while solving. My father had that LP, which I pretty much wore out listening to in my childhood. It’s not raining here.

  16. 25:21. That was tricky! Guessed PODS, not seeing how it works and spent the last 5 minutes on my last two, seeing TOLLBAR only after I got NOTARIES. Lots of clever stuff here. I liked ARUNDEL, SAFARI PARK and CORNCOB best.
  17. ‘It’s are not raining here also!’
    ‘Come in Tokyo…Tokyo!’

    I just can’t stop laughing!!

  18. I nodded off briefly last night with only three answers in and took that as a signal to give up and try again this morning. After another hour I had completed all but six on the LH side so I abandoned it again for breakfast after which I needed another 27 minutes to complete the grid.

    I was determined to finish it without resorting to aids but having done so I still had one error at 14ac where I deduced PINITA incorrectly from wordplay: PINT (some milk) + {sof}A, containing I [one’s smashed]. I vaguely remembered a P-word associated with ‘stick’ from a clue nearly 3 years ago that prompted me to write one of the longest rants I have contributed here. It’s just a shame the answer didn’t ‘stick’ in my head. The clue on that occasion was: Sweet-hearted ass kids give stick to at parties? (6)

  19. Just over an hour of not thinking or reading about COVID-19, which was bliss. Tough but very clever, feels like I wrestled a wily, wiry and witty opponent over the full distance. Thank you George and the assembled cognoscenti for explaining the ones I couldn’t see at the time (NOTARIES, SAFARI PARK, PASS). DNK PIÑATA but I do now (but for how long?). Thanks setter for a hugely enjoyable workout.
  20. ….. but quite a struggle. Never parsed the PO of PODS. Thought ELECTRICAL was odd.
  21. My hairdryer is ELECTRICAL but it doesn’t do dishes. Coo that was hard. In the end I remembered that particular Pat from eons ago when my mother sent my elder daughter a Postman Pat jigsaw. The only POD that came to mind as a possible cabin was recalling the movie 2001 when Hal is repeatedly ordered to “open the pod bay doors”. Although now I come to think of it one of the local airports was trying out “sleep pods” for weary travelers at one point. I don’t much like those RING-PULL cans. They remain stubbornly stuck and then give way all of a sudden spilling anchovy or tuna oil all over the place. 34.59
    1. Yes those cans are annoying aren’t they? I eat canned fish a lot for my lunches at work, and no matter how carefully and slowly you pull back the lid, physics eventually takes over when you get to that last little bit and as the lid comes off there’s some kind of Newtonian reaction and the darned thing flicks stuff everywhere.
      1. Life, you know, is rather like opening a tin of sardines. We all of us are looking for the key. And I wonder how many of you here tonight have wasted years of your lives looking behind the kitchen dressers of this life for that key. I know I have. Others think they’ve found the key, don’t they? They roll back the lid of the sardine tin of life. They reveal the sardines—the riches of life—therein, and they get them out, and they enjoy them. But, you know, there’s always a little bit in the corner you can’t get out. I wonder is there a little bit in the corner of your life? I know there is in mine!

        Immortal thanks to Alan Bennett

      2. 1. Open can in kitchen sink.

        2. Decant contents into small Tupperware container.

  22. A dnf, stopped after 45′ without NOTARIES / TOLLBAR, despite bringing to mind Chaucer. Very hard today, but worthwhile. PODS biffed, I now understand the parsing. Dnk PINATA.

    Thanks george and setter.

    Edited at 2020-04-02 10:12 am (UTC)

  23. This was indeed a challenge. I was pleased to find I’d parsed it all correctly, including PODS, one of which I inhabited at the Great Langdale campsite a few years back. FENCER and RUBY were my first 2 entries, so a slow start. A 41:37 slog found me entering NOTARIES as my final solution. Thanks setter and George.
  24. I don’t think this is a triple def.

    To pass is to while away time. When someone is advancing they are allowed to proceed when told to ‘pass’.
    Hence approve advances means to say ‘pass’. Double definition, surely.

    1. If you reject someone’s pass at you you reject their advances – it works. See Isla, comment 3 supra.
  25. 19:55, submitting with little confidence in PODS in order to come in faster than Tim 🙂

    My thought process on that involved crofters on Lewis in days gone by doing something in pods (or indeed pads) with cow (or sheep?) pats in order to make fuel.

    I didn’t have an issue with electrical as the QM pretty much gave the setter licence to use any electrical appliance (although having said that dishwashers was a slightly odd example).

    PODS apart NOTARIES and TOLLBAR caused me most problems.

    1. Dear Anonymous. It pays to read the previous comments or you end up a day late and a dollar short.
  26. 28.30 and all correct. But like glheard got pass and pods by guesswork. Sort of get pass but not a clue why pods was right. Elsewhere, I thought there were some really good clues today. Notaries at 17 ac was my favourite but phoney , corncob and manchu close .

    Very enjoyable all round .

  27. ….well beyond my 20 minute target. This was tough.

    Thanks to George for parsing PHONEY and MANCHU. I spent some time wondering what was Irish about Chicago. My last 6 minutes were spent over SAFARI PARK and PUFF – I nearly biffed “buff” but fortunately alpha-trawled before the truth emerged !

    I was led along the garden path of looking for a non-existent pangram as well.

    FOI RUBY (so a slow start)
    LOI PUFF (more a relieved exhalation)
    COD TOLLBAR (once a pub near Old Trafford)
    TIME 26:49

  28. 26:12. I liked most of this but got quite irritated by a small number of clues that held me up for what seemed like an eternity. I’d say ‘at the end’ but three or four clues took up more than half of my solving time.
    PODS was one of my problems, where I wasn’t sure of the definition (PADS seemed to fit at least as well) and it took me ages to see how the wordplay worked. When I did I wasn’t particularly impressed.
    PASS was tricky too, the plural ‘advances’ throwing me.
    My worst problem was TOLLBAR/NOTARIES. I’ve never come across the word TOLLBAR in real life, and the only reason I was able to get it eventually was that I dimly remembered it coming up in a previous puzzle where it caused me similar problems.
    Once I’d got that I was able to put in NOTARIES from the wordplay (which is admittedly very clever) and checking letters. My problem there was that I had been mistakenly looking for a word that meant ‘solicitors’. Silly me.
    1. You probably already know Keriothe, not all UK solicitors are notaries (nor are they in NY State, I’m not) but all notaries have to be lawyers. In NY notaries need not be lawyers. I believe French notaires are something different again.
      1. I’m not sure that’s true: I know for sure that not all notaries in the UK are solicitors and Wiki says ‘currently to qualify as a notary public in England and Wales it is necessary to have earned a law degree or qualified as a solicitor or barrister in the past five years.’ Even if most notaries in the UK are solicitors (which they are) it’s a distinct function so for me the definition doesn’t work.
        I have some direct experience of this: I have had to get English law documents notarised to meet the requirements of other European jurisdictions and it’s always a bit of a faff precisely because you can’t just get your solicitors to do it.

        Edited at 2020-04-02 12:33 pm (UTC)

          1. Oh sorry I thought you were saying that notaries were solicitors (lawyers). I suppose they do have to be lawyers in the UK if you take a broad view and include in that anyone with a law degree.
  29. Got there finally apart from an ill-considered pads which forgot to go back to. Some puzzle. If they keep coming like this the lockdown’ll be over in no time. I agree with others that the 25 def. is too laconic; one should always be able in theory to solve a clue without crossers but I’d be surprised if it’s happened here. Nevertheless another piece of 3 reducing this solver to a 13.
  30. I was stuck on this clue until my 9 year old reminded me that the vomiting condor is present at all birthday parties here in Patagonia. At the end oft the party, all the children sit on the floor with a sweet-filled cóndor suspended from the ceiling. A string is pulled and the children beat each other with sticks, or any other weapon to hand, to amass as many sweets as possible. Parents are always in hand at this juncture to soothe injuries to Latino machismo caused by failing to score.
  31. Nowhere near this one. In the end I looked up what fitted and came up with SUPERPATRIOT ( SUPERSTARDOM wasn’t there) and finished with PINTAS. Also very confused by PASS which still don’t quite get. Otherwise OK!
  32. 35:17. A slow burn with flip-flop and the crossing purple hearts my FOIs. Notaries and tollbar delayed me somewhat at the end. Everything eventually understood apart from the Pat / PO bit of pods so I’m thankful for the enlightenment. I’ve never knowingly sat through an episode of Lewis but with a bit more time indoors at the moment I’ve been watching and rather enjoying each series of Endeavour, the Morse prequel. I had a momentary pang of “what’s Barry from EastEnders doing in this” when I saw it starred Shaun Evans but of course it was Shaun Williamson who played Barry Evans. Perhaps thankfully. That would’ve been a very different show.
  33. In my childhood, on the way to an annual village cricket match that my father was due to play in, somewhere in Berkshire, we had to cross a Toll Bridge, and some sort of pass or password had to be entered in order to be able to raise the Toll Bar. No problem with that one, then
    Rich
  34. Given the SNITCH, glad to get in under the hour.

    Wasn’t sure why advances = PASS – singular advance might have been better, but the while away and approve both mean PASS so went with it.

    Saw the PODS trick early, having children grow up with Postman Pat – my COD.

    Wasn’t sure whether MANCHU actually a thing though aware of MANCHURIA, so went with it in the absence of owt else.

    There is a Tollbar Crescent here in Lancaster at the south end of the city – presumably commemorating what was once there.

    Edited at 2020-04-02 03:15 pm (UTC)

  35. I thought this was a medium-hard rather than super-hard puzzle, so luckily on the wavelength again, I guess.

    Had the same speedbumps as everyone on TOLLBAR (appropriately!), PODS and PASS but they were only minor, and much here was quite biffable from crossers (QUARTER POUNDER, SUPERSTARDOM, etc) so didn’t have trouble finishing at a par time. Well blogged George!

    Edited at 2020-04-02 03:44 pm (UTC)

  36. Hope I haven’t missed it in a previous comment, but how does fancy give you purple? TIA Jeffrey
    1. From Collins – purple means elaborate, full of imagery, noble or royal – think of a “purple patch”
        1. But neither ‘purple prose’ or ‘purple patch’ imply ‘fancy’. They imply ‘excellence’. Mr Grumpy
          1. ‘Purple prose’ does. See Lexico for instance: ‘prose that is too elaborate or ornate’.
            According to a couple of the usual dictionaries (Lexico and Chambers) ‘purple patch’ can mean pretty much the same thing, which was news to me. See for instance Chambers: ‘a passage of fine, or (often) over-ornate writing (also purple passage)’.

            Edited at 2020-04-03 08:34 am (UTC)

          1. Thanks to all who answered. Would love to meet a purple people eater! Jeffrey
  37. So a DNF in 77 minutes. I was ready to PASS on this a few times, but soldiered on to no avail. Never heard of TOLLBAR which I bunged in unparsed – for what it’s worth, Chambers has it as two words. Grumble, grumble…
  38. Difference between hard and clever, then just obscure – electricity?
    Poor
  39. I continue to do well with these harder puzzles. Worked out all but PODS and PASS over the course of the morning, making good educated at many words (eg LISBURN) I’d never heard of.

    Onward and upward!

  40. A good crossword gives a surge of satisfaction when cracking a clever clue. When you resort to the solutions, you kick yourself for the ones that you did not get, wondering how you missed them.
    This was not one of those.

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