Times 27,647: Poe Pourri

Author   VerlainePosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Not very Fridayish this one, with a bit of a pared-down Cryptic Jumbo feel to it, but I did appreciate it a bit more after writing up the parsings – there are some mischievous definition parts, a couple of rather good &lits, and I’ll give my COD to the oft-neglected last down clue of the puzzle. My compliments to the chef! Though Eton Mess would have made a better dessert after starter and main of 18 and 16dn…

ACROSS
1 Doctor wears campaign medal in clothing store (8)
WARDROBE – DR “wears” WAR OBE

5 Music and endless fun in the London area (6)
POPLAR – POP + LAR{k}. Points for cluing this differently than the usual way, I guess…

8 Hotel chain needs houses (3)
INN – “housed” in {cha}IN N{eed}. FOI

9 Triple-echo interfered with surveillance equipment? (10)
HELICOPTER – (TRIPLE-ECHO*). I was faintly disappointed that “triple-echo” turned out not to mean just E E E.

10 Student attire bringing French fashion into English clubs? (4,4)
ETON SUIT – TON [French fashion] into E SUIT [English | clubs?]. Perhaps disturbingly I only got to SUIT after thinking hard about MESS and then CROP.

11 Servile follower duke engaged in Dorset town (6)
POODLE – D engaged in POOLE. I haven’t been following the UK news as closely lately, so is Boris Johnson still Trump’s poodle, or are various members of the cabinet Boris’ poodle, or is it poodles all the way down?

12 With effort carry round pole — getting breather (4)
LUNG – LUG [with effort carry] around N

14 Son is in a position to give help (10)
ASSISTANCE – S IS in A STANCE

17 Organisation taking role in recycled energy? (5,5)
GREEN PARTY – PART in (ENERGY*), semi-&lit

20 Impressive eastern prince seen occasionally (4)
EPIC – E + P{r}I{n}C{e}

23 Droll nonsense — could it bring the house down? (3,3)
DRY ROT – DRY [droll] + ROT [nonsense]

24 Drink one to limit bone disease (8)
BERIBERI – BEER I to “limit” RIB

25 Not well, turned to tuck into simple food options (4,2,4)
BILL OF FARE – ILL OFF [not well | turned] “tucked into” BARE

26 Ottoman officer edges away from infidel (3)
AGA – {p}AGA{n}

27 British planes on time in southeast make low attack (6)
STRAFE – RAF on T in SE

28 Artist took the stage, being filmed (2,6)
ON CAMERA – or ON CAME R.A. The biggest excitement I got from this crossword was the frisson of hitting submit just in case it was IN CAMERA, but that means something rather different of course.

DOWN
1 Chess player slow giving in token (5,4)
WHITE FLAG – WHITE [chess player] + FLAG [slow]. Definition as in, a token signifying giving in, which is rather nice.

2 Capital once managed by board (7)
RANGOON – RAN by GO ON. Now Yangon, Myanmar.

3 Not thinking about what constitutes make-over (6)
REHASH – RASH [not thinking] about EH? [what]

4 Case rotten under dish in salt water (6,3)
BALTIC SEA – (CASE*) under BALTI

5 Son on time to start with nudges actor? (7)
PROMPTS – S, with PROMPT [on time] to start with. Took a long time to disabuse myself of the notion that “time” would be just T, which I suppose makes this this a rather clever clue.

6 Irishman with anger about appearing in supporting role (9)
PATRONAGE – PAT with RAGE about ON [appearing]. My brain got a bit stuck on ENTOURAGE but the definition is another clever one, leading to a role that provides support from above, not below.

7 Fibre replaced Lycra in crop tops (7)
ACRYLIC – (LYCRA*) + I{n} C{rop}

13 Irregular mostly out to install Left? (9)
GUERRILLA – (IRREGULA{r}*) “installing” L, &lit

15 Generally where schools are located? (2,3,4)
IN THE MAIN – that’s the main as in the sea, and schools as in fish.

16 Note in enclosure kept secret a tasty morsel (9)
ENCHILADA – LA in ENC. HID A

18 Savoury dish, lightly cooked, cut into (7)
RAREBIT – RARE [lightly cooked] + BIT [cut into]

19 Staff coming around, but this would require filling (7)
POTHOLE – POLE coming around THO

21 High-ranking ecclesiastic not yet dead, can one infer? (7)
PRELATE – if you are PRE-LATE, you are presumably not yet dead.

22 Spooky group keeping people up in House of Usher? (6)
CINEMA – CIA [group known for its “spooks”], keeping reversed MEN in, and a cinema is a house of entertainment in which you’d find an usher plying their trade.

98 comments on “Times 27,647: Poe Pourri”

  1. Also spent my time on the obligatory ETON CROP (the C for clubs was especially tempting) before realizing it was SUIT. I spent far too long on my last two in, POPLAR and PROMPT. I don’t quite get HELICOPTER as surveillance equipment either. I mean, sure you can check out what is going on from a helicopter. But also from a car like in innumerable cop movies, but that doesn’t really make a car surveillance equipment. It is a bit like earlier in the week’s CHATEAU as a holiday home.
    1. At least it had a question mark after it! I mostly experience helicopters as surveillance equipment, in that the main use of them around here seems to be to chase stolen cars or search for missing people wandering the Avon gorge. There’s also the air ambulance, but I see that one a lot less often.
  2. Somewhat bizarre for a Friday puzzle as Meldrew was home in just 30 minutes!

    FOI 15dn IN THE MAIN sooo crosswordy!

    LOI 10ac /SUIT – were you in the ‘Pop’?

    COD 9ac HELICOPTER or HECILOPTER as my youngest son used to say, whilst pointing skyward.

    WOD 24ac BERIBERI another possible disease from the Jerome K Jerome medical dictionary (TMIAB)

    I thought 28ac ON CAMERA was feeblemost and this puzzle was generally not up to Captain Friday’s parade ground standard, your Lordship.

    1. Assuming the absence of stepladders or a suitable chair, one could raid the stock of tinned fish built up to stave off the effects of the pandemic (or even WW3) and arrange said tins to make a platform. Let us say that you need to stack these tins in a block of 8 across and 16 upwards. If 25% of the tins contain mackerel rather than sardines or pilchards, and each tin contains a quarter of a whole mackerel, then the formula is 8 x 16 x 0.25 x 0.25, hence 8 fish would be required. Ask me one on sport….
  4. Thought I was going for a record time for a Friday puzzle but I slowed down considerably in the lower half and ended on 35 minutes which is still surely better than I usually manage when Monsieur V is on blogging duty.

    Unless there’s another meaning I’m not aware of I thought ‘surveillance equipment’ defining HELICOPTER was a bit odd.

    I did the rounds of Eton Mess, Eton Crop and ETON SUIT only a few days ago in another puzzle when SUIT turned out to be the target word so I saved time on it today.

    Edited at 2020-04-24 02:57 am (UTC)

  5. 38 minutes, so about the same time as yesterday, with the added bonus that I didn’t get any wrong this time… FOI 1a WARDROBE, helped a little by at least realising that 1d would likely start with WHITE or BLACK, LOsI the three in the NE corner that took my last eight minutes: 6d PATRONAGE, 5a POPLAR and 5d PROMPTS, in that order.

    COD the rather nice &lit at 13d GUERILLA, though I did also enjoy the House of Usher at 22d.

      1. So I’m thinking along the right lines, even if I’m not riding the express…
  6. Under an hour and maybe the first time completing the Friday puzzle.

    Last 2 Beriberi and cinema held me up the longest.
    Needed the blog to get the parsing for Aga and Rangoon.

    COD dry rot or beriberi.

  7. It’s unusual for me to complete a Friday puzzle, just under 40 minutes. Many clues not parsed but they couldn’t really be anything else. Hope I won’t need the Covid aid in 12 and 14 across! COD 22d wich was neat. Thanks all
  8. A green week according to the SNITCH, including today – just 79 at the moment. Also green at home with our Californian Larch trees arriving and safely planted.

    32m for me. I really liked this despite biffing several: like a really good wine, there was more to it than the first taste. As Verlaine says, several of the clues were richer and wittier than I first appreciated, so thanks for the excellent tasting notes V. Unlike Horryd, I really like ON CAMERA now I understand it, and further tips of the hat to WHITE FLAG, CINEMA and PRELATE.

    For anyone seeking chewier fare, last Saturday’s Jumbo is still resisting all my efforts.

    Thank you setter.

  9. 24 minutes, so easyish for a Friday. LOI BERIBERI, served up on a plate by the ENCHILADA. HELICOPTER surveillance certainly wouldn’t be covert, but I guess it doesn’t always have to be. COD to CINEMA, which had me trying to remember Poe’s characters before the penny dropped. An enjoyable puzzle. Thank you V and setter.
    1. …they’ve got some hungry women there. They’ll really make a mess out of you.
    2. It would be covert. It can fly at a height where the offender isn’t aware that it’s there. Always amusing on reality tv cop shows watching the miscreants making a futile run for it.
    1. I’m on my fifth Poodle now, a white Miniature called, of course, Bianca, (the name she came with from the breeder) and none of them have been anyone’s poodles but I would never get upset. I thought it was a funny cover.
      Bianca has been absent from time to time recently. Looks like she’s popped over to the UK to do her bit as Defence Secretary.
    2. Having seen the late February cover of Private Eye, as pointed out by JWH, I am cancelling my subscription to your august rag – Victor Meldrew, Catford.
  11. Indeed, I’m back into 17 minute territory after yesterday’s foray into the 20s.
    I only struggled with REHASH even with all the checkers in and recognising EH for what: I had to write it out horizontally before the penny dropped.
    IN CAME RA was my favourite.

    Those concerned about surveillance needn’t worry about helicopters. Going the rounds on FB and doubtless other places is the true reason for the lockdown: it gives the government time to change the batteries on the pigeons.

    The Times nearly gave the game away yesterday with IDENTITY PIGEON across the middle of the grid.

      1. It’s an upgrade to their navigation and identification systems. The anti 5g campaign is a government sponsored diversionary exercise. I thought everyone knew.

  12. 20:12. LOI the unparsed REHASH which, like vinyl, I had as REMISS to start with until I saw HELICOPTER. I liked the House of Usher and intersecting ON CAMERA and BERIBERI best.
  13. Methinks you may need to recalibrate the clapometer. The &lit clues for GREEN PARTY and GUERRILA were super, and CINEMA was also excellent.
    1. There were a couple of old stagers scattered here and there – RAREBIT, for example, but those three in particular were superb. Special mentions also to 23, 25, 28 and 21.
  14. Back to an easy, steady solve. Some of the definitions are indeed clever. I also like House of Usher

    But surveillance equipment for HELICOPTER? I don’t think so.

    1. You sound like Trump saying a friend of his had complained that Paris wasn’t Paris any more!
  16. Not too challenging for a Friday and a nice turn of clue, I thought. I particularly like CINEMA, WHITE FLAG, BERIBERI, ACRYLIC – quite a crop.

    COD: CINEMA
    NHO: ETON SUIT

    Yesterday’s answer: Frances Gumm became Judy Garland, inspired by GARLAND, obvs.

    Today’s question: which tree’s seeds are known as helicopters?

        1. ’24 hours from Tulsa’ and ‘2024 South Michigan Avenue’ Any phuel knows that!

          It’s 25 or 6 to 4, must dash – cue bass

          Edited at 2020-04-24 12:24 pm (UTC)

          1. Pitney’s version of “2120 South Michigan Avenue” would be a very eclectic listen !
            1. Just ‘cos you don’t know the words!

              Question: which country’s National Anthem has no words?

  17. Ah! The old chestnut about Poodles being poodles. No chance. I’m on my fifth and they ain’t no-one’s poodles! Bianca will be miffed when I tell her.
    Round here helicopters are used for things like crop spraying and for aerial hunting. I’ve seen helicopters coming back from hunting trips with dead deer slung underneath.

    I thought that was right up my street as a puzzle. I particularly liked WHITE FLAG, POLAR, ON CAMERA and PROMPTS but my favourite and one duly noted in my lexicon of favourite clues, was CINEMA. House of Usher indeed. It reminded me of a clue a few years back when HOUSE OF CONGRESS was clued to indicate a brothel.

    1. ‘Aerial hunting’ seems like a bit of a contradiction in terms!
      A ghillie in Scotland once told me that if he didn’t reach his quota for culling the deer on the estate he managed, a government agency would come and do it for him, using a helicopter and charging the cost to his boss.
    1. No you’re not the only one – it looks like Z had that too (vide supra) and some of the regulars have one error on the club board and that seems the likely suspect.
    2. I will admit to hovering nervously between the right and wrong answers for a wee while.
  20. But hugely annoyed to find I had miskeyed and put RAREBOT instead of RAREBIT. Loved 21D though!
  21. I forgot to ask, do cinemas still have ushers? I haven’t set foot in a picture house for at least 20 years and I thought ushers had been done away with long before that.
    2. The Everyman chain certainly seems to have them—they’ll even bring a G&T to your sofa (I kid you not) before the film, albeit for a somewhat exorbitant price—and according to the careers page on the website they still call them ushers.
  22. ….so thanks to Verlaine for parsing it. Three clues left at 8 minutes, thereafter 3 minutes to crack 5A/D, and a further minute to finish.

    FOI INN
    LOI CINEMA
    COD ON CAMERA (sorry Horryd !)
    TIME 11:50

  23. 24 min. Liked the spooky group. Also the prelate. If you’re a surveillance expert I imagine a helicopter’s somewhere on the list. In Poplar had larf as fun which I’ll stay with.
  24. WHITE FLAG biffed so thanks V. a very enjoyable stroll today, liked the HELICOPTER and the old fashioned cinema ( not many ushers about last time I went)
  25. Grower, this one, and indeed easier than Fridays can be, but some great stuff in here. Thanks V, preceptive as ever, and setter.
  26. Not a typical Friday indeed, all done in 18 minutes no problems except a MER for helicopter. Liked house of usher.

    As a fan and past owner of standard poodles, I can assure all that they’re not servile or wussy – they’re serious dogs. As martinp1 says. Even the smaller ones can be feisty. Why are they misrepresented in this way?

    1. Well said, Pip! Our late and much lamented Standard, “Alice”, had a quizzical way of looking at us as if to say “You want me to do what?”
  27. Our local sheriff has a very noisy one that used to fly over our veg garden. I think they were making sure we weren’t growing pot. 16.41
  28. Thought this rather easier than the usual Friday fare.

    Failed to fully parse BERIBERI (understood why there was an I, and thought it had something to do with BEER), BILL OF FARE (saw the ILL bit) and REHASH (total failure).

  29. Not a very Fridayish puzzle in terms of difficulty, but some nice touches. Very much liked the combo of spooky people in the House of Usher.

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