Times 27,473: Dah It All

Author   VerlainePosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Despite some in my opinion overly simple clues for the day of the week, I was going to give this puzzle a Friday passing grade based on quite a few fun clues – one man’s simplicity is another’s pure minimalist elegance, after all. That was until I submitted at 6.23 to be met by the dreaded pink square. At time of writing only 1 of 13 submissions is correct, probably because the clue has an equally valid but better answer, and if that proportion increases over time I can only imagine it’s because later solvers will say “eh up, everyone so far has got 1 wrong, what’s going on here then”. C’mon ed, I know for a fact that these puzzles used to be test solved… but I can’t imagine this could possibly have got past such a process. What gives?

So COD is stripped from 9ac and given to 3dn. Anyway, I’m sitting in an airport lounge in SFO and we should probably head for our gate, as our Heathrow-bound flight is taking off in an hour… got to get some “coping with jetlag” practice in before December. See you anon!

1 Criminal came up with lawyer initially entering a confession (3,5)
MEA CULPA – (CAME UP*) [“criminal”], with L{awyer} “entering”

5 Commentator’s spotted a spinner (6)
SPIDER – homophone of SPIED A [spotted | a], or is it? I asked my Scottish travelling companion and was told “God no!”, so you decide.

9 How Morse represented his end? (3)
DIT – I thought this was a very good clue, . being the representation for {mors}E in Morse Code, until I discovered that we were somehow meant to intuit that the correct answer was DIT (the spoken representation of a Morse .) and not DOT (its written representation). ..-. — .-. / -.-. .-. -.– .. -. –. / — ..- – / .-.. — ..- -.. -.-.–

10 Did tramp and vagrant let go of dogs? (11)
FOOTSLOGGED – (LET GO OF DOGS*) [“vagrant”]

12 Slight resistance in cabal backing city (10)
FRACTIONAL – R [resistance] in FACTION [cabal] + reversed LA [city]

13 Look after horse’s mane? (4)
HAIR – AIR [look] after H [horse]

15 Greatest medics featured in Universal Times (6)
UTMOST – MOS [medics] featured in U T T [universal | (two) times]

16 Radical doctor caught swigging wine (7)
DRASTIC – DR C [doctor | caught] “swigging” ASTI [wine]

18 A reservation briefly claimed by very old rancher (7)
VAQUERO – A QUER{y} [a | reservation, “briefly”] “claimed” by V O [very | old]

20 Knight of long ago approaching (6)
NEARLY – N EARLY [night | of long ago (as in “early man”)]

23 What is necessary to train bird (4)
RAIL – double def. A train can’t run without rails.

24 Ancient scar one overlooked distorted hospital monitor (3,7)
CAT SCANNER – (ANC{i}ENT SCAR*) [“distorted”]

26 Where pickup is most effective, officially (2,3,6)
ON THE RECORD – double def. Two different types of records.

27 Fruit soften, tons chucked out (3)
HAW – {t}HAW [soften, minus T for “tons”]

28 Bare American guy grabs gent, pinching coat (6)
DENUDE – DUDE [American guy] “grabs” {g}EN{t}

29 What botched repairs by learner may lead to — from client? (8)
REPRISAL – (REPAIRS*) [“botched”] by L [learner], semi-&lit

DOWN
1 Adapt “instant” home improvements with female in residence (6)
MODIFY – MO DIY [instant | home improvements] with F [female] “in residence”

2 Draw cheers when looking up pamphlet (7)
ATTRACT – reversed TA [cheers] + TRACT [pamphlet]

3 The slim apparently housed, not having got to bed? (10)
UNFATHOMED – UNFAT [the slim, apparently] + HOMED [housed]. Bed as in seabed.

4 Relative worried, with expert helping up front (13)
PROPORTIONATE – ATE [worried], with PRO PORTION [expert | helping] beforehand

6 Outcome of intriguing storyline? (4)
PLOT – double def

7 Carrier taking moggy across river tail first (7)
DOGCART – CAT [moggy] “across” R [river], DOG [tail] before that. Were dogcarts ever actually pulled by dogs? I’ve never been sure.

8 Heartless rogue Frank set on a different course (8)
REDIRECT – R{ogu}E + DIRECT [frank]

11 Monolith‘s reputation not changed in home counties (8,5)
STANDING STONE – STANDING [reputation] + (NOT*) [“changed”, though more reversed, really] in SE [home counties]

14 Elevated Commie sadly admitting worker’s a coldblooded type (10)
SALAMANDER – reversed RED ALAS [Commie | sadly], admitting MAN [worker]

17 Reckless cricketer’s task completed, we hear (8)
OVERBOLD – homophone of OVER BOWLED, bowling an over being our cricketer’s task.

19 Placate ruler, introducing technology bit by bit (7)
QUIETEN – QUEEN [ruler], introducing IT [technology] piecemeal: QU{I}E{T}EN

21 Eats third of plaice taken from boats (7)
LUNCHES – L{a}UNCHES [boats, minus the third letter of {pl}A{ice}]

22 Absorbent cloth wrapping builder’s last tool (6)
TROWEL – TOWEL [absorbent cloth] “wrapping” {builde}R

25 Borders of hostile land occupied (4)
HELD – H{ostil}E L{an}D

66 comments on “Times 27,473: Dah It All”

  1. I’m a DOT person. But I don’t see how it is wrong. Otherwise it was plain sailing.
    2. Actually … from my extensive knowledge of telecommunications (aka my reading of Wikipedia this afternoon) it seems that the “dit-dah” representation of Morse code arose with its use over the radio. Given that Morse died in 1872 and Heinrich Hertz did not identify radio waves until 1886, it’s pretty certain that Morse would not have used “dit” to spell out the last letter of his name.

      So there’s good argument that DOT is the right answer, and certainly better than DIT.

      Edited at 2019-10-04 08:33 am (UTC)

  3. Not so plain sailing here – a few easy ones, but off the wavelength so a few that took a long time. A long city at 12 ac? Some sort of adder at 14dn? etc. Thought it a very good puzzle, except for the answer of 9ac.
  4. I worked this before finishing dinner, and almost forgot to come to the blog… where I was reminded that I had also left 9 unfinished, because I don’t know Morse code and I’d either have to cheat or take a guess as to whether it was dis or dat—I mean, DIT or “dot.” And I didn’t even know that they are the same thing. Wikipedia: “two different signal durations called dots and dashes or dits and dahs.” I’d like to hear the setter and editor’s argument about why either of the former terms in each set would not be equally correct.
  5. I never got out of mental first gear today, so my solve was one plodding foot in front of the other. When I reviewed things, I thought there were many nice surfaces. I was a Dit, but it was a coin toss. I’m not sure that even if I’d been told that a lot of people got it wrong that the information would have helped me choose.
  6. … made all the more frustrating by knowing both answers and being pretty sure that either answer would be correct. We’re in pretty good company – only one SNITCH reference solver has gone for DIT so far.

    I also had my fingers crossed on VAQUERO, not being sure of the rancher and taking time to convince my self that query and reservation were equivalent.

    Otherwise a very enjoyable puzzle. Thanks, V, for the blog. Enjoy your trip home!

  8. After failing so spectacularly yesterday I was determined to complete today’s grid without reverting to aids and had a real sense of achievement as I did so in 40 minutes although it was a bit of a struggle at times, especially the unknown VAQUERO which had proved impossible until at last I added the final checker – Q.

    Having read the blog and found that 9ac is supposed to be DIT instead of DOT I feel somewhat deflated, and even more so now when typing this and noting that my newly installed spellchecker has underlined DIT with a wavy red line to indicate that it doesn’t approve of it. Me neither (as the saying goes)! A rotten clue, and it doesn’t bode well with the Championships coming up if this sort of thing can find its way into a Times puzzle.

    Edited at 2019-10-04 05:35 am (UTC)

  9. Glad to see I’m in good company this morning. I initially wondered if DIT was an acronym concerning death (like DOA = Dead On Arrival) but I’ve found nothing to suggest this to be the case so it does just appear to be a 50/50 guess.
  10. 15:12, but another DOT. How on earth does a clue like that make it into a puzzle? I suppose if it were a competition they’d just have to allow both answers but the puzzle club technology doesn’t allow that, and the pink square is still somehow annoying.
    Other than that I felt I was making very heavy weather of some not-particularly-difficult clues. 13ac HAIR and 22dn TROWEL, for instance: very straightforward clues that somehow took me an age to see.
  11. 15:25 … but DOT, obviously.

    I rather enjoyed this, especially the southern hemisphere. COD to QUIETEN, which I was rather chuffed to work out without any checkers. Nice clue.

    Enjoyment rather tempered, of course, by Ditgate. ..-. ..-. …

    Cheers, all

  12. I have recently gone through a fair few Morse code tutor apps on my phone, just for fun, and a couple of them have mentioned dits and dahs, though only in the context of the old days, or Morse history. It certainly doesn’t seem to be taught that way these days, and so although I knew DIT I entered “DOT” without a second thought, it being the obviously correct answer. I suppose it is possible that Samuel Morse himself used “dit” as opposed to “dot”, but I think that would be some pretty obscure history to know…

    Before I came here I thought it was the SW that had caused me the most problems, only being untangled once I came up with the unknown VAQUERO.

    Edited at 2019-10-04 07:09 am (UTC)

  13. 30 mins to leave the (NHO) Vaquero and Quieten crossers. A couple of alphabet trawls and I gave up. Clearly I didn’t linger on the Q.
    Obviously I put Dot.
    Mostly I liked Salamander.
    Thanks Dotty setter and V.

    PS I don’t know Morse code, but I did try a Semaphore course. Trouble is, after a couple of lessons I found I was flagging.

    Edited at 2019-10-04 07:37 am (UTC)

    2. A joke from the Edinburgh Fringe I perceive, perhaps you attended Mr Pulsford’s performance? For interest, here are the top 10 from the 2019 festival fringe. I like the round-up one best:

      – I keep randomly shouting out “broccoli” and “cauliflower”. I think I might have florets. Olaf Falafel
      – Someone stole my antidepressants. Whoever they are, I just hope they’re happy. Richard Stott
      – What’s driving Brexit? From here it looks like it’s probably the Duke of Edinburgh. Milton Jones
      – A cowboy asked me if I could help him round up 18 cows. I said, “Yes, of course. That’s 20 cows.” Jake Lambert
      – A thesaurus is great. There’s no other word for it. Ross Smith
      – Sleep is my favourite thing in the world. It’s the reason I get up in the morning. Ross Smith
      – I accidentally booked myself on to an escapology course. I’m really struggling to get out of it. Adele Cliff
      – After learning six hours of basic semaphore, I was flagging. Richard Pulsford
      – To be or not to be a horse rider, that is equestrian. Mark Simmons
      – I’ve got an Eton-themed Advent calendar, where all the doors are opened for me by my dad’s contacts. Ivo Graham

      Edited at 2019-10-04 08:26 am (UTC)

  14. It’s looking pretty nigh unanimous… Yes I’m another DOTter. Apart from that I quite liked this. LOI and COD to UNFATHOMED but I liked RAIL and OVERBOLD too. About 17 minutes.

    Edited at 2019-10-04 07:10 am (UTC)

  15. 25 minutes. Late starting today as I’m a year older and needed longer in bed. Found this tricky to begin with, but then it fell over like a house of cards, including the STANDING STONE. I hesitated about DOT, with some vague memory of DIT from wolf cubs, but I also plumped for the wrong one. We spent more time on semaphore. COD to UNFATHOMED, although I did do. Is 10 across in Jerry’s honour? DNK VAQUERO and I’ll wait now for someone to tell me how often it’s been in recently. Enjoyable. Thank you V and setter.
    1. Okay, I’ve done my duty and am happy to report that this seems to be its first appearance in any puzzle in the TfT era. I bet it’s somewhere in a Gershwin lyric or one by Tom Lehrer though.
  16. Well I actually wrote I/O at 9ac, being unable to find any way of choosing between them.. an advantage I suppose, of solving on paper 🙂
    Is a CAT scanner a monitor, or an investigative tool? Anyway when I was in hospital, they gave me a CT scan not a CAT scan

    1. They seem ot be the same thing:
      Computerized Tomography (CT) or Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT)

      I had one earlier this week called an OCT scan in which I think the O stands for ‘optical’.

      1. CAT is just an old name for CT. Collins says: “CAT scanner. former name for CT scanner”
    2. How many cats will sit still enough to be scanned? — no answer required…………
  17. 13.20 – but one wrong, as a typo left me with DIT at 9a when I meant DOT.

    Having now come here, I’m really confused…….

  18. A good puzzle spoiled by the horrible 9a. 21:53…….. Thanks for the blog V.

    Edited at 2019-10-04 08:41 am (UTC)

  19. I’ve just failed with my DOT on the Crossword Club page of The Times website — and, just as Anonymous reports above, the solution displayed is DAT! Looks like a complete foul-up here.
    29 mins. I enjoyed the rest of it.

  21. Our blogger and most of the commenters here seem to have obtained the DIT solution somewhere. Where are you people getting that from?
    1. I was just assuming because everyone else was … baa 🙂

      Now we’ve got DAT in the mix as well??? Oh lor. The poor Ed. I have visions of him slumped over his desk, sobbing. Never mind. It’s only a crossword.

      Edited at 2019-10-04 09:30 am (UTC)

  22. I’ve added the escapology and semaphore ones to my ‘hobbies’ routine, which begins:
    I used to go to an origami club – but it folded. So I thought of taking up macramé, but there were too many strings attached (enough, ed).
  24. About 50 minutes. This was not done under competition conditions and my take on DOT is that it can be justified and is not wrong. Whatever the computer says.

    Otherwise some good clues. The ‘not having got to bed’ def was good, I liked RAIL and learnt a new word in VAQUERO.

    Back in the dim, distant days C(A)T scanners were known as EMI (as in The Beatles) scanners. Another fine British invention (seriously).

    Thanks to setter and blogger

    1. Absolutely amazing times! I worked for EMI in those days and the CT scanners were a source of great pride, along with so much else.
  25. A DOT away from 18 minutes. I can confirm the Times online version has DAT, which really, really doesn’t work. I expect – nay demand – the removal of my pink square or I’ll leave without a deal. So there.
  26. The iPad version has Dat as the answer, not Dot or Dit! So we seem to have three possibilities which must be a record …
  27. Never before have i been left with just the one blank square. Knew it must be Vaquero. Couldn’t see reservation as query. Doh.
  28. For (..-. — .-.) what it’s worth, I’ve painstakingly worked out V’s Morse code commentary, and have learned how ! is coded. I admire your restraint, V, for not starting the second word with dot dot dash dot like the first.
  29. Yes, I can confirm that the published answer when using Reveal in the Club or via the newspaper site is DAT.

    Must admit I had taken V’s ‘DIT’ on trust without checking. I had assume he had trawled everything directly from the Times site as most (?) bloggers do.

    I can’t find DAT as anything to do with Morse code in any source, only Digital Audio Tape and Dative.

    Edited at 2019-10-04 09:52 am (UTC)

    1. If it’s confession time, this blogger uses wordplaysdotcom when really stuck, or just to confirm (of course). I assume it works with some fancy algorithm like the SNITCH because its always bang up to date. Today, of course, it’s got DAT for the Morse clue.
  30. ….before the eDITor deigns to let us have his explanations for this farrago. Having awarded my raspberry for the worst clue of the year earlier this week, VAR has overruled me – the winner is DAT/DIT/DOT or maybe DUT/DET. I’m really past caring. I’m a DOT, and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s perfectly OK. I’ll stick to simple stuff like Brexit for the rest of the day.

    Today’s earworm I’d MEA CULPA by Mike & the Mechanics. The setter should perhaps try it.

    FOI DOT
    LOI UTMOST
    COD ON THE RECORD (thought of Vinyl !)
    TIME 15:16

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