Times 27,353: The Laconian Muse

Author   VerlainePosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
A not overly strenuous (by Friday standards) puzzle to cap off a not overly strenuous crossword week. There was a fair bit of low (ie good) cunning to the wordplay here, but essentially, if you’re comfortable with putting words inside other words or occasionally taking them out or jiggling them around, you have all the tools required to solve this puzzle.

Maybe it’s not just me who sometimes finds shorter clues harder than the ones that give you plenty of information to work with? Here if you didn’t see the answer straight away, you might be in a bit of trouble on any given clue. I made a rod for my own back by throwing in an only partially convincing stab at 15ac, and ended up with a time of around 8 minutes. I liked the “single-digit growth”, the tricksy “I can see what the answer must be but how does it work?” clue at 20ac, and the generally highly convincing surfaces throughout. Thanks to the setter!

ACROSS
1 Ring head about one dope (6)
OPIATE – O PATE [ring | head] “about” I [one]

5 This writer’s pursuing very old man’s case (8)
VOCATIVE – I’VE [this writer (ha)s], pursuing V O CAT [very | old | man]

9 Marine line‘s pump (8)
PLIMSOLL – double def

10 Woman possessed a nut found among bananas (6)
MAENAD – A EN [a | nut], found among MAD [bananas].
A “nut” is another word for the printing “en” (that’s half of an “em”).

11 Does salt always stick to this big dish? (4,6)
MAIN COURSE – a double def of a sort. A salt being a sailor, the main being the sea: if you squint you can just about see how a “salt” would always stick to a “course” across the “main”.

13 Second pin number maybe in A&E (4)
AIDE – I.D. [pin number maybe] “in” A and E. First one in.

14 In Yorkshire, the tavern that provides lifts? (1-3)
T-BAR – or alternatively punctuated, t’bar, where a Yorkshireman might go for his pint.

15 Yield from a mine drilling copper overdue (10)
CAPITULATE – A PIT [a mine] “drilling” CU LATE [copper | overdue].
I made heavy weather of this one by bunging in ACCUMULATE at first…

18 Former Bond loaded with what’s needed for passion (10)
EXCITEMENT – EX CEMENT [former | bond] “loaded” with IT [what’s needed]

20 Twice loses unemployment benefit? Just that! (4)
DOLE – DO{ub}LE [twice] “loses” U.B. for a synonyms of U.B.

21 Runner goes around a Munro (4)
SAKI – SKI [runner] “goes around” A, to arrive at H.H. Munro, who may have died in 1916 but who is still a regular habitue of Crosswordland.

23 Bar culture somehow related to consumption (10)
TUBERCULAR – (BAR CULTURE*) [“somehow”]

25 Ray comes across right word to help concentration (6)
MANTRA – MANTA [ray] “comes across” R [right]

26 To surpass in work, I trust mobile (8)
OUTSTRIP – in OP [work], (I TRUST*) [“mobile”]

28 Firm in the past briefly occupying island (8)
CONCRETE – ONC{e} [in the past “briefly”] “occupying” CRETE [island]

29 Missing leader, draws lots (6)
OODLES – {d}OODLES [“missing leader”, draws]

DOWN
2 Where to put post and support shrub (6,3)
PILLAR BOX – PILLAR [support] + BOX [shrub]

3 A recluse hosts male welfare worker once (7)
ALMONER – A LONER [a | recluse] “hosts” M [male]

4 I must display energy in different ways (3)
EGO – E + GO [energy “in (two) different ways”]. Last one in.

5 A piece of oral evidence turns up describing part of mouth (5)
VELAR – hidden reversed in {o}RAL EV{idence}

6 Committee adviser bridles at pundit (11)
COMMENTATOR – COM. MENTOR [committee | adviser] “bridles” AT

7 Single-digit growth worried one in the end (7)
TOENAIL – (ONE*) [“worried”] in TAIL [the end]

8 Food item with rocket on top (5)
VIAND – AND [with], V-1 [rocket] on top
Thanks to those who corrected my cold-ridden misapprehension of the parsing here!

12 Arrange scores or bust judge (11)
ORCHESTRATE – OR + CHEST RATE [bust | judge]

16 Author‘s lyrical work lacking effort (3)
POE – POE{try} [lyrical work, “lacking TRY (= effort)”]

17 Garrulous, like a TV lunatic absorbing atmosphere (9)
TALKATIVE – (LIKE A TV*) [“lunatic”] “absorbing” AT [atmosphere].
Would’ve thought that “atmosphere” would’ve been “ATM”? But oh well…

19 Fatuous one follows papers to do with hearing (7)
IDIOTIC – I [one] follows I.D. [papers] + OTIC [to do with hearing]

20 Put off foreign one wearing old hat (7)
DAUNTED – UN [foreign (= French) one] “wearing” DATED [old hat]

22 Last pair abandoning fashionable, ill-fated mission (5)
ALAMO – A LA MO{de} [“last pair (of letters) abandoning” fashionable]

24 Audibly demonstrates contempt for sauce (5)
BOOZE – homophone of BOOS [demonstrates contempt for]

27 Sort of square rings on top of that (3)
TOO – T [sort of square] + O O [(two) rings]

65 comments on “Times 27,353: The Laconian Muse”

  2. 23:56 … I got totally becalmed mid-solve on this one, but a pleasantly satisfying solving experience with clues falling like dominoes once I got going again.

    You know you’ve been doing these things a long time when you don’t know that nut is another word for en but confidently assume that it must be.

    Off to chant my secret MANTRA for a while … [okay, I’ll tell you. It’s “try not to screw up. om”]

  3. Technical DNF here as I failed to crack MAENAD (which I didn’t know or had forgotten) and although I followed the wordplay sufficiently to know that I needed a two-letter word meaning ‘nut’, I forgot EN in this regard – and not for the first time! Also, without the E-checker this would have provided I didn’t manage to bring TOENAIL to mind as a word to fit T???A?L at 7dn.

    I can’t find UB for Unemployment Benefit in any of the usual sources and I also struggled to find AT for Atmosphere, but it’s in Collins (along with ATM).

    DK VELAR and took ages to spot it as a ‘hidden’ having originally put PLIMSOLE at 9ac – it’s a valid alternative spelling for the footwear, the one I’ve always used, but not for the nautical line.

    Edited at 2019-05-17 06:02 am (UTC)

    1. I wondered about UB, but at least it was familiar (though not to me personally! I was born a little too late for it) through the UB40 form that gave its name to the popular beat combo.
      1. Yes, that’ s how I came to the conclusion that “oh, yeah, UB must stand for Unemployment Benefit: because UB40”.
        1. I think there were other UB forms at the time. (Probably not 40 though) Claiming the dole was quite complicated. UB40 was the basic one that I and many others had to complete. (This was 1969 for me and well remembered because, as a married woman, I got less benefit than a married man – even though I had paid the same NI contributions. I still have the letter somewhere from the then Minister of Pensions replying to my feminist rant)
    2. UB40 (see Matt’s comment above) is in Collins and ODO. A bit of an odd one: does UB qualify as ‘in the dictionary’ on the basis that you can’t put numbers in a crossword?!
      1. I’d take the view that it doesn’t qualify as there appears to be an accepted convention that a letter or letters that stand for something as part of an acronym or abbreviation cannot be lifted and used as a standard abbreviation. So for example, RAC may equal Royal Automoblile Club but that wouldn’t validate AC as an abbreviation for Autombile Club. I don’t see why part of an acronym being numerical should make any difference to this convention. Just my POV of course.

        Edited at 2019-05-17 12:17 pm (UTC)

  4. 53 minutes, and it felt even slower, but I think that was my own doziness rather than the puzzle being particularly hard. In particular, I cracked quite a few of the tricksier ones before finally coming back to the NW corner for PILLAR BOX and PLIMSOLL to finish, despite PLIMSOLL having been born only a couple of miles away and regularly walking past a large statue of the chap.

    DNK VELAR (or the velum), ALMONER, and was glad to vaguely recall MAENAD from some time ago.

    Thanks for the parsings, V, especially for 27d, where got the answer by putting my rings on the “top of That” and was wondering why “too” meant “sort of square”… Oops.

    Edited at 2019-05-17 07:23 am (UTC)

  5. V, the “main course” is the big sail on the mainmast.. not necessarily anything to do with direction. And yes, in 8dn, and = with.
    Failed to parse DOLE.. and still don’t find it a convincing clue. Acronym Finder has 56 meanings for UB .. but none of them is “unemployment benefit.”
    Nice crossword though, some excellent surfaces

    Edited at 2019-05-17 07:19 am (UTC)

    1. How does a sailor ‘always stick’ to a sail? I think v’s parsing is right, and I don’t find I have to squint particularly.
      1. I agree with this. Are we sure about the reference to the sail? In my sailing days it was called the “Mainsail” and I’ve never heard of a sail being called “Main Course”.
        1. The sail meaning is in both Collins and ODO. But I still don’t think it’s what the setter meant.

          Edited at 2019-05-17 04:59 pm (UTC)

  6. 17.43, so a gentle enough spin if with some exotica in the V words and MAENAD.
    Like V, I figured MAIN COURSE as the chief passage followed by a sailor, and though I see that it’s a big sail I can’t really see why salt would always stick to it.
    UB40 is in Chambers (the band appears to be in permanent litigation), and since numbers don’t get entered into the grid I’m happy enough. There may be lots of other UB acronyms, but offhand I can’t think of any beyond Unemployment Benefit.
    1. Only a classicist completely unlettered in the sciences would believe in the existence of UB light. But I maintain that UV light should be reserved for Emperors and their immediate family.
  7. 31 minutes. LOI MAENAD, which I had heard of. A solid puzzle, with PILLARs, CONCRETE and cement used in its construction, perhaps set by someone working out with a T-BAR beforehand. In their pumps of course, never PLIMSOLLs. They could have ended up bruising their TOENAILs, which was my COD. Before I put in SAKI, I had BEAN which was ‘Ben’ round ‘a’. That would have been clued as ‘Munro goes round a runner’ though. DNK VELAR but the clue was generous. I thought PILLAR BOX was a very weak clue. Thank you V and setter.
  8. as I entered E-BAR hoping that GUM might Yorkshirise it! It didn’t!

    FOI 2dn PILLAR BOX – well LETTER BOX at first!

    LOI 10ac MAENAD

    COD 9ac Mr. PLIMSOLL

    WOD 29ac OODLES

    Have you noticed – no America First today? Now where’s my UB40?

    1. T-BAR was my FOI; it’s hard to forget the tricky little blighters if the first snowboarding holiday you go on has mostly T-BAR lifts. They’re designed for skiers to sit comfortably on the short arms of the T facing forwards, but snowboarders have to wedge the thing between their legs and go up sideways. This is not easy for the beginner.

      (Here on YouTube is an instructor making it look easy, and an example of what I probably looked like the first time I tried, among other ski-lift mistakes. The latter video will likely contain swearing.)

    2. How does a Yorkshireman keep his breath fresh?
      a. brush regularly
      b. use mouthwash
      c. drink mint tea
      d. floss twice a day
      e. buy gum

      I’ll let myself out.

  9. This felt slower than it turned out to be – mainly because it took a while to get a toehold. I was confused by the PLIMSOLL=pump definition. To me a plimsoll looks like this https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/School_plimsolls.jpg (we used to call them gym shoes before sneakers/trainers came along) and a pump looks like this https://www.saksfifthavenue.com/christian-louboutin-decollete-70-patent-leather-pumps/product/0452501481138?site_refer=CSE_GGLPLA:Womens_Shoes:Christian+Louboutin&gclid=Cj0KCQjwt_nmBRD0ARIsAJYs6o3OOuaRVsVqc1rzc01ZCbMikfuIgsZUsZxiaqhkPSb_cIxX4lzJ-GIaArwhEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds. But now I recall that the latter may still be called a “court” shoe in the UK. Sometimes what’s left of my UK vocab is a bit rusty. 19.32
    1. Plimsolls or pumps for what children wear for PE has probably been overtaken by the ubiquitous trainers, but in the North they were always called pumps and available for rather less than $695 a pair at Woolworth’s. “Who’s pinched me pumps?” was a frequent sound in our house on a school morning.. I think your UK incarnation was well to the south of the line!

      Edited at 2019-05-17 09:26 am (UTC)

      1. I wouldn’t dream of paying that much for a pair of shoes either BW! And my high heel days are well over. and you’re right, I grew up in London but my great-grandparents were Yorkshire and Liverpool bred.
        1. I’m pretty sure gym shoes were called “pumps” when I was at school in the 80s (not a million miles away from Liverpool), but it’s reached the point where I have difficulty imagining calling them that now! Equally though it seems a very insufficient word for fancy lady shoes, so I guess I’ve banished them to an etymological no-man’s-land,
  10. I would have achieved a reasonable time of 25:45 had MAEGAN been “a nut found among bananas”.

    Toenail/Elation is one of my favourite anagrams.

    Others include

    Claypit/Typical
    Pedestrians/Speed Trains,
    Presbyterians/Britney Spears
    West Ham United/The New Stadium.

    When I was a student in Leeds, I couldn’t walk past Claypit Lane without inwardly, and sometime outwardly, mouthing, “Typical!”

    1. It’s not a man’s name – simply a man, as in “a cool cat.” Crops up often enough.
    2. It’s not a man’s name (other than Cat Stevens before he changed it) but ‘cat’ is a word from a bygone era used by young(ish) people to refer to themselves if they thought they were ‘cool’ – jazz-enthusiasts and the like. Ever heard of ‘Cool for Cats’?

      It last turned up in a Times crossword on 30 April, also in wordplay like today, clued by “guy”.

      1. The real question is, did Saki (or Beerbohm Tree) ever refer to himself as a “cat”?
      2. Therefore a cool cat could be female? I’m sure one could describe Billie Holliday or Ella Fitzgerald as ‘cats’. In fact I’m sure I’ve heard the expression ‘she’s one cool cat…’ Making it exclusively male weakens the clue. Mr Grumpy
        1. Sometimes I argue the toss about something with the Times Editor on Facebook, and invariably he comes back with “well, maybe, but the dictionary says…” Let’s see what the dictionary says on this point:

          9. A showily dressed man (old slang)
          10. A man, chap (slang)
          11. A jazz fan (slang)

          I expect if you have a problem with this cluing you’d be advised to take it up with the lexicographers!

  12. ….hold the rocket please. Just having a belated Wetherspoon’s breakfast in Leeds. Traditionalists will probably demur at the accompanying half pint of Kirkstall Dissolution IPA.

    Thanks to Verlaine for parsing MAENAD and DOLE, but straightforward otherwise.

    FOI OPIATE
    LOI EXCITEMENT
    COD TUBERCULAR
    TIME 9:20

  13. Toughest of the week, but not by as much of a margin as some Fridays. As per blog, my main undoing was one of those pesky short clues, as I spent ages wondering whether there was a slang word for a naval soldier which might complete _L_M_O_L… CLAMBOWL? SLUMBOIL? The penny dropped, eventually.

    Smug classics meant that MAENAD went in just before I remembered “mutton” and “nut” from previous discussion here.

  14. I was fortunate to recall MAENAD and EN for nut, so wasn’t held up there, and the NE filled rapidly as the case and rocket sprang to view. The NW also populated quickly after my FOI, OPIATE. Didn’t know VELAR, so was grateful for the hidden. Once I’d arrived at t’ bar, the whole top half capitulated nicely. I wasn’t distracted by pulses and went straight to SAKI. DOLE was the only one I didn’t manage to parse correctly, ignoring the LE and assuming twice had something to do with ditto. CONCRETE was my LOI after a few firm/in the past detours(CO, ICI). Nice puzzle. 23:50. Thanks setter and V.

    Edited at 2019-05-17 11:54 am (UTC)

  15. 18:11. I really enjoyed this: lots of stuff that I had to construct from wordplay, either because the answer was unknown to me or because the definition wasn’t obvious.
    MAENAD is a rather unkind clue though: obscure answer clued with very obscure wordplay element. Fortunately I remembered ‘nut’ for EN from previous puzzles and MAENAD rang a bell once I’d constructed it.
    Thanks setter and v.

    Edited at 2019-05-17 11:10 am (UTC)

  16. I think that this one is 27353 from the number of my electronic version.
    Thanks for the parsing of 6dn
    Regards
  17. After nearly hitting the hour mark, I had one wrong TOENAIL which I had as TRENAIL as its all I could think of to fit the letters. Nice clue by the way. MANTRA was to go along with the MAHARISHI a few days ago.
    Struggled a bit with SAKI for a while as I thought it was referring to a hill. Didn’t get EGO till coming here.
  19. Twenty-five minutes of enjoyable puzzling. I particularly enjoyed the “single-digit growth”, and I am indebted to this forum for my familiarity with the MAENAD.
  20. 17:57 but failed to parse DOLE and COMMENTATOR – thanks for those, V. Nice puzzle. Anyone else for BEAN for 21a (BEN round A) as I had it at first, (but worrying about the validity of the wordplay)? I liked the single-digit growth.

    Edited at 2019-05-17 03:41 pm (UTC)

  21. Couldn’t get 21ac Saki (never heard of him) nor 22d Alamo. Otherwise enjoyed the puzzle.
    V – today’s puzzle is 27,353 rather than 27,354.
    1. It’s hard when you’re living on the West Coast of America and always solving tomorrow’s crosswords today! Thanks all, though – now corrected.
  22. Overall a pretty good week for this member of the 15 x 15 SCC. I was wondering if – finally – I’m getting better at this mad pastime, but had a nasty feeling that this might not viewed as a difficult week. Anyway, there was a report in yesterday’s paper saying that puzzle power keeps brains younger, so that’s good enough for me!

    I’ve finished or nearly finished everyday since the Jumbo last weekend, so over the week I’m probably only about eight clues short of a full house. I completed today over two sessions in around an hour. Only dole went in unparsed, so thanks for the clarification.

    One thing – what is the difference between a DNF and a technical DNF? Today, I saw velar as a reverse hidden but didn’t know the definition so checked it before I carried on – would that classify?

    1. A DNF is when you don’t finish the puzzle and are not too pissed off by the fact; a technical DNF is when you don’t finish the puzzle and are rather pissed off and/or looking for someone to blame.

      Well, that’s me, anyway.

      Edited at 2019-05-17 04:17 pm (UTC)

      1. Ah, thanks. I guess I’ll just stick to DNFs in that case – it’s my default setting! An actual finish is a bonus 😉
        1. I don’t know if I’ve ever used the term, but I think if I fully comprehended the puzzle and hit submit only to see one of those inexplicable typos that crops up in my grids from time to time, I might call that a “technical DNF”, in a tone of injured hauteur that nobody would be at all sympathetic to.
  23. Thanks to blogger, all finished except 10 across. Is MAENAD really fair? I’ve never heard this word, and I’m still none the wiser of what she/it is or was. Some others biffed, but at least the words were known. Best wishes to all.
    1. Just think of it as Ancient Greek for maniac-(ess) and you can’t go far wrong! See also Bacchantes.
  27. Another lovely puzzle. Not too stretching – 8m 53s for me – but some beautiful clues and the tough vocab very fairly clued. ‘Single-digit growth’ was masterful.
  28. Thanks for the usual high standard of blog. I didn’t really like the use of “cat” for “man” without the merest nod in the direction of my beloved jazz and, if I were to be pedantic, I’d point out that the V-1 wasn’t strictly a “rocket” but a pulse jet driven flying bomb. A minor detail but irritating. Thanks again. Lame rains such as I get considerable education from these.
    Joe the Jazzer.
    1. Curse predictive text. It should have said “Lamebrains”.
      Joe the Jazzer
  29. A short break from watching Brooks Koepka, currently dominating the US PGA. I managed to solve most of this so came here for enlightenment. Was close to Maenad (she has appeared before) but not close enough. I had BEAN at 21a and didn’t change it, which you could say was idiotic.
    I did find the MANTRA in this puzzle; there was also one in the QC. Is the crossword editor trying to tell us to relax?
    David
  30. Came to this late and tired but managed eventually to get there. Felt like recording my appreciation of a classy puzzle (and not least the memorable single-digit obtrusion).
  31. 39:26 a late solve, just back from John Wick 3 at the cinema. A bit of a tougher end to the week but not too formidable. I was delayed a bit in the NE but all parsed and solved ok in the end. Some clever stuff in here I thought.
  32. I managed to solve all of this puzzle except 14ac which could have any letter before the BAR as far as I can see. U-bars, I-bars or Y-bars would work just as well as T-bars at the gym I’d have thought. T-BAR not the same as T’BAR.

    from Jeepyjay

  34. Thanks setter and verlaine
    Found this quite challenging but was able to plug my way along and get it all finished eventually. VELAR was the first one entered, but did have to check the definition after confidently assuming it was a bodily bit. Lots of clever word play and a pretty funny definition of the other bodily extremity. Crosswords have brought familiarity to such things as the V1 doodlebug, the orgiastic MAENADS and the northern English use of t’ for the.
    My first ever job was in the Department of Social Security over here and UB was commonly used as the abbreviation then … back in the 70’s.
    Finished at the top with MAIN COURSE (where I didn’t fully see the ‘salt’ significance until coming here), ALMONER (which had to be fixed up from ALMSTER) and COMMENTATOR as the last one in.

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