Times 29557 – Gylding the Lyly

Author   ulacaPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

What a simply charming start to, not only the week, but also the month! Lots to like, perhaps the paucity of anagrams as much as anything else.

Hoo did ye dae?

18:24

Across
1 God and goddess embracing love, insatiable (8)
RAVENOUS – RA O in VENUS
6 Have no problem with account involving recording (6)
ACCEPT – EP (Extended Play, in case anyone under 60 is tuning in) in ACCT; as a kid in the 60s, we had a number of EPs – one was by the novelty act, The Barron Kinghts. Brings tears to my eyes…
9 Probably the most expensive target for climbers? (3-2-3-5)
TOP-OF-THE-RANGE – extended definition – the second being whimsical
10 Nurse, perhaps, with additional energy in vocation (6)
CAREER – E in CARER
11 Flooring brand to cover middle of hole? I’m not sure (8)
LINOLEUM – pretty much a write-in for those who were at it in the 60s: hOLe in LINE (brand) UM. You might biff it from ‘flooring brand’ – which it was originally, but no longer is. Like ‘hoover’, I guess.
13 Minor goddess following head of pantheon into danger (10)
PERIPHERAL – P HERA in PERIL
15 Reckon to lose first associate (4)
ALLY – tALLY
16 Speculation behind American support (4)
ABET – A BET
18 Novel supporting retreating, retaining restraint (5,1,4)
ROMAN A CLEF – MANACLE (restraint) in reversal of FOR (‘supporting retreating’); refers to a novel about thinly-disguised real-life people. I’m currently reading one of the better known of the genre, Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises.
21 Editorial intervention dismissing Democrat response (8)
REACTION – REdACTION
22 Part of security system — crucial option for accommodation? (6)
KEYPAD – KEY PAD (option for accommodation – ‘my pad or yours?’)
23 Success behind entertaining form of music reached worst level (3,4,6)
HIT ROCK BOTTOM – ROCK (form of music) in (entertained by) HIT (success) BOTTOM (behind). Yo!
25 Singer to show fear, losing heart (6)
TREBLE – TREmBLE
26 Supporter of monarchy in solitary, getting punished (8)
ROYALIST – anagram* of SOLITARY
Down
2 Rouse a copper, worried about start of thefts (7)
ACTUATE – T (start of Thefts) A CU ATE
3 Pieties much exercised in avoiding blasphemy? (11)
EUPHEMISTIC – PIETIES MUCH*. Bravo, setter! My first thought was ‘euphuistic’, which shows what a pseud (and a dysnumerate one, at that) I am…
4 Top source of funds for bid (5)
OFFER – cOFFER
5 Who’s learned about the sun storing carbon and hydrogen? (7)
SCHOLAR – C H in SOLAR (about the sun)
6 Article introducing Ireland’s Reformation is stimulating stuff (9)
ADRENALIN – IRELAND* in AN; here, ‘introducing’ is a containment indicator rather than an adjacency indicator
7 Put a stop to a lot of dodgy language (3)
CAN – CANt (as in hypocrisy, as favoured by many politicians, and indeed (and sadly…arguably) many ordinary human beings negotiating their troublesome lives)
8 Early story question in quiet segment of film (7)
PREQUEL – QU in P REEL
12 Call into principal sales area wanting large glassware (4,7)
LEAD CRYSTAL – CRY in LEAD STALl
14 Woman’s valuable material includes Book 4: The Sheep? (9)
HERBIVORE -B IV in HER ORE
17 Article replacing another in obscure discussion at Holyrood (7)
BLETHER – BLEAR (obscure) with the A replaced by THE; Holyrood [Palace] indicates we’re looking for a Scotch word for ‘discussion’
19 Michael taking on Rex as alias? (7)
MONIKER – ON inMIKE R
20 Influential theologian’s problems are mounting (7)
ERASMUS – reversal of SUMS ARE
22 Satisfactory in two ways, ultimately very odd (5)
KOOKY – OK reversed and OK (‘satisfactory in two ways’) verY
24 Bath nevertheless gets overturned (3)
TUB – BUT reversed

28 comments on “Times 29557 – Gylding the Lyly”

  1. 35 minutes including 9 spent on my last two in, ACCEPT and CAN, the latter of which I felt was a bit dodgy but I couldn’t think of anything better.

    The Barron Knights are still around minus the deceased Duke D’Mond. They were founded in 1959 in Leighton Buzzard, where I live, and have always retained their local connections. I think on a previous outing it was established that EPs are still issued but in what format I don’t know exactly.

    Reply

    1. My kids still copy the line they learned from me: “I don’t want to go to work, on me bike in the rain.”

      Reply

  2. A rather sluggish 26:44 which on reflection is very disappointing. Looking back this seems usual Monday fare so would be expecting 10 minutes less than that. Wasted a lot of time correcting unforced errors.

    COD EUPHAMISTIC

    Thanks blogger and setter.

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  3. 8.20
    Nice gentle start to the week.
    My partner’s started doing the times2 (non-cryptic) crossword, so I’m getting used to looking for Ninas; we have TOP OF THE RANGE and HIT ROCK BOTTOM in appropriate positions today.
    LOI TUB
    COD RAVENOUS

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  4. A very rare sub 15 minute solve for me, exact time unavailable as my laptop froze and had to be restarted. Really liked this one, especially PERIPHERAL and HERBIVORE. Many thanks Ulaca and setter.

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  5. 48 mins with some pretty tricky wp, I thought. None the worse for that though. A number unparsed too, so ta to our blogger for the explanations. Like jack, CAN went in with a bit of a shrug.

    I liked HIT ROCK BOTTOM & KOOKY best.

    Thanks U and setter.

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  6. Pleasant start to the week.
    “Hit rock bottom” reminds me of the song by Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran. Nice song – it came second in the Eurovision, but would probably have won if any other country had entered it.

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  7. DNF at 44 mins which is disappointing for a Monday.
    I did think of BLETHER, but didn’t know it was Scottish, and wasn’t sure of the “holyrood” device, and didn’t really know BLEAR either.
    Missed 1a when I kept trying to make ZEALOUS work with Zeus. Went through short gods and goddesses and came up with Pan, Io but forgot about Ra.
    Couldn’t get ACTUATE either, always miss the many meanings of ATE, a common set of letters.
    COD HERBIVORE

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  8. A solid 29:40 for me. Enjoyable puzzle overall, I’d never heard of ROMAN A CLEF so I was pleased to get it from the wordplay alone. I wasn’t aware that blare could be a word on its own but I figured it made sense that it existed given “bleary-eyed”. Thanks setter and Ulaca.

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  9. I agree with our blogger’s enthusiasm this morning. A lovely start to the week. Really smooth surfaces and beautifully succinct throughout. RAVENOUS, PERIPHERAL, EUPHEMISTIC, SCHOLAR, LEAD CRYSTAL my faves today. 11 minutes.

    Thanks to setter and blogger

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  10. CANT in 7d is more likely thieves’ cant or travellers’ cant. For Scottish travellers it was a mixture of Scots, Roma, Gaelic and a few other bits and pieces from across the globe.

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  11. 14:21
    More Mondays should be like this. Biffed ROMAN, never bothered to parse it. i couldn’t figure out what to do with ‘option’; crucial/KEY, accommodation/PAD, option/?

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  12. About 15 minutes.

    – Relied on the wordplay for the unknown ROMAN A CLEF
    – Thought 6d was going to be a+irelands* until I thought of ADRENALIN and saw how it worked
    – Didn’t know BLETHER is Scottish
    – Hesitated over MONIKER as I initially thought Mike was giving M, so I couldn’t account for the ‘ike’

    Thanks ulaca and setter.

    FOI Career
    LOI Moniker
    COD Erasmus

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  13. 12:56. I had somehow mistyped it TOf OF THE RANGE – so I’m left with no snitch prizes for one of my best ever times. But that’s a genuine typo so, personally, it counts!

    Thoroughly enjoyed this. NHO BLETHER, my LOI, but couldn’t think of anything except BLEAR for OBSCURE, so it had to be. I think I have heard of ROMAN A CLEF before, so I managed to get that as my POI.

    Nearly hit my target to get QC plus Real Deal in less than 15 mins today. The milestone must fall soon.

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  14. 12.30, the only real hold-up being 1ac, with a vast pantheon to choose from, and “insatiable” being one of those words where you know what it means but have a hard time putting a synonym to it.
    I had M AS KING until it couldn’t be, with a slight mer at Michael rather than Mike for M. Seemed to fit both definition and wordplay, and might do another time.
    HERBIVORE and EUPHEMISTIC got big ticks from me.

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  15. 18:14. Mondayish but non-trivial and good fun.
    NHO the novel and didn’t fully parse rock bottom. LOI LEAD CRYSTAL, COD PERIPHERAL.
    Not sure what “it” people were at in the 60’s, on the Lino. Maybe I’m seeing more euphemisms than are there.
    Thanks ulaca and setter.

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  17. 18:29. Very enjoyable, all the more so as several of the clues such as BLETHER and ROMAN A CLEF were barely known and needed some thought to parse properly. I liked the ‘God and goddess embracing love’ with such gusto in 1a.

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  18. 8:09. I thought for a while this was going to be a tricky one, as relatively few answers went in on my first pass through the acrosses. But the downs proved easier and then it all fell into place. Nice puzzle.

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  19. My thanks to ulaca and setter.
    I was unable to parse a few especially in the SE. 18a Roman a clef, missed the manacle. 14d Lead Crystal, total biff. 19d Moniker also biffed.

    Reply

  20. Steady solve to finish with the NHO KOOKY from wordplay and K*O*Y. 20 minutes. I liked the NINA of
    TOP.. and .. BOTTOM if it was intended as one.

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  21. I had heard of ROMAN A CLEF, and I biffed it accordingly to finish off a very rapid solve – in fact my 4th best ever according to SNITCH.

    LINOLEUM is a type of flooring, but not necessarily a brand.

    FOI TOP-OF-THE-RANGE
    LOI ROMAN A CLEF
    COD KEYPAD
    TIME 4:21

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  22. An enjoyable start to the week/month indeed! From OFFER to ACCEPT and CAN in 14:46. Liked HIT ROCK BOTTOM and BLETHER. Thanks setter and U.

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  24. A very pleasant Monday dawdle while eating breakfast – 20 mins. No problems with answers or wordplay, though I didn’t know BLETHER was Scottish. First in was TUB and last REACTION. Favourite two clues: to EUPHEMISTIC and MONIKER. Thank you Setter and Blogger.

    Reply

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