Times 26067 – top quality meat

Author   piquetPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
On blog days I often feel that the pleasure of solving a fine puzzle is outweighed by the fear – well, the slight worry, perhaps – of not being able to manage it and having to ask for light to be shed by you folk who will soon be adding your wisdom below. This one, however, was a joy to do; although far from easy, it made me smile and appreciate the setter’s art, not least in fitting 14a, 1d and 28a in the same puzzle. Some of the longer clues were biffed and then unscrambled, others e.g. 12a required the wordplay first to find the definition. I have one slight concern – 24d – which seems to me to be below par, unless I’ve missed the point.

Across
1 ORCHARD – OR = an alternative, CHARD = leafy veg; def. source of fruit. This was my FOI, the NW corner followed quickly and I wondered about a single-figure time. But no.
5 WASTAGE – Anagram of (GETS AWA), almost = the Y removed; def. gradual loss.
9 TRANSALPINE – RAN = managed in LAST = finally, reversed; T(RAN)SAL, then PINE = long, as in long for; def. over the hill. Nothing to do with being over the hill figuratively, like me.
10 PIE – PI and E are irrational numbers, e being the base for natural logarithms; def. that may be eaten. Brilliant clue for a three letter word!
11 OBTAIN – TA = reserves, in O = old, BIN = wine container; def. get.
12 REARMOST – RET = soak, around ARM = member, OS; def. perhaps sternest. Edited from my first effort, which was wrong.
14 CHATEAUBRIAND – Now this is serious wordplay. CHAT = rabbit, then END = rump, stuffed with (RAB UAI)*, those 6 letters being the innards of cRABs and qUAIl;. def. thick fillet.
17 PASS THE PARCEL – (APPLET CRASHED)*; def. multilayered game.
21 NOAH’S ARK – NARK = informer, insert (O HAS)*; def. means of rescue.
23 VENDOR – Hidden word in e(VEN DO R)etail; def. I sell.
25 AGO – A GO = an attempt; def. before now.
26 APHRODISIAC – A PH (Public House), ROD = bar, IS, I, A, C = constant; def. stimulant.
27 DAYWEAR – DEAR = beloved, with (WAY)* inserted; def. one shouldn’t sleep in this.
28 HAUTEUR – H = hot, AUTEUR = film director, the arty, personal-view sort; def. superior attitude.

Down
1 OUTFOX – OUT = expose, F = fine, OX = bull; def. trick.
2 CHAOTIC – CHA = tea, on top of OTIC = related to listener (ear); def. without order.
3 ASSAILANT – ASS = fool, AIL = to trouble, ANT = six-footer; def. attacker.
4 DOLT – DOT = little spot, insert L = lake; def. one’s silly.
5 WHITE SUGAR – WHIT = a bit, then RAG USE (tabloid, exploit) reversed; def. it’s sweet and refined.
6 SMEAR – SM = sgt. major, EAR = attention; def. dirty, as a verb.
7 AMPHORA – AA = motoring group (in UK), contains MPH = speed (in UK), OR = men; def. old vessel.
8 EVENTIDE – Cryptic double definition, one EVEN TIDE a little wry.
13 RESEARCHER – R = run, (SEE)*, ARCHER = plucky fighter (one who plucks a bow); def. I’ll investigate.
15 RICHELIEU – R(O)I > RI = disheartened French king; CHE = revolutionary, LIEU = situation (French for place); Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal-Duke of Richelieu and of Fronsac (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642)
16 SPANIARD – SP AD = Special advisor, holding RAIN reversed; def. European.
18 SHADOWY – AD = commercial, inside SHOWY = flashy; def. murky.
19 LUDDITE – (DILUTED)*; def. agitator with pro-worker attitudes.
20 GROCER – Sounds like GROSSER = less fine, a grocer is a sort of vendor.
22 SLAKE – S = small, LAKE = excess of drink, as in ‘wine lake’; def. what it’ll do to thirst?
24 JOSH – Well, I went through 26 possible words which fit _O_H, looking for one which meant appropriate (as in take) and a comedian’s name; failing that, I settled for JOSH as a chap’s name (abbr. of Joshua) and JOSH meaning to tease or kid someone; not entirely convinced though.

61 comments on “Times 26067 – top quality meat”

  1. Very pleasant puzzle. If you did some Mephisto Pip you’d immediately think soak=RET – it comes up all the time

    Quite a few from definition and particularly 14A and 15D. Loved PIE of course particularly as I solved from the cryptic as I read the clue – very satisfying

    1. Might give Mephisto more of a serious go if and when I give up golf and have more time! Thanks Jimbo.
  2. 17:40 … and much enjoyed. I could actually hear Jimbo nodding when PIE went in.

    COD .. CHATEAUBRIAND .. shame it had to be ‘crabs’ plural, but the surface does read like the kind of thing you see on the menus of aspirational ‘masterchefs’.

    Last in JOSH, with a smile

  3. Like Jim, I got 14ac and 15d from definition; the definition in 15 pretty much obviating the need to solve the wordplay, which I never did. 14ac and a couple of others came to me post hoc, and my ignorance of math kept me from getting the E of PIE. 27ac was my LOI, because I was totally misled by the surface ‘this way’. Now that I understand it, I’d give PIE the COD.
  5. 11 mins. I thought this was a fine puzzle, although I confess that like Jimbo I biffed CHATEAUBRIAND and RICHELIEU and I didn’t bother to go back and parse them, so I can’t claim to have been completely on the setter’s wavelength. JOSH was my LOI and like Pip I was trying to think of a word that meant “appropriate” until the penny dropped.
    1. you did, and I edited accordingly; but if you post anonymously, I can’t acknowledge you personally, can I?
      anon posters, if you refuse to sign up, at least add a name or pseudo to your posts, else all anon posters look the same.
      1. Apologies for not being part of the club. I just posted what I thought you might want to know and since you deleted the post I didn’t know you’d acted on it.
        1. You don’t need to be “part of the club” … just give a name. It is not rocket science
  7. Agree JOSH is not wonderfully clued, nevertheless a very good crossword. LUDDITE my COD but also liked the French influence of CHATEAUBRIAND etc.
    Does this blog reserve the right to disappear posters simply for not adding a name? Please restore anon’s comment.
    1. Two posts appeared, both anon. saying the same thing, which I didn’t know were from same or 2 different anons; the relevance of the posting passed once I had edited the blog; so I deleted them as no longer relevant. I don’t think there is a fixed policy about it, but I like to know by whom I’m being chastised!
      1. Seriously? “Chastised”? Mine was one of the posts and I don’t think a post that read (in full); “Rearmost. Ret = Soak.” could possibly be construed as chastisement even by those of the most sensitive disposition. It’s not like I get everything right every day or as quickly as some do so I’m unlikely to barge in here chastising anyone. That said, the “closed shop” feel of the response means I’m pretty unlikely to post again in any case.
  8. Yes, very enjoyable and I might have hit my 30 minute target but for uncertainty over JOSH (LOI) and PIE (knew PI as irrational but not E). Still 35 minutes wasn’t too bad. I agree 24dn is not the best of clues but once I’d thought of the possibility I was helped a bit by there actually being a well-known comedian called JOSH (Widdicombe) though I appreciate he’s not officially eligible for a reference.

    Edited at 2015-04-08 08:50 am (UTC)

  9. 27 min, with 11ac as LOI, as I’d biffed OUTWIT at 1dn. (BTW, an OX is actually an ex-bull)
    At 24dn -O-H immediately made me think of BoSh, the greatly lamented Bob Shaw, whose Serious Scientific Talks were a highlight of SF Conventions, though I realised that that nickname would be too obscure to be the required answer. Josh also called to mind the late Josh Kirby (no relation, Pip?), who captured Terry Pratchett’s humour brilliantly in his dustcovers for the Discworld books.
    1. Don’t know of him, phmfantom. If he was wealthy, I’ll find out if he was a relation…
        1. Interesting, I see he did the Life of Brian poster so is hereby one of my favourite artists. Could be related, although my Dad came from London and Kirby is an Irish name originally. Thanks for the intro!
  10. 15m. Enjoyable stuff, although quite a lot was BIFD. I rather liked 24dn.
    You don’t seem to hear the term ‘wine lake’ these days, although the EU still produces vastly more of the stuff than it can sell.
  11. The maths clue bunged in with a shrug, thinking PIE must be a variant plural of Pi. Lots of biffing, including my last in, REARMOST. Enjoyed JOSH too, as it brought back memories of Josh Gifford, ex jump jockey and quite a character. 34 minutes.

    Edited at 2015-04-08 09:12 am (UTC)

  12. Very enjoyable challenge, which I was pleased to be able to complete after a particularly tough day at the factory.

    PIE went in without fully understanding the maths references, and 9ac was BIFD. Several great clues I thought – particularly liked the “plucky fighter” at 13d.

    Thanks to setter and to Pip.

  13. 34mins with all parsed and understood bar the RE-T of REARMOST, hence ’twas my LOI.
    I’m happy with that!

  14. Straightforward puzzle finishing like others on JOSH, which gave me sufficient pause that I was quite prepared for it to be wrong. COD to PASS THE PARCEL.

    No doubt Andy could give a definitive statement on this, but in the ~3 years I’ve been on here this blog seems to have followed the guideline that’s prevalent across other Internet forums, i.e. don’t delete comments unless there’s a good reason (e.g. spam, abusive language, etc), and I’d be strongly against straying from that. I’d rather see all the comments and apply my own relevancy filter than have someone arbitrarily doing it for me (even if they are doing it with the best of intentions).

  15. PIE was my first one in, and that pesky JOSH the LOI (a good minute or two of staring blankly at it from me too!), though I didn’t have any serious qualms about it once the penny finally dropped. Glad to see I wasn’t the only one who biffed CHATEAUBRIAND and RICHELIEU once it was obvious what they were from the emerging letters.

    My run of <10m times was broken but I can’t be too unhappy with 11:42, especially when it was another such well-crafted and entertaining crossword. We are living in a golden age!


  17. PIE was a write-in, the French stuff was a write-off.

    Never heard of CHATEAUBRIAND or RICHELIEU, but it seems I’m the only one here who hasn’t (“not much call for it round ‘ere sir”). Ended up with CHATEAURIBAND and INCHESITU. Seems worse when I say it out loud.

    Also had HAUTEER for some reason. Knew it was wrong as I wrote it in, but forgot to go back to it.

    Excellent puzzle though, PIE was worth the price of admission. Thanks setter and blogger.

  18. Don’t be deterred. It’s not a closed shop, and if it were then it would need to be opened.
  19. Hmmm… I think I have a case of the grumps this morning because I put a lot in from definitions with question marks – the long clues with generous checking letters left little other possibility, so in went TRANSALPINE, CHATEAUBRIAND, WHITE SUGAR and SPANIARD without working out the wordplay.

    It’s OK, I’ll pay more attention to wordplay tomorrow, and not delete posts.

  20. Doing the Saturday blog the last 3 weeks I deleted 2 asking me for a date (they must be really desperate) and almost deleted Nick last weekend by mistake. Otherwise I agree with Mohn.
  21. Those of us who dabble (or more) in the Crossword Club Forum know that any contributor can zap any other contributor anonymously (vis-a-vis the other forum members) and without reason. Usually this only happens when too much information is given away on an unexpired prize puzzle answer and most zappers identify themselves and the reason but it is not totally satisfactory, and I remember being incensed when first zapped. I agree with the ‘keep it all here’ brigade.
    Enjoyable puzzle here in the heat of Dubai with LOI JOSH.

    Edited at 2015-04-08 02:04 pm (UTC)

    1. I imagine that requests for zapping are considered by member of staff, in which case it would be odd if they removed any that were not infracting in some way.
      1. ulaca,

        That is what the site suggests happens but my experience and the word from the old-timers is that it is automatic. I zap, the message goes. We know that PB can access the name of the zapper and the alleged offence in relation to ST puzzles but basically, he typically and understandably has better things to do.

        Edited at 2015-04-08 04:52 pm (UTC)

        1. Maybe I should try zapping one of my own comments for a facetious reason and see what happens.
          1. Nice try ulaca but you cannot. I will put something there for you to test your zapping skills though, in the General Forum

            Edited at 2015-04-08 05:49 pm (UTC)

  22. Endorse other contributors’ concerns regarding this blog having a self-appointed guardian of what is palatable. One would hope this blog is open to others who can accept the fact that more salted peanuts are consumed than caviar.

    Enigma

    1. In defence of Pip … (not that he can’t defend himself)

      Anyone can comment here and I’m certain all regulars would like to see more, not fewer, contributors. Pip may have been overhasty with the zap button this morning, but I can understand it. I saw the Anon post in question and it was one of those which quite often appear here before anyone else contributes, and which make zero effort to engage with the generally conversational spirit of the site. I wonder if some of these anons use RSS to get the blogs the instant they appear then ‘correct’ any perceived errors in the blogger’s work, rushing to get in there first. It’s pretty tiresome stuff. Just throwing in a brusque, anonymous statement of the type “It’s not X, it’s Y” doesn’t contribute anything to the blog.

      There’s obviously a strong argument for leaving all relevant comments in place as a record of an evolving discussion, but it would be nice if those anonymous, early bird hit-and-run folk would actually offer their corrections as though they were in a discussion, and maybe observe a little netiquette by suggesting corrections/improvements instead of just typing “Not X, Y”.

      No one here wants a “closed shop”, and it’s a daft assertion that they might (the site is in a minority in allowing anonymous comments at all, something which necessitates a lot of effort from regulars to keep down the spam). I’m pretty sure Pip didn’t delete the comment because it was anonymous, simply because it was non-constructive (and, if you ask me, sort of rude).

      Having a perfect solution and perfect parsing each day isn’t really the point of this site. Is it?

      Edited at 2015-04-08 05:57 pm (UTC)

      1. Well said Sotira. I also saw the deleted posts and fully agree with your comments.
      2. Count me in too, Sotira. Quite apart from anything else, when I post a blog I do a final run through to check for errors (so many of the blighters only show up once posted, no matter how many times I’ve read through the draft), so a brusque, anonymous correction before I’ve completed that is not likely to be well received. I’ve never deleted anything yet other than spam, but there’s a first time for everything. I didn’t see the comments in this case.
  23. Around 30 mins today with the steak and the cardinal biffed. Seemed to spend an age, like others, looking for synonyms of “appropriate” or trying to dredge up the names of obscure comedians before a run through the alphabet caused the penny to drop for my LOI.
  24. Thirty-eight minutes here, with the first half going in easily. After a bit of heavy going and a couple of glasses, I finally got on wavelength and finished.

    1. Shorter Oxford English Dictionary:

      Ox
      1 A large cloven-hoofed, freq. horned ruminant mammal, Bos taurus, derived from the extinct Eurasian aurochs and long domesticated for its milk, meat, and hide, and as a draught animal; a cow, a bull; freq. spec., a castrated adult male of this animal, a steer; in pl., cattle. OE.

      1. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary and Oxford Dictionary of English say much the same, and Chambers says “a general name for the male or female of common domestic cattle (bull and cow), esp a castrated male of the species”.
    2. not at all. The first OED def. is: A large cloven-hoofed, often horned ruminant mammal, Bos taurus (family Bovidae), derived from the extinct Eurasian aurochs and long domesticated for its milk, meat, and hide

      .. and any question of (eg) castration is subsidiary.

      if you post again, why not provide a name? It is rude not to

  26. I too was 38m like Thud and took a while to get into my stride. Like others my LOI was Josh which raised a smile. Lots to enjoy here but I BIFD some too so thanks for clarifying blog. CHATEAUBRIAND reminded me of my first foray into fine dining at a grand establishment in Hanover for the monkey suited waiter with great theatre lit the dish at the table and showed great panache when the sleeve of his suit also went up in flames. As two of his colleagues were in the wings laughing I have always suspected foul play but it made that first fine dining event memorable enough to be instantly recalled 35 years later!
  27. About 30 minutes, LOI JOSH, and a very fine puzzle indeed. LUDDITE was my favorite, but only because I didn’t understand E as an irrational number. With the curtain drawn away from my eyes, that one is very good also. And the zapping complained of surely can’t happen too often; my late-day and vapid commentary provides a prime target for zapping, but I can’t recall it ever occurring. Regards to all.
  28. 8:30 for me, held up at the end for a minute or so by JOSH, and, like mohn, unsure that it was going to be right even though I couldn’t come up with anything better. Apart from that, a straightforward, pleasant solve.

    Sotira makes a fair point about the “early bird hit-and-run folk”, but I was surprised to find you’d actually deleted one of their posts when their only crime was imparting information – albeit peremptorily – and I’d vote for a less brutal approach.

  29. The Oxford Dictionary of English‘s usage note says, “The spellings adviser and advisor are both correct. Adviser is more common, but advisor is also widely used, especially in North America. Adviser may be seen as less formal, while advisor often suggests an official position.”
  30. Please, please, pipkirby, don’t spell “adviser” with an o – it’s a growing menace in crosswords like “impostor” with an e and will probably destroy civilisation completely in time.
  31. As a slow coach but stubborn solver I’m delighted to get one over on the speedsters. Josh went in relatively quickly, perhaps being helped by having my two year old grandson sitting next to me. Josh of course.

    Probably solve more than half the crosswords that I start but it can take all day sometimes, on and off. This one probably took about four hours, so bear us slower-on-the-uptake sorts in mind.

    Regularly use the blog to explain wordplay or just plain to find the answers so thanks to all who supply these.

    John D.

  32. Five days or more late, but this was such a pleasant puzzle I had to sign in to thank both setter and Pip K.
    My favourite was PIE – biffed in incorrectly and the penny dropping just as the pencil hit the page for the E. How good is that?

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