Times 25,749 – Für Elise

Author   dorsetjimboPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
20 minutes to solve on blogging day, so towards the easier end of the spectrum. No real question marks, a gentle, pleasing puzzle.

Today we celebrate the anniversary of the founding of The Royal Airforce, The Canadian Royal Airforce and The Mumbai Fire Brigade. But putting all of those events in the shade is the anniversary of the birth in 1775 of a most influential and until last year an unknown woman (pictured).

Hopefully some non-mathematicians will have heard of a Poisson distribution discovered by the prolific French mathematician Simeon Poisson (1781-1840).Papers found recently in France have revealled that Simeon had a sister Avril who, because of the way women were treated in those times, published her work in her brother’s name. It is no longer clear how much of Simeon’s output was really work done by Avril.

In 1794 she married an unknown eccentric Swedish astronomer Olaf Proil which led her to study the planets. There is evidence that the theoretical proof of the Jupiter-Neptune combined gravity theory (which suggests that a perfect alignment of the Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune slightly alters the Earth’s tilt) was her work. This theory is today being studied by climatologists as a possible explanation for the radical change in our weather patterns.

Of interest to music lovers will be her long affair with Beethoven who to preserve her anonymity called her his “immortal beloved” and referred to her by the pet name of Elise. Letters from him amongst her papers illustrate his extensive use of her theory of discordant harmonics in his compositions and his devistation when she died in 1813.

Across
1 LOWBROW – LOW-B-ROW;
5 SHOTGUN – bun in the oven clue;
9 MAT – MAT(e); “e” from (roll)E(r);
10 GO,TO,THE,DOGS – the UK if the mooted sale of the Red Arrows to a Russian industrialist goes ahead;
11 ABOVE,ALL – A-BO(VEAL)L; BOL as in Spag-Bol;
12 BROWSE – B-ROWS-(offic)E;
15 ALTO – ALTO(get-her);
16 UNEARTHING – U-NEAR-THING;
18 HEART’SEASE – HEART-sounds like “sieze”; today’s flower;
19 HEAR – HE(A)R(o); women can much better now bra-wire is insulated to prevent interference with mobile phone reception;
22 BEL,AIR – BE-LAIR; posh end of LA;
23 JOE,LOUIS – JO(b)-(seoul I)*; the brown bomber;
25 COUNTERPART – COUNTER-PART(y);
27 SAD – S(h)AD; the news that the new Crossword Editor is trying to ban crossword blogs appearing on the day of the puzzle;
28 IGNORED – (grid one)*; the coming European Directive on passive drinking I suspect;
29 ENDGAME – END-GAME; where chess grand masters come into their own;
 
Down
1 LAMBADA – LAM(BAD)A; not suitable for the Tea Dance that I run;
2 WITHOUT,FAIL – WITHOUT-FAIL; blow it=slang for cock it up;
3 REGRET – RE-GRET(a);
4 WET,BLANKET – W-ET-BLANKET;
5 SITE – Pisa perhaps where in 1173 they started to build a tower soon after Pope Alexander the Third decreed on April 1st that in future the ratio pi (3.1) would be taken to be 3.0 exactly to better reflect the Christian Trinity;
6 OVERRATE – OVER-RATE; a missed opportunity for a cricket clue;
7 GOO – GOO(d);
8 NEST,EGG – G(GETS)EN all reversed;
13 WHITE,RUSSIA – Belarus; avoid the White Russian cocktail if want to stay sane;
14 PASSIONATE – PAS(S-IONA)TE; Avril and Ludwig;
17 STRICTER – (critters)*;
18 HIBACHI – HI-BACH-I; Japenese barbecue where the use of homogenised Flora P-Oil (dihydrogen monoxide) is recommended;
20 RESIDUE – RESID(U)E;
21 SLATED – Royal Society scheme to decimalise time based on 100 ticks to the tock and 20 tocks to the day;
24 ARID – A(R)ID;
26 URN – sounds like “earn” – basis of old schoolboy joke;

74 comments on “Times 25,749 – Für Elise”


  1. While I moaned that yesterday’s was too hard, I felt that today’s was too easy, and finished it all up in 25 mins or so. DNK: S(H)AD, HIBACHI, but easily gettable. Never happy, eh?

    Also DNK about the new editor’s plans to ban the blogs. Agree, that would be very sad.

    Thanks for the history lesson, Jim, always happy to learn something new. Can’t guarantee to remember it all…

    1. I’m going to be organising a petition about this, if you care to join, Janie. Sheer folly, is all I can say!
  2. Nice “poisson” jimbo!

    A nice gentle one today as you say, but I still managed to mess it up! I completely missed the numeration at 11ac and looked for an 8-letter word. AVOWEDLY seemed to fit the definition although of course I couldn’t parse it!

  3. Fascinating to read about this extraordinary woman, Jim. How unfortunate that she was landed with such a fishy name.

    Besides such talent, my own paltry cruciverbal achievements appear mere foolishness. 30 minutes.

  4. Maybe the new editor could focus on printing the right set of clues in the newspaper? Managed the across clues but the down clues are all for another puzzle. Had to double check it wasn’t some fiendish April Fools’ Day exercise.
    1. Can anybody point me at a site that has the right set of down clues please. One of my favourite clues was simply “(1,6,3,1,4)” but this is going too far.
  5. 11m. Slowed down a bit at the end by PASSIONATE/ENDGAME. Nice puzzle.
    Fascinating blog, Jimbo, thanks. Strangely I can find no trace of this fishy character on Wiki…
    White Russians always remind me of The Big Lebowski, one of my favourite films. I have tried drinking them to make myself more like the dude but they’re really not very nice.

    Edited at 2014-04-01 07:50 am (UTC)

  6. 33 minutes with PASSIONATE and COUNTERPART taking me over my 30 minute target.

    The definition at 29ac refers to the play by Samuel Beckett.

    I hadn’t heard about the new editor’s plans. I’d be interested to know how a ban would be to his advantage.

    1. I emailed the Times and got a rather non-committal response, the gist of which was that while they had – of course – no power to ban blogs, they wanted everyone (not just those who they referred to a “small group of vocal ‘experts'”) to have more of a say.
      2. More of a say on what exactly? If they mean discussion of the puzzle they already have that in the Crossword Club which as far as I can tell they are currently in the process of dismantling!

        Might I suggest a separate thread on this topic, perhaps a sticky?

        Edited at 2014-04-01 08:02 am (UTC)

  7. Similar time to JIm’s at 21 minutes, and his entry is a brilliant fast one so well done Jim.
    Good to see the proposal for banning same day blogging vanishing at the first whiff of grapeshot, for which read as soon as I posted on the sticky version.
    In truth (for once) this one felt like an easy puzzle that I made heavy weather of. It seems I wasn’t the only one to have PASSIONATE among my LOsI. UNEARTHING was also a late entry for me, as I thought uranium already gave the U without any need for “originally” and decided too soon that “call” signalled RING. I had also left OVERR— clear on the feeble grounds that if something is overrated I don’t expect anything much of it. A part of me was mentally complaining that Belarus (and its dozens of historical variations) translates exactly as “White Russia” and is more of a distinct “region” now than it ever was.
    I didn’t know viola as the genus, but did know HEARTSEASE was a plant of some kind.
    Should I be pleased or ashamed that my knowledge of BEL AIR comes from the Fresh Prince?
    Today is also the feast day of Saints Victor and Steven, jointly commemorated as martyrs. On this first weekday of legal gay marriage, perhaps they should become its patron saints. I’m sure the non-judgemental Francis wouldn’t mind.

    Edited at 2014-04-01 09:32 am (UTC)

  8. How do we know the Editor wants to ban blogs? Has something been published? I can’t access the paper but I can’t see anything on the Crossword Club forum about it? Another poisson d’Avril perhaps?

    Edited at 2014-04-01 09:36 am (UTC)

    1. I believe your last thought is correct, Jerry, emanating from the Dorset area.

      Edited at 2014-04-01 09:38 am (UTC)

  9. Thank you, Dorset Jimbo, for an amusing “poisson d’avril” that took me in completely for a while.

    Like some others, I would very much regret any action by the Crossword Editor to make this blog unavailable on the day of publication of crosswords. I’m still in the dnf category, but enjoy learning from others. Thank you to all who contribute regularly to the blog.

  10. 11 mins so definitely on the easier side for me, but it was an enjoyable solve. I found the NW the trickiest quadrant and it was only after I got WET BLANKET that it really opened up. Having said that, HEARTSEASE was actually my LOI.

    As far as an employee of the Times trying to ban independent same-day blogs is concerned I would say that it is utter foolishness.

    Thanks for the history lesson Jimbo.

  11. An outstanding blog, jimbo. I look forward to seeing a Wikipedia entry for the estimable Avril before the year’s out.

    No time – I received an lengthy, unduckable phone call mid-solve, but I’m certain it was less than 10 minutes of solving. In fact, I was half-way to a ‘clean sweep’ when the phone rang. Of course, Avril would have dusted off the clean sweep while chatting on the phone, but I’m not in her league.

    I had always thought Hibachi was a brand name. No wonder my television keeps catching fire.

    Edited at 2014-04-01 10:09 am (UTC)

  12. What I’d like to know Jimbo is whether Mr.B’s ardour was in anyway cooled by his beloved being tone deaf and also if there was any bad feeling on her part when he proposed to Therese Malfatti (also ‘Elise’), notwithstanding the latter turned him down.
  13. Very neat puzzle and a most entertaining blog. Slightly over my half-hour target, but I enjoyed the concise clues. Was expecting something fishy and was sad to find only a shad; the entertainment here, however, more than made up for my disappointment.

    Interesting story on page 9 of The Times today about a ninety-year-old German duke laying claim to the Scottish throne if the Scots vote for independence in the referendum.

    1. Scotland is very much in the news today: there’s an article on the Guardian website saying that the Scots will drive on the right if they vote for independence, and the Telegraph has revealed a Scottish version of the pound coin with a picture of Alex Salmond replacing the queen.
  14. Spent a while on LOI PASSIONATE as I was deceived by the “Most”. HIBACHI was one of the nicknames of ex-NBA player Gilbert Arenas, who used to shout it out when his shot was going well, as a reference to the fact that he was, in the parlance, hot.
  15. Great blog Jim. You did not mention though that Mlle Poisson’s full name was Dominique Avril Poisson but that she only used the initial of her first name.

    Edited at 2014-04-01 10:47 am (UTC)

  17. I found this a bit too easy. 18 minutes, and it would have been 15 or 16 if I’d been quicker to see PASSIONATE and HEAR.
    Worth coming here just for dj’s blog. Very entertaining, erudite and witty.
  19. Although I had most of this done in 10 minutes it took me another 15 to sort out the last few, in particular PASSIONATE and HEARTSEASE.

    Thanks for the blog – I’ll admit to being suckered. I did wonder if the mention of Bolognese in 11A was inspired by the infamous Spaghetti Tree.

  20. My copy of the Times has a completely unrelated set of down clues. 1 down; MP upset with unreliable supplier of timber (8,4).

    It’s taking me quite a while to finish.

    1. Same here on Irish version of paper, so 28 across quite appropriate…

      Eleanor

  21. Guardian has it that the Scots will be driving on the right after Independence. All this stuff about banning blogs on the day of publication is foolish anyway.

    31 minutes with hangover.

    Cheers
    Chris Gregory (logged out).

  22. And the funniest thing about the wrong down clues being printed in the paper itself was clue 28 across: Paid no attention to grid, one printed incorrectly (7). Unfortunately, it was impossible for the answer to be, as it were, Ignored!

    Certainly had me fooled for a while….

    Gandolf

  23. Very entertaining blog, Jimbo – thank you!
    Two missing today – Heartsease (which I think I’ve seen before but had forgotten) and Passionate. Found the rest pretty straightforward with only the unknown Hibachi causing some head scratching

    Edited at 2014-04-01 01:22 pm (UTC)

  24. Fantastic and ingenious blog, Jim. You must have been very keen to blog on this hitherto uncelebrated anniversary. Is there any purpose to ‘see’ in 25ac?
    1. Thanks to Andy Wallace for sending me these! And Penfold and anyone else who’s responded to my request. Cheers to you all.

      Edited at 2014-04-01 02:14 pm (UTC)

  26. Similar experience to Pootle with most done in about 10 minutes but then heartsease and passionate taking my time to 15:25 (I’ll let you do your own conversion to ticks and tocks).
  27. Started, then realised that The Times had printed the wrong set of Down clues. Although a regular reader since the late 60s, not a subscriber, so don’t have access to the on-line version. Therefore not so much a DNF as a DNS.
    1. Here they are

      1 Priest describing immoral dance (7)
      2 Always lacking – blow it (7,4)
      3 Be disappointed about Garbo skipping ending (6)
      4 Misery caused by western film, overall (3,7)
      5 Place rest on edge of table (4)
      6 Expect too much of remaining judge (8)
      7 Daughter lacking in virtuous sentiment (3)
      8 Gathers in information over savings (4,3)
      13 Uncomfortable, waiter with sushi, in the old region (5,6)
      14 Most eager to stick around South Island (10)
      17 More rigorous slaughtering of critters (8)
      18 Greeting composer, one leaving barbecue (7)
      20 Remainder live around university (7)
      21 Satisfied about Liberal being censured (6)
      24 Help involving river becoming dry (4)
      26 Vase to take home, reportedly (3)

      1. Many thanks for the down clues. As a Yorkshireman I hate to think I might have wasted £1.20!
  29. Just over an hour, enjoyable puzzle, liked 15ac. Great blog. Our local rag the Daily Nation does a good April 1st story every year (about the only thing it does well actually). My favourite is from a few years ago when it reported that a local chain of fast food stores was introducing a burger specially designed for left handed people.

    Been through today’s copy, can’t spot the spoof story unless it’s the one about women MPs from a certain region threatening to strip naked in central Nairobi and then marching to the House in protest at some offensive remark made by a male MP. The problems is that sort of thing is entirely possible in this country!

    Nairobi Wallah

  30. Deleting the ‘e’ to get ‘mat’ = ‘coaster’ is OK, but can someone explain why ‘mate’ = ‘officer’, please?
      1. Thanks. Left my computer, sat on the ‘throne’ and “ship’s mate” dawned — Doh!

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