Times 24,068 – How Not To Solve A Cryptic Crossword

Author   topicaltimPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
I must confess I thought I would kill two birds with one stone here, and do a midnight solve on the PC while watching BBC4’s How To Solve a Cryptic Crossword on iPlayer in another window, so I was distracted and can only estimate my solving time. However this felt like a solid Tuesday puzzle with nothing unduly tricky, so I’m fairly sure I would have taken my normal 15 minutes or so. This allows for getting slightly bogged down in the SE corner, after I entered an incorrect answer thanks mainly to the influence of Colin Dexter being interviewed (see 16 down); and I recognise that 14 down may be obscure to some non-Ancient Historians.

Across
7 HAM – one of the sons of Noah.
9 GENTLEMAN – GEN(eral) + (NAME LT)rev.
10 ABACI – as a ‘flower’ can turn out to be a river, so a ‘summer’ can be one who adds up.
13 MISER – MISTER without the T(ons).
15 SWEETENER – (RESENT)* round WEE – carrot as in an incentive rather than the vegetable per se.
19 CURIA – CIA around UR (on tonight’s programme, Don Manley Tim Moorey helpfully points out “If it says spies, it’s always nearly always the CIA”).
20 TEA TRAY – TEAT + RAY.
22 READ-OUT – RE A DOU(b)T.
24 BLIGH – BLIGH(t) gives the man most famous for a mutiny.
27 EMS – E(nglish)M(anu)S(cript).
28 NONDESCRIPT – (SECONDPRINT)*.
 
Down
1 PIG – PI(ous) + G(ood). I seem to have had the PI formation in every blog recently.
2 SENOR – SEN(at)OR without A T(ime).
4 REMINISCE – RE MINIS + C(ommonplac)E. I remember when this website was all fields, you know.
5 ERNST – German painter found in gEaRoNaSiTe.
7 HEADLINER – E(cstasy) in HAD LINER.
8 MAIDSERVANT – (DIVERTSAMAN)*.
11 COMFORTABLE – C(ustomer) + O(rder of)M(erit) + FOR TABLE.
14 SATRAPIES – RAP inside SATIE‘S provides the old provinces. I say it’s a slightly obscure ancient term, but I expect Boris Johnson’s used it to describe a council somewhere in London.
16 ENDURANCE – At this point I was listening to Colin Dexter talk about Morse, and wrote in ENDEAVOUR without thinking, so ended up with Cook’s ship instead of Shackleton’s. D’oh!
18 EARTHEN – definite article THE inside EARN.
21 YEMEN – “This person” from the setter’s perspective = ME, inside YEN.
23 OMANI – (IN A MO)rev.
26 TUT – half of TUT(ors).

The programme, incidentally, is a pleasantly diverting fifty minutes. Anyone who already reads this blog won’t learn anything about solving they don’t already know, but there are interesting historical snippets, and some entertaining contributions from setters, editors and solvers, some of whom may already be known to you. As the introduction says, who could fail to be charmed by playing with words, when such wordplay allows the sudden realisation that PRESBYTERIANS is an anagram of BRITNEY SPEARS?

26 comments on “Times 24,068 – How Not To Solve A Cryptic Crossword”

  1. I too wrote in endeavour without thinking (I already had the e and de checking) and then was trying to work out what kind of monochromat.. word would fit across the bottom. Otherwise the only thing that held me up was the mental blank that trip + les didn’t make a word. I’d never heard of strapies but what else could it be.
  2. About 45 minutes on this one with one wrong answer (TAT for TUT) and one I cheated on (ENDURANCE) because I ran out of time.

    I thought I posted this late on yesterday’s thread but it seems to have disappeared today:

    On the “How To Solve” programme,I was completely baffled by the section on the redesigned Stanmore station that is now apparently crossword themed because of a connection with Bletchley Park, code breakers and cruciverbalists, they said. Assuming the people who worked at Bletchley Park wanted to travel there by train they would have been up the wrong branch of the (then) Bakerloo line if they found themselves at Stanmore.

    1. The idea was that there was some outpost of the Bletchley Park code-breaking empire at Stanmore, not that the Bletchley folk went through Stanmore on the train.
      1. You may well be right, Peter, but I was born and lived there for 25 years and I’ve never heard of it. The headquarters of Fighter Command was at Bentley Priory in Stanmore and there was an RAF installation at Stanmore Park so it was probably part of that operation, but I’d have thought if they were looking for a “theme” to commemorate something local it might have been more fitting to design some sort of tribute to the RAF. However, something is better than nothing and the crossword game sounds fun.
  3. 18 mins here. I raced through the top half in under 5 minutes, then ground to a halt and struggled with the rest of it. I think the second I thought “I’m in for a really fast time today”, my mind went blank!

    I managed to avoid the ENDEAVOUR trap, just putting in END and waiting for further crossing letters to confirm which of the two was correct.

    I also enjoyed the BBC4 programme last night. It was interesting to see how Azed still does everything by hand in a neat little exercise book (and that it only takes him 5 hours to produce a puzzle!).

  4. Not a term I’m familiar with. Nor was I familiar with the avante-garde composer. I’d heard of RAP though…
  5. 7:02 for this one – flying start with 1A and all its danglers but then got a bit bogged down. The program is on a few more times on BBC4, which gives me a chance to tape it. Probably best for the people you know who tell you that they’re far too stupid to solve cryptic crosswords, but you know are perfectly capable and could enjoy it a lot.

    I do hope Don didn’t say “always” about spies = CIA – one of the first rules of solving (in the fine tradition of mangling quotations to make crossword clues tips) is “never say always”.

    Edited at 2008-11-11 03:22 pm (UTC)

  6. It was Tim Moorey who talked about the CIA. Curious that your blogger was watching me and struggling with my puzzle at the same time!

    I thought the BBC did a terrific job. Great continuity, interesting archival content, and excellent music. My modest fee was a lot less than Mr Ross’s too!

    1. Apologies for any misattribution caused by trying to comment on a puzzle and a TV programme simultaneously. Such are the perils of multi-tasking late at night…
    2. And Tim (at 42:45 on iPlayer) does take the trouble to say that “spies” nearly always means CIA.
  7. A mixed bag for me.

    To have the hoary arab doubleton of Yemen and Omani was OTT – maybe that’s just crossword kitsch, I dunno?

    Reminiscing needn’t be the sole preserve of Proustian fuddy-duddies (it applies equally to young fogies).

    I also thought ‘popular black music’ a tad clumsy.

  8. Just back from a long weekend in Wales, I struggled to engage brain in gear for this and took 40 minutes for what in hindsight wasn’t that difficult. I like ABACI, which was my last to go in. Had to guess SATRAPIES from the wordplay.

    I didn’t see this TV prog that you’re all talking about – did it give this site a plug?

  9. I was not on form and made heavy weather of this also (50 minutes). As I solved each of the clues that was giving me trouble I thought there was nothing inherently difficult – it was just me being slow. Even OMANI came late, yet the clue’s a regular in The Times. The worst mistake was to write MONO to begin 28. I liked the clues very much, but I’m afraid I haven’t time to single out one for COD
  10. Made a quickfire start but then got thoroughly bogged down in the home counties, limping home in 28 minutes. Mineshaft was last in after classic and tut eventually came to mind.

    Q-0, E-7, D-6.5, COD 11d, comfortable – it looks like there’s padding but every word is fully accounted for.

  11. I too thought I was in for a quick one, with 1a,1d,2d and 4d going in immediately. It got a bit slower after that. In the end I guessed correctly at SATRAPIES having never heard of it or Satie. Rap isn’t necessarily black music either – Eminem, the Beastie Boys, Vanilla Ice (!) and Morris Minor and the Majors spring immediately to mind (E&OE).
    Thoroughly enjoyab;e, special mention going to both 11s.

    Excellent prog last night

  12. From what I’m hearing of the program, I hope the BBC somehow makes it available outside of the UK (all-region DVD? discreet download to an educational address in the US?) to maybe hook a few more solvers over here.

    Started this last night, and was kind of bleary, went to sleep with 10ac unfilled, woke up and wrote it in straight away, so let’s call it 19 minutes plus 6 hours plus one minute. SATRAPIES from wordplay (though it sounded familiar, maybe it’s a type of northern pastry). Nice anagram at 28, Mr M.

        1. Sorry, should have guessed that. I have the same problem when I try to watch Gaelic Football on RTE.
  13. 6.24. I can’t now remember why I avoided the Endeavour trap, as it was certainly my first thought – think I’m just going through a prudent phase (it won’t last).

    Enjoyed the program a lot. I particularly like the thought that if we’d been around during the war all of us would have been colleagues at Bletchley Park.

  14. Was held up by incorrectly entering HEADLIGHT for HEADLINER and gave up after an hour and came here to discover SATRAPIES, which I’d never heard of.
  15. I fell into a few traps (Endeavour, ‘policeman’ instead of ‘gentleman’, and I thought for sure 8D would end in -MAID since I had the ‘A’ from CURIA), so it took me about 40 minutes to sort it all out. My favorite was SATRAPIES, which I thought clever, followed closely by MINESHAFT, which was a very well- disguised clue. Kudos to Mr. Manley et. al. for getting a television program dedicated to crossword puzzles, something I doubt would ever occur over here, despite the lack of interesting programming on US television. Regards all.
  17. Another pleasing puzzle.
    SATRAPIES went in last, not counting ABACI which I didn’t get.
    Excellent BBC4 programme. Fascinating to see behind the scenes. The guy who explained each type of clue spoke with such clarity. Most enjoyable.

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