Times 24109 Douglas Adams Meets Samuel ‘epys

Author   dorsetjimboPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time : 20 minutes

A relatively straightforward puzzle of no more than average difficulty. I worked from top to bottom and left to right with no great hold-ups. The sound post of a violin may not be well known to those not familiar with musical instruments and I’m interested to hear what people made of of 16A. I solved it from the definition and knowing Pepys to be childless realised it was “D” and not a woman’s name that was needed.

Across
1 COINCIDE – CO=commanding officer; sounds like “inside”=in prison;
5 PATHOS – PATH(O)S;
9 ORIENTAL – O-R(I)ENTAL; I liked the “for example”;
10 BOTTLE – two meanings; 1=large bottle; 2=slang for courage;
12 SERGEANTSHIP – (strange+e)*-SHIP; reference Hardy’s soldier in the unreadable Far From The Madding Crowd;
15 ONSET – O(NSE)T; OT=Old Testament;
16 TOPIARIST – TOP-(d)IARIST; some may not like this clue;
18 SOUND,POST – SOUND=secure; POST=job; the support for the bridge of a violin;
20 THERMOSTATIC – (to time charts)*;
24 RHEUMY – sounds like “roomy”;
25 AGITATOR – A-GI-TA-TO-R(estrain); TA=Territorial Army=volunteers;
27 CREAMERY – C(RE(A)ME)RY; REME=Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers;
 
Down
1 CHOW – two meanings; 1=Chinese dog; 2=slang for food;
2 ISIS – IS-IS; IS=Island;
3 CONTENTED – CO(N-TENT)ED; CO-ED=type of school; N from (childre)N;
4 DRAUGHT-HORSE – (her dogs hurt a)*; a type of shire horse;
7 HITCHHIKER – H(ITCH-HIKE)R; irritation=ITCH; price rise=HIKE; all in (te)HR(an);
8 SWEEPSTAKE – S(WEEP)S-TAKE; keen=CRY; SS=Steam Ship;
11 CARPET-BAGGER – Axminster is a place where they make carpets;
13 TOPSY-TURVY – (vy story put)*; vy=V(er)Y;
14 ASTUTENESS – A-S-TUTE(e)-NESS; head=NESS;
17 AUBRIETIA – AUBR(I)E(y)-T(a)I(w)A(n); reference Aubrey Beardsley 1872-1898, illustrator (but not of flowers);
22 STYE – hidden word (na)STY-E(ruption);
23 ORGY – (p)ORGY; reference Porgy and Bess wonderful opera by Gershwin brothers and Heyward;

23 comments on “Times 24109 Douglas Adams Meets Samuel ‘epys”

  1. Having been deposited at home by a sober driver following an excess of familiarity with a certain dark liquid of Irish extraction, I printed off this puzzle. Having spotted a couple of obvious answers, but realizing that I was in no condition proceed unaided, I resolved to see how far I could get, and how quickly, using the good offices of One Look. Amazingly I finished in 13 min, and only had to use the on line assist for about four answers. Somehow the acceptance of the One Look crutch seems to have alleviated the alcoholic mists, and simply keying the search criterea was usually enough for the answer to be obvious. It seems to be all to do with focus.
  2. I thought I was in for another tough day as I had to read as far as 20a before solving my first clue, but the SW corner then fell into place quite quickly and I worked fairly steadily through the rest of the puzzle, completing it in 43 minutes which is not too bad for me. Last in was 12a worked out from the anagrist rather than the definition. Having looked it up later and I’ve now read Jimbo’s blog, I gather the reference is to the character in Far From The Madding Crowd but I’m afraid I didn’t know him and at the time of solving I was thinking of Sergeant Gavin Troy in Midsomer Murders.
    1. You should be careful about making such admissions, Jack. Before you know it somebody will tell you that you’re a philistine!!
      1. Signed up, bought the badge, got the T-shirt, Jimbo! I didn’t know the literary references yesterday either.
  3. Nothing to add to your comments Jim, but I’m not rising to the bait on 12ac!

    16ac was easy to get from the definition and a couple of crossing letters, and a bit groan-inducing when solved.

  4. 22:04 .. I was held up by the AUBRIETIA / BLEAK intersection, convinced that 19a must begin with a ‘C’.

    SERGEANTSHIP also caused problems for me. I had actually read the ‘unreadable’ FFTMC, but the clue had me thinking about Paris (not Hilton) and Agamemnon etc.

    TOPIARIST slightly exceeded the corn limit for me, but I can live with it.

    No real stand-out clues this time.

    P.J.O’Rourke: “Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.”

    1. FFTMC was one of my English A-level set texts. It was about 100 years ago but you never forget that!
  5. Struggled with NE corner after putting “islander” (I = one, slander = old charge) in 9 across. On closer scrutiny it doesn’t quite fit but it seemed plausible at the time. bc

  6. 19A I’m sure I’ve seen this more than once, but at sufficient intervals to fool me into looking for C—- every time.

    16A I also got this from the definition – I felt the question mark a good enough excuse for it.

    12A I must confess to being one of the Midsomer Murders persuasion, having eventually worked out that it had nothing to do with the geographical location of an old city.

    1. Yes, it’s not original. That’s why I chose to leave it out – not difficult, no UK slang etc, and seen before.
  7. Apparently everyone got through this far more easily than me. Took a tad over an hour, with 12A resisting me til I went to google. I’m not familiar with the Hardy character, so I was stuck in the Aegean for quite a time, and I was assuming it began with ‘re-‘ due the ‘regarding’ in the wordplay. After I discovered the existence of the Sgt. the rest fell in place up in the NE area. See you tomorrow.
  8. I have really never liked the crossword ploy of using OT or NT as an indicator for book. Apart from it being a very tired old cliche, the old testament – and the new testament for that matter – is a collection of books and not a single book so how can OT equate to Book?
    1. In some editions, the OT and NT are separate volumes and therefore one “book” each.
      1. I am sorry Peter but with all due respect to you in this forum I think that is so obscure as to be stretching an argument past breaking point. In any case it is a very tired and overused construct and I think a sign of laziness on the compiler’s part.
  9. I also can live with TOPIARIST, which I got mainly from the definition, and checking letters. But I’m still not sure that the wordplay really works. I can see that dumping the D (daughter) from DIARIST (Pepys) produces IARIST, but not how we get TOP. No doubt I’m missing something.

    Like Kurihan, I too first encountered FFTMC as an A-Level set book many decades ago. Jimbo will be pleased to hear that even a non-philistine must confess to having felt no great desire to read it again since then!

    Michael H

    1. I think the idea is that Pepys is possibly the most famous diarist and therefore the top one. Who else has a claim to the title? Pooter? Anne Frank? Mrs Dale? Adrian Mole? I see the problem with the clue but it didn’t bother me.
    2. I agree, although my daughter read it at school and said she liked it. I am presently re-reading Jude the Obscure, which is much more gritty and interesting.
  10. Thanks, jackkt, for that explanation. Don’t know why I didn’t spot it. I think on that basis the clue works well enough. As for who is the top diarist, I guess the palm has to go to Pepys, but for me the fictional Pooter runs him close. And I’m with you, kurihan, on Jude the Obscure – much better read than FFTMC.

    Michael H

  11. I enjoyed this one. Unravelling 12a took me ages as I – like many it seems – was stuck on Aegean shores for far too long. I assumed, once I had found the correct anagram fodder to go with the ship, that the Sergeant in question must be Shakespearean. But no – shocked to see Dorset Jimbo giving a good old diss to the Wessex Bard. I am slowly making my way through old works inspired by Times crossword clues. Vanity Fair took me ages – prompted by one too many SHARP clues. Perhaps I should subject myself to FFtMC for my sins?

    Aubretia I managed to guess from crossers and the TIA at the end. Maybe I have vaguely heard of the plant? I certainly had not heard of the illustrator. Please send me membership forms for the Philistine Society!

    There are 4 “easies” not in the blog:

    19a Cold, raw fish (5)
    BLEAK. Double def but with a three words in the clue. My LOI. Count me amongst those who tried to crowbar a C in there until AUBRETIA.

    26a Toady longing to get round second master? (3-3)
    YE S MA N

    6d Seaman abroad in action (5)
    AB OUT. As in going ABOUT one’s business?

    21d Poisonous creature a doctor kept in Massachusetts (5)
    M A MB A. Black Mambas like lurking in drill pipes. Give them a good thwack with a very long stick before handling.

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