Times 24121 A Dim Sum Puzzle

Author   dorsetjimboPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time : 15 minutes

We are in a run of easy puzzles. Mephisto last Sunday took less than 30 minutes and of late only last Saturday’s daily had any meat to it. This is very easy indeed.

Across
1 CHILDS,PLAY; the key to the whole puzzle;
7 POST – PO(S)T;
9 BOOTLESS – BOOTLE-S(unday)-S(chool); BOOTLE is just north of Liverpool; an obscure meaning of BOOTLESS is “worthless”;
10 LIEDER – LIED-(RE=about,reversed); the songs of Schubert usw for voice and piano;
11 DIM,SUM – DIM=turn down (the lights); SUM=quantity; light inconsequential dishes taken with tea usually in the morning;
14 JACOBS,LADDER – JACOB-S-LADDER; JACOB=Esau’s twin; LADDER=run (as in stocking); the polemonium genus;
17 COMMON,GROUND
20 JAMBOREE – JAM-BORE-E;
22 CUT,OUT – CU-TOUT; CU=symbol for Copper
23 SALT,AWAY – SALT-A-WAY;
25 DOSH – DOS-H; slang for money;
26 NOW,AND,THEN – (won hand ten)*;
 
Down
2 HOOLIGAN – HO-(in gaol)*;
4 STEAM – S-TEAM;
5 LASAGNA – LA-SAG(N)A;
6 YELLOW,DOG – YELLOW=afraid; DOG=follow; US slang for contemptible person;
7 PRESTER,JOHN – P(R)ESTER-JOHN; R=rex=king; King John 1167-1216 signed Magna Carta 1215; mythical emperor;
8 SHERRY – SH(ERR)Y; SHY=attempt (throw or shot);
12 SCOTCH,BROTH – SCOTH-BR-(hot)*; dish=SCOTCH=put an end to;
15 SAMARITAN – (sinatra)* surrounds AM;
16 ON,PARADE – ON(PAR-AD)E;
18 OVERSAW – OVER-SAW; about=OVER;
19 CARUSO – CAR(US)O(l); Enrico Caruso 1873-1921 who pioneered recorded music;
21 ALL,IN – A-L-LIN(e);

45 comments on “Times 24121 A Dim Sum Puzzle”

  1. Very easy today apart from the NE corner where I got off to a bad start because I put SHOW instead of TURN at 13. Having corrected that, SHERRY at 8 and POST at 7a soon fell into place but I wasn’t able to solve 7d without on-line assistance on arrival at work. I had thought of JOHN for the second word but PRESTER just didn’t come to mind. I have vaguely heard of the name before but I had no idea he was an emperor. I wasn’t helped by the “in” which misled me into thinking the first part of the clue was all wordplay and “an English one” i.e. an English king, might be the definition, so I was trawling my brain trying to recall the more obscure ones that reigned prior to the Norman conquest.
  2. Another walk in the park – 17 mins today. I am starting to hear the distant wing-beats of Nemesis.

    Some nice clues and allusions though. Bootle achieves fame at last. “Shy” for “attempt” at 8dn was nice (first pass came out as “trerry”). At 11ac, I diverted myself by toying with the notion that “won ton” is “not now” reversed. 22ac – is it just me, or has solicitor = tout been appearing a lot recently?

    By remarkable coincidence, after yesterday’s Rowan Atkinson lesson on the subject of the marriage at Cana, today we have Alan Bennett (at least ostensibly) on Esau and Jacob . Brilliant oratorical parody.

    http://maxatkinson.blogspot.com/2008/11/content-free-sermon-by-alan-bennett.html

    1. Thankyou for that, kurihan. If Alan Bennet hasn’t yet been declared a national treasure, it’s high time he was. It’s not the version I remember, but these things tended to evolve over time. The text of the version I know can be found here.
    2. My English teacher played that sermon during a lesson at school in 196?. It was my first exposure to “satire,” and the first inkling I ever had (at age 15!) that education could actually be fun…
  3. 35 minutes for me, which makes it pretty easy. Some part of my brain which will remain forever Presbyterian feels cheated if I finish in under 30 minutes. It felt a bit more old school than yesterday. Best clue for me was 15, for managing to use charitable and sinatra in the same sentence. Fortunately, the guy could sing. Exit singing “Fly me to the moon”…
  4. I agree, pleasantly straightforward but I idiotically managed to make it difficult for myself by somehow confusing 16 and 19 down and marking 19 with my pen to indicate that it was a two-word answer, the first consisting of two letters. This left me scratching my head for several minutes trying to recall a tenor called –/-uso: I’m interested in music and found it surprising that the setter had clued a tenor I’d never heard of. In the end it was the one tenor everyone has heard of. bc
  5. Another easy one, and there’s me been thinking it was my own brilliance 🙁

    How nice to see Bootle, of childhood memory, take centre stage for once..

  6. Child’s play indeed.
    what was interesting to me was the ‘kurihan’ comment about Bootle achieving fame at last. I have a distant memory of a film in which Will Hay, following a trail of cryptic clues, one of which referred to “a lad in Bootle”, went there to see a pantomime of Aladdin. As I recall, he finished up hanging on the minute hand of Big Ben. Any (old) film buffs out there who remember it?
    2. 1943 production by Will Hay and Basil Dearden starring Mervyn Johns, Claude Hulbert and of course Will himself. They stop the House of Lords being blown up by stopping Big Ben from striking 12.
      1. After an hour shovelling snow yesterday, this morning I woke feeling about a hundred and three. Fortunately, the 1911 UK census went online today, so I was able to check: I’m not in it.
          1. I’m not sure I approve, either, but “demand from family historians has led to an early release.

            “The only information being held back is in line with data protection legislation and relates to infirmity and to children of women prisoners. This will be released in 2012.”

            The government doesn’t give a fig about privacy, so we shouldn’t be surprised.

            1. Thanks for that info. My wife is one of said family historians and has gone rushing off to try to crash the website as she seeks yet more confirmation of my family’s murky past.
              1. 1911 is getting a little close for comfort, isn’t it? Having an antecedent hanged for sheep rustling in 1720 is one thing, but when it’s great uncle Albert, that’s quite another.
            2. A (almost) record eleven minutes today.

              re: your comment on privacy and figs above, Sotira. My understanding is that the 1911 Census was not strictly protected under the 100-year rule, which came in in 1920.

              Nevertheless the government would have respected the convention had there not been a – private – challenge under the Freedom of Information Act…

              Neil

  7. Finished in 13 minutes, a personal best for me. They don’t come much easier than this. Prester John was the only answer that didn’t fall into place quickly. Jacob’s ladder was an early solve – my poor biblical knowledge, confessed yesterday, was at least good enough for that one, though my rather better horticultural knowledge helped too.
    I remember the Alan Bennett sketch well – a masterpiece of comic timing.
  8. 7:32 .. which is close to terminal chirographic velocity for me. Good to see Bootle, but when’s Fazakerley going to get a look in (one of my favourite place names, especially when rendered in broad Scouse)?

    I’m sure kurihan’s right: there have been a lot of touts about lately, but I liked its deployment today. Also enjoyed JAMBOREE, and DIM SUM is a minor classic.

    Q-0, E-6.5, D-3 .. COD 11a DIM SUM

  9. Why do most of the commenters feel it is of importance to announce their solving times? Trying to finish the puzzle in jig-time by guessing at answers, or entering answers without previous knowledge of the word, or not understanding the wordplay doesn’t seem satisfying to me. I prefer to savour the constructor’s cleverness and/or sense of humour. After all, solving a daily puzzle isn’t a speed contest, and no medals are being awarded for that.
    Can’t we have discussion of the answers without having to hear about everyone’s solving times?
    A devout word-lover
    1. You should read “about this blog” at the top of the site. Peter encourages us to state our times so that learners can see their times improve as they compare themselves with more experienced solvers.

      Personally I have no interest in my own times (although I have speeded up again since doing these blogs). I too relish savouring clues and all of my posted times are how long it took me both to complete the grid and understand as fully as I can the make up of the clue.

    2. Anon – You are, of course, free to start another blog, proscribing reference to solving times, for the lexicographically pure of heart, init.
    3. There are some seriously competitive folk here with a strong interest in how fast they can solve the puzzle. You don’t have to share that interest, but we do have a stated aim of assessing the difficulty of the puzzles and among those who expect to complete the puzzle, how long it takes is the best measure of difficulty.

      If you’d like to increase the amount of discussion in comments about the clues and answers, that’s perfectly welcome.

      1. I don’t see this as a competition. In any case, I do the puzzle in a noisy canteen over a coffe or lunch – hardly “competition” conditions. I give my time in case others find it useful (15mins is easy, 45mins hard). There is plenty of scope for discussion of clues, words and anything remotley related to the puzzle (this blog is a good example!).
  10. 7 minutes for all but 7 down and a further 10 minutes trying to find anything to fit. Gave up in the end and came here. Couldn’t think of anywhere else near Liverpool that fit so hit and hoped that BOOTLESS meant of little or no use. I liked the wordplay of DIM SUM eventhough the definition made it easy.
    1. Be very afraid, your experience and mine were identical – ripped through everything, hazarded a guess at BOOTLESS and gave up on 7, looked it up online and found PRESTER JOHN which I would never have dredged up and hadn’t heard of (I had lightly put in PHEATOR DOWN putting the R in TO DO)
  11. 11:27 so, for those who care, this falls into the very easy category. Hopefully Michael S can follow up yesterday’s inaugural success with his second completion.

    Although I don’t count myself as one of the “more experienced” solvers I don’t see myself as a learner any more either (more a sorcerer’s apprentice) but I still find other solvers’ times very useful in judging how well I’ve done.

    Prester John took up the last 2:27 of my time. Never ‘eard of ‘im.

    Some excellent economic sufraces in this puzzle, not least “suitable captain engaged” and my COD “notes and hard cash”.

    Q-0, E-7, D-3

    1. Ha ha. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Penfold_61. Yes, I finished it over dinner about an hour ago, having broken the back of it at lunchtime. Bit too stop-start to time myself, but if you held a gun to my head, I’d say just under two hours.

      I’m glad everyone else found it an easy one. Weirdly enough, I got Prester John and Jacob’s Ladder straight away (they’re all so easy when you know the answer, eh?), but then spent about 20 minutes banging my head on the table over 20A, which I’m sure most people got in seconds, and I still can’t fathom out how 3D is ‘let’. I mean, ‘allow’ is obvious, but ‘citizen of EU to speak’? Europe = E; TO = T perhaps, but citizen = L?

      Still, got there in the end. Don’t worry, I’m expecting a rip-snorter tomorrow to snap me out of my false sense of security 🙂

      Michael.

      1. Citizen of Europe = LETT, a member of a Baltic people constituting the main population of Latvia. “To speak” implies this is a homophone for “LET”

        SD

        1. Ah, I spotted the ‘to speak’ bit, it was the gap in my ethnological knowledge that was the problem, as I was saying “LAT” and wondering what the BGF it meant. Ho-hum. we live and learn, and all that.

          Thank you for the step-by-step clarification – it’s much appreciated.

          M.

  12. Half an hour, which is about as quick as I ever get. If I hadn’t spent ages dithering about 9ac, then this would have been even quicker. My determination than Cain was Esau’s brother also didn’t help the cause. That said, this was about as easy as it gets here, though no less entertaining for that (and probably, given the befuddled state I’m in, more entertaining). COD for me 13ac.
  13. 6.07 which is probably about my second fastest time ever. I read John Buchan’s ‘Prester John’ about 30 years ago and remember little other than the title and that he turned out to be an imposing African tribal leader (is that right?).Knowing this one and twigging Bootle quickly made it plain sailing. A lot of clues seemed to be very easy/familiar today.
    Unlike Jimbo,and many of you, I don’t take time to appreciate or fully understand clues while solving and it is probably not as much fun when done afterwards
    JohnPMarshall
    1. Sorry, I don’t know the book but the legend as I recall it is of a descendant of one of the Magi ruling over a lost kingdom situated in the Orient and containing the fountain of youth. Dates are sort of 1300 to 1600 I think.
  14. I managed 4.46 for this despite, like jackkt, originally putting in GOOD SHOW at 13a. Luckily the intersecting 8d (SHERRY) was so easy that I was able to correct the mistake at once. This is my third fastest recorded time.
  16. Quickest for at least a year at 4:30. Top left went in absurdly fast, then minor slow-down as YELLOW DOG always looks odd to me. NE was last bit with PRESTER JOHN opening up POST/SHERRY. Glad to see no-one making the same slip as a guy I saw on the trin tonight, with “STOW AWAY” at 23 – wrong if you’re thinking clearly, but tempting from S??? A?A?. (I took the plunge and told him, after asking whether I could make a comment about the puzzle.

    Now expecting a stinker to blog tomorrow!

    1. Sorry to let the side down, Peter, but I pencilled in STOW AWAY at first. Fortunately I already had 21A in place and it didn’t take long to rule out A-O,– at 21D and realise that something must be wrong.
  17. 12 min which for me is spectacular. Hadn’t heard of Bootle, but could vaguely remember coming across bootless, so but it in and hoped for the best. Please send rain.
  18. Wow, I was surprised arriving here to find many proclaiming this to be the easiest in a while. Kudos to you speedsters, but it was an awful mess for me, taking 3 sittings and about an hour. The generous helping of Britishisms slowed me down, such as both Bootle and bootless, shy=attempt, dosh, ladder=run, scotch=dish, none of which I knew, except that ‘dosh’ had appeared in a puzzle recently. I had to look up PRESTER JOHN, who I very, very vaguely recalled as Presser John, but couldn’t recall anything other than the name. I also tried both ‘good show’, and ‘good deed'(yes, I know the latter stab is lame) for 13, before finally getting that one right.
    Beyond that, well, I agree the rest was in fact pretty easy. Regards to all, see you tomorrow.
  19. I enjoyed this one, as I could do all except Prester John. On first reading blog I thought it said Prescott,John–a legendary emperor, if ever there was one.
  20. In Spain the best upper sets do it
    Lithuanians and LETTS do it
    Let’s do it, let’s fall in love

    Cole Porter

    1. Heh. Thanks for the link. Looks like every day’s going to be a school day from now on…

      Funny, I wasn’t far off at one point, wondering if it might be an abbreviation for the people of Latvia, but I presumed that would be ‘Lat.’, then I wandered off in a different direction. Tsk.

  22. Yes quite an easy one but again made a bit harder on the 10 year old online version by the enumerations being shifted by one in many of the clues. It seems to be the same problem as the previous instance so this time one could check the enumerations of the clue before & that worked most of the time.

    There are just the 4 “easies” not in the blog:

    13a Nice act one hopes to see in cabaret (4,4)
    GOOD TURN. Perhaps administered by 15d SAMARITAN?

    21a Published yearly, the recorded events of one year round university (6)
    ANN U AL

    3d Allow citizen of EU to speak (3)
    LET (T). Letts are an old Baltic people from the Latvia area apparently.

    24d Suitable captain engaged (3)
    APT. It is in c APT ain.

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