Times 24,297

Author   richardvgPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

Solving time: 10:03

Sorry. Slightly later than planned today as the Times site wouldn’t let me log in. I had to go out and buy a paper.

Nothing wrong with the Crossword, though. At least I don’t think so – I have a number of clues I can’t entirely explain (10, 21, 28), but I am confident that comments will quickly enable me to plug the gaps. I almost admitted defeat on explaining 24D as well but just managed to spot the Morse reference at the last minute. I hope to be able to edit in the explanations in the next couple of hours, as I then need to set off for the Great British Beer Festival at Earl’s Court, where I might sample the odd 27A.

A fair number of less usual words today, but nothing outrageously obscure. I suppose non-UK (or younger) solvers might not be familiar with “Jam and Jerusalem”. My favourite clue of the day is the Mother Teresa reference at 11A

Across

1 JA(C.O.)B – It had never occurred to me that Conscientious Objector abbreviates to the same thing as Commanding Officer
4 RIG (OLE) T(ime) TO – I did spent a little while trying to think of Spanish operas before I realised that “Spanish” actually described the cry
9 MA + JO + R(eckoning) + DO + MO
10 ALL O.T. – I am guessing this is something to do with the Gospels being N.T. rather than O.T., but I can’t quite pin it down. Help welcome.
11 NUNCIO – =((her)OIC NUN)(all rev)
12 PROST(Y)LE, the container being PETROL’S*
14 JOA(N)O FAR C(ommitted) – Easy to get from the definition. But the use of “Brazilian” to indicate João, or presumably any Portuguese name, is not generous.
16 D(HOT)I – the container being I.D.(rev)
17 RETCH – initial letters
19 EU + R.I.P. + IDES – the first element (=”you”)
21 SERVANTS – can’t be anything else, but I don’t understand it (Thanks to mctext, it is: SE(R VAN)TS. I guess I was thrown by the structure: “catching A B” meaning A contained in B)
22 SEE (S) AW – Lincoln is an ecclesiastical SEE, and AW is WA(rev). Not sure about the extra S. I can’t find any justification for Washington being abbreviated to WAS, rather than WA or Wash. (Thanks to the comment below for pointing out that “of” is not a link word. Instead, “of Lincoln” indicates “see’s”, and so Washington indicates an entirely conventional WA.)
25 LIT + HE (helium). The definition (light = LITHE) seems a bit of a stretch. I think of LITHE as meaning supple rather than light. Perhaps they intersect in meaning something like “nimble”
26 GALLIVANT – hidden and reversed (thanks to jackkt)
27 M + I C(ROB)REW
28 (hitch)HIKER – I don’t understand the definition (which I take to be “he’ll give one”). (With thanks to topicaltim: “he’ll give lift” is effectively the definition, and “lift” = “hike” in that both can mean “increase”)

Down

1 JAM AND JERUSALEM – (J(udge) JUNE’S MARMALADE)* – brilliant
2 C(o)A(x) J(o)U(r)N(o)
3 BUR R(IT)O – the container being (OR RUB)(rev)
4 ROOK – three meanings, the middle one being a chess reference
5 GO ON RECORD – And you can watch the record here
7 TALLY HOED – two meanings. Very clever
8 OF THE FIRS + T(W)ATER – the OF, which puzzled me at first, is justified by the apostrophe at the end of “conifers”
13 PAPER TI(G)ER – Express being an example of a PAPER
15 ANT(ARC)TIC – the container being INTACT*
18 HEAVE HO – two meanings: “push” (=reject) as a noun, and “pull” as an imperative verb
23 S + NARK
24 F + LEW(is)

42 comments on “Times 24,297”

  1. No login page today on the crossword club. It had been working so well recently too 🙁
    1. It was okay at 5am but you are right that it’s down now. I have to report another struggle for me today which lasted 45 minutes. I still have three unexplained clues so I shall refrain from further comment until I have read the blog.
      1. I worked them out now and for the record they were 10ac, 11ac and 14ac. I never heard of the Brazilian referred to in 14. The other unknown today was PROSTYLE.

        Quite tricky all round I thought.

        1. I thought I had my head around this earlier but it’s gone again. Something along the lines that if it’s “All O.T.” then there’s no N.T. (Matthew & Co).

          26 is hidden AND reversed.

  2. 18 minutes. No idea what was going on with JACOB at first until it dawned that CO must be “conscientious objector”. Is this military talk? Imagine finding that your CO was a secret CO?
    Otherwise reasonably straightforward; though I was looking for something West Indian at 1dn: RUM AND … ? And there’s the old GO ON = “goon” trick at 5dn; but well executed this time around. Strange that it should intersect with RIGOLETTO: ridiculous and sublime?
    Didn’t know MICROBREW could be a noun and had to check that. Don’t like triple defs in general and 4ac in particular. 25ac had a great surface reading … but COD to 24dn for reference to every setter’s favourite sergeant. Anyone else thinking here of the Scots reel? Or perhaps a shade of 1ac from Monday?
  3. Gruelling 90 mins to finish, 15 mins to justify and then 15 mins of existential pondering.
    Experienced solvers might be interested in just some of my morning’s tribulations:
    MICROBREW – having established MICRO ran through the dictionary and so was fortunate that BREW starts with a B.
    JOAN OF ARC – Cross letters made the answer obvious. Use of Jimbo method to parse gave me Joao for Brazilian, C(ommitted) and N for new. The remaining FAR Chambers confirms as meaning “very much” inter alia.
    FLEW – MICROBREW gave the W so answer had to be FLEW with F as fine and LEW minus the IS another of those wretched Dexter cops surely too undistinguished to feature so often in crosswords?

    Is life too short?

      1. It’s a “reciprocation”. Morse does the Times and the Times, in turn, references him. Simpler than Wagner. Unless you think in terms of a ring that needs recycling??

        1. Wagner had a simple method for reciprocation – quoting himself! (Mastersingers, when Sachs is telling Eva about Tristan and Isolde.)
  5. At about 5 am UK time, I successfully (or so I thought) printed off today’s crosswords. It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that I actually turned the sheets over to discover that while the Times2 had printed fine, the grid for the cryptic was garbled. So I tried to get in to reprint the cryptic and found that the whole of TimesOnline was stuffed. Aaargh!

    Then I remembered downloading Peter B’s pdf file of all the grids used by the Times. The only problem then was finding it.

    But, find it I did, and eventually spent an enjoyable 27:12 solving it over a coffee and the view of the med some 75 metres below.

    Mike

    1. I found this slightly trickier than average despite a flying start. Ended with “prostyle” not completed as I’d never heard of it and it only seemed marginally likelier than “proslyte”. bc
  6. 21. “right coach” is R-VAN; “becomes hard” is SETS. So: SERVANTS. “Catching” indicates the inclusive.
  7. After a very fast first half, I ended struggling with MICROBREW and FLEW. Not overly struck by Lewis clued as sergeant – he made it to inspector eventually! 18 mins eventually.
  8. 27 minutes: as far as I was concerned, one of those odd puzzles where the across and down clues appeared to blong to two different puzzles, the downs being straightforward, and the acrosses requiring a lot more thought.

    10 ac I also thought I saw what was being suggested but didn’t think it worked, possibly because the wording was chosen to smooth the surface rather than to make the wordplay impeccable. 21 ac is R(ight)VAN in SETS (=”becomes hard”). 28 ac, I thought the suggestion must be that a “hiker” could be “one who hikes i.e. raises” and gives a lift in that sense.

    COD 27 ac: presumably the coincidence with the GBBF is just that, but it’s nice timing.

  9. Any puzzle which manages to work “I’m walking backwards for Christmas” into a clue and The Hunting of the Snark into an answer has to be a good one, despite some puzzlements elsewhere. I penned Joan in from the definition then got distracted and never checked the wordplay. Just as well; I’d still be trying. PROSTYLE was a guess, and ALLOT couldn’t be anything else. COD to RIGOLETTO though, for it’s inseparable pairing (at least in my mind) with Daffy Duck and Porky Pig.

    Daffy Duck: I will now play a passage from a famous opera, and you must name the opera.
    Porky Pig: But… but I’m weary.
    Daffy Duck: Listen carefully!
    [plays a single note on piano]
    Daffy Duck: And there you have it! Now, what’s the opera?
    Porky Pig: C-Cavalleria Rusticana?
    Daffy Duck: Audience?
    Audience: Rigoletto!

  10. 14:18 here, no major holdups, apart from having to balance the newspaper on the little fold-down tray on the train seat. An A4 printout is much easier to solve on in such cramped conditions. Bloody website.
  11. 22:10 .. some terrific clues – I especially liked the surfaces for 1a JACOB and 20d PEEVISH – and a few truly fiendish ones – I’d never have untangled the wordplay for SERVANTS.

    Someone lacking my endlessly positive and generous outlook might query a few of the constructions and definitions, but everything fell into place.

    Penfold’s got me scanning all the rows of unches for secret messages now, dammit.

    1. > “… my endlessly positive and generous outlook”.
      What went wrong? I’m Prusae.

  12. With reference to Richard’s comment about the lack of generosity in clueing JOAO as Brazilian, it may be of interest to reflect that this clue originally made reference to the FARC, a Colombian terrorist group, (“Brazilian and Colombian terrorists capturing New Orleans girl”) or something similar) but as the Times likes to steer clear of controversially dubbing such groups as terrorists, and it’s a bit difficult in a crossword clue to find an alternative snappy definition for such organisations, it was decided to change it. But the S. American connection in the shape of the Brazilain rather than Portuguese forename remained.
  13. A day of problems both with the Times and latterly this site. The rain must be getting in somewhere.

    A good puzzle this with some excellent clues. Just the one potential duffer in SEESAW where, like others, I can’t explain that middle “S”. Can’t say I really understood the Brazilian bit but “Orleans girl” had to be dear old Joan. Joao is one to remember! About 30 minutes to solve with no major hold ups working left to right, top to bottom.

    1. Re 22ac. I read this as ‘Rise and fall’-
      definition. ‘Of Lincoln say’ = SEE’S, using the possessive ‘of’, plus WA reversed.
      1. Yes, of course. That’s clever. The obverse of 8D’s apostrophe. I shall edit
  14. I used to do a comedy radio show in Melbourne on one of those radio stations that encouraged talking over the musical intros to songs or long repeats and fades, and “I’m Walking Backwards for Christmas” with the false ending completely caught me out.

    14 minutes, totally hooked once the Goons popped up. Nice find on the single, Richard – that 78man has a pretty amazing collection, a lot of George Formby as well.

  15. Did anyone have problems accessing it early this afternoon? I couldn’t get on for over an hour. The absence, so far, of some of the regulars makes me wonder what’s going on.
    1. yes, live journal wouldn’t let me in earlier this pm either – must have caught it from the times site
  16. 7d ties to 16a of RTC. Also only just got into T4theT.
    1d instant solve, then 20 m to 27a, agree unusual verb.
  17. I must say I was not keen on this crossword. It seemed a bit contrived and words such as “tally-hoed” and “heave ho” seemed a tad desperate. And is coach=van OK? Sorry, anonymous setter..
  19. Was in a permanent pickle for 35 min, then surprised to find that there was nothing left to do. (This is a difficult post as the tabby insists that the moving hands are there for her pleasure) Seemed to have the same problems as everone else – SERVANT, ALLOT, HIKER and had never heard of JAM AND JERUSALEM, MICROBREW. Perhaps a a little UK centric. COD: GO ON RECORD, just for old times sake!
  20. I thought this was a lot of fun, despite the unusually high number of answers that I could not justify. I’m with the setter on João. It came to mind easily because of João Gilberto, known as the Father of Bossa Nova, husband of the better-known Astrud Gilberto. I’m not so happy about Lewis though, not being a Morse fan. I shall have to add him to my Sergeant database along with Troy and York.

    One of the most useful things I have learnt from this blog is that it is possible to complete a puzzle even if you have never heard of one or two of the answers. I seem to have lost the knack recently so I was pleased to finish yesterday with the unknown Tussore. Today I got the equally unknown Prostyle so I seem to have got my mojo back.

  21. I found this tough and somewhat fiendish. Overall about 50 minutes. Some of my delay is due to my being a US solver, so JAM AND JERUSALEM and GO ON RECORD were mysterious. I remembered some earlier puzzle with a reference to ‘Jerusalem singers’, so 1D seemed plausible, but I plugged in GO ON RECORD from the definition alone. I had no idea what the wordplay meant. Same with ALLOT and SERVANTS.
    I agree with anonymous that the extra ‘s’ in SEESAW is a repeat of the possessive trick in 8D, ‘the conifers’=OF THE FIRS, but the other way round, ‘of Lincoln, say’=’SEES’.
    To the setter: nice to hear from you, but I agree that JOAO for ‘Brazilean’ is too indirect. I’m glad you edited out FARC as ‘terrorists’, because that would have been completely obscure, at least to me. However, the main key to the clue, to separate ‘New’ from ‘Orleans’, is very clever. Hats off.
    Overall, I liked this very much, especially RIGOLETTO, JACOB, EURIPIDES, MICROBREW, NUNCIO, and my COD nomination, GALLIVANT. Thanks to the setter and regards to everyone else.
    1. JOAO (whether Portuguese or Brazilian) and FARC are indeed obscure but I reasoned that … Orleans girl (4,2,3) would probably give it away in any case 🙂
  22. 17 mins. Some really good clues with fiendish wordplay, very enjoyable.

    Tom B.

  23. A great crossword with some excellent clues – loved the goons–. To tally ho seems a bit odd as a verb, but altogether forgivable.
    Mike and Fay
  24. A late comment, because I couldn’t log into this site yesterday at all. I found it the easiest since Monday. 30 minutes over afternoon tea. No problems, though I didn’t understand the definition for HIKER, and it took me a minute or two to work out the wordplay for SERVANTS. Some lovely clues, especially 5, 11, 21 and 24.
  25. Solved in 8 minutes before setting off for my charity bike ride (successfully completed, more details later when photos dealt with).

    1D and 5 were the two that made me laugh, but there was lots of good stuff. Have never heard of FARC so quite happy with the editor’s revision of 14A despite not remembering exactly how JOÃO was spelled. As an athletics fan, I should have rememberd the former triple jump world record holder João Carlos de Oliveira.

    Edited at 2009-08-07 05:59 am (UTC)

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