Times 24,606

Author   topicaltimPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Straightforward fare today, especially with two quickly spotted long down solutions; anything that might not be known either in the clueing or solution is, I think, sufficiently explained by wordplay (except, on reflection, perhaps the Scottish culinary reference).

Across
1 PREVALENT – [REV. in P(ress) A(ssociation)] + LENT. Edit: or P(ublic) A(ddress), of course; the OED gives both, as well as the unsuitable P(ersonal) A(ssistant), so it seems to be a 50/50 ball based on which comes to mind first.
6 MOTET – O(ld) T(estament) in MET.
9 RAT TRAP – RAT=strike-breaker, TRAP=carriage.
10 MALTESE – (SET)rev. in MALE; the Maltese cross looks like this.
11 SINUS – S(hrew) IN U.S. provides the cavity.
12 SATINWOOD – a little theatrical charade; not entirely sure who first decided that the most obvious subject for a pantomime was this gruesome story (though I presume in the panto versions someone usually adds a happy ending).
13 CHECKERS =”CHEQUERS” .
14 ASTI – ST. in A1.
17 MOOR – (ROOM)rev.
18 RIGHTFUL – (f)RIGHTFUL.
21 REDUNDANT – (ANDTURNED)*.
22 MARAT – MA + the RAT from the trap in 9 across; I imagine Marat would not be delighted to know that he is still remembered, but pretty much entirely for being murdered in his bath.
24 MEASURE – as in Measure for Measure, of course. The definition of measure as “act” in the legal / Parliamentary sense is low down the list, but definitely there.
25 RESPECT – SPECTRE with the R.E. moved to the front.
26 NEEDY – NEE=born, in Paris + D(owd)Y.
27 STAG PARTY – PART in STAGY; I think such a celebration might be better known as a bachelor party in some parts.
 
Down
1 PARIS – PAR + IS(lands).
2 ENTENTE CORDIALE – TENT + E(nergy) + CORDIAL in E,N,E.
3 APRES SKI – cryptic def.
4 EXPOSURE – EX P.O. (Pilot Officer or Petty Officer depending on the service) + SURE.
5 TOMATO – MAT in TOO.
6 MELONS – (grow)N in MELOS; hmmm, I tried to persuade myself, and for longer than I’d care to admit, that there might be such a fruit as a milon. Fortunately nobody will ever know…
7 THE WORSE FOR WEAR – double def.
8 TREADMILL – T(o) + READ MILL. In a minor quibble, I’d have said the treadmill was a form of punishment rather than actual torture, though I suppose it’s all a question of degree. Neither my OED or Chambers actually use the word “torture”, though.
13 CAMERAMAN – CAME R.A. MAN; an extra cryptic layer with R.A. MAN being the answer to “one doing the shooting”.
15 VICTORIA – VICTOR A around 1 gives this type of carriage. To be filed alongside phaeton, brougham, landau and possibly several more that don’t instantly spring to mind. Oh yes, and trap, of course, as in 9 across.
16 THUMBS UP – Tom Thumb is the diminutive Tom who is required to be raised.
19 INJURY – i.e. IN a JURY &lit. Though not in Scotland, of course.
20 CARESS – S(hilling) in CARES.
23 TATTY – double def., the first of which will be familiar to all who have eaten their Burns Night haggis with neeps and tatties, though possibly not some New Worlders? We shall see.

26 comments on “Times 24,606”

  1. A relaxed 19 min with nothing unknown. The two long downs were very helpful. No problem with tatty, as I think is was current when I was a nipper in the deep south of NZ. COD to REDUNDANT. Not difficult, but a neat clue.
  2. Had all but two after 29 minutes, but a mistake at 27ac (‘show party’) did for me on the carriage, where I was working around ‘victor’ and would have got VICTORIA from the wordplay, save for my carelessness, and needed aids to sort out the mess. The carriage museum in Maidstone, established by a cousin, probably has one of these things.

    COD to the witty TREADMILL.

  3. I struggled a bit more than was perhaps warranted, coming in at 40 miniutes, having become becalmed in the SE mainly, not having quickly spotted THE WORSE FOR WEAR (I thought it was a anagram of PLASTERED BUT ITS for too long; now that would have been a clue! Unfortunately, DISREPUTABLE T.T.’S. doesn’t quite work.) Some witty clues all round with REDUNDANT, INJURY, MEASURE & STAG PARTY amongst them but COD to TREADMILL.

    As for haggis and tatties, that’s my Australian youth in two words. Well, once a year on St Andrew’s night maybe. I can’t imagine a microwavable version of a haggis, though. Do they come with an inbuilt recording of skirling pipes that starts playing instead of the microwave pings?

  4. One for the Nursery Slopes folder? 14 minutes and, with Mr K, slightly delayed in the SE — as were the trains of Phnom Perth today when a man chucked himself in front of a train in Welshpool. No Australian folkie would miss 23dn, since they would know of the left-handed balladeer, Tatty Bogle and own several copies of his LP, “Scraps of Clothing”.
    1. Oh, also meant to ask: isn’t PA in 1ac the Public Address rather than the hacks?
      1. Yes I agree it is public address eg in a railway station. 21 mins for me again (seem stuck on this time at the moment!). Took a while to justify stag party as I was locked into ‘arty’ for theatrical.
  5. 25 minutes for me so I expect under 5 from some of the speed merchants. LH just about wrote itself in but I had a little trouble RH. MELONS was last in. MARAT was a guess from the wordplay and I didn’t understand CAMERAMAN completely until coming here. I’m inclined to agree with tt’s comment about TREADMILL but I haven’t actually looked it up.
  6. 6:49 and should have been quicker, not getting 7D until most of the checkers were in place. 13D solved without full wordplay – initially thought of CINE????? from the initial C, then saw the answer later, simply remembering the shooting part. I’d say P.A. = “public address” and “Press Association” were equally good for “source of info”.
    1. I suppose if one wanted to be really pedantic, the Press Association is a source and a public address system a channel. Anyway, since I didn’t even bother with the wordplay in my dash to break half an hour, I offer this only as an observation. If I had analysed the solution, I would have plumped for public address, the Press Association meaning little to me, although that will all change now as it is another bit of crosswordese I will endeavour to remember.
  7. Hung up on melons – delayed by the plural fruit – and the motet. Surprised by treadmill as form of torture. 26 minutes. No scintillating clue though quite liked 21.
  8. Took nearly an hour over this, which is inexcusable really. And that was after a fast start. CHECKERS is a gimme at 13ac, and opens up the whole of the left hand side. Didn’t spot the spectre at 25ac until coming here, but now that I’ve seen it, I like it.
  9. 13:45 here, inexplicably slow to get started but finished with a flourish. COD to TREADMILL. I also though Press Association in 1ac, didn’t even think of Public Address, but I suppose if it leads to the solution either will do.
  10. 15 minutes with rapid acceleration towards the end. I was quite surprised to see TATTY as a soundalike, as I thought it was an alternative spelling to the Scots.
    I’ve known several Personal Assistants who were excellent sources of information, but I have to confess I thought first of Publicity Agent, which doesn’t really exist. Wrong route, right answer, so doesn’t matter, but it’s strange how many alternatives there are for this one.
    CoD to INJURY. Would have been TREADMILL, but I also have that minor quibble over torture.
  11. Had to take my car for its MOT so did this with an audience of fellow sufferers watching out of the corner of their eyes. Luckily a nice easy one that took less than 15 minutes. It feels good when that happens – not so good when you sit and struggle with the thing!
  12. A nice easy reintroduction after a week of holiday. All very straightforward and completed in my 20 minute tube ride with the exception of 2dn, which for some inexplicable reason I couldn’t see even with all the checking letters in place. Then I had a meeting and when I went back to it about an hour and a half later I saw it immediately. I wonder how long I’d have stared at it without the break.
    In marked contrast to today’s offering, I had my first go at a Mephisto yesterday evening. To quote the immortal Bertie Wooster, it made me feel like the fellow who on looking at something felt like somebody looking at something.
    1. Can I offer you some advice on Mephisto? There is an art to solving them and use of this blog site can speed the learning curve considerably. Use the Crossword Club archive to obtain an old puzzle (say about a month ago – look back through the blog to find one described as easy), attempt it and then analyse the blog here against your efforts. Repeat this for the next puzzle until you get up to date. Also in Memories/Solving Tips you’ll find some hints on doing Mephisto.

      Don’t be dispirited if you solve very little to start with. Like anything worth doing it takes time – and don’t hesitate to ask if you need help

      1. Thanks – that sounds like very sound advice so I’ll follow it.
        The main problem I’ll have will be time. The only opportunity I’m likely to get for Mephisto will be Sunday evenings, when I’m usually completely shattered after a weekend of childcare.
    2. Another barred grid tip: the Observer’s Azed puzzle is available for free on the Observer site, and blogged at fifteensquared. As there’s one Azed as opposed to three Mephisto’s, it may be a bit easier to get to grips with a single foe.
      1. And thanks for that too. I’ll see how I get on with Mephisto and resort to Azed if I get too discouraged.

  13. Another gentle stroll today: 25 minutes to finish without any serious hold-ups.

    A nice crossword: liked TATTY (very sweet) and the Babes i.t.W. allusion. COD to TREADMILL (which this wasn’t!).

  14. About 15 minutes, ending with the MELONS/MOTET crossing. TATTY has appeared before, else I wouldn’t know it, but with the checking letters it went in without much of a problem. I thought SINUS, INJURY and TREADMILL were all clever constructions, which were enjoyable but certainly not too difficult. Regards.
  15. 7.25 so an easy return to timed solving after some relaxed holiday puzzles in the heat of Spain.(Took about 2 hours to do a Saturday puzzle from April on the flight back – a real cracker/stinker whichever way you prefer to look at it – no doubt some of you remember it!)
    A bit of historical ignorance in that I just took Marat for a revolutionary politician. I liked 11 as a clue. Got the long ones quickly which helped and only a small delay in NE corner with 6a/d and 8.
    Off to climb some Munros tomorrow weather permitting so another few days off
  16. Quite enjoyable…under a 30 minutes. Held up by TATTY for a bit and got a chuckle out of TREADMILL.

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