Times 24721

37 comments on “Times 24721”

1. 17 minutes. One to prove good puzzles don’t have to be desperately difficult. Some cleverly constructed clues that took me a little while to unpick (3 and 17), and one that deceived me into thinking “Is the new La Scala” could not possibly be an anagram. My only niggle concerns that hackneyed device of “ted” as delinquent: not all teds were trouble-makers, and who now remembers “cosh boys” and “zoot suiters”?
   I still see the occasional superannuated ted outside Manchester pubs, with his thinning DA and immaculate set of drapes and drainpipes, all floating on a thick layer of crepe, cigarette held pointing in towards the palm of his hand.
2. After yesterday’s uncompleted endeavours, a bit of light relief, at least on the RHS which went in very quickly. Got stuck for ages on the LHS, on 1ac / 3d / 13ac, and 14d / 18ac, partly because I just couldn’t get COME ROUND out of my head even though it was obviously wrong. A bit of inspiration on KITCHENER and everything fell into place.

   COD 26ac.

3. 30 minutes. Would have been faster but I got held up at the end at the 17/18 intersection. Some of this was dead easy but there was an unknown word in PASTICHEUR and a trap at 23 where I needed to sort out the wordplay in order to spot that INHALENT was incorrect (it does exist but not with the meaning required here).

   Expect rumblings from Dorset later over yet again equating Teddy boys with delinquents.

4. 8 and a half minutes but with the dunce’s cap on for the over-hasty INHHALING.
   1. I’ll mirror that! a fairly quick one for me circa 14 mins, however I also put INHALING which in retrospect was a little silly.

      The upside for me of this late blog is I dont read it feeling like everybody else has long gone and will only be back for tomorrow!

5. A nice, straightforward 15 minutes. I agree on 24 – far too many words, though I suppose it makes for a better surface. “Quite” could easily have been dropped.
   CoD to the hidden 28, partly because ESTHER is the OT book most often discounted for not mentioning God. There are, reputedly, uniquely no examples of the book amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls. Quite a knowing clue, therefore.
6. Slowed down by PASTICHEUR – which I had never heard of – and THIRD AGE – which I had – and wasn’t sure of the workings of KITCHENER, but I think the blog explantion must be right. 29 minutes – so fast by my standards.
7. An easy puzzle that presented no problems, less than 20 minutes to solve. The only remarkable thing is, as others have already noted, the use of “delinquent” to clue “ted”. Most of us weren’t and the incorrect association is objectionable.
8. 11:38 today. Another supporter of the “delinquent does not define Ted” cause.
9. Straightforward puzzle, managed to finish all but one in probably about an hour or so. CLERIHEW had me stumped, not a word I’ve come across. I’d not heard of to REAM meaning to bore, either, nor PASTICHEUR, but they were easier to guess.

10. 5:30 online. PASTICHEUR last in, but clear from the wordplay.

    I had not fully parsed TURNSTONE, but again with all the checking letters it was clear enough.

11. Dave,

    Thanks for posting – having been unable to post from my new office and trotted out to Starbucks, it occurred to me just as I completed their log-in that someone might have done this. So I can just paste in the stuff below a and enjoy my croque monsieur, Seattle style.

    Finished in 7:38 (on paper), with a slight pause at the end to ensure I picked the right PEE? word at 19.

    1. No problem. Is there a cut-off time does anyone know, after which it becomes legitimate for anyone to post, in the absence of either a blog or a placeholder?
       1. I think years ago I said anyone could post if nothing had appeared by 9 pm UK time, but that was when typical posting times were much later than they are now. “When common sense indicates that the usual poster is having trouble” is just as good a rule. Mysteriously, I can now log into LiveJournal in the usual way.
12. 
    Forgot to start the stopwatch but it felt like 15 minutes or so.

    Sign me up for the Ted Protection League.

    A routine solve, this one. Only real problem came from misspelling NIECE in the obvious way, which rather stymied me on ANTIQUATED.

13. Fraction under 10 minutes which is lightning fast by my standards, maybe even a pb.. just never got stuck on anything.
    Register another vote objecting to ted = delinquent. Some of my best friends were teds.. well, one or two, anyway. The online ODI defines teds purely by style of dress. The OED however adds “in extended use, any youthful street rowdy.”
14. Very similar time (and problems) to Dave. Did not know TURNSTONE (eventually went in on wordplay) and ‘peep’, ‘peer’ were obstinate alternatives for PEEK until penny finally dropped.
    1. Yes, that was my problem exactly. I couldn’t get away from PEEP & PEER.
15. 30 minutes, but I see my spelling of INHALENT was sic. At the time I thought “That’s an unusual spelling of Alan.”; Oh, well. COD to the La Scala anagram.

    My archetypal ted was Keith Moon of The Who, who had to pretend he was a mod, or possibly The Kinks, who (briefly) had to pretend they were teds because the mods and the rockers were already spoken for in the band department. No delinquency there.

16. Pleasant run, 19 minutes. I agree it’s time to stop making all teddy-boys deliquent. Talking of clerihews, people may not know my favourite (by Mr Bentley himself):
    “Susaddah!” exclaimed Ibsen,
    “By dose is turdig cribson!
    I’d better dot kiss you,
    Atishoo! Atshoo!”
17. Had problems with 1a so thought this puzzle would be a long haul. But the rest went in easily enough. Came in at 21mins with STOKER the last to fall, finally solved by the checking letters. I remember once reading a list of “words for things you didn’t think had words”. PASTICHEUR falls into that category for me.
    1. The Club Monthly is full of words that leave you thinking “Who on earth would ever use that, and why?”
       1. Couldn’t agree more Jerry having turned to it after getting today’s in short order
          but for BRACER which dawned on returning to the puzzle later. Who on earth indeed.
18. I found this rather tricky!
    anyway all done …hadnt heard of a turnstone bird but have now!
19. 40 minutes with one wrong (‘ternstone’ for TURNSTONE, where I read the clue the wrong way). Only got INHALANT by the skin of my teeth after going back to check it, having had it ending ‘-ent’ at first. The unknown THIRD AGE was last in, following the unfamiliar BRACER in the SW. Thanks to Dave for the cryptic lowdown on KITCHENER.
20. No problems today. I think I might have had a personal best if I’d sat down and done it in one go with a stopwatch ticking. About 15 minutes over two sessions. Particularly liked CO-PILOTS, JUNE and ON THE RUN.
21. 18 minutes, probably my fastest. But then some of the clues struck me as awfully easy. I actually paused at 25ac, thinking ‘It couldn’t be so easy, not in the Times!’ And 5, given the hyphenation, was a giveaway, which rendered 6 ditto. ‘Turnstone’ and ‘third age’ were new to me, and I hadn’t realized that ‘pen’ was an Americanism, which slowed me down.
22. I also had never heard of the Third Age until some 8 years ago when I was roped in to play singalong piano for a group called U3A. Which, they explained to me, meant “University of the Third Age” ie a sort of upmarket old folks club. It’s got branches all over the country. I’m still involved. It’s fun!
    1. I realise now that I had no idea about the reference in this clue. I’m more familiar with Shakespeare, according to whom the later years of one’s life would be the sixth age of seven. But I was on a roll for a half-decent solving time so I bunged in the answer and moved swiftly on without making a note to review the clue later.
23. I found this pretty easy, though TURNSTONE was unfamiliar and delayed me slightly. As with some other solvers, PEEP and PEER came to mind long before PEEK. A more significant hold-up was entering COACH for 2, a perfectly valid alternative answer, which I reviewed only when I’d solved 11. 23 minutes altogether, giving me time to tackle yesterday’s, which I hadn’t done.
24. It was so nice to sit down with this crossword and not have to vocalise my thoughts, as I did yesterday at the Buckingham trial. If you are doing it, be warned. It slows you down no end, you get nagged if you don’t talk, and it’s best to practise beforehand.

    About 35 minutes, touchstone is one I’ve seen before, pasticheur was the hardest. What’s Pete’s new job? (or is it a secret?)

    1. Buckingham trial?
    2. I’m afraid it is a secret for the moment and I’ll tell you about it as soon as I can. Whatever you think about what it might be, I’m going to give my response in advance. It’s Francis Urquhart’s catchphrase: You might think so; I couldn’t possibly comment.
25. I meant ‘turnstone’. Sorry.
26. Not more than 12 minutes at a guess. I checked PASTICHEUR just in case something was awfully awry and also TURNSTONE to prove the point to a colleague that you can look things up having solved the wordplay but are unaware of the word!. Two other reasonably casual Times solvers that I know flew through this as well.
27. Sorry for the late post. About 30 minutes, but it felt like it should have been quicker. Last entry: TURNSTONE, because it took that long to see how the ‘starts to work’ bit worked. THIRD AGE was nicely put together. Regards.
28. ….an easy puzzle, 22 minutes for me. I had some doubt about ‘turnstone’ until I fully grasped the cryptic.

    As for ‘delinquent’, remember that is a euphemism, so you can always take it in the root sense.

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