Times 25,049

Author   topicaltimPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Happy New Year, one and all. 20:47, so not as straightforward as the left side initially suggested it was going to be. One completely new word, and a lot of clues where the parsing is considerably simpler than spotting the solution in the first place (usually I find it’s the other way round).

Across
1 DODDERING – [ODDER in DIN] + GCHQ.
6 NICHE – Henry in NICE.
9 INVOICE – i.e. IN (good) VOICE.
10 ADVANCE – Very in A DANCE. Salome’s dance, her reward for which was the head of John the Baptist, is the one which has been popularly descibed by later artistic commentators as the “Dance of the Seven Veils”.
11 ERROR – As Rowan Atkinson put it, “the joke in Comedy of Errors is two people looking like each other. Twice.”
12 PRESCIENT – (SENTPRICE)*; nice definition in “certainly dealing in futures”.
13 CHIVALRY – CAVALRY with a HI instead of the second letter, A.
14 STUB – STUBborn.
17 OHIO – Old + [Investment in HOuse].
18 LONESOME – Left + ONE’S hOME without the Husband. I was misdirected into looking for “my” to be “cor” or “wow” or similar, rather than the way the Queen might talk about one’s husband when she really only means her own.
21 EMANATION – (IT + A NAME)rev. + ON(=concerning).
22 TRAMP – TRAM + Pressure.
24 NAIVETY – [1 VET] in NAY. Cluing VET (meaning, say, a Vietnam vet, rather than a small animal vet) by use of the word “veteran” is a bit inelegant, I felt.
25 ECCRINE – EC (postcode of City of London) + [pensioN in CRIEd]. Totally unfamiliar with this word: one of those where I waited till all four checkers confirmed what I thought the wordplay was telling me, and reckoned it looked enough like “endocrine”, which I did know to be a sort of gland, to be perfectly plausible as a sweat gland.
26 TENON – (NONET)rev., as in a mortise and tenon join(t)
27 NUMBER TEN – i.e. when you reverse MP, you get PM, and hence the inhabitant of Number 10, Downing Street; the top of the greasy pole, as John Major put it.
 
Down
1 DRIVE – DRIVEl.
2 DIVERSIFICATION – (I’D)rev. + VERSIFICATION.
3 ERITREAN – (TIRE)rev. + (NEAR)*.
4 INEXPERT – PER in [I (electrical current, in scientific notation) + NEXT].
5 GRATED – G-RATED, i.e. six classes below being top class, which would be A-rated.
6 NOVICE – if you never acquire a bad habit, you have NO VICE.
7 CONVENTIONALIST – (VIOLENTNewACTIONS)*.
8 ELECTABLE – sELECt + TABLE.
13 CLOSE KNIT – (CSTOLKIEN)* with an &lit. element which nods to the fact that CS (Lewis) and (JRR) Tolkien were close friends, colleagues at Oxford, and members of a club where they drank beer and discussed what they were writing.
15 HORNBEAM – HORN(warning signal) + BEAM(shaft); the crypticness of the definition, at least in the UK, though possibly not elsewhere, comes from “heavy plant” more usually being used to describe major engineering projects. Hence the familiar road sign “Heavy Plant Crossing”, and the equally familiar cartoon depicting a triffid in the road.
16 TENTACLE – TENT (wine consumed far more in crosswords than in real life) + [Cold in ALE]. Lift and separate to get the definition “What feels”. Though tentacles do have other purposes, I suppose.
19 CAVERN – vinCA VERNalis. Vinca vernalis appears to be a plant made up for cluing purposes, though there is a genuine species vinca, and at least eight plants with the vernalis name. This suited me, as real plants are my most notorious blind spot.
20 LIBYAN – (NAY + BILe)rev., and a topical reference to the Arab Spring of 2011 and ongoing events.
23 PREEN – (River, E) in PEN (adult female swan).

45 comments on “Times 25,049”

  1. Found this easy, c12 mins + another two or three for “eccrine.”
    Tent as a wine was common once.. Pepys drank it frequently.. but is just an archaic term now for what we would probably call Spanish plonk
  2. About 12 minutes for this. Getting the long down clues quickly helped quite a lot.
    I didn’t know ECCRINE or HORNBEAM, and I’m still not clear on why the latter is heavy. Presumably it’s known for this characteristic, but Wikipedia notes only its hardness.
    13ac is not reliant on any knowledge of the relationship between CS and JRR, or I’d never have got it. Tolkein was at my old college so perhaps I ought to know more about him, but I am allergic to all that stuff about hobbits and orcs.
    1. I took it that the use of “heavy” rather than, say, “large” was mostly in order to provide the misdirection that “heavy plant” provides. And if you lined up all the plants in the world in order of average weight, it would certainly be well over on the heavy side in the way that a daisy isn’t.

      And I shall amend my comment on 13dn to make clear it’s the surface &lit element of the clue which references the specialist knowledge; as you say, the bald answer is perfectly gettable without that.

      1. Hmm. That seems a bit loose to me if it’s right. Look out for “cat” clued as “heavy creature” on the basis that over half of all known organisms are insects!
        1. In fact, when I check wikipedia, which I hope is trustworthy on such non-contentious botanical matters, I find:

          “The wood is generally hard, tough and heavy, hornbeams particularly so; several species were of significant importance in the past where very hard wood capable of withstanding heavy wear was required, such as for cartwheels, water wheels, cog wheels, tool handles, chopping boards and wooden pegs. In most of these uses wood has now been replaced by metal or other man-made materials.”

          I think I now know enough about hornbeams to keep me going for a few months. Possibly more than enough.

          Edited at 2012-01-03 11:56 am (UTC)

          1. Thanks – that clears it up. I didn’t find this reference, but I didn’t look beyond the entry for “hornbeam”. Of course I should also have checked “betulaceae”!
            That’s enough hornbeams I agree.
    2. Kingsley Amis, if I recall correctly, refers to Tolkien as absolutely the worst lecturer he ever suffered through at Oxford; totally incomprehensible.
      1. Interesting, thanks. I only went to five lectures in my entire university career, but based on that limited experience he was up against some pretty stiff competition!
  3. As you say Tim the SE corner was tricky and ECCRINE was new.

    I failed to get LIBYAN however, after putting NAIVETE at 24. To me that’s the normal spelling and NAE seems as good as NAY.

  4. Agreed, an easy one. 20 minutes for me without pushing myself in the middle of a mighty storm here at the moment.

    I also think of “tent” as vino tinto and probably best avoided, particularly when decent quaffing wine is (or was!) reasonably cheap in Spain

    In 20D is “revolution” serving two purposes as (a) reversal indicator and (b) part of definition – or am I not reading it right?

    1. I read the definition as “such as began in Benghazi”. Not necessarily a revolution.

  5. … and that one was LIBYAN, as, shame on me, I couldn’t quite recall where Benghazi was to be found.

    LOI was CONVENTIONALIST (think I’ve mentioned, I’m not good on long words!), as I misread the clue, and spent an age thinking it ended in an anagram of ‘actions’ (-OCANIST, or -ONACIST).

    Hadn’t heard of ECCRINE, nor TENON, but both were clearly clued.

    CoD: CHIVALRY, once I’d worked out the why.

  6. Only 4 minutes short of the hour for me on this one.

    I didn’t know ECCRINE and like vinyl1 I thought 5dn was an anagram – why else ‘potentially’?

    I also wondered about ‘heavy’ in 15dn although I am familiar with the tree from the opening lines of Betjeman’s Summoned by Bells: Here on the southern slopes of Highgate Hill red squirrels leap the hornbeams…”.

    As a fan of Frankie Howerd and having found NAY, NAY (in 20dn and 24ac) I was expecting thrice NAY but sadly it wasn’t to be.

    1. I read this as indicating that the phrase “G-rated” meaning “seventh grade” isn’t a recognised phrase, but could be.
  8. ECCRINE from wordplay. NAIVETY with this spelling came up very recently in one of those crosswords we’re not supposed to mention (yet). COD to GRATED. I agree with tim (thanks for the blog) that parsing the clues was often more straightforward than spotting the definition/solution.
  9. 30:34 – Slipped over the half-hour while coming up with LIBYAN. I was also thrown by the choice of spelling in 24. I realised it could be either, but was favouring the E as it seemed a more likely checker.
  10. Not convinced you did have a blind spot, Jimbo. 20dn seems to me to work best with “revolution” serving the dual purpose you describe.
  11. I’d never heard of ECCRINE but it seemed likely from the cryptic. I wasted a bit of time on 8d because I already had the B and was looking for a word ending in BED. Once I’d got the right piece of furniture the NE corner fell without any more trouble. Quite enjoyable. 30 minutes
  12. 23:40… I don’t care to admit how long I spent puzzling over 20d, convinced that Benghazi was in Iraq and wondering how Saddam came into it. I might have mentioned before that geography isn’t my strong suit. At least for once LYBIAN was precluded.

    No mention of Carfax in last night’s Endeavour but much crosswordiness for those who might still wish to catch up with it on the ITV Player or whatever. Setters should avoid it, however, since the young Morse delivers the intolerable slander:

    “But then crossword setters aren’t exactly famed for a lack of self-regard.”

    Outrageous!

    1. I was a little disappointed by Endeavour. I can’t imagine a crossword in which week after week the solution to 1A is the name of a local lover’s haunt and the solution to the last down clue is a time. And the soprano had the build of a twig with lung development that could barely raise a middle C. Didn’t even notice the comment about setters – can’t think why!

      How’s the survey coming along?

      1. I thought the programme had a lot of things going for it though its treatment of crosswords wasn’t one of them! I checked the credits for “Crossword consultant” but unsurprisingly there wasn’t one – surely a gap in the market for Anax to step into. He’d have come up with something altogether more ingenious, as would any of the Times setters.

        The Christmas Survey (one last plug – Not the Times for The Times Festive Survey) is nearly at three figures for participants – thank you, all.

        I’m aiming to have a link here to the results on Thursday or Friday.

        Edited at 2012-01-03 04:12 pm (UTC)

        1. Was Colin Dexter involved beyond, you know, the obvious, such as having invented the character to start with? (I didn’t watch last night, preferring to catch up tonight when I can see it without adverts – apologies, commercial broadcasters). Presumably he dealt personally with any crossword related matters in the original series.

          (I occasionally see CD when he boards the same bus into Oxford and am happy to report he appears in as good shape as one might expect of a man his age).

          1. The ITV Press Release doesn’t mention any direct involvement with Colin Dexter
            1. I read somewhere that he still sees any script before broacast – including Endeavour. They said he’s still very much hands-on.
          2. All I noticed was a “Based on the characters created by….” credit. The programme must have had his blessing, but perhaps not his direct involvement. Good to hear he’s still going strong.
  13. Stalled completely in the SE leading to a 30 minute total time, ECCRINE being unknown and (among others) LACRINE and NYCRINE being just as plausible. And heavy plant indeed. And I didn’t twig the reverse MP/PM gizmo for number 10: I reasoned that the backing any MP needed to get to stand a chance was the X (10?) on the ballot paper. Not one of the world’s great clues.
    It’s probably ultra picky, but is TENON=join? Joint ok, in both noun and verb.
    Also one who wasted time wondering where the T was in the anagram that wasn’t for GRATED. Isn’t G-rated part of the US film classification?
    CoD to CHIVALRY for a courteous surface.
  14. 22 minutes, for some reason LIBYAN was the last one in, scratching my head for a country that fit those first three letters, even though it’s been in the news a lot recently.

    ECCRINE from wordplay, didn’t get the NUMBER TEN wordplay but in it went.

  15. I understand he appeared in the background of one of the pub scenes doing a crossword puzzle.
  16. I’m still a cryptic crossword 6d, but I think I am improving, with 10 clues answered before giving up and coming to this site. Thanks for the blog.
    1. Glad to help. As is pointed out regularly for the benefit of any newcomers lest they feel intimidated, we all started out with those partially finished grids. It definitely gets easier (all you have to do is keep doing it most days, while also getting older; even I find that an achievable goal).
  18. About 30 minutes, with the last 15 of those on LIBYAN. And I know where Benghazi is (generally, anyway)! I remember it as one of those places that changed hands more than once in 1941-2. To get there, yes, I had to reverse out of my NAIVETE into NAIVETY, which I don’t recall having seen before. I agree the rest was not tough. Regards to all, and Happy New Year.
  19. 40 minutes; seem to be on a slow stretch. Didn’t really believe eccrine and wasted time fishing about for an alternative. G-rated my favourite today, simply because I got it but didn’t see it, and it’s so simple to see it. (And it’s so much better to be defeated by simplicity.)
  20. 16:57 for me with the last minute or two spent on ECCRINE which I don’t remember coming across before. Perhaps I should have bunged it straight in as soon as I had all the crossing letters, but I didn’t want to make a mistake so early in the year.

    Apart from that, it all looks pretty straightforward with hindsight, but I couldn’t seem to find the setter’s wavelength at the time.

  21. 63 minutes with TENTACLE and the unknown ECCRINE last to fall, but with one ‘11ac’- ‘moonbeam’ at 15dn. I have to admit, I was scratching my head wondering just how an action associated with another part of the anatomy could be a warning signal, but my dendrological shortcomings prevented any other answer coming to mind. Anyway, I now understand the role of ‘heavy’ in the clue, as a moonbeam is also a plant, if not a very substantial one. COD to TENTACLE for the craft.
  22. A DNF for me today. I’d never heard of ECCRINE but also struggled for a couple of hours to get the rest. I got CHIVALRY and LIBYAN without understanding the wordplay (thanks Tim) but did manage to correctly parse the rest of the clues, apart from not having heard of TENT as wine, but figured it couldn’t be anything else. Also interesting to find that CS and JRR were close friends! Hard work, but rewarding when the pennies eventually dropped.
    1. Sorry that was me. I didn’t realise I wasn’t signed in. I had a computer crash (BSOD) last night which had me reseating dimms and running a 4 hour chkdsk from the Recovery Console and then cleaning up the OS until 5am before clearing out my cookies. Just what a computer technician on a week’s holiday needs. Probably why I took so long to (almost)crack this one:-)
  23. How does 7 dn parse?
    I can see the definition in the entire clue, an &lit.
    I can see the anagram fodder.
    But if UPSET is the anagram indicator, how does it work, and why is BY in there?

    Rob

    1. Rob, I think you answer your own question: the definition is the whole clue, the anagram fodder is VIOLENT N(ew) ACTIONS, and “upset” is the anagram indicator, which means that “by” simply comes into the mix as a way of smoothing the surface. Every crossword clue has to strike a balance between having a plausible surface reading and providing the elements vital to the wordplay (and, ideally, nothing else). Sometimes the former takes precedence over the latter, and you get things like this use of “by”: strictly speaking it shouldn’t be there; but the small interference it causes is considered worthwhile.
      1. Thanks for the reply, Tim – totally unexpected, just me letting off steam. And please ignore this email, it’s mainly a word of thanks.

        Does it trigger an email to you? Surely you don’t refer back to old blogs months later (when it finally appears in Rupert’s colonial newspaper) without reason?

        Yes, smooth surfaces sometimes necessitate slightly dodgy clueing. I solved and understood it, so it’s fair; but vaguely unsatisfying.

        Rob

        1. I think we’ve all been there 🙂

          And yes, the original author gets notified of any comments, so we can catch up with syndicated solvers many weeks later (I am not sitting at home watching all my blogs just in case, honest…)

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