Times 25118 – Americana

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
This one took me 45 minutes with time lost mainly in the early stages where blogger’s nerves took their usual toll. Whilst solving I thought there seemed to be rather a lot of American stuff going on and there is a bit, however on reflection it’s not that much above normal. Off we go…

Across
1 STRIPE – S (second),TRIP (tour),E (very little energy)
4 DIAMANTE – ETNA (Italian mountain), MAID (girl) all reversed. Glass cut to resemble diamonds.
9 ARDUOUS – A, R(DUO)USh
11 SCUTTLE – Anagram of ‘cutlets’. I had to check 5 dictionaries before finding one (SOED) that defines this as a dish or platter although most of them mention ‘dish’ in the etymology from ‘scutel’ (OE) and ‘scutella’ (Latin).
12 Deliberately omitted
13 CAREERIST – CARE (trouble), ERIS (father over), T (time).
14 LITTLE ROCK – The state capital of Arkansas, USA.
16 GIGI – The film musical by Lerner and Lowe from the novella by Colette. The two privates in this clue are American soldiers.
19 CO-ED – COwED. In the UK it’s a school but in the US it is (or was) a female student and that’s the meaning required here.
20 STRIPLINGS – STRINGS (group of musicians) encloses PL 1 (recalled one recording).
22 JACKING IN – JACK (sailor), IN, GIN (drink).
23 SO FAR – RAF (airmen), OS (Ordnance Survey – one sort of map) all reversed.
25 CLAUDIA – CIA (US Government agents) encloses LAUD (praise).
26 LEAFAGE – LEE (shelter) encloses A FAG (a smoke – the US meaning is definitely NOT the one required here!).
27 BETHESDA – Anagram of H E BATES (creator of the Larkin family) and Described. Apparently it’s a chapel used by various non-conformist Christian sects but I knew the word from the Bethesda terrace and fountain in Central Park, New York so I claim another US reference here. I’ve never been there but I have a friend who walks there daily so I’ve heard it mentioned many a time.
28 STYLET – Hidden. Not sure whether I actually knew this word.
Down
1 SMART ALEC – Anagram of ‘scarlet’ encloses MA (graduate). ‘Wise guy’ in the clue reminds me of old US gangster movies.
2 RIDER – R, R (rivers) encloses IDE (fish).
3 PROPERLY – I had some trouble parsing this one but it’s PRO (for), PLY (work) enclosing ER (engineers turned up).
5 INSTRUCTIONAL – INSTALl (upload software shortly) encloses RUCTION (fuss). ‘Shortly’ is not really required as INSTAL is a valid alternative and is not even listed as a US spelling.
6 MOUSEY – MOSEY (walk) encloses Unfit. A clear reference to Hanna and Barbera’s “Tom and Jerry” cartoons, but this also takes me back to old US Westerns with the likes of Walter Brennan or George “Gabby” Hayes announcing they were about to “mosey on down to the ol’ saloon”.
7 NUTRITION – NUT (fruit) + anagram of ‘iron it’.
8 Deliberately omitted
10 SECURITY GUARD – Anagram of ‘carries duty’ enclosing GUn.
15 TRENCHANT – Theatre Royal, ENCHANT (entrance).
17 INSURGENT – INSURe (briefly offer protection), GENT (fellow)
18 CLASS ACT – CLASS (part of school), ACT (play).
21 FIDDLE – Double definition.
22 JACOB – JOB (work) encloses AC (air conditioning). Thanks to mct for pointing out my typo now amended.
24 FLAIL – FAIL (don’t manage) encloses Line.

37 comments on “Times 25118 – Americana”

  1. Enjoyable if not over-taxing puzzle, with MOUSEY the standout clue. Was I the only one trying to work around ‘Hun’, ‘Kraut’, etc? Probably, as I now see that the sort of disgraceful stereotyping I was trying to attribute to The Times was impossible given the spelling of ‘Jerry’. STYLET was the only unknown, ‘though I was pleased to be forced to consider an anagram early at 27, since I am entirely ignorant of H E Bates’s work. Flirted briefly with ‘diaMONTE’ at 4 before knuckling down to the cryptic. It is interesting to note how, since Gulf War I, INSURGENT has come to mean ‘right type of rebel’.
  2. Easier than the usual Friday; just as well as I was on limited time for this. Last pair were DIAMANTE/MOUSEY. Thought of the cartoon mouse right off but dismissed it. (How often does that happen?)

    Not sure about 26ac (LEAFAGE) — if the “shelter” is LEE, where is the indicator of inclusion?

    COD to the &lit-ish-ness of 10dn.

    Jack: re 22dn, isn’t the JOB “work” and the “one man” JACOB? (Probably a blogging-haste typo?)

    1. 22dn: Thanks. Now amended.

      On 26 I think the idea is that the construction of the word LEAFAGE ‘provides shelter’ for A FAG by putting it inside LEE.

      Edited at 2012-03-23 04:30 am (UTC)

      1. You’re most likely right; but I smell the rat of double duty!

        ============

        For non-UK online solvers: BST begins this Sunday, so the Monday puzzle may have an hour’s difference in CAT (Crossword Arrival Time).

        1. Maybe but I’m feeling in a generous mood. I didn’t even mention the DBE elsewhere!
  3. 21m for this. Standard Times fare on the moderately challenging side without resort to obscurity. Fine stuff.
    I think mctext is right in so far as there’s a bit of a liberty being taken in 26 but I think it’s clear what’s intended and rather neat I thought.
  4. Another nice effort, about average difficulty or a bit less, 14mins.

    Nice to get a mention, at 6dn..

  5. Managed to turn a straightforward puzzle into a mini nightmare by first writing “smart arse” into the grid at 1D and following that up with “diamonds” at 4A – having first solved both clues properly! Very strange behaviour.

    I thought there was a lot of US stuff Jack and was thus thrown by “instal” being described as “shortly” – took me for ever to wise up to that one. I thought 10D was a good offering. 25 slightly laborious minutes to solve.

  6. An embarrassment. Though I must have watched scores of the cartoons with my children many years ago I couldn’t remember which was which and went for Jerry as the cat and mouser, having rejected mousy as too short and not seeing the alternative. A barmy insurrect on top of that makes it one to forget. All for the sake of a (not so) fast time.
  7. A 35 minute mostly easy solve, held up in the end by CAREERIST and LEAFAGE; couldn’t get Cordelia out of my head for the former, but wondered what a cordeliat might be. Both were an unlikely set of cross checkers. COD to the SECURITY GUARD.
  8. I don’t think it’s that sort of dish – more like “sink” as in “dish the Whigs”
    1. I considered that before writing the blog but decided against it because ‘dish’ turned up in all the etymology and the meaning I required was eventually confirmed in SOED, but you may well be correct. I also considered that ‘dish’ was a misprint for ‘dash’ which would also have worked but seemed even less likely.

      Edited at 2012-03-23 10:18 am (UTC)

      1. Anyone with the vaguest knowledge of 19th century UK history would be aware of the reference to Disraeli’s declared political aim, rather than a very abstruse usage.
          1. Makes you wonder whether 22nd century solvers will be confronted with clues requiring acquaintance with a famous son of Govan’s declared footballing aim of knocking Liverpool ‘off their [expletive deleted] perch’.
            1. Oh tempora, Oh mores! I forgot that people don’t do history any more and that Sir Alex is now more important than the Prime Minister!
              1. I hate to say it, but a comparison of their relative achievements and deportment (strategic outbursts notwithstanding) suggests his standing is not unmerited.
  9. 30/30 today. Not too taxing for a Friday. Long long pause after completing the NW and SE corners with only Mousey and Scuttle in the NE. “Glittery jewels” put in mind “bling” as part of 4A and then Shivling came to mind – not that it’s an Italian mountain, rather an Indian one and a daunting climb. Once I’d sussed out Diamante and Nutrition the dominoes quickly fell. LOI Fiddle then Properly.

    I know of Little Rock only from President Clinton’s career. This week officials voted to rename the Little Rock National Airport the “Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport.” An interesting pub quiz fact from the same webpage is that the only former presidents since 1960 without airports named after them are Nixon, Bush junior and Johnson.

    1. Hmm, I wonder how many have been named after presidents’ wives? Some achievement by Hilary, methinks
  10. No problems, here, but a few went in on definition alone, as I couldn’t work out the cryptic, so thanks for all those explanations, Jack (DIAMANTE, SEC GUARD, CO ED).

    Cod: CAREERIST; unknowns: STYLET, BATHESDA.

    LITTLE ROCK thanks to President Bill.

    Have a good weekend, everyone, feels like spring has truly sprung here in the UK (Lincs) today!

  11. A reasonably straightforward and enjoyable solve but with quite a lot going in without fully parsing the clues (so particular thanks, jackkt, for the blog) and reservations about some allusions (e.g. SCUTTLE as ‘dish’ and ETNA as ‘mountain’ – albeit ‘volcano’ would have been an utter giveaway).
      1. You’re right of course (as is the setter). But if I had been asked “What is Mount Etna?”, I would immediately have answered ‘volcano’, not ‘mountain’. I suspect the same would be true for Mount Vesuvius, Mount Mayon and, nowadays, Mount St. Helens.
  12. 33 minutes for me. Quite a few tricky ones in there today and I didn’t help myself by not remembering how to spell the chapel.
  13. 20:02 .. I liked everything about this puzzle. Thank you, setter (and blogger!).
  14. It took me a while to get going, but once I got started, I made good steady progress, without getting stuck for too long anywhere. I particularly liked the semi-&lit at 10, which was my COD. LOI was the TRENCHANT/CO-ED pair.
  15. Completed OK, half an hour, although had to read the excellent blog to understand a few. I had scuttle but was thinking ‘dish’ was a synonym for ‘ditch’ as in sink a ship. I was assured by Mrs K that a scuttle is not a dish it’s what you put coal in. She says using dictionaries is cheating. So beware.
    1. Thank you, Pip. Speaking for myself, unless stated otherwise dictionaries come into play only after the event in order to clarify meanings of words and/or validity of clues. Without referring to them one’s opportunities to learn from the solving experience would be somewhat limited, for instance I would not have learnt today that indeed a scuttle can be a dish or platter and that this meaning comes from the very origins of the word. Fortunately in this case the answer to the clue was never in doubt so ‘cheating’ didn’t come into it.
    2. Mrs K. is an idiot. A scuttle IS a dish, precisely BECAUSE it’s what you put coal in. A coal-scuttle is a dish for coal. There are other types of scuttle for other materials.
  16. 47′, with 10d, 20ac, and 13ac my LOIs. I hadn’t associated careerism with ambition, which made that one hard to solve. (Are civil servants thought of as ambitious?) Didn’t know 22ac. I’m sure BETHESDA is in the New Testament somewhere; it’s also a major Navy base and medical center in the US (Maryland). I’m another one who saw SCUTTLE as meaning ‘ditch, dish, dump,…’
  17. About 30 minutes, ending back in the NE with DIAMANTE. I hadn’t noticed the US tilt to this, apart from LITTLE ROCK, before reading the blog. Now that you mention it, Jack, there does eem to be a heavier dose than usual. Yes, we install, we mosey, we have bethesdas, we even have a Bethesda, Maryland, we have G.I.’s, and God knows we have the CIA. But if you used the terms ‘ruction’ and ‘jacking in’ over here, people would know you’re from out of town. COD to ARDUOUS, because it’s a good word you don’t see too often, but which I associate with Robert E. Lee’s (Yes! The Crossword General!) final written order to his army upon his surrender to Grant. I’d insert the link but for some reason my computer is not allowing me to do so, but it’s in Wikipedia under ‘Lee’s Farewell Address’. Another Americanism, albeit rebellious. Regards to all.
  18. 26.23 today so definitely a good week for me. Not really held up anywhere today just a steady solve with no clue standing out though LEAFAGE struck me as an ugly sort of word. I had noticed the over the pond flavour as well though not in fact seeing all the US references mentioned by others.
  19. 15:10 for me. I thought I was heading for a time nicely under 10 minutes, but then came completely unstuck on MOUSEY – I realised reasonably quickly who Jerry was, but just couldn’t see the word. (Doh! Should have simply worked through the alphabet.)

    I wasn’t too taken with INSTALL = “(to) upload software” as I regard the uploading (or downloading) of software as separate from its installation, but Chambers (2011) seems to support it.

    1. I’m pretty sure we have had this word used in this context before, not so very long ago.. within the last year or so. Having checked it last time, I accepted it this!

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