Times 25142

Author   daveperryPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time: 24:50

I’m returning the favour for Jack who covered for me last week. It looks like I got the better end of the deal as this was something of a walk in the park. In fact, I’m pretty sure this is my fastest all-correct time for a midweek blog. I was helped by the four long ones all going in quite quickly.

My COD goes to 12d for the wonderful idea of a duck-billed platypus being an OZ LAYER. That made me chuckle, although I threw it in from the definition and the checkers at the time, so I only got to appreciate it post-solve.

cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (–)*, and removals like this

Across
1 BOWW(fIND)OW – BOW-WOW being a childish term for a dog, of which a pointer is a breed. A bow window is a bay window that curves outwards.
6 WHO + OP
9 COLOUR BLINDNESS – I think this is just a cd, but it seemed a little too obvious, so I may be missing something more clever.
10 SPIRIT = I in TRIPS rev
11 DEC + LASS + E
13 BAMBOO + Zoo + LED
14 LENS – dd
16 LEFT – dd
17 UNTALENTED = (LADETTE + NUN)*
19 AIR + RIFLE
20 UDDERS – or “OTHERS” as if said through a blocked-up nose
23 FANTASY FOOTBALL = FAN + TALL about (FAT BOY SO)*
24 gREEDY
25 R(AN + SACK)ED
Down
1 BUCKS – dd
2 WILLIAM OF ORANGE = (FLOWER MAGNOLIA I)*
3 IN UNISON = I + (SIN in NOUN) rev
4 DEBT = BED rev on embezzlemenT
5 WHITE METAL = WHIT + (LATE + ME) rev
6 Walk + ADDLE
7 OVERSTEP THE MARK – dd
8 POSSE + SS + ED
12 OZONE LAYER = ONE in OZ LAYER – Love it
13 BALSAM FIR = SLAB rev + AMIR about Fit – I wasn’t familiar with the tree so I had to work this out from the wordplay. My LOI.
15 V(END)ET + TA
18 BIGAMY = BY about MAGI rev – I tried to make PIRACY fit the wordplay at first, but then I spotted the MAGI.
21 SOL(I)D
22 CORN – dd

23 comments on “Times 25142”

  1. I thought I was heading for a sub-20 minute solve on this one but it wasn’t to be. The French city and the foot complaint wouldn’t come to mind, also the wood at 13dn was completely unknown and I was distracted working from the wordplay by the possibility of ‘balsa’ being the wood in question. Eventually I finished in 35 minutes.

    I also like the OZ LAYER at 12dn and the device at 20 which reminded me of Alan Sherman’s “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh”. Perhaps we might have had another Jackie Mason reference here instead of the bunged-up nose.

  2. Also 35 mins, but with one wrong, ‘worn’ for the foot thing. ‘Something afoot’ seems a little vague as a literal.

    Elsewhere I was held up by putting in ‘crossing the line’ at 7 and by having ‘waste metal’ at 8, science not being my strong suit. I am so used to the modern meaning of vendetta that the definition ‘FAMILY feud’ gave me pause. Knew LENS from the French football club famous for having a stadium whose capacity exceeds the population of the town. Last in the unknown DECLASSE. Same experience with Jack on the arboreal clue.

  3. Like Dave, romped through the long ones; then most of the rest from the well-exposed defs. Didn’t know the informal “posse” at 8dn — is it common? — but the answer was obvious. My COD also to the platypus.
  4. Did not know BALSAM FIR: but, with checkers in place, knowledge of ‘balsa’ triggered the right guess (which fitted the wordplay)! Enjoyable and straightforward. Another supporting OZONE LAYER as COD.
  5. Another ‘worn’, though I think the clue’s fine; just not used to the noun behind ‘corny’. Wd’ve been 18 minutes. Surprised at posse = friends. Otherwise unremarkable, pleasant fare.
  6. 15 minutes and fun to solve. Perhaps the most famous friendly POSSE of recent(ish) times is the Red Dwarf one – I still have the T-shirt.
    The pointer and the platypus added much to the charm of this grid. DECLASSE was a known word, but devoid of known context, so I’ve learned something again. BALSAM FIR sat for a while in the grid without the M FIR, in line with common experience.
    If I’d thought of WORN, it might well have gone in. It was my last entry, and I am indebted to C coming long before W in the alphabet.
    CoD to the OZONE LAYER. Is it still disappearing?
  7. Largely pedestrian fare but interesting for two clues at opposite ends of the solving spectrum.

    Most I suspect will solve 1A from checkers B.W/… plus the definition and then reverse engineer the cryptic (which contains a DBE). On the other hand most will get 13D from checkers B.L.A… plus cryptic block=slab.

    Didn’t know posse=friends but Chambers gives it as a group of young people, so presumably modern slang.

    1. Don’t think it’s really a DBE. What else would a child call such a pointer? Going via dog is not necessary.
    2. I agree that it is technically a DBE, but I had no problem with it – there are lots of useful dog breeds that have long been used in crosswords – boxer, setter, pointer, etc.

      I didn’t need checkers to solve 1a as it was my FOI. I saw ‘architectural feature’ and the enumeration and BAY WINDOW popped into my head. Once I’d extracted the IND and realized that BAY-WOW didn’t make sense, it was a small step to the correct answer.

  8. A straightforward puzzle for a Friday. If I’d not know today’s date I’d have guessed it was Monday.

    Bow Window and Ozone Layer put in without full understanding, so thanks Dave for explaining those. Unknowns were the fir tree and Declasse. Corn went in tentatively. Held up towards the end by misreading Firm as Film in the clue for Solid.

    Just read an interesting Nasa article on Wikipedia about the Ozone Layer. The levels of CFCs, HCFCs and halons that have caused the destruction are forecast to be back to 1979 levels by ca. 2050.

    Lens was mentioned in The Times yesterday (?) in connection, I think, with the opening there of a branch of the Louvre museum.

  9. Straightforward fare today, but still some slick clues, far from pedestrian, eg 17ac, 8dn (but were the SS necessarily officers?) or 12dn.
    Lens turns out to be unexpectedly interesting too.. Ulaca is perfectly right about the stadium (41k capacity, 36k population) – though they are helped by having Douai (pop. 552,600, inc. Lens) close by. Houllier, ex Liverpool manager, was manager there too.. and apparently they possess some of the largest slag heaps in Europe.
  10. Enjoyed this one, despite being held up for a while with ‘bay’ for the window and ‘line’ for mark at 7dn.

    Oh, and despite getting one wrong. I too had ‘worn’ for my LOI.

  11. 32 minutes; started with all the difficult ones – CORN, BALSAM FIR – and then realised the rest were pretty easy. COD to BIGAMY, an oblique reference to the Murdochs?
  12. 18m. I thought I was going to be very quick on this: most of the clues in the top half went in on sight. However I got seriously becalmed at that point, and then slowed right down in the SW at the end. I’ve never heard of BALSAM FIR or AMIR so that one was a bit of a guess.
    Most of the clues – even ones that took me a while – went in from definition and/or checkers today, which makes for a slightly dull solve I find. I can’t really blame the setter for that though: no doubt I’d enjoy the experience more if I took the time to work out all the wordplay as I went but I’m too obsessed with time. Silly really. I blame this blog and the championship.
  13. 23/28 correct for me, so my most successful effort this week, with WEEDY and WORN instead of REEDY and CORN, and BALSAM FIR, BAMBOOZLED and DECLASSE missing. I considered BALSAM from the slab reversal but couldn’t work out the rest and considered DEC and LASS but it didn’t resolve into a word I knew. I had most of this done by the hour mark then hit a wall.
  14. Still struggle to accept posse means friends. Watched too many Westerns movies as a kid perhaps. ‘Duck-billed platypus’ was a joy once I had the answer. Thought ‘left’ was a clever dd. Forty or so enjoyable minutes.

    Enigma

  15. I thought I was doing really well on this but hit the buffers after 22 minutes with BALSAM FIR still missing. Never heard of it. It took a further 6 minutes to work it out from the cryptic. You learn something new every day with this puzzle!
  16. I liked this. Took about 25 minutes because I first overstepped the ‘line’ and had to correct it to get RANSACKED. LOI was CORN. The US side has a leg up today, since the BALSAM FIR is one of the most common over here, and POSSE in this sense has become fairly standard. It denotes a roving group of young males often in the shadow of a leading member, and is almost always possessive, as in, say, ‘Jimbo’s posse’. Regards to all.
  17. I made heavy weather of this one after a flying start in the top half, but eventually finished with all correct in about 90 minutes. I did’nt fully work out the wordplay fpr 1ac and 23ac but the answers were pretty obvious as I had W from 2dn as my FOI. I hadn’t heard of BALSAM FIR but managed to work it out. I also have the egg laying mammal as my COD. Had a LOL when it clicked. I too wondered about the definition of posse, but it had to be that. Thanks to Dave for the blog and explanations

    Edited at 2012-04-21 09:27 am (UTC)

  18. 10:07 for me. The unfamiliar BALSAM FIR held me up at the end (from the checked letters my first thought was BALKAN FIR), and I’m at best only vaguely aware of “posse” as a group of friends.

    Nothing too tricky so far this week, so perhaps tomorrow’s puzzle is going to be a stinker!

  19. Fairly straightforward,with the exception of 1a and 8d.
    Thank you for explanation of 1a, but why does possessed = bore?
    I’m sure I shall kick myself for having to ask.
    Mike and Fay

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