Times 25,181

Author   topicaltimPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
The second blogged puzzle in a row where I clocked in at just under 30 minutes. Even allowing for blogger’s anxiety, I reckon that means it was pretty tough, so I’m hoping it won’t just be me who was delayed by some very cunning clueing, especially in the SE corner (not to mention one particular word which surprised me, to say the least…)

Across
1 CROWFOOT – CROW(=trumpet) + Fine +(TOO)rev. I hadn’t heard of it, as it’s a plant, but the wordplay and checkers made it reasonably guessable.
5 ISABEL – in struggLE BASIcally; everyone loves a good reversed hidden word.
10 HOT ON THE HEELS OF – [TON + THE HEELS] in HOOF.
11 SEEPAGE – SEE(=get, as I eventually got this) + PAGE(=attendant).
12 PAN-ARAB – P(quietly) + [BAR ANA]rev. ANA is what used to be the suffix at the end of words such as Victoriana, but attained an independent life of its own.
13 JEREMIAH – AIM in [HERE Judge]all rev. Not many Old Testament prophets were noted for their happy-go-lucky natures, of course, but Jeremiah has become a byword for the sort of person whose watchword would be “The end of the world is nigh”.
15 TABOO – (BAT)rev. + 0,0. Lovely surface, though it’s been suspiciously poor bowling, not batting, which has been under the spotlight more recently, of course.
18 UNDID – DI(girl) sandwiched by UND(“accompanied by” if you’re a native Hamburger, or indeed Frankfurter). Very elegant.
20 MOT JUSTE – anagram of Time x 2, and JUMBOS (minus the British), + English.
23 PROVERB – PROVER + Bishop.
25 HIP BONE – [PB (chemical symbol for lead) + ON] in HIE.
26 COLD SHOULDERING – Conservative + OLD + SHOULDERING.
27 SATIRE – SALTIRE minus the Length.
28 DOWNBEAT – DO(function) + West, North + BE AT.
 
Down
1 CO HOST – HOuse in COST, &lit.
2 ON THE MEND – (NEEDMONTH)*.
3 FANFARE – i.e. the menu for enthusiasts could be described as the FAN FARE.
4 OCHRE – EaRtHyClOd. More tricky concealment, this time alternate reversed letters.
6 SHEA NUT – [TUNA + EH’S]rev. It took me an age to spot that “I didn’t catch that” was all definition for the two letters EH, but I chuckled when I did. I don’t think I knew the nut, but recalled the existence of shea butter (it’s amazing what you read in the shower) and figured it must come from somewhere.
7 BASER – BASE + Rupees.
8 LIFEBUOY – (BIOFUEL)* + Y.
9 CHIP SHOT – CHIPS + HOT; we don’t usually get as much golf as cricket in these puzzles, but here’s a fine long definition in “A blow maybe to find green”.
14 IN MY BOOK – BOO(disapproving word) inside IN(popular) + MY(gracious) + King, and again, the definition is the superficially unexpected “for me”.
16 BATMOBILE – MOB in BATTLE, with a Time replaced by 1. Well…it’s not obscure (surely everyone has a certain level of familiarity with Batman in some incarnation), it’s not even crazily modern (apparently the Batmobile was first referred to as such in a 1941 comic) and it’s a word I wouldn’t raise an eyebrow at, were this a Guardian puzzle, but I’ll wager it’s the first time it’s been used in the more sombre pages of the Times. I’m assuming it appears in an appropriate dictionary; confirmation of that assumption welcomed…
17 SUSPECTS – [U.S. Power] in SECTS.
19 DRESSER – i.e. you can pull the drawers out of a (Welsh) dresser, or pull your own up when getting dressed.
21 UMPTEEN – UMPire without the IRE + TEEN.
22 WEIGHT – which is another way of expressing the Kensington postcode W8. Without pre-judging, I wouldn’t be surprised if this one provokes dissent from people who think that “general” knowledge shouldn’t include the minutiae of West London addresses, especially if they don’t live anywhere near the capital, and resent the inference that we should find the place endlessly fascinating. On the other hand, _E_G_T gives a decent start if you’re having to guess.
24 OWLET – OW(“I felt that”) + LET(permit).
25 HULLO – thougH yoU wilL feeL sO.

32 comments on “Times 25,181”

  1. I’m afraid I need the Colonel’s userpic again today as this one took me 92 minutes with some use of aids along the way. I won’t recount all the problems I had but it was a struggle pretty much from the off.

    Only a few unknowns though, CROWFOOT and SHEA-NUT (which is not listed in any of the usual sources although Chambers at least has ‘shea nuts’). BATMOBILE is not listed either but that wasn’t the reason it was my last in.

    I’m not averse to the device at 22dn although I wouldn’t have solved it from the cryptic alone because to me Kensington has always meant South Kensington (Museums, Royal College of Music, Albert Hall etc), and that post district is SW7.

    Edited at 2012-06-05 02:10 am (UTC)

  2. Needed Tim’s excellent blog to get four acrosses and kick-start my effort at half-way. I got as far as S-EA NUT (with the tuna in) but the clever clue skewered me. Nice puzzle.
  3. Thank you for ANA and W8, Topical Tim. After a lifetime in aviation, ANA means All Nippon Airlines to me. I’ve no problem with W8 especially with E-G-T in place, although it is a little obscure but there are such things as Q8 petrol stations so we shouldn’t be too surprised. My D’oh! moment was with Isabel. Took me ages to see that. COD to 9d. 2hrs 20-something total time, including interruptions by our removals men.
  4. Just got this done and it was far from easy. Many things not understood and filled from checking letters. PAN-ARAB was probably the hardest of all.
  5. Usually I wait til the next day in the US to comment, but I found this to be an excellent puzzle so I’m coming in earlier than narmal. It took me an estimated 45 minutes, but interruptions from many sources make that an unreliable guess. Great effort by the setter. CHIP SHOT is brilliant. CO-HOST also, and FANFARE. The NW gave me the most trouble, but upon finishing I was well in the setter’s debt. Thanks to Tim as well. I’d venture that we haven’t had as fine a set of clues in a while. Regards.
    1. You should do it more often, especially as you polish them off so quickly(!) and bring a different perspective.
      1. Here! Here! I always look for Kevin’s comments even if it’s the next day by the time I see them.
        1. Thank you both. I’ll try to participate earlier more often. Best regards.
  6. 74 minutes, wondering many times if I should throw in the towel. Excellent puzzle; congratulations to the setter. A host of candidates for COD but I’ll nominate the oh so close to the indirect anagram line MOT JUSTE.

    London postcodes to me are as plants to you Tim, but as you say, with checkers in place, WEIGHT wasn’t too much of a stretch (although getting the final T from DOWNBEAT was). And Batman (as well as batman) is in my old Collins and my new Australian Oxford, but not his mobile. Not that I mind; this was one of the easier gets for me.

    1. I checked this at Onelook and followed the single link to the Urban dictionary where I found several meanings which I rather wish I didn’t now know, especially the one involving setting fire to methane!
  7. DNF: defeated by SHEA-NUT (despite having reversed ‘tuna’) and could not fully parse PAN-ARAB (the ‘ana’ bit eluded me). So particular thanks, tim, for sorting these out for me. Nonetheless, overall a very enjoyable and challenging puzzle. Several COD candidates but CO-HOST would get my vote.
  8. 32 minutes, battling hard the whole way, but not without enjoyment. The sort of clues where you think you’re doing well until about half way through when the effort and imagination needed to crack the setter’s code just wears too thin to proceed with any speed.
    SHEA NUT merely hopeful, also based on the butter, and not seeing how the non-tuna letters were derived. Longest hold up below the equator with the assumption (stupid, stupid in this grid) that 26 across began with BLUE – pencilling, perhaps?
    IN MY BOOK was just IN MY for many minutes, until PROVERB came to the rescue (another “should have got it earlier”, I KNOW “saw” is crosswordese for maxim, saying and so on).
    BATMOBILE a relative gimme, don’t care if the dictionaries don’t know it, all the rest of us do. Just don’t try Batphone, or “same Battime, same Batchannel” any time soon.
    Wasted time trying to fit all four bridge players in DOWNBEAT, and worried at the other that the CROWFOOT I know has a ‘S- in the middle. Turns out that’s never a flower: what do I know from flowers?
    Great cluing throughout, so CoD serendipitous: how about TABOO, marginally ahead of MOT JUSTE for improbable anagramming, and BATMOBILE just for fun?
  9. 40 minutes for me of consistent concentration with no let up throughout. Well done Tim. Well done setter.

    Some wonderful clues here. 20A had to be MOT JUSTE but even knowing that working out the fodder was difficult. And I love “Hamburger’s accompanied by” for UND.

    BATMOBILE was one of the easier offerings so no worries about dictionaries (which contain batman but in the old military sense with not even a nod to our caped saviour)

  10. Held up after a tough three points of the compass by the last, the NW (convinced the plant was a —-root), but finally got there in 57. A shrewd test and satisfying to finish. COD 1 down.
  11. I don’t know how long this took me, but it must have been over the hour because I heard the clock strike on two occasions.

    Normally I resent spending more than about half an hour on a crossword, but today’s was full of interesting clues and free of hackneyed formulae. (As, in fairness, are most Times crosswords; but this was particularly inventive.)

    Especially enjoyed the hamburger and the chips.


  12. 28:45 with 2 mistakes. I was undone by a certainty that it was LIFEBOUY (which also broke a TABOU).

    A bit heavy on wordplay for me, but much to admire. Thanks setter and Tim.

  13. Wow – I needed to put this aside for a while and come back toit, leading to 41 minutes going by between PROVERB and SATIRE. WEIGHT, PAN-ARAB and SHEA NUT from the definition, JEREMIAH from the wordplay. Phew…
  14. Super-tough puzzle, with some extremely devious and ingenious clueing, the best of which all mentioned by aforegoing commentators. The indication of the anagram fodder for MOT JUSTE seemed to me a tad unfair – why should “Times” mean only two Ts rather than, say, three or four? But that’s the merest quibble. There wasn’t much else the answer could be once checking letters available.
  15. very relieved to find that others found this tough too (I did wonder whether it was getting up early to solve/blog for another site; followed by a full Royal breakfast with champagne, that had caused the grey matter to seize). Devious, and ingenious indeed, just right for a bank holiday tussle.
  16. Agree, co-host gets my CoD too. Undid was cleverly disguised. Naming the caped crusader’s chariot was relatively easy, even if it’s not parked in any of the usual sources. On the whole, though, I needed a Lifebuoy to keep my patience afloat. My admiration to the blogger and everybody who clocked 30 minutes or less.

    Enigma

  17. Out of internet range for a week and came back to this corker. 35 minute struggle while I thought my brain had atrophied in the meantime. It was quite a relief to see the comments.

    Spent a good 5 minutes trying to do something with a bun in 18a – duh.

    Was born and spent the first 20 years of my life in Victoria Road W8 (we had a block-size bomb site opposite for a very long time) and the kids all played unsupervised in the street in them days. I’m often in that house in my dreams. Good clue but pretty obscure parsing unless you happen to know.

    Edited at 2012-06-05 03:15 pm (UTC)

    1. Hello Olivia. Interested to see that we share not just a love of crosswords but also a deep knowledge of WW2 London bomb sites. Like you my playground until I outgrew them. What fantastic places they were where ones imagination could run riot. All now turned into souless blocks of flats!

      Over the holiday weekend I spent some time with our younger grandchildren. After telling them about allotments, scrumping and how there were no sweets to general looks of “Grandad’s off on one again” I tried to explain bombsites. They’re now convinced that I’m losing my marbles, so perhaps these places survive best as memories.

  18. I did all of this bar SHEA NUT in about 20 minutes, so I must have been on the setter’s wavelength… almost. After another 15 minutes I couldn’t crack it and gave up. I’d spotted the tuna and even considered SHEA (thinking of the butter) but couldn’t justify it. Very annoying because it’s a fine clue in a very fine puzzle.
  19. … and that one was CHIP SHOT.

    Great puzzle, understood all the cryptics but FANFARE and WEIGHT, which I got from definitions. CROWFOOT was unknown vocab, as was SHEA NUT, so they were got from wordplay.

    Really enjoyed this one, although it probably took me several hours (on and off…!).

  20. Managed this one in around 90 minutes and understood all the parsing except W8 as I just didn’t know that postcode. Got it as LOI after seeing the definition with the checkers. After reading the comments I’m happy to have completed it in not much over my average time. I did have a blank spell where nothing went in after most of the top half was complete, apart from ISABEL which took me an age to see. Some very clever clues which brought a chuckle on. Remembered SAW and ANA from recent puzzles. TABOO was FOI rapidly followed by BATMOBILE and MOT JUSTE, then I slowed down to my usual crawl. Thanks to Tim for the blog.
  21. intr. & tr.v. hied, hie·ing or hy·ing (hng), hies
    To go quickly; hasten.
    [Middle English hien, from Old English hgian, to strive, exert oneself.]
  22. No doubt satisfying for the experts, but too hard for us mere mortals.
    Many thanks for the excellent blog, but still unsure why HIE = race in 25A.
    Also think Prover = demonstrator is weak. As for W8, ingenious but out of our league.
    Mike and Fay

    1. Provided you’re prepared to accept PROVE = “demonstrate”, I think PROVER = “demonstrator” is quite reasonable. It will in any case be familiar to experienced solvers, so that we have (for example) “Well-known demonstrator getting bail after change of heart (10)” = PROVERBIAL in No. 24,757 (27 January 2011) and “Saw demonstrator bashed in the head (7)” = PROVERB in No. 24,255 (18 June 2009).
  23. Given how tired I was feeling, I wasn’t too disappointed by my 14:30. I made a horribly slow start, but gradually tuned to the setter’s wavelength, with the bottom half going in quite quickly. However, I still made heavy weather of several clues in the top half, such as 6dn (SHEA-NUT).

    An interesting and original puzzle – though I have to say that I found what looked like (and indeed turned out to be) some heavyish wordplay in 1ac (CROWFOOT) and 10ac (HOT ON THE HEELS OF) a bit offputting so early on.

    Edited at 2012-06-05 11:38 pm (UTC)

  24. ‘Miss’ for Isabel seems to me a bit unfair. All the Isabels (and Isobels) I know are married. Or am I ‘missing’ something.

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