Times 25244 – Took almost as long to load as it did to complete

34 comments on “Times 25244 – Took almost as long to load as it did to complete”

1. No problems with this apart from getting started! But, by the end, thought this was a top puzzle. Wondered why we need ‘quite regularly’ in 7dn and how BALTIC could mean ‘very cold’ (21dn). No doubt it’s in one of the dictionaries or another.

   The clue for EAGER (13ac) was excellent on the concealment front.

   Sorry to hear about your login problems, Dave. There seems to be a bit of this going around judging by correspondence with Uncle Yap.

   Edited at 2012-08-17 12:40 am (UTC)

2. 20 enjoyable minutes give or take a second or two with no queries or unknowns for once.

   BALTIC meaning extremely cold is in Collins and Chambers. I took ‘quite’ in 7d to mean ‘exactly’ but I agree with Mct it doesn’t really seem to serve any useful purpose even in the surface reading.

3. Ooops… came unstuck in the bottom left, with ‘trade mark ?’ at 15dn. I should have gone back to parse this one properly, then I wouldn’t have put in ‘rakish’ at 27ac, which left a blank at 21dn.

   Thanks for explanations, Dave, particularly for YOGURT and EAGER.

4. A plodding 45 minutes, with BALTIC the only query, ‘though the wordplay was clear.

   Samuel Johnson had a soft spot for the Irish poet/playwright/novelist, who was rather fond of a dram. Here’s his version of how The Vicar of Wakefield was given to the world, as recorded by his faithful amanuensis.

   ‘I received one morning a message from poor Goldsmith that he was in great distress, and as it was not in his power to come to me, begging that I would come to him as soon as possible. I sent him a guinea, and promised to come to him directly. I accordingly went as soon as I was dressed and found that his landlady had arrested him for his rent, at which he was in a violent passion. I perceived that he had already changed my guinea, and had got a bottle of Madeira and a glass before him. I put the cork into the bottle, desired he would be calm, and began to talk to him of the means by which he might be extricated. He then told me that he had a novel ready for the press, which he produced to me. I looked into it, and saw its merit; told the landlady I should soon return, and having gone to a bookseller, sold it for sixty pounds. I brought Goldsmith the money, and he discharged his rent, not without rating his landlady in a high tone for having used him so ill.’

5. 21 minutes bar 3 seconds. The RH went in in easy peasy time, but not the left, especially TRAIN SHED, which felt like a made up concept, and BALTIC, as the times I’ve been there it’s been blazing hot, so it was entered after around 5 minutes deliberation on a “what else?” basis. Chambers also has the “very cold” definition. Dictionary compilers should get out more.
   I also struggled with TRADE NAME, looking diligently for something that meant brand new, so my CoD just for the artful misdirection
   For what it’s worth, no problems with the site working in Chrome on an ageing XP.
6. No problems with the site Dave or the crossword. I found this the easiest for some time and finished in a 15 minute gallop.

   Only one query – TRAIN SHED. Assuming it’s somewhere a train is placed for engineering works or cleaning (can’t find a definition in Chambers) then it’s surely part of a marshelling yard or similar rather than a station?

   What is it about OLIVER G that compels setters to keep including him in grids? Why are their horizons so limited?

   1. It’s not in Chambers or the Shorter Oxford, but I’ve just found it in the Compact Oxford.

      train-shed n. a roof supported by posts to shelter railway platforms etc.

      I didn’t know that, but had no trouble putting in the answer. The village station, closed by Dr Beeching, had a large building that we always called the train shed.

   2. COED defines it as: A large structure providing a shelter over the tracks and platforms of a railway station.

      Presumably what one sees at large termini such as Paddington and St Pancras, structures of real architectural beauty.

      Edited at 2012-08-17 08:57 am (UTC)

   3. ‘Oliver Goldsmith’ and ‘Anthony Trollope’ are both 15 letters. That’s enough to immortalize them in puzzles of this size.
      1. We don’t see Dmitri Mendeleev much though.
      2. Bertrand Russell (philosopher); Joseph Priestley (chemist); it’s not difficult to branch out a bit – needs a bit of effort and imagination
7. Under 25 minutes. An enjoyable Friday puzzle with succinct clues such as 21, and the Belfast gel bringing a welcome smile.

   Years ago, the then crossword editor wrote, I recall, that he tried to ease solvers gently in with Monday’s puzzle, gradually raise the bar, aiming for a stinker on Wednesday or Thursday, and present a fun puzzle on Friday. This week seems to have conformed to that pattern.

   While we are sharing thoughts about OLIVER GOLDSMITH, the work that I know best is his long poem The Deserted Village. The section on The Village Schoolmaster I know by heart; it reminds me of my own childhood education and should be read by all aspiring schoolteachers.

   I also recall that the line “Full well the busy whisper circling round” provided the way into a Listener puzzle of the early 1980s on the theme of whispering; one of the very few I’ve ever managed to solve completely.

   1. Nobody has yet mentioned his superb play “She Stoops to Conquer” so I thought I would.
      1. This play used to crop up regularly as an answer on the quiz machine when I was at university, so it’s the first thing that comes to mind when Goldsmith’s name is mentioned.

         Re an earlier comment, perhaps he’s popular in compiling land because he’s 15 letters long?

8. 21.34 with the last 4.30 on Baltic. Only I now see I wrote palenta, so to hell with these cutesy seconds. Thanks for the SJ quotation ulaca: it shows both the great men as very human. Not to speak of the landlady. Nothing wrong with ‘quite’ in 7 as ‘absolutely’ and adding an informal touch to the proceedings. An enjoyable scramble after yesterday’s assault course.

   Edited at 2012-08-17 09:05 am (UTC)

9. Bit of a train wreck for me in 42 minutes, made all the worse by realising at the time that the clues were actually quite easy and I was making a meal of them. Still, a lot of my time was spent on the PHAEDRA/GATHERED crossing, which I found impenetrable. Who would have thought gating was a punishment? Shows what sort of education I had. COD to TRAIN SHED, whatever it might be.
10. There’s no such thing as a train shed!
    1. Train Shed
    2. There certainly is such a thing, and indeed the structure of St Pancras is referred to as Barlow’s train shed, after its designer.

       Jim, near Cambridge

11. No major problems today once I’d corrected a wrong Raiment to the right Repaint, but one slip up – a wrong guess at Phardea for Phaedra. LOI Doubly. Didn’t understand the wordplay for Eager so thanks for explaining that Dave. Liked the Tight clue – don’t remember seeing that one before. I’m fine with Baltic = very cold – think Stockholm, Helsinki and St Petersburg in January.

    Polenta = porridge was new to me. Anybody who watched The Great British Bake Off on Tuesday night will have seen one of the contestants bake a polenta upside down cake. It turned out okay – crumbly not spongy.

    1. I’ve been to St Petersburg in February (many years ago, in fact it was Leningrad back then) and I remember seeing a skinny old man bathing in the Baltic. He’d carved out a small rectangle in the ice, about the size of a large bath. The ice was about 4 or 5 feet thick – and that was just what was visible above the water. So, yes, I can vouch for the fact that the Baltic is cold!
12. jackkt has this exactly – the term is in regular use in railway enthusiasts to distinguish from the waiting rooms, offices, etc.

    I was completely stumped by 21dn = very cold had to be 1C, so I needed -a-t for cold food. (I never thought of looking up BALTIC, as I knew the area isn’t particularly cold.)

    1. Cold is relative; the Baltic is very cold indeed compared to some places, specifically those places that initiated this usage…

       Please can I ask “anons2 to at least give a name? It seems rude to me, to just dump a comment without saying who you are.

       1. A lot’s to do with prototypes; this is why for me Botswana as yesterday’s hot country and Baltic as a cold spot is fine – especially in the necessarily generalising crosswordland.

          Ulaca at airport

          1. Ulaca at airport, this is not a crosswordland generalisation, it’s a proper usage. The phrase “it’s absolutely Baltic” is one I hear often, and occasionally use. Roughly equivalent to “it’s brass monkeys”.

             Edited at 2012-08-18 01:26 am (UTC)

             1. I’ve just arrived and it’s 31 degrees. I’m totally Botswanad!

                Ulaca in UK

13. Very pleasant 11 minute solve. Was expecting ARCTIC rather than BALTIC until the checkers proved otherwise, but you live and learn. No problem with train shed, which I think I must have absorbed from reading about the refurbishment of St Pancras in the last few years.
14. 44.30 here but did not get BALTIC alas so a DNF – that’s two in a row. Thanks for blog as could not explain EAGER – my COD now I understand it – or stupidly DOUBLY as I missed the anagram! Regards!
15. Very nice 13 minutes for me, and a bit of a relief as I had struggled with other puzzles this morning, I blame the fact that not only do I have an eye problem at the moment but my computer decided to die too. Things can only get better.
16. 10m. Nice straightforward one as others have noted.
    BALTIC was my last in, but the “very cold” usage is very common among my acquaintance, irrespective of its meteorological accuracy.
17. This took me about 30 minutes, ending with CHEESY after having to correct TRADEMARK to TRADENAME, and finally realizing the BALTIC was needed. I didn’t know of these meanings of BALTIC, gated, or gel. I also didn’t know that TITCHY meant small. From Uncle Yap’s blogs I thought it meant something tongue-in-cheek. TRAIN SHED didn’t present a real problem, and I smiled at the use of ‘trashed’ for ‘vandalised’, so COD to that. Overall, the surfaces today are really very good. Thanks to the setter and Dave, and regards.
18. Got all except BALTIC, didn’t relate that to an adjective meaning COLD having had a summer holiday on a friend’s small Baltic island in 25 plus degrees, non-stop swatting the mozzies. Obviously it’s cold in winter but so are other places; and the baltis I’ve eaten are not noted for being hot either… none of which excuses but only explains my failure to finish.
19. Just under an hour, but actually only about 35 minutes and quite easy but for the last two in, CHEESY and BALTIC. As I was dozing off I decided to risk putting those in and submitting the puzzle, and lo and behold, they were right (better luck than yesterday, anyway). I also had TRADE MARK until I realized that the K was getting in the way (actually, that wouldn’t be two words, would it?). COD to TRAIN SHED, perhaps.

    My only problem with the site is having to log in afresh everyday. I solve with Internet Explorer, because then I can attach the crossword club to the task bar.

20. 10:17 for me, on a day when the heat got the better of me – and tomorrow is set to be even worse!

    Glad to see I wasn’t the only one who tried to fit TRADE MARK into 15dn; however, I seem to have been alone in trying to fit CHILLI into 21dn (BALTIC). Took ages justifying REPAINT (or REPRIME, until I had the final T) as well. (Sigh!)

    I take the same view of TRAIN SHED as dorsetjimbo. The (online) OED has:

    (a) a shed for the shelter or storage of railway stock; (b) U.S. a roof supported by posts forming a shelter for one or more platforms at which trains stop; a roughly built or unenclosed railway station.

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