Times 25264

Posted on Categories Daily Cryptic

36 minutes. My third blog and the crossword gods are still shining their faces upon me. This was the second simple puzzle in a row (counting yesterday’s, which I did in 20 minutes), and that comes as some relief as the last relatively straightforward one was on my last blogging day (last Monday). Nothing particularly intelligent I can say about this one, except that it seemed to contain a lot of ks, which isn’t really very intelligent at all, so let’s get on to it.

Across

1 HAPLESS – HA(P)LE+SS – not me today thank goodness.
2 KINGCUP – KIN+G(CU)P – Cu is one of the select group of chemical symbols I know – learning them all from Wiki is on my to-do list, where it shall doubtless remain.
9 AIRY-FAIRY – AIR+Y+FAIR+Y – one of my favourite epithets for those who don’t share my generous pedantic streak.
10 ROTOR – ‘rotor’ backwards – one of my last in. Moving quickly on…
11 TRIAL – double definition.
12 KIDNAPPER – KI(DNA)PPER – looks so easy now.
14 omitted – it’s my choice, so there.
17 GO TO THE COUNTRY – is ‘regularly’ accurate? How long’s a piece of string? For those unfamiliar with the British idiom, this means to test public opinion by dissolving Parliament and holding a general election (ODO).
21 TAXIMETER – extratime* – I would have thought it was two words but I would have thought ‘wrong’ apparently.
23 omitted – think Gordon from Wall Street
24 ROUEN – R(O)UE+(excursio)N – the hardest part of this clue is accepting that Rouen is a port; but it has been from time immemorial apparently.
25 ESPLANADE – palneedsa*
26 PREFECT – P(REF+EC)T – in straightforward puzzles, if ‘training’ isn’t PE, then it’s PT. Ditto ‘city’, if not LA, then EC. Prefects, like ports in Rouen, have been around for a long time and are still thriving in some countries.
27 YASHMAK – YA(S+HM)AK – for some reason I wanted to put ‘cashmak’. Must come of living in Hong Kong all these years.

Down

1 HEARTY – EARTHY with H heading north. Most of us knew how this was going to work, but only a few of us will have taken as long as me to get it.
2 PARTITA – ART before IT (‘Italian paintings first’ – geddit?) in PA. My Italian friend with the diploma in piano from Trieste tells me Bach is the toughest composer and his partitas the toughest oeuvre.
3 EFFULGENT – EF(FUL(l)+GEN)T – our squirmy friend gets his time in the sun, but not for too long, I hope, otherwise he may never graduate into newthood.
4 STICK INSECT – STICK+IN+SECT . This would have been a lot harder in a Mephisto, where no enumeration is given, bringing thereby much joy to Barsetshire.
5 omitted – not as crucial as it might appear, then.
6 NORMA – manor*. I wanted this to be the (scarcely) hidden ‘Thema’ but was stymied first by the fact it sounded nothing like a girl’s name and then by the checking letters.
7 CAT’S-PAW
– mmm, how many others contemplated ‘left-saw’, I wonder? Tool as in dupe.
8 omitted – scarcely cryptic.
15 DISCOGRAPHY – hardcopyisg* – another anagram and the pick thereof.
15 WINEGLASS – vessel is the definition and the rest of the clue is telling us that port is possibly held in this, if you’re a terrible cheapskate like me and serve the port in the wine glasses you’ve just rinsed out.
16 AGITPROP – A(GI)T+PROP. The ‘disheartened about’, A(bou)T, is the key here, otherwise you’ll bung in the answer like me thinking that the literal is ‘support’. Nice clue.
18 TEXTURE – TEXT+UR+(defectiv)E. EC and UR in the same puzzle took me back to the Telegraph in the 70s. Only AC was missing.
19 RECLAIM – half of LA(nd) in an anagram of ‘crime’. ‘Wave’ for an angaram indicator may ruffle some feathers as ‘wave’ typically suggests, as ODO says, movement to and fro with a swaying motion while remaining fixed to one point.
20 COPECK – CO+PECK. I would have spelt this KOPEK, but you pays your money and takes your, admittedly limited, choice, with kopeck and kopeyka also available.
22 MANGE – MAN[A]GE; Square brackets indicating deletion. Liked this too.
25. EFT – (Isl)E (o)F (Thane)T; a teenage newt.     

44 comments on “Times 25264”

  1. Lots of giveaways, but many with very good constructions — 20dn being a case in point. The reversal at 15dn was an interesting post-solve parse: “Oh: port possibly held in this vessel is what it’s getting at!” (Not a reversal of includer and included.) But COD to PARTITA for surface construction.

    Edited at 2012-09-10 02:28 am (UTC)

  2. 15:39, although perhaps a half-dozen solutions were tossed in simply from checkers and definitions, or sometimes just checkers and wotthehell. It helped that 14ac and 17ac went in right away. I would have thought that PMs go to the country when they have to, within the 5-year limit; hardly regularly. And what’s particularly Malaysian about a gecko? Anyone watching American TV for a few minutes might conclude that they’re from East London. I found 18d a particularly inept clue. But still it was a major relief to come in under 20′ after this past week of humiliation.
    1. I think the setter must have been referring to the word’s derivation, rather than the reptile’s provenance, as I note ODO has ‘late 18th century: from Malay dialect geko, gekok, imitative of its cry’.

      And there was I who thought that a gecko was a semi-translucent thing with unhealthy looking eyes that lived on resort hotel walls in said SE Asian country and environs, and never so much as made a peep.

    2. Do you mean the Geico (insurance) gecko? It makes me think of Australia.

      – Vince (who forgot/lost his login credentials)

      1. Yes, I agree, I think he’s supposed to be Australian. For the Europeans, the US GEICO insurance company uses a gecko with an awful accent as an comic advertising spokesman (or spokescreature).
        1. Wouldn’t surprise me; I haven’t heard him in years, since I mute the commercials whenever they come on.
  3. 30 very enjoyable minutes and also a welcome relief following recent ordeals. I agree with the misgivings expressed over 17ac. Not sure I have met KINGCUP before.

    Only 3 Ks, ulaca, and a C where there more usually should have been a 4th.

    1. Hmm … depends how you count:
      If by word, then: KEY, KINGCUP, STICK INSECT, KIDNAPPER, COPECK, GECKO, YASHMAK.
      Otherwise, I can see four separate Ks.
        1. Should that be “nacker’s yard” (i.e., minus one K)? I (and all here, I’m sure) will hope not. Out to stud perhaps?
          1. I think I got the spelling right – it’s where old worn-out horses are sent. Knacker’s yard or out to stud would both before very long have the same adverse effect on me, although the second option would undoubtedly be the more pleasurable way to go! But thank you for your kind thoughts.
  4. 10:40, so almost competing with the touchtypers. I’d forgotten what a Monday Easy looked like, and in truth I think this one’s better than that. I particularly liked STICK INSECT for the elegance of the clue, splinter group also making an ideal hiding place.
    ?A?E ONES OWN WAY offered a smorgasbord of answers that the setter wasn’t thinking of. Make and take perhaps the most likely alternatives, but it is the most common pair of letters.
    I wonder if “regularly” in 17a has its meaning of legal obligation, which is certainly true, rather than at measured intervals, which in the UK at least, isn’t?
    Side issue: how pleasant to have a Listeneresque wordsearch game going on today in “Hunt the Ks” Is there any meaning in the irregular quadrilateral created by connecting them?
  5. It may take me some time to recover from the unwanted knowledge that people serve their port in wine glasses they have just washed out. This is a Tesco’s BOGOF port presumably rather than a Taylor Fladgate say.

    No problem with a very enjoyabe 20 minute puzzle, small queries as already mentioned and praise for PARTITA

  6. Straightforward but very enjoyable Monday puzzle. Forgot to look at the clock but guess about 20 minutes maximum.

    Do you think the Ks have anything to do with the TRIAL? No, I didn’t think so.

    Particularly liked KIDNAPPER and AGITPROP.

  7. 17m. What a relief to have a nice straightforward one. Saturday’s was a bit of a stinker too. I haven’t had a chance to look at yesterday’s yet.
    The only thing I didn’t know in this was KINGCUP, but terms like EFT and CAT’S PAW aren’t exactly top of mind for me. That they’re in my mind at all is only thanks to these crosswords.
    The only thing I didn’t understand was how “preacher’s inspiration” gives TEXT. Can someone who spends more time in the company of preachers enlighten me?
    1. I’m sure my learned Anglo-Australian knows the answer, but since I have been invited to the pulpit, as it were, it’s ‘text’ as in (putting on Rowan Atkinson droney parson voice), ‘Our text today is the second epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians, Chapter 3 and Verse 11.’

      Edited at 2012-09-10 08:44 am (UTC)

      1. “We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies.” (NIV). Almost the perfect text for a posse of crossword solvers. Now there’s inspiration!
      2. Thanks ulaca. It’s more the “inspiration” that I’m struggling with, but I suppose you just have to read it as “basis” or something.
        1. I think it’s simpler than that, the text, say the one Z8 quotes below, inspiring the sermon (in the process becoming the basis for it, but that’s another ‘logico-semantic’ matter, no?)
          1. I see the mistake I’m making now. I’m imagining the preacher in question thinking “oh God, what am I going to talk about this Sunday? I suppose the second epistle to the Thessalonians is always a good stand-in, I’ll do one on that. They’ll all be asleep anyway”. Whereas I should imagine him reading some rip-snorting passage in his bible of a Saturday evening and thinking “by George I’m going to sock it to them with this tomorrow: they won’t know what’s hit ’em!”
            So probably more a question of personal experience clouding my understanding than logico-semantics!

            Edited at 2012-09-10 10:11 am (UTC)

  8. 25 minutes, a steady solve. If you’re a regular visitor somewhere it doesn’t have to be at exact intervals. Rather liked Partita.
  9. As others have also said, a most enjoyable puzzle and a welcome breather, in terms of difficulty, after recent brain-stretchers. About 30 mins for me. This setter was definitely on my wavelength – the two long ac clues HAVE ONE’S OWN WAY and GO TO THE COUNTRY were give-aways, as was ROTOR. (Thanks to Ulaca for pointing out that ROTOR reads the same forwards and backwards, which I had failed to pick up on, though this hardly mattered as the clue’s surface read is pretty much a non-cryptic def of the solution and could easily have gone unchanged into the Concise). I very much liked PARTITA, STICK INSECT, KIDNAPPER, TAXIMETER, AGITPROP and YASHMAK.
  10. 36 minutes and chagrined to see that it was just me who made heavy weather of it. I’ve never heard of going to the country so put GO TO THE CORNERS in desperation; the corners being those lecterns they stand at to read their speeches to the house,obviously. After that I tossed in REFULGENT at 3 and then couldn’t do HAPLESS for love nor copecks. Oh well. COD to AIRY-FAIRY over KIDNAPPER
  11. 20 mins and 45 seconds.

    A decent effort from me based on recent, infrequent solving attempts.

    At the age of 51 I find I am becoming increasingly forgetful so I’m going to try and make the time to solve the puzzle on a daily basis again and post my times here; in an attempt to hold back the waves of senility.

  12. Nothing too difficult today but a tentative Go To The Commons caused a hold up in the SE corner.
    Didn’t get Taxi the other day so made no mistake with Taximeter this time.
  13. This took me about 35 minutes, ending with YASHMAK from the wordplay, since I didn’t know it. I also didn’t know of the PARTITA, KINGCUP or EFFULLGENT, so had to piece my way through the wordplay for those as well. Since I was able to do so, albeit taking somewhat longer than usual, I have to say that the setter lit my way through those, so thanks. Beyond that, as others have said, not too strenuous, and COD to DISCOGRAPHY. Regards.
  14. 7:38 here for a nice straightforward Monday puzzle. Like others I found this a welcome relief after last week.
  15. Yes I am.(And I KNOW, about the pregnancy/childcare section.

    The Italians greet and depart by shaking hands this also is predicted in each gucci bags business meeting.

    “Cesto kazem da sam pola Srpkinja, pola Crnogorka.

    All sizes, all styles.

    Vous pouvez 茅galement supprimer la forte appr茅ciation du renminbi aux 脡tats-Unis dans le processus d’une pi猫ce! En outre, vous pouvez continuer 脿 induire la mer de Chine orientale entre la Chine et ses pr茅tendues n茅gociations, de continuer 脿 茅tendre leurs droits! – Le Japon ne reconna卯t pas l’existence de la mer de Chine orientale diff茅rends territoriaux le principe, toute n茅gociation sera une trahison des int茅r锚ts nationaux de la nue.

  16. Higher interest rates are bullish for the country’s currency..

    Hold this position for one to two seconds before returning to the start position..

    A purple shift mini that has been hidden in my closet for a couple years came out to play.

    Atlanta fashion lovers will not have to book plane tickets to grab a glimpse of the latest fashion trends and icons.

    withNike Shox Agent Hommeblack stripe accent and All Star branding.

  17. Textbook knowledge or mere creativity is not enough to become successful.

    It should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

    Though like an person very many genuinely.

    This is the second store in the UK..

    La diff茅rence pouvait 锚tre consid茅rable, allant de un 脿 dix, selon Me l’avocat des requ茅rants..

  18. [url=http://www.century21powers.com/mulberry.asp]cheap mulberry[/url] If it’s the fitting season with surfaces, distribute your kids out to search for old wild raspberries, Blueberries or even a blackberries to upper part regarding dessert.
    [url=http://www.century21powers.com/mulberry.asp]mulberry purse[/url] Kemper claims just that Nina’s kitchen is currently normal again areas symbolism they happen to be low on pet as well as wanting weekly contributions. [url=http://www.garycityclerk.com/mulberry.asp]mulberry purse[/url]
    [url=http://www.century21powers.com/mulberry.asp]mulberry outlet[/url] but|get accepted because|as they get|because they want good|tricky|back to your website|difficult for the|tough|have to|must be reviewed by|you can get|you get|these may} be veggies recall and so decrease in little if any flavoring, simply reduced intended for memory space first if that would help.think before trying to assist plant based treatments, the same as cilantro or simply parsley. [url=http://www.garycityclerk.com/mulberry.asp]cheap mulberry[/url]
    [url=http://www.century21powers.com/mulberry.asp]mulberry sale[/url] bulging as a result of bloating or anatomical swelling also is significantly more noticeable because of little acne, according to health-care professional doctor. [url=http://www.century21powers.com/mulberry.asp]cheap mulberry[/url]
  19. [url=http://www.garycityclerk.com/oakley.asp]oakley[/url] rise lose rrnside the third trimester, however, many babies, in particular timely young children, still need records staying.on your 20-Week read displayed a complete smidgen of personal, Fully shaped and pretty much equal in porportion. [url=http://www.garycityclerk.com/oakley.asp]Oakley Sunglasses sale[/url]
    [url=http://www.garycityclerk.com/oakley.asp]oakley[/url] back we’re able to recognize such traffic generation intended for each day on supermarket, in areas main carrier maintained a major symbol of the video store published on face value. [url=http://www.garycityclerk.com/oakley.asp]cheap oakley[/url]
    [url=http://www.garycityclerk.com/oakley.asp]oakley[/url] donate a GoatDoes your family member love goats? Chivas skin treatment, A store anti aging line of credit, really loves goat’s too, this is why they prefer the fresh goat whole milk, and therefore plant based treatments of their turf to produce luxurious soap. [url=http://www.century21powers.com/oakley.asp]Cheap Oakley Sunglasses[/url]
    [url=http://www.garycityclerk.com/oakley.asp]cheap oakley[/url] bill Chameides, Dean inside Nicholas training mid-air Environment inside the battle each other higher educatoin institutions, claims and experience of PFOA is always hyperlinked to malignant together with poor health. [url=http://www.garycityclerk.com/oakley.asp]Oakley Sunglasses[/url]

Comments are closed.