Times 25513 – A long long way to run

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Goodness me, I think I’ve earned my money on this one! Oh no, I just remembered I’m doing this for fun, not for cash. I must be mad. For what it’s worth, it took me 88 minutes and another 30 or so to work out all the intricacies. The level of difficulty can be judged by, at the time of writing – 2 hours after the puzzle went on line, there are only 5 completed entries at the Club, 3 of them over the hour and one of these at 1 hour 50 minutes with 7 mistakes. Hoping I haven’t got any.  Off we go – and btw it’s a pangram…

Across
1 TEQUILA – QUILt (throw) inside TEA (meal). Definition: one in the slammer – a reference to ‘tequila slammer’, a cocktail made with the Mexican spirit, lemon juice and something fizzy.
5 TUBAS – TUB (bath), AS (for)
9 SHEBA – Reversed alternate letters of ‘rAmBlEr HaS‘
10 BOMBPROOF – O (old) inside BM (doctor), BP (blood pressure), ROOF (limit). I thought I was looking for a fear of flying, heights or similar and convinced myself the answer would end with ‘PHOBE.
11 LIMITED – MITE (small child) inside LID (cap)
12 TAFFETA – F (fine) inside ATE FAT (what Mrs Sprat did – reversed). Ref the nursery rhyme:
Jack Sprat could eat no fat
His wife could eat no lean.
And so between them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.
13 MINOR CANON – MINORCAN (Spanish islander), ON (paid for by)
15 SPIV – VIPS (celebrities) reversed
18 OCHE – CO (firm) reversed, HE (chap). This is the line on the floor that darts players stand behind.
20 JINGOISTIC – J (judge), IN, GO (turn), 1, STICk (criticism)
23 TAX DISC – What you have to stick in your car window in the UK
24 SCHEMER – HEM (border) inside RECS (public park’s) reversed
25 KEPT WOMAN – K (kilometre), EP (record), TWO MAN (bobsleigh event)
26 ORANG – ORANGe (shade)
27 NUDDY – NoDDY (fool) with O changed to U (university)
28 SUCCESS – Sounds like “sucks” (drains), “ess” (S – sort of bend)

Down
1 THE OMEN – Anagram of NOT ME HE
2 QUARTERS – Soccer stuff, presumably
3 IN BUD – IN (home), BUD (China – CRS – to America)
4 ARMSTRONG – A, RM (jolly – Royal Marine), ST (good fellow – saint), OR reversed, NG (no good)
5 TIP OFF – Nothing to explain
6 BOOZE UP – O (round), OZ (Australia), E (Europe) inside PUB reversed EU (Europe) inside BOP (rapid hit). Thanks to Z8 for getting me to look at this again. Believe it or not, that’s how I marked it up originally but lost my way when blogging.
7 SOFIA – I inside SO, FA – the two notes preceding ‘me’ when coming down the tonic sol-fa scale
8 O SOLE MIO – Anagram of MILES and O x 3 (multiple round). Elvis sang this as “It’s Now Or Never”.
14 AS IT COMES – Hidden
16 VICARAGE – A, RAG (tabloid – not The Times, surely?) inside VICE (corrupt practices). I think the definition ‘where minister’s called’ may mean we should be thinking of the office – also called ‘vicariate’ – rather than the place where the minister lives. Scrap that, and thanks to Derek for pointing out my misunderstanding. The old brain’s a bit addled after this lot!
17 WISHBONE – Anagram of BIN WHOSE
19 HEXAPOD – HEX (charm), A, POD (pulse). It has six legs so it’s an alternative to ‘insect’ that has passed me by until today
21 TOMCATS – MC (host) inside TO A T (correctly), S
22 AIRWAY – fAIRWAY
23 TOKEN – TO, KEN. Ken is Barbie’s boyfriend I believe.
24 SONIC – SO,NICe

49 comments on “Times 25513 – A long long way to run”

  1. 49:51 .. blimey! I need a 1 across after that. And I think you’ve earned one, too, jackkt. Well done.

    Terrific challenge. I’ve rarely been so happy to see a ‘submit puzzle’ come back with no errors.

    Hard to pick a COD from so many finely constructed clues, but TIP-OFF definitely made me smile the most (though TOKEN was funny in a groan-inducing sort of way).

    Last in: JINGOISTIC

    Edited at 2013-06-28 02:46 am (UTC)

  2. Very well blogged, Jackkt.

    I got fed up with this halfway through and decided that I had better things to do with my time. So I can contribute little, except to say that I think the definition of VICARAGE is “where minister’s called on”, which I think answers Jackkt’s question.

  3. All but the SE corner within an hour. Then I gave up for a while. But on completion, this really is top class. The MINORCAN was inspired; and the song title close to that. Have a sneaking suspicion we were all supposed to write in SUCCESS! as the final answer. Highly appropriate.
  4. One to sort out the men from the boys (unless your Sotira), and all I can say is that this one knocked 40 years off me. Four wrong after two hours, as I thought it was too fine a thing to resort to aids on. Spotting the possibility of a pangram might have helped, as I failed on the two pairs (1a/2d and 19d/23a) where the X and Q occurred. Didn’t know QUILT in its cover sense or ‘slammer’, so was always going to struggle on 1a. COD to IN BUD.

    Re 19d, not convinced that pulse = POD. I thought the pod was the seed vessel rather than the seed itself. Also, don’t understand how ON can mean ‘paid for by’, rather than simply ‘paid’ (as in ‘He’s on 20 grand’). Illumination welcome.

    2. A couple of the usual dictionaries define POD as the seed case OR the fruit of any leguminous plant – not sure if that covers it.

      Incidentally, an article in yesterday’s Times about solving cryptic crosswords contained this tip for newbies: “Visit blogs where people discuss the crosswords. The best one is called Times for The Times. Every day someone posts an explanation for all the clues in that day’s crossword.”

      So at last we appear to have official recognition and approval. And no, the article wasn’t written by the ST crossword editor, our esteemed founder.

      Edited at 2013-06-28 04:53 am (UTC)

      1. Thanks, Jack. I’m no great shakes at botany, so can well belive it. (I did check ODO and Collins before submitting my query…)
    3. Thanks for the considerate exemption, ulaca, which of course applies to a number of the regulars here. There are a number of really useful phrases that have been made problematic by gender politics – “sort the men from the boys / act like a man / be a man about it / man up”. It’s hard to find adequate ‘gender neutral’ alternatives and all are perfectly applicable to women so I tend to use them regardless (but it’s much more of a minefield for men). One or two work the other way. As far as I’m concerned, anyone can be “a real old woman” or a “big girl’s blouse”, irrespective of sex or age.
  5. This surely is the standard of puzzle that should appear on a Saturday or Sunday. I’m retired but even I can’t really afford to devote the sort of time needed to solve this tour de force during a reasonably busy week day. I can imagine people just giving up because of time pressure – and that’s a great shame because this is simply a top class puzzle. The first time in a long time that I’ve taken an hour to finish one.

    Brilliant job Jack, can’t imagine what your state of mind was by the time you finished.

    1. That’s a very good point Jimbo. During the week I solve at my office desk over coffee and subject to telephone calls and other interruptions. I can manage 20 to 30 minutes, but anything more is just not possible. That only got me halfway today. I’m sure others are in a similar position.
  6. Wow! What a difference 5 days makes… this is truly on a different spectrum to Monday’s puzzle. Too tricksy for me today, and I had to admit to a DNF with lots of blanks all over the place. Thanks for the blog, Jack, it’s good to have all the answers explained so clearly.
  7. 38 mins mid-morning, and from the comments I have seen so far that looks like a reasonable time.

    As has already been said, this was a superbly crafted puzzle, and I have no quibbles at all about any of the wordplay. I saw the high likelihood of a pangram about halfway through, but then I forgot about it, which is stupid because I would have realised that I didn’t have a “q” by the time I was staring at my last two, the TEQUILA/QUARTERS crossers. On reflection QUARTERS should have been a write-in, but my excuse is that my brain was numb by the time I got around to looking at it properly.

    Having said all that, I agree with Jimbo that it might have been better if this one had been kept back for a Saturday.

  8. Excellent blog, jack. I gave up after an hour with 6 still to do. Not sure why the tax – disc is evidence of settlement and can’t see what tomcats is related to in the clue. 3d 10a and 7d also defeated me, though I did try fiddling with HGI to come up with an unlikely shiga! Never thought of me as a note – doh!
    1. The tax disc is proof of payment of the tax, so “evidence of settlement”. TOMCATS mate with female cats aka “Queens”.
      1. Thanks Jack. I’m not entirely convinced as the licence is permissive and I can’t incur an obligation to be ‘settled’ as I have not received goods or services. So my income tax bill can be settled as I have had income and so incurred the liability. Not for me quite the same thing with RFT as there is no existing obligation to be settled which the word seems to require. What is clear is I don’t really know quite why it does not agree with me perhaps other than peevishness at not solving it!

        Edited at 2013-06-28 02:25 pm (UTC)

  9. Wow! Another tough one today and I am glad Mrs Sprat followed us to eat some fat. I had TEQUILA but had to come here to understand why. Thank you jackkt and the anonymous setter.
    1. What’s this, Uncle Yap sighted outside his own blog? There’s a turn up! Good to see you.
  10. Had TOMCATS from definition & checkers, so thanks for explanation. The pangram was helpful, as like Andy, I was stuck on the NW corner till I realised I still needed the Q.
  11. Just over 30 minutes, but TEQUILA only because there wasn’t anything else (I got “tea”, realised it wasn’t short but didn’t go the extra step), and BOMBPROOF similarly because I couldn’t get past MB pro to somehow signify “doctor maintains”.
    What struck me about TOMCATS was that it seems you have to separate the MC from his ‘s to get the end of the word, otherwise it’s just MC in “to a T”, which looks to me like a rather extreme form of lift and separate. I think I can make the grammar work but I’m not convinced I’ve seen it before.
    Not sure I’ve got a CoD, more of a need to lie down, but perhaps NUDDY just for resurrecting a word that I haven’t heard in a long, long time. I liked SOFIA, too, but boy, it was laborious to unravel.
    1. Seems ok to me: host (MC) dressed in correctly (TO-MC-AT) + ‘s = is (S); unless I’m missing something, there’s no further degree of separation than is customary!
  12. Probably worth mentioning that at lunchtime in the UK there is precisely ONE time below 10 minutes on the Club leader board. No prizes for guessing who posted it but even he only just scraped in with 9:43 (still I imagine the setter is gnashing his teeth like Dick Dastardly and saying “I’ll get that pesky Magoo one day!”).
      1. … it’s just that I can barely remember the last time!

        Thank you for breaking cover to reassure us (or was it the gender-specific pronoun that did it – I did hesitate before writing ‘his’?)

    1. You have a very fine point: I meant to mention that it was another one I didn’t fully get. Revisiting, I think it’s “Pub tour, perhaps” (definition) with BOP (rapid hit) round OZ and EU(rope). The grammar works. There’s no way to justify PUB backwards round O OZ and EU unless “round” is doing treble duty.

      Edited at 2013-06-28 12:29 pm (UTC)

  14. 20.33 and I did think I wasn’t going to finish – the TOMCATS took a work through the alphabet/match to the wordplay session.

    Struggling with all the cryptics today – I feel the need for a darkened room coming upon me.

  15. Was it not Dinsdale Piranha who was described as ‘cruel but fair’ by one unfortunate victim? For certainly I have just had my head nailed to the coffee table by this one which, while virtuosic, must have been pretty close to the absolute upper edge of difficulty for a daily.

    Many thanks
    Chris G

  16. I got SHEBA quickly then after 25 minutes I had only two more answers. From there on it was slog. After 75 minutes I still had seven to solve, with several uncertain entries (which turned out to be correct). 80 minutes is about the maximum I’m prepared on a daily, so resorted to aids to get 10 and 23ac, after which the rest gradually yielded.

    Congratulations to all who solved it unaided.

  17. The second slog this week, though at least the vocab in this one wasn’t unknown to me. Not my cup of tea at all.
  18. I agree with Z8b8 above – ‘bop’ is the rapid hit, and ‘pub tour’ the definition.
  19. I just popped in to see if the non-appearance of ‘neutrinos’ at the club so far was connected with the time of this blog’s original posting – apparently not.
    1. I had a similar thought. It seems to suggest that most of the neutrinos are solving on paper then submitting online, rather than using this blog. I’m not sure if that makes the practice more or less puzzling.
  20. Holy Toledo! A bit past the hour, but had to resort to aids to find the TAX DISC, a total unknown, after which HEXAPOD (LOI) became rather apparent. I also put in TEQUILA but only as the only thing that fit, having never heard of the cocktail, and thus not understanding why TEQUILA had anything to do with the wordplay. We have the Tequila Sunrise and of course the Margarita over here, but the Slammer, if it is known here, has passed me by. So technically a DNF, but still a moral victory to get that far through it. Regards to all, setter included.
  21. Finally succeeded (not saying a time as it was ages!) got 3d as a guess so came on here with the hope that you super clever people could explain, but I don’t get the explanation. Please can someone explain what bud has to do with China or America, thanks
    1. China is Cockney rhyming slang (the CRS bit in the explanation) for mate, which to an American would be bud.
  22. A correct solution, but a very long one. Fortunately, I had a fair amount of time to spare today, despite domestic commitments.
    Reading the blog, I realise that I did not fully parse ‘booze-up’, so thank you to those who explained the answer fully.
    George Clements
  24. 25:49 for me. I was going moderately well (for such a tricky puzzle) until I was left with 1ac (TEQUILA) and 2dn (QUARTERS), but these must have taken me over 10 minutes: I’m not familiar with that meaning of “slammer” (my ignorance of foodie matters extends to drink) and I couldn’t see any sensible way of parsing 2dn.

    I can’t say I found this puzzle altogether enjoyable. For a start I dislike pangrams, because a) I never spot them, and b) they mark the setter down as a smart-arse. But also some of the clues seem over-contrived, 21dn being an example.

  25. Gosh – that was hard. And 21dn eventually defeated me even though tomcats had been considered. Had I known a f. cat as a queen, might have got it but can’t help but feel that’s a very unhelpful phrasing. The separation of ‘host’ and ‘s’ is difficult but eventually makes sense: the bit I struggled with is ‘mates with the Queen’. ‘Mates’ can’t be a verb since it’s multiple tomcats and as a noun seems just a push too far and makes the clue very difficult to solve other than by retro-fitting from the ‘queen’ element. Maybe I’m just peeved but that seems unusually weak.
    1. Yes, I concluded it’s a noun and “mates with the Queen” is the definition. Can’t see a problem myself but you may have a point about retro-fitting.
      1. Yes, I think it’s a very clever (Tony’s ‘smart-arse’ seems pretty harsh to me, incidentally) exploitation of the fact that ‘mates’ whle formally plural can be functionally both plural (which permits the TOMCATS sesne) and singular (‘He’s mates with Beckham’ – which permits the ‘is’ – abbreviated to ‘S – link on the surface).
  26. Only just solved this morning without having seen any of the comments. Around 20 minutes and didn’t think it was all that hard, but I didn’t notice the pangram and put in NODDY at 27ac. Looking again, it’s not even slightly ambiguous. Damn!
  27. I didn’t get time to finish his yesterday, and have only just had the opportunity to do so today. 39 minutes in total: very hard, and a bit of a slog.
  28. Failed to get TOMCATS – kicking myself because queen so often refers to a female cat in crosswords. My only other doubt was TAX DISC or TAX DISK, but DISC is the official spelling on the UK government website. (www.gov.uk/tax-disc)

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