An interesting puzzle that was never dull but which some may find frustrating because of its, at times obscure, references. 30 minutes to solve.
Across | |
---|---|
1 | HYDERABAD – H-(ready)*-BAD; City of Pearls in Andhra Pradesh; |
6 | WIDOW – WI(n)DOW; area on (computer) screen=window (Microsoft jargon); |
9 | INSIDER – two meanings; |
10 | PANACHE – EH!-CAN-A-P(= piano) all reversed; |
11 | SUMAC – SUM-AC(e);tree that colonizes areas via rhizomes; |
12 | OLIVE,DRAB – OLIVE(D)R-AB; reference Oliver Hardy (Stan Laurel’s oppo) – some may not know this entertainer who was earlier than ITMA; |
13 | BITCH – BIT-CH; check=CH (chess notation); |
14 | EMACIATED – DAME reversed surrounds CIA-TE (tonic solpha note); |
17 | FOR,TOFFEE – FOR-TOFF-E(ffet)E; slang phrase “can’t do it for toffee” meaning “useless at it” – is it still used?; |
18 | GLEAN – GLE(A)N; |
19 | ABSTAINER – (eats in bar)*; |
22 | ALERT – hidden (de)ALER-T(ries); |
24 | OUTLINE – LINE-OUT switched; the line out is a set piece in rugby many will have heard of, hopefully; |
25 | DYNASTY – ANY-D(ivert) reversed-STY; Tamworth is a breed of pig; Ming, Romanov or for PB – Dimbelby; |
26 | SKATE – S-KATE; today is Will and Kate’s wedding anniversary – who else got married on 29th April?; |
27 | SHELDRAKE – S-HELD-RAKE; “implement” is a bit broad spectrum; |
Down | |
1 | HEIRS – sounds like “airs”; |
2 | DOSIMETER – DOS-METIER with I “lifted”; DOS=Disc Operating System – very old piece of standard software some may not know; a DOSIMETER measures exposure to such things as radiated energy – some may not know of these implements; |
3 | RADICCHIO – RADI(cal)-(chic)*-O; Italian chicory – some may not know of this herb; |
4 | BURN,ONES,FINGERS – a reference to kiddie’s food of fish fingers – not sure how universal they are; |
5 | DUPLICATE,BRIDGE – a pontoon is a bridge as well as a card game; |
6 | WINCE – WIN(C)E; C from C(ork); |
7 | DECOR – ROC(k)ED reversed; |
8 | WIESBADEN – (wines)* surrounds BADE; German spa where Adolf and Eva did not honeymoon following their wedding on 29th April 1945; |
13 | BUFFALOES – BUFF-ALOES; |
15 | INGRAINED – (villa)IN-G-RAINED; |
16 | THE,RED,SEA – (her teased)*; Moses et al; |
20 | SITKA – S(IT)KA; reggae music=SKA; the SITKA is a fast growing spruce tree – some may not know that; |
21 | ALICE – (m)ALICE; |
23 | THYME – sounds like “time” (what a pub landlord traditionally shouts when the pub is about to close); |
It’s not some sort of computer geek anniversary today, is it? Lots of references, especially if you include bit from 13ac. (Is a BITCH a dog – I only ask to see if it gets past the censors) I still possess a (working) DOS 6.1 laptop running Word Perfect 5.5, and I believe DOS still lurks somewhere in the background even in Microsoft’s horrible Windows 8 (I gather 8.1’s better, but I can’t be bothered to try).
I rather liked DYNASTY today for the “power line” definition, even if the surface reading was a bit weird.
Edited at 2014-04-29 08:14 am (UTC)
Word Perfect was an excellent piece of software as was SuperCalc the spreadsheet at that time. All sadly lost to the Microsoft steamroller
Windows 8 is a horror story – I won’t touch it – and I’m advised that 8.1 is not much better, particularly for business users. And yes, Windows is just a pretty front face to the underlying operating system which is unusable other than to IT techies
Given a chance (and a working PCW) I reckon I could still work in Mallard Basic, and that wonderful intro to programming, DRLogo. Happy Turtles!
Edited at 2014-04-29 08:05 am (UTC)
After completing yesterday’s Quickie without a clue that I’d done it a week previously (thanks Times), worries about my senility were temporarily put on ice when I remembered SKA at possibly the third time of asking.
I was held up today by the long ones. In the case of 4dn, I was convinced that ‘suffer from meddling’ must be a reference to a medlee rather than a meddler: a cunning clue. In the case of 5dn, I’ve never heard of the game so needed quite a few checkers.
There was quite a lot of fairly obscure GK in here, but by a combination of previous crossword appearances (SUMAC, OLIVE DRAB) and construction from wordplay (SITKA) I managed to struggle through. Oliver Hardy was no problem of course: he may predate ITMA but unlike the radio show he’s still famous. 😉
I got 2dn by dumb luck: ‘software: one’ gave me DOSI, and then ‘measure’ gave me METER. Beyond that I was clueless, but fortunately my misreading led to the right answer. It’s a devilishly hard clue but seems fair.
I can see what 17ac is trying to do but I can’t make the cryptic grammar work. Is it just me?
The new editor seems to have lost the plot. The puzzles veer from the facile (yesterday) to the ridiculously obscure (today). Times for the times to get a grip and offer up a fair and consistent challenge (the odd stinker acceptable, so long as it’s not just a setter’s clever, clever ego trip).
Given that (some) solvers have been grumbling for years about the lack of scientific references, it seems churlish to blame the new editor for doing something to improve the situation. I regard my knowledge of scientific terms as modest, but my only problem with DOSIMETER was working out how IMETER equated to “one getting a lift in profession” (which looks blindingly obvious now, but I can only put forward the rather lame excuse that I was feeling tired).
Today’s puzzle took me a little under twice the time I took for yesterday’s, which seems a reasonable ratio – though admittedly I’m not your average solver. Anyway I can think of puzzles produced under the aegis of previous editors which have given me a lot more trouble than this one.
I don’t understand how a DOSIMETER is a measure of exposure any more than a clock is a measure of time. In the expression “Can’t do [something] for toffee” surely “for toffee ” means something like “at all” or “competently” – the words “so can’t do something” in the clue are redundant.
I didn’t like this much.
Hmmpphh.
Edited at 2014-04-29 12:27 pm (UTC)
Edited at 2014-04-29 12:57 pm (UTC)
Edited at 2014-04-29 01:43 pm (UTC)
I thought this a really good crossword. There were several unknowns (DOSIMETER, WIESBADEN, SITKA, SUMAC) but all were gettable from the cryptic given some considerable thought. Thus I finished slightly weary, but satisfied.
Jim, near Cambridge
Been having problems coming to this site the last few days, is there a problem with the site or our usually very slow internet speed, I wonder?
Thank you for the blog.
Nairobi Wallah
Just as well, given the serious need for help on this one!
Nice to see DOS getting a mention (even though I’m more of a UNIX man myself). I still run cmd.exe daily under Windows 7 to give me an MS DOS command prompt. I’m waiting for Windows 9.
An interesting and enjoyable puzzle.
Beginners may find puzzles like this a bit tricky, but more experienced solvers need an occasional challenge as well, and as far as this (reasonably experienced) solver is concerned, the setter got it entirely right. If you’re sometimes out of your depth, then keep practising.
The “daily” crossword should be giving us obscurely difficult ways of getting to obvious words, not vice-versa. Vocabulary/GK should be within the reach of the well-educated, well-read, Times reader. Prize crosswords are a different game entirely, and the whole panoply of Scots dialect, Spenserian usage, African deities, and the further reaches of scientific endeavour all being fair game.