Times 25916 – Check your grooves…er, make that Groves!

Author   vinyl1Posted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time: Not recorded

Music: None, golf on TV again.

I worked this puzzle while watching the last 7 holes of the Frys.com on TV, so no time. I would watch a hole or two, put in a few answers, and go back to watching. I wanted to see if Sang-Moon Bae could manage to bogie enough holes to make it interesting, but he just managed to hang on.

The puzzle should have been rather easy, and I filled in a fair amount of it without really thinking too much. Unfortunately, I managed to bung ‘playeed out’ into 13 down, and had ‘eyewash’ for a while at 28. That’s what happens when you only give the puzzle half your attention. However, after Bae three-putted the last green but won anyway, I went back and worked out my errors.

Across
1 TIBETAN, T(I BET)AN.
5 NEMESIS, NE(ME)S[t] + IS, just entered from the literal by me. Is a ‘nest’ really a ‘hideout’?
9 SENTIMENTAL, anagram of TALE SET IN + M[anhatta]N. Again, I didn’t bother with the cryptic.
10 ROT, double definition, one from the Quickie.
11 AVENGE, anagram of GAVE [p]EN.
12 FIVE STAR, FI(VESTA)R.
14 SOME LIKE IT HOT, anagram of TITLE IS OK, HOME. Another one I could just write in.
17 MONEY SPINNERS, M(ONE)Y + SPINNERS, delayed by incorrect crossing letters.
21 TAG LINES, anagram of STEALING.
23 PALACE, P(A[ristocrats])LACE, a simple &lit I should have seen immediately but didn’t.
25 CUE, sounds like QUEUE, another one from the Quickie.
26 PROVISIONAL, PRO + VISION + A L.
27 NOTELET, TELET[h]ON backwards.
28 EYEBROW, E + YE(BRO)W.
 
Down
1 TUSCAN, TUS + CAN, from CANTUS. I tried ‘Theman’ briefly, which fit the cryptic but didn’t seem like a very onvincing Italian.
2 BANNERS, double definition, and a very simple one.
3 THINGUMMY, THIN + GUMMY, a popular chestnut.
4 NOEL, sounds like NO L.
5 NIT-PICKING, another obvious double definition.
6 MILNE, MI(L)NE.
7 SCRATCH, double definition.
8 SATURATE, SAT + U[ppers] + RATE.
13 CLAPPED OUT, double definition, one semi-jocular.
15 ITERATIVE, IT + E.R. + EVITA upside down.
16 EMOTICON, anagram of COME INTO. For this one, I actually did use the cryptic to get the answer.
18 NEGLECT, N + E(G[overnment])LECT.
19 STAINER, double definition, a composer I had never heard of, which is rather a neat trick to pull off.
20 YELLOW, double definition, our third or fourth Quickie clue.
22 IMPEL, I(MP)EL, that is, in LEI upside-down.
24 LIFE, cryptic definition…make that a hidden in [maxima]L I FE[ar]; thanks Jack!

48 comments on “Times 25916 – Check your grooves…er, make that Groves!”

  1. As vinyl says, this should have been easy, and yet it took me a good while; looking at it now, I’m not sure why. Well, I did make things a bit more difficult for myself by, say, wondering if there were such a thing as a manase at 23ac, and taking ‘whatshisname’ to be THING. LOI PROVISIONAL, where I toyed with ‘proficiency’ for a while before seeing the light. And I can’t say that I’ve ever found an emoticon moving.
  2. 22 minutes for this doddle. I rather liked the NO-EL clue.

    24 is hidden but I’m not sure where’s the enclosure indicator. Also not sure why “moving image” at 16; I know some are animated but as far as I’m aware this is not a requirement.

    I hope we’re not in for a repeat of the notelet/letter/paper/card argument.

    Edited at 2014-10-13 02:01 am (UTC)

  3. 25 minutes for this, with the last seven spent on 16, 21 and 28 (all because I’d got the Quickie clue ‘cue’ wrong – writing in LIE (‘line that’s’) at 25).

    The enclosure indicator at 24d I took to be ‘for a stretch’.

    John Stainer’s best know work is the Crucifixion, but he also wrote some hymn tunes, the best known of which is probably his version of the Charles Wesley favourite, ‘Love Divine’. The Blaenwern version is most commonly sung in the UK these days (including at William and Kate’s wedding).

  4. One for the nursery slopes folder? As V1 notes, a lot of answers from literals, to be parsed post-solve.

    As for the hidden-answer indicator in 24dn, I suspect “for a stretch” indicates the literal as well as meaning “some parts of”. (See Ulaca’s comment.) A bit of licenced double duty to give an &lit flavour?

    And as for the device at 4dn: reminds me of a great ad slogan for a certain brand of Scotch published around 4dn.
    “INGLE ELLS — not the same, is it?”

    Edited at 2014-10-13 06:29 am (UTC)

  6. 12.08, and I delayed submitting until I was sure of EMOTICON with something more than “what else could it be?”. For some reason I think of Times setters as being a rather quaint set who are slightly bemused by the modern world, so the “moving image” definition was good enough for me. Like a maiden aunt trying to keep up with us young ‘uns.
    Cantus (1d) looks like a made up word (though I see it’s not) which I’ve not come across before. STAINER I’ve sung, and most probably so have you. His arrangement of that most boring of carols, The First Nowell, is the one most commonly sung. Now that’s the sort of quaint arcanum I’d expect a setter to know, which explains why we’ve got the Christmas cracker at 4d.
      1. No,not really:
        “He also made a lasting contribution to the music of Christmas in his Christmas Carols New and Old (1871), produced in collaboration with the Revd. H. R. Bramley, which marked an important stage in the revival of the Christmas carol. The book includes Stainer’s arrangements of what were to become the standard versions of “What Child Is This”, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, “Good King Wenceslas”, “The First Nowell”, and “I Saw Three Ships”, among others.”
        Fling wide the gates of knowledge!
  7. 9:20 … definitely a confidence booster. Another nod to NOEL, just the sort of thing that reminds me why I do these things.
  8. Double duty was the only way I could get it to work which is why I wasn’t sure about it.
    2. I don’t think it’s double duty: I think it’s an &Lit. ‘For a stretch’ is the containment indicator in the wordplay. The whole clue is the definition.
  9. A straightforward offering, though I didn’t help myself by putting in a careless MONEY-SPINNING that led to the mombled composer GREENER. Fortunately ITERATIVE soon gave the lie to that little mess. STAINER has appeared a couple of times already this year, which is the only reason I’ve heard of him.

  10. Could have been a pb for me at 22:45, but for the One Error at 24dn where I had ‘time’. Damn those pesky hidden words.

    dnk STAINER or CANTUS, and dnp NOEL. Only when I came here and had another look, did I realise the spelling of Yuetide in the clue. Doh!

  11. 19.14 after a hold-up on Milne (a dodgy ‘at’?) and five-star. I hope a telethon isn’t watching the box for charity. Aaach, I see I’ve put Toscan. Ah well. I also see the line ‘sentimental rot’, somehow cheering the spirits.
    1. I think the idea is that the L is ‘in the mine’, i.e. ‘at the coalface’.

      Apologies if you were referring to summat else.

  12. Enjoyed this very much: light-hearted; not one of those solemn, teeth-grinding affairs; an ideal choice for a Monday. Solved within my half-hour target time so thank you compiler and editor.

    On edit: I too puzzled over the enclosure indicator for the hidden 24 ac and came to the same conclusion as the contributors above, that it is “for a stretch” as in a stretch of road. The whole then provides the definition & lit. An admirable clue.

    Edited at 2014-10-13 11:14 am (UTC)

  13. Just under 10 minutes, which suits me on a Monday. I raised an eyebrow (DYSWIDT?) at EMOTICON, but thought of it as “the sort of thing which happens in Crossword Land and I bet it didn’t stop anyone solving the clue correctly so let’s move on”.

    Sadly I didn’t appreciate how good 4dn was to begin with because I though it was just another in the long line of recent typos, misprints and sundry errors. If a clue depends on a deliberate missing letter, you need to have an impeccable track record for accuracy for it to be properly interpreted…

  14. 16 minutes, no arguments or delays, just as easy as my blog puzzle last Wednesday, we are back to Monday strolls-in-the-park perhaps.
    LOI Nit-picking (my CoD) and Five-star.
  15. Longer than it should have been, taking my full commute and a couple left to get. LOI was FIVE-STAR preceded by NIT-PICKING, so not so obvious a DD for me. I didn’t have a problem with either EMOTICON or LIFE, the latter of which appeared triple clued to me.
  16. 13 mins. I echo Tim’s comment about 4dn. I was slow to get going this morning, and that often happens to me on a Monday. FIVE-STAR was my LOI after SATURATE. When I first looked at 16dn I had ?M?????? and assumed that the anagram fodder was “image has” with “come into play” as the definition, and it wasn’t until I got TAG LINES that the penny dropped.
  17. Quick for me too today – 15 minutes. Like z8b8d8k when solving EMOTICON it brought to mind my vision of the setters as antiquated types railing against modernity. Wholly unfair I expect, and if any setters are reading, then I apologise to you.

    That reminds me that on Friday’s Countdown the word WHATEV was played successfully. I have to draw the line against the use of such words, and not just because the lad who played it is about half my age and so much better than me.

  18. 26 minutes. I still don’t understand MONEY SPINNERS. The MONEY part is obvious but how does SPINNERS = “the tops”? I’m horribly afraid it’s another bit of cricket nonsense. Ann
    1. A top = child’s toy which could be described as a ‘spinner’

      Edited at 2014-10-13 12:53 pm (UTC)

      1. Another oops! I can’t understand why I didn’t see this. It’s a result of looking for obscurities when the answer is staring you in the face. Thanks all who responded…
  19. One of my quickest ever today so it must have been pretty straightforward. Took me round 40 minutes over lunch and I rarely get in under the hour. I laughed at NIT PICKING and it took me back to primary school aged children and that revolting smelly stuff we had to use in those days before embarking on the marathon of the nit comb. Thank goodness I didn’t have all daughters.

    Edited at 2014-10-13 12:48 pm (UTC)

  20. 12 minutes dead.

    Noel was my first in and I spotted the hidden easily enough although I took the definition to be just “it” which didn’t make sense.

    I also had a query about tag line which I only knew as a sort of advertising slogan which wouldn’t necessarily be funny but there’s dictionary support for it meaning punchline as well.

  21. Two sub-30s in 7 days so no doubt this blog is honing my solving times. Thank you to all who blog and respond to my beginner questions. Also a nod to Noel, but as others have said, missed the true nature of it due to quick reading and initially thinking it was a typo – other than that fairly pedestrian

  22. 29m all correct with last 5m on the 21a and 18d crossing. My heart sank at the sight of the many question marks but in fact I found this a pleasNt even amusing solve so thanks to setter and blogger today. COD to NOEL.
  23. Glad I wasn’t the only one who started out with TRAMAN… it’s all been said, fun but not too taxing puzzle.
  25. . . . is a song by Proctor and Sullivan. A well-known parody goes

    Seated one day at the organ, I jumped as if I’d been shot
    For the Dean was upon me, snarling ‘Stainer – and make it hot.’
    All week I swung Stainer and Barnby, Bach, Gounod and Bunnett in A
    I said, ‘Gosh, the old bus is a wonder!’ The Dean, with a nod, said ‘Okay’.

    And that, pop-pickers, is how I know Stainer.

    20.16

    Edited at 2014-10-13 05:09 pm (UTC)

  26. 6:25. Another easy one to lull me into a false sense of security for Saturday. I didn’t know ‘cantus’ and had forgotten STAINER, but no problems.

    Edited at 2014-10-13 04:49 pm (UTC)

  27. Well, I didn’t fly through this, about 35 minutes. No good explanation for that, because nothing was too straining. I also enjoyed the ‘no L’ clue. Thanks to the setter and vinyl as well. Regards.
  28. Did this in between cooking and eating dinner (a Parsi Dal which takes around 30-45 minutes on the stove) with a quick finish afterwards. Not sure it’s quite the same thing as watching the golf, but a pleasant result in any case. Another one where the Quick Cryptic presented about the same challenge, so I’m sort of wondering what’s going on?

    Edited at 2014-10-13 06:34 pm (UTC)

  29. I was rocketing along toward a very fast time for me until everything fell apart. I made the lie mistake, and whacked in castle for palace off of the a…e, then scratched my nit-picking head for quite a while. Thx V1, and thx setter.
  30. 8:37 for me, so off Championship pace if others’ times are anything to go by. (Sigh!)

    An enjoyable start to the week. My one (very) minor objection would be to 13dn, where the wordplay leads more naturally to CLAPPED OFF.

    STAINER last came up as recently as No. 25,702 (5 Feb 2014), when Z quoted the reply attributed to Beecham:
    “What do you think of Stainer’s Crucifixion, Sir Thomas?”
    “I’m all for it.”

    1. 12.08 for me:- “it’s not the winning, it’s the taking part….”. That’s my excuse anyway, and a sure recipe for coming 26th again.

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