Times 25940 – Nothing to boast about….

Author   vinyl1Posted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time: 22 minutes

Music: Vaughn Williams, Antarctic Symphony, Boult/LSO

This one was really very easy. I sometimes have trouble with these, because the clues are easier than I’m used to, and I just can’t believe that the components of the cryptic can be that simple. There was one word that I just didn’t know, which most UK solvers probably wrote in instantly, so I was held up for several minutes at the end.

Tonight’s musical selection is in honor of the coming cold front, which will plunge NYC into subfreezing temperatures very shortly. I played the stereo version, but anyone who is interested in the piece should hear the earlier Boult mono with the narration from the original score.

Across
1 FOREFRONT, anagram of NO EFFORT, R?
6 PETRA, PET + RA, where Ra is an Egyptian god and not a painter this time.
9 UNCLEAN, UNCLE + A + N[ame].
10 ECLIPSE, E(CLIPS)E, the rather indirect literal will fool no one for very long.
11 ENTERPRISE, anagram of I REPRESENT.
12 WOOD, WOO + D[emocrat].
14 STAKE, [mi]STAKE.
15 PERSONAGE, P(ER SON)AGE.
16 OUTFITTER, OUT + FITTER.
18 STOUT, S + TOUT.
20 DIAL, [a]D[v]I[s]A[b]L[e].
21 SILVERSIDE, SILVER + S + IDE. A cut of meat not known in the US, so I had to work it out from the cryptic. I was looking for a word meaning ‘complain’ missing the last letter, only to find that a short carp really is a short carp.
25 INTROIT, IN + TRO(I)T. I tried to start this with ‘up’, but you’re ‘up’ when batting in baseball, not in cricket.
26 SAILING, S(AIL)ING.
27 TORCH, hidden in [concer]T ORCH[estra], as in torch songs and the like.
28 CHASTENED, CHAS TEN + ED.
 
Down
1 FLUTE, triple definition: Midsummer Night’s Dream character, a kind of glassware, and an instrument.
2 RICOTTA, RIC[h] + OTT + A, a bit of a chestnut.
3 FLEUR DE LIS, anagram of SELF-RULE I’D, a write-in from the enumeration for nearly everyone.
4 OWNER, [d]OWNER.
5 TREASURER, anagram of RUE ARREST.
6 POLO, LOP upside-down + O.
7 TAPIOCA, A CO + I PAT, all upside-down.
8 AMENDMENT, A(MEND MEN)T.
13 CONSTRAINT, C(ON + STRAIN)T.
14 SNOWDRIFT, anagram of FROST + WIND. This could have been a cryptic definition for all I would have noticed.
15 PATRIOTIC, P(A TRIO + [caugh]T)IC. I suppose he didn’t want to say they were ‘at riot’, as that doesn’t sound very patriotic.
17 TOASTER, rhymes with BOASTER, one from the Quickie.
19 OPINION, O (zero) PINION.
22 VISTA, VI(ST)A.
23 EDGED, [h]EDGED.
24 LOCH, LO(A)CH. I never heard of the fish, so I had to figure out the cryptic from the literal.

44 comments on “Times 25940 – Nothing to boast about….”

  1. PB for me.

    Was hoping to hear that everyone had struggled to come to grips with this beast. I could then assume that my solving skills had mysteriously blossomed over the weekend, that I was suddenly part-Sever, part-Magoo, to be spoken of in hushed tones and installed as the early favourite for next year’s Championships.

    But it was probably just an easy crossword.

    Thanks setter and blogger.

  2. 13.5 minutes – also probably a PB for a weekday Cryptic. Last in SILVERSIDE. I knew ‘roach’, but thought ‘Loach’ was a director.
  3. Done in by SILVERWARE crossing ORATION – both needing just a little to be right (an oration not being exactly thoughts though the o ration works, and wares not being particular to meat but the silver plate works). Didn’t particularly care for the boaster, but thought several others were very nice in spite of being relatively easy.
  4. I’m pretty sure I once somehow got in under 6′, so this is not a PB, but it will do, and then some. Like vinyl, I didn’t know SILVERSIDE. Or maybe I did, since something other than the wordplay gave me -SIDE; I twigged to the fish after submitting. Nor did I know that ides were related to carp. I was puzzled by the ‘old’ in 16ac; do outfitters deal only in old clothes? are there no longer outfitters?
  5. At 27ac ‘light’ surely clues TORCH as in the thing one uses to see in the dark, and ‘pieces included’ is the enclosure indicator.

    I think ‘old’ at 16 is a nod towards the definition in the COED: Brit. dated. a shop selling men’s clothing. Apparently the term as used in North America is a shop that sells clothes and equipment for outdoor activities, so not quite the same sort of business.

    30 minutes, but I think I started to nod off a couple of times (through tiredness – no disrespect to the quality of puzzle). This is in the tradition of the gentle start to the week that long-term solvers were used to at one time despite protestations that no such policy existed. For all that, it was a lively and enjoyable solve and just the sort that’s needed to assist those attempting the transition from the Quickie to the 15×15.

    Edited at 2014-11-10 05:12 am (UTC)

  6. If I can (just) get under 10, it must be an easy puzzle. Like Paul, I fancied SILVER,WARE and O,RATION, but the parsing didn’t work for the first; the def. for the second.

    Edited at 2014-11-10 06:46 am (UTC)

    1. Sounds as if you fixed it. For me the thrill of finishing quickly got me to ignore all the “try again” signals.
    2. Adapted from Wikipedia (NB the other ‘mechanicals’ come up from time to time in crosswords):

      ‘A mechanical is any of the six characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream who perform the play-within-a-play Pyramus and Thisbe. Named for their occupations as skilled manual laborers, they are a group of amateur (mostly incompetent) actors from around Athens, looking to make names for themselves by having their production chosen among several acts as the courtly entertainment for the royal wedding party of Theseus and Hippolyta.

      Peter Quince, the carpenter*
      Snug, the joiner – Lion*
      Nick Bottom, the weaver – Pyramus*
      Francis Flute, the bellows-mender – Thisbe*
      Tom Snout, the tinker – Wall*
      Robin Starveling, the tailor – Moonshine*’

      * roles in Pyramus anmd Thisbe

  9. 13:12 … or about 1.2 galsprays.

    I did originally have ‘roch’ for 24d, but fortunately took a minute to have another think about that. Or rather, to have a think about that.

      1. Ah, the dizzying heights! I reckon I’ve done about twelve hundred daily cryptics now. This might be the second time I’ve been faster than Sotira. So by all means, encourage away!
  10. Thanks very much for your help. I was thinking mechanical was an adjective. Well, you learn something everyday and I’ve started early today.

  11. 23:24 on the timer, but that did include taking a phone call and eating my brekkie… had I known it was going to be such a quickie, I’d have taken the phone off the hook, and postponed the toast. May then have got under 20mins…

  12. 8m. Straightforward stuff. No unknowns, although INTROIT is a word I only know from crosswords.
  13. 16 minutes. Fell into the SILVERWARE – ORATION trap for a while but wasn’t comfy with oration and restrain defs. as others above, then remembered my meat cuts. Otherwise a non-stop write-in anti-clockwise. Nice choice of music, Vinyl.
  14. 15:08 including a cup of tea. No unknowns although I would have struggled to name all the rude mechanicals; similarly the fairies, who come up occasionally. A straightforward start to the week.

    Edited at 2014-11-10 09:10 am (UTC)

  15. A little over a quarter of an hour. Got off to a false start by scribbling in DICE at 6dn. (Well, if an OUTFITTERS is an old clothes retailer why shouldn’t dice be an old game? I Googled “gent’s outfitters” and found the term in current use.)

    A good Monday puzzle, I thought; very enjoyable.

  16. 1.112121212121212… Galsprays – ah those milliseconds wasted by not being able to type and chew gum at the same time! Also slowed by wondering whether ECLIPSE really means “draw attention from” rather than, say, “obliterate all signs of”, and a reluctance to enter any “game” with a reference to “cut” until all checkers are in, making it my last entry.
    My town, with a High Street that even with the arrival of Starbucks hasn’t quite lost its quirky charm, has not one but two “gentleman’s outfitters”, and only one of them is quite old.
    I’m still rather confused by what seems to be verbal superfluity in 21 (He can talk – Ed). I presume the “dishes” is there so we have SILVERS, but isn’t “silver” in this sense already a plural? Don’t think you can put the S on the end. Or does “short”, which is hardly necessary to distinguish the IDE from other fishes there to provide the S, which it’s not normally known to do?

    Edited at 2014-11-10 10:29 am (UTC)

    1. In my crossword it says “small”, not “short”. I notice vinyl1 refers to short, too. Did they change it in the online puzzle during the course of the morning??

      Edited at 2014-11-10 10:35 am (UTC)

      1. Crivens! How one is influenced by one’s friends. You are, of course, quite right. Always check your sources.
  17. No further observations to add. This was obviously a 5 furlong sprint handicap rather than the Grand National, so my seven and a half minutes was up there in the blanket finish. Perfectly enjoyable puzzle for the level of difficulty (as I usually say on these occasions, I suspect it’s actually harder to write a satisfying easy puzzle than a real toughie).
  18. 20 minutes today, which feels sluggish seeing some of the times mentioned here.

    I was delayed somewhat by FLUTE, not knowing the Shakespeare reference. My last two, OPINION and SILVERSIDE pushed my time up as well. Although I’ve heard the term Silverside I’ve never knowingly eaten it.

  20. I count myself as one of the slow-coaches having clocked a time of about 45 minutes, mostly because, I think, I am still green when it comes to cryptic old chestnuts, so I’m learning them for myself rather than relying on any mental muscle memory.

    I got SILVERSIDE for the wrong reason, assuming SIDE referred to side plate, but ignoring the plural that was needed. To be fair, on the mini-Ipad version, the last s of dishes was partly obscured by the question mark roundel, but the plural was clearly indicated by the e that was in plain view. I had justified the small carp in the clue as a double definition because I was aware of small fish called SILVERSIDE.

    The mechanicals passed me by until reading the blog (thanks blogger, that is now lodged in the muscle memory), and didn’t know INTROIT, but gettable from the rest of the clue.

  21. 15 minute stroll in the park. Can’t see what “of editor” is doing in 8D and thought 17D very weak. Knew the mechanicals from doing these crosswords. Nothing outstanding in a largely artisan collection of clues

    Local rivers already up to their banks and a storm warning for Dorset tonight and tomorrow. Time to batten down the hatches.

    1. Saw the pic and thought uh-oh. Hope you don’t lose power and that the larder/fridge is full.
      1. Thanks Olivia. Fingers cropssed for Sotira as well as I believe it’s going to be bad west of us.
        1. Awfully wet and windy here, jimbo, but our neighbours assure us “it never floods round here”.
  22. Some hints by Z8 but fewer than for the QC today – completed in 42 mins – only 14 mins longer than the QC! 🙂

    Feeling good, Billy Ray!

    COD – CHASTENED and I quite liked PETRA.

    LOI was RICOTTA.

    I can’t see myself in next year’s comp yet, but being as Z8 has a free place..

    Edited at 2014-11-10 03:55 pm (UTC)

  23. 18 m so on the easy side for me. Nothing outstanding but a pleasant solve and blog so thanks for both. Any reference to the Mechanicals makes me smile and the blogger’s choice of music today too as RVW is a particular favourite.
  24. 18:28 for me, which is probably a personal best. Music: the endless clamour of patients. I didn’t fully parse FLUTE (like many others, I didn’t know the Shakespearian reference).

    Didn’t we have TORCH as a hidden word recently? I’m sure we did, and I think it was even hidden in an orchestra. I’ve noticed quite a few of these recurrent answers, and wondered why they happen. Any theories? And, like Jimbo, I thought 17d was pretty feeble.

    I’m sure my time will be >3.5 Severs, but I’m happy with that. The only problem is that I now have nothing to occupy me for the rest of the day apart from work. Ah – hang on, I forgot drinking. So all’s well.

  25. About 15 minutes, ending with SILVERSIDE, for the same reason as vinyl. Not much else to say, except regards.
  26. 17:59 for me today so definitely on the easier side. That did include a couple of minutes to stoke up the woodburner and chuck a couple more logs on though so probably around 15m. Count me of another who was unaware of the rude mechanicals so thanks to Derek for that link. LOI was 15A as I was not really sure it could be a worthy.Lots were thrown straight on from the definition which is not really how I like to solve them but fair enough for a Monday. Also DNK loach so loch went in with fingers crossed.
  28. I hate to sound a discordant note, but all this emphasis on times (yes, I know about the title of the blog) ignores the fact that this was not really up to the standard I expect of a Times crossword and, although I probably achieved a PB, it failed in its duty to excercise my remaining grey cells, and thus stave off the onset of dementia.

    Must do better, setters

  29. 8:42 for me, feeling bushed after an extremely trying day. This was a pleasant start to the (crossword) week, though, with some nice old-fashioned Times clues, like 17dn.

    Are “outfitters” really as dated as 16ac suggests? Where on earth is one supposed to buy gents’ natty suitings these days, then?

  30. 42 minutes, which is a good time for me but not my best. Last three in were SILVERSIDE, FLUTE and LOCH, and there’s a reason (I’m also from the wrong side of the Atlantic for this and didn’t know SILVERSIDE really (and IDE only very fleetingly) nor the LOACH, although LOCH seemed clear, nor the rude mechanicals — FLUTE only went in because it’s an Instrument and I knew the glass. But except for these three it really was terribly easy (actually, except for the last two or three most puzzles seem very easy. Well, half anyway. The other half are the ones where I can only get two or three entries and wonder what universe the setter is living in — certainly not mine).

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