Times 26,141: Infotainment Interrobang

Author   VerlainePosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Ah, it’s good to be back in the world of hot mattresses, soft mattresses and daily crossword puzzles. Many thanks to pipkirby for covering for me last week, and clad in such fashion-forward apparel too!

Glastonbury was pretty great of course: Patti Smith was the definite highlight, managing to get the Dalai Lama up on stage with her and serve him birthday cake: top that, Kanye West! But going beyond the big names I’d like to recommend the lovely up-and-coming Australian songstress Courtney Barnett to you all. The title of her latest album “Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit” speaks I think to all of us, especially if you replace the word “think” with “fill in answers”. Also, the chorus to one of her best songs, “History Eraser”, runs “In my brain I rearrange the letters on the page to spell your name”. Surely secretly one of us.

Anyway, this was a lovely puzzle to return to blogging on, seemingly designed to appeal to me with its multitude of classical cameos: Paris, Vesta, Ceres, Leonidas, Antenor. I know this kind of thing is not everyone’s cup of tea but perhaps the editor has learned that if he schedules it on a Friday it will get an easy ride, on one blogging site at least. Timewise I continued my streak of solving puzzles in the 10-12 minutes bracket (11:36 here); LOI was 1a despite it being another excellent classical word, and COD must be the delightfully compact 4D.

Right, must rush, the school run awaits! Many riotously flung bouquets to the setter.

Across
1 APOCALYPSE – revelation: CALYPS{o} [“short” ballad] “penned” by A POE [a | mystery writer]
6 TRAM – vehicle: RAM [stuff] “brought to” T [junction]
8 FIVE STAR – brilliant: FIR [Christmas tree] “entertains” VESTA [domestic goddess]
9 TROJAN – Paris(?): T{reguie}R “vergers” + O JAN [love | month]
10 CARD – double def: celebratory communication / wit
11 ADMINISTER – control: AD [notice] + I [one] in MINSTER [cathedral]
12 INELEGANT – uncouth: (AGENT*) [“breaks up”] on (LINE*) [“faulty”]
14 CERES – goddess: ER [HM] enters CE S [church | society]
17 NIAMH – Irishwoman: reverse [“redirected”] of H MAIN [gas | pipe]
19 VENEZUELA – country: reverse [“knocked back”] of ALE after VENEZ [French arrive] + U [university]
22 CANTALOUPE – “that’s refreshingly tasty”: OUP [publisher] “cuts” CAN TALE [prison | story]
23 SPAR – metal pole: SPARTAN [Leonidas(?)] minus TAN [beat “off”]
24 LINEAR – one-dimensional: LINE [words] + A{nteno}R [“disheartened”]
25 OLIGARCH – “boss in limited company”: (GLORIA*) [“misused”] + CH [companion]
26 FESS – ordinary: {wi}FE’S S{uccess} “in part”
27 NED SHERRIN – broadcaster: (SEND*) [“battered”] + HERRIN{g} [fish “minus tail”]

Down
1 AFFECTION – liking: F F [forces] + E [E{ngaged} “initially”] in ACTION [battle]
2 OBVERSE – side facing: B [bowled] in OVERS [stint] with E [English]
3 LETHARGY – condition: G [good] in (HARLEY {stree}T [“finally”]*) [“treated”]
4 PORTMANTEAU WORD – literotica(?): (A PART TUDOR WOMEN*) [“played”]
5 EXTENT – amount: TENT [accommodation] after EX [former partner]
6 TROUSSEAU – bottom drawer: T [“opening for” T{heoretical}] + ROUSSEAU [philosopher]
7 ACADEME – intellectual world: A CAME [answer | arrived] about D{iscursiv}E [“extremely”]
13 LIMITLESS – unending: and “the fastest stretch on Autobahn” has no speed limit
15 SEA URCHIN – spiny animal: SEARCH [look] around U [posh] + IN [home]
16 FEVERISH – excited: EVER [at all times] in FISH [school(?)]
18 IMAGINE – see: I’M AGILE [the writer’s | Swift] swapping the L for an N [changing name (N) for L{illiput’s} leader]
20 EMPEROR – top man: reverse [“rises”] of REP [salesman] splitting ROME [capital]
21 FLORIN – coin: FLIN{t} [stone “cut”] “to set” OR [gold]

42 comments on “Times 26,141: Infotainment Interrobang”

  1. Squeezed in under 30 minutes, though that included an enforced break with three to go. My knowledge of literotica is either so small that I thought I hadn’t heard of the presumed title, or so extensive that I had too many to chose from. You decide. Obviously, then, totally taken in by the clue, and only twigged when the final crosser, the U, went in. Must go and borrow a copy of Paramundert Wood from my library. I hear it’s pretty racy.
    NED SHERRIN was a sad reminder that he is now producing an infinite series of TW3 in Another Place. If the word urbane didn’t exist, it would have to be invented especially for him. As I wrote him in, I was thinking “there’ll be letters”.
    Excellent crossword, exemplary blog, happy Friday, at least until I try the (surely less literary) TLS.

    Edited at 2015-07-03 08:17 am (UTC)

    1. I got Ned Sherrin because he’s a pop star that my kids are into. Was vaguely surprised that he was also a publisher, and dead, but it turns out that he’s not. Nor is he Ned. Or Sherrin.

      Still, it doesn’t matter how you get there does it?

      1. That’ll be Ed Sheeran, then (I have a granddaughter of a suitable age, who automatically retunes my car radio to Capital when she gets in). He’s quite good, but would be hopeless chairing Loose Ends. It seems you were “close enough for engineering” though – congratulations.
        1. I thought he meant Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. Ed Sheeran didn’t occur to me even though, appropriately enough (or possibly not), I saw him at Glastonbury last year.
          1. No, Z is correct. Just me confusing the unknown Ned with the half-known Ed.

            Frankly I don’t know why they let me near these things.

  3. 15 SEA URCHIN – Soap person: E [“close to” {fac}E] + AS TENDER [equally soft] ?????
    1. The perils of over-reliance on cut and paste! Thanks for spotting, and now corrected.
    2. I thought it was SEARCH – takes look, around U – posh, at home IN.

  4. 35mins, but I should’ve taken longer to (a) parse CANTALOUPE (I had cantiloupe, and was so sure of the spelling I thought the parsing must be impenetrable), (b) consider SPAR (I didn’t think of Leonidas as a Spartan, and had spur), and (c)look harder at TROJAN (I figured Tromay was an unfamiliar arrondissement…). Bad, bad end to the week.

    Thanks Verlaine, glad you enjoyed Glasto!

  5. Felt like it was going to be two hours, but when I finally resolved the long anagram at 4dn everything fell into place.

    Being classically uneducated, I echo Keriothe’s comments about surviving on half-knowledge acquired from crosswords.

    Very satisfying in the end. Thanks setter and blogger, especially for the fascinating parsing of 15dn!!

  6. 26m. I thought this was tough, but absolutely first class.
    I had a very non-classical education so I struggle a bit with all that stuff but one way or another (mostly through crosswords) I have acquired all the half-knowledge required here.
    I’m still not clear how ‘bottom drawer’ equates to TROUSSEAU. Anyone got any ideas?
    I am clear on how ‘venez’ equates to ‘arrive’: it doesn’t. But hey, it’s close enough, and the rest of this is so good that I’m in a forgiving mood.

    Edited at 2015-07-03 08:48 am (UTC)

    1. From Wikipedia:

      Using her own needlework skills to construct a trousseau and stock her glory-box “was for the working girl the equivalent of planning and saving for marriage on the part of the provident and ambitious young man.”[1] The collection of a trousseau was a common coming-of-age rite until approximately the 1950s; it was typically a step on the road to marriage between courting a man and engagement. It wasn’t always collected in a special chest, hence the alternative UK term bottom drawer, which refers to putting aside one drawer in a chest of drawers for collecting the trousseau undisturbed, but such a chest was an acceptable gift for a girl approaching a marriageable age.

      1. Aha, thank you (and rough_lodger). I couldn’t find support in any of the dictionary definitions of TROUSSEAU and I obviously knew exactly what a ‘bottom drawer’ was so didn’t think to look that up!
    2. The equivalent in English of a trousseau – the stuff a bride to be amasses for her wedding and first home – is the bottom and least often used of a chest of drawers. I too winced at the misuse of ‘venez’ but it was a lovely puzzle on which to end the week!
  7. Started the timer but then gave up in disgust as the guy behind me launched into a long rant to the train manager about the quality of the service and the price of tickets (the train was about 15 mins late this morning). With a bit of luck he’ll carry out his threat to switch to Chiltern. I mean, I agree with most of his sentiments but don’t want to listen to them while I’m trying to solve a crossword!

    Probably about 15-16 minutes of actual solving time but half an hour elapsed. Grrr! I knew most of the classical references but was glad I didn’t have to remember who Antenor was to solve the clue. Like Zabadak I wasted some time trying to think of an actual book title at 4dn.

  8. Forgot to start my timer, but around 25 mins. Most enjoyable. I got to the SW corner to finish and tried in vain to find the Q and W to make it a pangram, having found a J, X and Z in the first few I filled in. 18d my LOI. Too many to choose from for clue of the day – 1a, 22a, 2d and 4d all candidates, but 20d for me for the clever Roman EMPEROR.
  9. Had two goes at this because of an interruption, to a total of 35-40 minutes. In the south-west I didn’t want to accept the weak LIMITLESS. However, that was the only poor clue in an enjoyable crossword. 2 and 4 the best of the lot. Saved NIAMH for last in.
  10. I haven’t finished today’s puzzle yet, so trying to avoid looking at any answers!!!

    About 10 days ago, we had Cepheid Variables as an answer to a clue, which prompted some of us to request more science / technology type clues / answers. In turn this prompted me to create a science-themed, times-based 15 x 15 on the same grid and which I’m quite proud of (alright, I know the Times doesn’t go for themed 15 x 15s!). Is there some way that I can expose my effort to some of you guys? I’d like to see what some of you think of it. I have it as a pdf and a Word document. As I am fairly new here, I haven’t found my way around very much yet, so any help would be really appreciated. If I’m breaking any etiquette rules by asking, please let me know.

    1. I think you should be able to upload the files into your own LJ area and link to them in a post, then just send us the link.

      Others have done similar in the past – most of us like having extra puzzles to solve occasionally!

  11. 25 mins. Count me as another classically uneducated solver who has learnt to get by over the years, so clues that might be close to write-ins for some of you can take me longer to unravel. Having said that, most of the classical stuff today was on the RHS and I finished it a lot faster than I did the LHS. It took me a while at the end to get the AFFECTION/APOCALYPSE crossers, after which a biffed NIAMH was my LOI courtesy of Cyril Cusack and his wife giving the name to one of their daughters.
  12. Verlaine commented last night that about the fact that we might be ‘in competition’. Today’s time of a double Verlaine (22:43) with Tippex applied would appear to disprove that theory.

    It’s been a funny old week – PB-ish at the start of the week and struggling to finish at the end. I think I’ll blame the tropical temperatures.

  13. I’m with you verlaine on Courtney Barnett. I think she summed up today’s solve with “I must admit I’ve made a mess of what should be a small success”. And that was because I couldn’t parse SPAR and thought that SPUR sounded more like a metal pole.

    I thought I remembered Ned Sherrin from Countdown and Google has confirmed he was in Dictionary Corner back in 1983.

    1. Actually it turns out that I have no real recollection of Ned Sherrin, though I do seem to recall Stephen Fry referring to him affectionately as “Nedwin Sherrin” in A Bit Of Fry And Laurie at some point, so he is lurking about in my unconscious mind somewhere, at least…
      1. I always confused him with Sheridan Morley (especially on the radio) on the basis that they formed, in my mind, some kind of portmanteau broadcaster (Ned Sheridan Morley).
  14. Looking at other times above I’m now quite pleased with my 18:18 as I thought it was slowish at the time.

    I’m another solver firmly in the non-classicist camp and thought I was in for a tough time with the likes of Antenor (who?) and Leonidas (who?) in the clues, little knowing I’d also have to dredge up Ceres and Vesta from somewhere. I seem to recall the latter cropping up here not a myriad years ago.

    Didn’t know that meaning of fess and couldn’t parse Niamh, despite making a living sort of finding the money to put gas pipes in the ground.

    Enjoyable puzzle and blog so thanks all round.

  15. One of the few days in my life when I truly value having spent 15 years of my youth studying the classics. I too spent far too much time dredging my memory for all the dirty books I also read when young. 29 mins today with LOI being FESS on wordplay alone.
  16. Still recovering from the slight shock of finding Ned Sherrin in with, well, Leonidas and Antenor as acceptable material. It’ll be Amy Winehouse next. This I found difficult and a delight: there’s a fine wit at work in the setters’ stable (a new one?). I agree with a comment above though on the comparative weakness of 13. Had whit for 24 for a time, assuming ordinary wife could be w. Liked the literotica example. All in all, most refreshingly tasty. Congratulations setter.
  18. Well, it looks like i’m the only one to object to arrive = venez. As far as I’m concerned venez ici!, for example, means come here! Arrive = Arriver. anyone know how to get to Arriveruela?
      1. I glanced quickly at the previous comments and missed yours, and rough_lodger’s. Désolé!
  19. Could not time my solving effort as it was spread over different parts of the evening and venues, but I just wanted to add my appreciation of a very enjoyable puzxle.
  20. 10:47 for me, beginning to cool down slightly (or at least become acclimatised) after overheating earlier in the week. Having started out in the Classical Sixth at Dotheboys (before switching to a newly-created Mathematics Sixth and going on to read maths at university), I can usually make something of the classical allusions in a Times cryptic. Anyway I found this a delight from start to finish, though I had trouble remembering NIAMH.

    At least the “revelation” in 1ac was a lot easier for me to deal with than the confounded “Revelation of John” in a recent Listener crossword which turned out to be Elton John’s “Rocket Man” – which I’d never heard of, though I expect everyone else is entirely familiar with it. (I eventually solved the damned puzzle by spotting LAUNCH PAD in the middle of the bottom row and putting 10 + 9 + 8 + … + 1 together.)

    I think I may well have shaken hands with NED SHERRIN, as he once presented the prizes at the Times Crossword Championship in the good old days when it had a proper sponsor and the prizes used to go down to 8th place.

    1. I for one am all too familiar with it. In this case ‘all too familiar’ is synonymous with ‘familiar’. Now I need to listen to something else to get it out of my head.
  21. I went in so many wrong directions it would bore you to hear even half of them. Well done, setter. Thank you, Verlaine. Looking forward to The Rotter’s science fest.
    1. Hi Paul,

      I have mailed it to you having been unable to load it here. I do hope that you can give it a go as I’m interested in getting some feedback.

      If anyone else would like to have a crack, please send me a message here and I’ll send by e-mail.

  22. Tough puzzle. Excellent clueing, but agree with other reservations about ‘venez’.

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