Times 26203 – Yes, definitely something to crow about!

Author   vinyl1Posted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time: 22 minutes

Music: Sibelius, Symphony #2, Solti/LSO

This is my third consecutive weekly appearance, owing to a complicated swap with Ulaca the details of which I have quite forgotten. However, contrary to what might be expected, the run of easy puzzles has continued. It is true I got stuck at the end for a few minutes with a wrong word and some wrong ideas, but eventually I was able to correct my error.

Some of the clues in this one were embarrassingly simple, hardly cryptic at all. I started off at a rapid pace, unfortunately biffing in a few wrong ‘uns that might have held me up for a minute or two. The actual answers were totally devoid of anything that might be considered at all obscure.

Across
1 RADICAL, RADI(C)AL.
5 ROOSTER, RO(O)STER.
9 TIGHT-LIPPED, TIGHT + LI(PP)ED.
10 GEL, LEG backwards, a cricket clue. The presence of ‘gum’ prevented me from finishing as quickly as I should have. While ‘gum’ is ‘mug’ backwards, there is no possible meaning of ‘mug’ to fit the cryptic.
11 RATTLE, double definition.
12 GREENERY, GREENE + RY. So it turns out ‘English’ does not equal ‘E’, and a real ‘English author’ is required, in this case Graham Greene.
14 RAG-AND-BONE MAN, RAG + AN + anagram of BOND + NAME backwards. Few will trouble with the cryptic, as the enumeration gives you the answer.
17 BROKEN-HEARTED, anagram of THE BANKER RODE.
21 TANDOORI, TAN + DOOR I.
23 SEEMLY, SEE + M + L + Y.
25 CAD, C(A)D. A CD, of course, is really the exact opposite of a record….
26 APPLICATION, double definition.
27 EXPRESS, double definition.
28 FREIGHT, FR + EIGHT, a figure eight, I would suppose.
 
Down
1 RETIRE, R.E. TIRE.
2 DOG STAR, DOGS + TAR. I biffed in ‘day star’, but quickly realized my error.
3 CATALOGUE, C(AT A + LOG)UE, where ‘note’ is a verb.
4 LAIR, LAIR[d].
5 RUPERT BEAR, RU + PERT + BEAR, with ‘support’ as a verb.
6 OLDIE, [s]OLDIE[r], a bit of a chestnut.
7 TAG TEAM, TAG + TEAM.
8 RALLYING, R(ALLY)ING, my LOI because of the wrong word.
13 ON THE ROPES, double definition, and a rather lame one since the second meaning is merely a metaphoric usage of the first.
15 NOTRE DAME, anagram of [t]ATE MODERN.
16 OBSTACLE, OB’S TA(C)LE.
18 OWNED UP, OWNED + UP, in different senses.
19 DUMPING, DUMP[l]ING.
20 CYGNET, sounds like SIGNET.
22 ORATE, OR[n]ATE.
24 TIFF, [s]TIFF, a clue we just had in last Saturday’s.

48 comments on “Times 26203 – Yes, definitely something to crow about!”

  1. Leave it to the fates to give vinyl a clue like 25ac; I actually flung in ‘lap’ at first. And I biffed ‘day star’, too. Biffed ORATE, worked back to ‘elaborate’, and tentatively added a Sir Elab to the Round Table. My only real hold-up, though was 5d; with the B and A I thought of Mister Bean, but the clue said ‘cartoon’ not ‘cartoonish’, and after getting every single checker, I decided that RUPERT BEAR must be a cartoon character; news to me.

    Edited at 2015-09-14 06:41 am (UTC)

  2. Yes, pretty rapid solve for me, although I did make heavy weather of the NE corner as I could not see Rupert Bear for a while, which was also stopping me seeing 5ac, 6 and 8dn. But as soon as the likeable cove in the red sweater and the check pants and scarf hove into view, it all fell into place.

    A marked contrast to yesterday’s workout with The Dean! But all good fun, so thanks as ever to setter and blogger.

  3. …which means it was pretty easy. Would have been quicker if I hadn’t biffed STAND-OFFISH at 9ac.

    Was somehow vaguely aware that a character called Rupert Bear existed, but I couldn’t pick him out in a police lineup.

    Grateful for a quick solve on a busy Monday. Thanks setter and Vinyl.

    2. If he were lined up with his chums Bill Badger and Freddie Fox you might manage.

      Edited at 2015-09-14 06:40 am (UTC)

  4. COD The Rupert Bear cartoon strip ran in the Daily Express from 1920 to 2005 and a Rupert Bear Christmas Annual every year since 1935 when Alfred Bestall took over from Mary Tourtel – that’s not a bad run – where were you Kevin? It’s about as British as you can get!

    26ac weak clue

    12 minutes

    horryd – Shanghai

  5. Another 17 minute job here. Might have cracked the elusive 15 if I hadn’t first written in the wrong sound-alike at 20dn and wasted time also thinking “gum” at 10ac.

    We need some tricky Monday puzzles to break the recent pattern as I don’t like expecting a certain level of difficulty according to the day of the week (or who the setter is for that matter, although I’m pleased that particular scenario still doesn’t apply to the weekday Times).

    Edited at 2015-09-14 04:06 am (UTC)

  6. 5:45 .. I had rather lost track of what my PB was, but I’m certain this is a new one. I think we can safely say this was easy.

    A few hesitations in the NE corner, otherwise I just rattled through.

  8. 9m. Not much to say about this really: straightforward, nothing unknown, quite a lot of biffing.
  9. 8:35 which I believe is a PB. As I was solving I wondered if it might not be quite so biffable for non-natives with RUPERT BEAR and RAG AND BONE MAN being particularly British.

    Very impressed with sotira’s time and looking forward to hear if verlaine has broken the 5 minute barrier…

  10. A steady 18 minutes with no holdups other than those derived from poking letters into an iPad.
    Rupert Bear is probably better, but incorrectly, known as Rupert the Bear, courtesy of an annoying jingle from my childhood.

    (Commiserations to Magoo for not retaining his British Sudoku Championship over the weekend)

    Edited at 2015-09-14 08:19 am (UTC)

  11. A very rare sub-20mins for me, probably a PB. Would’ve been quicker had I not spent time working out those I’d biffed (RUPERT BEAR, RAG AND BONE MAN). Definitely a different kettle from yesterday’s ST’s one…
  12. 1 letter inexplicably wrong=2 mistakes and that sinking feeling when, after two pages of sub tens (well done everybody) you realise you’ve really blown it.
  13. 12 minutes – which is as fast as I ever do.
    I agree with Nick the Novice about the contrast with yesterday’s difficult ST; I will remain tight-lipped about my time.
  14. I got on the 0742, sat myself down and finished as we pulled into the station that’s timed for 0748. That’s the fastest I’ve ever done it and I found myself bemoaning to myself that crossing out the solved clues was taking longer than solving them in some instances. So, it must have been right at the easiest end of easy.
  16. 11.46, best time for a long time; but not as satisfying as crunchier stuff. I think the Rupert Bear annuals in the late ‘forties gave me my first glimpse of one of the pleasures of poetry in its story-in-rhyme.
  17. I got held up in the NE corner like many others and didn’t get anywhere near the PB-type times that others (congratulations!) are posting. Beginning to think that one less glass of wine in the run up to these things might actually be a good idea… nice gentle start to the week in any case, thanks setter and blogger!
  18. 10 minutes on computer clock, more or less a top to bottom write-in, like a Quickie; too easy, as observed by Sotira and others. I wish I still had my collection of Rupert Bear annuals, they’d be delightfully non PC today.
    1. Not half as non-PC as my friend on the left, though what it is claimed that Rupert Bear did to Granny in the Oz Magazine Trial of 1970 doesn’t bear (no pun intended) thinking about.

      Edited at 2015-09-14 11:38 am (UTC)

  19. 12:47. A PB for me too, even after a bit of a slow start. Held up by having DAY STAR at first for 2d.
  21. 18 minutes with no hold-ups anywhere. It was indeed easy, as is often the case on Monday or Tuesday, just like the Guardian Monday regular. However, I cannot see the point of posting a comment consisting of nothing other than the withering, “All a bit boring really.” One might describe the comment as “rather pointless really.”
    1. Fear not, normal service continues for me on the tough ones — I still haven’t finished yesterday’s DM puzzle. As I have a feeling this year’s champs will feature much harder puzzles (in the light of comments after last year’s), that probably spells curtains for me.
  23. 9:14, slowed myself a bit with 12 trying to put a word for leaves (some fancy tea perhaps) inside BY to get an author.

    The clue for ON THE ROPES was about as uncryptic as a cryptic clue can get.

    Wee done to all PBers.

  25. The easiest puzzle I can remember. Less than ten minutes which isn’t what I want from the Times cryptic. “On the ropes” ? Disappointing.
  26. I, for one, am grateful for the range of difficulty / ease in these crosswords – surely there has to be something for everyone? There would be no point in my trying them if the only offerings were at the very tricky end – I rarely manage to complete the main crossword without resorting to aids and am massively impressed by those of you who notch up amazing times. So a puzzle like this may be too easy for many of you but it’s fun and gratifying for someone like me. Penny
  27. Felt like an easy one but no exact time as grand daughter sitting as well. No outstanding clues today just a steady solve. Thanks setter and blogger.
  28. 18 minutes for me, which is probably a personal best, but then again this was a fairly gentle one.

    Like above, I too am grateful for puzzles that cater to a range of degrees of sobriety.

  29. 6 mins (probably around 6.20) and I’m almost certain that’s a PB. My FOI was TIGHT-LIPPED, the helpful checkers meant that I fleshed out the NW quadrant rapidly, and the rest was the proverbial top-to-bottom solve with TIFF my LOI after FREIGHT. I might have been disappointed by how straightforward it was a few weeks ago, but after a day at work I have no complaints.
  30. It’s all been said, just not all of us have said it – my only hold up was SEEMLY right at the end, other than that everything in on a first or second reading.
  31. 7:29 here for a pleasant, straightforward solve.

    I’ve written previously in praise of easy crosswords and I still hold to that opinion. Congratulations to all those who posted PBs today: don’t let anyone pour cold water on your achievement by sneering at this puzzle.

  32. Having done today’s QC I looked at the blog which said today’s big crossword was at the easier end. It turned out to be true for me. I solved quickly until held up finally by 12a. I thought it had to be an author whose named ended BY. Finally I realised what the leaves were and I finished it correctly. A very rare event for me. David
    1. Congratulations, David and best wishes for many more solutions. We seem to have quite a range of difficulty these days in the ‘big’ crossword, with yesterday’s ST one being at the hard end.
  33. Very fast solve; agreeable puzzle, and – as Nick noted – a chance to relax a little after the rigours of the ST workout from Dean.
  34. The Times. A crossword most British.
    Last night lasted very few minutes.
    I sat on the loo
    And raced through the clues
    And finished before I had finished.

    Cheers
    BaronJerkyArms

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