Times 26228

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
My solving time was off the scale for this one, and the current small number of completed entries and times taken by regulars on the club site suggest that others are finding it  difficult too. I’ve spent rather longer on this than I’d planned for so I’m keen to get onto the blog right away without further comment other than to note we have only two anagrams and that may have contributed to my plight.

Across
1 JOB SHARE – JO (girl), BS (US science graduate), HARE (race)
9 GOAL LINE – GO (become), ALL IN (exhausted), {gam}E. I think ‘become’ = ‘go’ here in the sense of ‘match/befit/suit’ as we discussed at length sometime last week iirc.
10 STRAFING – STING (undercover operation) encloses RAF (airmen)
11 HEADSHIP – HEADS (before kick-off what he might call), HIP (trendy). ‘He’ refers back to ‘captain’ and ‘call’ refers to the coin-toss, heads or tails.
12 NURSE SHARK – NURSES (tends), HARK (listen)
14 SPUR – SPUR{n} (turn down)
15 SET FAIR – SET (group), F (following), AIR (carriage – demeanour)
17 WOMANLY – W (with), 0 (nothing), then L (large) inside MANY (legion)
21 UFOS – Reversed and hidden in {lot}S OF U{nsolved}
22 DOTTED LINE – Cryptic definition with reference to the expression “Sign on the dotted line”
23 DESERVED – ‘Deserted’ (left) becomes DESERVED (just) when T & V are exchanged
25 DOGFIGHT – Cryptic defintion
26 ICE DANCE – I + CEDE (give up) encloses [hosting] ANC (party for Africans – African National Congress). On edit: Thanks to Dan M for correcting my parsing re “party”
27 DRIVE-INS – RD (way) reversed, then IS (one’s) encloses VEIN (tube). The use of plural in relation to the clue seems odd here but I can’t actually fault it.

Down
2 OUT OF USE – {f}OU{r}, TO, FUSE (form a union)
3 SHADES OF – SHADE (colour), SOF{a} (couch). Something can be said to have shades of something else if it’s reminiscent or like it.
4 AVID – AV (bible – Authorised Version), ID (papers)
5 EGGHEAD – EGGED (urged) separately encloses H (hard) and A (answer)
6 DAMASK ROSE – DA (lawyer – District Attorney), MASK (disguise), ROSE (mounted)
7 LIGHT PEN – LIGHT (easy to carry), PEN (fold – as for sheep)
8 JEOPARDY – Anagram [rock] of OPERA DJ, Y (unknown)
13 SKIN DIVING – SKIVING (lazing around) encloses IN (home) + D (daughter)
15 SQUADDIE – S (singular), QUAD (sort of bike), DIE (go out)
16 TOOL SHED – TOO (over) + SHED (cast) encloses L (large),
18 ALLSPICE – Anagram [exotic] of SPECIALL{y}
19 LENGTHEN – LEG (limb) encloses {diva}N, THEN (upon which)
20 STUDDED – ‘Studied’ (scrutinized) becomes STUDDED (having bosses) when I (one) and D (change – old penny) are exchanged
24 UGLI – {h}UG{e} {s}LI{m}

56 comments on “Times 26228”

  2. Hardest Times for quite a while; easiest Groan puzzle I’ve seen for ages. As to the former: masses of attempts written on the blank part of the page to the right.

    Had most trouble with the cryptic defs at 22ac and 25ac. My feelings about such clue types is (I hope) well known. I can think of many ways the two answers could be clued without resort to the dreaded CD. Any offers from other commenters?

    On edit: I thought the clue for WOMANLY (17ac) was very good.

    Edited at 2015-10-13 03:34 am (UTC)

  3. When a tough one comes along, I thoroughly expect to have to wait until the next day to read the blog. It being (only) midnight in Syracuse, NY, I must thank jackkt for his promptness.

    A tough one, for me, usually involves peculiarly British expressions … worse yet, place names (Welsh, Scottish, …). There was none of that here except for SQUADDIE which I knew from experience.

    I enjoy the cryptic definitions (after I see the light). The clues for 22A (especially) and 25A were gems.

    – Vince


  4. That one hurt!Hardest for some time.

    Only 4dn AVID easy

    Didn’t see the 18dn anagram

    COD 15dn SQUADDIE

    8dn good too JEOPARDY and 22ac DOTTED LINE
    LOI 27 ac DRIVE-INS ‘cos of the plural

    horryd Shanghai


  5. Great crossie, which I finished in about 75mnis, spending the last 10 minutes or so alphabet-running GOAL LINE. Was determined to finish this one, since the pdms, when they came, were so satisfying (DESERVED, STUDDED, DAMASK ROSE). Dnk: STRAFING, or that a LIGHT PEN is an ‘input device’, but these were clearly clued. Personally I’m not so keen on the cryptics, took too long to see DOGFIGHT.

    COD: ALLSPICE, excellent anagram (I had the vowels, now where to put the consonants) and tricky definition.

  6. Finished in 75 mins without cheating – which made it very satisfying. I thought it was a great xword and fully agree with Janie L B’s analysis.
    Don’t understand 24 d – why isn’t it PEELED (rather than UN…)?
    1. The ‘un-‘ in unpeeled acts as an intensifier rather than a negator – also unloose and unravel.

      Edited at 2015-10-13 07:30 am (UTC)

      1. I wish I’d seen your reply before attempting to explain it myself. I don’t know that we’ve said quite the same thing though so I’ll let my effort stand.
    2. ‘Unpeeled’ usually means ‘not peeled’ but according to SOED there is a verb ‘unpeel’ defined as ‘remove peel from, peel’. It would seem to follow from this that there must be a derivative ‘unpeeled’ for use when peel has been removed, and that’s what’s needed here. It’s all a bit tortuous though and I agree that ‘peeled’ would also have served and without addling my brain when trying to work out what was going on.
    3. My only query was as to whether peeled and unpeeled meant the same thing. Thanks to those above for doing the research.
  7. A quibble: I looked up allspice – to see what it was and whether it was one word. It’s either a pepper (is that a fruit like a tomato?) or a N. Carolina strawberry shrub but it doesn’t seem to be “dried fruit”.
    Still a great xword though!
  8. 58 minutes, but had to cheat for GOAL-LINE: ‘bound’ as a noun always does for me.

    Enjoyed this a lot, and, like vefatica, enjoyed, as is the case more often than not, the CDs. Anything to slow the Bletchleyites down.

  9. I’m sure this was a good test, in that I had to work out the wordplay for almost every clue before moving on. Shame one of the few times I didn’t do that was when I confidently threw in SMACKS OF (at 3d), at best a first cousin to the right answer.

    Test result: fail.

    1. This failure particularly enjoyed SHADES OF, an inventive clue to go alongside the Guardianesque TV substitution device.
    2. Not only did I bung in SMACKS OF but also displayed my lowbrow tendencies by entering UCOS – the name of the unsolved cases squad on New Tricks.
      1. I got UFOS right, but don’t worry — my brow was at the same level as yours. At first I guessed the answer from the checkers and was searching the clue for a reference to the forthcoming relaunch of The X-Files.

        Thank you for keeping me company with SMACKS OF.

  10. Plenty of v. good clues including those for NURSE SHARK, DOGFIGHT, DOTTED LINE and DAMASK ROSE to name a few. I liked UGLI as well – I’ve only ever seen the word used in crossword land.

    Thank you to setter for a good but not unreasonably difficult challenge and to jackkt – if your solving time was off the scale, mine was way beyond that!

  11. DNF, after oh, maybe 50′. I thought of UFOS, and might as well have flung it in, but couldn’t parse it. I never would have got SQUADDIE, a word I barely know, which contains QUAD, which I don’t. Having ‘not in use’ (why?) helped a lot to slow things down. I don’t think I have a position on CDs, but here I’ll go along with Mctext; thought both these clues were mediocre. COD to SHADES OF, which took me forever even though I had the SOF early on.
  12. Just under an hour, but had to resort to aid when stuck with little more than top half done (couldn’t think of anything to fit -O–N-Y at 17ac) I remember the LIGHT PEN – hand-held scanner. LOI was 21ac, as failed to see hidden till the end.
  13. After 26 minutes I was sure the last two had to be ALLSPICE and DRIVE-INS but tired of trying to parse them so came here to check – thanks Jack. The idea that SP represented ‘special’ had me barking up the wrong tree. Or should that be barking the wrong way up the right tree? As Sotira says, careful attention to wordplay needed all over the place and I was fortunate that the handful that did go straight in provided helpful checkers.
  14. This took me nearly an hour, and I still got one wrong: I’ve no idea what a LIGHT PEN is, and I don’t think I’d ever have thought of the PEN-FOLD (crumbs!) connection, so I went with a desperate LIGHT PIN on the basis of some vague sewing connection between pinning and folding.
    Otherwise this was too hard to be enjoyable for me, but I can admire it. Or at least I’ll probably be able to admire it later when I’ve forgiven the b****** who set it!
    1. Light Pens date back to 1960s and were wand-like devices the user pointed at the screen. Sadly they made the arm ache and so fell out of use
      1. I think they mainly fell out of use since they required a CRT screen to work. They noticed the beam going by and so could work out what you were pointing at. The ones I used wouldn’t work if you pointed them anywhere the screen was blank.

        But, as you say, I don’t think anyone has used them since the early 1970s. I first came across them in about 1972 but they were gone by the time I did my computer science degree in 1975.

  15. As a relative newbie, this is why I like this place. My heart was in my boots after pulling stumps 20 minutes in with three left unsolved – and I don’t think I would have got 23ac in another hour – so it’s very reassuring to know I wasn’t the only one to think this was a real rip-snorter. Looking forward to Saturday again now…
  16. 43:50, but defeated by putting in SHADES IT for 3d and not able to understand the resulting SET TAIL. Didn’t understand DESERVED either. Hardest for a while, I thought. Whn I eventually worked them out, I enjoyed 12a, 17a and 22a, my COD.

    Edited at 2015-10-13 08:54 am (UTC)

  17. I used to blog Tuesdays so might well have got this one – well done Jack, not easy when you’re under pressure to post

    Excellent puzzle with only the cryptic definitions being a bit below par. Thank you setter.

    1. Yes, Jim, I took over your Tuesday slot so all other things being equal this one would have turned up on your watch.
    1. It didn’t delay me for a moment but it does seem to be an error. I can’t see any way of taking it as standing for ‘it is’ or ‘it has’.
  19. I thought this puzzle was rather brilliant, can’t remember enjoying one so much in quite a while. 17 minutes with cartoons blaring at me from the next room – I guess that’s a fairly acceptable time really, looking at the rest of the world’s scores on the doors!
  20. In a desperate bid to get under the thirty minute mark, I failed to parse 18dn and entered the unlikely AULDRIDE. Saw the correct parsing just after submitting.

    Thought this was brilliant, and wish now that I’d taken more time over that final clue.

    Joint COD to the two CDs, just to annoy my fellow West Aussie.

    Thanks setter and thanks for the blog Jack.

  21. Very tough so I’m pretty pleased with my 25:17. This wouldn’t have been out of place in the Grand Final.

    As above my only query was around peeled /unpeeled but for a while I was puzzled as to why tool shed was right until I saw the need to separate over from cast. On reflection I also agree that the apostrophe in the dogfight clue must be an error.

    Anyway, I really enjoyed the challenge so thanks to evil setter and unfortunate blogger.

  22. 60m DNF with too many blanks to list. I doubt another 60m would have got me near 15d and 9a. Not my cup of tea this one – too much like drawing teeth at times. Thanks, Jack, for the blog; it was more essential than ever today.
  23. I don’t have a time to post due to watching US baseball while solving, but it was a long, long time. But rewarding nonetheless (as I was in a happy mood since my baseball team won). LOI was the confusing DRIVE-INS with the hard to understand plural. DESERVED and ALLSPICE are excellent. Thanks to the setter and Jack as well, and regards.
  24. 36 mins. I was nodding off a little mid-solve so it wasn’t as bad a time as I thought it was based on the other comments. I thought the reverse hidden UFOS was excellent because I looked for something that would make sense a number of times, and it was only after I finally got SQUADDIE that I saw it. I have to confess that I biffed DESERVED and DRIVE-INS, which was my LOI. I had no problem with the use of unpeeled in 24dn, and I saw GOAL LINE relatively quickly once I had all the checkers.

    I take it you must be a Mets fan Kevin.

  25. No time to report as I made little progress in time initially available and had to return for a second helping. Eventually completed correctly without aids, but I must be Mr Grumpy today as my experience mirrored grestyman’s.
    I was also thrown by the plural in 27a, agonised over the apostrophe in 25a and wasn’t keen on 11a, where I thought that the definition was a bit wobbly, and the word order (which was clearly deliberately designed to mislead) made the surface rather clumsy.
    On another day I might have really enjoyed it, but today ………
  26. After solving 1A, 10A, 4D, 5D in about 10 seconds I thought it would be a doddle. 20D and 24D quickly followed but thereafter I was completely baffled. At least there were some easy clues!
  27. Could someone please explain how ‘then’ = ‘upon which’? Don’t get it.
    other than that, some lovely clues.
    1. Here’s a quotation from Don Quixote (a bit random, but that’s what Google threw up!) that illustrates what I think is the required meaning:

      She gave him to understand that she was attentive to what he was going to say; upon which, he began his story.

      Edited at 2015-10-13 07:45 pm (UTC)

  29. Yes once again the gremlins have crept into the puzzle after a few other incidents of late. These things seem to hunt in packs. I hope that is the last of the bunch: for now

    Its/it’s is a bit of a writer’s curse I’m afraid.

    Re “peeled/unpeeled”, in the world of the cryptic crossword they are really interchangeable, although I agree “peeled” would be more elegant here.

    Of course we don’t allow “infinite”=”endless”=”without ends”

    RR

  30. 18:07 for me, so still off the pace but at least not as disastrously (in comparison with other Championship folk) as yesterday.

    A very fine puzzle indeed: I raise my hat to the setter. The only clue I’m not all that keen on is 21ac, which, assuming it’s an &lit, seems to me to be a rather weak one.

      1. It would help if you read the comment properly before disputing it. The poster is referring to 21ac whereas you appear to be commenting on 23ac.
  31. This took about an hour, and almost every clue was a slog. The last few only yielded to a combination of G&Ts and methodical alphabet-trawling.

    In the end, I had one wrong – an inexplicable “goal time” for 9ac. How I failed to get GOAL LINE I simply do not know. My blunder was roughly equivalent to rounding off a difficult but successful operation by inadvertently stitching the patient to the operating table. Ah well – these things happen (as we tell the inquest).

    I was also completely bewildered by the apostrophised “it’s” in 25ac – can anyone else make sense of it? I suspected that there was a tyop in the online version.

    Edited at 2015-10-13 11:36 pm (UTC)

  32. A very late comment, as I was too tired last night to do more than half of the puzzle and much relieved today to find that things did go better the next day. Still, I was able to finish only through persistence (after doing Wednesday’s puzzle in my usual hour or so). I took an hour and 46 minutes for this one — but if Tony took 18 minutes, I don’t feel too bad about that.
  33. Surely “it’s” means “it is” so the clue at 25 across does not make sense. We have to drop the apostrophe to get the “cryptic” definition required.
    1. Once again, if you had read the above comments you would have seen that this has already been discussed by a number of posters and indeed the Times crossword editor has admitted the error on their part. I posted his comments in at 7:56pm above.

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