Times 26,483: Bang! Shake-Shake-Shake The Slang

Author   VerlainePosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
It might be that I’d recently finished blogging an inevitably more evocative TLS puzzle – just scroll down a bit if you want to check that out – but I found this a little bland for a Friday. A nice economy about the cluing for sure, but with only one literary reference (1dn, also with a pleasing surface, if a slightly optimistic one on the setter’s part) and one remotely obscure item of vocab (14dn, and I don’t think it’s even that obscure if you do a lot of crosswords), I finished the whole thing with plenty of change from 10 minutes and a vague sense of dissatisfaction. It has been repeatedly stressed to us that there is no reason to expect anything different from the Friday Times than any other day, but I don’t know, it still feels wrong for it to be such a quickie.

As I say I did like 1dn and surely everyone likes a good &lit as at 20dn, but either my blogging powers are failing me or there’s not a lot to say about many of these clues! I did enjoy myself so thanks to the setter, but I just might go off and do another TLS now I think…

Across

1 Page studied on historical period showing development of corporation (6-3,6)
MIDDLE-AGE SPREAD – P READ [page | studied] on MIDDLE AGES [historical period]

9 New star in computing or creator of latest technology (9)
INNOVATOR – N NOVA [new | star] in I.T. OR [computing | or]

10 Vessel harboured in Murmansk if foggy (5)
SKIFF – “harboured” in {murman}SK IF F{oggy}

11 To send almost empty supplies is negligent (6)
REMISS – REMI{t} [to send “almost”] + S{upplie}S [“empty” supplies]

12 Assailant mauled after releasing second dog (8)
ALSATIAN – (AS{s}AILANT*)

13 Additionally unpleasant smell’s penetrating honk (2,4)
TO BOOT – B.O. penetrating TOOT

15 I allow clothes back on in the dark (8)
IGNORANT – I GRANT “clothes” the reverse of ON

18 Carrying piece of hose (8)
STOCKING – double definition

19 Highlight hair on sister’s head (6)
STRESS – TRESS on S{ister}

21 Unreliable leader in cushy job given sideways move (8)
INSECURE – a cushy job is a SINECURE; move its first letter two places to the right

23 Minor damage by area left of teeth (6)
DENTAL – DENT [minor damage] by A L [area | left]

26 One has raced around after daughter — it may lead to exhaustion! (5)
DRAIN – I has RAN around, after D

27 Smuggler demanding an arm and a leg? (9)
GUNRUNNER – a GUN is an arm, and a LEG is a runner, more or less

28 A dash, say, to go in Geordie version of a drop scone (3-3-5,4)
EGG-AND-SPOON RACE – E.G. GAN [say | to go “in Geordie”] + (A DROP SCONE*)

Down

1 Great, I’m perplexing brilliant solver (7)
MAIGRET – (GREAT I’M*)

2 Material that’s dug up (5)
DENIM – reverse of MINED

3 I have way to break security device for farm animals (9)
LIVESTOCK – I’VE ST to break LOCK

4 Article upset Italian opponent (4)
ANTI – AN + reverse of IT

5 Mufflers are incredibly soft on appropriate parts of the body (8)
EARPLUGS – (ARE*) + P on LUGS

6 Glue running short? Attach a staple (5)
PASTA – PAST{e}, attach to which A

7 Abolish European restriction confining sodium intake at last (9)
ELIMINATE – E LIMIT [European | restriction] confining NA [sodium] + {intak}E

8 Not working is enjoyable in period around Christmas time (7)
DEFUNCT – FUN in DEC [period around Christmas] + T [time]

14 Snake prospers with tongue half out (9)
BOOMSLANG – BOOMS [prospers] + LANG{uage}

16 Going off like a Catherine wheel? (2,3,4)
ON THE TURN – if there’s one thing that Catherine wheels do, it’s turn

17 One never reacting to foul ingrates (5,3)
INERT GAS – (INGRATES*)

18 Large diamonds lifted in rogue’s scam (7)
SWINDLE – reverse of L D [large | diamonds] in SWINE

20 Start to spend pence and pounds on impulse? (7)
SPLURGE – S{pend} + P [pence] + L [pounds] on URGE [impulse], &lit

22 List of works including chapter by prolific author, perhaps (5)
CANON – C [chapter] by ANON – surely the most credited, albeit mysterious, author of all time

24 Not from the South Georgia archipelago (5)
TONGA – NOT running from south to north + GA

25 Release setter, maybe, that’s no good at all (4)
UNDO – {g}UNDO{g} losing all of its G’s for good.

54 comments on “Times 26,483: Bang! Shake-Shake-Shake The Slang”

  1. 8:33 .. TGIF, apparently.

    BOOMSLANG is, of course, the only album to date by Johnny Marr and the Healers.

    I very much enjoyed gUNDOg. If it’s a chestnut it’s a new one to me.

    1. The self-deprecating surface of 25dn is very pleasing too… maybe I was too hasty in writing this one off!
  2. This may be my fastest Friday. 44:40, mostly because there was nothing obscure to me apart from “gan” and BOOMSLANG. COD 21a. A pleasant “win” after yesterday’s disaster. Thanks, setter and blogger.

  3. A strange experience solving on my android phone, so mostly peering through a letterbox and with a greatly increased chance of typos as the keyboard struggled to keep up. I’d like to think my high twenties time would be a lot less in more normal circumstances, as practically everthing went in on the nod once I had corrected faulty crossers. I also liked UNDO for its sweet little device. Parsing EGG &c took a while, partly because I couldn’t see all of the entry at any one time, and partly because I expected  Geordie to signal NE.

    1. Yes, I was looking for an NE Geordie too. One of those clues that’s actually very nicely put together, but it probably doesn’t matter because you’re going to biff it in from shape/crossers long before you need to roll up your sleeves and tackle the cryptic part!
  4. 16 minutes(I normally take 30 – 40) so two easy ones in a row.I liked UNDO but I’m guessing it is a chestnut.
  5. Easy today, but I thought it quite witty, and enjoyed it more than yesterday’s lumbering effort. I can quite see the likes of our esteemed premier-league blogger might find it bland but at least there is another TLS out today, to keep us off the streets ..
  6. For me this was typical Friday fare and I crawled over the line at 45 minutes.

    It all started so well – FOI 1dn MAIGRET but LOI 14dn BOOMSLANG was unknown – I assumed the snake was Australian but it trns out to hail from South Africa. Bless!

    28ac EGG AND SPOON RACE was sheer torture when it came to parse – dear me! Rottenest clue of the year!

    No COD No WOD not much from Verlaine either.

    horryd Shanghai

    1. You can’t please all the people all the time… but your loss is apparently jackkt‘s gain every week 😉
  7. Enjoyable 26 minutes here. Didn’t know (or had forgotten BOOMSLANG) which sounds more like a daytime game show to me than a snake (cf Numberwang!). And the Geordie thing was unknown too though I expect I’ve heard it without realising it existed as a word in its own right. I enjoyed the concise blog which has freed up my morning!
    1. If you’ve ever come across the song Blaydon Races you’ll have heard the line “Gannin’ alang the Scotswood Road”
      1. I once asked a chap for directions in Newcastle. “Gan” was the only word I understood. Lovely place and lovely people though. This was my fastest Friday success in around 30 minutes. Lots of spiffing biffing. Thanks V.
  8. As it’s a quiet day …

    How many solvers does it take to change a lightbulb?

    Three. One to shove the bulb in, another to point out that while the bulb may work the instructions that came with it don’t entirely make sense, and a third to recall the time when lightbulbs didn’t come with instructions and you had to use your imagination.

    Alternative suggestions welcomed.

    1. One to come up with “Lib/Lab thug”, another to complain about the weakness of the anagrind, and a third to complain about the term “anagrind”?
    2. And two more; One to say that he/she did not know how to change a lightbulb and Two to point out that One had said exactly the same thing the last time the lightbulb was changed in 2007.
    4. One to maintain that “white bull” is a perfect homophone where they come from.

      Edited at 2016-08-05 11:40 am (UTC)

  9. Seemed a bit of a doddle today, with all but the SW feeling like write-ins. Enjoyable, nevertheless. 11m.
  10. 24 minutes for me, so definitely at the easy end of the scale, nonetheless an enjoyable experience. FOI Anti, LOI the unknown but unmistakeable BOOMSLANG. Liked UNDO and INSECURE. Inert gases were being re-defined as Noble Gases when I did Chemistry O-level, but I like the old term. Thanks setter and V.
    1. If it got out that our “noble” aristocracy were really “inert” layabouts, there’d be bloody revolution in the streets, that’ll be why…
  11. Good finish to a good week (well, four out of five ain’t bad, as the song says).

    DNK the snake, but I think I said that last time it came up. Anyway, what sort of self-respecting deadly snake chooses not to live in Australia?

    Having read the first paragraph of Verlaine’s TLS blog, I’m now going to go back and attempt my first TLS solve. Hope there’s not too much in there about books and stuff.

    Have a good weekend everyone. Thanks setter and V.

    1. Well done. We had a bit of a discussion in TLS-land the other week about low attendance. Clearly Verlaine has found the solution: shameless plugging in the other blogs!
      1. Seems to be working — count me as another who’s just printed out his first TLS to try…
        1. Hopefully today’s isn’t a monster… all I know is that I can vouch for the one I just blogged (from a few weeks ago?)
      2. I am also going to try my first TLS.

        I thought your Times Lightbulb Swapping was also pretty blatant promotion.

  12. An enjoyable 18’03”, without parsing 25d or 28ac. COD 8d for me. Thanks setter and blogger.
  13. LOI BOOMSLANG which I did vagely know. COD UNDO. I no longer have MIDDLE-AGE SPREAD. It’s OLD-AGE SPREAD now. Even The Smiths are after my time so Johnny Marr and the Healers passed me by, until they release that second album. We used candles, not light bulbs. Pleasant, relaxed 20 minute solve.

    Edited at 2016-08-05 09:31 am (UTC)

  14. Agree with jerrywh, not difficult but more fun than yesterday’s clunk. 21 minutes with the Geordie one not bothered to decipher and the snake unknown but from checkers and wordplay had to be. Top half all done first before read the rest, ending with the snake.
    G(UNDO)G my fav.
    Now to spend a few hours on the TLS… I might learn something.
  15. Four, one to reminisce about a teacher fifty years ago who talked of light bulb moments, one to express a wish for the crocuses in his garden next spring, one to explain why ‘switch on’ is merely an anagrind, and Geoffrey Boycott’s mother to get it done.
    Very Mondayish. 15.35.
  16. Enjoyed this one a lot, especially 21a, 23a and 24d. Last in EGG AND SPOON RACE (the last one I remember is when my mum did one at prep school sports day) followed by the cunning UNDO (too cunning for me – thanks for that one, V).

    38 minutes, but delayed somewhat by watching the goings-on in Galle. Congratulations to Herath on his hat-trick.

  17. 16:15 – completing what must be for me the easiest week I can remember. Having worked in the Netherlands for many years before my retirement, BOOMSLANG was easily deduced despite never having heard of it. I biffed UNDO as my LOI.
  18. …one of those expecting Friday’s offering to be tough.

    And almost made it so myself (the power of expectation?) by starting to throw in INVENTOR (no, me neither) at 9a, and, being a diehard ink-and-treeware solver then having to spend much of the time in the NW corner navigating round blobs of crossed out wrongness.

    Stopped the clock at 15.12 even despite that, and not knowing the snake – it being my LOI once the wordplay penny finally dropped.

    COD for me probably the &lit at 20d – largely because I actually spotted it, normally they’re right up there (down?) with spoonerisms on “completely failing to see” list

  19. Definitely an easier one as it only took me 40 minutes. Thanks for parsing 25 down Verlaine as I had not understood that and I did not properly parse 28 across either. I thought that this was a fun crossword and got a lot of pleasure from solving it steadily and without any aids.
  20. 10:07 and I really enjoyed this. Several clues made me smile including GUNRUNNER, EARPLUGS, PASTA and GUNDOG.

    Loosely linked to one of yesterday’s clues (Aussie native) and one of today’s, what’s the difference between a kangaroo and a kangaroot?

    One’s an Australian marsupial, the other’s a Geordie stuck in a lift.

    Thanks to V and especially to the setter.

  21. Having squeezed into my wetsuit for the first time in a few years to hit the Cornish surf this morning I was straight in with MIDDLE AGE SPREAD. The rest flowed from there, finishing in a rapid 12:26. It definitely feels to me that we’ve had a few on the easier side recently. However I remember about a month ago saying we’d had a run on the hard side. Perhaps it’s all just natural variation?
  22. About 15 minutes to run through this. I didn’t bother parsing a few of these. LOI was UNDO, where I saw the wordplay but wasn’t sure that there really was a gundog. I expect it’s akin to what we’d refer to as a bird dog. Regards.
  23. 14:16 A most enjoyable puzzle. COD obviously to 25dn but some pleasant misdirections. Thanks to setter and V (aka brief Verlaine)
  24. 10 mins. I’m sure my aggregate time for this week’s five daily puzzles is by far a PB, but I don’t record them so I don’t know by how much. Staying awake for each solve definitely helped, as did the relative lack of difficulty of the puzzles. For this one the top half went in as soon as I read each clue, but I took a little longer in the bottom half, finishing with the forgotten BOOMSLANG from WP after INSECURE. I thought the surface reading of the clue for PASTA was top notch.
  25. I expect it’s exactly the same thing: a gundog is a dog trained to retrieve birds that have been shot.

    Edited at 2016-08-05 04:04 pm (UTC)

  26. 7m, but with a thoroughly muppetish ALSATION. I’m going to comfort myself with the thought that however bad my spelling is (and it’s pretty erratic), even I wouldn’t have done this in competition conditions.
    1. Commiserations. I thought of ALSATIAN but my fingers insisted on typing ALSATION – however, luckily I spotted straight away.
  27. Slick but fun solve – BOOMSLANG was the last in and I initially got MAIGRET from the wordplay but later remembered the detective from a Listener a few years ago.
  28. 6:31 for me in a clean sweep – quicker than I expected considering the ridiculous amount of time I spent on DRAIN and INERT GAS (brain starting to seize up by then).

    A pleasant, straightforward solve with some nice touches.

    PS: I think your parsing of 28ac needs a minor adjustment: GAN = “to go” in Geordie; D SPOON RACE = version of “a drop scone”.

  29. 26 minutes, which is decent for me. Delighted to learn there’s a snake called a boomslang. EDIT: Dammit, I’m another alsation, though. Just noticed.

    Edited at 2016-08-05 10:28 pm (UTC)

  30. DNQF (did not quite finish) in nearly an hour. ALSATIAN no problem, EGG-AND-SPOON RACE easily biffed despite my linguistic deficit in Geordie, even BOOMSLANG right from wordplay and the affinity of Afrikaans to German, but my version of ON THE TURN was the suitably invented ON THE BURN. Obviously, ON THE TURN is not in my vocabulary and I figured that all wheels turn, but Catherine wheels do so only if they’re alight. Wrong guess. (I wouldn’t even know what a Catherine wheel is if our British neighbour hadn’t pointed it out one New Year’s Eve when one was lit on our street. Her name, of course, is Catherine.)
  31. Thanks, Verlaine. All went in quickly here, until the unfortunate SW. So 25 min. That’s probably because I only had me, not the apparently requisite 3-4 solvers, to turn the lightbulb on. Now I’m going to try last week’s, then this week’s, TLS.

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