Times 26601 – 20 minutes? Yer ‘avin a larf.

Author   piquetPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Well, it was the final, and you’d expect a move to the black runs, and last week’s (the first of the three) wasn’t so bad, was it? But this one; had I started it first at Murdoch towers, there would have been five minutes left of the alloted hour to solve the next two. Even then, I had to resort to a Google or two to convince myself I’d plumped correctly, notably at 25a and 26a where some GK was arguably required to drop in the right non-crossing letters.

The hardest puzzle I’ve done for a while, and even then, I think a couple of clues are too Mephisto-like to be fair. Hats off to the 12 brainboxes who ticked all the boxes on the day. What will next week bring us? Merry Christmas Everybody.

Across
1 DINGBAT – DIN is one sort of racket, and BAT is (kind of) another, insert G being a note; D eccentric. Another meaning of the word, apart from those annoying ‘keep pressin’ and guessin’ puzzles.
5 MAILER – A DD I suppose, where Norman Mailer the US writer is also a chap who mails letters.
8 PANTRYMAN – I’ve been watching too many episodes of Masterchef and initially put in PASTRYMAN, but was unable to parse it, I then arrived at PAN = roast, criticise, TRY = taste, MAN(Y) = lots, cut; D job in store for cook.
9 TEPEE – T = close to street, EPEE is a fencing sword; D simple dwelling.
11 OPENS – A penny-drop clue, mine took a while. O PENS would mean the end of writing; D OPENS are competitions e.g. in tennis or golf.
12 HOUSEWIFE – HOUSE = put up, host; W(ith) I Fe = iron; D &lit.
13 ATOM BOMB – A TOMB = a grave, O MB = old doctor; D means to be destructive. For no particular reason, my FOI.
15 KLUDGE – Another time-eater; reversed in b E i G e D r U m L i K e, indicated by ‘wheels’, it’s the word which means a makeshift machine or bodge-up, so perhaps in poor repair. I’d heard of the word in the context of software but didn’t really know what it meant.
17 IF ONLY – I FLY = one escape, insert ON; D would that.
19 BARBADOS – If you accept just good, you BAR BAD, then OS for rating, seaman; D holiday destination.
22 BOMBAY MIX – (BMX BOY I AM)*, D hot stuff.
23 PAGAN – I put this in from P*G*N before seeing why; NAG = harry, reversed after PA = loudspeakers, D one outside church?
24 GONZO – GOO is sticky sentimental stuff, insert NZ a distant land (well, distant from London); D crazy. I thought he was a muppet, but I’m an innocent.
25 EXANTHEMA – Medical dudes will have liked this one, I didn’t; EX = once, ANTHEM A is the first hymn in a service; D fevered eruption, a skin rash when you have a fever, not to be confused with ENANTHEMA which seems to be the same but different.
26 JINGLE – I’ve never read Pickwick Papers but given *I*G*E and the idea of a radio jingle being played, I assumed he was a chatty bloke in said book, I was right.
27 FREESIA – (IE SAFER)* D plant. I asked Mrs K how to spell this having thought it had one E but we were both wrong, it has two.

Down
1 DIPLOMATIC BAG – DIPLOMA = qualification, TIC = jerk, BAG = appropriate; D one for official post. Nice surface.
2 NON-HERO – D far from typical star, hidden in (odeo)N ON HER O(wn).
3 BORIS – BIS means twice in Latin, so ‘again’, insert OR for soldiers, D Russian, or blonde bloke on bike.
4 TOM THUMB – TO THUMB would be intention to hitchhike, insert M for motorway; D general. A famous dwarf in Barnham’s circus.
5 MANQUE – MAN = crew, verb; QUE = French for ‘that’, D failed. Well, sort of, it means lacking, or missed, with an acute accent?
6 IN THE CLUB – DD, one popular slang for pregnant.
7 EMPTIED – E, MP, TIED = on fast; D exhausted.
10 EYELESS IN GAZA – Make anagram of SEEING A SLEAZY, think of a book title with a Z in it; Aldous Huxley’s novel about the aimless upper classes, which I read once and found tedious. Title more interesting than book, as often happens.
14 BILLABONG – Clue says ‘Australian pool’, what springs to mind? Decide why afterwards. We have LAB for party, inside B(achelor), I LONG for one going on a bit.
16 FAUX NAIF – I saw this was an anagram early on, of (AFFIX A NU), the nut being short; we have ‘naif’ as the masculine of naive, ‘faux’ meaning wrong, and the definition meaning not as easy as it looks.
18 OSMANLI – If you knew the word, it’s obviously an anagram (ON ISLAM)*, and it means an Ottoman Turk; I dimly remembered it probably from an old crossword.
20 DAGGERS – DD one being looking angrily at someone, one being printer’s marks.
21 IMPEDE – I’M = the writer’s, EDE(N) = garden not closing, insert a P initial letter of picnicker; D hamper.
23 PATHE – PATH = way, E(nglish), D film pioneer.

47 comments on “Times 26601 – 20 minutes? Yer ‘avin a larf.”

  1. 25 minutes but with a highly speculative ‘degrees’ at 20d, which I forgot to reconsider. I started at the bottom on this, which certainly helped, the relatively easy BOMBAY MIX being extremely productive. If I hadn’t known this was a Grand Final puzzle I might have been hesitant to write in KLUDGE. As it was I just thought “Yep, that’s a GF sort of word.”

    A1 puzzle. So many fine clues but DINGBAT made me smile.

  2. Gave up overnight with only two answers after 30 minutes. Returned this morning with reasonable success but by the time I was down to the last two 20 and 23ac with the intersecting BARBADOS in doubt because I couldn’t parse it, I’d almost lost the will to live and gave up. I think at 25 one’s supposed to think of ANTHEM A as “the first hymn presented”.
  3. 90 minutes and then I surrendered at 16dn with a lame MANX CALF (like a Manx cat but slightly beefier) – all else present and correct. But it was a SISYPHIAN struggle.

    FOI 7dn EMPTIED COD 1dn DIPLOMATIC BAG WOD JINGLE

    ANTHEM A is the first hymn! ANTHEM B the second.

  4. DNF as I resorted to help for 11a and 25a after an hour as I had work to get on with, even though it’s the 21st Dec. I do have a long lunch to prepare for after all.
    I repeat my thoughts from last week, finishing one of these in an hour is nigh on impossible for me , let alone three. Saves me the transport costs to London anyway.
    Hats off again to all those that completed this.
  5. I like this type of puzzle because it presents a real challenge. I treated it as I would a Mephisto and used the dictionary to check answers derived from wordplay. Used Google to check JINGLE. Doing it unaided in an exam room – forget it as far as I’m concerned. Hats off to the 12 who did and to Pip for a splendid blog.
  6. … got through this, well over the hour.
    Gave thanks for the five anagrams, especially at 18dn (OSMANLI) which was also a DNK.
    Only got JINGLE (another DNK) because I was suspecting a pangram. Unless I’m wrong, there’s no V.
    Yet another DNK was 25ac, which I had no idea how properly to parse. Jack’s solution to that seems sound though.
    Liked the slightly (for me) local tone: DINGBAT (Aust & NZ and also US, according to ODO) and BILLABONG. The latter, BTW, is also an ice cream on a stick popular with kids. No doubt many were sold here today where the temperature was 41˚+.

    Edited at 2016-12-21 09:57 am (UTC)

    1. Hold that weather – we’re heading down under for the first couple of weeks of February and wouldn’t want to waste the airfares by being cold, we can do that at home thank you very much.
  7. Also unfinished in the early morning. Completed by 9:30 this morning save 20d DEGREES – reference marks on a thermometer? -(no knowledge of printing) and someone from Dickens at 26a *I*G*E. A DNF with also one wrong. As I would never have got to the final I just have to admire those who did.
  8. Got badly stuck in the middle and checked out EXANTHEMA. Saw KLUDGE but hesitated a long time with it. Fortunately I was a big Huxley reader at school so EYELESS IN GAZA was a write in. Thought of MAILER straightaway too and liked the pun. Biffed JINGLE having first put in DINGLE, thinking subliminally of DINGLEY DELL, I guess. At last the DIPLOMATIC BAG arrived, without any Burgundy or harder stuff unfortunately, but everything then fell into place. I’ve never used DINGBAT in my life, and GONZO is a just a Muppet. Generational or regional ignorance? But did finish in just over the hour, full of admiration for anyone who could do this in 20 minutes.
  9. A fitting puzzle for the Grand Final – had to trust the wordplay for Kludge and Exanthema, and didn’t know my Pickwick Papers, but Jingle went in partly because I was looking for a pangram after a Q and 2 Zs, but I think we are missing a V.

    Gandolf34

  10. I couldn’t remember any of this puzzle when I sat down to give it another try on my return from the dentist’s dealing with a root canal problem, but I fared slightly better this time than I did on the day, so presumably dental surgery is less nerve-wracking or brain-freezing than sitting in an ‘exam’ room.
  11. Just about the same time the muppet drummer made his first appearance there also emerged a “gonzo” American journalist called Hunter Thompson, best known for Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. I think they’re related. Some TLS touches here so I thought I might make good time, but nooo. Archie Bunker from the US tv show All In The Family used to call his wife a DINGBAT, meaning stupid rather than eccentric. Putting today’s 26.20 with last week’s 28 or so I’d have had Pip’s 5 minutes for next week’s puzzle. Not happening.
    1. “All In The Family” was a reworking of the 1960s Britcom “Till Death Us Do Part” in which Alf Garnett (the Bunker character) always referred to his wife as “silly moo”. It was one of many “jokes” that was lost on most of the show’s audience and backfired rather badly on its creator, though he cleaned up all the way to the bank on the popularity of the series.

      Edited at 2016-12-21 02:22 pm (UTC)

  12. Finished in 56 minutes but I’ve never heard of EXANTHEMA and KLUDGE. Fortunately the cryptic was pretty clear. Held up at the end by MANQUE/MAILER. Whichever one I got first I guessed the other one would probably follow. Finally got MANQUE – not a word I often use. Attempting this puzzle under exam conditions is a terrifying thought. I have to admire all of you who accept that sort of challenge. Ann
  13. I’m off to paradise for Christmas – thus won’t be around for a while (omni-hoorrayed!) Have a great holiday and see y’all in the New Year.
    Many thanks to jack and ulaca for keeping 2016 in order from the Tardis. I also look forward to Sotira’s Christmas Pudding!
  14. If only I could halve my time, then repeat that three times under exam conditions, I’d still be a little over the hour. An excellent challenge nonetheless, dnk EXANTHEMA, and DAGGERS LOI. Waltzing Matilda helped, as did French. Thanks pip and setter.
  15. Blog got me again – it’s quite frustrating that the answers are all on the front page, as it were: you don’t have to click anything to see them. So I saw DINGBAT and that means I’ve cheated on today’s puzzle.

    A very well written puzzle, too. The only gimme was probably BOMBAY MIX.

    Manque definitely means “failed”, as in “poet manque”.

    1. I don’t quite get your drift, Adrian, surely one doesn’t go to read the blog until either the puzzle is finished or given up DNF? Or did you want to add a comment before you’d done the grid?
  16. Gave up after 90 minutes with _A_B_R_S for 19a, REGARDS for 20d, EXISTARIA for 25a and FAUX NIAF for 16d; so a comprehensive DNF. A late surge allowed me to enter OPENS, BORIS, MANQUE and MAILER so the grid looked slightly less of a disaster area. Thanks to Pip for putting me out of my misery with the blog.
  17. …I don’t enter the championships. Just knowing that there are puzzles like this waiting for me is enough to bring the sweats on, let alone actually trying to solve one.

    Time – off the scale. DNK – a lot of them. couldn’t see wordplay – even more.

    My hat is off to anyone that could solve this in a week let alone 3 like it in an hour.

  18. Morning all. I know this post is not connected to todays crossword but I was wondering if any of you who are more technically minded than me could help me out. I normally solve on my laptop but am going on holiday and would like to buy a tablet to solve on whilst away. Could anyone who solves on a tablet please give me some advice on which one to buy. My phone is a Samsung so I think I would prefer a Samsung as I may find it easier to get used to. Many thanks. PS As a long time “lurker” on this site, I would like to wish all bloggers and contributors a Happy Christmas and thank you all for the education/assistance this site has given me.
    1. Wouldn’t know which tablet to recommend but I think you might need a particular Times subscription in order to solve on a tablet, so check you have the right one. On the iPad, anyway, the crossword club isn’t functional (except via the clunky Puffin browser, which is what I use as a last resort). I think a few people here, including Big Tone, use the Times app for solving. I’m assuming it’s similar for android tablets. Wouldn’t want you to buy a tablet then find you couldn’t access the puzzle.
      1. Confirm that I use an iPad together with The Times app which is how I get to read the newspaper but comes at a price. Also confirm that iPads cannot post times into the Crossword site but can comment on forums. Finally, I use a Zagg bluetooth keyboard to solve but this does not work with the Sunday Times and I so dislike the ST onscreen keypad. Good luck!
    2. I have a Galaxy note 8 GT-N5100 Android tablet, it’s also my phone, I don’t use it regularly for solving but occasionally (in bed!), and for commenting. It works fine on the Club site and the Times official site without a special app, if you log on with the browser (I use Firefox for Android). You have to use the on screen pop up keyboard which is a bit tedious but does work slowly. A 10 inch Galaxy would be easier (but clunkier if it’s your phone!) If you want to read the Times using their tailor made Android app I believe you have to add an extra sub.
      1. Ah, so the Android tablets are okay for the Club site? Didn’t know that. Yet another reason I wish I hadn’t bought an iPad (mine has now become so slow it’s almost unusable).
    3. I solve on my iPad most days. If I’m on the train I do it in the Times app, otherwise I do it on the club site. As Sotira says it doesn’t work with just the iPad but it does work with my Logitech keyboard.
    4. One of my main reasons for giving up an Android tablet for an ipad was that the crossword interface for the ipad is much nicer.

      On Android the crossword has an embedded keyboard rather than using the tablet’s own keyboard and on my tablet it used to be laggy and error prone. Others on here have made similar comments. This was a while ago so it’s possible it has improved.

      On ipad you have the option to skip letters you’ve already filled in or overtype them and when you finish it checks your answers and gives you your time (the timer’s not visible until completion). For some strange reason the Sunday crossword uses the same interface as Android though.

  19. Crikey, what a beast! It took me about an hour in two goes, ending with JINGLE, which seemed feasible enough even if I had no idea about the Dickens reference. Very satisfying to solve.
  20. Cheated after an hour or so with four outstanding, which I was pretty chuffed with, so I’ll leave the Champs to the Magoos, Jasons and Jason-slayers, I think.
  21. This was a toughie and I ended up cheating to wrap up the NW. Even with BOR-S, I could not think of a Russian for a long while. Congratulations to those who sailed through this on the day.
  22. Battled through and finished long after the competitors on the day would have got home. Found 8 confusing as pantry as the store came straight to mind, roast to taste seem surplus to requirement.

    Edited at 2016-12-21 02:42 pm (UTC)

  23. That would have done me in – flummoxed by the Russian clue I thought BIRES sounded like a good name for a Russian clan. Oh well…

  24. Crikey, this was tough!

    It took ages to fight my way towards some sort of finish, having looked up KLUDGE and EXANTHEMA to see whether they actually existed, only to fall at the last fence with the 2d – 11ac junction.

    Time: laughable.

    Thank you ( I think ) to setter.

    Chapeau ( avec rubans ) to blogger.

  25. After reading all the comments above my 22 mins doesn’t look too bad. I’m very glad I was fully awake for the whole solve, and I had to trust the WP for MANQUE, KLUDGE and EXANTHEMA. DAGGERS was my LOI after BARBADOS.

    At 11ac I only had the first and last checkers and was very tempted to go for a lame “orals”, and I was thankful that I finally saw the correct OPENS and how it parsed before I gave into the temptation and screwed up the NW corner. Once it was in I saw NON-HERO and mentally asked myself how I could have missed the hidden.

  26. Well, Holy Smoke, that was fiendish. Very hard, and I would have thought impossible for most of us to get through in 20 minutes. I didn’t. Overall probably around an hour, ending with MAILER and MANQUE. A few Frenchisms to bedevil some of us (i.e. me) and a few other unknowns besides. Like KLUDGE. But an incredibly good puzzle which I enjoyed immensely, but would have thought beyond the pale if encountered in any competition. Hence, I will take all evasive actions whenever a competition comes along. Thanks Pip, and a salute to the setter. Regards.
  27. I got to about 35 minutes and decided enough was enough, so in went OSMANIL, PLAGUE, EXALTARIA and DIGARES. Amazingly all the other rubbish I made up turned out to be correct.
  28. Using Chrome on my Nexus tablet, when I access the Crossword club I can see the puzzles, but do not have a keyboard to enter any solutions. So I need to go to the mindgamas on the newspaper site to find a version to complete online, which I can submit, but presumably as a club member.
    phantomxwd – l have failed to login from here.

  29. I think I probably found this the easiest of the three, in the audience on the day. It seems to me perfectly pitched for a Championship final – for which I raise my hat to the setter.

    I got 26ac from the Dickensian character (Pickwick Papers, like the works of George Borrow, was assumed to be thoroughly familiar to Times crossword solvers in the old days), and I’m not sure that I fully understand the “featuring in short radio play” part? (Why “short”?) Probably I’m missing something obvious – or maybe there’s something subtle that we’re all missing.

  30. In 15ac, I read “repair” as a verb. I think “to kludge” would be to do a poor repair.
    1. Excellent – I wasn’t convinced by the blogger’s parsing, but didn’t see repair as a verb till now.
      Similarly not convinced by “short radio play” for a jingle, like Tony I just can’t see it.
      DNF in 45 minutes – double normal time. 4 unfinished, EXANTHEMA where I’d guessed clue type / EX / – / A / but missed anthem, JINGLE beaten by both definitions, OSMANLI the spare letters could have gone anywhere, and DAGGERS – always seen the Greco-Latin OBELISK in past Times puzzles!

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