Times 26644 – when is a German not a German?

Author   glhPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time : 15:15, which is symmetrical, but a bit slower than usual for me – I raced through about three quarters of this one and then had to think long and hard over the last few, ending with the cunning crossing of 25 across and 24 down.

I commented on the other post, but best wishes and loads of gratitude to Andy who is stepping down as this blog maintainer, a position he had to take in bit of a hurry when Peter B got the gig at the Sunday Times. I believe he is the only current contributor I have met in person, at a crossword event in 2013. I looked around to see if I had any pictures of us, but I think we both got lucky there.

Away we go!

Across
1 ALBURNUM: A LUM(chimney) containing BURN – was relieved to find this was correct, as it went in from wordplay alone
9 AIREDALE: I inside A RED(Marxist) ALE(porter, perhaps). Nice clue.
10 UNBIDDEN: an anagram of BIND and NUDE(the answer to 4 down)
11 SAVOYARD: SAVOY cabbage, A, RD – another one from wordplay. I looked up SAVOYARD for the blog and see that the cabbage is named after the place, so there’s a little sneakiness here
12 WITCH HAZEL: WIT(intelligence), CH(church), HAZEL(woman)
14 FIRM: R for L in FILM
15 OTHELLO: O, THE, L,L(lakes), O(love)
17 DISDAIN: DI(female) then DA(district attorney) in SIN
21 EDDY: behead TEDDY Roosevelt
22 ALTOGETHER: ALTO(singer), G(iven), ETHER
23 TROCHAIC: C in an anagram of CHARIOT
25 KUWAITIS: UK reversed, WAIT(stay), I(n), S(heffield)
26 KEYSTONE: pianos need KEYS and TONE
27 RENDERED: R(rex), ENDED containing ER
 
Down
2 LINGUIST: LING(heather), UIST(islands in the outer Hebrides)
3 UNICYCLE: CYCLE(round) after UNI
4 NUDE: E, DUN(one who demands payment) all reversed – got this from the definition, since nude equals “in the altogether”
6 TRAVELLING: anagram of N(ea)T, VILLAGER
7 CAVATINA: I’m glad I knew the simple song, because I was struggling with the wordplay – it is county CAVAN containing IT reversed then A
8 HERDSMAN: HERMAN(German name) containing DS(Detective Sergeant). I was toying with various versions of GERDIMAN and the like before the penny dropped
13 HULLABALOO: A, BALOO(the bear from “The Jungle Book”) holding up HULL
15 OVERTAKE: OAK, (tre)E containing VERT
16 HYDROXYL: HYDRO(hotel), then the last letters of (chateau)X, (b)Y, (hil)L
16 DATE LINE: double definition
19 IDEALISE: anagram of LADIES,IE
20 STICKER: (take)S, TICKER(heart)
24 SWAN: Cornwall is in the SW, then A, N

93 comments on “Times 26644 – when is a German not a German?”

  1. Took 45 minutes, with CAVATINA my last in. Only knew this, like a few others, from the ‘Deer Hunter’ theme (without looking it up, ? Stanley Myers) and had no idea about the Irish county. Few new words such as SAVOY as a type of cabbage and ALBURNUM. Overall an enjoyable Thursday evening puzzle.

    Thanks to setter and blogger

  2. 15 mins. To provide context, like V’s description of his occasional overindulgences do, I was wide awake for this one. CAVATINA was my LOI after I dragged CAVAN from a deep recess of my mind. That was entered after the DISDAIN/HERDSMAN crossers, and I confess I was another who was toying with “gerdiman” until the penny dropped. I also entered “laburnam” at 1ac initially, although I wouldn’t describe it as a biff per se, or even a misbiff, because I know it’s a tree and thought it was unlikely that it also means “tree-trunk”. However, ALBURNUM didn’t cross my mind even though I’ve probably come across it before, and it was only when I got LINGUIST that I knew it had to be the answer. I should have trusted the wordplay in the first place. Entering “laburnum” because I knew the word even though it didn’t fit the wordplay, or seem likely from the definition, was nothing more than a guess.

    Edited at 2017-02-09 06:18 pm (UTC)

  3. Got there in reasonable time, but only after joining the long queue marked “Alburnum, not laburnum?” and “GERDSMAN. Hmmm…”
  4. All correct in 31:30 today. FOsI NUDE and ALTOGETHER, LOI RENDERED. I knew the Scottish chimney and was tempted by LABURNUM, but fortunately stuck with the wordplay and was rewarded when the polyglot sprang into view. Didn’t know the Irish county, but did know the theme music from the DH. Funnily enough one of our Folk Club members gave a rendition of CAVATINA on Monday evening. We were also treated to a totally unexpected visit from Gordon Giltrap the same evening. He just happened to be holidaying in the area. What a performer! And a genuinely nice person! I managed to spot HERMAN with “possibly” in the clue covering any doubts. Knew HYDROXYL and managed to catch the letters for TROCHAIC in the right order after throwing them in the air. Otherwise an uneventful and enjoyable solve. Thanks setter and George.
  5. Genuine question. How is it that so many well-read and highly-educated people in the UK don’t know the names of Irish counties? I mean there aren’t that many of them and they’re just across the water (or below the border), and your histories are greatly intertwined. People here seem to know every last detail about all things French and otherwise continental, so why the blind spot to the west?
    1. My ancestors hail from County Mayo and I know quite a few of the Irish counties, but definitely not all of them. There didn’t seem to be a requirement to learn them at school but I’ve picked a few up over the years. I’d struggle to name all the counties in Scotland and Wales too. I’d recognise the English ones(but might struggle with which ones still exist), but if asked how many there are and to list them, I’d probably struggle.
      1. Point taken John, but it’s not a matter of being able to list all of them, is it? I mean most of us couldn’t list all 50 states of the USA, but we’d certainly recognise them all.

        Some people are suggesting that they’d never heard of Cavan, which is what surprised me.

        But hey, I’d never heard of Carshalton until yesterday, so who am I to comment?

    2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Irish_counties_by_population

      Mr. G. It is fairly straightforward – of the 32 Counties the least well known are also the least populated and the furthest from the sea.
      At no.25 Cavan has just 76,000 people – no.32 Leitrim has just 32,000.
      The Brits do not travel south much, or inland. I have never been!They prefer Dublin and the ports, away from the areas that were almost wiped-out in the famines of the nineteenth C. – Irish Tinkerland!

      The Irish ‘invaded’ Liverpool,Glasgow,London and Cheltenham and the rest fled to America/Canada or were transported to Tasmania and Norfolk Island.

      Enjoy Tokyo – I will be there again in September.

      horryd Shanghai

      1. Horrie, you don’t know what you’re missing.

        And yes, greatly enjoying Tokyo. Have yet to meet a Japanese person, at any level, who does anything less than whole-heartedly. Extraordinary people.

    3. Sadly, I’m not that well-read, and my higher education was in computer science, which doesn’t teach you much about Irish counties. I’m also not that well-travelled, and I’ve only been to Ireland once, for a weekend in Dublin.

      Mind you, it’s not a particularly Irish problem for me; I’m also bad on French provinces, and world geography in general.

      I’ve recently started brushing up by using a geography quiz app, but so far I’ve only really got European and American countries sorted in my head. Need to plough on through Asia before I start working on granularities like Irish counties!

        1. Well, erm… New South Wales? That’s definitely one or the other, right? And… Er… Is there a Northern Territory?

          Err…

          Nope. That’s all I’ve got. I’d probably recognise some more if you gave me a list to pick them from, but I don’t even know the difference between a State and a Territory.

          1. Technically that’s two out of eight, but you got my home state so I’m giving you an A+.
    4. It’s quite hard to know why you don’t know something, but I looked at the wiki list of Irish Counties and I’m relieved to say that I have heard of most of them. And now when Laois comes up I’ll be ready.
  6. As I’ve said before, great folk club you have there, John. I fell over HERDSMAN, trying to use HERR for the chap in Bonn having already got the M and N to follow. Thought of HERDSMAN and only then Herman, admittedly with the one n better known to me as a Hermit. That’s after he’d been Len Fairclough’s son.
  7. Nice to get a mention of my home town, Sheffield, today – the world’s largest village as it’s known locally, and home to the universal form of address “love” ( as in 15 ac. ) regardless of age, gender, political or sexual orientation.

    We’ve been fortunate to welcome many foreign students to the city in recent years and I harbour a fond hope that, at the end of their studies, they will export this useful and affectionate appellation to their respective countries, thus furthering the cause of world peace.

    Time: all correct in about 40 mins.

    Thank you to setter and blogger.

    Edited at 2017-02-09 02:07 pm (UTC)

    1. There’s a nice scene in Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby where coach and female fighter go to London to box and the geezer in the dressing room calls the Hilary Swank character ‘love’. ‘Maybe he wants to marry me’, she says. ‘If you win the fight, I’ll want to marry you too,’ responds Eastwood.

      1. Yes, interaction with strangers is a social minefield these days. Notwithstanding my light-hearted defence of “love”, it is rarely heard now, even in the northern enclaves.

        I have just about adapted to being called “mate” by younger blokes, despite the fact that I’m pushing 70, but interactions with women is difficult. Any useful suggestions welcome.

        Dave.

        1. I cause great confusion at home when both the wife and daughter are there, since I’m in the habit of calling them both ‘love’.

          My only advice is to be found in the opening line of Wordsworth’s 278 th sonnet, which I have above my desk, and which could serve as my epitaph: ‘The world is too much with us.’

  8. Anyone fancy having a bash at the (10) Provinces and (3) Territories of Canada? I can do those.

    Edited at 2017-02-09 03:22 pm (UTC)

    1. As a fellow member of the Times Solvers Married to Canadians Society, I should be able to do that but I confess I came up two short: Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. Don’t tell my wife.
      In an exercise like this you will never forget PEI once you’ve heard this.
  9. Philately gets you everywhere.

    Can you name the three divisions of Lincolnshire?

    or perhaps easier 150 Chinese Cities with more than 3 million residents?

    horryd Shanghai

    1. I can tell you all the cities in the world with more than 3 million residents in the classical period! If that’s any use.
  10. I’m surprised no one else knew Galan, the Irish county – or galantina, the song form beloved of Italian ice cream sellers.

  11. Just for the record, Irish TV (Sky 191) is shortly showing “Cavav County Matters”. Spooky.

  12. Take no notice, Verlaine. I am diluted to know that I am not alone in my appreciation of nature’s finest organic molecule. I shall raise a glass to you, probably quite soon and quite often.

    As for the puzzle, I found it generally manageable, but had to reach for TROCHAIC (vague memories of long-legged trochees)and made up ALBURNUM from raw ingredients. No idea of time, as I left the timer running during a long interruption, but probably somewhere around the 30min mark.

  13. QC improver here. Is this one of the most responded-to puzzles? Like most beginners i failed on the Cavatina and Trochaic clues. Biffed Alburnum. Looking at the down clues I like the imagery of a nude linguist travelling by unicycle around Cavan. Keep going V – just wished i had your energy as I cant get round to responding until after 7pm!
    Alan
  14. My second full house on consecutive days. Up here in Scotland there are quite a few establishments choosing to style themselves ‘hydro’ hotels: Peebles Hydro, Crieff Hydro and Dunblane Hydro to name but three. They’re popular destinations, probably due in no small part to their being former country mansions in picturesque settings. Herman the German (with just one ‘n’) I believe to be a corrupted form of the romanised name Arminius (Herman aka Arminius being largely responsible for procuring the massacre of three Roman legions early in the 1st century CE in the Teutoburg Forest in modern Germany).
  15. 12:59 after another horribly slow start.

    I got CAVATINA from the definition, but vaguely remembered CAVAN once I’d fathomed the wordplay.

    Like others I toyed with GERDIMAN and GERDSMAN before remembering the Battle of Teutoburg Forest and a strange piece of doggerel by Porson (which I’ll probably quote at Verlaine if I can find it).

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