Times 26655 – two fish, no antelope, no plants.

Author   piquetPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
A good puzzle nearly as amusing as yesterday’s, I thought, with no unknown words or poor clues. Around 25 minutes by the time I’d decided I could parse it all. I thought 17d had a couple of clever nuances to it, see below. But I may be reading too much into it given the Trumpery going on around us.

Across
1 REFUSAL – REF for judge, USUAL would be expected, remove the central U; D option, as in ‘first refusal’.
5 RADIANT – Insert DIA = charity, aid, rejected, into RANT = series of complaints; D visibly happy.
9 GAR – Truncate GARB = dress; D swimmer. This fish does exist outside of crosswordland, I have caught them when fishing for mackerel off Chesil Beach in my youth.
10 CENTRE STAGE – (SECRET AGENT)*, D in the limelight.
11 MAHARAJA – Reverse all (keel over) AJAR = open, HAM = cut, insert A; D prince.
12 MULLET – Double definition, one being a silly haircut.
15 NINE – N last letter of ten, E first of eight, insert I, N = one number; D partial &lit i.e. between eight and ten.
16 IMPASSABLE – MI motorway reversed, PASSABLE for unexceptional, D blocked.
18 SIAMESE CAT – Insert ACE reversed (one that’s flipped) into (MATISSE)*; D domesticated animal.
19 TANG – GNAT reversed, D smack, taste.
22 OREGON – ON (cricket side) bags R(uns) EGO (I in Latin); D state.
23 DUST BOWL – ST = good man, inside DUB for knight, verb, OWL for bird; D arid region.
25 GHOSTBUSTER – G (gin originally), HOST (army), BUSTER (American term for a chap); D one downing spirits? Amusing, but I’m still chuckling about yesterday’s army octopus.
27 DUE – D outstanding, sounds like DEW.
28 RETIRED – Anagram of TERRIFIED without IF; D permanently off work.
29 DUDGEON – DUD for failure, GEN for info, insert O for old; D offence. Usually high. I am sometimes in it without knowing why.

Down
1 REGIMEN – RE sappers, Royal Engineers, GI enisted American, MEN are soldiers; D course.
2 FARTHINGALE – FAR = some way off, THIN = slight, GALE = blow; D historically, support for women. No BRA involved, for once. A device with hoops for making ladies’ dresses very wide. If you’re interested, Wiki says: The Spanish verdugado, from which “farthingale” derives, was a hoop skirt originally stiffened with the subtropical Giant Cane; later designs in the temperate climate zone were stiffened with osiers (willow cuttings), rope, or (from about 1580) whalebone. The name verdugado comes from the Spanish verdugo, (“green wood”, or the more modern meaning of “executioner”).Executioner?
3 SECURE – SEC for dry, URE a river in Wensleydale, Yorkshire; D land.
4 LONG JUMPER – Self explanatory, I hope.
5 RARE – Hidden word in EXT(RA RE)D; D &lit.
6 DISGUISE – Anagram of (ISSUE I’D G), G being head of gelding; D front, as in ‘that was just a front’.
7 AGA – Palindromic oven, well, great big iron stove thing.
8 TRESTLE – Insert REST (place), L, into TE being ‘the empty’; D frame.
13 LABRADOODLE – L (close to cathedral), A, BRA (here’s the supporter we expect), DOODLE (drawing, noun); D cross. A Standard poodle / labrador cross, as owned (before divorce) by Tiger Woods, and other celebs.
14 CATAPULTED – (TEACUP AT L D)*, D launched.
17 REPORTER – RE (on) PORTER (the drink); D storyteller. Well, yes, reporters have been known to be ‘on the drink’. But does ‘storyteller’ here mean a stranger to the truth, as The Donald would have you believe most reporters are?
18 SPONGER – S (beginning to smell), PONGER (stinker); D parasite. I know a few. Golf fourball, then three rounds bought, and they’re off.
20 GALLEON – E the middle of SEA goes into GALLON a measure of liquid; D ship.
21 STORED – STO(P), or STO(PPER), for cork cut, RED for wine; D kept.
24 QUID – Double definition, is all I can see, quid being a chunk of tobacco you can chew, and an amount of money, although ‘little’ seems a bit strange, when there are lots of ‘more little’ denominations.
25 OAT – Initial letters of On Another Thief; D grass.

52 comments on “Times 26655 – two fish, no antelope, no plants.”

  1. 14:59 … but for some reason I typed ‘ont’ at 26d, so officially a dnf.

    Last in the tricky DISGUISE. COD to SPONGER for cleverly exploiting hard/soft Gs.

    “man (US)” doesn’t seem quite right for the loaded term of address ‘buster’. Feller woulda been better, wouldn’t it?

  2. Got all but 11a, 29a 2d 13d.

    Had some trouble with the parsing for Oregon, aga, and maharaja. Why does ham = cut, as in cut of meat?

    COD sponger or centre stage.

  3. On course for another sub-30 solve I then became stuck on 3 or 4 clues in the SW corner and eventually clocked off at 47 minutes. I suffered a complete brainfreeze over GHOSTBUSTER, SPONGER, OREGON and REPORTER, the last of which I wanted to start with SEA in a cryptic interpretation of “drink”. Seafarers are noted for telling tales of their adventures, aren’t they.

    I knew FARTHINGALE as some ancient sort of fashion accessory so I had no problems coming up with it. 15ac was brilliant!

    Edited at 2017-02-22 07:59 am (UTC)

  4. At 25ac I blithely bunged in GHOSTWRITER only semi-parsed and could not make head nor tail of 24dn -I ended up with CRUD(CUD with an R for ringgit!)

    Was QUID really the answer? Obscure beyond chewy obscurity – a penny or a cent is small money – mind you the Brexit pound ain’t worth much these days in Old Shanghai.

    Like Jack a brainfreeze but 15ac was too obvious IMO.

    FOI 4dn LONG JUMPER

    COD 2dn FARTHINGALE WOD MULLET

  5. 17m. I slept very badly last night and felt like I was swimming through treacle with this one. I wondered about ‘small’ for QUID but I suppose everything’s relative and one is undoubtedly a small number of pounds.
    I wondered about 1ac too. This meaning survives in the phrase ‘right of (first) refusal’ but otherwise I’d say it’s out of use.
    At 2dn I saw immediately what we were looking for but couldn’t remember the name for it. The word I couldn’t remember was ‘crinoline’.

    Edited at 2017-02-22 09:21 am (UTC)

    1. As you say, that’s the only context I can think of it meaning “option” but I had cause to write it in that sense in an email only an hour before I came to solve this puzzle and it seemed the most natural phrase to use so I’d say it’s still perfectly valid.
      1. I agree on the phrase, and I use it myself. But that in itself doesn’t support the equivalence of ‘refusal’ and ‘option’ in isolation: a ‘right of reply’ is also an option of sorts, after all. OED gives the following example from 1931 of the word used in isolation:

        One in acquiring a title agrees that another or others shall have the refusal of such property in case he desires to sell

        I don’t think people would normally write that now. I may be wrong about that but it’s not something I hear.
        This is all just idle musing, by the way, not in any sense an objection. It’s in Collins, the wordplay is clear, and I’m sure most people will get there easily via the phrase.

  6. We seem to be in a run of high quality standard difficulty puzzles that both entertain and test – but not too severely. Very enjoyable solve with NINE a stand out clue for me too.
  7. I knew FARTHINGALE. Were my first girlfriends still wearing them? The wretched GHOSTBUSTERS tune kicked in on cue for 25a, after I al last got COD SPONGER. and that after having finally cracked SIAMESE CAT, the ones I’ve known not really describable as domesticated. My dog had a good friend who was a LABRADOODLE, called Soda, so that was a write-in. Had a long IMPASSE with IMPASSABLE , but knew DUST BOWL from Woody Guthrie. In my single man days, I threw out an AGA, to the dismay of all my friends living the idyll. Found this hard, taking at least 50 minutes in two gos. Sotira must be a genius.

    Edited at 2017-02-22 10:07 am (UTC)

  8. An enjoyable and satisfying canter, with no unfair obstacles or obscure words. FOI CENTRE STAGE, LOI QUID (which held me up inordinately, as did REPORTER – neither for any good reason). I would have given NINE my COD for ingenuity, except that it was nearly a write in, no kinks, no misdirection, so my COD goes to the elegant TRESTLE.
  9. Nice puzzle, where I was undone by biffing GHOSTHUNTER, half-thinking it didn’t quite make sense, so I’d go back and check it, then forgetting to do so. Still, I got over the potentially awkward final obstacle of QUID by remembering the advice to try a Q before a U, so my brain clearly hasn’t totally atrophied.
    1. Also a ghosthunter, “remembering” the movie Ghosthunters. My brain worries me. Otherwise enjoyable 25 minutes without being too taxing, except the never-heard-of farthingale taking a few minutes at the end. Like keriothe I thought of crinoline, and actually remembered the word.
      Rob
  10. I know (or know of) several US men called Hunter so I had that for a while until I found myself humming “If there’s something strange. In the neighborhood. Who ya gonna call” etc. If Penfold is around he should try today’s Guardian. 15.35 P.S. Apologies to Tim – he got in just ahead of me on Hunter.

    Edited at 2017-02-22 10:52 am (UTC)

    1. You’re more or less the same time as Sotira. You must be a genius too, Olivia. I’m retreating to the Killer Deadly, even if it is gender-sterotyping. Or did you do that in 15 minutes as well? In which case it’s time I started taking the Telegraph.
      1. Thank you so much BW – I’m no genius believe me! Sotira usually manages to clock in just ahead of me so she’s Magoo to my Jason (sort of). But I tell myself that it’s because she’s younger than me and good at IT and all that sort of thing…. I’ve improved no end in the last 5 years or so but I’m pretty sure I’ve plateau’d now. No championship material me. I went to the 2013 one and managed not to make a complete fool of myself, but I don’t think I’ll go again in spite of the temptation to meet the people in the flesh.
        1. Not to despair, Olivia, sotira is a flawed genius, who mistypes OAT. that’s why I prefer to solve on paper!
          1. I can certainly agree with the ‘flawed’ part of that.

            Not sure I can call ONT a typo, given that A and N are on opposite sides of the keyboard. More like a fuse blowing in some dusty cupboard in my brain.

    2. I am so I shall, thanks for the tip Olivia, although I am clearly intrigued as to what could possibly be in it for me.
      1. I was going to suggest you look at it too – you should get on with it a lot better than the rest of us 😉
        1. Aha, just had a quick peek and 7a jumped straight out at me (didn’t ‘alf make me jump chief).
  11. Around 24 minutes but with one mistake. Write out 100 times “I must not make stupid errols”.
  12. Tortoise after yesterday’s hare, coming in in over an hour, but at least all correct. To be fair to Donald, at our company we put out the flags when a news outlet prints something without any inaccuracies. I blame it on the “thinking outside the box” mentality, adopted by people who have never learnt to think inside a box in the first place.
  13. 49.18 with a few customers to hold me up. FOI NINE I agree ingenious but obvious, LOI MULLET Kept trying to connect Turbot to Cut, till LABRADOODLE made it clear.
  14. 21 minutes today, another who had a freeze in the middle for no obvious reason. Perhaps for a definitive ruling on QUID we should turn to Macdonalds, who memorably advertised its pound saver menu beginning “the pound, also known as a bob”, prompting apoplectic posts from English purists (quite right too), desperate attempts from McD’s to justify its solecism, and many cheerful attempts in British branches to get a burger for 5p. I’m sure they can explain how small a quid really is.
  15. Fun and amusing, and filled a nice 45 minutes for me. I too tried to make TURBOT fit, but couldn’t, struggled with parsing MAHARAJA but saw it in the end, and was unfamiliar with OAT in the singular, although the answer was obviously that. OAT is of course perfectly legitimate. I mix up FARTHINGALE and martingale whenever I come across them, which isn’t often.
  16. 14:24 and I was definitely on wavelength as most of my initial thoughts on each clue turned out to be correct. No problem with the dog – we have a cockapoo so I’m up on my poodle crosses.

    The only slight hiccup was entering DUCA (a cud “over”) for 24 on the basis that a Duca is bound to be a 100th of a Ducat (or is it a Ducal?).

    I very much appreciated the use of non-obvious indicators here and there, e.g. I = EGO not I, one = ACE not I, knight = DUB not N…

    Excellent puzzle.

  17. At the risk of wearying certain regulars I’ll say that I did this after coming home from boardgames night, and only just managed to finish under the 10 minute mark thanks to several pints of an IPA called “JAIPUR”. But I did select said ale on the basis that its name sounded like the sort of answer that would come up in a crossword puzzle, so hopefully I can be forgiven?

    Definitely a few biffables in here given a couple of crossers, including FARTHINGALE, LABRADOODLE and MAHARAJA. But overall another entertaining puzzle in what’s shaping up to be a very good week for same!

    1. I’m familiar with said beer, and after “several pints” I’d struggle to write, or even remember, my own name, so to have knocked off this puzzle in under 10 minutes under such conditions is commendable indeed. Well done young man.
    2. Lovely IPA brewed by Thornbridge in DErbyshire (nice brewey shop). Sometimes available on draught. Often in Waitrose. Off to the national winter ales fest in Norwich now… Could be a long night!
    3. I had a few pints of something called Thunder or Thunder(something)with about five stars in Jaipur about twenty years ago, returning to my hotel room to find a monkey in it. Managed after a time to chase it out through the window I’d left ajar. Now that was wearying. – joekobi
  18. On first glance I thought this may stump me. However the setter offered some very gettable clues across the grid to get you going. Generally completed L to R and GHostbuser and Long Jumper definitely LOL (not in any North Korean way, just in case they’re watching). Scratched my head on Quid wondering if there was an odd spelling of Cudd. Why anyone would cross the two breeds of dog is beyond – my Serengeti Siamese is much nicer. Oh, about 45 minutes.
  19. 12m 29s, ending on 18d / 25a and finding myself reduced to alphabet-trawling for the former. No difficult geography today, thank goodness: Oregon is within my wheelhouse.
  20. Raced through and then got held up on QUID, trying to get a P in or something. Plus I forgot to remind myself “when you have a U crosser, check Q”. Got there all correct in the end.
  21. A rapid (for me) 18′ today. I put this down entirely to a pint of London Pride in one of my locals whilst I solved. My brain clearly works better in that environment than my usual solve location, i.e. In bed before lights out. 25a raised an audible chuckle.
    GeoffH
  22. 17 mins. QUID was my LOI after the GHOSTBUSTER/SPONGER crossers. When I first looked at the clue for QUID I thought it was a reversal clue, and when I couldn’t think of anything suitable I changed tack and entered “weed” on the basis of little=wee + money=D (as in LSD), with an unsatisfactory “something to chew over” as the definition on the basis that plenty of animals and some birds dine on weeds.
  23. Thanks to Olivia and Sue for the recommendation of today’s Guardian puzzle. I don’t normally set aside time to do it any more but I was intrigued. It was a very pleasant way to spend 10 mins or so, although I’m sure I wouldn’t have been any near that quick without the hint of the theme and my knowledge of it.
  24. About 20 minutes, ending with REPORTER. NINE was nice, I agree. I was somewhat surprised to find the GHOSTBUSTER, but whatever, no complaints. Regards.
  25. Thirty-two minutes for me. QUID was my LOI, but REFUSAL/FARTHINGALE were not far ahead of it. I stared at R—S-L for a long time, knowing that it couldn’t possibly be REFUSAL, since it made no sense. Thanks to Pip for clarifying. After that, FARTHINGALE went because it seemed like the kind of a word I might have heard of, although in retrospect I’m not sure I had.

    1. Not for English-speakers – like all the Times’ setters and solvers – only for non-English-speaking people like Americans.
  27. After about an hour I had all bar one correctly parsed. Tripped myself up on 24dn for which I’d actually considered QUID but couldn’t parse that. So I had BUND as “something to chew” (= BUN) over “little money” (= D from LSD) which also satisfied “little money” as a definition since German Bunds were recently offering negative yields to anyone silly enough to buy them.
  28. A nice puzzle, although sadly I typoed somewhere. 14D made me laugh at a memory from about three decades ago, when I attended a university get-together with Lib Dem MP Malcolm Bruce. I was handing him a cup of tea which somehow he sent flying, and in the ensuing confusion he said, “Don’t worry, I’m sure it was partly my fault!”
  29. After about 30 minutes I was 80% of the way through this, when the doorbell started ringing as my replacement iphone(for the one drowned in the pool last week) and then a Tesco delivery of a rather fine NZ Sauv Blanc arrived in quick succession. It was a bit early to sample the wine(which needed chilling anyway) but I did get involved in configuring the phone. It was then time to go and collect my grandson for a session on the golf course(breezy but enjoyable)so it was a good five hours before I got back to the puzzle which I finished off in around another 15 minutes. I think GAR was my FOI. QUID took a while, as I couldn’t convince myself it was little money, even though I knew the chewing tobacco reference, and it was my LOI. A lot of good stuff in this, SPONGER, MAHARAJA, GHOSTBUSTER and DUDGEON spring to mind. Thanks Setter and Pip.
  30. 9:42 for another most enjoyable solve.

    I was slowed (twice) by a senior moment at 25ac, trying (and failing) to think of the word EXORCIST.

  31. Why do setters ruin brilliant crosswords where the grey matter is stretched to its utmost by flora and fauna. A bit of Shakespeare, Milton, Dante and the rest of the band is part of the cultural ethos but -to hell with fucking fish and birds – no-one is interested.

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