Times 26833 – A matter of wavelengths.

Author   piquetPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
A strange one, this. At first I couldn’t get going, then all of a sudden I seemed to tune into the lateral-thinking mode necessary to see which was the definition and which was the derivation and it flowed along quickly. The wordplay itself is mainly easy, with five straightforward anagrams and a few one-letter-deletion clues; it was probably clues like 1a where you had to clear the mind of the usual routes for ‘cape’ and ‘shaft’ and think again, or 4d with ‘c’ for cold, not, which caused the initial road block. 25 minutes to do and parse.

Across
1 Wood producer placing shaft on cape (8)
HORNBEAM – the Cape is Horn, the shaft (of light) is BEAM.
5 Like taxes, if backed, go up mostly (6)
FISCAL – IF reversed, then SCAL(E) = go up mostly.
10 Gasometer redeveloped as retail outlet (9)
MEGASTORE – (GASOMETER)*.
11 Figure representing a whole style, not the first one (5)
CONIC – ICONIC loses its I.
12 A swelling fashion lacks line (4)
STYE – STYLE loses its L.
13 What might save wood that’s split by axe? (9)
FIREBREAK – FIRE = AXE, dismiss, BREAK = split.
15 Needing to get drunk, the Boar Inn is constantly in mind (2,3,5)
ON THE BRAIN – (THE BOAR INN)*.
17 Rebuke on losing cape and cloak (4)
HIDE – CHIDE loses its C(ape).
19 Request to have regular meetings with king (4)
SEEK – SEE = have regular meetings with, K(ing).
20 Choreographic number — about 100 in Hamlet, perhaps (5,5)
ROUND DANCE – ROUND = about, DANE for Hamlet perhaps, insert C (100).
22 I clash with mob running all over the shop (9)
SHAMBOLIC – (I CLASH MOB)*.
24 Lunéville, on reflection, oddly neglected place (4)
LIEU – Reflect LUNEVILLE = E L L I V E N U L, take the alternate letters. French word for place.
26 Opera stars (5)
NORMA – Double definition, opera by Bellini and a constellation in the Southern hemisphere.
27 Confess and talk about sex repeatedly (4,2,3)
SPIT IT OUT – SPOUT = talk, about IT IT = sex, sex.
28 Endless oriental festival (6)
EASTER – EASTERN loses its N.
29 Attitude I take on God (8)
POSEIDON – POSE = attitude, I DON = I take on.

Down
1 Te Deum, say, not conveying the ecstasy of God? (4)
HYMN – HYMEN was a Greek God, of marriage (not what you thought?); remove his E.
2 Eurostate shrugs off a means of making substitutions for English (6,9)
ROGETS THESAURUS – (EUROSTATE SHRUGS)*
3 Top banana viewed is not looking straight (4-4)
BOSS-EYED – BOSS = top banana, EYED = viewed.
4 Cold potato? Fine (5)
ALOOF – ALOO is potato in Indian restaurant language (Hindi I think); add F(ine).
6 Fiends in India trapping small bear (6)
INCUBI – IN I(ndia) traps CUB.
7 Easy consumer items that some might see as lootable? (11,4)
CONVENIENCE FOOD – I assume the setter is having a little lavatorial joke here; food for the toilet being a LOO TABLE.
8 Quickly look up in compartment for flight attendant? (10)
LOCKKEEPER – LOCKER = compartment, insert PEEK reversed. Fortunately I am a narrowboat fan and as soon as I thought ‘perhaps not an airplane type flight attendant’ I thought of the flight of locks idea.
9 Style of Sheraton built in Atlanta, perhaps (8)
GEORGIAN – Atlanta being the capital city of Georgia, USA.
14 Sees herons flying, showing ability to be level-headed (5,5)
HORSE SENSE – (SEES HERONS)*. I looked up the origins of this phrase, which aren’t obvious, and found what W C fields had to say about it: “Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.”
16 Digs up with spades always moving? (8)
ROOTLESS – to ROOTLE is to dig, add S for spades. I wanted this to be RESTLESS for far too long.
18 A short hold-up I had coming down over European city (8)
ADELAIDE –  A, DELA(Y), I’D, E(uropean).
21 Competent nurses are there initially to do surgical removal (6)
ABLATE – Insert initial letters of Are There into ABLE = competent.
23 Unfinished heap of stones round major Egyptian site (5)
CAIRO – CAIR(N) = unfinished heap of stones, O = round.
25 Shock upset when golf is cancelled (4)
STUN – STUNG = upset, cancel the G.

51 comments on “Times 26833 – A matter of wavelengths.”

  1. This was further confirmation (as if it were needed!) that there’d be no point in my ever attempting to take part in the competition. All but 4 answers went in within 25 minutes but then I spent as long again trying to solve the remainder. And in the end I failed and needed aids to come up with FIREBREAK, a concept in fire-fighting that I’m aware of but didn’t know the word for it. Other unknowns but successfully solved were ABLATE and NORMA as stars. Much time lost over RESTLESS until I came up with the correct alternative.

    Edited at 2017-11-15 07:17 am (UTC)

    1. Yes, I very nearly scuppered myself with RESTLESS, and with a temptation to bung in POSITION at 29a…
  2. 44 minutes here, and happy with that. Glad to find that 1d HYMN and 20a ROUND DANCE were right—religion and dancing being two of my many weak points. Must try to remember that NORMA is a constellation, now I’ve apparently successfully memorised it as an opera…

    FOI 1a HORNBEAM. By lucky coincidence I was looking at my list of crosswordy words just yesterday and this tree appears on it, which was a helpful start. LOI 1d HYMN, just after the CONIC/INCUBI crossers.

    WOD SHAMBOLIC, which is a good summary of the place at which I’m currently contracting. Some good anagrams in this one, I thought.

  3. Usually it’s the first one of these that I breeze through, but this time the first was a killer and this was fairly easy. But I biffed HYMN, never heard of the constellation (but NORMA is the SHE or ET of opera), biffed ALOOF and only much later remembered what’s in aloo gobi, had no idea–I’m happy to say–of what ‘lootable’ was doing, and never heard of LOI BOSS-EYED, where I wavered a long time over the possibility of ‘best-eyed’.
  4. I thought this was the hardest one on the day, both NORMA (hadn’t heard of the constellation, but well, it must be, mustn’t it?) and ROUND DANCE giving me palpitations. As you say it’s a matter of wavelengths, and I just wasn’t really on this one. COD to the witty loo-table. Anyway I did sort this one out all correct in presumably not too long over 10 minutes, as I took 30m all told and this was the one that gave me the most pause. I guess my appointment with shame is scheduled for next Wednesday!

    Edited at 2017-11-15 08:02 am (UTC)

  5. Had to take a backward step at 20a to reconsider RESTLESS. Then, was there such a thing as a LOONY DANCE? Almost certainly. Was there something better? Ah yes.
  6. I found this the easiest of the three, if I remember correctly. A hastily bunged-in RESTLESS caused me some problems, and ROUND DANCE and ADELAIDE held me up a bit, but other than that it was fairly smooth sailing.
  7. 45 mins with pain au raisin (hoorah).
    It felt a bit of a struggle. I even toyed with Magosette as a retail outlet, which delayed aloo – and I was another who tried Restless (and spent 5 mins trying to parse it before scratching it out).
    Rootle is a great, funny word – but isn’t it more to root ‘through’ or ‘around’, than to root ‘up’?
    DNK Norma as stars.
    However – there were some really neat, well worked clues. Mostly I liked: Boss-eyed and Loo-table (COD).
    Thanks neat setter and Pip.

    Edited at 2017-11-15 08:39 am (UTC)

    1. Of an animal, esp. a pig: turn up (the ground etc.) with the snout, beak, etc., in search of food.
  8. Took off OK then got stuck: had to get hide to get lock keeper to get firebreak to get aloof to get hornbeam to get hymn, and finally chucked in an unparsed stun.

    Clues not as neat as yesterdays, but with more personality

  9. Very enjoyable puzzle to solve whilst taking time to savour the excellent clue constructions. My only hold up was HYMN where I couldn’t see the God but there was nothing else it could with given “Te Deum”

    Thank you setter and well done Pip

  10. I very nearly was, not by whether a canticle is a hymn or not, but by the fiends who’ve imprisoned Boo Boo. I’m certainly not brighter than the average bear. Everything parsed but HYMN, as the God of marriage wasn’t mentioned by the vicar at our wedding, and I didn’t spot the awful(ly good) pun about LOO TABLE. NORMA, surprisingly for me, was known from the opera and not the constellation. COD GEORGIAN. 43 minutes. I was fixated on the hotel for a while, having once attained the status of a Starwood Preferred Guest, a proud moment indeed. They never told me who or what they preferred me to, though. Thank you Pip and setter.

    Edited at 2017-11-15 09:13 am (UTC)

  11. Around 15 minutes the day after the event. I remember being stuck for a while on ADELAIDE and the penny never dropping on LOO TABLE.

    NORMA as a constellation was new to me, as was the now rather eyebrow-raising HYMEN.

    1. I think I first came across the god meaning as a child, in Gilbert and Sullivan, when Ralph and Josephine are about to sneak off the HMS Pinafore to get married, and the crew sings
      Pull ashore in fashion steady,
      Hymen will defray the fare,
      For a clergyman is ready
      To unite the happy pair!
      …and I thought, Can they SAY that?
        1. Years ago I heard the punk band “Buster Hymen and the Defenestrators,” which led me to believe that defenestration was some perverse sexual act rather than being thrown out the window. Their being punk would put it around 1978.
          28 mins, but unlike last week mostly understood except the few guessed unknowns – Norma the stars, hornbeam, round dance, Hymen, Hindi(?) aloo is transliterated as ALU at the Indian we eat at every year or so, locks as flights, Sheraton as Georgian. Either way, 2 x 30-odd minutes, one DNF, makes for no championships soon.
  12. I think I also found this the most straightforward on the day, though I suffered with being unable to parse 7dn. I had a sudden terrible thought that there might be a thing in economics called a CONVENIENCE GOOD, which was unsettling me, especially as it came not long after we’d discussed over our pre-match coffee the old maxim “If you can’t explain your answer, there’s a good chance you’ve got it wrong”. Fortunately the penny dropped (appropriately).
  13. Must have spent 18 or 19m on this one all told, with about half of that on HYMN, GEORGIAN, and ROUND DANCE. My brain misinformed me that Te Deum was a prayer rather than a hymn and it took me an age to get over that line of enquiry – I think Hymen must have come up as a god recently in a Listener or Inquisitor or something similar, as I vaguely remembered it once I’d seen the answer must be HYMN. Georgia is one of the few things that I associate with Atlanta, but for some reason I got it into my head that Atlanta was being used as an example of a city so that also took much too long to come out. Finally, I managed to ignore the “about” in the clue for ROUND DANCE for quite a while, leading to a struggle to come up with even general ways in which the parsing might work, and even once I’d sorted that out I wasn’t 100% sure that I’d heard of such a dance. So a really messy solve – liked the loo table (more a Guardian kind of device) and the Roget anagram.

  14. Did anyone NOT have ‘restless’ in first???

    34mins with GEORGIA as LOI, never heard of Thomas Sheraton.

    Much, much easier than yesterday’s beast.

    1. Surprisingly no – this was one trap i didn’t fall into, having got ROUND DANCE quite early.

      Obviously that means I then had blank space but that’s neither here nor there.

    2. I did! I spent a while trying to think if “seltser” was (a) a word and (b) related in any way to the parsing.
  15. I am always a little ruffled by solutions like 11a (CONIC) which the setter believes to be substitutable for “figure”: ‘conic’ must surely be adjectival and ‘figure’ surely isn’t. It certainly cost me a couple of minutes of solving time, until I just shrugged and stuck it in.

    Edited at 2017-11-15 10:50 am (UTC)

    1. Apparently a noun that is short for ‘conic section’, so a conic is a conic section. Therefore I completely accept your point!
  16. Another yes for restless, trying to wonder if seltser was a word. Also had problems with GAMESTORE which scuppered 1d, and it was only when I realised that only one person could have created a thesaurus that I realised my error. After an age being stuck, I had to resort to aids for HORNBEAM after which everything fell into place LOI GEORGIAN
  17. When presented with this as the first of 3, my initial reaction was “oh bugger, this is going to be A LOT harder than I thought”. And when the hour was up, with still an awful lot of blank spaces on the paper, that reaction hadn’t changed (not for the positive anyway).

    Suffice to say I wasn’t one of the 41.

    Revisiting it today, even having done it before, took 10+ minutes, although with one typo. Which let’s just say I put in deliberately so as not to look like a genius finishing less than 2 minutes behind Jason*. Yes, let’s go with that.

    *It wasn’t deliberate. I’m just rubbish at the typing thing. And now I shall hang my head in shame for trying my hand – and failing dismally – at neutrino-ness.

    But…. will that shame be matched – or even beaten – by Verlaine next Wednesday when he confesses all?

      1. Ah but that would be insider trading which I can’t be party to.

        How is Plymouth these days?

  18. 48.07 puts me comfortably far from imagining I might yet enter the great gates and join the madding crowd. Simply glad to finish. Why do we need to develop AI when we have the natural thing at a level that solves this at a relative stroll? Yet one suspects already the robot could get there first. Might a Deep Blue-type match be in the offing?
  19. I spent time on the same mental quibble as Pserve and Penge-guin. “Iconic” is a favourite word of broadcasters in the States and always produces a howl of derision from my husband. I certainly found this easier than last week’s but that was sitting comfortably at home in my dressing-gown. Under competition conditions, forget it. 18.51
  20. Off day today, stopped after 60 minutes with 1d undone, convinced I was looking for a homophone of tedium….Thanks pip and setter.
  21. Tricky for me at 19:13. I hit a wall at one point but unscrambling the Roget anagram got me going again. The unknown round dance was last in after Georgian.
  22. I was lucky with Norma for a finish in just under the hour (4% of the day!!). I don’t think I’ve ever known a Norma and hopefully new constellations would be named after normal names of today, such as… Oerr everyone has a weird name these days! Only spotted it was a championship puzzle when here. Thanks all
  23. I started this once again oblivious to the fact that it was a competition puzzle. Coming here reminded me and I was relieved to see I wasn’t just having a thick day, and my 51:47 was understandable. Toyed with RESTLESS but took it out when I couldn’t parse it. Didn’t know the constellation, was happy too have constructed the INCUBI(I knew it was a word) and ABLATE from wordplay. Missed the Greek god but knew the Te Deum was music so H_M_ let me enter HYMN confidently. Took forever to get the NE especially my last two, FIREBREAK and LOCKKEEPER. Had no trouble with Hamlet and his hundred, but ROUND took a lot longer to see and only arrived after ROOTLESS hove into view. Missed the LOO TABLE reference as well. Count me in as another who had a furrowed brow over CONIC as a noun. An enjoyable puzzle, but it only goes to show I’d have no chance in the annual pilgrimage! Thanks setter and Pip.

    Edited at 2017-11-15 02:06 pm (UTC)

  24. Oops! I invented a new opera, Nerva. Either that, or I wrote the correct answer and my computer was infected by a Trajan Horse…
  25. Gave up after 90 minutes with ROUND DANCE and ROOTLESS uncompleted. Presumably a round dance is the opposite of a square dance. Spent much too much time to trying to shoehorn in PRINCE to 20a.
    Conic as a noun is used by W.S.Gilbert’s Modern Major General.

    “I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus,
    In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous.”

  26. Rather a struggle for me, and a bit surprised to find all correct when I checked here. As I had not yet solved 6d, I flirted with ‘firecheck’ for a while at 13a though, of course, I couldn’t parse it. Eventually settled for the right answer, though I’m still indebted to Pip for the parsing.
    So far, flukily correct on both puzzles, and if I can solve the third one in less than three minutes I’m in with a shout for the finals. Dream on.
  27. Reading down Column 9 I would love a tour of Georgian Cairo! No, I had not heard of the constellation either. Would that be Norma Minor or Norma Major? Best ask Sir John. Took ages to sort out iconic. Like jackkt, there’s absolutely no point in attempting the Championship, not with a time of 39m 54s
  28. No championships for me either. Around 45 minutes, the last 10 on GEORGIAN and ROUND DANCE. I think that my time on the earlier champs puzzle, plus this one, would mean I would never have even begun the third. So I won’t be wasting airfare to the UK any time soon, for that purpose, anyway. Regards.
  29. I spent 23 mins on the puzzle this morning and 30 mins at lunchtime. That left me with two which simply would not yield, 13ac and 8dn. I needed a further 10 mins after work, a flash of inspiration to get “firebreak” and then, because I had been thinking that “locker” might be the compartment, thoughts of a double “k” once I had that final checker got me to “lockkeeper” not that I knew what that had to do with flights. Dance in 20ac was clear, “round” less so. Knew the opera but not the constellation at 26ac. Did not appreciate the parsing of 1dn. 9dn thrown in on the basis of “style of” and “Atlanta”. Didn’t quite grasp the significance of “lootable” in 7dn. I also failed to spot that this was another of the prelims, even though it’s another Wednesday after the Champs, even though it’s written next to it in the paper. Some very nifty stuff, liked “aloof”, “lieu” and “Roget’s thesaurus” for example.
  30. Settled down forgetting it was wednesday and i’d already done it once . Anyway still took me 13 mins and having trouble with a different set of clues. Hm how the mind works! Fortunately had todays MONK to hand for a proper workout
  31. I found this one very easy, apart from the answers. Forty-three minutes of slow grind, with HYMN/HORNBEAM my LOsI.

    Nice to see one of the lesser-known constellations get a mention. Hopefully we’ll see the western constellation Eric make an appearance in due course.

  32. Rather a struggle for me, and a bit surprised to find all correct when I checked here. As I had not yet solved 6d, I flirted with ‘firecheck’ for a while at 13a though, of course, I couldn’t parse it. Eventually settled for the right answer, though I’m still indebted to Pip for the parsing.
    So far, flukily correct on both puzzles, and if I can solve the third one in less than three minutes I’m in with a shout for the finals. Dream on.
  33. I was quite relieved to finish this correctly on the day in something less than 18 minutes, thanks to a bit of biffing. I never knew the god at 1d and never saw LOO TABLE. Thanks for clearing that up, Pip. Second time around took me 10 minutes, so my memory isn’t very reliable!

    Edited at 2017-11-19 05:10 pm (UTC)

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