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. 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
  2. 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.

  3. 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.
  4. 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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