Times 26893 – One for horryd

62 comments on “Times 26893 – One for horryd”

1. I actually knew, sort of, of Haber, but didn’t recall him and biffed from DASHER. As Jimbo will no doubt tell you, he’s responsible for the synthesizing of fertilizer from nitrogen (Nobel in chemistry, 1918), which made possible vast increases in food production. He also led the development of chemical warfare in World War I. LIBERTY BODICE was new to me; my LOI, biffed from checkers. (There was also liberty cabbage, at least in the US during WWI; a way to avoid using the German word sauerkraut, just as the hamburger became Salisbury steak.) I thought I was clever in spotting ‘scoring’ as indicating a composer, until finally the ‘often’ helped remove the scales from my eyes.
2. 1-0.
   1. We really must do something about these 17s…
   2. Trevor Bayliss: “We’ve just got to be smarter and if that means not drinking then so be it.”

      Frankly, I think heavy drinking is England’s best policy now

   3. He who last laughs is probably not facing Starc!
3. This mostly went in quite steadily after taking a while to enter my first answer and before I ground to a halt with 3dn and 10ac outstanding – that last delay costing me the best part of 15 minutes – but once SNORER was in, HABERDASHER followed like lightning. I trusted to wordplay for the currency and the state capital and was rewarded for my tentative faith.

   Are you okay with the coding thingie, ulaca? If you need any help for next time, please let me know.

   Edited at 2017-11-27 05:56 am (UTC)

   1. Thanks, John, but mohn2 is shepherding me through the process. An update to Firefox is what I’m blaming it on.
      1. Sorry, u, I muddled my response to this and in the meantime have sent you an email.
4. Sounds to me like the name of a Cricket commentator of the Johnsonian Period.

   OK Galspray don’t get too cocky – we never do well at The Gabba!

   Liberty Valance wasn’t the only one being ‘popped at’,as Lord Ulalalaca shoved me and my goat to the fore.
   I think he’s having domestic trouble or something and I’d suggest he was nearer 0.3 horryds as I made a right
   Horlicks up in the NW Passage.

   Having biffed in 13ac as TO TOP IT ALL rather than TO CAP IT ALL – 3dn took on nightmarish proportions.
   German chemists are hardly my forte – as Boots are about the only English one I am familiar with.

   Anyway it all turned all right in the end but this was hardly Monday Fair.

   FOI 7dn LEI LOI 4dn RARER silly clue.

   COD 3dn HABERDASHER – as I was looking for Michael SHOEMACHER who once worked in a chemists shop or Felix LUBERMACHER who in 1888 added three elements to the periodic table serendipium, lubermachium and retsina – but then withdrew them on advice.

   WOD 12dn SERENDIPITY

   Do Americans, apart from Potus maximus, have HAIRDOs?

   Do you do voodoo? As Vic Reeves is forever asking. Bless.

   PS Myrtilus old bean, brekker!

   For me Marmite toast – no egg. Oat and barley porridge with banana, Jamaican Blue Mountain and a vitamin D tablet

   Edited at 2017-11-27 06:20 am (UTC)

   1. Yes, this is a term quite common in the US.

      Edited at 2017-11-27 07:05 am (UTC)

      1. So you did!
   2. I notice a lack of deference towards Lord Galspray today horryd!
5. …if not quite my definition of “idyllic.” I thought at first that LIBERTY BODICE could be the oxymoron of the (or some…) year, but I guess it’s relative to what came before. Now I know a German chemist and how long is ELL. My LOI, to cap it all, was TO CAP IT ALL.

   Edited at 2017-11-27 07:03 am (UTC)

6. 7m47 for this pleasingly not too Mondayish Monday puzzle… except, at 7dn, I’d at some point thought “well, that’s LIE, with the last latter changed to something else” and put LI_ in, intending to revisit. Which of course I forgot to do, ending up submitting with LII in there, even though the most cursory subsequent inspection revealed the correct answer to be LEI. Oh well, I had fun while it lasted!
7. Beaten by TO CAP IT ALL and PROPELLER. With the latter I think the ’45 inches’ induced a bit of panic after last week’s ‘150 inches’ or whatever it was. And I never saw the right definition for TO CAP IT ALL (I was missing the ‘as’).

   Lots of very satisfying things elsewhere, though I find TROLLER a bit weird — a sort of deliberate misuse.

   1. Completely agree about TROLLER – while it might *look* plausible, I’ve never seen it in actual practice! And I spend a lot of time, argh, on the internet.
      1. I just managed to find it in a Times headline from this year, which surprised me.
   2. I was put in mind of tennis, where the cumbersome tie-breaker fought against tie-break for a while, before conceding defeat. Or has it?
8. There are some advantages to getting up late for work. Not sure I’d have managed this in today’s 45 minutes on a morning where I actually did have a whole hour to fill…

   All very fun, dashing around the grid hither and thither, starting with pencilling in 7d LEI and finishing up with both 13a TO CAP IT ALL and 6d PROPELLER unparsed in my rush. I vaguely remember “ell” as a measure of length, but I think I get it confused in my mind with the em and the en of typesetting, so 45 inches probably seemed a bit long for my subconscious to put it together.

   Anyway. Got to dash, or I really will be late for work! Thanks to setter & blogger.

9. 45 mins with yoghurt, granola, banana, etc.
   I’m very pleased to see the breakfast report from Mr. Horryd this morning. Barley in the porridge adds an intriguing twist.
   Oh yes, the crossword… all fair and gently chewy in places, but no zing.
   Mostly I struggled with: Pant (expected it to be Pine), Haber, Ell, and spelling Veterinerarianism.
   Thanks setter and Ulaca.
10. I struggled a bit with this one, at 21.37, but only because the clues were of good quality, no absolute gimmes and some – most, in fact – needing at least a second look to work out what’s going on. TO CAPITAL L was a case in point, rare for a multi word answer, which resisted until (even when) all the checkers were in.
    HABER has passed me by, though I can see that is a considerable hole in my knowery for such a substantial figure.
11. Another DNF with a wrong biffed PLEASING and TO CAPITAL L was beyond me despite having all the available letters. I am also in agreement that there ain’t no TROLLERS just trolls, although a dictionary consultation also gives another definition as a slow moving fishing vessel. However that wasn’t the definition in the clue…
12. 19 mins. This one definitely didn’t have the feel of a Monday puzzle, although I had no problem with LIBERTY BODICE because I can still remember my mother making me wear one when I was a small boy. Count me as another who was looking for a composer at 1ac until the penny dropped, and TO CAP IT ALL was my LOI after the HABERDASHER/SNORER crossers. A quality puzzle IMHO.
13. I continued my poor run of form with a biffed PROPELLOR, proving that I can’t spell propeller and I couldn’t parse the ’45 inches’. With hindsight ell as a unit of length rings a bell so I might have got this if I’d given it more thought. Anyhow, I enjoyed this offering – I thought there were several fine surfaces today.
14. A fun 27 minutes for a trickier-than-your-average-Monday offering. Lots of neatly concealed definitions and I initially bought most of the dummies offered. COD LOTHARIO, that well known (and prolific) Renaissance composer.
    Still raining so it looks like the dog and I will have to get wet.
15. …which would have been certainly pleasant, if not exactly what I would have described as idyllic (are those two things really the same?)*, apart from the fact that I also biffed PROPELLOR, so this goes down as a fail for me as well.
16. I did a lot of of trolling with plugs as a lad, mainly for pike.Very enjoyable form of fishing involving constant input and no little degree of skill. Moving on,glad I’ve never been asked to spell the Vet word. 21 mins
17. I knew my bodices – I think my Granny used to sport one although I never saw it in situ. I knew my chemist, the Haber process for making ammonia is or was an O level chemistry thing I think. I put in TERENCE without the slightest idea who he was, Rattigan perhaps, never heard of the Roman bloke. Not surprising, as plays are next to poetry in my Mariana Trench of (not) high interest subjects.
    LOTHARIO gets my CoD for misdirection on to composers ending in O.
    24 minutes for a better than usual Monday.

    Putting Trevor Bayliss on a plane home and sending a charismatic coach out to Adelaide would be a better idea than banning the tinnies.

18. 18 min – glad that wordplay helped me to avoid -OR at 6dn.!
    18ac put me in mind of the Discworld counterpart of the Medici.
    1. Me too!
19. Like Pip, my grandmother certainly had them and Guy is correct – compared with the whaleboned stays with all the tight lacing that preceded them they were liberating. Yup, I went looking for that well-known composer too. 18.23

20. All done in 35mins. Would’ve been quicker, but I had ‘vetinerary’ for ages. Doh!

21. 12:45 but with a mombled PLEASINE.

    If it pleases your honour, there is support for “idyllic” and “pleasant” not exactly being synonymous, and I’d also argue that PINE is closer to LONG than PANT is.

    Taking all that into account it’s not too hard to imagine that PLEASINE could be an archaic, poetic term for idyllic.

    She walks in beauty, like the night
    Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
    And all that’s best of dark and bright
    Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
    Thus mellowed to that pleasine light
    Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

    1. I’d almost forgotten about mombles – haven’t seen them mentioned in a while. Anyhow, I think you have redeemed yourself with your Chas ‘n’ Dave reference, which is now my earworm.
22. Troller, nah. 30 mins today. Keep getting stuck around the 20 to 30 mins area; want to speed up, but somehow blocked. I solve on with paper and pen. Is online quicker? I can’t write all that fast, which doesn’t help 🙂 Nice puzzle, so thanks, setter; great blog, ulaca. Cheers.
    1. If you can write without looking try reading the next clue while you’re still writing the previous answer.
       1. Thanks, penfold. Will give it a go! Part of the problem is that I have ET, which affects my hands, and slows me down; I sometimes need 5 or 6 seconds to write each letter in. Waiting for new ultrasound treatment to become available on NHS – could be a while! 🙂
23. This one felt fairly slow, but the timer has me on 24 minutes, with which I’m quite pleased in an unbecomingly sort of self-satisfied way. No problem with LIBERTY BODICE, though I have no idea how I came to know that item. NHO the Roman playwright (did he have a surname?), nor of OLYMPIA as the capital of anything, but all were clear enough. No doubt 24d will be causing some bewilderment or amusement to our American brethren.
24. I managed to extend my solving time to 40:07 for this quite testing puzzle. I had to re-read several clues before having any inkling of what they were getting at. 10a sat as EN___R for ages until Haber matched up with his reindeer. The well known composer was finally binned at this point, as 1a was revealed to be a Don Juan accompanied by a hearty chuckle. I managed to avoid the spelling trap at 6d as ELL rang a B45″. Knew the state capital as we’ve had it in the pub quiz. FOI LEI, LOI TO CAP IT ALL, which flummoxed me even after I had all the crossers and had to be teased out with an alphabet trawl taking up at least 5 of my 40 minutes. Quite an enjoyable solve though but, as Terry Collier might have said. Thanks setter and U.
25. LOTHARIO was a write in, perhaps because I was (wrongly sad to say) accused at the weekend of having been one in younger days. That was quickly followed by, er, very little, until I got warmed up again on the down clues.

    COD 6d which was reminiscent of the recent 150-incher but thankfully there are no words that I know with XLV in them.

    TROLLER seems reasonable for one who trolls, even though for some reason it isn’t the usual term. Like the_toff my experience is mostly limited to trying to entice pike.

    Thanks for the blog.

    1. It isn’t the usual term because the verb ‘to TROLL’ is formed from the noun, so the usual practice is to go back to the original noun rather than creating a new one. This is like calling a writer an ‘authorer’.
       1. I see what you mean, although it seems at odds with trawl/trawler (I think).
          1. I don’t think so. The noun ‘trawler’ derives from the verb ‘trawl’.
             1. But doesn’t the verb “trawl” come from the noun “trawl”, ie the net or line which the boat tows?

                So if a trawler trawls a trawl, surely a troller can troll?

                Mind you, we’ve probably “dragged this one out” for long enough (boom boom).

                Edited at 2017-11-28 03:35 pm (UTC)

                1. So it does. I still don’t think the cases are quite equivalent, since here the trawl is being used by the trawler, whereas the TROLL is the thing (person) doing the trolling. The direct equivalent would be to describe the net itself as a trawler.
       2. One reason that troller may be used is because troll is also sometimes used as a noun to describe the action of trolling. This may explain the Times headline, for example. The disambiguation may not be necessary, but a particularly nice editor may prefer it.
          1. I guess the question is whether an internet troll is like the monster under the bridge, or if it comes from the fishing verb. The dictionaries are unclear, and the fishing meaning seems to have been the origin of the word if Wikipedia is to be believed.
             But expressions like ‘troll farm’ or ‘don’t feed the troll’ indicate that the monster is at least in part the intended meaning today.
             As ever with language the real question is what people actually say (even ‘authorer’ couldn’t be called incorrect if it were a common usage), and I don’t think people say TROLLER.
26. It’s not often I get to the 15×15 before lights out so this is a rare opportunity to post on the same day. This was a Monday treat, witty, testing but accessible with the right balance of raised eyebrows, chuckles and Doh!s. To complete in sub 3xV was an even rarer treat.
    20’30”
27. 37m today so about average for my current solving skills. An enjoyable puzzle and blog today so thanks for both. I liked the composer misdirection but rumbled it quite quickly. Held up by an inability to spell VET in full, until the screw clicked and the rest was entertaining stuff.
28. 20 minutes from my usual (and much improved) print-out. I think I was on the wavelength this morning with no real hold ups – although I needed all the crossers to spell 18a. Ann
29. 13:33. Enjoyable puzzle, although like others I’m not happy with TROLLER (see my comment above).
    I didn’t know LIBERTY BODICE but it was easy enough to construct.
30. Up late last night hoping to witness England’s glorious fightback in the first test. Allowed myself a lie-in this morning of all of five minutes to recover. I found this puzzle a cut above for a Monday and completed it in a bottom up solve in just under 46 mins. Good fun I thought.
31. What has ‘PANT’ got to do with ‘hedges’ please?
    1. PANT “hedges” means that PANT “goes round”, ie provides a cover or surrounding for LEAS.
       1. OK, thanks. So PANT means ‘long’ does it?
          1. Yes in the sense that if you are panting for something, you’re longing for it.
             1. Not to be confused with PANTS, which has come up more than once recently as an anagrind.
32. 57:47. I struggled terribly with this, but at least finished all correct without resort to aids. Possibly a result of borderline brain-death brought on by two days of all-day meetings and an excess of anaesthetic imbibing. In retrospect all looks fair in the cluing department and, indeed, a lot of it is rather good. A failure to properly parse LEFT HAND DRIVE, even when I saw most of it was symptomatic. And I’m clearly not cured. How does Hand = Pass? And the puzzle poses a number of other odd questions… What is a Lethario policy? How can a snorer be pleasant? What is a courtier hairdo? and who is the frigid essayist? Can you tell I did Saturday and Monday’s times2 crosswords? Go on. Give them a try. You know you want to know why I said that. I think I need to lie down!

    Edited at 2017-11-28 11:25 pm (UTC)

    1. OK. The answer sluggishly bubbled to the surface.. When you pass something to somebody, you hand it to them. Doh.
33. 23 mins.
34. SCMP: No problems except inability to spell VETERINARY properly despite being given all the letters! Fortunately interlocking clues corrected me. DNK: LEI, well now I do. ORLANDO still reminds me of Orlando Furioso = LARDOON from Ximenes. What a beautiful anagram. Thanks to setter, blogger and commenters.
    1. Ariosto’s poem (even in translation) is a gem too.

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