Times 27196 – have you anything to say to me?

52 comments on “Times 27196 – have you anything to say to me?”

1. I didn’t know GRAINER, BEDLINGTON or RECORDING ANGEL, but that didn’t stop me romping home in 15:30. No real hold-ups, though never having heard of Lyonesse (despite being a fan of Malory) meant I missed the finer points of that clue.
2. I thought I was doing well coming in under 23 mins, only to find the HK Magoo* at 15:30. A very fine time, U!

   I had similar DNKs to ulaca – GRAINER, BEDLINGTON and Lyonesse and was glad to have recalled GUSTATORY from a recent crossword.

   Thanks, George, for the blog and the Aretha recommendation. Thanks also to the setter.

   * Do we have to call you the “HK Roger” now, or will we give it another couple of years to see what happens next?

   1. HKM is just fine – my autistic side hates change.
3. Didn’t time it, unfortunately – it probably would have been a PB. Same unknowns as Ulaca, as well as Fantail, Sacrist and Rising Trot as a “thing”, but even so I got as close as I’ve ever gotten to Tony Sever’s mythical grand slam – SACRIST the only word I didn’t write in on first read of the clue.

   Edited at 2018-11-15 04:40 am (UTC)

   1. Um, I should have added SACRIST and RISING TROT to my list, although I thought all trots were rising except those that jockeys do when they’ve won a race and like being bumped along,
      1. Sitting trot is generally the precursor to a canter.

         Apparently. Based on watching my daughter at her pony lessons.

         As a result this was a write in and FOI

4. Completed in 37 minutes, just missing my target, but considering the amount of unknowns here I’m surprised it didn’t take me much longer.

   If ever there was a puzzle for trusting to wordply, this was it. All my unknowns have been mentioned by others, but when I read that we’d had GUSTATORY recently I was concerned for my memory, so I looked it up and found that it hasn’t appeared since July 2013 although we did have GUSTATIVE in March this year and somebody mentioned ‘gustatory’ in passing. I so very nearly put ‘gestatory’ here so I’m glad I spent a little extra time reconsidering and once again trusted to wordplay.

5. That stands for “Learned From Wordplay” or “…Working,” and a good number of answers like that constitutes for me a very enjoyable puzzle. RISING TROT, GRAINER, BEDLINGTON (and the LiveJournal spellcheck just flagged that), and, in the clue to 10, “Deliver a rocket”—though Jackkt or someone will no doubt point out that we had “rocket” in that sense within recent “memory”—ha. Likewise OUTMONKEY—if I’ve seen it anywhere, it could only have been here… oh, wait! It’s OUTJOCKEY! Could only guess what was going on with Sir Tristam. SACRIST was LOI, the only word that would fit the checkers, and I’ve heard of the word but couldn’t have told you it was synonymous with “sexton.”

   Edited at 2018-11-15 03:44 pm (UTC)

   1. I think I might rather get myself outmonkeyed than outjockeyed, Guy. Thanks for that thought!
6. The unknown GRAINER pushed me over the half hour by four minutes. I had no idea about the wordplay for LIONESS and the ‘equestrian technique’ was also new. BEDLINGTON (terrier) went in pretty early, though I couldn’t bring the image of one to mind and had to do a picture search. Looks a bit like a lamb to my eyes, but my macula isn’t what it used to be.

   I liked BENELUX and the reminder of Li’l Abner.

   Thanks to setter and blogger

   1. I’ve always thought the Bedlington is very lamb-like as well, so don’t feel alone in that.
7. 30 mins pre-brekker on the iPad. Printer has packed up.
   Nice to see my namesake Myrtle making an appearance.
   Should have been quicker but DNK Grainer, so dithered.
   Thanks setter and G.
8. Spot on the wavelength here, and the unknowns of BEDLINGTON, SACRIST, GRAINER, RISING TROT, HERONRY, that meaning of OFFICE and Tristan’s alias only slowed me to 24 minutes, which is one minute away from my PB.

   Wordplay pleasantly clear, and there were a few moments where I felt the setter had let me off the hook, for example specifying James’s profession at 16d. FOI 1a ARGUABLE, LOI 12a STEERABLE, for which I have no excuse, having got “…ERABLE” but still not spotting the anagram of “set” until I’d figured out the LIONESS at 11a.

   This reply accompanied by Aretha Franklin. Thanks, George!

9. I did the top half in about 5 minutes but then it took me about another 25 to crack the bottom half, in which I just couldn’t get going. And I ended up with ANNIGATED at 14D. I had thought of ABNEGATED, but I wasn’t sure of the word and had no idea about the cartoon character, so instead guessed there might be a cartoon character calle L’il Annie.
   1. I was *very* glad that a friend of mine once told me of her love for the musical based on the Li’l Abner cartoon strip. Luckily my quest to find her a VHS copy of the 1959 Paramount version, though unsuccessful, cemented the name in my mind. I don’t think I’ve heard of him before or since, until this morning.
      1. If this follows my typical crossword experience I’ll hear about L’il Abner somewhere else by the end of the week!
         1. I wonder how many people hear about the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon three times in the first week? 😀
            1. Great link thanks Matt. I never knew my experience was an acknowledged phenomenon.
10. Didn’t know GRAINER or Sir Tristram but that didn’t matter. Pretty straightforward, really. Thanks to all.
11. 9:43. Same as others, quite a few unknowns but all quite readily deducible from wordplay. My only real doubt was ABNEGATED, where ABNE didn’t look like the first four letters of any name I recognised, so I had to trust to the definition.
12. Found this very easy, all the long ones straight in as well as 1ac & 1dn. Only sacrist unknown but presumably related to sacristy so not much of a stretch. About 12 minutes.
13. Straight top to bottom solve with no problems – real stroll in the park
14. Solutions came steadily and all done in 22 mins. Very tidy clueing. I didn’t know about Tristram’s birthplace and, like jerrywh, I assumed SACRIST must be related to the known sacristy, so that was OK. I did know the terrier and Li’l Abner, though I didn’t parse the latter till after I’d biffed ABNEGATED. A few gimmes like NERO, GUSTATORY and LETTERS helped to get the ball rolling.

    Thank you, george, and thank you, setter.

15. 31 minutes with RISING TROT unknown and constructed and LIONESS assumed from crossers. I knew SACRISTan and biffed his smaller brother. I also knew Li’l Abner I assume a GRAINER creates the appearance of texture and Sir Tristram Grainer isn’t a famous 18th century artist with many paintings on the walls of the National. I found this tougher than others have. COD to BYGONES. Let them be. Thank you George and setter.

    Edited at 2018-11-15 09:57 am (UTC)

16. Definitely one of those occasional hard-easy ones, which I got through in 13.45. Lots of uncommon words and references as noted above, all of which, with the exception of GRAINER, were tucked away in the dusty stack room of my memory library.
    Loved the Reduced Shakespeare kerfuffle, George, especially since in the version I read it was followed by “10 Creepy TV Shows That Will Get You In The Halloween Spirit” which far out-grossed a gay kiss in rep. I do sometimes wonder how the sense of proportion goes so completely AWOL at times. I remember a similar explosion of righteous wrath when Roald Dahl’s “Vicar of Nibbleswicke” was published, the upset with the reverse-speaking vicar being not so much with “the blessing of almighty Dog” but with the injunction to pis when the chalice was offered. The entire edifice of the Church (all denominations too) nearly came crashing down.
17. I suspect nearly everyone solving today will have had knowledge gaps in some permutation from the suspects already mentioned: in my case I’d never heard of a RISING TROT, or a GRAINER, and OUTJOCKEY is one of those words I find it hard to imagine coming up in normal conversation. However, I don’t think any of them are very difficult to get from context and checkers, so a fair and pleasant solve.
18. another OUTMONKEY here. Had I but checked there was no K in the cryptic using MON but I just chucked it in. Otherwise a very challenging puzzle which was also relatively easy in a contrary way. Post solve, my search for a GRAINER as a painter didn’t come up with very much either.
19. ….GUSTATORY, and outbursts by politicians are the the order of the day here, with two cabinet ministers having already resigned this morning.

    This met my definition of a proper Times Crossword. Everything could be parsed so that any unknowns were perfectly get-at-able, and there was humour evident in the well crafted clues. Thanks to the setter.

    I’m almost certainly in a minority, but much prefer Linda Ronstadt’s version of “Skylark”. In any event, a wonderful example of Hoagy Carmichael’s songwriting craft.

    My only DNK was GRAINER – I knew RISING TROT, having lived for three years with a woman who did dressage. She also exhibited great skill in separating me from my money, and kicked me out once I’d gone bankrupt. I learned a lot in that short time !

    Thanks for the blog George.

    FOI NERO
    LOI SACRIST
    COD BEDLINGTON – their local soccer team are Bedlington Terriers.
    TIME 8:46

20. This was right in my wheelhouse and also a very pleasant trip around the grid. As a Maigret fan (the series with Michael Gambon as well as the books) I knew SACRISTan so the shortened form wasn’t too much of a stretch. For some reason both the French cavalry and the Household Cavalry do the bumping trot rather than the rising one when on parade. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPp-W8GuFk0. The trot starts at just after the 3 minute mark. Thanks for the Aretha George and I hope you stay snug – the same thing’s coming our way a few hours after it hits you. 12.58

    Edited at 2018-11-15 11:14 am (UTC)

21. Just under 14 minutes, so nearly a PB – many vaguely heard of, so trusted wordplay.
22. Can someone please explain why Ox equals neat?
    Thanks
    Roin
    1. Neat is a word for cattle
    2. Make a mental note as it comes up a lot. I only became aware of the usage through these puzzles but I was able to use the knowledge to my advantage when the theme for my monthly music club was “mammals” and I was able to play The Damned’s Neat Neat Neat.
       1. Further, the cattle equivalent of a shepherd is a neatherd. You’re unlikely to encounter this stuff in chatting down the pub.
          1. Thank you all, much obliged.
             Roin
23. Is a quotation from one of my favourite poems, do read the whole poem. It says more about God and love than any of the homophobic, non-loving response to the play as mentioned by george.

    Really liked today’s puzzle, and knew the more obscure words, although am still not sure where Lyonesse is/was. Dnk OUTJOCKEY, is this about manoeuvring? Am all fired up waiting for the next resignation on TV. Hence, perhaps, a near PB in 11′ 04”.

    Thanks george and setter.

24. Hah! I’m something that smacks more of Jungian synchronicity than the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon referenced above, I went for a two-hour walk in the local woods after the crossword. In the car park I saw a woman wrestling a dog into a car. “Excuse me, could you tell me what breed he is?”
    “Buddlington Terrier.”
    1. I had exactly the same experience the first time I came across basenji in the crossword!
25. Now, if you gave me three like this I’d stand a chance in the competition – fourteen minutes all told. NHO SACRIST, but all clear enough from wordplay.
26. Off to a flying start, I decided to chuck all at this to see if I could get in under ten – and did by a whisker! Highly reckless, because far too many went in unparsed. Worth it, though, because I reckon that’s my third best time. LOI anti. Sir Tristram’s birthplace is new to me, as is Bedlington – but what else could they be?
27. Surely “One that lists our faults” the definition rather than the wordplay here?

    Stuart

    1. I’d agree with that, George appears to have forgotten that in its spiritual sense it is a “thing”.
28. 10:24 but… In too much of a rush to finish this I ended with OUTMONKEY. Like others I had a few unknowns – the cartoon character, where Sir Tristram came from and GRAINER.
29. Learned a lot from this crossword, most all of it getable from the wordplay. Pencilled in LIONESS without knowing who Sir Tristram is, no idea about Li’l ABNEr either. Likewise, GRAINER, BEDLINGTON and OUTJOCKEY were all new to me – though will certainly try to use the last of these before the end of the day.

    LOI – SACRIST – based on checkers alone, could have been SECTIST, but SAC for bag plus IS convinced me (didn’t parse the quarters, centrally)

30. Nothing to add to what has already been said, about 10 minutes.
31. Didn’t time it, but quick solve.
32. 
    Ahhhh…. One of those rare occasions when all my biffing worked!

    Solved in anti-clockwise fashion, starting with ARGUABLE and finishing with OUTJOCKEY.

    Can we have some more like this, please?

    Time: All correct in 25 minutes.

    Thank you to setter and blogger.

    Dave.

33. Only in taking another look at the blog did I realize that my OUTMONKEY last night was woefully incorrect. At least I wasn’t alone!
34. I didn’t find this as easy as most of you, but I did have some distractions in the background. I completed in 33:55, but with GUSHATORY for the unknown GUSTATORY. Other unknowns were GRAINER and Hamlet’s place. RISING TROT and OUTJOCKEY were constructed from wordplay. Thanks setter and George.
35. Went into the unknowns here, but the wordplay got me through each time. All my unknowns have already been mentioned – if mentioned by anyone above, it’s on my list. Very well put together puzzle, to allow me to do that, and in jig time besides. Regards.
36. 36:31. I seem to have struggled more than most with this. It was the unknowns in the bottom half: 21ac, 23ac, 17dn, 18dn and 19dn that gave me pause for thought. Pleased to construct all safely from wp though.
37. Beers in Melbourne? I’m in

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