Times 27316 – Watch this space!

Author   glhPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Greetings all.  In the time since writing the blog I have been informed of a few incorrect parsings that I listed in the blog, and some clues were changed in the electronic version of the puzzle. I am leaving the original clues in here and modifying things as they were changed. Amendments and additions are italicised.

I have been off at a conference for a week and have not been keeping up with the puzzles, so I have either gotten rusty very quickly, or this one is pretty difficult, and just as I hit submit with my fingers crossed, and 19:12 elapsed on the timer… I have one error, a very silly typo in 26 across.

It is also getting late here, and there are a few I’m not 100% on… so check the comments if you disagree with something you see here, I will not be able to make corrections for several hours.

Away we go…

Across
1 Finally up late, not having had a meal (2,3,2,3)
TO CAP IT ALL – this is tricky wordplay – “up” is TO CAPITAL, then LATE, mising ATE(had a meal)
6 Old politician’s wife, elevated, not right wing (4)
WHIG – W(wife) then HIGH(elevated) missing the character on the right
10 Golf courses surrounding a camp, not for men (5)
OFLAG – anagram of GOLF containing A – “not for men” in the clue indicates this is a camp for officers
11 Flaunt wealth, ultimately, as large, developing German company (9)
LUFTHANSA – anagram of FLAUNT,(wealt)H, AS, L
This clue was changed, and L(large) was removed.  The clue now reads “Flaunt wealth, ultimately, as developing German company” since the L from large was not needed in the anagram
12 Lead way, in that there’s no team that you’d not want to inspire! (6,8)
CARBON MONOXIDE – CARBON(lead in a pencil), then MODE(way) containing NO, XI(team)
14 Appeal, instant, the solver once had, but not setter! (7)
SAMOYED – SA(sex appeal), MO(instant), YE’D(the solver once had) – I think this is referring to the Ugrian people being nomadic. It has been pointed out that this is referring to a dog that is not a setter.
15 Burst with strain, making the most sound (7)
FITTEST – FIT(burst, temper), TEST(strain)
17 Search thoroughly carried out before bed (7)
RANSACK – RAN(carried out), then SACK(bed)
19 Calm, it’s said, the colour blue (3,4)
DIE DOWN – sounds like DYE(colour), DOWN(blue, sad)
20 Director I wish to adapt European novel (5,4,5)
CIDER WITH ROSIE – anagram of DIRECTOR,I,WISH then E(European)
23 Rates showing 100% increase at some point for empties (9)
EVACUATES – EVALUATES(rates) with the L(50) becoming a C(100)
24 Fencing put out around boundary (5)
KENDO –  KO(knock out) around END(boundary)
25 Urge to proceed with Bill (4)
GOAD – GO(proceed), AD(bill)
26 Sportsperson unhindered charges across river with old president (10)
FREESTYLER – FEES(charges) surrounding R(river) with the 10th US President of the USA, John TYLER

Down
1 One that’s from the left in revolution? (4)
TROT – double definition. OK – I was missing something here, the wordplay is TO, RT with RT indicating right all reversed
2 Drinks manager’s measure to prepare in container (9)
CELLARMAN – ELL(measure), ARM(prepare) inside CAN(container)
3 I go by parachute, flying in style overhead (7,7)
PAGEBOY HAIRCUT – anagram of I,GO,BY,PARACHUTE
4 Touch isolated blocks with pincers (7)
TALONED – TD(touch, touchdown) containing ALONE(isolated)
Although my parsing of the wordplay works, it was pointed out, commenters pointed out that the intention was more likely TAD(touch) containing LONE(isolated)
5 Launch of abridged autobiography by aristocrat (4-3)
LIFT-OFF – LIF(e) (autobiography) with TOFF(aristocrat)
7 British poet, one to brood over king and emperor (5)
HENRI – there’s two definitions and wordplay here – the wordplay is I(one) with HEN(brood) on top, surrounding R(king)
I had missed that RI is Rex Imperator, King and Emperor
8 Makes no sense to put in retro English memorial (10)
GRAVESTONE – RAVES(makes no sense), TO inside ENG reversed
9 Chuck something that has been bound to carpet? (5,3,4,2)
THROW THE BOOK AT – THROW(chuck), THE BOOK(something that has been bound), AT(to)
13 Eccentric gorges this enormous breakfast? (7-3)
OSTRICH-EGG – anagram of GORGES,THIS
It was pointed out that the anagram was missing the C.  The clue has been republished as
Large thing laid across cape, somehow goes right around it
The new wordplay is C(cape) inside an anagram of GOES,RIGHT
16 Recalled book on island — left tearful? (9)
EMOTIONAL –  reverse TOME(book) on IONA(island), L(left)
18 Purser maybe one on way to Jersey? (7)
KNITTER – two definitions, pursing ones lips, and making a jersey
19 Burst of French welcomes civil engineer (7)
DEHISCE – DE(“of” in French), HI’S(welcomes), CE(civil engineer)
21 What’s shot and ending in cinema? (5)
DRAMA – DRAM(shot) and the last letter in cinemA
22 Secure way of working with gold (4)
MOOR – MO(way of working), OR(gold)

112 comments on “Times 27316 – Watch this space!”

  1. I was fortunate that, as a late riser, I tackled this beast after the errors had been corrected. I still battled to make any progress once I’d picked off a few of the less devious clues, but eventually I prised a couple of chinks in the setter’s armour and THROW THE BOOK AT and PAGEBOY HAIRCUT gave me some crumbs to work with. I was aware of I being an abbreviation of the Latin for Emperor from Ind Imp being impressed on some old coins, if my memory serves me correctly, but waited until CARBON MONOXIDE surfaced before entering it as I is an unusual ending for a British name. I originally had COWSLIP at 18d, but RANSACK put me right there. A bit of a slog. 75:35. Thanks George.
  2. Yikes. I didn’t spot the errors in the anagrams. What I did do, was create a new meaning for trop. Port (left) in revolution. I was thinling of de trop in French. And then I put the L instead of the C in 23 across. Good clue, mind, that one. Cider With Rosie came after As I walked out one Midsummer Morning, which we read at school in the 70s. Never read CWR, but always imagined Rosie as a rumble-in-the-haystack kind of gal. Good to see Tyler getting a mention.
  3. IND IMP was on all our coins meaning India (not sure of Latin word for India) Imperator. No Henrys were Rex and Ind Imps. But the clue still works (if weak) with I for Emperor. I cannot find a poet called Henri, maybe I need better books as wikipedia doesn’t list any poets under Henri.
    When I read Cider with Rosie I thought that it was at the very least exaggerated, so I won’t fight “novel”.
    andyf
  4. 20 minutes of my life that I won’t get back. Does nobody check these puzzles properly before they’re printed ? As a paper solver, I got the unadulterated faulty version. This COULD have been a really good puzzle – but it wasn’t.

    Thanks to George for parsing the four I lost patience with that were actually correctly shown (TO CAP IT ALL, CARBON MONOXIDE, EVACUATES, and TROT).

    I rated a puzzle 3 out of 10 earlier this week, this was a 2. Pity – it could have been a 9 with more care taken.

    FOI CARBON MONOXIDE – a biff start is not good !
    LOI EVACUATES
    COD DRAMA
    TIME 19:45

    1. I think the deal in life is that you never get any of the time you spend on anything back.

      Why do you bother doing crosswords, I ask myself, if they make you so miserable

  5. I found this tough but ultimately satisfying, once I’d finally realised I did know the poet after all; I imagine my overall mood might have been quite different if I’d tackled the version with the impossible anagrams, of course. I struggled mightily with HANOI? HINDI? etc. before remembering The Mersey Sound – I think it’s undeniable that while Roger McGough is still a well-known voice, Henri and Patten are rather less so. Got there in the end, as is my habit.

    If you’re playing along with Pointless on the TV, Tyler is always a good call as an obscure President, though Martin van Buren is my normal go-to guy. See also Chester Arthur and Rutherford Hayes.

    1. This was covered in the very first comment above (posted at 04:29am) and has been discussed and referred to throughout the day already. Do try to keep up!

      Edited at 2019-04-04 01:36 pm (UTC)

  7. Has anyone noticed…

    Love? good man, lots of money, English, extremely
    good-looking, makes large breakfasts?!

    2. Can you give us another clue? Which author might you be talking about?

      Ulaca

  9. Hi George! I hope I speak for all the crew when I suggest you don’t worry with revision: the (once) incorrect clues have been enthusiastically discussed, and your original parsings enlightened (especially in the case of 1ac) and entertained. Most of us think you deserve a medal.
  10. Hmm, bit of a dog’s breakfast all round, today, least said, soonest mended ..
    I met Adrian Henri a couple of times. That we weren’t close is proven by the fact that I had to check to make sure he was dead ..
    1. I saw him when he had a band in the seventies – he had a joke about calling his band ‘Malcolm Macdonald and the Easybeats’ – this is a football reference.

      I really like that PMP book, can still recite some of some of the poems.

  11. To capital means up?

    I thought capital was a noun. Capitalize or capitalise is a verb.

    If someone could point me at a reference work that explains this I would be grateful. Otherwise I think 1 across is a dreadful clue.

    1. I think it’s usually found in old railway jargon – the up train being the train to London.

      Chambers, under UP, gives as its fourth meaning: “towards a centre (such as a capital, great town or university)”.

      I didn’t like it either, but it is more-or-less legitimate.

      3. That’s right. And the reverse, as in a train from London to Oxford, would be a “down train”. On the other hand, for those who worry about these things and since Dr. Spooner often appears in crosswordland, this usage doesn’t quite work in the supposed Spoonerism – Sir, you have tasted two worms and are to leave Oxford by the town drain. For the record, I failed to parse this clue at all at the time. Thanks George.
        1. When I was at Oxford, I seem to remember that it was never clear if London was up or down, as both places claimed the privilege of being the centre of the universe.. They were both wrong of course: it was some 200 miles ‘up’ north.
      4. “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.” – Lewis Caroll
  12. Fought my way through the incorrect anagrams, thinking it awfully strange to have 2 rather obvious errors in a puzzle, but I had no idea about ‘up’ in one across, and would never come close to ‘capital’ from it, so I thought it was TO TOP IT ALL. That rendered 2D ungettable, and I also failed at TROT. Didn’t see it. Very out of the ordinary puzzle day, I’d say.
  13. Recognise your right to an opinion, just to say that the damned Irish version is the only newspaper I buy and having spent 26 years in GB but now being Irish based, it provides me with the best of both worlds. Now if you were to speak of the Irish editions of the Daily Mail, Sun, Star, then i would agree as damned versions of already bastard newspapers!
  15. By the time I finished this I was so fed up that I threw in some obviously wrong answers. TOGA, GULAG and DOOR turning out to be the errors. I did enjoy several clues, and all but the unknown author were knowns, so real reason for despair. Relieved that Snitch agreed with me that this was a stinker
  16. Eventually finished this all correct but it took the best part of two hours (even solving this evening when the errors in the clues had been resolved) and I cannot honestly say that it was very satisfying. Too many unknowns or impenetrable word play meant that I was frequently throwing in answers from checkers and a vague sense of what the Def must be. No idea how 1ac worked, nho Samoyed, no idea how 23ac worked, didn’t see how 1dn worked, nho the poet at 7dn, nor did I recognise the RI abbreviation, like my solve, I could go on…
  17. I’m crying “foul” on this one, at least on a technicality. I considered OSTRICH EGG for 13d, but was working from the corrected (online) clue. If I’d been reading the original (C-less) clue, I think I would have got it despite the error; the revised clue isn’t really up to much. On the other hand, I also failed on EVACUATES and RANSACK (though I might have done better with the checkers from 13d).

    Kerfuffle aside, I found this one trickier than average. Utterly failed to parse any part of 1ac.

  18. Another paper bought for a flight, failed to finish. Not heard of OFLAG and DEHISCE before, didn’t get SAMOYED although it rings a bell so suspect it’s come up before.
    Glad to read the comments and see it’s not just me!
  19. So theres two anagrams wrong and anther clue where “up” means “to capital?” What!
    Not inspiring confidence its easy to put this down and walk off.
    Setter can do better
  20. Getting to this one late… would someone kindly explain UP = “to capital”? (I got the clue from the definition, naturally.)
  21. From Chambers

    UP: “Towards a centre (such as a capital, great town or university)”

    From Concise Oxford

    UP: (Brit) “Towards or in the capital or a major city”

    As often in “the up train” or “London train”

  22. Really enjoyed this one! Tough with many clever parsings. The ostrich egg non-anagram didn’t hold us up for long, and to cap it all we didn’t notice the extra large Lufthansa as a problem. Thanks for the parsing of 1ac. Unfortunately one wrong at 25ac where we had GOAT, thinking of bills going at nannies! 56 mins with this error.
  23. Thanks setter and glheard
    It has been a while and this was a tough one to come back to – and yes it was an old photocopied paper-based one from work. Without being under any time pressure this one spilled across four elapsed days and used up about an hour and a half of time in a number of sittings to get done.
    Ended up with a correct grid but with 1a, 12a, 1d and 7d (apart from HEN + R) all totally unparsed. Had no idea of the poet or the autobiographical novel until I looked them up. Reckon that I’d seen DEHISCE before but had to check it before entering it.
    Finished in the top left corner after settling on TROT instead of TROP, getting CELLARMAN to correct my unparsed TO TOP IT ALL to my unparsed TO CAP IT ALL.

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