Times 27457 – As Woke as Piers Morgan?

Author   ulacaPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
I don’t know about you, but I am especially inclined to take umbrage against people who broadly belong to what I conceive of as my side. Being somewhat right of centre (except in an online American psychometric thingy, where I turned out to be something of a pinko), this means that I have a proclivity to be embarrassed and irritated by people like Piers Morgan. But, then, I suppose you don’t have to be a supporter of Margaret Thatcher to arrive at that feeling. It’s probably pretty much a universal in this world of avowed relativism. Which is all my way of saying that I was introduced to the adjectival use of the perfectly good past tense verb form woke some years ago by my daughter (now 23), who is a little lefter than me, and probably more intelligent too, even if that is something I will never concede. And just the other day, on my blasted smartphone, I saw that the former editor of, what, the Daily Express, I believe [Daily Mirror, actually – ed], had been using the word ‘woke’ on his confounded Twitter account (how I hate that thing! I am not a member, or whatever you have to do to receive random rants). And now today, by an extraordinary coincidence (or a conspiracy, as my brother would have us believe) the phrase ‘right on’ turns up in the Times crossword! How long, I wonder, until the Thunderer bows to the likes of Morgan and we find ‘woke’ itself besmirching its pages?

30 minutes.

ACROSS

1 Sanction account, the thing’s getting in red (8)
ACCREDIT – um, slightly awkward wordplay, methinks, with account ACC and the thing IT getting in (i.e including, not entering) RED
6 A sign of stress, getting right into wine (6)
MACRON – R in MACON; not the French president with a taste for older women but ‘a diacritical mark (¯) placed over a letter, used in prosody, in the orthography of some languages, and in several types of phonetic respelling systems, to represent a long vowel’
9 Pleased with oneself getting sweets back (4)
SMUG – GUMS reversed
10 Trader’s warm jacket (10)
WINDJAMMER – double definition; I had no clue that a large merchant sailing ship could be thus named, as unlike my bearded cousin Anthony I did not enter the Merchant Navy.
11 Travel, going around with cine projector (10)
CANTILEVER – anagram* of TRAVEL CINE; a bit technical for me but one of the definitions is ‘a part of a beam or a structure projecting outwards beyond its support’
13 Truck departs with fish (4)
DRAY – D RAY
14 The Spanish are able to pop back for summit (8)
PINNACLE – reversal of EL CAN NIP (pop, as in ‘I just popped out for an Indian’)
16 Potter’s second volume ultimately is magical (6)
OCCULT – O (second letter of POTTER) CC (volume – as in 10cc – and don’t forget it) ULT (abbreviation for ultimately)
18 Vessel unlikely to survive being in contact with a flying saucer? (6)
TEACUP – well, I think the idea here is that if someone (a Greek waiter, say, who hasn’t read the memo about doing his bit for the environment and saving the company some money in these straitened times) hurls a ceramic saucer and it collides with a cup, then the cup (and presumably the saucer) will be smashed
20 Rubber prone to distort? Renew after stripping (8)
NEOPRENE – PRONE* [r]ENE[w]; far too scientific for me – I just saw it was Greek and plausible and moved on
22 Bog giving a home to river plant (4)
FERN – R in FEN
24 Sheep fly round sierra? Likely to fall down (10)
RAMSHACKLE – S (sierra) in RAM (Sheep) HACKLE (fly); if you know that a hackle is the ‘parts of an artificial fly made from hackle feathers, representing the legs and sometimes the wings of a real fly’, then you derive a degree of satisfaction in solving the clue; if, on the other hand, you belong to the 99% of the male population, and the 99.99% of the female population, who believe that fishing is one of the most boring pastimes ever invented, then you just chuck it in
26 Seeming old and sober — about time (10)
OSTENSIBLE – O T in SENSIBLE
28 European navy — not the answer to go green? (4)
ENVY – E N[a]VY; moving along…
29 Something in wheat needs good clay with nitrogen (6)
GLUTEN – G LUTE N; now if I were to claim that I knew that LUTE meant a cementy clayey mixture, then I would be a lyre
30 Poem’s rhythmic recitation spoken thus with extremes in delivery (8)
RHAPSODY – RHAP sounds like RAP (sounds like – ‘spoken’ – rhythmic recitation) SO (thus) D[eliver]Y; not a massive fan of rap myself, like our Phil. At least, it’s not described as ‘music’ this time.

DOWN

2 Bell tower in quiet area between two rivers (9)
CAMPANILE – P (quiet) A (area) in CAM (puddle in the fenland somewhere) NILE; I had a lot of trouble dredging up the second stream, having obviously been discombobulated by mention of the first
3 Fashionably liberal resort repels British (5-2)
RIGHT-ON – [b]RIGHTON
4 Fixer needs to prosper, mainly (5)
DOWEL – DO WEL[l]
5 Turning obsessive over a barrel (3)
TUN – reversal of NUT
6 Mother and girl finding way round doctor and chief steward (5-4)
MAJOR-DOMO – charade of MA JO RD O (round) MO
7 Amusing fellow worker who may be out of practice? (7)
COMEDIC – yes, well, I think what we have here is the idea that if you were medically qualified in some shape or form then if your colleague came from the same surgery or clinic (or however it is they have rebranded them now) then he (or she) would be your co-medic
8 Oval game unfortunately is last of the series (5)
OMEGA – O GAME*
12 Millions supporting newly-formed native country (7)
VIETNAM – M following NATIVE*
15 Fine covering swindle involving key capital (9)
CAPARISON – A PARIS in CON
17 Very old pine, something difficult to climb (4-5)
LONG-LIVED – LONG DEVIL reversed (John Henderson has just produced another devil of a puzzle)
19 Fancy musical performance, one for queen (7)
CONCEIT – I replacing R in CONCERT
21 Supporters missing the first game (7)
RACKETS – [b]RACKETS
23 Support rent getting left at the lowest level (5)
EASEL – L dropped in LEASE
25 Carnivore long among the last ones in South Africa (5)
HYENA – YEN (long) in final letters of [sout]H [afric]A
27 Prohibit nude, cancelling end of performance (3)
BAR – BAR[e]; e is the final letter of PERFORMANCE

56 comments on “Times 27457 – As Woke as Piers Morgan?”

  1. ‘Woke’ is most annoying as is Piers Moron, Donald J Trump and Sebastian Gorka; what exactly is he a doktor of? I haven’t heard POTUS Twitter ‘woke’ yet awhile.

    Time 34 minutes. Just slightly tougher than an ye’r average Monday.

    FOI 2dn CAMPANILE

    LOI 20ac NEOPRENE (synthetic rubber from DuPont)

    COD 12dn VIET-NAM (all one word!? Not in my stamp album!)

    WOD 24ac RAMSHACKLE (Derby County)

    I don’t think MACRON’s taste is necessarily for older women, he once had a bromance with the aforementioned LUPUS.

    Edited at 2019-09-16 02:55 am (UTC)

  2. I did indeed just put in RAMSHACKLE with little thought—and I would never have thought of “hackle.”
  3. Gave up overnight with about half completed but discouraged by the amount of answers that had gone in with a query in the margins because there was some element of the clue, answer or wordplay that I didn’t fully understand. Much the same on resumption this morning but I got through it eventually and on checking after completion all my assumptions proved to be correct.

    I still don’t understand the TEACUP clue though, and unless there’s something we’ve all missed I don’t think much of it.

    I can’t get myself too exercised about RIGHT-ON as it dates back to the 1910s in some cultures before being taken up by hippies and radicals in the 1950s and 60s and coming into more general use. I might draw the line at ‘woke’, but we’ve had ‘wicked’ for ‘good’ so I fear the barbarians are already through the gates.

    Edited at 2019-09-16 05:20 am (UTC)

    1. TEACUP seems like a curious clue, but I think getting too exercised about it would be a storm in the proverbial.
  4. About 51 minutes today, which puts it on the tough side for a Monday. Mostly this was down to a lack of GK, not knowing the wine region, the ornamental horse covering, the hackle or the bell tower. 10a, my LOI, was especially difficult, as I didn’t really know either meaning, but once I had all the crossers I managed to conjure it up from somewhere.

    The NE would’ve been much harder had I not started a beginner’s Latin book this year, which at least taught me what a MACRON is…

    While I lament my lack of knowledge for crosswords, I’m extremely happy to be as ignorant as I am of Piers Morgan, and hope to maintain that lack of interest in the subject.

  5. 9:31. No problems today, and a fair bit of biffing. I didn’t know MACRON but it seemed the only option.
    I’m not sure about your fishing statistics, u: it is the most popular out-of-home leisure activity in the UK.
    1. Well, I think it’s boring.

      On reflection, I can see how it might be more popular than darts down the pub and escaping to the allotment, as it keeps you away from ‘er indoors longer.

      1. As Steven Wright observed “There’s a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot”.
    2. Every once in a while, there comes a statistic that you feel can’t be right. I know plenty of folk who play football, cricket, table-tennis, (the three main games of my more sprightly years), golf, tennis, rugby union and league, badminton, distance running, pilates etc. etc but hardly any anglers. And I’m a mix of a country boy and a municipal townie, not a city boy. Do I assume that anglers must be a particularly separate group or that this claim was made by the British Angling Federation (?), president Wat A. Cod, and accepted as gospel before we all knew about the promulgation of fake news?
      1. You are obviously just a member of the metropolitan liberal elite, BW 😉 The second most popular activity is bingo. Playing actual sport is very much a minority activity.
      2. I too would love to see a source of the fishing stat. Maybe the turnover over fishing rod vs golf club manufacturers?
        1. I can’t quote an exact source any more but I had a significant professional interest in the bingo and betting industries at one point so UK leisure activity was something I spent a lot of time thinking and reading about. My knowledge is out of date but I doubt it’s changed much. The stats would have been based on survey data.
          The qualifier ‘out of home’ is important because the most popular leisure activity by a country mile is watching TV.

          Edited at 2019-09-16 09:06 pm (UTC)

  6. God is rotting most of the Piers of England!
    A Latin Primer – now there’s brave! I threw mine into the ‘fires of infernum’ in 1966, after five years of merciless punishment from Mr. Wortley.
  7. 14.10, noting a few trap for biffers along the way.
    COMICAL at 7d produced CHAD at 12a (no, Idon’t know how CHA is a truck, but then I still think DRAY for truck is a bit loose)
    The C at the beginning of 19 plus the musical fancy produced CAPRICE and then CHIMERA before I got sensible.
    But then RAMSHACKLE needed biffing, as hackles are usually those vague things that are raised on my planet, occasionally at the mere mention of Piers Morgan et al. And I’m convinced that I once read something called The Windjammer, though I can’t verify it.
    Credit to Ed (presumably) for perfect timing on the OMEGA clue – it has been an excellent Ashes series.
    Entertaining, opinionated blogging (that’s a compliment!). I went fishing once, and managed to hook my own lip when casting, after which it seemed a bit unkind to fish.

    Edited at 2019-09-16 07:01 am (UTC)

  8. 14:10 … a very lively vocab. selection made this not quite so straightforward. I wasn’t totally sure macon was a wine, and looking it up now I see that it’s apparently pronounced quite differently from what I’d expect. Glad I never tried ordering it.

    tbh I thought we had already seen ‘woke’ used in wordplay but I may be imagining it. I like the word and would have no problem seeing it pop up here. ikr

  9. I had a few enjoyable years of off-colour jokes and skiving with Mr. Clarke in the Portacabin shanty town of Ilford County High, and while I only learned enough to pass the GCSE, it at least didn’t put me off for life…
  10. Almost done in 15 minutes but the ‘not gluten free’ corner resisted. The 8d cricketing reference was timely. NHO Macron but knew the wine (rather too intimately). Thanks U for the blog (especially the lyre reference).
  11. I wasn’t woke this morning, so I had an extra half hour in bed and then an extra quarter of an hour on the crossword. I took 35 minutes. The NE was the problem area, apart from NEOPRENE of course which was constructed with crossers. I’m more of a red wine person so losing my Merlot for a MAC(r)ON took some persuasion. We always called what many call Windcheaters WINDJAMMERs in my youth, and I still call anything remotely resembling one that today. CO-MEDIC was very clever but I didn’t solve it that way round, so COD to RIGHT-ON, which I can’t be as I had to look up ikr. I liked OMEGA too. Cricket withdrawal symptoms are about to show, but there are two more county games yet. The sun will be overhead in the other half before it’s finished. Trickier than it looked. Thank you U and setter.

    Edited at 2019-09-16 08:33 am (UTC)

  12. 25:57. Becalmed with the NE corner undone. DNK MACRON so took a while to give up on MERLOT for 6A. NHO a WINDJAMMER jacket either, but sort of remembered it was a type of trading vessel. Got there in the end. LOI OCCULT. Nice topical surface reading at 8D even though today’s fifth day wasn’t needed.
  13. I couldn’t parse RHAPSODY which seems obvious now. New ones were LUTE (lyre, very good) for ‘clay’ and my last in MACRON. I think HACKLE for ‘fly’ has appeared recently elsewhere. I disagree with the sentiment expressed in 8d; just in time to prevent another big loss as far as I’m concerned.

    Finished in 35 minutes.

    Thanks to setter and blogger.

      1. I work from the printed version and did wonder what was going on. Luckily, the answer was pretty obvious with an ‘O’ at the end.
        I managed to drag up “Caparison” from somewhere deep in my remaining grey matter – I can only assume stored from some previous puzzle.
        Agree with Ulaca re “woke”!
  15. I dotted hither and thither about the grid as the fancy took me, after FOI DOWEL, then SMUG and CAMPANILE sent me southwards. I remembered CAPARISON from a previous puzzle. WINDJAMMER eventually surfaced from the depths and provided me with MAJOR DOMO and MACRON. Knew the wine, but not the diacritic. I assumed a Greek party had something to do with TEACUP. Knew the HACKLE bit from when my Dad used to tie flies to fish with. Took a while to exteriorise the IT in ACCREDIT. An enjoyable puzzle. 25:08. Thanks setter and U.
  16. As already observed, interesting, and trickier than your average Monday, meaning not everything went in with complete understanding (I had hoped for greater illumination on 18ac but it seems just to be one of those clues where you get the picture even if it doesn’t necessarily bear too much scrutiny). Had to think about 7dn, on the grounds that it would work just as well if it referred to a fellow worker “in” practice rather than “out of”.
  17. I gave up somewhere in my 19th minute with 6d unfilled – I didn’t know MAJOR-DOMO, but wasn’t really given a fighting chance by the fact that “and doctor” was missing from the clue! I must have spent a good 5 minutes trying to come up with something plausible from the wordplay, and wasn’t helped by the fact that I wasn’t 100% sure of NEOPRENE.

    Anyway, turns out it wouldn’t have made much of a difference because I’d already put in MICRON, which I knew was something but it wasn’t that. We non-drinkers are at a disadvantage when it comes to wines.

  18. Wasted some time trying to squeeze “maitre d’hotel” into 6d but otherwise I had the frequency. So far as I know I’ve never heard Piers Morgan as he is spoke and it sounds as if I should keep it that way. Speaking of things spoke, the French president’s name is pronounced as if spelled McCrone by most news types around here. I knew WINDJAMMER from a long-ago film about a Nordic tall ship. That was in the days when you watched a newsreel, a cartoon and a documentary as well as the main feature – how my mother got me to sit still that long remains a mystery. 12.33
  19. Twenty-five minutes, with a slight hesitation over the unknown (as a diacritical) MACRON and a shrug over the lute in GLUTEN. I know of a lute as a tool for levelling and riffling lawns, and had a vague notion that someone might want to do something similar with clay; good enough for me. Nor did I know the hackle of RAMSHACKLE.

    TEACUP seemed a bit of a woolly clue to me, otherwise all fine and dandy and a gentle introduction to the working week.

    1. Lute is also what dentists shove in your teeth when doing fillings, as I found out from a Jumbo last year, conicidentally, the day after I had a tooth filled!
      1. That is intriguing. Frankly, I’ve always had my doubts about dentists, who seem to stick all sorts of things into your mouth while you’re unable to see what they’re doing or ask questions. An honest dentist would have a mirror on their ceiling so you could keep an eye on what they’re up to.
        1. I prefer to let them get on with it without knowing the fine details. People keep asking me if I’ve watched the Knee Replacement procedure on Youtube. NOoooooo!!! Just admiring the nicely healed scar and being to walk again is enough for me.
          1. Can’t say I blame you, John – I’d even pick the NHS over YouTube. Or, as an even safer option, just get them to fix the X-ray in Photoshop.

            Edited at 2019-09-16 01:40 pm (UTC)

          2. Watch video of knee surgery – what kind of a masochist would do that! I’ve had my new hardware a year and a 1/2 now and I can even skip (although I don’t often want to). Hope yours is equally successful John.
            1. I’ve had mine for 3 and a half years now and it’s great. Last week I even trotted for a hundred yards or so when I was rushing to catch a bus. Feels strange, but that’s probably because I haven’t tried it for years. The biggest plus is being able to get in and out of chairs without a crane:-)
  20. ….a MAJOR-DOMO as the role played by Robert Dorning in “Bootsie and Snudge” many years ago. I biffed it, couldn’t parse it, and am grateful to Ulaca for pointing me at Jo, who should have been obvious since she’s my daughter-in-law.

    I parsed RAMSHACKLE despite knowing nothing of fishing, where I’m 100% in Ulaca’s camp.

    NHO of MACRON, and I rather wish I’d also not heard of the French one, who’s certainly a cause of stress to me.

    I thought TEACUP was a bit far-fetched, but not so much so that I need to start a storm in one.

    FOI SMUG
    LOI DRAY
    COD COMEDIC
    TIME 10:07

  21. A reasonable 12:33 despite feeling like I didn’t really know what was going on for a lot of the time (Macron, flying teacups, trader, hackle, lute, fancy conceits).

    If “Right on” is good enough for Rick from The Young Ones it’s good enough for the Times Crossword. Right kids?

  23. I pictured a cup-and-saucer combo chucked across room together (and thus cup in contact with flying saucer), unlikely to survive landing.
    1. That’s how I parsed it while solving. I had no problem with the clue once cracked (if you know what I mean?).
  24. As a scrabbler, it’s nice to find out what words I know well actually mean. Today’s words are MACRON and CAPARISON. HACKLE I missed having chucked in the obvious answer and moved on.
  26. Slow in the SW say the clock fall just seconds short of the hour, mostly done on the train this morning and then later on, wondering if CAPARISON is really a word.
  27. 22:58 a fairly breezy start to the week. The diacritical mark was unknown but sounded plausible and the wine rang a faint bell. Other than that everything seemed straightforward.
  29. Sounds as if it might have been a bit too difficult for poor Anonymous. The crossword is displacement activity while the world burns ( our bit anyway ).
    Last in Macron, a new word for us, parsed nicely so had to be. 28 mins, so well outside the 2 X Olivia benchmark.

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