Times 27,647: Poe Pourri

98 comments on “Times 27,647: Poe Pourri”

1. …that I completed in 36 minutes. I never saw the cryptic for ‘rehash’, but with those crossing letters it couldn’t be anything else, although I nearly biffed ‘remiss’ early on. I thought the ‘cinema’ clue was especially good – House of Usher, indeed.
2. Also spent my time on the obligatory ETON CROP (the C for clubs was especially tempting) before realizing it was SUIT. I spent far too long on my last two in, POPLAR and PROMPT. I don’t quite get HELICOPTER as surveillance equipment either. I mean, sure you can check out what is going on from a helicopter. But also from a car like in innumerable cop movies, but that doesn’t really make a car surveillance equipment. It is a bit like earlier in the week’s CHATEAU as a holiday home.
   1. At least it had a question mark after it! I mostly experience helicopters as surveillance equipment, in that the main use of them around here seems to be to chase stolen cars or search for missing people wandering the Avon gorge. There’s also the air ambulance, but I see that one a lot less often.
3. Somewhat bizarre for a Friday puzzle as Meldrew was home in just 30 minutes!

   FOI 15dn IN THE MAIN sooo crosswordy!

   LOI 10ac /SUIT – were you in the ‘Pop’?

   COD 9ac HELICOPTER or HECILOPTER as my youngest son used to say, whilst pointing skyward.

   WOD 24ac BERIBERI another possible disease from the Jerome K Jerome medical dictionary (TMIAB)

   I thought 28ac ON CAMERA was feeblemost and this puzzle was generally not up to Captain Friday’s parade ground standard, your Lordship.

   1. I really liked ‘on came RA’, thought it among the nicest. Oh well!
4. How many mackerel does it take to change a lightbulb?
   1. Assuming the absence of stepladders or a suitable chair, one could raid the stock of tinned fish built up to stave off the effects of the pandemic (or even WW3) and arrange said tins to make a platform. Let us say that you need to stack these tins in a block of 8 across and 16 upwards. If 25% of the tins contain mackerel rather than sardines or pilchards, and each tin contains a quarter of a whole mackerel, then the formula is 8 x 16 x 0.25 x 0.25, hence 8 fish would be required. Ask me one on sport….
   2. Well, it’s not a sole effort.
      1. OK! Thank-you Joe from Kobe and Phil from Jordan.

         The correct answer is 42.

      2. ….. assuming the absence of a suitable char …..
5. Thought I was going for a record time for a Friday puzzle but I slowed down considerably in the lower half and ended on 35 minutes which is still surely better than I usually manage when Monsieur V is on blogging duty.

   Unless there’s another meaning I’m not aware of I thought ‘surveillance equipment’ defining HELICOPTER was a bit odd.

   I did the rounds of Eton Mess, Eton Crop and ETON SUIT only a few days ago in another puzzle when SUIT turned out to be the target word so I saved time on it today.

   Edited at 2020-04-24 02:57 am (UTC)

6. 38 minutes, so about the same time as yesterday, with the added bonus that I didn’t get any wrong this time… FOI 1a WARDROBE, helped a little by at least realising that 1d would likely start with WHITE or BLACK, LOsI the three in the NE corner that took my last eight minutes: 6d PATRONAGE, 5a POPLAR and 5d PROMPTS, in that order.

   COD the rather nice &lit at 13d GUERILLA, though I did also enjoy the House of Usher at 22d.

   1. I got stuck on those very 3 too! Though thankfully not quite for 8 minutes.
      1. So I’m thinking along the right lines, even if I’m not riding the express…
7. Under an hour and maybe the first time completing the Friday puzzle.

   Last 2 Beriberi and cinema held me up the longest.
   Needed the blog to get the parsing for Aga and Rangoon.

   COD dry rot or beriberi.

8. It’s unusual for me to complete a Friday puzzle, just under 40 minutes. Many clues not parsed but they couldn’t really be anything else. Hope I won’t need the Covid aid in 12 and 14 across! COD 22d wich was neat. Thanks all
9. A green week according to the SNITCH, including today – just 79 at the moment. Also green at home with our Californian Larch trees arriving and safely planted.

   32m for me. I really liked this despite biffing several: like a really good wine, there was more to it than the first taste. As Verlaine says, several of the clues were richer and wittier than I first appreciated, so thanks for the excellent tasting notes V. Unlike Horryd, I really like ON CAMERA now I understand it, and further tips of the hat to WHITE FLAG, CINEMA and PRELATE.

   For anyone seeking chewier fare, last Saturday’s Jumbo is still resisting all my efforts.

   Thank you setter.

10. 24 minutes, so easyish for a Friday. LOI BERIBERI, served up on a plate by the ENCHILADA. HELICOPTER surveillance certainly wouldn’t be covert, but I guess it doesn’t always have to be. COD to CINEMA, which had me trying to remember Poe’s characters before the penny dropped. An enjoyable puzzle. Thank you V and setter.
    1. …they’ve got some hungry women there. They’ll really make a mess out of you.
       1. They have.
    2. It would be covert. It can fly at a height where the offender isn’t aware that it’s there. Always amusing on reality tv cop shows watching the miscreants making a futile run for it.
11. Easy today, unlike yesterdays …
    This recent Private Eye cover led to a lot of complaints, mainly from poodle owners ..
    1. I’m on my fifth Poodle now, a white Miniature called, of course, Bianca, (the name she came with from the breeder) and none of them have been anyone’s poodles but I would never get upset. I thought it was a funny cover.
       Bianca has been absent from time to time recently. Looks like she’s popped over to the UK to do her bit as Defence Secretary.
       1. I hope she’s photo-conferencing !
          1. But of course! And she does it so photogenically.
    2. Having seen the late February cover of Private Eye, as pointed out by JWH, I am cancelling my subscription to your august rag – Victor Meldrew, Catford.
12. Indeed, I’m back into 17 minute territory after yesterday’s foray into the 20s.
    I only struggled with REHASH even with all the checkers in and recognising EH for what: I had to write it out horizontally before the penny dropped.
    IN CAME RA was my favourite.

    Those concerned about surveillance needn’t worry about helicopters. Going the rounds on FB and doubtless other places is the true reason for the lockdown: it gives the government time to change the batteries on the pigeons.

    The Times nearly gave the game away yesterday with IDENTITY PIGEON across the middle of the grid.

    1. But what have pigeons got to do with 5G?

       1. It’s an upgrade to their navigation and identification systems. The anti 5g campaign is a government sponsored diversionary exercise. I thought everyone knew.

          1. That’s just what the illuminati want you to think! Wake up sheeple!
13. 20:12. LOI the unparsed REHASH which, like vinyl, I had as REMISS to start with until I saw HELICOPTER. I liked the House of Usher and intersecting ON CAMERA and BERIBERI best.
14. Methinks you may need to recalibrate the clapometer. The &lit clues for GREEN PARTY and GUERRILA were super, and CINEMA was also excellent.
    1. There were a couple of old stagers scattered here and there – RAREBIT, for example, but those three in particular were superb. Special mentions also to 23, 25, 28 and 21.
15. Back to an easy, steady solve. Some of the definitions are indeed clever. I also like House of Usher

    But surveillance equipment for HELICOPTER? I don’t think so.

16. In many ways Fridays aren’t Fridays any more.
    1. You sound like Trump saying a friend of his had complained that Paris wasn’t Paris any more!
17. Not too challenging for a Friday and a nice turn of clue, I thought. I particularly like CINEMA, WHITE FLAG, BERIBERI, ACRYLIC – quite a crop.

    COD: CINEMA
    NHO: ETON SUIT

    Yesterday’s answer: Frances Gumm became Judy Garland, inspired by GARLAND, obvs.

    Today’s question: which tree’s seeds are known as helicopters?

    1. Noisily, boyfriend’s ill behind a tree (8)
       1. Name two Gene Pitney hits with “24” in the title.
          1. ’24 hours from Tulsa’ and ‘2024 South Michigan Avenue’ Any phuel knows that!

             It’s 25 or 6 to 4, must dash – cue bass

             Edited at 2020-04-24 12:24 pm (UTC)

             1. Pitney’s version of “2120 South Michigan Avenue” would be a very eclectic listen !
                1. Just ‘cos you don’t know the words!

                   Question: which country’s National Anthem has no words?

                   1. That would be Spain.
18. Ah! The old chestnut about Poodles being poodles. No chance. I’m on my fifth and they ain’t no-one’s poodles! Bianca will be miffed when I tell her.
    Round here helicopters are used for things like crop spraying and for aerial hunting. I’ve seen helicopters coming back from hunting trips with dead deer slung underneath.

    I thought that was right up my street as a puzzle. I particularly liked WHITE FLAG, POLAR, ON CAMERA and PROMPTS but my favourite and one duly noted in my lexicon of favourite clues, was CINEMA. House of Usher indeed. It reminded me of a clue a few years back when HOUSE OF CONGRESS was clued to indicate a brothel.

    1. ‘Aerial hunting’ seems like a bit of a contradiction in terms!
       A ghillie in Scotland once told me that if he didn’t reach his quota for culling the deer on the estate he managed, a government agency would come and do it for him, using a helicopter and charging the cost to his boss.
19. 28 mins
    Thanks v
20. But am I the only one to put in the howler In Camera?
    1. No you’re not the only one – it looks like Z had that too (vide supra) and some of the regulars have one error on the club board and that seems the likely suspect.
    2. I will admit to hovering nervously between the right and wrong answers for a wee while.
21. But hugely annoyed to find I had miskeyed and put RAREBOT instead of RAREBIT. Loved 21D though!
22. I forgot to ask, do cinemas still have ushers? I haven’t set foot in a picture house for at least 20 years and I thought ushers had been done away with long before that.
    1. In Shanghai we have cinemas re-opening, with both ushers and usherettes,
    2. The Everyman chain certainly seems to have them—they’ll even bring a G&T to your sofa (I kid you not) before the film, albeit for a somewhat exorbitant price—and according to the careers page on the website they still call them ushers.
23. ….so thanks to Verlaine for parsing it. Three clues left at 8 minutes, thereafter 3 minutes to crack 5A/D, and a further minute to finish.

    FOI INN
    LOI CINEMA
    COD ON CAMERA (sorry Horryd !)
    TIME 11:50

24. 24 min. Liked the spooky group. Also the prelate. If you’re a surveillance expert I imagine a helicopter’s somewhere on the list. In Poplar had larf as fun which I’ll stay with.
25. WHITE FLAG biffed so thanks V. a very enjoyable stroll today, liked the HELICOPTER and the old fashioned cinema ( not many ushers about last time I went)
26. Grower, this one, and indeed easier than Fridays can be, but some great stuff in here. Thanks V, preceptive as ever, and setter.
27. Not a typical Friday indeed, all done in 18 minutes no problems except a MER for helicopter. Liked house of usher.

    As a fan and past owner of standard poodles, I can assure all that they’re not servile or wussy – they’re serious dogs. As martinp1 says. Even the smaller ones can be feisty. Why are they misrepresented in this way?

    1. Well said, Pip! Our late and much lamented Standard, “Alice”, had a quizzical way of looking at us as if to say “You want me to do what?”
    2. Like your new userpic!
28. Our local sheriff has a very noisy one that used to fly over our veg garden. I think they were making sure we weren’t growing pot. 16.41
29. Thought this rather easier than the usual Friday fare.

    Failed to fully parse BERIBERI (understood why there was an I, and thought it had something to do with BEER), BILL OF FARE (saw the ILL bit) and REHASH (total failure).

30. Not a very Fridayish puzzle in terms of difficulty, but some nice touches. Very much liked the combo of spooky people in the House of Usher.
31. 14:21. I didn’t find this particularly easy: I think I was fooled by some of the clever definitions. Like others I particularly liked CINEMA but it was all rather good.
    I’ll add my voice to the chorus in defence of poodles. Good-natured and highly intelligent dogs in my experience.
    1. Are we talking about canines or Tory cabinet ministers now? I’ve lost track.
       1. I suspect that a lot of the current Tory cabinet are actually intelligent (Liz Truss was in the year below me!) and many of them are good-natured. That just makes it worse.
32. Some nice clues. As a brummie, I liked seeing balti clued as dish.

    COD: Green Party.

33. Nice end to the week and finished in 14.01. FOI Rangoon, well my old dad was a Chindit so I’d have never forgiven myself if I hadn’t got that. Ironically, LOI beriberi which affected a number of his comrades.

    On to the lighter side. Lots of appealing clues of which poplar, poodle, cinema- a Roger Corman reference I believe- and rehash which to be honest I bifd.

    Enjoyed this puzzle a lot and personal esteem up a notch after the disaster of Wednesday !

34. A very enjoyable puzzle which didn’t overtax the brain cell. WARDROBE was my FOI and WHITE FLAG followed it. A steady solve from there with BERIBERI LOI after ENCHILADA. Lots to like, but CINEMA and ON CAMERA stood out. 18:51. Thanks setter and V.
35. This is another appeal for those of you with any spare Marmite. Here in Shanghai supplies are running dangerously low. If you can spare a jar or two please send to:

    horryd 588 Splendid City, Rainbow Bridge, Shanghai, 201103
    PLC – will send top notch green tea/lapsang suchong on receipt.

    The Meldrew Foundation

    1. Constable Clitoris ( my favourite character in Monty Python) has a jar to spare. He cannot remember the exact proportions of bat to pangolin but he assures me I will love it (or hate it?). I am arranging for it to be sent forthwith or even quicker.
       1. ‘And yea, Marmite did appear unto them like manna from heaven. And they rejoiced mightily and carried the good Constable to their Splendid City, where they did slay those pretenders, the Vegemites.’ St. Sawbill’s letter to the Shanghainese – Chapter 25 or 6-4
          1. As an ad man you must admire the job the industry did by foisting this ‘love it or hate it’ thing on popular culture. Not quite ‘a diamond is forever’ in its impact perhaps but incredibly successful.
             1. Indeed the Marmite ‘love it or hate it’ Campaign was a bit of genius from Richard Flintham and Andy McLeod at BMP/DDB. They developed the ‘My Mate’ theme and with other clever ideas, personalised jars, one for The Queen ‘Ma’amite, the brand became an edible collectible. But caveat emptor: in NZ ‘Marmite’ which come in a red-topped jar ain’t what it says on the tin! It’s Vegemite!

                ‘A diamond is for ever’ was penned back in 1948 by Ayer’s Frances Gerety, but was made famous by Ian Fleming – ever the magpie – used the line for his book. But he was working for DeBeers at the time, some ten years later.

                Returning to the edible spread theme – as I child of the fifties we in Sleaford. Lincs did not go in for ‘Marmite’ – but actually preferred ‘Splendo’! It came in a green and cream flattish, metal-topped tub and was quite delicious. It was made by Oxo Ltd. and was available from 1950-1959 (Wellcome Foundation)

    2. I did a quiz question today the gist of which was “name an Australian delicacy that, pronounced differently, is also the name of a French casserole dish”. I knew a marmite was a French pot but I couldn’t bear to cede the brown nectar to the Ozzies so put down a principled “vegemite” as the answer. Helas!
36. 16:02 with my main hold-ups being the HELICOPTER definition and my inventing ETON CHIC at 10a.

    Loved the 2 &Lits, the House of Usher bit was wasted on me though. I just biffed CINEMA and assumed that the WP was some literary reference that went way over my head.

37. Ok – I’m not going to win any awards for timing, but after a good couple of years of doing the QC this is the first time ever I’ve completed the 15×15 without any assistance and got it right.

    Just thought I’d mark the occasion with a post. May even have a beer to celebrate.

    PS. Thought 22dn “Cinema” was very clever…

    1. Have that beer – that’s a personal landmark well worth celebrating.
    2. Well played. This wasn’t a particularly easy one either.
    3. Cheers 🍺🍺🍺
    4. Brilliant, congratulations.
    5. Well done! I started out on the Via Dolorosa that the Times cryptic can be around 18 years ago. Back then I only attempted the Saturday prize crossword because sometimes it took me all week to solve. I’m never going to make The Times Crossword Championship on the speed of my solving but I can now solve the cryptic unaided most of the time.
       1. Thanks to all above.

          Don’t worry, no one’s championship is going to be threatened soon, and it wouldn’t surprise me if I don’t do this again for a substantial amount of time.

          However, I genuinely do believe the more you do (completed or not), the better you get. Marginal gains and all that.

38. Enjoyed this😀
39. New here and awed by the times. My 2 plus hours sucks! Used lots of aids too. Cut my teeth on The Rhodesia Herald as a kid and finally thought I was getting somewhere, however …
    Respect to you all, hope I can one day catch up. And many thanks to all who blog and comment, the help is appreciated.
    Cheers from Canada.
    1. Good to have you here. Torontonian? I used to live in Victoria and before that Edmonton, but it’s warmer in California I find.
       1. Georgetown, so Toronto. I do love Carlsbad though! Hope the travel restrictions are lifted soon.
40. 18:50. I didn’t get off to the most promising of starts but ended up breezing through this fairly quickly. Didn’t parse rehash but everything else understood. Some nice touches, I particularly enjoyed cinema.
41. Try these two!

    Edited at 2020-04-24 10:09 pm (UTC)

    1. I do! Yum!

       Kim Jung Meldrew

       1. As the old joke goes…
          Remember, a dog is not just for Christmas.
          With luck there’ll be some left for Boxing Day.

          PS…We once attended a gathering of Poodle owners that went under the the title of Oodles of Poodles.

          1. …and broth until the New Year! :’)
             1. So, in a shared flat you could be Broth-ers in Arms
42. Messrs Jamesed46 & Special Bitter.

    I have become very confused regarding your avatars. (Two years ago I handed out magnificent prizes to the best three hereabouts, hence my interest)

    Jimmy, it is good practice to differentiate one’s brand. Mr Bitter (Special) has been represented Captain Kirk for quite some time now. I think now that you have finally broken the completion barrier (Space Warp 9), it might be a good idea to ‘upgrade’ one’s avatar in celebration.

    One is allowed fifteen avatars on this site at no cost whatsoever.

    I personally use all fifteen avs. to little or no detriment, and even change some of ’em now and again to keep things fresh. I dearly wish I could use the ‘Verlaine’ avatar, but some nincompoop from California got there first! And as woeful as he is at the old 15×15, I cannot in all heart, share his hero. Perhaps when he improves his times a bit, he might consider using ‘The Road Runner’ or even ‘Mr. Spock’.

    Just imagine what would happen if we were all Captain Kirk!?

    The one and only Meldrew

    Edited at 2020-04-24 10:30 pm (UTC)

    1. My avatar is and always has been sergeant Thomas Jefferson (TJ) Hooker of the Lake City Police Department. Jamesd46 has chosen a completely different character for his avatar, Captain James Tiberius Kirk (whoever that is). I suppose if you look at the two in the right sort of light there is a vague similarity so I can understand any confusion that may have arisen but I don’t think Jamesd46 needs to change on my account and I don’t feel any need to change on his account.
       1. I humbly apologise for my shocking error. The light here in Shanghai does play tricks.
          I wish you and Sergeant Hooker a lovely week-end.

          1. That’s quite all right. If I squint I can see that they do look a little alike. An easy mistake to make. Likewise, enjoy the rest of your weekend.
43. Only two days for this one so improving .At least`as a newbie I never leave a puzzle unfinished(so far) . Even as a medic couldn’t parse beriberi. Still can’t make sense of enchilada. Liked white flag best

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