Times 27687 – the dolce Vita is here.

Author   piquetPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Another pleasant but not too challenging Wednesday, with four decent anagrams and lots of ‘insert this into that’ wordplay. It took me about twenty-five minutes to finish with all clues parsed. I don’t have a favourite clue.

Across
1 Ring round with Green (6)
CALLOW – CALL (ring) O (round) W (with).
4 Bookish volume of Poe fairly regularly overlooked (8)
LITERARY – LITER being the American spelling for litre, so “volume of Poe” as he was American, then ARY being alternate letters of f A i R l Y.
10 What to say at bedtime about following evening (9)
NIGHTFALL – At bedtime you might say “NIGHT, ALL”; insert F for following.
11 Pigeon in river (5)
HOMER – HOME (in) R (river).
12 Dicky knew old cousins retire to gain strength (4,4,6)
LICK ONES WOUNDS – (KNEW OLD COUSINS)*.
14 Moving contact wrecked power wire (5)
WIPER – (P WIRE)*
16 Trifle with pretty girl carrying a pistol (9)
BAGATELLE – BELLE has A GAT (a pistol) inserted.
18 Member annoyed with broadcast (9)
CROSSBEAM – CROSS (annoyed) BEAM (broadcast signal). Member as in joist etc.
20 Gut bacteria reportedly fell with onset of acidosis (5)
FLORA – FLOR sounds like “floor”, to fell, knock down; add A.
21 Mobile continentals getting work in Roman capital (14)
CONSTANTINOPLE – Insert OP (work) into (CONTINENTALS)*. For a period from 330 CE for a few hundred years until the Roman empire dissipated, the city was the capital of the empire and named after Constantine, having previously been called Lygos then Byzantium; now Istanbul. Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Istanbul
25 View of society held by Sackville-West, say (5)
VISTA – S for society goes into VITA the first name of Mrs Sackville-West, socialite, author, bisexual lover and gardener of Sissinghurst. Which is well worth a visit.
26 Promote supporter, having an opening (9)
PROPAGATE – PROP (supporter) A GATE (an opening).
27 One exits West African countries to avoid duty (8)
MALINGER – MALI and then N(I)GER.
28 The French general died very famous (6)
LEGEND – LE (the French) GEN(eral), D(ied).

Down
1 What’s used for a light fabric (10)
CANDLEWICK – double definition; candlewick is familiar to me as used in bedspreads.
2 Reason soldier in company left in retreat (5)
LOGIC – Insert GI (soldier) into CO (company), L (left) after reversing that.
3 Not in power, party men will be not in the house (7)
OUTDOOR – OUT (not in) DO (party) OR (men).
5 Popular legislation is relative where union is concerned (2-3)
IN-LAW – IN (popular) LAW (legislation).
6 Run through former play by Goethe, hard for following (7)
EXHAUST – EX (former) then FAUST has its F replaced by H.
7 Mammal frantic in a small stream with reduced oxygen (9)
ARMADILLO – Insert MAD (frantic) into A RILL then add O (short for oxygen).
8 Feel strong desire to be free of European story (4)
YARN – YEARN loses its E.
9 Beer in animal skin is fit to market (8)
SALEABLE – ALE inside SABLE.
13 Seas seemed worked out as a source of oil (6,4)
SESAME SEED – (SEAS SEEMED)*. Doddle of an anagram.
15 Governor in favour of prisoner uniform in small and large (9)
PROCONSUL – PRO (in favour of) CON (prisoner) S, L, insert U for uniform.
17 Nerve outing MP that’s unruly (8)
GUMPTION – (OUTING MP)*. I thought gumption was more like common sense, but I see Collins has a second meaning of courage, hence nerve.
19 Spot invaded by American bear (7)
SUSTAIN – US in STAIN (spot).
20 Real enthusiasts will swallow this ostentatious display (7)
FANFARE – double definition, one cryptic as FARE for FANS to swallow.
22 Tree spotted with extremities eaten away (5)
APPLE – DAPPLED loses its extreme Ds.
23 Walk round Lake District? (5)
PLACE – PACE around L.
24 At heart love, I must think, is a generational thing (4)
OVUM – OV (heart of lOVe) UM (I must think).

​

51 comments on “Times 27687 – the dolce Vita is here.”

  1. I had some problems getting started with this one, but knocking off the small 8d YARN led me to try the four-letter in the opposite corner, and I mostly worked from 24d OVUM across and then upwards, finishing with 10a NIGHTFALL.

    I didn’t know Vita Sackville West, or that the litre was introduced in 1795, so Poe might well have known it. I also had never wondered why we call it gut “FLORA” when it seems to me to be fauna until this morning…

    Anyway. Polished this one off in 23 minutes, which makes me wonder if we’re due a stinker.

    1. Meant to report curd tarts arrived last week- yummy. Sending similar food parcels to all my family now!
  2. Poor old Pip’s run of bland puzzles continues. And this one very easy to boot.
  3. 21 minute, with LOI MALINGER. That needed OVUM, my penultimate. I also wasted time wondering why the fans weren’t plural in FANFARE before the penny dropped. I should have used my GUMPTION. I didn’t know the second meaning of that either. “CONSTANTINOPLE is very long word. How do you spell it?“ was a brain teaser of my infant school years. For the first five minutes, I thought this was going to be a Wednesday toughie, but then it solved quite easily. That’s always enjoyable. Thank you Pip and setter.
    1. Glad to see you back in the mix. We share the grief of our teams being relegated by the pathetic EFL. I’m a TRFC fan but come in peace!
      1. You’ve got much more of a beef than we have. I wanted them to use alphabetic order rather than points per game. We’d have been in the Play-Offs.There was a good argument for cancelling the whole season, but Bolton wasn’t the right team to do it.
  4. 26 minutes. NHO (intestinal) FLORA. Looked twice at LEGEND needing to be an adjective before realising it can be.

    Edited at 2020-06-10 06:06 am (UTC)

  5. The definitions came to mind easily today. Thanks to Pip for explaining VISTA, and to the setter for providing a happy 18 minutes.
  6. …of that Forbidden tree…
    30 mins with yoghurt, granola, dates.
    Not great, this one. Mostly I wasn’t keen on: the double use of following=F, ‘generational thing’ and 14ac where ‘moving contact’ seems to define Wiper. Bizarre.
    Thanks setter and Pip.
      1. And I’m reliant on the moving thingy on my car windscreen in time of rain, but only if it’s in contact. If it isn’t it just flails about looking stupid, and I can’t see anything.
      2. Well I never. My humble apologies to the setter. Note to self: learn components of potentiometers.
  7. What possessed me to put in ‘fanbase’? Oh well. Fairly standard fare for a Wednesday, which seems to be my downfall day.

    COD: NIGHTFALL, nice construction

    Yesterday’s answer: the point on the Earth’s surface furthest from its centre is allegedly Mount Chimborazo in the Andes, due to the planet having a fatter middle. Although it may not actually be the furthest, there are other candidates.

    Today’s question: APPLE is the 11th largest company in the world by revenue; what is the largest?

    1. The largest company by turnover in US Dollars is Walmart. The largest organisation by turnover is probably the Catholic Church
  9. A pleasant start to the day – and to finish in less than 3 Magoos is always a triumph!
  10. 13:03. Not sure what to say about this. Pleasant but unremarkable. A bit slow to get going, but then a fairly smoothe solve. FOI LICK ONES WOUNDS. Last 2 in were FANFARE and FLORA. COD to FANFARE.
  11. Like Bamber, I threw in FANBASE at 20dn – I must read all of the clue! (100x) (Today’s answer is The Church)

    FOI 5dn IN-LAW

    LOI 24dn OVUM

    COD 27ac MALINGER

    WOD 17dn GUMPTION – more please, Sir!

    Half an hour wasted.

  12. 25:26
    No dramas. The snitch says this is easier than yesterday’s, but it took me twice as long…
    Thanks pip.
  14. I was held up in the SE by biffing AMBLE for the Lake District walk, until a late CONSTANTINOPLE advised me of my errant ways. That made PROPAGATE and FANFARE possible, and I moved back to the NE where YARN finally led me to LITERARY. EXHAUST seemed to be my LOI after some neuron bashing, but forced me to change my TAMAR pigeon to a HOMER. 23:47. Thanks setter and Pip.
    2. I did the same. I know there is an Ambleside in the Lake District, so it seemed likely there would be an Amble for it to be on the side off.
      1. I went for an amble around Amble a couple of years ago when I stayed in a hotel there during the Langdale Charity Folk Festival at the Old Dungeon Ghyll.
  15. Straightforward, but ruined by carelessly mistyping APPEE for APPLE. Festina lente!
  16. The only bits I wasn’t sure of were CANDLEWICK as a fabric and Vita for Sackville-West, but the cluing made both fairly straightforward once checkers were in place.

    Is there a term for things like “reduced oxygen” in 7d, where the “reduced” isn’t necessary in order to give you the O but is put in to make the surface a little better? These have thrown me in the past, when they’ve made me think I need to take the last letter off the full word (though I got this one).

    FOI In-law
    LOI Ovum
    COD Malinger

  17. 8:20. Yep, another easy one. The only thing I didn’t know was this meaning of WIPER (thanks GM), but the wordplay could hardly have been clearer.
    I remember Vita, the biography of VSW by Victoria Glendinning, lying around the house when I was a kid which is probably the only reason I have heard of her. A strange thing to remember but I’ll take the knowledge where I can get it!

    Edited at 2020-06-10 08:54 am (UTC)

  18. While I was doing this one, I was thinking it was one of those where the clues are clever enough to make you feel good about solving them. Pity if it’s just “easy” after all.
    I thought OUTSIDE was a suitable answer to 3d, but it didn’t survive past the surrounding clues.
    My last in was FANFARE, where I spent a seeming age trying to remember what Spanish drinks I knew (“Real fans…”) that might also be peacockish. So not THAT clever.
    15.32, and compliments to Pip on his erudite and not-at-all-ostentatious display
  19. 30 minutes here, so not as easy for me. crossbeam and fanfare were my last two in, and it took me a while to sort out exhaust and homer (was trying Tamar for a while). Didn’t understand the vita part but was pleased to dredge up candlewick
    just remember not everyone has been doing these since the year dot and so its nice to have some “easier” ones. I didn’t finish yesterday’s as I could’t see peri. They are only easy if you can do them!
  20. Not much to say here. FOI IN LAW which would have been easy in the quickie. I thought that there’s bound to be some tougher clues coming up but there really weren’t as it turned out. Only hold up was 1d which I thought must end in WEAR, and held me up for the CROSSBEAM for a while.
  21. 12’45”, straightforward today. Had heard of gut flora. Dnk WIPER.

    I know almost no Spanish, but ARMADILLO is a small armoured man, and there’s also Hasta la VISTA…

    Thanks pip and setter.

  22. A middling performance again.

    In Crosswordland Goethe’s pretty much a one-trick pony – but then making a clue out of Die Leiden des jungen Werther would be, in Footballspeak, a big ask.

    Growing up in the 50’s if you didn’t use a bit of GUMPTION you were considered GORMLESS – two words that you don’t hear much these days.

    All correct in 36.05.

    Thank you to setter and blogger.

    Dave.

  23. ….about this somewhat anodyne offering. It took me until the 6th clue to exercise my pen, but thereafter it was almost a write-in, despite NHO FLORA in that context.

    FOI WIPER
    LOI FLORA
    COD MALINGER
    TIME 8:59

  24. Fairly straightforward, 23’57. Stuttered a bit parsing one or two though. Discarded ‘saleable’ as a non-word a couple of times till looked at it properly. Vita Sackville-West wrote a long poem ‘The Land’ with a memorable line, ‘The mild continuous epic of the soil’.
  25. Slow and steady might win the race in la-la land but not in the real world. Last position by a considerable margin. Finished in 43 minutes, but at least all present and correct and being so slow meant this was enough of a challenge to be more than anodyne. To each his/her own, but I quite l liked the ‘a generational thing’ for OVUM and the tricky wordplay for EXHAUST.
  26. No great alarms. Just a misbiffed OUTSIDE and a mistyped ARMADILDO to correct. Left with wondering how the Simpsons are getting on. I only got up to series 9 I think it was before the kids grew out of it and so I had to.
    1. Series 9 is the perfect place to have stopped watching the Simpsons, the brilliancy was fading right around then. Worth going back though to rewatch episodes from the first few series, up to around 1998, especially the Halloween shorts.

      FANBASE my downfall

  27. Last two were the same as BW. Ovum and Malinger with Ovum LOI.

    COD: MALINGER

  28. Nothing unknown here though took my time with the NE corner and wondering whether there was an alternative to FLORA as I didn’t twig that to floor = to fell.
  29. Surprised how straightforward this turned out to be, especially after hesitating before entering unheard of CANDLEWICK. Rest pretty much flew in and left little strong impression, but thanks nonetheless to setter.
  30. 12:54. Like others I found it slow going to start with but a lot of the down clues were write-ins so speed soon came. I fannied around a bit at the end with FLORA and FANFARE, not knowing the former and dithering over the latter on account of misreading swallow as follow.
  31. Another who started slowly, got going and rather plodded through without any great excitement, good or bad.
  32. 14.23. Another thoroughly enjoyable puzzle- what a difference completing one makes to appreciation! FOI callow, LOI propagate. COD ovum, small but beautifully formed. Guessed literary but having seen the explanation, that’s a pearl as well.

    Nightfall, homer, malinger and crossbeam also had their appeal.

  33. 23:17. A few anxious moments as I read clue after clue without solving anything. FOI eventually Constantinople and built steadily from there. The volume of Poe took a while to see. DNK the gut bacteria. Spent too long trying to think of a specific General (Lee, Ney) before working out legend. Ovum also caused some head-scratching. An enjoyable solve.
    1. Any of the beams of a house, etc. can also be called a “member”. ODE has “a constituent piece of a complex structure, especially a component of a load-bearing structure.”
  35. Do You Need A Powerful Africa Native Doctor? I Mean A Spiritual Herbalist
    With Great Spirit Connected To Ancestors. Call or WhatsApp +2349058774809 Dr Obodubu Monday Is A High Voodoo Priest Master. He is a Spell Caster, Native
    Doctor, Spiritual Herbalist, Powerful Sickle cell Healer, Spiritual
    Astrologer, Psychic Reader, Multi Guru, Witch Doctor, Priest Of Africa
    Money Ritual.
    Have You Been To Native Doctor to Native Doctor Without Any Solution To
    Your Problems Or Rather Add To it? Have You Been To Place To Place In View
    Of A Powerful Native Doctor That Can Solve All Your Predicament, You Must
    Understand That There Is A Native Doctor That Supersede All Native Doctor
    Among All Native Doctor, If You Are In Search Of A Powerful Native Doctor
    With Great Spiritual Powers, Then You Must Be In Search Of A Native Doctor
    That Derives Power From The Marine World. That Is The Spirituality Of The
    Greatest Africa Native Doctor Obodubu.
    Dr Obodubu Is Recognized All Over The World Of Marine Kingdom, As One
    Of The Top Fortunate And Most Powerful Native Doctor Of Charms Casts From
    The Beginning Of His Ancestors ship Until Now Dr who lives Strong
    Among All Other Native Doctors, There Have Never Been Any Form Of
    Impossibility Beyond The Control Of Dr Obodubu. It Doesn’t Matter The
    Distance Of The Person With The Problems Or Situation, All You Have To Do
    Is Believe
    In The Native Obodubu charms Casts That Works, He Always
    Warns Never To Get His Charms Casts If You Do Not Believe Or Unable To
    Follow His Instruction.
    It Is The Assignment Of The Native Doctor Obodubu To Offer
    Services To Those In Need Of Spiritual Assistance Not Minding The Gravity
    Of Your Situations Or Distance As Long As Water, Sea, Ocean, Lake, River
    Sand etc. Are Near You, Then Your Problems Of Life Would Be Controlled
    Under Your Foot.
    If You Need Any Spiritual Help On Any of These:
    Get Your Lover Back
    Fruit Of The Womb
    Fibroid
    Business Boom
    Financial Breakthrough
    Get Rich Without Ritual WhatsApp +2349058774809
    Do As I Say
    Bad Dream
    Promise And Fail
    Epilepsy
    Spiritual Attack
    Land/Court Case
    Mental Disorder
    Political Appointment
    Visa Approval
    Cancer
    Examination Success
    Spend And Get Back
    Good Luck
    Natural Health
    Hypertension
    Diabesity (Diabetic+Obesity
    Stroke
    Sickle Cell
    Impotency
    Win Court Case
    Promotion At Work
    Commanding Tone
    Protection Ring
    Marriage Success
    Love Ring
    Favour Ring
    Recover Lost Glory
    Spiritual Power For Men Of God
    Travel Success Ring
    Job Success
    Lotto/Pool Win And Many More.
    Make Haste To Call or WhatsApp Dr Obodubu Monday +2349058774809. Or Mail Him to
    babadoctorobodubuspiritualhome@gmail.com For Spiritual Problem Today And
    You Will Surely
    Get Solution To All Your Predicament.
    Email: babadoctorobodubuspiritualhome@gmail.com
  36. I want to share this great testimony to the world on how Dr VOODOO cure me from HSV1&2 with his herbs, I was nervous when i first contact him about the cure for HSV but i decided to give him a try because i was desperate to get cured and be free from HSV. Dr VOODOO prepared the remedy and sent it to me through UPS,which I use just the way Dr VOODOO instructed me and thank God today I am a beneficiary to this cure and I went back to the hospital after 7 days of taking the herbs and I tested HSV1&2 Negative. So I will tell you all who are looking for a cure to his/her HSV1&2 that Dr VOODOO took research before he could finally get the solution to it and a lot of people are benefiting from him right now. He also cured my friend from HPV. Dr VOODOO heals with natural herbs. Please I urge you to contact him now through his email address: voodoospelltemple66@gmail.com or call and WhatsApp him on +2348140120719. He is capable of curing HIV/AIDS, HERPES, HPV, HSV1&2, CANCER of all kinds, DIABETES and so many other infections.

Comments are closed.