Times 27897 – 162 filled in squares of satisfaction

Author   piquetPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
I loved this puzzle; it had, for me, the perfect mixture of interesting words, clever wordplay, only one anagram, and nothing too obscure; a couple of plants, an animal, a Greek chap, a bit of CRS, and so on. We’re snowed in again, so lockdown doesn’t seem so bad as going out is not an attracive option, although the dog disagrees. Amazon has brought me three more large jigsaws to keep me busy.
I hope you enjoy it too, or can forgive me for banging on, if you felt differently.

Across
1 Smack on behind produces lingering sensation (10)
AFTERTASTE – AFTER (behind) TASTE (smack).
6 Found plough removed from Parisian fortress (4)
BASE – BASTILLE loses TILL (plough). I can see found = base as in “it was founded on / based on…”
8 Gentle exercise taken with a climber (5,3)
SWEET PEA – SWEET (gentle), PE, A.
9 Butcher’s chestnut horse should be returned (6)
GANDER – Reverse of RED NAG. Butcher’s (hook) CRS for look = gander.
10 Pot for reheated meat and vegetables (4)
HASH – Double definition.
11 With villain seen at Parliament, shelter on bridge (10)
WHEELHOUSE – W, HEEL (villain) HOUSE (Parliament).
12 Hanging about in short undies no good (9)
LINGERING – LINGERI(E), NG = no good.
14 Landmark seen in Australian port after docking (5)
CAIRN – CAIRN(S). Port in north-east of Australia. Worth a visit, maybe, on the way to dive the GB Reef.
17 River taking sulphur to Sumerian city-state (5)
STOUR – S (sulphur, which is now spelt sulfur), TO, UR (one of many city-states in the Sumer civilisation; the one you’ve heard of). There are 5 River Stours in England, and one in New Zealand, at least.
19 Miserable chap tucking into toast (9)
CHEERLESS – Insert LES (a chap) into CHEERS (a toast).
22 Corner at 90 — that needs precise approach (5,5)
RIGHT ANGLE – well, you’d need to come in at the right angle, for a precise approach.
23 Lout beginning to cause mayhem when officer leaves (4)
CHAV – C (beginning to cause) HAV(OC) remove OC = officer (commanding). A chav is a “lower class anti-social male dressed in flashy sports clothing”, although I have seen some chavs who are quite well behaved and social, if not well dressed.
24 One suit makes a Scottish outfit (6)
HEARTS – Reference to the Edinburgh football team Heart of Midlothian FC, usually known as Hearts.
25 Plant key behind reptile house (8)
ASPHODEL – ASP (reptile) HO (house) DEL (key on keyboard). A common plant in these pages.
26 Viewer’s sore as regularly sat by set? (4)
STYE – Alternate letters of S a T b Y s E t.
27 Dismal expression to consume small one being humbled (6,4)
LOSING FACE – A LONG FACE being a dismal expression, insert S(mall) and I.

Down
1 Hard to crack clues say rewritten for tragic author (9)
AESCHYLUS – H for hard, inside (CLUES SAY)*. Greek chap who wrote tragedies.
2 Agent’s ultimate motivation is betrayal (7)
TREASON – T (end of agent) REASON (motivation).
3 Parasite in record dispute over millions (8)
TAPEWORM – TAPE (record), ROW(dispute) reversed, M. I wonder how many more years setters will talk about taping for recording and EP and LP for records? But there again, vinyl does have a following!
4 Wind through blades creates unseen danger (5,2,3,5)
SNAKE IN THE GRASS – SNAKE (wind), IN THE (through), GRASS (blades of).
5 Becomes hard to follow case of European political theorist (6)
ENGELS – E..N (case of EuropeaN) GELS (becomes hard).
6 Swine upset everyone after scrap where house calls made (5,4)
BINGO HALL – BIN (scrap), HOG reversed, ALL.
7 Poet having to write in ship on turning turtle (7)
SPENSER – PEN (write) inside reversed RE (on) SS (ship). My FOI, just because it was the first clue I happened to read.
13 Lovelorn cowboy on lake shows tactless behaviour (9)
GAUCHERIE – GAUCHO our cowboy, loses O (lovelorn), on Lake Erie.
15 Kingmaker needs tree for English country home (9)
NASHVILLE – you could write this in from the definition, if you spotted that; to parse it you have to know that Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, was so known, as during the Wars of the Roses he had a big hand in restoring Edward IV and then Henry VI to be King. Then you replace the E in NEVILLE with ASH for tree. And know that Nashville is the home of country music, of course.
16 Play safe with hammer (5,3)
PETER PAN – PETER (slang for safe), PAN (hammer, criticise).
18 Move across to pack explosive in missile system (7)
TRIDENT – RIDE (move across) inside TNT (explosive). I’m not sure why ‘across’ is needed.
20 Greek character embraced by female creature (7)
ECHIDNA – CHI (Greek letter) inside EDNA (a female person). The echidna or spiny ant-eater lives only in Australia and New Guinea and its four variants and the platypus are the only egg-laying mammals. I only knew that because I was reading about them on Wiki recently when Platypus cropped up in a puzzle.
21 One held in contempt to stop call for decoration (6)
TASSEL – ASS (someone held in contempt) inside TEL (call).

​

54 comments on “Times 27897 – 162 filled in squares of satisfaction”

  1. I surprised myself by remembering the kingmaker, but I never did twig to ‘country home’; not that I tried, being happy enough to solve. CHAV took some time, as the V suggested SPIV–a word whose meaning I repeatedly forget. I had no idea what was going on with HEARTS, but with the checkers and the definition I felt fairly safe in putting it in.
  2. 34 minutes with time lost in the SE corner. NASHVILLE took a while to emerge and then the V-checker it provided had me considering SPIV for 23ac although being a lout is not one of the basic requirements of spivery. CHAV is thought by some to have Romany origins in spite of the somewhat distasteful but popular myth that it is an ancronym derived from ‘Council House And Violent’.

    From somewhere I had the idea that ASPHODEL was a device for sprinkling Holy Water so at least its appearance today prompted me to look it up and confirm that is an ‘aspergil’ (or aspergillum). What’s the betting this will now turn up in a puzzle?

    LOSING FACE and TASSELL were my last ones in.

  3. Somehow, the right answers just seemed to suggest themselves, even with only the odd checker in place.
    My favourites were BINGO HALL (“house calls”) and NASHVILLE (“country home”)
    Thanks Pip, especially for TASSEL as I wasn’t sure about TEL.
  5. For me this was a game of two halves. The left hand side flew in making me think this was going to be a quick solve but then the right hand side took considerably longer. I didn’t spot the cunning definition of “country home” early, thinking that the country home was going to be a villa when I had the V and the L in. Likewise “where house calls made” was too subtle for me to see initially. LOI CAIRN where I sort of thought it was a landmark and I had a feeling there was a place called Cairns but my instincts were not strong enough to avoid an alphabet trawl before submitting to ensure I was not missing something which would cause me to end up with egg on my face.
  6. Of course I could. My favourite pizza place is up near Tynecastle.
    25 mins pre-brekker. Mostly I liked Bingo Hall and Country Home.
    Thanks setter and Pip.
  7. FOI 4D: SNAKE IN THE GRASS

    Stuck at the end in the SE corner. struggling in turn over NASHVILLE, CHAV, ECHIDNA and finally ASPHODEL (the latter I had NHO). Submitted in haste, forgetting to enter TASSEL, which I had planned to return to and biff (but hadn’t parsed TEL at that point). Very enjoyable.

    Thank you, pipkirby and the setter.

    Edited at 2021-02-10 08:09 am (UTC)

  8. 26 minutes with LOI TASSEL. Lots of clues to bring a smile in this. I thought early on that RIGHT ANGLE would be my COD but then I reached NASHVILLE. I love that country pie, and I knew that Gary, Phil and Tracey’s ancestor Richard was the Warwick the Kingmaker, so that wins the COD prize hands down. Great fun. Thank you Pip and setter.
  9. NASHVILLE has a building sublime
    The Parthenon, but in its prime
    With a massive Athena
    (AESCHYLUS might’ve seen her)
    Please do have a GANDER sometime
  10. 14:55 DNK Neville the Kingmaker and failed to spot the music references, so pondered a while over NASHVILLE. Very entertaining. I enjoyed STOUR as I have often walked along the one that makes the border between Suffolk and Essex and I liked the reference to my address (I live in TASSEL Rd). Originally from North of the border I know my Scottish football teams so that was a trio of clues to make up for my ignorance at 15D. COD to BINGO HALL for the “where house calls made”.

    Edited at 2021-02-10 08:45 am (UTC)

  11. Hibs and HEARTS are two of the Edinburgh soccer teams, which I knew from reading Rebus. Immediately thought of Warwick, but had to wait until POI to solve. TASSEL LOI, still not sure about TEL. COD to ECHIDNA.

    20′ 55″, thanks pip and setter.

  12. 14.33, real pleasure. The setter is to be commended in not evoking Chelsea FC to produce CHAV – it would have made it too easy for followers of the London clubs (and possibly HEARTS too).
    NASHVILLE diverted me post solve to the entry on Warwick: my oath, those were complicated times. Lost at St Albans, and died at Barnet, both non league teams.
    The anagram for AESCHYLUS helped with the spelling, as I had to find somewhere for the Y. I knew the dramatist, but that doesn’t mean I can spell him. Similar challenges for ASPHODEL and ECHIDNA.
    Keep up the cheerful work, Pip. Best of luck with the jigsaws.
  13. If anyone is able to clarify further, please:

    TEL = CALL – is this intended as an abbreviation of telephone? As in: to telephone someone = to call someone. I can see that my hard copy Chambers has ‘tel’ as an abbreviation for ‘telephone number’. I just want to understand if there is something else that I am missing!

    2. It used to common to see TEL on the side of business vehicles, or shop fronts, to encourage would-be customers to call the number shown.
  14. 13:54, with a long pause at the end over 21dn, where like word_psmith above I’m a bit confused that others aren’t confused. In what context does TEL mean ‘call’? Whatever it is, I’ve never come across it and it hasn’t made it into any of the dictionaries I’ve consulted. It’s an abbreviation for ‘telephone number’.
    A nice puzzle rather spoiled at the end.

    Edited at 2021-02-10 09:55 am (UTC)

    1. I didn’t give it much thought at the time but since reading you and word_psmith and consulting the Chambers app “tel” for call doesn’t seem to work properly.

      Edit — missed the further conversation below.

      Edited at 2021-02-10 10:45 am (UTC)

  15. Hmm, TEL is listed in Lexico as an abbreviation of telephone, and you can call/telephone someone so I suppose it is OK. Never ever heard or seen it in that connection, mind you

    I knew Warwick the Kingmaker well enough but never made the transition to Neville. I assumed the clue had something to do with Elvis and wrote it straight in!

    Heard of asphodel, but would not want to have to describe one

    Good crossword, otherwise..

    Edited at 2021-02-10 10:14 am (UTC)

    1. I don’t think that makes it OK at all. Unless the abbreviation TEL is used as a verb – which it isn’t – you can’t use it as a synonym for ‘call’.
        1. By this logic you could use ‘find employment for’ to indicate PL. Or how about FL to indicate KO (since fl. is an abbreviation for ‘floor’)?

          Edited at 2021-02-10 10:40 am (UTC)

        2. Yes, you might say I’ll ‘phone you tomorrow but you wouldn’t say say I’ll tel you tomorrow, therefore, to my mind, the abbreviation doesn’t work.
      2. I agree that tel does not equal call. I think call up would have been better as let us definitely a call in tennis. Otherwise I thought it was a great crossword.
  16. Enjoyed this puzzle a lot, though took a while to crack.

    Nothing overly tricky, just took a while to piece together.

    I assumed TEL was short for telephone?

  17. 24.00. Agree with the blogger on enjoyability. Lots to applaud even if a bit gristly in parts. FOI base, LOI nashville , a struggle but really well clued when you saw it in totality. Always had an admiration for Warwick and knew he was a Neville but took a while to make the connection.

    COD gaucherie closely followed by echidna.

  18. Just over 10 mins, with several biffed and/or not sure, so I was pleasantly surprised to see all green cells at the end. Thanks for explaining STOUR, as I didn’t have a clue what was going on there.

    I wasn’t helped by having AFTERSHOCK for some time: once I realise that error, the puzzle became unstuck. And I learn for the first time what a WHEELHOUSE is.

  19. I’m thankful for my country home
    It gives me peace of mind

    when I finally get it. After a while. A very long while.

  20. A very elegant puzzle, with the SE corner knottier than the rest. I also wondered about the “call” part of TASSEL but no other misgivings. 24m
  21. Sorry to be so curmudgeonly, but I was less delighted with this puzzle than people generally seemed to be. There were several MERs, in many of which M stands for ‘mildest’: sweet = gentle (the very mildest), chestnut = red, hash = pot (ignorance really), heel = villain (I should have thought a heel was more of a cad and Collins agrees), the degree sign missing from 90, outfit = football team, in the = through, ride = move across, ‘creature’ as a definition of a very specific creature, and the only one that some people might grudgingly agree with, tel = call.

    Most of these can easily enough be justified but were enough to slow me down and make me unhappy with the experience.

  22. ENGELS and BASE got me off to a flying start, with SPENSER, GANDER, BINGO HALL and WHEELHOUSE rapidly following. In fact I made rapid progress throughout until grinding to a halt in the SE, where CHAV, NASHVILLE and CAIRN had to be dragged out kicking and screaming. Remembered Neville once I spotted the country home. Liked RIGHT ANGLE and SNAKE IN THE GRASS. 31:39. Thanks setter and Pip.
  23. Aside from the rather obvious SNAKE IN THE GRASS (very Woodhousian – Spode etc), everything else had to be dug up from the cryptic which is a refreshing change. I often find that the quickest way to solve a puzzle is look for the literal and ignore the cryptic, but not possible today.
    Last clues left were all in the SE, and I did like the ‘country home’. Knew about echidnas at age 4, my speciality at that time, along with platypuses.
  24. I had ‘Gauchness’ at 18dn (lovelorn cowboy = Gauch over (lake/loch) = Ness)!! The simple 26ac forced me to reconsider but had NHO gaucherie so had to resort to aids.
  25. I had “gauchness” for a while too and luckily had the nagging feeling it couldn’t be right. Like others I’d remembered Warwick but forgotten the Neville part. I was the sort of kid that refused to clap for Tinkerbell. I found this one quite hard with a few stubborn ones at the end that eluded me like the axis of TASSEL and LOSING FACE. *a*s** and **s*n* *a*e just seemed to stare back at me. 21.06
  26. Oh dear oh dear. I blame the glasses I raised to Joe Root last night. At least I got stuck in the SE corner as did others . Thought I was on for a finish but couldn’t get 16 & 21 dn. Thought Peter Pan was a book originally, but I gather the character appeared in a book before it was a play. Same MERs as wilransome. Didn’t like 23ac, modern perjorative term. Thought 15 dn clever, never seen that use of country. I never stop learning.
    Liked 6 dn, for some of us ‘house calls’ will only ever mean one thing.
    Fell down some rabbit holes thinking 11ac was Wheatstone, an electrical circuit bridge device dredged from student days , and ?Spenser or ?Spender.
    I’ve seen asphodels in the hills of Andalucía in the spring .

    COD 15dn

    Thank you to setter for a challenge, and to Pip.

  27. I also enjoyed this one very much. Tad over 20 minutes, with a delay in the SW corner due to also putting in Gauchness (but you can see why!)for 13D. Unlucky for some, I suppose. COD Asphodel.
  28. 45m here, and held up for long enough by TASSEL. I’m with the ‘antis’ on this clue though not with the puzzle which I though inventive in places. Did think heel for villain pushed the boundary a bit. Thank you to setter and blogger today.
  29. I agree with pipkirby about the merits of this puzzle. I was pleased to finish it in the time I did and there were many chuckles along the way.

    The kingmaker and the asphodel were dragged up from the deepest depths – I always get the latter and amphora mixed up

    Thank you setter and blogger.

  30. Got most of this but the SE was bare when I had finished my coffee, so I came here for enlightenment.
    Glad I did. CAIRN and NASHVILLE would have taken forever; and I’m another who frowned when I saw Tel = Call.
    But lots to enjoy here.
    David

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