Times 27903 – “I’m into something good”.

Posted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Nothing exceptional, for me, in this puzzle, apart from what I think is a clueing error in 1d (see below). 20 minutes to do and parse, then look up 8a afterwards to see who he was, and reminisce about Peter Noone and his Hermits.EDIT it appears I was incorrect about 1d and had mis-worked the anagrist, so apologies to setter and editor for invoking a booboo.

EDIT I foolishly tried to edit a bit on my phone and now the HTML has gone haywire, introduced a big gap between Across and Down clues, but I can’t see why it has appeared or any errors; please bear with it, or let me know what needs changing to fix it.

Across
1 Savoury jelly originally served in a popular film (5)
ASPIC – A, PIC (popular film) insert S from served.
4 Lie by river accommodating alien Yankee craft (8)
BASKETRY – BASK (lie), ET (alien) by R(iver) Y(ankee).
8 Old French monk? He’s involved with their tempter! (5,3,6)
PETER THE HERMIT – (HE THEIR TEMPTER)*. I had to look up this chap after solving the anagram, Pierre l’Ermite was an eleventh century monk from Amiens who went on the First Crusade and came back. L’Ermite was most likely his surname, he wasn’t a troglodyte.
10 Practised parking English undertaker’s vehicle in road (9)
REHEARSED – E, HEARSE, inside RD.
11 Retired teacher greeting Hindu sage (5)
RISHI – SIR reversed, HI. Rishi is a Vedic term for “enlightened one”, good to know; Mr Sunak for one.
12 Singer reversed test, having ultimately scant appeal (6)
TOMTIT – MOT (annual car test) reversed, T (end of scant) IT (appeal).
14 Split from company at first, taking holiday, pocketing a grand (8)
CLEAVAGE – C(ompany), LEAVE, insert A G.
17 Tirade in Irish islands ultimately scathing in tone (8)
HARANGUE – HUE = tone, insert ARAN (Irish islands) and G from end of scathing.
18 University originally paying part of castle’s running costs (6)
UPKEEP – U, P(aying), KEEP (part of castle).
20 Plankton: prey rorquals principally swallowed (5)
KRILL – prey = KILL, insert R(orquals).
22 Colleague’s wife teacher stumbled over first (9)
BEDFELLOW – B.Ed (teacher) FELL (stumbled) O(ver) W(ife).
24 Final, formal brushoff for Augustus or Gwen? (4,4,6)
DEAR JOHN LETTER – Reference to Augustus and Gwen John, brother and sister artists.
25 Learners of French involved in daring escapades (8)
STUDENTS – DE (of in French) inside STUNTS.
26 Astute waif initially avoided scrap (5)
SHRED – SHREWD (astute) loses the W of waif.

Down
1 Communist administrators that endlessly pack Paris, oddly (12)
APPARATCHIKS – anagram of THA PARIS PACK. Not THAT PARIS PAC as I initially proposed.
2 Playing area perfect for some musicians (5)
PITCH – double definition; play on a pitch, have perfect pitch meaning have the ability to recognise or create a note without a reference tone.
3 Bloomer in motor race (9)
CARNATION – CAR (motor) NATION (race).
4 Most advisable to accept the governor’s command (6)
BEHEST – Insert HE (His Excellency) into BEST (most advisable).
5 Agenda revolutionary Law Lord set up in Home Counties (8)
SCHEDULE – CHE (Guevara) and LUD reversed inside SE (South East of England).
6 Wrongdoing of troublesome brat the head expelled (5)
ERROR – TERROR loses his T.
7 Bring back control say (9)
REINSTATE – REIN (control) STATE (say).
9 Deprived of authority, we’d some pride destroyed (12)
DISEMPOWERED – (WE’D SOME PRIDE)*.
13 Slip up in dumbshow, not ignoring Oscar’s mirth (9)
MERRIMENT – ERR in MIME, followed by N(o)T = not ignoring Oscar.
15 Sufficiency of drink surrounding politician on loch (9)
AMPLENESS – ALE around MP then Loch NESS.
16 Colour of barrel upset by British private (8)
NUTBROWN – TUN reversed, BR(itish), OWN = private.
19 Comely youth in farmstead on island (6)
ADONIS – hidden as above.
21 Sensational start to lecture union leader delivered (5)
LURID – L(ecture) U(nion) RID = delivered.
23 Sell up, leaving island subsequently (5)
LATER – RETAIL = sell, up = LIATER, remove I for island.

96 comments on “Times 27903 – “I’m into something good”.”

  1. Quite enjoyed that. Needed the anagrist to spell 1dn correctly – I had the ‘endlessly’ applying to THAT, leaving (THA PACK PARIS)* which worked for me. Harangue and cleavage the pick, for me.
    1. 29 minutes. Like others I had never heard of Gwen, but I knew Augustus so it didn’t matter.
  2. DNK Gwen, but having biffed from the enumeration + LETTER, and knowing Augustus, I inferred there was a Gwen John as well. Biffed PETER THE H, trusting that the anagrist was there. NUTBROWN took a while, as I would have spelled it with a hyphen; but I see now that Collins has it as one word. Does LUD exist aside from m’lud?
      1. And in ODE and Collins, I see; but those two only give it as part of the vocative “m’lud/my lud”. (Does anyone say “my”?) I should add that I wasn’t objecting to the clue; I rather liked it.

        Edited at 2021-02-17 07:25 am (UTC)

        1. Here’s the full SOED entry which in 1. separates it from its usual legal context, but then the clue has ‘Law Lord’ which puts it straight back into that context so I don’t know, other than to say it was clear to me what was required so I didn’t really give it any thought.

          lud noun. E18.
          [ORIGIN Repr. a pronunc.]

          1 = lord noun 5. Chiefly as interjection. arch. E18.

          2 m’lud, my lud = my lord (e) s.v. lord noun, used as a form of address to a judge in a court of law. M19.

          Edited at 2021-02-17 07:33 am (UTC)

  3. Thanks, Pip. A slow start but I picked up speed.
    My FOI was DISEMPOWERED and then proceeded in a clockwise direction from SE round to NE.
    I agree with Isla3 and Kevin’s interpretation of APPARATCHIKS. i seem to remember when I first came across the word in a cryptic I was convinced it ended …TCHNIKS.
    Clever that we had two types of teacher: SIR and B.ED
    COD to HARANGUE. I was originally looking for a word that meant ‘scathing in tone’.
    1. I thought perhaps an Apparatchnik might be a small (i.e. minor) Apparatchik — but my Russian wife tells me it doesn’t work like that.
  4. …With future generations as the lender,
    He’s a real big spender.
    20 mins with LOI Dear John. Mostly I liked Reinstate.
    Is this the phantom start/end indicator setter? Originally, ultimately, at first, ultimately (again), originally (again), principally, initially, endlessly, the head, leader, start to.
    Too many IMHO.
    Thanks setter and Pip.

    Edited at 2021-02-17 07:50 am (UTC)

  5. All reasonably straightforward today, finishing with a tentative LATER where I forewent my intention to have everything parsed and went for it thinking it couldn’t be anything else. On reflection my intention wasn’t adhered to 100% elsewhere, in particular with DEAR JOHN LETTER. I had no idea who Augustus or Gwen were so I could have sat looking at that all day and not parsed it. After reading Pip’s blog I had a vague feeling we might have seen them before but a search suggests they last appeared in 2013 and I’m not sure I’d have remembered that far back.
    1. I knew Augustus John from a pub of that name in Liverpool, right next to what has now become the campus. It was a carpark or “debby” when I was there. Debby from French debris I think, meaning bombsite.
      Didn’t know Gwen; don’t remember any sight of her in the Rodin museum where she lived with the sculptor.
      Andyf
      1. Also known as “bomdies” in Liverpool. See also the Ronnie Lane song “Debris” referring to love on a bomb-site.

        Edited at 2021-02-17 08:27 pm (UTC)

  6. DISEMPOWERED I chafe at the riddle
    Are all those birds an ERROR or fiddle?
    But my HARANGUE is paused
    With the MERRIMENT caused
    By TIT CLEAVAGE, right in the middle!
    1. Oh, well (greater?) spotted! My grandfather used to hugely enjoy himself singing “on a tree by a river” from the Mikado because it allowed him to use the word “tit” without reproof.
  7. 19 minutes. LOI HARANGUE. I thought I was on for a sub 10 but then slowed down a little in the lower half. I’ll give COD to DEAR JOHN LETTER, although I have got these throughout my life. Thank you Pip and setter.

    Edited at 2021-02-17 10:32 am (UTC)

  8. Held up at the end by HARANGUE and BASKETRY (my first construction was BUSKETRY thinking of the river USK)
  9. Never heard of Gwen or Augustus, but with a few checkers it seemed certain. Some hesitation over the anagram at 8a, which was clearly PETER THE something using the letters MITHER. I was wary of an unknown French word, THERMI perhaps or THIRME, until the ‘doh’ moment. Nearly broke the ten minute barrier, which is an extremely rare occurrence. 10’02”
  10. 13:14 including two interruptions. NHO the hermit or Gwen John, but that didn’t hamper me much. Finished in the SW corner with KRILL and LURID. COD to REHEARSED for the amusing surface.
  11. 13:01, with over three minutes staring at 22ac for some reason. No idea why it took me so long to think of B.Ed for teacher, but it did.
    I had no idea about Augustus and Gwen while solving. I’ve heard of Augustus John but for some reason the presence of Gwen put me off the scent. Unconscious sexism no doubt: I will submit myself for training. It seems I jumped the gun with my farmer-who-got-a-John-Deere-letter gag the other day.

    Edited at 2021-02-17 10:20 am (UTC)

    1. The John Deere letter is brilliant. Been trying to figure out how to include it in random conversation.
  12. I’ve suddenly shot up the Club Leaderboard (pace Anonymous, who was excoriating about the thing a few days ago) because I’ve managed an entire month without pinks!
    Today very nearly wasn’t, as my post solve check revealed a typo, and then took time and the careful study of anagrist to get my (fourth) spelling of APPARATCHIKS right. Works if THAT is endless. Total elapsed time 13.26.
    My last in was DEAR JOHN, because I could not see what was passing between Augustus and Gwen. Research has persuaded me that Gwen was the better artist: take a look at the assembled works of Augustus, and there’s something decidedly wonky about them.
    And the more I think about it, neither of them would get a Dear John letter (though goodness knows there were plenty of possible occasions). Dear Ms/Mr John?
    1. You might be wrong there, Z. Starting a letter with “Dear Surname” was very common at one time. Mr or esq. etc. were kept for the envelope. My father had numerous letters that started Dear W… surnames were much more widely used in the fifties and before, especially by middle & upper clases
      1. I obviously don’t “remember” such a time, as I’ve always accepted as “proper” that it was either “dear John” or “dear Mr Johnson”, and “dear Johnson” both looks and sounds peremptory. However clearly fashions change, and in my experience most communications now just start “hi”.

      2. Addressing by Surname would only have applied if written by a male to another male, and even then the addressee would either be a friend, or a man of equal social standing, or who would move in the same social circle as the writer.
        In addition, Dear John letters are written by women to men, so why Gwen John would be a recipient of such is baffling.
        It’s a terrible clue as it stands, albeit bifable. But leaving Gwen out of the equation would have at least rendered it merely banal. (Mr Grumpy)
    2. Good work on the pink free month Z. It’s an ambition of mine but I’ve not got near it yet.
  13. Easy today, but fun with some neat clueing.
    There used to be two pubs at Ludgate Circus, bottom of Fleet St, called the Old King Lud and the New King Lud.

    A fun m’lud quotation for you:

    Judge: I have listened to all you have to say Mr Smith, and frankly I am none the wiser
    FE Smith, QC: No M’lud; but you are much better informed..

    1. I never knew there was a New King Lud, so I was interested to hear that. It wasn’t there when I started working in the City in the mid-late 90s but I paid a few visits to the Old King Lud. That is now long gone as well.
      1. I started working in that part of the City in the mid-90s too, and vaguely remember the pub, although nothing specific about it. We always seemed to end up in Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese.
    2. I used to own a couple of restaurants in Smithfield Market in the nineties and often popped out for a quick (quiet!j snifter at The Old King Lud.
      1. The King Lud was a proper Victorian London pub in the 1960s and 70s when I knew it, all mahogany and big windows .. but I don’t remember the New King Lud in Seacoal lane at all. It seems to have changed its name to Brady’s, quite quickly and not to be there now.
        1. According to legend, King Lud was the original founder of London. The early Saxon attempt to say Londinium (the name of the Roman city) was Luddentun, which by association was thought to be Luddes ton, ie Lud’s town.

          No marks for either the history or the etymology but an enduring myth.

          Cedric

  14. 17m today so my fastest solve for quite sometime. It might have been quicker too if I hadn’t locked myself into searching for ‘astute’ rather than ‘scrapped’ in 26a. Pleasant puzzle and thank you, setter. Thanks for the blog, Pip — you were evidently into something good throughout!
  15. All done in my standard 45 mins which I’m pleased about as, my printer ran out of colored ink so I no no black squares. Why does a printer need colored ink for black squares? Anyway, FOI CARNATION, LOI HARANGUE as I spelt APPARATCHIKS wrongly and had an I at the beginning. Der. COD to D,J,L. Funny that it came up after Keriothe’s recent comment. Thanks Pip and setter.
    1. You should tell it to print in monochrome. Then, it doesn’t..
      I tell mine to print in draft, greyscale. Ink, who needs it ..

      Edited at 2021-02-17 04:01 pm (UTC)

      1. Thanks Jerry, ours is actually set to greyscale, or “draft” but that still doesn’t seem to work. Ta anyway.
        1. OK but I am pretty sure there will be a way to tell it only to use black ink .. try “monochrome” or look for a specific setting
  16. 36 minutes for what was generally an enjoyable solve, though the parsing of HARANGUE and the wordplay for DEAR JOHN LETTER ended up beating me. Anyway, a welcome relief after a couple of toughies – yesterday especially and even today as well – in Another Place. I’ve had an elegant AMPLENESS of themes for the time being, thanks very much.

    Thanks to our setter and blogger.

  17. 11.55 with a sub ten looking likely till I stumbled over basketry and bedfellow. But best time for a few weeks so reasonably happy with life.
    FOI aspic, LOI bedfellow. COD dear john letter. Seemed like there was something for everyone today so more of the same please tomorrow.

    Got my first jab on Monday with few if any side effects so a good week in the offing. Oh to able to do a little exploring of pastures new. Can’t be too long away can it?

  18. Little to appreciate in terms of unexpected wit, but this seemed a course for the sprinter. 13.22 here so a rare sub-fifteen (though no doubt at a slow walking time for some). Gwen John was infinitely more modest than her brother in outlook and style but I agree with z8 as to her relative worth as an artist: see her portrait of Chloe Boughton-Leigh.
  19. I’ve had this gap problem in the past and it’s invariably a stray angle bracket that has found its way to the wrong place. Start by checking very carefully where you made your edit that you haven’t somehow done something unintended to one of those.
    1. I use the LJ visual editor when writing up the crossword, partly because HTML terrifies me and (almost) always produces weirdness. I’ve promised myself that one day I’ll use their Modern Post Editor, but on the ancient maxim of If It Ain’t Broke, that day seems as far away as ever.
      1. On the same basis (if it ain’t broke) I’ve kept using mohn2’s script generator, and it normally works a treat but if you do happen to mess with the HTML accidentally it can be a nightmare to find the error, particularly as the relationship between the error and its effect is pretty mysterious.
      2. I use mohn’s whizzo script to produce the skeleton, then the (old) visual editor for the rest.. which hopefully means I can leave the html well alone. If you are blogging a jumbo, Mohn’s script is a true godsend.. all the clues and all the answers written in for you
      3. After running the script and pasting into the LiveJournal interface, I use the Visual editor there but also an html editing app (BB Edit), where I adjust the html to my liking (and periodically save my work). For as long as I’ve been doing this, I’ve been invited every time to try the “New” LiveJournal editor, but I haven’t bothered. I wonder if anyone uses it.

        Edited at 2021-02-18 03:58 am (UTC)

    2. For what it’s worth – if you look at the raw HTML of the page, there’s about 1.5 x 10^6 Breaks: <BR>s
      between the Acrosses and the Downs. Shows up on developer mode (CTRL – SHIFT – I) but doesn’t show up on source moide (CTRL -U). Which seems to indicate there’s a problem in Live Journal – inconsistent.
  20. Albeit in a time that doesn’t bear recording, all complete and almost all parsed on the way. I did look at yesterday’s blog for the 15×15 and was v glad I didn’t try that one! I will go and investigate the Snitch for a guide to a few from the archives that might help rather than hinder my education.
  21. A little lengthened by dealing our dog who is on her last legs (literally). Nothing to frighten the horses here. LOI BEDFELLOW which was straightforward but not to me on this occasion.
    NHO AUGUSTUS and GWEN, not surprising for this LUDdite.
  22. On wavelength for this. 9a reminded me of a very silly movie from the late 90s which used to have my children in stitches every time they watched it(which was often) – The Dinner Game with Thierry L’Hermitte. Years ago when I was making my first, and very nervous, appearance before a court in NY the presiding judge was called Millard Midonick. In my stage fright I addressed him by mistake as M’Lud rather than Your Honour and he gave me a deathray stare. I realized afterwards that he must have thought thought I was being familiar. 9.12
  23. Bit of a biff-fest and very welcome after yesterday. Not sure 24 ac really works. Who’d write a DEAR JOHN LETTER addressing the unhappy recipient by their surname? 15m plus a troubling vision of Augustus John’s form master writing to him to break things off.
  24. ASPIC went in first, then I had a run of answers springing to mind as I read the clues. As usual, I eventually had a few left that took more thought, most of those being in the SE. BASKETRY was also a late arrival. BEDFELLOW was my LOI. 20:15. Thanks setter and Pip.
  25. Really enjoyed today, finished in just over 20 minutes which is probably a PB. FOI 10 ac ( rehearsed) .
    Liked 24ac. There are some beautiful works by both siblings in my local gallery ….( The National Museum of Wales ) . They both had ‘interesting ‘ personal lives. Worth a look on wiki. One day the stasi wil let us back into places where social distancing has always been the norm. ( county cricket too..).
    LOI Harangue, a bit of a biff.
    Thank you setter and blogger.
  26. On the wavelength this morning merrily biffing away.

    Little bits I didn’t parse included B.ed and BROWN — assumed there must be a British private called a brown.

    Vaguely heard of Augustus John — no idea about Gwen.

  27. Nothing horse-startling, indeed, but perfectly good sport. Also, if mohn can confirm that his time at the top of the leaderboard is a genuine solve, I am prepared to don a hat, purely so that I can doff it in admiration!
    1. I’m not sure but I think that’s the fastest I’ve ever seen for one of these. And if it’s Mohn it’s the real deal.
      1. Indeed, obviously he’s one of four or five people who are well known to us all, and who can submit that sort of time without being automatically ignored as neutrinos. However, I thought I should check it’s not some sort of IT error or something, because even by the standards of those four or five people, that time is so utterly astonishing!
        1. As a no-longer-subscriber, I can’t see Mohn’s time, but nevertheless know he’s genuine. Back when I was a subscriber there was randomly one day when I did my usual 20 – 25 minute solve and was credited with a time of something like 18 seconds. Blew the neutrinos off the map: Eat my dust, laggards. Might sound silly but made me really happy 😉 So the Times’ system isn’t 100% foolproof.
          1. It’s also visible on the SNITCH — 2:19. My mind is doing a considerable amount of boggling but I do trust it to be genuine.
            1. I’m fast, but I doubt I could fill the grid in that time even if I’d already solved on paper !
    2. This certainly felt like a fast solve at the time and I was pretty sure I’d comfortably broken 3m, but 2m19s did cause a MER – and thoughts about whether there’d been a technical glitch. Unfortunately I don’t generally look at the timer when I’m solving so I don’t know if anything went awry part way through. So thanks for the virtual hat doff but I will understand if you choose to retract it!
      1. Absolutely not, this is like seeing Usain Bolt casually take an extra half a second off his own 100m world record!
  28. Gwen was the sister of Augustus and some said the better artist. There is an excellent museum at Tenby full of pictures and information about the family and their exploits.
  29. Had this all done apart from DEAR JOHN LETTER for a long time – it wasn’t until a second and third attempt that the penny finally dropped. Not having heard of Augustus or Gwen John didn’t help.

    HARANGUE took a while to come, as I was trying to fit ‘rant’ inside another word. And ‘BEd’ isn’t something that occurs as quickly to me as the other options for teacher. Hopefully it will in future.

    FOI Reinstate
    LOI Dear John letter
    COD Rehearsed

  30. One of my fastest times at 5:31, helped by PETER THE HERMIT appearing in a thematic puzzle elsewhere a few weeks ago and sticking in the memory banks.
  31. Not as hard as yesterday, but after completing the bottom half I thought I wouldn’t finish.
    A second session with coffee after lunch did the trick. DISEMPOWERED was the breakthrough. LOI was PETER THE HERMIT; I had that pencilled in and only saw the anagram late to confirm this entirely unknown person. My other last few were Behest, Schedule and Basketry. COD to CARNATION, but lots of other good ones.
    David
  32. 16.41. I found this a fairly straightforward sprint for the line with perhaps one or two unexpected hurdles in the home straight, which for me were unravelling basketry, cleavage and identifying the correct teacher to go on the front of bedfellow. FOI aspic. LOI the unknown Peter the Hermit, first two words were obvious, just needed a little time to make something of the remaining anagrist.
  33. A rare solve of a 15×15 for me. Four on the first pass, then I started biffing and parsing afterwards for a few. With some of the checkers in it started to fall into place. My husband contributed “bedfellow” and then the grid fell apart. Apart from Tomtit and basketry, which I had to cogitate on. Thirty minutes or so. Really enjoyed solving this, even with the help, it was a good puzzle, not too easy and not too tough. FOI Aspic, LOI Tomtit. Enjoyed all the clues so no COD. Thanks Pip and setter. GW.
  34. A pleasant stroll.

    An ampleness of merriment is long overdue.

    THank you setter and blogger

  35. Missed NUTBROWN and SHRED. Guessed HERMIT. Needed CCD for CLEAVAGE , RISHI, SCHEDULE, but mostly solved the rest. Admit I saw DEAR JOHN while looking for the QC blog earlier in the day.

    FOI ASPIC.

    Enjoyable, but it has taken most of the afternoon so I don’t think I shall be here very often. Thanks setter and blogger.

    Edited at 2021-02-17 04:16 pm (UTC)

  36. ….which had me struggling to spot KRILL, and taking an extra 10 seconds or so breaking down my LOI, I found this pretty straightforward.

    FOI ASPIC
    LOI BASKETRY
    COD DEAR JOHN LETTER
    TIME 5:56

  37. Yes, a thoroughly enjoyable steady solve from foi Aspic to loi Shred — the ones in between were a bit more random. Slightly relieved that the setter was kind enough to clue 1d as an anagram: my vague recollection of the word wouldn’t otherwise have stretched to its spelling. Some nice clues, with 13d Merriment my favourite. Invariant
  38. I found this very easy (for me that means 30 minutes). Not much else to say about it. My first attempt at 1ac was INSET, but of course the APPARATCHIKS destroyed that. And 1dn was slightly irritating, trying to render a Russian word in English and having to pay serious attention to the anagrist to work out the desired spelling.
  39. FOI 1A: ASPIC
    LOI 24A: DEAR JOHN LETTER

    Accomplished in two sessions of 10 minutes either side of work today. I was surprised to be halfway through when I paused the clock, and was surprised that the other half went in as quickly.

    I’ve never heard of Gwen and possibly have a vague recollection of having come across Augustus, but I’d heard of (although not received) a Dear John Letter.

    Thanks to pipkirby and the setter

  40. A milestone of sorts
    Having only met the QC about 18 months ago, I am now also tackling the 15×15 on a more regular basis, mainly to keep Mrs S company, as the person she always used to “compare notes” with is no longer really doing the puzzle. So I am trying to step up …

    And I now think I have formally reached the point where I have lost track of the number of completed solves! One remembers the first time, and the second, and perhaps the next few, but today’s, while not quite the umpteenth yet, was certainly beyond enumeration. Hurrah.

    All green (though in a not-very-fast time) but not all parsed — that is a status I have yet to attain. One lives in hope, but meanwhile the blogs are invaluable. Many thanks Pip for today’s!

    Cedric

  41. Only two artists and they were related and in the same clue! No poets/composers/authors and no major problems today — around 40 minutes which is good for me.
  42. Time: Just over the hour

    FOI 1ac ASPIC

    LOI 24ac DEAR JOHN LETTER

    COD 13dn MERRIMENT

    WOD 12ac TOMTIT

Comments are closed.