Times 27907 – Wilco (The Album)

Time: 16 minutes
Music: Bax, Tintagel, Boult/LPO

Another easy Monday, but I biffed so many I’m going to be spending a lot of time figuring out the cryptics as I write the blog.   There are also a number of points I will have to research.   So maybe this shouldn’t have been so easy, or maybe we don’t need the cryptics.   Well, at least we have a crypt.   There were not many actual chestnuts, although experienced solvers will know decaf/faced, the two sailors in Addis Ababa, the goat with no corn, and the upside-down help in India. 

Since we had Bax last week, I pulled out the Lyrita LP of his tone poems.   These are fine performances by Sir Adrian Boult, highly recommended if you like English-style classical music. 

Across
1 Very naughty boy outside a court, having arrived with large beast (8,5)
BACTRIAN CAMEL – B(A CT)RIAN + CAME + L, referring to Monty Python’s Life of Brian.
8 Bird’s nest is one being very high (4)
SOUP – SO + UP.   Fortunately, I didn’t biff coop.
9 Meat pie, served with coffee, sent back, looking anaemic (5-5)
PASTY-FACED – PASTY + DECAF backwards.
10 Start to accept fish in sea abroad seem diseased? (8)
MALINGER – M(A[ccept] LING)ER. 
11 Fox should cover conflict once in progress (6)
TOWARD – TO(WAR)D, where the “in progress” meaning of toward is obsolescent, although maybe not obsolete.
13 Combine with two sailors in an investment producing capital (5,5)
ADDIS ABABA – ADD IS(ABAB)A.  An ISA is a UK investment; here in the US we have the IRA, but that acronym was already taken over there.
16 Data coming back relating to an Ulster region (4)
INFO – OF N.I.  Northern Ireland is six out of the nine counties in Ulster, so it is properly called an Ulster region.
17 Sudden blast son’s taken in belly (4)
GUST – GU(S)T.
18 Trio snatching at Scots hooligan were menacing (10)
THREATENED – THRE(AT)E + NED.
20 Snooker break is met with difficulty in the end (6)
STYMIE – Anagram of IS MET + [difficult]Y.
22 Shoot the breeze with blonde in attempt to manipulate (8)
GASLIGHT – GAS + LIGHT, as modern language comes to the Times.   We’ll be back to bishops and barristers shortly, however.
24 He painted bishop with bad back gulping too much cold water (10)
BOTTICELLI –  B (OTT ICE) LLI, whichis ill backwards. 
26 Bottomless river associated with Parana’s source (4)
DEEP – DEE + P[arana] – fortunately, you don’t need to know who or what Parana is.
27 Direction Strehler originally provided in Aston theatre adaptation? (4-5-4)
EAST-NORTH-EAST – Anagram of S[rehler] + ASTON THEATRE – you don’t need to know who Strehler is, either!
Down
1 Shilling taken from chest with another in economic cycle (4,3,4)
BOOM AND BUST – BO[s]OM AND BUST.    Inflation and deflation, or something like that.
2 Goat denied grain comes to island (5)
CAPRI – CAPRI[corn]. 
3 Abhorrent ruling to imprison reversed before magistrates (9)
REPUGNANT – RE(UP backwards)GNANT.
4 Empire once so small and insubstantial to overturn (7)
ASSYRIA – AS + S + AIRY upside-down.
5 Weep over pint in church cellar (5)
CRYPT – CRY + PT.
6 Malicious trick takes in hospital for now (9)
MEANWHILE – MEAN W(H)ILE.
7 Some colliers are buried (3)
LIE – Hidden in [col]LIE]rs.
12 Royal seen among tree ferns ordered snack (11)
REFRESHMENT – Anagram of TREE FERNS containing HM.
14 Hints from close friends (9)
INTIMATES – Double definition.
15 Economist with German husband supporting second president (4,5)
ADAM SMITH – ADAMS + MIT H.
19 Artillery regiment with gun elevated in routine (7)
REGULAR – RA + LUGER upside-down.
21 One whose time is done in City, working with cross to bear (2-3)
EX-CON – E(X)C + ON.
23 Home help sent up country (5)
INDIA – IN + AID upside-down.
25 Mineral source almost disappeared from Pacific state (3)
ORE – ORE[gon[e]], an obvious biff.

89 comments on “Times 27907 – Wilco (The Album)”

  1. A rare solve for me as I’m another interloper from the QC. Not only did I achieve a pb with this (64:43), but that was nearly two minutes quicker than the QC took. I would have been quite a lot faster too but I was preparing dinner and eating it while I was doing it. A shame to miss out on a sub-hour solve, but I can’t complain at a pb and it just makes it easier to break next time. Thanks all.
    1. My first complete grid for the 15×15, after honing my skills on and off on the QC for the last two years or so. Alas, not a correct solve, failing with both COOP and THWART, but everything else done, and all correct answers parsed except REPUGNANT. Went in surprisingly quickly in two sittings (albeit a day late!), and very enjoyable. Thanks for the tip about the accessibility, and nice to see so many of my fellow QC’ers here as well 🙂

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