Times 27,935: So You’ve Been To School For A Year Or Two And You Think You Know It All

68 comments on “Times 27,935: So You’ve Been To School For A Year Or Two And You Think You Know It All”

1. Alas! Did quite well here but couldn’t get the WATCH of WATCH CHAIN (what has this to do with hunting?) or CAMBODIA (not knowing CAM or ODI). Gave up rather than persist endlessly and I’m glad I did.

   Truth be told I was very fearful of COWBELL. At least COWHEEL could be parsed as “brief corporation” (CO) + “on railroad, maybe, it goes round” (WHEEL). But there wasn’t enough left for the definition. This is probably the 700th time I’ve failed to use “A on B” = B + A as a guide to wordplay. Even though no one will call it official, I’ve rarely if ever seen it violated.

   Thanks for the parsing, v!

   1. Hunter is a type of watch from the era when watches had chains.
2. Another puzzle needing a break half way to reset the brain, after the top row went straight. So more than an hour. Saw the Belly, didn’t know EA so no problem with teapot, but NHO Petrified Forest, toads, opuses, unslept in, knee and diplomat all refused to yield on first sitting.
   I parsed aflutter with feverish as anagrind and squirming as def – I think it works that way, too.
   Excellent challenging crossword.

   Edited at 2021-03-26 02:48 am (UTC)

3. I approach the Friday puzzles with grim determination as they are usually the hardest of the week, and the most rewarding. I think the very fact of it being a Friday makes me over-analyse the clues and take longer. But not today, when all seemed relatively straightforward, though
   I couldn’t parse COWBELL(thank you for that V), and luckily didn’t think of the recent COWHEEL.
   COD had to be LOI KNEECAP. Bravo setter!
   25’03” for a rare <2V
4. Regarding cricket in SE Asia, I have a vague memory of visiting Kuala Lumpur in the 1980s and seeing a magnificent cricket oval in the middle of the city, where reputedly Hash House Harriers were formed.
   1. There is also, I think, the Padang (Singapore Cricket Club) ground in the middle of Singapore. Magnificent pavilion, if I remember correctly.
      1. Indeed, Singapore and Malaysia both former British colonies so would have had colonial overlords playing cricket, rugby, etc. Cambodia was colonised by the French… no cricket there.
         1. Certainly no cricket, rugby possibly. Good grub maybe too!
            1. According to Wiki, there is cricket in Cambodia. Ex-pats from the sub-continent, I guess. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_in_Cambodia
         2. Do they have petanque at least?
5. A half-hour online, then off to the gym, then leisurely (perforce) back to the puzzle over a sandwich and tea; under an hour, I’d say, but probably not much. FOI JUTE, then nothing until TOASTER. Every other clue seemed recalcitrant. Naturally I thought of COrporation, and took ‘eccentric’ to be anagrind. Tried to make sense of TOWEL RACK for the longest time. DNK ODI Lots of great clues, out of which I’d maybe choose PETRIFIED FOREST and CAREER DIPLOMAT. A terrific puzzle, one of those that I feel especially pleased with myself to solve.
6. As the hour approached I was still missing the long answers at 6dn and 21ac and that was preventing progress with 3 or 4 other answers, so with my interest waning fast I decided to use aids to break the deadlock. I intended to look up one of the long ones but in the event I looked up both plus WINDBURN which I’d never have thought of.

   I guessed CAMBODIA at 5dn having been pleased to remember CAM as ‘eccentric’ and the BA was also accounted for, but I had no idea what ODI meant, nor what cricket had to do with any of it. In any case the definition’s not very satisfactory, I think.

   This was a toughie, and on the whole I was reasonably satisfied with what I achieved before boredom set in.

   Edited at 2021-03-26 05:26 am (UTC)

7. I also had a quick start, with 1A, 1D going straight in and then WATCH CHAIN. But then I slowed down. At the end, I had WINDBURN, UNSLEPT IN, and KNEE left. Even when I got WINDBURN, I thought that the multiple blows were WIND (ok, a blow) and BURN (say what?). Despite being an obvious anagram UNSLEPT IN took far too long to see. KNEE only came once I had both the checkers. But at least I finished all correct, but in a couple of sittings before dinner, after dinner, and then after a late conference call with Asia (from closer to Verlaine than Arizona). I also couldn’t understand COWBELL, trying to fit CO and EL as corporation and railway, to no success (and I’d already twigged that in English english, railroad has nothing to do with railways so it had to be the verbal meaning).
8. This felt quicker to me, thus proving that time flies when you’re having fun. I particularly enjoyed COWBELL, harking back to the recent “cowheel”. Surely intentional on the part of the setter? When I had CO for “brief corporation” and couldn’t parse the rest I thought to myself that I was going to end up biffing COWBELL and the answer was going to be “cowheel” again. Thankfully my same answer as last time came good this time.

   LOI TOADS where I presumed a “toad” to be some sort of trailer, as in one which goes behind a car, of which I’d not heard.

9. … so I just snuck in under the hour. Overall a great Friday puzzle which rewarded the effort involved. I put in COWBELL from the definition, so thanks, V, for the explanation.

   I happened to know CAM and ODI to sort out 5d, but would otherwise be complaining. The rest, however, seemed to be exactly what’s needed on a Friday.

10. I’m afraid I still don’t get:
    2d TOWEL RAIL: TO + WELL [supply (noun)] ??
    4d APLOMB: Surely that is just a noun. “Being collected” sounds like it should be an adjective.
    I’m obviously missing something here.
    With COWBELL, I was thinking of ‘tum’ or ‘gut’.
    FOI: JUTE
    LOI: AXIAL/MARTIAN
    COD: CAMBODIA. Perhaps there is an expat/diplomat in Pnomh Pen who visits TfTT who will tell us they have regular cricket matches there!
    1. …a supply as in a water or oil well.
       1. Thank you. I managed to misunderstand both “well” and “supply”!
    2. APLOMB is the state of being collected; works for me. “Collected” sounds adjectival.
       WELL: I wondered about that, and in fact gave up and just typed it in. I read V’s reading as a ‘well of information’ kind of supply; I don’t know if that’s what he had in mind.
       1. Yep, being connected = connectedness = aplomb.

          An inkwell or oil well is your supply of ink or what suppliers you with oil 😀

          1. Thanks. I managed to misunderstand both “well” and “supply”.
          2. Well no. It’s the repository for your ink. Which you fill up yourself. Mr Grumpy
             1. It is your pen’s supply. The pen doesn’t care about the herculean efforts involved in keeping it fed 😉
       2. Thanks, Kevin.
11. Excellent crossword. DNF after my usual 30 minutes. I also thought COWHEEL for too long. COD to KNEE.
12. Squat on my life?
    Can’t I use my wit as a pitchfork
    And drive the brute off?

    After 30 mins I lacked the forest, at peace and knee. Hmmm…
    Thanks setter and V.

13. 20:29 I was stuck for a couple of minutes at the end on CAMBODIA until I realised it was WINDBURN not SANDBURN. Lots of lovely clues (including Cambordia) but TEAPOT made me laugh most when I saw it.
14. I was 55 minutes on this, and was surprised to be all correct, although I had parsed all but one. I’d biffed COWBELL as I was still fixated on it starting with CO.I liked TOADS but I’ll give COD to CAMBODIA. Apparently, there is a Phnom Penh cricket club but it could be a while before England are down there for an ODI. I think I knew of the PETRIFIED FOREST via Disney. Quite tough, this one, but worth it. Thank you V and setter.
15. Set with APLOMB, it’s a winner
    But no EASY STREET for a BEGINNER
    Hit the JACKPOT today
    With the MARTIAN, I’d say
    My mind is AT PEACE — time for dinner

    Nature notes: If I recall correctly, it’s frogs that hop and toads that crawl, but I’m being rather picky

16. 25:25. That was a brute, and I can’t honestly say I enjoyed it. Finishing certainly brought a sense of achievement though.
    My last two in were AXIAL and COWBELL. I saw the answer fairly quickly for both but just couldn’t figure out the wordplay. In the case of COWBELL I never did: like others I had CO and EL(L) but got no further. I couldn’t see a workable definition for COWHEEL though, or anything else that fitted the checkers, so in the end I gave up, crossed my fingers and bunged it in.
    By the way v I think the word ‘of’ is part of the definition of AXIAL.
    1. Oh very good, yes it is, blog amended.
17. A stupid typo in the quickie left me in a bad mood starting this – maybe I should carry on in that vein as pennies dropped quickly everywhere, even spotting CAM for eccentric straight away, which is normally a “D’Oh” moment a long time later.

    LOI OPUSES – saw it had to start with “O” but couldn’t see the rest even with checkers for what seemed like an age.

    Anyways, I’ll take 11.28 any day, let alone a Friday.

    (Now watch out for 20 minutes with 5 typos on Monday).

18. 30:43
    Nice puzzle – the hunter watch thing was my LOI – once I recalled the timepiece I was there. Thanks v.
19. Very pleased with myself today. All finished and correct just on the hour which for me on a Friday is great. As V says, some very clever clues here. I liked PETRIFIED FOREST, ALAMEIN (took a while) COWBELL and the leg pulling. COD to WATCH CHAIN though. For once I remembered “hunter” as a watch. Thank you V and setter.
20. 40.12 and just delighted to have finished.Started well enough but really had to toil down the right hand side. FOI jute, LOI windburn which I sort of got in the totality but was at a loss as to why face was so prominent. Presumably that’s not the only part of the anatomy to potentially suffer or maybe it is.

    Career diplomat took an age, for a long time I was convinced the race had to refer to National as in Grand. Anyone else?

    Lots to like with petrified forest, watch chain and aflutter but I’m feeling patriotic today so I’m going for Alamein as my COD. Does that make me a scoundrel?

21. Could not parse TOWEL RAIL and nearing the 40 minute mark I gave in and looked up ODI to confirm CAMBODIA (I did manage to remember the eccentric bit from an earlier puzzle) so a win to the setter and in effect a DNF for me. And I hope no barracking from the peanut gallery…
22. Came somewhat unstuck in the NE after I rattled through the rest of it. As a cricket follower I was a bit embarrassed not to see ODI straight away. Ditto to XI of AXIAL.
    The final hole was ODETTE, where the hidden was absolutely hidden.
23. Long time for CAMBODIA / MARTIAN (seems obvious now – I was looking for ET or UFO) / CAREER DIPLOMAT / KNEE (could not parse so eventually just guessed).

    Great puzzle – thanks setter and Verlaine.

24. I can’t do crosswords while watching the cricket, which is a shame or the current ODI being played by India and England might have prompted greater speed.
    I actually, like V, put the top line straight in and thought I’d have to try going straight through the acrosses to make it a bit more of a challenge. Wrong again, and filling the rest of the grid took me to 36.36. Almost everything resisted, even the reverse hidden ODETTE, and the COWBELL/APLOMB crossing was only squeezed out at the end. I tried COWHERD (go round (up) Jersey) but couldn’t make anything of the rest, and in the end, since it could only be COWBELL, I left the fiddly business of parsing it until after submission.
    WINDBURN is a word I’ve not consciously met before, and I’d venture it’s a bit mean to make it a CD. Some proper wordplay would have been kinder.
    Many thanks for birthday greetings yesterday. I’ll come again.
25. I was thinking that this wasn’t 3 bad (as we say in Brum) for a Friday, until I checked here. Struggled with, and respected WINDBURN and KNEE. Even with an ODI taking place I was slow to see it. Thanks to V and setter.
26. I started with JUTE and then hit the JACKPOT with answers flying in all over the place. However I came unstuck at the end, having triumphantly unraveled my LOI, only to find a pink square where I’d entered UNSLEPT ON. Curses! 32:02 and WOE is me! Thanks setter and V.
27. FOI: Jute, this episode of Jeeves and Wooster being fresh in memory.
    SOI: Petrified forest. SW corner went in, SE following. Then stuck for a while, until suddenly got PULL SOMEONES LEG.

    In the end was left with WATCH CHAIN (didn’t know this meaning of hunter), WINDBURN, COWBELL and CAMBODIA (still can’t understand the definition for Cambodia — somewhat &lit, but not really?). Did spot the cow, but didn’t know how to get the cryptic bit work.

    Great one!

    Edited at 2021-03-26 12:21 pm (UTC)

28. Several very good clues but some I was uncomfortable with: does peer really mean watch (3ac)? Windburn far too obscure for a CD imho (actually imho nothing is any good for a CD); surely it’s El Alamein — I can’t find any references to it without the El; why is an axis an imaginary line (6dn)? Why is beg formally request (16dn)? set = unit (19dn)?

    To repeat Myrtilus above, hmmm…

    1. The definition of ‘axis’ in Collins is ‘a real or imaginary line about which a body, such as an aircraft, can rotate…’ This seems accurate to me since any circular movement of an object will have an axis that isn’t necessarily physical.
       I tend to agree with you on the others, and some of them contributed to the slightly grindish feel of the puzzle for me. Having struggled with 3ac and 23ac, my reaction when I finally solved them was ‘huh, well I suppose so’ rather than Eureka!

       Edited at 2021-03-26 05:43 pm (UTC)

       1. (I meant 7dn.) Yes but the clue defines ‘of imaginary line’ as ‘axial’, which implies that an axis is an imaginary line — indeed must be an imaginary line — and that’s not true. ‘May’ does not mean ‘must’. [Initially I was replying to your first post, but now I see the edited version, yes I agree: it was very much ‘suppose so’ rather than ‘Eureka!’]

          Edited at 2021-03-26 05:51 pm (UTC)

          1. Yes I suppose it’s a kind of definition by example but I’m pretty unfussed about those, particularly in cases like this where the number of possible examples is very limited.

             Edited at 2021-03-26 06:00 pm (UTC)

    2. A search for “alamein -el” on google gives 954,000 hits. Including “Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.” There is also an Alamein memorial and a book titled “Alamein – the turning point of WW2”
    3. Collins has ‘ask formally’ for beg, an in I beg your pardon, I guess. (C gives different examples, but that was the first I thought of.)

       Under set, C has ‘a number of objects or people grouped or belonging together, often forming a unit or having certain features or characteristics in common’. Although listened separately, I think ‘jet set’ more or less exemplifies this sense.

29. I really enjoyed this, but then I would, wouldn’t I, being in the unlikely position of being able to look down on Verlaine and Keriothe.

    All parsed apart from TOWEL RAIL and PETRIFIED FOREST so thanks for those explanations V.

    It felt like a tricky puzzle but I seemed to be on wavelength. It took a fair bit of brow-furrowing to get my LOI, KNEE.

30. My excuse is that I tried to complete this online via the Crossword Club but could not get going. After printing it off (as is my usual practice), I got several more clues which I had given up on. It’s odd how the physical difference in solving medium can affect performance.
    Anyway, would never have got Career Diplomat, Petrified Forest, Knee, Odette or several others.
    COD Pull Someone’s Leg, circled round it for ages before the penny dropped.
    Thanks to the setter for an excellent puzzle and to Verlaine for the explanations.

    Edited at 2021-03-26 12:43 pm (UTC)

31. I was glad I persisted with this. A difficult puzzle which continued to deliver right to the end. Too many delights to single one out. 55 min.

    Edited at 2021-03-26 12:48 pm (UTC)

32. That COWHEEL is my nemesis. Wrong a few weeks ago when I didn’t know it, wrong today when I thought I did.

    A 66 minute DNF, but v. satisfying, enjoyable and challenging all in one nonetheless.

    Thanks to setter and verlaine.

33. Like Verlaine, getting the first two straight off gave me a
    misleading sense of confidence and the rest had to be teased out very carefully. Almost convinced myself that Ariel was the imaginary line, but the correct answer suddenly popped, almost unbidden, into my head. So odd when that happens. A very enjoyable Friday puzzle with Cambodia being COD.

    Thanks to Setter and Verlaine.

34. Given the SNITCH currently at 146, quite pleased to finish this in under an hour.

    Didn’t correctly parse COWBELL and was wary of COWHEEL so glad to see no pink there.

    LOI CAREER DIPLOMAT — not aware of the term — got the second word first and then had to come up with another word for race which appeared after a short alphatrawl, by brain too frazzled to simply come up with an answer.

    Some nice clues here — spotting that 9d was an anagram cleared up the left side, and OPUSES was the clincher on the right.

35. A superb puzzle which after 53 minutes of struggle defeated me with a damn pink square typo.

    Some superb clues here — particularly liked teapot and Alamein

    Thanks V and setter

36. Persevered my way through this excellent puzzle but, in the end, resorted to aids for 16dn — I couldn’t see beyond “Resigner” or “Designer” and didn’t spot “Beginner”, embarrassingly. I think I’m the only solver to fall at such a straightforward fence.
    I wonder why the plural of “Opus” isn’t “Opi” — can some classicist explain?
    1. Ah, well, you see, it’s very simple: if it was a second declension masculine noun like “servus” it would have the plural “servi”, or a fourth declension feminine noun like “quercus” it would have the plural “quercus”, but given that it’s a neutral the plural has to end in “-a”, but obviously it’s not “opum, opa” so we need to know how things decline here and that’s “opus, operis” to leave us with opera. Not to be confused with the first declension feminine singular noun opera (pains taken) which pluralises to operae. Hope that’s cleared it all up for you…

       Edited at 2021-03-26 05:13 pm (UTC)

       1. Thanks V. It has cleared it up, but I fear I will not be able remember it for long!
          So, the answer should have been “Opera”?
          1. A Roman would not recognise “opuses” as the plural of “opus” but Britons are permitted to 😀
37. I had a small holdup because I usually spell the drama Noh (and am informed that Nou is increasingly used), another when Unslept-in didn’t look right with the hyphen, or without it, or as one word either, and a big holdup when Foreign fit most of the alien crossers. I ran the proverbial alphabet on all the EPL and Championship football stadiums I could remember looking for Something Forest.
    Thanks, verlaine, thanks Ed, and real thanks setter.

    Edited at 2021-03-26 04:54 pm (UTC)

38. I gave up at 17 minutes, unable to see AXIAL, and having biffed “cowheel”. So many great clues, but COD to CAMBODIA.
39. FOI was PULL SOMEONE’S LEG, which I almost couldn’t believe was right but entered in ink anyway. That helped me get most of this fairly quickly (for its chewiness) last night, but I had to wait till this morning to finish the northeast. The only one with no letters yet was MARTIAN, which suddenly seemed rather easy, d’oh! Remembering the “hunter” WATCH was one of the last pennies to drop. So they don’t have cricket in CAMBODIA, eh?
40. Toads do not hop!
41. 1 hour 6 minutes after a longish break before the last three answers went in (OPUSES, which came up from the wordplay but for reasons beyond me didn’t immediately register as an actual word; then AXIAL, and finally CAREER DIPLOMAT which helped correct PETRIFIED DESERT to PETRIFIED FOREST). Nice but certainly not easy puzzle. I actually guessed, as it turned out correctly, what the ODI in CAMBODIA might mean, but of course CAM and BA didn’t leave any other choice for the answer.
42. DNF. Gave up after an hour having failed to get knee. Just couldn’t see it. Some clever stuff but was rather ground down by an arduous solving experience at that point.
43. V, you’re probably long gone, but…
    …you gave me an ego boost as The Dead Kennedys song came to me, too, with the Cambodia clue. I’m now trying to kid myself that our brains operate in similar ways!
44. Not quite sure what went right here. Thought it was one of those easy Fridays so was cursing myself for not being quicker especially as the FOREST and the DIPLOMAT were my last two in and I always assume I’m being dim if I can’t biff the long ones with a few checkers

    I did think KNEE and WINDBURN were good ones to have sprung to mind but like others hopelessly confused by COWBELL and TOWEL RAIL — they went in; they came out; they went in….

    I’ll give those my co-CODs

    Superb and entertaining blog as normal. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

45. Bid it but didn’t like it. Too many loose clues!

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