Times 28045 – What an Idiat!

Author   ulacaPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Yes, I cocked up here spectacularly in a way that would have led Rassie Erasmus to launch a 2-hr Vimeo rant. How embarrassing to learn that I was dumber than I thought – well beyond Jeff Daniels and strictly into Jim Carrey territory.

Having said that, I was pretty slow on the uptake throughout this fairly straightforward Monday offering, which I am putting down to trauma caused by watching the Netflix documentary ‘The Making of a Murderer’. I knew Americans were wacky, but this wacky?! I’ll never think about the lyrically named Green Bay Packers in the same way ever again. Forget the victims over in Wisconsin (if you can come to any agreement on who they are exactly). I feel violated just watching this stuff. Love it…

ACROSS

1 Green snubs Conservative following papers based on beliefs (11)
IDEOLOGICAL – ID then E[c]OLOGICAL; I wrote ‘idealogical’, and know I won’t be the only one…
7 Brief information about where to find pulse (3)
POD – DOP[e] reversed
9 Hot food and medical gear taken in for each working unit (9)
PEPPERONI – PPE (personal protective equipment) in PER (for each) ON (working) I (unit)
10 Some suitably rich lines (5)
LYRIC – hidden in them 3rd and 4th words
11 Mount set, doing without ring (7)
GELDING – GEL (set) D[o]ING
12 Page one article about clothing? I ask you! (7)
PRITHEE – P (page) I THE in RE (about); ‘clothing’ is the indicator of containment
13 Old relative sheds pounds? A lot less than that (5)
OUNCE – O UNC[l]E
15 A sign Alec’s tinkered with opiate maybe (9)
ANALGESIC – anagram* of A SIGN ALEC
17 As eg badgers do around corner, at least initially (9)
NOCTURNAL – CON reversed (do around) TURN (corner) A[t] L[east]
19 Expert opens a new version of Pinafore (5)
APRON – PRO in A N
20 Polish force that is defending point (7)
FINESSE – NESS (point) in F (force) IE (that is)
22 New York city‘s cheese supplier (7)
BUFFALO – double definition; we all know the difference between a bison and a buffalo…
24 Met perhaps Oscar, a traveller heading west (5)
OPERA – O (Oscar) A REP reversed
25 Bishop’s in helping disheartened lady nonstop (9)
ABIDINGLY – B in AIDING L[ad]Y
27 Pity husband’s deserted stag party? (3)
RUT – RUT[h]
28 What aging philosopher did, possibly, showing no consideration? (11)
THOUGHTLESS – quixotically, one might suggest that an old philosopher thought a bit less than s/he did when s/he was a younger wo/man

DOWN

1 Monkey or ape scratching companion (3)
IMP – [ch]IMP
2 Discharge erstwhile gym class learner (5)
EXPEL – EX PE L
3 Raised fish I had netted in Home Counties sheltered area (3,4)
LEE SIDE – EEL reversed ID in SE
4 Tough material in gas ring or stove (9)
GROSGRAIN – GAS RING OR* (stove being the anagram indicator, as in the wall stove in, i.e. collapsed); our new word of the day, except perhaps for Georgette Heyer fans
5 Tweet approach shot crossing third in Turnberry (5)
CHIRP – [tu]R[nberry] in CHIP
6 Jaunty officer, one spearing fish (7)
LILTING – LT I in LING (a fish when it’s not a heather)
7 Cleaner drinks tea with second customer (9)
PURCHASER – CHA S in PURER
8 Poulenc’s last score ended dramatically — thus? (11)
DECRESCENDO – C SCORE ENDED*
11 Look into reason for place to get a lift? (6,5)
GROUND FLOOR – LO in GROUND (reason) FOR (for)
14 Plea’s outcome, possibly a foregone conclusion (2,7)
NO CONTEST – ‘In criminal trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of guilty or not guilty. A no-contest plea, while not technically a guilty plea, has the same immediate effect as a guilty plea and is often offered as a part of a plea bargain.’ (Wikipedia)
16 Left one in big band somehow playing without notes (2-7)
AD-LIBBING – L I in BIG BAND*
18 Arrogant type stumped in superior role (7)
UPSTART – ST in U PART
19 Trouble a couple of females, soundly defeated (7)
AFFLICT – A FF sounds like LICKED
21 Time to muse (5)
ERATO – ERA TO; best know and easiest to remember Greek muse
23 A bird of prey almost picked up fish food? (5)
ALGAE – A reversal of EAGL[e]
26 Trees lose weight, that’s true (3)
YES – YE[w]S

45 comments on “Times 28045 – What an Idiat!”

  1. 29 minutes. Was struggling to remember GROSGRAIN until I realised it was an anagram. I was confusing myself thinking of ‘grogram’ (also a coarse material) and also trying to fit stove = range into the answer.

    Edited at 2021-08-02 04:21 am (UTC)

  2. …as I am tired of biffing wrong answers. Unfortunately, I couldn’t parse pod, but finally gave up and put it in. I did have to think a long time about nocturnal and no contest, but most of it was pretty easy. Time: 26 minutes.
  3. 28 minutes. I tried to parse everything for a proper solve too, but also failed on POD and wasn’t sure if NO CONTEST was a double def or a not very cryptic cryptic def. Almost came to grief with a biffed ‘ad libitum’ for 16d until put right by crossers and seeing the hyphen in the enumeration.

    Instant word association for BUFFALO = “shuffle” = earworm.

    It will be interesting to hear what our Georgette Heyer expert has to say on the subject of GROSGRAIN.

    1. The divine Georgette is an invaluable help on matters of fabric but I don’t think I’ve come across GROSGRAIN in the collected works. I think I knew it from elsewhere. Ann
      1. Thanks. As Olivia has posted later on here and as I’ve seen on a quick web search, there’s obviously a legion of Heyer experts out there, whether GROSGRAIN ever appeared in her books or not.
  4. I had a bunch of Acrosses before I started on Downs, so I figured it wouldn’t be too hard. (I had just used “ideology” in an e-mail.) FOI THOUGHTLESS and LOI GELDING. PRITHEE is a cute word and the parsing was a bit tricky. Haven’t we had GROSGRAIN before?
  5. 8:45 – the term IDEOLOGICAL has come up a lot here lately in the USA, so it was a write in. Last in was the GROSGRAIN/NOCTURNAL crossing.
  6. Thought I was doing really well, but GROSGRAIN, ALGAE, and RUT really held me up. Many biffs, so thanks to ulaca for helping with the parsing.

    Almost went for ANGLE instead of ALGAE — glad I took the time to think through it.

    Edited at 2021-08-02 03:23 am (UTC)

  7. Much of this went in quickly but then I slowed down on a few for which I found it hard to see the definitions — GELDING and NOCTURNAL in particular. DECRESCENDO and GROSGRAIN were unknown so I was thankful there seemed no other way to put the letters in and come up with what looked like real words.
  8. The answer to your question, what’s the difference between a buffalo and a bison? It is, of course, you can’t wash your hands in a buffalo.
  9. 14′ 28″. Nho GROSGRAIN, will look up DECRESCENDO.

    Thanks ulaca and setter.

  10. A LYRIC DECRESCENDO was heard
    These LILTING CHIRPs are the avains inferred
    Not ABIDINGLY THOUGHTLESS
    Now our setters FINESSE
    And avoid naming an actual bird
  11. …under the apple boughs
    About the Lilting house and happy as the grass was green,…

    25 mins pre-brekker. I liked it, mostly the NY cheese city.
    I didn’t understand Plea’s outcome which had me thinking of No Comment for a while.
    Thanks setter and U.

    And the difference between a Stoat and a Weasel?

    Edited at 2021-08-02 07:18 am (UTC)

    1. Well, a weasel is so (w)easily distinguished and a stoat’s totally different.
      Andyf.
  13. I’m a reference solver. Congratulations to all those who have moved from Tracked to Reference, especially those of us near the bottom of the neutrino list. Slowed up today by biffing THEOLOGICAL. Thanks blogger, I always enjoy Monday’s blog, and special thanks to starstruck.

    Edited at 2021-08-02 07:37 am (UTC)

  14. I was absolutely convinced that 8d was CRESCENDOED that it held me up a while… although the checkers were clear. Got there in the end though… but it took me past the 20 minutes mark
  15. Feel like I’ve been suffering a crisis of confidence recently, after DNFs Tuesday onwards last week, it seemed like all my recent progress had gone into reverse. So I set my sights on completion, even if it took me longer than the hour I usually allow.

    As it happened, my efforts were interrupted a couple of times, so I don’t have an exact ET – I’m estimating 70m discounting the breaks. LOI POD because I couldn’t parse it, held up mainly in the SE corner. NHO ERATO, GROSGRAIN.

  16. I found this made me feel rather dense, taking nearly 21 minutes and failing to see the parsing for POD (of course) GROUND FLOOOR and NOCTURNAL 1ac was very nearly my last in, having tried THEORETICAL and THEOLOGICAL (no hope of parsing either) before putting ID on the front of the second, realising “papers” had to be something. Saved me from the spelling trap acknowledged by U, to whom thanks for sorting out what I didn’t. The simple IMP was my last, having wondered whether PRI(mate)was a thing.
    For what it’s worth, I took NO CONTEST as a double definition, the “foregone conclusion” being what we are seeing surprisingly little of in the Olympics.
  17. Quite quick today.
    Slight MER at 22ac, I am pretty sure buffaloes can only supply milk, humans make the cheese..
    14dn is indeed a DD.. the English equivalent is an Alford Plea, the wish to plead guilty without actually admitting guilt.

    Edited at 2021-08-02 08:17 am (UTC)

    1. I had a similar MER there, and an image of a buffalo wearing a white apron standing at a cheese stall.
  18. Unusually I wrote 1a straight in from the wordplay with barely a pause for thought, and confirmed it by filling in the danglers, apart from GROSGRAIN which came later when I had a few more crossers to help with the anagram. PRITHEE, POD and PURCHASER needed more thought, but the grid filled up nicely until LOI, ALGAE where, like Jeremy, I was tempted by ANGLE, but took the time to understand the wordplay. 22:51. Thanks setter and U.
  19. Now I’ve finished the Cryptic earlier than I thought, I’ve more time to read more of Hilary Mantel’s “The Mirror & The Light”. Only another 780 pages or so to go…
    14d started out as NO BRAINER.
    FOI: IMP
    LOI: ALGAE
    COD: NOCTURNAL
    NHO: GROSGRAIN
    I do like buffalo mozzarella!
    Thank you, ulaca!
  20. 17.20 ish so a bit tougher than I expected of a Monday. I hate these little three letter answers, panic seizes me when I see them but this time managed to sort without too much stressing.

    FOI lyric and LOI rut. Started slowly but did a reverse Poulenc clue to finish the second half. Thx setter and blogger.

  21. 11:49. I started really quickly on this, putting 1ac straight in and then getting most of the dangling downs almost immediately. However things slowed down considerably in the second half of my solve.
    I’m pretty sure I’ve made this mistake on IDEOLOGICAL in the past so I know to be wary. No doubt it will catch me out again at some point but not today.

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

    1. Same here with ‘idealogical’ and ‘madamoiselle’, inter alia. Never again to be misspelt.

      Today is the first time in a fortnight I’ve beaten my NITCH. Hope it continues.

      Edited at 2021-08-02 09:29 am (UTC)

  22. A 45m struggle today, not helped by biffing BUZZA for 23d and an obviously unparsed guess at PEPPERAMI, which meant the anagrist for the tough material wasn’t obvious. However I did parse POD quite easily so feeling quite lilting. Enjoyable puzzle and entertaining blog so thank you to the providers.
  23. Been on the road for a while and now quarantined in the UK, so have not been commenting. I did however, complete today’s in 42 mins, so about average. DNK or, had forgot GROSGRAIN so that got bunged in, in the end. Stuck on NOCTURNAL and GROUND FLOOR for a while for some odd reason. Thanks U and setter.
  24. Spent far too long trying make the reason GROUNDS and trying to put something inside it. As a result RUT was my LOI. Otherwise I thought I was on for a PB, in spite of 2 DNKs.
  25. GROSGRAIN took the longest to come, and it wasn’t until a second attempt that I realised it was an anagram – hopefully I’ll remember that ‘stove’ can be an anagram indicator. Didn’t parse POD or the ‘noc’ in NOCTURNAL, but otherwise this wasn’t too tricky.

    FOI Erato
    LOI Grosgrain
    COD Pepperoni

  26. PRITHEE took a while to see, but it was a bit of a biff-fest on the whole. No questions as they went in (despite the unknown DECRESCENDO and the half remembered GROSGRAIN) and none on review. 22 mins.
  27. Since Bletchleyreject asked (and I’m not the only Heyer expert here) GROSGRAIN was useful fabric for e.g. bonnet ribbons because it was stiff enough to hold the shape of the bow better than, say, satin.

    One of the more famous NO CONTEST (aka nolo contendere) pleas was copped by Spiro Agnew on charges of bribery, tax fraud and conspiracy – those were the days. His departure cleared the way for Richard Nixon’s removal because no one had wanted Agnew to become president.

    I was very slow to see PRITHEE because there was no indication that it was jocular/archaic as in – prithee good sir what sayest thou to a PEPPERONI pizza with BUFFALO mozzarella (thanks Martin). 17.08

    Edited at 2021-08-02 11:02 am (UTC)

    1. Thanks very much – I thought you would know something about it. Without ever having read a word she has written, I had the idea that the materials mentioned in Heyer novels were always delicate and flouncy and that GROSGRAIN would be too coarse for her refined characters. Wrong again.
  28. I was happy with my 30 minutes only to realise that I also had fallen into the “Idealogical” trap.
    Clearly, although no philosopher, I am thinking less as I get older.
    Also, didn’t understand the “Noc” in “Nocturnal” until coming here.
    Thanks for the blog.
  29. About 25 mins, which is as good as it gets for me. LOI GROSGAIN which I have never heard of but managed to construct correctly. Also had to construct DECRESCENDO, not knowing the term, as music is one of my many weak points.

    Thanks to the blogger and setter.

  30. After an irritating pinkie in the QC, sailed pretty comfortably through this.

    Only ones not certain of were GROSGRAIN (guessable anagram with checkers) and POD where I didn’t see the trick but a reasonable guess.

  31. Stupidly biffed “pit” at 7A, thus ensuring that I couldn’t get the unknown word clued as a ****** anagram.
  32. Slow but steady solve with always enough interest to keep one going. I always thought the US verdicts were referred to exclusively as Nolo Contendere, as oliviarhinebeck mentions, so the clue threw me a little. Clues like THOUGHTLESS always seem more like dingbats than crossword clues to me… and now I’ve made it sound like I enjoyed this a lot less than I actually did.

    Thanks to ulaca and the setter

  33. I didn’t understand the US legal term and toyed with NO COMMENT. But I finally guessed the correct answer which seemed to fit the clue better. 30 minutes. Ann
  34. 12:27 on a fairly typical Monday offering, with a mix of some easy clues and others that I took a while to sort out. However I see the SNITCH is close to being “moderate” for this one.
    NHO of 4 ac “Grosgrain” but my limited knowledge of French probably helped. Normally all I can think of regarding “coarse material” is Bernard Manning which is a tad disturbing and of no help whatsoever.
    COD 27 ac “rut” which I thought wasn’t a bad surface for a 3 letter word.
    Thanks to Ulaca and setter for a fair start to the week.
  35. 10:30 Almost under 10 but I biffed THEOLOGICAL in my haste which made 1D impossible. A more than cursory glance at the clue set me right. Eventaully remembered GROSGRAIN and… who the heck still uses the word PRITHEE? Rather Mondayish, which suited me fine after a long day at the North Norfolk coast
  36. 38 minutes, so rather slow in this crowd, although I didn’t find it all that difficult. Slow getting started, but things gradually fell into place. GROSGRAIN my only unknown today (and my LOI), but it was not hard once I had the crossers. No problem with IDEOLOGICAL, because my first thought was the wordplay, ECOLOGICAL minus the first C, with TH at the beginning quickly changed to ID for papers. Most amusing clue possibly AFFLICT.
  37. Found that quite hard, and needed help with the unknown Grosgrain — I could see it was an anagram but needed the answer to make progress, so couldn’t really wait for all the crossers. Cracking Ground Floor was a huge help in the SW corner, and opened up Gelding and Nocturnal. Lots to enjoy, including Apron and Finesse, but 12ac Prithee was my favourite today. My thanks to Ulaca for several parsings that were simply beyond me. Invariant
  38. 17.12. Mostly a gentle canter with a little bit of thinking time required at the unfamiliar decrescendo, grosgrain and LOI abidingly.

Comments are closed.