Times 28643 – oft expectation fails, and most oft there where most it promises

58 comments on “Times 28643 – oft expectation fails, and most oft there where most it promises”

1. I liked this! I worked it at a leisurely pace while watching a debate and so it didn’t seem hard, just satisfyingly chewy… at least until the last few answers. Did manage to finish before going to sleep.

   Still wondering whether “it” was sufficient to clue MARTINI; surely, that’s just one ingredient. But it seems to have ruffled no one else’s feathers. (Really, it’s from that one ad?!)

   1. Not sure if this is a US/UK language thing or perhaps it’s generational, but the point you make relates to the Martini cocktail (vermouth and gin or vodka) as opposed to Martini the brand name of the neat vermouth. The term ‘it’ refers to neat vermouth and came into being through people in bars ordering e.g. ‘gin & it’ in preference to other popular drinks such as ‘gin & tonic’ or ‘gin & orange’. I’m sure things are different now, but back in the 1950s and 1960s in the UK if you ordered a Martini you would expect to be served with neat vermouth. You would never order simply ‘it’ as although it usually meant Martini (other brands were available) the term was only used in conjunction with the name of a spirit, usually gin.

      1. Ah, thanks! I note that John Burscough did capitalize “Martini” in his post above, but I (perhaps too wary of anyone else’s capitalizations) did not realize it was a brand name as well as the type of cocktail—which I would not normally cap!

         1. Although it has never occurred to me before today I wondered this morning whether ‘it’ ought to be capitalised in the clue in line with the usual rule, since it’s short for Italian. I consulted the usual sources which all have ‘It.’ = Italian, suggesting I might be right, but one of them (I forget which now) has a separate entry ‘it’ = vermouth, so that took the wind out of my sails!

2. 11:19, with a minute or two at the end struggling to see CONFIGURE and then trying and failing to parse FAG.
   Z’s explanation for COLLEAGUE is ingenious but I’m not sure I buy it. There’s nothing in the clue to indicate that A and G are ‘accepting’ that G which I think is probably necessary. I didn’t even notice the problem when solving mind.

3. I didn’t find this all that hard, but the last of my 47 minutes were spent trying to understand INAUGURAL, which I managed in the end, and the totally inexcusable COLLEAGUE. Enough (or too much) said.

4. I started off with EON, and after what seemed like an eon, finished with DISTORT. Happily only 33:20 had elapsed. Biffed REARRANGING. Tough going in places though! Thanks setter and William.

5. An error on the part of the setter used to be met with incredulity if it happened maybe once a year. But we seem to get them on a regular basis now.

   This is supposed to be The Times for heaven’s sake!

6. DNF- was never going get MORCEAU and so threw in the towel with CONFIGURE and INAUGURAL unsolved.
   Found this very tricky in other places too. On to next week.
   Thanks blogger and setter.

7. Started on Friday and gave up after 30 minutes but returned to the fray on Saturday . Glad I did but it must have taken at least 75 minutes in total. Just one of those puzzles for me when you never get in the groove. Good lesson in perseverance though!

   Thx setter and blogger.

8. sunday night. v slow. but all correct at 53’37”. What held me up a lot at the end was putting in OUTREMARINE. Influenced by the French.

Comments are closed.