Times 29127 – a witty romp

A witty romp indeed, nothing to slow down the gallop through this fine but undemanding puzzle in 15 minutes, and there is a larger than usual helping of anagrams. When I had an X and a Z early on, I was thinking pangram, but it isn’t.

Definitions underlined in bold, DD = double definition, (ABC)* indicating anagram of ABC, anagrinds in italics, [deleted letters in square brackets].

Across
1 Nothing on record that identifies business (4)
LOGO – LOG (record) + O.
3 Where one might find food   writers of little talent? (4,6)
GRUB STREET – I guess you can see this as an amusing DD, or an amusing cryptic definition. Grub Street in Johnson’s day was where the hack poets and writers hung out, I gather it’s long since been demolished and is the site of the Barbican.
9 Prison reformer’s quick meal (4-3)
STIR-FRY – my favourite clue today; STIR slang for prison, Elizabeth Fry was know for being a reformer, especially of prison conditions.
11 Cliquey crowd pouring out (2,5)
IN GROUP – (POURING)*. Neat and concise.
12 Lure a girl in a way that could be irregular (9)
GUERRILLA – (LURE A GIRL)*.
13 Right about start of conflict and its end maybe (5)
TRUCE – TRUE = right, insert C[onflict].
14 Cheats alter boring summer clothes (5-7)
SHORT-CHANGES – CHANGE (alter) inside SHORTS which some brave people wear in summer in England. I saw someone in shorts in the supermarket car park yesterday, it was minus 4 degrees, bonkers IMO.
18 Pass on traffic warning and fix with utmost vigour (5,3,4)
TOOTH AND NAIL – TOOT (traffic warning), HAND (pass),

 NAIL (fix).

21 Ugly dwarf in part of Austria, not unknown having doubled back (5)
TROLL – the TYROL loses its Y and gains an extra L at the back.
22 Mastery of European, cheeky one, in kinky sex (9)
EXPERTISE – E (European), then PERT I (cheeky one) inside (SEX)*.
24 Provided funding for outstanding result? (7)
ENDOWED – END OWED = result outstanding.
25 Overturn limit with audible expressions of regret (7)
CAPSIZE – CAP (limit), SIZE sounds like sighs.
26 Watch door in study being smashed (6,4)
SENTRY DUTY – ENTRY (door) inside (STUDY)*.
27 Not so much to consecrate in bishop’s absence (4)
LESS – BLESS loses its B.
Down
1 Made in desperate hurry, glass apt to shatter (4-4)
LAST-GASP – (GLASS APT)*.
2 Conducted over good lab frequently (5,3)
GUIDE DOG – GUIDED (conducted), O[ver], G[ood]. Most guide dogs being of the labrador breed.
4 Put down, then men raised mast on high (5)
ROYAL – LAY (put down), OR (men), all reversed. Something to do with flags, I assume, the Royal Standard is never flown at half mast.
5 Iranian starts to throw boot about and waves ruler? (9)
BRITANNIA – (IRANIAN T B)*, the T from thrown and B from boot.
6 Chief is after mean man who’s paid pennies for position in front row (5-4,4)
TIGHT-HEAD PROP –  TIGHT (mean), HEAD (chief), PRO (man who’s paid, not an amateur), P[ennies]. Front-row scrum position in rugby.
7 Make one’s mark in plea over a major departure from scripture (6)
EXODUS – Reversed SUDOXE, being DO X (make one’s mark) inside SUE = plea.
8 Band of fur in untidy place on cat, for one (6)
TIPPET – TIP = untidy place, PET could be a cat.
10 Richest countries unprepared in retrospect for conflict (5,5,3)
FIRST WORLD WAR – First world countries are supposedly the richest; RAW in retrospect = WAR.
15 Rash, like hives or herpes for example (3-6)
HOT-HEADED – Hives and herpes both begin with H for hot.
16 Make fullest use of proverb first to explain gripping lives (8)
MAXIMISE – MAXIM = proverb, E (first of explain), insert IS = lives.
17 People on night train going over these? (8)
SLEEPERS – cryptic definition, as the train passes over rails laid on sleepers.
19 Initially simple lock creating tension (6)
STRESS – S[imple], TRESS = lock of hair.
20 Flex performing as barrier (6)
CORDON – CORD = flex, ON = performing.
23 Old old Scotsman’s outside loop (5)
PICOT – O for old, inside PICT an old Scotsman. Something to do with embroidery, I gather, so says Mrs piquet.

 

55 comments on “Times 29127 – a witty romp”

  1. ROYAL is a very high mast on a sailing ship. I didn’t know that, nor that TIPPET is a fur cape as defined in Collins. SOED has cloth rather than fur, but Chambers offers both.

    If one is aware of Elizabeth Fry’s activities, STIR FRY is the stand-out clue today. Very clever!

    There was nothing hard here but I was unable to inject much flow to the proceedings and kept having to hop around the grid and then revisit too many clues several times.

  2. I found quite a bit to slow me down, clocking a double-piquet plus a bit at 33.32. LOI was STIR FRY and other late-comers included ROYAL (rather arcane GK required there) and GUERILLA where I was confused by thinking ‘lure a girl’ was nearly an anagram of ‘irregular’ and wondering what this meant. Answer: nothing. Thanks Nelson.

    From Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues:
    Now Eisenhower, he’s a Russian spy
    Lincoln, Jefferson and that Roosevelt guy
    To my knowledge there’s just one man
    That’s really a true American:
    George Lincoln Rockwell
    I know for a fact he hates commies cos he picketed the movie EXODUS

  3. 18:00
    I’m not sure I knew GRUB STREET was an actual street; I think I thought it was like Queer Street. I surprised myself by recalling FRY from a cryptic of some time ago, although I needed the F to prompt memory. NHO the rugby position, of course; NHO any of them. DNK PICOT, and will gladly take Mrs. P’s word for it.

  4. I note that George Gissing’s novel ‘New Grub Street’ gets into Robert McCrum’s best novel list. It’s an unusual book for its time, in that it’s about writers. Perhaps a little preachy and melodramatic for modern tastes, it is nonetheless an interesting read and a slice of social history.

    12:28 for the puzzle

  5. For some reason I was rather slow doing this puzzle which in retrospect was not all that hard. FOI FIRST WORLD WAR which was close to a write-in. LESS, STRESS and TROLL were quick to follow. LOI MAXIMISE.
    Thanks Piquet. In 18Ac fix is NAIL (the AND is part of HAND

  6. 7.56, with STIR-FRY deserving its plaudits. I’ve not read New Grub Street, but have come across the title somehow, which helped. Not sure if I knew the TIGHT-HEAD PROP – I don’t follow the sport at all – but I knew of a prop, which helped me to piece together the wordplay.

    Thanks both.

    PS. “a major” is also part of the def for EXODUS.

  7. 10.20
    Enjoyable, though not particularly 19d-ful or demanding a great deal of 22ac, though I biffed TYROL, then had to double back.
    Lovers of R4’s sitcom ‘Ed Reardon’s Week’, about an impoverished writer of little talent, may have noticed that its two main characters have suspiciously similar names to those in ‘New GRUB STREET’: Edward (Edwin) Reardon and Jaz (Jasper) Milvain. R4 once dramatised the novel with Christopher Douglas, star and co-writer of the sitcom, providing the voice of George Gissing.
    LOI and COD GUIDE DOG

  8. I found this hard taking 37:43
    LOI 6dn which is obviously something from Rugby but which I‘ve never heard of so had to painstakingly work out from the cryptic, which took ages. Only when I got PRO-P did I get the rugby connection.
    I see everyone else did find it easy so obviously I‘m having an off day 😉
    Thanks setter and blogger

  9. 29 minutes with LOI a constructed and otherwise unknown TIPPET. PICOT was also constructed, but maybe heard of. Rule BRITANNIA, two tanners make a bob, my COD. Pleasant with a slightly stingy tail. Thank you Pip and setter.

  10. After a tortuous day yesterday, don’t ask, I was very slow here today. 55 mins. Once again held up in the SE, which only opened up when I finally saw TOOTH AND NAIL.

    NHO GRUB STREET in either meaning but once all the crossers were in it had to be.

    Quite a lot to like especially the anagrams as our blogger has mentioned.

    Thanks pip and setter.

  11. 12:21. Nice one. I liked “Pass on traffic warning” = TOOT HAND when I eventually saw it. DNK TIPPET, but the wordplay was clear enough. Thanks Pip and setter.

  12. 8:45. No dramas. The only thing I didn’t know was this meaning of ROYAL, although TIPPET and PICOT are words I’m aware of without any really knowing what they mean.

  13. 10:28 and a bit disappointed not to break the 10 minute barrier. Some nice stuff in retrospect but a lot of rather obvious definitions made detailed parsing redundant while solving.

  14. Massively breeze blocked in the top half. Eventually I saw how ROYAL worked, then STIR FRY, GUIDE DOG, EXODUS (positing a possible E as first letter from a possible STREET at 3a) and LOI, GRUB STREET came in a rush. Had to laboriously construct the Rugby player. 29:59. Thanks setter and Pip.

  15. 18.06. Now at least I’ve found out why I couldn’t parse SHORT-CHANGED: I read alter as after and puzzled fruitlessly over that before submitting with fingers crossed. PICOT went in likewise with a shrug, thinking it was a font or something to do with printing. I was slow on TOOTH…, EXODUS, and GUIDE DOG, so credit to the setter for cunning and obfuscation. Thanks to Nelson for unscruing the inscrutable.

  16. 26 mins but should have done better now, I think.

    COD to the excellent GUIDE DOG, which defeated me for the longest time.

  17. DNF, 8d TuPPET wrong guess for Have Forgotten About (HFA) tippet. 16d Maximise didn’t come to me, grrrr. Ditto 17d Sleepers, good clues though.
    My dictionary thinks 6d Tighthead Prop is (9,4) rather than (5,4,4). Hard one for a non RU person I would have thought.
    7d Exodus, could not fully parse. HFA 23d Picot.

  18. No particular problems on any of this good crossword, where the lab stood out in 2dn. Plenty not solved at first sight but returned to and coped with OK. 43 minutes.

  19. Used to play across the front row back in the late 80’s and early 90’s before rugby players turned into the behemoths that they are today. Today’s position was probably my favourite, so no problems there. It was TOOTH AND NAIL and CORDON that I found hard at the end for some reason, though both were simple enough once I saw them!

    14:42

  20. 9:30, seemed a bit off-wavelength and didn’t really see why once I’d finished. I’m used to TROLLs being giants rather than dwarfs but I see now that they can be either apparently.

  21. 21:12

    Enjoyable, even though I wasn’t sure with ROYAL and assumed NHO GRUB STREET must be correct. Never much interested in rugger, but it’s worth knowing the positions. Liked TOOT HAND NAIL, and EXODUS for the PDM.

    Thanks P and setter

  22. DNF. DNK TIPPET, PICOT, and (especially) TIGHT-HEAD PROP. A trifle unfair that one, I felt. Are we non-sporty types really expected to know the names of all the positions in all the major sports? (I had to resort to ChatGPT for that one — desperation indeed). I wonder how our friends across the pond coped with it.
    Just couldn’t see TOOTH AND NAIL, despite having most of the crossers, which was my true failure.
    FOI LOGO, LOI TIPPET. COD STIR-FRY — very witty! Also liked GRUB STREET, ROYAL, EXODUS and CAPSIZE.

  23. Two goes needed as I got stuck in the NE corner, but once I sat down again and thought of the first word of TIGHT-HEAD PROP the rest quickly fell into the place.

    – Not familiar with GRUB STREET but the B checker from BRITANNIA helped a lot
    – Took much longer than I should have done to see that IN GROUP was an anagram
    – Didn’t know TIPPET or PICOT so needed the wordplay for both

    Thanks piquet and setter.

    FOI Expertise
    LOI Tippet
    COD Last-gasp

  24. 40:25. Some lovely clues here, personal favourites were EXODUS, TIPPET and MAXIMISE. Brain being very slow at times to work out anagrams (GUERILLA!), and make some obvious connections about rulers of the waves….

    thanks both

  25. Agree with our blogger and others. Nothing too outlandish here, and all done in 22 minutes without any heavy breathing.
    FOI – STIR-FRY
    LOI – SENTRY DUTY
    COD – GRUB STREET
    Thanks to piquet and other contributors.

  26. COD to STIR FRY. Knew ROYAL from Napoleonic Wars navy fiction..

    9’38”, with a typo, am definitely returning to paper.

    Thanks pip and setter.

  27. For a moment I thought that GUERRILLA was a sort of double anagram, a sort of palindromic clue, but not in fact. STIRFRY was good.

    20.43

  28. FRY, ROYAL, TIPPET and (of course) LOI TIGHT-HEAD PROP were guesses, but that didn’t slow me down none!

  29. Just over the half hour at 30.14 but with one wrong. I’ve never heard of GRUB STREET and once CRAB STREET was in my mind it wouldn’t shift. I even did a swift alphabet trawl and somehow managed to overlook GRUB. Had I realised it was a possibility I would of course have used it.

  30. 40 minutes.
    What everyone else has said about Picot and Tippet.
    LOI – Short Changes – I was looking for an anagram (or partial anagram).
    Enjoyed the puzzle.

  31. Lovely puzzle. TOOTH AND NAIL was the last in and took an age. Liked STIR FRY. We learned about Elizabeth F at junior school I think.
    The GUIDE DOG clue had a smooth surface too.
    Thanks p and setter

  32. Later than usual after a day travelling, 23:26 with several nice clues – TOOTH AND NAIL and STIR FRY my joint COD. Like RobR familiarity with Patrick O’Brian helped with ROYAL.

    Thanks both

  33. 19.09 started at a run but hobbled home with LOI tooth and nail. Almost forgot to add the only reason I got tippet was because my wife had it in a spelling bee puzzle she was doing this morning. Coincidence or Providence?

  34. 31’30”
    Fortunate to get a clear run but failed to quicken.

    “… TIPPETs for mice and ribbons for mobs ! for mice!” said the Tailor of Gloucester, whose house I passed on the way to school, where from reading C. S. Forester I came across ROYALs and then to a chilly mudbath dangling, like a rag doll, between loose and TIGHT-HEAD PROPs; with this head start I really should have been under 30′.
    A very concise and elegantly enjoyable puzzle; thank you setter and Pip, and Beatrix P !

  35. 25 mins. I dimly remembered TIPPET from children’s books read many a decade ago. Laboriously constructed TIGHT-HEAD PROP from the wordplay – I know virtually nothing about rugby but I knew that there were props and a front row! NHO the Royal mast. Some lovely clues.

  36. I was determined that 16 d began SAW. That cost me what would have been a rare sub 20 min. Decent puzzle I think.

  37. FOI LOGO
    LOI GRUB STREET
    COD EXODUS
    Like others I did a double take with “Lure a girl…” and “…irregular” before seeing the answer.
    Good fun

  38. Read New Grub Street a few years ago and very much enjoyed it, as I recall. Good on the beginnings of tabloid journalism. In fact I have another Gissing on my shelf waiting to be read, which I picked up in a second-hand book shop in La Charité-sur-Loire: Born in Exile. Gissing died in France, in the Basque country. Picot brings to mind Sykes-Picot, the Anglo-French stitch-up (pun intended) of the Middle East. A satisfying 12’17”.

  39. Took a while to get into the swing of this with only a couple at first glance. However, things soon warmed up and I found myself filling in the gaps quite quickly – until my last two TIGHT-HEAD PROP and TOOTH AND NAIL. TIGHT was no problem, with crossers, and HEAD was a guess with just the E in place. I then wondered about Rugby, and guessed PROP, but could hardly believe it when it turned out to be right, as I hadn’t been able to parse it properly. Mr Ego finally filled in 18a for me when he got back from work. Although I knew it would be a term I’d heard of, I couldn’t bring it to mind or work it out from ‘traffic warning’. Liked GUIDE DOG, TIPPET and EXODUS. PICOT and ROYAL were worked out from the wordplay, but I had known of the former.

  40. 14.24. A welcome relief after being brutally savaged by today’s Grauniad. 9a is an absolutely wonderful clue.

  41. Nothing too hard with only TIPPET being unknown. I roughly knew what a ROYAL was a sail rather than a mast, and Chambers says that too but it didn’t hold me up since I just assumed it was a mast (or spar) too.

  42. Grub Street was used as a psuedonym for Fleet Street or at least the more tawdry end of it. Private Eye lampooned it in the columns of Lunchtime O’Booze. Field Day when Maxwell bought Mirror Group

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