Times 29377 – Guided missiles?

Author   ulacaPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

I struggled with this more than I oughta! Not quite sure why. We’ll see how others did.

31:28

Across
1 Member turned, with no flaws, to do preparatory exercise (6,2)
LIMBER UP – LIMB PURE reversed
6 Discarded material by far side of the grate (6)
SCRAPE – SCRAP (discarded material) thE (far side of ‘the’)
9 Being willing to get in repaired swing (6,4,3)
SEEING ONES WAY – SEE (to get) IN (in) GONE (repaired, as in ‘She repaired to the pub’) SWAY (swing)
10 Sport clubs mock hosts (6)
HOCKEY – C in HOKEY (this can mean phoney as well as corny)
11 Very enjoyable taking out first female available (8)
UNFILLED – fUNFILLED
13 Sportsperson cut man with hard jabs (10)
DECATHLETE – CAT (man, as in ‘cool cat’) H (hard) in (jabs) DELETE
15 Suspicious of donations at prime locations (4)
ONTO – after several instances, we should be au fait with the ‘prime [number] locations’ trick by now: dONaTiOns (letters 2, 3, 5 and 7 in the word)
16 Love habitual twitching of the ear (4)
OTIC – O TIC
18 Parliamentary supporters harass Communists according to Spooner (10)
ROUNDHEADS – sounds like hound reds
21 Upright member is good sport missing golf shot (8)
DOORPOST – anagram* of gOOD SPORT
22 Conservative and Labour front-bencher close (6)
CLAMMY – C [David] LAMMY; the aforesaid gentleman is Deputy Prime Minister under Keir Starmer. Tough for non-British solvers
23 Doctor’s practice by nobleman’s estate reportedly housing duke (7,6)
BEDSIDE MANNER – D (duke) in BESIDE (BY) MANNER (sounds like manor – ‘nobleman’s estate’)
25 Game where Jack has commanding position (6)
BRIDGE – A sailor (Jack) might be found on the bridge – hopefully
26 Separate from group in market in US idly going round (8)
DISUNITE – the old reverse hidden
Down
2 Coming up at regular intervals, Diane’s rent (2,5)
IN STORE – dIaNeS TORE
3 Tame reindeer is one performing to music (11)
BREAKDANCER – BREAK (tame, as a verb) DANCER (one of Santa’s crew)
4 Fluid from pen numpty emptied (5)
RUNNY – RUN (pen, as in enclosure for animals) NumptY
5 Make brownish-pink shade to shelter staff (7)
PRODUCE – ROD (staff) in PUCE (brownish-pink shade)
6 City guard circling base very loudly (9)
SHEFFIELD – E (number that is a mathematical constant and base) FF (very loudly) in SHIELD (guard)
7 Uncooked crustacean shelled (3)
RAW – pRAWn
8 Transaction type organised with man (7)
PAYMENT – TYPE MAN*
12 Playing on console, an unpredictable person (5,6)
LOOSE CANNON – ON CONSOLE AN*
14 Blend is used in injury unit (9)
HARMONISE – IS in HARM ONE
17 Raised money with pub band seen on screen (7)
TOOLBAR – LOOT reversed BAR
19 Prudent being prepared for economic growth? (7)
UPTREND – PRUDENT*
20 Fault of French motor initially with exhaust upside-down (7)
DEMERIT – DE (‘of’, in French) Motor TIRE reversed
22 Confusion over plugging bottomless pit (5)
CHAOS – O in CHASm
24 Exhausted, stopped working with energy lacking (3)
DID – DIeD; think ‘I’m done!’ then work back to ‘That did me!’ (or something a bit better!)

51 comments on “Times 29377 – Guided missiles?”

  2. DNF. Off the wavelength with lots of this. I eventually saw SEEING ONES WAY but I didn’t parse it till after I’d thrown in the towel, initially thinking that ‘swing’ was part of an anagram before realising it meant ‘sway’. Failed to see the anagram fodder for DOORPOST. Figured out the two long downs easily which helped. I thought 15a ONTO should be ‘on to’ but I’m not really sure. Had CLAMMY from ‘close’. Liked BEDSIDE MANNER for doctor’s practice. A bit of a mix of write-ins and headscratchers for me.
    Thanks U and setter.

  3. 19:03 couldn’t parse LOI DECATHLETE at all and only half parsed SEEING ONES WAY.

    Bottom half seemed to glide in with the top half requiring almost all the brain work today.

    Thanks blogger and setter

  4. 19’04”, not a Monday puzzle. Had no idea of the wordplay for SEEING ONE’S WAY.
    I knew Lammy, but frontbenchers who chop and change so often….? Even PMs can now be challenging as we’ve had so many recently.

    Thanks ulaca and setter.

  5. I was 53 minutes on this, with LOI the innocuous DID. SEEING ONES WAY really needed TO added although I guess that was in the clue. COD to BREAKDANCER. Harder than it looked. Thank you U and setter.

  6. Couple missed today, DISUNITE (pretty shocking with 4 checkers and no other hiddens found), and CLAMMY, where the L for Labour and MP for front bencher kept me on the wrong track.

    Couldn’t parse DECATHLETE (and still don’t like it), so was toss up between it and TRIATHLETE. And DOORSTOP held me back too.

    I actually got ROUND HEADS by applying logic with a couple of checkers. Saw that HEADS was likely at the end, then reds=communists, so must be R——HEADS. I don’t have a good record with Spooner clues.

    I tried to parse SCRAPE with “discarded material”=CRAP.

    COD SHEFFIELD.

    1. I’ve had to learn that L – so far as I know – is not an attested abbreviation for ‘Labour.’

      1. Yes, slightly oddly C for Conservative appears in the dictionaries, along with L for Liberal, but L for Labour does not.

        1. Once upon a time the main parties were Conservative (C) and Liberal (L). Then Labour turned up……. Liberals were still around, so Labour had to be Lab.

  7. Re 15 ac. Surely “on to” is two words, in this usage.

    Chambers recognises “onto” as a legitimate form of the preposition “on to”, which I regret, but there you are.

    But “on to”, meaning “aware of”, is part of a phrasal verb: “to be on to [something]”. In which case it is two words. To write “she is onto something” would be like writing, “What are you upto?”.

    The Chambers definition of “onto/on to” is blurred by the cross-referencing of the two forms, but even so, “aware of” is supplied as a possible meaning only of “on to”, not of “onto”.

    I’m being nit-picky, I know, but for some reason I found this crossword quite irritating. Too many of the answers smacked of desperation: “Decathlete”, “Seeing one’s way”, “Disunite”.

    1. Collins disagrees! It allows both ‘on to’ and ‘onto’ for statements such as ‘The police are onto us.’

        1. I think it’s just usage, although a historical appreciation, which I don’t have, might show that ‘onto’ has a long history. Perhaps it’s analogous to ‘alright’, which is considered quite okay in place of ‘all right’, despite not being liked by some. Language is a living thing, after all.

  9. Just under 20 minutes, but with absolutely no idea about SEEING ONES WAY – I could make neither head nor tail of the wordplay and didn’t know it as a phrase, so I was fully expecting to come here and find it was something else entirely.

    – Didn’t parse DECATHLETE but it was the only one of the various ‘-athletes’ that would fit
    – Thought of and parsed DID early on but rejected it as I didn’t quite see how it equated to ‘exhausted’, and only went back to it when D_D left no realistic alternative

    Thanks ulaca and setter.

    FOI Raw
    LOI Seeing one’s way
    COD Scrape

  10. 34:16. Well! That was a bit of a shock on a Monday. FOI a tentative HOCKEY. I couldn’t parse SEEING ONES WAY, except just SWAY at the end, so thank you Ulaca for that one and the rest. LOI DISUNITE where I could sort of see the letters I needed but it took a while before the should-have-been-simple reverse hidden suddenly appeared. COD to BREAKDANCER

  11. 48 minutes. No hope of being able to work out SEEING ONE’S WAY (thanks to ulaca for unraveling the wordplay) and several others like DECATHLETE were not fully parsed. Even so, I was satisfied to eventually complete a puzzle that was harder than a typical Monday.

  12. 9:56. A steady one, with a few (SEEING ONES WAY for instance) bunged in without much attention paid to the wordplay.
    I didn’t know this meaning of HOKEY.

  13. 34.37 and feeling lucky to get this done, some devious clues, thanks U.

    From Blind Willie McTell:
    Seen the arrow on the DOORPOST, saying this land is condemned
    All the way from New Orleans
    To Jerusalem
    Well I travelled through East Texas, where many martyrs fell
    And I know no-one can sing the blues like
    Blind Willie McTell

  14. 17.42, sharing in the bemusement of many here, especially not SEEING ONE’S WAY to the wordplay. I thought after LIMBER UP this was going to be a normal Monday, but was quickly disabused. Even RUNNY was entered with trepidation, because although we always had a run for our guinea pigs and rabbits, I struggled to think of it as a pen. With UNFILLED, I couldn’t make the wordplay work with “unfulfilled” as the starting point, but got there in the end. Last in DISUNITE, managing just in time to see the reverse and refraining from a Y at the end.
    I do wonder if “prime locations” has lost the element of surprise.
    Decent workout, and well done Ulaca seeing your way through!

  15. 24:31 with a stinking cold. Was hoping for something more gentle but most of the definitions clicked for me. No idea about 9ac, thanks for that parsing and missed the hidden DISUNITE so got lucky there. Time for more sleep.

  16. 44 minutes on a crossword that I thought was harder than the usual Monday one. I agree with what has been said about ‘onto’ and ‘on to’ but I suspect we are at the mercy of people who join the words together. rv1’s point some time ago about dictionaries, misuse, and ignorocracy is I think a good one and if he can recover from his cold and repeat it then surely some will question the role of dictionaries. For example to verify something is not to prove it; yet I can see a time when people get things wrong and say they’re the same thing and dictionaries record this.

    I had many of the same problems as people had, as well as a real mistake at 6ac, which I confidently entered as scraps, thinking the first two words were the definition, and not understanding the wordplay and shrugging.

  18. 38 minutes. Made very heavy weather of this and was relieved just to finish. Needed to come here to understand SEEING ONES WAY and completely missed that DISUNITED was hidden. I liked DOORPOST, BEDSIDE MANER and LOOSE CANNON.

    Thanks to Ulaca and the setter

  19. My thanks to ulaca and setter.
    I struggled with this, despite the gimmes helping me along.
    9a Seeing etc biffed.
    11a Unfilled, didn’t see the Fun for ages.
    10a Hockey. Wasn’t certain of that meaning of hokey.
    13a Decathlete biffed.
    22a Clammy. David Lammy must have come up before as he is in Cheating Machine. Not that CM helped.
    26a Disunite, missed the hidden.
    3d Breakdancer, needed all the crossers. Doh! It wasn’t in CM as one word, so I went to Chambers to cheat. Should have checked the multis in CM.
    7d “Don’t come the raw prawn with me cobber” made this FOI.

  20. 30:33

    Another stinking cold over here. Same thoughts as others, not seeing the 9a wordplay (apart from SWAY); not seeing the anagram fodder for LOI DOORPOST (bunged in from checkers). Had TOLLBAR initially at 17d, which made 21a trickier…

    Thanks U and setter

  21. Did this in between managing some workmen. The breaks might have actually helped but I suspect the time was just above 40′ which shows its not an easy Monday.

    LOI IN STORE which I didn’t parse and only biffed after spending a while on DECATHLETE.

    Glad to finish, thanks Ulaca and setter

  22. A tricky Monday indeed. Towards the end a sudden inspiration provided DECATHLETE insted of TRATHLETE and IN STORE allowed me to biff LOI, SEEING ONES WAY. I couldn’t parse it and fully expected pink squares, but it was correct. Only saw the SWAY bit. Would never have cone up with GONE for repaired. RUNNY was FOI . 29:48. Thanks setter and U.

  23. Fairly tricky for a Monday, as noted by all. Finished in about 25 minutes but with some not fully parsed (but all correct). I too felt ON TO should be 2 words here. I thought CAT for ‘man’ in 13a was a bit of an ask, although the answer was obv.

  24. I vaguely remember Barry McKenzie once uttering the words “Don’t come the uncooked crustacean with me” as an elegant variation on Raw Prawn.

    Finished this eventually, thanks for parsing Decathlete and Seeing one’s way for me. CLAMMY was good.

  25. Either I was on the wavelength, or no longer having baseball on in the background (the season is well and truely over)(sad), allowed me to focus better, but I found this very approachable. I am on board with the many comments about synonyms which are close enough, given crossers, but not exact.

    In four or five years when someone comes back to work a pile of back-issue puzzles or when the editor puts together a compilation for a puzzle book,
    C-Lammy is going to be completely unparsable. Maybe there was good reason to allow only the monarch as a living reference after all.

    1. Yes, had similar thoughts. Quite a lot of very temporary celebs allowed now, it seems. At least if they are dead and included, they are probably going to be a bit more lasting. Can’t see Lammy being one, once he’s dead 🙂

  26. DNF in around 30.

    Just could not see BEDSIDE MANNER even with all the checkers. For some reason the same length phrase SEEING ONES WAY was equally elusive so I had to feed on scraps elsewhere. POI DID which went in and out a few times as I couldn’t quite get that and “exhausted” to be synonymous.

    I did like CLAMMY though which was straight in.

    Time for a lie down!

    Thanks Ulaca/setter

  27. Came a cropper on 10 across where I thought clubs was doing double duty and that the answer was Jockey as in the jockey club. Would never have thought of hokey.
    Thought this very tough for a Monday, maybe just not on the wavelength.

    Thx Ulaca and setter

  28. Well, I managed to finish but it was a struggle. Over 50 mins. Most of my feelings have already been mentioned above.

    Some odd words today, UNFILLED, DISUNITE and UPTREND are definitely not words that are used everyday! SEEING ONES WAY was a complete mystery.

    I liked BEDSIDE MANNER.

    Thanks U and setter.

  29. The parsing of 9a can honestly go and jump in the lake, that was ridiculous. I did quite like BREAKDANCER, though. A thorny Monday and no mistake.

  31. 39:05. lots not properly parsed. I didn’t get on with this one well at all! thought CLAMMY was funny but if this is what the editor thinks is the type of clue to bring the yoof in, it’s somewhat wide of the mark.

    honestly – the living names thing still rankles. basically anyone appearing in the crossword should still be gettable by someone in 50 years time.

    1. That would guarantee that references in crosswords would invariably be quite old, because they would already have to have been around long enough to show they’ll ‘stand the test of time’.

      And that certainly wouldn’t bring younger solvers in!

  32. 36 minutes, including a brief break to reply to an email. All parsed, but I agree that ONTO should have been two words. The “prime” thing held me up for ages a month or so ago, but I was ready for it this time! (Mr Lammy must be quite chuffed about being in a crossword, if he knows that he is.)

  33. In and out of this puzzle this afternoon with many interruptions, so no time to report. I found it pretty tough, and would estimate 60 minutes plus to complete it. Satisfying therefore to complete with all correct, but like others couldn’t parse SEEING ONES WAY.

  34. Most unMondayish. I came in just under the half hour. DOORPOST was an excellent clue.

  35. 38.34. Was completely off the wavelength for large parts of the time. Pleased to finish in the end. Did and toolbar my LOIs .

  36. 25A BRIDGE. The name of the card game EUCHRE ” . . . derives from a 19th-century Alsatian game called juckerspiel from the fact that its two top trumps are Jucker, meaning “jack” (Encyclopaedia Britannica online, entry “Euchre”). So Jack is in a commanding position.

    Also, in euchre, “bridge” is ‘the situation in which a team is one point away from winning’ (OED, entry “bridge”, noun¹, II.12.b). Jolly Jack Tar could be on the bridge of a sailing-ship, of course, except would he be commanding? Would not his captain be on the bridge?

  37. Having just read the comments today, realise that I DID better than I had thought: was stuck for a good while reversing a limb – maybe LEG to start off 1a, and only had the THLETE part of the sportsperson. NHO LAMMY, as I’m in Oz and he sounds quite obscure, but biffed that one correctly. The rest went in fairly easily (for me!), so was happy with my workout. Especially liked BEDSIDE MANNER.

  38. Thanks setter and ulaca
    Given that I am so far behind the actual published puzzle, I took my time with this one over a number of days and over two hours to finish and get all of the parsing done. It was certainly no pipe-opening Monday jobbie !
    Found that I was solving by quadrant with the NW one providing the most challenge – certainly not helped after writing in an unparsed TRIATHLETE at 13a – leaving 2d, 3d and 9a needing work. Strangely I was looking for errors in HOCKEY and RUNNY to help out – only after challenging the sportsperson and twigging to DECATHLETE did the rest start to make sense. Was pleased to parse both SEEING ONE’S WAY to confirm that was what it was and then to unravel the word play of that DECATHLETE.

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