Times Crossword 25,320 – Championship Class

Author   JerryWPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
This is the first puzzle from the second preliminary round of the Championships. It took me about 25 minutes, on the train going home, but I don’t think it is a hard crossword. It has no esoteric words or obscure general knowledge. Doing the blog now, every clue seems limpidly clear – in retrospect! What it does have, is elegant, economical, well engineered clueing of the highest standard. To me it seems a model of what a crossword should be, and I can see why it was used for the Championship. Thank you setter.

cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev = reversed, anagrams are *(–).

ODO means the Oxford Dictionaries Online

Across
1 totemic – bear = TOTE + rodents = MIC(E)
5 duchess – proper = DUE + saints = SS containing CH, a Companion of Honour. Like most such awards, the membership seems a rather eclectic mix of greatness, obscurity and dross
9 shortfall – *(HOST FAR) + lines = LL.. not an abbreviation I remember ever seeing used in anger
10 spoor – SPOR(T) containing love = O
11 parallelogram – trim = PARE containing entirely = ALL, + record = LOG, to beat = RAM. I’m not sure I would have said beat = ram, but Chambers does..
13 hardship – mess = HASH + I + P containing road = RD
15 dispel – inspector = DI + mostly mean = SPEL(L). Another crafty synonym, but it works: eg “This could spell/mean disaster”
17 autumn – wAs UnTrUe MeNu
19 Culloden – gather = CULL, round = O, study = DEN. What an elegant clue this one is! Whenever I pass a battle site I stop for a few minutes if I can, to see if I can sense the atmosphere they contain.. and no site I’ve been to is more atmospheric than Culloden, a very bleak moor indeed.
22 well-preserved – join together = WELD containing album = LP + book = RESERVE
25 tango – thanks = TA, + N + GO
26 roadstead – *(TRADE SO) + AD
27 respect – lean = REST containing muscle = PEC, the basis of your manly chest, if such you have. Detail as in, correct in every respect/detail
28 entente – hidden
Down
1 task – T + expect = ASK. Another extremely neat clue with two devious but correct meanings
2 trouper – *(ROUT) + a = PER.. as in 6d per dozen, almost a crossword cliché these days
3 motor – second = MO + hill = TOR
4 chaplain – CHA + PLAIN
5 dolmen – trick = DO + L + MEN
6 custodial – most of tradition = CUSTO(M) + mug = face = DIAL
7 ego trip – (ON)E + GOT + rent = RIP
8 scrambling – spades = S + diamonds? = BLING containing pack = CRAM. Yet another fine clue, though in my experience bling = rhinestones, more often than diamonds
12 shearwater – *(THERE WAS A R) where R = (chess) rook. Shearwaters are extraordinary birds. The Wiki article mentions one that has flown well over a million km just in migrating, never mind the daily commute..
14 semaphore – land = SHORE containing E + MAP
16 tutelage – express disapproval = TUT + (SP)EE(CH) containing delay = LAG
18 talents – romance? = TALE + N(U)TS
20 dudgeon – failure = DUD + dope = info = GEN, containing O. Funny, how dudgeons are always high ones..
21 secret – religious group = SECT containing on = RE
23 visit – against = V + IT containing I(NDIA) S(TILL)
24 idle – “IDOL”

Author: JerryW

I love The Times crosswords..

32 comments on “Times Crossword 25,320 – Championship Class”

  1. 38 minutes. Didn’t recognise DOLMEN or ROADSTEAD but I may have met and forgotten them. Quite a few answers went in on definition and a couple of checkers without understanding the wordplay until after the event.
  2. 27 minutes – a rare sub-30 for me. Like Jack, a number went in on definition (eg EGO TRIP), ROADSTEAD being the only unknown.

    I think the clue to Vinyl’s question lies in the fact that Jerry had alredy solved the puzzle, so was able to have his blog loaded and ready to fire at the stroke of midnight so he could get some shuteye.

    One confession: I never realised until today that ‘swear like a trooper’ and ‘she’s a fine old trouper’ were different words. Given the difference between troupe and troop, I should have known, but didn’t, and so was scratching my head over the ‘alternative’ spelling…

    1. Yes.. it transforms your whole blogging experience if you are able to do the blog in advance – so long as the expected puzzle does appear, that is! The blog always takes me much longer than the puzzle itself
      1. Me too. Even the Mephisto blogs take longer to write than time taken to solve the puzzle.
  3. Also done on the train: but in my case the hour’s journey to Perth last week. 12:01 UTC is surely a record posting, though we know that J. had the puzzle in advance. I managed 12:08 UTC (8:08 WST) last week for the same reason. Now there’s a challenge!

    Loved 8dn (S,CRAM,BLING).

  4. Another 27 minutes. Spent some time not working out why entente was right – one misses the simplest things – but it had to be. I have to admit I didn’t even try to follow the twists and turns of the parallelogram. 8 my favourite also.
  5. A very enjoyable puzzle – as Jerry says a model of its kind. 25 minutes of pleasure with no queries – well done setter.

    I also agree about Culloden, very bleak, very atmospheric. The same is particularly true for Glencoe and Monte Cassino

  6. Time at Championship about 13 minutes, but with one error. With T_S_ for one down in place, I put in TEST – definition “exercise” absolutely fine, and the wordplay a mash up of T for time and EST short for estimate, something to do with estimated/expected values. In retrospect, and in the face of the proud 26 year tradition of not accepting alternatives, I can see that TASK is better and (though it still does if I squint a bit) my essay didn’t quite work. But on entry, and perhaps especially in competition, it looked perfectly fine, and I had no cause to go back and check it – wouldn’t have changed it if I did.
    I suppose if I had run through the alphabet on the crossers, I’d have got to TASK first, but them’s the breaks, and I’ll have to pay my dues next year again instead of getting a free entry. Any similar experiences?

    Edited at 2012-11-14 09:00 am (UTC)

    1. PS. In Chambers Thesaurus, expect gets to estimate via reckon. As far as I can see, the link from expect to ask goes by a similar two step via suppose. Spilt milk.
      1. I do sympathise. I expect/reckon a fairly good case could be made for TEST, but does it fall down on being a clear abbreviation, which the wordplay should specifically mention?
    2. Yep, I fell into the TEST trap going through the same mental gymnastics as z8b8d8k having first tried and failed to squeeze ETA in somehow.

      Nick M

      1. I recall that ETA was part of my track – “time to expect” makes a really good match for “estimated time of arrival”. I’m pretty sure that’s where the est/estimated strand welded itself to my brain and made TEST feel like a good answer – everything I could ask or expect!
  7. The earlier solve worked today with all correct after 36m. This is the only championship puzzle I have completed so I guess this was a little easier. Lots to admire and my COD to 8d.
  8. Only 22 minutes today and was a bit surprised to find it was all correct, not immediately seeing the parsing of TALENTS and RESPECT. I seem to be much faster or brighter at 10 a.m. than in my usual slot in early evening.
  9. 9:45. My immediate thought was that I’d picked the wrong prelim, but of course it’s relative time that counts and I expect Mark Goodliffe finished this one in his sleep two days before the championships.
    This was undoubtedly very elegant, but I put a lot in on definition and checkers so it’s not my favourite kind of puzzle. However it gave me a little ego boost because I finished it in under ten minutes, and that’s my second favourite kind.
    No mention of the DBEs in 8dn and 18dn? [runs for cover]

    Edited at 2012-11-14 09:39 am (UTC)

    1. You won’t find me mentioning dbes, (unless provoked 🙂 – but isn’t the ? in each case supposed to make everything all right anyway?
  10. Exactly half an hour, but like Zabadak, I put in TEST at 1 down, and for just the same reasons.

    Apart from that, I agree with what others have said about this enjoyable, well-crafted puzzle.

    Had the same thought as Jerry about DUDGEON, and why is lucre nearly always filthy?

    I did wonder about the identity of SEAN DIB, who appears in the third line of unchecked letters.

  11. 8:45 over lunch, ending with 8dn (SCRAMBLING).

    Yes, definitely a classic.  I’m with Jerry on the two criticisms offered so far: the question marks in 8dn and 18dn indicate the definitions by example (‘diamonds?’ for BLING, ‘Romance?’ for TALE); and as for the putative alternative answer TEST at 1dn, I don’t have Chambers to hand, but the OED is with me in being unaware of a verb ‘est’ that means to expect.

    Clue of the Day: 8dn (SCRAMBLING).

    1. I wasn’t criticising the DBEs – they’re absolutely fine. I was just teasing.
      I think the idea with TEST is that “est.” is an abbreviation for “estimate”, which kind of means “expect”. The three problems with this as I see it are:
      1. I’d expect the abbreviation to be indicated, as Jerry points out
      2. I think I’d expect to see an abbreviation like this to be clued by the word being abbreviated, not a synonym. By the same token I don’t think you tend to see “r” clued by “flower”. I admit I’m not entirely sure about this.
      3. As far as I can tell “est.” is an abbreviation for “estimated” but not “estimate”
      1. Sorry, just indulging in my usual habit of declining to spell out the obvious.  Your second point is interesting, though.  It used to be common for setters to clue R as ‘take’, on the grounds that it stands for ‘recipe’, and I think it’s because of the obscurity of the abbreviation rather than the indirectness of the indication that it’s no longer clued this way – you’ll still find it clued as ‘side’ or ‘hand’.  ‘Flower’, though, would indeed be a bridge too far – perhaps because it’s cryptic, but probably also because ‘R.’ only stands for ‘River’ in the context of a name like ‘R. Thames’, so it wouldn’t make sense to indicate it via a definition or synonym.
        1. …while I indulge in my habit of stating it!
          R for “take” is still common in Mephistoland.
          R for “hand” or “side” rather disproves my theory, and I’m sure there are other examples. You see “student” for L sometimes, for instance, although perhaps not in the Times. In any event I think even “guessed” for “est.” would be pushing it, so I think my point stands in this instance.
          Hope you’re getting some sleep by the way!
  12. 18 minutes. Delighted to come here and find my sense of the puzzle endorsed at the highest level! I can’t explain it except that it flowed.

    In hiphop jargon bling most definitely did not mean paste – those rocks were real whether embedded in teeth (ugh) or strung on heavy gold chains.

  14. Enjoyed this one very much, but had to do it in fits and starts, not having a lot of uninterrupted time at the moment. DOLMEN from wordplay, but everything else was crystal clear and admirable surfaces!
  15. About 12 minutes, which is quite quick for me. My LOI was TASK, which I couldn’t figure out so left it for the end. I thought ‘ask’=’expect’ was somewhat a stretch, but I couldn’t think of anything better. I also thought ‘mean’=’spell’ was just as stretchy. But I agree with most that the surfaces for the clues were very smoothly put together, so thanks. Regards.
  16. It’s good to know I’m not alone – many thanks. As it happens I am prepared to accept (as I did on the day) that my alternative falls under proper and close examination. but it’s close enough to mistake for an acceptable answer that you put down, move on and forget. There are plenty enough occasions when you write in what instinctively feels right without breaking the clue down fully, or (often enough) not understanding the cryptic or the connection with the definition. Most of the time, it doesn’t matter, except in terms of dented pride; on this occasion, it’s going to cost me 15 quid, or whatever the fee turns out to be.
    1. I too had TEST for TASK on the day but had a bad feeling about it so it was the only one I checked when we were given the answers. If I had not done so I would have been none the wiser as my answers were marked all correct for another free entry next year. It took some convincing to persuade the markers that my mistake had got past their triple marking system – but it had, so down I went from 22 to 38 and no free entry! At least I was in good company with Zabadak et al.
      Susie P
    2. I also failed the ‘test case’ but was happy with my 49 minutes nevertheless. As I’ve never been to a competition, could you let me know what was the time limit by which 55% of the competitors correctly solved it please?
      I also do not do this on-line (yet) – so I don’t understand the reference to the checkers which appears in many blog entries. Thanks. Chris.
      1. Hi Chris
        The rules have varied but for some years now competitors have had to complete 3 crosswords in 60 minutes (or less), first in a preliminary heat and then in the final. so the 55% figure is roughly related to 20mins per crossword..
        The checkers in these comments are checking the competitors’ answers but usually checkers relates to a crossword grid: any letter is either checked, ie another clue uses the same letter, or unchecked (sometimes called “unches”) ie it is a letter only one clue uses.
  17. 9:05 for me, solving a few days after the event. I agonised for a while over TASK v. TEST, but came to the conclusion that the former had to be the right answer.

    Respect to Susie P for owning up to her mistake. I hope I’d have been strong-minded enough to do the same.

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