Times Cryptic 26072

52 comments on “Times Cryptic 26072”

1. …..as according to the Wiki “Aisling is an Irish language feminine given name meaning “dream” or “vision” and referring to an aisling, a poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th century in Irish language genre poetry. Aisling was not used as a given name before the 20th century.”

   Naturally, being familiar with the correct usage, I was somewhat thrown by the modern reference, although the wordplay was clear enough.

   On the other hand, I never heard of ‘bags I’, which is a purely UK expression.

   Curiously, I was thinking of the Monkees song ‘Auntie Grizelda’ (their spelling) this morning, so ‘Griselda’ went right in. It is spelt correctly in The Clerk’s Tale.

   And, yes, we do ‘hang a left’, in the native diction of the American passenger-seat navigator.

   1. Your definition of modern/incorrect made me chuckle.
2. All done in about 25mins except for 10ac. which I still don’t understand. I have vaguely heard of Cardinal Newman (although he didn’t come to mind) but the rest of this eludes me. COL went in on the “dip” alone – I know nothing about Cluedo.

   I did like 13ac and 23ac though.

   “Hang” meaning “make a turn” (as in “hang a U-ey”) is common Australian slang.

   Edited at 2015-04-14 02:40 am (UTC)

   1. It’s basically a clue and a half: the half-clue refers to him of cardinal virtue, while the whole clue refers to a modern Renaissance-type man (think Verlaine), who does his share of the child-minding, dusting and cleaning…
      1. I parsed it slightly differently: “One of cardinal” and “virtue vis-a-vis the role of sexes”.
         Bit of a stinker today – around the hour mark.
         1. I read it as a dubious pun all round.
      2. None newer, greener or wetter-behind-the-ears than I!
   2. COED defines NEW MAN as one who rejects sexist attitudes and the traditional male role.
      1. Thank you. I only knew that expression to mean someone who is physically or mentally revitalised.
3. A crossword to savour slowly, which meant close to an hour of enjoyment. 10ac is the only weak clue I can see. HANG A LEFT is heard in SYDNEY, of which the setter seems to have a low opinion. It was ‘I bags’ or just ‘bags’ in my schoolyard.
4. Massive fail today… 51mins and no less than three wrong: permissive LAW, have a rest, and yes man.

   If my teens are anything to go by, BAGS I has long been eclipsed by shouting ‘shotgun!’, inevitably before we get in the car, to claim the front seat.

   1. I first came across the expression “shotgun” when working in the States. My kind American colleagues were amazed I didn’t know what it meant, but patiently explained that it was used for claiming the front passenger seat and that it was a reference to the Wild West where the person sitting on the front bench next to the wagon-driver would hold the shotgun (the driver having his hands full with the reins).
      I’ve heard it since in the UK (including on the Inbetweeners) – but only in the same precise context.
      That said, I could easily see it spread to other situations.

      When I was a boy in the eighties, we said ‘bags-ee’ – but that may just be the “Zumerzet” coming in.

      1. Having consulted with a couple of the teens, I can confirm that they use ‘shotgun’ in other circumstances, too, for the last piece of cake, eg
5. So tough I thought I was doing well to get in 31 seconds under 30. I managed the first two across in quicksolve mode, thereafter derailed. LOsI REPLEVY (a guess, despite my legal education) and NEW MAN. I remember, in Israel when my Hebrew was, shall we say, immature, struggling to make out shop names, and being really annoyed when they turned out to be “supermarket” (סופרמרקט/TQRMRPUS looks more mysterious) or, as here, New Man/Newman. Several guesses (including red and leg) before kindly light led me on through the encircling gloom.
   VAN was AWN for too long – the parsing works even if the definition is iffy.
   I don’t remember being a GOALTENDER on the hockey field, but then mostly I remember being either frozen or terrified. Perhaps it’s the ice version.
   Aussie friends gave me hang (a) left, which I still use.
   And in my school playground, it was “bagsie” though we’d never have thought of spelling it.
   1. Yes, it’s a goalkeeper in field hockey. The unindicated reference here is to ice hockey – plain ‘hockey’ to an American, in keeping with the transatlantic flavor.
6. A tad under 34 minutes, but with ‘per man’ (where I was also considering ‘key’ and ‘red’ men, so absolutely nowhere in the same parish) at 10a. Fun puzzle, if amenable to much biffing.

   Edited at 2015-04-14 02:55 am (UTC)

   1. I also had “yes man” and “leg man” (don’t ask!) as other possibilities.

      Edited at 2015-04-14 03:19 am (UTC)

7. Thought this was a real cracker – thoroughly enjoyed the tussle.

   LOsI the hockey player / Irish miss pair – not helped by my having stupidly put in ASSURED which kept the goalie at bay until I realised my error.

   Thought COL, VAN and WOMEN IN LOVE were excellent. The TEA TRAY left me quite bemused as it had to be right, but without knowing the lit ref it was bizarre!

   1. Looks like a seriously deprived upbringing. My grandchildren now have:
      Twinkle, twinkle, chocolate bar
      Granddad drives a rusty car
      Start the engine, pull the choke
      Off we go in a cloud of smoke
      Twinkle, twinkle, chocolate bar
      Granddad drives a rusty car

      Though of course they have no idea what a choke is.

      1. Course they do. They watched the Aussies play as they grew up, didn’t they?
         1. Only thing choking down here is the trophy cabinet mate. Got any empty ones we can borrow? ‘course you have!
      2. I know that one, but I was equally bemused by the bat reference. If lack of exposure to Lewis Carroll in childhood constitutes deprivation then I was deprived, but from what I’ve seen subsequently I don’t feel particularly hard done by.
         1. There is a delicious moment or two for parents committed to reading the Dodgson oeuvre to their offspring, a chapter at a time. This is the entirety of chapter 10 in “Through the Looking Glass”;

            “She took her off the table as she spoke, and shook her backwards and forwards with all her might.
            The Red Queen made no resistance whatever; only her face grew very small, and her eyes got large and green: and still, as Alice went on shaking her, she kept on growing shorter—and fatter—and softer—and rounder—and—”

            And this is next night, chapter 11

            “—and it really WAS a kitten, after all.”

            No-one, child or adult, should be deprived of that experience of anticipation coupled with massive let down.

            Night night, children, everywhere.

            1. I confess I still don’t feel particularly hard done by.
      3. Any deprivation on the Alice front was entirely self inflicted. Parents tried to steer me there, but I resolutely rejected it at the time as being nowhere near as engrossing as a) the Playfair Cricket Annual b) the Penguin Guide to Fishing c) The Observers Book of Birds d) Dad’s art books with pictures of “naked ladies”.

         With the possible exception of d), all have proved quite useful in my recent addiction to cryptics!

         Edited at 2015-04-14 09:58 am (UTC)

         1. I’m sure d)’s had its uses too.
8. 25 mins – I loved the tea tray.
9. 20:30 … mind-stretching but doable. It did occur to me while solving that certain bits of fairly trivial GK were helping.

   Looking at the solved grid, it really looks like there ought to be a nina buried in there, possibly involving mythological allusions in heavy metal music (I can almost see Hawkwind) but the only ‘thing’ I’ve got is a disjointed “cole slaw” in the top-right. Not sure cole slaw is very rock and roll.

10. Was on the setter’s wavelength for this, as it involved an Irish name (I know several Aislings), Cluedo (I used to play), a quote from Alice (I am a big fan); the only one guessed from WP was REPLEVY, which sounded like a real word. All done in 30 minutes of enjoyment with no gripes.

    Tomorrow’s blog may be a little delayed as I’ll be in foreign parts and struggling on an Android device, but hopefully it will appear by mid morning.

11. 23m. Just my cup of tea, this. Chewy but all fair, and unlike ulaca I biffed very little: I found that nearly all the clues required some engagement with the wordplay to get a foothold. Several unknowns derived entirely from said wordplay, which always makes for an enjoyable puzzle IMO. Last in REPLEVY, with fingers crossed.
    HANG A LEFT is quite common in the UK in my experience. An import no doubt.
    Like z8 I think it was ‘bagsy’ when I was a kid, but as he says it’s not something we spelled.
12. I thought this was a brilliant puzzle – requiring a good level of general knowledge across the board and with some clues that made me grin happily – 23A and 7D springing to mind.

    I brought it in a whisker over 20 minutes, which I guess is okay for a crossword as chewy as this one. Yesterday’s woes definitely continued into the Concise Crossword today – I managed to submit with RICOCHET somehow mis-entered as RICOCHER, which is of course what happens when one throws a Ferrero Rocher at at a wall.

13. I made a right pig’s ear of this one. I wasn’t enjoying it as much as some of you seem to have done, and after 32 mins I decided to throw in “permissive law” and “have a rest” in the 9ac/6dn crossers just to get finished. I knew they weren’t right, used aids, and could have kicked myself when I realised what the correct answers were. Tomorrow is another day.
    1. Got through despite a mysterious grey fowl that took a long time to flutter off. Now this was an enjoyable puzzle. On edit: sorry – not meant to be a comment on last.

       Edited at 2015-04-14 06:12 pm (UTC)

14. Really made a mess of this one, well over the hour and two mistakes.

    HANG A REST was pretty dumb given that HANG A LEFT is very common down here. My other error was RED MAN, which seemed highly unlikely but I never would have got NEW MAN.

    Some brilliant clues aside from that, particularly the letter in and out and the placed behind. Thanks setter and blogger.

15. Great puzzle. I loved STAT, a brilliantly clued short solution. I’d never heard of REPLEVY, but the cryptic route to the answer was well signposted. Thanks to Jack for explaining COL — the def was clear but the best if feeble cryptic parsing I could come up with was that Col was an abbreviation for Colman’s, the condiment’s best known manufacturer said to make most of its profits from the amount of the stuff people leave on their plates.
    1. I considered that long and hard before I suddenly spotted the correct wordplay and I was ready to raise merry hell here if that had been the explanation!
16. Well, I finished it, but it was a handful. Didn’t know about PARKINSON’S LAW, but it had to be that. Same goes for REPLEVY. Probably an hour and a half altogether. Good challenge.
17. I can’t get 10ac as a clue. I can see both concepts (Cardinal Newman and the ‘virtue’ {if that’s what you decide it is – that seems rather subjective to me} of being a ‘new man’). However, I can’t get the parsing and see both concepts separately and clearly defining the answer? Do I have to read ‘virtue’ twice to get the sense of the clue?

    MPM

    1. I think you’re over-analysing it, MPM. As Jack says in the blog, it’s just a cryptic definition for NEW MAN. There isn’t a separately identifiable definition for the Cardinal himself, just a reference to help you along the way.
18. There’s a DIO in the penultimate column of unches if that helps, and DEAD two to the left (Ronnie James of that ilk went to the great Marshall amp store in the sky in 2010. Shame he didn’t quite go up to 11).

    TALALU in the fourth row up must mean something (other than a hunting call in Wodehouse).

19. 19:29 for a terrific puzzle. The revolving door alone was worth the price of being let in.

    My last two (new man with a shrug and replevy on a wing and a prayer) took about 5 minutes on their own.

    Thanks for parsing P’s Law Jack, couldn’t get much past KIN for relatives.

    1. I’m not sure I entirely agree with SONS and INLAW being separate relatives – I think the relatives are SONS-IN-LAW… if no-one’s said that already.
       1. I think on balance you are right but an “in-law” can be a relative too so my version still works.
20. My 27 mins doesn’t seem too bad based on comments above. My only GK gap was REPLEVY which is such an odd word I thought it was probably a momble when I bunged it in. LOI was NEW MAN which I am definitely not though I now have to prepare dinner ready for the return of ‘er indoors from a trip to Scotland.
21. Couldn’t get the NEW MAN, and the reference to the cardinal, with whom I’m not familiar enough to think of, threw me off the track. Ouch. Otherwise, 35 minutes or so ending with COL, which became my favorite. We call the game simply ‘Clue’. Very wide ranging puzzle overall. TEA TRAY from wordplay only, REPLEVY was new to me but wordplay was clear, and the appearance of Bobby Fischer was a nice surprise. Is he dead? Regards to all.
    1. Yes Kevin, he died in January 2008.
22. This was a sitting-around-in-the-airport job with two mistakes, STET and YES MAN, put in with no rationale. Some very good and fun clues elsewhere though. My young adults hang a left/right all the time here in the UK.
23. 23:34 for me. I knew I was tired before I started, but hadn’t realised how tired until I tried to work out 6ac on the basis that the “Trojan queen” was Dido!!! This despite: a) having read Euripides’ Hecuba as one of my set works for Greek O-level (though this meant I had to eliminate HECABE); b) having read the books of Virgil’s Aeneid covering both Troy and Carthage along the way to Latin A-level; having sung in performances of Berlioz’s The Trojans (both parts – at Troy and at Carthage) at the Festival Hall and at the Proms; being thoroughly familiar with those well-known Shakespeare quotes (“… What’s Hecuba to him …?”, “… Dido with a willow in her hand …”). I’m putting it down to tiredness anyway, but maybe incipient dementia contributed.

    After that things didn’t go too badly until I became stuck on NEW MAN and REPLEVY – and almost lost the will to live. The former was blindingly obvious once I’d decided to work through the alphabet and reached N (which took a long time as I kept dozing off); but I dithered over the latter as I don’t recall coming across it before.

    Despite all that, I found this an interesting and enjoyable puzzle.

24. Utterly DNFd.

    Never heard of AISLING (if I had to guess, I’d have said it was part of a church, along with the roofing and the seating), and had “cut” for 7d (on the fragile basis that one ‘cuts the mustard’).

    Ah well. Tuesdays were never my strong suit.

25. Unlike most of you didn’t enjoy it at all, and DNF. Went for aids early, too many known unknowns (replevy, hecuba, aisling, griselda, col, parkinson’s law, bags i). Fairly beaten by a harder crossword.
    And still totally mystified by 23 ac. I saw the cryptic definition, which is not great in my view (needs hyphens? a door is a letter-in not a letter in?), but where does the all-in-one come from?
    Rob (grumpy)
    1. Rob, your point about the absence of hyphens might be valid if “letter-in” was the answer to be written in the grid, but in wordplay (as here) the setter is allowed leeway to mislead and tease. As to all-in-one, doors work two ways, so: letter in and (letter)out.

       Edited at 2015-05-15 04:20 pm (UTC)

       1. Thanks for the reply.
          Rob

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