Times Cryptic 26079 – we’ve arrived at last

Author   piquetPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
[This was an advance post just to say I am on an aeroplane at 6.30 a.m. Wednesday, then two more FlyBe planes before in theory arriving home in early afternoon. I’ll attempt to solve the puzzle in transit, write the blog on my Android tablet, and post it as soon as I’m online somewhere. Meanwhile thanks for your patience; it was all too late to ask for a sub but if someone else wants to pre-empt me I shan’t be upset. Pip]

Well, the first part went fine. By 6.45 we were half way across the Irish Sea from Ellan Vannin and the printed-off puzzle was solved and, I hoped, parsed. But typing the HTML on my small tablet took far longer than I expected, we’d landed in Southampton from Manchester and I’d just finished. We had only 15 minutes to catch the plane to Bergerac, no time to go online, so apologies for the late arrival. I’m buying a little Chromebook with a keyboard, so next time it will be less tedious.

Thankfully this was quite a straightforward puzzle, not another from 1948.

Across
1 DEMITASSE – DEMIT= resign, AS, S(ID)E, Def. Cup.
6 MEDIC – ME DIC(K) = I am Richard, Def. a professional.
9 EASE OFF – sounds like EE’S off, Def. Relax.
10 LENTIGO – LENT =fast, GO = travel, insert I = one, Def, patchy, as in skin condition. I can show you mine, they are numerous.
11 MANNA – Thomas Mann, author, A, Def. Gift from heaven.
12 CHARYBDIS – CHAR =daily, YB = reversed by, DI’S = detectives, Def. Danger at sea, as in Scylla and. I wanted to spell it ‘Charbydis’ because it looks easier to pronounce, but 6d and the wordplay wouldn’t let me.
14 COY – short for company, of the military kind, Def. not forthcoming.
15 WINTERGREEN – (NEW TREE RING)*, Def, plant. Famous for its smelly oil.
17 IMPORTUNITY – IMPORT = bring in, UNITY = one, Def. Making endless requests.
19 SUE – SUET = fat, losing the T, Def. Plead.
20 FIREWATER – Cryptic Def, for rough whisky etc., as fire and water do not mix.
22 ALARM – A LA = in the style of, RM = marine, the Royal sort, Def. Sort of clock.
24 HASTING – a double definition I think, a poetic way to say hurrying, and the Battle of Hastings without its final S.
26 TAKINGS – TA = thanks, KINGS = college, as in that ‘other’ university, Def. What one has earned.
27 PULSE – PU = back UP, LSE = college, London School of Economics, Def, one may be taken by doctor.
28 UNDESIRED – (SUN DRIED E)*, the E from end of grape, Def. Not for picking.

Down
1 DREAM – DRAM = drink, insert E for energy, Def. Imagine.
2 MASONRY – MAY = springtime, around SON R, Def. Craft.
3 TROJAN WAR – Amusing cryptic double definition.
4 SAFE CONDUCT – Double definition.
5 EEL – Eels are slippery, and slippers ‘ave ‘eels.
6 MONEY – MY around ONE, Def. Change.
7 DWINDLE – SWINDLE = trickery, change the S for a D, Def. get less.
8 CLOISONNE – CLONE = identical copy, insert IS ON, one’s working, Def. Decorative technique.
13 AMELIORATED – (E TAILOR MADE)*, the E from end of ‘value’, Def. Got better.
14 CHIEF WHIP – (CH WIFE)*, HIP = part of body, Def. Politician.
16 GUY FAWKES – GUY = chap, FAKES = pretends, insert W = wife, Def. Effigy.
18 PARASOL – PAROL(E) = short promise to behave, insert AS = like, Def, it takes the heat off.
19 SPANNER – S = small, PANN(I)ER, bag with I removed, Def. Tool.
21 WHINE – WINE = red perhaps, insert H = husband, Def. Unattractive complaint.
23 MUSED – M = millions, USED = applied, Def. Thought.
25 GNU – hidden reversed in H UNG ER, Def. Animal. A g-nother gnu, as Flanders & Swan had it.

41 comments on “Times Cryptic 26079 – we’ve arrived at last”

  1. It all sounds – and looks – like something out of an Eric Ambler novel. Much too good to miss. The best things are worth savouring….
  2. I hadn’t bothered to read the championship fine print so I was primed to offer Pip my (very dubious based on recent performance) assistance on the vintage puzzle I was expecting today. Won’t be needed, and it’s a nice puzzle with one rather good laugh.

    Edited at 2015-04-22 09:12 am (UTC)

  3. Not sure what the LOL moment is but I strongly suspect that our setter is a keen horseracing fan.
  4. A shade under 25 mins. I struggled to get on the setter’s wavelength and I suspect I’ve had similar problems with him/her in the past. I’d like to use the excuse that my brain was fried after the Bonxie puzzle in the Guardian but I did this one before it. I had the most trouble in the SW and finished with the PULSE/WHINE crossers after the FIREWATER/PARASOL crossers.
  5. Found this quite chewy in places and took 50 minutes over it. I didn’t know there was an abstract noun from importune so 17 was one of my lat solves, and one or two clues didn’t give the solver much to go on (eg 4, 20). Grape as an anagrind in 28 was a bit of a surprise. Chambers has ‘mangy tumour on the legs of horses’ but I don’t really see it.
    1. Grape isn’t the anagrind – I’d guess you’re applying “finally” to the wrong word.

      Edited at 2015-04-22 11:44 am (UTC)

      1. A stupid error – careless counting of letters on my part. I had the final D, assumed it came from ‘rotted’ and didn’t look too closely at the rest.
        That’s what comes of posting a comment before the blog’s appeared.
    2. I think the anagrind was actually “rotted”, the grape finally being the extra e that is needed for the answer.
  6. Oh, the anticipation for the blog – it’s all too much!
    I agree about the chewiness of this – a shade over the hour with the second half of 4d causing me the most angst. Could I see what the word was? Well, eventually but with quite a bit of heavy brow-beating.
    And when I see a clue starting “Plant…” my heart usually sinks.
    COD to 20a which is somewhat left-field.
    Happy landings Pip.
  7. I was trying to think of something clever to say about how I couldn’t get the ‘firewater’ until I’d ‘seen’ the Chief Whip, but goodness knows what responses I’d get on that comment

    9:32 in total. Looking forward to Pip’s safe landing and comments in due course.

    1. I think we’ll have to appoint Penfold as Chief Justice i/c elections, with Verlaine as his apprentice.

      Around 32 minutes for this, I think, but I left my notes in the office.

      Edited at 2015-04-22 12:39 pm (UTC)

      1. I’m not bothered enough to pull anyone up for mentioning politics so I’ll decline the nomination.
  8. I’m also wondering where the laugh comes from (unless it is 6a maybe), but it is a nice puzzle, and one that I found relatively easy with a sub-30 minute time. I struggled a bit with the German author until a penny dropped, but otherwise straightforward enough.

    I’d happily do the blog for Pip in his travels, if only I knew how to do so.

    Edited at 2015-04-22 11:40 am (UTC)

  9. Well there was someone on the Club forum who also found this funny but I seem to be in the minority here. Sniff.
    1. If you’re talking 3d, you’re not alone. I guffawed, mildly.

      Edit: And as soon as I posted that I saw your post title and realised you were talking CHIEF WHIP, which I didn’t really notice at all. Sorry.

      Edited at 2015-04-22 12:42 pm (UTC)

  10. I found this quite difficult, but got there in about 45 minutes. 8dn my only unknown, but got it from wordplay. Could not parse DEMITASSE satisfactorily so would be grateful for any enlightenment.
    1. Sorry, you posted the blog as I was writing the above. All now clear! Thanks
  11. 22:43, started in a noisy (thanks to one pre-school child) barber’s waiting room (not that it’s a separate room).

    Like Andy I had most trouble in the SW corner, with whine, pulse, parasol and importunity the last 4 to cede.

  12. 5 minutes for the top half and 25minutes for the bottom means 30-ish. The horseracing thing? Half way down the lefthand side you can identify A J McCoy, the British Champion Jumps jockey for the last 20 years who retires on Saturday as the greatest ever.
    1. Forget the above. He is A P McCoy, but close!

      Terry B of course almost single-handedly defined the concept of living life to the full.

      Edited at 2015-04-22 02:22 pm (UTC)

      1. I will never forget a day at Wolverhampton races followed by an evening of cards with Josh Gifford, Bill Smith and perhaps another jockey or two. I was just twelve at the time and recovering from a serious illness. It was the best therapy I could have wished for.
    2. A great jockey, no doubt, but the greatest horseman remains my cousin (by marriage) the 5 foot 10 inch Terry Biddlecombe.
  13. Not so much trouble as others, just a steady solve with the crossing 8D and 10A stopping me for a while and a muse as to whether “guy” is the “effigy” with GUY FAWKES being the man himself? No real stand out clues today.

    Can’t believe the McCoy thing is anything but accidental

  14. 45m but lengthened by confidently entering SAFE PASSAGE which made quite a few much more chewy than they were in fact. FIREWATER eventually fell so equally confidently I entered SAFE TRANSIT but then realised 15a was an anagram but the anagrist had no ‘a’. More head scratching later I finally came up with CONDUCT, but of course chuntered about question mark clues and the impossibility of being sure about the answer. Otherwise a pleasant solve though DEMIT was new to me. So I had simply BIFD the answer and waited for the blog for which many thanks.
  15. 14m. I found this fairly straightforward, helped by knowing everything. Like deezzaa I panicked a bit when I saw ‘plant’ but it turned out to be one I knew. Even CLOISONNE was vaguely familiar from past crosswords.
  16. A rare sub-30min solve for me (though only by three minutes). DEMITASSE was my NTLOI, and I never did manage to parse it (mainly through not knowing “demit”).

    LOI was SAFE CONDUCT, and I still don’t really get the double definition. “Pass”, yes, but why “wearing seatbelt”? Yes, if you’re wearing a seatbelt you’re travelling safely, but this doesn’t feel satisfactory. What have I missed?

    1. I think it’s just suggesting that you’d be conducting yourself safely (cf improper conduct).
      1. Yes, I suppose so, but it still seems a bit weak as a second definition. Ah well.
          1. I’m the opposite – I get “wearing seatbelt” as that is to conduct oneself safely but why is it “pass”.

            I must be missing something obvious, I’m sure

            Bob

            1. I won’t post a link as the message will get caught in the spam filter but if you google safe conduct pass, or indeed just safe conduct, all will become clear.
              1. Aha! Not come across that before (the meaning, not googling the answer, which in hindsight I probably should have done before exposing my ignorance here).
                Thanks anyway!
                Bob
  17. About 25 minutes, ending with the SAFE CONDUCT/IMPORTUNITY pair. The latter isn’t a very common word, and the wordplay is tricky. Clever, very, once I saw it. That left me SAFE CONDUCT as the only conceivable answer for 4D, but I wasn’t very convinced. I will agree with Olivia, though, that the surface for CHIEF WHIP was amusing. Regards.
  18. Guy Fawkes is not an effigy. “Ease off” is awful. Anagrams straightforward with no tricky definitions. I liked “lentigo”. I suspect “cloisonne” was used in the Times fairly recently. Not much fun today.
  20. 50 minutes very enjoyable solve with no major delays, just steady progress on the slow side. I’ve an idea I may have seen COY for “company” back in school days (so long ago now) but I don’t recall coming across it in crosswords before. Collins has “Guy” as “an effigy of GUY FAWKES” but I don’t know if that clears up Jimbo’s point. I share the misgivings expressed about SAFE CONDUCT which seems a bit feeble in an otherwise excellent puzzle.

Comments are closed.