Times Cryptic 26180

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
At 32 minutes this was my best time for a while and is mostly pretty straightforward stuff. I’d have achieved my target of half-an-hour if I’d not written THE as the middle word at 2dn before solving the rest of the clue which delayed me solving 19ac. There’s only one unknown for me today, at 13ac, and I think there may be a case to be made for an alternative answer at 14ac.

Deletions are in curly brackets

Across
1 UNSCATHED – UN (‘a’ – foreign), then CAT (moggy) inside SHED (hut)
6 BASRA – S (son) inside ARAB (Middle Easterner) reversed
9 THE COMMONWEALTH – Two definitions, the first with reference to the Cromwell era and Commonwealth of England Scotland and Ireland 1653-1659
10 RAKISH – KI{ng} (monarch) inside RASH (impetuous)
11 DISORDER – IS inside RED (ruddy) + ROD (cane) reversed
13 CONSISTORY – CONS (tricks), IS, TORY (right-winger). Not a word I knew but the wordplay is clear.
14 SPUN – SPUN{k} (courage). There may also be a case for SPIN{e} but I’m pretty sure my first answer is the one that’s intended.
16 MATE – Two definitions. A tea I only know from crosswords.
17 BITCHINESS – ITCHIN{g} (longin’) inside BESS (English queen – Elizabeth I)
19 LOOPHOLE – P (quiet) + HO (house) + L (lake) inside LOOE (Cornish location)
20 RIBALD – IR (Irish) reversed, BALD (harsh)
23 CROSSING THE LINE – Two definitions, one illustrative, the other figurative
24 TENBY – TEN (cross #1: Roman numeral), BY (cross #2: multiplication sign)
25 STRATAGEM – TAG (children’s game) inside anagram of MASTER

Down
1 UTTER – {b}UTTER (dairy product)
2 SPEAKING TOO SOON – Anagram of AGONISE OK SPOT ON
3 ACOUSTIC – Anagram of {a}CCUSATIO{n}
4 HEMP – HE (one deemed excellent – His/Her Excellency), MP (politician)
5 DENTIFRICE – DENT (cavity), IF, RICE (certain food)
6 BRETON – Hidden inside {som}BRE TON{es}
7 SELF-DEPRECATING – Anagram of SAD LEFT CREEPING
8 ADHERENTS – Anagram of END HEARTS
12 STRIPLINGS – TRIP (fall) inside SLINGS (bandages)
13 COMPLICIT – COMP (firm – company), LICIT (acting within the law). I had to look high and low to verify ‘comp.’ as an official abbreviation for ‘company’ and eventually tracked it down in the two-volume Shorter Oxford. On edit: Thanks to mctext for pointing out that COMP{any} with the “any” replaced by LICIT is a better explanation.
15 DILIGENT – LID (cover) reversed, I (one), GENT (fellow)
18 WHISKY – WHI{t} (Pentecost), SKY (heavens)
21 DREAM – RE (on) inside DAM (mother)
22 STIR – T (time) inside SIR (gentleman). The definition ‘can’ and the answer are both slang words for ‘prison’.

32 comments on “Times Cryptic 26180”

  1. Had to trust the wordplay for DENTRIFICE and CONSISTORY, but otherwise fairly straightforward.

    Thanks setter and blogger.

  2. I suspect there’s a substitution going on here. COMP{any} with the “any” replaced by LICIT?
  3. With my classic “behind” vs “in front of” blindness, I’d assumed the right-winger at 13ac was CON and could make no more sense of the clue. Also had SPIN at 14ac, but am convinced (from the tense) that Jack is spot on with SPUN.

    Last in was TENBY. Obviously a lack of hwyl!

    1. From the comments now in the Club I gather that those who put SPIN were ruled incorrect but I’m not sure the tense is necessarily a deciding factor. “Spin” can be “presented” or “as presented” etc, I’d have thought.
  4. 23 minutes, slowing myself down a little by hazarding ‘two down’ for the last two words of, um, 2 down. I think I was trying to out-Guardian the Guardian.

    I can’t really see a case for ‘spin’, either verb or noun, given the wording ‘as presented by publicity team?’ Something else would be needed, such as the word ‘quality’ (for the nominal sense), or a rewording (for the verbal sense).

  5. 12:02 … with several minutes at the end for WHISKY, where I was trying to think of something less worldly.

    I’m with ulaca on 14a. I think the clue would need a tweak for ‘spin’ to work satisfactorily. But then, I would say that.

    TENBY is very neat. It made me think of the “Twenty Committee” set up in WWII to help craft the intelligence being fed back through captured and turned German agents. To the classically educated chaps who put the committee together, an operation devoted to the art of the double-cross simply had to have “twenty” in there somewhere.

  6. Reasonably undemanding puzzle with a lot of rather obvious definitions and the one unknown CONSISTORY with very friendly wordplay as Jack has said.

    Today is the 75th anniversary of the hardest day – look out for spitfires and hurricanes in a flyover along the south downs and out to IOW. Pity there’s no reference in the puzzle

  7. I went for spin at 14ac but I’ll go along with ulaca’s take on it now. Pretty straightforward with a couple of trickier ones, COMPLICIT, LOOPHOLE, making for a pleasant 20 minutes.
  8. Back to the commute after 2 weeks off today, which with its lack of distraction helped me to 21:51, so about average.

    The word DENTIFRICE was familiar enough but I wasn’t sure what it was until I just looked it up. Is it still used?

    1. I have a small amount remaining in the bathroom cupboard. My dentist tells me to keep it for historical purposes only.
  9. Completed on the commute, so definitely one of the easier ones. I saw both SPIN and SPUN and plumped for the wrong one, being corrected by my I-pad as soon as I finished the grid.
  10. 18 mins with ACOUSTIC my LOI after CONSISTORY. However, at 14ac I went with “spin”, although I disagree with those of you who think the definition element of the clue only leads to SPUN. I suspect the editor and setter didn’t think of SPIN(E) as an alternative to SPUN(K) for the wordplay element of the clue.
  11. 19:26 but a DNF as I bashed in SPIN without a second thought. I can see why SPUN fits the clue better but I agree with Andy in feeling that the setter/editor did not consider the SPIN possibility. Apart from this, a pleasant enough puzzle.
  12. Not unscathed having succumbed to the spin.
    Eventually crossing the line in about 30 minutes.
  13. 9:34 – add me to the ‘I put THE as the middle word of 2d before I fell into the loophole’ club.
  14. 9m, but another spinner here. There are two versions of any story: as it actually happened (the truth) and as presented by the PR team (SPIN). I agree that SPUN is better but I still think this is unfortunate.
  15. 18:08 but… I’m glad not to be alone putting in SPIN for 14a. I read the definition as the noun too (well that’s my excuse). A bit of a slow start getting to 19a before I got one, but not too difficult in the end. 5d my LOI – I just use toothpaste. 24a my COD.

    Edited at 2015-08-18 11:45 am (UTC)

  16. Johninterred’s comment reminded me that I didn’t clarify that I saw SPIN as a noun, not a verb.
  17. I managed to spin this out for 11 minutes. My reason for now preferring SPUN is that ‘courage’ is a given definition of ‘spunk’ but to me spine/backbone convey something slightly different, even if it seemed close enough at the time.
  18. Managed not to make any typos for a change (though I did miss one, completely known, letter out of the concise again… sigh) to finish inside of 9 minutes.
  19. 45 minutes, took an age, to get STRIPLINGS and ACOUSTIC and 13a, also put in SPIN as SPIN(E) as thought spunk was too rude for TC. Otherwise not too difficult, the long ones went in fast which helped. Also I had pencilled in ACHIN in the middle of 17a, instead of ITCHIN, until BESS made me see the light.
  20. About 25 minutes, held up only by immediately entering CREAM as 1D. Only scratching my head over what became RAKISH made me see the light. Never heard of Looe or TENBY either. But, I had SPIN. I didn’t choose it over SPUN, I just never thought of the latter. It’s clearly the answer, as Jack says in the blog. Oops. Regards.
  21. 20m here but had Dentifrack (rack of lamb perhaps) which worked fine apart from not existing. But then I did have SPUN probably because SPIN didn’t occur to me. So generally straightforward but still a DNF start the week!
  22. Probably a PB, despite having an ear tuned into commentary of the Man. U. / Bruges match on 5 Live. Happy Bunny tonight means, I expect, humiliation tomorrow.

    Edited at 2015-08-18 07:23 pm (UTC)

      1. Thanks for the encouragement. I’ll do my best, but enjoying the puzzles remains my principal objective, and I shall never be a Magoo or a Jason.
        1. Well I’ll never be Magoo or Jason either, but then (as someone once said), who will?
          I wouldn’t want to encourage you on the slightly silly road of chasing times, but on the other hand there are easier puzzles than this and there is something rather satisfying in doing the Times in under ten minutes…
  23. 8:11 here, a little disappointing as I thought I’d been faster.

    I managed to stop myself bunging in THE for the second word of 2dn, but spoilt things by wasting time wondering if there could conceivably be a word BEACHINESS meaning “malice” at 17ac, having failed to spot that I’d used the E of BESS twice!

    A pleasant, straightforward solve.

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