Times Cryptic 26696

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
30 minutes for all but one clue at 24dn where I didn’t know the answer, and I also had error at 23ac which was a further source of difficulty with 24dn. More about all that later. My overall impression was this was relatively easy but I was caught out in three places (including one error discovered whilst blogging) so now I’m not so sure. There’s also the possibility of an alternative spelling in one clue which could give online solvers an error when submitting the completed grid.

As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]

Across
1 Graduate in Paris that’s adopted second language (6)
BASQUE – S (second) contained [adopted] by BA (graduate) + QUE (in Paris, “that”)
5 Way old info is presented — a cause of ill feeling! (8)
PATHOGEN – PATH (way), O (old), GEN (info)
9 Nasty spat in bar, one involving two political groups (10)
BIPARTISAN – Anagram [nasty] of SPAT IN BAR I (one)
10 Coming from peak, it evades a bird of prey (4)
KITE – Hidden in [coming from] {pea}K IT E{vades}
11 Conservative in area is thus rejected, like an Irish bard (8)
OSSIANIC – C (Conservative) + IN + A (area) + IS + SO (thus) all reversed [rejected]. Ossian was unknown but the wordplay was clear. My knowledge of Irish mythology doesn’t extend beyond leprechauns.
12 Gloomy brother in certain unspecified surroundings (6)
SOMBRE – BR (brother) in SOME (certain unspecified)
13 Hairstyle initially adhered to? The opposite (4)
AFRO – A{dhered} [initially], FRO (to,  the opposite – to and fro)
15 Exhausted old man saves energy, taking drug in club (4,4)
DEAD BEAT – DAD (old man) contains [saves] E (energy), BAT (club) contains [taking in] E (drug)
18 Aboriginal male adopting name of big house (8)
MANORIAL – MAORI (aboriginal) containing [adopting] N (name), AL (male)
19 Characteristic quality identifying Li Yuan’s dynasty? (4)
TANG – Two definitions, the second one taken on trust as I don’t know the names of emperors associated with the various Chinese dynasties.
21 Compete to consume say, game primarily? Not I (6)
VEGGIE – VIE (compete) contains [to consume] EG (say) + G{ame} [primarily]. The definition is with reference to consuming game. On edit, just to clarify that VEGGIE here is short for a vegetarian.
23 Austrian novice initially settled in shelter (8)
TYROLESE – TYRO (novice), then S{ettled} [originally] in LEE (shelter). I biffed “Tyrolean” here and came a cropper because it gave me a wrong checker for 24dn, a word I didn’t know so I was unable to solve that clue without resorting to aids at which point I realised my error in this one. Incidentally the editor ought also to allow TIROLESE here because it’s an alternative spelling of the Austrian, and TIRO for the novice is also an accepted spelling.
25 Banned badge originally enclosed in letter from abroad (4)
TABU – B{adge} [originally] enclosed in TAU (letter from abroad – the 19th in the Greek alphabet)
26 Relentless old men with capacity to follow batting? (10)
INEXORABLE – IN (batting), EX (old), OR (men), ABLE (with capacity to)
27 Workers given essential device for producing capital? (5,3)
SHIFT KEY – SHIFT (workers), KEY (essential). A nice cryptic definition here.
28 Son quits farrier’s job, working in garden (6)
HOEING – {s}HOEING (farrier’s job) [son quits]
Down
2 Possibly Kingsley’s wrong! (5)
AMISS – AMIS (possibly Kingsley), ‘S
3 Hunchback, as it were, meeting doom unhappily (9)
QUASIMODO – QUASI (as it were) anagram [unhappily] of DOOM
4 Surviving navigational instrument with top missing (6)
EXTANT – {s}EXTANT (navigational instrument) [with top missing]
5 Advantage of locality closed to careers in ceramics? (8,7)
POSTCODE LOTTERY – Anagram [careers] of CLOSED TO in POTTERY (ceramics). Where one lives may determine the level and quality of public services  available, particularly important when it comes to health care and education.
6 African national’s note about a French girl in Cardiff? (8)
TUNISIAN – TI (note) about UN (a, French) SIAN (girl in Cardiff?)
7 Ropy material from Rutland town, so to speak (5)
OAKUM – Sounds like [so to speak] “Oakham” (Rutland town). Not a word I knew, and I just realised I had another error having settled on “oakam” as the spelling. I knew the town as at one time I learnt all the county towns of England. Rutland was temporarily incorporated with Leicestershire in the early 1970s but was soon reinstated as a county in its own right. It’s now time to bring back Middlesex, say I, with its county town of Brentford otherwise only famous for its nylons as advertised by Fluff Freeman!
8 Join volunteers, not out to amuse (9)
ENTERTAIN – ENTER (join), TA (volunteers), IN (not out). Only last Friday we had “What hostess should do to enlist volunteers at home?” cluing the same word.
14 This help at RAF manoeuvres? (5-4)
FLARE-PATH – Anagram [manoeuvres] of HELP AT RAF
16 British PM once stabbed by a cross old harridan (9)
BATTLEAXE – B (British), ATTLEE (PM once) contains [stabbed by] A + X (cross)
17 Crony that’s laid up, eating fish kedgeree at first (8)
SIDEKICK – SICK (laid up) containing IDE (fish) + K{edgeree} [at first]
20 Reportedly bring up ornamental clasp (6)
BROOCH – Sounds like [reportedly] “broach” (bring up – a subject)
22 Surly Republican in bunk … (5)
GRUFF –  R (Republican) in GUFF (bunk – rubbish)
24 … almost cheers an Athenian lawgiver (5)
SOLON – SO LON{g} (cheers) [almost]. This was the one I gave up on as reported above, not helped by trying to find a word to fit A_L_N. The only Solon I knew was an actor called Ewen who played Lucas, Commissaire Maigret’s 17dn in the original TV series.

42 comments on “Times Cryptic 26696”

  1. I slowed myself down by looking for ST ‘way’ in 5ac, for instance, or N (‘novice initially’) in 23ac. I also had thought Ossian was supposed to be Scottish; evidently the legend varies. I remembered him because of Dr. Johnson, who had a verbal run-in with Macpherson, who had claimed to have discovered O’s poems. Unlike Jack, I knew OAKUM but never heard of Oakham. Also DNK POSTCODE LOTTERY, which I didn’t get until I finally thought of EXOR to insert between IN and ABLE. SOLON is (or was) also a common noun used to refer to a statesman; no doubt obsolete now. I probably first encountered the word as the name of the Sacramento baseball team when San Francisco was in the same Pacific Coast League.

    Edited at 2017-04-11 12:37 am (UTC)

  2. … pretty easy, maybe apart from a bit of GK: Rutland, Athenian, the bard, etc. Most of ’em handily marked by capital letters (cf 27ac).

    LOI was VEGGIE. Here it’s what’s consumed, not the consumer. Otherwise, getting kids to “Eat your veggies” would be incitement to cannibalism!

  3. 14 minutes, struggled a bit on this one – OAKUM seemed familiar from somewhere, and I was a little torn between TIROLESE and TYROLESE from the wordplay. Shrugged at POSTCODE LOTTERY – got the POSTCODE bit quickly, but it took all the checking letters to see LOTTERY
  4. Found this one hard, and was very relieved that TYROLESE, OAKUM and SOLON were acceptable solutions.

    As per McT’s comment above, I had no idea how “not I” could mean a vegetable, so just trusted the wordplay. Now I get it.

    Being Australian was also a disadvantage for the Maori clue, as (I think) we’re the only country that refers to our aboriginal people as, well, Aboriginal. Soon became obvious that I wasn’t going to be able to squeeze Eddie Mabo in, so eventually I looked across the Tasman (though I really needed to go no further than Bondi).

    Tougher workout than yesterday, was good to survive unscathed. Thanks setter and Jack.

  5. 23 minutes, held up for two minutes at the end because, having entered TYROLEAN, I couldn’t think of an Athenian lawgiver A_L_N. Eventually I realised my mistake. Thanks to setter and blogger. Gradese
  6. Apologies for virtually repeating the blogger’s comment. I realise now I was distracted as I read the blog and didn’t read all of it. Gradese
  7. I am another TYROLEAN. When I checked it I even noticed “novice initially” to justify the N (sort of) but the novice was already used for TYRO. Then after a break I forgot I still needed the mysterious Athenian I hadn’t managed to get (since it wasn’t TIMON, who probably wasn’t a lawyer anyway). So DNF. Didn’t know OSSIANIC, nor FLARE PATH for that matter, but in both cases the wordplay didn’t give any alternative. OAKUM I sort of knew in some deep recess of the mind, but I didn’t know the town to confirm it.
  8. Jack, the last sentence in your comments for 23ac mentions TIROLEAN, where I think you mean TIROLESE.
  9. 19:01 .. tricky again. SOLON last in — thrown for a while by trying to use the ‘an’ at the end, as S_LAN.

    I only know OAKUM from the various benighted souls in Dickens who end up “picking” it (actually unpicking) in workhouses and gaols.

    AFRO very neat.

  10. Straightforward, having fortunately the necessary gk. Oakum familiar from Hornblower books. Vaguely knew Ossian, and Solon a write-in
  11. Found this on the easy side of the spectrum. No problem with TYROLESE – just followed the wordplay. Had to biff TANG for same reason as Jack and SOLON at the end – have forgotten him if I ever knew him.

    No real stand out clues today.

  12. Couldn’t get 4 today: oakum, veggie, solon, and for Tyrolese I put in tyrolean once I had checked tyro was something Austrian.

    For 18a I had manori__ and put manorish before seeing the light.

    Couldn’t parse sidekick or pc lottery, but they were easy to biff.

    dnk tabu, Ossian, oakum, tyro for novice and solon.

    COD battleaxe.

  13. Same experience as jack, 23 ac TYROLEAN wrong didn’t check the wordplay and unable to get 24d, otherwise 13′.
  14. DNF for me. I had also biffed TYROLEAN—the only word I knew for an Austrian that fit, and then only from crosswords—stymying myself for SOLON.

    I’d also still got SIDEKICK to fill in, knowing how the clue worked but not having thought of either SICK (I thought the “up” was going to be a directional indicator) or IDE, though I thought of plenty of other fish, and some rude words.

    I gave up at the end of my hour mostly because I also had O_K_M sitting there empty and was fairly sure I had at most a 50/50 chance of getting it right. I would most likely have tried OAKAM, on the grounds that there was probably an Oakham in Rutland, and therefore failed anyway…

  15. Very pleased with my 22 minutes. Like most I’d put in TYROLEAN, but as I’d heard of SOLON, it didn’t take too long to sort out.
    Interestingly the New Zealanders pronounce Maori as MOALY (i.e. mouldy without the D) which confused me somewhat until I twigged what they were on about.

  16. I’d have had a good time (17′ 38) if I’d not been convinced ‘staff’ KEY was a thing (“workers, with —F-, had to be staff, didn’t it?”), and then throwing in the thoroughly unconvincing ‘frape halt’ at 14dn. Will I never learn…?

    Now I see it, I’d give SHIFT KEY my cod for the cunning definition.

  17. 25 minutes and no problems except having to trust the unknown FLARE PATH.

    I will be at the George tomorrow from about 1730 carrying my copy of the Times.

  18. …it would have been good to know you. It was as well that having biffed Tyrolean I felt uncomfortable I hadn’t parsed it and saw it was TYROLESE, otherwise Athens would have remained lawless. So SOLON LOI, courtesy of Woody Guthrie. On wavelength today and finished in 22 minutes, seeing the NW straightaway. Although I didn’t know OSSIANIC, it was readily constructible. I always love those headlines about COD POSTCODE LOTTERY the day after an editorial demanding that powers be devolved. Thank you Jack and setter.
  19. 15m, but with OAKAM. What a truly dreadful clue: unless you happen to know the very obscure answer, it is impossible to solve the clue with confidence, even if you happen to be aware of a small and undemarkable English town.
    Good puzzle apart from that. TYROLEAN is a nasty biff-trap (of the sort I usually fall into) but the wordplay is clear.

    Edited at 2017-04-11 08:21 am (UTC)

  20. Defeated again with two wrong. I had OAKAM and SALAN, not knowing either the ropy stuff or the lawgiver, and being duped by the AN in 24d and guessing SAL for Salut. Not convincing I know. Otherwise an enjoyable 34:38. I was pleased to have derived the unknown Irish bard correctly. I had Tyrolean for a while, but was uneasy from the first as it didn’t quite fit the wordplay, but I kept going back to it and the penny finally dropped. FOI AMISS, LOI the incorrect SALAN. Thanks setter and Jack.

    Edited at 2017-04-11 11:15 am (UTC)

  21. So far I seem to be the only one who threw in “baronial” – on the theory that there was ABO in there somewhere. Luckily I saw it before submission. My maternal grandparents lived in Rutland and, like Sotira I knew OAKUM from Dickens. 15.03
    1. Olivia, I’m not sure if you did Saturday’s Jumbo, but I owe you a huge thanks for 29ac! One of those freakish crossword coincidences.
      1. Hi Galspray – I was away and came back to find your message in my inbox. I was a bit startled to find that clasp so soon after the subject came up before. While we all know they are in the pipeline weeks beforehand, sometimes these puzzles have a weird double exposure effect.
  22. DNF!
    Seems it was just me who couldn’t see past Maria for Austrian novice???
    Roin
  23. DNF as I also entered Oakem and Salan. I knew Oakham from their ubiquitous beers although I’ve never tried them. Are they any good? Loved Shift Key.
  24. 17 mins so pretty easy for me. No DNK’s. Today it was Ancient History “A” level that helped me get SOLON immediately thus removing any temptation to put in “Tyrolean”. I am another who learnt his OAKUM from Dickens.
  25. Even Mondayisher than yesterday’s, with some fine clueing that raised the odd smile or two. I did look up the obscure Ossian and Solon though, and trying STAFF KEY held me up slightly.

    To me, VEGGIE is first and foremost a vegetarian. The short form of vegetable is VEG, and I think it’s more recently that people have started saying VEGES as VEGGIES, but perhaps some people already did that when talking to children?

    1. I’ve certainly heard “veggies” for “vegetables” from Australians, but only heard it used that way with children in British English. Odd how these little differences strike one’s ears…
  26. No problems today. Knew all the GK. Like others, I remembered the oakum pickers from Dickens and the nautical adventures I used to read. 25 minutes. Ann
  27. Notwithstanding that my mother was Austrian and I used to visit my aunt and cousin in the Tyrol….I still put Tirol, so I agree with Jackkt….Let’s hear it for Tirol!
    27ac was a lovely clue. Shame my mistake spoilt a sub-30 time: 29-13
    1. Thanks, Martin. I wonder if TIROLESE is the preferred regional spelling? For want of something better to do I just googled “TIROLESE” which found 862,000 exact matches whereas “TYROLESE” found only 177,000.
      1. A word to the wise: 862,000 is not the number of exact matches, it’s the number of partial matches. If you page through the google results you’ll find there are only 210 exact matches.
        1. I see what you mean, Adrian, and by the same token “Tyrolese” has only 230 so there’s little in it as far as my original point was concerned. As a matter of interest can you explain the difference between an exact match and a partial match in terms of how google treats them? I thought I understood it but evidently I was mistaken. Thanks.

          Edited at 2017-04-12 05:43 am (UTC)

  28. 18 mins. It would have been 14-ish but I had complete brain freeze with OAKUM. Although I didn’t know Oakham I certainly knew the rope and if I’d seen the word I’d have known exactly what it meant, but for some reason I’d plain forgotten it. Very worrying. Also worrying was my inability to see QUASIMODO until I had all but the opening checker. I had a hard day at work but I didn’t feel tired when I was solving. I almost biffed “Tyrolean” but decided to take a closer look at the WP.

    Going back to yesterday’s puzzle, I forgot to mention that when I looked up NOSOLOGY in my Chambers post-solve I thought it was a word that Dr Thud shouldn’t have had a problem with, and then I realised I haven’t seen a post from him for a while.

    1. His posts have been sparse since his sojourn abroad recently, but he did post a few days ago….

      Edited at 2017-04-11 06:33 pm (UTC)

      1. Thanks John. I don’t always revisit the thread after I’ve posted and I know he can be a late poster.
  29. It’s been a few years since I visited my relatives in the Tirol, but, as I remember it, the I spelling is the one used there. And, as you say, tiro is an approved alternative spelling for the novice. As Peter Sellers once said “Geschmittenhemmenswitz”!
  30. I raced through this in a quick top to bottom solve completing the grid in 32 mins on the train this morning. None of the tricky GK: Ossian, Solon, Oakum was unknown. However, I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that not only was my answer to 14dn, Flare Hapt, complete gibberish but also that it was not the kind of gibberish that occasionally turns out to be the correct answer in one of these puzzles. I revisited the crossword at lunchtime and recognised that my hastily bunged in Staff Key at 27ac needed correction. I amended to Shift Key and the Flare Path then revealed itself. I think the answers had been going in so swiftly and smoothly that I was on autopilot by the time it came to those two and just followed the cryptics without worrying about entering something that actually made sense. That aside I found this an enjoyable quick puzzle.
  31. 10:07 for me, not held up by anything in particular, but just generally slow. I’m slightly surprised that so many people seem to have had difficulty with OAKUM and/or SOLON, which I suspect most solvers of my generation would have welcomed as easy wins.

    A pleasant, straightforward solve.

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