Times Cryptic 26764 – June 29, 2017 As drunk as a judge?

Author   ZabadakPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
George is kindly standing in for me next week while I travel to Italy, so long as British Airways can find some cabin crew. Which explains why I’m presenting this one. Now, I’m normally inclined on blogging nights to say ”that was pretty straightforward with few/no obscurities and some generous cluing” only to have most of you refuting such a kind assessment with various personal exceptions. But hey, recently I’ve not been quick and even I managed a 23.30 so there’s not much here to frighten the man on the Clapham Omnibus. It did manage to include both sobriety and sloshedness, to cheer all sorts, though the latter turned out to be nothing of the sort. Speaking of which, I record one really excellent anagram, and one (for the sloshed one)  far from elegant.

My musings and workings are framed by clue, definition and SOLUTION

Across

1 Huge region over in USA is Appalachia (4)
ASIA  A nice easy hidden reverse to start with. Put the IS into capitals to see it.
4 Spar put in advertisement for email manager  (10)
POSTMASTER  Advertisement is POSTER, and spar is MAST, though I still think of it as the thinner bit that goes across masts. My postmaster churlishly informs me when I have the mail address wrong. I remember when they did real letters.
9 Sober sailors ring us after rough time  (10)
ABSTEMIOUS Sailors are ABS, ring is O, us is US, and time is roughly written as TEMI. Assemble.
10 Appropriate to include new and shocking report  (4)
BANG  Appropriate (verb) is BAG, and random direction N(orth) is to be inserted.
11 Writer takes unpleasantly serious direction  (6)
STERNE  This time the random direction is E(ast) tacked onto STERN for unp…ous
12 Cross, having endless pain in face  (8)
DIAGONAL  Face for DIAL, AGON(y) from endless pain to be introduced.
14 Greeks initially beat back a bloodsucker  (4)
GNAT G is the initial of Greeks, and TAN is beat backwards.
15 Change in mood perhaps in 50 consumed by disease  (10)
INFLECTION  Happy days of Latin grammar so long ago. Their 50 was L (not that it matters) and disease masquerading as INFECTION ingests it.
17 Charming Charlie in with tradesmen (10)
WITCHCRAFT  Charlie is just C, which intrudes of WITH (in plain sight) CRAFT for tradesmen, especially if they’re Masons.
20 Ultimate in consular assistance for Sally  (4)
RAID The last letter in consular is R and assistance is AID. Sally forth.
21 Artist in comeback managed act with lion  (8)
LEONARDO  And so much more than an artist. Disentangle thus: in comeback managed is longhand for NAR (ran reversed), act is DO and the lion LEO.
23 Means business (6)
AGENCY  A double definition
24 Pretty Woman‘s noisy scene finally cut  (4)
BABE  Write it in before someone complains of multiple ism infringements The noisy scene is BABEL, both figurative and historically (mythically if you prefer). Knock off its L
25 Charge at goal line recklessly  (10)
ALLEGATION  a decently concealed anagram of AT GOAL LINE
26 Opposition wants taxes introduced to an island  (10)
ANTITHESIS  An island provides AN IS, so taxes must be TITHES, the 10% solution.
27 Nobleman expected to receive king  (4)
DUKE  Expected DUE, King K.

Down

2 Solid coach up street and against centre of driveway (11)
SUBSTANTIVE  Pay careful attention to the wordplay. Coach up is bus reversed to SUB, street is ST against is ANTI and the centre of driVEway VE. Not AL.
3 Lark circling seaman on cape in coldest area  (9)
ANTARCTIC You have ANTIC from lark, TAR from seaman, and C from Cape. Aren’t you lucky! Mind you, some regions of Pluto are a bit colder, I think
4 Round mass in pipe unsettled one? Smoker here blew top!  (7)
POMPEII Round: O, mass: M, unsettled pipe PPEI, one: I. A whimsical definition. Apparently Vesuvius, so defined, is due another big one.
5 Sod’s Law? Doc for me, suffering terrible hangover! (5,2,8)
SWORD OF DAMOCLES from the famous legend, whimsically described. The rest of it you get from a suffering version of SODS LAW DOC FOR ME, perhaps not the most persuasive ever anagram. Bet you can come up with a better one!
6 Mum succeeded with second period in therapy  (7)
MASSAGE Mum is MA, succeeded gives the first S and second gives the, er, second. Period is AGE.
7 Two tons on farm transport (5)
TWAIN  T is the standard abbreviation for Tons, and WAIN is a farm cart, usually painted by Constable.
8 Organ for example taken in by Royal Academy student  (5)
REGAL  Is in fact an organ, small and portable, which I remembered when I gave up looking for ears, eyes and kidneys. For example: EG, Royal Academy: RA, and student: L. Arrange.
13 Male in CIA put up notice that guarantees good time (6,5)
ATOMIC CLOCK  Our random male is TOM, who finds himself hemmed in by CIA backwards. Notice (verb) is colloquially CLOCK. Nice definition.
16 Distressed hill folk spread out newly-mown grass  (9)
TORMENTED  Hill: TOR, people: MEN, and the rest is TED given its fulsome definition.
18 A sinner at last was in church for cleansing service! (3,4)
CAR WASH Last letter of sinner: R, was: WAS, Church CH. Assemble
19 Great moves by wingers from Ards in blinder  (4,3)
TEAR GAS  An anagram of GREAT plus the outside letters of ArdS. Wiki says it’s Acute (or Adult) respiratory distress syndrome, but people from Northern Ireland know better.
21 What was tender of Italians entertaining British stars?  (5)
LIBRA Back in the day (legal) tender in Italy was (were?) LIRA. Insert B(ritish)
22 Passing remarks about Republican circle  (5)
ORBIT I think Passing remarks is a slightly macabre reference to death notices. Republicans can only spare their R

41 comments on “Times Cryptic 26764 – June 29, 2017 As drunk as a judge?”

  1. I’m no “man on the Clapham Omnibus” (Kwinana Freeway cycle path maybe) but I agree with the blogger that this is a nice middle-of-the-road type offering.

    Main hold-up was the artist, but that was only because of a mis-spelt DAMACLES. Hesitated over Babe at the end, for the reasons hinted at in the blog.

    COD WITCHCRAFT, WOD “multiple ism infringements”. Thanks setter and Z.

    1. I think my wonky eye skipped a line. Once it’s in, it’s hard to spot in editorial review.

  3. Found this pretty straightforward, as per all puzzles so far this week. (Watch out for a bit more difficulty tomorrow?) Almost fell for the SUBSTANTIal trap. But that would have left a Welsh artist at 21ac. Best clue was probably the one for ATOMIC CLOCK, if only (as Z notes) for the def.

    Edited at 2017-06-29 01:52 am (UTC)

  4. I biffed a couple, including of course SUBSTANTIAL, which made LEONARDO my LOI. Never heard of the REGAL, but wotthehell. The anagrist of 5d isn’t that great, but I do like the definition.
  5. What an absolutely entertaining start to my day. Terrible hangover & passing remarks got me laughing out loud. Thank you, setter.
  6. 5dn God awful clue – I’m surprised it wasn’t printed in the grid in order to save us all the bother!

    39 minutes as I got held up by 24ac which I had as BELL(e) and thus my LOI was finally 22dn ORBIT my COD.

    FOI 3dn ANTARCTIC cool.

    WOD ATOMIC CLOCK

  7. A nice puzzle. I was doing it late at night since I’m in Europe, so was a bit dozy. Put ASIA in as AISA due to finger trouble, saw 2d started with I and so biffed ICOSAHEDRON from “solid” and seeing the rest of the clue was really complicated. When I got the easy GNAT soon after I realized what a mess I was making, then made steady progress with AGENCY my last one in. It took me too long to think of putting a Y on the end.
    1. Biffing ‘icosahedron’; now there’s a mistake I can be sure I’ll never make.
  8. DNF this one, as for some reason WITCHCRAFT defeated me. It seemed blindingly obvious of course once I’d read the blog. I had PASTA as the Italian tender, working on very fuzzy logic around PAST being ‘what was’ and pasta often being tender. Yes, I know, silly wasn’t I. Eventually I got there, though. I said farewell to the lira and used euros for the fist time in Venice on the day the new currency was introduced. Happy days.
  9. At least other people had the same problem with WITCHCRAFT. I was already on the lookout for cute definitions—”passing remarks” for “obit”; “blinder” for TEAR GAS; “noisy scene” for “Babel”, so forth—but I spent twenty minutes failing to see that one and eventually DNF. Bah.
  10. 14:40. Another day of heavy-weather-making, or at least that’s the way it felt. I had GRAVES at 11ac, which seemed perfectly acceptable until 2dn just had to be… SUBSTANTIAL. I sorted it all out eventually. My last in was WITCHCRAFT, and it took me ages to see, I think I just because I didn’t consider CHARMING could be a noun.
  11. 30mins over Overnight Oats – then another 10 (would you believe it) staring at the Witchcraft checkers. A real doh! clue when you get it. I nearly had a Twain wreck in the NE and DNK Regal organ. Very enjoyable today. Thanks setter and Z.
  12. With T_A_N in and transport in the clue, biffing TRAIN was the sort of temptation I usually can’t resist. I managed to hold off this time though and eventually came up with TWAIN. I liked the clue for SWORD OF DAMOCLES which succeeded in misdirecting me for a good while.
  13. 21:22, held up for a while by putting in BRAW(l) for 24a. I dont recall Vesuvius being at Pompeii. Pompeii got the ash because it was some way downwind from Vesuvius. I was told when I visited it that it is the most closely monitored vulcano on the planet. Thanks S and Z.
  14. Took about 35 minutes today, needing five of those on 5d before the penny and fortunately not the SWORD finally dropped. I must have got lucky as my star sign is LIBRA. DNK TED to mean ‘spread the grass’ but it had to be the case and is no doubt something well known in crossword solving circles that somehow has missed me. I’m too old to first think of a POSTMASTER as an email administrator even if damn near all the post offices are closed round here. The only other hold-up was 17a before I was caught in the spell. It’s WITCHCRAFT. Thank you Z and setter.
  15. Skipping along nicely until I sat staring at BRICKCRAFT. COD to TWAIN which I thought that I would never meet …. obviously.
  16. It’s a little worrying that I read the blog around dawn and the comments which ended at vinyl1’s contribution, thought of things I wanted to say and then must have gone away without saying them as I was surprised just now to find nothing posted by me.*

    I think it has mostly been covered now except that I finished in 31 minutes and I was pleased to know the required meanings of both TED and REGAL. I found Horryd’s comment about 5dn somewhat harsh but I’ve been accused of going OTT on the odd clue so won’t play pots and kettles. Occasionally one just has to say what one feels (within the bounds of good taste and manners of course). But I hope the setter has a thick skin!

    *I just realised what happened earlier. I opened another tab to check that I had blogged a reference to STERNE as recently as Tuesday when his name was the anagrist leading to RESENT. I must have distracted myself somehow.

    Edited at 2017-06-29 09:51 am (UTC)

    1. I overlooked 17ac WITCHCRAFT which is now my COD

      Jack, sorry to be harsh but I am horryd.

  17. As proof that everyone sees a puzzle differently – which is, of course, one of the joys of cryptic crosswords – I rather liked 5dn, which detained me for a good while, partly because the only thing my (100% non-hungover) brain could see for some time was CROWD OF something. I thought there must be some colloquial expression which I didn’t know, as I have more than once had a head which felt like there was an awful crowd in it after an unwise evening out.
    1. No doubt you were under the influence of G&S’s ‘Patience’:
      When I go out of door, a [CROWD OF] DAMOSELS a score
      (All sighing and burning, And clinging and yearning) Will follow me as before.
  18. Just back from a decent cycle ride (for me anthing over 20 miles at my age) and thoroughly drained. So I approached this with apprehension and a brain that wasnt in gear (ahem). Well it was a PB for me in around 15mins (only timed beacause my cycle timer was still going). Everything flowed except Witchcraft. Didn’t know Regal but it had to be. COD 26a as per Mr Corbyn et al. Enjoyed your blog Z.
  20. I laughed out loud when I eventually got 5d. Didn’t know TED for grass, but it had to be. Also didn’t know REGAL but justified it by knowing that lots of cinemas used to have organs. My FOI was ASIA and my LOI WITCHCRAFT which I stared at for a good 15 minutes before the penny dropped. I rechecked the crossers time and again, and spread the letters out on treeware with loads of different combinations of CIN WIN etc. I’m glad it wasn’t just me who struggled with it. I spent some time working with Stromboli for 4d, but couldn’t make it fit. STERNE, AGENCY AND LIBRA all had to be laboriously dragged to mind, although TWAIN didn’t cause much trouble. I used to have a scanner driver called TWAIN and was amused that it stands for Technology Without An Interesting Name. 51:19. Thanks setter and Z.
  22. 12:04 for a rather disorganised solve. I was flitting all over the place rather than being methodical. I needed to do an alphabet trawl at the end to get AGENCY. Biffed the artist and didn’t know REGAL or TED.
  23. 17 mins. I certainly didn’t find 5dn the write-in some did, and it was my LOI after POSTMASTER. REGAL had gone in earlier from the WP with a shrug. I enjoyed the quirkiness of some of the definitions.
    1. Possibly, but I won’t use it as an excuse. I used to do the Guardian and Independent puzzles all the time but I stopped about 18 months ago shortly after I began my current job. I’ve just started doing the Guardian puzzle again and it is taking me a while to adjust to the setting. Swapping between different house styles certainly keeps one on ones toes.
  25. Always good to see the man on the Clapham omnibus get an outing. This puzzle delayed me for 29 mins 29 secs. An enjoyable, straightforward solve. No real hold ups, I don’t think I even noticed whilst solving that I didn’t know “Ards” in 19dn so thanks for explaining blogger. FOI 1ac, LOI 23ac. Needed a bit of care not to biff “train” instead of “twain” at 7dn. “Regal” as an organ half-known (probably from a previous crossword). I liked the atomic clock, the blinder and libra clues but COD to 5dn with its “terrible hangover” definition and an anagram which I took some time to unravel.

  26. Not having to do this last night I did the dead tree version over a break at work. Nothing too tricky though I had a question mark over REGAL but now I think we have had it before.
  27. Damn! I’d have had a clean sweep (albeit a rather slow one, in 10:05) if I hadn’t biffed SUBSTANTIAL. I realised my mistake as soon as I got to 21ac (LEONARDO), but too late.

    Anyway an interesting and enjoyable puzzle. Given the mention of “Ards”, I wonder whether this was the crossword editor’s handiwork.

    I’m with those who liked 5dn. It makes perfect sense, though nowadays you should really consult a pharmacist rather than wasting a doctor’s time.

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