Times Cryptic 26846

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Back to slow form for me for this one, I’m afraid, as I clocked up nearly an hour. I thought I was in for an easy ride as the NW corner was so easy that the answers nearly wrote themselves in. I slowed and slogged through the RH side but then became thoroughly bogged down in the SW so that I felt reasonably pleased to finish eventually without resorting to aids.

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 Artificial product of keepers at zoo (6)
ERSATZ – Hidden in [product of] {keep}ERS AT Z{oo}
4 Eg Annie’s extraordinary claims about university (7)
MUSICAL – Anagram [extraordinary] of CLAIMS containing [about] U (university). ‘Annie’ and ‘Evita’ seem to be Times setters’ favourite shows.
9 Short chap carrying a little bottle (5)
PHIAL – PHIL (short chap) containing [carrying] A
10 Scheming union leader replacing one at heart of conflict (9)
COLLUSION – U{nion} [leader] replaces the I [one] in the middle of [at heart of] COLLiSION (conflict) to give us the answer
11 Chicken or half of game consumed by 1960s playwright (9)
ORPINGTON – [half of] PING {pong} (game) contained [consumed] by ORTON [1960s playwright]. His name came up in a puzzle I blogged in 2013 when I wrote this: “Joe (actually John),  the playwright (1933-1967). I wonder if ‘Ortonesque’ has ever appeared in the grid”.  Evidently I didn’t know how to search the site or I’d have discovered it hadn’t at that point; nor has it since. The ODO defines it as  “unconventional and darkly comic” which barely scrapes the surface of it  in my view.
12 Sweetheart’s quarters in the Old Man’s place (5)
HONEY – N+E (quarters) in HOY (the Old Man’s place). It’s in the Orkneys. The Old Man is a perpendicular pillar of rock that people climb because it’s there.
13 Save first of kids in scrape (4)
BARK – BAR (save), [first of] K{ids}. Does anyone bark their shins these days? It seems a bit Enid Blyton / Famous Five now.
14 Cadaverous state I aim at once to alter (10)
EMACIATION – Anagram [alter] of I AIM AT ONCE
18 Casual / character on staff, not sharp! (10)
ACCIDENTAL – There are two definitions here, the second with reference to musical notation where an ‘accidental’ is a note indicated individually as a sharp or flat or natural that’s not already covered by the key-signature. The set of 5 lines on which music is written is called the ‘stave’ or ‘staff’. I can’t explain ‘not sharp’. If it’s intended to be part of the musical reference it’s incorrect as accidentals can be sharps.
20 Letter enclosing printing unit’s list of courses (4)
MENU – MU (letter) containing [enclosing] EN (printing unit)
23 Instruction to artist to quit stage, missing current run (5)
EXTRA – EX{i}T (instruction…to quit stage) [missing current – I], RA (artist)
24 First of peers, perhaps, accommodating about the Spanish city (9)
BARCELONA – BARON A (first of peers, perhaps) containing [accommodating] C (about) + EL (the, Spanish)
25 Offensive, involving member in divination (9)
SORTILEGE – SORTIE (offensive) containing [involving] LEG (member). Not a word I knew.
26 Supporter providing sweetened drink (5)
SLING – Two meanings
27 Time to tour in old African territory (7)
DAHOMEY – DAY (time) containing [to tour] HOME (in)
28 Brainboxes managed to infiltrate US intelligence (6)
CRANIA – RAN (managed) contained by [to infiltrate] CIA (US intelligence). Any bloggers using mohn2’s java script for creating their blog template need to ensure they have the latest version as the appearance of ‘boxes’ in a clue or answer produces errors in the earlier version.
Down
1 Feeling of great elation gripping British plant (9)
EUPHORBIA – EUPHORIA (feeling of great elation) containing [gripping] B (British)
2 Captain — one jumping over a rope? (7)
SKIPPER – Two definitions and too easy a clue, perhaps even for the Quickie
3 Flair displayed in the writing of story books (6)
TALENT – TALE (story), NT (books)
4 Fruit the French brought up, feeding 8? (5)
MELON – LE (the, French) reversed [brought up] enclosed by [feeding] MON (the Scotsman at 8dn)
5 Boxer understood about available payment method (8)
SOUTHPAW – SAW (understood) containing [about] OUT (available) + HP (payment method – Hire Purchase)
6 Drink greeting worker in island group (7)
CHIANTI – HI (greeting) + ANT (worker) in CI (island group – Channel Islands)
7 Gangling city knight going over the Bluegrass State (5)
LANKY – LA (city), N (knight – chess), KY (Bluegrass State – Kentucky)
8 Northerner’s sleeping-place in vessel kept up by crew (8)
SCOTSMAN – COT (sleeping-place) in SS (vessel), MAN (crew)
15 Presidents honour service personnel (8)
CHAIRMEN – CH (honour), AIRMEN (service personnel)
16 Bully regularly in a rage suffering spasmodic pain (9)
NEURALGIA – Anagram [suffering] of {b}U{l}L [regularly] IN A RAGE
17 The writer’s agreement is welcomed for romantic vision (8)
IDEALISM – DEAL (agreement) + IS contained [welcomed] by I’M (the writer’s)
19 Sailor in saloon, maybe, beginning to hope for discharge (7)
CATARRH – TAR (sailor) in CAR (saloon, maybe), [beginning to] H{ope)
21 Best ever book about agitation of mind? (7)
EMOTION – NO I (best ever) + TOME (book) reversed [about]
22 Landlord abandons love for English? That’s not so great! (6)
LESSER – LESS{o}R (landlord) [abandons love] and replaces it with E (English)
23 Relaxed European in role of press chief (5)
EASED – E (European), AS (in role of), ED (press chief)
24 Muscular old Turkish governor keeping keys (5)
BEEFY – BEY (old Turkish governor) containing [keeping] E and F (keys – music)

51 comments on “Times Cryptic 26846”

  1. Basically an easy crossword that relied on obscurities: Orpington, Orton, Hoy, Sortilege, Dahomey, Neuralgia, Catarrh, and Bey for me. No doubt Euphorbia for someone else. Not very enjoyable

    I don’t know what the sharp part of accidental is for either

    Edited at 2017-10-03 02:37 am (UTC)

  2. I didn’t know the musical ACCIDENTAL, and relied on the other definition and checkers. The clue certainly works fine without the ‘not sharp’ bit. Also DNK Hoy. COLLUSION & LESSER: 2 letter substitution clues in one puzzle is unusual, no? On edit: I forgot to mention SOUTHPAW: where I come from, that’s either a left-handed pitcher in baseball, or a left-handed person in general; didn’t know it also referred to a left-handed boxer in particular in Blighty.

    Edited at 2017-10-03 12:55 pm (UTC)

  3. This is second day running I have gone under 30 minutes (29 to be precise) so ‘Golden Week’ continues.

    FOI 1ac ERSATZ (easy peasy lemon squeazy!)

    LOI 25ac SORTILEGE (whatever that is!) – I won’t look it yet awhile as it doesn’t appear to be of any use, presently!

    Jack, was 2dn SKIPPER in ‘The Beano Beginner’s Crossword’ previously? A small butterfly was available! Dear oh me!

    4dn MELON was a tad spurious. Again ‘millions’ was available rather than refer to another clue.

    I rated this as easy with COD 12ac HONEY – neatish ….and my WOD DAHOMEY which was chosen as the location for Graham Green’s ‘The Comedians’ as it resembled Haiti – but was somewhat safer!
    Why ‘old’ though? The Republic is still with us… isn’t it!?

      1. I’m glad my lifetime intersected with Dahomey’s, albeit only for a few months.
  4. 40 minutes on the dot for this, but done on the main Times site rather than the Crossword Club, the latter being blank apart from the times of early starters, which indicated this to be of medium difficulty.

    Unlike Jack, I filled the right-hand side first. I too thought an accidental was a sharp. I once wrote a children’s book in which the plot device centred around the musical keys. It was so bad that I gave up halfway through, having got myself in a right tizwoz. I finished three others, mind…

    1. The list of acidentals in common usage is:
      Sharp (#)
      Flat (b)
      Natural (♮)
      Double-sharp (x)
      2. There is also a double flat of course. !8 ac should have read “can be natural”. People often get this wrong. Once on University challenge the question was, “by what interval does a double sharp raise the pitch?” and Paxman accepted “a tone.” See prelude and fugue XIII from the first book where a major dominant chord is written with a natural on the D line or space in the prelude, notated six flats, but a double sharp on the C line or space, notated six sharps. Wouldn’t have happened when Bamber Gascoigne was in charge.
        1. I was giving examples of the signs and did not see the need to include double flats or other combinations which may be needed according to the circumstances.

          I have absolutely no idea what your abstruse point about the UC question is nor how the example you have given is supposed to work as nothing in the piece in question is notated in six sharps. If there is a genuine point to be made you will need to explain it more clearly so that dullards like me with two degrees in music can understand it.

          Edited at 2017-10-03 05:32 pm (UTC)

          1. In an idle moment I recalled a mistake on UC. It has nothing to do with the crossword. If you’re interested and you have a moment at a keyboard play a perfect cadence in E flat minor and then write it down. Repeat in D sharp minor. Of course you are hitting the same keys as keyboards are “well-tempered.” If you haven’t got a keyboard handy look at number eight in first book of the 48 (as heard at the proms with Andras Schiff) The double sharp in the notation in the second case has the same effect as the natural in that of the first: it moves your finger from a black note to the white one to the right of it. Nothing abstruse about that. UC has made lots of mistakes since it moved to the beeb.
          2. If you want to raise a note by a whole tone, as Schumann does occasionally, you write a sharp and a double sharp next to it.
  6. Not much to say about this, I felt like I was making heavy weather or it but came in under 8 minutes which is okay I guess. I almost put SWING in at 26ac and perhaps I would have done under competition pressure but (for the entirely obvious reasons) it didn’t feel quite right. Must repeat to myself 1000 times “if you’re not certain it’s correct, it isn’t” on the morning on November 4th…

    COD to 28ac, I liked the surface with its definitional mislead.

    Edited at 2017-10-03 07:06 am (UTC)

    1. If you only repeat it 100 times does that give us lesser mortals in the same session a glimmer of hope?
          1. That at least is certain. Hopefully I will crash out of the morning prelim this time, and so not have to spend 4 hours sober and climbing up the walls…
            1. I’m with Inspector Morse to a degree – a few pints helps to loosen the brain cells.

              That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

              1. John Henderson – former champion – very strongly endorses the possibilities of giving yourself an alcoholic “edge” in the finals. I ignored him last year and went in sober, think it was a mistake, will definitely have at least one or two this year to calm my nerves. (If I make it through the prelims I mean…)

                Edited at 2017-10-03 01:05 pm (UTC)

  7. Filled in the entire outer ring of clues straight off and assumed the rest would be as easy, but got slowed up by exactly the same 4 clues in the SW as Vinyl. Still under 10 minutes though, which is unusual for me these days.
    Sortilege is divination by drawing cards or similar at random. Much in use in Roman times, less so nowadays I guess
  8. No problems with this one – a gentle chug from one end to the other. I knew of “accidental notes” but had no idea about the “sharp” bit – thanks Jack

    For me ORPINGTON will always be associated with Eric Lubbock and the shock by-election result in the early 1960s

    1. I remember the Orpington by-election well. I was just starting to take an interest in politics. We had the News Chronicle at home, a fine paper of Liberal traditions, who thought the result heralded a new dawn. Maybe it did, but it was Harold Wilson and not Jo Grimond.
  9. DNF (in the SW) over porridge.
    Excuses – got back late last night from Faro. Friends who were flying Monarch fared even worse.
    So excuses are: rustiness, tiredness and no musical or Sortilege or Dahomey experience.
    Thanks setter and Jack.
  10. I was left feeling I shouldn’t have bothered, having so convinced myself that the only word I could fit at 25 was SACRILEGE (well, LEG is there) that I let it mess up CATARRH without noticing, so two errors in a trundling 28 minutes.
    I’m beginning to dislike the colour pink.
  11. I struggled significantly to complete this with DAHOMEY and SORTILEGE both taking an age to come to me. With the latter I was thinking about the wrong sort of offensive for some time.

    I’ll go with sawbill and ERSATZ as my COD – very well hidden, at least to my eyes.

  12. 30 minutes. Wasted time trying to fit ARM rather than LEG into the unknown SORTILEGE. COD to ERSATZ.
  13. Three empty chairs rocking to the beat on the Wilburys’ video now, not long after Tom was used in a clue, either here or was it in the ST? The intimations of mortality get stronger. Handle me with care. 27 minutes today with LOI the unknown SORTILEGE, after CATARRH was dredged up. COD BARCELONA, parsed only after a lot of thought. Decent puzzle. Thank you J and setter.
  14. 18:20 on a day when the required GK fell kindly. Both SORTILEGE and DAHOMEY contructed from the word play and vague recollection. Didn’t bother to read beyond the first word of the ORPINGTON clue as I already had the answer in my head from the checkers and ‘chicken’ sealed the deal. Thought SKIPPER not worthy of the Times.
    Generally more old Monday than new Friday.
  15. 10 minutes. No real problems even with the unknown DAHOMEY and the less-than-familiar SORTILEGE.
    I had to solve this on the iPad app as the latest update to the club site has rendered it inaccessible to both my iPad and my wife’s Apple laptop. That’s now four out of four of the devices available to me for solving. Honestly what an utter shambles.
    1. My iPhone became afflicted with the eternally-loading-crossword curse this morning. But I have found a method that will reliably display the puzzles:
      1. Choose a crossword
      2. Press Play Now/Resume
      3. Press Play Puzzle Full Screen
      4. Turn phone off, then back on again

      At this point, the puzzle displays, though sometimes I need to scroll the screen
      On a tablet, you may need to reduce the size of the browser window, so that it displays the Play Full Screen button, instead of going straight into the puzzle
      Still haven’t found a workaround for my laptop but

    2. I couldn’t work out what was going on when presented with a blank screen for the Concise, but a bit of fiddling around and restarting got me there *eventually*…
  16. 18.30. I agree with rinteff about ‘skipper’ and also felt a touch of the old Mondays. There does seem to be a setter’s error with ‘not sharp!’ – joekobi
  17. On the other hand I realise ‘not sharp!’ recognises it might have been so if it hadn’t been casual. (Strange place, the no-osphere.) -jk.
  18. Thanks for the parse on this Jack – I had no idea about the Old Man and the Orkneys. For anyone who might be missing the weekly whimsy of the TLS, today’s Guardian offering by Picaroon fills the bill nicely. 18.56
  19. A bit of a tussle today, but my tenacity was rewarded by an all correct at 49:19. I started off reasonably well, but slowed to a snails pace with almost half the grid still blank. 11a was delayed by visions of a CAPON filling the first half of the word, but euphoria set in as 1d reminded me that we had a railway station named as a chicken not too long ago in another puzzle. DAHOMEY was dredged from the depths, but like Z, I was held up at 25a by a dalliance with SACRILEGE. I eventually lifted and separated on a piece of paper and spotted SORTIE. NHO SORTILEGE, but bunged it in confidently and pressed submit. ERSATZ was my FOI. Liked SOUTHPAW and CRANIA. Thanks setter and Jack.
  20. I couldn’t get past SIEGE for the “offensive” part of 25 and left the rest of it blank hoping no one would notice.
  21. 32:40 but that’s having resorted to the dictionary for Dahomey and sortilege. Much like sawbill I felt sure that ARM was the member in question at 25a and became blinded by it for quite a while. I also liked ERSATZ which sadly didn’t leap out of the screen at me as it did for horryd.
  22. A pleasant, if not necessarily speedy, solve where I realised as I went along that all the potential obscurities fitted perfectly into my definition of standard general knowledge i.e. I knew them already, whether through crossword solving (EUPHORBIA is just too tempting to be ignored by setters, isn’t it), or boyhood stamp collecting (when DAHOMEY was still a country).
  23. Stuffed by the sortilege/beefy crossers. So the tension is building for the competition? For us mere mortals I think a better idea is an elimination drinking championship with the top 10 attempting the crosswords while we all laugh and fall over. About 30 mins otherwise. Thanks all
  24. I vaguely remembered the Channel Islands, but swear I’d never heard of the Old Man of Hoy (filled in the answer quite confidently anyway). I can’t remember whether I’ve encountered ORPINGTON before, either (though I probably have…), so was gratified to put it together from the wordplay. I also entered MELON before I got 13 and saw what “MON” was getting at. This indicates that I was being somewhat impetuous, since I don’t even strive for speed, and this must be why the “not sharp!” part of the clue for ACCIDENTAL didn’t make me pause for two beats.

    Edited at 2017-10-03 05:27 pm (UTC)

  25. Did this in two sessions, 23.5 mins on the train this morning and 32 mins at lunchtime. FOI 1ac. LOI 18ac. As with others found the SW took longest with sortilege, Dahomey, idealism and accidental taking a while to materialise. COD 14ac.
  26. I biffed HONEY but, on reading Jack’s blog, I remember watching a televised climb of The Old Man of Hoy back in the 1960s. I seem to remember that one of the climbers was Joe Brown. Chris Bonington may have been involved as well.
  27. 57 minutes, but that was about 30 minutes to solve 30 clues, then 10 minutes for 0 clues, 15 minutes doing something completely different, and then 2 minutes to finish the final 2 clues off. There’s a lesson: the most difficult part of the problem is always the last few clues, because it’s hard to change the mindset. So I will try an earlier brain reset in future.
    ACCIDENTAL definition puts the “loose” in “allusive”, and I would prefer ? to ! to confirm that it’s Times Crossword not e.g. Guardian.
    Cool new vocab: SORTILEGE & LESSOR
    Thanks to setter and poster.

    Edited at 2017-12-18 06:56 am (UTC)

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