Times Cryptic 26876

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
This one delayed me for 44 minutes. Much of it was straightforward but I became bogged down over five clues, all on the right-hand side. There were two words unknown to me, one was the answer at 8dn and the other an element of the wordplay at 26ac, although in the latter case the answer was eminently biffable so my lack of GK was of no consequence.

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 What’s expected of orchestra, pure playing (3,3,3,6)
PAR FOR THE COURSE – Anagram [playing] of OF ORCHESTRA PURE
9 Neglected child needs caressing, housing of superior character (9)
FOUNDLING – FONDLING (caressing) containing (housing) U (of superior character as in U / non-U)
10 Seaman comes to island, back in old harbour (5)
OSTIA – OS (seaman), AIT (island) reversed [back]. The ancient port of Rome.
11 I beam, receiving collection of books — something to put on desk (2-4)
IN-TRAY – I + RAY (beam) containing [receiving] NT (collection of books – New Testament)
12 TV doctor had one work of fiction (8)
WHODUNIT – WHO (TV doctor), ‘D (had), UNIT (one). It took me far to long to think of the TV doctor in question. Finlay, Kildare, even House were considered before the obvious one. I’d be more inclined to spell the answer WHODUNNIT, but the alternative single ‘N’ is permissable.
13 Would-be lover wanting men at back of clubs? (6)
SUITOR – SUIT (clubs?), OR (men – Other Ranks)
15 Horse above average height, one reined in by boy (8)
STALLION – TALL (above average height) + I (one) contained [reined in] by SON (boy)
18 A bit that’s positive about Italian in honourable mention (8)
CITATION – CATION (a bit that’s positive) containing [about] IT (Italian). The positive bit is a word I only know from crosswords.
19 Consider hunt gatherings savage ultimately, on reflection (6)
ESTEEM – MEETS (hunt gatherings), {savag}E [ultimately] reversed (on reflection). Not the most familiar usage of ‘esteem’ perhaps, but one can, for example, esteem it an honour to do something or other.
21 Claim spa town is lacking hospital (8)
ARROGATE – {h}ARROGATE (spa town) [lacking hospital].
23 Rocky location with risk — one approaching it may be doomed (6)
GIBBET – GIB (rocky location – Gibraltar), BET (risk) followed by a cryptic definition
26 Part of City invested in Indian money no longer (5)
PIECE – EC (City  – of London), contained by [invested in] PIE [Indian money no longer]. An old currency that’s beyond my ken.
27 Insist on fan keeping quiet for minutes (9)
STIPULATE – STI{m}ULATE (fan – as in ‘fan the flames’) changes m (minutes) to P (quiet)
28 Release from complicated relationship — gentleman ends it with difficulty (15)
DISENTANGLEMENT – Anagram [with difficulty] of GENTLEMAN ENDS IT
Down
1 Birds wanting home when caught in air currents (7)
PUFFINS – IN (home) contained by [caught in] PUFFS (air currents)
2 Stir created by French author’s introduction being cut (5)
ROUST – {p}ROUST (French author) [introduction being cut]
3 Possible clue to mad don being a misfit (3,3,3)
ODD MAN OUT –  The anagrind ‘out’ and anagrist ‘ODD MAN’ could possibly be part of a clue to which the answer might be ‘mad don’
4 Tease / silly person (4)
TWIT – Two definitions
5 Get weight reduced somehow — one component of breakfast food? (3,5)
EGG WHITE – Anagram [somehow] of GET WEIGH{t} [reduced]
6 Old invalid like Humpty Dumpty (5)
OVOID – O (old), VOID (invalid)
7 Like a memory of event — tries forgetting the end somehow (9)
RETENTIVE – Anagram [somehow – again]  of EVENT TRIE{s} [forgetting the end]
8 Energy and most of remaining protein (7)
ELASTIN – E (energy), LASTIN{g} (remaining) [most of…]. I didn’t know this word.
14 Prisoners put down, observed to be upset (9)
INTERNEES – INTER (put down – bury), SEEN (observed) reversed [upset]
16 Freedom, with saints for the first time showing sluggishness (9)
LASSITUDE – LA{t}ITUDE Freedom, with SS (saints) replacing [for] the first T (time)
17 Foreign lady in trick, valuable person going the wrong way (8)
CONTESSA – CON (trick), ASSET (valuable person) reversed [going the wrong way]
18 Restricted in temporary accommodation to house refugees primarily (7)
CRAMPED – CAMPED (in temporary accommodation) contains [to house] R{efugees} [primarily]
20 Most intimate relations shown in a bit of coarse material (7)
MATIEST – TIES (relations) contained by [shown in] MAT (bit of coarse material)
22 Pick up from valley around start of autumn (5)
GLEAN – GLEN (valley) containing [around] A{utumn} [start]
24 Indifferent and mean, having trapped girl finally (5)
BLASE – BASE (mean) contains [having trapped] {gir}L (finally)
25 One of the players in the side (4)
WING – Two meanings

44 comments on “Times Cryptic 26876”

  1. 32 minutes, with GIBBET being a favourite. Didn’t know the protein – was toying with erestin – before OSTIA guided me home.

    Having been the new Friday, Tuesday stands in danger of becoming the new Monday.

  2. Typed ‘Ostea’, I’m not sure why; spoiled a good time. Didn’t understand why GIB, and didn’t notice that I’d ignored the CAT, depending on ION alone for the bit. I did, fortunately, know PIE, but it took a while to recall it while trying to do something with ‘anna’. Liked STIPULATE.
  3. A long way down from Sunday, when cracked 15m for the first time

    But I’m coming down with a cold, which I think is why I couldn’t break into the bottom half here…maybe I haven’t heard of (h)arrogate or internees, but contessa and cramped seem very gettable in retrospect. I resorted to reasoning that 18d & 14d would end in D & S, and so 28a would begin with DIS

    Didn’t really enjoy this one, but again probably more to do with snot pouring from my nose than the quality of the clues. Liked whodunit

  4. I went through these and many more before the cryptic chestnut one came to mind. Symptomatic of my form today and ended up taking about 70 minutes. Also spent ages on 26 trying to fit a ‘C’ into ‘anna’ to make a body part – no luck. Still, all worth it in the end, as I now know that once upon a time 1 rupee = 192 pies = 64 pices = 16 annas.

    Thanks to setter and blogger

  5. 10:11 … felt a bit easier to me than recent outings, helped by some biffable answers. I just stalled a bit with CONTESSA/STIPULATE.

    CITATION was biffed on the basis of having an IT in it, cations being well outside my ken.

    I suppose GIBBET is a brilliant word for being as horrible as its referent. Me, I prefer thinking about PUFFINS (please don’t tell me they’re vicious little buggers — I don’t need any more illusions shattered)

    1. You’ll be pleased to know I Googled “vicious puffins” and came up with dozens of pictures of puffins being really nice to each other.
  6. Much with Lord vinyl1 on this effort, with 58 minutes on the clock and passing fancy for ‘senorita’ @17dn rather than his ‘consuela’. The south-east was a bit of a crawl, with LOI a well diguised 23ac GIBBET (my COD) once 24dn BLASE was realised.

    The real hold up was the very easy 18dn CRAMPED!

    DNK 8dn ELASTIN but it was an early write-in.

    WOD 21ac ARROGATE (East End Tarn)

    Thank-you Mr.bletchleyreject – I was completely unaware that there were 192 Pies to the Anna! Napoleon Bonaparte would turn in his grave!

    Edited at 2017-11-07 07:01 am (UTC)

  7. I spent quite a few minutes over 26ac at the end – I was pretty certain over EC but couldn’t square PIECE with “money no longer” – doh! Certain recent experiences have told me not to just slam the obvious answer in unless you’re sure it works, but I would probably have gotten away with this today. I don’t feel too bad about not recognising PIE as an old Asian currency though.
  8. 45 minutes on this one, with 4d TWIT oddly proving the most intractable, despite thinking of it immediately—I didn’t know the “tease” def., so wanted to make sure it wasn’t something else before I put it in.

    FOI 1a, COD 7d for “Like a memory” cluing RETENTIVE, WOD LASSITUDE, which seems appropriate to my mornings this week. DNK ARROGATE; ELASTIN was nearly unknown, but luckily I vaguely remembered both OSTIA and “ait” enough from previous encounters here to stick all the crossers in and get there…

    Well done to all the championship competitors! Sounds like you had fun…

  9. But what else could they be? On the other hand, has anyone here ever heard or read anyone say the word MATIEST?

    The two longest ones were among the easiest.

    Edited at 2017-11-07 07:24 am (UTC)

    1. CATION has come up a couple of times in the main puzzle, in August 2014 and August 2015. Its companion is ANION, a negatively charged particle, which also appears on occasion.
  10. While this laddie chewed a croissant with lime marmalade (hoorah) – taking 30 mins, so much more confidence boosting than of late.
    Elastin wasn’t quite the, er, last in. That went to Gibbet.
    Mostly I liked: Stipulate (COD) and the top line anagram’s surface reading.
    Lots of part-knowns, but gettable: Ait, Twit (tease).
    M.E.R. at ‘put down’.
    Thanks to the matiest of setters and Jack.
    1. I liked the clue for STIPULATE, too. I was wondering if it could have been a smoother surface with “keeping quiet for a minute.” Or would that have been technically unacceptable with the ‘a’?
      1. Yes, I think the extra ‘a’ would have caused more than one MER (minor eyebrow raise). I agree, though, that the surface reading would have been much improved.
  11. Par for the course. ELASTIN appropriately LOI and unknown. Puffins? Vicious? ask any sand eel.
  12. 42m on the Kings X to Cambridge train, a rare foray these days into the dispiriting world of the commuter. I enjoyed the puzzle which seemed fair enough, once the clues, especially the substitution ones, had been unravelled. My favourite was the PUFFINS, as like Sotira, I have a good impression of their behaviour and a fond memory of a sunny afternoon watching them at South Stack RSPB reserve on The fair isle of Anglesey. Thank you, setter and Jack today.
  13. I was on for a sub ten minutes today until the SE where MATIEST, GIBBET and LOI BLASÉ took me to 18 minutes. I biffed PIECE without knowing the coin, trying to break the ten. If it had been ANNA, I’d have known it and been pretending I was John Lennon all morning, so it’s perhaps as well. COD to GIBBET. Taking into account my handicap, I was definitely well below 1a today. Thank you Jack and setter. I’ll no doubt louse up the Killer now. * On edit, I meant to say that I think the residents of (h)ARROGATE are the only Yorkies who do sound their aitches.

    Edited at 2017-11-07 09:16 am (UTC)

  14. 21 minutes with interruptions and some semi-biffing (CATION??). The old Indian money proved once again the educational benefits of youthful stamp collecting.
  15. I thought this could be quick when my first two in were the two long ones but there proved to be enough trickier stuff to push me to an average time. LOI was OSTIA which I hesitated over as I didn’t know or didn’t remember AIT.
  16. 26’ today, so pleasing. Did this in the club and had one typo. 15’ for all but SE, found WING and GIBBET tough. Thanks jack and setter.
  17. 18 minutes, with a similar experience to the third heat 2 puzzle: the top more or less breezed in, the bottom engendered brain freeze and stayed blank. The only difference is that this time I managed to defrost in time to get in under the tournament target 20 minutes.
    Particularly pleased with the two long anagrams and the two decent letter substitution clues, and the (well telegraphed) work-out-your-own-clue for ODD MAN OUT. No “hidden” today?
  18. After yesterday’s tricky Monday this went like an easy Monday for me, done in exactly 15 minutes, helped by knowing the science bits (CATION, the protein) and 1a / 1d were easy starters. As someone said above, when did you last hear the word ‘matiest’?
  19. My last word was MATIEST if that’s any help? 29.49 – a lot easier without all those pesky customers. DNK ARROGATE but I’m sure I’ve seen that before – perhaps not a chestnut for me then. My main impression of Harrogate is traffic, more traffic and nowhere to park.
  20. Went well till the end in SE but still through in 21.12. Good word, roust. Matiest may be unknown (outside PGW?) but surely merits honorary membership of the in-words community – something about it.
  21. Peaked too late,12 min for this one. Very little 28 required and well below 1a for me. Regained some of my self 19 at least until tomorrow. Ty setter and Jack
  22. No accurate time due to a series of interactions, interruptions and handicaps that are too trivial to warrant further explanation, even for Don Manley’s benefit, but I reckon this took about ten minutes.
  23. 23:47. I’m not sure why I hesitated so long over OSTIA, my LOI. Like others PIE and ELASTIN were new to me, but with study of chemistry running in the family, CATION was no problem. I liked the two long anagrams, and had a bit of a groan at 3d, but 27a was my COD.
  24. 11 minutes, and I was relived to find GIBBET and TWIT were correct, only knowing one definition of the latter and remembering vaguely the bits of the former. I rather liked the clues for WHODUNIT and DISENTANGLEMENT
  25. This took 20 minutes or so, ending with the never before heard of MATIEST. Odd looking word, that, although I could imagine it existed. Forgot about Gib, and never heard of Pie, but no real problems. Regards.
  26. Blazed through this one in 18 minutes (OK, so that’s not much of a blaze, but it’s faster than my slow average).

    Nice to see our Spanish outpost mentioned – now that we in the UK have changed our clocks for winter, the time difference between us and Gibraltar is only 48 years.

  27. Trouble with you lot is, you don’t seem to have been educated in the sciences, nor have you collected stamps.
    Richard
    1. Perhaps this was intended as merry banter but as we don’t know you it comes across as rather rude. Constructive comments on the puzzles are always welcome but we don’t need snide remarks about posters thank you very much. This is a friendly forum.
      1. Sorry, not intended to be rude but I can see it comes over that way. Will be more careful in future, and get a live journal address, now that I have worked out how.
        1. Thanks for explaining, Richard. I wasn’t sure, although the fact that you put a name to the ‘anon’ message was probably an indication it wasn’t intended badly. We look forward to welcoming you properly when you have sorted out your LJ account.
    2. Fact check for Mr. Anonymouse:

      One of ‘us lot’ is an FRPSL and has written ten books on philately and markophily.

      ‘All science is either physics or stamp collecting.’ Ernest Rutherford 1871-1937

      QED

  28. I did about half of this this morning in 25 mins and the rest at lunchtime in around 24 mins. I found this a pleasant stroll but was slightly held up I think by not getting the long anagram at the top until late on. 9ac made me think of Tom Jones (not the Green green grass / Delilah one). Dithered over “esteem” where I initially had the last letters of hunt, gatherings and savage reversed providing the first three letters but not seeing where the rest came from until I rethought it and saw “meets” reversed. Dnk the old Indian coin but the answer was easy enough to guess what it must be. Elastin known from a previous puzzle.
  29. 49 minutes, with GIBBET my LOI. Of course I didn’t understand GIB as the rocky location, but BET as risk was clear and I vaguely remembered GIBBET as some kind of place of execution. Everything else was reasonably straightforward, once I realized that there were other possibilities for 17 dn than CONSUELA and that the Italian in 18 ac was not in the middle (CATITION?) but earlier in the word (CITATION).
  30. Didn’t twig Gib, and didn’t know Pie, but they had to be. I gave brief thought to looking up and familiarizing myself with words containing ‘gib’, because that just smells like it will be coming back to us.

    No real problems, and as usual, no real speed. 45+ minutes over several sittings.

  31. 28:37 but with a careless RETENSIVE at 7d as I was doing this post midnight after a busy day travelling and carousing with far flung family and lying on the bed in my B&B without the benefit of pen and paper, and thus confused the anagrist. I even said to myself surely that should be RETENTIVE but there’s an S in it. Doh! Otherwise a very enjoyable romp with ROUST FOI and GIBBET LOI. Liked WHODUNIT and STIPULATE. Biffed the long anagrams due to a)lack of pen and paper, and b)failed to spot the correct anagrist! And so to bed and weather permitting, will be off on a cycle ride accompanying the younger daughter on her morning run. I might just be able to keep up with her on the bike:-) Thanks setter and Jack.
    1. Sorry, anon, but I’ve had to delete as the puzzle is not out of quarantine yet. For what it’s worth I’m in doubt over that answer too.

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