Times Cryptic 27062

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

After a run of difficult puzzles on my watch this one was quite easy and I completed it in 30 minutes, bang on my target.

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 Sent back dessert, stirring up a riot in restaurant (9)
TRATTORIA – TART (dessert) reversed [sent back], anagram [stirring up] of A RIOT
6 Excuse for discharge of fire? (5)
SALVO – Two meanings, the first being completely unknown to me
9 Fully informed, as artists’ models may be (3,2,3,7)
PUT IN THE PICTURE – Two meanings, the second being a literal interpretation of the figurative expression that goes with the first
10 Forthright duke taking Irish Terriers initially round park (6)
DIRECT – D (duke), then I{rish} + T{erriers} [initially] containing [round] REC (park – recreation ground)
11 Man at church brought in by passenger vehicle — or tube (8)
BRONCHUS – RON (man) + CH (church) contained [brought in] by BUS (passenger vehicle)
13 Devout type comes across on radio, eating tiny bonbons? (10)
SWEETMEATS – ST (devout type) containing [eating] WEE (tiny), MEATS which sounds [on radio] like “meets” (comes across)
14 Picked up foolish person’s share of profits? (4)
DIVI – Sounds like [picked up] “divvy” [foolish person]. The clue is slightly weakened by ‘divi’ and ‘divvy’ being alternative spellings either of which can mean ‘foolish’ or ‘share of profits’, so a homophone indicator is not strictly needed here.
16 Rejected the hard stuff, husband being near (4)
NIGH – GIN (the hard stuff) reversed [rejected], H (husband)
17 Reportedly whip up a storm at first — awful for a mollusc! (5-5)
RAZOR-SHELL – RAZOR sounds like [reportedly] “raise a” [whip up a], S{torm} [at first], HELL (awful)
19 Big cat without tail atop ancient temple (8)
PANTHEON – PANTHE{r} (big cat) [without tail], ON (atop)
20 Fuss when gull crosses grassy area (6)
MEADOW – MEW (gull) contains [crosses] ADO (fuss) The gull is also known as a ‘seamew’ or ‘mew gull’.
23 Unwelcome individual disguised as Rangoon parent (7,3,5)
PERSONA NON GRATA – Anagram [disguised] of AS RANGOON PARENT
24 Get better / competition for motor vehicles (5)
RALLY – Two meanings
25 Rubbish a chap uttered, an old Russian dissident (9)
REFUSENIK – REFUSE (rubbish), NIK sounds like [uttered] “Nick” (chap)
Down
1 Fellow eating most of baked dish, barely warm (5)
TEPID – TED (fellow) containing [eating] PI{e} (baked dish) [most of]
2 Abandoned at Gretna, rely on English legal adviser (8,7)
ATTORNEY GENERAL – Anagram [abandoned] of AT GRETNA RELY ON E (English)
3 In Vietnamese festival I can rise, having Yankee’s perseverance (8)
TENACITY – I CAN reversed [rise] contained by [in] TET (Vietnamese festival), Y (Yankee). Those of us old enough may well remember the Tet offensive, a military campaign during the Vietnam war.
4 Coalmining area originally repressed under harsh rule (4)
RUHR – R{epressed} + U{nder} + H{harsh} + R{ule} [originally]. A leading industrial area of Germany founded on its coal reserves.
5 A choice Oscar rejected, absorbing most of capital’s spirit (10)
APPARITION – A, {o}PTION (choice) [Oscar rejected] containig [absorbing] PARI{s} (capital) [most of]
6 Close relative died, clutching European cleric’s first ordinal (6)
SECOND – SON (close relative) containing [clutching] E (European) + C{leric} [first], D (died)
7 Simulate an outlet for one’s mirth? (5,4,1,5)
LAUGH LIKE A DRAIN – Cryptic definition
8 Too sick to take in afterthought about displaced population? (9)
OVERSPILL – OVER  ILL (too sick) contains [to take in] PS (afterthought) reversed [about]
12 Jurassic carnivore chewed up a large mouse, almost (10)
MEGALOSAUR – Anagram [chewed up] of A LARGE MOUS{e} [almost]. Two weeks ago I had ‘stegosaurus’ to blog; today I get this one!
13 Polish musician making knot, possibly (9)
SANDPIPER – SAND (polish), PIPER (musician). I was vaguely aware of ‘knot’ as a bird of some sort.
15 Poisonous type vocally encourages Catholic rite (8)
ASPERGES – ASP (poisonous type), ERGES sounds lik [vocally] “urges” (encourages). My dictionary tells me that it originated as the first word (meaning ‘thou shalt purge’) of the psalm spoken during the sprinkling of holy water but it has come to mean the ceremony itself. Beyond my ken, but the wordplay and  checkers were kind.
18 Discriminating, but comfortable around house (6)
CHOOSY – COSY (comfortable) containing [around] HO (house)
21 Destruction of marine vegetation? (5)
WRACK – Two meanings. ‘Wrack and ruin’ is familiar enough, and for some reason I knew ‘bladderwrack’ in connection with the second definition
22 Sound produced by boxer with money (4)
WOOF – W (with), OOF (money – apparently!)

41 comments on “Times Cryptic 27062”

  1. I’m glad to see I’m not alone in not knowing SALVO or OOF. I also didn’t know LOI DIVI (I’d never have thought of it as an alternative to ‘divvy’, and I didn’t know ‘divvy’ as a noun; but there seemed no choice). I suppose I must have come across LAUGH LIKE A DRAIN once, here no doubt, because at long last I thought of it. And ‘seawrack’ finally came to mind to give me 21d. It took me a while to stop thinking of the tsarist period and come up with 25ac. Biffed 5d, solved post hoc.
  2. I didn’t find this easy. Missed out on DIVVY and the ‘mollusc’, with a few other unknown terms such as ASPERGES, SALVO for ‘excuse’, WRACK for the ‘vegetation’ and OOF for ‘money’. A DNF in just on the hour. I liked 13d for the misdirection of both ‘Polish musician’ and ‘knot’.

    The Tet offensive was 50 years ago this year. It’s a cliché, but doesn’t seem like it.

    Thanks to setter and blogger.

  3. DNK that was British slang for money, or the first meanings of SALVO or DIVV—I mean, DIVI, but what else could they be? Ouf ! (That’s a French gasp of relief.) Yet DIVI was my LOI. It is a rather odd answer, no?—an alternate spelling for both meanings. And you’re right, Jack—why the homophone indicator? LAUGH LIKE A DRAIN is something I know only from these puzzles. The next time it comes up, I hope to remember to title my post “It Takes a Drain to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.” The shellfish slipped thru my net until I thought of how a Brit would pronounce the end of RAZOR.

    Edited at 2018-06-12 04:30 am (UTC)

      1. News to me. But ODE says it’s from Yiddish ‘oyf tish’ (on the table, i.e. money on the table, as in gambling). Who knew?
      2. I did see that it originated in Yiddish, but also that Collins lists it as “in British” and Oxford as “British & World English,” and I didn’t find it in an American dictionary.
    2. – But according to Dylan it takes a lot to laugh .. maybe keep the thought, for a future biblical reference?

      – I remember walking up a hill in France, in the Ardeche, where a cycle race had been. The road was marked off in km 3km au sommet, 2km etc. And at the top in big white letters, it said “Ouf!” It is a word I have used ever since

    3. I had heard of Oofy Prosser – the Drones Club millionaire, according to Bertie Wooster. Presumably he had lots of oof.
  4. Like Kevin, I didn’t know those meanings of OOF and SALVO. Apart from the common meaning I know Salvo as short for Salvatore Montalbano from the Andrea Camilleri crime novels.
    A maritime feel to this puzzle with WRACK, mew, RAZOR SHELL and KNOT.
    I spoiled things by ignoring the fact that I know a knot is a shorebird and biffed ‘sandpAper’.
    I thought that ‘divvy’ as a foolish person was a specifically Scouse word but perhaps not…or knot as the case may be.
  5. 14 minutes exactly, but with a careless SWEETMEET.

    Last in by some distance the tricky RAZOR-SHELL.

    I do like the word REFUSENIK, in fact all the -nik words are fun, if a bit rarer than they were. Wikipedia gives, among others, neatnik and computernik and, of course, peacenik (strange how that would be a pejorative term). I suppose we’re solveniks

  6. Plenty of unknowns for me, too, and I was too busy agonising at the end over the exact homophone for the unknown ASPERGES that I didn’t have time to go back and figure out what 14a was if it wasn’t the unknown “NINI”. Given that I didn’t know “DIVI” either, I might not’ve finished anyway…
  7. A flying 16′ this morning. Liked SANDPIPER. Am Brit to the core, never heard of OOF, and LAUGH LIKE A DRAIN is a phrase only ever read, never heard.

    I see that I’m 144th on the monthly board, the only way is up….

    Thanks jack and setter

  8. 30 mins with yoghurt, granola, blueberry compote.
    Lots of unknowns (Mew, Salvo, Oof) but enough to be do-able.
    LOI Razor-shell. They’re known as Spoots round here.
    Mostly I liked the surface about being abandoned at Gretna.
    Thanks setter and Jack.

    PS Where’s Horryd gone. I’m waiting for his critique of G&L marmalade.

    Edited at 2018-06-12 07:16 am (UTC)

    1. I tried to order some gin and lime marmalade from Lewis and Cooper’s online hamper facility, but they don’t list it even in the £479.95 connoisseur hamper. Do have a word with them next time you’re in.
  9. 19.50,at the moment of writing one whole second better than average. Yay!
    SALVO on one definition only. Chambers tells me it’s also Australian for a member of the Salvation Army, following that delightful habit of chopping a word and putting an O on the end – I particularly like garbo. No doubt proper Australians have moved on as with Sheila and such, but I would hope not.
    OOF from Oofy Prosser (see anon above), DIVI from the dividend which Co-op shoppers used to get in stamps, though I thought the (scouse) twit was just a div.
    Can’t think of TET without “offensive”.
    BRONCHUS looks odd because it’s usually plural, presumably because we’ve all got more than one.
    Can’t see SANDPIPER without remembering the (allegedly) cockney version of the clue.
    Thanks Jack for putting all the pieces together.
  10. As for others – basically an easy puzzle but with quirks like SALVO, OOF and DIVI. Solved in a clockwise circle. Like z8 SANDPIPER brings back memories of the infamous homophone when it was said to sound the same as “sandpaper”

    The Tet offensive really shook the US. I had a friend who was doing research in California and not long after the offensive he came rushing back to the UK in a bitter strop because he believed he would be called up. We had something of a disagreement because I felt if it was good enough for him to work in the US it was good enough for him to serve the country.

  11. DNF.
    After finishing all but the mollusc in under 20 minutes I invented the MACOA (pronounced make a) SHELL after a 3 minutes of failing to find the razor. Similar unknowns to others – 2nd meaning of SALVO, OOF for money, DIVI spelt like that and ASPERGES. I liked SANDPIPER.
  12. 29 minutes with WOOF and ASPERGES biffed, the latter somewhat hesitantly. I only knew one meaning of SALVO too. I did know both meanings of DIVI from the couple of years I lived in Liverpool, DIVVY being the spelling there of a dim-witted person and DIVI the dividend received from the Co-op. WRACK came from its association with ruin. LAUGH LIKE A DRAIN, a metaphor that surely would apply best to a gurgling chuckle, or maybe weeping (see Dylan references above), rather than the full belly laugh I assume it refers to. LOI REFUSENIK. COD to PUT IN THE PICTURE. Thank you Jack and setter.

    Edited at 2018-06-12 08:08 am (UTC)

  13. Some very clever/tough elements to this one, especially the RAZOR, which only came to me after an alphabet search to find something convincing to precede SHELL. Oofy Prosser sprang to mind for me, too, demonstrating how educational Wodehouse can be. Naturally I spoiled things by confidently writing in SANDPAPER, and like everyone else, as I did so, I even remembered the SANDPAPER/SANDPIPER controversy, and still didn’t spot my mistake. D’oh.
  14. [Today in Athlone, on the way east to Dublin for some city culture before returning home.] Agree with everybody here: OOF, ASPERGES, SALVO unknown; WRACK I got because of bladderwrack, LOI was the tricky RAZOR, after an alphabet trawl. Pleased to see the ‘knot’ = SANDPIPER so quickly — this sense of ‘knot’ is a bit of a Times setters’ favourite, I think. The NW corner went in pretty fast, so I was thinking I’d be on for a really good time (by my standards!), but then I hit the thorny ones. 29 mins.
    An educational puzzle and an enjoyable one.

    Jolly good blog – thank you.

  15. FOI TRATTORIA, and my flying start had me dreaming of a sub 10 minute finish. However, I was slowed down by (k)not immediately spotting SANDPIPER (COD), and by scratching my head over both SALVO and WOOF.

    That had me left with 17D after 10:35 and the required alpha-trawl for the first half took a further 7:45 before RAZOR finally “cut” in.

    Enjoyable puzzle.

    1. I think “raise a” (homophonous with RAZOR) = “whip up a” is just one component of the wordplay. Then “awful” = HELL is a separate component. And ‘s’ in the middle is ‘storm’ initially.
  17. DNF. I raced through 2/3s of this – then ground to a halt mainly in the SE. I had Nini for Divi, Sandpaper for Sandpiper and eventually went for Canon Shell knowing that was wrong. I’d not heard of Asperges or Oof before. I rather like Oof.

    So COD: Woof.

  18. 14:21. Another with Wodehouse to thank for OOF. I hesitated a lot over SALVO, and also had some trouble with BRONCHUS and the unknown ASPERGES.
  19. Same DNKs as others but concluded that if you can “salve” your conscience a SALVO might work. I’ve been committing a lot of typos lately so I was being extra careful or I’d have missed “sandpaper” like Tim – it was a nasty little trap. 18.10
  20. Same unknowns as others, although ASPERGES was very familiar from the old Latin Mass where the Asperges Me was sung in Plain Chant every Sunday at the beginning of Mass when I was a bairn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRQ11bYvfVQ
    TRATTORIA was my FOI and I dotted hither and thither around the grid until after 30 minutes I was left with _A_O_ SHELL, at which point I alphabet trawled for another 10 minutes and gave up and resorted to a word-finder. Lots to like in this puzzle, but a DNF in 39:29. Thanks setter and Jack.
  21. Damn. Thirty minutes, but I guessed “aspergis” rather than ASPERGES. I also managed to misbiff “sandpaper” at 13d.

    NHO “oof” as money. Nor was I at all sure about DIVI being the same as “divvy”, or “divvy” being a fool. I spent some time if a share of profits could in some obscure argot be nini or sili, but in the end decided not.

  22. 18 minutes, but with a typo, as only did perfunctory check as hoped for good score. OOF known from Oofy P. – slang of a bygone age!
  23. 30 minutes, as above I fell into the SANDPAPER trap but wasn’t happy with it, looked at the clue again and saw the ‘knot’ bird thing. No idea about why WOOF, don’t do Yiddish. The long ones were all easy. Liked REFUSENIK best.
  25. Like most others, no idea about why OOF and SALVO, plus DIVI, which appears an odd way of spelling DIVVY. Heavens. So I crawled through the latter parts of this puzzle, probably dragging on through 35 minutes or thereabouts. All these odd bits made it a tad unsatisfactory, sorry. Regards.
    1. As I half-mentioned in my post, Kevin, the Co-operative Society (did you have this movement in the States?) had shops in most towns and some villages which gave their customers a share in the profits, a dividend. This ‘divi’ was much valued, particularly by its working class customer base. As an idea it lasted 160 years, so it wasn’t a bad one. Sadly, the movement couldn’t survive the retail competition of modern times, but the movement is still the country’s biggest funeral director.
      1. We probably had some endeavors along the same lines, and we still have some mutual savings banks and insurance companies here that produce a dividend. One great difference, though, is nobody here ever thought to shorten the dividend to a ‘divi’, at least as far as I know. Thanks for the enlightenment. Regards.
  26. Bit rosy, bit thorny, so odd mix I thought.

    Some slightly weird surfaces too, as with the Polish musician (nice charade elements): do musicians make knots necessarily?

    Oh well.

  27. 47:03. Started off fairly quickly in left to right-ish fashion, dnk oof but woof seemed pretty clear, as did salvo and asperges. However got held up quite a bit by my last three in razor-shell, meadow and wrack. The last was unknown but an educated guess based on wrack and ruin and the lack of a better alternative. I had heard of razor clams but not razor shells and the homophone took a while to arrive. Finally, I couldn’t decide whether 20ac was going to be a fuss, a grassy area or just an area and had similar difficulties identifying correct wordplay until the final “w” checker and all became clear.
  28. DNF. I sort of lost the will to live with this one, and chucked it aside with the tricky SE corner unfinished. Just not in the mood, really; I’m sure it’s a nice enough puzzle. Thanks for the blog, Jack.

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