Times Cryptic 27362

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

Probably though tiredness I got myself stuck on this one early on and nodded off briefly so I have no solving time to offer, but on resumption it all fell into place fairly easily.

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

Across
1 Suitably clad doctor saying nothing (6)
DUMBLY – MB (doctor) contained [clad] by DULY (suitably)
4 Bureaux and top-rank clubs invested in bottled spirits? (8)
AGENCIES – A (top-rank), then C (clubs) contained by  [invested in] GENIES (bottled spirits – e.g. ‘letting the genie out of the bottle’).
10 Sailor included in total recovering from attack? (3,3,5)
OUT AND ABOUT – AB (sailor) contained by [included in]  OUT AND OUT (total). After being laid up with an attack of the lurgy one might soon recover enough to get ‘out and about’.
11 Feminine counterpart of stag party, bride’s last (3)
DOE – DO (party), {brid}E [last]. A deer, a female deer…
12 Glimpse errand boy’s narrow escape? (7)
SEEPAGE – SEE (glimpse), PAGE (errand boy)
14 Female with band having an edge (7)
FRINGED – F (female), RINGED (with band). This came readily to mind as ‘fringeless’ was the subject of some discussion here last week.
15 Economic system I represent, perhaps? (4,10)
FREE ENTERPRISE – A self-referencing clue with I REPRESENT as anagrist leading to ENTERPRISE and ‘free’ as anagrind  in the answer.
17 What’s cooking? Silly rhetorical question unruly tots ignored (6,8)
QUICHE LORRAINE – Anagram [silly] of RHE{to}RICAL QUE{st}ION with the component letters of TOTS in unspecified order [unruly] omitted [ignored]
21 Circlet with tiny casing that delights me (7)
WHOOPEE – WEE (tiny) containing [casing] HOOP (circlet)
22 Person with little boats oddly banned by port (4-3)
HAVE-NOT – HAVEN (port), {b}O{a}T{s} [oddly banned]
23 Letter from the Balkans, far from neutral (3)
PHI – PH 1 (far from neutral – PH 7)
24 Top tennis sites where there’s likely to be action (5,6)
CROWN COURTS – CROWN (top), COURTS (tennis sites). Whatever the weather has in store for us there should be no lack of action on Court Number One at Wimbledon this year thanks to the new retractable roof.
26 Privacy I lost, due to reform (8)
SOLITUDE – Anagram [reform] of I LOST DUE
27 Following shot, retreat’s ordered (6)
BIDDEN – BID (shot), DEN (retreat)
Down
1 Delivers sweets no longer on the menu (5,3)
DROPS OFF – DROPS (sweets: acid-, fruit- etc), OFF (no longer on the menu)
2 What martial arts trainer needs for beginners? (3)
MAT – First letters [beginners] of M{artial}, A{rts}, T{rainer}
3 Descent made by majority at end of rope (7)
LINEAGE – LINE (rope), AGE (majority). ‘Majority’ is the state of being of full age.
5 Ultimate sale bargain apparently worthless (4-3-7)
GOOD-FOR-NOTHING – Getting ‘goods for nothing’ would be a bargain, but I don’t think ‘good’ can be used in the singular in the context of this wordplay.
6 Increasingly unbalanced cask carried up bank (7)
NUTTIER – TUN (cask) reversed [carried up], TIER (bank). ‘Tun’ meaning a beer barrel appears (or used to) in the name of many a pub e.g. The Three Tuns; The One Tun, etc.
7 Is dieting on crackers its cause? (11)
INDIGESTION – Anagram [crackers] of IS DIETING ON
8 Customary small drink drained daily (6)
STEADY – S (small), TEA (drink), D{ail}Y [drained]
9 Preserve support after biblical queen briefly deposed king (5,3,6)
JAMES THE SECOND – JAM (preserve), ESTHE{r} (biblical queen) [briefly], SECOND (support). Deposed in the Glorous Revolution of 1688 and replaced by Williamanmary aka The Orange. ‘Esther’ has her own book of the Bible and was also the eponymous subject of the very first English oratorio, composed by Handel in 1718.
13 Legal appointee’s administrator leading seminar: not the first time (11)
EXECUTORIAL – EXEC (administrator), {t}UTORIAL (seminar) [not the first time – T]
16 Mole, tailed, sits atop ditch (8)
JETTISON – JETT{y} (mole) [tailed], IS ON (sits atop). ‘Groyne’ yesterday,  ‘jetty’ and ‘mole’ today!
18 Highly imitative journalism, spiteful type (7)
COPYCAT – COPY (journalism), CAT (spiteful type)
19 Extra violin part you might have at La Scala? (7)
RAVIOLI – Hidden in [part] {ext}RA VIOLI{n}
20 Makes off with socks (6)
SWIPES – Two meanings
25 Imperial measure that most anglers use (3)
ROD – Two meanings. Perhaps a missed opportunity to work in ‘perch’ here as a third definition.

61 comments on “Times Cryptic 27362”

  1. I was slow to get a number of clues today, with DUMBLY & SEEPAGE my LOsI, neither of which should have been that hard for me. I made the mistake of assuming that 15ac was going to end in ISM, so du(mb)ly typed it in. QUICHE LORRAINE somehow popped out at me once I had a couple of checkers, but I didn’t parse it until after submitting. Jack, you’ve got a typo at 11ac.
    1. Thanks. Now amended. Very odd though, as I don’t actually type the clues!
  2. 30′ but unsubmitted, could not parse OUT AND ABOUT, and it seems a very weak definition to me. Liked JETTISON and EXECUTORIAL.

    Why so few posts by 7 am?

    And, once more, can the Times please think about cluing mental illness without pejoratives?

    Thanks jack and setter.

    2. I put up the blog at least an hour later than usual so some of our US posters may have given up on me and gone to bed.
  3. I struggled with this and several answers went in unparsed so thanks to Jack for clarifying them for me.

    I liked the clue for DOE in the obvious misdirection towards ‘hen’. But a firm COD to FREE ENTERPRISE. This was amongst those I couldn’t parse but now I see how it works I think it’s an excellent clue.

  4. On phone as broadband access has crashed out. 39 minutes with LOI BIDDEN. COD to PHI and FREE ENTERPRISE jointly. Thank you Jack and setter.

    Edited at 2019-05-28 07:05 am (UTC)

  5. 36 minutes, also biffing the Quiche Lorraine – of which M&S do a very good one in Hong Kong, which reminds me of home. Not that I have ever lived in that part of France, but I once metz a girl called Nancy…
  6. Straightforward start to the week (for me. Bank holidays don’t count).
    Out and about doesn’t mean recovering, to me, it just means busy. UP and about means recovering.

    Edited at 2019-05-28 07:31 am (UTC)

    1. I agree with you but ODO says ‘engaging in normal activity after an illness’. I think this is wrong but the setter is off the hook.
  8. 51 minutes. FOI 2d, and making decent progress from there, but slowed for the last few in: 8d STEADY 16d JETTISON and 27a BIDDEN, in that order. Biffing JETTISON was what got me finished. I couldn’t see the parsing even though I at least academically know that meaning of “mole” from previous puzzles.

    Enjoyed several along the way, especially the “bottled spirit”, the SEEPAGE and making WHOOPEE.

    In my current read, Walden, Thoreau seemingly measures any distance longer than a foot in RODs, so my crossword-inspired education is still helping here and there.

    Chambers has “good” for merchandise as only “usu” plural, so I suppose one might technically get a singular GOOD FOR NOTHING…

    Edited at 2019-05-28 08:01 am (UTC)

  9. Same experience as others. A steady solve but one or two loose definitions. I agree with Jerry UP and about means recovering and I don’t think 5D really works. Well blogged Jack.
    1. I’ve heard tailors refer to a pant, and I wouldn’t be that terribly surprised to hear an economist refer to a good; although I would be surprised to find myself listening to an economist.
      1. I have regularly heard economists talking about the existence of a fungible good, an expression which has mostly stuck in my mind because I like the word “fungible”.
      2. Economists do use the term ‘good’: healthcare for instance would be described as a ‘public good’. But it doesn’t refer to an article you can buy in a sale.
        1. If you can buy goods plural in a sale then I don’t see why it’s so hard to imagine buying a good singular. Even if nobody actually does it…
          1. It’s just not the way the word is used. In the same vein you can’t buy a grocery.
          2. Indeed, for economists, a singular good does exist and you can buy it. Or at least you could when I graduated in economics in 1982! I’m quite surprised that this clue is seen as controversial. “Goods for nothing” would certainly be sales bargains, and the last (ultimate) one of the set can only be a singular “good for nothing”. It works for me, and indeed was my FOI today.
        1. He’s not an economist at all, as is very apparent from that article.
          1. He has lectured in Economics, but despite that handicap kept his head clear enough to understand some very important issues, which seem to befuddle many.
  10. Mostly straightforward, with a certain amount of biffing and retrospective parsing, but some elements which required considerably more lateral thinking, especially during the couple of minutes at the end where I weighed up the respective merits of PHI and PSI until the penny finally dropped.
  11. 50 mins with yoghurt, granola, blueberry compote, etc.
    Some ‘stretchy’ definitions but I liked it.
    Mostly I liked: the hidden Ravioli and Esther giving her support to Jam. I concur: also marmalade.
    Thanks setter and J.
  12. 24:55. Held up at the end by the King. which I failed to parse. STEADY for customary at 8d seemed a bit of a stretch. I liked INDIGESTION, JETTISON and PHI but COD to FREE ENTERPRISE.
  13. 11m. I biffed quite a lot of answers without parsing today. I thought some of the definitions were a bit loose – customary for STEADY, OUT AND ABOUT, socks for SWIPES – and I still don’t understand GOOD FOR NOTHING.
    I was a bit puzzled by 23ac because I have never thought of Greece as part of the Balkans. It seems I’m wrong.
    1. Ultimate sale bargain could be expressed as ‘the best ever commercial sale’ which is a good (a commodity for example) for zero-price (for nothing).

      I also did not equate Greece with the Balkans, and I have a degree in the subject!!

      1. Yes I see that but the word ‘good’ isn’t used like this. It describes a category, not a specific article that you can buy.
        1. For that exact reason I left Free For Nothing – which you hear in the US in a certain kind of sardonic dialect – in the grid until I was absolutely forced to change it.

          Edited at 2019-05-28 09:35 pm (UTC)

        2. Not commonly I agree, but you do find it used in that sense in legal and archaic contexts. Google for expressions like ‘good for sale’ and you will see.
          1. I googled ‘good for sale’ and the only things that come up in which ‘good’ is a noun are two entries on the same South African website!
              1. It returns very few results, most of which relate to ‘good and service tax’ in India, which is also referred to elsewhere as the (more usual) ‘goods and services tax’. So I remain unconvinced that this is a normal usage.
  14. …on paper on Glasgow train, complete with businesswoman yakking into phone non-stop. I did wonder if the person at the other end was actively participating in the conversation.

    Did not parse ESTHE(R) as part of the king.

    The JETT part of JETTISON went unparsed as well. LOI DUMBLY closely following LINEAGE.

  15. About 8 minutes to get all but the NW corner, including some not insignificant time working out 5d having biffed “bottled spirits” as DJINNIES.

    Then it was DUMBLY that did for me for a long time, and it still doesnt feel right to me – once I decided that was the only viable option the last few flew in

    trying to start it with a J notwithstanding, 5d doesn’t work for me in the same as many others.

    Finally limped over the line in 18.56

  16. The RHS went in lickety split but I bogged down in the Balkans and elsewhere. Thanks for the parse on LINEAGE Jack – I was staring at it DUMBLY. 18.16
  17. Felt like I was having a soporific swim through mud with this one and I could never get a run on. I just bunged in OUT AND ABOUT without properly parsing it. I’m sure it’s obvious but I still don’t get the ‘Letter from the Balkans’ def for 23a.

    LINEAGE was tricky and needed all the crossers. As someone unfamiliar with legal terminology, I found EXECUTORIAL very strange. Sounds more like an American trash TV genre to me.

    Home in 85 minutes, including snooze.

    Thanks to setter and blogger.

    2. And the letter is ‘Phi’ from the Greek alphabet. If Greece as part of the Balkans doesn’t seem right, please see Keriothe’s comment above.
      1. Thanks. Sorry – I missed Keriothe’s comment. Seems as though I’m not the only one to be puzzled by Greece as being part of the Balkans.
  18. I had most of this completed in 35 minutes, but the NW kept me baffled for another 16:11 before I finally saw the FREE bit of 15a, DROPS OFF, SEEPAGE, LINEAGE and DUMBLY, in that order. I’d been fixated on DUMBED and didn’t see DULY until I had LINEAGE. A frustrating last corner. Liked JAMES THE SECOND and GOOD FOR NOTHING. 51:11. Thanks setter and Jack.
  19. FOI 17ac QUICHE LORRAINE! It was like automatic writing, I just stuck it in!

    LOI Idn DROPS OFF

    COD 19ac RAVIOLI

    WOD 9dn JAMES THE SECOND – has HM ever appeared in a crossword before?

  20. ….DUMBLY for almost two minutes, despite having entered “OFF”, before realising that DROPS were sweets.

    FOI DOE
    LOI DROPS OFF
    COD HAVE-NOT
    TIME 13:16

  21. I don’t think 5 down is anything to do with ‘goods’. If you get a good item for nothing then that’s a bargain.
  22. Done here and there so no time but nothing too onerous. Liked ‘good-for-nothing’ – the singular seems to me to fit nicely into a setter’s permitted range of inventiveness, so long as an accepted dictionary definition is on hand to open the gate so to speak. As for that ‘permitted’, fortunately it’s impossible to define.
  23. I seem to have done well on this one looking at other times. I was slowed down in the bottom left corner by SWIPES/PHI at the end, but nothing else seemed to present too much difficulty!
  24. Also held up at the end pondering why it should be either PHI or PSI. I needed to put it down and look at it again in the AM, and only then did the fog lift. I think we’ve seen something like that before, and I think it’s quite clever. Regards.
  26. Found this relatively straightforward then hit a brickwall with 1d, 1a and 2d. On the face of it pretty straightforward clues but my brain had a lot of trouble on them. Drops=sweets was perhaps too cryptic for me, but no real excuses for 1a or 2d.

    Fav clue 15a, very clever clue, which I biffed but was nearly certain was right at the time.

    My running total 31/33.

    Thanks to blogger and setter.

    WS

  27. This took me over an hour across two sessions. I found myself just picking at it and failing to get into any sort of rhythm. The apparent looseness of some of the definitions, out and about, seepage, steady and swipes made this one hard going.
  28. Like others I found this a mix of straightforwardness mixed with slightly unusual usages. I like James the Second, partly for just being nice grid-fill, partly because tomorrow is Oak Apple Day day (wrong Stuart, but close enough to being a bookend), and partly for the clueing
  29. Thirty-one minutes for me, despite having lubricated the brain thoroughly. It’s possible that I’ve passed the inflection point of the graph, but further work is needed.

    I was another one who found this a bit of a slog and failed to get into a rhythm, but in retrospect I don’t see what held me up. I puzzled over LINEAGE and eventually decided that it was line-age, and somehow related to printers working out how far down a page a piece of text would go. I’ve only just now twigged that it’s “linny-age” – d’oh. At 23ac, I wrote in PHI without even considering psi – which is just as well since I didn’t understand the clue. I suppose this one counts as our token offering from the world of science.

  30. The singular use of “good” is fine. Luxury good, Giffen good, ordinary good, etc.
  31. Had to come back to this one this morning. I thought it was tough but an excellent crossword. Glad I persevered.
  32. Thanks setter and jack
    An unusually unsuccessful week with this one being the third puzzle that brought about an error. Stumbled on that PSI, not spending enough time in working out why it wouldn’t parse properly. A pity because when I saw the explanation for PHI, was able to recall a similar word play for it. Time-wise, it took just over a half hour in a single sitting to complete the grid, it clearly needed longer.
    A lot of other interesting clues to unravel and particularly liked working out the long down / across clues with King JAMES being the best of those. Still couldn’t imagine eating RAVIOLI at La Scala.

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