Times Cryptic 27506

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

My solving time was about an hour but there was nothing particularly difficult here. How did you all do?

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 Showing readiness to eat one in safety (10)
SALIVATION : I (one) contained by [in] SALVATION (safety)
6 Before hotel used to be clean (4)
WASH : WAS (used to be), H (hotel)
10 Ring line to receive small magazine (7)
ARSENAL : ARENA (ring) + L (line) containing [to receive] S (small). ‘Ring’ as in circus or boxing. I knew ‘magazine’ as the part of a gun that holds bullets but not this definition from Collins which equates with ‘arsenal’:  a magazine is a building in which things such as guns, bullets, and explosives are kept.
11 How Fiji is crazier than Pitcairn? (7)
DOTTIER : The cryptic hint here is the number of dots or ‘tittles’ appearing in the words Fiji (3) and Pitcairn (2). A rare example of the literal being in the middle of the clue.
12 Period of working on hobby regularly a compulsion (9)
OBSESSION : {h}O{b}B{y} [regularly], SESSION (period of working)
13 Tearing bits off flag, grossly offensive behaviour (5)
AGGRO : Hidden in [tearing bits off] {fl}AG GRO{ssly}
14 I must finish fish bones (5)
CARPI : CARP (fish), I. This is becoming a chestnut.
15 Engineer left ground in shade (4,5)
NILE GREEN : Anagram [ground] of ENGINEER L (left). A pale bluish-green apparently.
17 Spiritual trend is a fresh form of prejudice (3,6)
NEW AGEISM : NEW (fresh), AGEISM (form of prejudice)
20 One sorry about daughter being less well-developed (5)
RUDER : RUER (one sorry) containing [about] D (daughter). ‘Rude’ as in ‘unrefined’, one of its less common meanings.
21 Sack of bricks holding tons (3,2)
LET GO : LEGO (bricks) containing [holding] T (tons). There’s a theory that brand names are not allowed in Times crosswords but here we have an example, so if a rule existed it may have been relaxed. ‘Let go’  is a euphemism for ‘sack’.
23 Robbed of power, taken below to be confined (9)
PLUNDERED : P (power), then UNDER (below) contained [confined] by LED (taken)
25 Colour supplement sent without its first article (7)
MAGENTA : MAG (supplement), {s}ENT [without its first], A (article)
26 Some electricity through heart shocked part of body (7)
TRACHEA : AC (some electricity) contained by [through] anagram [shocked] of HEART
27 Very old affliction (4)
SORE : Two meanings, the first being an archaism, hence ‘old’ in the clue. It turns up in the Bible in phrases such as ‘he was sore afraid’.
28 Method of authorising payment in terms of golf (4,3,3)
CHIP AND PIN : Two meanings
Down
1 A few characters from the Bard, old hat (5)
SHAKO : SHAK{espeare} (the Bard) [a few characters from…], O (old). It’s a military cap with a peak and a plume.
2 No more suckers? That’s intolerable (4,5)
LAST STRAW : A definition preceded by a cryptic hint
3 Hurrying away on purpose: it must be seen in perspective (9,5)
VANISHING POINT : VANISHING (hurrying away), POINT (purpose). SOED: The point towards which parallel receding lines viewed in perspective appear to converge.
4 A 50-floor hotel, say, might be one in this capital? (7)
TALLINN : Alternatively spaced this can be TALL INN as indicated by the long cryptic hint. The capital of Estonia.
5 Uproar during exam leads to third for one (7)
ORDINAL : DIN (uproar) contained by [during] ORAL (exam)
7 Flying, could one say, inspiring terror (5)
AWING : Two meanings depending on pronunciation, ‘a-wing’ or ‘aw-ing’
8 Marx, remarkable person who spears his prey (9)
HARPOONER : HARPO (Marx), ONER (remarkable person). Arthur, born Adolph, the Marx brother who didn’t speak. I never found them remotely funny as an act, but Groucho in his later solo career was a good turn.
9 Grand award gets scrubbed in hostile state (2,7,5)
AT DAGGERS DRAWN : Anagram [scrubbed] of GRAND AWARD GETS
14 Feast Attlee shortly set about with a son (9)
CANDLEMAS : CLEM{ent} (Attlee) [shortly] contains [set about] AND (with), then A, S (son). Attlee was Prime Minister 1945-1951. Before and during the war  his home was about 100 yards from the house where I was born, but by the time I came along he’d been in Downing Street for a couple of years. I think he still owned the property though and sold up after leaving office as PM.
16 Helpers I’d organised for church office (9)
ELDERSHIP : Anagram [organised] of HELPERS I’D
18 Cast doubt on my claim to be a beauty (7)
IMPEACH : I’M PEACH (my claim to be a beauty)
19 Rise in level of horse riding (5,2)
MOUNT UP : MOUNT (horse), UP (riding – in the saddle)
22 Maybe man-eater‘s short time to gobble soldier up (5)
TIGER : TER{m} (time) [short], containing [to gobble] GI (soldier) reversed [up]
24 After daughter’s shower, this used? (5)
DRAIN : D (daughter), RAIN (shower)

77 comments on “Times Cryptic 27506”

  1. Held up in the SW, with CANDLEMAS, SORE, & TIGER last to go in. NHO CHIP AND PIN. ‘Magazine’ comes from the Arabic word for ‘arsenal’; in French it became a department store. ON EDIT: Should never trust my memory: The Arabic word, says ODE, means ‘storehouse’.

    Edited at 2019-11-12 04:54 am (UTC)

    1. Further to our Shanghai correspondent’s comment I’d add it applies to debit cards too. To an extent C&P is being overtaken by ‘contactless’ payments so that you only have to wave your card (or phone) at a reader for payment to be taken. There’s a £30 ceiling on this at the moment so one has to revert to Chip and PIN for those. Many UK shops and (I think) all the major UK supermarkets no longer accept payment by cheque.
        1. They have them at Osaka Airport.

          Checks in China cannot be folded and have to be kept flat and in pristine condition via a wallet of sorts.

          1. CHIP AND PIN is already becoming outmoded in the UK, other than for amounts of over £50. Contactless payment enables the cardholder to conveniently bypass their pin number, until they arrive at an ATM to withdraw cash and can no longer remember it.
  2. I saw 11 as a kinda goofy &lit. I think my reluctance to put in SHAKO was due to my ambivalence about my having worn one as drum major for the high school band (I had to quit the trumpet because I kept having teeth pulled, which ruined my embouchure. Not England, Appalachia).
  3. Finished in 75 mins but I felt lucky to see all green squares.

    I was not sure about plundered, shako, impeach, and LOI sore.

    Cod mount up

  4. 16:17. Held up at the end by NEW AGEISM (SLOI) and MOUNT UP (LOI). I thought this quite quirky, or even dotty. I enjoyed LET GO, PLUNDERED and DOTTIER in particular. Like Guy, I read 11A as an &lit.
  5. …apart from an E in their surname? A distinguished neighbourhood indeed.

    Succumbed to the now almost customary mid-solve nap, so no time. I liked the DOTTIER ‘Fiji’ and was SORE vexed by 27a until it yielded as my last in.

    Thank you to setter and blogger.

    1. Well spotted, bletchleyreject. Loads more to come if I get a chance, and in particular I’m waiting for an opportunity to mention Charlotte Rampling. Oh damn, I just have anyway…
        1. She was a schoolgirl at the time, still living with her parents. She’d moved away long before she came to fame.
      2. My fun Charlotte Rampling fact is that I have never seen her on the stage but she has seen me. She came to a school play I was in.
        1. Brilliant! I don’t think she did any stage work though, as she started out as a model and drifted into films with possibly her first role, uncredited in ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ playing a girl at a disco. She was completely unknown in the days when she lived near me but her father Godfrey was something of a local celebrity because as an athlete he had won a Gold for Britain at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he was also a Lt Col in the RA on attachment to NATO.
          1. You’re probably right, although film actors often do stage work at some point when they want to be taken more seriously.
            One of her kids was at the same school as me, which is how it came about. The slightly funny odd was that her son wasn’t in the play so I can only assume she came to see me 😉

            Edited at 2019-11-13 03:09 pm (UTC)

  6. Americans have foregone ‘chip and pin’. It’s used on British credit cards as a form of security. I think you guys still like cheques (checks) as they are deemed safer.

  7. I held myself up for a bit by biffing SALIVATING. Once I’d seen my mistake I finished all but SORE which I was very doubtful about – I thought SO came from ‘Very’ which left RE having to mean old. Having decided SORE was the only word fitting S_R_ which meant affliction I eventually plumped for it, thankfully rightly so.

    I always remember when CANDLEMAS is since discovering it was my oldest friend’s birthday – February 2. He received Candlemas cards for a few years until to my delight I found it is also Groundhog Day. He has received the same card every year since 😉

  8. Feeling, as the modern vernacular goes, made up with my world record time of 19 minutes. It’s a wavelength thing – just couldn’t stop seeing the answers. LOIs the bard-related SHAKO and SORE. Happy Tuesday!

    Pleasuredome

  9. My word of the day was 18dn IMPEACH.

    Re-2dn LAST STRAW why does Brother Jonathan and DTJr make such a political fuss over plastic straws? In UK they are for kids and they survived happily on paper ones until the sixties.

    COD 21ac LET GO (Jack, it’s also a euphamism for relaxed). We really should have an editorial ruling on brand names before the ‘Dunkin’ Donuts Times Crossword’ is upon us. I thought it was Sundays only.

    FOI 6ac WASH

    LOI TALLINN (never been to ESTONIA)

    Time 45 mins approx.

    On edit Sotira, I have no problem either, would just like a ruling from the Supreme Court.

    Edited at 2019-11-12 09:27 am (UTC)

    1. Understood. My comment wasn’t aimed at you, though the juxtaposition may have made it look that way. I agree with you. A statement from the rules committee would be appreciated.
      1. Peter B’s guide-notes written in 2008 said that as far as he knew brand names were not allowed, and I don’t recall any official denial of this. Pretty sure he allows the occasional one in the ST puzzle though.
  10. 15:53 … as johninterred says, quirky, but it proved a lot more solvable than the first few clues made me think. Enjoyable, too.

    Difficult to avoid brand names in this material world, and as long as they lead to clues as neat and fun as LET GO I have no problem with that.

    Thanks, jackkt

  11. Straightforward but pleasant puzzle

    In the middle of Tallinn is a hotel once run by the KGB. On a tour they will show you at the top of the hotel the KGB spy room from which they could look into every room in the hotel. Fascinating and frightening in equal measures.

  12. If I’d seen 3d VANISHING POINT when I tried to get it as FOI I’d have been a lot faster at this one, I think. However, I started instead with 9d AT DAGGERS DRAWN and worked my way back to the NW corner, which I found hardest, pretty much unaccountably.

    I should read more Sharpe; I’m pretty sure he’s worn a SHAKO while blowing up a magazine or two.

    Anyway, after sorting that corner out I went back to the SW for LOI 27a SORE which I still wasn’t sure of, first of all wondering, like others, if SO was “very”, and then trying to put the “old” with the affliction. Sigh. 42 minutes in total.

      1. Thank you for the excellent hat-checking service, Z!

        I found also that Sharpe’s Mission has him blowing up a powder magazine, which I do half-remember now I’ve read the summary, so that’s probably where I got that from, too… Might be time for a re-watch.

  13. 25 mins with yoghurt, granola, etc.
    NHO Shako and eyebrow twitch at use of Lego tradename. But otherwise no dramas.
    Thanks setter and J.
    1. I had wondered if the ed makes allowance for words such as Lego or Aspirin which have become genericized.

      Edited at 2019-11-12 04:15 pm (UTC)

  15. 28 minutes with LOI the unknown SHAKO, entered on a wing and a prayer, having trawled through all the characters in Shakespeare plays I could think of, none of whom fitted either the cryptic or the crossers, with or without an O on the end. I’m going to make the groan-worthy TALLINN COD, because I do enjoy groaning. For the same reason, I could have picked LET GO too, but I’ll never get back those humiliatingly fat-fingered hours I spent with one of our kids about a quarter of a century ago, part-constructing Captain Hook’s pirate ship with Lego before Mrs BW finished it off in a couple of minutes and took all the glory. Daggers were close to being drawn. A very enjoyable puzzle. Thank you Jack and setter.
  16. A better than recent efforts from from me. 13 mins and a bit with just T-L-I-N to solve. After another 90 secs or so and I went with TALLEIN. So 15:23 with one wrong.

    COD: LET GO.

    Re the Marx Brothers. I’m with jackt here. I’ve always wanted to find them funny but have failed repeatedly in the endeavour.

    Edited at 2019-11-12 09:57 am (UTC)

    1. I have the same problem with the goons. I think what seems fast and edgy to one generation is slow and ponderous to the next.
        1. Me too, in that case. I never “got” the Goons. Didn’t like them much individually either, although Sellers was in some good films. I had a mild aversion to Secombe (a jovial chap, but rarely sang in tune, to my ear) and I couldn’t take Milligan ever at any price.
  17. My first few minutes came up with WASH, AGGRO AND OBSESSION, but nothing else was immediately forthcoming from the upper reaches, so I moved to the SE which yielded nicely. The SW took much longer and 27a was left outstanding. In the meanwhile AT DAGGERS DRAWN and our Egyptian GREEN gave an entry to the upper reaches and I clawed my way through HARPOONER, DOTTIER and ORDINAL. Then back to the NW where ARSENAL went back in, now parsed, and SALIVATION led to a burst of answers, until I was left with 1d and 27a. SHAKO went in with a shrug, and then light dawned on the old very, and the job was done. 38:30. Thanks setter and Jack.
  18. 26 mins. LOI Tallinn, mainly as I thought it only had one N in it, and had to see inn – hotel before I could solve it. Thanks jack.
      1. with the “say” in the clue I had a feeling it was TALLIJN or something a little bit weird like that. Sounded like “tall inn” but wasn’t spelled identically.
  19. 13’01”, worked out SORE but have just realised it means ‘very’, after all these years. Knew CANDLEMAS also, it used to mark the end of Christmas celebrations. Do not like the appearance of brand names, even generic ones. I did see the mild curse ‘I hope you step on Lego’ on social media recently.

    Thanks jack and setter.

  21. As Vinyl says, CANDLEMAS was helpful in getting SORE because it reminded me of the shepherds washing their socks by night all seated on the ground – they were SORE afraid when the angel appeared. I’ll cop to finding Night At The Opera very funny but I’d agree Harpo is about as funny as Zeppo (not very). CHIP AND PIN was a reasonable guess. I write about 3 checks a year these days Horryd. SHAKO turns up in Georgette Heyer (wouldn’t you just know it). Daring ladies wear hats that copy the military shape for riding. 14.02
      2. I was watching a documentary the other day about Chuck Berry. One contributor speculated that his duckwalk may have had its origins in the mirror scene from Duck Soup.
      3. Ohhh. Big Business! I’d also forgotten that one. My children loved that movie. Thanks again Kevin.
  22. If I could do anagrams and spell, I wouldn’t have had TRACHIA. I do hope I’m not the only one. Otherwise just over 20 minutes for this entertaining piece, enlivened by the dottier clue, and requiring (from me, at least) that little bit of teeth gritting that didn’t give up on a clue when it didn’t fall on first glance.
    On trade names, I have no issue with Lego, but obviously some concerns about A*SENAL. My daughter will tell you that “i hope you step on Lego” is no “mild” curse.
    1. Years ago I asked my sister who has boys (I have girls) what the equivalent of stepping on a Barbie shoe was and she came right back with it. There are brand names and then there are brand names. I expect we’ve had Hoover more than once.
      1. Indeed ! So many brand names become generic over time, so your Hoover may really be a Dyson, and your Biro a Bic. Do our Transatlantic friend still refer to the ice box as a Frigidaire ? Anyway, Lego is generally used for any type of “stickle brick”, so I didn’t have a problem.
        1. When I was a child back in the 50s, I think someone’s mother used ‘Frigidaire’, which struck me then as as outdated as ‘icebox’. Xerox once ran a series of newspaper ads asking people not to use ‘xerox’ as a generic verb.
  24. Fiji 3 Pitcairn 2. Fiji play Guam next for the right to compete in Dubai….

    I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and had the whole right hand side completed in about 5 minutes. The left hand side was totally blank at that stage, but, once the SW quadrant fell into place, VANISHING POINT jumped out, and I eventually rounded off the NW.

    Nice to see “oner” appear again so quickly.

    FOI WASH
    LOI TALLINN
    COD LET GO
    TIME 13:50

  25. Thank-you James Alexander Gordon.

    You just reminded me that 2dn VANISHING POINT, was shot back in 1971, by Roman Polanski. I preferred Cul de Sac.

    1. Not part of the Polanski oeuvre, that one, horryd. They were heady times, mind, as your photo goes some way to showing.
  26. Pleasant solve; there were regular pauses, which never quite turned into hold-ups. TITTLE is one of those excellent words for something you see all the time but rarely have cause to name, along with AGLET and ESCUTCHEON (and doubtless many other crossword favourites).
  28. Biffed DOTTIER with all the checkers – didn’t see the trick.

    SORE only half-parsed.

    SHAKO only vaguely known so a hit and hope job.

  29. 31:01 so not too tricky. I was a bit shaky on shako but trusted to wp and it took a while to justify sore as very old but twigged it in the end.

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