Times Cryptic 27548

Posted on Categories Daily Cryptic

Solving time: 39 minutes. There’s nothing outstanding here but it’s workmanlike and enjoyable enough, and quite welcome as I begin to recover from the excesses of Christmas. I’ve resolved not to stay up late tonight but I may yet find myself drawn into the ceilidh celebrations on BBC Alba.

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]. I usually omit all reference to positional indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.

Across
1 Mum’s vehicle key — item found in handbag? (7)
MASCARA : MA’S (mum’s), CAR (vehicle), A (key)
5 Rest a load and lean back (3,4)
PIT STOP : POTS (a load – e.g. pots of money)  + TIP (lean) reversed [back]. Away from the frantic world of motor racing a PIT STOP can be a break in a journey for rest and refreshment.
9 Very dark stream (3)
JET : Two meanings, the first as in ‘jet black’
10 Matter ending on lap in spill — absorbed with this? (6,5)
TISSUE PAPER : ISSUE (matter) + {la}P [ending] contained by [in] TAPER (spill – used for lighting things, as discussed here quite recently)
11 Fitting uniform, it’s in black (8)
SUITABLE : U (uniform) + IT contained by [in] SABLE (black)
12 Possible sandwich filling for each container of sandwiches, say? (6)
HAMPER : HAM (possible sandwich filling), PER (for each)
15 Stuff served with culture hasn’t hurt, a relaxing discipline (4)
YOGA : YOG{hurt} (stuff served with culture) [hasn’t ‘hurt’], A
16 Skater requiring ploy to tamper with scoring method, of course? (6,4)
STROKE PLAY : Anagram of [tamper with] SKATER PLOY. Scoring by counting the number of strokes taken in golf as opposed to some other method, I assume.
18 Two bullets, one killing pest? (4,6)
SLUG PELLET : SLUG (bullet #1),  PELLET (bullet #2)
19 Distinguish why, occasionally, North Korea’s leaders looking to the West (4)
KNOW : W{hy} O{ccasionally} N{orth} K{orea} [leaders] reversed [looking to the West]
22 Order drinks regularly, tasteless stuff (6)
DIKTAT : D{r}I{n}K{s} [regularly], TAT (tasteless stuff)
23 New ideas about horse almost conflict (8)
DISAGREE : Anagram [new] of IDEAS containing [about] GRE{y} (horse) [almost]
25 Settler: mark a series about one (11)
COLONIALIST : COLON (mark) + A + LIST (series) containing [about] I (one)
27 Old biker in government department (3)
MOD : Two meanings, the second standing for ‘Ministry Of Defence’. To quote Wiki: “Mods and Rockers were two conflicting British youth subcultures of the early/mid 1960s to early 1970s”. The problem here is that Mods would never have been described as ‘bikers’ (that would be the Rockers) as their chosen form of transport was the comparatively weedy motor scooter.
28 Fat and happy, in summary (5-2)
ROUND-UP :  ROUND (fat), UP (happy)
29 Share hotel in state where one’s lost? (7)
TRANCHE : H (hotel) contained by [in] TRANCE (state where one’s lost)
Down
1 Glorious thing seeing kid in tree (7)
MAJESTY : JEST (kid) contained by [in] MAY (tree)
2 Nothing supporting meeting, one’s very much exposed to criticism (7,4)
SITTING DUCK : SITTING (meeting), DUCK (nothing)
3 In departing, train say skidding off the rails (6)
ASTRAY : Anagram [skidding] of TRA{in} SAY [‘in’ departing]
4 Quite obtuse, all jerks on telly, ultimately (10)
ABSOLUTELY : Anagram [jerks] of OBTUSE ALL, {tell}Y [ultimately]
5 Attempt to sell     bathroom equipment (4)
PLUG : Two meanings
6 Runner turned on a father protecting wife after time (3,5)
TAP WATER : T (time), A, PATER (father) containing [protecting] W (wife)
7 Ram position from below (3)
TUP : PUT (position) reversed [from below]. ‘Ram’ as male sheep.
8 Paint light under socket (7)
PORTRAY : PORT (socket), RAY (light)
13 As nurses run, going this way and that? (11)
PALINDROMIC : ‘nurses run’ being an example of a palindrome
14 European film about cool stuff mostly, one likely to be controversial (10)
POLEMICIST : POLE (European), MIST (film) containing [about] IC{e} (cool stuff) [mostly]
17 Crooked spire, and twisted (8)
SPRAINED : Anagram [crooked] of SPIRE AND
18 Cocktail Mark consumes something fishy (7)
SIDECAR : SCAR (mark) contains [consumes] IDE (something fishy). Brandy, lemon juice and orange liqueur.
20 Coax husband at last into circle with relative at the end (7)
WHEEDLE : {husban}D [at last] contained by [into] WHEEL (circle), {relativ}E [at the end]
21 Snare hasn’t closed — you can say that again! (6)
MANTRA : MANTRA{p} (snare) [hasn’t closed]
24 A politician supporting Conservative Party (4)
CAMP : C (conservative), A, MP (politician)
26 Newcastle United nothing like entirely ready for Bucharest? (3)
LEU : Hidden in [nothing like entirely] {newcast}LE U{nited}. The Romanian currency.

47 comments on “Times Cryptic 27548”

  1. The other scoring method is match play, where a player gets one point for each hole he scores lowest on. This was pretty straightforward: FOI 1ac, as usual raising false hopes; indeed 5ac was my POI, with 6d LOI. I liked PALINDROMIC, where the penny was slow in dropping.
    1. I’ve been playing golf for 65 years and have never thought of the scoring system in match play this way. If you’re playing a match you never say ‘the score’s 4-3 to you’. You say ‘you’re 1 up’.

      Edited at 2019-12-31 11:07 am (UTC)

  2. 39 minutes for me too, though I couldn’t parse PITSTOP or SUITABLE (stuck on SUIT for ‘uniform’ for the latter).

    I liked the &littish TISSUE PAPER and the surface for TRANCHE.

    After 13d, I had to have another look at the Weird Al Yankovic palindrome song video. A classic.

    Thanks to setter and blogger and bye-bye 2019

  3. 31 minutes for this comparatively easy last of the year.

    re- 7dn and 12ac I presume that a ram sandwich is contained in Tupperware? Suit yusselves!

    FOI 1ac MASCARA

    LOI 29ac TRANCHE

    COD 14dn PALINDROMIC

    WOD 7dn TUP with chestnut stuffing.

  4. Fairly straightforward today with the only unknown being the LEU. I did know the Bulgarian Lev, for which I presume the name has similar origins.

    Definite COD to PALINDROMIC, as I don’t recall seeing such a clue before so it felt very original to me. Well hidden too.

      1. Leu is also the currency of Moldova where the official language is also Romanian. Moldovan leu does not have the same value as RON.
  5. 44 minutes, and yet another example of me haring off at the start and gradually slowing down. Took me ages to spot the hidden, even though, like Pootle, I was pretty sure that the middle letter was going to be “E” because of the similar Bulgarian currency (I think the lev and the stotinka have both come up here before because I’ve certainly never been to Bulgaria!)

    FOI 1a MASCARA, LOI 29a TRANCHE, just after the enjoyable penny-drop of MANTRA. Also liked PALINDROMIC along the way.

    Off to Wales later to spend the end of the year with friends—hope everyone else enjoys their evenings. See you in 2020!

  6. 19:03 … I found this tricky, and some of the wordplay I never saw at all, even aprés solve (ASTRAY, PIT STOP, PORTRAY). Maybe I’m being especially dim this morning.

    At least it’s an easy COD nomination for PALINDROMIC, though some nice surfaces elsewhere (especially the underprepared football team and the selling of bathroom equipment)

    Cheers, all

  7. Achieved my target of six Verlaines and had a lot of fun along the way. I really enjoyed some of the elegant and often witty surfaces, many of which made perfect sense – particularly the ill-prepared Magpies at 26A and the skidding train at 3A, which reminded me of years of tedious commuting at the mercy of SWT. We don’t have trains here in Orkney, or traffic jams – though tomorrow the centre of Kirkwall will be a no-go zone due to the Ba’ . Thanks to Jack and setter and happy Hogmanay to one and all.
  8. …I’ll wear sable some day. I still can’t see a Geordie like Eric Burdon wearing a fur coat. I guess he was openly lying. 36 minutes, spending too long parsing SUITABLE and TISSUE PAPER when there was no need. COD to PALINDROMIC, although I needed all crossers before the penny dropped. Pleasant puzzle. Thank you Jack and setter.
  9. If you ever have the chance, visit Romania. Very friendly people, good food and drink, and the scenery is like Scotland on steroids.

    I remember cringing with embarrassment several years ago when a newsreader on Radio Scotland – which is supposed to be our national broadcaster – introduced “a special report from the MOD in Oban.”

    Agree about mods not being bikers.

    1. I agree about Romania : remember visiting for 1999 eclipse when a friend there showed me how to avoid official ripoff rate and got over a million leu for $100 !
  10. A relatively benign end to 2019 with just a few tricky ones and excellently constructed clues for ASTRAY and LEU. Well done Jack for sorting those out.

    Wrap up well if you’re going first footing!

    1. I actually have no Scottish blood, Jim, but when my father first came to these shores from Shanghai in the late 1920s it was to study engineering at Glasgow and following that he worked there until the war intervened. After naturalisation he always considered himself Scottish by adoption rather than English, and Scottish traditions were big in our household throughout my childhood. My mother being born and bred Sassenach wasn’t quite so keen on it all but I still honour a New Year tradition or too in his memory.

      Edited at 2019-12-31 10:11 am (UTC)

      1. Good to know Jack. I love the country, the people and their traditions. Sadly, ill health and creeping age have robbed me of the pleasures of their dancing and the chance to sup a dram.

        When I take my meds tonight I shall put them in a whisky tumbler, pretend they’re a Talisker and offer you this toast from the ploughman poet:

        Here’s a bottle and an honest man –
        What would ye wish for mair, man.
        Wha kens, before his life may end,
        What his share may be o’ care, man.
        So catch the moments as they fly,
        And use them as ye ought, man.
        Believe me, happiness is shy,
        And comes not aye when sought, man.

  11. 17:25. It took a while to see the hidden currency, otherwise a fairly steady solve. COD to PALINDROMIC but I also liked SUITABLE, HAMPER and ROUND-UP. A nice middle-of-the-road end to the year.

    Edited at 2019-12-31 09:34 am (UTC)

  12. which, despite banging my head on the table, I simply couldn’t ‘know’. Absurd, because it’s so easy. COD ‘Palindromic’
  13. 14’56”, which appears at this time to be the fastest time mentioned on the blog! (‘Straightforward’ is a word that I gradually learned not to use when teaching.) I couldn’t, however, access the puzzle on the iPad.

    As others, COD to PALINDROMIC. And MASCARA FOI.

    Thanks jack and setter, and I hope everyone has a sensible, happy evening.

    Edited at 2019-12-31 10:31 am (UTC)

  14. Same as others with MASCARA slotting in right away. Then failing to spot anything with one clue after another until I pulled self together saying oh DO get on with it. Could SITTING DUCK be a YOGA position? I’m hoping for something more interesting than TAP WATER this evening but I think I’ll avoid the SIDECARs. Happy New Year to all. 18.23
  15. MASCARA went in first. PALINDROMIC needed most of the checkers before I realised what was required, then the L from that gave me STROKE PLAY. We use Stableford scoring in our local society. I had to complete the SW before I realised that nothing was DUCK in 2d and that opened up the NE. LOI was LEU which was well hidden! 28:53. Thanks setter and Jack.
  16. One of those puzzles which is tricky without being difficult, if you see what I mean. Lots of clever stuff, like the self-referential palindromic clue, though I, too, have seen Quadrophenia enough times to raise a minor eyebrow at the biker MOD.
  17. Seemed on brighter form today, polished this off in a steady 17 minutes with no real hold ups or queries. Except the comment from jackkt that scooters were “weedy”!
    They may have made less noise and been slower but those small wheels made anything speedy on a slippery road quite hairy, as I remember. Not to mention the fur trim and the aerials… and the miniskirted passengers. O tempora o mores, as Verlaine might say.
    I am in no way of Scottish blood but will savour a large Oban or Glen Moray before the night is out. The Big Diet starts tomorrow, target 5 kilos off. Time scale not stated!
    1. I did say ‘by comparison’ , trying to imagine what a true biker might think on hearing ‘biker’ applied to a Mod.
  18. ….MOD, until loose chippings on a blind bend proved to be beyond the capabilities of my Lambretta. I got away with a few bruises and a parka that was practically destroyed (as was the scooter). My fiancee was far less fortunate – a fractured femur which needed a pin, and scars to her knees which meant that they were seldom exposed to daylight again.

    Having spotted one in the QC, I was looking for a pangram here as well, but there’s no F’in Z !

    New Year’s resolution : to enter my biffs in pencil ! My last two in were held up by “litmus” PAPER, which I can neither justify nor explain.

    FOI MASCARA
    LOI ABSOLUTELY
    COD TAP WATER
    TIME 12:49

    Many of you will know that this was my annus horribilis. I wish each and every one of you a happy and prosperous 2020, and hope that those wishes are equally true for me !

    1. If it helps to ease your pain (and I remember falling off a scooter), I too had LITMUS PAPER for a while simply because I saw ****U* PAPER and guessed, before getting an “I” crosser.
    2. Phil, I really hope the next year is kinder to you and yours, and that you have some reasons to smile. All the best
  19. 25.55 after a blind guess at the middle letter of leu, fortunately correct. Two or three others where I failed to parse but was more certain of their being right. Thanks jimbo for the fine toast, olivia for the yoga position, jack for the deft and painstaking blog as always, and good cheer to all and if I may especially to phil. – joekobi
  20. Phil, you have my wishes for a 2020 that is better by far than 2019.

    As to the puzzle, it took me 30 minutes. A lot of that (well, a good few minutes) was spent trying to parse ASTRAY – it wasn’t that hard, I was just suffering from parse-blindness, I think. My ntLOI was PALINDROMIC, eventually biffed from checkers and then parsed.

    Wishing everyone a happy New Year, and see you in 2020.

  21. A steady solve for me. I found this quite hard. I spent 20 secs or so checking for typos – and spotted two. So New Year resolution is to check for typos.

    COD: PALINDROMIC. I also liked MANTRA.

  22. Never really got into the mindset of the setter but managed to finish in 22.04. Finally got hold of a stopwatch! Not down to Santa either.

    So , workmanlike rather than inspired but pleased to complete the puzzle, there were moments wen I thought I’d fail miserably.

  23. Nice relaxed solve only held up by a very dubious PLUMP UP which was negated by SPRAINED eventually. I was in Romania in 1969, and had to run the gamut of secret police, people being terrified of their neighbours being informers etc. I finished up in a secret monastery which was actually someone’s flat. However, I will concur with dcrooks above that they stood out against the other countries I visited as being very friendly despite the hardships. Happy New Year!
  24. A tip on the QC blog -thanks Horryd -said this was not too bad. And I made quick progress until I got stuck with about six left, all on the RHS. Normally a break and a second look provide inspiration but not this time , so I came here.
    I failed to get the wonderful PALINDROMIC (COD -and note to self to remember such clues) and my sandwich had Butter in it, so I had the tap but not the water. Also had the TRA but not the man. Good fun though.
    Happy new year to everybody.
    David
  25. 13:19, held up as so often by a few stubborn ones at the end. I also wasted time failing to justify TAP WATER, convinced the father was a PA and so unable to conjure enough letters from the wordplay to justify what had to be the answer. In the end I just bunged it in, so thanks for the explanation.
    And happy new year to all.
  26. 30:36 I found this tricky in parts and felt somewhat slow and off the wavelength. Ah well, got there in the end. Happy New Year everyone.
  27. One wrong for me. I know perfectly well how it is spelled, but when the penny finally dropped with PALINDROMIC, I put a Y instead of the first I. Oh well, 2020 can only get better from there.
  28. As my first and last post of the year, I would like to thank you all for helping me in my New Year resolution of about three years ago to improve at the Times Daily cryptic. My father was one of the 15 minute brigade so I had a grounding in how to read them, but it has been this blog over the last few years that has given me the confidence to have a go each day. I have reached the stage where I can sometimes (but sadly still rarely) finish, but a lot of the time I can get half completed. Reading the blog it is amazing how often I realise I should have found the answer; which gives me more confidence the next time around. I will never find these crosswords easy, but hope, with your guiding lights, to improve a little more over the next few years. Happy New Year and many thanks from a Long time lurker.
    1. Welcome, and on behalf of all the bloggers thanks for your kind words. I’m glad you find the blog so useful, and please feel free to join in the fun now that you have de-lurked!

      Edited at 2019-12-31 09:48 pm (UTC)

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