Times Cryptic 27620

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

Solving time: 65 minutes. I found this quite chewy but with concentration and patience it all gradually came together and there was nothing here I didn’t know.

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 Drive round with zero speed (5)
OOMPH : O (round), O (zero), MPH (speed). SOED has this as ‘energy, force’ so the definition is well covered. It also includes ‘sex appeal’ which could make a welcome change from ‘sa’ and ‘it’ .
4 Question on puzzles providing entertainment (9)
FLOORSHOW : FLOORS (puzzles), HOW (question)
9 The writer’s using short pens for statement (9)
TESTIMONY : TESTY (short tempered) contains [pens] I’M (the writer’s) + ON (using e.g. drugs)
10 With year out, struggling player’s form drops (5)
PEARL :Anagram [struggling] of PLA{y}ER [year – y – out]. SOED: vb. Form pearl-like drops or beads. L16.
11 Rough, jovial husband appearing late (6)
EARTHY : {h}EARTY (jovial) becomes EARTHY [husband – h – appearing late]
12 President‘s vow in ceremony for everyone (8)
POMPIDOU : POMP (ceremony),  I DO (vow), U (for everyone – Universal, film classification)
14 Soon desert old lover (9)
INAMORATO : IN A MO (soon), RAT (desert), O (old). This turned up the the ST puzzle blogged last Sunday which may have helped those previously unsure of the differnece between ‘in amorato’ and ‘in amorata’, the first being a male lover and the latter  a female. Some may remember The Hippopotamus Song by Flanders & Swan in which the gentleman hippo’s ‘in amorata adjusted her garter’ before joining him in the refrain ‘Mud, mud, glorious mud…’
16 Let water out of both taps spread in Texas, say (5)
RANCH : RAN (let water out), C H (both taps  – cold & hot)
17 Frantic   person doing marketing? (5)
HYPER : A straight definition and a cryptic hint
19 General place to study poems cut by a line (9)
UNIVERSAL : UNI (place to study), VERS{e} (poems) [cut], A, L (line)
21 Mavis lost time with her fooling around (8)
THROSTLE : Anagram [fooling around] of LOST T (time) HER. Mavis and throstle are alternative names for the thrush.
22 Rancid meat, a smaller piece thereof (6)
OFFCUT : OFF (rancid), CUT (meat). OFFCUT is defined as a piece of waste material that is left behind after cutting a larger piece. I can’t find any specific reference to meat as indicated in the clue by the reflexive ‘thereof’ but perhaps the dictionary definition is vague enough to encompass it.
25 Defence from fighter boxing in the same place (5)
ALIBI : ALI (fighter) containing [boxing] IB (in the same place). ‘Ib’ and ‘ibid’ mean ‘in the same source’  and are used in textual references to a quoted work that has already been mentioned.
26 In flipping list, police showing flasher in road (9)
INDICATOR : IN, then ROTA (list) + CID (police – Criminal Investigation Department) reversed [flipping]
27 Family broadcaster’s screening with artist (9)
KANDINSKY : KIN (family) + SKY (broadcaster) containing [screening] AND (with). His dates were 1866-1944. I knew the name vaguely and, if pushed,  might have guessed that he was an artist.
28 Design ready with a pattern of lines (5)
RAYED : Anagram [design] of READY. Chambers has ‘ray’ as ‘a set of lines fanning out from a central point’.
Down
1 Like the Blues song set to succeed (2,3,5,5)
ON THE RIGHT TRACK : ON THE RIGHT (like the Blues), TRACK (song). In UK politics the traditional ‘right’ are the Conservatives (aka Tories) who are represented by the colour blue.
2 One who’s near water abroad saving lives (5)
MISER : MER (water – ‘sea’ in French) [abroad] containing [saving] IS (lives). ‘Near’ in this sense came up in a Quickie last week and caused some consternation.
3 Grass weeding tool picked up? Oh well (5-2)
HEIGH-HO : Sounds like [picked up] “hay” (grass) + “hoe” (weeding tool)
4 Card player leaving feast cut turkey (4)
FLOP : F{east} [card player leaving – East in the game of bridge], LOP (cut)
5 Maybe like the living dead in a ring, with axes not very sharp (10)
OXYMORONIC : O (ring), XY (axes), MORONIC (not very sharp). The DBE (living dead) is signalled by ‘maybe’.
6 Endow with another look up or down? (7)
REPAPER : A single straight if somewhat strangely phrased definition with an indication that it’s going to be a palindrome [up or down]. As the checkers arrived the answer sort of assembled itself.
7 Not giving away shilling in commercial areas (9)
HOARDINGS : HOARDING (not giving away), S (shilling). Billboards.
8 Spring to one’s feet, in case of arm being fat (4-11)
WELL-UPHOLSTERED : WELL (spring), UP (to one’s feet), HOLSTERED (in case of arm – think guns). A euphemism for ‘fat’ that may not be familiar overseas.  The wordplay is perhaps a little tenuous as ‘up’ is ‘on one’s feet’ rather than ‘to’ them.
13 They suffer informal and formal attire (10)
CASUALTIES : CASUAL (informal), TIES (formal attire).
15 Slight pains: sore bum (9)
ASPERSION : Anagram [bum] of PAINS SORE. Another pain here is the bloomin’ font; either ‘b u r n’ or ‘b u m’ might serve as anagrind, although I suspect the latter was the setter’s intention. Both can be sore.
18 Foreign ruler hosts small function for composer (7)
ROSSINI : ROI (foreign ruler – king in French) contains [hosts] S (small) + SIN (function  – sine)
20 Maybe rubber tree on which English females perched (7)
EFFACER : E (English), FF (females), ACER (tree). Another DBE signalled by ‘maybe’.
23 Malicious person sticking to soft drinks in bar (5)
CATTY : TT (person sticking to soft drinks – tee-totaller) contained by [in] CAY (bar-small low island)
24 Tango’s rejected by toy boy (4)
EDDY : (t)EDDY (toy) [tango’s rejected  – NATO alphabet]

69 comments on “Times Cryptic 27620”

  1. Forgot to log in. It must be the isolation creeping in.

    Edited at 2020-03-24 05:31 pm (UTC)

  2. 44:55. I agree that this was chewy. Floorshow had me stumped for ages. It also took a while before I bowed to the inevitable and entered throstle at 21ac. The president in question at 12ac was far from the first one that came to mind. Flop, repaper and hoardings were other holdouts. COD to well-upholstered. The Wodehouse quote has already been identified. Here’s another one from a review of a couple of books on him in a recent TLS:

    “She fitted into my biggest armchair as if it had been built round her by someone who knew they were wearing armchairs tight about the hips that season”

    My Man Jeeves (1919)

  3. No idea of time – it’s taken me all afternoon and early evening with much stopping and starting to finish. But finish I did, and having read the posts of many of the whizzbangers, I feel quite pleased. I found this really hard and I didn’t fully parse a few clues but everything is correct, which is a relief, because I have been really struggling recently! I feel like I’ve gone backwards by about a year most days 😉 Just goes to show that persistence can pay off sometimes.

    Flop was one my earliest entries and no problem with Kandinsky – I’m interested in art so GK came to the rescue there. I also like birds a lot but didn’t know mavis / throstle was a thrush. We have a songthrush near our garden who has been giving it his all over the few days – wonderful.

    I liked floorshow, oxymoronic and oomph.

    FOI. Heigh-ho
    LOI. Throstle
    COD Aspersion – it really made me laugh

    Thanks Jack and tough setter

  4. Far too vague and another from this setter trying to show himself off, rather than providing a challenge
    Miser – near
    Repaper – endow

    Try narcissistic

    1. Be sure to let us know when one of your puzzles is going to appear and we’ll see how you compare.
  5. Narcissistic from the setter – Miser, repaper.
    Threw it away half way through, not indulging this setters insecurities
    1. harsh, to call a setter insecure when you can’t even be arsed to give your name ..

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