Times Cryptic 27656

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

Solving time: 40 minutes. Not overly difficult but I was slowed down by two unknown plants and the Australian bird.

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 Incorrect answer teacher finally rejected twice? That’s Aussie’s pigeon! (5-5)
WONGA-WONGA : W{r}ONG (incorrect) [{teache}r finally rejected] + A (answer) x 2 [ twice]. Never ‘eard of it, and I needed all the checkers  – which were a long time coming – to persuade myself from biffing ‘Wagga-Wagga’ just because of ‘Aussie’ in the clue.
6 Writer of verse proscribed on radio (4)
BARD : Sounds like [on the radio] “barred” (proscribed)
10 Retiring girl eating last of broccoli for fibre (5)
SISAL : LASS (girl) reversed [retiring] containing [eating] {broccol}I [last]. Used for making matting and cords.
11 Exciting fact about flowing water (9)
THRILLING : THING (fact) containing [about] RILL (flowing water)
12 A scorer briefly crossing a sort of green, one at the White House once (7,7)
ABRAHAM LINCOLN : A, BRAHM{s} (scorer) [briefly] containing [crossing] A, then LINCOLN (sort of green – as worn by Robin Hood and his Merry Men). Presumably Abe would have been at the White House twice but for his ill-fated trip to the theatre.
14 Shorten Arsenal’s opening game (7)
ABRIDGE : A{rsenal’s} [opening], BRIDGE (game)
15 Unexpectedly named by Queen, one changing for the better? (7)
AMENDER : Anagram [unexpectedly] of NAMED, then ER (Queen)
17 Starchy food rejected by European staff one employed in spring? (7)
MAYPOLE : YAM (starchy food) reversed [rejected], POLE (European)
19 Useless cricketer going round old supply vessel (7)
BUMBOAT : BUM (useless), BAT (cricketer – batsman) containing [going round] O (old)
20 Officer orders lane to be diverted round square (8,6)
SQUADRON LEADER : Anagram [diverted] of ORDERS LANE containing [round] QUAD (square – quadrangle, often at old schools and colleges).
23 Popular passage, one acceptable in investiture (9)
INDUCTION : IN (popular), DUCT (passage), I (one), ON (acceptable – more often in the negative, ‘not on’)
24 Friendliness of girl embracing computer studies (5)
AMITY : AMY (girl) containing [embracing] IT (computer studies)
25 Observed freshwater fish, so to speak (4)
EYED : Sounds like [so to speak] “ide” (freshwater fish)
26 Eurasian plant —  something inviting blessing with limited value (10)
SNEEZEWORT : SNEEZE (something inviting blessing – Gesundheit!), WORT{h} (value) [limited]. NHO this, a kind of yarrow with leaves that can cause sneezing.
Down
1 Showing sagacity   the old way? (4)
WISE : Two meanings. ‘Wise’ for ‘way’ survives in ‘clockwise’ for example.
2 Evergreen tree European bishop planted in battle site (9)
NASEBERRY : E (European) + RR (bishop – Right Reverend) contained by [planted in] NASEBY (battle site – 1645, English Civil War). NHO this tree.
3 Male Liberal passes on cards —  everyone must get involved (3,5,2,4)
ALL HANDS ON DECK : AL (male), L (Liberal), HANDS (passes), ON, DECK (cards). Naval command.
4 Profound indignation not in fashion (7)
OUTRAGE : OUT (not in),  RAGE (fashion)
5 Outside entrance to Oratory, interrogate a primate (7)
GORILLA : GRILL (interrogate) contains [outside] O{ratory} [entrance], A
7 Friend giving a Russian fighter oxygen (5)
AMIGO : A, MIG (Russian fighter – jet plane), O (oxygen)
8 Decline of French commander English think highly of? (10)
DEGENERATE : DE (of, French),  GEN (commander), E (English), RATE (think highly of)
9 Stately home‘s new peach melba line? (8,6)
BLENHEIM PALACE : Anagram [new] of PEACH MELBA LINE. Ancestral home and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.
13 First of many disrupting Buddhist monk’s current feast (10)
LAMMASTIDE : M{any} [first] contained by [disrupting] LAMA’S (Buddhist monk’s), TIDE (current)
16 Book Italian cathedral displayed around beginning of last month (9)
DUODECIMO : DUOMO (Italian cathedral) containing [displayed around] DEC 1 (beginning of last month). A printing term for a book of a certain size.
18 Public school type‘s rising importance in surrounding area (7)
ETONIAN : NOTE (importance) reversed [rising], then IN containing [surrounding] A (area)
19 Steadiness of British fellow supported by Anglican church (7)
BALANCE : B (British), ALAN (fellow), CE (Anglican church)
21 Excessive, but not expected yet? (5)
UNDUE : UN-DUE (not expected yet)
22 Eliot’s first play about small island (4)
EYOT : E{liot’s) [first], TOY (play) reversed [about]. We had this alternative spelling of ‘ait’ quite recently referring to  ‘Chiswick Eyot’, the small island in the Thames on the Boat Race course.

71 comments on “Times Cryptic 27656”

  1. Some unknowns here, but I figured them all out… answerwise, anyway.
    But had I ever heard of “Lincoln green”? Hied here for that parsing.
    Oh, and thanks for Naseby, too!

    Edited at 2020-05-05 03:45 am (UTC)

    2. I’ve heard of it, but my family are science/animal fanatics. (I got the science part, but not so much the animals). We have Wonga Pigeons in the zoo in Sydney.
  3. was the decisive Battle of the Civil War. Charles lost the lot here, including his private papers and personal wealth. No more King’s armies in UK. They all went off to America.
    NASEBERRY is aka the sapodilla. Seen in Jamaica and Southern Mexico.

    FOI 1dn WISE also Little Ern.

    LOI and WOD 26ac SNEEZEWORT ‘Fair-maid-of-France’ – its floral development displays the Fibonacci sequence – I’m a big fan of Sr. Fibbo.

    COD 1ac WONGA-WONGA a pigeon!? It’s just WONGA innit!? Yeh! I’ve seen Collins.
    WONGA-WONGA is a bloody vine IMHO. Also where Bill Kerr was born.

    After the hottest 3 May for 143 years- it is drizzling miserably here in Shanghai. Is Lord Ulaca on the mend?

    32 happy minutes

    Edited at 2020-05-05 04:42 am (UTC)

    2. Fully recovered from my somewhat unmentionable ailment now, thanks, h. The chills were the worst of it. All togged up and still the teeth were chattering like castanets.

      I once got off a coach from Adelaide to Sydney in Wagga Wagga. It was 100 degrees. ‘Cool today, mate,’ the natives told me.

      1. Good to hear you’re recovered, U. And I’m glad Wagga gave you an appropriate welcome. Was it the midday sun, by any chance?
      2. Man stops his car in a deserted village in the Outback. Tumbleweed rolling down the only street, door banging in the breeze, faded paint on the shop sign. A ghost town.

        The figure of an old man appears, walking with difficulty, grey in the face, and looking like he’s not long for this world, in keeping with his surroundings.

        ‘Did you come here to die?’ asks the traveller.

        ‘No,’ replies the old man: ‘I come here yesterday.’

        1. … I failed dismally (yes, dismally) at your crossword yesterday. Where might I find the solutions and any key explanations? I do not need a full blog (a rub down with the Stornaway Herald may suffice). Thank you.
          1. I think Vinyl will blog it at some stage down the line. Almost all of the entries are everyday items, and the wordplay is much the same. Altogether, there are I think only three Scottish references, and a couple of topical clues. There is probably a fair amount of misdirection and (honest)deception. Any hints you want, email me at david.crooks55@btinternet.com

            And in Stornoway they wouldn’t rub you down with the paper – they’d flog you with it, and twice on Sundays.

            And just noticed another error: the entry for 16d is (3,4).

  4. In real life yes! But, not according to AAStJH! He once came in for a casting c. 1978 – and was treated most respectfully – like deposed Royalty. By then he had great difficulty getting new parts after ‘The Melting Pot’ was abruptly cancelled in 1975, and in 1979 he headed back to Oz and became busy again.

    Edited at 2020-05-05 05:56 am (UTC)

  5. As Vinyl says, follow the cryptics. Very easy puzzle. We had “sneezeweed” in a Mephisto not so long ago
  6. 25 mins with yoghurt, granola, banana, blueberry compote.
    As usual I blenched on seeing the plant and tree, but managed to work them out.
    Thanks setter and J.
  7. 20′, with 6′ on SNEEZEWORT. Dnk NASEBERRY, SNEEZEWORT or WONGA-WONGA. AL has made a lot of appearances, and I’ve seen almost every possible clue for AMIGO, including elsewhere this morning.

    Had to work out DUODECIMO.

    AMENDER is an ugly word, and many amendments nowadays are for wrecking or undermining reasons.

    Thanks jack and setter.

  8. I’m pleased with myself for finishing this one in 41 minutes; it’s exactly the kind of crossword that would’ve defeated me a few years back, before I started building up my vocabulary. A lot of this was right at the edges of my knowledge, or beyond it in the case of NASEBERRY and SNEEZEWORT.

    (And I’ve only just now remembered that a version of “What shall we do with the drunken sailor” I learned during childhood had them putting him in BUMBOAT till he’s sober, rather than the long-boat that seems to predominate in the internet versions I’m seeing…)

    FOI 1d WISE, LOI 16d DUODECIMO, which I finally cracked once I had enough crossers to work out that “of last month” wasn’t going to be “ult”…

    1. Smashing word BUMBOAT. Will be slipping it into as many conversations as possible.
      1. Little Buttercup is a bumboat woman in ‘HMS Pinafore’, and BUTTERCUP (and CAT-O-NINE-TAILS) were in yesterday’s QC; coincidence?
    2. Is it just me, or do NASEBERRY AND SNEEZEWORT sound like a Dickensian law practice ?
      1. Phil, it is not just you! In chapter eight of the Mystery of Edwin Drood, John Jasper is introduced to Messrs. Naseberry and Sneezewort solicitors of Gracechurch Street, by Miss Twinkleton’s father – however, ‘they offer no remedy for his litigation.’
  9. Pleased to come in under 10 mins for today, nothing detained me for too long even though NHO either plant or the pigeon, which Chambers says could be just one wonga, and two could also be a vine. You can tell that SNEEZEWORT is going to be obscure when it says ‘Eurasian’ plant, although that doesn’t really narrow it down.

    COD: SNEEZEWORT, liked that one.

    Yesterday’s answer: London last had its Olympics postponed, from 1944 to 1948. Tokyo had 1940 cancelled just before.

    Today’s question: how many US Presidents have there been?

    3. Depends whether you count Grover Cleveland separately or together.
  10. Easy again, but a good effort I thought.
    I did admire the setter’s sunny optimism that amendment = improvement. “Change means worse” as my old grandfather used to say
    1. I agree with your second two sentences, especially as far as the comments section in The Times Crossword Club goes. It’s a shadow of its former self in my view.
        1. To my mind it used to be much easier to read and reference everyone’s comments.
  11. 24 minutes after the late arrival of the newspaper this morning. Thankfully, a quick phone call confirmed that this wasn’t caused by a coronavirus eruption at the newsagents, but by a faulty chain on the paperboy’s bike. LOI EYOT, known of since childhood courtesy of John Snagge. DNK BUMBOAT, SNEEZEWORT or NASEBERRY, but the cryptics were generous. I also wanted it to be WAGGA-WAGGA but it had to be WONGA-WONGA. I’ve no idea what colour the bird is but I know one it isn’t as two wongs don’t make a white. A fair puzzle. Thank you Jack and setter.
  12. Thank you, Jack. I enjoyed that puzzle.
    My COD was SNEEZEWORT because I liked the use of “inviting blessing”.
    With 19ac I was trying to fit the Scottish word ‘bampot’ in there somehow but it just wouldn’t go.
    Meanwhile in 2d ‘European bishop’ had me trying to work EB into Naseby somehow.
    I’m sure AMIGO has cropped up a few times recently.
    I thought the great Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath was from Wagga but it seems he wasn’t. WONGA WONGA, Wagga Wagga, Woy Woy. It can get confusing in Oz.
    1. Ah, the great city of Dubbo. One of those names you hear in Test match commentary and never forget. Sounds great in an Aussie accent, as well.
    2. Mark Taylor was Wagga Waggian(?!?), I believe. Quick check… born Leeton, moved to Wagga as a child.
      Woy Woy most famous as the long-time home of Spike Milligan.

      Edited at 2020-05-05 10:06 am (UTC)

      1. Woy stayed at Milligoon’s house in Woy Woy in December 2002 some 6 months after he had departed. Played cricket on the beach – filming at a local lighthouse. Then a croc farm just south of Brizzie. Happy daze!
  13. 9:54. I trusted to the cryptics for the unknowns… WONGA WONGA and NASEBERRY. Like Jimbo I remembered there was a SNEEZy plant from a recent Mephisto. LOI WISE. COD to the topical MAYPOLE.
  14. Surprised to finish this in 13.37 (or even at all) given the flora and fauna. Even more surprised to find myself well down the list with loads of single figure scores. Just goes to show that obscurity doesn’t necessarily floor the seasoned solver.
  15. With regard to 15ac, I would have thought that ‘Emender’ rather than ‘Amender’ was one who changes things for the better, rather than just changes things. Or am I being excessively picky? Nice crossword though, about 17m, several of which spent on my LOI (13d).
  16. As already well expressed, there were several things here which would be unknown to most people, but could be satisfactorily worked out from wordplay…eventually (my time compared to my usual benchmarks suggests I took a bit longer than I should have to do that working out).
  17. 10:02. Just missed the ten minute mark with a pause over SNEEZEWORT, in spite of seeing its relative in Mephisto recently.
    Not too hard, but an interesting puzzle with quite a few funny words. I know SISAL and the Battle of Naseby from doing these things: I’d have struggled with the unknown berry otherwise. Edit: and in fact I did, in 2012, when the same fruit was clued by reference to the same battle. That’s probably why I remember it.
    A friend of mine got married on Queen’s Eyot a few years ago so that one comes to mind quite easily.

    Edited at 2020-05-05 01:15 pm (UTC)

  18. Which is quick given a couple of unknown words to work out. SNEEZEWORT? Self isolate immediately.
  19. Pleased with my time on this despite biffing a couple. NHO BUMBOAT or NASEBERRY but the cryptics made sense. COD to DUODECIMO if only because it made me wish I was in Florence again.
  20. Annoyed at end to find I hadn’t turned the timer on as it felt like about a 17-minuter, not bad for me. The feast brings back the voluble and unembarrassable old Nurse in R and J.
  21. Good puzzle, done in 23 minutes except for the SNEEZE part, which drove me bonkers then drove me here to find why I was inviting a blessing. Should have got it given my current hay fever sneeze level. The rest was fun. I thought wonga wonga was a source of extortionate payday loans? Or Australian hanky panky? Bunged it in anyway.
  22. I agree. But to make amends means to make things better between people, so maybe it’s okay.
  23. I made heavy weather of this with my WITCH up at 147 and SNITCH at 110. I resisted putting WISE at 1d until I’d finally worked out WONGA WONGA, which also corrected my posited ROSEBERRY, as NASEBY came tumbling to the front of my mind. BUMBOAT was unknown and built from wordplay. The plant was my LOI and constructed from crossing letters and a suddden realisation of the required blessing. LAMMASTIDE resisted my blandishments for a while despite the LAMA arriving immediately. 37:18. Thanks setter and Jack.
    1. I had an erroneous ROSEBERRY to start with too. I guess we were both thinking of what is sometimes referred to as Rosemary’s Bottom – a fine sight! (I should explain for others not from that part of the country, the hill is more correctly designated as Roseberry Topping).

      Edited at 2020-05-05 01:47 pm (UTC)

      1. Roseberry Topping is a couple of miles from my house. A very recognisable piece of terrain!
  24. Happy with my time, because there was some obscure stuff here. A good final four minutes spent on the bottom-right trio of duodecimo, sneezewort and bumboat. Isn’t wonga the Berlusconi term for dosh?
    1. Wonga is UK slang? When Dennis Bergkamp was persuaded to stay an extra year at Arsenal the headline was “Wenger Wonga makes Bergy Linger Longer”.
      Berlusconi is more associated with Bunga Bunga parties, the Bunga Bunga supplied by underage strippers and prostitutes.
  25. 21.50 but should have been a couple of minutes quicker. Struggled to maypole after misspelling lammastide before eventually realising my mistake.

    The rest of the puzzle was fine. FOI thrilling LOI aforesaid maypole. Perplexed by wonga wonga thinking it was an expression about money but eventually twigged the nice cluing. Liked bumboat, abraham lincoln and the, now, unforgettable sneezewort. What a great name!

  26. Not easy for me at 16:30. It felt like the puzzle had been compiled by two different setters, one doing an easy top half, the other a tricky bottom half.

    I also caused my own problems by mistyping the berry/tree with a T at the end, making the obvious maypole far from it.

  27. I agree with Penfold. Top half completed in about eight minutes then came to a screaming halt.

    All correct in 32.09

    Thank you to setter and blogger.

    Dave.

  29. About 45 minutes with my last two being SNEEZEWORT (cryptic trusted) and LAMMAS something. I recalled an episode of Inspector Morse where Lammas Day was celebrated. I came up with the following options for Current: Fire, Time and Live (none of which felt very good). Opted for Live when Tide is so clear -once you think of it.
    Enjoyable puzzle. David
  30. 23 mins.
    10 mins looking for a word meaning current before I thought of tide.
    Wordplay was your only man in some of the obscurities here.
    Thanks jack.
  31. 8:55 – knew WONGA-WONGA but did some growing up in the Gippsland area of Victoria where they were common in the 70s, also clued in to SNEEZEWORT from the Mephisto.
  32. ….Wonga as the payday loan company who sponsored Newcastle United for some time. This attracted much adverse publicity, but that’s something that the appalling Mike Ashley simply ignores. He’s so thick-skinned that a rhino would think twice before charging him (even at 42.3% APR).

    No other problems, and this was a relief after the pig’s ear I made of the QC.

    FOI BARD
    LOI SNEEZEWORT
    COD BUMBOAT (I was that bum bat !)
    TIME 8:20

  33. A Red Letter Day today – finished in just under 23 minutes, my best ever time. This crossword seemed to fit me very well – starting with ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Having commented last week that I always think of green when Lincoln is referenced, it worked the other way round today. Our street is named after Naseby, so that tends to be the first battle we think of, so that fell into place easily too. (Our family pub quiz name is Baffled of Naseby!) We’re now thinking of putting a naseberry in our garden if we can find one.

    All in all, I really enjoyed this – the unknowns (naseberry, wonga wonga, duodecimo, sneezewort) were get-attable from wordplay; lots of old friends (eyot, amigo, bard) were interestingly clued; and there was a good mix of the setters’ tricks.

    FOI Abraham Lincoln
    LOI Sneezewort
    COD Naseberry (obvs -but I did really like Lammastide and Duodecimo too because I worked them out fully – no biffing)
    WOD Sneezewort

    Thanks setter for the fun and Jack for the blog

    Back to reality tomorrow, no doubt 🤨

      1. Thank you so much. I’ve been waiting a long time to be able to do that!
        I would have had PB for my username for the pun but LiveJournal wouldn’t let me. Alternatively I was thinking about 1d for similar reasons 😉
  34. DNF in 35 minutes today (NOSEBERRY instead of NASEBERRY), but I didn’t stand a chance to get that one right, never having heard of the plant nor the battle. Earlier bits of English history are no problem, since on my daily walks I have been listening to David Crowther’s excellent podcast on the History of England, but unfortunately he still has a century to go before he gets to the Civil War. When I think Civil War it tends to be Gettysburg, rather, which would not have been very helpful here. Also, wrong side of the Pond.

    Edited at 2020-05-05 05:58 pm (UTC)

    1. I love those podcasts too, though I have to confess the Archers is jostling for My attention with the rather good modern slavery storyline Mark C
  35. I only explore the ‘biggie’ once a week or so and found most of it quite testing but fair and accessible today. That is until NASEBERRY and SNEEZEWORT. I managed the first of these after a while (then looked it up to confirm) but I had no chance whatever with SNEEZEWORT. Clever clue but beyond me. John M.

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