Times Cryptic 27728

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

I completed all but 14dn and 20ac in 26 minutes, but when I hadn’t solved them within my 30 minute target I decided to set the puzzle aside and return to it later. This tactic paid off because on resumption I saw the missing answers almost immediately.

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 Spice: feature of Christmas morning, second to be consumed (8)
CARDAMOM : CARD (feature of Christmas), then MO (second – wait a mo) contained (consumed) by AM (morning)
5 Provide more of drink, holding favourite item back (4,2)
STEP UP : SUP (drink) containing [holding) PET (favourite) reversed [back]. ‘Step up’ in the sense of increase, production for example.
10 Choice to keep iodine by sick American around California? It’s deceptive (7,8)
OPTICAL ILLUSION : OPTION (choice) containing [to keep] I (iodine) + ILL (sick) + US (American) containing [around] CAL (California). If that’s not clear, try this: OPT(I (CAL) ILL US)ION.
11 Beginnings of cool line in some computer images (4,3)
CLIP ART : C{ool} + L(ine}+ I{n} [beginnings], PART (some)
12 Journey permitted making a few notes (7)
TRIPLET : TRIP (journey), LET (permitted). In music a triplet is a group of three notes played in the time of two.
13 Peril American writer recalled in shock — diary’s contents erased (8)
JEOPARDY : POE (American writer) reversed [recalled] contained by [in] JAR (shock), then D{iar}Y [contents erased]
15 Coffee and brief conversation with doctor (5)
MOCHA : MO (doctor), CHA{t} (conversation) [brief]
18 Inclination to include finale from Berlioz, a composer (5)
LISZT : LIST (inclination) containing [to include[ {Berlio}Z [finale]
20 Whirling energy presented by artist in the same expressive image (8)
IDEOGRAM : GO (energy) reversed [whirling] + RA (artist) contained by [in] IDEM (the same – a cross-reference used within a text to indicate the same author, work, etc)
23 Article mostly supporting meteorological report (7)
THUNDER : TH{e} (article) [mostly], UNDER (supporting). ‘Report’ as in a loud noise.
25 Seek to secure hotel in N European country (7)
FINNISH : FISH (seek), containing [to secure] INN (hotel). I was thrown for a moment because the clue also contains INN by other means.
26 State funeral? Participation in it is no longer required (8,7)
NATIONAL SERVICE : A cryptic definition followed by a straight one with reference to conscription having been abolished in the UK since the mid 1950’s
27 Additional line encapsulating singular piece (6)
MORSEL : MORE (additional) + L (line) containing [encapsulating] S (singular).
28 Beautiful people in centre of storm encountering limits of celebrity (3,5)
EYE CANDY : EYE (centre of storm), C AND Y (C{elebrit}Y) [limits]
Down
1 Exclusive food, but not with cold dessert (6)
CHOICE : CHO{w} (food) [but not with – w], ICE (cold dessert)
2 They sell author’s latest and earliest works (9)
RETAILERS : {autho}R [latest], anagram [works] of EARLIEST
3 A lot of skill to fix light (3-4)
ARC-LAMP : AR{t} (skill) [a lot of…], CLAMP (fix)
4 A small bird that hurts tails of all mice, right? (5)
OWLET : OW (that hurts!), {al}L +{mic}E + {righ}T [tails]
6 Trademark securing maybe the Queen’s island in the travel industry (7)
TOURISM : TM (trademark} containing [securing], OUR (maybe the Queen’s) + IS (island). The royal ‘We’ yet again, this time in the possessive, makes three outings for this sort of thing in very recent puzzles.
7 Friend suppressing greeting shows little bottle (5)
PHIAL : PAL (friend) containing [suppressing] HI (greeting)
8 Timely joke reflecting real life with leader being deposed (8)
PUNCTUAL : PUN (joke), {a}CTUAL (reflecting real life) [with leader being deposed]
9 Fine coffee will take get around your motoring inconvenience (4,4)
FLAT TYRE : F (fine – pencil ‘lead’), LATTE (coffee) containing [get around] YR (your). I’m not sure what ‘take’ is doing here but if it’s intended to make for a smoother surface reading it fails to do so.
14 Force bar staff to accept article (8)
RAILROAD : RAIL (bar), ROD (staff) containing [to accept] A (article)
16 Multiple parties? Firm came down on holding one (9)
COALITION : CO (firm), ALIT (came down) + ON containing [holding] I (one)
17 Clear limits to uranium, involving temperature — here’s another metal (8)
PLATINUM : PLAIN (clear) + U{raniu}M [limits], containing [involving] T (temperature)
19 Tiny swimmer: little perch? (7)
TADPOLE : TAD (little), POLE (perch – measurement)
21 Information on American’s heart is not specific (7)
GENERIC : GEN (information), {Am}ERIC{an} [heart]
22 Religious area set up in church yard? That’s rather corny (6)
CHEESY : SEE (religious area – diocese) reversed [set up] contained by [in] CH (church) + Y (yard)
24 Absolute flattery eschewed by Bishop (5)
UTTER : {b}UTTER (flattery) [eschewed by Bishop]
25 Old-fashioned foxtrot — out of practice, missing lead (5)
FUSTY : F (foxtrot – NATO alphabet), {r}USTY (out of practice) [missing lead]

64 comments on “Times Cryptic 27728”

  1. I biffed several– OPTICAL ILLUSION, RETAILERS, TOURISM–parsing post-submission, and CHOICE, which I failed to parse. I also biffed CINNAMON at 1ac; correcting that made 1ac my LOI. I read 9d a couple of times, couldn’t find a grammatical way to read it; it must be an error.
  2. I had a totally different parsing for 1D (CHOICE) being CHOC-ICE without the C. But I see it doesn’t quite work (“not with cold dessert” is fine, but there is an extra “food” in the clue). My hangup at the end was the intersection of COALITION and IDEOGRAM, both of which are obvious if you get the checker from the other, but are weird looking words.
  3. But I had… most of them (didn’t look closely enough at CHOICE) parsed by the time I got here. Didn’t even notice the flaw in 9.

    Edited at 2020-07-28 02:18 am (UTC)

  4. A personal best by more than a factor of 2, which reflects that this is perhaps the easiest Times crossword I have every seen in my time solving. Like Kevin, the answers went flying in with just a glance at the cryptic to make sure I was on the right track.

    Thanks very much for parsing CHOICE, which was my only hit-and-hope.

    Edited at 2020-07-28 01:29 am (UTC)

  5. Monday. The most time consumed in getting to here was that this is my first access from my mobile since changing passwords (a tip of the hat, or not, to live journal security) which required some adjustments.
    Unfortunately, the first two words at 22d (“Religious area”) put paid to
    a much better answer, Cutesy. Ah well.
    Nice blog, jack.

    Edited at 2020-07-28 03:06 am (UTC)

  6. Quick (and easier than yesterday’s) for me. And with every clue either fully parsed or at least partially done. I was helped by the long clues mostly going straight in.

    I also didn’t notice the error in 9 but it must be so.

  7. A very similar experience to others, it seems—I even managed to get 1d from CHOC-ICE, like paulmcl, also not noticing that it didn’t quite work. A speedy start, slowing down for the bottom half, and finishing with 20a IDEOGRAM, 23a THUNDER and finally 14d RAILROAD. 26m. COD 23a for its “meteorological report”.
  8. For the record I also parsed CHOICE as CHO{c} ICE whilst solving but realised my error when I was writing the blog.
  9. Similar to others – pretty straightforward and then ages on IDEOGRAM (did someone once define this scenario as a “breezeblock”?) Looks like a small Nina in this one. Thanks J and setter.
    1. “Ages” being a relative term in your 4:36 total ;-). Well spotted on the Nina
      1. Please put me out of my misery regarding the Nina. Is it MIDDLE going down the middle?
  10. A fast time today with a few going in without fully parsing them. SE corner the last like many others although my LOI was FINNISH because of the apparent extra inn and hotel=h. Also thought 1d involved choc-ice.

    COD: RETAILERS (once I understood it), very nice.

    Yesterday’s answer: the heaviest bird I had that can fly is a wild turkey, but it seems there is not a fully agreed answer, great bustards and condors are also candidates. Will try to ask more precise questions in future!

    Today’s question: TIN can be found in PLATINUM – what is the longest element name that can be found in another element name?

  11. Only one bird, but three Jovian moons concealed in 10A, 26A, and 16D. A victory by stealth for the astrophysicists today!
    1. Hmph, all the same moon though, and only two letters .. now if Ganymede or Philophrosyne or Kallichore were in there, that would be another matter entirely
    2. Given that the number of known moons possessed by Jupiter has increased exponentially since my youth, it’s almost surprising there aren’t more hidden in the grid.
      1. Since mine too, coincidentally .. another year, another moon or two. We are up to 79 now, according to Wiki
  13. 28 minutes, so substantially harder that yesterday’s for me. I wasn’t helped by having biffed cinnamon for joint LOI CARDAMOM, until co-joint-LOI RETAILERS told me otherwise. Well, there is an inn involved in Christmas, isn’t there, and it was only a biff. I didn’t parse CHOICE either, which I’d biffed from the incorrect cinnamon plus other crossers. COD to CHEESY. I assumed the ‘take’ of 9d was a leftover from a previous construction. It increasingly appears that Her Majesty has trademarked all use of first person plural pronouns and possessive adjectives. Thank you Jack and setter.

    Edited at 2020-07-28 07:48 am (UTC)

  14. A similar experience to others, including our esteemed blogger. 30mins and then 10mins looking at 14d/20ac crossers. Couldn’t see ideogram at all. So thank you Jackkt for the clarification. Another choc-ice too. Completely bamboozled by the clue at 9d, though the answer was obvious enough. That you j and setter.
  15. I pressed ‘submit’ without cross-checking my work just to get under 30mins so I was relieved to see no pink squares.
    Like Jack and others, I saw CHOC ICE in 1d first.
    I was tempted by CARDAMON and FINLAND before I stopped to parse the clues properly.
    Thought we had seen the royal ‘we’ a few times recently.
    Another one who didn’t notice the flaw in 9d.
    Regarding IDEOGRAM, I thought first of ibid and not idem.
    Thank you, Jack, for the blog.
  16. This felt hard when I first glanced at it but in the event, I rattled through it in no time. Seems it was a bit of a biff-fest
    Also completely failed to spot the typo in 9dn ..
  18. A steady solve in 20 minutes, like Kevin also trying CINNAMON at 1ac and wondering what Christmas had to do with it.
    I think the CHOcICE phenomenon is a clear instance of spotta biffida, since it rather leaps out at you once it’s written in. Oddly enough, I solved it properly and never saw the messy delicacy.
    I rather liked the “meteorological report”
  22. 14d / 20a were also my stumbling blocks – all solved in just under 12 minutes, with fully a third of that time spent on those two.
  23. Unusually, I wasn’t a CHO(c)ICE, but saw CHO(w)ICE first. I did however biff CINNAMON until RETAILER put me right. A biffed GENERAL held up EYE CANDY until FUSTY went in. My LOI,IDEOGRAM, prevented me from coming in under 20 minutes. 22:48. Thanks setter and Jack.
  24. 31.54. Was going swimmingly till held up by 14 dn and 20 ac. Just before I gave up a sales call came through. I actually got some benefit. Returned to the fray, worked out the road part of railroad and ideogram followed swiftly. Might see if I can arrange another unwanted call for Friday if they can be that useful.
    FOI step up, LOI ideogram.
  25. 10:51. Steady. Another CHOc-ICE here, and I didn’t spot what looks like an extraneous ‘take’ in 9dn.
  26. What everyone else said, except I spotted the extra take, and that 1dn din’t parse. I couldn’t make the leap to CHOW. Like meteorological report.
  27. ….a “magnum” opus (see what I did there?) and am also indebted to Jack for IDEOGRAM, PLATINUM, and FINNISH. Never spotted the rogue verb at 9D.

    Congrats to plusjeremy on his PB, but as it took me nearly twice as long as yesterday I can’t concur with his opinion on the degree of simplicity.

    I spent too long at the 25 intersection wondering how “trusty” might work, and whether some obscure Baltic state had passed me by.

    FOI OPTICAL ILLUSION
    LOI FUSTY
    COD THUNDER
    TIME 10:32

  28. Very slow start but perked up by the coffee references to finish on a satisfyingly palindromic time.
  29. After yesterday’s typo disaster which I was so embarrassed about that I didn’t comment on here, all is well today. Should have been quicker but held up at the end by RAILROAD and CHOICE. Unfortunately the CHOC ICE didn’t work, but looked good.
  30. 25 minutes, not that easy for me, lots of unparsed answers but got it right. Also went wrong with CINNAMON at first. Liked TADPOLE and IDEOGRAM once I understood them.
  31. Just to be different I threw in “bergamot” (the stuff they put in Earl Grey) at 1a saying – I’ll come back and think about you later. Which of course I had to do, and when I did I was another choc ice. 15.14
  32. Pretty much the same experience as everyone else but over a much longer time, and then I couldn’t get 20a IDEOGRAM anyway. But I thought there were some fun clues with great surfaces.

    FOI Jeopardy
    POI Morsel
    COD Retailers, although Thunder and Fusty came a close joint second
    DNF in under an hour with several interruptions (unfortunately they didn’t really help me!)

    Thanks setter and Jack

  33. I had CARDAMON for CARDAMOM – once I’d dispensed with cinnamon.

    COD: Tadpole.

  34. Pleasant solve with occasional potholes to bump over. Took a long time to sort out why FINNISH was what it was, and how IDEOGRAM unravelled, thinking that energy must be E.
  35. Have been in London today and solved this on my return. Walked past The George on my way back to London Bridge; it looked inviting.
    FOI FUSTY. Once I got going the top half fell quickly.
    Last two were COALITION and appropriately FINNISH where Finland lurked until I got a cheesy wotsit.
    An hour or so. Good fun.
    David
  36. 40 minutes, so not too hard but quite enjoyable. We all seem to love CHOC ICE, don’t we? In RAILROAD, I saw the ROAD long before I saw the RAIL, and in 26ac I tried out FINLAND and was wondering where the hotel might be, but of course it didn’t work. My COD would be RETAILER for the cleverly hidden anagram.
  37. Biff Baff Boff

    Really on the wavelength today. Much of what I thought of seemed to fit right off the bat, and I was only slowed a bit by my son’s constant ruminations after minute 10, on university choices.

    Surprised SNITCH is 77, thought it might be closer to 50.

  38. Without 1d, found TARRAGON would fit checkers at 1a, so wasted some time looking for a Xmas connection: eventually got 1d but with CHO(p) for the food.
  39. 16:39. A pretty easy puzzle but I was just glad to get one on the board after a string of DNFs. I also thought of choc ice instead of chow ice. Slightly delayed at the end trying to work out why Finnish was Finnish and not Finland and then getting coalition and the unparsed ideogram.

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