Times Cryptic 27806

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

Solving time: 45 minutes. I found this hard but mostly fair as one way or another I arived at all the correct answers despite ther being a couple of words and meanings previously unknown to me.

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 Cat lady’s in pursuit of desire (7)
PANTHER : PANT (desire), HER (lady’s). I wasn’t sure of the first bit but found this in SOED:  “pant (fig.) long with breathless eagerness; yearn for, after, or to do”, which I think  covers ‘desire’, however I note the meaning stipulates ‘for, after, or to do’ and I am not convinced that without one of these additions it’s possible to construct a sentence in which ‘pant’ can substitute directly for ‘desire’. Perhaps you can suggest one? Edit: Thanks to Anon (currently the third comment posted below) for the reference validating the setter’s usage.
5 Hide away in corner of Greek island? (7)
SECRETE : S{outh} E{ast} CRETE (corner of Greek island)
9 Drink surrounds most of historic feature of bar? (4,5)
POOL TABLE : POTABLE (drink) contains [surrounds] OL{d} (historic) [most of…]. I didn’t know ‘potable’ as a noun.
10 Splendid and attractive without catch (5)
MAGIC : MAG{net}IC (attractive) [without catch – net]. Perhaps it’s a more recent colloquialism.
11 The writer with dictionary encompassing translation of Chinese — there’s improving stuff here (8,5)
MEDICINE CHEST : ME (the writer), DICT (dictionary) containing [encompassing] anagram [translation] of CHINESE. I wasn’t sure about ‘dict = dictionary’ but Chambers has it as a valid abbreviation and Collins says it is an American word for ‘dictionary’.
13 Clock setting? Endless fluster one observed around Middle East (4,4)
TIME ZONE : TIZ{z} (fluster) [endless] containing [observed around] ME (Middle East), then ONE
15 Parish officer‘s a busy one, controlling wayward lad (6)
BEADLE : BEE (a busy one) containing [controlling – a bit dodgy?] anagram [wayward] of LAD. Mr Bumble in Oliver Twist, for example.
17 Significance of word from Paris about soldiers (6)
MOMENT : MOT (‘word’ from Paris) containing [about] MEN (soldiers)
19 Red stuff beginning to cover area in two taverns (8)
CINNABAR : C{over} [beginning], then A (area) contained by [in] INN + BAR (two taverns)
22 It lets you see again star in penalty shot (7,6)
INSTANT REPLAY : Anagram [shot] of STAR IN PENALTY. SOED: shot = (of a fabric, esp. silk) woven.
25 Knocked back dope snatching a watch (5)
GUARD : DRUG (dope) reversed [knocked back] containing [snatching] A
26 Former leader hosting guys in grand style (9)
GLADSTONE : G (grand) + TONE (style) containing [hosting…in] LADS (guys). PM four times during Queen Victoria’s reign.
27 Artist with back trouble grabbing for one’s finery (7)
REGALIA : RA (artist) containing [grabbing] EG (for one), then AIL (trouble) reversed [back]
28 Recent issue might get this coverage, however coming in delayed (7)
LAYETTE : YET (however) contained by [coming in] LATE (delayed). A set of clothing, toilet articles, and bedclothes for a newborn child.
Down
1 Fife to get the better of Dundee at the end (4)
PIPE : PIP (get the better of – pip at the post), {Dunde}E [at the end]
2 Sauce from fish farm: am counting up bottles! (4,3)
NUOC MAM : Hidden [bottles] and reversed [up] in {far}M AM COUN{ting}. A spicy Vietnamese fish sauce. Never ‘eard of it.
3 Did not relish being kept without date? Not half (5)
HATED : HAD (kept) contains [without – outside] {da}TE [not half]
4 Ruddy problem in retaining copper penny from former days (8)
RUBICUND : RUB (problem), IN containing [retaining] CU (copper), then D (penny from former days – £.s.d). “To die, to sleep – to sleep, perchance to dream – ay, there’s the rub…” Hamlet.
5 Southern European capital, not against producing pigment (6)
SIENNA : S (Souther), {v}IENNA (European capital), [not against – v – versus]
6 Be honest and firm with spy about end to espionage (4,5)
COME CLEAN : CO (firm), MCLEAN (spy) containing [about] {espionag}E [end]. Donald Maclean (1913 – 1983) former British diplomat and member of the Cambridge Five spy ring. Edit: Thanks to ‘sheapey’ for pointing out the error in the clue, that  the spy’s name is spelt MacLean, not McLean. I spelt it correctly in my additional comment so I should have spotted it myself. 
7 Intellectual encouraged absorbing sources of history and art, separately (7)
EGGHEAD : EGGED (encouraged) containing [absorbing…separately] H{istory} and A{rt} [sources of…]
8 Heard exact changes from an authoritative source (2,8)
EX CATHEDRA : Anagram [changes] of HEARD EXACT.  SOED: Authoritatively; as an official pronouncement; esp. (Roman Catholic Church) with the full weight of the Pope’s office as divinely appointed guardian of Christian faith and morals.
12 Stop alcohol being added to German sweetmeat (4,6)
STEM GINGER : STEM (stop), GIN (alcohol), GER (German)
14 Variable land, fine after tilling to produce grape variety (9)
ZINFANDEL : Z (variable), anagram [after tilling] of LAND FINE
16 Energetic person giving axe to bouncer (8)
FIREBALL : FIRE (axe – give the sack), BALL (bouncer)
18 Horse and bear without tail caged by fool (7)
MUSTANG : STAN{d} (bear) [without tail] contained [caged] by MUG (fool)
20 Refuse maybe to buy son house — no time (7)
BOYCOTT : BOY (son), COTT{age} (house ) [no time]
21 A US Institute’s upset about finally gaining mark of disgrace (6)
STIGMA : A + MIT’S ( US Institute’s – Massachusetts Institute of Technology) reversed [upset] containing [about] {gainin}G [finally]
23 Out of practice? Left for run, becoming vigorous (5)
LUSTY : {r}USTY (out of practice} becomes LUSTY when L (left) replaces R (run)
24 Simple limits to mortgage rate (4)
MERE : M{ortgag}E and R{at}E [limits to…]

48 comments on “Times Cryptic 27806”

  1. A good time for me, with some unknowns but no real options. BOYCOTT had me scratching my head — “no time”? Seems like extra! So thank you, jackkt, for the clarification. Similarly I didn’t stop to ponder MAGIC. Totally missed the anagram at INSTANT REPLAY, and I didn’t know ‘shot’ = ‘woven’ but ‘shot silk’ is a perfect example. I’d always thought that ‘shot’ in this context meant ‘in bad condition’, as in, ‘my car’s shot’.

    EDIT: Also didn’t know McLean! Really wondered about that one!

    Edited at 2020-10-27 02:25 am (UTC)

  2. Thanks jack. I never got Layette, and found others hard but fun.

    But mostly I logged in today to tell the setter and ed exceptionally well done on getting the college / university / INSTITUTE bit correct in Stigma. I don’t care what the rest of the gang say, you two are all right in my book.

  3. Pant (figurative) Eager longing.

    1995, John C. Leggett, ‎Suzanne Malm, The Eighteen Stages of Love (page 9)
    Indeed, the projections, cravings, and everyday frolics common to trysts among buzz-activist Hollywood stars and starlets, plus their many common folk imitators, go forward with eager pant.

  4. Finished in 36 minutes. Thank goodness none to hold me up at the end as much as ANTICYCLONE did yesterday, but I still took a while to see BOYCOTT, my LOI. All parsed except HATED, which as usual turns out to be not as complicated as I was trying to make it. POTABLE as a noun is new to me too.

    Hadn’t heard of STEM GINGER (it sure is ‘sweet’ – the recipe I looked at calls for 3 cups of caster sugar) or the NUOC MAM fishy dipping sauce. RUBICUND is one of those words that deserves more of an airing and was my favourite.

  5. Donald McLean and Guy Burgess leave Our Jeremy ‘out in the cold’. Michael Straight was American – he at least should be on your radar. Post-war they all lived in Washington DC.

    My FOI 5dn COME CLEAN amusing start followed by Sir Geoffrey!

    LOI 9ac POOL TABLE (not crickit!)

    COD 4dn RUBICUND was a tad IKEAN so I crossed over to 8dn EX-CATHEDRA

    WOD NUOC MAM Jack needs to go to HCM or Hanoi to taste this authentically wonderful confection – much like the rest of Vietnamese cuisine. I am sadly informed that Leighton Buzzard may not have a VC chow house – Luton or Cambridge (Five)!?

    Time about 45 mins, but broke off to watch events in the Rose Garden- so many masks! – but no sign of Kim Philby & Co.

    Edited at 2020-10-27 05:10 am (UTC)

  6. This flowed quite well for me, though the unlikely 2d NUOC MAM had me leaving bits of the NW and coming back to them after I’d knocked off the rest. I like my spy novels, so 6d was easy to confirm after an initial biff; Cairncross is the one I always forget…

    FOI 1d PIPE, LOI 4d RUBICUND after I’d found the right end of the stick and stopped trying to put MORIBUND (maybe for “from former days”?) in there. 26 minutes all told.

  7. This crossword was quite the grand slam
    Though I’d never met NUOC MAM
    Nor yet EX CATHEDRA
    But by cryptic procedure
    A most happy solver I am
  8. Thanks, Jack, for MAGIC and BOYCOTT. I, too, didn’t know POTABLE could be a noun.
    COD/LOI to BOYCOTT
  9. I was glad the unknown NUOC MAM was clued straightforwardly as I didn’t know it and it looks most unlikely. I’d thought early on the clue was indicating reversal then given it up as there was clearly nothing reversed in there. Post solve I wondered if it had come up before and a search found it in a club monthly from 2012. It feels like a club monthly sort of answer.
  10. …men love in haste, but detest in leisure.
    25 mins pre-brekker. Like others, I thought there was something a bit nuoc mamy about potable as a noun. And boycott was LOI.
    Thanks setter and J.
  11. Tried to put in WIND for PIPE. Well, a fife is a wind instrument and win means get the better of with D being one end of Dundee. PANTHER put an end to that idea.
    What a contrast with yesterday’s? 50% more words in the clues with only two fitting on one line. …. and awful surfaces like 13a or 27a. Why bother? Why not write ‘add X to Y to get Z’.
  12. 37m so slightly off wavelength for me, probably due to the proliferation of clues requiring amputation of word parts by loose synonym or cryptic instruction, my least favourite clue type. I think there are eight here. Felt a bit like playing Burnley on a Monday night, but I too won ugly. Thanks setter and Jack.
  13. 46 mins for this enjoyable puzzle, so pipped to the post by our esteemed blogger. I did know the sauce as the « soi-disant »Chinese restaurants in this neck of the woods are basically Vietnamese based and NUOC MAM is often served. FOI HATED, LOI BOYCOTT after GLADSTONE held me up for a bit. Put in CINNABAR with fingers crossed, but it had to be, so fair clueing. Thank you Jack and setter.
  14. 14:24. A steady solve until the last few came in a rush. Didn’t remember who McClean was and hesitated over NUOC MAM until I got some checkers, despite thinking it was surely a reverse hidden. I liked STEM GINGER best.
  15. 39 minutes, with everything eventually parsed. LOI was NUOC MAM, which came from that despairing last ditch thought: “It couldn’t be a reversed hidden, could it.” COD to COME CLEAN. I’d forgotten the meaning of LAYETTE, confusing it at first with that French guy at Yorktown. A decent puzzle. Thank you Jack and setter.
  16. Hmm, I was all set to claim complete ignorance of NUOC MAM until Pootle pointed out that I once blogged a crossword with it in. It was eight years ago though, and I’m not sure club monthly words count anyway, many of them being pretty hopeless for every day use. NHO potable used as a noun, either, though we walkers are familiar with it adjectivally speaking..
    Clunky surfaces today
  18. 26 minutes but took a dog’s age to work out boycott. I think the “maybe” in the clue is somewhat of an otiose ( to use a word discovered in last week’s offerings) red herring. The answer is much clearer and accurate without it!

    Moan apart, I thought this was tough but gettable. FOI pipe, LOI Captain Boycott.

  19. Just over the half-an-hour for me. Couldn’t see the spy in COME CLEAN but what else could it be. I’d heard of NUOC MAM (even have a bottle by the stove, Red Boat, the best, but in California everyone just calls it “vietnamese fish sauce”). It never occurred to me to think of “shot” as in “shot silk”. It just seemed like an obvious anagram indicator. I have heard “potable” as a noun before, usually a bit ironically, like “adult beverage”. LOI was FIREBALL which took a few seconds of alphabet trawl to get the “fire” bit since I didn’t see it immediately (is a “wireball” a thing? or a “birdball”? lol).

    Edited at 2020-10-27 09:17 am (UTC)

  21. FOI PIPE after a dispiriting trip through the ac clues, which made me think it would be much harder than it was.

    COD EX CATHEDRA.

  22. Several not fully parsed: POOL TABLE, MAGIC, MUSTANG, RUBICUND, COME CLEAN.

    NHO NUOC MAM but had all the checkers and saw the hidden reverse.

    BOYCOTT was LOI

  23. I put myself right off my stroke by bunging in IMPORT at 17 (I MOT around OR). I raised more than an eyebrow at A cluing I but it didn’t really ring any alarm bells and on closer inspection the clue just reads “word from Paris…”, not “a word…”. Worse than that where the bloody hell did I get the P from? And which O did I drop, and why? What a dufus.

    Eventually it became obvious that 14 had to be ZINFANDEL and I was able to resolve things but by then I’d lost all momentum.

  24. Just checked the fish sauce we have in the cupboard, and it’s Thai, known as ‘Thai Fish Sauce’.

    Daughter used to be in a singing group called EX CATHEDRA.

    BOYCOTT LOI. As noted by some, he’s carried his bat. Clue is either genius or clumsy – substitute another three word phrase for ‘refuse to buy’ – it still doesn’t work.

    16’59” thanks jack and setter.

  25. Difficult but enjoyable, like BOYCOTT in the commentary box. I wanted the fish sauce to be nam pla, but it wasn’t.
  26. Strangely on the wavelength, no real problems. Except like pleasuredome I found lots of clues where the answer was obvious, but then it took a bit of thinking to figure out the cryptic. Like Sawbill I inwardly groaned seeing how wordy the clues were.
    Nuoc mam one of the first in with just the starting N – wouldn’t have been able to spell it or even remember it’s name, but recognised it when I saw it hidden. McClean known, but never knew there was a fifth traitor. Time zone LOI after zinfandel. No obvious candidates for COD, maybe Pipe for its surface.

    Edited at 2020-10-27 10:18 am (UTC)

  27. Breezy solve with just the right amount of thinking required not to be a biff-fest. The fish sauce was one of those which I realised I knew, though it might have taken me several attempts to spell it correctly without the checkers and a very explicit clue. BOYCOTT clung on to be the last to fall, which seemed appropriate.
  28. A nearly 20 minute solve, only realising after checking here that I’d missed a lot of stuff MCLEAN, DICT and the parsing of STIGMA and SIENNA to register a few.
    S E CRETE made me smile – sometimes it doesn’t take much.
    If ZINFANDEL produces red wine (which it does) then we have three reds in this puzzle, possibly a record?
    1. You are right Z, Zin produces some great reds in California, especially in and around Paso Robles, mastered by a great winemaker Paul Draper. Unfortunately it also produces the misnamed « White Zinfandel » which is of course, pink (or rose aka blush wine) usually slightly sweet and not great at all. Still, what the hell, if people enjoy it…..
  29. A rare trip to 15×15 today, completed in about 45 minutes in two stints. A couple not fully parsed, so thanks Jackkt for filling in the blanks. NHO the sauce, liked and like Zin. A nice visit, I’ll come again!
  30. The sauce first seen, scarcely then believed, and last in. 22’27. Nice work-out. A thankyou to the setter, as to so many, keeping the seventh age at bay.
  31. Wikipedia has the spy’s surname as McLean for 6d. Am I missing something?

    I hardly ever comment on this blog, but find it useful – thanks to everyone who contributes!

    1. No you’re not, there is an error! I should have noticed it when writing the blog because I spelt it correctly in my comment! We needed a substitution clue E for A.

      Thanks.

      1. I find it hard to believe the great and the good didn’t see this. I did find some other websites calling him McLean, so maybe you could spell it both ways.
        2. Mea culpa, I suppose, but it’s an easy mistake to make unless you’re a setter, who I would expect them to take the trouble to check. There shouldn’t be any question of alternative spellings as all authoritative sources such as Collins Dictionary spell it ‘Maclean’.
  32. Fortunately travel to VN often (but not this year) so fish sauce well known. Very helpful that it was hidden too. Made silly typo CINNIBAR which took shine off reasonable time. Note too self: Must keep vigilant if I am to try to come in top 50 at online comps in Nov …. which must be a reasonable goal.
  33. 16 minutes, starting with PIP-E obviously, and PANTHER, and knowing my Vietnamese sauce (popular in France where they have Viet shops and people). BOYCOTT(AGE) was my LOI. Liked COME CLEAN for its originality.
  34. I was all over the place to begin with but answers gradually began to fall into place and I finished in a reasonable time (for me) of 35 minutes so thanks to the setter.
    There were quite a few which went in unparsed – POOL TABLE, TIME ZONE, REGALIA and COME CLEAN – and I hadn’t heard of NUOC MAM so thanks to Jackkt for the explanations.
    I really enjoyed the anagrams INSTANT REPLAY and EX CATHEDRA and my COD goes to STEM GINGER which made me smile.
  35. Only 87 on the snitchmeter. Felt like more, but perhaps it’s just me. Came in at 18-ish.
  36. Reasonably plain sailing until I inexplicably entered bedale then seclude and the marvellously mombled urgheda. I will claim in my defence that I was lured to my downfall by the totally unknown and highly improbable nuoc mam which caused my guard to slip. Shame as I enjoyed the 38ins it took to complete the grid Thanks setter and jacckt
  37. After a slow start, I had all but the NW in minutes. I saw NUOC MAM and rejected it obviously. LOI HATED had no idea of the parsing. In the end the NW took twice as long as the rest of it.
    WOD ZINFANDEL
  38. 8:35. NUOC MAM burned into the memory banks from the consternation last time it appeared, biffed COME CLEAN, and my last in was BOYCOTT.
  39. Started with PIPE and finished with the scarcely believable NUOC MAM in 23:06. Enjoyed the puzzle. Thanks setter and Jack.
  40. DNF in about 23 and a half mins. Bit of a failure to see the wood for the trees moment when I entered the unknown (because I made it up) boyhoot. Now feeling very foolish.
  41. Just under 40 minutes, nothing especially difficult (not even NUOC MAM, once I saw that it was hidden). I am always fascinated by words like RUBICUND which you know are likely to be real (and not made up) words, even though you have never seen them before.

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