Times Cryptic 27962

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

Solving time: 45 minutes. Having reviewed the clues whilst writing the blog I’m not sure why I missed my target half-hour, and by so much.

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 Information still absorbing one’s time (9)
STATISTIC :
STATIC (still) containing [absorbing] I‘S (one’s) + T (time)
6 Where dancers are in two rings (5)
DISCO :
DISC (ring #1), O (ring #2)
9 A couple of dogs slim down (7)
CURTAIL :
CUR (dog #1), TAIL (dog #2)
10 Catty Pope who got canonised (7)
LEONINE :
LEO NINE (Pope who got canonised). As your blogger I dutifully checked than Leo IX was indeed canonised but have no idea what that means or whether it was anything exceptional for a Pope. Not really my thing.
11 A legislator’s current measure (3)
AMP :
A, MP (legislator – Member of Parliament)
12 What’s used to dress model given attire (11)
VINAIGRETTE :
Anagram [model] of GIVEN ATTIRE. For dressing salads.
14 Draw either side of street, showing brilliance (6)
LUSTRE :
LURE (draw) containing [either side of] ST (street)
15 Established church in French region (8)
PROVENCE :
PROVEN (established), CE (church). I panic when I see ‘French region’ as many of them are obscure, but this is one that surely everyone knows.
17 Website there designs features to be firmly attached (8)
TETHERED :
Hidden in [features] {websi}TE THERE D{esigns}
19 Utter justification to lose weight (6)
ARRANT :
{w}ARRANT (justification} [to lose weight – w]. I thought w = width and weight = wt, but Chambers has both for weight.
22 Ancient ruler‘s stable and popular heading for election (11)
CONSTANTINE :
CONSTANT (stable), IN (popular), E{lection} [heading]
23 This person’s going to trouble (3)
ILL :
I’LL (this person’s going to)
25 Two groups of soldiers and I see religious object (7)
MENORAH
MEN (group of soldiers #1), OR (group of soldiers #2), AH (I see). It’s the holy candelabrum. Not known or forgotten but the wordplay was helpful
27 Globe, say, or Earth spinning in telescope’s frame (7)
THEATRE :
Anagram [spinning] of EARTH, contained by [in] T{elescop}E [‘s frame]. Or Shakespeare’s Globe as the one on London’s Bankside is called. The one that stood on Shaftesbury Avenue for many decades was renamed the Gielgud in 1994 to avoid confusion.
28 Err again perhaps to get frankincense or myrrh? (5)
RESIN :
RE-SIN (err again)
29 Make issue for tablet in box (9)
PROCREATE :
PRO (for), then E (tablet) contained by [in] CRATE (box)
Down
1 Bones used in holy rituals, mostly (5)
SACRA :
SACRA{ment} (holy rituals) [mostly]. I was puzzled by the parsing here because if you equate plural with plural (‘rituals’ with ‘sacraments’) the deletion indicator ‘mostly’ wouldn’t be appropriate. However if you take it that a single sacrament consists of a number of rituals then the deletion works 5 to 4. Edit: I’m not going to delete my version because it works (sort of) but thanks to melrosemike for pointing out that the more likely parsing is: SACRA{l} (used in holy rituals) [mostly].
2 A rugby player’s carrying ball about (7)
APROPOS :
A, then PROP’S (rugby player’s) containing [carrying] O (ball). Concerning.
3 Maybe camping outside Dover, wanting nothing accidental (11)
INADVERTENT :
IN A TENT (maybe camping) containing [outside] D{o}VER (wanting – lacking – nothing). Very helpful of the setter not requiring us to think of the town for ourselves.
4 Stuff for reading up at home, good for bathroom DIY? (6)
TILING :
LIT (stuff for reading – literature) reversed [up], IN (at home), G (good)
5 Dog track’s mine (8)
COLLIERY :
COLLIE (dog), RY (track – railway)
6 Due to get picked up along with au pair (3)
DUO :
Sounds like (to get picked up) “due-au”
7 Small winter garment swept off one’s feet (7)
SMITTEN :
S (small), MITTEN (winter garment)
8 English king cutting public tax beyond what’s reasonable (9)
OVEREXERT :
E (English) + REX (king) contained by [cutting] OVERT (public)
13 What driver uses to wear clothing inside out? (7,4)
REVERSE GEAR :
REVERSE (inside out), GEAR (clothing)
14 It’s surprisingly clear to me one may be seen as fashionable in society? (9)
LATECOMER :
Anagram [surprisingly] of CLEAR TO ME. Apparently there is such as thing as ‘fashionably late’ defined as: Arriving after the arranged time to a meeting or event that does not require strict punctuality, especially so as to give the appearance of nonchalance or having been preoccupied by other social engagements.
16 Phased in changes in clergyman’s office (8)
DEANSHIP :
Anagram [changes] of PHASED IN
18 Those who occupy a very small colony? (7)
TENANTS :
Add a space for TEN ANTS which would indeed be a very small colony
20 A variable rate — it’s a little number (7)
ARIETTA :
A, anagram [variable] of RATE IT. ‘Number’ as in ‘song’. A short aria.
21 American who serves German artist (6)
GIOTTO :
GI (American who serves), OTTO (German)
24 Lord, say, invading position (5)
LIEGE :
EG (say) contained by [invading] LIE (position)
26 Manage to stand, stretch, exercise and give a lift to ladder (3)
RUN :
A very rare 6 definition clue! Run a business, stand for election,  a continuous period of time,  run for exercise,  run someone home, damage to nylons or tights.

61 comments on “Times Cryptic 27962”

  1. The Crossword Club version had “Managed to stand, stretch, etc” at 26d, getting to six definitions. My head hurts! I also liked Theatre. Thx jack

    Edited at 2021-04-27 01:30 am (UTC)

  2. POI 6d, LOI 6ac. I definitely thought of TWO, thinking a) that ‘due’ might be Italian, and b) that ‘due’ cluing DU_ was fishy. And I thought of DISCO, but I couldn’t see the 2d ring; for a while I was looking for O__O. A MER at SACRA, as I thought ‘mostly’ indicated a missing letter, not a bunch. VINAIGRETTE took too long because I was thinking of the wrong ‘dress’. RUN quite impressive.
  3. Was on track for a very fast time indeed, but the last handful of clues were on a level very different from the rest of the puzzle — at least as far as my wavelength was concerned. My holdups were DUO, DISCO, OVEREXERT, ARRANT. I may have spent 6-7 minutes on those four clues alone.
  4. Am I the only one who dithered on this being possibly TWO or TOO? I thought perhaps it was ‘due’ = TWO, maybe a homophone of ‘to’? or maybe ‘with’ = W, ‘au’ = O, etc.
    1. You’re not the only one! When Disco went in the penny finally dropped, but not my finest hour 🙂
    3. I had ‘owe’ for long enough thinking owe=due and sound likes ‘au’ — total rubbish of course but held me up for a good ten minutes!
      1. I unfortunately misread the first word of the clue as DUO, so happily entered “two”. Then I had to try to justify “tango” at 6A — which, of course, I couldn’t. I also had a ridiculous struggle with my LOI. The SNITCH suggests this wasn’t a beast, but I really had a struggle to see it off.

        FOI LEONINE
        LOI OVEREXERT
        COD TENANTS
        TIME 16:25

  5. Yes, RUN is a sextuple def clue – there’s also a ‘stand’ in there. Not quite up to the octuple (possibly septuple, there was some debate) def clue from David McLean in the Sunday Times a few months ago, but very impressive nonetheless.

    I really enjoyed this one. Some not very common words like MENORAH, a rarely seen artist in GIOTTO and ARIETTA was new. I also liked the ‘one may be seen as fashionable in society?’ def once I’d worked out what was going on. As pointed out by plusjeremy and Kevin, I was glad that DUO came together at the end – at first sight I thought I would have to guess between ‘two’ and ‘too’.

    Very satisfying to have everything in after 43 minutes.

    Thanks to Jack and setter

  6. I spent too long trying to justify removing an ‘ounce’ from 16a, which gave an utter mess. PRONOUNCE kept inserting itself into my mind, insisting it had something to do with it. An unwarranted intrusion which was finally sorted out, leading to LOI nho ARIETTA which looked better than the alternative anagram ARITTEA. 31’26”
    Thanks setter and Jack

    Edited at 2021-04-27 04:21 am (UTC)

  7. Didn’t think I’d finish this one, so pleased with a time of 41 minutes. Loved the TEN ANTS.
  8. Thanks, Paul. Yes, my print-out also has ‘stand’ and I underlined it as the second definition, so it must have got lost in my editing process. Restored now
  9. I loved this one – a steady rate of PDMs leading me to all the answers. I’m with Ulaca on TEN ANTS but it was just one of many. I especially liked that fact that the cryptics, with careful parsing, gave me good guidance on the spelling (MENORAH, as one example).

    Thanks to the setter and to Jack for the blog.

    PS. Jack, I think you have a typo in the crossword number in the title, which is why the blog wasn’t automatically picked up by the SNITCH.

  10. Despite, or maybe because of being a little off the wavelength of this crossword I found it particularly satisfying. There were times when I felt quite stumped and it felt inevitable that today was going to be a pink square day. Not least in trying to spell VINAIGRETTE. When you assume that it must begin vinegar… then it’s most confusing as what to do with the rest of the letters. Going for SACRI for the bones led to an IMP at 11A but fortunately I had the good sense to notice this didn’t fit any definition. The two unknowns MENORAH (the typing of which prompts an emoji of it on my iPhone!) and ARIETTA also had me slightly worried though they did at least sounds like plausible words rather than ones I’d made up.
  11. Respect to a clever, witty setter for creating such a fun challenge. Like others I loved the peedie (as they say up here) colony of intrepid ants and took ages to see the split homophone in DUO. Today’s education included MENORAH and also ARIETTA, which I guess may have inspired the Borrowers’ naming of their daughter. Thanks for the excellent blog Jack.
  12. …In autumn, and a Lustre in its sky.

    25 mins pre-brekker. I enjoyed it, except for ball=O.
    Thanks setter and J.


    1. I guess this must be a pet hate, myrtilus, as you must have seen it dozens of times before. I’ve always accepted it with a shrug, but I was really surprised by Egg=O the first time I saw it. Now where have I put my reading OO?
      1. Don’t worry, Ducks, find your specs and soon enough you’ll find your wheels

        Edited at 2021-04-27 11:17 pm (UTC)

      2. Yes, a pet hate.
        As an aside, I once clued “Noughts” as: O, love a duck! (7).
        But ball, egg, wheel are a stretch too far for me.
  13. 39 minutes with LOI LIEGE. Some great clues in this, with PROCREATE just pipping LEONINE to COD. Our last dog was a border collie, and my boyhood dog was called Rex. They together shared over thirty years of life with me and were still helping today. Good puzzle.Thank you Jack and setter.
  14. Many thanks, Jack, for an excellent blog of an entertaining puzzle.

    I wonder whether the intended cryptic parsing of 1D may be: SACRA{l} (used in holy rituals) [mostly]. My Collins defines “sacral” as meaning “of, relating to, or associated with sacred rites”, which seems to fit the bill.

    1. Thanks, Mike, for your suggestion which I’m now sure is what the setter intended. I may have come across the word in the context of ‘sacral lamb’ but it would never have occurred to me. I have noted it in my blog now.
  15. Slow start with top half finished first and then the bottom half came all in a cascade of letters. Time 38 mins.

    FOI 21dn APROPOS – also the smallest Greek Island – near to Naxos

    LOI 6dn DUO never TWO as I had an early DISCO.

    COD 12ac VINAIGRETTE (as preferred by Edith Piaf)

    WOD 25ac MENORAH

    ‘Fashionably late’ – was an art form on the 90’s London Scene, darlink.

  16. Another slowish fill in 24.02, rather a lot of the time taken up with ARIETTA and ARRANT, where I couldn’t decide what the anagram fodder was for the one and whether there was another word I didn’t know for diet in the other.
    I also had SACRI to start with, though not knowing what letter had drooped off the end, and when AMP meant it had to be SACRA I still left it to post solve to work out the dropped letter was an L, as has now been noted.
    TEN ANTS is laugh-out-loud decent.
  18. Got in just under 20 minutes. Looked up ants and I see there are some colonies of just a few dozen but most are thousands. And the only job of a male ant is to mate with the queen… not very woke!
  19. 13:28. This filled my commute perfectly. Getting onto a reasonably busy train at 8am and doing the crossword is a welcome return to something approaching normal.
    Like kevingregg I had a MER at the excessive deletion in SACRAment so thanks to melrosemike for what I’m going to assume is the correct parsing.
    I was a bit surprised by 10ac: I’ve always assumed that popes got canonised as a matter of course. One of the perks of the job, like a knighthood for a permanent secretary.
    1. I had a similar MER with SACRA, not seeing sacra[l]. ‘Mostly’ surely means ‘all but the last letter’ rather than ‘more than half’, although I think I’ve seen it in the latter sense and it’s OK I suppose?
      1. Hi, Wil, yes I’ve definitely seen ‘mostly’ meaning the larger portion. Not often, though.
      2. I have always thought that ‘mostly’ is by convention an indication to remove one letter. Using it to remove more is logically sound but makes life much harder for the solver just because of the number of additional possibilities. Somehow this seems not quite cricket to me, although that view is quite hard to justify!
  20. Very enjoyable. Lots of fun clues with Leonine and Inadvertent being the pick for me.

    I would have been a lot quicker if it weren’t for Arrant/ Arietta, who sounds like a Hilaire Belloc character.

    Thanks to Jack and setter.

  21. Tempted by Mezuzah for 25 across, but that would have had two cross-checking ‘z’s. Also unparsable. Wasn’t there a joke once linking Dead Ants and the Pink Panther tune? Came to mind with 18d. A lot of fun – thanks!
    1. I think you may be thinking of the old joke, “where did the Pink Pannther come from? Ans: Durham
      durum, durum, durum,durum,durum.
  22. No big problems here, although held up a while with seeing where the X came from in 8d, REX not R for king; and the 19a – 20d crossers which were LOI. Seeing 29d was an anagram of a word I didn’t know took longest, but it seemed believable.
    Thanks jackkt .
  23. I didn’t help myself by entering Proovnce. So what driver uses to wearing clothing inside out became
    R-O—E -E-R. Obviously it was some key element of a convertible car – but Roofage Gear failed to convince.
    1. Roofage gear? I think Thule make a whole range. My Dad had a roof box for his Mk2 Cortina.
  26. AMP and APROPOS were my first 2 in. The NW then steadily filled up, although I didn’t spot the SACRA(l) parsing and raised an eyebrow. OVEREXERT took a while. ARRANT and ARIETTA were my last 2 in and held me up for some time. I also particularly liked TENANTS. 33:05. Thanks setter and Jack.
  27. As above, spent half the time on the last few. DUO just too obvious for devious little old me, not sure about ARIETTA on the basis of anagramming an unknown, but MENORAH was allowable.
    Biggest annoyance was how long it took me to get DISCO.
    LOI GIOTTO. I think I’m allergic to artists, maybe I’ll have to start poetising my comments as per astronowt.
  28. ARRANT and ARIETTA were my last two in, never having heard of either of them. Eventually I thought of warrant for justification, put my faith in arrant meaning utter, and decided arietta was the most likely of the anagram options. Now that it’s been explained it seems obvious that an arietta is a short aria, but that hadn’t occurred to me and I was thinking of some kind of plant that worked as an anaesthetic. Never mind.

    An enjoyable crossword and not too many problems otherwise, though like kevingregg I had the wrong kind of dress in mind for a long time for VINAIGRETTE.

    FOI Liege
    LOI Arietta
    COD Tenants

  29. A rare example of being on the right wavelength and not making any silly typos. Some fun clues today. Thanks to blogger and setter both.
  30. Another one who took two to tango in the NE corner which slowed things up quite a bit. Hanukkah very often intersects with Christmas in NYC so MENORAHs are ubiquitous then including a giant one just opposite the Plaza Hotel.
    1. Either that’s a small hotel or one hell of a big menorah! Seder a while ago, now menorah; what’s next, chuppa?
      1. It is 32 feet high Kevin – the rabbi has to be raised in a bucket contraption to light it!
  31. Loved this one. A couple of guesses (already mentioned) but some great clueing. Subtle anagrists too. Applause for DISCO, LEONINE, VINAIGRETTE, GIOTTO, and TENANTS. COD PROVENCE, naturally. Thanks Jack and setter.
  32. About 20 mins. Had a brief interruption, which actually turned out to be a boon. Returned and picked up speed. Thought I’d run into a brick wall with 19 ac and 20 down but eventually saw arrant and then stopped trying to get 20 dn to start with api and voila.

    Enjoyed the puzzle so thanks setter, not forgetting blogger.

  33. My initial misspelling of vinaigrette was helped by vinegarette appearing in my Chambers app. I eventually worked it out when I couldn’t account for the letters.

    Being a bit of a space nerd, my knowledge of the artist at 21d came from the Giotto probe (which visited Halley’s comet in 1986).

  35. 57m today, so finished just before I lobbed the towel into the ring at the hour mark. As mentioned above it was OWE instead of DUO that did for me. Getting O***O for 6across was just too convincing to make me go and look again! Eventually COLLIERY fell and that lead to DISCO. Oh me miserum! Excellent puzzle, thank you, setter and also Jack for the explanations.
  38. Because I needed aids for 19a “Arrant” — embarrassing as soon as you see it — I had simply forgotten the word. ( I think I’ve only ever seen it in conjunction with ” nonsense”).
    Ah well, good puzzle otherwise.
  39. I heard of the arietta only yesterday for the first time! Studying Beethoven’s wonderful 32nd piano sonata op.111. The second movement is an ’arietta’. Although it’s certainly not little.
  40. 17.03. I worked my way steadily through this very enjoyable solve with smiles along the way at Leo-nine and Ten-ants. Arietta unknown but it seemed reasonable to think that it would be a diminutive aria. A moment’s panic drawing a blank at the crossers for LOI arrant until finally the penny dropped there.
  41. In truth, I think this was a notch above my current level, but I enjoyed so many pdms that I carried on, using aids here and there, eventually finishing with the unknown Arrant — unknown until I realised it was in the sense of complete rather than speak. Hard to pick a favourite, but Inadvertent, Ten-ants, and Re-sin were all there or thereabouts. Invariant

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