Times Cryptic 27998

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

Solving time: 25 minutes. Straightforward apart from one word completely unknown to me but gettable from wordplay. Several clues would not be out of place in the Quickie.

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 Rover knocking back pint, perhaps, during game, informally (10)
FREEBOOTER
BEER (pint, perhaps) reversed [knocking back] contained by [during] FOOTER (game, informally – football). I wasn’t entirely sure of the meaning of this word. Collins has two, the second of which would seem to be the one required here: 1. a person, such as a pirate, living from plunder. 2. informal, a person, esp an itinerant, who seeks pleasure, wealth, etc, without responsibility.
6 Mop Cornish sailor used? (4)
SWAB
SW (Cornish – South-West of England), AB (sailor – able seaman)
9 Merchandise finally put in place in an Irishman’s warehouse (10)
REPOSITORY
{merchandis}E [finally] + POSIT (put in place) contained by [in] RORY (Irishman). The most accessible spelling of the name of which others are: Ruairí, Ruaidhrí, Ruaidhrígh, Raidhrígh, Ruaraidh, Ruairidh and Rauree.
10 Working American’s responsibility (4)
ONUS
ON (working), US (American). Simples!
12 Team-beater’s hairy facial growth (4,8)
SIDE WHISKERS
SIDE (team), WHISKERS (beater’s)
15 Humble worker in pub, taking it over under a false name (9)
INCOGNITO
COG (humble worker) contained by [in] INN (pub), then IT, O (over)
17 Leader of infantry escorted back, carrying a standard (5)
IDEAL
I{nfantry} [leader], then LED (escorted) reversed [back] containing [carrying] A
18 Aussie screecher giving girl a headache initially (5)
GALAH
GAL (girl), A, H{eadache} [initially]. NHO this. I wondered if ‘screecher’ might be a generic defintion for birds, like ‘tweeter’ and ‘singer’, and nothing in the usual sources suggests otherwise, but the article in Wiki says that the GALAH is noted for its loud behaviour.
19 Dedicated duke eclipsed by English management group (9)
COMMITTEE
COMMITTE{d} (dedicated) becomes COMMITTEE when  duke (d) is replaced [eclipsed] by E (English)
20 Long-time heretic, one replacing a surgeon (12)
VETERINARIAN
VETER{a}N (long-time – adj) + ARIAN (heretic) becomes VETERIN+ARIAN when I (one) replaces A. The way this is clued lumping both elements of wordplay together,  perhaps we should have been told which A to replace, but there was really never any doubt about what was required.
24 Compulsion to work and press together when speaking (4)
NEED
Sounds like [when speaking] “knead” (work and press together – in bread-making, for example)
25 Greek character left? Terrible time for a crusade! (10)
PILGRIMAGE
PI (Greek character), L (left), GRIM (terrible), AGE (time). I can’t find any justification for the definition, at least going by the original meanings of the words. Perhaps there’s overlap in modern figurative usage.
26 A couple of notes of little distinction (2-2)
SO-SO
SO, SO (couple of notes)
27 Name Alice’s illustrator talked of after church anniversary (10)
CENTENNIAL
CE (church), N (new), TENNIAL sounds like [talked of] “Tenniel” (Alice’s illustrator – Sir John Tenniel). GK required here re Lewis Carroll.
Down
1 Stable   establishment (4)
FIRM
Two meanings
2 See eager sailor painting yacht first of all (4)
ESPY
E{ager} S{ailor} P{ainting} Y{acht} [first of all]
3 Bachelor requesting quiet on vessel, seeing creature of the deep (7,5)
BASKING SHARK
B (bachelor), ASKING (requesting), SH (quiet), ARK (vessel)
4 Extravagant? Not in an army corps (5)
OUTRE
OUT (not in ), RE (army corps – formerly Royal Engineers). Of course in cricket one can be ‘not in’ but also ‘not out’.
5 Creature that burrows, destroying the marrow (9)
EARTHWORM
Anagram [destroying] of THE MARROW
7 Recoil, but ultimately accept coarse cotton fabric (10)
WINCEYETTE
WINCE (recoil), YET (but), then {accep}T + {coars}E [ultinately]. Very Alan Bennett or Victoria Wood, or perhaps both.
8 Popular book in French is small, digested by beauty, 21 (10)
BESTSELLER
EST (in French ‘is’) + S (small), contained [digested] by BELLE (beauty), then R (21dn – right). I don’t like cross-refences at the best of times, and certainly not when used like this.
11 Absorption transforming a Latin mission endlessly (12)
ASSIMILATION
Anagram [transforming] of A LATIN MISSIO{n} [endlessly]
13 Doubts young woman revealed about donating (10)
MISGIVINGS
MISS (young woman) containing [revealed about] GIVING (donating)
14 Craftswoman‘s burden, securing copper disc (10)
SCULPTRESS
STRESS (burden) containing [securing] CU (copper) + LP (disc – long-playing record)
16 Encouragement given by nice vet in novel (9)
INCENTIVE
Anagram [novel] of NICE VET IN
21 Authority to produce script for listeners (5)
RIGHT
Sounds like [for listeners] “write” (produce script)
22 Long garment gnome shortened (4)
MAXI
MAXI{m} (gnome – saying) [shortened]. First we had minis, then we had these. It was a cover-up!
23 Pretext contributing to extensive ill-feeling (4)
VEIL
Hidden in [contributing to] {extensi}VE IL{l-feeling}. I wasn’t sure of the definiton but it’s in SOED.

65 comments on “Times Cryptic 27998”

  1. Not much to say except that I am 100% with jackkt on clues such as 8d.
    1. Usually I’d agree … but isn’t this a rare example of a cross-reference clue done correctly? I.e the clue’s surface makes use of the number rather than the answer to the referenced clue?

      Or is there some other problem with the clue that I’m missing?

      1. I’m not sure I’m tracking, Lou. Are you thinking that it kind of works because the the answer to 21 is Right, or “R”, and we need the R, but that it wouldn’t work as well if we needed, say, the letters “off”, and so would have to go 21 = right, then right = off? Or am I missing your thought?
        Though realistically, it’s mostly that I don’t like cross references very much, and even when there is something clever going on my gut reaction is ‘one foot on the slippery slope’.
        1. I’m sure all Lou means is that 21 as a number is appropriate in the clue, qualifying the beauty as a young (to most of us) 21 year old.
        2. I just mean that for the actual wordplay, the cross-referenced answer, “right” is required, whereas the surface uses “21”.

          Often these clues require the cross-referenced answer to be inserted for the surface to make any kind of sense, and that annoys me—the surface should be readable without any deciphering

          1. Fair enough, and I see your point. I’m still not a fan of the technique, but if the setter is going to do it, he or she should do it properly. thanks
    2. The Grauniad can sometimes go over the top on this style of clue . I basically find it rather irritating. In this case I don’t think the X-ref adds anything to the surface. Replacing the ref to 21 by “redhead” would be an option perhaps.
  2. Agree with each, not a good clue! It immediately confirmed the answer to 21dn. So self-defeating. Boo-hiss indeed!

    FOI 6ac SWAB

    LOI 23dn VEIL

    COD 27ac CENTENNIAL Sir John TenniEl no less! It’s a homophone – ‘talked of’.

    WOD 7dn WINCEYETTE – etymology for wincey (cloth) – alteration (influenced by the w of linsey-woolsey) of linsey – Merriam Webster. Still confused!?

    Time Jack+1

    On Edit: I didn’t notice MAXI at 22dn – I like Paul put SARI. Doh!

    Edited at 2021-06-08 02:01 am (UTC)

    1. Ta. Corrected now. It’s strange that slipped through when constructing the blog as when solving I was fully aware of the correct spelling and that it was a homophone. I had also intended to mention that the only other Tenniel I knew of was the actor Tenniel Evans who first came to my attention in the cast of ‘The Navy Lark’ in which he played multiple roles, but most notably Leading Seaman Goldstein and ‘The Admiral’ who Wiki advises was called ‘Ffont-Bittocks’, something I don’t think I ever knew. It also advises that Sir John T was a distant cousin of the actor who was given Tenniel as his middle name in his honour.

      Edited at 2021-06-08 06:05 am (UTC)

  3. I raced through this but then didn’t think of MAXIm and put in SARI, assuming there was some SARIx gnome in the Ring cycle, or somewhere. I know there is a dwarf called ALBERICH, so a gnome seemed plausible. I knew the “saying” meaning too. So two pink squares. I thought “long garment” for a sari was cute, since it is a long piece of cloth more than long in the MAXI sense.

    Edited at 2021-06-08 01:53 am (UTC)

  4. Galahs certainly screech, being particularly raucous in large flocks. Happily, I’m not using a galah as userpic today because it was a clear round, though a close run thing as I initially biffed SARI for the long garment in 22d as last one in, but couldn’t parse it. MAXI occurred to me just before pressing submit.
    Thanks Jack and Horryd for the name of Carrol’s illustrator, 27a being biffed.
    14’19”
  5. GALAH was a write-in. I had an uncle that kept a bunch of them in a cage for some strange reason. I had to piece together WINCEYETTE from the wordplay, so glad that was clear. 8:49
  6. Local park has flocks of galahs, as well as sundry black, white and sulphur-crested cockatoos. They all screech loudly, and chew up the Norfolk pine cones – what a mess.
    Like others had to piece together winceyette, which I’m sure we’ve had before but was forgotten. Unlike others I didn’t know Tenniel, who I’m also sure was forgotten since last time, so started with centennary (wrong spelling!) across the bottom. Meant I had to work out and parse maxi, so sari was never going to happen.
    Missed SW for Cornwall, obvious in retrospect. Thought it was a double definition, SWAB a sailor particularly in Cornwall, but Chambers tells me the sailor is a swabby, US usage.
    1. I sent you a message in the message bin, just so you don’t miss it
  7. NHO WINCEYETTE, and used aids to complete WINCE_. May have HO GALAH, but anyway the wordplay (+ the L, H) was clear. I only knew the ‘pirate’ meaning of FREEBOOTER. The oddity of PILGRIMAGE only briefly registered at the time, but it’s just wrong, so far as I know. Like so many others, I couldn’t get past SARI, but just as I was about to resignedly type it in and submit, MAXI came to me.
    1. From Wiki under Crusades:
      In 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. He encouraged military support for Byzantine emperor Alexios I against the Seljuk Turks and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
      Andyf
  8. 17 minutes but couldn’t find WINCE for ‘recoil’. Good synonym.

    I had more than a bit of trouble with FREEBOOTER, FIRM, and REPOSITORY.

    Edited at 2021-06-08 02:42 am (UTC)

  9. I was well off the wavelength again today but satisfied to have dodged the bullet that was sari. I was very tempted by it but a bit of thought dredged up maxim and hence MAXI. I was familiar with GALAH as an insult from a youth spent watching Neighbours and Home & Away, as in “strewth, you big galah!”.
  10. WINCEYETTE was a feature of my childhood, but I never knew it was spelt like that.

    Avoided the sari trap.

    I knew Tenniel, so not a ninja turtle, but the thought of the Captain & crossed my mind.

    11′ 36″, thanks jack and setter.

    Edited at 2021-06-08 06:17 am (UTC)

  11. 30 mins with LOI WINCEYETTE taking a few mins to fathom out. FOI FIRM. COD SIDE WHISKERS. Thanks Jack and setter.
  12. …Call Life: though unreal shapes be pictured there

    15 mins pre-brekker with no dramas except, as always, struggling to spell Vet..etc.
    Thanks setter and J.

    1. Me too with ongoing spelling trouble with veterinarian. Worse, I’m pretty sure that in future I will remember the Veteran Arian, and forget that there is a necessary substitution. Rats.
  13. This grid was too easy by far
    And contained an odd bird, the GALAH,
    if I’m English I say
    “What a bad show today”
    If I’m French I say “O la la”
  14. 23 minutes with LOI MAXI. I had a fixation on Sari. WINCEYETTE sheets were much better in winter before the days of central heating. Alan and Victoria knew that. I don’t mind interconnected clues. I have no MISGIVINGS about them. COD to VETERINARIAN. He wasn’t a heretic in my eyes. Decent puzzle. Thank you Jack and setter.
  15. Quite a few short today.

    Wasn’t that warehouse that was used in the Kennedy assassination called the Texas Book Depository? With a D

    Missed out on Winceyette and also had SARI.

    1. I thought of depository, in large part because I work for a Central Securities Depository (place that maintains the register of ownership of stocks and shares). I think its likeness to depot also contributed to the thought.
  16. ….but the iPad version has an incorrect number of letters for 25a. Crashes when trying to put a word in. Grrr!
    1. I switched to the club site on the iPad instead of doing the crossword within the app. I find it more reliable and user friendly.
  19. 25m but had to check a few spellings on the way. Pleasant puzzle, thank you setter and Jack, for the explanations, as a few biffs today that I couldn’t have deconstructed.
  20. 13:00. I found that quite tricky, and spent a couple of minutes at the end resisting the temptation to put in SARI. I confess I also checked WINCEYETTE before submitting.
    NHO Tenniel, MERs at ‘crusade’ and ‘pretext’.
    I don’t mind cross-reference clues in principle, and I quite enjoy those Paul ones in the Guardian which are full of them, but they always seem out of place in the Times somehow.

    Edited at 2021-06-08 07:06 am (UTC)

  21. 12:54 but got WINCEYETTE wrong. DNK GALAH either. At least I managed to avoid SARI. Grr.
  22. All straightforward apart from the SARI/MAXI trap which I avoided at the last minute. At least this time I remembered to go back and check as I couldn’t parse SARI. Knew all the GK, even the bird from somewhere.
  23. 14.10 . FOI firm, LOI winceyette, heard of the stuff but unsure of the spelling though worked it out in the end. Back to paper today and managed to see I’d misinterpreted 19 ac by putting in committed rather than committee. Phew…

    Thanks setter and blogger.

  24. An even more straightforward solve than yesterday in 12.57, though I had to overcome an initial stab at stable establishment appearing as STUD. Clever, I thought.
    Crusades and pilgrimages have blurred lines of distinction. Pope Urban encouraged participation in the First Crusade as “armed pilgrimage”, and undoubtedly the motivation for many crusaders was to reestablish the possibility of pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Maybe they’re not exactly the same thing, but they are strongly linked.
    I’m another SARI wearer who saw that error of my ways in time.
    Thanks for an informative and entertaining blog, with valuable insights into the processes of solving.
  26. I seemed to be well on the wavelength with this one. ESPY went in first, followed by EARTHWORM and BASKING SHARK, and I was on a roll. I thought of SARI, but dismissed it forthwith, then with VEIL and the Borg’s penchant in place, knew that 27a was going to end with _ENNIAL, at which point MAXI(m) hove into view. I delayed myself slightly with a biffed MINAH(Come on Min, as Mr Sellers was wont to utter) until MISGIVINGS put me right. I was then able to spot the SCULPTRESS and finish off with the VETERINARIAN, paying close attention to the parsing/spelling. One of my better efforts at 16:55. Thanks setter and Jack.
  27. Another SARI here, in this case I thought there may be a SARIN in lord of the rings. MAXI never occurred to me. Yes, strange mixture of quickie clues and proper cryptic ones.
  28. Whizzed through (for me) in 11:59, nearly 2 mins quicker than the QC.

    Dredged WINCEYETTE from the definition and crossers. Missed the SARI trap. Reading jack’s excellent blog, it seems I actually biffed quite a lot of these…oops.

  29. 17 minutes, but walked into the SARI trap. Can’t get it into my head that if you can’t parse it, it’s probably wrong, no matter how obvious it looks.
  30. Would be the fabric used in the unalluring lingerie of Barbara Pym’s “excellent women”. 14.41

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