Times Cryptic 28088

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

Solving time: 34 minutes with the last 10 of those spent on two clues, 5dn and 10ac. I had a wrong answer which we shall get to in due course.

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 Stationed in east so push for strong drink (8)
ESPRESSO
PRESS (push) contained by [stationed in] E (east) + SO. This is not by any means my idea of a strong drink, so I only got to it via wordplay.
6 Shot where force breaches European citadel (6)
EFFORT
F (force) is contained by [breaches] E (European) + FORT (citadel)
9 Senior ministers in queue perhaps store hard copies here? (6,7)
FILING CABINET
FILING (in queue), CABINET (senior ministers)
10 Religious house seen in earlier years (6)
PRIORY
PRIOR (earlier), Y (years). So simple, yet this was my LOI after something of a struggle.
11 Timbre enthralling traveller born to find instrument (8)
TROMBONE
TONE (timbre) containing [enthralling] ROM (traveller – Romany, gypsy ) + B (born)
13 Relaxed as not spotted snatching rupees (10)
UNSTRAINED
UNSTAINED (not spotted) containing [snatching] R (rupees)
15 Exploit recalled framing a wronged brother (4)
ESAU
USE (exploit) reversed [recalled] containing [framing] A. In Book of Genesis, Esau’s brother, Jacob, swindled him out of his birthright as the marginally elder son of Isaac in exchange for a mess of pottage. By way of light relief we have this tongue-twister set to music.
16 Fellows applied to university, getting course list (4)
MENU
MEN (fellows), U (university)
18 Guard, in bed, suffering complete (10)
UNABRIDGED
Anagram [suffering] of GUARD IN BED
21 Cheat to secure point in street game? (8)
CRIBBAGE
CRIB (cheat), BAG (secure) E (point). The standard peg-board used for recording points scored at cribbage has four rows of 30 holes each, sometimes referred to as ‘streets’.
22 Goddess makes appearance following credit crunch (6)
CRISIS
CR (credit), ISIS (goddess)
23 Important: arm this police unit (7,6)
SPECIAL BRANCH
SPECIAL (important), BRANCH (arm)
25 When retired go round world (6)
SATURN
AS (when) reversed [retired], TURN (go round)
26 Leave country singer regularly housed by English couple (8)
EMIGRATE
{s}I{n}G{e}R [regularly] contained [housed] by E (English) + MATE (couple)
Down
2 Son having slight temperature avoids paella flavouring (7)
SAFFRON
S (son), AFFRON{t} (slight) [temperature avoids]. It’s the saffron that gives paella its distinctive colour.
3 Approximate guide in digital governance? (4,2,5)
RULE OF THUMB
Cryptic
4 Alexander has opinion about nude seen here and there (5)
SANDY
SAY (opinion) containing [about] N{u}D{e} [seen here and there]. A standard variation on Alexander that I think a number of solvers didn’t know on a previoous occasion.
5 Unusual action needed to consume cold tongue (7)
OCCITAN
Anagram [unusual] of ACTION containing [to consume] C (cold). This is the one I got wrong. Once again we have an obscure foreign word (Collins doesn’t even list it) clued as an anagram. When all the checkers were in place the answer had to be OCCITAN or OCCATIN. I chose the latter for no reason other than Latin ends -IN. I might as well have flipped a coin! Lexico: The medieval or modern language of Languedoc, including literary Provençal of the 12th–14th centuries.
6 Enhance glowing piece about French king with duke (9)
EMBROIDER
EMBER (glowing piece) containing [about] ROI (French king) + D (duke)
7 Maybe bass part loud one needed at the start (3)
FIN
F (loud), I (one), N{eeded} [at the start]
8 Building over frozen soil sees river rising (7)
ROTUNDA
O (over) + TUND{r}A (frozen soil) with R (river) rising in a Down answer becomes ROTUNDA
12 Nan having success as one bringing home the bacon (11)
BREADWINNER
BREAD (nan), WINNER (success)
14 Grown-up with one leg to accept answer as flattery (9)
ADULATION
ADULT (grown-up) + I (one) + ON (leg – cricket) contains [to accept] A (answer)
17 Island in unsettled US area, or continental one? (7)
EURASIA
I (island) contained by [in] anagram [unsettled] of US AREA. The definition refers back to ‘area’.
19 Aloe vera treated missing volume in sunken spots (7)
AREOLAE
Anagram [treated] of ALOE {v}ERA [missing volume]. I can’t a reference to ‘sunken’ in any of the usual sources. Edit: Thanks to bletchleyreject for pointing out that ‘sunken spot’ is in the full version of Chambers. I should have checked my printed edition as on-line I only have access to a cut-down version.
20 Choice ultimately mine to assume the nickname (7)
EPITHET
{choic}E (ultimately}, then PIT (mine) contains [to assume] THE
22 Crumbs American soldier gives dog (5)
CORGI
COR (crumbs!), GI (American soldier)
24 Bird Madagascan primate skinned (3)
EMU
{l}EMU{r} (Madagascan primate) [skinned]

78 comments on “Times Cryptic 28088”

  1. 13 mins thanks to lots of giveaway definitions which cut down the need for careful parsing. Dredged up OCCITAN from somewhere remote and the word AREOLAE was more familiar than its definition so needed some letter-counting, but apart from that it felt like the Monday I definitely didn’t have yesterday.
  2. The full name of the scent purveyor is L’Occitane en Provence – which certainly did make the solving easier. The one that always fools me is the world=planet thing in 25a, which I should remember by now but once again it took a few beats before coming into view. 14.09
  3. Quite easy, slowed down only by OCCITAN — but there was nothing else it could be once other letters were in.
    1. Well yes there was, as discussed in the blog. If you didn’t know the word it could just as easily have been OCCATIN.
  4. Felt I should have been quicker. It was all straightforward but I slowed down in the top left. Occitan is the language of L`nguedoc, as opposed to the Langue d’oil. Two ways of saying yes — Oc and Oil — and there’s a rough border separating the two. Basically the southern third of France is where they used to say Oc. No connection with Och aye. The language is having a little revival, though as so often in these things it’s hard to know how much is just activist hype. Until a few years ago you could certainly hear older people in rural areas speaking Occitan (or one of its variants like Provencal).
  6. 15.50 with LOI priory. DNK Occitan but had heard of the word before so took an educated punt. Filing cabinet was the head slapping winner today with Sandy my COD. So obvious when you get it though Scots would certainly have an advantage.

    Thanks setter and blogger.

  7. Best time (under 15 minutes) in a while — remembering Languedoc meant OCCITAN was no problem, but slight delay for PRIORY
    as was trying to include HO for ‘house’. So LOI was SAFFRON — not parsed, as were a few others — thanks jackkt for clarification.
  8. Like others, LOI PRIORY -after a long trawl for me. OCCITAN I knew, but I needed all the checkers. CRIBBAGE and TROMBONE partly parsed; in fact TROMBONE not at all.
    David
  9. mostly spent stuck in the NW. In the end, the answers were fairly straightforward, just slow on my part. OCCITAN was a wild guess.
  10. A rare excursion to the 15 x 15 for me, and a very good time somewhere short of 30 minutes. ROTUNDA and ESAU were last two in after I had plumped for OCCITAN from the limited number of options available. It was always Streets on Cribbage boards for me on various mess-decks, and also on Uckers boards (now there’s a game to play with!). Thanks all.
  11. Forty seven minutes, a big improvement on two hours. FOI filing cabinet which was a big help crossing so many other clues. Esau, emu, corgi and menu were easy, embroider, fin and rotunda in the next tier, then the rest emerged piecemeal and I thought quite slowly but this is probably a pb for me for a 15 x 15. Husband blurted out emu before I had read down there, I think I would have got it having been to Madagascar and seen lots of lemurs. Had cribbage but could not see the street in it. Had to use it anyway. I didn’t fully parse everything. LOI Sandy and Occitan. Knew it as Languedoc, and derived it from there. COD cribbage because I could see the crib, the bag and the point. Never mind the street! Thanks for the blog, Jack, and to setter for a puzzle I could do over lunch instead of taking half the afternoon as well. GW.
  12. I’m with our blogger on setting relatively obscure foreign words as anagrams – I.e. I don’t much care for it – but my coin came down heads for OCCITAN today, so luck was on my side. Thanks for explaining the streets on the crib board. I used to play often with my father and I definitely knew the term from frequent defeats ‘by a street’, but I couldn’t see CRIBBAGE as a street game before coming here. Firesides at home, yes; occasionally in the snug at the Lord Nelson; but not in the street. All clear now! 33 mins today, which is OK for me.
  14. 10:25 late this afternoon. Less than a minute more than I took to complete the QC earlier, so a much needed confidence booster even though I appreciate the SNITCH is indicating a puzzle very much at the easier end of the spectrum.
    FOI 3d “rule of thumb” then a steady solve until the usual suspects of 5 D “occitan” (which I’d heard of via Vins de Pays d’Oc- where the quality of winemaking has improved significantly by the way over the last 20 years) and LOI 10 ac “priory”.
    COD 2d “saffron” where I liked the misleading use of “slight”.
    Thanks to Jack for the blog and setter
  15. 20:47, probably my best time ever, so I found it very easy despite a slow start (PRIORY was my FOI). No problems with anything, really, not even OCCITAN since I speak French. Of course I also wondered about the street in CRIBBAGE, but I read the clue as “point in STREET” giving E, or S I suppose, rather than N or W. Silly, since CRIBBAGN and CRIBBAGW were obviously not options anyway.

    Edited at 2021-09-21 04:34 pm (UTC)

  16. Not that easy. 5 dn Occitan, never heard of it, worked it out by logical arrangement of letters in ‘action c’. Liked 7 dn Fin as part of bass being a fish as opposed to a musical tone. 24 dn Emu a bit mean, because it was derived from a ‘cryptic clue within a cryptic clue’ i.e you had to guess which primate (lemur) as well as which bird (have noticed that the current compositor goes in for this sort of stuff)
  17. Thoroughly enjoyed this, especially as 5d Occitan brought back happy memories of family holidays based in Saint Jean du Gard, and picholine olives with a glass of the local white wine before dinner. Couldn’t parse Cribbage, nor Saffron, so not quite a full house of answers and parsings but I’m just happy to be making progress. Invariant
  18. It too was my LOI so must be the COD as simple as it now appears. Cribbage completely passed me by and I am not a big fan of the trombone although Fr. paper-clip was interesting!
  19. Doesn’t surprise me, just I’d not heard it. But then I’ve not played at the ACC level!

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