Times Cryptic 29306

72 comments on “Times Cryptic 29306”

1. In the end DNF by about seven (7) clues – mostly north east. Most made sense on explanation here – with some a bit arcane. There were some good clues but not particularly remarkable.
   Did not like 26ac TIMID and 24d ROMAN even though understood after some research and had completed. Also the synonyms or process in 1ac and 23ac.
   Took way to long on 10ac MAPLE – probably the easiest clue. Felt like a 4d.
   We were not in the right zone for this one, but honestly I do not think it was 6d.
   Interested to know why CONFERENCE = ‘diet’ (probably something obvious).
   Apologies for any crossings with others.
   Thank you jackkt and setter.

   1. Diet: Here’s what my AI assistant thinks:

      The word “diet,” meaning an assembly or conference, has a fascinating and somewhat convoluted origin that is distinct from its more common meaning related to food.

      The political use of the word “diet” comes from the Medieval Latin term dieta, which meant both “parliamentary assembly” and “daily food allowance.” This Latin word itself is a bit of a hybrid. It is believed to have originated from the Greek word diaita, meaning “a way of living” or “regimen” (which is the source of the word’s food-related meaning).

      However, a false etymology linked dieta to the Latin word dies, meaning “day.” This association with “day” led to dieta being used in post-classical Europe to mean “an assembly,” as the word referred to a day appointed for a meeting.

      This association with “day” is clearly reflected in the German language, which has historically used “Tag” (meaning “day”) to also refer to a legislative body. Examples include the German Bundestag (Federal Diet) and the historical Reichstag (Imperial Diet).

      The term “diet” in this political sense is most famously associated with the historical assemblies of the Holy Roman Empire (like the Diet of Worms) and, in modern times, is the name of Japan’s national legislature, the National Diet.

      1. Well thank U for that fulsome information. I will be on the lookout in future.

2. 18:46

   I found this reasonably smooth, though a few bits missed as usual:

   GOALPOST – LOI – only when I lifted and separated did I see the answer, failed miserably with the wordplay though – didn’t know about the tuning note
   UNITED – guessed, was thinking that chapter would = CH rather than just C. I’ve been caught out by this before.
   FAFFED – Mrs H uses this word a great deal
   POSTERN – first came across this word in Agatha Christie’s book Postern Of Fate
   TIMID – vaguely recall dimity, perhaps from To Kill A Mockingbird?
   SCHMUCK – a friend of mine used to say this an awful lot!
   DAFYDD – one F or two – thankfully the wordplay was clear
   OF THE FIRST WATER – know from Wodehouse, but did not know its provenance

   Thanks Jack and setter

3. Definitely tricky for a Tuesday, but satisfying, with some clever surfaces disguising the destination.
   FOI GEMSTONE
   LOI. TIMID
   COD Joint ROMAN & TIMID

4. I was going pretty well on this for the most part, completing over 90% of it in about 25 minutes. I then got well and truly bogged down before I eventually completed in 52.56. I took an unnecessary amount of time to get GOALPOST, which should have been a write in for me as a football supporter, and I had to amend SCHMUK which I initially rather carelessly spelt with an O instead of the U. However most of the additional time was spent on my final two ROMAN and finally TIMID. The cotton material was unknown to me so there was little chance of me constructing the word from the clueing.

   1. Actually with an ‘o’ it means jewellry:
      ‘schmock’

5. 29:30 – same fast-slow progress as others though nothing controversial. I appreciated the elegance of ROMAN, which must have made an appearance before although I don’t remember seeing it.

6. Another one who struggled with Goalpost.
   I’ve noticed recently the use of ‘a hint of ‘ as in 17d to signify the omission of the first letter of the following word. This seems rather loose but is this now standard practice?

   1. Yes, it’s quite standard practice. (You mean selection, not omission)

      Was there anything you liked about the puzzle?

      1. Roman

7. I had no problem with the FIRST WATER, my late father used to use it as an insult as in, “[insert name] is a [insert rude word, usually with four letters or something rhyming with banker] of the first water”, indicating not just a run of the mill [four letter word], but one of the highest (or lowest) possible quality.

   I was, however, defeated by TIMID and ROMAN, after a long time of staring at them (after about 10 minutes thinking of GOALPOST then 10 more parsing it), I finally gave up and hit reveal. Disappointed not to bring ROMAN to mind as I suspected it would be the French word for novel, and ROMAN A CLEF came up quite recently somewhere, but absolutely no chance with TIMID. One of my pet peeves is using obscure fabrics as part of an answer. But then maybe if I was a tailor I would think differently…

   1. Ha – I was about to post that I’d never heard ‘first water’ either, but your comment made me remember a teacher at school who used to describe some of the less-pleasant kids in a similar way. Probably not great educational practice, but it make the rest of us laugh.

8. Tricky, with a major holdup at the end over UNITED/GATEAU and GOALPOST. DAFYDD I had originally spelt with two Fs, and I spent some time trying to account for the second before realising that it had to be two Ds at the end. I thought of UNITED early on, but was unable to parse it. I knew OF THE FIRST WATER and its derivation, but not HEARTWOOD. I knew Dimity also. The two long ones went in quickly, which helped a lot. Never did parse ON THE DOT, so thanks, Jack, for that.

9. All correct and unaided in 38 minutes! Delayed by GOALPOST not being very sporty, EDITOR as I NHO as a computer program and, inexplicably, by COMBAT which is surely a bit of a warhorse. COD OF THE FIRST WATER and thanks to Dr Shred for saving me the faff of researching its origin.

10. 48 mins. All parsed correctly but like others I knew ‘of the first water’ mainly from Wodehouse, who used it pejoratively, and who features so frequently in these posts!

11. 9:16. No problems today, it seems I got lucky with the GK because I happened to know everything. GOALPOST my last in after a pause to understand the wordplay, reluctant to rely on ‘upright’ alone.
    PS I am experiencing a weird thing here where I get logged out every time I visit on certain devices (specifically my iPhone and iPad) but not on my laptop.

12. Had a look after doing theQC, but way beyond my capabilities. Managed just 5 clues. Hats off to you regulars!

13. 30.00 on the dot. A nice challenge. NHO dimity. After a few minutes confused by 1a I finished with a biff of GOALPOST. I remained confused as I tried to make sense of P, GO AT and SOL backwards. Thanks Jack for unravelling it.

14. 40:50
    A slow but steady solve.
    LOI GOALPOST, as my mind was stuck on the wrong type of upright.
    I learnt Welsh at primary school, so no problems with the spelling of DAFYDD. A single F always makes the V sound, whilst FF always makes the F sound.
    I learnt to program in the early 80s, when an EDITOR was very much a computer program.
    Biffed TIMID. NHO the fabric.

    Thanks Jack and setter

15. No time because I left the timer running while I got called away, but I guess around 35-40 minutes, because I was reasonably quick but the last 2, GATEAU (where I spent ages trying to think of words starting AA) and finally GOALPOST (got to O and suddenly the light dawned) took me a while.
    I thought that was a good puzzle
    Thanks setter and Jack

16. Failed on Combat – put in Hobbit! The Hobbit is a film but no excuses.

17. 64:15. I found this very hard – some tricky wordplay and not always enjoyable. LOI was UNITED. Thanks both!

18. Proper struggle today, an eventual DNF after an hour or so, being defeated by the pairings of GATEAU/UNITED and TIMID/ROMAN, where I’d not heard of the French term or ‘dimity’. Couldn’t get the parsings for a few others (COMBAT for one, as MB was new to me as meaning a doctor, and GOALPOST where I didn’t know A was the tuning note).

    The others went in slowly but surely – COD POSTERN, though, never forgetting many happy evenings in the Postern Gate Wetherspoons in York as a student.

19. Gave up at the hour – no idea on goalpost and timid/gateau wrong because I’d guessed the former and gone raceau for the latter. Fairly pleased with that given there was stuff I just didn’t know like the guessed ROMAN, the A=tuning note which I thought might be a piece of missing GK, NHO tournedos or dimity, didn’t know conference=diet. And while I could see OF-THE-FIRST-WATER from the beginning it just doesn’t sound like a phrase which means anything.

20. DNF. GOALPOST only about fifth last and not fully parsed. Failed on ROMAN/TIMID even though tried aids, NHO Roman a clef nor Dimity. Had to check the meaning of OF THE FIRST WATER but it sounded likely.

21. Same problem as most with GOALPOST ( forgot to “lift and separate”!) and had other problems with ECOSPHERE and ROUEN. Luckily, PRESS CONFERENCE went straight in, which helped a lot with the spelling of FAFFED, but my big downfall was the SE corner: with unparsed ROUEN in place I was never going to get ROMAN. Didn’t take long to finish, but not all correct, so doesn’t count! Liked FORT WORTH and TODDLE and FAFFED especially.

Comments are closed.