Times Cryptic No 27414 – Saturday, 27 July 2019. Blue moon – you saw me standing alone.

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In the main, this was a fairly straightforward solve. Happily, there was no obscure technical items, although there were a couple of answers (27ac and 7dn) where I made a mental note to look in the dictionary to check the meanings of the answers before doing the blog.

The top half of the grid yielded before the bottom, and it took me a blue moon to parse my LOI, 24dn. My favourite was 17ac, with its clever substitution. Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle.

Clues are blue, with definitions underlined. Answers are in BOLD CAPS, then wordplay. (ABC*) means ‘anagram of ABC’. Deletions are in [square brackets].

Across
1 However singer’s capturing hearts, I don’t like it (8)
ALTHOUGH – ALTO captures H for hearts. UGH, I don’t like it!

9 Concerned with argument about good choke maybe (8)
OVERGROW – OVER (concerned with), ROW (argument), all about G.

10 Cut dessert, otherwise called a meat dish (8)
MOUSSAKA – MOUSS[e], A.K.A.

11 Engineers passionate about new treatment plant (8)
REFINERY – RE, FIERY about N.

12 Spokesperson makes a bit (10)
MOUTHPIECE – double definition, the second referring to a horse’s bridle.

14 Virginia takes in the fourth test (4)
VIVA – VA is Virginia, which takes in IV.

15 Work miracle to get back (7)
RECLAIM – anagram (work) (MIRACLE*).

17 Number nine comes in for United in tense match (7)
FIXTURE – the FUTURE tense has U replaced by IX.

21 Hide runner approaching end of marathon (4)
SKIN – the runner is a SKI, approaching [marathon]N.

22 Sign on staff — 300 nearly departed (6,4)
TREBLE CLEF – if C is 100, then TREBLE-C should be 300. “Departed” gives LEF[t]. We’re talking about a sign on a musical staff, of course.

23 Any number of burns, it’s plain (2-6)
NO-FRILLS – N for number, OF, RILLS might be Scottish burns.

25 Peacekeepers are desperate to keep rocket cool? (8)
UNLOVING – the UN peace keepers LONG for home, no doubt. Insert a VI rocket.

26 In Paris come upon small coin as memento (8)
SOUVENIR – VENIR is French for come. Put that on a SOU, a small coin, also French.

27 European in old bus can’t stand (8)
EXECRATE – EX is old, E is European, an old bus might be a CRATE. I knew the adjectival form, but this form can be a transitive verb, to fit the definition.

Down
2 John and Rod retain hot lawyer, to find this? (8)
LOOPHOLE – a LOO is a john or toilet, a POLE is a rod, all retaining H for hot.

3 Where to go when Henry ingests very big stone? (8)
HOSPITAL – HAL (or Henry) ingests OS (outsize) PIT. The definition is an &lit. type – see glossary.

4 State university — something one would tip to rise? (4)
UTAH – U for university, HAT (something one would tip) rising. Do people still tip hats?

5 For person with piles it’s more arduous eating egg (7)
HOARDER – an O (egg) eaten by HARDER.

6 Asceticism? It’s definitely not me (4-6)
SELF-DENIAL – double definition, the second one whimsical.

7 Pray here, with pride dented? That is universal (4-4)
PRIE-DIEU – anagram (dented) of (PRIDE*), followed by I.E. for “that is”, and U. It’s a praying-desk or chair for praying on.

8 Dread ringing a Yankee school for distant 17? (4,4)
AWAY GAME – AWE (dread) “ringing” A Y[ankee] GAM. A gam is a school of whales.

13 Unlikely to miss period left to fill shelf (5-5)
POINT-BLANK – a period or full stop is a POINT. Then, L fills BANK.

15 Spots some Scottish Water precipitation (8)
RASHNESS – the spots are a RASH. The Scottish water is a NESS.

16 Trained officer to employ uniform stylist (8)
COIFFEUR – anagram (trained) of (OFFICER*), employing U (uniform).

18 Idle account closed (4,4)
TICK OVER – put it on TICK is on account, and OVER is closed, getting us to a car engine idling.

19 It secures two terms at sea (4,4)
REEF KNOT – REEFs are to be avoided at sea, but KNOTs are a measure of speed.

20 Tablet is introduced to attract free time (7)
LEISURE – E (tablet) and IS introduced to LURE.

24 Down: source of the unexpected? (4)
BLUE – the unexpected might well come out of the BLUE.

26 comments on “Times Cryptic No 27414 – Saturday, 27 July 2019. Blue moon – you saw me standing alone.”

  1. 25ac: Let me be the first to point out that the V1 was not a rocket. It was a flying bomb or cruise missile. The V2 was the WWII rocket.
      1. Well that’s a useful challenge, Bruce. It’s something I was taught years ago and was explained in some detail which of I’ve course forgotten now. My initial google searches for the distinction have failed to find anything other than a British History On-Line article that mentions that it was ‘technically not a rocket’ but going by dictionary definitions of ‘rocket’ the V1 would seem to fit the bill at least in colloquial terms so I’m now beginning to doubt my original assertion.

        Edited at 2019-08-03 04:57 am (UTC)

      2. A rocket works outside the atmosphere since its fuel combusts whether atmospheric oxygen is present or not. A V1 however is a pulse-jet .. and like all jet engines, uses atmospheric oxygen for combustion. So the V1 flew at normal height and could be attacked by RAF fighters. But the trajectory of a V2 made countermeasures impossible as it went far above what any plane could reach and dropped vertically onto its target.

        Edited at 2019-08-03 07:22 am (UTC)

        1. Thanks for that, Jerry, I thought someone would probably come up with the goods. I’ve a feeling it was discussed here before but I wasn’t able to find it.
  2. Nice blog, b, and thanks especially for 24d. I, too, liked Fixture.
    Meantime, let me be the first to point out that it’s FIVE nautical terms at 18: reef your sail so you don’t sail into the reef; tie knots whilst cruising along at, eg, 4 knots; and the answer itself.

    Edited at 2019-08-03 12:26 am (UTC)

  3. I never did register ‘bit’ in 12ac, and just went with ‘spokesperson’. And I wasted some time taking ‘two terms’ as anagrist (at sea). Otherwise pretty straightforward, as Bruce says.
  4. 48 minutes with LOI COIFFEUR. Some lovely clues here, with RASHNESS and FIXTURE deserving honourable mentions, but my COD goes to SELF-DENIAL. It’s looking like I’ll get a game this afternoon if I take my boots along to Wanderers’ 8d at Wycombe. Nice puzzle. Thank you B and setter.

    Edited at 2019-08-03 06:04 am (UTC)

  5. This was a very enjoyable but quite tricky solve whilst on holiday on the South Coast, so I had time to devote to the puzzle. LOI was EXECRATE, not a word I’d seen before, but like B I knew the adjectival form. Prior to that last in were LEISURE and TREBLE CLEF. I think I have now learnt that Rocket = V1 -sometimes. Was pleased to remember Prie Dieu from somewhere.
    Can’t believe the football season starts today. I read that Bolton Wanderers have only got three senior outfield players;with BW that will be four (does senior mean over 60 in this case? Take your railcard.)
    David

    Edited at 2019-08-03 08:13 am (UTC)

    1. Unfortunately, the EFL couldn’t clear my registration in time, so they had to take the field without me.
  6. Just a quick mention of today’s cryptic, which I thought a particularly fine one
  7. An enjoyable offering which I completed in 33:52. 12a took a while to come up with and was my LOI. Had NHO PRIE DIEU and looked it up to make sure it existed once I’d derived it. Thanks setter and Bruce.
  9. ….will have their claimers, as Rush observed in their song “Anagram (for Mongo)” on the album “Presto”, so I’ll RECLAIM that lyric at 15A. I assume that Mongo is a compiler across the pond (Rush being Canadian) and it’s clear from the lyric that the style of crossword is rather different to this one (“He and she are in the house, but there’s only me at home” for example.

    I would suggest that, for a person with piles, it’s not eating the egg that is arduous !

    FOI ALTHOUGH
    LOI NO-FRILLS
    COD FIXTURE (and good luck BW, I think you’ll need a bucketful of it)
    TIME 10:32

  10. Easy but enjoyable crossword. Thanks for the discussion on rockets above – I learn so much on this site.
    1. Interesting to consider what would have happened to Britain if the Germans had had V2s in 1943. And they *would* have had, were it not for intelligence gained from allied spies, and the subsequent operations against Peenemunde.
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  12. 32:41 I thought there were some very enjoyable clues in this one. I particularly liked self-denial, fixture, treble clef, loophole, coiffeur and blue. I wasn’t familiar with prie-dieu but it wasn’t too hard to derive. I did wonder about bus/crate in 27ac but again the answer wasn’t too hard to find.

    Edited at 2019-08-03 12:48 pm (UTC)

    1. I’m not sure a bus is a crate, but a very old, run down car could be called either an “old bus” or a “crate”, I think.
      1. Thanks Brnchn, you’re right. Collins has “a car or aircraft that is old and shaky” as the second meaning of “bus”, and it has “an old car or aeroplane” as the second meaning of “crate”. I’m not sure I’d heard bus to mean old car before.
  13. 11:50. No problems with this.
    I remembered the discussion about V1s being defined as rockets from a previous puzzle and blog. My view is that they both are and aren’t, depending on how you’re using the word, and the distinction is jolly interesting.
    I thought 19dn was rather unsatisfactory, since the first ‘term at sea’ (REEF, a fold in a sail) is directly related to the main definition. It’s a better clue if you read REEF as a rock formation.
  14. ‘The number two at MI5, Guy Liddell noted in his diary on 25 August 1944 ‘I saw ‘C’ (Menzies) today about the uranium bomb and put to him the suggestion that it should be used as a threat of retaliation to the Germans if they used V2.
    Two weeks later, on 8 September the first of 1,300 V2s landed on London. It was a relief that it did not contain the ‘uranium dust’ Liddell had feared. Locating and destroying V2 launch facilities was now a priority for Ian Fleming’s 30AU.’ ‘The Labyrinth’

    FOI 5dn HOARDER

    LOI 11ac REFINERY

    COD 22ac TREBLE CLEF

    WOD 10ac MOUSSAKA

  16. Thanks setter and Bruce
    Was able to finish this one in a single 53 min session early yesterday morning along with all of the parsing with the exception of the ‘bit’ bit of 12a. Some nice clues with my favourite being the clever trick with FIXTURE.
    PRIE DIEU was one that I had to confirm the definition of, even though the term itself felt vaguely familiar. Not sure whether I had come across the French VENIR before either – it was a part of my penultimate one in, followed by COIFFEUR which I had previously mis-spelt.

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