Times Cryptic No 27870 – Saturday, 9 January 2021. Don’t drink or drive.

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In these times of Christmas celebrations, COVID lockdowns, and summer travel (this side of the equator), the sort of police controls at 1ac loom large! Not that any of those things trouble our household … we continue to shelter in place waiting for normality to return.

Although there was only one piece of general knowledge I lacked, this puzzle was generally rather challenging. Still, I finished it in reasonable time. How did others do?

Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle.

Notes for newcomers: The Times offers prizes for Saturday Cryptic Crosswords. This blog is posted a week later, after the competition closes. So, please don’t comment here on the current Saturday Cryptic.

Clues are blue, with definitions underlined. Deletions are in {curly brackets}.

Across

1

Police control hard to understand in areas to the west (5,4)

SPEED TRAP – DEEP=hard to understand, in PARTS=areas, all going backwards=‘to the west’.

6

Tony for example a child court protects (5)

AWARD – A, WARD=child court protects.

9

One used to spin has some control at Headingley (5)

LATHE – hidden answer in ‘control at Headingly’. Clever definition, I thought.

10

Black inside, rotten old wheat seen in lethal buffet (9)

DEATHBLOW – B=black inside an anagram (‘rotten’) of OLD WHEAT. I was a little surprised this is one word, but Chambers agrees it is.

11

Volcanic feature about to consume tree (7)

CALDERA – CA=about ‘consumes’ ALDER. An instant write-in for me.

12

Unhurried pace of a northern comedy writer? (7)

ANDANTE – A, N=northern, DANTE=writer inter alia of the Divine Comedy.

13

Stimulated mind swamping one’s emotion (14)

SENTIMENTALITY – SENT=stimulated (this wasn’t the first meaning I thought of for ‘stimulated’, but in the words of Sam Cooke, Darling you send me, honest you do, honest you do), I=one, MENTALITY=mind.

17

Confront judge about new clubs forming link-up (5-9)

CROSS-REFERENCE – CROSS=confront, REFEREE=judge, ‘about’ N=new and C=clubs.

21

Native American soldier turning by a little house (7)

ARAPAHO – PARA=soldier ‘turning’ gives ARAP, then A + HO.

23

Luminous patches unable to be dispersed, absorbing energy (7)

NEBULAE – anagram (to be dispersed) of UNABLE, ‘absorbing’ E=energy.

25

Criminal dominates Kentish Town (9)

MAIDSTONE – anagram (criminal) of DOMINATES.

26

Singer’s 22: managed by vacuous Geordie? (5)

RANGE – RAN=managed, G(eordi)E. Range would be an asset (as per 22dn) for a singer.

27

Flower rook brought into shelter (5)

TRENT – R=rook in TENT. After all, rivers do flow.

28

Perhaps communed with nature in tree (9)

SATINWOOD – we SAT IN the WOOD and communed.

Down

1

Fish is covered in cream after gutting error (8)

SOLECISM – SOLE=a fish, then IS covered in C(rea)M.

2

Passionately praise old auction item coming up (5)

EXTOL – EX=old, then LOT ‘coming up’.

3

Food studied in this parliament, and standards, hard to ignore (9)

DIETETICS – DIET=the Japanese parliament, ET(h)ICS=standards.

4

Excellent goddess inspiring one to shine (7)

RADIATE – RAD=excellent, I=one, ATE=the Greek goddess of mischief.

5

Bumpkin cut hearts from game birds (7)

PEASANT – the bird is a P(h)EASANT.

6

Companion shunned by man concealed bug (5)

APHID – (ch)AP ‘shuns’ the ‘ch’=companion, then HID=concealed.

7

Departs from Durham town for military cemetery (9)

ARLINGTON – (D)ARLINGTON is the town.

8

Knocked back where Darwin lived and died (6)

DOWNED – Darwin lived in DOWNE (I didn’t know that), D=died.

14

Deserter stuck in ravine confusedly recounting events (9)

NARRATIVE – RAT=deserter, in an anagram (confusedly) of RAVINE.

15

Greek hero to praise in speech attributed to Reagan? (4,5)

LORD BYRON – LORD sounds (‘in speech’) like ‘laud’, then another speech perhaps BY RON=attributed to Reagan.

16

Title for cleric having to tear around all the time (8)

REVEREND – REND around EVER.

18

City with favelas as far as we’re concerned ungovernable? (7)

RIOTOUS – RIO is a city with favelas, TO US=as far as we’re concerned.

19

Band in motor giving admirer clout (3,4)

FAN BELT – FAN=admirer, BELT=clout.

20

Two males on the ascent to see Alpine animal (6)

MARMOT – the two males are TOM and a RAM. All backwards, ‘on the ascent’.

22

Area with second class property (5)

ASSET – A=area, S=second, SET=class.

24

Fish served with duck’s tongue (5)

LINGO – LING is a fish, O=0=a duck at cricket.

26 comments on “Times Cryptic No 27870 – Saturday, 9 January 2021. Don’t drink or drive.”

  1. DNK where Darwin lived. I did know Darlington, fortunately, although I didn’t know it was in Durham, so was worried when I saw ‘Durham town’. I don’t know why or how DIET became the English word for the Japanese parliament, since the Japanese word *kokkai* 国会 is the same word used for ‘parliament’ and indeed any other national legislature.
  2. My notes say “straightforward except for the N.E. corner.
    Thanks Bruce especially for SENTIMENTALITY. Having grown up in the 60s perhaps I should have equated ‘stimulated’ with sent.
    I thought Darwin lived at Down, without an E, but, as I’ve discovered, that was the name of his house. The village has the E at the end.
    I liked ANDANTE and SOLECISM but my favourite was APHID.
  3. 44 minutes exposing some gaps in my GK. NHO DOWNE, RAD = excellent, DNK that DANTE wrote a piece called ‘The Divine Comedy’ nor the extent of the Greeks’ regard for Lord Byron and his involvement in the war of independence.

    Edited at 2021-01-16 06:25 am (UTC)

  4. 27 minutes. I never know those native Americans, which were the last to fall. I parsed RADIATE after the event using an aid, RAD meaning either a radian or the cgs unit of absorbed ionising radiation to me. COD to ANDANTE for the glorious thought that Les Dawson wrote the Divine Comedy. Not too difficult but enjoyable. Thank you Bruce and setter.

    Edited at 2021-01-16 07:54 am (UTC)

    1. I raised my proverbial some when I saw RAD–I mean, this is the Times!– but then I remembered that this is where I learned of ‘pants’.
      1. I couldn’t have made the mother-in-law joke with Eddie. But I would have used all the right letters, if not necessarily in the right order.
  5. FOI was AWARD but I then solved the bottom half before returning to the top.
    I live near Downe so that was easy and Maidstone is not too far away. But I struggled to think of Darlington and got the cemetery first.
    My big hold-ups were in the NW. I thought of SPEED TRAP and couldn’t parse it at first but those letters helped and my last two were CALDERA and SOLECISM a word I know but have never consciously used.
    This was an enjoyable challenge. Finished at 3.30 pm after three sessions.
    David
  6. Another who had to research the meaning of RAD after the event here. I also didn’t know where Darwin lived, but I am a regular visitor to Darlington(in less restricted times) as I attend both the Snooker Centre and a folk club there. Took me a while to decode NEBULAE. All done in 31:37. Thanks setter and Bruce.
  7. Enjoyed this. Nice to see mention of my local town, Maidstone, and also nice to see my one of my favourite animals, the marmot. I have a stuffed toy marmot that makes a loud noise, if anyone goes near it .. spends much of its life in a drawer as a result.

    A bit sad that my knowledge of modern slang comes only from Times crosswords, but so it is. A search gives 45 hits at TfTT for “rad,” albeit with some duplication, including two of last year’s cryptics. Actually my knowledge of old-fashioned slang does too .. hep cat etc etc. Not to mention drugs argot

  8. ….DOWNE, which was a total mystery to me.

    I had a real battle with this, despite having the bottom half completed in around 5 minutes. The penultimate answer was SENTIMENTALITY, which didn’t much strike me as being an emotion. I correctly assumed “rad” to be exactly what it is.

    FOI AWARD (I liked the clue)
    LOI DEATH BLOW (with a huge DUH !)
    COD SPEED TRAP (these days you can be stopped without speeding – you’d better have a good excuse ready, or “You’re nicked my son”.)
    TIME 17:41

    ON EDIT : I now find that fat finger struck again, and I entered “aaset”. “I don’t find that stuff amusing any more” as Paul Simon succinctly put it.

    Edited at 2021-01-16 11:19 am (UTC)

        1. I just refuse to believe I actually typed it. I think it’s a sinister conspiracy from Big Tech to prevent me from entering the prize draw. I haven’t followed all the threads yet but I’m on their trail…
  9. DNF. I found this a bit of a struggle and took nearly three quarters of an hour to unravel it all only to find I’d spoiled it all with a stupid typo. I spent far too long trying to think of Northern comedians.
  10. 14:59 I know Darlington as I was at school a few miles up the River Tees from there and vaguely remembered RAD so no real problems with this. DNK where Darwin lived but it didn’t matter as the answer was clear from definition and checkers. I liked SPEED TRAP and SATINWOOD best.
  11. FOI 6ac AWARD Tony – named after Antoinette Perry 1947

    LOI 3dn DIETETICS known as a DIET as Gladstone thought Japan and Ireland were perhaps the same place?

    COD 25ac MAIDSTONE which I make an &lit as it is home to a large nick. Sorry Jerry. I had never heard of Downe – I assumed Darwin lived at The Beagle c/o Galapagos Islands.

    WOD ARAPAHO – who lived in a Winnebego near Hollywood and also owned a Chinook hecilopter. Know thy Native Indians!

    Not caught speeding.

  12. Very pleased with my 38:48. I put in RADIATE once I had the checkers without knowing RAD=excellent or even ATE the goddess. LOsI DOWNED and ANDANTE. I just couldn’t see the shape of the word andante until I had the E, and then it was obvious of course. COD for me is LORD BYRON just because I liked “by Ron”
    I feel my record in the Saturday puzzle is a bit better than the weekday 15×15s. Are they more gentle?
    1. It depends! If you look at the “SNITCH” at https://xwdsnitch.herokuapp.com/ (you can also get there via the link at the top of this page), you’ll see there’s a lot of variation in difficulty on weekdays, from say 60 to 160 or more on the SNITCH scale.

      I’d say there’s less variation on Saturdays, from perhaps 90 to 110, although unfortunately logistics prevent the SNITCH giving a rating for Saturdays.

      I wonder what others think?

      1. I tend to agree, although every now and again a Saturday stinker, like today(yesterday) comes along! From my perspective anyway:-)
  13. 7:13. Not much to say about this. I didn’t know where Darwin lived, but I had the other knowledge. CALDERA is a word I’ve learned from crosswords.
  14. I enjoyed the crossword but not atypically had almost as much difficulty puzzling out the assembled erudition in this website. DNK Japan had a Diet – I’d only come across Worms.
  15. We often have old Times crosswords in our two toilets. In early June 2021 we had:

    * Jumbo 1,445 from Saturday 13 June 2020
    * Crossword 27,870 – this puzzle – from 9 January 2021

    In the first crossword the clue for 47 across is:
    Minister has to tear round at any time (8)
    Solution: REVEREND

    In the second crossword the clue for 16 down is:
    Title for cleric having to tear around all the time (8)
    Solution: REVEREND

    So, not only is the solution the same, but the word has been clued in the same way.

    Another coincidence: With the second crossword is printed the solution to the previous day’s crossword. The word OSAKA (currently in the news a lot because of Naomi Osaka dropping out of Roland Garros) is the answer to the second across clue.

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