Times Cryptic No 27972 – Saturday, 8 May 2021. Another of life’s little mysteries?

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This went fairly quickly until I found myself staring at 19dn in frustration. It could only be what it was, but why!? Was it going to be another of those inexplicable clues, like the one a week or two ago? No!! When I finally, much later, saw what was going on, it was a delight! Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle. How did you all get on?

[Read more …]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 struck through.

Across
1 Children’s amusement to come out at the end of spring (4-2-3-3)
JACK-IN-THE-BOX – cryptic definition.
8 Stuff concluded each time (7)
OVEREAT – OVER, EA=each, T.
9 Cook, perhaps, better back at home (7)
CAPTAIN – CAP=better, TA=AT ‘back’, IN=at home.
11 Soothing words remain in the memory? On the contrary (7)
BROMIDE – ROM in BIDE, so not BIDE in ROM … on the contrary.
12 Admit us for sport here? (7)
STADIUM – anagram (for sport) of ADMIT US. The definition is literally the whole clue.
13 Video maybe looking back, by visiting foreign resident (5)
EXPAT – EPAT=TAPE ‘back’, X=by ‘visiting’.
14 Rocky hurt by man one shouldn’t trust? (5,4)
URBAN MYTH – anagram (rocky) of HURT BY MAN. A slightly awkward definition, unless I’m misreading it.
16 Bursting with life — only there’s a large catch (9)
YELLOWFIN – anagram (bursting) of W LIFE ONLY.
19 Doubt and unease in equal measure (5)
QUALM – hidden answer.
21 Defender’s regret, perhaps, to have ambition (3,4)
OWN GOAL – OWN=have, GOAL=ambition.
23 Hand over tax I owe? Not at first (7)
OVATION – O=over, VAT=tax, I as itself, first letters of Owe Not.
24 Crime writer’s conclusion to book worrying (7)
KEATING – K from booK ‘finally’, EATING as in, “what’s eating you”.
25 Building’s bar area storing large quantity of beer? (7)
ROTUNDA – ROD + A storing TUN = 216 gallons … a lot of beer indeed!
26 Warning is hollow — a bait, otherwise (6,6)
CAVEAT EMPTOR – CAVE, A, TEMPT, OR=otherwise.

Down
1 Heartless pranks on pensioner one picked on (3,4)
JOE SOAP – heartless JOkES, then O.A.P. Didn’t know this expression.
2 Helmsman, crossing bridge finally, first to get on (7)
COEXIST – COX=helmsman ‘crossing’ E from bridgE ‘finally’, then IST=first.
3 Popular article by expert revealing all (2,3,4)
IN THE BUFF – IN=popular, THE=an article, gramatically, BUFF=expert.
4 Credit’s what you give correct answers! (5)
TICKS – double definition.
5 Solve old jumbo you’ve picked up? (7)
EXPLAIN – EX=old, PLAIN sounds like PLANE. Does the clue rate a ‘perhaps’ to signal that ‘jumbo’ is just an example of a plane, or is the question mark enough?
6 Lack of transparency — and compassion — when handling bill (7)
OPACITY – O=zero + PITY is a complete lack of compassion. Insert AC=bill.
7 Jargon taken down — an unknown amount to work out (12)
GOBBLEDYGOOK – GOBBLED=taken down, Y is the unknown, GO OK is to work out.
10 I’m messing with chap? No, many! (12)
NYMPHOMANIAC – anagram of IM CHAP NO MANY. Another literal definition!
15 Performing with idol in Birmingham: that takes some beating! (5,4)
BONGO DRUM – ON=performing + GOD=idol, all in BRUM.
17 Motorists commandeering stern of cruise ship: that we’ve never understood! (6,1)
LINEAR A – the cruise ship is a LINER. Put AA=Motorists’ Association around the final R. Linear A and Linear B were two ancient scripts found on Minoan clay tablets. Linear B has been identified as a form of Greek, but Linear A is still a mystery.
18 Treat with powerful agent organised in European zoos (7)
OZONISE – anagram (organised) of IN E ZOOS. Ugly word!
19 Band give shows — and live! (7)
QUARTET – once I had the helpers to exclude ‘quintet’, the answer could only be this. A delightful PDM (see glossary) when I realised that both ‘give’ and ‘live’ show IV = four = a quartet!
20 A story, and not one to pass on legally (7)
ALIENOR – A, LIE, NOR=and not.
22 Commentator’s not in time for West Ham’s match (5)
LIGHT – allegedly how LATE might be pronounced in West Ham.

35 comments on “Times Cryptic No 27972 – Saturday, 8 May 2021. Another of life’s little mysteries?”

  1. at 1dn – the man on the Clapham Omnibus – John Doe – Everyman, but with hint of victim – stooge. Poor Old Joe Soap!

    FOI 23ac OWN-GOAL like United’s opener on Thursday – ping!

    LOI 2dn CO-EXIST and not CHEMIST after all!!

    COD 16ac YELLOWFIN a delicious tuna

    WOD 10dn NYMPHOMANIAC – there are plenty of fish in the sea – innit!

    RE- 17dn. Linear A is a logo-syllabic script used for administrative purposes on Bronze Age Crete. Together with Cretan Hieroglyphic, it is one of two writing systems created by the Minoan civilization. Upon its template, the Mycenaeans later created the Linear B script to register their dialect of ancient Greek. Linear B was cracked in the 1950s, but its predecessor has continued to elude scholars. In her new book, Dr. Ester Salgarella of St John’s College (Cambridge) investigates the genetic relationship between Linear A and Linear B.

    Done in no time at all.

    Edited at 2021-05-14 11:22 pm (UTC)

  2. Off to a slow start–FOI 3d! DNK JOE SOAP, but it had to be. DNK KEATING. Thanks, Bruce, for solving QUARTET for me; I was at a loss. Now it’s my COD.
  3. Some great clues in there, but one or two not so great words and clues as mentioned. Liked CAPTAIN and NYMPHOMANIAC and LINEAR A when I finally figured it out – I’d wondered if there was a linear K as well, the ark being the ship! As an Aussie I pronounce late as LIGHT – didn’t know east Londoners did as well. Couldn’t parse QUARTET, so thank-you for the elucidation. All in all very tricky, in an enjoyable way.
  4. Bruce, thanks for clearing up QUARTET. Re 22dn, would I be right in thinking it might work just as well for an Australian team’s match?
    1. I once went to Seattle with an Aussie party, where the locals reacted with amusement to questions about the Spice Needle!
  5. 35 minutes, with fingers crossed for ALIENOR. COD to NYMPHOMANIAC. QUARTET was only understood after the event. Poor old JOE SOAP was no problem, and nor was LIGHT, with Mrs BW being an east end girl. I didn’t quite get on with this at the time, but a week later it looks a decent puzzle. Thank you B and setter.
  6. Nice pangram. Thanks to the setter and to Bruce for the light-bulb moment on 19D, as I was still in the dark
  7. I also was torn between QUARTET and QUINTET for 19d, and it was only the arrival of OVATION that pushed me to the correct answer, but I didn’t understand why until it was pointed out to me. No problem with 22d. Enjoyed the puzzle. 36:35. Thanks setter and Bruce.
  8. Similar unknowns to others but very much last in for me was COEXIST where I could not improve on CHEMIST until a final deep think.
    Was fortunate that I remembered LINEAR B from an earlier puzzle; this pointed to the existence of an A version, and possibly others.
    I have been to Upton Park but did not see (or hear) the LIGHT.
    David
  9. Took an age (32 minutes plus) over this, a lot of it completely stumped by the warning at 26 across, compounded by not knowing which of the possible LINEARs was required – and yes, I considered K. That we had a pangram was no help, as all the letters were already in use.
    I’m not terribly convinced by the West Ham “late” but what else could it be?
    My prior knowledge of KEATING was non-existent. Sorry, Inspector Ghote of the Bombay Police.
  10. I spent a long time wondering how QUARTET worked and found myself thinking of it at intervals all week. Thank you for putting me out of my misery.
  11. 25:06. I didn’t like this at all. 22dn is just appalling, 19dn is too clever by half, 6dn doesn’t work, I could go on…

    Edited at 2021-05-15 10:18 am (UTC)

    1. I quite liked 6 dn OPACITY. Perhaps because it was one of the few I saw and parsed immediately – it does work for me.
      1. ‘Lack’ is doing double duty, which is a no-no AFAIC and not normally allowed in Times puzzles. A matter of taste of course but I think it’s sloppy.

        Edited at 2021-05-15 12:44 pm (UTC)

        1. Yes and no. Double duty is a no-no, but you often get clues in the Times where one part references the other part – if you have patience in the next few weeks/months I’ll try to find one for you. I see John (interred) below also disliked it, but I liked it. Each to his own.
          1. I agree, and thought it was rather fine and elegant, reminiscent of zeugma or syllepsis.
          2. Yes each to his (or her) own, of course. I’ll be surprised if you can find a case of double duty like this in a Times puzzle though. I don’t remember one and I would have noticed, because I don’t like it!
            Semi-&Lits often have a definition (a word like ‘this’) which only makes sense in the context of the rest of the clue, but I don’t mind this because the definition is still a discrete component. This may not be entirely rational!

            Edited at 2021-05-15 02:23 pm (UTC)

            1. In the Jumbo 1497 blogged today there is a similar reference back to the first part of the clue aka double duty.
              16 down, drama is stand-alone as Noh and an opera is a musical “one”. A musical what? I can only read it as a musical drama.
              Almost but not quite a similar example in the Saturday puzzle 27978 blogged today.
              25 down where the healthier sort of cream is lite cream. That’s how I read it when solving, though as blogged “the healthier sort” is the definition, not referring to the earlier cream.
              1. This is more akin to the semi-&Lit example, where the definition is structurally separate but doesn’t make much sense without the rest of the clue. In this clue ‘Musical one’ is a separate element indicating OPERA, it’s just rather vague without the semantic help from the preceding ‘drama’. And crucially there are still distinct wordplay and definition parts to the clue. In the clue for OPACITY, if you separate wordplay and definition there is nothing at all in the wordplay to indicate the O.
                Again there is perhaps no particularly rational reason to want structurally discrete wordplay and definition but I do!
                You could well object that &Lits, where wordplay and definition use exactly the same words, are a common example of double duty. But for me this is an exception to a rule that should otherwise be observed, and generally is.
                Anyway, as I said before, we don’t have to agree on this but you will not persuade me to like this clue!
                1. I agree about the distinct wordplay and definition elements in no-hoper, as against opacity.
                  You seem to agree that “musical one” can’t clue opera without the one referring to the entirely separate, already spoken-for drama.
                  One big difference between the 2 clues you have nailed is that in no-hoper the back-reference in the wordplay is to wordplay, while the back-reference in opacity is to the definition. I can see that would make it unacceptable to some, but for me a double-duty back-reference is OK if it’s to wordplay or definition.
                  &lits are an entirely different animal, the apotheosis (now that I know what it means) of clueing.
                  I disagree with your claim a week ago that “It never happens in the Times”.
                  But I agree with you that we should agree to disagree.
                  1. Of course ‘never’ is a bit strong, given that it happened here! But it’s very unusual.
        2. Still you did manage to solve it, despite all. So it worked, at least to that extent. I don’t think double duty is or should be a “No-no.” It may be uncommon, but maybe this is why?
          1. It’s a matter of opinion, of course, but am very much against. To me the clue is missing something, unsatisfactory.
        3. If you don’t like it, that’s of course your right. But I can’t really see the problem. To me, “- and pity” implies a repeat of the initial “lack of”, and it’s that second implied lack that saves the first one from doing double duty.
          1. You’re right, of course. This is a genuine ‘agree to disagree’ situation, in that I can entirely understand your (and others’) point. But you will not persuade me to like it!
          2. While I understand the points being made, I think the approach as outlined above is what the setter intended and is perfectly fair with no “double duty”.
  12. I agree that OPACITY is a poor clue. Took me ages to work out. LIGHT is just wrong. As mentioned more Aus than West Ham. Did like 10d and 7d. Great word. I had no idea about LINEAR A but worked out from the checkers/wp. Thanks B (especially for QUINTET) and setter.
  13. Thanks for explaining 19d. I was also hoping there was more to 22d than I’d thought, but no, it’s just an awful supposed homophone and my candidate for WCE – Worst Clue Ever! Maybe the setter is a Dick Van Dyke fan?
    1. I grew up ten minutes away from West Ham, and I did wonder last Saturday if there might also be a West Ham in New South Wales that I’d not heard of…
  14. 14:41. I’m with keriothe in finding this somewhat less than satisfactory. I didn’t like OPACITY and LIGHT either. I was also disgruntled by the lack of an anagrind for STADIUM… maybe “for sport” is also doing double duty? I liked EXPLAIN, though.
  15. Didn’t enjoy this much. OPACITY, LIGHT and QUARTET do not work for me.
  16. I hadn’t expected to see Keating here – I didn’t think he was well-known enough for Times Xword. I’ve read a lot of the Inspector Ghote books. I heard Keating once on a panel of crime writers that included PD James and Reginald HIll (Dalziel & Pasco). We had a pint in the bar afterwards and he was well into his stride talking about the history of the detective novel. He’d written a book on the subject. Everyone was crowding around Phyllis James so I had Keating and Hill to myself. All dead now – but the books are still there and still worth reading. Ann
  17. ….but there was precious little on offer here. NHO KEATING, and didn’t understand QUARTET or OPACITY. LIGHT was just utterly ridiculous. My Biffometer went off the scale.

    Is it the role of the setter to try his/her utmost to ensure that the puzzle is utterly impenetrable ? Because if that is now the case, I might as well stop doing the Times Crossword and seek my pleasures elsewhere.

    FOI JACK-IN-THE-BOX
    LOI BROMIDE
    COD CAPTAIN
    TIME 15:11

  18. Often manage these but not this time. Too cryptic and clever for me this week, and having read the parsing of 23, 24, and 26 across, and 17, 18, 19 and 20 down, where I was stumped, I’m not sure I’ll ever get my brain to contort itself sufficiently! Congrats to those who did.

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