Times Cryptic No 29081 — I guess that’s a thing

100 comments on “Times Cryptic No 29081 — I guess that’s a thing”

1. 16:20

   Very enjoyable. Held up by that O in the KIDDO/CORTISONE cross. I once won a prize for playing air guitar to T Rex’ Get It On in a pub in Plymouth, so those clues made me smile.

   Thanks all.

2. I accept that is now necessary to refer to ‘batters’, but I wish I could stop myself thinking how wrong it sounds. It didn’t stop me putting in the answer with confidence however.
   I performed on this one far better than I did on the QC, and crossed the line in a respectable 28.56. My main stumbling block was the se corner where TACAN was new to me, and I wasn’t convinced AS IS was right. Fortunately ZENITHS confirmed it, and it wasn’t AS ON after all.

3. Agree with so much of the above. An odd week to finish on a high when yesterday I thought a cognitive decline was imminent.
   I had a few mombles, ‘showhand’ seemed a thing for 19ac , maybe a card game term… also surprised Carlos got a nod, rather than Laver . I don’t think the late CMJ talked about batters .. please correct me if I’m wrong.
   Envious of those whose cogitations are so briefly interrupted. I usually have a geopolitical mansplain from other half, a request to find an article in yesterdays Times ( which went in the log burner..) and the oft cited ‘what’s for tea’ . I rest my case.
   FOI Rubicon
   LOI Zeniths
   COD 20D Airport
   Thanks as always to Blogger and Setter and the erudite banter.

4. No problem with BLOWHARD or OCKER, I seem to remember Simon Shama describing George Bush as a ‘bloviating blowhard’ on Question Time when he was president, though I can’t find evidence of that online. VHO RIAD and NHO TACAN. In the OWL club today though as I foolishly put ‘nuttiest’ instead of NATTIEST. If you go to the tiny Ramsey Island in Wales they have a silly percentage of all the choughs in Britain (something like 1/4 or maybe 1/3) living there and it sounds like they are either saying ‘cheer’ (chee-uh), ‘chee-oh’ or ‘chee-aow’ rather than ‘chuff’, though their name comes from a corruption of an Old English word which is more onomatopoeic.

5. 30′- ish
   Ridden out with hands and heels; could have done with a couple of slaps.

   Yes, definitely dawdling in the closing stages. Perhaps put off by the Copland symphony in the background, I was in no hurry as I thought I must have already been well into the 40s.
   The CHUFF of my Hornby 00 Princess Elizabeth was effected by a strip of metal around an axle in the tender scraping a fixed strip. When I met the full size version I was delighted that this simple contrivance produced a chuff that exactly replicated the real thing.
   Great fun; thank you setter and Jeremy.

6. Not hard for a Friday, I thought.
   LOI STEPDAD.
   The only NHO was TACAN and the parsing allowed nothing else.
   Enjoyable and different puzzle. It felt like some rules had been relaxed.
   David

7. A lyricist doesn’t write music.

8. Very gentle for a Friday, all done in 32 minutes. NHO RIAD or TACAN, but the clueing was generous. I still find myself grinding my teeth when I hear or see references to batters in cricket, but I suspect this battle is lost.
   FOI – LYRICIST
   LOI – AGHAST
   COD – RUBICON
   Thanks to jeremy and other contributors.

9. DNF, giving up with ZENITH and ALCATRAZ unsolved. Kicking myself over the last one, as I have seen Alcaraz play, and have visited Alcatraz.

   Thanks Jeremy and setter

10. 25.59 with LOI nattiest which I hummed and hawed over before finally putting it in. I was convinced that there was a nut in it somewhere. Otherwise steady if not spectacular. Thought yesterday’s was a tad better.

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