Times Cryptic No 29297 — 0.5 upm

Author   plusjeremyPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

24:26, with a full six minutes spent on three unches.

Nearly gave up! This is an all-too-common theme for me lately: I finish almost all of the puzzle, but can’t finish off the last couple of clues.

I found this puzzle solid but fairly gentle, as Fridays go, with mostly straightforward cluing. I always knew what the idea was, just didn’t always have the right vocabulary at hand.

Across
1 A French litter-bearer, possibly old, [but] in good nick (9)
UNDAMAGED – UN (a [in] French) DAM (litter-bearer, possibly) AGED (old)
6 What boozer, on reflection, has to accept? (5)
REHAB – BAR (boozer) reversed (on reflection) around (has to accept) EH (what)

I totally missed this parsing while solving, but gosh, if this clue isn’t perfection, what is?
9 Team left behind close to tears in stadium (7)
ARSENAL – L (left) after (behind) last letter of (close to) TEARS in ARENA (stadium)
10 University dons learnt about not taking sides (7)
NEUTRAL – U (university) in (dons) LEARNT anagrammed (about)
11 Something occurring twice revealed in letters from 1770s (5)
EVENT – hidden twice in (twice revealed in letters from) SEVENTEEN SEVENTIES (1770s)
12 Government satisfied with introduction of new account (9)
STATEMENT – STATE (government) MET (satisfied) around (with introduction of) N (new)
13 Conservative receives millions [for] great opening (5)
CHASM – C (conservative) HAS (receives) M (millions)
14 Popular man had to keep one part suppressed (9)
INHIBITED – IN (popular) HE’D (man had) around (to keep) I (one) BIT (part)
17 Rodent chewed up house and border in garden (9)
GROUNDHOG – GROUND (chewed up) HO (house) + (and) first letter of (border in) GARDEN

I would like to submit a humble boo hiss for ‘border in’ meaning ‘first letter of’. I imagine most of us thought it meant G{arde}N.
18 Vehicle[’s] choice of routes at T-junction close to motorway (5)
LORRY – L OR R (choice of routes at T-junction) + last letter of (close to) MOTORWAY
19 Act as mediator keen on abandoning final decree out of hand (9)
INTERCEDE – INTO (keen on) without the last letter (abandoning final) + DECREE anagrammed (out of hand)
22 Cut off coverage for viewer hosted by network provider (5)
ELIDE – LID (coverage for viewer) in (hosted by) EE (network provider)

EE = ‘network provider’ came up in a puzzle I blogged a few months ago, but here it was much less crucial (and I didn’t remember it, anyway).
24 Writer’s still [showing] sign of depression? (7)
IMPRINT – I’M (writer’s) PRINT (still?)
25 Copy India and China harnessing computing resources (7)
IMITATE – I (India) + (and) MATE (china) around (harnessing) IT (computing resources)
26 Career set back by firm failing to complete tender (5)
NURSE – RUN (career) reversed (set back) + (by) SET (firm) without last letter (failing to complete)
27 Outgoing SMS by madman has first letter appearing last (9)
EXTRAVERT – TEXT (SMS) + (by) RAVER (madman) with first letter at the end (has first letter appearing last)

I know this spelling from the Myers-Briggs personality test — I followed the wordplay carefully, but fortunately the A was a checked letter, otherwise I imagine there would have been loads of errors.
Down
1 America finishes off peacekeeping force [in] practice (5)
USAGE – USA (America) last letters of (finishes off) PEACEKEEPING FORCE
2 Outlaw does perhaps bother to case empty shop (9)
DESPERADO – DEER (does perhaps) ADO (bother) around (to case) SHOP with middle letters removed (empty)
3 What may be used to blow up tiny figure? (9)
MINUTEMAN – MINUTE (tiny) MAN (figure?)

I think this is some sort of missile.
4 Rush to hold up craftsman[’s] glossy flyer (9,6)
GOLDSMITH BEETLE – BEETLE (rush) under (to hold up) GOLDSMITH (craftsman)

This was my last in. Ugh. I had GOLDSMITH _ E _ T _ E for the longest time. I assumed I was looking for a bird of some sort, but I’m not sure I would have gotten it faster if I’d known it was a bug. First of all, I don’t think of beetles as flyers (though I guess they obviously do), and more importantly I’ve never heard RUSH = ‘beetle’. Anyway, I looked away from the computer for a minute or two and when I looked back, I “saw” BEETLE, whatever that means.
5 Cleaner of traps dishearteningly reassembled first of traps, not second (6,9)
DENTAL HYGIENIST – DISHEARTENINGLY anagrammed (reassembled) + first letter of TRAPS – second letter [of TRAPS]

This is a very good find.
6 Course note published charges (5)
ROUTE – OUT (published) in (charges) RE (note)

I still am not used to ‘charges’ as a containment indicator.
7 Mounted soldiers establish or secure borders (5)
HORSE – hidden in (borders) ESTABLISH OR SECURE
8 Corporation’s shipping had finally departed behind schedule (9)
BELATEDLY – BELLY (corporation) is around (‘s shipping) ATE (had) + last letter of (finally) DEPARTED

Tricky. Also not used to ‘shipping’ as a containment indicator.
13 Knowledge and awareness essentially about noticing changes (9)
COGNITION – middle letter of (essentially) ABOUT + NOTICING anagrammed (changes)
15 Performer[’s] short song encapsulating Ireland in verse (9)
BALLERINA – BALLA{d} (short song) around (encapsulating) ERIN (Ireland in verse)
16 Name belonging to partner regularly seen [in] Finnish, we’re told (9)
TERMINATE – TERM (name) IN (belonging to) every other letter in (regularly seen) PARTNER

Uh, is this legal? Definition by homophone? 😛

Also I’m not wild about IN = ‘belonging to’.
20 I’m grateful for every source that enlightens (5)
TAPER – TA (I’m grateful) PER (for every)
21 Jack[’s] hearing about gripping lives (5)
RAISE – EAR (hearing) reversed (about) around (gripping) IS (lives)
23 Put up resistance after introduction of extremely shocking treatment (5)
ERECT – R (resistance) after first letter (introduction) of EXTREMELY + ECT (shocking treatment)

84 comments on “Times Cryptic No 29297 — 0.5 upm”

  1. I am an extrovert but did manage to get it right. Got Goldsnith beetle erroneously Gold – Rush as in 49er smith- craftsman and just biffed beetle. Two days in a row completeed for first time in an age.

  2. Did not attempt today, but had a good look at the blog and posts so far. Besides 17ac and 16d referred to by plusjeremy et al, a couple of extra questions – to help educate the addicted:
    Connection between DAM and ‘litter-bearer’ in 1ac?
    LID as ‘cover for viewer’ in 22ac?
    Is the EE in 22d a ‘network provider’ that is better known in UK or USA?
    Why is HORSE acceptable for ‘mounted soldiers’ in 7d. I have heard of cavalry in USA being called ‘horse soldiers’ – is that it?
    Can see how ‘tender’ might be NURSE at a stretch – but is this reasonable in the context of the other clue elements?
    I suppose it would/will be argued that TAPER is OK for ‘source that enlightens’ (object for lighting a candle or gaslight) based on the generous nature of the rest of the clue for 20d.
    Thank you plusjeremy and other bloggers for the continuing education.
    Thank you all for whatever patience or indulgence you can summon.
    Apologies if any of this crosses concurrent posts by others.

    1. Hi,
      A dam is a mother animal, which might bear a litter of babies.
      A lid or eyelid covers a ‘viewer’.
      EE, originally Everything Everywhere, is one of the major mobile network operators in the UK.
      ‘Horse’ by itself can be used informally to refer to cavalry.

      1. Much appreciated.
        As soon as I posted I also thought of the Australian Light Horse Regiment.

        1. And DAMs are female whereas SIREs are male.

          And thinking about it SIRE can be a verb whereas I don’t believe DAM can be.

    2. Dam as in horses mothers are ALWAYS called Dams, and for other creatures is OK.
      Lid=eyelid so is cover for viewer.
      Does and stags are female and male deer. Hinds as well.
      From Wiki: “EE Limited (formerly Everything Everywhere Limited)” is a network provider, a big one in UK at least.
      “Fifteenth horse” might be a regiment of cavalry.
      I’m OK with a nurse as someone who tends.
      Tapers are a variety of candle.

  3. Was a bit unhappy with border only giving the first letter, but the border of a country point that Jack mentioned convinces me. In 24ac a print is I think a photograph, a still. A bit of a stretch but OK I think. The bird at 4dn was unheard of. Had to look up Goldsmith in Chambers to get the answer. Not the horror of the recent Fridays but still hard enough for me, 74 minutes.

  4. Technical DNF as I used aids, but actually none of them gave me the answers! In any case Fridays usually demand them so I was just happy to complete under my own steam.
    Never bothered to untangle the anagram for 5 dn, I just waited for crossers and bunged it in once it was clear. Spent far too long thinking the source of enlightenment in 20 dn was one of those obscure eastern disciplines (TAOISM, or some such).
    FOI ARSENAL
    LOI IMPRINT.
    For its sheer economy and red-herring-ness COD must go to 21 dn RAISE.

  5. Thanks plusjeremy and setter for a good Friday puzzle – i.e. one I could finish. Not an easy one to blog though as I did a fair amount of biffing.
    17a Groundhog, yes I was trying to use G(arde)N rather than just G.
    19a Intercede. I was tempted by intervene but decided that cede was closer than vene. Never parsed it obv.
    27a Extravert, I can’t spell this but the ExtrOvert was corrected by 15d, and anyway the clue showed me I was wrong when I decided to actually parse it.
    3d Minuteman, I remember reading about these missiles in Readers Digest in the early 1960s, so not exactly up to date then.
    4d Goldsmith beetle. Cheated here by looking it up, and yes, it does exist and is shiny. Added to Cheating Machine. Also added ballerino, thanks to Mike Harper and JerryW.

  6. Tired and off the wavelength, but got through. Slowly. REHAB was brilliant. Totally missed the parsing of EVENT, and STILL/PRINT (slight post-blog MER). No real MER at 16 ac; I don’t like it but I’m sure we’ve seen it many times before. ELIDE a bit of a guess… EE WTF? Put in EXTROVERT wondering why a rover was crazy. Eventually BALLERINO didn’t parse and BALLERINA did, so it had it be the misspelled EXTRAVERT.

  7. All fairly straightforward until the dreaded BEETLE. I even googled GOLDSMITH CENTRE to see if it was a thing, but it wasn’t. Incomplete as I had to come here when my patience ran out. Thank you

  8. I was taken just outside target at 45.37, mainly trying to sort out GOLDSMITH BEETLE. I spent three or four minutes trying to think of something to go with GOLDSMITH which was the easy part. I eventually broadened my thoughts to cover insects instead of birds, and came up with BEETLE. I wasn’t totally convinced that this was a synonym for ‘rush’, as I’ve only ever used the expression ‘to beetle around’ to signify a more leisurely speed. I was a little surprised to find it was right.

  9. Nice puzzle, 25 minutes, guessed the BEETLE part, didn’t parse ERECT, thanks jeremy.

  10. At 38:51, I think this would have been my first ever unaided Friday solve, if not for the dastardly EXTRAVERT, which went in as EXTROVERT. And yes, I did manage to convince myself that BALLERINO was a thing.

    Edit: Have now read others’ comments. It IS a thing! This makes it all the more heart-breaking.

    Never thought a spelling mistake would stop me like this!

  11. All but some of the SW corner completed , so a huge improvement on last Friday’s nonsense.
    Struggle to accept that beetle and rush are synonyms. It’s more of a scurrying movement but without generating great speed.

    2. For me beetling definitely involves speed.. so does scurrying, come to that.
      It’s how you were brought up perhaps

  12. 10:41. This one seems to have divided opinion. I really liked it, it required attention to wordplay and there were some nice original touches. 6ac is superb.
    I’m glad the A in EXTRAVERT was checked.
    I once saw Myers-Briggs (which I’ve had to endure a few times in my career) described as ‘homeopathy for HR departments’.

        1. I think I read Ben Goldacre once ‘praising’ homoeopathy as the one alternative therapy that can at least claim compliance with the ‘do no harm’ element of the Hippocratic oath. Of course, ‘do nothing else either’ was implied.

          1. Damning with faint praise!
            Goldacre has always been a vocal opponent of making homeopathy available on the NHS.
            My doctor friends are a bit divided on this. I have one friend who is sees it as a useful tool for ‘making time wasters go away’. The others (rightly in my view) regard it as fundamentally dishonest.

  13. 38.51

    Snitch in the red but happy enough to finish when the two long ‘uns held out till the end.
    Otherwise, Jeremy/Keriothe mirrored my thoughts.

  14. Beaten by the Beetle, sadly.
    I also spent quite a while wondering why a Rover would be considered a Madman.
    A mixture today of really nice clues and some odd ones, I thought – with Terminate in the latter category.

  15. I came here because I was confused by extravert. I googled it but only found the spelling extrovert.
    I think 24ac would have been better as “writer’s letters showing sign of depression”.
    The one about 1770s (11ac) has been used before, about a year ago I think in a Saturday prize puzzle.

  16. Well done for persevering Jeremy. I am also often in the last-two-blank camp. I worry that my brain finally gives up when I hit ‘the wall’ that marathon runners describe in the last few miles, because these last few, I’ve decided, are not necessarily the hardest in the grid. I know I should push through but sometimes there are just other things to get on with goddamit.

    Interestingly I had BEETLE for ages, which I do know as a word for rushing around (like a beetle?) but couldn’t think of a tradesman, which, on reflection, was a bit slow of me.

    Thanks for your blog.

  17. Enjoyed this one. No recorded time but probably around the hour. Similar experience to others with the beetle and extravert. Massive PDM when I finally saw dental hygienist.

    For the record I’m liking the introduction of these new clueing techniques.

    Thanks setter / editor / Jeremy

  18. Sunday evening and 32’11”, thankfully missing the EXTRAVERT trap — but only just. Once again I nearly convinced myself of something fundamentally stupid, in this case that MADMAN = ROVER. Note to self: if it’s not water-tight, it leaks. I had no idea there were two ways to spell EXTRAVERT. And BALLERINO seemed pretty plausible. Weren’t MINUTEMAN missiles named after the citizen-soldiers who fired the first shots in the American War of Independence? When they attacked that group of redcoats returning to Boston from somewhere or another. Had to guess the BEETLE and assume EE was an Internet provider. Many thanks.

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