Times Cryptic 27446

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

Solving time: 41 minutes. I found this one quite straightforward. Although there were a couple of obscurities they didn’t delay me unduly.

As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]

Across

1 Against mum’s the word “nonsense” (4)
TOSH : TO (against), SH (mum’s the word)
3 £51 rise arranged? This might make things go smoothly (10)
LIQUIDISER : LI (51), QUID (£), anagram [arranged] of RISE
9 Opening large part of church (7)
CHANCEL : CHANCE (opening),  L (large). It’s the part near the altar that’s usually reserved for priests and choir.
11 Obsolete furnace regularly comes in handy (7)
DEFUNCT : {f}U{r}N{a}C{e} [regularly] is contained by [comes in] DEFT (handy)
12 Perhaps I fix judgement (13)
PRONOUNCEMENT : PRONOUN (perhaps I), CEMENT (fix)
14 What will hold little new in clothes (5)
TONGS : N (little new), contained by [in] TOGS (clothes)
15 Swimming rat is with an aquatic mammal dealer (9)
TRADESMAN : Anagram [swimming] of RAT, DESMAN (aquatic mammal). I’ve never heard of this creature: Either of two semi-aquatic insectivorous shrewlike mammals of the mole family Talpidae, Desmana moschata of Russia, and Galemys pyrenaicus of the Pyrenees (SOED). This seems to be its first appearance in a 15×15. Google reveals that it has turned up once in a Times Two puzzle and on three occasions in Mephistos.
17 Country‘s in the middle of Blitz – thus panic, man (9)
LITHUANIA : {b}LIT{z}, {t}HU{s}, {p}ANI{c}, {m}A{n} [middle of]
19 Walrus, perhaps with the beginning of tusk pain (5)
TACHE : T{usk} [beginning], ACHE (pain). Famous wearers of this type of moustache include Theodore Roosevelt and Mark Twain.
21 Obscure university name one with child identifying as the other sex (13)
UNTRANSPARENT : U (university), N (name), TRANS (identifying as the other sex), PARENT (one with child)
24 Sanction sellers? Not very English (7)
ENDORSE : {v}ENDORS (sellers) [not very], E (English)
25 Old language of a Roman emperor, missing core of Latin (7)
IBERIAN : {t}IBERIAN (of a Roman emperor) [missing core of Latin]
26 Message to many that might have felt tremor in a quake (4,6)
FORM LETTER : Anagram [in a quake] of FELT TREMOR. Not quite the term I’m familiar with but it’s a standardised letter sent to many people.
27 Knock down chap that emits a cry of pain (4)
FELL : FELL{ow} (chap) [emits a cry of pain – ow!]
Down
1 Great many turned up about London, say, as the top attraction (2,3,2,3)
TO CAP IT ALL : LOT (great many) reversed [turned up] containing [about] CAPITAL (London, say)
2 Petty quarrel gets personal – cure may be found here (3,4)
SPA TOWN : SPAT (petty quarrel), OWN (personal)
4 Long sit-in arranged in left-leaning London borough (9)
ISLINGTON : Anagram [arranged] of LONG SIT IN. A hot-bed of socialism if the Daily Mail is to be believed, but anyway its two constituencies (North and South) are represented in Parliament by Jeremy Corbyn and Emily Thornbury, neither of whom could be mistaken for darlings of the right.
5 European Union up for supporting German and extreme (5)
UNDUE : UND (German ‘and’), EU (European Union) reversed [up]
6 Classify as separate after definite mutating (13)
DIFFERENTIATE : Anagram [mutating] of AFTER DEFINITE
7 Reserved space putting in new court for the centre of Salisbury (7)
SANCTUM : N (new) + CT (court) replaces [for] the centre of SA{r}UM (Salisbury). ‘Sarum’ can refer to the modern city of Salisbury or the ruins of the old one, and is often preceded by ‘New’ or ‘Old’ in order to 6dn.
8 List of those working for Catholic court (4)
ROTA : Two meanings, the second being unknown to me
10 Bridging a gap to get over very popular river (5-8)
CROSS-CULTURAL : CROSS (get over), CULT (very popular), URAL (river). ‘Very popular among a particular group of people’ might be a more accurate definiton of ‘cult’, and the group itself might be very small.
13 Like a gut feeling during exam over last missing header (10)
INTESTINAL : IN (during), TEST (exam), {f}INAL  (last) [missing header]
16 A mother pig that’s found in mud? (5,4)
ADAMS WINE : A, DAM (mother), SWINE (pig). Colloquially this is ‘water’ and water is a consituent of mud, but is there something more to the definition that I’m missing?
18 Tail end of shift hours leading subordinate to crack? (7)
THUNDER : {shif}T [tail end], H (hours), UNDER (subordinate to). As in the expression ‘crack of thunder’.
20 Loose garment with edging is used in church (7)
CHEMISE : HEM (edging) + IS contained by [used in] CE (church)
22 Expert working on involving deputy (5)
ADEPT : AT (working on) containing [involving] DEP (deputy)
23 British raised charge for grouse (4)
BEEF : B (British), FEE (charge) reversed [raised]. Both terms are slang for complain or moan. Many of the pubs in the villages near where I live are old buildings with low beams in the ceilings and display notices warning taller customers to ‘Duck or Grouse!’

48 comments on “Times Cryptic 27446”

  1. I bombed out in the SE for a DNF in just under an hour. Entered TRADESMAN in hope, then ‘aves(pas)ian’ for the ‘Old language’ at 25a and had a mental blank for SWINE at 16d, entering ‘slake’ instead. I’d only heard of ‘Adam’s ale’ for ‘water’ – when you go to Wikipedia for ADAMS WINE, that’s where you’re re-directed.

    I’m not too keen on UNTRANSPARENT – a good word for management-speak, but not much else. PRONOUNCEMENT was my favourite.

    Thank you to setter and blogger.

    1. Can we justify the position of trans then parent instead of parent then trans?
      1. One with a child identifying with the other sex, i.e. a trans child, is a trans parent.
      2. At the time I just assumed that a “trans parent” could refer to a parent with a transgender child, in which case the clue seems to make perfect sense (i.e. “trans parent” = “one with child identifying as the other sex”.)

        I’m fairly sure I’ve heard the term used like that, but I’m not convinced I could find you a reference in any of the usual dictionaries; more normally a “trans parent” would be a transgender person who has children, I’d’ve thought…

        Edited at 2019-09-03 09:34 pm (UTC)

        1. Kevin’s reading as above (which was mine as I solved and blogged) seems perfectly reasonable to me considering that we’re discussing wordplay which doesn’t have to be taken absolutely literally anyway.
  2. Way off the wavelength, just couldn’t see where many of the clues were pointing. Got there in the end with only 3 guessable unknowns, the desman, rota and Adam’s wine, so no complaints. Liked spa town, was expecting something a little &littish like sit-down.
    Overall: setter 1, solver 0.
  3. Found this hard to get started, fun in the middle, but impossible to finish. I’ve just read a book which mentioned a lot of Roman emperors, and Tiberius might’ve been among them, but I couldn’t come up with him, especially as I’d also never heard of ADAM’S WINE (only Adam’s ale) and only had the first half of 16d.

    My hour bell went off when I was still trying to think of what mud could have been to Adam.

  4. I DNF since I went for SELL instead of FELL, since “knock down” can mean sell in a auction, but I didn’t see how the rest of the clue worked (obv because it didn’t). But the rest was fine despite unknowns like DESMAN and ADAMS WINE.
  5. This was a slog from the start, capped by a failure to check a biffed entry. DESMAN never occurred to me–spent some time trying to work in OTTER, then just gave up and biffed. TACHE took ages, even though I’ve seen it here a few times; we say ‘stache/stash’ (well, I don’t, but). But I got them in the end, but forgot to go back and examine UNDIE. I’m another who’s never come across ADAM’S WINE.
  6. 21.30, agonising over ROTA having no idea about the Catholic court, puzzling over ADAM’S WINE (I agree about the “found in mud” definition – weird) and missing out on the Russian insectivore (no zoo I’ve been in has one).
    I didn’t fully crack 1d: the enumeration kind of made it easily fillable and I don’t think I got beyond the sounzabitlike capital.
    Back in my Hackney days, I did quite a bit of work (I was helping people into employment) in the grottier bits of Islington: His Tonyness used to live in one of the posher bits, Jezza still does, as (I think) does Neil Kinnock. Even Lenin called it home once, so its left leaning credentials are impeccable, were it not for the super-gentrification that it has endured/enjoyed, such that Boris only moved out when he got the flat over the shop in Downing Street.
    1. Oh, and for Douglas Adams fans, there really is an estate agent called Hotblack Desiato.
  7. Straightforward for me. Liked PRONOUNCEMENT. If we were expected to consider everything that water is found in, it would be a very long list.
    1. And mud doesn’t necessarily have water in it, whatever the dictionaries say. Not that it caused me a problem: I had no idea what ADAM’S WINE was but what else are you going to do with ‘pig’ and S_I_E?
  8. I remember Desman coming up a few years ago in a 15×15, clued as a mole. Reminded me of a song I’d heard. Fell at the last today alas.

    Edited at 2019-09-03 07:27 am (UTC)

  9. A full fifty minutes on this, with LOI IBERIAN. I’ve never heard of ADAM’S WINE. We called water ADAM’S ALE. Perhaps this is the Waitrose version. It had to be TRADESMAN, but I’ve never knowingly met a desman.I wasn’t sure that CROSS-CULTURAL quite worked, but I guess a cult figure is a popular one. COD to SPA TOWN, only hit upon when all the sea options had been exhausted. Thank you Jack and setter.
    1. Brewer’s suggests that ‘Adam’s wine’ is a Scottish variant on ‘Adam’s ale’.
  10. 35 mins with yoghurt, granola, etc.
    Mostly I liked the LI Quid iser.
    I am pleased to have learned of a (NHO before) Desman – the cute, little, snouty chap.
    Thanks to the setter and J.
  11. Maybe water is referred to as ADAMS WINE (though nobody seems to have come across this) but “found in mud” as a definition?? Dreadful clue. I think the setter got carried away by a nice surface.
  12. I wonder if the setter was thinking of how Adam was made (the word ‘adam’ is the same as ‘earth’) and conflated two things?

    I am now fixated on famous Desmans.

    22’22” thanks jack and setter.

  13. Why is it that I always get stuck on the last one? In this case it was -E-L where I was trying to work on it why it was YELL without much luck. I had the clue a… over t.. of course.
    And no, I’ve no idea about the mud either. COD PRONOUNCEMENT simple but effective
  14. Gave up after 20 minutes, having been stuck for the last 8 of those with four missing.

    I deliberately went straight to UNTRANSPARENT when I came here, and, in the unlikely event of my having solved it (I really dislike it now it’s explained), I would have got CROSS-CULTURAL.

    I considered IBERIAN, but wasn’t sure it was a language, and couldn’t see the emperor. Perhaps he was wearing new clothes….

    ADAM’S WINE also eluded me, but probably shouldn’t have done. NHO DESMAN. or the religious meaning of ROTA. At least I solved those two.

    COD PRONOUNCEMENT

  15. I just wasn’t sure whether to enter ” Tradesman” or “Traderman” as I thought that Derman would more likely be an aquatic mammal. So I put in Traderman with an S superimposed on the R. You can do that on the hard copy!
    99.5% complete?
  16. Having drawn a blank in the NW, I tried one or two of the shorter clues elsewhere with the same result, and applied my “perhaps the setter will have eased off by the far SE” rule, and popped FELL straight in, quickly followed by TACHE, BEEF, ENDORSE and FORM LETTER. THUNDER and LITHUANIA then went in and I had my footholds. Had to rely on definition for the unknown DESMAN, and on list for ROTA. ADAMS WINE is another NHO, but fitted the wordplay, and is a constituent of mud(MER). Liked LIQUIDISER. 1d fell next and led to a rapid filling of the NW. CHEMISE, INTESTINAL and IBERIAN were the last 3 in. A fun puzzle. 32:59. Thanks setter and Jack.
  17. … many of the people above. Finished, correctly, rather surprised, in 30 minutes, with several not really understood – DK DESMAN, biffed LITHUANIA , ROTA half understood, UNTRANSPARENT is a word? ADAMS WINE is water so in mud? Also had YELL for a while until tried to parse it and saw FELL(OW) was better. Not my favourite puzzle.
  18. 13:59 so a shade slower than normal, which I will also ascribe to Labor day sleepiness. ROTA and ADAM’S WINE went in from partial understanding.
  19. Fairly straightforward today, the only issues being a couple of four-letter words: ROTA (second meaning unknown) and my LOI FELL, which required an alphabet-trawl, although happily not a very long one. 7m 37s.

    Good to see PRONOUN+CEMENT still doing the rounds!

  20. 19:09. Same difficulties with funny words as everyone else, but I enjoyed the tussle.
  21. 44 mins seems like a slow solve compared to commentators here. But I enjoyed it.
    I particularly liked the LITHUIANIA clue: I held back from biffing it for a long while until I spotted the word-centres. I shrugged at the putative desman; I never cease to be amazed at Mother Nature’s evolutionary diversity so TRADESMAN went straight in. I think we’ve had TOSH at 1a quite recently — is it possible to search/check that? Anyway it was my FOI. Didn’t know the Catholic rota nor Adam’s wine, but I certainly couldn’t do anything else with ‘pig’ = S_N_E. I think mud must contain water.
    Good fun. Good blog. Thanks.

  22. Managed to get most of this but fell short on the obscurities mentioned above.
    At 21a I was trying to justify UNINFORMATIVE which made the SE very tough.Having got INTESTINAL I gave up and came here.
    David
  23. My brain is gradually slipping into power-saving mode on holiday, as witnessed by my taking 38 minutes for this one. Like most of you, I shrugged at ADAM’S WINE and at the other meaning of ROTA.

    I am continuing my revisitation of Ian Fleming books, and am playing a long game of smoke-along-a-Bond.

    1. On her Majesty’s Senior Service, I expect?
      I can hear you cry, Doctor, No!? Or is that your patients? Enjoy Rhyl.
  24. I came late to this after lazing through the Labor Day weekend. No guests and no cooking to speak of and living off the laurels from the previous weekend’s Dutchess County Fair where we managed to bring home a few ribbons for flowers and veg.

    Oh, the puzzle. I seem to have been pretty much on wavelength. It didn’t need too much of a miracle to change the ale into wine in Adam’s beverage. Tiberius was an important character in I Claudius and, even though Seneca said he had some nasty habits, in the TV series he was played by George Baker who morphed into Inspector Wexford so he was hard to dislike. 16.12

  25. I went for FELL on the premise that there must be a typo in the clue: “omits” instead of “emits”. Surely as written the answer must be FELLOW for chap. Jeffrey
  26. Same as others in not knowing a few bits of this, such as desman. NHO that. And I ended by choosing between AMASS WINE and ADAMS WINE, where the latter looked like something that might exist, although I’d not heard of it. I liked the LITHUANIA clue. Regards. And kudos to Olivia for snatching a few ribbons at the Fair. Stiff competition there.
  27. Another DNF thanks to the far SE, probably I should have got FELL but I agree with others that omits/emits is a bit awkward. Had ROLL (as in a ship’s movement, listing, rolling, yawing etc) for ROTA for a while until I hit DEFUNCT and had to revise, between this and EPISCOPATE yesterday we seem to be having a very RC period. Biffed on TRADESMAN and ADAMS WINE like most others seem to have done. FOI FORM LETTER LOI ADAMS WINE DNF FELL COD SPA TOWN
  29. Mud,mud, for hippos it’s fine
    Because they’re addicted to old Adam’s wine

    as Flanders and Swann didn’t record

  30. A shocker of a crossword really, 21 gets ‘parent’ and ‘trans’ the wrong way round, 10 dn has a plainly incorrect definition for ‘cult’ – if something has a cult following it is not something that is universally popular, 13dn has a shoddy definition as does 16dn. If they continue in this vein it’s back to the Grauniad.
  31. 40:44 albeit the first 40 mins was separated from the last 44 seconds by about 8 hours. I ran out of time on my lunchtime solve and had to get the last two, untransparent and cross-cultural after work. Of course they came to me almost immediately. Liked liquidiser. NHO desman so slightly hesitant to enter tradesman. DNK the catholic court but list was sufficient for rota. 16dn went in on wp all slotting neatly into place, didn’t know the expression and didn’t “get” the definition.

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