Times Cryptic 27746

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

Solving time: 40 minutes. Nothing too difficult here. I just needed to work steadily through it.

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]. I usually omit all reference to positional indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.

Across
1 Bans others spoiling something in the woods (6,4)
BASSET HORN : Anagram [spoiling] of BANS OTHERS. Woods = woodwind instruments. The basset horn is a member of the clarinet family.
6 Requests jobs taking no time at all (4)
ASKS : {t}ASKS (jobs) [taking no time at all]
9 Attempt to capture tree’s branching pattern (7)
TRACERY : TRY (attempt) containing [to capture] ACER (tree). SOED defines this as any delicate interweaving of lines or threads; an interlacing of foliage etc
10 Undecided and nervous about tango (7)
NEUTRAL : NEURAL (nervous) containing [about] T (tango – NATO alphabet). I think one can be very firmly decided to be neutral!
12 Scarcity of boxes containing pictures, with 100 missing (10)
SPARSENESS : SPARS (boxes)  containing S{c}ENES (pictures) [100  – C – missing]
13 Walk   home (3)
PAD : Two meanings
15 Unseated by horse, one the Queen’s sat on, reportedly? (6)
THROWN : Sounds like [reportedly] “throne” (one the Queen’s sat on)
16 Starts to take in folder in auto? (4,4)
JUMP SEAT : JUMPS (starts), EAT (take in). Collins has this as a folding seat in a motor vehicle such as in a London taxi.
18 Typical boys’ toys — racing’s ending in terrible tragedy (8)
GADGETRY : {racin}G (ending) contained by [in] anagram [terrible] of TRAGEDY
20 Reason one’s seeking carpet dealer’s style? (6)
FORMAT : A straight definition preceded by a cryptic one leading to the alternatively spaced FOR MAT
23 Bird’s endless murmur (3)
COO : COO{t} (bird) [endless]
24 Expert adviser is relentless about fuel regularly being wasted (10)
CONSULTANT : CONSTANT (relentless) containing [about] {f}U{e}L [regularly being wasted]
26 Coming in to arrange licence dealing with spirits (7)
ANGELIC : Hidden in [coming in to] {arr}ANGE LIC{ence}
27 Infantile mistake about an extra cut (7)
BABYISH : BISH (mistake) containing [about] BY{e} (an extra – run in cricket) [cut]
28 Bowler, perhaps, English cannot stand (4)
HATE : HAT (bowler, perhaps), E (English)
29 English following Queen close in strange Brexit vote? (10)
REFERENDUM : E (English – again so soon!) + F (following) + ER (Queen) + END (close), all contained by [in] RUM (strange)
Down
1 Each cubicle is deficient in oxygen (4)
BOTH : BO{o}TH (cubicle) [deficient in oxygen]
2 Run small van in which it is easy to crash? (7)
SCAMPER : S (small), CAMPER (van in which it is easy to crash – sleep)
3 Reconstructed by police with newer aid to facial definition (7,6)
EYEBROW PENCIL : Anagram [reconstructed] of BY POLICE NEWER
4 Boisterous girl getting home by boat (6)
HOYDEN : HOY (boat), DEN (home). We had this quite recently when it was new to some.
5 Note in race 100% rising for near winner (6-2)
RUNNER-UP : N (note) contained by [in] RUN (race), then PURE (100%) reversed [rising]
7 Female holding up opening part of choral piece (7)
STROPHE : SHE (female) containing [holding] PORT (opening) reversed [up]. Collins has this as the first of two movements made by a chorus during the performance of a choral ode. This meaning was unknown to me despite having what I thought was a fairly extensive knowledge of choral music. Or maybe it’s something I knew once but have since forgotten. We had ‘reduced opening’ cluing POR{?} in the puzzle on Monday of last week and most of us went for ‘pore’ as the word needing its last letter removed, but one solver (vinyl1, I think) suggested ‘port’ as an alternative, a thought that came in very handy for this one!
8 Using electronics is old hat on board — rubbish diode, ultimately (5-5)
SOLID-STATE : O (old) + LID (hat) contained by SS [on board], then TAT (rubbish),  {diod}E [ultimately]. ‘Using electronics’ – transistors or chips as opposed to using valves or other mechanical parts.
11 Being incapable when about to drink alcohol is not to be tolerated (13)
UNSUPPORTABLE : UNABLE (being incapable) containing [about} SUP (drink) + PORT (alcohol)
14 One teaching acting ability that moves people? (10)
STAGECOACH : STAGE COACH (one teaching acting ability)
17 Low-down about right pain producing wine (8)
GRENACHE : GEN (low-down – information) containing [about] R (right), then ACHE (pain)
19 Doctor has a duty in time of want (7)
DROUGHT : DR (doctor), OUGHT (has a duty)
21 People very angry about new family (7)
MANKIND : MAD (very angry) containing [about] N (new) + KIN (family)
22 Law about British billions remains (6)
RUBBLE : RULE (law) containing [about] B (British) + B (billions)
25 Fancy the man supporting wife (4)
WHIM : W (wife), HIM (the man)

47 comments on “Times Cryptic 27746”

  1. It was my second last in, but the chorus referred to in STROPHE is the theatrical chorus rather than the musical chorus.
    I needed the wordplay to put together JUMP SEAT and BASSET HORN, I think I was around 13 minutes.
  2. Very slow, felt like wading through treacle. Seemed like too many words in many of the clues to make sense of, often had to guess an answer and see if the clue could be reverse-engineered. No idea of the technical details of strophe, or what a basset horn was… thinking maybe what fox-hunters use (do they have basset hounds?) and the clue was somehow an &lit. Excellent puzzle, though, but not easy for me.
  3. LOI STROPHE, never heard of, but it parsed better than any alternative I could think of. Liked PAD, which was POI, for its cunning simplicity. MER at 1d BOTH for each. Glad to remember HOYDEN from a recent outing. Thanks to setter and Jack.
    25:52
    1. One of my pet hates in “evolving English” is game show presenters and interviewers who say “You’ve both got two points each”.
  4. I remembered HOYDEN, but I thought the “home” was HO, and so I was having trouble seeing how YDEN came about. Otherwise, no real problems. I remembered STROPHE too, although I couldn’t tell you exactly what it is.
  5. I was pleased to work through this pretty quickly (for me). There were not too many I could biff, so I had it almost fully parsed before submission.

    Like others I imagined BASSET HORN as something in the forest (a hunting horn?). I hesitated over PAD (but there was no other real option) and took a while to equate BOTH with “each”. And I managed to change scarper to SCAMPER for my LOI.

  6. Slow going, especially in the NE. I never thought of woodwinds until I thought of HORN–I don’t think I’ve ever seen them referred to as woods. JUMP finally occurred to me at 16ac, which gave me the T for SOLID-STATE, which gave me the D for PAD and the L for NEUTRAL, and thence to LOI STROPHE, those last 5 in about a minute and a half. Once I had TRACERY, I was sure 4d was HOYDEN, but it took me a long time to figure out why, since I didn’t know (or forgot?) HOY. Like Jack, I thought ‘undecided’ was less than apt for NEUTRAL. (Sweden dithering over whether to join the Allies or the Axis?)
    1. Quite so Kevin. If you’re neutral, you’ve made a choice to be so, rather being undecided (which implies you’ll eventually jump one way or another).

      As Rush so aptly put it “if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice”.

  7. Sadly, I didn’t look past “pore” at 7d, so one letter wrong in 33 minutes. It might’ve been because I happened to look at it next after I’d put 17d GRENACHE in, so I was primed for making up unlikely words. Ah well.
  8. but it seemed longer. A bit stodgy but nothing much to complain about.
  9. 41 minutes. LOI STROPHE, meaning unknown and construction incorrectly made by putting TROP in SHE without knowing why. I didn’t get on well with this, apart from the old physicist in me biffing SOLID STATE and then retrofitting the laboured construction. The only JUMP SEAT I’ve knowingly sat on is behind the pilot in a plane. I eventually got BASSET HORN but recent puzzles have exposed my woeful ignorance of many matters musical. I’ll make GRENACHE COD as I need a drink after this. Thank you Jack and setter.

    Edited at 2020-08-18 07:05 am (UTC)

  10. 17:15. LOI Scamper. Like Jackkt I was puzzled by strophe being referred to as part of a choral piece – thanks to George for explaining. LOI SCAMPER. I liked the deception of “in the woods” at 1A. SPARSENESS put paid to my attempt to make something of UNDER TABLE for my COD UNSUPPORTABLE.
  11. After 30 mins I had Strophe/Jump Seat left – so I gave up. I was demoralised after my tussle with Bossen Hart… I mean Basset Horn.
    Thanks setter and J.
    1. I toyed with the Bossen hart, too. Apparently whoso list to hunt will have trouble finding one of them, though.
  12. Came unstuck in the NW. NHO BASSET HORN and entered SLEEPER at 2D thereby making 9ac impossible. Someone said here recently that if a clue doesn’t fit the wordplay don’t bung it in. Why didn’t I listen? Did not remember HOYDEN either. Liked GRENACHE, our local grape type down here and one I worked with for many years. Delicious. Like BW I need a glass right now. Makes great Rose. Thank you Jackkt and setter.
  13. Something of a piecemeal solve over 23.34, failing to spot that GRENACHE is not spelled with two As and one E, despite the wordplay.
    SPARSENESS was nearly SCARCENESS until I realised the wordplay didn’t happen and scarce was already in the clue.
    SCAMPER, like Starstruck, was very nearly SCARPER while I spent time wondering how the van bit worked.
    TRACERY I parsed as RACE in TRY, uneasy at the idea that tree might represent race as in family tree. Indeed, at several points I felt the setter was sailing close to the prevailing wind, inviting a pro/anti comment on Brexit and gender stereotyping boys toys. I’m sure someone could take offence at “fancy man supporting wife” if so inclined/touchy.
    I’ve never knowingly sung a STROPHE, though I knew the meaning which Chambers slightly sniffily allows as equivalent to a stanza, many of which I have sung. I was happy to rest with that even if it felt a bit odd.

    Edited at 2020-08-18 08:33 am (UTC)

    1. The REFERENDUM clue is clearly pro- or anti-Brexit but you can’t tell which so it’s hard to take offence.

      Edited at 2020-08-18 08:43 am (UTC)

  14. 12:04. Some trickyish things in here but nothing too hard and a nice mental workout.
    I thought it was a bit unfair to clue HOYDEN by reference to HOY (double obscurity) and ‘undecided’ for NEUTRAL seems wrong as others have noted. BASSET HORN from wordplay, I didn’t spot the musical connection either – doh! We had a discussion about ‘winds’ referring to wind instruments a few weeks ago (it can).

    Edited at 2020-08-18 08:19 am (UTC)

  15. Mozart’s wonderful K622 needs a BASSET HORN not a clarinet, so that helped me start. First movement Allegro making good progress, then slow, sad Adagio in the middle, round in circles finishing with the angelic Rondo.
    1. Snap. I was thinking of whichever Mozart horn concerto is the one Michael Flanders adapts for Ill Wind.
  16. Some chewy bits here, as it seems everyone else also discovered. Didn’t know the BASSET HORN but worked it out, and my mostly-forgotten classics helped me to STROPHE, once my brain stopped insisting it must be SCRUPLE, so just put it in and move on.

    RE: the basset horn, in a quiz forum we both frequent, verlaine and I were both recently delighted to learn that when allocating instruments to the sections of an orchestra, a didgeridoo (made of wood) is a brass instrument, but a saxophone (made of brass) is a woodwind instrument. Obviously.

  18. How is ‘using electronics’, or just ‘electronics’ ‘solid-state’? Solid-state is an adjective isn’t it? The definition doesn’t seem to be an adjective.
    1. I think “using electronics” is a participle phrase functioning as an adjective.
      1. Well I suppose so, but it seems a very weak clue. No setter should clue ‘solid-state’ as ‘using electronics’, I should have thought. The link may be there but is thin.
  19. Stumbling along in a drought: eventually got there in 48 minutes. Not quite at Othello’s level of blundering around. joekobi
  20. 23.11 but one wrong. Worked out the reasoning for 7 dn but opted for pore rather than port producing the unknown serophe rather than the equally arcane- to meat least-strophe. Damn. Anyone else fall in that trap?

    Apart from that, solid rather than spectacular progress. FOI both which gave me a false sense of confidence before the harder clues kicked in. Liked basset horn,jump seat and solid state.

    Good puzzle all round.

  22. but held up for ages by the JUMP SEAT STROPHE crossers, both of which I didn’t know, likewise GRENACHE. STAGECOACH a very obvious device, but never seen it before. We’ve had BASSET HORN before somewhere, so at least I’d heard of it, but it took getting the answer to get the meaning of woods.
  23. An enjoyable puzzle in which I’ve learned two new musical references. I hadn’t heard of STROPHE in that sense, or heard of the BASSET HORN. I did get the reference to “woods” though, so HORN went in and BASSET followed as the only sensible arrangement of letters, confirmed by BOTH. No problems with SOLID STATE. EYEBROW PENCIL caused a furrowed brow while I wrote out and juggled the fodder. SCARPER quickly turned into SCAMPER, and BABYISH brought up the rear. 27:02. Thanks setter and Jack.
  24. Vinyl wasn’t the only one thinking of a fungus. Then things got a bit Frenchified because I remembered a poem I had to learn for French A level which had the line “Dieu que le son du cor est triste au fond des bois”. It goes on a bit but sounded about right so I missed the orchestra section altogether. I also tried for “ganache” which is a chocolate thingy rather than a wine. 22.03
  25. Enjoyed this one, took 45 minutes without ever getting totally stuck. Deduced the BASSET HORN eventually without knowing if it was a weird fungus or a type of instrument. Have now just listened to some YouTube Mozart played by a Basset horn trio, very sympa. MER EACH = BOTH? MER Angelic for dealing with spirits? But not unreasonable I guess. Seems an age since Brexit dominated the news – now botched exam results have surpassed covid for a while.
  26. Scarper, Serophe, Jump .e.t – aargh. 16a was particularly niggly because I was sure that ‘starts’ had to ‘take in folder’ to get to ‘auto’ – the misdirection certainly got me. And when many people put pore in last week, I got port – role reversal today! As others have said, it was a bit of a slog, with little opportunity for biffing – I suppose that’s a good thing really. All the same, Not a Very Good Day with three wrong in just under an hour.

    I was sure we’ve seen BASSET HORN before, so googled it just now – it was, among others, the subject of the Sunday Times clue-writing contest in September 2017. The winning clue was Playing brass? No, the clarinet. I also discovered that it was in # 26960, which Jack blogged back in Feb 2018 (or has someone already commented on that?)

    FOI Asks
    COD Eyebrow pencil
    DNF

    Thanks setter and Jack

      1. Yeah – I thought it was great. So many talented people out there 😊
  27. 31:16. I found my attention wandering a bit during this solve. I think a lot of the clues denied me immediate access and instead of focusing I started to drift. Got there in the end though after a bit of a tussle to get the unknown jump seat and unfamiliar strophe (was a whisker away from both jump lead and serophe). I remember basset horn from my efforts to clue it for the ST clue writing competition a couple of years ago. The winning entry (not mine) was: Playing brass? No, the clarinet. On reflection I can see that my own over-hasty entry did not work.
  28. ….although that wasn’t the fault of the setter.

    Thanks to Jack for parsing RUNNER-UP and SOLID-STATE.

    FOI ASKS
    LOI PAD
    COD SCAMPER
    TIME 12:50

  29. I found this tough. Finally finished in 37:25 but with one wrong. I had a scruple when there was no need to have one.

    COD: Angelic.

  30. There was a lot I didn’t understand and somewhat surprised that I came home all correct in 51 mins. Totally fooled by “woods” in 1 across. Fingers were well and truly crossed with strophe. Hoyden dredged up from the recesses of the grey matter. Thanks setter for a good workout and an excellent blog too.
  31. …but I persevered and was pleased with my time of just over 30 minutes.
    I didn’t know ‘acer’, ‘bish’, ‘hoy’ or ‘strophe’ but I do now! I do know (and like) ‘Grenache’ but I biffed it as I hadn’t thought of the ‘gen’ meaning of ‘low-down’.
    Amongst my favourites were THROWN, STAGE COACH and DROUGHT and my COD has to be GADGETRY for its clever construction.
    Thanks to the setter and to Jackkt for the very clear blog.

    Edited at 2020-08-18 02:58 pm (UTC)

  32. 55 minutes, held up by a lot of things. HOYDEN had to be that (and we’ve seen it many times before), but I couldn’t work out the wordplay, not knowing HOY as a boat (and assuming HO might be “home”?). BASSET HORN just from the anagrist, assuming it might be a horn used in hunting to call a basset hound! Silly me. I also didn’t think of woodwinds. I didn’t know STROPHE in the meaning described, but it is the German word for a verse of a poem, so I had no problem with it.

    Edited at 2020-08-18 04:43 pm (UTC)

  33. There were a lot of things in here that were just alien enough to my experience to slow me right down.

    Strangely my LOI and the one that pushed me well over the 10 minute mark was FORMAT, where I had the word from the crossers but couldn’t quite see what was meant to be the definition part and what the cryptic. But eventually of course the penny dropped, as it will in all good clues.

  34. …cheated with STROPHE – no idea what was going on here and failed to determine whether the female was a SUE or a SHE or even something else. I expect this word to reappear within the month…

    HOYDEN – horrible word remembered from last time – never heard of a HOY boat.

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