Times Cryptic No 27708 – Saturday, 4 July 2020 … when the crossword doing’s dandy!

Author   brnchnPosted on Categories Weekend Cryptic
Typical Saturday fare. Unusually rich in homophones, I thought, and in quaint double definitions (dd). No references as far as I could see to the birthday party across the Atlantic. Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle.

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 in {curly brackets}.

Across
1 What a PC has to urge on unruly kids (4,5)
DISK DRIVE – anagram (‘unruly’) (KIDS*), with DRIVE = urge ‘on’ it.
6 Gents unavailable in evacuated terminals (5)
TOFFS – OFF in T{erminal}S
9 Ferret’s origins (5)
ROOTS – dd: root around = ferret, or ROOTS = origins.
10 Vessel, one crossing a river boundary (9)
CATAMARAN – CAN (one vessel), crossing A TAMAR (a river, that divides Cornwall from Devon).
11 Eclipse almost certain to end (7)
SURPASS – SUR{e} (certain, ‘almost’), PASS (end).
12 Rate going up? Pie in the sky, possibly (7)
AIRFARE – dd: the AIRFARE is the ‘rate’ you pay to ‘go up’ in the plane. A pie might be the FARE you eat in the AIR … while on that plane?
13 Auntie and rival sick, one continually ailing (14)
VALETUDINARIAN – anagram (‘sick): (AUNTIE AND RIVAL*). It’s amazing that this word, clearly derived from a Latin root meaning ‘health/strength’, means pretty much the opposite.
17 Subject to strikes, perhaps, as lots are (5,3,6)
UNDER THE HAMMER – another cutesy dd. Beating swords into ploughshares, perhaps, or being auctioned at Sotheby’s.
21 A French king snared by girl without fortune (7)
UNLUCKY – UN (‘a’, in French), K (king) snared by LUCY, our girl of the moment.
23 Superman’s pronounced cramp (7)
TIGHTEN – sounds like TITAN (a superman), near enough.
25 Metal god (not Hindu’s first) with frame of bushy hair (9)
MANGANESE – MANE (bushy hair) ‘framing’ GANES{h}, the Hindu god.
26 Lost yachtsman found here? (2,3)
AT SEA – and another dd.
27 Marine using switch primarily for volume coming from hooter (5)
NASAL – NAVAL using S instead of V.
28 Runners go on getting the bird (9)
FIELDFARE – FIELD (runners, in a horse race perhaps), FARE (go on, as in ‘how did you fare?’). Turns out I’ve blogged this answer before. Last time I didn’t know this bird, this time I can only admit I didn’t remember it!

Down
1 Contemptuous troublesome goddess in sudden downfall (8)
DERISIVE – the answer was obvious, but I had to research the wordplay. It turns out ERIS was the Greek goddess of chaos, strife and discord. She’s in a DIVE.
2 Inadequate, supporting second track (5)
SPOOR – S (second), POOR.
3 Take down books with rotten binding before end of sale (9)
DISMANTLE – NT with DISMAL ‘binding’ it, then {sal}E.
4 Starts to express doubt after 50% of income is cut (7)
INCISED – INC{ome} IS E{xpress} D{oubt}. It’s like assembling an IKEA flatpack: don’t think about it … just read the instructions! (If only it was that easy!)
5 Board mounting paintings in square (7)
ENTRAIN – ART in NINE, ‘mounting’.
6 First person invading pitch is easier to handle (5)
TAMER – ME ‘invading’ TAR.
7 Safety device, genuine article installed by company (4,5)
FIRE ALARM – REAL in FIRM.
8 Depressed star needs understanding (6)
SUNKEN – SUN, KEN.
14 Policies underpinning secure comms network (9)
LANDLINES – LINES (policies, as in ‘what’s your party’s line on climate change?’) ‘underpinning’ LAND (secure).
15 Nurture and protect tail enders (9)
REARGUARD – REAR, GUARD.
16 Go after criminal adopting new facade (8)
FRONTAGE – anagram (‘criminal’) of (GO AFTER N*).
18 Personally you once felt shy at work (7)
THYSELF – anagram (‘at work’): (FELT SHY*). The definition evokes an obsolete form of ‘yourself’.
19 Very strict time kept by old regiment (7)
EXTREME – EX REME keeping T.
20 Potential killers picking up the pieces? (6)
GUNMEN – cryptic definition. Read ‘pieces’ as ‘guns’.
22 What swimmers may do to snail? (5)
CRAWL – dd.
24 Report of person checking Pip’s coat? (5)
TESTA – sounds like TESTER. It’s the shell of a fruit seed.

25 comments on “Times Cryptic No 27708 – Saturday, 4 July 2020 … when the crossword doing’s dandy!”

  2. Slow start–FOI 26ac, which I marked ‘QC’. LOI AIRFARE. I didn’t know that meaning of VALETUDINARIAN; for me the word means the same as ‘hypochondriac’. What’s ‘boundary’ doing in 10ac?
    1. Good question! The Tamar divides Devon from Cornwall, inSW England.
        1. In one sense yes, but on the other hand we often complain about random names, random this and random that, whereas here the setter is making the definition a little more specific, assuming the solver has the necessary GK.
          1. Well, of course for someone like me, who just knows that the Tamar is a river in the UK, ‘boundary’ is a red herring; I would have been quicker to solve had it not been there. And is the Tamar a river boundary? I would have said a boundary river. At least I now know how to pronounce the river.
            1. Some would say it’s not a setter’s job to make things quicker to solve. ‘River boundary’ or ‘boundary river’? I think in crossword-speak either is fine as clues have to use a sort of shorthand or they’d go on forever – a river (that is a) boundary.
  3. … or perhaps better not knowing. I forgot to scrawl my time on last Saturday, but remember liking this puzzle. COD to AIRFARE, not that I’ve ever had a pork pie served when flying, more’s the pity. The unknown TESTA was LOI and guessed from cryptic. I didn’t fully parse GUNMEN at the time either. Anyway, is THYSELF, or ‘thissen’ obsolete in Yorkshire? Thank you Bruce and setter.
  4. I thought this was a good test and, yes, I have no quibbles with anything, not even river boundaries. I know what the Tamar is. There’s one in Tasmania as well, that flows past Launceston.
    Thanks, Bruce, for informing me about ERIS in 1d. My only other query was regarding GUNMEN which, like boltonwanderer, I couldn’t parse fully,
    Lots to like in this one. In 6ac “Gents” didn’t equate to “loo” for once. In 21ac mention of the word “girl” had me looking for “lass”.
    I admit to being ignorant of the meaning of VALETUDINARIAN. The answer became clear with checkers but I thought it meant something else, something to do with valedictory.
    I thought FIELDFARE, TESTA and CATAMARAN were very good but my COD goes to MANGANESE. I was suckered in to looking to include “by” (“frame of bushy”).

    Edited at 2020-07-11 07:30 am (UTC)

  5. Another day, another pink: completely fooled by the goddess in 1d, which I assumed was IRIS and, unlike davidivad, didn’t think it looked THAT wrong. Pity, as it was otherwise a quick solve
  6. ….you can hear the factories hum, making chrome, and making MANGANESE, and white aluminum” (“Grand Coulee Dam” – originally Woody Guthrie, but introduced to me by Lonnie Donegan). A small nod to the USA’s big day.

    Straightforward puzzle which I managed to DISMANTLE without too many dramas. TESTA was a DNK, but not a problem.

    FOI TOFFS
    LOI MANGANESE
    COD GUNMEN
    TIME 11:12

    1. Almost NOTHING would have happened in British popular music since the mid 1950’s without the influence of Lonnie Donegan, sadly neglected and forgotten by all but aficionados. His time as banjo player with the Chris Barber jazz band is worth reading up on for those interested in that sort of thing.
  7. I’ve just done this one now and quite liked it. The only two unknowns were the ‘troublesome goddess’ and TESTA, neither of which was much of a hold up. I parsed the ‘pieces’ in GUNMEN as referring to both weapons (GUN) and chess pieces (MEN).

    Interesting to see the two -FARE(s). I was introduced to the avian one by crosswords, where the wordplay was ‘picnic?’, somewhat like the wordplay for today’s AIRFARE. The TAMER / -TAMAR- crossing had nothing to do with anything but took my fancy anyway.

    Favourite was another crossword-land word in VALETUDINARIAN. Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer?

    Home in 33 minutes.

    1. Jane Austen. (Well, Heyer too, for all I know.) Mr. Woodhouse, Emma’s father, is one.
  8. 15:59. NHO TESTA, otherwise all OK. I liked the pie in the sky best.
  9. Not too difficult, this one,particularly as I knew the word for 13a. A few unknowns and problems -TESTA, the parsing of GUNMEN and the goddess at 1d; I assumed IRIS might be her but the word looked wrong and so chose DERISIVE.
    I had put INCITED at 4d which meant that my LOI was SURPASS once I’d realised the error.
    An enjoyable puzzle I thought. COD to AIRFARE. Finished at 13:15. David
  10. I can’t remember where I started but I did finish, after a struggle, in the SE with FIELDFARE, which corrected my mis-remembered TESTE. I assumed the existence of ERIS as a god. Didn’t know what a VALETUDINARIAN was until now. Will probably forget. 37:51. Thanks setter and Bruce.
  11. 9:01. No problems with this one. I knew the word VALETUDINARIAN, but as Kevin says I know it as a word for a hypochondriac and more specifically, as Kevin says, Mr Woodhouse.

    Having been a valetudinarian all his life, without activity of mind or body, he was a much older man in ways than in years; and though everywhere beloved for the friendliness of his heart and his amiable temper, his talents could not have recommended him at any time.

    I really must get round to re-reading Austen at some point.

    Edited at 2020-07-11 11:42 am (UTC)

    1. I’ve been doing just that, including ‘Northanger Abbey’ for the first time. It’s a good thing Mr. W is so friendly and amiable, because otherwise he’d be unbearable. As it is, one wonders how Emma puts up with him, especially with Knightley waiting to take her away from it all.
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  13. ….as, after quoting it earlier, I find reference to “The Grand Coulee Dam” in a letter in today’s Times !
  14. DNF inside half an hour. I couldn’t see what was going on at 20dn and mis-biffed hitmen, failing to notice that I had over-typed the U of unlucky with an I. Doh! Odd to have two fares in the same grid. I liked tighten, an economically clued homophone which didn’t immediately present itself and frontage, where the anagrist was nicely hidden within the surface reading.
  15. I fell apart in the NW – where Spots fits at 9ac (the origin on any graph is a point, so several origins would be spots) clearly crossed with Disaster (Dis + one possible spelling of an anti-Hebraic deity would be a contemptuous troublesome goddess) (I have to admit I looked the goddess up later – but it seemed reasonable). Which only left the wrong first letter for Valetudinarian. I didn’t know the word, but anagrams are fair game and I arranged the letters well otherwise.
    I liked Airfare, and I have now learnt Tamar. Thanks setter, and brnchn

    Edited at 2020-07-11 02:26 pm (UTC)

  16. Stuck in HARD DRIVE at 1ac Doh! So the NW was barren I finally stuck in NOSEDIVE in desperation and gave up!

    FOI 13ac VALETUDINARIAN

    COD 28ac FIELDFARE

    WOD 18dn know THYSELF

    Edited at 2020-07-11 05:06 pm (UTC)

  17. Too difficult to be enjoyable. Unless you are happy to be a cheat.

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