C25K Week 8 Run 1 17.11.2019

Looking back at the archives, I posted my first run for this new attempt at C25K on 10 February 2019. A 9 Week program has already consumed 9 months. However, the important thing for me, is, I have kept plugging away at it, inspite of the fact that I am not 100% motivated, and now the end is in sight. I started Week 8 today, just 5 more runs to go.

Today’s run was around the dance class location in Birmingham. The weather was chilly, but not rainy. I was adequately protected against the elements, and this time I had made sure of my watch, but alas not the my headphones, but more of that in a bit.

Today’s run was supposed to be for 28 minutes, so I started off slowly. The other reasons for running slowly was that the entire path was covered by a bed of fallen dead autumn leaves which have been mangled and trodden into a slush by millions of passing pedestrians, the rain helping the process along. At various other places, surface water had receded, leaving a a layer of slippery mud on the track, and finally the long stretch of track inside Handsworth Park had some pretty steep inclines and declines, so it was well to be cautious.

Around 11 minutes into the run, my bluetooth headphones went dead. That seemed to explain the strange beeps that I kept hearing at intervals – must have been indicating low battery. By this time in my running career, I am hardened to most things, so I kept on plugging away without any music. After what seemed like ages, I suddenly realised that Laura who had told me that 5 minutes were up, and then that 10 minutes were up, had gone strangely quiet. I was expecting to hear prompts directly from my phone in my pocket, after the head[hones went dead. So I took out the phone to check, and it appeared that when the headphones went off, the app got paused right there. And it still showed something like 17 minutes remaining.

Luckily, I had also been looking at my watch at regular intervals, and I knew roughly how much more I had to run for the day. I may have erred on the side of caution and run the whole 30 minutes today itself. So that was Week 8 Run 1 complete.

C25K Week 7 Completed 14.11.2019

A couple of weeks have passed since the last run. There were a few things going on during most of my normal run days, and the weather took a turn for the worse – it was not just small showers and things either – sometime during my first year of running, I have been able to overcome my liking for comfort and am quite happy to run in slightly inclement weather, but this was heavy downpours, flood, strong winds, single digit temperatures – it was very easy to persuade me not to make a special effort to get out and run.

Today was looking very much like every other day in the last two weeks, it rained heavily all day, and as I was driving home from work, it looked like an inch of water on the motorway. It was going to be another run less day, but when it was time for taekwondo class, the rain had died down, and the ambience was reasonably dry. It was cold, but the cold I could handle. I was able to locate my baselayers and other cold weather kit, but I couldn’t find my gloves. I decided to risk getting cold hands.

It was not until after I dropped the kid to her class that I realised I’d forgotten to wear my watch. I had gotten out of the habit of wearing the Garmin all day, but till date I haven’t made this elementary blunder. If you run and you didn’t track it on your Garmin, did the run happen? I decided to use Endomondo on my phone and go for the run regardless – there have been times in the past when something like this would have been enough to make abort.

C25K W7 Last run. 25 minutes of running. The run was very similar to the last run 2 weeks ago. All the metrics were very similar, but it seems I didn’t accelerate during the second km this time, so I did not break any recent records. Felt happy to put yet another week behind me. Only 2 more weeks before I re-graduate.

Guardian Cryptic crossword No 27,967 by Brendan

 

I have solved a few crosswords since I last posted here, but haven’t been able to summon up the energy to write about them. For a few days, however, I have been struggling to get going with crosswords. I would start them, start at them for several minutes, and then go elsewhere, as nothing seemed to click. On Saturday, I managed to solve a couple of Prize Crosswords, and then I started working backwards on any ones that I had missed. This Brendan intrigued me – I stared at it for much of Saturday and Sunday and maybe I was subconsciously solving it all the time, because when I looked at it today morning, for some reason everything fell into place.

 I was able to spot that there seems to be an unusual preponderance of “R”s and very soon, I was able to latch on to the theme.

 

Across

8 Behind sound of Irish song, London initially put out (8)

 

And Irish Song could be LONDONDERRY AIR, but with the “London” removed. The “sound of” indicates a similar sounding word. So DERRY AIR becomes DERRIERE – which is a word for “Behind”.

 

9 English are heard repeatedly admitting old mistake (5)

 

Out here, “heard” indicates a homophone of “ARE”, E stands for English and O for old.

 

So ERROR is a word for “mistake”

 

10 Some industriousness is needed for today’s theme, for instance (4)

 

I was only able to solve this one after finishing off a bunch of other clues, but the answer is TRIO which is included in “industriousness”.

 

I will expand on this at the end.

 

11 Interpreted, we hear, sign that woman’s married? Misleading clue! (3,7)

 

Another homophone indicator – we hear – So Indicated could be “read”, but written as “RED”. A sign that a woman is married would be “HER RING”.

A “RED HERRING” is a misleading clue.

 

12 Corrupt dealer has something worn at table hiding king and queen (6)

 

A BIB is something worn at a (dinner) table, and R stands for King and ER stands for Queen.

A BRIBER would be a “Corrupt Dealer”

 

14 School backed legal action — there’s usually money in it (8)

ETON is a well known school, and it is backed or reversed. Legal action is a “Case”. A NOTECASE is a word for Waller and normally contains money in it.

 

15 Tenacious pursuer’s blunder, entering bank (7)

 

Blunder is ERR and a bank could be TIER. TERRIER is a tenacious pursuer, no doubt based on the characteristic of the breed of dog.

 

17 Source of marble artists placed on vehicle (7)

 

An artist is RA, so the plural is presumably RARA and vehicle is CAR.

CARRARA is a place in Italy well known for the marble quarried there.

 

20 More stylish going over line, one who finishes nicely? (8)

More Stylish is POSHER, going over L for line, gives POLISHER, as some one who gives a nice finish.

 

22 Use fan improperly, creating hazard (6)

An anagram of Use Fan gives UNSAFE or something that creates a hazard.

 

23 Reckoning that I must be involved with crime (10)

 

An anagram of “that i” and “crime” – ARITHMETIC (reckoning)

 

24 British educational foundation’s reaction to freeze? (4)

 

B is for British –

A reaction to freeze could be BRRR – that leaves RRR to denote educational foundation.

 

This is probably where I cracked the theme of this quiz – The 3 Rs are famously said to be the foundation of education – Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic.

 

This means that the answer for 10Ac denotes the trio of Rs.

I have already noticed that answers to several clues contain 3 Rs.

 

And 23ac has given one of the foundations.

 

25 In summer are roasts not cooked as much? (5)

 

Roasts that are not cooked as much are RARER, and this is contained in “summeR ARE Roasts”

 

26 More like canal boat, quickly moved around with oar (8)

 

Canal boats are Narrow, I knew that, so something that is more like one could be NARROWER.

 

Quickly moved is RAN, which needs to be moved around, and an oar is a ROWER.

 

Down

1 Confused restorer turned back (8)

 

This immediately leapt up as an anagram of “restorer”. I was unfamiliar with the word RETRORSE, but a quick check confirms that it means “turned back”

 

2 Vigour from writer after change of heart (4)

A writer ( or writing implement) is a BIRO – changing the heart of this word gives BRIO, a word meaning Vigour.

 

3 Dread it disappearing from territory no end (6)

 

Take out “it” from “territory as well as the end of it. That leaves TERROR or Dread.

 

4 Being a student in university city (7)

 

Someone who is a student would be READING, and this is also the name of a city (town?) in the UK and a university. Reading is also the 2nd R.

 

5 Detain me improperly, making problem for head (8)

 

An anagram of Detain Me – gives DEMENTIA, a medical problem for the brain.

 

6 Eg tapes in advance piano note repeated on strings (3-7)

 

Piano is P, and RE is a note which needs to be repeated on strings or CORDS.

 

PRE-RECORDS could be “tapes in advance”. I don’t think it actually means anything.

 

 

7 Managed university in America, part of the system we’re in (6)

Manged is RAN and university is U, and US is America. URANUS is a planet which is also a part of the Solar System.

 

13 Defenders sometimes put obstructions across street (10)

 

Obstructions are BARRIERS and ST is short for Street – BARRISTERS defend people in court.

 

16 They yield short-term interest, showing edge in record time (8)

 

Record is EP and time is ERA, edge is HEM – EPHEMERA are fleeting events, which only hold the interest for a short time.

 

I toyed with EPRIMERA for sometime, as that would easily fit the cryptic definition as well, but then I decided there is no such word – not even a technical term in economics or finance.

 

18 Concerning previous person trying to fix things (8)

 

Concerning is RE, and previous is FORMER – A REFORMER would be a person trying to fix things.

 

19 Making corrections in speech or text (7)

 

Yet another homophone – saying “Righting”(making corrections) sounds like WRITING which is text, and also the 3rd R

 

21 Unknown to mathematicians, supporting awful 9 in astronomical model (6)

 

9Ac is ERROR  – An anagram of ERROR and an unknown for mathematicians “Y” gives ORRERY – an astronomical model.

 

22 Open bottle containing a French port (6)

A in French is UN and CORK is a port in Ireland – UNCORK would be a way to open a bottle.

 

24 A piece of 4 or 19 youth’s not completed satisfactorily (4)

The clue numbers reference here lead to READING and WRITING.

A Youth not completed is a BO (Y ) and OK is satisfactorily. A BOOK is related to READING as well as WRITING.

 

 

 

 

In the completed grid above, I have highlighted the 3 Rs in Blue and highlighted in red all the other answers which have 3 Rs in them. Yet another clever puzzle that was very satisfactory to solve.

C25K Week 7 Run 2 31.10.2019

The whole day was one of those where nothing seemed to go right. I may have forgotten to mention that for reasons best known to myself, I started off the month with a few consecutive booze free days, and then decided to see how long this could go on, and ended up staying on the wagon for the entire month. Today being the last day of the month, I had a fleeting thought of breaking the streak a day early, but resisted the temptation to give in, and spent most of my energies thinking of a run in the evening. In the meantime, every time I moved, my knee was making its presence felt, and I wasn’t quite sure that it will allow me to run. Nevertheless, I rigged myself out in winter running clothes and set out for the run, and as usual found that running or walking wasn’t causing any problems to my knee. Week 7 Day 2 was another 25 minute run with 5 minutes of walk before and after.

Today’s run was particularly interesting. I was distracted a lot by marvelling at the amount of effort people put into celebrating Halloween, if celebrating is the word I want. On atleast two occasions, I was genuinely scared for a second or so, once by a blood curdling scream that emanated from a house I was passing by, and another when some kind of spooky hologram or projection suddenly materialised on a screen suspended from a tree. Every now and then, tiny people dressed in their scariest makeup and costume would pass me by, carrying their little buckets, no doubt containing the loot extorted from householders. While all this was going on, I was conscious of going a tiny bit faster than the last two runs. I was once again pacing myself by landmarks, and I needed to go a little bit farther than last time, when Laura announced the end of the run.  I ended up having negative splits over the running distance, and achieved my fastest 3 k for the year, this time beating my last mark by almost 12 seconds. I am still waiting for the day when running will become fun again, but in the meantime, I am atleast getting out every now and then, achieving tiny improvements.

C25K Week 7 Run 1 29.10.2019

It has been 10 days since the last run. I have been having some difficulty allocating rime for runs, and the right knee keeps acting up every now and then. Then came a few days of intensive work and very little sleep . The festival of Diwali came up, on a Sunday, so all the more excuse to gorge oneself on all sorts of sweet, and fried goodies. It is the custom to exchange goodies among friends, and it would have been rude not to eat them, once they have been given. Must have put on about half a stone easily.  I then decided to use up some Annual Leave and take the half-term break off, and was able to catch up on sleep for a couple of days. And today, I was reluctantly forced to accept that one shouldn’t put off the inevitable any longer. The knee has had enough rest, and the temperatures aren’t going to get any higher. So stepped out on a chilly  evening, with only streetlights illuminating the way to start Week 7.

This was a 25 minute run just like the previous one. By this time I have finally remembered all the buttons to press to get the watch going, and managed to capture the whole run. It was not till the 20th minute of the run that I started flagging a little. I was wearing a couple of additional layers, and the sleeve of my running jacket was obscuring the watch, and in any case I wouldn’t have been able to see it in the darkness – so I was keeping track of the distance and time by roughly identifying the landmarks on this route which I have done several times in the last 4 years. So when I was expecting to get a prompt for “1 minute left” I was chagrined to hear “5 minutes left” instead. The  difference of course was , in earlier, I would have been walking a good bit of the way, and I would have to cover a lesser distance  in 25 minutes, and this time I was running all the way. But the 5 minutes did come to an end, and I found myself in fairly decent shape at the end of it considering the rather indifferent training that I have been doing.

The run was notable for the fastest 3k so far – only about 0.02 s faster, but it all counts as improvement.

C25K Week 6 Run 3 19.10.2019

The niggle in my knee, that I alluded to last time, made its presence felt more and more in the past few days. I have been giving it as much of a break as possible, and I had to wait till yesterday, when I finally had about 3 consecutive days without feeling a twinge or anything. I decided to risk it by continuing with my C25K programme.

The occasion was a music class for the kid, for which I dropped her off in the evening. It was raining very heavily when we started out, I only realised how heavy it was when I came out of the house, so I was fully prepared to abort the plan.  However, within 15 minutes of reaching the destination, the rain abruptly stopped and I was able to go for it.

It was an unfamiliar location – I have run here one or twice in the last few years. It was one of those new developments – they call it a village, but what it is, is a township with a high density of houses and the tricky part was to figure out a way of running continuously for 25 minutes as the programme demanded. Maybe because of the rain, the traffic was not as heavy as it could have been, so I was able to cross roads where required without breaking my stride. There was a fairly long stretch of about 12 minutes which took me over a railway line and had a couple of other undulations, and therefore I felt this run was very difficult. I had to somehow keep it going, and I  had to concentrate all my efforts on pushing one foot after the other forward. Just the memory of past runs, and my two half marathons that kept me going at times. Happy to report no adverse feeling in the knees at the end of it all. I will keep a close watch on this situation.

C25K Week 6 Run 2 04.10.2019

I ran 4 times in September, and 3 times in the last week alone, so it looks as if things are going back to normal. After my last run, my Garmin advised me to recover for 67 hours. I knew I was going to atleast spend that much time before my next run, as I went back to commuting daily this week. And also all the weather  – there was heavy rain Monday, Tuesday, and temperatures dropped several degrees. I have officially turned on the heating in my home.

Apart from that, I had a new worry – a niggle in my knee that was quite a bit painful at times. Asking around a bit, it appears to be normal wear and tear for a man of my age. I reminded myself I will be officially old next birthday. Also, all the extra weight I am carrying was probably not helping. Still, I was a bit upset – just when I was getting back into running, I didn’t want something like this pegging me back, or worse, stopping me completely. My friends assured me that I could run, and I should just be aware of it.

Yesterday, after I came back from work, I was all eager to run. I gathered all my running gear from downstairs, and started climbing the stairs, when a shooting pain in my knee made me drop everything – literally. It was a few minutes before I could gather them up and go upstairs, this time without mishap, but I decided not to risk it going for a run – As it turned out there was a fairly heavy and cold rain outside, so maybe it was all for the best.

Today, working from home, and by around 1300 hours, there was a lull in the endless stream of emails and notifications, so I thought I would go out and see and what happens. C25K Week 6 Run 2 – 2 10 minute runs separated by a 3 minute walk.

I was conscious of the possibility that my knee would fail to cooperate, so I kept it real slow. I was very careful to land my feet as perpendicularly to the ground as I could make it. I realised just how much camber there was in all the pavements around my place, as I tried to keep to level ground where possible, luckily it was a quiet period, and the occasional running on the road was without incident. I went through the entire program without a hitch. It was slow and steady. Looking at my cadence graph, it seems be relatively flat through the running portions. I will now have to see what my next run does to me, if I remember correctly, this run will be considerably longer than my runs so far in this programme.

The Indy 10287 by Eccles

My humble and sporadic endeavours in trying to blog some of the crosswords I solve and put it out there for other aspiring solvers or even like minded enthusiasts, hasn’t been the roaring success I hoped it would be. I do know that it is read by a handful of people, but I do not know who reads them, and whether anyone thinks it is any good. However, there are unexpected side effects. I have managed to find a small group of people online who like solving crosswords, and we keep in touch by modern means of social media, and sometimes solve a crossword together. It is great. And some of them are crossword setters in their own right. Like the star of today’s Indy. I am happy to say, I have spoken to this creator personally, albeit over chat apps. I am known to a celebrity!!

So, I thought I would give the Indy a go, and here it is.

 

Across

1.Superhero with fundamental love for a primate (6,6)

Wordplay –

Superhero – SPIDERMAN

Fundamental – KEY

Love for a – Replace A with O (Love)

 

Definition – primate

Answer – SPIDER MONKEY

9.Bingo ball decomposed in stagnant water (9)

Wordplay – Anagram of “Bingo Ball” indicated by “decomposed”

Definition – Stagnant Water

Answer – Billabong

Incidentally, I was watching a garden show only yesterday, a reality show where people get bespoke gardens made for them by competing garden specialists, and the one in action yesterday set up a Billabong in this Australian couple’s English garden.

 

10.Pressure dipped at first in Slough (5)

Wordplay

Dipped – SWAM

Pressure – P

Definition – Slough

Answer – SWAMP

11.Element of truth, essentially, in stupid takes (6)

Wordplay

Truth, essentially – U

Stupid – DIM

In – IN

Definition – Element

Answer  – INDIUM

12.King departs to hunt big game, an adult animal (8)

Wordplay

To hunt big game – STALK LION

King departs – The K is removed from above

Definition – An Adult animal

Answer – STALLION

13.Tourists in Penzance stop Eccles going back (6)

I am not very sure of the parsing of this one.

Wordplay –

Stop – STEM

Eccles – ME(self referencing)

Going back – the above is reversed

Definition – Tourists in Penzance

Answer – EMMETS

The word was new to me, and I think I see sense now , after reading this page.Tourists are called EMMETS by Cornish people, and Penzance is in Cornwall.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmet_(Cornish)

 

15.Reveal chap provided with shocking treatment (8)

Wordplay

Chap – MAN

Provided – IF

Shocking treatment  – EST. – I suppose this would stand for Electric Shock Therapy or something, I am not sure.

Definition – Reveal

Answer – MANIFEST

 

18.Vegetables peeled? Grab plates (8)

Wordplay –

Peeled, Grab – RA (peeled of its outer letters)

Plates – DISHES

Definition – Vegetables

Answer – RADISHES

19.Habitual drunk is over drink? It’s 50-50 (4-2)

Wordplay

Habitual drink is over – SOT-> TOS

Drink – SUP

Definition – Its 50-50

Answer – TOSS UP

21.Kids etc hide (8)

Wordplay – Kids etc -types of Goats – or Goat family – GOAT’s KIN

Definition – Hide

Answer – GOATSKIN

A pretty neat double cryptic definition – I really do not know the technical terms they use for these artifices.

23.Queen, say, reveals note (6)

Wordplay

Queen – QU (I think)

Say – AVER

Definition -note

Answer – QUAVER

26.Mostly average means of mass communication (5)

Wordplay

Mostly Average – MEDIAn

Definition – means of masscommunication

Answer – MEDIA

27.Like a song from Cambridge before I left half out (9)

Wordplay –

From Cambridge – CANTAB

I left half out – I Left

Definition – Like a song

Answer – CANTABILE

28.Give in and let men off hook (12)

Wordplay – Anagram of GIVE IN AND LET MEN, indicated by off

Definition – hook

Answer  – INVEIGLEMENT

Down

1.Peter out of the second team? (7)

Wordplay –

Second team – SUB(stitute) SIDE

Definition – Peter out

Answer – SUBSIDE

2.Dallied, guided by animalistic urges? (5)

Wordplay

Guided – LED

Animalistic urges – ID (I think)

Definition – Dallied

Answer – IDLED

3.Discharges judges; fifty will be replaced by clerks, at first (9)

 

4.Runs away from fool’s bare bottom (4)

Wordplay

Runs away from fool – R removed from MORON

Definition – bare bottom

Answer – MOON

5.Patching up bedwear (8)

Wordplay – Anagram of PATCHING

Definition – bedwear

Answer – NIGHTCAP

6.Frame made by predatory mammal with leaves (5)

Wordplay

Predatory mammal – WEASEL

With leaves – remove W from above

Definition – Frame

Answer – EASEL

7.Space probes discovered salt water buried in planet (8)

A bit of headscratching on this one

Wordplay

Planet – MARS

Salt water – should be brine, I wonder if RINE means anything at all

Definition – Space Probes

Answer – MARINERS

 

8.Way to protect wood instrument (6)

Wordplay

Way – ST

Wood – PINE

Definition -Instrument

Answer – SPINET

14.Take offence at boys name-dropping in central England (8)

Wordplay

Take Offence – MIND

Boys – LADS

Name dropping – I assume this means, N drops down a few places.

Definition – central England

Answer – MIDLANDS

16.I clean out pants to protect against disease (9)

Wordplay – Anagram of I CLEAN OUT, indicated by pants

Definition – Protect against disease

Answer – INOCULATES

17.America abandons its health insurance scheme, taking tip from Obama – it’s second-rate(8)

Wordplay

America abandons its health insurance scheme – MEDICARE

Tip from Obama – O

Definition – second rate

Answer – MEDIOCRE

18.Government, for example, snared by Frost (6)

Wordplay

For example – EG

Frost – RIME

Definition – Government

Answer – REGIME

20.It is a sign powerful Republican must be imprisoned (7)

Wordplay

Powerful – POTENT

Republican – R

Definition – It’s a sign

Answer – PORTENT

22.Wife sleeps around, returning to produce offspring? (5)

Wordplay

Wife – W

Sleeps around – NAPS – > SPAN

Definition –offspring

Answer – SPAWN

24.Spokesperson of prostitution ring is hiding (5)

Wordplay – Prostitution – VICE, Ring – O

Definition –Spokesperson

Answer – VOICE

 

25.Catch small badger (4)

Wordplay

Small -S

Badger – NAG

Definition –Catch

Answer – SNAG

 

Guardian Cryptic crossword No 27,941 set by Arachne

An interesting solve over a few hours. Arachne is always interesting because of very nice surprises and excellent misdirection. Today was no exception and I learnt a few new words in the bargain.

Across

8 Tory Right blocking liberal colleague (8)

Wordplay

Tory – CON

Liberal – FREE

Right – R

Definition – Colleague

Answer – CONFRERE

 

9 He’d call regularly, bearing cake (6)

Wordplay

He’d call regularly – indicates alternative letters to be taken – ECL

Bearing – AIR

Definition – Cake

Answer – ÉCLAIR

 

10 Cases of Gewürztraminer, exceptionally pale (4)

Wordplay – Case here indicates the first and last letters of the succeeding word – in this case, that gives us GR and EY.

Definition – pale.

Answer – GREY

 

11 Destroying terrains of Amazonia, for example (10)

Wordplay  – Anagram if TERRAINS OF

Definition – Amazonia

Answer – RAINFOREST

 

12 Soppy female and sheepish male (6)

Wordplay

Soppy – WET

Female – HER

Definition – Sheepish male

Answer – WETHER  – the castrated male sheep. A word that I wasn’t familiar with.

 

14 Possibly lacking exercise, topless physique is classically epic (8)

 

Wordplay –

Possibly – PERHAPS -lacking exercise (PE) so RHAPS

Physique – BODY, which is topless, so ODY

 

Definition – classically epic

Answer – RHAPSODY

 

15 Generators died, rotating such a lot (7)

 

Wordplay

Died – D

Such a lot – SO MANY, rotating, or reversed.

 

Definition – Generators

Answer  – DYNAMOS

 

 

17 Fixer full of limitless gas and wind (7)

 

Wordplay –

Fixer – MENDER

Limitless gas – A (Gas, with the first and last letters removed.)

 

 

Definition – Wind

 

Answer – MEANDER

 

20 Allowed astronomer to leave Earth, with fatal consequences (8)

 

Wordplay –

Allowed – LET

Astronomer – HALLEY (of the Halley’s comet fame), with E for Earth, removed.

Definition – with fatal consequences

Answer – LETHALLY

 

22 Slick lie yielding students a sneaky day off (6)

 

Wordplay – remove the two Ls for Learners or students from “SLICK LIE”

Definition – a sneaky day off

Answer – SICKIE

 

23 Local store fleeced a policeman, according to Spooner (6,4)

 

Wordplay – fleeced a policemen could be “SHORN A COP”, which would be a Spooneristic way of saying …..

Definition – Local Store

Answer – CORNER SHOP

 

24 Run into revolting boozer and belch (4)

 

Wordplay –

Boozer – PUB, revolting, so BUP

Run – R

Definition – belch

Answer – BURP

 

25 Thinner axes bend, we hear (6)

Wordplay –

Axes – X Y, as in axes on a graph

Bend, we hear – something that sounds like LEAN, and it could be LENE

Definition – Thinner (Paint thinner?)

Answer – XYLENE

 

26 Idle criminal has siestas (3-5)

 

Wordplay –

Anagram of idle (indicated by criminal)  – LIED

Has – OWNS

Definition – siestas

Answer – LIE DOWNS

 

 

 

 

Down

1 Boris yet to exercise temperance (8)

Wordplay – Anagram of BORIS YET, indicated by “to exercise”.

Definition – temperance

Answer – SOBRIETY

 

In the prevailing political climate, it is interesting to see the topical motifs being introduced – Boris Johnson is the current PM of the UK, and in 1ac, his party is referenced. Of course there is no political commentary, or a personal opinion being expressed in these clues, but the readers are free to make of this what they will.

 

2 Suspect humming head off (4)

Wordplay –  humming is slang for smelling, so it is NIFFY< with the head or first letter off

Definition –Suspect

Answer – IFFY

 

3 Tearaway ultimately at fault (6)

Wordplay – Ultimately at – T (the last letter of AT)

Fault – ERROR

Definition – Tearaway

Answer – TERROR

 

4 Mischief and deadpan gags having malign influence (7)

Wordplay –

Deadpan – DRY

Malign influence – EVIL

Definition -Mischief

Answer – DEVILRY

 

5 Identical small females throwing tantrum (8)

Wordplay –

Anagram of S for Small and FEMALES – indicated by “throwing tantrum”

Definition – Identical

Answer – SELFSAME

 

6 Cult’s on-air broadcast not heard by us (10)

Wordplay –  Anagram of “CULTS ON AIR” indicated by “broadcast”

Definition – (something) not heard by us

Answer – ULTRASONIC

 

7 Serbia sedulously protecting partisan (6)

 

Wordplay – Hidden words as shown above, indicated by “protecting”

Definition – partisan

Answer – BIASED

 

 

13 Attila upset retired nut gatherer (10)

Wordplay

I am inclined to believe this is a double definition. Attila the HUN was a bloodthirsty leader and one presumes he liked to cut off peoples heads

On the other head, a more credible alternative –

Attila – HEAD HUN

Upset retired – TER (RET reversed)

 

Definition – A cryptic definition? Nut gatherer

 

Answer – HEAD HUNTER

 

16 Where wise creatures gather, spreading wise lore (8)

Wordplay – Anagram of WISE LORE, indicated by “spreading”

Definition – Where wise creatures gather

Answer – OWLERIES

 

18 Settler perhaps restraining road rage (8)

Wordplay –

perhaps -E.G.

road – MI ( for the M1)

rage – RANT

Definition – Settler

Answer -EMIGRANT

 

19 Tree, which reportedly gave girl optimism at last (4,3)

Wordplay – reportedly indicates – something that sounds like WHICH – WYCH

gave girl optimism, at last – take the last letters of all these words – ELM

Definition – Tree

Answer – WYCH ELM, a tree which I had never heard of.

 

21 One turned up clutching £25 for Tom Jones? (6)

Wordplay –

One turned up – indicating the first person – ME, reversed, so EM

Clutching £25 – PONY is slang for this amount – again, something I didn’t know ant all

Definition – Tom Jones? Referencing the book of that name?

Answer – EPONYM

 

22 Group of musicians adjust private parts (6)

Wordplay

Adjust private parts – really had to struggle with the word play for this one, it could possible be Adjust – SET, which is parted by “Private” or PTE – I am used to PVT being the abbreviation for Private, so not sure about this.

Definition – Group of musicians

Answer – SEPTET

 

24 Brahms and Liszt refusing to defect (4)

Wordplay

Brahms and Liszt – slang for “Pissed” or drunk – BLOTTO. Luckily I knew this phrase from solving past crosswords.

Refusing to – TO is removed.

Definition – Defect

Answer  – BLOT

 

 

The Times, 27470

 

ACROSS

1 A range of binoculars? (5,2,6)

FIELD OF VISION – Appears to be a cryptic definition

8 Two metals forming hook (4)

Two metals – Tin – Sn and Silver – Ag – SNAG means hook.

9 Couple to keep port clear? It has strings attached (10)

Couple-  MATE

Port – RIO

Clear – NET

MARIONETTE, a kind of puppet which will have strings attached.

10 Object, on reflection, when woman’s injected white compound (8)

Object – AIM, on reflection becomes – MIA
woman – AGNES

A white compound – MAGNESIA

11 Get some wine, or lose it (3,3)

13 Very neat, original music outlet dismissing tango (10)

Anagram of MUSIC OUTLET after dismissing T for TANGO

Answer METICULOUS for Very neat.

16 Faculty’s revolutionary strategy half abandoned (4)

Turn strategy back to front – YGETARTS and abandoning the (first) half of it

Answer – Faculty ( maybe in a university) – ARTS

17 Companion for dam built at last in south of France (4)

The last letter of built in the French word for south – T in SUD

Companion for dam as in a horse breeding farm – STUD

18 Initiation here by holding wild parties? About time! (10)

Anagram of BY PARTIES and T – BAPTISTERY – a place where Initiations are held

20 It finishes on landing, in different ways (6)

A cryptic definition – a FLIGHT would be completed with a landing of the aircraft and a FLIGHT of stairs would also end in a Landing.

22 Get outside by drilling nonstop (8)

Nonstop – ETERNAL

By – X (multiplication sign)

Outside – EXTERNAL

24 Extra habit, not cape, a learner put on (10)

Habit – ADDICTION, without C for CAP

A Learner – AL

Extra  – ADDITIONAL

26 Perhaps Sally’s East End stamping ground? (4)

Not entirely sure how this one works, but I put in AUNT for Aunt Sally – I know the answer is correct, but I am just not able to parse it.

27 Call cameraman out of house, one in Bletchley Park? (13)

Cameraman -PHOTOGRAPHER – out of House

Call – CRY

CRYPTOGRAPHER would probably be a person found in Bletchley Park

 

DOWN

1 Sponsor a mad cardinal (11)

Sponsor – FUND

A mad – A MENTAL

Cardinal – FUNDAMENTAL

2 Drive, say, almost disappeared (3,2)

Say – E.G.

Almost disappeared – GON (E )

Drive – EGG ON

3 Dud PMQs disputed in assembly of Dubai (4,5)

Anagram of PMQS and DUBAI

Dud – DAMP SQUIB

4 Mess made by gunmen in US bank? Not half! (7)

US Bank – (Wells) FARGO (Only half)

Gunmen – RA

Mess – FARRAGO

5 Most of what’s in golf bag is decreasing? (5)

IRONS are a few clubs found in a golf bag, IRONS could also mean de – creasing (clothes)

6 Clumsy modern European stage worker (9)

Modern – IN

European  – E

Stage – LEG

Worker – ANT

Clumsy – INELEGANT

7 Lousy egg container upended (3)

Container – TIN, upended or reversed. Means NIT or an egg of a louse.

12 Internet era transformed famous part of Olivier (11)

Anagram of Internet era – ENTERTAINER from one of the roles of Lawrence Olivier

14 Shame to trigger cut in car racing (9)

To trigger – is IGNITE and that is cut

Car racing – INDY

Shame – INDIGNITY

15 Trace son about to obtain fashionable work (9)

Son – S

Fashionable – IN

Work  TILL

About – CA (circa)

Trace – SCINTILLA

19 Mark’s part of following into writing that’s put out one November (7)

This took me a while to arrive at, one has actually forgotten the state of the world not so long ago. The demise of the German currency MARK happened in my lifetime – and a part of the Mark was the PFENNIG.

Writing – PENNING, take out one N for November

Following – F

21 Blight? It isn’t heard of in parts of the country (5)

Blight – TAINT – which is one way of saying “It isn’t” in spoken slang

23 Come to pass (5)

A double definition – REACH

25 Maybe vet fish hauled up (3)

Fish – COD, which if reversed or hauled up gives DOC which is what a Vet is for animals.