To Boldly Go Onward (May 9 - 14)

In that case, I'm claiming first blood this week. A number of less common words, but a fair puzzle nonetheless.

If it's any help, I found myself working up the SE corner from 27ac.

24d is a bit of an iffy choice, both of word and clue. Good to see 20d causes no offense!

Yair, got it (I think) and enjoyed it today as well, definitely higher quality than Saturday's. I'll stay mum till others post, there is a bit to talk asbout today...

I had it solved by 9am. It must be last night's whisky clouding your brain, DA.

(By the way, I had BRUNEL, so it's 5 in a row for me.)

Ease up. I've been busy!

Polished it off just now, though I'm feeling shaky with 27ac. I have a city via the wordplay, but it's not a household name in my atlas.

Two notes: does extreme serve as a beheader in 2dn? If so, we all happy?

And second, just to give the pedants the pip, the setter here has used plane to render tree, rather than PLANE, EG, as tree. I like the clue, and don't mind the wording, though there is a band of nay-saysayers who believe alp = Matterhorn, but Matterhon does not equal alp. Not ever.

OK, looks like all through so here are my obs:

Re 2D - it's not a beheader as I read it. It's the oil applied in the last rites, in extremis.

Re 18A, I agree with your plane comments, but I let that go becasue I loved the clever use of Stark in this clue, so all was forgiven (aren't we nice!) Rilke was another white-knuckle moment, but I had an inkling about her...

8D a word you don't often see, but nicely clued IMO.

27A - I think you'll be OK.

Thanks Bon - the death-ritual makes more sense than my f/unction theory. And you've oiled my troubled waters on 27ac too.

Always happy to host such delicacies as pinchbeck and c/oracle in a grid, though wasn't elated by oracle's def: one successfully worked.

As for Rilke - male, and brilliant. His Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge is a must for those of a lyric and soulful bent. His Orpheus suite is ethereal too.

Cheers DA - and noted re the poet.

Did everyone's 24D stay in the space traveller theme?

Sorry DA. I was a bit harsh. I was just enjoying the very rare occasion of completing one before you!

I'm a little concerned about your 27AC, because I think it's a pretty well known name, although I can't think what else you could have but the answer.

Rilke's writing is beautiful and profound. A favourite of mine.

I agree with you, DA, about the definition for oracle.

Noone's mentioned 25AC which I think has a very dodgy definition.

@RK Yes, you certainly need to know your literature with this setter, it seems. Would clueing with reference to Madame instead of Emma have been better?

Back to our sexism theme, no? It did strike me as odd, if not perverse, that one.

I reckon my 27ac is ok, just a geographical blind spot. (At least I never heard the burg mentioned in last night's movie, Made in Dagenham - a great suffragette-com.)

@Boniface - I think if it was Madame I would have been looking for the French angle.

There were also several other clues that did nothing for me: 5DN, 16AC and 17DN for example. Capital Meh.

I haven't even heard of that film, DA. But since my daughter was born, I feel very out of touch with the world of cinema. I watched The King's Speech last night (Mother's Day present) and I think I was actually the last person in the world to see it.

T-t-t-timing is not your s-strong suit, RK?

The thing that tickled me is that 10 ac could also be clued as

Autocratic monarch and patriarch and prophet ... almost.

Mind you, the defn is a little bit dodgy. Not sure that Hobbes used the term to describe his sovereign within the text, but never mind.

I liked 25ac - the use of Emma being a subtle hint towards the world of literature, as well as a sidetrack.

I was like you, Anthony. Took Emma to be Austen's hero, and not the equally famous Madame. (How good is Flaubert's book, by the way? Still sits high in my Top 10.)

And to clear up my d'oh moment yesterday, I missed MISSES for while, putting in MISSED for some reason, and thinking DEE-F-FIELD was a city somewhere. Then I toyed with DEERFIELD, and then the penny went plunk. Still on track but only after a surviving a brain fade.

I was thinking one of your letters must have been wrong, DA, cause if you haven't heard of SHEFFIELD you must have been brought up by wolves.

Well survived.

Today's is proving to be more of a challenge -in a good way. 15DN is superb.

Or owls.

I suspect today will see me flat on my face. Nothing's coming easily.

I should post that kind of pessimism more often. 26ac gave way (lovely clue, that one) and now it's opening up...touch wood.

I should have read more Dickens. It's on the tip of my tongue...

Seems to me that there's a lot of clues playing fast and loose today - am I just missing a lot of wordplay? (1dn, 14ac, 19ac, 20ac, 27ac...even 7dn seems a bit iffy, in that it could have been written shorter and clearer) 23dn, despite being one of the few I got early, limps somewhat.

On the other hand, 5dn, 15dn were both nice stories.

8dn seems a bit obscure. Never seen it spelled that way.

You can get the Dickens from the wordplay alone, Anthony.

My grid is complete, but I hold grave fears for two of my answers, namely 8DN and 14AC.

I loved 1DN. I was thinking it was going to be the name of a battle that I had never heard of. That and 15DN are my two favourite definitions for today, with a highly commended going to 10AC.

Tuesday is a lot trickier, and just as much fun. My fave to date is 28ac, for its surface sense alone. And look forward to nabbing the Dickensian, and father's nipper, as both clues seem sly.

I can also report that people with spotty faces don't dance the POLKA.

Eleven clues or bust.

Hoping I've nailed it but bloody hard today. Also liked 1D and 15D excellent. Haven't heard of 8D before so fingers crossed. I think I get the second bit to the wordplay in 14 across and therefore I'm happy with 14A although I would like to see the explanation for the clueing... and 21D I'm also hoping on, based on the wordplay.

I count 8 proper nouns in the answers, which is in my view too many, especially given that a number of them seem very English indeed...

I also think that several of these clues need question marks to speed up solve-time eg 10A.

I'd figured out the answer to 1 dn, but had messed up the wordplay...so I had no defn for it... It just clicked, and I think it's a crafty clue.

14ac 'has to be', but it's really stretching the wordplay IMO. 8dn really should have something to help the non-natives of London. There's an easy tweak that would make the clue less ambiguous in its possibilities.

As for 1ac...the trouble is working out where the boundary between defn and wordplay is. If I knew that for sure, I'd be better placed to work it out...here's hoping my joy is not confined!

I was too long in composing, I think, and missed DA and Bon.

As for 14ac, I've decided that the question mark is for the last part of the wordplay, and that the first part therefore gets the helper word, if that makes sense without spilling the beans.

Lots to discuss once we're all done!

Just the Dickensian and the 'gibberish' of 2dn to decode...

Agree with Bon - 8dn was 4ac in terms of presumed knowledge.

Got it.

Reckon 1ac would be a good name for an electric shaver.

I know I'm going down with this one. A shame too as it would have been my 7th in a row - a feat I have yet to achieve.

For 8DN, if you don't know the place (that's assuming it is a place) then there are at least two answers which fit the wordplay perfectly, and I'm certain to choose the wrong one.

And despite all the vague hints for 14AC, I really don't see how my word fits the wordplay at all, so I'm probably completely wrong with that one. Maybe I just need more 22AC.

I worked like a tortoise to solve this puzzle, so plumped for 8dn accordingly. As for 14ac, the sea eagle gave me a nudge, and the word does work, though obliquely.

After being so 5dn yesterday, I hope I can redeem myself 12ac this bad boy.

Well, unfortunately this one has me feeling like a 19AC. I see where you're going with 8DN, but I'm still having issues with my final letter. Still none the wiser about 14AC. I must be totally Deeffield with that one. Thanks for trying though.

Stop the presses! I was just telling my partner about your bizarre sea eagle reference, DA, and he said, 'It's got nothing to do with Manly?' and I realised in that instant that I had it right. You boys can all explain that one to me tomorrow.

Close enough to tomorrow, if we've all got it.

I'm going for VI(M) being drive, slightly + RILE (mad). Could be VI(E) too perhaps.

As for 8dn, I think the clue should read '...you once turned up...' and you'd have no problem.

I just gave up, googled, and found out I went the wrong way on 3dn. Shame, really, because I reckon Buzzig could be a fun Dickens character.

Apparently, sex is the Latin number VI. Adds a whole new dimension to the number of the beast, if you ask me. Or a NZer, I guess.

It seems that today, I was a bit limp (BIZKIT).

Let me join you back on zero, Anthony. Yes, 8DN was my undoing, as I knew it would be.

I remain unconvinced about 14AC. Wouldn't mad be RILED, so is RILE 'slightly mad?' If so, where does the VI come from? Isn't 'drive' part of the definition? I also note that VIRILE contains 4 of the letters of drive, so that would be 'drive - slightly mad' but then there's IL to account for. So many questions. DA? Bon? Any other theories?

By the way, if you haven't yet opened today's Australian, don't panic when you can't find the crossword in its usual spot. It is in there.

RK - you missed the 'time passes' moment in my last post. VIRILE = VI (Latin 6='sex') +RILE (drive slightly mad)

Saw it another way, Anthony:

With sex [def] drive slightly [VIM - M] mad [RILE]

Two slight mehs here - with sex as def, and second, surely madden is rile, not made.

I'm trying to figure out what deeffield RK put in.

Ok, if you're so interested in the cause of my demise, DA, and insist on me reliving the shame, I will explain...

I figured that the 'you' in 8DN could either by 'ye' or 'me' (as in the person doing the puzzle). I hadn't heard of Haringey or Haringem, but I thought the 'm' ending seemed more likely. I almost tossed a coin.

And if we want to be technical, I think Anthony's 1AC was the true Deeffield, as it was the result of an incorrect intersecting entry.

I'm back to zero too after chalking up 7 straight. I checked out the site that Anthony was talking about and see that I fell for the "in for" trap along with about half the rest of the world. Not knowing the obscure Buzfuz was my real undoing. Got all the other suss cues though including VIRILE and HARINGEY, so I'm not too disappointed.

DA, given the literary angle, maybe the compiler used "mad" in the same sense as Thomas Hardy did in "Far from the Madding Crowd".

I did some maths and found that even if the probability that I solve a given Times cryptic is 99% (ie I fluff 1 for every 100 attempted), the probability that I will solve the next 100 straight is only 37%.

If I drop my assumed success rate to 98% (ie I fluff 2 for every 100 attempted), the probability for 100 straight solved drops to 13%.

Even if I ramp up my success rate to 99.9% (ie I only fluff 1 in 1000), the probability of solving the next 100 straight is only 90%.

DA, this is some challenge! 9000 beckons...

Lost me on the numbers, Bon - that's Lily's department - but I'm hearing you about the IN FOR trap. That was my first impulse, but then recalled UP as commonly being clued as winning, which clicked more snugly.

As for Mr BUZFUZ, I only recall his name (vaguely) as he's prime fodder for a Radar Trap puzzle - the code lists I set in Metro - due to such dense and bizarro letters.

@RK - the tell for HARINGEY was 'you once'. Why once, you had to ask. But no shame in missing the UK equivalent of Doomben.

@DA - I got virile the same way you did - but was reporting what looks like the intended method found on the UK blog.

And 'you once' was my suggestion for fixing the clue, tipping it slightly towards ye over me.

Anyway, well done for navigating the treacherous 'dog' of a puzzle ;-)

Just one corner to go. 18ac my fave so far.

Done. Noticed that I hadn't really looked at one that I had left. (That particular oversight cost me the top spot in an HSC exam once, but we'll leave that out...!)

22 dn also excellent. Not sure I understand what 28ac is driving at, but I'm sure it'll be clever.

Tricky, but gettable, No 9000.

The wordplay for 28ac, as you suspect Anthony, is renegade, and smart. We can talk about the recipe later.

My queries relate to 5dn (and cheers to 9000 by the way), and the peculiar use of 'opener' in 20ac. Otherwise, a robust hitout, with faves being 13ac, 16ac & the wild 28ac.

I'm home also. 14D I thought was good, as well as the others mentioned above. To seethe is a bit more than just to be agitated though, I think. This had me worried about 8D till I finally clicked on 20A's odd use of opener (as already noted by DA).

Rightio, finished. I enjoyed that one.

Besides the two direct references (28AC and 13AC), at least two other clues can be linked to the work of Lewis Carroll - 14DN and 21DN.

I'll be happy to explain 5DN to you DA. And you can perhaps explain to me what makes 12AC a cryptic clue.

My favourites were 17DN, 28AC, 13AC and 22DN for its well concealed definition.

28 ac could be DODN from the correspondence information, or indeed DOGO or DOGN, no? i suppose dodgy-smart in a truly carrollian manner really so mebbe a new kind of & lit

14DN is just an allusive definition? -- i think a bit more of a theme is needed to carry this off?

Oh dear... (cf 9001)

One for all and all for one...with no spoilers. We'll get there.

I have two answers, and I've been staring at it for the last half hour... I even asked my 14-month-old for help.

Chickpea casserole at the vego bar, and one crossword crack'd. Whole lot harder than the customary fare, with 4dn and 27ac my two favourite clues.

A query attached to 24dn and beware the booby traps in 10ac, 18ac & 19ac. And may need a Francophile to illuminate 26ac.

Good luck, dear hearts.

I have been on the road all day, but still: I have only 24dn. I am rather glad my streak is only one day old!

Three to go!

I've been dipping into it in fits and spurts all day. 19AC, 20DN and 26AC remain.

We're off to the park. Maybe a play on the swings will clear my head!

I've got it, fingers crossed. Also liked 1A which I thought was cleverly clued. 7D a good surface read.

Yes, couple of AIRY-traps today, hope I've jumped the right way.

Finished.

Thank God for 5DN. Not only did it open the puzzle up, but following its advice helped me get the remaining answers.

Is it possible this setter is a haberdasher? Every so often a puzzle comes up with some obscure fabric and I'm wondering if it's the same culprit each time. Needless to say 18AC is one I have my fingers crossed about, along with 10AC and 19AC. (All the ones DA was warning about.)

Re 19AC, I was tossing up between two similar options, before going with something entirely different. If I'm right, I'm not sure that the clue works properly.

I liked 27AC too, DA. In fact, I solved it correctly several times throughout the day, only to dismiss it each time thinking it wasn't a real word. Then I actually looked properly at what I was spelling out and realised I was truly an idiot.

A most satisfying day - it came out in the end. No clues after the first read through, one after the second.

What was needed, RK, was a drive: from Newtown, south, for around two hours. That proved sufficient.

I think there's an interesting story here in how we went about it...well, mine's pretty good, I think ;-)

1 ac was the first domino. That gave me the first letter of 3dn, and the first word that popped into my head with a 5-4 shape turned out to be the answer. Took me many times longer to figure out why. That then gave me a letter in 9ac. One letter in a ten letter word, and it had to be that, think I. That's just dumb. It's probably some obscure crossword-only word like ... oh, wait, it acutally is that. I was entertaining myself with this absurd run of luck while trying to add 11ac to the grid, and somehow the answer for 7dn fell into my lap instead (bizarrely, because the letter I had in 11ac can also sit in 7dn to make a related term...something I'd never noticed before in any conscious fashion)!

There were some very nice clues here: all those mentioned already, plus I thought 21ac did some pretty good misdirection on the wordplay. 5ac could have been more succinct, but I liked the idea.

19ac I think does work, though I didn't realise it was British slang too. re 24dn, I'll claim no certainty on the linguistic question, but the clue surely would be better as 'Bones, guts ungulates before butchering', right?

28ac was a nice giggle too.

Spent ages on 18ac (my last) being too clever, and having 'old man' refer to a father...Jacob, father of the tribes...close call.

Yes, I think this puzzle led us all on a merry tea dance. Well done for getting there in the end, Anthony. It will be a miracle if we all make it through this one.

My first solve was SHOO.

Drove to Sydney today for a funeral. Stopped at Pheasants Nest for a break and bought the Oz. Had a quick scan over some fruit-juice and a sandwich and solved 25A, 4D, 5D,6D, 8D, 14D 16D, 22D and 24D. Put the paper aside til I got back to Canberra (Can support maintain her majesty) at 10.30. By 11.15 had all the spaces filled but am iffy about 9A ,12A , 18A (never heard of the words I came up with)and 19A.
Fingers crossed for 1 down, 99 to go.

What a doozy of a puzzle with which to re-enter the fray, Peta!

I hope you and Anthony weren't musing over the clues as you were driving. In my experience, it seems that the part of the brain that solves cryptic clues is exactly the same part used for driving and I find it impossible to do them simultaneously.

And while we're on driving, I'm heading up north today for a few days. Should still be able to post updates on my Times progress, but maybe a little sporadically.

As for Times 9001, it's the all clear from this end. Can't believe it really.

Weird how the mind works. SHOO was among my last entries, while PROMPT was midway. My opener was DUMPLING, as Heather (not the upcasing) will forever be LING or ERICA.

Next PANJANDRUM, though I can't explain that. Just a hunch that broke the NW corner. My last was MOROCAIN, in tandem with PAULETTE, which is nasssty.

SHOO was actually my first. Re PANJANDRUM, love this word, although I haven't used a drum in cooking before and I keep my rum in the cellar.

My last was THE DANSANT. Still have no idea what it is. I'll get on Google.

Well, I did manage yesterday's and have just 15D to complete today's (it will be a flip of the coin with that one, I'm afraid). Have already done today's Crucible in the Canberra times, most of the Gemini in the same paper and have a couple left in DA's SMH puzzle. A good morning's work. Now to do the dishes and finish the washing.

Interesting - I finished with the same pair, and SHOO was also very late.

Yup, I was thinking while driving - sometimes the reduced attention to a word form allows the brain to relax and the subconscious delivers.

Oh, and Sydney has the odd problem with traffic. Of the non-moving variety.

Jeez RK, I found 9001 kinda breezy, with my last two a logjam: 17ac and 19dn. I can see two words that fit, but can't really pinpoint why they belong, whether it's a wayward definition, or the wordplay doesn't gel.

Unless I see the light of reason, my 2 educated guesses will dispatch me to the firing squad at dawn, on No 24 or something....

I was referring to yesterday's puzzle, DA. Today's is only three quarters complete, but I'm already forseeing problems with 17AC. I've been enjoying the musical clues, and I loved 16DN.

Going out to dinner now, so no idea when this one will get finished.

Traffic in Sydney, Anthony? Don't know what you're talking about...

I'm still struggling - nw and se have inroads but unfinished. However, I have 17ac, after the same struggle you speak of - the answer must be right, and the first part of the wordplay is simple enough, but then it gets odd. I don't think it's transgressing to suggest that it involves the use of a word that likely won't ever appear in a dictionary. Perhaps if you let yourself use a hyphen in the right place...

8dn is pretty, but 16dn looks like it'll be my fave. Having 12ac and 15dn in the same puzzle was interesting.

Sounds like we've all made the same intuitive punt on 17ac. What else fits?!

Like you Anthony, I thought 8dn was pretty cute, and I also liked 16dn. Not being a muso, 15dn was news. And still trying to rationalise the use of the word 'part' in 14dn.

Oh well, bring on Saturday and see who's still left standing.

Agree with you Anthony concerning the last part of 17A. Comfortable matching answer with definition.

My last one in was 15D. I've flipped the coin and have penned in an answer (raising a drink at the end). Tomorrow I'll be back to square one or reach 2/100.

I'm home too. Consideration is a common legal contractual term for the price of a promise so close enough to payment imo. Very enjoyable puzzle.

DA - it's not 'part', but 'part with'.

I'm no more musical, and stuck on the SE corner. 20dn should have helped, but I'm also a bit puzzled about what seems the likely answer/best guess for 19 and 15dn, so 24ac is proving difficult to shift.

Nice theme today, btw - the greenback clue was deft!

That SE corner was hard to crack was it not? I have a complete grid and am buoyantly confident. 20DN and 24AC were my final two.

Bugger! Coin toss for 15D yeilded wrong answer.

Today's (9003) was pretty easy. Liked 3D. 2d was last in but was worth the wait. Confident I'll be 1/100 by Monday.

4D might attract some comments.10A was clever as was 16D. Think the experts will solve this in under 30 min. I too lost the coin toss on CANTILENA yesterday. Hardly a common word. Back to square 1.

16d, you might even say this week, was topical.

Yes, of course, pun intended!

Easy one today. Quickest solve to date.

Survived yesterday's too. I guess I was lucky that the tough word fell into my main field of knowledge.

Consideration was the only word to fit, despite not knowing the nuance as explained by Bon.

And like you, Peta, I hunched the wrong musical instruction - for a good few beats. Until watching the Eurovision doco, with the German gal Lena doing her Satellite thing, and I thought CANTILENA makes a sweeter melody than my original CANTINELA, so I switched, and survived.

Agree that 9003 is a picnic compared to recent wrangles, with the code recipe in 6ac a treat, and 3dn a quirky delight.