2010 Championship Qualifier 2

Author   7dpenguinPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
It seems to me that there’s been a policy shift with this year’s qualifiers ( for the better in my opinion). The two so far have been much trickier than those offered over the last couple of years. This particular one took me twice as long as Qualifier 1, so I’m still waiting for one that I’m confident enough to send off. It was a really good puzzle with lots of devious clueing and plenty of smiles – exactly how I like ’em. About half of my total time was spent in the Jimbo corner with 14d,20,27 and 21 really digging their heels in. 

I forgot to mention – please don’t post any actual times for solving these qualifying puzzles, just say things like “half as long again as qualifier 1”. Thanks

Across
1 HARDBACKS – Bard Hacks according to the Rev Spooner. There are sometimes discussions on here on which types of clues people find particularly hard or easy. Spoonerisms are definitely my bete noire, so this one needed lots of checkers before I could work it out.
6 ORDER  – double def
9 RIGHT ON –  RIG then NOT H[ard] rev. “PC equipment” needs lifting and separating here, PC being politically correct .
10 LET INTO – (TOILET)* around [garde]N
11 S,TERN
12 RECAPTURE – EC (city) in RAPTURE
14 BED – B.Ed is Bachelor of Education
15 INSENTIENCE – IN,SENTENCE around I[nmates]
17 TRAVEL AGENT –  excellent semi &lit. (ALGARVE)* in TENT
19 CUT – double def
20 CLASSIEST – LASSIES in CT (court). This was the one that finally opened up the bottom left corner for me.
22 IRISH – hidden in KashmIR IS Hindi. The easiest clue of the lot, so why did I write RISHI in here? Answers on a postcard
24 ADORNED – (AND RODE)*
26 A,CADE,MY – Jack Cade was the leader of the Kent rebellion on 1450 and is a crossword favourite, not to be confused with Which Tyler who was leader of the Pedant’s Revolt.
27 S,WEE,P – I suppose the sign of a good crossword is that even the easy ones cause you problems. I couldn’t see past SCENT (Son put tiny bit of money….)
28 OVERTRAIN – OVER + T[readmill] + RAIN. Another well-crafted clue. 

 
Down
1 [-c]HORUS
2 RAGWEED –  WE in RAG,ED 
3 BETE NOIRE – A tricky one to work out. “Be sure” = BET, then ONE rev + IRE
4 CENTRE STAGE –  C[old] then STAG in ENTREE
5 SOL[-e]
6 ON TAP – OAP with NT inserted
7 DON JUAN – another devious one. ON (appearing) in DJ (dinner jacket) then U,AN
8 ROOSEVELT – R[epublican] then (SOLE VOTE)*
13 CONCENTRATE – two defs
14 BATH,CHAPS – never heard of it! It’s one of the lesser known cuts of pork ( the lower cheek) which is boned then brined and cooked in breadcrumbs. Sounds delicious
16 INTRIGANT – IN TNT around RIGA. I’d never heard of this either but it’s just something that intrigues
18 ABALONE – A,B[anquet],ALONE
19 CHIME,RA – a grotesque product of the imagination and a 1982 album by Bill Nelson
21 SUN UP – “what implies students” – National Union of Students = NUS = SUN “UP”
23 HAYDN –  “HIDE” + N
25 DUO – U in DO

13 comments on “2010 Championship Qualifier 2”

  1. I think this illustrates for me a big issue with the qualifiers. I did this one in 28, but looked up INTRIGANT and BETE NOIRE because I just couldn’t see the latter from the crossing letters. I also decided not to enter this one, 15 quid being what it is these days, as I couldn’t personally justify a time. Aside from gentlemanly, cricket based sincerity, why wouldn’t I register a time of 15 minutes (time off for meandering thoughts and good behaviour)? Does anyone? Something about this Honesty-Box competition makes me uneasy, and perhaps a little resentful of the real or imagined competitors with more robust consciences.
    1. I would prefer it if people didn’t quote their actual time for the qualifier puzzles, just in case anyone feels that we’re providing a way of assessing the time that any cheats need to quote.

      There have been one or two really low scores at the championships, which made me wonder a little, but I guess you can do unexpectedly well with a qualifier and then get a fatal combination of tougher puzzles and stage fright on the day. There may be a few people who adjust their time, but what do they gain? The chance to spend the entry fee and travel to Cheltenham to sit in a hall for an hour with no hope of qualifying for the final stages. [Aside from the best 50 from the previous year getting free entry, the serious contenders don’t need to cheat.] I just can’t see the attraction.

      1. Part of my point is that I wouldn’t have put 28 in as my time – it wasn’t, because I did some looking up on the way. It’s been a while since I’ve been at the Championship: I last got 6th at a London Regional A, so just outside the final 5, and could’t have done the Grand Final anyway because those days I worked Sundays. If I go this year, it will be with the hope of doing really well, but I think for some there is just the day out and the joy of taking part – Eric the Eel swimming in the same competition as Ian Thorpe at the Olympics. Worth a small adjustment in stated time? I don’t know.
        I will take your advice, have confidence, and stick in my entry with the next one, and hang the expense! See you in Cheltenham!
        1. See you there – if my memory of the London Regionals is accurate, you should have a decent chance of making the final.

          Plenty go along just for fun and that’s fine with me. Not quite the Olympics, but years ago I’d happily line up for the English National Cross-Country Championships with no hope of getting anywhere near people like Julian Goater – I was quite chuffed with 313th out of 1700-odd on the day in 1981 when he flew across the mud of Hampstead Heath to win by nearly 2 minutes.

  2. I found this one more difficult than I’d expect for a qualifier puzzle, also roughly double the time for Q1. I was just about to say that I don’t have as much trouble with Spoonerisms, but then read my brief notes about this puzzle – “1A not seen [on first look], “SUN WEED” first for 2D. 14A BATH CHAPS got me again, partly from initially misreading ‘fellows’ as ‘follows’.” ‘Got me again’ means I’ve seen this answer before and struggled with it. Not sure that the dish would be as nasty as it might sound – the Tesco range of ‘just bung it in the oven’ meals currently includes a beef cheeks dish which I rather liked.

    On the difficulty side: have confidence! If you found the puzzle tougher than other qualifiers, there must be some chance that most others did and a slower time will be fine.

  3. Well, this one did take me longer than the first one, which I whizzed through rather, and is one of a number of reasons why I don’t see myself ever entering for the finals.. every now and then a grid pops up where I just don’t seem to be on the setter’s wavelength, and it happens to me sufficiently often that I might well come across one in six grids. I can still finish it of course, but it takes longer. Why does this happen? I don’t know, and I find it hard to see from looking at examples.. not directly related to the objective difficulty of the crossword.

    As for cheating, well, you would get a moment of glory I suppose, and you might even get lucky.. I am certain some will do it.

    1. I have memories of a regional final where I made a complete hash of the first puzzle, taking about 15 minutes rather than the 6 or so recorded by the fastest solver. But the dice went the other way later, and I wound up in a qualifying place. I couldn’t have told you why for that puzzle either – it just happens sometimes, to solvers of all abilities.
  4. care of Bathchaps though probable from construction. One can see how things are set this year. The way i see it if i can finish then it will be in the required time 20 minutes, but of late i have only been achieving genuine finishes on the easy puzzles for reasons of personal morale. I know the mindset, i.e definition focussed and marginally faster, to be somewhat different in the tournament setting, exam room light-headedness notwithstanding which i can’t train for. The only motivation i have had these last few years has been to get a clear round on the prelim; one letter adrift last year, but this is in the knowledge that even if i achieved that in a good enough time to get in the final i wouldn’t make a showing. I know my place; i’ve been on that plateau a few years now.It is unfortunate that the competition is entirely ‘fastist’ unless you consider a dodgy goody bag an attractive sideshow; some kind of division system perhaps. If i enter it will be at the very last moment in the most indolent of moods with a notional time of 20 minutes even if i do better (it will only mean it is an ‘easy’ one). The Times will have offer something more than just making up numbers and there seems precious little signs of them doing that.
    1. I’d be in favour of a division system as used at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, among other possible ways of making the day a bit more interesting.

      “entirely fastist”: not quite – “fastist” provided that the answers are correct. Many who aim purely for speed have achieved it, with one wrong answer.

      1. i keep forgetting that getting right answers is a major factor in the process
  5. I was the blogger on duty for the first puzzle, which probably slowed me down as I took a bit more care. Probably for that reason I found this one easier and finished in a time that I would have been happy to enter with.

    Note that I was working in “competition mode” so Bath Chaps for example I wrote in without being sure. I would have checked afterwards to make absolutely sure before committing my money!

  6. Would someone please explain 1d ie what does [-c]mean and where does horus come from?

    Re 14d I know that Bath is a university but how do you get Bath from all the four letter possibilities? York, Yale etc -or do you just have to wait until you have solved 14a & 17a in which case b?t? does leave much room for error.

    Thanks

    1. Horus is “one worshipped in Egypt”. [-c] means that you remove the initial C from chorus=”large singing group”. (Contributors here use a range of ways to indicate subtraction, but most go with me in using capital letters for the stuff that contributes to the answer, and lower case for the stuff that doesn’t – so (c) indicates a deletion and (C) an insertion.

      14D: If you don’t know that “Bath chaps” is a recorded phrase and “Yale chaps” and “York chaps” aren’t, then yes, you do have to wait.

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