Solving time: 37:01
A real battle this one – after 10 minutes I had 15 answers left, and panic was setting in (knowing you have to write a report doesn’t help, and neither does seeing the approach of three separate nasty crossings – the three last pairs I’m about to list). The little bunches I solved in slow groups after that were: 25 21 23D 27, 2 8 5A 5D, 1A, 24 18, 12 4, 23A, 20D. Hoping that the rest of you found it equally difficult, I’m abandoning the “leave out at least one clue” rule for today.
On the quality / fairness side (which I’ve left until after writing the notes below), I think there were maybe about three fiendish tricks too many for a puzzle supposed to keep good solvers busy for a train ride of 45 minutes or so. On the other hand, there were plenty of clues that were very hard but ultimately fair.
I forgot to add that if you’re snowed in and still have some solving gas left after this one, Jumbo 850 was a really good puzzle – well worth a look if you only have time for occasional Jumbos, quite difficult but from crafty and fair clues, not arcane knowledge. A full blog report for it will be up tomorrow.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | IN = batting, C(ROW = fight)D – “set with it” = “group, fashionable” is a well-disguised def. |
| 5 | LOCU(M)S(t) – “delegate” as a def. of locum seems on the edge – they both represent other people in a way, but one as a stand-in, and the other as, well, a representative. This combined with “stripper in grass” for “locust” made this very hard |
| 8 | CRU = vintage, S(AD)ING – ad = publicity, sing = celebrate (tricky but a Times xwd standard) – hard but fair |
| 9 | I KNOW – two def’s – “here’s an idea” and “that’s not new to me” – memories of Sybil Fawlty on the phone to Audrey … |
| 11 | MY HAT = (a myth)* – one of those “I don’t believe it” expressions that live on in the Times puzzle |
| 12 | LOCK HORNS = join battle – HORN = “alert to sound”, in LOCKS = sticks – I’m not totally convinced that lock and stick are close enough, but there may be matching meanings that I’ve not seen in the dictionary. There were – see jackkt’s comment below. That’s my excuse for this and 4 making the second-hardest crossing |
| 13 | UNDERPIN – 2 defs, one whimsical – “fail to secure enough”, to pin something being to secure it adequately |
| 15 | REF,LAG – to reflag is to change the national registration of a ship |
| 17 | INCHED from (p)INCHED = stole – a nifty all-in-one / & lit |
| 19 | KIN = family, SH = quiet (imperative), AS = like, A = area |
| 22 | ALACK-A-DAY – the full version of the slightly more familiar “lackaday”, clued by a def and a whimsical def |
| 23 | AGGRO = bother – 2 x G = good, hence “goods”, in ARO = “seconds from cAtastrophe pRay dOn’t” – much time wasted on playing around with AROO from second letters of words including “bother”, and also with SALVO as a desperate invented alternative to ‘salvage’ = saving goods |
| 24 | OUT = “in flower”, RO = rev. of or = heraldic gold = “yellowy colour” – wordplay only seen while writing this – much time wasted on reversals of Po and other xwd “flowers” – an outro is a closing passage, imitating the pattern of “intro” |
| 25 | ACH(i.e.,V=very)ING – {that is = i.e.} was a welcome bit of familiar material in this one |
| 26 | WRASSE = swears* – a fish familiar from barred-grid puzzles, and a nicely done cricket clue rather than an anagram / letter move using Ger. “wasser” to play the role of “the deep” |
| 27 | S(IX = 9 = “Roman square”, T = junction)EEN – “IX / IV” was jotted down immediately as the main possibilities for perfect squares in Roman numerals, though the rest took longer |
| Down | |
| 1 | INCOMMUNICADO = “beyond reach” = (cadmium on coin)* – a relative doddle |
| 2 | C = about, RUSHED = “not being considered” – a bit ironic here – few of these clues could be rushed |
| 3 | OP ART = “illusory works”, and “O part” = “appeal to some” – another easy one |
| 4 | DRILL = training, BIT = was effective – D?I?? ?I? was a very unpromising set of checking letters until 12 eventually went in, and I failed to understand “revolutionary head”, trying to find someone like Lenin or Ho Chi Minh. Incidental Q: Why was “head” capitalised? (in the on-line version) |
| 5 | LEGACY – reverse hidden in “colllierY CAGE Last” – with “Left in ….” and “last to be” deceiving well as possible wordplay elements |
| 6 | CAITHNESS = (his ascent)* – a Highland area, though not one with a great deal of high land, so the capital H was important. |
| 7 | MO(N.G. = no good)REL – a pretty straightforward one with NG clear from the start, then “what’s that five-letter funny-looking mushroom?” |
| 10 | WEST = player (in bridge or similar), GLAM = glossy = superficially attractive, ORGAN = publication – had to be WEST somewhere but after Sussex and the extinct (and single word) -morland, I ran out of ideas for a while |
| 14 | REEF = marine hazard, KNOTS = speed when sailing – “they make fast” is the def. – neatly done and relatively easy to see, starting with the REEF |
| 16 | SISYPHUS = (sups, his, (shand)Y)* – Sisyphus and his boulder are stock Times xwd material |
| 18 | CHATTER = gas (colloquial verb) – C = |
| 20 | (s)ANGUINE – the last in, because I didn’t know this word, and took ages to find anything that fitted the checkers (even after eventually getting the G from 23A) and bore any resemblance to possible wordplay. The -esque ending suggested -LIKE at the back end, and I toyed with ASPLIKE for a while |
| 21 | A(D)WARE – computer software that shows advertising, maybe on websites – much trouble here from AD = publicity, as well as the crafty disguise of “switched on” = AWARE |
| 23 | A DEUX = “for a pair”, from “ad(i)eux” = “parting words” – if you don’t know the plural of “adieu”, e.g. from Beethoven’s Piano Sonata, you might guess it from gateau(x) |
Finished (aids didn’t help much here), by some miracle all correct, in about 3 hours but with unresolved question marks against LOCUMS, SIXTEEN, IN-CROWD and OUTRO. Post-solve confirmations for WRASSE & ANGUINE and grave doubts about LOCK(HORN)S for sticks. Thanks Peter for getting this up reasonably early, given the circumstances.
But I think you are wrong on 18D. “c” in cricket actually means “caught by” even though the “by” is often omitted.
But I was defeated by aggro and anguine (which the blogging software marks as a spelling error I see, I’ve never heard of it either).
Clues I struggled with but got eventually were IN-CROWD, DRILL BIT, LOCK HORNS and UNDERPIN.
But I hit a wall after about 15 minutes and went nearly as long without solving another clue and every answer was a battle once I got going again.
After an hour I hit a second wall and used a solver as sparingly as possible whenever it became apparent that I might not know the answer anyway. These included WRASSE, SYSAPHUS, ADWARE, OUTRO and ANGUINE. Also KINSHASA, which I had heard of but would have needed all the checking letters to think of it.
A testing puzzle which I’m sure I would not have completed on a normal commute, but today I am snowed in at home.
Second, congratulations to linxit – how on earth did you manage this in 16 minutes? I was interrupted several times by concerned friends and relatives checking to see that we old folk were surviving the snow but I think the breaks actually helped! I would guess this took me something around an hour.
I see the club monthly puzzle for January is published today. I can’t believe it’s going to be any harder than this and of course we now have Jerry blogging it – so have a go if you enjoyed this one and get some more practice if you didn’t!
I did manage to get most of it. Once again, they have the blatantly incorrect ‘CD’ = ‘record’. I never did see the cryptic in ‘locums’, but he rest was clear.
I am a little surprised that this was as hard for Peter as it was. Too hard for Cheltenham maybe?
Too hard? Quite possibly – the expectation is that someone will complete all four puzzles correctly inside an hour, and three like this might have us all in trouble. I believe the Cheltenham puzzles are tested by some of the Times setters and would guess that this sometimes means a few clues are made easier.
And irritating as it may be, I don’t think we should normally be handing you everything on a plate. If you can get used to the sort of analysis described here, your need for our help will decrease, and your solving will improve.
Probably one of the hardest Times daily puzzles I’ve ever tackled. Some brilliant clues, with DRILL BIT COD, also IN-CROWD, INCHED, SIXTEEN, REEF KNOTS, A DEUX.
The Intro and the Outro
COD to drill bit for the definition.
Edited at 2010-01-06 02:25 pm (UTC)
Struggled home in about an hour.
First time I have come across ANGUINE. Everything else I had come across before, often in crosswords, as some of them are not words I use in everyday conversation. Last ones in was WRASSE which I really out to have got a lot sooner. The anagram was well hidden (for me anyway).
Another good day for the geographers.
COD SIXTEEN.
This was a masterclass in clue writing. I particularly enjoyed ALACK-A-DAY, both the clue and the association in my mind with the POW version of Cinderella in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five (Goodness me, the clock has struck, alack-a-day etc). UNDERPIN, WRASSE and INCHED were also particularly good, amongst a host of others. But COD to SISYPHUS; I’ll never quite think of him in the same light.
– you see the anagram for 1 down INCOMMUNICADO in 10 seconds; realise 6 down is also an anagram and 10 minutes later……
– you are looking for a five letter word starting with O and ending in O and haven’t the faintest idea what it might be
– shrewdly understand that SWEARS is also an anagram and then decide it couldn’t possibly be
I don’t expect many puzzles as tough as this one this year
The trio shown above were my favourite clues.
Re lock/stick, I thought a locked wheel was one that has stopped rotating on a moving vehicle while a stuck wheel was one that was rotating on a vehicle that wasn’t moving. However at my age various joints stick, my GP describes them as locked.
sidey
SD
COD Inched
I have no complaints at all, every clue was fair and appeared accurate to me (I am resigned to record = cd by now).
Anyone who enjoyed solving (or trying to solve) this, and is a member of The Times crossword club, will enjoy the Club Monthly crossword just as much, this month’s is now available online.
ho well i hope to have better luck next time. 🙂
This year i’m going to collect the anaylis and go throught it the following day so hopefully i might get some where by christmas …… 2020 😛
Edited at 2010-01-07 08:23 am (UTC)
Unfortunately the sense of this commitment is rather undone by the use of the word “hope” which not only adds a fair amount of variation in magnitude, but also is a bit aspirational to begin with.
Only kidding – a fine puzzle. I should have known “anguine” and I have only my frequent complaint as an American – i.e., that there sometimes are too many British-isms that simply are unknown to me (outro, aggro and locum being terms rarely used here in the States).