Times Quick Cryptic No 2726 by Asp

121 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 2726 by Asp”

1. I mean… After this week I knew it was coming but it was really hard. I got maybe half.

   I think if I had revealed one or two that might have helped get the others but I gave up unfortunately.

   1. Oh I just want mention curiously was that HITHERTO was one of the ones I actually got. You can never tell with these.

2. Well, it is Friday, but this was tough; there will be complaints today.
   I think I demi-biffed HITHERTO, half-noticing ‘other’ but not trying to parse. And I had no idea about ACETATE, simply going with the wordplay and hoping for the best. I don’t normally select CODs, but I’ll make DOMAIN an exception; a really lovely clue. And it’s worth noting how many elegant surfaces there are: Just to limit myself to the ones I can see at the moment of writing this, 12d, 14d, 16d, 18d, 19d. I hope to see Asp in the 15x15s, if he’s not already there. 11:31.

3. DNF. My experience echoed Kevin’s. ACETATE and HITHERTO were too hard for me and I loved DOMAIN.

4. Ouch. After struggling to get anything at all for quite a while, I fell into the solver’s trap of assuming everything was going to be devilishly difficult and so was delayed by some of the more straightforward clues on offer (like AIRCRAFT and DIRECT). I agree that some of these were escapees from a 15×15, especially those with very convoluted wordplay like CLAIMED, HITHERTO and INADMISSIBLE. But I also agree there were some terrific surfaces and the general standard of clueing was very high. Thanks John and well done to Asp but not to me, 3-4 times over target at 28.02.

5. I guess it must be tricky for setters to tone down clues to make them fit the QC so I’ll give Asp the benefit of the doubt on this puzzle.

   I think 22a is literally unsolvable without crossers, can anyone explain why EDIT is not a valid solution, given it’s definition is at the end of the clue? Reflected could very easily refer to the first or second part of the clue.

   Edit: At time of writing, the QSNITCH is at a record level, although I’ve noticed it tends to go down over time.

   1. I pull the wrong rein on clues like that just about every time and today was no exception

   2. Fair point about TIDE. A reversal clue can often be ambiguous when either end can be seen as the definition. With this one, without having got to the down clues yet, so I didn’t have the checkers, I reasoned the down clues are more likely to end in a T and D than an E and an I.

   3. TIDE was one of the few clues I did solve! Up and down in the main/sea.

6. I solved it without crossers. I might have gone for EDIT, as you suggest (that reading of the clue never occurred to me). But as it turned out I got AIRCRAFT and CLAIMED, either one of which would have told me EDIT was wrong. What I didn’t like about the clue was ‘change’=EDIT.

7. I am afraid I cheated in several ways using the anagram solver and checking words that I knew must be wrong. In 5a I biffed BALL which I checked and so it helped me to get BASH. I got there in the end but I still can’t parse STAR. Singer? Rats?

   1. I think it’s a ref to criminal lingo where a person who ‘sings’ (ie gives up information to the cops) is a rat.

   2. The dictionary says “Singer (noun) 3. An informer (slang, esp N American)” and for “rat (intransitive verb) 3. To act as an informer”.

   3. It’s only cheating if you used aids and claimed not to have used them. I’m constantly asking Pumpa to help me.

   4. I managed to parse STAR in the end, but only had the improbable Geldof and his mates stuck in my mind for a while.

8. Struggled home in 29 minutes without aids but had two clues unparsed. One was missing ‘singers / RATS’ and the other was ACETATE which I constructed from wordplay but failed to understand the definition. I knew ACETATE as clear plastic film but not its connection with projection. I was thinking more of laminated documents and wondered if ‘to project’ was a misprint for ‘to protect’.

   I foresee a lot of discussion about difficulty today. I often write here in defence of the more difficult QCs as we need a balance of levels to cater for absolute beginners and also those who have already developed more advanced skills, but possibly for the first time I have caught myself wondering if the general level of this one is too much for a QC. The fact that it’s by a new setter makes me think that he / she may not yet quite have mastered their brief.

9. Great crossword … but at the upper level of difficulty. DO MA IN my COD. Welcome Asp.

   1. DOMAIN was the only clue here that I thought was a chestnut!

      1. I just *knew* that one of the Big Boys would tell us it’s a chestnut. Gah!

         1. 😂 two minds with but a single thought

10. Phew, 44 minutes and a little help from guessing odd bits of answers then hitting reveal word to confirm, or not! That got the ma in the middle of domain, what a great clue.

    Pleased to see assassin at first read then it got tough!!

    We also found the NE the trickiest with bash our LOI.

    Thank you John for parsing of claimed, Mrs RH biffed it immediately with just the C for Charlie but we held out until all other crossers were in as couldn’t get laimed no matter how we looked.

    Thanks Asp, maybe dial it down a little next time 😉

11. After a bad week, it was a great relief to see no pink squares. Those of you hoping for a quiet corner in the SCC will, I suspect, find difficulties with the milling throng – for this was as difficult a QC as I can remember seeing. I’d describe it as a shrunken 15 x 15 to be blunt, and it took me twice as long as some of my recent efforts.

    My only complaint is with 22A. As David says, the clue can be read in two ways. That should never be the case.

    Whilst I’m older than our blogger, and was therefore able to pop ACETATE in without a second thought, I had rather more trouble with BASH (to me, “bah” is more an indicator of annoyance than of disgust), and with my LOI – I was convinced it would end with “art”.

    I would hope that my Weekend Special is less rigorous than Asp’s debut.

    FOI CONTEST
    LOI AIRCRAFT
    COD DIRECT
    TIME 6:40

12. What can I say that has not been said by far better solvers than me? I did at least finish the puzzle, but at just over 20 minutes it was one of my slowest completions ever and the doorkeeper at the SCC had to take me through the “Newcomers’ guide to Club etiquette” book.

    I was puzzled by Championship, which is a tournament not a title (that’s Champion); baffled by rats = singers; beaten by Domain (could not parse but now think it is very good); confused by Drape, which I did not see as a cover – among others.

    I also notice a high number of two-step clues, in which one needed to find an intermediate answer and then work on that to get the final answer. For example Plan gives Idea gives Aide, Record gives Tape gives Drape, Change gives Edit gives Tide, and so on. Not completely out of order for a QC but certainly added to the level of challenge.

    So, some great clues, but too many tough ones for this to be a proper QC I suggest. Many thanks John for the blog and I look forward even more than usual to the Sunday Special.

    Cedric

    1. Re CHAMPIONSHIP… The dictionary says “championship (noun) 1. The position of honour gained by being champion”, so the clue is fine. As for DRAPE, think of the verb rather than the noun.

       1. Thank you John. On Drape, yes I fully concede. On Championship, if the dictionary includes it, fair enough, but I’d still argue it isn’t the normal meaning of the word. But then dictionaries don’t offer judgment – they don’t record correctness, only usage, however rare and even at times however nonstandard.

          1. I interpreted the title and championship equivalence as in, e.g. the EFL Championship, so it could be said that Leicester had “won the title” or indeed “won the Championship”.

             1. My apologies Elsinore, you got there before me!

          2. They won the Title/ they won the Championship?

13. I thoroughly enjoyed this new setter so no complaints from me.
    I don’t time myself but it didn’t seem to take any longer than usual (my coffee was still hot).
    ASSASSIN was my FOI which gave me its hangers-on fairly quickly. HITHERTO and BASH were my last in BASH being a PDM.
    By the time I had finished, I had drawn smiley faces against four clues but I think I’ll go for CHAMPIONSHIP cluing a 12-letter word with just 3 words.

    Oh and STAR/RATS had me for a moment until ‘Grass’ came into mind.

14. Clever but not that much fun (expect DOMAIN). 22m – and I can’t spell INADMISSaBLE, which reveals I couldn’t parse it!

15. Definitely at the harder end and I took a break to do Wordle (squeaked in at the 6th attempt) as I’d come to a grinding halt in the NE.
    On resuming my unconscious had obviously been doing some work as I quickly saw BAH and the rest followed in a rush.
    The hard work was worth it as there were some absolute gems to be winkled out – my favourites being DOMAIN and CHAMPIONSHIP.
    Started with ASSASSIN and finished with HITHERTO in 12.55 with an unparsed CLAIMED.
    Thanks to John and welcome to Asp (although maybe turn down the difficulty a smidge in future).

16. DNF – too hard for this inexperienced solver. Some biffed to the extent of having absolutely no idea how the clue worked (BIGOT, STAR, BASH), while others (ACETATE) were solved entirely from the wordplay without really understanding the definition! Some constructed bit by bit in several attempts from elements (CONTEST, INADMISSIBLE). Overall a very hit-and-miss experience.

    Incidentally, no problem with TIDE – as has been noted, the down clues were more likely to end in T and D than E and I – in the quintagram this clue would have been a nightmare, but in a crossword it seems fine.

    Gave up with 6 unsolved (by the time I revealed AIRCRAFT to help things along I’d lost interest…) Maybe too much emphasis on writing elegant/‘clever’ surfaces at the expense of clues accessible to the QC level, but overall this just about achieved the balance between challenge and enjoyment.

    Thanks to our blogger for the explanations of those I missed – and plenty I got by pure luck!

    1. Well done! I gave up with only 6 solved!! I normally have a seat in the SCC. Today I got nowhere 😭

17. 16 minutes, hard for a QC I thought, thanks for the explanation for singers / rats

18. 59:29 with a typo in AIRCRAFT.

    Didn’t get a single answer on my first run through the clues albeit I don’t spend long and go looking for the low-hanging fruit. But I also had almost no bits in place outside of -SHIP. At half an hour I still only had 8 answers. Never really accelerated – closest I’ve coming to feeling like I was back in my beginner days.

    Couldn’t parse AIDE or RATS but got there with everything else. Some really convoluted.

    Have a good weekend everybody who isn’t back for Saturday 👍

    1. Congrats on finishing- an awful lot of us couldn’t get there!

       1. Thanks CO – it’s a marathon, not a sprint 😀 However much I was cursing its difficulty, pleased to eke out a successful solve. On reflection, I note all the words are known, so it was entirely down to the clueing.

          1. Elite marathon runners almost treat the distance as a sprint, these days.

19. Welcome to the new setter. I hope he or she will recalibrate – this was nothing like a quickie! A blend of the dubious and the obscure. Thanks though!

20. That was the most difficult QC that I can remember. I have been doing them from the start and, although I am not particularly quick , they usually take me about 15 minutes, this took 44! I did persist and completed it correctly but needed a second cup of tea. Thanks for thorough blog. Could not work out wordplay for claimed although thought that must be the answer just from the definition. Hope we are back to normal tomorrow.

    1. Haha second cup of tea, I think *I* need a nap! And I just woke up.

21. Oof. Called an end after 30:00 with the NE corner and a couple of other clues still blank. Very glad to see that it wasn’t just me who found this hard.

    Thanks to John and Asp.

22. Lying down in the SCC, trying to recover. Just as well the staff were not laid off earlier in the week.
    On first pass of the across clues, I did not get a single word, entering just the HIP at the end of 17a. Then got a few of the downs in the NW corner, and struggled on from there, eventually limping over the line with CONTEST in 24:33.
    I felt the reversal in 19d could be read both ways, and originally put RATS until ANCESTOR made me swap it round.
    DOMAIN was an excellent clue.

    Thanks John and Asp

23. It was one of the easier ones that held me up the most – AIRCRAFT – I was convinced skill = ART.

    Otherwise, yes, very tricky, ending a week of 3 very quick solves and a careless DNF. An awful lot of red on the QUITCH, and a very high rating. If you look at the colour map of the QC snitch though, it’s remarkable how consistently these puzzles are pitched – nearly all in the 75-105 range. The main puzzle difficulty is much more variable.

    I thought it very elegant, and a good chance to test how one’s skills are progressing.

    Welcome Asp!

    10:18

24. Off to a flyer with 1ac going straight in but soon found this too difficult for me. Resorted to aids when just over half completed.

    I seem to remember that, unusually as events turned out, Izetti’s first quick cryptic was easy and hope Asp will tone down the difficulty.

25. Far too hard. Gave up.

26. Bitten firmly in the Asp by that one. What a beast. Phew!

    Some superb cluing. Hope we see more of Asp … with slightly less venom …

    Fell into most of the holes, climbed out again to finish with an unparsed DRAPE (ah, “tape”, thank you John) in 12:15 for 1.1K and a Bloodied But Unbowed Day. Round of applause for DOMAIN.

    Many thanks Asp and John.

27. I think this was one of the hardest QCs I’ve encountered, but no complaints here. It’s good to be well and truly tested once in a while. I never worry about time but did happen to note that this took me a full 31 minutes and included a sneaky use of aids for CHAMPIONSHIP. Needed blog to explain parsing of STAR (oh, that sort of rat/singer) and CLAIMED (way too tricky for me). Like others, loved DOMAIN and also BASH (once I’d solved it!). AIRCRAFT was a massive PDM, as was HITHERTO. Yes, it was hard, but great surfaces and an enjoyable challenge. Many thanks John and Asp.

28. I started confidently with IDEA for 1d and it did take me a while to reverse it; should have read the clue more carefully.
    I quickly realised this was a grown-up challenge so wearing my 15×15 hat I worked through the excellent clues.
    At least 5 minutes went on my last two: DOMAIN -a great PDM as I had the word ages before; LOI AIRCRAFT as I had assumed it would end in ART. FINCHART was nearly my despairing final move.
    So 23 minutes in total and all correct, just.
    COD-lots to choose from- I liked CONTEST whilst solving.
    David

29. 13:55

    Very fine puzzle, thanks Asp and John.

30. Dnf…obviously.

    However, after 30 mins, I only had a few clues on the RHS to complete. If this is what we should expect from Asp going forward, then they will indeed be deadly.

    Saying that, I actually enjoyed the challenge and thought there were some great clues. I’m old enough to remember “Acetate” on projectors (the favourite method for lecturers/teachers at the time), so when I deduced 6dn I realised this could be a tricky morning. Other favourites included: 12dn “Aircraft”, 17ac “Championship” and 1ac “Assassin”. However, the COD had to be 16dn “Domain” which took several attempts before it finally sunk in. Brilliant clue.

    FOI – 2dn “Spain”
    LOI – Dnf
    COD – 16dn “Domain”

    Thanks as usual!

31. Glad to hear this is reckoned difficult – in that case maybe didn’t do too badly to get all except six (NHO INTER), though CNP five others (e.g. drinks, singers). Thanks for all the explanations.
    By the way I suggest the comma after “eg” in 3d’s clue *is* wrong – whether e.g. or eg it should never have a comma after it.

32. DNF.
    Well, I thought that after doing these so-called Quick Cryptics that I was getting a bit better at them.
    This monster proved me wrong.
    I could get barely any. Gave up after 30 minutes. Annoyed, disheartened, disgusted, angry.
    If I see any more puzzles by this setter then I will not even attempt them.

    A nasty end to the week for me.

33. (The Quitch is well worth a look today if you haven’t already … the “Personal NITCH” column is an absolute sea of red!)

    1. Apologies for going on a bit. Really upset today.

       What is the Quitch ? I have not heard of it before.

       1. Don’t be upset Gordon – today’s just a really (really) difficult puzzle! They come along every now and then, that’s life.

          If you look on the right of the home page you’ll see various links under various headings. Under the heading “Useful Links” you’ll see a link called “Quick Cryptic Crossword SNITCH”. That’s often shortened to QUITCH.

          If you follow that link you’ll see what it’s all about, but basically a computer genius (moniker Starstruck on here) has built some software which analyses the patterns of regular solvers’ times and then works out their average time and how their average compares to today’s time. From that it then calculates how difficult the puzzle is (because if lots of people who normally solve in 10 minutes are taking 20 minutes, it must be a harder than usual puzzle, right?). It’s super-clever stuff and you can explore it and how it works once you’re there.

          Today’s puzzle details are here https://quick.xwdsnitch.link/crosswords/361

          The “Personal NITCH” column tells you how people have done relative to normal. It’s colour coded, so the greener it is the better you’ve done compared to usual, and the redder it is the worse you’ve done. Today it’s almost all red!

          1. Thanks very much for your kind comments.

             Just out of interest, is “Templar” related to the Knights Templar , Simon Templar or something else ?

             1. I’m a barrister; my avatar is the crest of the Inner Temple (my Inn).

       2. It’s a statistical measure of how hard the crossword is – the higher the number, the harder the puzzle (measured by the time taken by reference solvers compared to their average time) – today’s is 160, and I think the highest number I’ve seen.

          It’s maintained and run by one of the contributors here.

          There’s a link under “useful links” further up the site.

          Edit: Or read Templar’s much more comprehensive answer!

          1. Thanks for that. I am going to study the “Quitch” now.

          2. The law learned a long time ago that brevity does not pay.

             1. Ouch (the client speaks)

34. I think the new setter misjudged this as being suitable as a QC. I think this was by far the hardest quick crossword so far presented, and there will be multiple DNFs, as indeed many are already. I join that list having spent 45 minutes trying unsuccessfully to solve it, but being defeated by CONTEST and ACETATE and by AIRCRAFT, where my stubbornness to think of an alternative to ART for skill cost me.
    I’ve been hammering on the door of the SCC Club, but after a brief conversation with the doorman was turned away on the grounds that I needed to at least finish before being considered for membership.

    1. Speaking with no authority at all, but as a regular entrant, I’d like to think that the SCC offered succour to all poor souls who exceed 20 minutes solving time, including those not likely to complete their solve within the next decade.

       1. Hear, hear, that would be very welcome!

          1. I propose that the membership qualification for the SCC should be anyone who attempts for at least 20 minutes to solve the QC and doesn’t finish in less than 20 minutes. Not that I have any aspiration to join!

             1. Not even an Asp-iration?! I like your entry qualification, even if you don’t want to join us 🤭

35. I normally pull stumps at the 30min mark or thereabouts, but as this was a new setter, and I was quite enjoying the battle, I decided to push on. I’m glad I did, because CoD 16d Domain was certainly worth the effort. My last three, Championship, Claimed and Incite held out for ages, before falling like dominoes with the hour (!) post appearing through the mist. Couldn’t parse Claimed, and only had a tentative Rat Pack as the singers in 19d, but more than happy just to finish (eventually). Invariant

    PS Not only do I remember using acetates for presentations, but also using their card frames. The inch or so border was a very useful place to ‘hide’ little notes/instructions to help with the presentation.

    PPS And of course, in return, a very warm welcome to Asp !

36. Kind of enjoyed it, but suggest the sin bin for Asp until the definition of Quick has been further investigated.
    Thanks John and Asp!

37. DNF disaster. Not enjoyable, sorry, Asp. Too difficult for a QC, I agree with my fellow SCC members.
    I only solved a few like ASSASSIN and ANCESTOR, biffed one or two, revealed one or two, then gave up.
    But thanks, John.

38. Yet another DNF – BASH, HITHERTO & DIRECT unsolved. Several others biffed with no idea of the parsing. Very, very difficult for a QC.

39. Multiple visits in the hope that a short break would being inspiration, which it didn’t. Difficult, but I took this as a lesson in more advanced solving. DNF as I just could not get BASH. BAH humbug indeed. Liked DOMAIN. Much head scratching and rationalising in vain.
    Thanks John for the much needed blog and the venomous Asp. Sadly, all the croissants and tasty cakes had gone by the time I got to the club. Cold toast and jam.

40. I echo many of the above comments: this one needed time, thought and work (blood, sweat and tears). 40 minutes and I thought I’d cracked it. But a biff (average = mean in 6d) undid me. Acetate: honestly, who got that?! But Ace Tate for great gallery is perfectly fair. Bravo Asp.
    Champions hip (defends joint) was my lol and the Championship is the title of that football league, so good clue. Aide was another biff. Bigot and ingot a neat crossing I thought. But COD to Assassin, which I only parsed after writing in and then deconstructing. SAS sinners? One for the Moral Maze! Great blog by my Suffolk neighbour Johninterred – thanks to him and to Asp.

41. As one incapable of speed I tackle the Quick Cryptic for the daily satisfaction of solving riddles — never stopping in my efforts until the job is done. Today, as usual, I was able to complete the puzzle — and found its challenges particularly enjoyable. Great job Asp: and my advice is to ignore the frustrated speedsters and give us some more of the same!

    1. Hear hear!

42. Pumpa and I found this one way too difficult and therefore did not finish or enjoy.

    I think somebody needs to explain to Asp just what a QC is. 🤣

43. Nice puzzle of course, but the fact that the surface reading/wordplay for DOMAIN is being lauded as hilarious, great, COD, etc. is pretty depressing.

    1. I admit to a qualm too. But I have a high tolerance for black humor, as one does after enough appalling real-life experiences, so chuckled and moved on.

    2. Now had time to look at this again. Agree, not very keen on DO MA IN.

44. My FOI was IDEA. This was followed by SPAIN, then DRAPE which corrected 1d to AIDE. ASSASSIN followed but then things got tough! I almost took BASH out when looking at 6d, (having popped TATE at the end), but I am old enough to remember slide projector presentations and the penny eventually dropped. I already had AIRCRAFT and CLAIMED when I looked at 22a so the TIDE came in and didn’t go out. INCITE was LOI. Despite Jalna’s misgivings, DOMAIN raised a smile here too. Outside of my target, but only just. 10:12. Thanks Asp and John. I agree that this was really tough for a QC.

    1. . . .slide ? OHP surely ☺

       1. The acetates, I seem to remember, were also called slides – analogous to photographic slide projection but in a rather larger format than 35mm, of which I have a substantial collection.

          1. I have the odd box of transparencies/slides somewhere in the loft as well. No idea what happened to my Rank Hylite slide projector though 🤔

45. 14:50

    Having completed the 15×15 and read the blog for that puzzle, I learned that this QC was a stinker so was at least prepared for some difficulty. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to write in three of the first four acrosses, and then the final three acrosses, but nothing in the middle. Similarly, the downs connected with the entered acrosses were OK, but still big gaps remained. Found that knocking off the shorter clues eventually gave enough letters to solve the longer clues, until I was finally down to the last two – DRAPE and AIRCRAFT (though needed to correct EXCITE to INCITE before I could write in the latter).

    Great puzzle Asp – really enjoyed, and thanks John for unravelling its mysteries.

46. Nope.
    DNF. And arguably a DNS by the amount of white left on the grid after 25 mins.

47. Gosh: took me almost an hour! I had to guess seven answers and check on word reveal that they were right. However, pleased to finish.

48. Terribly tough. I can usually finish a QC but today I got a grand total of 4 answers. Biffed a couple more but I’m not going to bother with the rest.

49. Wow, back to novice status for me at 47:35. I grumbled a bit but had to admit some of these clues are stellar. And I might be a bit more dull than usual this morning. Or, having read the other comments, maybe not, just more bull-headed.

    Hard to say one clue stands out as best, I’m torn between the triple DIRECT, the much-reviled TIDE, and INADMISSIBLE.

    Thanks and welcome Asp, thanks to John for blogging.

50. 17:57
    Over time I’ve come to understand the QC as something I can definitely knock out on a regular basis, and the 15×15 as a stiff(er) test if I have the time or am in the mood for an extra challenge. I think the only thing that got me through today was sheer incredulity that I was unable to get anywhere at all in the first five or so minutes of the solve! Slowly but surely after that they dropped in, one by one, but it was a hard fought battle. To any new solvers, I would echo the above condolences that this is certainly among the hardest I can remember tackling in recent memory and can understand the complaints, but nonetheless found this enjoyable once the pound worth of pennies had dropped.

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