A medium level difficulty puzzle from Izetti with a few trademark less common words and senses but nothing I would class as too obscure. No complaints from me that it was easier than yesterday’s toughie and I finished in ten minutes on the knocker. A perverse favourite for me was the surface for 3d; anything but in my experience!
A big thank you to Merlin for having taken up the reins and for blogging every week in my absence.
Thanks to Izetti
Definitions underlined in bold, deletions indicated by strikethrough.
| Across | |
| 1 | Paint book for learners? (6) |
| PRIMER – Double definition | |
| 5 | One group of fliers as seen on return journey (6) |
| SAFARI – Reversal (‘on return’) of I (‘One’) RAF (‘group of fliers’) AS (‘as’) | |
| 8 | Some reward ancestors for hostile gestures (3,5) |
| WAR DANCE – Hidden (‘Some’) in reWARD ANCEstors | |
| 9 | Difficult things Cockney must go through? Sorry about that! (4) |
| OOPS – From the expression to “jump through hoops” to get something done, meaning the task is a difficult one or requires many steps |
|
| 10 | Smart companion in charge (4) |
| CHIC – CH (‘companion’) IC (‘in charge’)
CH for a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, “awarded for having a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time”. Anna Wintour, Shirley Bassey, Elton John and David Attenborough are among the better-known CH’s |
|
| 11 | Support vessel heading back to something hairy (8) |
| BUTTRESS – BUT (‘vessel heading back’=reversal of TUB) TRESS (‘something hairy’) | |
| 12 | Prison festival back at end of street (6) |
| STALAG – ALAG (‘festival back’=reversal of GALA) following (‘at end of’) ST (‘street’) | |
| 14 | Daughter surrounded by birds in large groups (6) |
| CROWDS – D (‘Daughter’) contained in (‘surrounded by’) CROWS (‘birds’) | |
| 16 | Great time — it’s wicked going around! (8) |
| IMMORTAL – IMMORAL (‘wicked’) containing (‘going around!’) T (‘time’)
IMMORTAL as either an adjective or a noun in this sense |
|
| 18 | Second beer — it may come with a special offer (4) |
| SALE – S (‘Second’) ALE (‘beer’) | |
| 20 | Insect that’s beginning to feed on meat (4) |
| BEEF – BEE (‘Insect’) F (‘beginning to feed’=first letter of ‘feed’) | |
| 21 | Learner always needing time to establish strategic advantage (8) |
| LEVERAGE – L (‘Learner’) EVER (‘always’) AGE (‘time’) | |
| 23 | Look to eat very little and get very hungry (6) |
| STARVE – STARE (‘Look’) containing (‘to eat’) V (‘very little’=abbreviation of ‘very’) | |
| 24 | Idea coming when politician entertains ambassador (6) |
| THEORY – TORY (‘politician’) containing (‘to eat’) HE (‘ambassador’)
HE for His Excellency or Her Excellency as a title for an ambassador |
|
| Down | |
| 2 | Fish approached — see it getting caught here (5) |
| ROACH – Hidden ((‘see it) getting caught here’) in ‘appROACHed’
Often indicators for hidden clues are themselves almost hidden in the surface (eg 8a above or an innocuous “in”) but this one is unusually long. |
|
| 3 | Sort of test claimed to be fantastic (7) |
| MEDICAL – Anagram (‘to be fantastic’) of CLAIMED | |
| 4 | Maybe an extra sequence in the West End? (3) |
| RUN – Double definition
An ‘extra’ in cricket, not on the stage as the surface reading may have us believe. The second def refers to the length of time or number of performances eg a play remains on at a theatre, hence ‘West End?’. |
|
| 5 | Disbelieving extraordinary special act — not the first (9) |
| SCEPTICAL – Anagram (‘extraordinary’) of SPECIAL and |
|
| 6 | Food ingredient left for number to collect (5) |
| FLOUR – FOUR (‘number’) containing (‘to collect’) L (‘left’) | |
| 7 | Model clothed in crimson rested (7) |
| REPOSED – POSE (‘Model’) contained in (‘clothed in’) RED (‘crimson’)
‘Model’ here as a verb |
|
| 11 | Beautiful female hiding a gun in fluff (9) |
| BAGATELLE – BELLE (‘Beautiful female’) containing (‘hiding’) A (‘a’) GAT (‘gun’)
I can’t think why but Mae West came to mind. A GAT is an air pistol or air gun which according to Wikipedia can fire “.177 pellets, ball bearings, darts and corks”. An alternative explanation is GAT as an abbreviation for Gatling gun. ‘Fluff’ as in a piece of fluff (figuratively) or a trifle. The first time BAGATELLE impinged on my consciousness (though not in this sense) was in the lyrics for Penny Arcade by Roy Orbison. |
|
| 13 | Casual worker set off in storm (7) |
| TEMPEST – TEMP (‘Casual worker’) then anagram (‘off’) of SET | |
| 15 | See old boy wait (7) |
| OBSERVE – OB (‘old boy’) SERVE (‘wait’) | |
| 17 | Present in box unopened (5) |
| OFFER – |
|
| 19 | Drink fit for a king served up (5) |
| LAGER – Reversal (‘served up’) of REGAL (‘fit for a king’)
The hops used to make this LAGER definitely have a chestnut flavour |
|
| 22 | Tax introduced by Conservatives (3) |
| VAT -Hidden (‘introduced by’) in ‘ConserVATives’ | |
I started off fast, thinking this was unusually easy for an Izetti, and polish off the whole NW quickly. But even the easy clues exude professionalism and experience, with the smooth and credible surface meanings a good cryptic clue must have.
Then I got stuck, picking off a few easy ones around the grid, see sceptical but not able to see the quasi-chestnut offer. At least I saw that other chestnut, lager. Getting bagatelle got me started again – I knew there had to be a gat in there somewhere.
Time: 10:o1
PS. I would like to welcome our honorable blogger back to the rotation, he has been much missed.
I didn’t find this easy. I can’t remember specific problems, just sluggish overall. DNK the stage meaning of RUN, but then didn’t have to. NHO the air gun; GAT means (or meant; I doubt anyone uses it these days) ‘pistol’, although it derives from Gatling gun. 9:11.
I think I am familiar with GAT from listening to gangster rap from the 90s, i dont think its as out dated as this comment appears to imply
I didn’t understand IMMORTAL at all.
I was determined to give this one a good go but in the end I only finished three quarters. I didn’t know STALAG and I think the GAT gun has come up before but I didn’t remember it.
Looking at it now through the blog i don’t know why I got stuck on the others
Hey T, it was great = immortal which is immoral (wicked) around T for time. Hope you got home ok tonight with the trains all going nowhere…
I just never heard of great being immortal that’s all. I read your rugby anecdote but I live in afl land.
I wfh today so that was good but I left my youngest at home alone to go to the eldest’s awards night, thinking my husband would be home from work in half hour tops. My husband didn’t get home til 9:30pm! My youngest fed himself and put himself to bed 🙁
Clearly you raised him right!
Oh don’t give him too much credit. He spent hours on YouTube when he is only allowed YouTube on weekends!
Sorry T, I didn’t get tipped off to your reply until just now which is weird, a whole crossword later. My wife and our neighbour both walked home, but it wasn’t too far. I know you live quite a way out so figured it might be difficult for you. I’m in AFL land also, and speaking of which we should maybe try to sort a Xmas catch-up for the Melbs gang…
13:33 for this, topping yesterday’s time. An invitation to join the SCC is, I am told, in the post.
10:57
Felt a bit sluggish, not sure why; nothing looked difficult once they were all in.
Welcome back, BR. I thought this a tough one, DNF. I was better at the 15×15 today.
Failed with SAFARI, I saw the RAF but didn’t follow through.
9 minutes. No problems other than a MER at ‘great / IMMORTAL’ but I suppose it works with reference to deity and hyperbole associated with dead pop singers.
In Australia the national rugby league competition opted against a hall of fame and chose instead to dub exceptional ex-players immortals. Of course every now and then one of them passes away, so we get the discombobulating headline ‘Immortal Dies’. This was a good puzzle I thought, though there was quite a gulf between gimmes like OBSERVE, SALE and LAGER and genuinely hard ones like SAFARI. I totally missed a number of hiddens and anagrams and at 8ac settled on WAR only after rejecting fan, tap and lap. 10.38, thanks Izetti and BR, welcome back.
Came to a halt a few times before clues fell in rapid succession. BUTTRESS, SAFARI , IMMORTAL and BAGATELLE. I wish Roy Orbison had introduced me to the word bagatelle but that honour goes to a clothes shop on Middle Street, Yeovil in the 1990s. All green in 18.25.
I don’t know why they let izetti set QCs.
Very rarely quick and usually the difficulty is the same as a normal criptic
I don’t often do the 15×15 but had a crack yesterday after someone commented it was mild and managed about a third! So still finding it hard to move from regular QC and Telegraph finisher to being on top of the Times. But as Merlin has said it’s mild again today perhaps I’ll have another go today!
Same experience for me on the 15×15. I managed about half – the right side. I’ve done much better on other puzzles. That said, I could see why a regular 15×15 solver would see it as mild, as there were a few answers containing more obscure synonyms which I suspect come up regularly there but not in the QC.
I scraped under 36mins on the 15×15. The bottom half went in within 15mins and then chipped away at the top.
It may be helpful to remember that an objective of the Quick Cryptic is to provide an introductory level for solvers that will help those who wish to graduate to the 15×15. This does not mean the crosswords always have to be easy.
You may consider Izetti’s puzzles to be at the harder end of the spectrum and others may agree, but this doesn’t invalidate his contributions to the overall purpose of the QC puzzle and he is a fine exponent of the setter’s art.
Yes, I know the QC is the ‘entry level’ cryptic and what they are for.
Sometimes it feels like izetti sets 15×15 clues in a smaller grid, rather than making a QC, which defeats the purpose somewhat.
But I know he is a great setter and many people enjoy his puzzles. It is just my opinion as a relative beginner
In my ongoing efforts to graduate to the big leagues my experience has certainly been that Izetti QCs are good practice, but still a level below even the easiest 15×15 grids (when taken as a whole)
Welcome back BR😀
Couldn’t get started at the top so went to the SE which went in smoothly. Gradually worked our way back to the NE where finally after seeing flour that gave LOI safari at 23.15.
Was trying to force in some odd spelling of sojourn for a while although sure from the start it must end in an I. Needed the F for the PDM!
Thanks Izetti and BR for the complete parsing of run and starve.
Started off quickly, got a bit bogged down in the middle and then finished in a rush. As always with an Izetti puzzle, there was a lot enjoy and the wordplay for the tougher clues was fair.
Started with PRIMER and finished with SAFARI in 8.22.
Thanks to BR, it’s good to have you back
12.38. Slow and steady for me.
15:15 for me after recovering from a very slow start where on a first read I solved precisely none of the first ten clues. Think FOI was LEVERAGE.
Struggled to spot the hidden ROACH, saw BAGATELLE but didn’t know for sure that it had that second definition. Also saw CHIC but didn’t know companion could = CH. Was toying with TEN for 4D thinking it could be a hidden and then once POI PRIMER had gone in, LOI RUN was obvious and I guess it just about works.
COD : SAFARI
Thanks Bletchley and Izzetti – ultimately an eminently solvable QC which a mere few months ago I would have been pleased to finish in 15 minutes but having been spoilt on a diet of sub – 10 minute times in more recent times, felt a slight pang of disappointment not to have sorted this a bit more quickly.
Medium? That was worse than yesterday, which was supposedly hard.
Welcome back Bletchers!
Tough enough, I thought, though I share vinyl’s views about the excellent cluing. I got very stuck on LOI IMMORTAL, where I could think of several ways of parsing the clue but couldn’t make any of them click! Eventually patient trawling told me which one was right, but by then it was 10:16 for 1.1K and a Slow Day. I also took ages to get the PRIMER/ROACH pair.
COD to BEEF, which I found strangely satisfying. Many thanks Don and BR.
14:47. Definitely harder than yesterday’s, although the QUITCH says otherwise.
Both BUTTRESSS and IMMORTAL needed to be looked at many times before the answer emerged.
I biffed STARVES, but somehow failed to see the V in stares parsing.
I liked STALAG.
Thanks BR and Izetti
17:58 for the solve! That’s about a median time for Izetti this year. With 3-4mins left I still had OFFER, IMMORTAL, BAGATELLE, BUTTRESS, FLOUR, SAFARI and CROWDS (LOI) to do but they just toppled in that order as each gained an extra checker.
A second toughie in a row as far as I’m concerned. I was pretty slow to begin with, and I was darting all over the place to get answers. BUTTRESS in particular didn’t come easily and I eventually finished with the dodgy IMMORTAL in 15.32.
Not one for the novice. All I managed was VAT which was knowledge rather than observing the hidden letters.
0/10 for me… heading to the super fiendish.
The pleasure of completing the QC is extended by reading the great blogs in tftt. Thanks BR and Izetti for today’s.
8:55
Some clever misdirection, but nothing unreasonable for a QC in my opinion. I thought it was an excellent puzzle.
Thanks BR and Izetti.
32 minutes to solve, with SAFARI as LOI. Held up by BAGATELLE, BUTTRESS and STALAG. Typically challenging Izetti.
Good puzzle. Failed to understand 16a IMMORtAL, as I was being thick. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it before and parsed it then no problem. Oh well! Also took a while to parse the pretty easy really 20a Beef as I was reading the clue as I was meant to as opposed to what it actually says.
20m
Not at the races today.
Had to work and just look back at the grid every 20 mins to see if any of the last few would fall.
Last 4: buttress, bagatelle, offer, and immortal.
COD safari.
↓↓↓↓↓
For anyone who hasn’t seen, there is a Christmas Special Quickie where commenters get to write the clues.
We are pretty much full, but due to the likely drop outs (think SAS selection) it would be good to have some posters in reserve.
https://timesforthetimes.co.uk/%f0%9f%8e%84-join-the-tftt-christmas-crossword-challenge-%f0%9f%8e%84
Welcome back BR. As usual a smoothly clued puzzle from Izetti, although my eyebrow twitched slightly at BAGATELLE = fluff, and at my LOI.
FOI PRIMER
LOI IMMORTAL
COD OOPS
TIME 4:02
A solid DNF. Found this much harder than yesterday. Not sure why.
Perhaps tomorrow’s will be a bit easier.Thanks for the blog.
Slightly trickier than yesterday as it took me a minute longer at 21 mins. Not by any means one of his more difficult though and as usual some cracking surfaces. NW and SE went in quite quickly but I was a good deal slower completing the other two quadrants.
FOI – 1ac PRIMER
LOI – 5ac SAFARI (couldn’t parse this)
CODs – 1ac and 15dn
Thanks to Izetti and BR
Like Vinyl the clues flew in at first, but then slowed down in the Southwest. No obscurities, well crafted clues, many thanks to Izetti and BR.
5.40
Thanks to everyone for their comments; it’s good to be back. Yet another example of how the perception of the difficulty of a puzzle can vary between solvers. I found this much easier than yesterday’s, a view clearly not shared by everyone. We’ll see what tomorrow has in store.