Solving time: 8:06
It’s been a while since I last blogged a Hurley (QC2527 15/11/2023), who has conjured a pleasant mix of anagrams, hiddens, double definitions floating on a vast lake of build-it-yourself answers.
There are one or two answers which might stretch the mind a little – I’m thinking 12a, 23a and 6d (there may be some unfamiliar with this last one). I liked 10d a lot, it seems to be one of those longer words that have many innovative ways to construct it.
How did you all get on?
Definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [directions in square ones].
| Across | |
| 1 | Clear indication of what office worker might do? (8) |
| SIGNPOST – Something an office worker might do is SIGN their POST | |
| 5 | Cutting account — bridle at heart (4) |
| ACID – AC (account) then the central letters [at heart] of {br}ID{le} | |
| 8 | Show-off problem (5) |
| POSER – Double definition | |
| 9 | Growth area’s crop cut on return — difficult to follow (7) |
| ORCHARD – Remove [cut] last letter of CRO |
|
| 11 | An attempt in the past (3) |
| AGO – A GO (An attempt) | |
| 12 | Popular coin — the writer’s stimulus (9) |
| INCENTIVE – IN (Popular) CENT (coin) I‘VE (the writer’s i.e. the setter)
From the early 15th century, INCENTIVE means “that which moves the mind or stirs the passion,”. This sense apparently was influenced by association with Late Latin’s incendere “to kindle.” The adjectival meaning, as in INCENTIVE payment, meaning “a reward meant to encourage harder work” is from 1940s U.S. war economy jargon. |
|
| 13 | Coordinated items not permitted? Well! (6) |
| OUTFIT – OUT (not permitted) FIT (Well) | |
| 15 | Run through seaside attraction and cafe on vacation (6) |
| PIERCE – PIER (seaside attraction) and outer letters [on vacation] of C{af}E | |
| 18 | Appalling meal drama that’s seen at breakfast? (9) |
| MARMALADE – Anagram [Appalling] of MEAL DRAMA | |
| 19 | Top part of personal identity (3) |
| LID – Hidden [part of] in personal identity | |
| 20 | Surprise opening by the French (7) |
| STARTLE – START (opening) by LE (‘the’ in French) | |
| 21 | In search of roof beam missing opening (5) |
| AFTER – {r}AFTER (roof beam) without its first letter [missing opening] | |
| 22 | Cold individual’s cold treat? (4) |
| CONE – C (Cold) ONE (individual) | |
| 23 | Unworried? This might suggest race (8) |
| CAREFREE – I found this by guessing the definition first, thinking of the answer first and working backwards. One way of coming up with the word RACE is to take the word CARE and make an anagram of it [FREE].
Given that the checkers are not very helpful, I suspect there might be a few disgruntled solvers here? |
|
| Down | |
| 1 | After concession, managed old singer (7) |
| SOPRANO – After SOP (concession), RAN (managed) O (old) | |
| 2 | Relish initially granting usual suspects time off (5) |
| GUSTO – First letters of granting usual suspects time off
Relish is a noun here. |
|
| 3 | One with role in trip captain worked out (11) |
| PARTICIPANT – Anagram [worked out] of TRIP CAPTAIN | |
| 4 | Put an end to outrageous cost before check (6) |
| SCOTCH – Anagram [outrageous] of COST before CH (check i.e. chess notation)
SCOTCH as a verb can mean to ‘decisively put an end to’ e.g. “A spokesman for Manchester United has scotched rumours that they’ll be sacking their manager before the end of the season. Manchester United are currently in 13th place in the Premier League.“ |
|
| 6 | Instrument Claire is playing around five (7) |
| CLAVIER – Anagram [is playing] of CLAIRE around V (five i.e. Roman numeral)
A CLAVIER – from Old French for ‘key bearer’ – originally referred to any stringed keyboard musical instrument in the late 17th century. The harpsichord, clavichord and, later, the piano bore the name. |
|
| 7 | Avoid putting daughter in learner’s place in accommodation for hunting? (5) |
| DODGE – An accommodation for hunting is a LODGE – replace L (learner) with D (daughter) | |
| 10 | Thoughtful case involving acceptable point of view (11) |
| CONSIDERATE – CRATE (case) containing [involving] ON (acceptable) then SIDE (point of view)
ON = acceptable e.g. “Feeding your birthday cake to the dog is simply not ON!” SIDE = point of view e.g. “We’ve heard from President Zelensky, now let’s have President Trump’s SIDE of the argument.“ |
|
| 14 | Note right wet weather in area (7) |
| TERRAIN – TE (Note on the Do-re-mi scale) R (right) RAIN (wet weather) | |
| 16 | Approve objective of roster at regular intervals (7) |
| ENDORSE – END (objective) then alternate [at regular intervals] letters of ‘of roster’ | |
| 17 | Feature of smartphone I deleted in America mistakenly (6) |
| CAMERA – Anagram [mistakenly] of AMER |
|
| 18 | Pleasing sound Greek character precisely reproduced (5) |
| MUSIC – MU (Greek character) SIC (precisely reproduced)
SIC is not an acronym as some believe, but a Latin adverb meaning “so, thus, in this manner”. Typical editorial usage of sic [placed in brackets to indicate it is not part of the quoted text] is to inform the reader that any errors in a quotation did not arise from editorial errors in the transcription, but are intentionally reproduced as they appear in the source text being quoted. Sic can also be used derisively to direct the reader’s attention to the writer’s spelling mistakes and erroneous logic, or to show disapproval of the content or form of the material. |
|
| 19 | Subsequently control a territory to some extent (5) |
| LATER – Hidden [to some extent] in control a territory | |
10.07 I had a slow start but PARTICIPANT opened things up. CAREFREE was an easy biff but it took a while to see what was going on afterwards. LOI CONSIDERATE. Thanks Mike and Hurley.
11:17 MUSIC and OUTFIT were favourites. Thanks, Mike, for interesting info-filled blog!
Surprised at how long it took me to see CAREFREE even with all the checkers in. 15a had me taking the ends of ‘seaside attraction and cafe’ to come up with ‘seance’ and then wondered how it was ‘run through’. Liked MUSIC and SCOTCH. COD to CONSIDERATE.
Thanks MH and setter.
Very impressive bit of parsing you provided in yesterday’s 15 blog, bravo! I was completely baffled by that one.
Thank you Templar. I’m pretty useless when it comes to classic literature, foreign languages, etc, but give me a chewy cryptic clue or clever wordplay and I can’t rest until I’ve figured it out. Needless to say, it doesn’t always work.
I must say I enjoy your blogs and comments in others and always find them very comprehensive, so I’m more than appreciative that you took the time to comment on yesterday’s input.
Keep up the good work, and that goes to all of the bloggers who complete these puzzles and write the blog at crazy hours for all our benefit.
Hear hear!
That’s very kind, thank you!
👍
And here I was, thinking the aldermen had raised the town scot to unconscionable levels – I must be a Mephisto solver. I couldn’t see how fit was quite equal to well, either, but let it pass. The longest ones, participant and considerate, were just biffs. I did like the clever definition of sic – that’s a bit above the usual Quickie clue.
Time: 7:28
Biffed SCOTCH, CAREFREE, PARTICIPANT, CONSIDERATE. 6:14.
Good puzzle, 10.02. CAREFREE was my LOI but I’m not disgruntled. OUTFIT was also late coming, and I rather liked the non-QC constructions of INCENTIVE and CONSIDERATE and the way we got to MUSIC. Thanks Mike and Hurley.
11 minutes. I was a little slow on the smartphone feature and needed all the checkers to bring it to mind and then spot it is an anagram. The wordplay in 23 is a reverse cryptic, a type of clue we don’t see often in a QC but it’s useful to be aware that such things exist.
All was going well until about halfway through I inadvertently swiped right to the biggie, only to find that when I swiped back the grid was empty and the clock reset😮
Even with all the answers back in and with the clock at 1.40 it took another 18 minutes to finish, LOI outfit took ages to see.
Liked the cold treat, once the penny dropped and looked at the other end, so we’re not looking for a person that fitted C?n? 🙄
Thanks Hurley and Mike, especially for parsing of carefree, I bit too stiff for us
DNF after 20 mins, with CAREFREE unresolved. Just couldn’t see it. The cryptic element is not really any help in this one as you need the answer to understand the cryptic. So one could argue that the definition is the only useable part of the clue, making it a concise crossword clue with a random bunch of words after it! 😉
Biffed CONSIDERATE.
Pi ❤️
Re: CAREFREE – I don’t think it is quite true that the definition was the only usable part of the clue. “it might suggest” is a pretty clear signpost to a reverse cryptic (if something more obvious isn’t going on), so “it might suggest race” indicates that the answer is likely to be an anagram of ‘race’ together with an anagrind before or after. When I read the clue, I had two checkers which didn’t help to put the letters of RACE at the front or back, but nonetheless I think there was enough there to get to the answer.
I do agree that, as far as the QC is concerned, a reverse cryptic is definitely a lesser spotted species, but I think this was as tame a specimen as one could hope to see.
That might be the first reverse cryptic I’ve encountered in the QC in 3+ years of doing them plus 4-5 of the books. I am aware of them so maybe there have been one or two along the way or it might be my lesser-spotted forays into the 15×15 – probably around fifty occasions.
Either way “it might suggest” didn’t mean anything to me and I’m with Pi-curious that it might as well have been concise.
Add to that I don’t understand what the surface ‘story’ is trying to convey.
You surprise me, I’m newer than you and I’m sure I’ve run across this type of clue before. But maybe it was during my wanderings through the back catalog. I agree that the surface is hard to put a meaning to, but that’s not unusual.
I surprised myself in a good way by seeing what the clue was about as I put in the answer.
I surprise myself sometimes!!
My search suggests this is only the 6th appearance of a “reverse cryptic” in the QC. On the 4th appearance in July 2023*, Merlin helpfully documented the first three. The first two were before my time and the 3rd about a fortnight after I began solving – so no wonder I don’t recall it. So I’ve seen it two before in 20,000+ clues.
We had a further one in a Saturday puzzle in May 2024 – which I now recall and was generously clued so didn’t hold me up.
The list is as follows:
– Lead implicitly offered by Roosevelt? (3,4) NEW DEAL : QC 2667 11A
– Political transition — suggestion of emigre? (6,6) REGIME : QC 2436 1D
– Linguistic confusion from mother & pa, apparently (5,8) MIXED METAPHOR : QC 2369 23A
– Secret plan possessed by Copenhagen, Danish? (6,6) HIDDEN AGENDA: QC 2029 17A
– Eg East Grinstead in relation to its Great Danes? (7) ANAGRAM: QC 1149 13d
* https://timesforthetimes.co.uk/qc-2436-from-hurley
There’s overlap, but there have been similar clues referred to as ‘reverse anagrams’.
Well I’ve learned something new today – the reverse cryptic. Never heard of it before and certainly never (knowingly) come across one in my 18-ish months of trying QCs. So “it might suggest” suggested nothing to me!
Useful to know that ‘it might suggest’ is a reverse cryptic signpost – thanks, one to add to the cryptic library
Another sluggish solve. There was nothing overly tricky it just seems that my brain is on a go slow this week.
Started with ACID and finished with CAREFREE in 10.37.
Thanks to Mike and Hurley
13:14, so on the slower side for me. Main hold-ups were CONSIDERATE, eventually biffable with enough checkers but the parsing of On Side escaped me, and SIGNPOST, where the definition seemed pretty tangential. Yes an office worker might sign their post, along with 1,001 other things they might do, but I worked in offices for nearly 40 years and it is hardly a defining element of what I did.
CAREFREE on the other hand I did get fairly quickly, and even said to myself “Ah, the lesser-spotted reverse cryptic” as I did so. So reading these blogs the last few years and imbibing the wisdom of a host of excellent bloggers has had some beneficial effect!
Many thanks Mike for today’s blog.
In re office workers signing post – not any more they don’t! They send emails.
If they ever did! In every office I worked in, signing outgoing post was a task reserved for someone very senior indeed. Us office drones merely drafted the letters, prior to it going to the typing pool, prior to it coming back and being presented to a Signatory (capital S) for signing. And I suspect that to call anyone in the exalted rank of Signatory an “office worker” would have been a dismissable offence.
I was thinking signature but one too many letters. I definitely signed my own letters in the 1970s. Do office workers still get up to mischief in the stationery cupboard?
But you can set your email signature to a facsimile of someone’s actual sign if you wish.
Sticky and tricky, a good tussle. I did enjoy MARMALADE, for the sheer panic of looking at an anagram which seemed to be entirely composed of As and Ms. Slow on TERRAIN (I always forget that it can be TE as well as TI), OUTFIT (might not be coordinated, come and have a look at my wardrobe) and LOI CONSIDERATE (took it too literally and was using CASE for “case” instead of CRATE).
Sorting all that out took me (or mi) to 09:42 and my usual mid table mediocrity. Thoroughly enjoyed puzzle and blog, thanks Hurley and Mike.
Raced out the blocks with 9 (nine) on the first pass of acrosses but it was a crawl from there. Wondering how I’d never thought of an OUTFIT as anything other than what I’m wearing rather than being ‘co-ordinated items’ and really struggled with CAREFREE – both solved only by alphabet trawls. NHO CLAVIER but an instrument starting CV or ending VR seemed unlikley, so in it went. All green in 15.38.
I got stuck on this far longer than I should, completing it in 15:17, well outside my target. This could be because the builders currently removing some interior walls in my house are extremely loud, or it could just be because I, as at least one other person on here did, vacated too many of the words in 15ac and spent some considerable time puzzling over whether seance and run through could be in any way vaguely synonymous. Also spent a long time overthinking 9ac (what crop could be cut? Is ROCHARD a word I haven’t heard of?).
Nice puzzle, nothing (as it turned out) that made me think it would more appropriately be found in a 15×15 and, as has been said, a nice mix of clues and devices, including a fairly simple (and generously clued) reverse cryptic. Thanks Hurley, thanks MH.
ROCHARD – it’s what my abs were when I was young 🤣
😂
16:39 for the solve. Reached the CONSIDERATE/CAREFREE pairing inside ten mins and then struggled. In retrospect, can see why with ONSIDE=acceptable view for the former; and the reverse cryptic / unhelpful checkers of CAREFREE and a surface that doesn’t make any obvious sense for the latter. Had really enjoyed the puzzle until those two came along but any time I’m forced to alphatrawl my way to the last answer, it becomes a drudge rather than enjoyable. Just needed more help on that carefree clue than it gave.
A retrospective look at the puzzle gives an appreciation of how Hurley found numerous setting devices to clue the puzzle. Thanks to him for that.
Thanks to Mike for the blog.
Edit: just remembered how much I liked the CAMERA clue. That’s the trouble with a puzzle which ends badly, you get focused on the source of frustration and have to work to remember the good.
Thoguht this was a great puzzle even though I was not on the right wavelength at all. CAREFREE was the first time where I’ve solved these “reverse-cryptics” wordplay first which was very pleasing.
Could not for the life of me see SIGNPOST – my LOI. Really hard to explain why!
Thanks to the setter and blogger and editor and the guy who signs the post at News UK
6.56
Happy enough with my effort though I also felt like I was wading through treacle. A few too many biffs with head scratching over the parsing for perfection, but liked MARMALADE.
Thanks Hurley/Mike
No problems apart from my LTI – CONSIDERATE and SCOTCH – both biffed. Don’t remember seeing CH for CHECK before, but my memory is not what it was. Know of the Well-Tempered Clavier. Thanks Hurley for a good QC and Mike for the great blog.
I believe CH is from chess notation, along with knight = N.
Thanks!
Good puzzle with plenty to stretch my remaining brain cells. I went well at first but hesitated over TERRAIN (forgetting the note TE) and SIGNPOST whilst finding CLAVIER a write-in (I played a clavichord at home for decades). I was slowed by CONSIDERATE, CAREFREE and I shot myself in the foot by typing Lodge (even though I already had ACID. How? Why?). Finding my stupid error took me to the SCC.
I liked MUSIC and ENDORSE.
Thanks to Hurley and Mike.
Very quick then stuck on for ages on LOI OUTFIT.
Much enjoyed. Just bunged in 23a in a CAREFREE manner. Liked SIGNPOST, SOPRANO, MUSIC, DODGE, SCOTCH, CAMERA.
Thanks vm, Mike.
With only one clue to solve yesterday I was on the verge (after 1300+ attempts) of dipping under 10 minutes for the first and probably only ever time. Trouble was that I never found CHAPFALLEN and it meant I had to work very hard this morning just to convince myself to plunge in and have another go. I’m glad I did, as I enjoyed Hurley’s offering, but the pattern of my solve was much more typical: two-thirds of my time spent on the first 22 clues and one-third on the remaining four (ORCHARD, OUTFIT, CONSIDERATE and CAREFREE). Total time ~30 minutes.
Many thanks to Mike and Hurley.
I misread your post yesterday and didn’t realise you’d been that close to a sub-10. Commiserations to you – I thought it was a tough puzzle as well – so would have been even sweeter.
Just about squeezed in a sub-20, with my last pair, Signpost and Scotch, making it harder than seemed likely at one point. Also, I couldn’t see the parsing of Carefree (thanks Mike) despite being familiar with the concept of a lesser spotted reverse cryptic (🙄), so that was a bit annoying. Some nice clues along the way, with CoD to the snazzy Outfit at 13ac. Invariant
Took me ages to suss out CAREFREE (hence 11 minutes) but very enjoyable. COD ORCHARD, I think. Thanks Mike and Hurley
Ouch. A resounding DNF. I just could not get on the setter’s wavelength. I stopped the clock at 30 mins with 11 answers (same as I got in 30mins in today’s 15×15).
Looking at the very helpful blog most clues do seem straightforward. The exclamation mark in Well! 13ac left me convinced I was looking for an exclamation, not a synonym for fit/well. I had always trusted exclamation marks in QC up until now. I need to rethink.
Another disappointment; Hurley is usually friendly but this was a battle ending in three to the bad. NHO a worker “signing their post”; CAREFREE “suggesting race” is distinctly obscure (though both those were biffable); but ORCHARD, SCOTCH and OUTFIT just too difficult / far-fetched. IMHO, anyway …………………….. Thank you, Mike.
In days of yore, chaps or women in offices dictated letters for their secretary to type, which they then signed.
Thank you! Yes, fair enough … but because I’m feeling grumpy today I shall still niggle that it isn’t yet “post” until after it’s signed; surely you would sign a letter, not sign the post? Humph.
15 mins…
I thought this was a good, solid QC with a pleasing mix of clues, although I did wonder whether any office worker signs for post these days. Main hold up were my final two clues of 4dn “Scotch” and 9ac “Orchard”.
FOI – 2dn “Gusto”
LOI – 4dn “Scotch”
COD – 12ac “Incentive” – lovely surface.
Thanks as usual!
DNF for us – CAREFREE we were not until how to be so was explained in the blog.
An enjoyable time was had with the rest – SIGNPOST and ACID both taking longer than they should have.
Again, we remind ourselves ‘read the clue’!
Suspect I am about to be embarrassed – would someone please explain how ‘I‘VE (the writer’s i.e. the setter)’ works? ( I understand the ‘I’, though not the ‘ve’)
Thanks to all.
The writer “(I) have done something” might be written “I’ve done it already.”
thank you, though I am being very slow here. Still a bit lost. Popular > in, coin > cent, stimulus >definition. ‘The writer’s’ I read as possessive – his/hers/its/theirs – perhaps even, mine.
I will ponder.
The apostrophe ’s’ in writer’s can also replace ‘has’ as well as ‘is’.
So, it could mean the writer is or the writer has. Now, take it as ‘has’, so:
(And bearing in mind that the writer is ‘I’)
The writer has finished…
Or
I’ve finished…
HTH
Thank you, both so much!
My ‘cousins once removed’ have now been joined by ‘third person exits stage left, returning as first’. That and the reverse cryptic are today’s additions to the toolbox (key to which is not always carried).
🤣
How about “turn around, it’s standing right behind you”?
….’Oh, no it’s not!’
🙃
I always find Hurley puzzles slightly tougher than average, but always fair for a QC. Today I was on the wavelength of the setter finishing in a respectable 8.13. A steady solve throughout with CAREFREE my LOI. The answer occurred to me fairly quickly, but I had to work on it a bit to get the parsing.
A pleasant tussle taking 36:23.
Hurley had me solving for the wrong definition a few times e.g. 15a where I was looking for a holiday cafe rather than a word for ‘run through.’ All part of the setter’s art.
CAREFREE was a new idea and one to look out for.
Thanks Mike.
Two coffees needed this morning – heaven! Finished all correct but slow to see ORCHARD/CONSIDERATE/INCENTIVE 🙄 Biffed CAREFREE and never did parse. Will now look out for reverse cryptics! COD OUTFIT for the misdirection. Lots to like. Thanks Hurley and Mike.
4:15. Nice puzzle. A rare sighting of a reverse cryptic in a QC with CAREFREE. LOI CONSIDERATE. Thanks Hurley and Mike.
11 minutes, no dramas.
LOI INCENTIVE- waited for checkers as there are so many variations to “The writer’s …”
A nice puzzle.
David
LOI 23a Carefree. Not sure how I got it except thinking “it can’t be that hard”, but I didn’t parse it properly.
6d Clavier, not very familiar with this, and it isn’t an instrument as such AFAIK, only the keyboard.
Nice challenge.
Thanks Mike and Hurley.
12m
Nice. No real hold ups, although NW the last to fall with gusto, soprano, participant, poser, and LOI signpost.
COD carefree.
21:09
This was all going so well. Just 2 left at 15 minutes. But then got stuck for 6 minutes on CAREFREE and LOI OUTFIT, both of which I struggled to parse.
Very nice puzzle! I loved the appalling breakfast. As so often lately, my solving behavior provided a textbook example of what not to do–I got stuck on the wrong one of the alternatives provided by the wordplay for 7d DODGE, looking fruitlessly for a word meaning “avoid” with an L that I could replace to get a word for “accommodation for hunting”. I had to simply wear myself out before I could see the obvious, which turned my sub-15 time to 19:03.
Thanks Hurley and Mike.
Horses for courses. I raced through this starting with SOPRANO. CONSIDERATE was biffed and I had to assemble the CLAVIER. My LOI CAREFREE took the longest time and initially went in unparsed…..I thought it had something to do with the verb career. I did parse it post submission! 5:43 Thanks Mike
An interrupted solve of 20 minutes for me. I always find Hurley a tricky compiler. Never managed to parse carefree or considerate so had to have recourse to Mike’s fine blog for enlightenment.
FOI – 5ac ACID
LOI – 10dn CONSIDERATE
COD – 14dn TERRAIN with 18dn MUSIC a close runner up.
Thanks to Hurley and Mike
Managed to finish this one, with a CAREFREE biff. LOI considerate, COD pierce.
I’m not up to timing my efforts yet – I’m generally in the open cattle truck behind the SCC.
Thanks to Hurley and Mike.
I’m sure you will get on very well with Oink’s puzzles 😉
I like to think of the SCC as a building for the refreshment and restoration of the less athletic solvers, but I know others think of it as a form of conveyance!
Each to their own, but I’ll stick to my concept of a luxurious lounge environment with snacks and drinks, rather than a cattle truck 😂
Does the SCC have staff? Is it of finite or infinite size? Are you allowed in if you record a DNF? Where are the cattle kept when they’re not in their truck? So many questions!
It has wonderful staff, ready to pander to your every whim.
As Elvis (almost) said –
Oh, although it’s always crowded
You still can find some room
For broken hearted solvers
To cry away their gloom…
DNF is infinite “slow”, so DNFs are welcome and get a consolatory chocolate biscuit
I expect there is a space out the back for any livestock that needs accommodation!
It’s been my regular DNFs (usually 2 clues eluding me) that have left me with a wistful look at the comfy seats, so I’ll be more open to claiming a seat in future thanks
. I take a leisurely approach to my solves, with my main irritation being when the advert next to the QC is dark print, so I have less space for my scribbling.
You’re missing out on some wonderful scenery
10:22 is pretty good for us but it felt like we didn’t quite deserve it with OUTFIT, POI CAREFREE and LOI CONSIDERATE all biffed and parsed after the event. At least we saw how the last two worked before coming to the blog. COD CAREFREE. Thanks all.
8:46, a rare foray under 10 minutes. Enjoyed PIERCE and MARMALADE the most and also managed to parse CAREFREE after writing it in.
Thanks to Hurley and Mike.
I finished that in an average time of 14:56 but enjoyed it more than average. I quite enjoy what I think are called Ikea clues, when I can understand them, which I managed today.
Don’t think I’ve come across a reverse cryptic clue before, and had to read the blog to understand what was going on – will try to remember for next time. If we’re going to get unusual (for the QC) types of clue very occasionally, I’d prefer to see them a bit more often so that I get used to them. I’d be interested to know what my fellow less experienced solvers think.
Thank you for the blog!
We have to learn these things to be able to make the jump to the 15×15 so I’m all for seeing these a little more often so we get used to them
But not all of us want to leap to the 15×15. We like it here.
Indeed! Us too.
Totally get your perspective Countrywoman – shouldn’t have used the royal ‘we’!
Like Countrywoman, I have no ambition to be a regular 15er, although I dabble occasionally if the Snitch is really low. I don’t mind a bit of novelty I clue style as long as it is well signposted as such.
we found this one quite tough, but we were pleased to finish with all solved, albeit in a slow time.
Very enjoyable puzzle for me with 2 or three proper ‘head scratchers’ – Carefree, Music and considerate. Solved but needed confirmation from Mike -thanks, and to Hurley
Well beaten today, even after nearly 30 mins, with still lots to do.
May main trouble was having —MINE instead of IVE for “the writers”, then looking for a stimulus along the lines of dopamine. Needed a three letter coin: bit, ten, sou but they didn’t work out.
Over-complicated ORCHARD as well, I was looking for a four letter crop to reverse and crop : malt, rice, corn was as far as I got.
COD CARE FREE a reverse cryptic
7.35. No problems.
33 minutes, at least half spent on OUTFIT.
This was another horrible experience for me.
I haven’t read any other comments as seeing all those good times each day just makes me want to give up.
Thanks for the blog.
So you did most of it in about 16 mins _ well ahead of me. Try to see the +ve rather than the -ve !
Thanks Plymouthian. I’ll try.
Spent the morning coaching croquet in brilliant sunshine and the afternoon cleaning the patio, so didn’t get around to the QC until tea time. Loved this puzzle! Just right in terms of difficulty with some really nice cluing
LOI CAREFREE, which also gets my COD. The neat parsing raised a smile.
Not sure if ‘MUSIC’ is always a pleasing sound in current times.
Thanks Hurley and Mike
Got all but four on 15 x 15. One incorrect answer and three incomplete.
I am capable of getting some very tricky clues on the 15 x 15, but then being totally lost on some of the slightly more straight forward ones. Inexplicable.
Managed to finish today’s one, took me a few sittings, but I got there. CAREFREE and OUTFIT were buffed, so thank you for the explanations for those clues. For CAREFREE, is it meaning that if CARE FREE was a cryptic clue, it could give you the word RACE? Think I’m understanding that correctly?