Quite a stretching one from Peridot today.
This is only Peridot’s fifth puzzle: we kicked off with a tricky debut (blogged by our late lamented Rotter back in 2023) reaching 118 on the Quitch, followed by 83, 100 and 76. Perhaps there’s a trend of odd-tricky, even-gentle starting to form.
In any case, I had a very sparse grid after a first pass, just managing four (7,11,14,20). Things picked up a bit, but there were tricky things all over the grid. Thankfully no elephant traps for the dashing biffer (so to speak), and I snuck in a notch under the ten minute mark, more than three minutes slower than the last couple of days.
There’s not too much that could be called obscure, so the difficulty all stemmed from good misdirection. Very satisfying to piece together – many thanks to Peridot!
| Across | |
| 1 | Yahoo endlessly crashing, start of conversation on board? (4) |
| AHOY – anagram (crashing) of YAHO (yaho |
|
| 3 | Recent arrival, fantastic wee bairn regularly visited (6) |
| NEWBIE – anagram (fantastic) of WEE and the “regularly visited” letters of B a I r N | |
| 7 | Younger relative, dad-hugger, ran amok? Give it time (13) |
| GRANDDAUGHTER – anagram (amok) of DAD HUGGER RAN, with the addition of T for time. | |
| 9 | Settle dodgy scene involving politician (8) |
| ENSCONCE – anagram (dodgy) of SCENE involving CON (politician) | |
| 11 | Lot of love cherished by boy (4) |
| LOAD – O (love) cherished/hugged by LAD (boy) | |
| 12 | Surprisingly alert from birth and unconventional (11) |
| ALTERNATIVE – anagram (surprisingly) of ALERT ; NATIVE (from birth) | |
| 14 | Just beautiful (4) |
| FAIR – double definition | |
| 15 | Boss kit for bowler? (8) |
| HEADGEAR – HEAD (boss) GEAR (kit) | |
| 17 | Familial ties developing, sister on lap accepts greeting (13) |
| RELATIONSHIPS – anagram (developing) of SISTER ON LAP accepts HI (greeting) | |
| 19 | Broadcasts about poems (6) |
| RELAYS – RE (about) LAYS (poems) | |
| 20 | Margin of advantage (4) |
| EDGE – double definition | |
| Down | |
| 1 | A river flowed in Scottish isle (5) |
| ARRAN – A R(iver) RAN (flowed) | |
| 2 | Have now to get head down (3) |
| OWN – NOW lowers its head letter (N) down to the bottom | |
| 4 | Discharge former partner due for relocation (5) |
| EXUDE – EX (former partner) and an anagram (for relocation) of DUE | |
| 5 | Seeing bear? (9) |
| BEHOLDING – to BE HOLDING a grudge, say = to BEAR a grudge. So a cryptic hint, rather than a double definition, as BE and HOLDING have to be two separate words to equate to BEAR. | |
| 6 | Put up article in Spanish on Peron, perhaps with note (7) |
| ELEVATE – EL (article in Spanish) on EVA (Peron, perhaps) with TE (note) | |
| 8 | Doctor having drink and kebab (5) |
| DONER – DR (doctor) having/imbibing ONE (drink). Yes, ONE is defined as a drink in the sources, as in: a quick one = a quick drink. | |
| 10 | Cry as water’s broken inside baby’s membrane (9) |
| CATERWAUL – anagram (is broken) of WATER inside CAUL (baby’s membrane). I didn’t know CAUL, but that’s exactly what it is. Nice word, caterwaul: “Of cats: To make the noise proper to them at rutting time,” is how the OED rather quaintly defines it, before adding, “To utter a similar cry; to make a discordant, hideous noise; to quarrel like cats.” | |
| 12 | Unprofessional team at Euros bottles it (7) |
| AMATEUR – teAM AT EURos “bottles it” | |
| 13 | One to win over (5) |
| AGAIN – A (one) GAIN (win). I think there used to be a “rule” in the Times puzzles that ONE was not allowed for A, or vice versa. I could never really see why, and am glad if it’s no longer the case. | |
| 15 | Having a shock may be frightening (5) |
| HAIRY – double definition, the first as in a shock of hair. | |
| 16 | Liberal member getting stuck into beer (5) |
| AMPLE – MP (member, of parliament) getting stuck into ALE (beer) | |
| 18 | Builder’s assistant wearing boots, say, with no top (3) |
| HOD – SHOD (wearing boots, say) with no “top” | |
Slow but fairly steady. I wondered briefly about the A in AGAIN, but only briefly. 9:25
Well, it can’t be about Yahoo stock, because Verizon acquired them in 2017 – must be a boy racer!
Oh, the puzzle. Well, I was a little slow, and had to think about some of the clues. I was thinking baby’s membrane was just B and Y, until I remembered caul and saw how the clue worked. Doner was another word that was at the edge of my vocabulary, but I do eat at that Turkish restaurant, and it is on the menu. Newbie was very tricky for a Quickie, and was one of the last clues I solved.
Time: 10:38
11 minutes. Re ‘one = A’ at 13dn, in August 2019 Peter B advised:
“The word from a fairly recent copy of the Times notes for setters is that “A” in a clue can’t indicate I in the answer, and “one” in a clue can’t indicate A in the answer, except in a phrase like “One cup” for “A TROPHY”. The ST version doesn’t worry about this.”
Since today’s setter Peridot is Mick Hodgkin, the current Times Puzzles Editor, it would be interesting to know if this guidance has now been officially withdrawn, or perhaps simply lapsed. Or perhaps today’s example was an oversight? It doesn’t bother me one way or the other but it would be nice to know what we can expect in the future.
Ah, good info – thanks! Yes I can’t say it bothers me too much either way, but I do recall seeing the occasional clue that would have been a lot smoother had the setter been allowed the substitution. Given some of the things that are permitted (the French = le, for example), it always struck me as unnecessarily restrictive.
I baulked at A-GAIN too. Since I believe that if you are going to have rules you have to stick to them, I’m trying to justify it as a double definition, where “one to win” is the first: “a gain” like “a prize” or “a competition”?
On edit (9:34) – Er, no, it’s not a double definition. But still perhaps a different take on the wordplay that does not require one = a
I’m alarmed that the setter is the puzzle editor. I thought this was poorly pitched for a quickie.
Yes, very obscure stuff. I was well beaten. No chance of getting more than half, however, long I spent.
I agree
Me too! Far too obscure for the less experienced
agree
I completely agree, very annoying !
Of course, in Mephisto, all bets are off. Rules? We don’t have them here!
I knew caul as my grandmother once told me how one of her aunts was born with a one over her face, which her mother was able to dry and sell to a sailor as a good luck charm. Different times…
Different times indeed, although how much of the sale was down to a very canny mother is hard to say!
My wife told me exactly the same story in the last week!
I’ve read that about cauls, and I really like hearing about it as a family story. Fascinating. A good long time ago now I guess.
Apparently I was born with a caul and my mother said it meant I would never drown!
Excellent!
Remembered caul from David Copperfield who was born in a caul ‘which was advertised for sale, in the newspapers, at the low price of fifteen guineas’.
Mentioning grandparents…there seems to be a new arrival theme here or is it just me? Relationships, shock of hair, crying waters broken, fair, ahoy newbie granddaughter…
DNF all else in 11:31 but had to reveal relays
Thanks Peridot and Roly
Oh yes, good spot – you’re definitely on to something there. “Ahoy newbie granddaughter”, indeed – sometimes the ninas are staring you right in the face!
He started his career in 1986 – definitely old enough to have a grandchild.
And the first letters of the first 6 acrosses spell ANGELA.
Sherlock!😉👍
That was a slog. Three on the first pass of acrosses, lots of angst. All green in 18.33.
No problems in 9:41
Hardest for a while for me.
The NHO CAUL and not being confident of how to spell CATERWAUL (I was tempted by a double ‘l’) meant that it went in with fingers crossed but my real problems were in the NE with the NEWBIE/ELEVATE/BEHOLDING combo.
The crossword club site seems to be having problems at the moment so I don’t have an exact time but it was 11 minutes something before I crossed the line. COD to HAIRY.
Thanks to rolytoly
Just about scraped inside my 6 minute target, but there will be a lot of disappointed people turned away from the SCC due to overcrowding.
FOI GRANDDAUGHTER*
LOI NEWBIE
COD BEHOLDING
TIME 5:48
* We had a social gathering on Sunday, as my GRANDDAUGHTER is home for three weeks from Melbourne to attend two weddings. I sat on the bus going home wondering how I’d lived long enough to have a 25 year old grandchild. However, becoming a great grandparent is not on my bucket list, and doesn’t appear to be on the stocks any time soon.
My eldest grandchild is a year behind yours, and so far isn’t showing any signs of producing the next generation. She has today been officially awarded a First for her BSc in Physiotherapy though, so thanks for the opportunity to slip that one in Phil 🙂
Well done to her John. Now she can look forward to the joys of the NHS – otherwise she could end up befriending my Ellie “Down Under”.
Curious about the locution “doesn’t appear to be on the stocks any time soon.” Can you tell me anything about that phrase, I don’t seem to have ever heard it before.
The Oxford has it as “under construction; in preparation”. So loosely it would be something to look forward to,
Thanks!
12 so pleased with that. There are four that I didn’t get where the parsing seemed a bit of a stretch. I’m saying that before reading the blog….
I went down the cricket rabbit hole with bowler and over. Overwhelmed by my hat being knocked for six.
Couple of words were beyond my vocabulary.
Happy to finish in 12:30. LOI BEHOLDING – not made any easier by having an improbable W at the end, having mistakenly entered HEADWEAR for HEADGEAR. Good puzzle.
You are not the only one to arrive at Beholding via the scenic route. . .
I made the same error and looked for ages, at BEHOLD- -W.
All up I thought this was a nicely-pitched QC which pushed me to 12.02, so I found a bit to grapple with. My last was BEHOLDING once I got NEWBIE. I probably took too long to see a couple, such as GRANDDAUGHTER and RELATIONSHIPS, putting them off too quickly because, well, they were long anagrams so we need checkers, right? Thanks to Roly and Peridot.
I’m less worried about the one/a issue than about the overload of non-straightforward anagrams. There are seven clues with anagrams here and not one – not a single one – is a straight anagram of letters in the clue. NEWBIE – one has to find BIE before solving the anagram. GRANDDAUGHTER – one has to find the T. ENSCONCE – one has to find CON. ALTERNATIVE – half anagram, half cryptic. RELATIONSHIPS – one has to find HI. EXUDE – half anagram, half cryptic. CATERWAUL – one has to find CAUL (itself an unusual word not in everyone’s vocabulary I suspect). I’m not saying the clues are unfair, and even in a QC they are surely individually above board, but seven, with no straight anagrams to lighten the load, gives the puzzle a lack of balance.
That and what I thought were some “interesting” definitions – a HOD is a builder’s tool not assistant, AHOY is a way to attract someone’s attention/give a warning not start a conversation (if someone on a ship came up to me and said Ahoy I’d give them a very odd look), BE HOLDING for Bear, ONE for a drink (“a quick one” could be a drink, but it could be almost anything) – meant this was a real struggle. As a result I finished in 20:04, with aids, numerous letter searches and the occasional reveal to check I wasn’t going totally off-course, and it felt like drawing teeth.
I’m afraid that as a QC this was for me somewhat missing the mark.
Many thanks Roly for the blog, very much needed here.
I would say if you are using a tool then could be said to be assisting you! Although I assumed “Hod” was just the colloquial name given to the lad doing hodcarrier, just like electricians are sparkies and carpenters are chippies. An aside, I recall the dear departed Tina saying her husband had been a bricklayer and he had no idea what a hod was as they have been replaced by a pair of large grips which carry 6 or so bricks at a time.
Agree though with much of what you have written – especially about the complexity of anagrams.
oh… Tina… I am so sorry to hear this. I recall some months ago querying her absence from the blog – noting how I missed her input – and another blogger then echoing that sentiment – both of us hoping there was no larger story. I doubt whether I and himself will ever meet any of the bloggers in person, however, the group contributions are now part of our day – the warmth and camaraderie of people unmet can be felt – and Tina’s sharp wit, keen observations and ‘niceness’ are and will be missed.
Oops – clarifying – I simply meant departed from the blog. I hope it’s nothing worse than her subscription to The Times ending or some such.
Indeed we all hope that and wish for her to come back!
Nice for her to get to read her obituary in advance though.
Phew!
Agree
All tools are assistants, in that they assist us, though, aren’t they?
I’m sure there is a dictionary somewhere with an entry that would support that. Whenever I query something like this there usually is! But that does not make it how the language is used in real life, where in everyday usage “assistant” implies a person and “tool” implies an inanimate object. If I called a colleague at work who is undoubtedly my assistant a “tool” they would be extremely upset. And although I might call the robot mower that trundles round my lawn “my little garden assistant”, that is clearly a joke, based on the fact that it seems to have a mind and be operating autonomously, in other words like a person.
I’m a bit late to the party, but I agree with you. While I don’t mind some trickier stuff, this one seemed to turn all of the various dials up to 11, which I think is a bit much in a single puzzle.
NHO Caul, even though I have 3 children and another on the way, but it couldn’t have been anything else with the (partial) wordplay from WATER and the crossers. Also NHO LAYS for poems, or more likely I don’t remember it – I can’t believe it hasn’t come up before.
Overall a nice puzzle, a few minutes slower for me than average but I’m blaming the fact that I’m on a crowded train into London for the first time in years. This morning has reminded me of everything I used to hate about commuting back in the Old World.
I suppose you have never heard of Walter Scott’s poem The Lay of the Last Minstrel, and the jokes derived therefrom.
20:57 for the solve. Wow – that was a bit of a stinker!! Pleased to get through that because my grid was looking somewhat underfilled after ten mins with half-filled answers for fair, shod, edge until they became indisputable. Agree with Roly that the words in the puzzle really aren’t that unfamiliar other than CATERWAUL with its tougher spelling and component and LAYS. Also agree with Cedric about some of those anagrams. Plus definitions were something of a stretch.
Anyway thanks to Roly for the blog and to Peridot for the puzzle.
Didn’t know caul, but did know CATERWAUL, so no problem there. Foi wa AHOY and ALTERNATIVE brought up the rear. 7:30. Thanks Peridot and Roly.
Perfectly pitched QC – tricky but fair, with some clever clues. Just under 10′ for me, with COD going to HAIRY, as it made me chuckle.
Splendid stuff – thanks Peridot and Roly
For once I spotted the Nina and there are lots of nice clues (I mean the clues, not the answers) for what I assume is a new grandparent – 3a, 7a, 11a, 12a, 14a and 17a. (Possibly also 2d, 10d and 15d, but let’s hope there was better medical care than 10d!) Very good.
The puzzle was pretty chewy, but I kept plugging away and things kept falling into place. I had to check carefully how many Cs are in LOI ENSCONCE, and chewed my pen for a long time over POI BEHOLDING – that gets COD from me, a brilliant clue.
All done in 09:04 for a Very Good Day. Really enjoyed the work out. Many thanks Peridot and Roly.
DNF. Defeated by CATERWAUL and ENSCONCE.
Thanks Peridot and Roly
10:49, so more on the wavelength than some others today. COD to HEADGEAR.
Thanks PERIDOT and Roly
Took a bit longer than usual but got there in the end. Congratulations Peridot if the first three across clues indicate a new arrival! Thanks Roly for confirming some of my thoughts on the parsing.
I’m with Cedric . A true anagram should be visible .
To be fair to our setter, I wasn’t saying that this sort of “anagram-plus” is unfair. I just thought seven of them gave the puzzle a lopsided and unbalanced feel. And in a QC was possibly too many anyway – great as variation, not so good as staple fare?
Under 15 minutes with two remaining, we were quite pleased with progress.
Ten minutes later, we stopped.
A DNF from us – CATERWAUL and ENSCONCE.
An interesting puzzle, rewarding, though not of an ilk we would wish for on a daily basis.
Many thanks for blog – and for puzzle.
Well, that was a bit of a teaser from Peridot, though I suppose the Nina gives him a get-out. As Cedric has mentioned, today’s anagrams were particularly interesting, though sometimes it’s useful to require an unclued word: the H from Hod became Hi, then -ship, then Relationship. Similarly EnsCONce.
Despite/because of the quirkiness, I really enjoyed this, with loi Again nudging me into the SCC and a seat next to the driver while the coach fills – shouldn’t take long today. CoD to Relays for the pdm.
My thanks to Roly for the blog and, of course, congratulations to Peridot. Invariant
8:02
I enjoy the different challenges set by the various setters – Peridot, for me, is around third of the way down the list in terms of difficulty, but seems to have a few different tricks up his sleeve from the norm. As for this puzzle, I didn’t know or had forgotten CAUL, and had momentary delays working out ALTERNATIVE and my LOI, the longer RELATIONSHIPS.
Thanks Roly and Peridot
I was pleased to get anywhere near my target time with this one, which was pretty tough as far as I’m concerned. I finished in 10.25, and it felt a lot longer in solving. Before stopping the clock I returned to check the parsing of 10dn CATERWAUL which in my haste had spelt with an I instead of a U. The only other correction necessary was HEADGEAR where I had initially biffed ‘Headwear’. I’m more than happy with the time considering I only had 2 answers from the first pass of the across clues.
A bit of a struggle today meant that I ended up on the doorstep of the SCC on bang on 20 minutes. A few innovative parsing had me scratching my head but it was overall an enjoyable exercise. NHO caul – I hope I can remember it for the next time it comes up.
FOI – 1ac AHOY
LOI – 9ac ENSCONCE
COD – 15dn HAIRY. I also liked BEHOLDING and AMATEUR
Thanks to Peridot and Rolytoly.
Trickier than average. Did not like ONE for DRINK or A for ONE, but concluded they must be correct.
Joint CODs: CATERWAUL and HAIRY
Thanks Peridot and Roly
Oh dear, first comment was lost in the ether. POI NEWBIE. A pet hate, did not expect naff slang in this illustrious QC, but no one else is complaining. . LOI BEHOLDING.
On the other hand, I did like HAIRY.
Had to start at the end apart from ARRAN. Did know Caul. Worked out AHOY and HOD.
Thanks vm, Roly.
NEWBIE doesn’t bother me; it could have been worse: NOOB.
Eek!
If this is new QC standard it’s going to be more than regular visits to SCC for me.BEHOLDING great clue nevertheless
19.07 I saw the wordplay for NEWBIE, decided it was too elaborate for a quickie and didn’t attempt to solve the anagram thinking I must be missing the point. When I finally biffed it BEHOLDING, HEADGEAR and AGAIN followed to finish. Thanks rolytoly and Peridot. And congratulations!
Dashing in to say that was very hard, but I noticed the grandchild theme quite early on, which is unusual for me! Some have posters commented in the past (and fairly in my view) that trying to squeeze a nina in can create a bit of a messy puzzle, and I would say that’s the case today. But perhaps we can forgive Peridot if we have inferred the theme correctly 👶
Off to a U3A group now – will read all comments later 😊
Agree that the Ninas tend to make things harder although I didn’t think this was too messy. Just tough clueing. I agree that if it was to celebrate another little person entering the world – then let’s focus on that beauty.
13:13. Some very interesting clues plus lots of vocabulary on the edge of my knowledge, but luckily it all came together.
Fab time matey – well done 👍
It was one of those days when I estimated 18-22 minutes after first scan of clues but then luckily one word led seamlessly to another!
DNF
This was tough anyway, but disappointed with a DPS due to a misspelled CATERWAUL which I spelt with double L at the end. Would have taken me past the 30 minute mark anyway.
Failed to parse OWN and struggled with the anagrams which as Cedric points out required pre-assembly. LOI ENSCONCE.
Humbled today by Arran, Ensconce, Caterwaul and Relays. Ran for flowed, Lay for poem , Caul for baby’s membrane and Con for politician got me.
Having only had Con, Lab, and Lib to cope with as a general rule, will we shortly be able to expect Ref following the poll reported in today’s paper?
Along those lines, interesting that DUP was popular/useful for a few years after Theresa May’s government had to make a deal with them. But probably won’t ever come up again.
In the end a slow 28:41 to limp home after a fastish start with the top half. Guessed the spelling of CATERWAUL (NHO CAUL) and struggled with the SE corner, not seeing the parsings until afterwards.
About 15 minutes after I absurdly submitted on line by accident with about half the answers in. (I need a minder.) Printed it and finished by hand.
Somewhat testing but not frustrating, so just my sort of puzzle. CON for politician at 9a was hard for me. If I’d been quicker to simply write in ALTER at 12a and see what came of it, it would have saved me a minute or so. And I wasted time on 15a trying to remember the chestnut “stud” for boss, pointlessly as it turned out. A real comedy of errors today. Liked BEHOLDING (ho ho) and HAIRY.
Thanks to Peridot (and congratulations) and roly.
On the tricky side I thought, largely for the reasons Cedric gave though caul was familiar. At least, unlike our performance yesterday, our over par time of 14:26 was reflected by the Quitch. Thanks, Rolytoly and Peridot.
I’ve found the last few QCs pretty hard and this was no exception. In fact my coffee breaks have almost turned into lunch breaks… I did finish but couldn’t parse BEHOLDING (doh) and wasn’t sure about a for one in AGAIN. LOI NEWBIE after semi-solving BEHOLDING. I did know caul so CATERWAUL was fine. COD to DONER, which made me smile and taught me that drink can indicate one 😆 Enjoyable and a great blog from RT. Many thanks.
19:37 here. I never really got into a flow with this one, jumping all over the grid and with liberal use of aids. COD to BEHOLDING.
Thanks to Peridot and rolytoly.
50 minutes of hard work but overall an enjoyable experience although I very nearly gave up on LOI AGAIN after various alphabet trawls.
I really liked AHOY and NEWBIE.
Thanks to Peridot and RT.
Dnf…
25 mins for everything, but put “Caterwall” for 10dn – thinking that might be a membrane (ie. anagram of water inside cry=call). I guess if you don’t have the GK these things can happen.
Overall, a tricky puzzle, especially the SW corner that took the majority of my time.
FOI – 1ac “Ahoy”
LOI – 10dn “Caterwall” (incorrect)
COD – 8dn “Doner” – not sure I’ve had one of these since University, from the ingeniously named Jason’s Doner Van.
Thanks as usual!
Hmm I think this was definitely stretching the bounds of what a “quick” cryptic should be with lots of tricky wordplay and Hod, Caul, Ensconce and Lays. Arran clue was nice.
hard graft…needed a couple of ‘Checks’ to be sure I was right. Not a lot of fun today.
FOI 1a Ahoy
LOI 19a Relays
COD – none!
Quite tricky, but doable IMO.
I was motoring along so didn’t notice I had mis-parsed 9a Ensconce as (scene*) and On C for Conservative. No matter.
COD 5d Be Holding.
Back now! I found this quite a struggle and not really my cup of tea, but it’s a lovely way to welcome a new member of the family, for that is surely what’s going on.
HAIRY Maclary’s CATERWAUL Caper was a much loved book when my two were young, so no problem there 😊 As a side note, Giles Coren reviewed a restaurant a week or so ago called Von Crumb which only served schnitzel – another nod to the wonderful books (Schnitzel von Krumm with a very low tum) 😅 May the the new granddaughter enjoy them too in good time.
14:21 FOI Arran LOI Again COD Hairy
Thanks Peridot and Roly
Dear Mme B,
There’s a cobble mosaic of two dachshunds (Christo’s dogs) just outside the sunken garden at Dixter, but (sadly) neither went by the name of Schnitzel von Krumm. Canna and Dahlia, I think.
Off to a good start for the second day in a row – almost a record, for me – and the grid filled up quite quickly …. until it didn’t any more. However, some inspired biffing (including. ENSCONCE, CATERWAUL and RELAYS) got me going again and I finished off with ELEVATE and LOAD.
No idea how I did it, but I crossed the line in 24-25 minutes. So, another good day here.
Many thanks to Roly and Peridot.
I could not find RELATIONSHIPS because I thought a builder’s assistant was a LAD and wearing boots was being CLAD
A chewy 45 mins but enjoyed it, despite a loud expletive when the “ahoy” penny finally dropped. Was nudged towards my LOI EDGE by Mr P.
Thanks both.
A b****y awful 42 minutes.
Best advice I’ve had on here was from a blogger (can’t remember who) suggesting that I give up as cryptics weren’t for me. I should have taken it.
I am utterly useless at this. I don’t where to go for help to improve, but this run of pathetic attempts has reached new depths of ineptitude. I honestly don’t have a clue (and that after 4.5 years of hard grinding).
Last week I solved a 15 x 15. This week I have taken almost 2.5 hours so far (with one DNF), and that includes an 11 min finish on Monday. Dreadful beyond belief.
Having now read the comments, my time is even worse than I initially thought. I am so far behind those I could once beat with ease. ☹️