I felt I was rather slow on this one so I was surprised to find only 11 minutes on the clock as I completed the grid. I know what Mara is capable of when he sets as Paul for The Guardian so I think he’s met the QC brief rather well without going to the easiest end of the spectrum.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. “Aural wordplay” is in quotation marks. I now use a tilde sign ~ to indicate an insertion point in containment clues. I usually omit all reference to juxtaposition indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
 Across |
|
| 1 | Spent, part of trade surplus returned (4) |
| USED | |
| Hidden [part of] and reversed [returned] in {tra}DE SU{rplus} | |
| 4 | Tries sad novel, tragedy (8) |
| DISASTER | |
| Anagram [novel] of TRIES SAD | |
| 8 | Country bid and Macao worried (8) |
| CAMBODIA | |
| Anagram [worried] of BID MACAO | |
| 9 | Initially offer another terribly harsh word (4) |
| OATH | |
| O{ffer} + A{nother} + T{erribly} + H{arsh}. ‘Harsh’ is needed for wordplay but also adds a little nudge of support to the very loose definition. | |
| 10 | A bird occupied in a particular way (2,2) |
| AT IT | |
| A, TIT (bird) | |
| 11 | A large number of people trapping a pig in wood (8) |
| MAHOGANY | |
| M~ANY (a large number of people) containing [trapping] A + HOG (pig) in wood | |
| 12 | Moderate hissy fit (6) |
| TEMPER | |
| Two meanings | |
| 14 | Number I get in New York (6) |
| NINETY | |
| I + NET (get) contained by [in] N~Y (New York) | |
| 16 | Very old goat seen cavorting (5-3) |
| STONE-AGE | |
| Anagram [cavorting] of GOAT SEEN | |
| 18 | A number doing U-turn in alliance (4) |
| AXIS | |
| A, then SIX (number) reversed [doing U-turn]. We refer to the ‘axis powers’ in WWII. | |
| 19 | Available money is about right (4) |
| FREE | |
| F~EE (money) contains [is about] R (right) | |
| 20 | How photographer might appear very quickly? (2,1,5) |
| IN A FLASH | |
| A cryptic hint precedes the main definition | |
| 22 | One stolen in theft, or different ruby (8) |
| FORTIETH | |
| I (one) contained by [stolen in] anagram [different] of THEFT OR. 40th wedding anniversary. Many thanks to Paul in London for correcting part of my original parsing. | |
| 23 | Thus ending in barley, a protein (4) |
| SOYA | |
| SO (thus), {barle}Y [ending in…], A | |
| Down |
|
| 2 | Resting place let out in US city (7) |
| SEATTLE | |
| SEAT (resting place), anagram [out] of LET | |
| 3 | Case for defence, except in first appearance (5) |
| DEBUT | |
| D{efenc}E [case for…], BUT (except) | |
| 4 | Short bloke’s failure (3) |
| DUD | |
| DUD{e} (bloke) [short]. I have revised the parsing in the light of early comments below. I originally had this as two definitions, reasoning that ‘Dud’ is an official abbreviation of Dudley, hence ‘short bloke’. I’m aware of ‘dude’ having specific meanings, but using it as a general term for a man is not within my vocabulary. | |
| 5 | Transformation in the main? (3,6) |
| SEA CHANGE | |
| Cryptic | |
| 6 | Legion’s brewed alcoholic drink (4,3) |
| SLOE GIN | |
| Anagram [brewed] of LEGION’S | |
| 7 | Groom, after doffing cap, taken down (5) |
| EATEN | |
| {n}EATEN (groom) [after doffing cap] | |
| 11 | Spread name in bad marriage (9) |
| MARGARINE | |
| N (name) contained by [in] anagram [bad] of MARRIAGE | |
| 13 | Strong man of wordplay? (7) |
| PUNGENT | |
| PUN GENT (man of wordplay) | |
| 15 | Figure squeezing last of towels dry (7) |
| THIRSTY | |
| THIR~TY (figure) containing [squeezing] {towel}S [last of …] | |
| 17 | Trunk with roots chopped up (5) |
| TORSO | |
| Anagram [chopped up] of ROOTS | |
| 18 | Geographical reference finally abridged (5) |
| ATLAS | |
| AT LAS{t} (finally) [abridged] | |
| 21 | Pipe down below article remains (3) |
| ASH | |
| A (indefinite article), SH (pipe down – be quiet] | |
15:32. Thanks for help parsing FORTIETH and THIRSTY! It took me a while to see neaten led to EATEN. I think the bloke that gets shortened is a dude.
17 minutes. I wasn’t surprised at the slow time as I found this pretty difficult. I was mystified by the wordplay for TEMPER, needing all the crossing letters to eventually cotton on. Almost a chestnut, but I was thinking of a gemstone for ‘ruby’ and FORTIETH was my LOI. Favourite was the PUN GENT.
I agree with curryowen about DUDE at 4d, leaving ‘failure’ as the def. It’s stretching things, but it could be parsed as a double def, with DUD being Dudley Moore from Pete and Dud; in physical stature, he was indeed a ‘Short bloke’.
Thanks to Jack and Mara
Yes, Dudley Moore was my association, too, especially, as he was not only short in height, but his name was usually shortened to Dud.
Having been tripped up by ruby before, I saw the answer to what might have been the most difficult clue almost at once. Instead, I got stuck on a new version of the chestnut pungent, which I should have seen right away, and temper, which was my LOI.
Time: 6:29
I agree with BR about Dudley Moore but otherwise I found this quite tough and ended up making a mess of it, getting nowhere with AXIS and ATLAS (the clues were perfectly fair) and giving it away as 15 approached. Thanks Mara and Jack.
6:19, spent a while trying to work out why EATEN came from ‘groom’, wouldn’t have got there without the blog today! Also spent a while trying to make PUNNERY work. Some fun clues here. Thanks.
Hmm… Why isn’t DUD just “dude” (“bloke”) cut short?
I’m pretty sure all Dudleys are not short.
I don’t think Bletchers was being entirely serious about a Dudley Moore reference, just adding a humorous explanation of my original parsing as a double definition.
Anyway to avoid multiple duplication of comments all day I have revised my blog to accommodate the early consensus of opinion. I acknowledge it’s surely what the setter had in mind, but that doesn’t prevent my original parsing being perfectly valid.
I didn’t read the earlier comments carefully enough.
Maybe I’m not reading your brackets properly, but I had One = I which is then ‘stolen in’ (ie, put into) OR THEFT at 4oth. If that’s not right, I don’t see how to get rid of the N.
Many thanks, Paul. Quite right! I have amended my parsing and acknowledged your correction.
Chewy for a Monday, and a bitty solve jumping all over the grid, but eventually all done and parsed in 14:11. LOI was the seemingly simple FREE, which took a letter search, as I did not immediately equate money with fee.
An unusual number of numerical clues, with NINETY and FORTIETH as answers and six and thirty in the wordplay for AXIS and THIRSTY respectively.
Many thanks Jack for the blog.
I felt as though I was in anagram central whilst solving this but it may have just been the order I solved the clues.
Started with USED and finished with PUNGENT in 7.07.
Thanks to Mara and Jack
10:46 for the solve. Held up for a couple of mins at the end where I refrained from bunging in EATEN because I couldn’t see the def and couldn’t think of neaten for groom. Agree with Jackkt about Mara vs Paul in The Guardian where he ramps up the difficulty.
Some fine clues in this and it got easier as the checkers went in. While there were some chestnuts in there, it also contained enough new stuff to challenge. COD to AXIS
Thanks to Jackkt and Mara
I could barely get started on Paul’s latest (Friday I think) but I have set it aside for a return match when I’ve finished with the weekend crop of Times Jumbos.
17:52 couldn’t see ruby or spread as definitions so spent ages ‘anagrizing’ over name in bad, looking for a match. We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary this year so a double whammy fail.
What a lot of numbers came into play! Significant?
Great puzzle.
Thank you Jack and Mara
Tricky start to the week. Had to wit until OATH to fill anything in and ended up with five on the first pass. Even with pen and paper I struggled to get DISASTER out of the available letters and then was just slow on both FORTIETH and THIRSTY. All green in 17.07.
11:13
I took a while to see how EATEN worked, and I struggled with my LOI, FORTIETH.
COD to PUNGENT.
Thanks Jack and Mara
14:47, slowish, needed a break before finishing.
Unsure about initial letter of EATEN. And very slow to see FREE, there are a lot of slang words for money to work through.
COD FORTIETH
For 18 A I go ANO from A number and wasted much time trying to make NATO fit
A quick start and good progress until I slowed dramatically with AXIS and, finally, came to grief with PUNGENT (d’oh) as I saw the SCC approaching. So, a DNF to start the week.
Good puzzle, though. Thanks to both.
I don’t think my brain is awake yet. Very slow to see AXIS and THIRSTY as well as LOI, FORTIETH. FOI was USED. 8:18. Thanks Mara and Jack.
Rarely manage a Mara so surprised how easy the top half was (though CNP DEBUT or EATEN, thank you, Jack). The sting came in the bottom, floored by six.
An enjoyable tussle with this, sitting in the sun with a mug of tea. And another mug of tea. Lots of head scratching, but very nicely weighted clues and a number of lightbulb moments: AXIS, FORTIETH, PUNGENT (ha!) amongst others. Many thanks both.
This seemed easy on the whole.
LOI AXIS held me up but I was home in just over 9 minutes.
I assumed Dud referred to Dudley Moore; that raised an eyebrow.
Generally a well-pitched QC.
COD to THIRSTY and PUNGENT.
David
On the tougher side of average I thought as my time of 11.02 reflects. My reluctance to put in EATEN, even though it came quickly to mind was enough to put me outside target. I eventually worked out neaten as the derivation and in it went. PUNGENT was another clue that floored me for a while, not helped by my inability to quickly get the straightforward FREE for far too long.
6:05
Fairly Mondayish – no problems with the top half. Took a second look at 11d to pick out the correct anagrist. AXIS came to me IN A FLASH. Finally left with PUN GENT and FORTIETH.
Thanks Jack and Mara
Managed to solve in 25 minutes. An enjoyable puzzle. SEA CHANGE was my LOI, had heard of main meaning sea before, but think there was a clue on Saturday using “in the main” too, and that was about electricity, so I was stuck thinking about electricity for a while 😆. Thanks for the blog 😁
Wasn’t there a main nearly always means sea in the blog notes last week? I still couldn’t see sea for s x a duh.
I always thought it was seed change…
There was a clue on Saturday about the sea which some posters posited as being about electricity because it involved current. But I’ve never heard of it in the singular, always “mains electricity”. I thought of them when I saw today’s SEA-CHANGE clue
Dear LP,
UKPN have just installed a new electricity main to both my and my neighbour’s houses (true story).
I stand corrected then. Hopefully Mrs Random will allow you to get off the treadmill or stationary bike now you’ve been connected!
😂
And I’m having a new gas main installed during the next two weeks. The entire area is being done so the plural will apply as well.
There seemed to be a lot of anagrams today some of which I had to write out, thereby slowing me down somewhat. I finally drifted into the SCC with a 22 minute finish having taken rather too long to see FREE. I couldn’t
parse DEBUT or EATEN.
FOI – 1ac USED
LOI – 12ac TEMPER
COD – 13dn PUNGENT
Thanks to Mara and Jack.
I never got into my normal rhythm and was actually surprised to just beat 5 minutes.
FOI USED
LOI FORTIETH (or in this case 26th)
COD MAHOGANY *
TIME 4:58
* Had I not known it was Mara, the hog hiding in there would have led me to suspect that the compiler was Oink 😂
I semi bifd that from hog and wood. There was a similar clue a few weeks ago iirc.
15 very slow.
Something went wrong with my first post and I ended up in the 15×15 thread.
There is a bug in the parsing of the input here.
The top half was pretty straightforward, but the SW corner put paid to any thoughts of a sub-20. Loi Temper, CoD Pungent and Fortieth 🙄 put up a terrific rearguard, pushing me out to just over 25mins. Axis (not Nato then), At It and the parsing of Eaten were also slow pdms, but all the more enjoyable for it. A satisfying start to the week, with my thanks to Mara and Jackkt. Invariant
Not at the races today – thought I was looking for a Shakespearian tragedy at 4a; thought “one stolen” meant “remove an I” and so spent a long time trying to anagram “n theft or”; at 11d thought “spread” was the anagram indicator and so tried to anagram “name in bad” (which actually fitted all checkers, till I got TEMPER) … not my finest hour, basically!
Limped home in 12:33 for a Poor Day. Many thanks Mara and Jack.
Surrendered @ 25 mins with Axis and Pungent (despite it very obviously being Pun) beating me. Could not Parse Eaten so thanks Jack and Mara.
USED and DISASTER went straight in (more-or-less) and revealed six starting letters. Unfortunately, I was only able to make quick use of one of them (SEA CHANGE) and any thoughts I might have harboured of an away day from the SCC were snuffed out then and there. However, CAMBODIA got me going again and I was then able to maintain steady progress right through to my LOI (FORTIETH) and the finish line.
EATEN and OATH both went in unparsed.
PUNGENT brought a big smile to my face.
Time = 26 minutes, or thereabouts.
Many thank to Jack and Mara.