Times Quick Cryptic 3106 by Alex – they fight and bite

80 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 3106 by Alex – they fight and bite”

1. Nice puzzle, thank you, Alex. LOI MYRTLE. Not quite sure about yellow = OR but suppose yellow may be another word for gold? Ah, heraldry – thank you, Kitty.

2. A puzzle enjoyed more in retrospect. Only two on the first pass of acrosses and not that much better on the downs. So out came the pen and paper – once FATHOMLESS went in things got a bit better but I was aways slightly out of my depth. Enjoyed CONSTIPATION. My only parsing problem was ODD for extra, is that like an odd sock? All green in 16.62, surprisingly fast given how much I had to think.

   1. ‘an odd sock’ – exactly.

3. 10.24 for an enjoyable solve. Like Mendesest I don’t get ODD/extra, but unlike Mendesest I have never enjoyed CONSTIPATION. Thanks Alex, Kitty.

   PS: 15×15 very benign today.

   1. My thoughts exactly 😂

   2. Thanks for tip on the biggie, all done in 31 minutes!!

   3. Started the 15×15 yesterday and came back to it today. Managed to finish it in 45:27 – my first ever 15×15 solve!! 🎉🥳
      A huge thanks for the heads up that it was worth a go.

4. 12 minutes, no problems.

5. Add me to those not sure about odd=extra, and I needed the blog to parse SCRATCHY, but otherwise a good day and a 9:46 finish, much helped by the long anagrams falling into place early on.

   Many thanks Kitty for the blog.

6. 9 minutes. Pleasant way to pass the time with some thinking required along the way for MYRTLE, MARMOSET and BARB, where I needed the crossing B from BUGLE. I’m another who couldn’t initially see ODD for ‘Extra’ but I eventually thought of a variant of the example given by Mendesest.

   Thanks to Kitty and Alex

7. I had a severe attack of mondaymorningitis as I made very heavy weather of this which was highlighted by only getting EAST and LACKING on my first read through the acrosses. Eventually I got pen and paper out and used the anagrams to open up the grid.
   Finished in 9.59 with LOI BARB and COD to CONSTIPATION.
   Thanks to Kitty and Alex

8. As above. Somewhat sleepy after a tense weekend of TV following the Ryder cup with drama up to the last.
   26 minutes of slow going. Thanks Kitty and Alex.

9. 21:23 (average: 38, target: 32)

   I was very slow to get started. On the first pass there was a lot to think about and I was always reluctant to move on when I hit my deadline. After 5 mins I hadn’t quite finished the across clues and only had about 5 answers. After 10 mins the grid was more than half empty. But then as the checkers mounted up the answers came thick and fast.

   ODD seemed very natural for “extra” to me in phrases like “odds and ends” or as jackkt says “odd socks” even if I did start with cricket.

   If I have a gripe it’s that “the French” came up twice in the same puzzle maybe indicating a bit of time pressure to get the thing out.

   Thanks Kitty and Alex a really fun one I thought.

10. 18:20 and red wine was the problem (in more ways than one methinks…blame the Ryder Cup)
    Ta KAA

11. 5:15
    Didn’t notice the two ‘the French’ clues; that is rather a shame. And crossing, yet. At least they were of different genders.

    1. There’s both OR and AU for gold/yellow as well.

12. All done in 21.00 for an enjoyable Monday morning. NHO marmot as rodent but the monkey fitted the checkers. Also shy = throw only came from knowing the fairground game so assumed that was the meaning.

    Had the pen and paper out from the word go so starting with fathomless was a big help, we solve by following the checkers so a nice steady progression down the grid pretty much NW to SE

    Thanks Alex and Kitty
    PS had it in my mind that Alex was a setter that often has a Nina? Can’t spot one, but then we never can.

    1. You sometimes see Marmots in the alps, quite cute.

       1. Hear them before you see them!

13. A smidge over 12 minutes for a benign and enjoyable start to the week.
    FOI Broaden
    LOI Barb
    COD Constipation
    Thanks to Alex and Kitty.
    Off to try the biggie now.

14. 4:02 A gentle start to the week. LOI VISITS. Thank-you Alex and Kitty.

15. I thought this was going to be a slow solve when only three of the across clues went in at first pass. However the down clues were much more straightforward, apart from 3d where I tried to make sense of BYES, and needed the checkers before seeing ODDS.
    COD to CONSTIPATION. LOI was BARB, to finish in 7:58.

    Thanks Kitty and Alex

16. Slow to get going, only getting 4 across clues at first pass. Down clues easier and once FATHOMLESS solved and with a couple of biffs (ODDS, BARB) puzzle completed in 21:22.

17. A good start in the NW, where I even remembered it was Landau not Landor for the carriage. My problems came lower down the grid, with a tentative shor-TREDS-tring 🙄 at 14ac, holding up Myrtle before being replaced by Twine when Constipation came along. I also struggled with 17ac, toying with Banb or Barb, but Barb was at least a recognisable word, so in it went. Have a dig, and odd sock for that matter, were both post solve pdms while admiring the scenery from a window seat. CoD to Visits for the surface. Invariant

    1. When it comes to carriages, I can only ever think of Hansom and Landau. I manage to remember the latter by linking it to the actor Martin Landau. He did many films, but I’ll always remember him for Space: 1999.

18. I was held up by just three clues on the RHS of the grid. ‘Consternation’ fortunately didn’t fit so I was forced to check the anagram fodder again for CONSTIPATION (COD). TWINE was my penultimate solve. I was fixated on the answer ending in RE (short red in the clue). My LOI, like others here, was BARB. 7:41 Thanks Kitty

19. Enjoyable. Finished all correct but felt I should have been quicker. COD CONSTIPATION made me laugh. Also liked SCRATCHY, MARMOSET. LOsI TASTE and FORTRESS. CNP MYRTLE.
    Thanks vm, Kitty.

20. May I encourage any solvers here who are thinking of trying the 15 x 15 to do it today?

    1. Indeed, top half in particular has a QC feel.

    2. Started the 15×15 yesterday and came back to it today. Managed to finish it in 45:27 – my first ever 15×15 solve!! 🎉🥳
       A huge thanks for the heads up that it was worth a go.

       1. Congratulations.
          Always risky recommending a crossword as easy or difficult.

21. 13:16, slow at the end with CHILLI And LANDAU.

    Where is F=fellow used? Not some obscure who’s who of University appointments? It’s another “second order abbreviation”, only used in other abbreviations like FRCS, FRS etc. There seem to be too many of these. Is R=royal going to be next?

    COD VISITS.

    1. Golly, landau, chilli and trouser press were the only clues I solved. I’ll try the 15×15…

       Cheers Rob

22. Like others, I was very slow to start. Don’t know why. I started again from the bottom and gained footholds and it slowly took shape. After some time agonising over my LOI ODDS, I took the plunge without feeling happy with the clue. I just put a toe into the SCC and was disappointed not to have done better.
    I thought it was tough. Too much of a struggle to be really enjoyable. Maybe today’s 15×15 will redress the balance for me……..

23. I was so unconvinced by “odd” meaning “extra” that ODDS ended up as my LOI. The odd sock theory occurred to me but didn’t really seem to justify it, since if you’ve got an odd sock you’ve got one missing, not one extra! In the end I thought of all the odd bits of wood in my shed and decided they were extra bits. I also didn’t see F for fellow for a while.

    Otherwise plodded through for 07:43, 1.4K and a Reggo Day. Many thanks Kitty and Alex.

    1. How many runs did you score on Saturday?
       Twenty odd.

       You might be lying and only scored 19 but it clearly means 20 plus a few

24. From FATHOMLESS to BARB in 6:53. Thanks Alex and Kitty.

25. 6:22

    Apart from having to write out the letters for 1a and 6d, this felt fairly comfortable. A few I had to visit more than once included TROUSER PRESS and SHIPMATE, but I did like MYRTLE and BROADEN.

    Thanks for the gentlish Monday, Alex, and for the blog, Kitty

26. Very unusual one for me, got only one on first across pass, and 3 on first down one. After that got quicker and quicker. The opposite of usual for a one cup of coffee finish. Very enjoyable (and all easily parsed, except 11a DNK marmot). Thanks to Alex and Kitty.

27. A solve with multiple interruptions today. Although I stopped the clock at each interruption it still took a while to get back into it on each restart. This is my excuse for taking 22 minutes to complete a puzzle of average difficulty. Everything was parsed except for CHILLI where I had all the checkers, making the answer obvious.

    FOI – 8ac BROADEN
    LOI – 17ac BARB
    COD – 7dn MYRTLE

    Thanks to Alex and Kitty

28. This took way over my average for some reason (not the golf) and was almost a DNF as I stopped the watch with JAMB at 17a. I wasn’t convinced that jamb could mean dig in any of its senses, though, and I then saw BARB fitted much better. I’ll call it 32:00, not that it matters this far in to the SCC. Thanks Kitty and Alex.

29. A lot of clever clues led to an enjoyable and , for me, challenging QC. It took me 18 minutes (above my average) and LOI was BARB. COD candidates VIRGO,TWINE,VISITS and BARB.
    I’m impressed by how quickly others have solved this.
    David

30. 15 mins…

    A good start to the week with some humorous clues. Always enjoy the good old Trouser Press clue – I’ve yet to meet anyone who has ever used one, especially in a hotel.

    FOI – 3dn “Odds”
    LOI – 10ac “East”
    COD – 21ac “Lacking”

    Thanks as usual!

    1. In that case, we must meet up one day. Are you in the lakes ?

       1. South Lakes – but close enough 😀

31. DNF.
    Gave up after a few minutes.
    I think that 7 down illustrates why I will never be any good at these puzzles :
    “7d Attempt to split tree around shrub (6)
    MYRTLE— TRY (attempt) going inside (to split) ELM (tree) all reversed (around)”
    OK I know that ATTEMPT could mean TRY – but where did ELM come from – and why not ASH, YEW, etc ? And why does AROUND in this clue mean reversed when in others can mean one word fitted around another ? I like gardening but have never heard of MYRTLE. I have been trying for years to solve these dreadful puzzles using logic and failed. I really have had enough now. These so-called quick cryptics are supposed to be a pleasant start to do day. Not for me.
    I have decided to stop this daily torture and not get the TIMES any more.

    1. I saw that ‘attempt’ was ‘try’ reversed as I had the Y in place from IVORY. It was then a case of trying all the 3 letter trees you mentioned reversed until one made sense. For me there is often much trial and error in completing a cryptic, but equally much satisfaction when the penny finally drops. Keep going!

    2. If it’s any consolation Gordon, I feel like that most of the time here. I keep going because I cling to the hope that one day this will
       all click. I hope you change your mind and are able to carry on.

       Gary

    3. Gordon, please don’t give up, rejoice in the clues you do get, things will get easier over time, it won’t be the same without you!

32. I was tuned into Alex’s wavelength today finishing in 7.14, in spite of being a little slow to get into my stride. Like others I hesitated at ODDS and left it to the end, and am not entirely convinced that the explanations proffered above have done anything to assuage my doubts.

33. Started off slowly but picked up to finish in 27min.
    LOI EAST.
    An enjoyable QC.
    Thanks Alex and Kitty

34. 6:51 for me pretty seamless only pausing really for LOI MYRTLE.

    Plenty of LANDAUs and other horse drawn contraptions in the Hugg Bonneville narrated Sherlock Holmes short stories I spen yesterday listening to on BBC sounds.

    Thanks Alex and Kitty.

35. 8.35 DNF. It was going very well until I was breeze blocked by BARB and bunged in JAMB, which didn’t make much sense. Thanks Kitty and Alex.

36. Found this fairly straightforward today. Could just about understand ODD/extra. BARB held me up a fraction. COD CONSTIPATION, but I also liked MYRTLE as I had to think a bit. Many thanks both.

37. 9:33, nothing like limited time to get me through a solve relatively quickly. Just off to the Mediterranean to sing some medieval music for a couple of weeks (recreationally not professionally I hasten to add). As I said last time I traveled, I hate it when people simply vanish (New Driver, I’m looking at you) so stopped in to wave goodbye. Happy solving!

    Thanks Alex and Kitty.

    1. Hoping New Driver can rejoin us soon, miss his contributions- have a great Mediterranean sojourn, Steel City!

    2. Have a lovely trip!

    3. Have a wonderful time 🎶 ☀️

38. Did this over lunch. Luckily, with a Y crosser, MYRTLE came immediately, as it wasn’t obviously an ‘all’ reversal clue, but the anagram for 6d and the crossing TWINE held me up at the end. You would think by now that wine for ‘red’ would come to mind immediately after ‘trot’, but it was my LOI. Much enjoyed.

39. Another MER to add over odd / extra: it’s close enough but still leaves a slightly unsettled feeling that you might have it wrong, despite being unable to think of anything else. No problems elsewhere and a good start to the week at 9:05. Liked CHILLI amongst others. Thanks to Kitty and Alex.

40. 28 minutes, which I’m pleased with now, given the difficulties I had getting started at all. Several minutes (>5!) had passed before my first clue went in. No doubt some of our more accomplished solvers would have finished and moved on to a tougher challenge before then.

    However, I have learned not to panic in these situations and once I’d broken the ice (with EAST or CONSTIPATION or something) the remaining clues started making sense at last.

    I struggled in the SE corner towards the end, my last few in being FORTRESS, VIRGO, VISITS and TASTE.

    Many thanks to Kitty and Alex.

41. 7:11. appropriately enough, got stuck on constipation for a while! nice puzzle, thanks both.

42. 5 min, quick for me, biffed odds, parsing helpfully explained above, although not so sure about ODD = extra

43. 10:20. Minor hitches from thinking a marmot was more like a weasel( thinking of ferret?) than a rodent and that myrtle was the tree involved. Also got distracted by curb and grub before thinking of the right meaning of dig.

44. SCC for me today but I enjoyed the slow solve and my gradual alignment with Alex’s way of thinking paid dividends in the end. I biffed CHALLI for the Indian meal so a DNF – I MUST remember to lift and separate! Enjoyed solving the blockage and puzzled over SOULMATE/SOLEMATE until HIP popped into joint third place and SHIPMATE it was. Thanks Alex and Kitty.

45. I was stuck for a little with the clues for Marmoset and Myrtle. I found this though much more reasonable than Wurm’s QC or Breadman’s QC last week. Thanks all.

46. 18:14, with one error. I had JAMB instead of BARB, justified to myself with “door jamb” and “door stop” both being things I knew existed, and perhaps there is a sense in which “jam” can mean “dig”. Ah well, there’s always tomorrow.

    Thanks to Kitty and Alex.

47. 24:15
    As others, a slow start with nothing on the first across pass and only 2 on the first down pass.
    Answers came very slowly starting in the SW when pen and paper revealed FATHOMLESS initiating a short burst of speed in the NW.
    The opposite was true of the NE. Having biffed SOULMATE for SHIPMATE did’t help, ensuring CONSTIPATION arose from the chewing of IVORY.
    FOI: FORTRESS
    LOI: SHIPMATE
    COD: CONSTIPATION

    Thanks to Kitty and Alex.

48. A 2+ fail today reaching much nearer the end than it looked like to start with. ‘Soulmate’ was a mistake and SHIPMATE was veiled somehow, making IVORY impossible and not releasing MYRTLE. We cut our one down when we came here, it was right in the wrong place in the garden. End of debrief.

49. 22 mins. Slowed down by Marmoset and Constipation, although all went in once Myrtle was solved. Thanks all

50. 11:54 for the solve. As for constipation, I used pen and paper to work it out … 🤐

    1. Oh dear!!

    2. I think that might have been one of the first jokes I remember hearing.

       1. I was rather surprised no-one had cracked it already.

          You either led a sheltered life or were an advanced child to understand that joke

          1. Well, I think I might have heard it several times before finally asking someone to explain it to me!

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