An enjoyable puzzle from Teazel. The word at 8a is a bit obscure but very gettable if you follow the instructions, and there was lots of wit and sparkle. All done in 07:40 for a Steady Eddie Day. Many thanks Teazel. I hope you all enjoyed it too.
Definitions underlined in bold.
| Across | |
| 1 | Prudent, being consumed by worry? (7) |
| CAREFUL – cryptic hint. I think the idea is that if you are “full” of “cares” then you could be said to be “consumed by worry”. Something like that. | |
| 5 | Plunder big bag (4) |
| SACK – double definition. | |
| 7 | From the start relish a good scrap (3) |
| RAG – first letters [from the start] of “relish a good”. | |
| 8 | A new bit of advice: work with energy for unrecognised leader (8) |
| ANTIPOPE – A + N [new] + TIP [bit of advice] + OP [work] + E [energy]. A five-component IKEA clue. I assembled it according to the instructions and the unfamiliar word appeared, which was satisfying. I thought an ANTIPOPE was someone who would pick Jacob Bethell at 3 for the Ashes but no, apparently it’s someone who sets themselves up as the Pope in opposition to the canonical Pope. That used to be a thing. | |
| 10 | Old Central American person hides always (5) |
| MAYAN – MAN [person] contains [hides] AY [always]. The Mayans were a jolly impressive bunch. | |
| 11 | Hug me back: steady! (7) |
| EMBRACE – EM [me back] + BRACE [steady, as in “brace yourself!”]. | |
| 13 | Where knockout is likely, put ice out (3,3) |
| CUP TIE – clever – unless the rules allow for a replay, a CUP TIE will end with one of the sides being knocked out of the competition. Anagram [out] of “put ice”; it should have been easy but I immediately saw “cue tip” and then couldn’t unsee it until I had checkers. | |
| 15 | Turning up, mean at last to score basket (6) |
| PUNNET – PU [turning up] + N [mean at last] + NET [to score]. | |
| 17 | Temporary fix as apps got confused (7) |
| STOPGAP – anagram [confused] of “apps got”. | |
| 18 | Saint breaks into type of Sunday hymn (5) |
| PSALM – S [saint – it’s usually ST but has been S often enough for me to remember this] going inside [breaks into] PALM [type of Sunday, very good]. | |
| 20 | Once more grab time off, trailing back (8) |
| REARREST – I suppose to grab someone is to arrest them, so fair enough. REST [time off] going after [trailing] REAR [ back]. | |
| 22 | Perhaps member of army finishing lieutenant (3) |
| ANT – army ANTs featured in yesterday’s NYT Connections. Last three letters [finishing] of “lieutenant“. | |
| 23 | Go and return potty (4) |
| STAB – have a go/have a STAB. “Bats” [potty] backwards [return]. My first thought was “stun” (nuts backwards) but no. | |
| 24 | Unsteady dog? (7) |
| LURCHER – cryptic definition. Bit of a cracker joke and thus COD from me; I am easily pleased. LURCHERs are longleggedy beasties with a phenomenal turn of speed and a strong hunting instinct. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Armistice broken by Charlie Potter (10) |
| CERAMICIST – anagram [broken] of “armistice” after C [by Charlie]. I knew that the capital P would be a piece of setter’s chicanery, yer not foolin’ me Teazel. | |
| 2 | Mat to hand for sport (5) |
| RUGBY – RUG [mat] + BY [to hand]. | |
| 3 | Close relative in Highland dance showing off (9) |
| FLAUNTING – AUNT [close relative – not if you’d met my aunts] inside [in] FLING [Highland dance]. Very sporting to specify “Highland”. | |
| 4 | Refuse group of newborn (6) |
| LITTER – double definition. | |
| 5 | Juice: nothing odd in usual power (3) |
| SAP – SA [the even letters of “usual”, so “nothing odd”] + P [power]. | |
| 6 | Panic at changing leader (7) |
| CAPTAIN – anagram [changing] of “panic at”. | |
| 9 | Write feeble second half of letter in verse (10) |
| PENTAMETER – More IKEA. PEN [write] + TAME [feeble] + TER [second half of letter]. A line of verse with five metrical feet, from the Greek pente five + metron measure. Interestingly this word seems to have entered English around 1550, just before Big Bill Shakespeare, World King of the Pentameter, was born. | |
| 12 | Sign to leave miserable apostle (4,5) |
| BLUE PETER – the BLUE PETER is a signal flag, being a blue rectangle with a white square or rectangle in the centre. It is flown to indicate that the ship is preparing to leave harbour. Most Brits of a certain vintage know this, having been raised on a BBC show called BLUE PETER: the presenters would explain the origin of the name at least once a year (it was supposed to suggest to the viewing children “we are setting sail for adventure”). | |
| 14 | Demonstrate in favour of trial (7) |
| PROTEST – PRO [in favour of] + TEST [trial]. | |
| 16 | Request recording of a cascade of bells (6) |
| APPEAL – sounds like [recording of] “a peal”. | |
| 19 | Make embarrassed in a party (5) |
| ABASH – A + BASH [party]. | |
| 21 | Polish most of gemstone (3) |
| RUB – RUB{y}. | |
Wondered about CAREFUL but saw it as our blogger, being full of care. Assembled ANTIPOPE in the same way, otherwise a NHO. Whenever I see Potter I assume it’s something to do with the boy wizard but this time saw CERAMICIST immediately. FLAUNTING took longer than it should even though I saw ‘fling’ straightaway. The meaning of the BLUE PETER had long been forgotten so thanks for the refresher T. PENTAMETER also from the wordplay. Don’t think I’ve heard of a LURCHER before.
Thanks Templar and setter.
I found the right side of this puzzle harder than the left side, with REARREST, BLUE PETER, and PENTAMETER being the last hold-outs. Quite a satisfying puzzle to solve in the end, plenty for me to think about but I had enough crossers to not get too stuck. COD ANTIPOPE.
5:29. Like David, the right side, in particular the bottom right, held me up. LURCHER came to mind early but was rejected as I was looking for a double definition, not a cryptic definition. Whenever metres come up I always think ‘I really must learn more poetry off by heart’; I never do. I got a page of the Odyssey (Reclam’s Universal-Bibliothek edition) a few years ago, but that was the high watermark.
DNK the Blue Peter meaning so thanks for that Templar. Thank you Teazel.
I seem to off form for croswords. Could finish either the QC or the Telegraph yesterday and struggled today too. Typing was up to its usual standard though with a pink square for FLAUNTINa, so that mucked up STOPaAP too. Only three on the first pass of acrosses but bettee on the downs. Needed the hints to parse MAYAN – thanks Templar – and then couldn’t get REARREST for literally minutes but having failed yesterday was more determined to give this the time it needed. Pleased to finish but annoyed at the pink squares. Scraped under 20.
10 minutes. REARREST was my LOI.
Despite not knowing ANTIPOPE and this meaning of BLUE PETER, I managed 17.37 with a bit of biffing here and there.
Pi ❤️
Not a QTPi 👍
That makes you Tweetie-Pie. Bear with me here…
Tardier Than Pi = TtPi = T…wee T…Pi. Geddit???
Haha twee t and I thought I was obscure 😂
Another DNF. All but rearrest done in about 18 but then 10 minutes of guessing a letter and pressing reveal about a hundred times until finally the penny dropped at 28.10 only to find hadn’t checked anagrist/typing for ceramAcist
Knew the Blue Peter meaning and that’s definitely COD.
Thanks Teazel and Templar
Tomorrow’s another day.
I too had an A in the potter but had forgotten to pause after being interrupted so saves a two hour plus effort going on my stats I think.
BLUE PETER a big part of my childhood – we were rationed to one TV show a day (those were the days) and it was timed to be on just as one got home from school so was always the one we watched. 11:06 for this puzzle which I thought well-pitched; only CAREFUL caused a delay as I considered the parsing. I eventually concluded it was as Templar suggests but I don’t think it is the strongest clue of the puzzle.
Many thanks Templar for the blog and for triggering memories of Singleton, Purves and Noakes.
And Shep! (One a day? Luxury! We were 4 a week, all of which had to be chosen in advance and ringed in the Radio Times. And we used to lick t’road clean wi’ our tongues.)
10 hours a week was our ration, and this had to be chosen in advance.
And I thought it was just my family!
I was always asking my parents for some sticky back plastic. I never got any!
Steady going today and taken a bit over average by my LOI.
Like some others ANTIPOPE was new to me but fairly clued and I’d forgotten about what the BLUE PETER signified (the central column sounds like something the TV show would have talked about).
Started with SACK and finished with REARREST in 8.46. COD to PSALM.
Thanks to Templar and Teazel.
All bar REARREST in an enjoyable ten minutes. Threw in the towel at 15.
DNF for me – could not see REARREST for the life of me. Never heard of a lurcher dog. Managed ANTIPOPE though tried to make it ‘antipode’ cos at least that’s a word.
Biffed CAREFUL but didn’t really get it until the blog.
I also managed BLUE PETER but I only vaguely knew it was a word because on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK they award ‘RuPeter Badges’ as a pun on the blue peter badges. I knew it was a kids show, no notion of it being a flag!
No hiddens today!
no hiddens unless ant is a hiding in plain sight…
Obviously you don’t do the concise crossword as [text removed because it revealed the answer to a clue in one of today’s other puzzles].
18:22 like others stuck in the SE with a lurcher and S Peter…Even the ant was able to abash me. Nice puzzle.
Ta TAT
11:20, quite fast for what felt like a tough one.
In the middle of reading “A Distant Mirror”, a history of the 14c in Europe, so ANTIPOPE was on my mind.
At 15ac I had NET for “to score basket”, as in basketball. Wrong, but helpful.
Never did parse 1a, seems pretty weak to me. Being full of care is what careful means.
My cryptic clue for PENTAMETER : 20 cm? (10)
LOI ARREST
Like you, I had NET as ‘score basket’ which was enough for me to see PUNNET, even if my parsing was off.
Strong cluing there Merlin
“Would you have got it?” “Id have had a guess” “No prizes for guessing😉 unlucky”
Great book, enjoy!
Relieved to know I am not alone in solving all but REARREST in a reasonable time but giving up when the SCC approached – so a DNF for me.
An enjoyable QC with some very good clues and PDMs (including one word I would never have got without a couple of crossers and a helpful clue that allowed logical construction – ANTIPOPE).
Thanks to Teazel and Templar.
5:53. I was a bit slow getting going – it always seems to take me a while to get on Teazel’s wavelength. One clue was a gimme for those who, like me, do the Concise first. Thanks Teazel and Templar.
14:05, delayed at the end by REARREST.
Thanks Teazel and Templar
6:54
Like several others, REARREST took me some time. I learned of LURCHERs here a while back, glad I could recall it. I’m not sure I knew PUNNET. Didn’t care for CAREFUL.
Biffed REARREST and ANTIPOPE, but a steady solve for the rest. About 17 minutes – interrupted by phone call.
DNF as I couldn’t see REARREST. I have no idea why, as it was a very straightforward clue, but clearly I’m in good company. No problem with some of the more difficult clues -very strange! Thanks Teazel and Templar.
Terrible run of typos for me. AMT for ANT today. Adding my time in case Starstruck’s wonderful site scrapes for times, but I don’t think it does.
6:26
Steady progress. Struggled with a few. Must rush, off to throw some bowls on the wheel.
Thanks all.
My LOI was REARREST. I didn’t know the meaning of Blue Peter however, despite watching the program for many years. Maybe they had stopped giving the explanation regularly by the time I watched it? I knew it was a flag though (so maybe I half remembered the explanation?), so I put it in as it seemed it had to be right. STAB / BATS (and NUTS / STUN) is becoming a bit of a chestnut, but one that I don’t immediately see yet, I only got it on the second pass when I had the crossers.
9:10 for me, an enjoyable puzzle with a mild hangover.
34:13 (average: 35, target: 37)
Found this quite hard with a long period after my first pass where nothing was really coming. Then everything seemed to click into place and the answers came thick and fast. Nothing unknown except the exact meaning of BLUE PETER which I was very interested to learn during solving and then confirm here on the blog.
Very enjoyable.
Thanks Templar and Teazel.
14:13, LOI REARREST. I knew the word ANTIPOPE, so had no trouble constructing it, but I didn’t know what it was (assuming it to be the Pope’s oppo, the Devil’s representative here on earth). So thanks for that, Templar, and the rest of the blog, and thanks to Teazel for the puzzle
A lurcher traditionally is a cross between a Greyhound and a Deer Hound used for hare coursing which has been in the news recently because of arrests and trials.
21 today. Failed in the south. Rearrest didn’t come to me. I thought stab was terribly clued. Potty for bats? Are we in the kindergarten? Unfamiliar with abash. Missed the obvious (when you see it) ant.
Thanks T & T
A lurcher is a cross between any ‘long dog’ (most often greyhound, but could be whippet, deerhound, etc) and (usually) a terrier type; the result is a very fast animal with built-in tenacity. A poacher’s dog – but also a fantastic cross for a great companion.
Time unknown, interrupted by arrival of he who services our ‘Reverse Osmosis Water System’. Science is a delicious, magical mystery to me- long may it remain so – the magic of a little switch triggering light, voices travelling across seas without string between two tins. Himself, however, needs to know EVERYTHING. So, not until the full book on things water could we return to the QC. Sat down, two words jumped out. Odd that, after previously long staring to no avail.
Anyway – enjoyed – not keen on ARREST – part biffed from ‘a rest’ NHO ANTIPOPE, MAYAN
Lovely blog as always, Templar. Just learnt about those clever MAYAN.
Thanks Teazel.
Found this tough going. Couldnt see ABASH for a very very long time, to my embarassment. My lack of dog knowledge once again bites and I had a DNF as a result of the NHO LURCHER. Had my brain not been fried from the workout I might have been able to piece that together with the H but I threw in the towel
Thought I might be on for a really fast one as I got all the way down to 20a without missing any and still had only about nine minutes on the clock with just four to go in the south. Finally REARREST led to APPEAL led to LURCHER and LOI ABASH, but those took half as long again as the rest of the puzzle and I finished on 14:44. Still good for me for a Teazel though. COD to the unsteady dog. Thanks Teazel and Templar.
I wasn’t at the races today finishing in a tardy 16.12. I expected to see a lot of comments saying how tough it was, but many of the times posted so far suggest it wasn’t as hard as I thought it was. I was slow from the off with only a few of the across clues solved at first pass, and I got myself in a mess by biffing ARM for 22ac and not returning to it until I found PENTAMETER impossible to solve. I eventually got my head round it, but finished up with well over a minute required to solve my LOI REARREST.
You were not alone with ARM 🙂
Another who struggled to see my LOI, REARREST. RUGBY was FOI. Assembled the ANTIPOPE from the instructions, but had heard of him. Liked FLAUNTING. 6:32. Thanks Teazel and Templar.
A challenging QC, but still doable by Some Random Chap plucked off the street to make up the numbers (i.e. a non-elite solver) – unlike yesterday’s horror show from Asp.
I started steadily, sped up for a while, struggled a bit near the end and got breeze-blocked (for fully 5 minutes!) by REARREST. Time = 33 minutes. A typical day, really.
PSALM and CAREFUL had to go in unparsed. LURCHER brought a smile to my face, so it’s my COD.
Many thanks to Templar and Teazel.
25:02
Found that hard work. Failed to parse MAYAN or PSALM. Struggled to complete the SE corner with LOI LURCHER.
19:44
All but LOI REARREST in circa 12 mins – reassured that I wasn’t alone. Took pen to paper and did a letter trawl for possible combinations. TBH, I chucked it in unparsed and hoped for the best.
Similarly with PSALM as I thought saint could only signify ST. Thank you Templar for the enlightenment.
Same Ikea work with ANTIPOPE (NHO) and PENTAMETER as others.
FOI: SACK
LOI: REARREST
COD: ANTIPOPE (for being solvable even when NHO)
Many thanks to Teazel and Templar
I found that very difficult, eventually staggering over the line well into SCC territory at 24:10. For once I’m in the seeming minority of those who’ve heard of the word ANTIPOPE, but I struggled with LOI REARREST (a very well disguised definition) and couldn’t parse CAREFUL or MAYAN.
Thank you for the blog!
Thought this was quite tricky – came in at 7:24, pretty much the same time as yesterday. CAREFUL was bunged in and taken out a couple of times, and finally left in unparsed when LITTER revealed itself. Enjoyable puzzle and blog – thanks to the two Ts.
A relatively straight forward QC thankfully. I didn’t quite get my FOI CAREFUL but all the checkers worked. Like others here my LOI was REARREST. I stared at REAR E T for quite some time. 7:35 Thanks Templar
My re-entry from travel is complete and I’m happy to be back in crosswordland, and not unhappy with my 17:47 time given that it’s Teazel, who often makes me work hard. Today there were a few NHOs: PUNNET (nice word!), BLUE PETER, and CUP TIE, which delayed me while I expunged “cut pie” from my thoughts. CAREFUL also cost me some time; I needed to convince myself that it wasn’t too easy to be true. I had some fun contemplating whether “spaggot” might be a word until I looked again at the clue.
Thanks to Teazel and Templar.
Very quick and easy, I thought, then stuck fast on REARREST so DNF which was disappointing.
Biffed ANTIPOPE. Yes, CAREFUL seemed too easy.
Liked BLUE PETER, STAB, LURCHER, PENTAMETER, MAYAN, among others.
CNP PSALM.
Thanks vm, Templar.
Much gentler than yesterday although still took my time over BLUE PETER and CAREFUL. COD LURCHER, but I did enjoy the surface for EMBRACE 😂 Many thanks Templar and Teazel.
Somewhat hurried today which led to disaster. I had ‘stun’ at 23ac with a mental note to revisit. This led to ‘ton’ for 21dn (well it’s in gemstone although clearly not most of it). 20ac was therefore impossible and 25 minutes having elapsed I gave and came here.
FOI – 7ac RAG
LOI – DNF
COD – 9dn PENTAMETER
Thanks to Teazel and Templar
10.24 A bit slow to get going with FLAUNTING first one in. Finished with REARREST. Thanks Templar and Teazel.
ANTEPOST was only word I could fit into ANTIPOPE with checkers, I would have thought ANTIPOPE belonged in 15×15. Rest came relatively easily, albeit slowly
I found this difficult, primarily because I did not know lurcher and punnet, and so struggled at the end. On the other hand, I could biff antipope and blue peter easily enough. When I finally stopped the clock I thought I was likely to have an error, but no, all correct. Trust the cryptic!
Time: 13:19
Lurcher was easy for me as my GSD’s play with one.
Punnet of strawberries?
Mrs T was in a rush to get out today which put us under a little bit of pressure and gave us the impression that we were struggling. In the end though we finished in 9:48 which, considering the Quitch is presently at 105, puts us well ahead of the curve. Nevertheless, I’m loath to suggest to Mrs T that she get out more often! It helped that, when I was a youth, we had a LURCHER as a family pet (ours being more of a whippet / terrier cross) and that I knew that ANTIPOPEs were a thing. REARREST also came quickly to mind once we had checkers. Like our blogger we were distracted by thoughts of CUE TIP until PROTEST settled the matter. I’d forgotten the significance of a BLUE PETER (I was always more of a Magpie viewer) so thank you for the reminder, Templar, and thanks also to Teazel for an enjoyable puzzle.
Great puzzle and blog.
Just over 10 mins.
Thanks all
[text removed as it revealed the answer to a clue in another of today’s puzzles] I got ANTIPOPE (nho) by assembly from the elements and thinking of Antichrist: if latter, why not former? I was on Teazel’s wavelength today and all done in 15m, with loi REARREST, which alone took 3m or so. At 22a I put in ARM at first (perhaps member) until PENTAMETER scotched that one, and the faithful old ANT made his appearance. Good fun, thanks setter and blogger
ANTIPOPE I knew (probably first as the title of a Max Ernst painting), but LURCHER, BLUE PETER and PUNNET I didn’t!
17:58 today. Only got 3 acrosses on my first pass, so it was a bit of a slog from there. FOI SACK, LOI REARREST, COD CERAMICIST because I managed to figure it out.
Thanks to Templar and Teazel.
We have a lurcher, greyhound/bearded collie cross. She is a very loyal and affectionate dog, and very fast. Enjoyed the puzzle, finished with some help.
Well, hard work! Actually did it all, except ANT, every combination of A_T that I thought of couldn’t be in the army, how am I supposed to remember what we had yesterday!