Hi everybody. I haven’t encountered Izetti on blogging day for ages so this was a refreshing change. Perhaps a little stiffer than some Mondays, but I still completed in a typical QC time despite holding myself up slightly with a typo. No real favourites, but I quite liked Tom Dick and Harry (2d) and the whiskey drink at 23a. Cheers Izetti!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, I generally italicise indicators unless it seems clearer not to. Where the removed part is specified, [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER. I sometimes omit link words and juxtaposition indicators if it doesn’t feel necessary to explain them. If you have any questions, please ask in the comments section.
| Across | |
| 1a | Began to hug learner suffering from shock? (8) |
| STARTLED — STARTED (began) surrounding (to hug) L (learner) | |
| 6a | Bishop introducing a church composer of cantatas (4) |
| BACH — B (bishop) preceding (introducing) A + CH. (church) | |
| 8a | Artist crushed by a black horse (4) |
| ARAB — RA (Royal Academician, artist) between (crushed by) A and B (black) | |
| 9a | Set of characters needing help by mountain height (8) |
| ALPHABET — ABET (help) by ALP (mountain) and H (height) | |
| 10a | Beautiful fairy — she had died (8) |
| PERISHED — PERI (beautiful fairy) + SHE’D (she had) | |
| 11a | Garment left in sporting equipment? (4) |
| KILT — L (left) in KIT (sporting equipment?) | |
| 13a | Activity needing footwear with revolutionary elements (6,7) |
| ROLLER SKATING — A cryptic definition | |
| 16a | Provision for air conditioning in Coventry (4) |
| VENT — Hidden in coVENTry | |
| 17a | Old lady finally cut hair in bed (8) |
| MATTRESS — MA (old lady) + the last letter of (finally) cuT + TRESS (hair) | |
| 19a | Attractive person that’s wicked inside, very wicked (8) |
| DEVILISH — DISH (attractive person) that has EVIL (wicked) inside | |
| 21a | Thus a piano is provided for TV series (4) |
| SOAP — SO (thus) + A + P (piano) | |
| 22a | Lazy one worshipped, from what we hear (4) |
| IDLE — IDOL (one worshipped), soundalike (from what we hear) | |
| 23a | Cheers father having imbibed whiskey drink (3,5) |
| TAP WATER — TA (cheers) + PATER (father) having taken in (imbibed) W (whiskey) | |
| Down | |
| 2d | See mother out with Tom, Dick and Harry? (9) |
| THREESOME — SEE MOTHER anagrammed (out) | |
| 3d | Teacher, poor sportsman for the most part? (5) |
| RABBI — RABBIt (poor sportsman) except the last letter (for the most part) | |
| 4d | Shakespearean king swallowing the tough stuff (7) |
| LEATHER — LEAR (Shakespearean king) taking in (swallowing) THE | |
| 5d | Given drug, do physical exercise with first hint of drowsiness (5) |
| DOPED — DO + PE (physical exercise) with the beginning of (first hint of) Drowsiness | |
| 6d | Group together book and sporting implement (7) |
| BRACKET — B (book) and RACKET (sporting implement) | |
| 7d | Rod you found in church (3) |
| CUE — U (you) found in CE (church) | |
| 12d | Picture of place with sand blowing around (9) |
| LANDSCAPE — An anagram of (… blowing around) PLACE with SAND | |
| 14d | Top room protected by the Parisian framework (7) |
| LATTICE — ATTIC (top room) inside (protected by) LE (the, Parisian) | |
| 15d | Sauce in vessel, cup chipped on top (7) |
| KETCHUP — KETCH (vessel) + cUP missing its initial letter (chipped on top) | |
| 17d | Duck in fog is slightly damp (5) |
| MOIST — O (duck) in MIST (fog) | |
| 18d | Religious follower a celebrity that’s taken right to the top (5) |
| RASTA — A STAR (a celebrity) having moved R (right) to the beginning/top of the word (that’s taken right to the top) | |
| 20d | Put right, losing first and last (3) |
| END — Omitting its initial letter (… losing first), mEND (put right) | |
All done in a sprightly 14.16. Thanks Kitty for the parsing of perished, the fairy was NHO in these parts, but the crossers were helpful. Also enjoyed the threesome (!) and the misdirection looking for a whiskey drink.
Thanks Izetti
Sprightly indeed! Well done – we so often echo your times… not today!
And we usually learn something most days – today’s lesson prompted by your comment. We find that whiskey (with an ‘e’) is usually American/Irish… whereas whisky (without) attaches to Canadian, Japanese and Scotch offerings…. so there we are. : )
Breezed though this in 15:39 which for me is good
Drew a blank in the NW but the rest of it went in without any problems. Once returning to the NW what had once looked intractable seemed a lot easier, mainly by realising that 1a didn’t start with an ‘h’ and THREESOME was an anagram 🤦♂️.
Started with BACH and finished with RABBI in a slightly sluggish 8.10.
Thanks to Kitty and Izetti
12 minutes. I knew PERI as fairies but wasn’t aware of their being particularly associated with beauty, however Wiki confirms this. Whilst checking I also learnt that ‘pari’ is a alternative spelling and apparently more authentic.
Authenticity is all very well, but Gilbert used “peri” in Iolanthe and as far as I’m concerned that’s definitive!
Rusty Bombazine of this parish will be having fifty fits at the number of people not knowing peri, given that Iolanthe’s alternative title is “The Peer and the Peri”!
Possibly thanks to missing a train and therefore having time for an espresso before catching the next one, I ripped through that in 04:39 for a sub-John and a Red Letter Day. Scenes! Could have been a PB if I hadn’t got stuck on LOI END – despite only needing one letter I just couldn’t see it. (I was looking for a word meaning “put”, which also meant “right” with its first and last letters removed.). DEVILISH also took a moment to see.
COD ROLLER SKATING. Many thanks Izetti and Kitty.
🔥🔥
No particular problems (I knew the fairy) in a 7.03 completion. Thanks Kitty and Izetti.
Quite quick today, though slowed in NW, despite FOI STARTLED. Amused by THREESOME when penny dropped. Decided it had to be PERISHED, though NHO Peri.
Then went back to 20d which I parsed in the END.
Liked TAP WATER, ARAB, ALPHABET and MATTRESS.
Many thanks, Kitty.
6:21. Held up by a feeble BALLET DANCING for 13A at first and thinking MATTRESS had only one T. Like our blogger I liked the THREESOME and non-alcoholic drink with whiskey in it. Thank-you Izetti and Kitty.
Ran in every direction bar the right one. NHO fairy Peri (spent too long working the non existent anagram), plumped for Mistress (unable to parse of course) in lieu of MATTRESS so sullied that area …and went for To Pa as cheers, thereby holding up matters in the SW corner. NHO Rabbit in context. That said, what a clever offering. Very much enjoyed doing it as it should have been done via the excellent blog.
Waving thanks to Izetti and Kitty from deep within the SCC.
20:16 – not a bad time for an Izetti puzzle. NHO PERI, but guessable. A couple of others unparsed, but answers clear once crossers in. A pleasant start to the week.
Hoped the good Don wouldn’t let me down and indeed just managed it though SE corner was hardest, TAP WATER Mrs M’s PDM, LOI RASTA. Thanks Don and Kitty. NHO RABBIt = poor sportsman?
RABBIt typically a number 11 batsman sent back to the hutch in short order.
Thanks! You’re very kind to try and rescue me, but unfortunately I have zero knowledge or understanding of any sport so DNK what hutch or “in short order” mean. No worries!
Just a bad batsman in cricket – the hutch being the pavilion.
A good puzzle in that ultimately it was solvable – for me in a much slower than par 15:35. LOI was PERISHED – had not heard of the fairy so thank you Kitty for blog.
No problems today. Knew PERI from Iolanthe. Slight MER at MATTRESS = bed, but otherwise found this straightforward with the clever clueing expected from Izetti. COD THREESOME with DEVILISH a close second. Thanks Kitty.