I had to hop around the grid quite a lot whilst solving this one to keep up momentum as I needed checkers to jog my brain into action, however I completed the puzzle in 10 minutes which is just within my target. Most of the clue construction seemed straightforward and there’s little if anything by way of obscure words or meanings that I can identify, but as usual we shall see what others think.
On my first blogging day after the arrival of new layout on the puzzles page I didn’t have major problems adapting to it although I found I needed to adjust the zoom view to 80% in order to see the full grid and scrollable list of clues, otherwise the clues appeared one at a time at the foot of a truncated grid. We now have the editor’s promise that a print option for the Quick Cryptic will be provided in the near future, and I look forward to that very much indeed as I’m sure it will encourage many new solvers to come on board.
As usual: definitions {deletions} [indicators]
P.S. Today’s main cryptic would be a good one for ambitious Quickie solvers to practise their skills
|
Across |
|
|---|---|
| 7 | One politician the Spanish push forward (5) |
| IMPEL – I (one), MP (politician), EL (the – Spanish) | |
| 8 | Joy driving vehicle through pouring rain (7) |
| NIRVANA – VAN (vehicle) inside [driving through] anagram [pouring] of RAIN | |
| 10 | Subsequently meets a learner on the side (7) |
| LATERAL – LATER (subsequently), A, L (learner) | |
| 11 | Resting place by church (5) |
| PERCH – PER (by), CH (church) | |
| 12 | He’s enthralled by sign in book (9) |
| THESAURUS – HE’S inside [enthralled by] TAURUS (sign – of the zodiac) | |
| 14 | Signal for action in botanical gardens heard (3) |
| CUE – Sounds like “Kew” (botanical gardens) | |
| 15 | Some squirrel monkeys in wood (3) |
| ELM – Hidden [some] in {squirr}EL M{onkeys} | |
| 16 | Domineering woman to fight the sack? (6-3) |
| BATTLE-AXE – BATTLE (fight), AXE (sack) | |
| 18 | Go with oil, for a change, in house (5) |
| IGLOO – Anagram [change] of GO OIL | |
| 20 | Old woman with difficult dog (7) |
| MASTIFF – MA (old woman), STIFF (difficult) | |
| 22 | Hobby in old man’s era (7) |
| PASTIME – PA’S (old man’s), TIME (era) | |
| 23 | Gadget made by US soldiers and army medic (5) |
| GISMO – GIS (US soldiers), MO (army medic – Medical Orderly) | |
|
Down |
|
| 1 | Elusive thing, article in tree I spy endlessly (4-1-3-4) |
| WILL-O-THE-WISP – THE (article) in WILLOW (tree), I, SP{y} [endlessly] | |
| 2 | Leading group of students against the flow (8) |
| UPSTREAM – UP (leading), STREAM (group of students) | |
| 3 | Speak disparagingly of drinking noisily? Not half! (4) |
| SLUR – SLUR{ping} (drinking noisily) [not half] | |
| 4 | Fisherman in corner on right (6) |
| ANGLER – ANGLE (corner), R (right) | |
| 5 | Offer support also, when confused (8) |
| PROPOSAL – PROP (support), anagram [confused] of ALSO | |
| 6 | Beautiful blonde (4) |
| FAIR – Two definitions | |
| 9 | Runner’s complaint? Trainer will cover it (8,4) |
| ATHLETE’S FOOT – Two definitions, one more or less straight, one cryptic | |
| 13 | Great food, as IOM bar prepared (8) |
| AMBROSIA – Anagram [prepared] of AS IOM BAR. I suppose this is a little more obscure with reference to the food of the gods in Greek mythology. Or tinned rice pudding or custard if you prefer. | |
| 14 | Girl left in vehicle is as upset (8) |
| CLARISSA – L (left) inside CAR (vehicle), anagram [upset] of IS AS | |
| 17 | Harden mood (6) |
| TEMPER – Two definitions, the first as in ‘tempered steel’ | |
| 19 | Register is kept by lieutenant (4) |
| LIST – IS inside [kept by] LT (lieutenant) | |
| 21 | Wise man employed by news agency (4) |
| SAGE – Hidden [employed by] {new}S AGE{ncy} | |
I think the issue with zoom and the on-screen keyboard that keeps popping up is browser-specific: it happens on Firefox, but not Edge/IE. So I think the web developer needs to take a look at that.
I still much prefer the old layout, since with the browser maximized all the clues were displayed at once, with no scrolling around required. (Example old version: http://i.imgur.com/2XhrVp8.png and new version with scrollbars and wasted space: http://i.imgur.com/wjPhGGv.png). Perhaps we could get a button to switch to the old layout?
If you’re having problems viewing the crossword in the new format, I’d very much appreciate your comments. Please do send any screenshots of display issues to: [email protected]
I’m hoping that the clues should be available side by side shortly.
A bespoke print option is being worked on currently and should also be available in the near future.
Best wishes, David Parfitt, Puzzles Editor
Edited at 2015-11-30 05:33 am (UTC)
“I appreciate this isn’t ideal, but for the time being, there is another way to print the Quick Cryptic (or in fact any other part of the paper).
– From the main Times site, go to ‘Papers’ in the top menu
– Select MINDGAMES in the Table of Contents to the right of the front page
– Right click on the page that appears, and select Print Custom Area
– Draw a box around the Quick Cryptic, and then follow the onscreen instructions. DP”
Last in and favourite CLARISSA.
I’d second Jack’s view that today’s main cryptic is worth a go – I’ve done about half of it so far, which is a lot for me, and will go back for another crack at it later on.
But we are still a long way off feeling confident with even starting the main crossword, so always appreciate it when someone points out that the main one is at the easier end of the scale. So when today the advice featured in bold in the header we were delighted – please could all bloggers try to follow this lead where appropriate?
Finally why no QC at the weekend? A jumbo QC would be a big plus on a Saturday….