QC 2825 by Jalna

Author   MerlinPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

I enjoyed this one, some really good clues, but still pretty tricky stuff, including the NHO cocktail.

I’m keeping quiet on the ongoing discussion about whether these things are getting harder or not. As Forrest Gump would say, “The QC is like a box of chocolates…”

Definitions underlined in bold , synonyms in (parentheses) (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, other wordplay in [square brackets] and deletions in {curly} brackets.

Across
1 Very, very meh! (2-2)
SO-SO – SO (very) twice

Meh as an adjective is referenced in the OED from 2007, very recent usage.  The Interjection (From Yiddish) is a bit older but still no written references before 1992.
3 Notice attached to rear part of garden gate (7)
POSTERN – POSTER (Notice) + {garde}N

It’s any gate or door which is not the main one. You’d have to be pretty pretentious to use it for the back door of a regular house, though.
8 Win gold nimbly … fantastically … thrillingly (4-9)
MIND-BLOWINGLY – (WIN GOLD NIMBLY)* [fantastically]

Made a mess of this, first with “Mind bendingly”, then “Mind numbingly”. Must check anagrams more carefully.
9 Letter from overseas somewhat inadequately sent back (3)
TAU – hidden inside [somewhat] inadequately, then reversed

TAU being the Greek letter, hence a “Letter from overseas”
10 One enquiring when king and queen meet (5)
ASKER – AS (when) + K{ing} + ER (Queen)

Is this really a word? If someone put this down in scrabble I’d be none too happy. But the OED has it from the 12C.
12 Profitable discovery coming from day trip at sea (3,4)
PAY DIRT – (DAY TRIP)* [at sea]

Nice clean anagram. Originally from the California Gold Rush of 1849. Figurative usage followed on quite quickly.
14 Place for kids to play, or sit around with parents at first (7)
SANDPIT – SIT contains [around] AND (with) + P{arents}
16 Photo-sharing app popular with 50% of stars (5)
INSTA – IN + STA{RS}

It’s what they call Instagram these days, grandad. But surely STA is 60% of STARS, not 50%?
17 At one point, you start to panic for sure (3)
YEP – YE (At one point “you”) + P{anic}

YE is the old version for You, hence “at one point”. Clever, and tricky if you haven’t seen something like “You once” before.
20 Highly complex nature of twirly baton releases (13)
ELABORATENESS – (BATON RELEASES)* [twirly]

Twirly? Anagram indicator number 659.

Sure ELABORATENESS is in the OED, but as with ASKER, another suffix that leads to a pretty obscure word.
21 Fixed TV that’s no longer working? (4-3)
DEAD-SET – Double def

The OED says that in Australian English this is used as an intensifier. As in “It was a DEAD SET certainty that we’d lose the next state election.” Over to you, Aussie contributors.
22 Supporter runs away from march (4)
ALLY – RALLY (march) – R{uns}

Most rallies aren’t marches, and most marches aren’t rallies. But in the Venn diagram of the two, there is at least some intersection.
Down
1 Discussion groups provided by new marine on board ship (8)
SEMINARS – SS (ship) contains (MARINE)* [new]
2 To an extent, gaps in knowledge decline (4)
SINK – Hidden in “gaps in knowledge”
3 Support for young boxer? (4,2)
PROP UP – PRO (for) + PUP (young boxer)

Boxer (and setter) often are used as examples of dogs. Watch out. I tried to make PUG work somehow.
4 Rail-like bird — one barely entering the water (6-6)
SKINNY-DIPPER – SKINNY (Rail like) + DIPPER (bird)

Very nice. Dipper is a name given to various birds which dip or dive in water, but most often means a Kingfisher. It’s a clever clue, because a rail is also a bird. The corncrake is one, which is one of the few species whose Latin name is onomatopoeic : crex crex. This is top trivia.

Skinny dipping is post war American slang, but no consensus on its origin or etymology.
5 Goes berserk after, say, good, strong drinks (3-5)
EGG-FLIPS – EG (say) + G{ood} + FLIPS (goes berserk)

This was a NHO for me.  It’s similar to Egg nog (disgusting concoction). In traditional recipes, EGG FLIP includes spirits, eggs, sugar, and spices, but unlike Eggnog, it does not incorporate cream.
6 Succeeded following redistribution of any dissenting votes (4)
NAYS – (ANY)* [redistribution of] + S{ucceeded}

In my quest to chase down unlikely single-letter abbreviations, you’ll see this in lists of genealogies.
7 Unruly bore postures wildly (12)
OBSTREPEROUS – (BORE POSTURES)* [wildly]

Never really quite knew what this meant, but looked familiar from those letters.
11 Family has settled in South Africa, initially or somewhere in Central Africa (8)
KINSHASA – KIN (family) + HAS inside S{outh} A{frica}

Originally Leopoldville (named after that rapacious Belgian king) It was in the Congo, then in Zaire, now in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tip: when a country puts Democratic in its country name, it’s not. See North Korea (DPRK) and East Germany (DDR).
13 Endeavour to acquire a sleeveless garment for burlesque (8)
TRAVESTY – TRY (Endeavour) contains A VEST (sleeveless garment)

I was not familiar with burlesque=travesty. The OED has burlesque as a verb: To turn into ridicule by grotesque parody or imitation; to caricature, travesty. I didn’t know that TRAVESTY could be a verb either, but it’s there, meaning “to ridicule”.

So, nothing to do with the Folies Bergère.
15 Fiery speech supporting extremely tetchy, oppressive boss (6)
TYRANT – T{etch}Y + RANT (Fiery Speech)
18 Obsessive helping to make designer drugs (4)
NERD – Hidden in “designer drugs”

Etymology disputed, plenty of articles hypothesise various origins, but nothing conclusive.
19 Toenail regularly selected for greenish colour (4)
TEAL – T{o}E{n}A{i}L

107 comments on “QC 2825 by Jalna”

  1. I dead set did not know that burlesque could mean anything other than a fancy strip show. Turns out I didn’t know the exact meaning of ‘travesty’ either.

    I found the long anagrams tricky, I really liked PROP UP and had never seen ‘postern’ before.

    I thought all of the wordplay was very fair though!

  2. Dead-set can also mean to be intent on doing something, as in ‘I was dead-set on finishing this quickie, however long it takes’. I think 16a, INSTA must be a typo for 50%. Found the long anagrams tricky. 13d, TRAVESTY really doesn’t belong in a quickie clued as burlesque, but the wordplay was fair. Not so mind-blowing for me.

  3. 11 minutes. I have no problems with ASKER as simply a conventional agent noun derivative with a clear meaning. It’s in the Oxfords and Chambers and (fwiw) the Scrabble dictionary.

    If I was going to nitpick anything here it would be ‘rail-like / SKINNY’ unless there’s a sense of meaning that I’m unaware of. It’s true in practice rails (as in track) are thin, but would anyone really describe a thin length of metal as ‘skinny’?

    NHO INSTA as short for ‘Instagram’ but only lost time writing it in because of the distraction of the typo in the clue.

    1. One wouldn’t describe a rail as skinny, but one might well describe a skinny person as thin as a rail.

      2. On the subject of 4 down a dipper is a distinct bird in its own right nothing to do with kingfishers

  4. Lots of NHOs today: EGG FLIPS, POSTERN, PAY DIRT and that meaning of burlesque.

    I’ll follow Merlin’s lead and won’t comment on whether they’re getting harder or not. But I will say I don’t look forward to them as much as I used to.

    All green in 22.23 – again longer than yesterday’s Telegraph.

  5. Found most of this fairly straightforward but hit the buffers with 3 to go – the vile sounding and NHO cocktail, DEAD SET (very clever) and LOI NERD where I missed that it was a hidden.
    I think TRAVESTY/burlesque featured in a puzzle fairly recently when it took me a lot longer to work out.
    Crossed the line in a slightly over average 8.41.
    Thanks to Merlin

  6. I didn’t much care for this, and biffed a lot of it. INSTA would be an abomination even if the clue worked properly.

    FOI SO-SO
    LOI ALLY
    COD DEAD-SET
    TIME 4:45

  7. Hard work for the last four that we really struggled with. Finally guessed flips and postern before resorting to aids at the 28 minute mark to find dead set, only to find we had been ice-berged by nerd, grrrr!

    Worth it for skinny dipper – barely entering the water is genius😂

    Thanks Jalna and Merlin for the blog and extra info, and agree that it should be 60%

  8. TRAVESTY meaning burlesque I believe was in the final of the crossword championship this year, or at the very least another Friday cryptic this year. It helps if you know French – “travesti” is the French for cross-dresser or drag queen. COD PAY DIRT for me, beautiful anagram.

  9. NHO Egg Flips and pretty difficult to piece it together from _ _ I _ S, other than that a good challenge

  10. Good balanced puzzle today solved in 13.39.

    Watched a program at the weekend of historian Dan Snow recreating the Yukon gold rush so was very familiar with PAY DIRT and its geological etymology.

    LOI: EGG FLIPS which I had heard of but was messing around with NOGS .

    COD: SKINNY DIPPER

    Thanks Jalna and setter.

  11. Classic breezeblock – found most of this straightforward, indeed a fair number of clues were write-ins, but then came to a grinding halt on EGG FLIPS. As Andy R says, – – I – S is about as unhelpful as one can get for checkers! It eventually emerged, and sounds as revolting as it was difficult to dredge up out of my deep memory. Apart from that, I was held up by TRAVESTY – the word-play was clear, the meaning very much a NHO – and I noticed the 50%/60% error (for it must be an error, surely) in INSTA. Until then I was going so smoothly, too.

    8 minutes for all but the last clue, and then a further 6, for a slow and not very satisfying 14 minute solve. Many thanks Merlin for the entertaining blog.
    Cedric

  13. 11 mins but WOE. Couldn’t parse it at the time but thought it had to be YUP. A nice mixture of easy and more difficult clues IMHO

  14. DPS attack. As I was typing in KINSHASA I was thinking how it sounded like a word “kinshala” which I thought I remembered from a Kenyan friend. So of course I typed “kinshala”. And then it turned out I’d typed “obstreprrous” too. Magnificent effort, hope the rest of the day improves!

    Many thanks Jalna and Merlin.

    (PS anyone in search of an ego boost could do worse than crack at yesterday’s 15 – I very rarely finish the 15 at all, never mind at speed, but yesterday’s took me only a bit over 10 mins!!)

    1. Yes, I had a good time on Mondays 15×15, but not today. High variability over there as well (though not much complaining about it, though)

    2. I forgot to own up to it in my earlier comment, but I put ‘Kinshala’ too because I thought it sounded familiar. It seems to be a large desert but I’ve no Kenyan friends so I’ve no idea where I might have come across it.

      1. The QUITCH is currently showing 30 reference solvers with errors, which seems like an awful lot – I wonder if we are not the only “Kinshala” merchants? Or maybe there are a lot of WEEDs.

  15. A few weeks back I recall a pub conversation on the TQCC in which I confidently dropped in my solid rate of eventual completion, albeit slow compared to those present on this group. I can’t help now feeling that I perjured myself judging by all the recent DNFs, many not even being close.
    Put YIP for YEP even though I’d never heard of a golfer getting a yip.

  16. 6:19. Held up in the end by the simple NERD. The hidden ones often catch me out. I failed to notice the 50% error. YEP also gave me pause for thought. Thanks Jalna and Merlin.

  17. I did enjoy this so thanks Jaina and Merlin. The only thing I would say is that for a a quickie the commentators might need to explain the cluing but they shouldn’t need to have to explain or justify answers. NHO should be virtually redundant in my opinion – setters should stick to English as it is actually used in the 21C.

    1. But one person’s NHO is another person’s common usage, as we find repeatedly. I am regularly astonished at the words people don’t know, and at the words everyone else seems to think are commonplace.

      NHO will always be with us.

      1. Thank s for responding! I’m not sure you have really understood me though . One might argue about whether a particular word is regional for example, but when there is a chorus of people saying NHO it is a clue that the setter is on their own planet. I’m most irritated by words that are confined to crosswords but maybe that’s (yet) another issue 🙂

  18. The elaborateness of the two long across anagrams made them mind-blowingly hard to see, but I was dead-set on solving them, so resorted to pen and paper.
    I think that burlesque=travesty works fine, even considering both as nouns. The definitions for both include a comically exaggerated representation of something.

    Thanks Merlin and Jalna

    1. Agree with your use of dead-set there; but you couldn’t substitute ‘fixed’, could you?! Though ‘fixated’ works – almost as if there’s a confusion somewhere between the two.

  19. IMO there are 3 pieces of vocabulary which are obviously beyond the remit of a QC, and a few more which are borderline. We have had a run of hard puzzles, and I havent really taken issue. This one was pretty tame cluing (with the exception of skinny-dipper which was very good) but hard because of incredibly esoteric answers. That combination is IMO the worst, major loss of enthusiasm for the puzzle from me after today

  20. 30min quit as I got all I could in 17mins then made no further gains. NHO POSTERN or EGG-FLIPS (had the egg bit). Didn’t know TRAVESTY / BURLESQUE or the SKINNY-DIPPER bird. Might have got YEP and ALLY with crossers in place. Wasn’t expecting a 3rd hidden word so never got NERD (and would have put wEeD). Solve not helped by finding ETA hidden right next to TAU.

    My worst performance on QC in months. My enthusiasm for it is sinking as I feel they are becoming used as a Quick version of the 15×15. That’s fair enough but I currently don’t feel I have the time or inclination to spend getting decent enough at the biggie just to be able to complete the smallie.

    Edit: just had a lot of fun and enjoyment completing today’s Cryptic Quintagram.

    1. ETA for TAU, and WEED for NERD were both very unlucky. Setters can’t be expected to check for all near misses, though.

      1. Aye, certainly not complaining about that one. It became apparent when I unravelled OBSTREPEROUS – which itself needed a bit of ticking back to find the exact spelling!

  21. Managed it all except the strong drink (EGG … but NHO FLIP). I too MER’d at 50%; NHO PAY DIRT or succeeded = S (but had to be); wondered if YEP is really a valid word; struggle to make fixed = DEAD SET; but I suppose each of us uses the language differently. Ho hum.
    Enjoyed SKINNY-DIPPER even though NHO any of the relevant birds.
    No problem with ASKER or TRAVESTY (though this computer questions ASKER!) but Mrs M provided INSTA (too new for my 2000 Collins – no, I’m not grandpa yet!).

  22. NHO EGG-FLIPS and could not work it out. Annoyed with myself that I missed the hidden NERD and decided it must be WEED which is a designer drug. COD SKINNY-DIPPER. Realised 50% must be a typo. Thanks Merlin for your usual informative and entertaining blog.

    1. As with ETA above, WEED was pretty unlucky. It fitted. The clue works well enough as a double definition. We already had a couple of hiddens, so you wouldn’t be expecting a third.

      1. I think I’m being a bit dim here, but how does WEED work as a DD? I wouldn’t necessarily describe an obsessive person as a weed, although they clearly could be both!

    2. I thought Weed was cannabis which is, I believe, a natural plant so not Designer. May be wrong but I thought designer meant chemically created.

    3. Egg flips were a popular mess drink in 1918 in war-ravaged France, as I discovered later today reading “Winged Victory” by V M Yeates. A remarkable novel, praised highly by T E Lawrence and by Henry Williamson. The egg flip first appears on page 170!

  23. As a QC newbie I’ve given up on all but two or three puzzles in the past fortnight, and I’m in no doubt that the QCs have suddenly become beyond my level of ability. The most significant factors in my decision to take out a subscription to paper editions of The Times in September were my experience of making headway with the QCs while I was buying the paper each day, and the opportunity to learn from the wisdom and experience of you lovely TfTT people.

    I am, I believe, the sort of enthusiastic learner that Richard Rogan had in mind when he launched the QC ten years ago: ‘The intention being to introduce new people to cryptic crosswords, and to encourage those solvers who’d like to have a go at the main puzzle but feel daunted by it.’ Yet all of a sudden the QCs are disheartening me to the extent that I’m minded not to renew my subscription when the three-month half-price trial period ends.

    I appreciate and admire those of you, highly experienced in solving the main Times puzzle, who applaud recent QCs as ‘cracking’ and ‘highly enjoyable’, and equally I appreciate that it may not be easy for you to look at these puzzles with the mindset of a learner. Yet if the QCs lose their appeal to people new to cryptic crosswords, surely their raison d’être has been lost.

    1. I must have been typing my screed below at the same time as you, but you hit send first!

      1. It must be tricky to get the level exactly right for everyone who wants to do the the QC. It seems to be for a range of people, those just starting cryptic and those who have progressed to maybe filling in just a few words in the big cryptics. So Its not fair to expect this puzzle to cater to all abilities every week.

        As a long time QC, I expect a range of difficulty and just long for the day I complete it all but I do empathise with those of us who get put off by the experienced peeps who show off about their less than 5 mins completion time!

        This looked tricky today but just needed time. Thanks Setter.

    2. At the end of my 3 month online trial, I planned to cancel. When I phoned up I was given a very good deal (£6/mth). There is also a puzzle only subscription about the same price.
      Hope this helps.

      I agree that recent QC are hard. I enjoy the satisfaction of bring able to complete something. That enjoyment is elusive at present. Still, I persist.

    3. Just an aside, with Christmas coming up and for some the perennial “I don’t want anything” problem, I can recommend the compilation books of The Times Quick Cryptic crossword which cost less than a tenner.

      I’m currently working my way through Book 3 which is puzzles from 2016 puzzles and averaging under 15mins. They seem a lot easier – my Izetti solves have come in at 8:30, 10:35, 11:21, 13:05 (but also 25min DNF) – but there is still the occasional one to struggle on.

      And because TfTT is the great resource it is, you can put the name of the setter and a couple of answers in the Search Engine and find the blogs for the puzzle back in the day. Interesting to see comments from some of the same faces but far fewer comments!

    4. If it is any consolation I have been ‘solving’ the QC for 7 plus years and I came a cropper today.
      I confess I rarely bother with the main puzzle because my general knowledge (GK) is poor and when I am flummoxed on the QC (generally due to not having the GK) I treat it as a learning exercise.

    5. I agree with everything you say Jubilado! Thank you. I don’t want to be a moaning Minnie but ASKER ….really? INSTA … surely not? & EGG FLIPS …. well well! Can you and I be brave & resolute to continue with the TQC?

      1. Well, Anna, there’s an invitation I can’t decline! Let’s be brave and resolute, keeping an eye out for each other here and discovering how we’re doing. Your kind invitation may be exactly what I need to regain my confidence and stop feeling sorry for myself. Good luck, and I’m looking forward to your online company.

        1. And I will look out for both you and Anna, Jubilado. I started these infernal things in June 2020 and slowly, but surely improved to a 90-95% completion rate and an average time of 25-30 minutes. Over the past 2-3 months these metrics have come crashing down. I am now failing to finish more often than not and I also have seriously considered calling it a day. However, I have decided to keep going for the time being in the hope that a new crossword editor will regain some control over the setters.
          Good luck, going forward!

    6. There is a Times Puzzles app which is about £5 per month. It contains all the daily Times puzzles plus archives. Excellent value. Not highly promoted by The Times obviously!

    7. Dear Jubilado
      When I started these 10 years ago, it took me six months before I completed my first QC without aids, even with the discovery of this blog, so I think you’re doing really well to be completing them regularly after only three months.
      I also used to get sooo frustrated with the solvers who seemed to finish in just a couple of minutes, but learnt not to take any notice of them. As Jack says, he always includes his parsing time, as do most of us – for me, it’s the whole point of the puzzle. And it is a much more realistic measure of how long a crossword may take than just seeing the definition straight away and biffing it. Also those who submit only when they get everything right: that doesn’t seem a fair representation of what they have actually done. I own up to every DNF here (admittedly I only solve on paper but I would be honest if I played online).
      I know I’m saying this from the point of view of someone who usually finishes in around 10 minutes and who now completes the biggie a few times a week, which seemed impossible in the early days, but it just goes to show that, with practice, we can get the hang of this crazy, addictive pastime.
      Finally, I’ve avoided saying anything about the current standards of editing – it must have been a horrible situation for anyone to suddenly find themselves having to replace such a good editor and setter as RR, but there’s no doubt that we need a much more consistent pair of hands to look after our puzzles.
      What really surprises me is that some of our most experienced QC setters have been making life very difficult for everyone over the last couple of weeks!

      2. I completely agree, Penny, and very well done on your improvement over those ten years.

        Btw: Whilst driving to visit Mrs R’s sister (A27, M27, A34,M4) on Saturday, we tackled and completed the prize cryptic. Despite not being able to see the clues or grid (I was driving), I found it no more difficult than most of the recent QCs.

        Regards to Mr B.

        1. Hooray! Well done to you both – that’s really difficult to do it without seeing the grid. I couldn’t finish it – got stuck on about half a dozen. I found Monday’s and today’s 15×15 easier than Saturday’s. Hope all is well chez vous 😊

    8. Entirely agree and I am close to cancelling my sub as the QC was the reason for it. Like you I admire those that do the puzzle in record times, but do feel that the setters have lost their way. A couple of very hard puzzles should be matched by three on the easier side. It probably seems like giving up but I don’t want to spend anymore than 30 minutes on a puzzle.

  24. I think I’m going to stop saying that I found a puzzle tricky, as I’ve rarely had one that wasn’t recently, and this was. As commented above, some very nice clues but it all took some time to pick apart, only a few were write-ins.
    I always do anagrams in my head, and the long ones weren’t immediately obvious so that was a major slowing factor, but once some checkers went in, they fell into place.
    Egg-based drinks are clearly an area of GK that I need to learn and as I thought it was all possibly a complex anagram the flips part took ages, at which point it rang the tiniest of distant bells.
    I know from rare forays into the 15×15 that the clues there are more difficult and the vocab harder, but as New Driver comments, the QC feels as if it is edging more that way. The QUITCH won’t show that if many of the times used are from those who also do the Biggie, and for whom this is therefore a warm up or light relief, but the QC only regulars and particularly new solvers seem to be feeling it.
    This is an observation, not a complaint!! It suits me nicely, I have been doing the QC for several years now, and I enjoy the challenge when the level is higher, but is it all about me? I’m not sure what the newbie me would be saying now.

    1. Re your question “Is it all about me?”As I constantly try to impress upon my acquaintances I’m pretty definite that rather everything is all about ME!

  25. Ah, looks like we have unfortunately lost a word at 16a. Original clue was [Photo-sharing app popular with over 50% of stars].

  26. 30 mins…

    Another one where I got there in the end, but a couple of clues 11dn “Kinshasa”, 13dn “Travesty” and 7dn “Obstreperous” had me crossing my fingers in hope. Like many, I couldn’t get “Egg Nogs” out of my head for 5dn and was looking for a non-existent anagram of “goes”.

    And there was me thinking this week may be a bit easier.

    FOI – 1ac “So-So”
    LOI – 5dn “Egg Flips”
    COD – 5dn “Egg Flips” – nice misdirection.

    Thanks as usual!

  27. Hit reveal for LOI NERD but still couldn’t parse (a missed hidden – doh!). Tricky in places but all seemed fair. COD, of course, to SKINNY-DIPPING, but also liked DEAD-SET. Didn’t know that meaning of burlesque. Paused over YEP until wordplay became clear. Thanks Jalna and Merlin.

  28. 9:58

    Just made it with NERD and DEAD SET holding out as the clock ticked. I had more corrections to make than usual on the way: -BOGGLING, YES, EGG NOGGS, but checkers and numbering resolved.

    Thanks Jalna and Merlin

  29. Finished 35mins but only with use of aids.
    Enjoyed skinny-dipper.
    Some new words/meanings to me: travesty, egg-flips, pay dirt, insta. Got most of those from word play though

    Not so sure about ally and asker as clues.

    Thanks for blog.

  30. Darn, I forgot to go back and solve the Greek letter, so missed by one. (Lots of interruptions this morning.)
    Pretty fast but then stuck on 18d and 21a. Finally a PDM with DEAD SET enabled me to biff NERD without noticing it was hidden.
    Oh yes, took me a while to solve ELABORATENESS.
    Got TRAVESTY from the cluing but, like others, thought burlesque involved racy nightclubs. Liked that one, and POSTERN, KINSHASA, PAY DIRT, OBSTREPEROUS. COD SKINNY DIPPER
    Thanks vm, Merlin.

  31. I always though EGG FLIP and EGG NOG were the same revolting seasonal beverage, thanks Merlin for the explanation. To be avoided.
    I assumed ‘more than 50%’ so had no problem, but parsed (Y) You start, and IP, one point, as used in golf. Disappointed to end with a red square. Realised I have always been misusing ‘obstreperous’ as a rude cheeky person. Late posting as back in the US.. oh dear, that has just woken up an ear worm. Back in the US etc. Fortunately not USSR, Sorry folks.
    Thanks Jalna and Merlin.

    1. A Gin Flip is an excellent cocktail – try it! (Gin, sugar syrup and a whole egg, shaken with ice, strained, shaken again without ice, poured, nutmeg grated on top.)

      1. Will do. Sounds like an alternative breakfast reviver!
        Can recommend Virgin Atlantic onboard cocktail, Tequila, sparkling grapefruit juice and lime wedge. Very moreish for a relaxed flight.

  32. Well, that was quite an odd solve. Ploughing along quite steadily – even Postern, Kinshasa and Egg Flips came without too much trouble – and then got well and truly stuck in the SE corner with three extant. Elaborateness took an age, even with most of the crossers and the anagrist to hand. The Dead part of * Set followed with a head slap, but I had to use my own ‘when stuck remember to look at both ends’ advice before I could see (and understand) loi Nerd. That produced (yet) another standing room only solve, with CoD to 4d, Skinny Dipping, for the smile. Invariant

    PS Any noises-off about a new crossword editor yet, Jack ?

  33. After yesterday’s false dawn I have now regressed with another slow time of 15.27. I was sailing along quite nicely for the majority of the puzzle, but it took me an age to get the last three or four. I didn’t help the cause by originally putting in ETA, and then spent too long trying to make sense of WEED instead of NERD. I really need to sharpen up on seeing hiddens, it’s a definite weakness for me. It also took a while to convince myself that INSTA was correct as it didn’t work cryptically. I recognised it may be a clueing error, but I’ve thought this before and been wrong. Thank you Jalna for the confirmation of the missing word.

  34. I found this tricky. SO-SO was FOI. SKINNY DIPPER was a bigh help when it arrived. The other long anagrams needed plenty of checkers. Took ages to see NERD and DEAD SET. LOI, INSTA, held me up because of the error in the clue as now confirmed by Jalna. 10:01. Thanks Jalna and Merlin.

  35. DNF with 10 mins on the clock. NHO of an EGG FLIP and did not know of KINSHASA. I did manage to put together POSTERN and TRAVESTY from the word plays but didn’t know the gate or burlesque = TRAVESTY. The anagrams proved tricky too….looking at you ELABORATENESS (such a clunky word).

  36. Glass over 50% full for this one. Similar NHO issues as above, but I enjoyed it overall. Agree that dead-set is more of the fixated variety. A dead-set certainty in a horse race wouldn’t usually mean that the race has been fixed in Oz usage.
    Thanks Merlin and Jalna

  37. This one flowed nicely until it didn’t, and with 80% completed in ten minutes, I had a grindingly slow further 20 minutes for the usual suspects: EGG FLIPS, INSTA and SKINNY DIPPER (great clue), which only fell when POSTERN came to mind.

    Like others, I wondered about ASKER and also about ELABORATENESS but on reflection, both seem fine. Enjoyed the hiddens esp. NERD. Harder than the last Jalna I attempted but generous clueing. Thanks Jalna and Merlin

  38. 7.42

    Another which was trickiesh and sympathy for those stuck on the FLIPS bit as that was not easy. I wasnt sure I knew it but it seemed a decent punt.

    Almost fell into the YUP trap comme mon frere but paused sufficiently long on this occasion

  39. Very few solved on the first pass but the grid gradually filled up after that. In the end I was quite pleased with a time of 23 minutes after the slow start. I didn’t enter INSTA until I had all the crossers because of the faulty clue but apart from that progress was trouble free if a bit slow.

    FOI – 12ac PAY DIRT
    LOI – 18dn NERD
    COD – 21ac DEAD SET

    Thanks to Jalna and Merlin

  40. Nho EGG-FLIP, not sure TRAVESTY = burlesque, ( all as above), I agree QC getting steadily harder, but this one was an exception; it must be difficult to pitch it just right.

  42. Apart from EGGFLIP I found this relatively straight forward. Some challenging lengthy anagrams and an unusual word in ASKER. COD SKINNY DIPPER.

  43. The 50% was a bad error. It sent me off wondering if there was an inaxy (from galaxy) and when I found ‘As a VIP member, you can add up to 1 Gb of custom content in your Download Basket and …’ it all sounded in the right ballpark. It also reinforced ‘endeavour’ as the start of a word beginning ‘try…’ When an obstinate driver goes down a cul de sac he has to learn to turn round – which was beyond me.

  44. Not too much trouble, apart from confidently writing in ‘ETA’ for 9ac. I realised it was wrong when I came to do 3dn, so no great harm done.

    Instagram has not been renamed ‘Insta’ (have just checked) and I’ve never heard it referred to other than by its full name (probably something to do with being 68 years old), so I’m not too happy with it featuring in the crossword at all – as for the maths……….

  45. 15.25 Mostly quite quick. I knew I knew POSTERN but it took ages to come without the P. This led to PROP-UP, which had been rendered impossible by a careless MIND-BENDINGLY, and the NHO EGG-FLIPS took several minutes at the end. Thanks Merlin and Jalna.

  46. Put in Mindbendingly for 8ac and Eta for 9, which made 3d a bit tricky, knew of egg-flips, dead-set and meaning of travesty. Held up for ages with 16a because of wrong %age.
    S0-so was obvious, even without having the faintest idea what meh meant. (on checking it doesn’t appear to mean so-so at all, so just as well I didn’t know)
    Never did get 20, must be a new record of 7 crossers all in place without a useful consonant!

  47. Not easy and my solve was interrupted so no exact time.
    My LOI was 5d and the best I could muster was EGG RAILS which sounded like a good match for the clue.
    NHO EGG FLIPS despite a lot of hanging around in bars. Where can you get one?
    Enjoyed the rest.
    David

  49. 15:15 here. I enjoyed this one: it felt a bit more modern and up-to-date in its vocabulary. INSTA is definitely how my 20-something kids refer to Instagram. Shame about the dropped word from the clue. COD to SKINNY DIPPER.

    Thanks to Merlin and Jalna.

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