Joker provides us pleasing, tidy puzzle for us today, with a good variety of clue types, and with no NHOs. Two clue types I’d not seen before at 2d (which I called a triple def, even though it is really two defs plus one wordplay) and 17d which I called an &lit, or a quintuple def. Our blogger, Hector, gives it the correct name: an Acrostic.
14:43 for me, which according to the Snitch is just about my average.
Definitions underlined in bold , synonyms in (parentheses) (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, other wordplay in [square brackets] and deletions in {curly} brackets.
Across | |
1 | Huge blaze destroyed store firm (9) |
FIRESTORM – (STORE FIRM)* [destroyed]
Wow, that really is an easy anagram. I had to check that I had actually changed some letters. |
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6 | Section of the Moroccan border (3) |
HEM – Hidden [section of] in “the Moroccan” | |
8 | Fellow reported undamaged access to below (7) |
MANHOLE – MAN (fellow) + HOLE which sounds like [reported] WHOLE (undamaged) | |
9 | Like the country’s really regularly pursuing game (5) |
RURAL – R{e}A{l}L{y} prefixed by RU (Rugby Union, game) | |
10 | Ultimately colossal, mega, bumper, big, huge (5) |
LARGE – Last letters of those 5 synonyms, any of which can provide the definition. A quintuple definition? | |
12 | Stop account, nearly all losing millions (6) |
ACCOST – ACC (account) + {M}OST (nearly all) – M{illions}
Not sure about this abbreviation, I thought A/C is the usual abbreviation. |
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14 | Risky projects housed in a roof space in St Pauls? (13) |
ADVENTURESOME – VENTURES (projects) in A + DOME (roof of St Pauls)
I’m not sure about this definition, ADVENTURESOME in the OED is used for people who are daring and take risks. The adjective Risky is used with things that involve some kind of hazard. But the OED does have a second meaning, used with people (marked as rare) for daring (Collins doesn’t have this meaning). Clue would have worked better with “Daring projects…” |
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16 | Choice by editor — with a feather in one’s cap? (6) |
PLUMED – PLUM (Choice) + ED
Plumed literally means feathered. |
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17 | Father quiet about echo being different (5) |
FRESH – FR (Father) + SH (quiet) contains E{cho} | |
19 | Short book for tourists about Lima society (5) |
GUILD – GUID{e} (book for tourists) [short = truncate] contains L{ima} | |
20 | Not one or the other I found in underground (7) |
NEITHER – NETHER (underground) contains I | |
22 | For instance, good food for breakfast? (3) |
EGG -EG (for instance) + G{ood} | |
23 | Can church get round king for consent (9) |
CLEARANCE – CAN + CE(Church) contains LEAR (king) |
Down | |
1 | Well–known female friend and perjurer (8) |
FAMILIAR – F{emale} + AMI (friend) + LIAR (perjurer)
AMI is a crossword staple, but pretty rare IRL. It is written in italics, and the OED says its use is now restricted in or with reference to French-speaking contexts. |
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2 | Manage marathon, one in Paris following river (3) |
RUN – UN (one in Paris, in French) preceded by R{iver}
This is a triple def, with “manage” for RUN, the verb and “marathon” for RUN, the noun. |
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3 | Female garment only covering top of thighs (5) |
STOLE – SOLE (only) contains T{highs} | |
4 | Where some put icing on twist, perhaps too much of a good thing (13) |
OVERABUNDANCE – OVER A BUN (where some put icing) + DANCE (twist, perhaps)
Very nice. |
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5 | Motorway strangely clear — an amazing occurrence (7) |
MIRACLE – MI (M1, Motorway) + (CLEAR)* [strangely] | |
6 | Prediction house mostly went up, get by (9) |
HOROSCOPE – HO {use} + ROS{e} + COPE (get by)
And in spite of more recent usage of ho’ it is the official abbreviation of House. And if your house is called Westwood House, or Tally House you have a joke. Ho-ho. Tricky to parse this middle bit. I thought the “up” was a reversal indicator. |
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7 | Chap, married and bitter? (4) |
MALE – M{arried} + ALE(bitter) | |
11 | Rising up, concerned with election process bringing in left (9) |
REVOLTING – RE (concerned with) + VOTING (election process) contains L{eft} | |
13 | Coast with small migrating fish (8) |
SEAHORSE – SEASHORE (Coast) with the S{mall} moving position [ migrating] | |
15 | Drunken comedian lacking energy and wandering (7) |
NOMADIC – (COM{e}DIAN)* – remove the E{nergy} | |
17 | Who’s primarily from religious institution and robed (5) |
FRIAR – Initial letters of F{rom} R{eligious} I{nstitution} A{nd} R{obed}
This is an &lit, where the whole clue is the definition. Our blogger, Hector, gives it the correct name: an Acrostic. |
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18 | Monster? I’m hesitating … turn back (4) |
OGRE – ER (I’m hesitating) + GO (turn) All reversed | |
21 | Chicken when headless (3) |
HEN – w{HEN}
Clever surface, bringing to mind the “headless chicken” phrase. |
I thought this was a fantastic QC. Lots of enjoyable clues (PLUMED, CLEARANCE, FAMILIAR, OVERABUNDANCE, SEAHORSE, HEN) but nothing too tricky or obscure.
I struggled, finally getting across the line in 18.44. The SE did for me, it took ages to see FRESH, SEAHORSE, FRIAR (still don’t really get it) and CLEARANCE. For reasons of sheer dopiness I did not see the FIRESTORM anagram until near the end, and doubt I would have got ADVENTURESOME from WP rather than biffing from crossers. It was an enjoyable challenge but it also feels like we’ve gone back to the tough QCs we had recently. Thanks Joker and Merlin.
FRIAR initials of
From Religious Institution And Robed.
I was doing pretty well until the end. Believing that 17 across must start with P, I biffed prior as the obvious answer to 17 down – what a mess! By the time I discovered my error, several minutes had elapsed. Then I was able to build fresh from the cryptic, without being entirely sure it means different. I then biffed seahorse, thinking it was probably wrong, and stopped the clock.
Time: 11:34.
A fresh view, fresh eyes is a fair usage for FRESH=different. I’m open to fresh opinions on it.
14 minutes. I looked twice at ‘account / ACC’ but I have seen it here before and it’s in Collins.
I was a little surprised to see ‘friend / AMI’ without a French reference but again it’s in Collins as an English word from the French so I suppose it’s fair enough. Joker had his fun by putting ‘female friend’ in the clue which if not lifted and separated would have given us AMIE instead of F, AMI.
2dn is a double definition rather than a triple.
‘Risky / ADVENTURESOME’ seemed okay to me and it’s in Chambers Crossword Dictionary.
The clue to SEASHORE was clever, I thought.
But there are three separate components pointing to the same answer. If the last bit is not actually a definition what do we call a clue like this?
I’d blog it as two definitions plus wordplay, which is what Merlin has indicated with his underlines. I assumed ‘triple’ was a typo.
It is quite unusual. With a standard DD (or a TD) you don’t get any wordplay, you just have to concentrate on the defs and figure it out. This one didn’t need a lot of effort.
Thought I’d got seven on the first pass of acrosses but it turned out to have been only six. Could have done with solving both ADVENTURESOME and especially OVERABUNDANCE a lot sooner than I did but still ended up all green in a pleasing 14.40.
17:08. A bit of a struggle, but looking back I can’t really see why. The “easy” FIRESTORM anagram held out until the final stages, as did SEAHORSE, FRESH, CLEARANCE and LOI PLUMED. I would not have called a SEAHORSE a fish, but I now see that it is.
On edit (6:52) – I forgot to say how much I enjoyed OVERABUNDANCE
15:26
Fast for top half, slow for bottom.
Liked stole, miracle, and male.
Friar is semi &lit. Who is not part of the wordplay.
Another cracker from Joker, and like others a game of two halves for us, finishing in a standardish 23.24. Adventuresome needed most of the crossers even though I thought of dome early on, and finally helped to get LOI seahorse. Loved over a bun and enjoyed egg
Thanks Joker and Merlin
10.15
Toughish I thought. Like Vinyl tried prior with SEAHORSE also slightly desperately bunged in at the end. Lots to like elsewhere.
Thanks Merlin/Joker
I agree. SEAHORSE was very good. 10:05
I wasn’t t the races today and struggled throughout – I even spent time trying to anagram ‘huge blaze’ to find a word meaning ‘store firm’ at 1a🤦♂️.
Started with HEM and finished with SEAHORSE in 13.21.
Thanks to Merlin
I tried the anag the wrong way round as well. I was wondering what kind of firm is primarily a store. Microsoft’s One Drive? U-Store?
I found this rather a struggle and missed my target by over half a minute. I wasn’t helped by biffing “rebelling” which I needed to correct before cracking my LOI. An excellent puzzle though – thanks Joker and Merlin.
FOI FIRESTORM
LOI ADVENTURESOME
COD SEAHORSE
TIME 6:33
This is a QC puzzle, hopefully aimed at helping those of use who cant do the 15×15 to get going. Saying you found it a struggle but finished in 6mins is not as modest as you pretend. The comments put us newbies off of even reading the blog, it becomes a clique for the same big solvers. Please think of your audience before posting!
and yes I know its not just you!
Well, this is the way things are here – we are called TIMES for the Times. If you read the history of the blog under the About tab up top, this is our heritage. We welcome solvers at every level to discuss the puzzles at whatever level they’re at. Some beginners have improved, some are content to remain in the SCC and enjoy the puzzles and the chitchat.
5:29. LOI SEAHORSE. I think 17D is a semi-&lit as the initial “Who’s” is not part of the wordplay. Nice clue, though. I liked the 2defs + wordplay for RUN too. Thanks Joker and Merlin.
🚨Whoop whoop it’s the sound of the Clue Police 🚨
I think if we are on a crossword forum, comments re accuracy of definitions and clue types are to be expected…Your Honour!!
Pedantic, maybe, but I think it’s worth making the distinction. A good &lit is hard to come by, but a semi-&lit with a self-referential word like “this”, or in this case “Who’s” is easier to construct. The wordplay element, is, as has been mentioned elsewhere, an acrostic.
If you can’t be a pedant on here of all places, John, pedantry has no future!
Well Merlin you must be some kind of Wizard, I found this very tough crawling in at 28.20 for one of my slowest times in recent memory. I thought a couple of the clues were more akin to the main puzzle and it was on a wing and a prayer that I hit the submit button having failed to parse a good few. I’m now going to pour another coffee and enjoy the blog given so many I just didn’t’get’
LOI:STOLE
COD: OVERABUNDANCE
16:44
I fell into the same PRIOR trap as Vinyl and Dvynys, and took ages to sort it out. Last two in were FRESH and SEAHORSE. For the latter I spotted that it was a fish that fitted and contained an anagram of SHORE, and missed the cleverness of the migrating S in SEASHORE.
Thanks Merlin and Joker
As well as Prior I also tried inferno rim shift skirt overindulgence and rebelling as first guesses …
17:17 for the solve! 5+mins spent on seahorse. I like Joker’s puzzles but feel they’ve got a bit more complicated this year and this was a good example with needing to rely on bif-then-parse in a few places
PS Just remembered that my mum’s friend used to refer to iced buns as sticky willies! 🤐
18:30 Had a lot of trouble unpacking, FRESH, SEAHORSE, and CLEARANCE.
FIRESTORM and HEM went straight in but I could then only get two of their dependent Down clues, so rather a missed opportunity. Nevertheless, I still made steady (although not fast) progress and was only held up a little by my LOI. This was PLUMED, where I failed to see the required meaning of choice.
ADVENTURESOME, OVERABUNDANCE (great clue!), CLEARANCE and SEAHORSE were all biffed and written into the grid before being parsed and moving on.
In summary: a tricky, but entertaining QC.
Untuned, but probably around half an hour.
Many thanks to Joker and Merlin.
Which music do you normally tune into while doing the QC?
Bloody autcoorect!
I could blame my man flu, but I was just not on it today, although the top half, excluding the lower part of 4D went in quite steadily. Then I slowed substantially.
The two long ones held out for too long, 14A I didn’t readily equate risky as used here, or twig that dome was indicated, so St Paul’s confused me for a while.
Laugh of the day to 4D once the penny dropped. SEAHORSE took a while to parse although the answer seemed inevitable, and so obvious once seen.
All fair and good, but a bit of a struggle to finish deep into the SCC.
Both 1’s went straight in but initial optimism was quelled by both the long ones (but 4 went in eventually).
12: thank you, Merlin, my view exactly. And thank you, vinyl, I too wasn’t happy about fresh = different, but have to sigh and concede.
14: NHO ADVENTURESOME and had ventured 11 REbellING so didn’t stand a chance there even though it was bound to be A … DOME.
13: ‘small migrating’ too difficult for me. Total (after a struggle) three to the bad.
I was on for a PB until hitting the last few clues, which seemed to have been transplanted from a different puzzle. The SOME in ADVENTURESOME, FRESH, ACCOST, HOROSCOPE but most of all LOI SEAHORSE, which was found only through a painful trawl, were all very elusive.
So quick quick slow for 07:13, which is below my average and so I’m scoring this as a Good Day even though I got so bogged down.
Many thanks Joker and Merlin.
After a good over-confident start, took ages over LOI ADVENTURESOME, failing to see the Dome. Also slow on SEAHORSE, OVERABUNDANCE (COD), and put Access instead of ACCOST. Oh dear.
Fairly slow on FRESH too, come to think of it.
Liked the very simple HEN, NOMADIC, REVOLTING, among others. But it turned out to be a struggle.
Thanks vm, Merlin.
LOI SEAHORSE, like many others it seems. I biffed it then saw it as I came here.
11 minutes.
COD to MALE.
A very good QC.
David
I started off so quickly I thought I was in for a super fast time, but The Joker has the last laugh as usual, and I had to grind out the last half dozen or so clues. I always consider the standard of The Jokers puzzles to be top notch, and today’s offering didn’t disappoint. For once I am quite happy to miss my target at 10.44 as I think it represents a fair time for a puzzle of that difficulty. LOI was SEAHORSE which delayed me somewhat, but COD goes to ADVENTURESOME.
DNF
Beaten by FRESH where I wasn’t familiar with the abbreviation FR for father and FRIAR where I missed the acrostic.
Would have been a slow time anyway as I struggled with ADVENTURESOME, HOROSCOPE and SEAHORSE too.
Ah yes, an Acrostic, of course. I have updated the blog, so clue police can turn off one of their flashing lights.🚨
Turns out LARGE is also an acrostic. I was hoping we could come up with a fancy term for when the last letters make a word; but my quick research on the etymology of acrostic states it relates to tips or extremities. In fact, acrostic now seems to relate to any recurring letters in a piece of text.
Very interesting- good to know.
10½ minutes, with SEAHORSE LOI biffed but not parsed. A very nice puzzle, much enjoyed.
Thank you Merlin for the blog
Cedric
8:25
Another here that tried to de-anagram HUGE BLAZE at first. A few I didn’t fully understand in flight were ACCOST (assumed A/C for account rather than ACC), and LOI FRIAR (bunged in once all checkers in place, but couldn’t see why). Liked SEAHORSE.
Thanks Merlin and Joker
Another to have SEAHORSE as LOI, unparsed. Solved reasonably steadily in just over 20 mins – pretty good for me. A good challenge.
A good top half, followed by a not so good bottom. My last pair, Seahorse and Adventuresome, then dashed any lingering hopes of a sub-20. I know single letter movements are allowed in unseen words, but it always seems poor form to me, so Seahorse went in with a shrug. Likewise, Adventuresome for Risky doesn’t seem too good a match. A shame to end on those two, because CoD, Overabundance, was an earlier, well-constructed, highlight. Invariant
Yet another with SEAHORSE as LOI. Lots to like, especially OVERABUNDANCE. Thanks Merlin – needed your help to parse ACCOST as haven’t seen acc = account before. House = ho is also now etched in my memory! Thanks Joker. A very nice coffee break.
I found this on the chewy side, as usual with Joker. RUN and FIRESTORM got me off to a quick start and most of the top half followed without too much trouble. Had to employ a bit more concentration down below. FRESH and FRIAR resisited intial thoughts but eventually loomed through the mist. SEAHORSE and ADVENTURESOME brought up the rear and I needed the blog for the parsing of SEAHORSE. Thanks Merlin and Joker. 9:30.
I didn’t find it easy! My FOI was FAMILIAR, both the 13 letter clues required lots of checkers and I was quite slow at parsing many other clues. LOI in a tardy 12:22 was SEAHORSE.
Not too difficult, but I had a fat thumbed error at the Miracle/Adventuresome intersection, with an R for an E.
A very enjoyable solve otherwise.
Thanks blogger and setter.
DNF. I gave it 20 minutes but couldn’t spare any further time. FRESH and SEAHORSE were still outstanding at the end. Enjoyable puzzle.
FOI – 6ac HEM
LOI – DNF
COD – 14ac AVENTURESOME
Thanks to Joker and Merlin
Post yesterday‘s breeze, this was a little more troublesome, but I enjoyed getting as far as I did, a couple of clues short (PLUMED, OVERABUNDANCE) the latter, biffed easily enough, but remaining unparsed
COD 4d Overabundance.
POI 6d Horoscope. Westward Ho! is the only town I know with an exclamation mark, but the Ho isn’t = House.
13d Seahorse, loved it. Coulda bin COD but.
17d Friar, easy to biff but it took a while for the penny to drop.
Door to the SCC yawning wide open as HOROSCOPE, FRESH and SEAHORSE went in, after good 19 minutes. Phew! I liked the notion of a BUN DANCE, and ACCOST brought the faltering Sir Andrew Aguecheek to mind as he is urged to woo, to flirt, to board and assail her: but all that he manages to stammer out is “Good mistress accost”. Great scene in Twelfth Night. Got STOLE without parsing: obvious now. Highly enjoyable – thanks Joker and Merlin
Ahahahahaha Sir Andrew, thanks for the reminder!
14:48 with no errors. Like most I biffed SEAHORSE as the checkers suggested it (-E-H-R-E) but completely missed the wordplay. FOI – HEM, LOI – ACCOST. Unlike the majority ACC went straight in but I took too long parsing OST. Joint CODs – ABUNDANCE and NOMADIC. Thanks Joker and Merlin.
Always remember my boatbuilding days many years ago working on a yacht ‘Hippocampus’. My inquisitive mind led me to Seahorse – Hippocampus Hippocampus. We have them down here in Dorset.
12.15 An enjoyable puzzle. I spent nearly half the time on ACCOST, HOROSCOPE, FRESH, FRIAR, CLEARANCE and SEAHORSE, which was a lovely clue. Thanks Merlin and Joker.
15:58 so no big frustrations by my lights, but there were big pauses while I tried to parse various things I had just confidently slapped in, or simply chuckled at the clue surfaces. How good was MIRACLE?! Loved the bun dance, my LOI. I really need to remember that not all kings are R, K, or CR. (I can never see this word without hearing “We have clearance, Clarence” from *Airplane*. Ah youth.)
Thank you Joker and Merlin.
We found this to be a middle of the road puzzle, some clues went in quickly and others demanded more thought. Particularly in the SE corner. Thanks, Joker, for a pleasant challenge. Solving late we always enjoy the comments above.
19 mins…
A good puzzle from Joker. Probably should have done better on time, but a couple of clues made me hesitate: 11dn “Revolting” and 16ac “Plumed”. The latter had me wondering whether plum=choice was legitimate – thankfully, it seemed to be.
FOI – 1ac “Firestorm”
LOI – 16ac “Plumed”
COD – 7dn “Male” – probably better clues, but it made me chuckle.
Thanks as usual!
30ish min finish. Like many the SE corner provided the big problem. I had adventurous until seahorse became obvious.
Perhaps the toughest one I’ve completed.
Thanks Joker and Merlin
Given the time, I suspect no-one will read this….
Another horrible day.
Only 2 on Quintagram.
DNF on QC (21 minutes) as I put MALC instead of MALE. God knows why – my brain was scrambled. I really am useless. I thought it was something tricky and saw MALC as short for MALCOLM. My idiocy knows no bounds. Yet another week blown to smithereens. My target is as unattainable as ever. ☹️
Two hours on big crossword and got about half. Why can’t I do this? Where am I going wrong? I’m totally frazzled.
I am thoroughly depressed by this and in a very low mood with cryptics. I wish I had never started with them as I’m getting more and more frustrated. Not sure whether to call it a day and accept that I’ve failed.
PS Now read blog on the big crossword. Would never have finished in a month of Sundays.
There was a time when I recorded 20+ finishes in a row on the QC. What happened to that confident solver? Where has that ability gone?
I read it, and commiserate.
Thanks Pi-curious
A bit more challenging than yesterday, but we still found it enjoyable apart from LOI seahorse which had to be, but had to come to the blog to understand it. We were also delayed by fresh and clearance. Thanks Joker and Merlin.
FOI run;
LOI seahorse;
COD overabundance for a LOL