Was rolling through this at PB speed until I hit the bottom right where AILMENT held me up for the longest time.
Our setter, Jimmy (who uses just his first name) uses just the first name of two living persons, when they are obscure enough to be unique. Although “election loser” could cover the unique KEMALA. And maybe in a few years the equally singular KEIR or KEMI.
After sending in my one clue for the Christmas special (Heirs glide unsteadily and trip on the ice (6,4) – Answer below) I now have much more sympathy with setters. To get a smooth surface is very hard, and to make it cinderella-level (not too easy, not too hard) requires careful tuning of the elements. I to then repeat the process 20+ times. Respect.
I put ChatGPT on to the list of words in this puzzle, to see if it could find a Nina, but it came up with nothing. Any humans believe different?
Definitions underlined in bold , synonyms in (parentheses) (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, other wordplay in [square brackets] and deletions in {curly} brackets.
| Across | |
| 1 | Suggests naughty kid is dishonest (7) |
| IMPLIES – IMP (naughty kid) + LIES (is dishonest)
I like clues like this where the whole phrase is exactly equivalent. Not sure we have a name for it, where no wordplay is needed. |
|
| 5 | A-lister making a comeback? Botheration! (4) |
| RATS – STAR (A-lister) reversed [making a comeback]
“Botheration” implies entry-level swearing as might be rendered by a Great Aunt doing a jigsaw. I think Jimmy chose the right point on the swearing scale with RATS. Etymology of swearwords is difficult, but it looks to have gone “GoD rot”, ‘Drot, Drat, Rat, Rats. Charlie Brown (from Peanuts) often used it: Peanuts February 10, 1951 |
|
| 7 | Walls of eastern auditorium enthral, displaying glossy material (6) |
| ENAMEL – E{aster}N + A{uditoriu}M + E{enthra}L. “Walls of” is a device for indicating the first and last letters. | |
| 8 | Girl hosting old monarch beams (6) |
| LASERS – LASS (girl) contains ER (old monarch)
I tried MISERS first. |
|
| 9 | Strong drinks on the house for mavericks (4,7) |
| FREE SPIRITS – FREE (on the house) + SPIRITS (Strong drinks)
“Maverick” originates from the name of Samuel A. Maverick, a 19th-century Texas cattle owner who was known for not branding his cattle, which was unusual at the time. As a result, any unbranded cattle found roaming free were referred to as “mavericks”. Sounds like “tour guide etymology” but it’s from the OED. |
|
| 10 | Dancing around, aren’t I a bit of a looker? (6) |
| RETINA – (ARENT I )* [Dancing around]
“Bit of a looker” is a clever definition, the retina is a component of the eye, which can be called a “looker”, in that it looks. |
|
| 12 | Losing grand, cultivating dry fruit (6) |
| RAISIN – RAISIN{g} (cultivating). [Losing G{rand}]
My first attempt was wild of the mark here, {g}ROWING. |
|
| 14 | Appealing ladies perhaps hugged by Wenceslas? (4-7) |
| GOOD-LOOKING – GOOD KING (Wenceslas) contains LOO (ladies perhaps)
Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia (907-935) was never a King, and not that Good either. He was assassinated by by his younger brother, Boleslaus the Cruel (who should of course be pronounced cru-el). |
|
| 17 | Firm where a lad works (6) |
| STABLE – Double def. A “stable lad” works in a stable.
The OED says that “Stable Lad” is used for Females as well? Seems unlikely, we no longer have Airman or Batsman. In film, can the Best Boy be female? |
|
| 18 | Conflict interrupting publicity for the Oscars, say (6) |
| AWARDS – ADS (publicity) contains WAR (conflict) | |
| 20 | Cruel person for the most part is not sweet (4) |
| BRUT – BRUT{e} (cruel person)
BRUT comes from the French word for “raw/rough” and was originally used to describe wines that were unrefined or natural. Over time, it came to be associated with dry sparkling wines, especially champagnes, that have little to no residual sugar. |
|
| 21 | Essay covering old kind of literary work (7) |
| TRAGEDY – TRY (essay) contains AGED (old)
Try=essay is a crossword staple, with the tricky slippage between a noun and a verb. “Try” is the older form, where “assay” is the more common form, as in coinage and hallmarks. |
|
| Down | |
| 1 | European abandoning loud hostelry (3) |
| INN – {F}INN [Abandoning the F=loud]
Hostelry (3) cues up PUB, INN, BAR and not much else. But I though it was an E missing, not an F, but with IMPLIES FOI I did not have to work through BARE, BEAR or (ahem) PUBE. |
|
| 2 | After ceremony, regularly revisit ancient city (7) |
| POMPEII – POMP (ceremony) + {r}E{v}I{s}I{t}
Not UR! And with the Initial P, Palmyra was my first choice. |
|
| 3 | Daughter getting into rocky isle does very little (5) |
| IDLES – (ISLE)* contains D{aughter} | |
| 4 | Combatant flogged? That is right (7) |
| SOLDIER – SOLD (flogged) + IE (That is) + R{ight} | |
| 5 | To an extent, Harris hindered election loser (5) |
| RISHI – Hidden inside Harris hindered
Poor old Rishi, will “election loser” be his moniker forever? The late Jimmy Carter was an election loser as well, but his recent biographies don’t mark him as such. In fact he was the “only US president to use the office as merely a stepping stone to greatness”. |
|
| 6 | Object about reckless and humiliating defeat (9) |
| THRASHING – THING (object) contains RASH (reckless) | |
| 9 | Boxer possibly boxing on ship (9) |
| FREIGHTER – FIGHTER (Boxer possibly) contains [boxing] RE (on) | |
| 11 | Complaint made by topless Americans who deliver letters on time (7) |
| AILMENT – m{AILMEN} (Americans who deliver letters) + T
This was tough as it looks like “topless” only applies to Americans. After giving up on Yanks, I thought it could be Iowans (or any other state). |
|
| 13 | Parrot or ape? It inhabits India and China (7) |
| IMITATE – I{india} + MATE (China) contains IT
Parrot or ape : they both come with negative connotations parrot=imitate does come from the bird, which is supposed to be a good mimic, and now means to talk incessantly, inconsequentially, or repetitively. ape=imitate comes from older usage, that an ape looks like a man. Ape comes with additional idea of to mimic slavishly but often with an absurd result. |
|
| 15 | Travel around York’s middle part (5) |
| ORBIT – {Y}OR{k} + BIT (part)
Very succinct, and the “around” confused me by being part of the definition, not a placement indicator. |
|
| 16 | Ex-president with First from Oxford and two degrees (5) |
| OBAMA – O{xford} + BA + MA (two degrees)
It was Clinton who actually attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in 1968, where he studied for a B.Phil in Politics, but did not finish the programme. |
|
| 19 | Boring intro from Doors track (3) |
| DRY – D{oors} + RY (=Railway, = track)
For our younger solvers (as if), The Doors were a 1960s band featuring Jim Morrison. GK not needed but explains the capital D in the surface. Do I need to explain what a “track” is as well, or are we good? |
|
† SLEIGH RIDE
2 am and I was woken up for the nth time by a kind nurse for post-op tests. All good except trying to get back to sleep. I thought I would set aside my earlier blog comment and see if Jimmy had produced an actual QC today because I managed his earlier QCs quite well and I only had 20 minutes before my next set of checks.
Managed this one in 17 mins and thought it was pretty approachable. A few quirky clues which I tripped over at first but also some very nice twists. I also wasted time trying to parse 13d using MATE (a S. American green leaf used for tea). Also known as Yerba Mate but it needs an acute accent on the e. Then the chestnut ‘china’ clicked.
Nice puzzle and a very good blog (which I will shortly explore further). Thanks both.
[All good so far on the recovery front btw.]
Stone me! First comment of the day……
Best good health wishes to Blighter, short of living here in Oz a 2am wake-up is a good way to score first comment of the day (for what that’s worth). Fun puzzle from Jimmy, 7.15 for me, after a few weeks of sporadic solving I feel I’m getting back into the swing of things. LOsI were FREIGHTER, AILMENT and TRAGEDY. Nice blog Merlin, thanks for the Charlie Brown shout-out.
PS: Got it!
Thanks, Lindsay. Good time. It will be interesting to see what others make of the puzzle.
I, too, have felt my solving has been (rather worse than just) sporadic I, too, as I have have observed earlier.
Perhaps the QC is moving back from simply being a cut-down 15×15 most of the time. I do hope so.
Sorry about my misunderstanding of your (perfectly clear) ‘sporadic’.
I actually meant sporadic in the sense that over Xmas I’ve been doing the crossword every now and then but not regularly, and it’s surprising how quickly you lose your touch. But I agree there has been considerable fluctuation in the QC degree of difficulty in recent times, and from memory it has been ages since I’ve come near a PB.
Merlin, in your intro I think you mean Goldilocks rather than Cinderella. The list of possible election losing leaders is almost endless but Rishi is in the far smaller group of those who held the top job without ever having been elected to it, and then lost an election.
10 minutes. . I liked the Wenceslas clue for its wordplay and also chuckled at the thought of a king given a nickname in recognition of the state of his palace facilities. I was also reminded that way back in the 1960s Jonathan Routh (of Candid Camera fame) published The Good Loo Guide: Where to go in London.
In the US, there was Gerald Ford.
A regulation six on the first pass of acrosses and then even better on the downs to leave me thinking a really fast time was on the cards. BRUT and then the SE slowed me down – nice to see I’m in good company, Merlin – with AILMENT, IMITATE and especially LOI TRAGEDY taking me into the 9s for a still satisfying 9.37. Particularly enjoyed ‘bit of a looker’ defining RETINA. Good one!
Great quickie and everything fell into place with the exception of BRUT for some reason. I missed yesterday’s quickie so did that first this morning, followed by today’s 15×15 and then this. Three excellent crosswords in my opinion.
Thanks M and setter.
Another tough one for us but good looking worth the entrance price on its own.
Like Merlin, we started well but came very unstuck in the bottom half, particularly the SW. LOI took a ridiculous 3 goes through the alphabet before the slapping of the forehead for Brut. Finally crossed the line at 31.11
Thanks for the blog Merlin, DNK the origin of Maverick. Your other possibility for pub reminds me of that brilliant episode of Steptoe and Son where the dad created a crossword of swear/rude words for the parish magazine that got impounded by the police https://youtu.be/oanikaqvYcU?si=jRwEliIhm5QxFO5a
As with others was absolutely cantering before being held up by TRAGEDY, DRY and LOI BRUT to limp over the line in just under 20 minutes.
Decent puzzle from Jimmy – not really sure why I couldn’t close this out sooner.
No stand out contenders for COD but I quite liked IMITATE.
Thanks for the blog Merlin I too enjoyed the titbit about the etymology of Maverick
14 with a couple of semi biffs, quite pleased with that. Nina might have to do with losers at a stretch.
A generally sluggish solve with no major hold ups, but happy to finish it after my struggles yesterday.
Started with IMPLIES and finished with BRUT in 9.03 with COD to GOOD LOOKING.
Thanks to Merlin and Jimmy
9:31, which was on course to be rather faster before the SW corner held me up. AILMENT very clever and took some winkling out – toss-up between that and SLEIGH RIDE for COD.
As for whether a Best Boy can be female, I don’t know. But my daughter has been “Best Man” at at least three weddings, and has used all of Best Man, Best Woman (which she disliked but the groom insisted on) and her preferred title, Best Mate.
Many thanks Merlin for the blog and Jimmy for a sparkling QC.
Cedric
4:08. My fastest for a while. COD to GOOD LOOKING. Thanks Jimmy and Merlin for the comprehensive and informative blog
17:24 for the solve! Held up for last 4mins by TRAGEDY / DRY.
Don’t really understand what KEMALA is doing in Merlin’s intro? Is it simply a wrong spelling of Kamala or is he doing something more intricate. Anyway seems to refer to the RISHI clue which I thought was a superb bit of surface and misdirection – politics aside.
As ever Jimmy producing some very enjoyable clues of which GOOD-LOOKING was my fave
Funnily enough it was the top right of the puzzle slowed me down, rather than the sw corner which seems to have bothered many people. Finished in 10:41, LOI LASERS.
DNF
Gave up after 21m, beaten by FREIGHTER and BRUT.
COD to RISHI.
Thanks Merlin and Jimmy
A smidge under 13 with sellier for the fighter (living too much in the present perhaps?) then for how long did I try to get the meaning of essay.. very enjoyable many thanks both
I just wasn’t on the right wavelength here. Took 40mins and made several errors.
Looking at the blog, it seems straightforward.
Thanks to Jimmy and Merlin
7:52
After a blistering start, I found this hard to finish, struggling with AILMENT before TRAGEDY fell into place, then taking an age over ORBIT before the more obvious in retrospect, STABLE, and finally BRUT were inked in.
Interesting blog Merlin and thanks for the puzzle Jimmy
24 mins…
Like Merlin, I started off well but hit a bit of mud at the bottom. 19dn “Dry” ended up being much trickier than expected, with “Dog” and “Dug” all possibilities until I got other checkers.
Totally understand the clueing around 10ac “Retina”, although your retina doesn’t actually “look” per se – it accepts and interprets light that comes in through the front of your eye.
FOI – 1dn “Inn”
LOI – 19dn “Dry”
COD – 13dn “Imitate”
Thanks as usual!
Ah, but surely the retina is ‘a bit’ of a looker?!
Yes, that’s it.
SW corner took me longest today, not helped by putting in TART for 20A (the most part of TARTAR). Thanks Jimmy for clever puzzle and Merlin for your usual great blog – interesting derivation of maverick.
Convinced I was on Jimmy’s wavelength till I met the same last two as others here.
Enjoyed the mix of old and new to finish in a creditable 22.
Thanks Merlin, Jimmy et al. Hope you are back on your feet soon, Blighter.
I was very slow getting started ,then quick until being held up in the SW, like others I see.
I also had TART (AR), until correction.
LOI ORBIT after 13 minutes.
I thought this was another tough QC.
Lots of good clues.
COD to FREE SPIRITS.
David
Another difficult one; seven to the bad. Discouraging.
Both girl and beam can be so many things, and all I could see was (like Merlin) misers.
Did think of RAISIN but so far from parsing it (with only – – – – I -), didn’t even try it.
Did also get essay = TRY but the rest of it eluded me. SOLDIER, ORBIT, BRUTE just too difficult. Why do I make all these shameful (and doubtless tiresome) confessions? Attempt at catharsis maybe.
I can (now) see parrot and ape = IMITATE easily enough; but what’s the connection between China and MATE, please?
That, me old china, is cockney rhyming slang – china plate / mate.
I for one appreciate your comments! Nice to see feedback from someone who appears to be a on a similar wavelength most days – I should write my own as well but sadly I’m always at the end of the train ride by the time I’m finished.
Agreed TRAGEDY and BRUTE a step too far for me.
Guessed at IMITATE with I-I-A checkers, but had to check the dictionary to parse it. I would have expected some indication in the clue for Cockney slang? Feels like a stretch otherwise…
30 minutes, held up by AILMENT, ORBIT and (sadly) DRY. Enjoyable half hour .
6.06 which as a football fan is very appropriate.
Steady but not speedy, held up by tragedy, which is sad.
COD to good looking as it made me smile. Thanks Merlin and setter.
Ps Merlin, great Christmas clue by the way!
Started fairly briskly and seemed on target for a sub ten minute solve, but got a little bogged down in the end, and eventually finished in 12.08. I’m not quite sure why I found it a little tougher than average, the clueing was quite fair, so I think it was just an off the wavelength day.
37:25
It was the bottom left that did for me. Spent 15 minutes figuring out FREIGHTER, BRUT, ORBIT and LOI STABLE.
Did quite well but then stuck at the bottom. After a big struggle, managed AILMENT, TRAGEDY, STABLE and ORBIT, but failed on BRUT – doh!
Exhausted.
Liked RISHI, FREE SPIRITS, LASERS, IMITATE, GOOD LOOKING.
Thanks vm, Merlin.
I’m another TART(ar). That held me up in the SW until FREIGHTER sorted it out, and eventually the ORBIT/STABLE crossing pair fell. So a classic quick-quick-slow solve, ending in 09:32. That’s a full two minutes slower today (QUITCH rating currently 93 and likely to drop) than yesterday (QUITCH rating 134). Go figure.
Super puzzle, COD to GOOD-LOOKING. Many thanks Merlin and Jimmy.
13m
I got stuck in the SW, with orbit, brut, retina, ailment, and LOI tragedy holding me up.
COD good looking.
6.12
Superb blog. Nice puzzle. Liked IMITATE
China plate cockney rhyming slang for mate.
5.27. Quick by my standards – ready for a humiliating flop tomorrow.
A better performance today, starting with IMPLIES and finishing with BRUT in 6:18. Thanks Jimmy and Merlin.
Quick start then slowed considerably in SW with final two ORBIT/BRUT holding me up for quite some time. Both were very fair clues so I’m not really sure why. ORBIT gets COD for misdirecting me for so long! Convinced myself travel on its own was the definition 🙄 Really liked GOOD-LOOKING and LASERS. Great blog. Many thanks Jimmy.
9 minutes. I found this reasonably gentle, particularly compared to yesterday’s. A few politicians making an appearance but not enough for a theme and I couldn’t spot a Nina. COD to GOOD-LOOKING.
Thanks to Merlin and Jimmy
Much better than yesterday, finishing in 13 minutes. However there was one I couldn’t parse and the reason I couldn’t of course was because it was wrong. I had rota at 5ac – not sure why.
FOI – 1ac IMPLIES
LOI – 21ac TRAGEDY
CODs – 9ac FREE SPIRITS and 13dn IMITATE
Thanks to Jimmy and Merlin
Whizzed (relatively) through the top half of the grid, but then struggled on the clues lower down that Jimmy seemed to have sub-contracted to another setter. Freighter (nothing to do with dogs, then) finally unlocked the SW corner, with Orbit, Stable and loi Ailment shortly folowing. Around 25mins in total, which feels a little disappointing after such a good start. Good Looking ran it close, but Imitate is my CoD. Invariant
16:12. I make up a foursome with Yorkshirelass, David1, and Templar in thinking first of TART before getting to BRUT.
“For our younger solvers”
You’ll be glad to hear that lots of my junior doctors and my son are into cryptics so they will hopefully live on!
15:02, about half of which was spent staring at the SW corner. Enjoyed it all, as is usually the case with Jimmy.
Thank you for the blog!
12.17 Very quick in the top half but ORBIT, AILMENT, BRUT, TRAGEDY and DRY held me up. RETINA was nice. Thanks Merlin and Jimmy.
A sprint, then a jog, then a plod. IMITATE and TRAGEDY the last to go in, neither properly parsed but seemed to fit. BRUT was a welcome reminder of Christmas/New Year over-indulgence! I suppose FREE SPIRITS are mavericks but do they have to be? Aren’t I a brilliant anagram for a looker. Highly enjoyable and a satisfying solve in just under 20 minutes. Thanks setter and blogger
I was down to my last two inside 4 minutes, and took a while to realise it was simply “lass” that was required for LASERS rather than a random female – when I only had the L I was thinking of Laura.
Fortunately I resisted the “tartar trap” so my LOI eventually jumped out and kicked me.
FOI IMPLIES
LOI BRUT
COD RISHI
TIME 5:08
11:56. I’ve had a bit of a break from solving and it shows… found this quite hard, with penultimate one in RETINA taking for ever even though I knew what the anagram fodder was and had all the checkers…
thank you!
Rather faster today than yesterday but still a (frustrating, but this time entirely my own fault) DNF. Having been delayed by POI TRAGEDY and left with D_Y was unable to see DRY (obvious in hindsight) and punted DIY because it seemed marginally less unlikely than DAY. C’est la vie. COD RETINA. Thanks Merlin and Jimmy.
Anybody else still having problems with their name and email not saving in the form?
Having asked that, maybe I’ve fixed it by deleting the site cached data.
I raced through the top 13 clues – everything down to (and including) RETINA and RAISIN – in about 10 minutes, which is very fast for me. Unfortunately, the possibility of a rare SCC escape was blown out of the water by the bottom 11 clues. These took a further three-quarters of an hour to crack and I crossed the line in not much short of an hour.
How could that happen, I wonder? Did my brain suddenly stop working or (as Invariant suggests above) did Jimmy hand over to a more evil setter? I spent long periods staring at nothing, fruitlessly alphabet trawling, re-reading clues every which way and generally getting absolutely nowhere.
Eventually, I broke through with IMITATE and AILMENT, but I still had to labour over each remaining clue. My last two in were DRY, where I didn’t see RY for track, and TRAGEDY, where I didn’t see anything at all.
Many thanks to Merlin and Jimmy, but not to his sadistic counterpart.
10:28 with no errors, my best time this year beating yesterday’s puzzle, both of which were by my two favourite new compilers. I liked RETINA, SOLDIER, and RISHI but COD has to be GOOD LOOKING. FOI – RATS, LOI – TRAGEDY. Thanks Jimmy and Merlin.
Like others I had a great start but slowed towards the bottom of the grid. In particular I plodded in the SW corner. FREIGHTER, AILMENT, STABLE and BRUT brought up the rear in a time of 8:16. No complaints here after yesterday’s disaster.
Crikey; did this in record 7 mins 30. This notwithstanding my being distracted in the coffee bar by noticing a young female athlete that none of this club had ever heard off some few weeks ago. No point in name dropping then.
If it’s Keely H, then I’ve heard of her! And watched her in the Olympics 🏃🏃🏃
TBH I was surprised when people said they hadn’t heard of her – the face of Team GB and interviewed all through the summer
Two record breakers in one post! Well done on your PB.
14:27 here, much enjoyed. Held up at the end by STABLE (never thought of that definition of “firm”) and my LOI, TRAGEDY, where I saw that TRACERY fitted the crossers and my brain refused to move on from that.
COD to GOOD LOOKING.
Thanks to Jimmy and Merlin.