Tough to get going here, eventually finished off with LOI RUNNER in 13:02. Nice puzzle from the Joker, with his characteristic smooth surfaces.
I couldn’t decide if the double JUST at 13 was a bug or a feature. I checked to see if there was any symmetry with the other side, but there isn’t.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, Synonyms in (parentheses), {deletions in curly brackets} and [square brackets] for other indicators.
| Across | |
| 6 | Bird arranged in casserole? (6) |
| PARROT – POT (casserole) contains ARR{anged}
You’ll often see Arr. for “arranged by” when referring to musical arrangements. |
|
| 7 | Accepted a deadly sin (6) |
| AGREED – A + GREED (deadly sin) | |
| 9 | Swindle involving one pound? (4) |
| COIN – CON (Swindle) contains I (one) | |
| 10 | House in Cork area of little height (8) |
| BUNGALOW – BUNG (cork) + A + LOW (of little height)
Nice surface, because, of course a BUNGALOW is a house of little height. Derived from “a house in the Bengal style”. |
|
| 11 | Living head of state losing power (8) |
| RESIDENT – {p}RESIDENT (head of state)
The adjective, such as “resident poet”. |
|
| 13 | Fair contest between knights, nought is ruled out (4) |
| JUST – J{o}UST (contest between knights) | |
| 15 | Cut nails back (4) |
| SNIP – PINS (nails) [back=reversed] | |
| 16 | Carries family headgear (8) |
| BEARSKIN – BEARS (carries) + KIN (family)
Not to be confused with a Busby or a Shako. |
|
| 18 | In where I am, even parts of units will be built-in (8) |
| INHERENT – IN HERE (where I am) + {u}N{i}T{s} | |
| 20 | Earn millions as keen entrepreneur initially (4) |
| MAKE – M{illions} + A{s} + K(een) + E{ntrepreneur} | |
| 21 | Compulsion to put on clothes over uniform (6) |
| DURESS – DRESS (put clothes on) contains U{niform} | |
| 22 | Shoot messenger (6) |
| RUNNER – DD
Runners are specialized stems that develop from the crown of a plant that grows horizontally along the ground and forms a new plant at the nodes. They are a type of Shoot. Or during a film shoot, the Runner is a messenger? |
|
| Down | |
| 1 | No Parisian will accept an extreme emperor (8) |
| NAPOLEON – NON (No in French [Parisian]) contains A + POLE (extreme)
“Pole” for “extreme” is used in the phrase “opposite poles”. |
|
| 2 | Book illustration is perfection in a way (12) |
| FRONTISPIECE – (IS PERFECTION)*
It’s an illustration that faces the title page of a book. It’s typically placed on the left-hand page, opposite the title page on the right-hand page when the book is opened. Not common now except in fancy volumes like Folio Editions. |
|
| 3 | Small item of furniture is not likely to topple (6) |
| STABLE – S{mall} + TABLE (item of furniture) | |
| 4 | What’s attractive green at first introduced by French artist (6) |
| MAGNET – G{reen} contain within MANET (French artist) | |
| 5 | Girl’s love is knight in shining armour (4) |
| HERO – HER (Girl’s) + O (love) | |
| 8 | Only chaps in trade turned out further tailoring (12) |
| READJUSTMENT – JUST MEN(Only chaps) inside (TRADE)* | |
| 12 | Born in want to a large degree (3) |
| NEE – NEE{d}
Whether a Need=Want is a philosophical/ethical question. I need a coffee just thinking about it. |
|
| 14 | Perfectionist staff left Keir regularly (8) |
| STICKLER – STICK (staff) + L{eft} + {K}E{I}R
STICKLER is derived from the obsolete verb “stickle,” which is related to the concept of arranging, controlling, or setting in order. We should bring it back, when pedants strikem you can respond with “Stop Stickling” |
|
| 16 | Desperate starlet finally bares chest (6) |
| BREAST – ({starle}T + BARES)* [Desperate is the anagram indicator] | |
| 17 | Important route for vessel (6) |
| ARTERY – Double def.
The main road into a town is called an Artery by traffic engineers. |
|
| 19 | Any number working outside university term? (4) |
| NOUN – N(Any Number) + ON (working) conraibs U {niversity}
A NOUN is tough to define in one word. |
|
Not at the races today….
39 minutes of sheer hell.
A totally inept performance. I am nowhere with cryptic puzzles, despite the hundreds of hours that I have put in. The only thing that matters to me is the time taken and this was nowhere near what I aspire to.
To compound the misery, I got 0/5 on the Quintagram. Utterly useless.
I simply don’t have what it takes to be any good at this. I have no confidence left after today’s nightmare. How is it possible to put in so much effort over such a long period of time and still be so bad?
Many solvers who I am sometimes on a par with beat my time by miles today.
I am too disillusioned to even think about looking at the 15 x 15.
Wot everyone else said! I was heading for the SCC when I gave up after 19 minutes with two to go – of course they were RUNNER and ARTERY. Several hours later, I returned to see RUNNER more or less immediately – in talking it over with MrB, the penny dropped. Funny how often that happens. But I never did see ARTERY. So a DNF today.
FOI Coin COD Frontispiece
Thanks Joker and Merlin
Attempted 15 x 15. A mistake. Just 19 right and missed some so obvious I could cry. How do I improve? What is the secret most of you know that I don’t? Or do you just need to be very clever to succeed at this?