14:13, loads of anagrams to get you started in the top left corner. But some good ones in there, and the rarely seen Reverse Cryptic makes an appearance. Had to squint at that for a long time to figure out what was going on.
Has anyone tried the new Times Puzzle called Wordhunt? I tried it for the first time and solved it in 6, which I think is an unbelievable fluke.
Across
| 1 | Old church with concerning orange-brown colour (5) |
| OCHRE – O{ld} + CH{urch} + RE(concerning) | |
| 4 | Dignity of former PM accepting joke (7) |
| MAJESTY – MA^Y (former PM) contains JEST (joke)
With so many former PMs now, its hard to remember them all. There are currently eight living former Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom. |
|
| 8 | Swooped, once DUP fragmented (7) |
| POUNCED – (ONCE DUP)* | |
| 9 | Foolish British host (5) |
| BARMY – B{ritish} + ARMY (host)
Host is an old word for an army, often used in the Bible, Heavenly Host, the Lord of Hosts. |
|
| 10 | Some VIP and Truss shifting portable gas cookers (6,6) |
| PRIMUS STOVES – (SOME VIP TRUSS)*
Truss, there’s another one. |
|
| 12 | I agree south coast resort has no banks (6) |
| RIGHTO – {b}RIGHTO{n} (South Coast resort)
Love this expression which might sound dated but is definitely worth using now and again. Kipling was the first to use it, I think it sounds very Australian now. |
|
| 13 | Still, tact is unusual (6) |
| STATIC – (TACT IS)
Spent too long on the near anagrams of TACIT and STASIS. |
|
| 16 | Removal of odd chaps interrupting alien visitor briefly (12) |
| ESTRANGEMENT – STRANGE (odd) + MEN (chaps) contained in ET (alien visitor)
Not sure what the “briefly” is doing there. Surely ET doesn’t need to be further defined? |
|
| 18 | Hand deliver a sermon, with no pressure (5) |
| REACH – {p}REACH (deliver a sermon)
There is the expression “Can you hand/reach me that book ?”, |
|
| 20 | Bohemian joints — they’re regularly ignored (7) |
| HIPSTER – HIPS (joints) + T{h}E{y}R{e}
Bohemian as nothing to do with Bohemia (now western Czechia), although Prague is now a pretty hip place. It’s down to the French who wrongly labelled unconventional artists after Roma (Gypsy) nomads they mistakenly thought were from Bohemia. |
|
| 21 | Meagre poster about Liberal (7) |
| SLENDER – S^ENDER (poster) contains L{iberal}
Sender for poster, as in someone who utilises the mail. And “slender” as in “slender margin of safety”. Nice misdirection all round. |
|
| 22 | Article about that place (5) |
| THERE – THE (article) + RE (about) |
Down
| 1 | Theoretically, Pope ran complex (2,5) |
| ON PAPER – (POPE RAN)*
Wikipedia is sometimes described as a project that “works in practice, but not in theory” |
|
| 2 | Priest at Eton is doing this in residential area (7,6) |
| HOUSING ESTATE – The lesser spotted reverse cryptic, rare in the QC. If you haven’t seen one, the answer (“housing estate”) is to be thought of as an actual cryptic clue, and there it is Priest at Eton housing (containing) “estate” | |
| 3 | Meet none cuter when travelling (9) |
| ENCOUNTER – (NONE CUTER)* | |
| 4 | Unassuming way of working with stone (6) |
| MODEST – MODE (way of working) + ST{one}
That would be stone, the weight, that particularly British measurement of 14lbs. 8 stones in a hundredweight, obviously. |
|
| 5 | He was patient and doctor? (3) |
| JOB – Double definition
Job from the Bible was a famously patient man. And of course a doctor is an example of a job (although they would call it a profession) |
|
| 6 | Rate the setter “terrible” in performative displays? (6,13) |
| STREET THEATRE – (RATE THE SETTER)* | |
| 7 | Fluctuate rapidly, and ultimately say to boy: “No!” (2-2) |
| YOYO – last letters of “say to boy No” | |
| 11 | Working actor not going topless immediately (2-3-4) |
| ON THE SPOT – ON (working) + THESP (actor) + {n}OT [topless]
“Thesp” is a camp (see below) word for a thespian, itself a pretentious word for an actor. |
|
| 14 | Camp erotic dancing back in vogue (7) |
| COTERIE – (EROTIC)* + {vogu}E
I though a COTERIE was just another word for a group. Collins says “a particular kind is a small group of people who are close friends or have a common interest, and who do not want other people to join them”. It lists “camp” as a synonym, which was news to me. |
|
| 15 | A new combination of notes cut short TV presenter (6) |
| ANCHOR -A + N{ew} + CHOR{d}
Chorus, Chorale are also combination of notes, but “cut short” usually means strip just one letter. |
|
| 17 | Heterosexuality restricts love god (4) |
| EROS – Hidden in Heterosexuality | |
| 19 | Bore sheltered from sunlight, naked (3) |
| HAD – {s}HAD{e} (sheltered from sunlight) [“naked”=strip outside letters]
Bore/Had a child for example. |
JOB and ON THE SPOT final missing pair
I did this QC in a mad rush this morning before getting a train to London for a day of fine wine tasting.
I couldn’t post until now and just tried to download the QC on the return train to check my responses.
It has been ‘loading’ for the last 10 mins with no QC showing so I will just say it took me approx. 20 mins and found it to be quite a nice puzzle with some intriguing wrinkles. I liked HOUSING ESTATE but biffed it and have only just parsed it.
Thanks, both.
5.46
No problems here. I used to think I needed two pots of coffee for the synapses to start firing but maybe an Old Fashioned; large glass of Pinot Noir and a pint of bitter produces a faster result.
Thanks Merlin and Dangle
That’s what I call a breakfast!
Heh heh!
22 mins would have been quicker if I trusted my unparsed Coterie. Early spotting of anagrams, thought I was going to cruise this but alas know. Thanks all
20 minute DNF
Another nightmare.
Saw COTERIE fitted but couldn’t parse.
Thought the anagram was EROTIC plus C for CAMP, so came up with a nonsense word for back in vogue from these letters. What an idiot.
Each time I think I have hit the bottom with these puzzles, I have a day like this to remind me that it can still get worse!
Not sure where I’m going with cryptic crosswords but it certainly isn’t the right direction. ☹️
Late solve but much enjoyed. Bifd HOUSING ESTATE otherwise all parsed except for JOB which I still don’t really get. I enjoyed working out COTERIE as I was royally misdirected at first (oh, that sort of camp). Also liked RIGHTO and PRIMUS STOVES for the nostalgia. Many thanks all.
3 short on 15 x 15 in well over an hour. Should have got two of them.
7.30, but I spent some time searching for the clue I had failed to enter (‘had’).