This was a bit anagram-heavy but otherwise quite varied, and I would say of medium difficulty. It includes the dreaded ellipsis-linked clue device, which I don’t remember seeing in the QC before. A solid six and a half minutes here.
| Across |
| 1 |
Blessed person rested outside home (5) |
|
SAINT – SAT (rested) outside IN (home) |
| 4 |
Athletics event broadcast live in first month (7) |
|
JAVELIN – anagram (‘broadcast’) of LIVE inside JAN |
| 8 |
Endless hope provided by fashionable pain reliever (7) |
|
ASPIRIN – ASPIR[E] + IN. What we call a bit of a chestnut |
| 9 |
The Greens, perhaps, making comeback in Caerwys, N Wales (5) |
|
LAWNS – reverse hidden word: CaerwyS N WALes |
| 10 |
Bouncer employed for rallies? (6,4) |
|
TENNIS BALL – cryptic definition |
| 14 |
Cheers Yankee crossing globe, arriving at Devon council (6) |
|
TORBAY – TA + Y outside ORB |
| 15 |
Rapidly acquire coat for Kate, caught in shower? (4,2) |
|
RAKE IN – the ‘coat’ of KATE is KE, placed inside RAIN |
| 17 |
Results coming from refurbished state venue (10) |
|
EVENTUATES – anagram (‘refurbished’) of STATE VENUE |
| 20 |
Not up for finishing off sauce boat (5) |
|
KETCH – KETCHUP without the UP. Two-masted sailing boat. |
| 22 |
What long-ruling monarch is in bronze in Asian capital? (7) |
|
TEHERAN – EH (what) + ER (long ruling monarch) inside TAN. The late queen was famously the only living person ever referred to (as ER) in Times Crossword clues or solutions. I have yet to see CR clued in the same way. |
| 23 |
A random eccentric, one fixing potholes? (7) |
|
ROADMAN – anagram (‘eccentric’) of A RANDOM |
| 24 |
Chaplain bringing a doctor into gym (5) |
|
PADRE – A DR inside PE |
| Down |
| 1 |
Celebrity’s debut curtailed (4) |
|
STAR – STAR[T] |
| 2 |
Mischief-makers: one thousand, what’s more … (4) |
|
IMPS – I (one) + M (thousand) + PS |
| 3 |
Theatre PR resolved to produce description of trilogy (5-4) |
|
THREE-PART – anagram (‘resolved’) of THEATRE PR |
| 4 |
Girl, not quite ten, chasing approval from German … (6) |
|
JANINE – NINE is not quite ten, after JA |
| 5 |
… and another the ladies maybe upset? (3) |
|
VAL – LAV backwards. Not a big fan of joining clues with ellipses, but it is intended to indicate that the definition for the second clue relates in some way to the first. |
| 6 |
Legislator’s work ultimately to stop malware spreading (8) |
|
LAWMAKER – K (end of ‘work’) inside an anagram (‘spreading’) of MALWARE |
| 7 |
Small bird taking shelter (8) |
|
NESTLING – double definition |
| 11 |
Steps into small joint to find long-distance traveller? (9) |
|
SPACESHIP – PACES inside S + HIP |
| 12 |
Treks are arranged for dashing fellow with nothing on? (8) |
|
STREAKER – anagram (‘arranged’) of TREKS ARE |
| 13 |
After golf, re-enter briefly with a drink (5,3) |
|
GREEN TEA – G (golf, NATO alphabet) + RE-ENTE[R] + A |
| 16 |
Cutting a new sort of woollen cloth (6) |
|
TARTAN – TART + A + N |
| 18 |
One with a degree of partially smug radicalism, (4) |
|
GRAD – hidden word: smuG RADicalism |
| 19 |
In the past I must have caught cold (4) |
|
ONCE – ONE with C inside |
| 21 |
That fellow greeting mayor at the front (3) |
|
HIM – HI (greeting) + M for Mayor |
Biffed TEHERAN. DNK TORBAY, but the wordplay was clear. 4d…5d may indeed be a first in a QC as Curarist suggests. It’s also unusual in that the second clue actually depends on the first to solve: I’ve almost never seen a clue pair where the ellipses serve any function whatever, both clues being solvable independently of the other. 6:51.
The key here was knowing Torbay, which will save time. I nearly biffed saint at the start, but couldn’t parse it. Once I had the three checkers, in it went. I hardly noticed 4D/5D, probably because I do the Guardian puzzles. The tricky thing about the ellipsis clues is that sometimes they are connected, and sometimes they are not, but this was an obvious one. I was very careful with parsing Teheran, not being too sure of the spelling.
Time: 9:37.
8 minutes, so back on target after a couple of minor lapses over the past two days.
Set by Felix I was expecting a theme or Nina, but try as I might I have been unable to find anything although spotting LAWN and TENNIS and JAVELIN and EVENT had my hopes up for a moment or two, and the names JANINE and VAL may have been of significance. If that’s so, it would be the first of his puzzles without one in at least 2 years .
No problem with TORBAY as I used to holiday in that part of the world, Torquay, Paignton and Brixham being the three principal resorts within its bounds.
Finished in 13:39, but with an error: I’d entered TAKE IN, intending to revisit it because I wasn’t happy with it, but forgot. Rats.
12 Down.
A ‘Streaker’ is not necessarily a ‘fellow’ !
True, but clues don’t have to cover all eventualities.
But it should not mislead unnecessarily
I always assumed it was the job of a setter to gently mislead. At worst the clue is a definition by example, but as I was reminded here yesterday on another matter, the clue ends with a question mark which is a setter’s tool for suggesting that all may not be as it immediately seems and shouldn’t be taken too literally..
Erika Roe !
To name but two!
Indeed , neither are Janine and Val necessarily girls once they get to a certain age!
Or at all, Val Doonican being one of the better known male Vals
and Top Gun, Val Kilmer, is well recognised.
Or Scotland from yesterday?
Met Erika once as had girlfriend from same town.
Does the Telegraph still spell it Teheran? And is the weather still in Fahrenheit? If I read that paper I’d be crapping myself about a meteor strike in the Gulf of Mexico. J
Good progress until becalmed in the SE. Spent a full 15m on TEHERAN and TARTAN to take me to an all green finish in 27. Got there by naming all the big places in Asia I could think of and trying to parse.
DNF in 6:59
Like Mr D a careless TAKE IN, not quite nailing the w/p but moving on. And I doubled up with HEM which I’ve convinced myself was slightly less muppet-like but a pink square is still a pink square.
TEHERAN and TARTAN were quite tricky I thought, with the “what” in the former completely passing me by even when I had biffed the answer.
Nice puzzle – thanks Curarist and Felix
16 minutes, no time to look for a theme or Nina – breakfast calls! I can recommend this river cruising lark.
Two of the best holidays I’ve had were a Rhine cruise and a Danube cruise.
My copy of the Times has: What long-ruling monarch is in bronze in (old-fashioned) Asian capital?
I presume the old-fashioned is to indicate a former spelling . Not my favourite clue.
DNF Never knew that Tehran was ever so spelt. That seems like pretty obscure GK.
I had STARKERS for 12d which looked correct but slowed me down. I was slow with TENNIS BALL, thinking that it was some kind of political rally.
COD NESTLING
This felt quite fiddly and it was hard to find any sort of rhythm when solving so was pleased to come in under target. Like others TARTAN and LOI TEHERAN proved tricky and I never did parse the latter so was relieved to have guessed the fourth letter correctly.
Finished in 8.47 with a tip of the hat to LAWMAKER.
Thanks to Curarist and happy Christmas to all
I looked for a Nina and can only see missiles such as Javelin and Starstreak.
NLAW, MANPAD too
Beaten by TEHERAN and ONCE. Probably should have got the latter but still think the former would have stumped me. I don’t think it’s because it was a DNF but I didn’t find much to really enjoy in this one. Odd. No real stand out clues for me. Ho hum. Still, thanks to Felix and all the setters and Curarist and all the bloggers too.
Happy Christmas all.
24 minutes slowed up by the SE corner. All are parsed other than TEHERAN which I got for the definition and crossing letters. Needing the blog to see the WP. The clue on my printout also had “(old fashioned)” which threw me. Although I guess it’s part of the definition.
FOI: SAINT followed by all its hangers.
LOI: ONCE.
Favourites: RAKE IN, SPACESHIP and GREEN TEA.
I started very quickly and filled in almost all of this well within target. Then I was becalmed in the SE. I finally got TARTAN, TEHERAN, GRAD (really!?), and ONCE but thought they were duds.
I didn’t see VAL (which I thought was a terrible clue) and just guessed a vowel.
As the curate said of the partly- boiled egg: ‘good in parts’ but the good clues were eclipsed by the clues above for me. What a disappointing end to the week – I was looking for a fifth under-target solve. Fat chance!
Thanks to curarist for a good blog making some sense of this disappointing QC.
I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year. John M.
Slower today at 14.31, held up by the SE corner.
LOI was TEHERAN, which I was unable to parse. Thanks for the explanation.
12 minutes today with several of those on my last three: ONCE, TEHERAN and LOI TARTAN.
No big problems. I was tempted by TAKE IN but saw quickly it did not really work.
Some tricky clues but with clear directions e.g. TORBAY.
David
9:26
Slow solve. Got a bit stuck on Teheran.
Thanks, c.
SE corner defeated me as well. TEHERAN I couldn’t see at all and ONCE took for ever. Disappointing after the rest went in fairly well. I’m hoping for better next week. Thanks Felix and curarist.
Trundled along nicely with this until I got to 22ac where it took me a while to figure out the Asian capital. Once I thought of the answer I wasn’t sure of the spelling, but eventually parsed it enabling me to complete the puzzle. I eventually crossed the line in 9.12.
I am another who doesn’t care too much for connected clues, I like my clues to be neatly packaged into one. My other bugbear is the use of our old friend Spooner, my heart sinks whenever his name is mentioned
I remember at least one clue where Spooner was the definition, and the answer was ladle or something like that.
I agree about the aversion to Spooner as the mention of his name is enough to signal that the clue can’t be tackled until some checkers have arrived.
A 14 minute solve, and I agree with Blighter that this was a real curate’s egg – some very nice clues but some very not. Teheran in particular seems to ask a lot of solvers – a no longer current name for a distant capital with a complex wordplay to get there. To parody the old dictum from my school days – “Read, Learn, Inwardly digest” – this one was “Solved, Parsed, Inwardly disliked”. Didn’t like Grad either, not a widely used abbreviation in my experience (certainly much less so than Undergrad), or Roadman, which I’ve never heard used in real life and which my dictionary marks as archaic, or Eventuates, an ugly ugly word which again is seldom heard in conversation.
But clues like Tennis ball (lovely PDM) and Spaceship restored my spirits, so not all gloom and dismay. Many thanks to Curarist for the blog and, as this is the last QC before the festivities, a Merry Christmas to all.
Cedric
From SAINT to TARTAN in 8:21. No dramas, no nina spotted, even though I remembered to look for one! Thanks Felix and Curarist.
A little over target at 5:35. I completely overlooked the ellipses and assumed VAL must be Latin shorthand or summat for “and another”. It was TEHERAN and ONCE that took me over my target time, I thought the former was at the hard end of the spectrum for a QC clue.
A sticky one this, especially the SE corner. Didn’t like GRAD or RAKE IN much and struggled with the convoluted clue and spelling of TEHERAN.
Given that the ellipse was of negligible impact, I found this surprisingly easy for a Felix. I’m currently 5th of 110 on the leaderboard, so obviously most of you found it rather less inviting ! I shall probably get my come-uppance in Typo City, Arizona, aka the 15×15.
FOI SAINT
LOI HIM
COD TENNIS BALL
TIME 3:37
Started quickly, but overall average diffficulty, I thought, and completed in time to comment here. All parsed except TEHERAN, where, as usual, I missed EH = WHAT.
i have found that when two adjacent clues are linked by ellipsis, the link is most often in the surface rather than, as here, in the definition.. I don’t think such a link has ever been in the wordplay, but am not sure.
FOI SAINT, LOI TARTAN, COD SPACESHIP. Thanks, Felix and Curarist and Merry Xmas to all.
Quite a mixed bag, with time lost on Eventuates (really?) but gained on Torbay as I jumped around the grid. I thought 20ac Ketch was good, in somewhat stark contrast to the adjacent Teheran, which was a torturously clued DNF even with the crossers in place. A careless Hem rounded off a poor effort. However, let me finish with Seasons Greetings to one and all. Invariant
Sailed through the ones others found difficult but DNF because I’ve never heard of eventuates
despite the checkers and the obvious anagram!).
Got off to a rattling fast start, lulled into an expectation of a Christmas gift. Then found that under the top layer of festive wrapping there were some knotty bits of string that took a while to unravel. Rolled into the club in tune for a seasonal glass of port and a chunk of Stilton.
Thanks Felix, Curarist, and holiday wishes to all.
Forgot to wish all the best for the festive season, especially the brilliant setters and bloggers. You are brilliant and inspiring.
15/26.
Not bad at all Ian. I found this one hard.
No dramas for me. I didn’t realise TEHERAN wasn’t spelt that way any more. I tried and failed to see a nina. Is it really missiles? Or is there something else going on we’ve failed to spot? Thanks Felix and Curarist. 4:29.
DNF
The SE corner was very slow but I was ultimately let down by a failure to spell (and, indeed, parse) LOI TEHERAN.
Started well but a DNF so that’s 3/5 this week.
Beaten by TORBAY, TARTAN, TAKE IN, TEHRAN and ONCE.
Having read the Curarist’s helpful explanations these clues were a bit beyond my current solving abilities so more practice required.
Coming across this blog has been one of the highlight of 2022 and I’d like to thank all setters, solvers and bloggers for your contributions and to wish you a very Merry Christmas.
Slow but satisfying solve, error at 15a where we had take in. Had to check alternative spelling for Tehran.
Enjoyable , although I did find some of the clues a little laboured. Thankfully I knew the old spelling of Tehran, but couldn’t for the life of me parse the clue. Didn’t like 5dn or 23ac. ROADMAN isn’t a term I have come across.
Overall, I thought this was chewy and I was glad to finish in 25 mins.
FOI – SAINT
LOI – VAL
COD and PDM – TENNIS BALL
As this is the last QC before Christmas, a huge thank you to the setters and bloggers for their sterling work throughout the year. Your efforts are greatly appreciated and have provided me with an enormous amount of enjoyment. Attempting the QC has become one of the highlights of my day.
Best wishes to everyone for Christmas 🎅 !
Gary
Thanks Gary. I’m glad you find the blogs useful. But the real value comes from the contributions and mutual support from the community of commenters such as yourself. It’s what makes the blogging a real pleasure for me.
30 mins…
Struggled a bit with 22ac “Teheran”, 16dn “Tartan” and 19dn “Once” – but got there in the end to complete a full sweep before Christmas.
FOI – 1dn “Star”
LOI – 16dn “Tartan”
COD – 20ac “Ketch”
Thank as as usual, and a Merry Christmas to everyone 🎅
I have been solving a day behind and haven’t posted for a few days, but have now managed to catch up. My times this week have been very fast (for me) and have included one rare SCC escape. So, at the 23-minute mark with only three clues remaining, I thought I was on track for another good time and probably my best ever week. However, that’s when the wheels came off. The ONCE/TEHERAN/TARTAN trio took nearly 20 minutes to break into (with ONCE) and I ended up crossing the line in 46 minutes. This pastime has a habit of knocking me down whenever I think I’m finally getting the hang of it.
Many thanks to Felix an Curarist, and I wish everyone all the very best for the festive season.
I know the feeling Mr R. Just when you think you’ve cracked it, you come up against something seemingly impenetrable. Well done for persisting and for what looks like a good week overall.
A Merry Christmas to one and all!
I found this difficult and needed some help to complete it. I had all of the West done and dusted but little in the East. Persevered and got there eventually.
FOI 1a Saint
LOI 15a Rake In
COD – none!
Same likes and dislikes as above really, except I didn’t mind JANINE and VAL as connecting clues. They made more sense to me than some! More baffled by the missing / unobvious nina than the crossword, although I initially also put TAKE IN at 15a. Will RR solve this mystery for us? As SAINT was my FOI, I immediately jumped to conclusions and wondered if my SOI would be NICK 😅 But no …
11 minutes FOI Saint LOI Rake in COD (from a smallish selection) Nestling
Thanks Felix and Curarist
Seasons greetings to everyone here – hope you all have a merry Christmas 🎄🎅 See you on the other side!
Surprised not more comments about EVENTUATES. Perhaps my vocabulary isn’t big enough for the QC? Some friendly clues in the top half but DNF because of TEHERAN.
Quite agree. That clue bothered me more than any others.
Paul
“I have yet to see CR clued in the same way”. What is CR here?
. . .Charles Rex (ie our current monarch) 😉
I don’t like this sort of puzzle – a few “what the cat sat on” and an impossible clue in “Teheran”
I got Tehran, so I thought there might be an old ruler called Tehbran…
Never heard of this spelling and I doubt if anyone else has – but didn’t get the long standing ruler as ER, the vulgar EH and the frankly feeble TAN for Bronze!