Perhaps trickier than average. The north end seemed to fill itself, but the South was much slower. Generally fair, but the US college was a bit below the belt, I think. 6 minutes 28 for me.
| Across | |
| 1 | Duke in court to secure expanse of trees (8) |
| WOODLAND – D meaning duke inside WOO (court) and LAND (secure, as in secure a contract) | |
| 6 | The first in bikini, seek permission to sunbathe (4) |
| BASK – B for bikini + ASK | |
| 8 | One’s stuck in quagmire, the story of my life (4) |
| BIOG – I inside BOG. | |
| 9 | Benevolent feeling competent solicitor should produce? (8) |
| GOODWILL – self explanatory | |
| 10 | Trio belt out opera text (8) |
| LIBRETTO – anagram (‘out’) of TRIO BELT | |
| 12 | Put out English with German (4) |
| EMIT – E + MIT (German for ‘with’) | |
| 13 | Prevent Richard speaking like a poet of old (6) |
| BARDIC – BAR (prevent) + DIC (sounds like ‘dick’) | |
| 16 | Ferocious types start to gather in rows (6) |
| TIGERS -G for gather inside TIERS | |
| 17 | One not to be trusted putting bar back (4) |
| LIAR – RAIL (bar) backwards | |
| 18 | Ineffectual person made to reform, coming into fortune (4,4) |
| LAME DUCK – anagram (‘to reform’) of MADE inside LUCK | |
| 21 | Fuming more than anyone, tasering wildly (8) |
| ANGRIEST – anagram (‘wildly’) of TASERING | |
| 22 | Flee berth? Nonsense (4) |
| BUNK – triple definition | |
| 23 | Lose temper in childish game (4) |
| SNAP – double definition | |
| 24 | Volume is difficult to support (8) |
| HARDBACK – HARD (difficult) + BACK (support) | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Old bone on one antelope (5) |
| ORIBI – O + RIB + I. Not one I’d heard of. Spent a few minutes trying to make OKAPI work. Kneekap? | |
| 3 | Pet one worshipped rolling over (3) |
| DOG – GOD backwards. The chestnuttiest of chestnuts. | |
| 4 | Jargon a king understood (5) |
| ARGOT – A + R + GOT | |
| 5 | Restart of rugby game for ex-student? (4-3) |
| DROP-OUT – double definition. I was not aware of the rugby one | |
| 6 | Asked piteously about bird with deformed limbs (3-6) |
| BOW-LEGGED – BEGGED outside of OWL | |
| 7 | Member of platoon flogged? That is right (7) |
| SOLDIER – SOLD (flogged) + I E + R | |
| 11 | Where on reflection you may be speedily caught (5,4) |
| RADAR TRAP – cryptic definition. The refection being the radar waves bouncing off your car into Mr Plod’s speed gun. | |
| 14 | Go in van, moving to French city (7) |
| AVIGNON – anagram (‘moving’) of GO IN VAN. This is spooky. I went to Avignon on Monday, and what’s more, I went in my van! I didn’t get nailed by an 11ac, so far as I know. | |
| 15 | A lieutenant admitted to two churches and a US college (7) |
| CALTECH – A + LT inside CE and CH. We’ve all heard of Yale and Harvard but I think this is a bit obscure for the QT, personally. | |
| 19 | Engine’s time in dock (5) |
| MOTOR – T inside MOOR | |
| 20 | Misanthrope showing a little mercy? Nice! (5) |
| CYNIC – hidden word. Is a misanthrope the same as a cynic? I’m pretty cynical but I don’t hate the human race. Much. | |
| 22 | Front cover that can go either way up (3) |
| BIB – ‘either way up’ denotes a palindrome. Nice definition. | |
A good’un….NHO 2d Oribi and was stuck on alternative LOI 12a Emit. Sad to DNF but there we go. Happily had all the other GK incl Caltech.
Forgot to say that I agree with Curarist. Misanthrope and CYNIC are not synonymous, imo.
The week from hell:
Monday – 15 mins
Tuesday – 13 min DNF (one clue)
Wednesday – 61 min DNF (one clue)
Thursday – 10 mins
Friday – 32 min DNF (one clue)
What a shocker!
Today’s nightmare entry was putting WOODYARD for 1ac. How do I not see WOODLAND? I also took forever to get DROP OUT, which was very easy. ORIBI was a lucky guess, and stupidly missed SOLDIER, BUNK and ANGRIEST first time round.
I truly appreciate the advice this week, but I’m just not able to turn off the clock and simply enjoy the solve. I wish I could, but that’s asking a leopard to change its spots. Relaxing and forgetting the time is something I cannot do. I very much wish I could, but I’m not made that way. I also cannot help judging myself against others. Just the way I am. Again, I would rather not be like this, but that is not who I am.
I only enjoy this if I perform to a level I consider acceptable and I am nowhere near that. My inability to complete the QC is driving me mad. Three DNFs with one (stupid) error each time is pushing me to breaking point.
I am also driven mad by my inability to achieve any consistency time-wise. How the heck do I get such a range of times? Infuriating.
Relative to my solving experience, this is by far the worst week I have ever had. I have more DNFs than completions currently. I had less DNFs 2 years ago, a sure sign I am in reverse gear.
Thanks again for the advice earlier in the week. I do appreciate it.
A miserable weekend awaits.
Thanks for the blog.
7:15, LOI was the NHO ORIBI. Had heard of CALTECH luckily. Thanks Teazel and Curarist
19:10
Steady solve. A few problems with CALTECH & HARDBACK and thought OKAPI for an antelope staring O and ending I. LOI BARDIC.
Done a day late but all done and dusted
Never heard of oribi but the clue brought to mind the gnu song from Flanders and Swann
That makes 10 out 10 bar three letters
😁