I thought today’s offering from Izetti was a bit harder than usual but wasn’t unfair for a QC. I finished in 11:33.
We had the almost expected (for Izetti) uncommon word at 8a and a few other pieces of multi-component wordplay eg at 1a, 1d and 15a. Favourite was 18a; take your pick of the threats faced by the planet in question.
Very sad to hear of the death of Allan Scott, the QC setter Tracy. RIP and condolences to family and friends. As Tracy, he was before my QC days, but I remember him well as Falcon in the FT and always enjoyed his puzzles. His penultimate cryptic (as Falcon), including a nice tribute, is in today’s FT.
Thanks to Izetti for today’s puzzle.
Definitions underlined in bold, deletions indicated by strikethrough.
| Across | |
| 1 | Notice the old man in study being po-faced (7) |
| DEADPAN – AD (‘Notice’) PA (‘the old man’) contained in (‘in’) DEN (‘study’) | |
| 5 | Servant quiet, taking time (4) |
| PAGE – P (‘quiet’) AGE (‘time’) | |
| 7 | Jockey very nasty, putting learner off (3) |
| VIE – VI |
|
| 8 | Broadcast got on air for church ceremony (8) |
| ROGATION – Anagram (‘Broadcast’) of GOT ON AIR
I recognised the word and its Latin derivation from rogare “to ask” but didn’t know what it referred to. According to Wikipedia ROGATION days are days of prayer and fasting observed with the Litany of the Saints and processions. The major rogation is held on April 25th and the minor rogations on the Monday to Wednesday before Ascension Thursday. Please don’t ask me for further detail, but feel free to add a more scholarly explanation! |
|
| 10 | Plant, first thing for summer border (5) |
| SEDGE – S (‘first thing for summer’) EDGE (‘border’)
Looking this up, I see that this family of grass-like plants (Cyperaceae) includes a mere >5,000 species in 90 different genera. I thought SEDGE was synonymous with “grass”, but apparently there are differences. Here’s a way to remember (=forget): Sedges have edges, Rushes are round, Grasses have nodes from the top to the ground (Source: New York Botanical Garden website). |
|
| 11 | A repeated cheer, awkward problem for listener (7) |
| EARACHE – Anagram (‘awkward’) of A + A (‘A repeated’) and CHEER | |
| 13 | Journalist going to a club cooled off (6) |
| ABATED – ED (‘Journalist’) after (‘going to’) A (‘a’) BAT (‘club’) | |
| 15 | A father, one getting about a continent (6) |
| AFRICA – A (‘A’) FR (‘father’) I (‘one’) CA (‘about’) or C (‘about’) A (‘a’)
Easy to bung in from def, harder to parse. |
|
| 17 | A fast train, say (7) |
| EXPRESS – Double definition | |
| 18 | Planet in fear, threatened (5) |
| EARTH – Hidden (‘in’) in ‘fEAR THreatened’ | |
| 20 | Mistake involving some lamb, maybe being salty (8) |
| BRACKISH – BISH (‘Mistake’) containing (‘involving’) RACK (‘some lamb, maybe’)
A familiar enough term but another one I had to look up for the exact meaning. A rack of lamb is a cut of lamb from the rib cage including up to 8 ribs, which can be cooked and served whole or sliced into chops. |
|
| 22 | Rebel, the fellow confronted by Conservative (3) |
| CHE – HE (‘the fellow’) with, as the first letter (‘confronted by’) C (‘Conservative’)
Given the current UK political climate, far from being the good Argentinian doctor, the ‘rebel… confronted by Conservative’ is more likely to be ‘Conservative’ him or herself. |
|
| 23 | Flower in Oxford for goddess (4) |
| ISIS – Double definition
ISIS being the name of the River (‘Flower’) Thames as it flows through Oxford. I see it can also be used as another name for the Thames from its source near the village of Coates in Gloucestershire (although there is apparently some dispute about the exact source) until it is joined by the Thame at Dorchester in Oxfordshire. |
|
| 24 | Fellow covering limb in item of clothing (7) |
| GARMENT – GENT (‘Fellow’) containing (‘covering’) ARM (‘limb’) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Husband finally and woman said to be shattered (10) |
| DEVASTATED – D (‘Husband finally’=last letter of ‘husbanD’) EVA (‘woman’) STATED (‘said’) | |
| 2 | Change last word of prayer, improved ultimately (5) |
| AMEND – AMEN (‘last word of prayer’) D (‘improved ultimately’=last letter of ‘improveD’) | |
| 3 | Agent suffering setback? Then hard to keep going (9) |
| PERSEVERE – PER (‘Agent suffering setback?’ = reversal of REP) SEVERE (‘hard’) | |
| 4 | Troubled horse starts to get every disorder (6) |
| NAGGED – NAG (‘horse’) then initial letters (‘starts to’) of Get Every Disorder
Potentially confusing when first trying to sort out the parsing with GG as an alternative for horse. |
|
| 5 | Vessel taking tons beyond Italian river (3) |
| POT – T (‘tons’) after (‘beyond’) PO (‘Italian river’) | |
| 6 | Choc mixed with gin in dish (7) |
| GNOCCHI – Anagram (‘mixed’) of CHOC ‘with’ GIN | |
| 9 | Soldiers coming in chatted about their special unit? (10) |
| DETACHMENT – MEN (‘Soldiers’) contained in (‘coming in’) anagram (‘about’) of CHATTED | |
| 12 | Cool drink perhaps about to be given to new student? (9) |
| REFRESHER – RE (‘about’) to which is added (‘to be given to’) FRESHER (‘new student’) | |
| 14 | Current measures? See a PM struggling to accommodate Right (7) |
| AMPERES – Anagram (‘struggling’) of SEE A PM containing (‘to accommodate’) R (‘right’) | |
| 16 | Begging when meeting monarch (6) |
| ASKING – AS (‘When’) KING (‘monarch’) | |
| 19 | Scout in play area by church (5) |
| RECCE – REC (‘play area’) CE (‘church’)
REC for ‘play area’ comes up often in crossword land but isn’t a commonly used expression hereabouts. RECCE here as a colloquialism for “reconnaisance” or “reconnoitre” so it can be a noun or verb, as can ‘Scout’. |
|
| 21 | Start to chew huge lettuce (3) |
| COS – C (‘Start to chew’ = first letter of ‘Chew’) OS (‘huge’)
OS for oversized. |
|
No probs with any of the clues. Just took me ages. I thought this was a classic Izzeti. The more you try with his puzzles the more you see how to do them. IMHO.
Enjoyed this Izetti after really struggling yesterday. Knew ROGATION as the local church does a Rogation Sunday walk.
22 minutes
I really am completely useless.
This was, for me, a straightforward Izetti. I was a long way inside the SCC cut-off, but I then took forever to get BRACKISH (probably 8 to 10 minutes).
Every single day I manage to find a new way to muck it up. I’d love to be positive but there isn’t anything good I can say today (or most days TBH).
I wait in vain for some little sign of progress, but I feel destined to be an SCC lifer. Getting most clues means nothing to me if I can’t finish.
Already at 57 mins for the week ☹️
Thanks for the excellent blog BR.
Sorry to hear of the death of Allan Scott, not least because he used to be my favourite setter.
A Good Day today – an Izetti in under 10 minutes and the biggie in just over 20 minutes!
I thought both EARTH and AMPERES were terrific clues – clever and thought-provoking.
FOI Rogation LOI and COD Amperes
9:25 all done and dusted.
Thanks Izetti and BR
That’s the quickest I have done an izetti I think. I biffed a couple but it was a steady solve