ParkSolve time 33:51
No mucking around this week, I had to knock this off in a hurry so I can get to day 2 of the Australia v India Test (as if day 1 wasn’t punishment enough).
Pedro did his bit by providing quite an accessible puzzle (I think) but with plenty of clever stuff to enjoy along the way. Let us know how you found it.
(In the clues, definitions are underlined and anagram indicators are in bold italics. In the explanations (ABC)* indicates an anagram of abc. Deletions and other devices are indicated accordingly, I hope).
| Across | |
| 7 | Attitude in hotel event shows top style (6) |
| HAIRDO – AIR (attitude) in H (hotel) + DO (event) | |
| 8 | Symbolic identifier originally with a pointed shape (6) |
| ICONIC – I (Identifier originally) + CONIC (with a pointed shape) | |
| 9 | Giggling, wriggling gal in hug (8) |
| LAUGHING – (GAL IN HUG)* | |
| 10 | Satisfied iodine repelled object (4) |
| ITEM – [MET (satisfied) + I (iodine)] all reversed (repelled) | |
| 11 | Dive exercises to include breathing apparatus? (6) |
| PLUNGE – PE (exercises) “includes” LUNG (breathing apparatus)
A clever clue this one. A plausible surface with nice redirection for “breathing apparatus”. Well done Pedro. |
|
| 13 | In preference to grand, a new instrument for the church (5) |
| ORGAN – OR (in preference to) + G (grand) + A + N (new)
I’m having trouble making OR = “in preference to”. I guess it’s implicit in offers such as “tea or coffee?” or “soup or salad?” but is that enough? Maybe it is. Or maybe I’m completely missing the point. |
|
| 14 | Canine area of scientific research (3) |
| LAB – Double definition
Lab as in labrador of course. Nice dogs. |
|
| 15 | I’m going round part of farmyard in a fog (5) |
| MISTY – MI [I’M in reverse (going round)] + STY (part of farmyard) | |
| 17 | Appropriate to invest in trim computer (6) |
| LAPTOP – APT (appropriate) “invested” in LOP (trim) | |
| 19 | I had each brainwave (4) |
| IDEA – ID (I’d or I had) + EA (each) | |
| 20 | Gallant fellow almost allowed in running race (8) |
| CAVALIER – VALI |
|
| 22 | Husband boarding small trendy train (6) |
| SCHOOL – H (husband) “boarding” S (small) + COOL(trendy) | |
| 23 | Tolkien monster concealed flower (6) |
| ORCHID – ORC (Tolkien monster) + HID (concealed) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Island language for “coffee” (4) |
JAVA – Triple definition
|
|
| 2 | Fairytale beast to outstay welcome? (6) |
| DRAGON – DRAG ON (to outstay welcome)
As in becoming tedious. |
|
| 3 | Hints of its terrible execrations suppressed by parrot considerately (8) |
| POLITELY – ITE [First letters (hints) of Its Terrible Execrations] “suppressed by” POLLY (parrot) | |
| 4 | Security number: good test for network (4) |
| PING – PIN (security number) + G (good)
In computer networks, a query sent to test for a connection is known as a ping. PIN is of course your Personal Identification Number, which really should be PINN because so many people say “PIN number”, but then I guess they’d say “PINN number” and you’d have to make it PINNN and now we’re stuck in a loop… |
|
| 5 | Tedious fight curtailed by fight venue (6) |
| BORING – BO |
|
| 6 | Go along with disruption of ie, voting (4,2,2) |
| GIVE IN TO – (IE VOTING)* | |
| 12 | Fortune to secure a medicine? One’s ineffective (4,4) |
| LAME DUCK – LUCK (fortune) to secure [A + MED (medicine)]
A term usually applied to an outgoing political leader after his or her successor has been elected. |
|
| 13 | Old book, mostly outraged, about nothing at all (8) |
| OBLIVION – O (old) + B (book) + LIVI |
|
| 16 | Dog advert during TV programme (6) |
| SHADOW – AD (advert) “during” SHOW (TV programme)
Requires the verb forms of dog and shadow meaning to “follow closely”. |
|
| 18 | Law enforcement staff including one Charlie (6) |
| POLICE – POLE (staff) including I (one) + C (Charlie) | |
| 20 | Cool line in rainwear turning up (4) |
| CALM – [L (line) in MAC (rainwear)] all reversed (turning up) | |
| 21 | Issue US magazine promoted (4) |
| EMIT – TIME (US magazine) reversed (promoted) | |
Rather slow going for some reason. OR=in preference to seemed OK to me. 8:42.
Forget Marnus Labuschagne against Bumrah! This was a total mismatch between me and the setter.
14:09
Sounds like you fared better than Marnus and the rest of them.
How good is Bumrah though? For some time I’ve had him on a short list of the best fast bowlers. That list is now very short indeed.
I’m not sure what it is besides the control, accuracy, angle of delivery, change of pace and deceptive run-up, but he vary rarely puts in a poor performance with red or white ball.
He’s certainly right up there, arguably the best at the moment and this podcast suggests the best for over 100 years:
https://youtu.be/4vdtdihugrA?si=yFhzXGip3CQjb8xz
And the very unorthodox action, which must be hard to read. Apart from all that, though, there’s not much to him!
Quitch shows a slightly more difficult puzzle, and I agree. Looking back, it doesn’t seem hard, but I failed to spot such obvious chestnuts as orchid and lab. Politely was the most difficult; experienced solvers expect parrot to be ape, not an actual parrot.
Time: 9:57
England would have been rolled for 100, and don’t have the bowling firepower (apart from Archer). I’m not upbeat about the Ashes!
9.38
Sluggish here particularly with CAVALIER but nice puzzle
Great blog as ever
13 across As well or-g-a-n there is a further clue that gave me my aha moment with Grand hinting at a grand piano. So an organ in preference to a Grand (piano).
Yes it probably qualifies as a semi-&lit on that basis.
I thought this was tricky in places but got there in the end.
Started with LAUGHING and finished with an unparsed CAVALIER (is there a theme?) in 9.28.
Thanks to galspray
14 minutes as far as I went, but I failed on 1dn and used ‘reveal’ so this counts as yet another DNF. Chambers Word Wizard offers 87 options for ?A?A and there was no way I was going to plough through all of those, let alone attempt a trawl of my own mental resources. There are probably a number of islands that might have fitted, I never heard of the coffee, and although I know of the computer language (the TfTT blog template uses it) I doubt I would ever have thought of it.
Er, we use JavaScript, not Java.
I found some of this very hard (eg POLITELY), but because it’s Saturday, I persevered through to conclusion.
Pi
6:04. I didn’t find this as easy as our blogger did; I was slow getting going and held up at the end by parsing CAVALIER. Thanks Pedro and Galspray.
15 mins…
I really enjoyed this, but had to rush as we’re about to go to a local event (weather allowing).
Sometimes a little pressure focuses the mind.
FOI – 1dn “Java”
LOI – 21dn “Emit”
COD – 23ac “Orchid”
Thanks as usual!
13:43 for the solve! Two mins at the end of that ‘wasted’ parsing OBLIVION and CAVALIER. Couldn’t fully parsing BO-RING though it might be BO(UT) and had tiRING as a possibility until iconic arrived.
Wouldn’t want to be taking on this puzzle as a beginner. Far too much too think about. And a portcullis grid.
13:41 ND! Almost twins! I don’t think I’ve ever seen identical times posted here…
Ha ha – you are indeed the top cat today!
I don’t think I’ve seen it either. (Other than when rounding is employed – obviously)
I didn’t find this at all easy, and missed my target by just over 20%. I was badly held up by CAVALIER, which I couldn’t parse for ages, and then biffed my LOI before parsing it afterwards almost immediately. I’ve had a poor week.
FOI HAIRDO
LOI OBLIVION
COD LAPTOP
TIME 7:16
DNF JAVA. (not a Scottish island after all). Did not know it referred to coffee and had forgotten IT reference.
Also slow on unparsed POLITELY, and ITEM, ORCHID (COD). Liked PDMs HAIRDO, DRAGON. Obviously favourite clue LAB, as in avatar, though sadly he is no longer with us.
A witty crossword but not that easy, imo. Could not parse CAVALIER though biffed early on.
Thanks vm, Galspray.
Sweet dogs. Sorry he’s gone, what a wonderful name for a dog!
Thank you. Yes, we do miss lovely Otto still, but I reckon I am too old for another Labrador. Maybe a smaller dog one day, next year.
Ah, I know the feeling. I may “downsize” to a cat myself, after the sainted Toby.
After our last Lab died, we decided we didn’t need another dog, until a rescue Shih Tzu came into our lives. He lived another 7 years with us, dying at 15, earlier this year. He was quite the easiest dog we ever had getting on with poultry, cats and sheep. As for the crossword, we found it hard!
A happy and sad dog story. Thank you.
Lucky dog! And lucky you, I love that breed.
8:42
A gentle end to the week, with no real hold-ups. COD to PLUNGE.
Thanks Galspray and Pedro
I actually finished today’s 15 x 15 prize puzzle in 32 seconds less than this QC – and that included a scrupulous proof read before pressing submit.
Interesting that some of our most experienced solvers found this quite chewy, whereas some of us lesser mortals appear to have been less challenged. As a confirmed L.M. I followed the trend with a 12 minute solve, bang on my average, though that included a number of biff-then-parse (some very clever parsings too) and my LOI, POLITELY, was not parsed at all.
JAVA was clever – I saw it as a DD but as a TD it is even better and my COD.
Many thanks Galspray for the blog and a good weekend to all.
Cedric
Like Austin, also thought of ORGAN in preference to grand piano – a clever semi-&lit. Could not parse CAVALIER, but otherwise no problems. COD POLITELY, reminding me of a foul-mouthed parrot I met once.
Thanks galspray and Pedro.
“Dear Templar, your puzzle is 98% complete [because you’ve forgotten to type in the D and A of IDEA even though you saw it straight away]. Would you like to submit it anyway?”
“Dear helpful message, thank you so much for that warning, which I will now ignore because my brain is already committed to pressing submit.”
Aaarrgh. 08:02 but.
Many thanks gallers (needed you to parse LOI CAVALIER for me, thanks) and Pedro.
DNF.
Didn’t get oblivion nor orchid.
The app did not show any time but my DNF was very slow. Felt a struggle throughout. Did manage to parse most of my answers though. The run of easier QC has definitely helped my solving skills.
Did wonder if there was a theme.
Biffed shadow. Felt pleased to have got emit. I spent ages trying to construct a word with US or AM in it.
COD Emit
Thanks to Pedro and galspray.
By the way, Peridot features and the QC is mentioned in the Times Saturday Puzzles email newsletter. In the photo on QM2 ship Peridot does look rather like the Puzzles Editor.🙂
If only he could have given us a hint with his setting name 😉
👍
Definitely a LM in Cedric’s parlance with a slow time of 23 minutes despite quite a few helps. Quite a few clues needed thinking of a different word suggested by clue and then using only some of that word. Tricky for the less experienced.
DNF due to Java and cavalier and needed the blog to understand quite a few answers.
10.41 for me – this felt slower than it should have been as there was nothing particularly tricky but got a bit bogged down in the SE corner which I’m putting down to being a couple of cans in on rattler to Birmingham for Palace away at Villa.
LOI: CAVALIER
Thanks Galspray – Indians were 100 odd for nothing when I left the house so hope you’ve found solace elsewhere
Ha! Yes, tough day at the office for the Aussies. Fortunately I’m a big fan of a few of the Indian players and I think Jaiswal will be a generational cricketer.
Obviously I’m much less sanguine when we’re losing to England!
Started quickly with Hairdo and Laughing, and even saw Plunge without too much delay, but then slowed down and started to struggle with some of Pedro’s more offbeat instructions. Spent ages trying to parse poi Cavalier (thanks, Galspray), and consequently gave up on loi Iconic after a single cursory alpha-trawl. Still don’t seem to have quite got the hang of the Saturday ones. Invariant
10:37. A treat from Pedro throughout. LOI CAVALIER with some hesitation before seeing “valid”and pressing submit assuming the rest of the parsing would be there somewhere. Lots to like including HAIRDO, PLUNGE, ORCHID…
Finished in my fairly regular ‘one coffee’ time. Took a while to parse CAVALIER, POLITELY, BORING and ORGAN, otherwise seemed friendly enough. Liked PING and OBLIVION. Thanks galspray.
22.57 with no errors. Found this quite tough especially the last three (EMIT, CAVALIER & JAVA).
FOI – LAUGHING, LOI – JAVA, COD – HAIRDO. Thanks Galspray and Pedro
That might have been the hardest of the week for us, certainly a little slower at 16:17 than the Quitch might have suggested. Fingers crossed on typing LOI BORING as we’d held off on that through not seeing where the BO came from, though there were no clear alternatives. All the others were fully parsed. I’d categorise it as satisfyingly tough. Thanks Galspray and Pedro.
I found it hard to get going, slowed down once I had, and then struggled to finish… Absolutely on a different wavelength, almost nothing was obvious apart from a meagre few, and my parsing was all over the place.
Apart from all that, it was – ok. About as effective this morning as an Aussie bowler. (What a strange match it’s turning into!)
18:48. I had to rethink a few- I originally had DOG(Dept of Geology?) for LAB and GAUNTLET for CAVALIER. Also, OBLIVION, PING, and GIVE IN TO were tough for me.
DNF defeated by Iconic, Cavalier and Emit despite have all the checkers. Grr. Needed blog to parse a few. Thanks Galspray
Argh, was doing ok but DNF because I couldn’t see “met” for “satisfied” in 10a. Things started smoothly and there were plenty of amusing clues. Needed help to parse LAPTOP, maybe I should go back to bed. COD POLITELY, loved the considerate parrot. Good puzzle.
Thanks to Pedro and galspray! Amusing blog, the discourse on PIN{N}* very computer person-ish.
29.13 I’m having an off day. DRAGON, MISTY and SHADOW shouldn’t have been so hard. I’d also misread the last word of 3d as considerably, which didn’t help. Thanks galspray and Pedro.
12:05, a steady solve with no significant hold-ups. COD to ORCHID which got an audible snort.
Thanks to Pedro and galspray.
7:22
Slowed up at the end mopping up the missing answers – spent more than a few seconds trying to justify CAVALIER. Flopped over the line rather than charged across it.
Thanks Galspray and Pedro
Tricky…DNF (1d Java) – missed it was a triple but couldn’t figure out the grammar and that should have alerted me – but I now see it was so obvious!
FOI 8a Iconic
LOI 23a Orchid
COD 11a Plunge – clever clue!
I found this really hard. So much so that I still had more than half the clues still to solve as the half hour passed. Eventually, I staggered across the line somewhere between 50-60 minutes.
A few clues went in relatively early, but my solve was characterised by long periods of nothingness (OBLIVION?). I won’t attempt to list all of the clues that gave me trouble, but my LOI was JAVA and even that took 3-4 minutes of alphabet trawling at the end.
Many thanks to Pedro and Galspray (and respect to anyone who found this easy).
Phew finished at last. 44m
Was stuck in the SE but after a long break dealing with various tasks it all fell into place quite quickly. I find this is often the case.
A lot of clever wordplay to keep us on our toes
Thank you Pedro and Galspray.
But for me, a bit slowish – although not as slow as my internet connections today, which seem to have been affected by something, maybe Storm Bert! I certainly can’t take that seriously as a dangerous name though 😅
Forgot about Java being a computer language (I should know as my daughter has been learning it) but now I’ve got an earworm: ‘I love coffee, I love tea, I love the Java jive and it loves me … ‘ I wonder when I first heard it? Probably more than 60 years ago on Uncle Mac on Saturay mornings!
Anyway, 12:44, but CAVALIER went unparsed. I often have trouble with Pedro, but started pretty quickly, only to go back to normal. I did have a few chuckles along the way though, so two CODs today. I thought the surface for PLUNGE was excellent as well.
FOI Hairdo LOI Shadow CODs Laughing and Dragon
Thanks Pedro and Galspray
A day late and a dollar short. 8.17, the first three-quarters going in rapidly but the lower half producing some serious hold-ups. Thanks Galspray, enjoy Day 3. I suspect Oz will be batting before tea and I hope the game isn’t over by stumps!
I enjoyed this one, though I found it tricky despite feeling mostly on the wavelength. Struggled for many minutes with HAIRDO, ITEM and ICONIC at the end, finishing in 20:58.
Thank you for the blog!