Parksolve time = 33:17 (11.3% solving, 88.7% running)
I managed to knock this one off in rapid time but the early leaderboard suggests I may have just had one of those days.
Perhaps it was the excitement of some upcoming travel, which will include a bit of cricket at Lord’s, but more importantly the TftT catch-up at the George in London next Saturday. Johninterred has a separate post with the details so I hope to see some of you (no, all of you!!!) there.
Meanwhile, thanks to Pedro for today’s offering. I’ll admit to appreciating the surfaces more when I sat down to do the blog than I did when I hustled through it. Hope you enjoyed it, please let us know in the comments how you went and what I missed.
| Across | |
| 1 | Lied, with fibs broadcast, skewered by European scepticism (9) |
| DISBELIEF – (LIED + FIBS)* “skewered by” E (European) | |
| 6 | Soldier dismissing odd parts in poem (3) |
| ODE – sOlDiEr with odd letters removed | |
| 8 | Scuba, say, friend puts on in the morning (7) |
| ACRONYM – CRONY (friend) “puts on” AM (in the morning)
SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) ticks the box as an example of an acronym as it is commonly used as a word in its own right. |
|
| 9 | Suppose unity encompasses mathematical ratio (5) |
| OPINE – ONE (unity) “encompasses” PI (mathematical ratio)
Suppose and opine have enough overlap in their definitions, though I suppose some will opine otherwise. |
|
| 10 | US city laid in pianos for distribution (12) |
| INDIANAPOLIS – (LAID IN PIANOS)* | |
| 12 | Busy insect beginning to taste vegetable (4) |
| BEET – BEE (busy insect) + T (beginning to Taste) | |
| 13 | Almost completed new kitchen feature (4) |
| OVEN – OVE [almost OVER (completed)] + N (new) | |
| 17 | Change of ownership originally eliminating resistance steadily and quickly (4,4,4) |
| HAND OVER FIST – HANDOVER (change of ownership) + FIST [FIRST (originally) “eliminating” R (resistance)]
Most commonly used (I think) in reference to making money. Not something I’m terribly familiar with. |
|
| 20 | Regret limiting attempt, after turning unpredictable (5) |
| ROGUE – RUE (regret) “limiting” OG [GO (attempt) reversed (turning)] | |
| 21 | Be exultant regarding Irish writer on the radio (7) |
| REJOICE – RE (regarding) + JOICE [homophone(on the radio) of JOYCE (Irish writer)] | |
| 23 | Allowed lease (3) |
| LET – Double definition | |
| 24 | Cuddly toy to stand behind lingerie item (5,4) |
| TEDDY BEAR – BEAR (stand) behind TEDDY (lingerie) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Fed up about American unwilling to listen (4) |
| DEAF – DEF [FED reversed (up)] “about” A (American)
Of course deaf can mean “unwilling to listen” as well as its more conventional “unable to listen”. |
|
| 2 | Jabber “Yes”, startled to receive piece of jewellery (7) |
| SYRINGE – (YES)* “to receive” RING (piece of jewellery) | |
| 3 | One is cycling for a long time (3) |
| EON – ONE cycling (ie last letter moving to the front) | |
| 4 | One’s unusual menu is not susceptible to complaint? (6) |
| IMMUNE – IM (one’s) + (MENU)* | |
| 5 | Infallible dessert, with a measure of alcoholic content (9) |
| FOOLPROOF – FOOL (dessert) + PROOF (a measure of alcoholic content) | |
| 6 | Oxford college that is in the care of old hands? (5) |
| ORIEL – IE (that is) “in the care of” O (old) + LR [Left and Right (hands)] | |
| 7 | A lot of poetry in Old English, revolutionary to a large extent (4,2) |
| EVER SO – VERS [“a lot of” VERSE (poetry)] in EO [OE (old English) reversed (revolutionary)] | |
| 11 | International traveller, first to Tunis, is one less interested in the wider world (9) |
| INTROVERT – INT (international) + ROVER (traveller) + T (first to Tunis) | |
| 14 | With bathroom unfortunately in use, heads for the exit (2,5) |
| EN SUITE – [IN USE +TE (“heads” for The Exit)]* | |
| 15 | Church using speech and using singers (6) |
| CHORAL – CH (church) + ORAL (using speech) | |
| 16 | Directed to drop temperature? Get angry (3,3) |
| SEE RED – S |
|
| 18 | Dark chesspiece hiding King (5) |
| NIGHT – |
|
| 19 | Try and learn (4) |
| HEAR – Double definition | |
| 22 | Elation: Juliet and Romeo, finally, finally together (3) |
| JOY – J (Juliet in the NATO alphabet) + OY [last letters (finally) of romeO finallY]
The “together” is slightly superfluous for the wordplay but makes for a poignant precis of a well-known story in the surface reading. |
|
The QUITCH says not so hard, but I don’t agree. I couldn’t see Indianapolis for a long time, never mind hand over fist, which I wanted to be hard and fast. I did get all the easy short ones around the grid quickly enough, but then had to write down the anagram letters and cross out the ones that were used.
Time: 11:13
12 minutes, delayed a little by HAND OVER FIST although it’s an expression I’m very familiar with. I had no problem working out INDIANAPOLIS, as from ‘city’ I immediately saw POLIS in the anagrist (thinking ‘metropolis’) and with that in mind the rest of the anagram fell into place.
I wondered if the pun ‘DEAF HEAR’ in opposite diagonal corners was just a coincidence.
I should clarify that I’m familiar with the expression HAND OVER FIST, just not so familiar with the making money part!
The big H in the middle of the grid is the middle letter of Beethoven, and he was DEAF. Or is that stretching it too far?
He also wrote Ode to Joy,a choral symphony.
So he did, from his CHORAL symphony.
Oops. We got there together somehow
Darn clever these setters….
Not with the BEET and OVEN on either side. Genius!
Oh wow. Well spotted.
To be honest, I only put the parts together from other comments in the threads below…
Brilliant! And then to have a black H made from the black squares. Am in total awe…. of both setter and of those who spot ‘the story’.
Made our morning : )
A privilege to be amongst such folk.
Brilliant!
12:30 WOE. I too started with the ending of the anagrammed US city (thinking metropolis) and so entered it as INDIANOPOLIS for one pink square. LOI SEE RED. I liked SYRINGE and ACRONYM
My comment disappeared probably just as well. Sixteen, FOI Indianapolis.
Good score!
Thank you 🙂
Yes, one of the less chewy ones – 9:51 for me, and the only unknown was TEDDY as lingerie. Shall now look it up …
Many thanks Galspray for the blog, and I hope to see you at next week’s gathering; though I won’t be there till 3.30 at the earliest I fear.
A steady solve for me although had a complete brain freeze for OPINE due to my grey matter going into automatic lock down when anything mathematical is mentioned. It turns out that I do know a mathematical ratio after all 🤦♂️.
Started with DISBELIEF and finished with EVER SO in an aeronautical 7.47 with COD to SYRINGE for the PDM.
Thanks to Galspray and Pedro
Perhaps I’m not quite awake yet, but I was stretched to 10:01 for this one, so not a walk in the park (which is as close as I ever get to a Park Run!). FOI was DISBELIEF and LOI was HEAR. Nice nina! Thanks Pedro and Galspray. Looking forward to meeting up at The George next week.
15:38. Couldn’t hear the jabber and when I did make sense of it I must admit I had a MER ‘cos methinks the needle attached to the syringe is the jabber and the syringe is the plunger.
Otherwise nice surfaces and enjoyable. So Pedro will get my vote (but I’m not buying the Tee) Ta Galspray (look out for them lions)
Going round in circles trying to think of Pi for OPINE. Fun crossword with the only hold-up from HAND OVER FIST, which took a bit of thought and was convinced the last word would be ‘fast’. Missed the Beet-H-Oven and Ode to Joy Nina, very clever and thought REJOICE should be in there somehow. Liked ACRONYM. COD to SYRINGE for Jabber.
Thanks G and setter.
A good puzzle. I cleared most of it quickly and found INDIANAPOLIS and HAND OVER FIST straightforward but was stretched by SEE RED at first (because of a typo). JABBER and SYRINGE threw me for a while and I seemed to take too long over some obvious answers such as DISBELIEF and even HEAR (d’oh!) so took too long overall. I liked EVER SO and REJOICE among many other good clues.
Didn’t see the clever BEET-OVEN.
Thanks to both.
Ohhh. BEET OVEN with the H from the black squares. So neat!
Fabulous crossword, another one which was quick but needed thought, which is the ideal QC. My COD goes to SYRINGE, but there are many good ‘uns in there.
Thanks Pedro, and galspray for the blog. Sadly I can’t join you all next Saturday – London’s a bit far for us out in the wilds, unfortunately – but I’ll raise a glass in your honour. Have fun! 🍻
I got sidetracked by having TAKE OVER FIRM incorrectly for 17a. I didn’t know TEDDY means lingerie but managed to guess from the clue. COD was SYRINGE. Enjoyable!
13 mins…
I thought it was on the more gentle side and was pleased to come in under 15 mins (a rare Saturday occurrence). I will confess to biffing a few in as I went though: 13ac “Oven”, 17ac “Hand Over Fist), 5dn “`Foolproof” came to mind.
FOI – 1ac “Disbelief”
LOI – 19dn “Hear”
COD – 2dn “Syringe”
Thanks as usual!
Very slow but very enjoyable solve. I fell into every trap. Even with 2d correctly written in I wondered if Sigh – Rin – Ghee was some rapidly-spoken Syrian dialect. Hand over fist is another nautical term, if a rope is easy to pull you pull it with your right fist while you put your left hand over it to grasp the rope further along, then vice versa. You can do that very quickly hence the quick and easy connotation.
Thanks to Pedro and galspray.
That’s very good to know. I’ve always wondered what that meant. Thanks.
Seems to be a wavelength puzzle since I was only 06:45, which is probably a PB on a Pedro (whom I normally find tricky).
I am in awe both of the setter’s skill in producing the Beethoven Nina, and the sharpness of those solvers who worked it out!
Really enjoyed the puzzle, with COD to REJOICE. I’m very impressed that Galspray is such a lingerie expert that he didn’t think it necessary to explain what a Teddy is – that was actually my longest delay, since I couldn’t believe that that was really a thing. I’m now going to have decide whether to risk having that in my Google search history.
Many thanks Gallers and Pedro.
use Customise and control (the three vertical dots in the top right hand corner), then settings, then privacy and security, then delete browsing data, then time period = 1 hour.
IT support people get asked for that a lot for some unimaginable reason. Sadly for the requestor browsing on a work machine is also recorded centrally!
12:45
A nice easy puzzle for a Saturday. Sadly no Parksolve time as currently laid up with a slipped disc.
No hold ups here but TEDDY BEAR was an unparsed biff. LOI IMMUNE.
JABBER did bring to mind my favourite poem:
Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!
ouch…get better soon. : (
Similarly infirm, but no sympathies as due to overzealous efforts on the driving range. 😢
7:33 for me, fastest I’ve ever done one. Makes up for the past couple of days where I had clues unsolved.
I must be being slow but I don’t see how hear means try?
As in court case, which is both “tried” and “heard”. That was my LOI despite having seen it, clued almost identically, several times.
A rare sub 13 minutes for us – held up for several of them by LOI HEAR ( Why will my brain not sort the HEAR – TRY connection? Could someone help please? I have a niggling feeling I am going to be embarrassed…)
AH – EDIT – JUST SAW THE ABOVE – thank you (Am on a train with dodgy internet)…as a person who spent a chunk of life in the legal arena, really should have worked that out myself…
An enjoyable puzzle – many clues delighted, however all overshadowed by the brilliance of the Nina…and the BEET (H) OVEN topped the lot.
So pleased we were able to ‘be here’ this morning!
Happy weekend everyone.
If a judge hears a case, he tries it.
Add me to the list of those who misspelt the city as INDIANOPOLIS. I must resolve to carefully count the letters in the anagrist.
9 minutes with one pink square.
Thanks Pedro and Galspray
And me.
17:17. ACRONYM, DISBELIEF, and SYRINGE held me up the longest.
Managed to solve this in 48 minutes. Really like the clue for REJOICE and SYRINGE. Thank you for the blog 😁
5:35
Gentle fare from Pedro against whom my average prior to this puzzle was 9:28. Saw BEET H OVEN on completing the solve which had me looking for other stuff – DEAF EARED (1d + Column 8); ODE + JOY both spotted.
Cheers Galspray and Pedro
Pedro on a Saturday, so I expected a very long haul, but Hand Over Fist provided some useful crossers and I finished around the 25min mark. Nina completely missed as usual, but I did enjoy parsing some very smooth surfaces. Perhaps 1d, Deaf, was the pick today, but there were good examples across the grid. Invariant
This is a beautiful QC, what with the Beethoven Nina and then Rejoice using my favourite author James Joyce. I live in Ireland.
A little over 30mins for me which is steady. Held up at the end by ACRONYM. With the A and R crosses in place I could see past a word staring with “air” for ages given the scuba/breathing apparatus connection.
A challenging, but enjoyable QC from Pedro, whom I find rarely sets an easy puzzle. 35+ minutes for me.
I worked out SYRINGE from the wordplay, but until coming here had no idea what Jabber was doing in the clue. Very good!
Also, I thought the Nina was absolutely excellent. Even Mrs R thought as much and, speaking from several decades’ experience, she is extremely hard to impress.
Many thanks to Galspray and Pedro.
Tough in places for me, coming in at 14:01, but with a pink square because I just bashed in EVEN SO at 7d on the dubious grounds that nothing else fit.
Thank you for the blog!
Bits of it were very quick for sure but I had to contemplate the amazing SYRINGE (my COD) a while, which extended the solving fun to 12:34. Also I froze on INDIANAPOLIS, having thought first of Minneapolis, and had to laboriously examine the anagrist. Other favorites include ORIEL, which I parsed after submitting, the tidy EON, and JOY.
Totally missed the Beethoven thing, very clever, and well spotted kapietro, ryan, and Kestrel! I did pause over the intersecting REJOICE and JOY but got no further.
Thanks to Pedro and galspray.
PS: where is New Driver?
12.03 I spent too long looking for a synonym of prattle for SYRINGE. HEAR for “try” is slowly starting to sink in but it still took two alphabet trawls to jog my memory. Thanks galspray and Pedro.
Very slow to get going but did eventually complete the grid. Really liked REJOICE and SYRINGE, although it took a very long time for the penny to drop re the latter. Really lovely QC and a very impressive nina which, of course, I failed to spot 😆 Many thanks Pedro and galspray.
A hard puzzle, for me anyway, but what a terrific Nina. Hats off to Pedro and to those who spotted it.
Rather enjoyed ACRONYM and SYRINGE.
Thanks Galspay for the blog.
I also wondered where New Driver has gone.
13:41 for me. I noticed the symmetry between DEAF and HEAR but totally missed the brilliant BEET-H-OVEN and the rest of the themed clues. LOI was EVER SO, where I had EVEN SO initially.
Thanks to Pedro and Galspray.
18:23 as Doof put Even So on first attempt. One of the more straight forward puzzles. Thanks all
In drowned-rat mode after the deluge, running a stall at the village fete, so not much time for the QC. Not altogether easy, DNF as DNK Scuba was an acronym. Also missed SYRINGE.
But liked others inc HAND OVER FIST, REJOICE, FOOLPROOF.
Thanks vm, Galspray.
Fun puzzle that was quick enough to finish (after a day’s work) though would have been even better if I’d seen the Nina – I never do. ACRONYM held me up the longest, as I’d forgotten it was!
I wish the Saturday puzzle was in the print version of the paper so I could attempt it.
As usual, I had a go at the clues one by one from the blog. Obviously no grid so not easy. Got about 1/3, suggesting I would have struggled mightily had I been able to do this in the proper fashion.
You can print it from the internet. Just google The Times Quick Cryptic today. It will take you to the puzzle. On the menu is a print option. I also prefer to do it in paper!
Thank you! I will do that in future.
I join the few who struggled a bit with this, taking a longer than usual 31 minutes to limp home. In retrospect, I can’t really see why!