An enjoyable medium-rare challenge from a setter I’ve not come across before. Lots of double definitions, as well as a particularly fine triple, which is my COD. 6:24
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Turn red, black and green (5) |
| BLUSH – B for black + LUSH | |
| 4 | Mistake flower for flour product (7) |
| BLOOMER – triple definition | |
| 8 | Captain who jumps over rope (7) |
| SKIPPER – double definition | |
| 9 | Like supporter, cry when heart gets ripped out (5) |
| FANCY – FAN + C[ |
|
| 10 | Citadel can convert into flat, perhaps (10) |
| ACCIDENTAL – anagram (‘convert into’) of CITADEL CAN. Sharps and flats in musical notation are collectively known as accidentals | |
| 14 | Perennial fantasy villain laid low (6) |
| ORCHID – ORC + HID | |
| 15 | Embrace a boring salad ingredient (6) |
| CARESS – A ‘boring’, i.e. drilling into, CRESS | |
| 17 | Food offered in boat and coach? Nice work if you can get it (5,5) |
| GRAVY TRAIN – self explanatory | |
| 20 | Am I ahead of the game, buddy? (5) |
| AMIGO – AM + I + GO | |
| 22 | One previously dated liberal, for instance (7) |
| EXAMPLE – EX + AMPLE | |
| 23 | Some given no blessing or honour (7) |
| ENNOBLE – hidden word | |
| 24 | Eg wide part of film’s background (5) |
| EXTRA – double definition – an extra run in cricket and a non-speaking background actor in film | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Disreputable singer overheard (4) |
| BASE – sounds like ‘bass’ | |
| 2 | Squad uniform on dummy (4) |
| UNIT – U + NIT | |
| 3 | Two-facedness of rich spy you almost corrupted (9) |
| HYPOCRISY – anagram (‘corrupted’) of RICH SPY YO[ |
|
| 4 | British liner refurbished in European city (6) |
| BERLIN – B + anagram (‘refurbished’) of LINER | |
| 5 | Raised for the attention of clumsy fool (3) |
| OAF – FOA backwards | |
| 6 | Max’s counterpart starts to support The Red Elvises’ lead singer (8) |
| MINSTREL – MIN (counterpart of ‘max’) + first letters of Support The Red Elvises’ Lead | |
| 7 | Supporter of sovereign, even if right became left (8) |
| ROYALIST – or ‘Loyalist’ if the R becomes L. | |
| 11 | Remove badly created AI (9) |
| ERADICATE – anagram (‘badly’) of CREATED AI | |
| 12 | Approximate maturity needed for coarse material (8) |
| ROUGHAGE – ROUGH + AGE | |
| 13 | Oscar wearing leather shoe without front for special event (8) |
| OCCASION – MOCCASIN minus the first letter, with O inserted | |
| 16 | Inexperienced English novelist (6) |
| GREENE – GREEN + E | |
| 18 | Ejected for quarrel (4) |
| SPAT – double definition | |
| 19 | Foreign character actor’s name coming ahead of Jones (4) |
| ZETA – double definition, the second referring to Valleys-girl-done-good Catherine Zeta Jones | |
| 21 | Globe kept by Gorbachev (3) |
| ORB – hidden word | |
Only three of the acrosses on first pass and two of those at the bottom so morale was low as I started the downs. The first two of those went in but I was still left with lots of gaps. ACCIDENTAL was hard to unscrambled – plus I didn’t understand the definition (thanks Curarist) – as was ERADICATE. I didn’t understand AMIGO (the go for the game bit) and nearly whacked in bETA at the end, saved by the longest alphabet trawl. Big groan. Finished in a surprisingly fast 15.00 – a lot of torment crammed into those minutes. Great stuff City and thanks to Curarist for showing how I came to be right!
A nice steady progress with about half yielding on first pass as we worked around from successive answers, but plenty to come back to. Lots of nice PDMs and our COD also to Bloomer. All done in a pleasing 19.02 .
Gravy = food offered in boat 😀
Thanks City and Curarist
19 minutes. ROUGHAGE and ORCHID nearly did for me as my last ones in. “Flat, perhaps” is perfect as a concise definition of ACCIDENTAL, as any attempt to expand on it can become quite complicated.
Indeed it can, and “naturals” can also be accidentals depending on the original key – though it’s always amused me that if I choose to alter a note in this way it’s 100% deliberate and not accidental at all.
I’ll join Roundabout Here and Jack in the 19 Minute Club for this one that I found quite hard; I was relieved to (just) escape the SCC. It’s probably in a dictionary somewhere but a MER as I was solving at CARESS for ’embrace’ and then like Mendesest I was stuck at the end on ZETA, not being able to bring the ‘Foreign character ‘ to mind (no excuses) and wondering which of the many possible people with a surname of ‘Jones’ was being referred to; I at least had the right nationality but couldn’t shake “Tom”.
Favourite was the BLOOMER triple def.
Thanks to City and Curarist
SKIPPER to CARESS in 16:30 and felt I really had to work for it. All perfectly fair with City’s subtle misdirection sending me down a few rabbit holes before the inevitable PDMs.
Another vote for CoD to BLOOMER and I also liked MINSTREL.
I found this a bit of a slog, but got there in the end.
Like Mendesest, I don’t understand the GO in AMIGO – how does “ahead of the game” give you GO?
Pi ❤️
It’s AM and I to be placed “ahead of” GO, which is a game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game)
Just the last 2,500 years to have become aware of it. There’s a British Go Association – and a club that meets near me!
I’m glad I’m not the only troglodyte here! 😜
I was once a member of the GO club in Düsseldorf – which had a large contingent of Japanese businessmen at the time! I was quickly moved to board 20 (of 20) when my incompetence became clear. It’s a fun but unforgiving game – you have to create ‘eyes’ in your placed tokens to avoid encirclement. Haven’t played it for years!
Well, there you, er, go! Never heard of it. Thanks T
The instruction “Game” is used to mean “start” or “ go” in various competitive contexts.
Yes, my interpretation was to equate ‘I’m game’, with ‘I’ll have a go’.
DNF ZETA. Put Beta doubtfully and forgot to go back and check. Hard to keep up with the Joneses.
Quite tricky. LOI ORCHID.
Liked BLOOMER, GREENE, FANCY, CARESS.
Thanks vm, Curarist.
I thought that was a neat and witty puzzle. I was constantly thinking “I can’t crack that, I’ll have to move on – oh!”. COD GRAVY TRAIN, for the pleasure of being fooled by the “boat”.
All done in 08:01 for a Pretty Decent Day. Many thanks City and Curarist.
I started very well and finished most of this puzzle just into double figures. It helped that I saw the anagrams quickly; they seemed to drop out. ZETA was a sudden PDM. However, I came to grief in the SW with a very slow OCCASION (clever clue; didn’t parse), ROUGHAGE, and my LOI ORCHID. The clock had whizzed round to 18 mins by the time I had sorted out my last few.
I didn’t like CARESS for embrace – quite different actions in my book.
An interesting puzzle from CITY (new to me, too) which I enjoyed.
Thanks to CITY and to curarist who always writes a very good blog.
Collins rescues the Setter again (doesn’t it always?)
caress kəˈrɛs ♫
noun
A gentle touch or embrace, esp one given to show affection
Anyone would think that the setters looked at the dictionaries.
Maybe my embraces are a bit bolder… 🙄😄
Whatever Collins says, I’m with Blighter; ’embrace’ is something you do with your arms; ‘caress’ with your hands.
Yes, my interpretation was to equate ‘I’m game’, with ‘I’ll have a go’.
I found this very hard. Seven in 20 minutes and no more. I semi bifd amigo from the O.
14:27 Got an extra fancy orchid for the occasion.
Tricksy but QTPi
Ta CAC
City’s third puzzle for us and I’ve enjoyed all three – I actually blogged his first two, but no hat-trick alas. All done in 9:32 and the only hesitation was over the Jones character – beta is so obvious but it is of course unparsable, and I’m glad I revisited it and found ZETA. Liked GRAVY TRAIN – very clever and my COD.
Many thanks Curarist for the blog.
Thanks, Cedric. Yes, on looking back, this is indeed City’s third and I find my leisurely time for this one is actually quicker than my previous two. 🙄
Some lovely clues – liked BLUSH – but NHO ORC (who he?) and would never think laid low = HID (rather, ill in bed?), so that was a DNF. Otherwise good. Oh, BLOOMER was just biffed – what’s the flour product, please?
Yes, ACCIDENTAL is perfect for “flat, perhaps”; what a flat is NOT is a note, any more than a diacritic is a letter, but then I’ve banged that drum before. (We had note = SHARP the other day…..)
Tolkien: evil humanoid characters from Lord of the Rings.
Apparently they were also ‘hell devils’ in Old English literature. I didn’t know that.
“Orc” was taken by Tolkein from Old English; it has a long pedigree. Beowulf contains orc-néas, for example, a compound usually translated as “demon-corpses” or “monsters of the underworld”.
Bloomer as a type of loaf? And Orc as in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books – the archetypal baddies.
A bloomer is a roughly oval bread loaf. Very common in my part of the world!
Thank you all, especially Cedric with his question mark – NHO that kind of loaf, but then I’m not much of a bread-eater. Did read (and partly enjoy) the Lord of the Rings, but not these 50 years, so details of dramatis personae forgotten. Thanks.
They are increasingly common in the Midlands, too, Yorkshirelass. I had never heard of them in my early years in Lancashire. Perhaps they are slowly creeping south…..
And also ubiquitous in the south. Typically has diagonal slashes.
Here is a pic and a recipe in case you are tempted Martinů 😉
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/paul_hollywoods_bloomer_84636
And dahn saath.
I whizzed along until the last few.
BLUSH was my undoing – obvious in retrospect.
Several times I was smiling to myself – a very, very enjoyable puzzle.
CODs BLOOMER, ACCIDENTAL, ORCHID and of course – BLUSH for catching me out.
Thanks City and Curarist
Enjoyed today’s puzzle with no major problems. Didn’t know the musical meaning of ACCIDENTAL, but it couldn’t be anything else. Liked the triple definition in 4A. Thanks Curarist and City.
I found this to be another tough one, taking me 17:21, and I was relieved to get over the line as the SE corner caused me all sorts of problems.
Thank you for the blog, which I think is not currently categorised under the usual QC umbrella.
I fixed that – I don’t usually edit other blogger’s puzzles, but I can’t stand Uncategorized blogs.
I do that too as they mess up search and drill down when using the archive.
I think somebody once said they affect Snitch data, but I may have imagined or misunderstood about that.
Thank you, but it’s now categorised as “Daily cryptic” rather than “Quick cryptic”.
Yeah, I forgot which blog I was in.
This is why I never correct someone else’s blog.
Thank you again, but I’m afraid that now it’s…no, only joking, all seems fine now.
13:11 but it turns out to be “like supporter” isn’t FANnY 😜 I felt overwhelmed by this puzzle which began with me looking blankly at Across clues until I got down to GRAVY-TRAIN. It felt like two extremes – one where you’re expected to think of something on the edge of memory then swing back to something as simple as “delete the middle letter from the word given to you (cry)”. Personal feelings aside, it’s a good puzzle – no complaints.
So my solving week ends on a downer. My run of 46 solves comes crashing to a halt – no appeal to the 3rd umpire or VAR – just a thick edge. Allowing for the correction, 47mins for the week is very nice
Have a good weekend everybody and thank to Curarist and City.
I’m another one who made a FANNY of himself otherwise would have been 8:32.
🤣
The door loomed as did the last hurdle…. BETA? …too late the PDM for ZETA (wrong end of alphabet) so with no seconds to spare, in we went. Seems we don’t have many friends in this little SCC.
First pass tragic. Recovered bravely. Tripped repeatedly. Biffed ENNOBLE ( missed hidden) Biffed Cress>Caress as did not pick ‘boring’ as an indicator. ORCHID took a while… the list goes on. Needed welcome blog to explain our many shortcomings. What a good crossword!
Thank you CITY and Curarist.
Had I spelt 3d correctly it would have been a race through, as it was I had to reveal 13d after ages staring at it, which gave 13d which I had parsed immeditely, I just couldnt think of the shoe. Very enjoyable thanks City and Curarist.
DNF. Top half very easy, bottom less so, ending with BETA, which I couldn’t make head nor tail of. I forgot the Times Crossword rule that says a word that you encounter for the first time or rarely will then crop up again two days later – we had ZETAS, which I didn’t know then! Grr… I’ll be waiting for the next one… Otherwise, some very nice clues – BLOOMER, GRAVY TRAIN and ORCHID all excellent.
9.31
Breezeblocked by MOCCASIN and ORCHID at the end of- just couldnt see them for an age. I did mentally look through my cloakroom but no moccasins in there unfortunately 🙂
DNF Just couldn’t make sense of ROUGHAGE. Maybe brain fried after watching the cricket all night.
First time I have come across City as a compiler. Loved the puzzle and made pretty rapid progress – just finishing the cuppa as I type this.
COD: GRAVY TRAIN
FOI: BLUSH
LOI: ZETA . Not because it was difficult but because of its position in the grid
Thanks City (come back soon) and Curarist
My time of 11.50 would suggest that this was the toughest puzzle of the week, but perhaps I simply wasn’t on City’s wavelength. I got off to a slow start with very few across clues solved at first read, but the second half was much quicker.
My total time for the week was 42.46, giving me a daily average of 8.33. A return to form after last weeks poor times.
A slow start in the NW, with just an isolated Unit on show, before moving to more favourable areas of the grid. It still took me some time to tune into City’s unusual style, but checkers can be very helpful (even more so, if you spell the 3d crossing word correctly🙄). Loi Zeta was an unparsed Beta for a long time, but I’m glad I managed to squeeze a second look at the (front) end into a 23min solve.
CoD to Gravy Train for the smile, a nose ahead of the fragrant Orchid. Invariant
I zipped through most of this, but the tricky parts were tricky. Roughage and occasion were a little tough, but I got stuck in the SE. Spat was obvious, but I needed the foreign character. Two were possible, and one ran a vague bell. I am often foxed by cricket extras, but with all the checkers I saw it.
Time: 7:49
I was more or less on track with this until I was left with just 4. I eventually saw EXAMPLE and followed that with BETA to which I added a question mark as I couldn’t parse it. Gave up at 25 minutes with ORCHID and OCCASION outstanding. So two blanks and two errors (the aforementioned BETA and BASS at 1dn which is just plain careless). All in all a very poor day. A MER at caress equating to embrace whatever the dictionaries may say and I’m also not sure that all moccasins are leather.
FOI – 1ac BLUSH
LOI – DNF
CODs – some lovely clues amongst which I particularly liked ACCIDENTAL, GRAVY TRAIN and MINSTREL.
Thanks to City and Curarist
I am absolutely amazed at all you people completing these quick cryptics in such fast times. I am a complete notice in puzzling and use your answers to help me see how you work through a clue. I would really appreciate it if a full explanation to the answers could be given. Many thanks!
Don’t worry, there are plenty of slowcoaches like me here too. Are there any clues in particular which you’d like to be explained more fully?
It IS amazing. It WAS amazing to me when I started. My times hovered around an hour for a while; though I’m no speedster, it is now often a truly quick solve. It’s partly learning a code and when that happens it suddenly gets easier than you imagined it could. (Also helps to be British, but not necessary, e.g. Kevin.)
Specific questions will probably get willing responses so ask away!
I tend to do it on the train on the way home from work. The joy is in the wordplay and a good clue raises a smile. I never time myself, prefer to enjoy it at my own pace. That said I use pen in the physical paper so no countdown. Also I’m not as old as that makes me sound!
Helen, believe me when I say we all started with a diary rather than a stopwatch. In any case, enjoying the process is what really counts. Good luck with your journey.
I averaged 45mins on these back in 2022 – my first year – sometimes taking towards 2hrs. It’s been a lot of practice.
I upload my solves to Youtube … today’s puzzle is at https://youtu.be/WVAXa8Kqpgg … and I go through the clues after my solve so you might find those fuller as I explain standard abbreviations or highlight things which come up often. It’s rare I can’t parse anything and commenters chip in for anything I can’t. If I’m still stuck I come here and look!
Wonderful puzzle – 12 mins of fun – thanks City and Curarist. FANCY gets my COD vote.
10.19 Most clues needed two looks and I finished with the tricky ZETA. 37.55 for the week. I’m very pleased because this is the first week I’ve completed without getting stuck and the first time I’ve been all green on the NITCH and WITCH. Well, greeny-yellow anyway. Thanks Curarist and City.