I’m solving and blogging today from my seat at the southern end of Adelaide Oval. I won’t provide live updates (oh, well bowled Paddy!!!) but it’s Day 4 of the Third Test and at this moment the Ashes are still up for grabs.
I completed this one from Jalna in a slightly-distracted 5:53. There were a couple of tough-ish definitions and some chewy wordplay, exactly how we like them on a Saturday morning, no?
How did you go with 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 | Take out fruit (4) |
| DATE – Double definition
Date as in a romantic assignation. |
|
| 8 | Passing remarks? (8) |
| OBITUARY – Cryptic definition | |
| 9 | Addendum to document provided by McCann execs (6) |
| ANNEXE – Hidden in (provided by) mccANN EXEcs | |
| 10 | Stout bar surrounding barrel (6) |
| ROTUND – ROD (bar) surrounding TUN (barrel) | |
| 11 | Rubbish is, in the first instance, going to decay (4) |
| GROT – G [first letter of (in the first instance) Going] + ROT (decay)
Mainly used in my experience in relation to a dirty person, especially a child, but the first dictionary I looked at had “something dirty, unpleasant or of poor quality”. Like a Ben Stokes tattoo. |
|
| 12 | Get a role playing intimate friend (5,3) |
| ALTER EGO – (GET A ROLE)*
Again, I would normally associate this term with a Clark Kent style alternate identity, but the dictionaries also have “an intimate and trusted friend”. |
|
| 15 | Sparkly silver items thoughtlessly dropped? (8) |
| AGLITTER – AG (silver) + LITTER (items thoughtlessly dropped) | |
| 17 | Spring festival primarily hosted on Long Island (4) |
| HOLI – Initial letters (primarily) of Hosted On Long Island
Hindu festival |
|
| 18 | Mechanic ultimately has favourable opinion of battered cars (6) |
| CRATES – C [last letter of (ultimately) mechaniC] + RATES (has favourable opinion of) | |
| 21 | A child’s party? (6) |
| PERSON – A (per) + SON (child)
Rooms for fifty pounds a night / per night. Party = a person or group taking one side of a question, dispute or contest. |
|
| 22 | Frank blog entry with influence (8) |
| POSTMARK – POST (blog entry) + MARK (influence) | |
| 23 | Is required to pay co-owners on a regular basis (4) |
| OWES – Alternate letters (on a regular basis) of cO-oWnErS | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | When travelling, grandma tours one American high street (4,4) |
| MAIN DRAG – (GRANDMA)* “tours” I (one)
We use this expression in Australia too. |
|
| 2 | Fairly new part of leisure centre (6) |
| RECENT – Hidden in (part of) leisuRE CENTre | |
| 3 | Prediction on behalf of English players (8) |
| FORECAST – FOR (on behalf of) + E (English) + CAST (players) | |
| 4 | One securing bank of stadium seats (4) |
| TIER – Double definition
Someone securing or tying something could be a “tier”. |
|
| 5 | Part of drain clogged in the middle, say (6) |
| GUTTER – G (middle letter of cloGged) + UTTER (say) | |
| 6 | Make endlessly healthy food (4) |
| BRAN – BRANd (make) without the last letter (endlessly) | |
| 13 | What takes a toll on America? Go Fish (8) |
| TURNPIKE – TURN (go) + PIKE (fish)
In the USA a turnpike is a motorway on which a toll is charged. |
|
| 14 | Girl ran, ran fast (8) |
| GALLOPED – GAL (girl) + LOPED (ran fast) | |
| 16 | Entirely enthusiastic about toys with 50 per cent off (2,4) |
| IN TOTO – INTO (enthusiastic about) + TO (TOys with 50 per cent off) | |
| 17 | What may be used in cultivating privileged pupils here (6) |
| HARROW – Double definition
The second one more an indicator than a definition. |
|
| 19 | Bird heading away from stream (4) |
| ROOK – bROOK (stream) without the first letter (heading away) | |
| 20 | Hands over change (4) |
| SWAP – PAWS (hands) inverted (over) | |
17.53 Slow throughout. I spent a while wondering if KATE was an unknown fruit and finished with SWAP. Thanks galspray and Jalna.
35:59 and galspray’s “pleasant distraction” drove me to distraction, sending me to the bottom of the class with a textbook example of SC’s Law: when they are hard, they are very, very hard.
DATE and ANNEXE went right in, seducing me into thinking that maybe for once Jalna would be merciful but CRATES, POSTMARK, PERSON (sweet!), GUTTER, ALTER EGO, TIER, and the NHO GROT had me fooled for a long long time. Lucky me, I knew HOLI.
As usual, looking back on them, none of them seem difficult. Classic.
Thanks to Jalna and galspray.
(Reading the comments so far, I win the longest solving time award 🏆😐.)
<cough>
Oh, my deepest apologies. How careless of me.🤷🏼
🖐️🏆🤚
Not so fast, Steel City, 40.40 for me over three innings. So far into the SCC that almost out the far side. I found this a real struggle but got there in the end, with a bit of help on LOIs turnpike and obituary. Didn’t like Alter Ego and NHO Holi but did get them.
Thanks to Jalna and galspray.
Ho hum. Roll on Monday for an easier one!
I’ll let the two of you fight it out then. So presumptuous of me.
🤷🏼
🖐️🏆🤚
Boo hiss to the portcullis grid, and also boo hiss to me for edging into the SCC at 20:03. On the other hand, I’m relieved to have finished it after my shambolic performance yesterday.
I wonder why my browser doesn’t recognise “shambolic”? Chambers confirms that it’s a perfectly cromulent word.
Thank you for the blog!
(My browser doesn’t recognise “blog” either, it turns out. Perhaps it’s stuck in the 20th century, like this hobby)
I thought I might come back to this puzzle later in the day but it seems I was wise not to do so after a taxing day.
So I read the comments, checked the snitch and clearly this was simply not a QC.
I appreciate that some expert solvers love a puzzle like this and some setters get their kicks by setting at a level that intimidates regular ‘normal’ solvers who like a challenge but not at the 15×15 level (why do we have two tiers if the difference is blurred so blatantly?).
My recent Jalna times have been respectable but this was beyond ‘quick’ in anybody’s language.
In my view, this was more like an ego trip for the setter who might consider keeping his former sense of perspective or stick to setting the ‘biggie’.
Well, there was certainly some weird stuff going on in today’s puzzle, but I doubt that Jalna set out to intimidate solvers, new or otherwise. More often than not, it’s surely the case that experts (in any field) forget how difficult things can be for those less experienced.
RR’s guiding oversight continues to be missed. Invariant
Your comment might take it a little too far, but I agree this was probably a bit much. There were probably 2 or 3 puzzles worth of hard QC clues here.
I’m sorry, this was supposed to be the quick cryptic? Some way wide of the mark.
Usual nightmare.
Also 6 short on 15 x 15. I’m not sure why The Times offers a prize for the Saturday puzzle given that it is hardly difficult for solvers to find online the solutions to clues they are unable to solve!
As a lifelong cricket fan, I would love to travel to Australia to watch the Ashes. Unfortunately financial constraints will never allow it to happen. 🤣🤣🤣