Time: 10:29
Happy Twixtmas to everyone.
Not my favourite word, though encountered at least once before in crossword land. I’m glad to say it didn’t make an appearance today in this classy offering from Joker. I usually find Joker’s puzzles quite challenging and today’s was no exception with only a few write-ins. I had some minor queries as outlined below but I didn’t think there was anything unfair in terms of obscurity or difficulty.
Thanks to Joker
Definitions underlined in bold, deletions or letters in wordplay not appearing in answer indicated by strikethrough.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | British sailor leaked and divulged secrets? (7) |
| BABBLED – B (‘British’) AB (‘sailor’) BLED (‘divulged secrets?’)
The question mark is here as “babbling” may just mean speaking incoherently and not necessarily divulging secrets. On edit: Thanks to Jolly Contrarian below for pointing out the error. The parsing should be: B (‘British’) AB (‘sailor’) BLED (‘leaked’) |
|
| 5 | Large swallow in Cork returning (4) |
| GULP – A reversal (‘returning’) of PLUG (‘Cork’) | |
| 7 | Little criticism about editor’s reliability (6) |
| CREDIT – CRIT (‘Little criticism’) containing (‘about’) ED (‘editor’)
CRIT as an abbreviation for ‘criticism’, eg a book or theatre CRIT. Not a sense of ‘reliability’ that came to mind immediately but covered by sense 3 in Collins: the quality of being believable or trustworthy. |
|
| 8 | Small crackers not consistent in quality (6) |
| SPOTTY – S (‘Small’) POTTY (‘crackers’) | |
| 9 | Displays grand hat — something put on to great effect (11) |
| SHOWSTOPPER – SHOWS (‘Displays’) TOPPER (‘grand hat’) | |
| 10 | Weed burner, person feeding fire with millions where there’s time (6) |
| SMOKER – STOKER (‘person feeding fire’) with M (‘millions’) replacing (‘where there’s’) T (‘time’)
Whimsical definition – ‘Weed burner’ as in someone who smokes weed, eg tobacco or marijuana. |
|
| 12 | Complication is beginning of tight corner (6) |
| TANGLE – T |
|
| 14 | Whence one gets curds is said to be obscure (3-2-3-3) |
| OUT-OF-THE-WAY – Aural wordplay (‘is said’) for OUT OF THE WHEY (‘Whence one gets curds’)
No prizes for guessing which nursery rhyme came to mind and the answer tells us what she did. My COD. |
|
| 17 | Retain damaged part of organ (6) |
| RETINA – Anagram (‘damaged’) of RETAIN | |
| 18 | Black bird that is recent arrival (6) |
| ROOKIE – ROOK (‘Black bird’) IE (‘that is’)
A usually young person who has just become a member of a sporting team (a ROOKIE) could be described as a ‘recent arrival’ to the team. 13d gives another take on a ‘recent arrival’. |
|
| 20 | Boss of horse-breeding establishment (4) |
| STUD – Double definition
‘Boss’ or STUD as a protuberance, often decorative. |
|
| 21 | Me? One in running (7) |
| NOMINEE – I’ll tempt fate. Whole clue as both cryptic definition and comprising all the word play – anagram (‘running’) of ME ONE IN = &lit | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pub’s almost empty (3) |
| BAR – BAR |
|
| 2 | What underlies plot over diamond? (7) |
| BEDROCK – Cryptic definition with wordplay BED (‘plot’) ROCK (‘diamond?’)
After much umming and ahing, I’ve classified this as a (semi-&lit) cryptic definition, though I’m not entirely convinced and Joker may have intended just ‘What underlies’ to be the definition for BEDROCK in a figurative sense. |
|
| 3 | Water lily parasite mostly eating tons (5) |
| LOTUS – LOUS |
|
| 4 | I had taken up turn to buy a round to share (4,3) |
| DISH OUT – DI, a reversal (‘taken up’) of I’D (‘I had’) SHOUT (‘turn to buy a round’) | |
| 5 | Stop being silly shunning wife’s company (5) |
| GROUP – GROW UP (‘Stop being silly’) with W deleted (‘shunning wife’) and then combined into one word.
Looks easy now but this was my last in. |
|
| 6 | Last-minute exchange of shots to the side (9) |
| LATERALLY – LATE (‘Last minute’) RALLY (‘exchange of shots’)
LATE for ‘last-minute’ as in occurring towards the end of a period of time; it doesn’t have to mean “overdue”. For example, someone putting in a job application just before the specified deadline might be described as making a late or last-minute application. |
|
| 9 | Dozy men lost on manoeuvres (9) |
| SOMNOLENT – Anagram (‘manoeuvres’) of MEN LOST ON | |
| 11 | Hold oneself back with shower perhaps chasing umpire (7) |
| REFRAIN – RAIN (‘shower perhaps’) following (‘chasing’) REF (‘umpire’) | |
| 13 | Very recently arrived, Bronwen is confused (7) |
| NEWBORN – Anagram (‘is confused’) of BRONWEN
Our second recent arrival of the day. |
|
| 15 | Proven united around king (5) |
| TRIED – TIED (‘united’) containing (‘around’) R (‘king’)
As in “tried and tested”. |
|
| 16 | Seraglio run by male (5) |
| HAREM – HARE (‘run’) M (‘male’)
HARE as a verb for ‘run’. I believe that a male running a seraglio had er… um… certain bits missing. |
|
| 19 | What’s found in Arctic expanses (3) |
| ICE – Hidden (‘found in’) Whole clue as definition with only ‘What’s’ not part of the wordplay so would do as another semi-&lit. |
|
I struggled a little to find a foothold, finally lighting on lotus, which enabled me to see babbled at once. I would not say that any one clue was particularly hard, but they were all just a little off the beaten path, forcing the solver to think. If there’s one thing a speed solver hates, it’s thinking! Out of the way did provoke a smile after I biffed it.
Time: 6:59
9 minutes, so a second consecutive solve within my old target of 10. Has someone spoken to the setters, I wonder?
I thought there was confusion with BLABBED at 1ac as I associate that with divulging secrets, but ODE confirms that BABBLED can mean that too.
I think of ROOKIE as a new recruit to the army or police before I think of sport, but then I think of most things before thinking of sport.
10:36
COD NOMINEE, a great &lit
Definition of CREDIT seems odd, my LOI,
Breezeblocked by my L2I, GROUP and GULP, which between them blew a respectable time out to a slow 14.39. Until then I was going smoothly enough, though like Merlin I wondered about that definition of credit. NOMINEE is also an anagram (of Me one in) but I’m not sure I’d know how to describe a clue where almost all of it is both definition and anagram wordplay.
Many thanks BR for the blog, if not for reminding us all of the word Twixtmas.
Apologies Cedric, I’ve edited the blog to make the parsing clearer. That’s the beauty of an &lit – all of the clue is wordplay (in this case anagram indicator and letters going to make up the anagram) and definition at the same time though I don’t always get classifying a clue as an &lit correct!
Thanks. You’re one up on me – I almost always get &lit clues 100% wrong!
The brilliance of NOMINEE passed me by – whacked it in and hoped for the best. All green in 13.05. I had to work quite hard for this, not least because I didn’t know what a seraglio was!
The crossword made me think too and I don’t mind that, but I don’t like having to ask myself whether a word really does mean this or that ? I think for a quickie the vocabulary should be words or phrases which are at least common usage. I originally posted that I thought that the setter had confused babbled with blabbed but I note it’s in the dictionary. Personally I’m not impressed when setters resort to this kind of obscurity . Thanks Joker and Bletchleyreject
12:57 ‘Twicksy Joker!’, the Spotty out-of-the-way nominee babbled.
Ta🦡
35mins
I made this QC harder than it actually was. Still, I got there eventually. NE corner was last in.
Some excellent clues.
Thanks Joker and BR
32:25 – I really struggled with the top half of this. Completely off the wavelength, needing ages to see what Joker was driving at. Tough.
I think the parsing above is incorrect — it should be:
BABBLED (‘divulged secrets’) – B (‘British’) AB (‘sailor’) BLED (‘leaked’)
It isn’t a great clue though: surely to “divulge secrets” is to blab, not to babble.
Thanks for pointing out the boo-boo. No matter how many times I check, I still miss obvious errors like this! Blog edited.
A 30 minute solve, so a bit on the tougher side for me, but nothing too obscure although I needed all the fillers for HAREM. I enjoyed the long clues best and was going to list them, but, there, I’ve said it.
Thanks Joker and Bletch
Joker always plays with my head. I finished in 17.10 (the high teens are becoming my norm these days) and shared many of the MERs above. BLABBED had to become BABBLED and, given a couple of crossers, CREDIT was constructed OK but I entered it with crossed fingers.
I finished in the empty NE corner; LATERALLY led to GULP which moved me on to GROUP (clever) and my LOI SPOTTY.
There were some very good clues mixed in with the rest including some neat anagrams (NOMINEE was my COD).
Thanks to Joker and to BR for a good blog and help with a couple of parsings (apart from 1ac where BLED is surely ‘leaked’ and not ‘divulged secrets’ as currently shown).
Apart from 1A this was a sitter. I was tempted by “blabbed” but the parsing wasn’t right, and I’m glad Jack checked that BABBLED meant more than “spoke incoherently”.
FOI GULP
LOI BEDROCK
COD SMOKER
TIME 3:42
7.36
Same thoughts as Vinyl. Some lovely clues – GROUP was the pick for me. Thanks Joker and BR.
From BABBLED to NOMINEE in 8:13. Took a while to see GROUP and SPOTTY. I needed SHOWSTOPPER before they materialised. Thanks Joker and BR.
I managed eight first pass, mostly south including nominee which I saw immediately for what it was and how it was so pleased with that. I didn’t feel like doing a third thinking pass after the second quick pass.
I need crossers to help with the anagrams. I could see 9d was an anagram but I thought dozy was the indicator.
Thanks both
The bottom half was easier than the top. Couldn’t see how BEDROCK worked, or why DISH OUT, so thanks, BR. LOI LATERALLY, NHO RALLY. Completed it, anyway, so thanks Joker!
I enjoyed this crossword very much and was (in my terms) racing through. Sadly I put in PLUG rather than GULP, which held me up in the NE corner. Never parsed LOTUS or GROUP and had to go through the alphabet to get to SPOTTY. Finally done in 15.32.
4:48. Two standout clues for NOMINEE and ICE today. Thanks Joker and BR.
The usual high standard from The Joker, and I was certainly on the setters wavelength to finish in 7.10. I had to dodge around a bit, and my general feeling was that it was harder than my time suggests. Nice to see Cedric getting a mention at 9ac!
15:36 for the solve. I felt uninspired from the start. Perhaps the surfaces are too good for the QC such that I little sense of what clues were wanting from me. The lower half went in easier than the top; last five mins were spent on the HAREM/ROOKIE and GROUP / SPOTTY (LOI) pairings.
Have to say while the answer went in immediately I don’t understand what “Whence one gets curds” means.
Thanks to BR and Joker
When making cheese, the milk is mixed with rennet, this causes it to separate into solids (curds) and liquid (whey). The curds are lifted out and pressed to form cheese. Thus one gets curds “out of the whey”.
Thank-you. Sounds like I need to brush up on my cheese making!!
This was never going to be a quick solve – Joker rarely is these days – but I didn’t help myself by missing a few obvious answers along the way : Bar, Spotty and Retina all took too long to see. To cap it all, I looked up the nho Seraglio (I’ve led a quiet life) and Google thoughtfully gave Harem as a visible example, so an automatic DNF for what would otherwise probably have been a 30min solve. CoD to Smoker for the smile – something few and far between in today’s puzzle. Invariant
There’s a Mozart opera “The Abduction from the Seraglio” so I had no problem with the answer. Parsing was much harder and I gave up on that.
I’m afraid Mozart was a touch too prolific to be of much use here, if Figaro and Don Giovanni don’t hit the mark.
No time, I need to negotiate some quiet moments for solving with the newly retired Mr K!
Despite the interruptions this was a most enjoyable puzzle. ‘Blabbed’ misled me for longer than it should have but then SHOWSTOPPER (my CoD) led to LOTUS and I saw the error of my ways.
Most depressing. Couldn’t solve halve of it. Most clues unintelligible to me, yet others sailed through it.
Are you quite a new solver? Half seems very good to me. Those who appear to sail though it have been doing these for many years, but everyone finds their level – whether it’s the speed solvers (for whom time is the most important aspect) or those who just enjoy a puzzle, and don’t worry about time.
It took me six months to complete my first grid, having started when the quickie was first published nearly 12 years ago, and finding this site made a huge difference to my improvement rates, quite apart from introducing me to a most entertaining and interesting group of people. We all have days where things don’t quite click – certainly I do 😅 So don’t feel bad and keep having a go – I hope you’ll find it less depressing and more enjoyable as the days go by.
No need to be depressed! They are called “cryptic” for a reason. One of the unexpected benefits for me of doing these has been the development of a more philosophical attitude towards “losing” — it has somehow become part of the fun.
I know how you feel. It’s a slow process getting to grips with these puzzles, but keep going! 😊
Gary!
You have become the encourager!!
I have suffered with you through your angst and an now delighted to see this transformation!
Keep on at it.
Gary – you have become the encourager!! I have observed your angst over time and am delighted to see this new approach!!
Keep on at ‘em!
Thank you!
6.25 SMOKER, BEDROCK and CREDIT brought up the rear. Thanks BR and Joker.
Nothing too scary although I didn’t know what a seraglio was so I had to wait for the useful first and last checkers. My favourite clues were GROUP and NOMINEE. Home in 7:50 Thanks BR.
18:59 – not on the wavelength
18:23
Steady solve, slowed in NE corner before coming stuck and spending 2 minutes on LOI SPOTTY.
I liked this one – thanks Joker. Some great clues, especially NOMINEE and OUT OF THE WAY, although COD goes to SPOTTY (lovely). Puzzled over 1a for some time as I was expecting it to be blabbed. DNK that BABBLED could mean the same thing (thanks for confirming this Jack). As usual, great to learn something. Thanks very much BR.
Shout = turn to buy a round??
It’s your shout = it’s your turn to buy a round
As in “It’s your/my shout…” said in a pub group paying by round…
Sorry, Fabian, it crossed over.
DNF.
Have to disagree with Bletchley. Several very poor clues. Hope for a better i.e. more doable puzzle tomorrow
LOTUS is not the same plant as water lily.
Look it up on the internet. Clearly wrong.
Not in botanical terms, but in poetic references it is…
In any terms you like the lotus plant is not the same as the water lily.
In any terms you like a lotus plant is not a water lily.
We are using dictionary references here
not poetic references. At least I hope so.
Definition 1 of Chambers for lotus: An Egyptian or Indian water lily of various species of Nymphaea and Nelumbium…
Well, I, in an instant biffed LOTUS – drawn from somewhere in my memory banks – and so sure was I of it as the answer – that, in my enthusiasm, I then jumped to LOCUST as the parasite (which it VERY clearly is not nor has it ever been)… I blithely ignored such reality..so desperate was I to create a Lotus from this winged creature that ‘eats tons’…
I also convinced myself that a locust was indeed a parasite until coming here … it did work!!
😄
Joker, as usual, not on my wavelength. Nothing unheard of, just never what comes to mind. I always feel like giving up around half way through, but keep on in the hope that some day I’ll ‘get’ him.
My heart used to sink a bit whenever I saw Joker’s name on the QC. So I’ve been pretty surprised to finish a few of his in less than my average time lately. I think you’re right and eventually one gets his style.
Bar, Ice and Stud were the only write-ins for me. Everything else was a lot of work, not helped by being very hazy on the spelling of somnolent. Spent some time wondering if “Brobin” was a thing, given rhe 2 crissers I had. Pleased to finish, eventually.
FOI Bar
LOI Nominee
COD Rookie – great misdirection with what is a simple clue
Thanks Joker and B
All but 8 solved in 20 mins. Ridiculous improvement, given I’m only solving five or six each day!
👏
Ridiculous in a good way!
Wouldn’t have got OUT OF THE WAY if I’d sat here all day. Veering more towards the lemon variety
Quite a bit of thinking needed but I got there in the end over a long lunch, so perhaps 45 minutes.
I was happy with babbled meaning “divulged secrets?” because of the question mark.
I started ticking clues I particularly liked but ended up with a whole forest of ticks. Pretty much liked everything except for 7ac. Completed in 19 minutes with all parsed except for my LOI where I didn’t bother. A great xword where I was pleased to sneak in under 20 minutes.
FOI – 5ac GULP
LOI – 1dn BAR
COD – where to start? If I have to choose one I would go for 5dn GROUP as it uses a device which is new to me.
Thanks to Joker and BR
My thanks to Joker and BletchleyReject.
Quite tricky I thought.
1a Babbled, I started with blabbed which is marginally closer to divulging secrets but doesn’t parse, as others have mentioned.
And followed up with 5a (Gulp) as Plug. Doh!
CREDIT = reliability and BABBLED = divulged secrets seemed a bit loose, but otherwise no complaints! I’m always amused by how many drug references there are in the crosswords, and it shows how crosswordy I’ve got that when I saw weed burner, I automatically thought of something to do with a spliff / joint / reefer rather than a garden incinerator 🤣 The clue still took its time to solve though.
SHOWSTOPPER made me smile, as did GROUP and SOMNOLENT.
8:24 FOI Bar LOI Smoker COD Nominee – definitely an &lit in my book, and what a cracker!
Thanks Joker for a witty crossword and BR for a cheerful blog
This resident of the SCC agrees with the comments about BABBLED and CREDIT. Certainly not the normal meaning of these words.
Other than that, hard work but got there in the end and feeling very pleased given many of the other comments. Definitely liked GRO(W)UP
I spent some time on incinerators – sea green incorruptible!
14 minutes.
I didn’t care for BABBLED (for the reasons others have already given).
13:37, with final 3 minutes spent on SPOTTY.
Thanks BR and Joker
Once again bad biffing brought big delays.
BLABBED is so clearly divulging secrets I went with that despite the parsing doubts.
Brooks babble, normally near a shady nook. DNK the other meaning.
At 4d I bunged in DOLE OUT.
So it’s not surprising that I took 21 minutes to correct and unravel everything.
Last in were GROUP and SPOTTY -not consistent in quality is not a definition I would have come up with; although I am now thinking about England’s batting. Was that spotty?
David
10:55 and my hold-ups were DISH OUT, BABBLED, BEDROCK, and SPOTTY. I think this is the first time I’ve seen “shout” for a round of drinks, and I kept trying “dole out”. I had to biff GROUP and then stared for quite a while to parse it. I couldn’t figure out what “grand” was doing in the clue for SHOWSTOPPER.
Sorry everyone, I actually liked CREDIT.
WOD SOMNOLENT, COD NOMINEE, good one! OUT OF THE WAY a close second.
Thanks Joker and Bletch.
Pottered through this by the fire after a gorgeous walk in the frozen Highland hills, followed by tea and the last of the Christmas cake.
BABBLED went straight in – that sense is familiar to me and is in both Chambers and Collins. But my last two in (SMOKER then finally BEDROCK) took a while. I really struggled to parse BEDROCK, even though the answer seemed so clear that I’d started to write it in immediately.
Got home in 08:22 for an OKish Day. COD to GROUP. Many thanks Bletchers and the Funny Man.
Got there in the end – well over the 20 minute mark. Took an age to get BABBLED (hmm) because I thought tar had to be our sailor and so traitor came to mind – but couldn’t be parsed, not nohow! Loved OUT OF THE WAY and the Edwardian topper making its appearance. Medium hard for me but enjoyable – thanks!
Just 16 correct on 15 x 15 in well over an hour.
Truly dire performance. I don’t have the mental dexterity required for the big crossword. Every time I try it I feel like I’m wading through glue.
BABBLED and GULP went straight in but slowed down after that with LATERALLY and SPOTTY holding me up at the end.
NHO a SERAGLIO but I have led a sheltered life.
Liked NOMINEE and SHOWSTOPPER.
Thanks as usual.
Mozart’s Entführung Aus Dem Serail (or The Abduction from the Harem) gave us opera goers a leg up there!
It’s uncanny how a single clue can muck things up. Yesterday it was NONDESCRIPT, which held me up for several minutes at the end and single-handedly ruined what would have been my first ever sub-10. Today’s offering by Joker was altogether a much harder challenge, but I successfully fought my way through to my final clue in a little over 40 minutes. Trouble was that ~10 minutes on T_N_L_ failed to yield the solution, so all my hard work resulted in a DNF. Drat, drat and double drat!
Many thanks to BR and Joker.
19 mins…
Tough, I thought. A few easy ones to start off, but then became progressively more difficult the more I went down the grid. 5dn took an age to work out, even though I knew it had to be “Group”. Similarly, I didn’t know what a “Sergalio” was.
FOI – 1ac “Babbled”
LOI – 16dn “Harem”
COD – 14ac “Out of the way”
Thanks as usual!
26 min. Not bad as not really focused ( long lunch). Many clues took sometime to drop in. Thanks all
9:00, which is pretty quick by my standards. No real problems, though I did need a minute or two at the end to parse HAREM.
Thank you for the blog!