| 7 |
They may succeed in due course (5) |
|
HEIRS – Cryptic definition. |
| 8 |
They leave their country, changing regimes (7) |
|
EMIGRES – Anagram of REGIMES. |
| 10 |
Story a nobleman heard (7) |
|
ACCOUNT – Sounds like A COUNT. |
| 11 |
See Conservative beginning to upset male stand-in (5) |
|
LOCUM – LO + C + U[pset] + M. |
| 12 |
Given a new coat? (9) |
|
REPAINTED – Cryptic definition. |
| 14 |
Stuck in America, dreadfully bad person (3) |
|
CAD – Hidden in [Ameri]CA, D[readfully]. |
| 15 |
Winning the prize ultimately? Wow! (3) |
|
GEE – [winnin]G [th]E [priz]E. |
| 16 |
Happened to be banished (6,3) |
|
TURNED OUT – Double definition, one of which is more or less a cryptic hint. |
| 18 |
Some princess ending in German city (5) |
|
ESSEN – Hidden in [princ]ESS EN[ding]. |
| 20 |
Taciturn prisoner in American city ignored curfew initially (7) |
|
LACONIC – L.A. (CON) I[gnored] C[urfew]. |
| 22 |
Learner in hospital department trailing after boss (7) |
|
STUDENT – STUD + E.N.T. As I always say, there are two different words spelt ‘boss’ with completely different meanings and etymologies, and the setters like to play with them. |
| 23 |
Goddess shortened end of programme in sports stadium maybe (5) |
|
VENUE – VENU[s] + [programm]E. |
6:39
I had a passing MER at SHUN. I bunged in VENUS at 23ac, which cost me a lot of time trying to solve LOI SEMIDETACHED; I finally read the clue for 23 and saw the error of my ways.
New Year, new Izetti? Fairly creamed through this in 6:58, and having done so, was surprised to learn who the setter was. 3 cryptic clues also a bit of a surprise, as was the fact that I got all three fairly quickly, as they are not typically clues I find easy. REPAINTED in particular caused me to smile as it was so unexpected when the penny dropped.
Many thanks Vinyl for the emergency blog.
Oops – hope I didn’t crash the system! I think this is the first time I’ve finished an Izetti puzzle in under 3 minutes
I felt the heat as you whizzed by.
9 minutes and my run of sub-10s continues making 4 now!
Enjoyed this and completed in 12.15 which is excellent for me! Thanks to Vinyl for stepping into the breach and a Happy Hew Year to all
Many thanks to Vinyl for riding to the rescue. Not an auspicious tech start to 2026 for me.
06:24, would have been faster had I not got stuck on LOI SEMIDETACHED. COD ESAU.
Happy New Year, everyone!
12:14. A surprisingly gentle Izetti, but then I spent far too long on LOI SEMIDETACHED (is it really one word?). I have to admit I did like BE A TIT.
Thank you Izetti and vinyl, and Templar too for the fine blog we never saw
After a promising start I didn’t find this as straightforward as some of the early commenters and had a complete brainfreeze with my last two in.
In other news it’s amazing what sort of questions I sometimes find myself asking the internet. This morning it was ‘was Esau hairy?’ and it appears many others had also asked it as the predictive text in the search bar was way ahead of me.
Started with THEATREGOERS and finished with the CAVE/VENUE combo in 8.39.
My sympathies to Templar for what must have been a hugely frustrating tech failure but thanks to Vinyl for stepping in at short notice and Izetti for the puzzle.
Esau may be the most famously hirsute man in history, thanks to Genesis 27:11: “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man”. So Rebekah covered Jacob’s hands in kidskin; blind old Isaac did an ID check by feeling Jacob’s hands and took him for Esau; and thus deceitful Jacob stole his father’s blessing from his brother. What a 14a Jacob was.
These and other gems would have been yours had it not been for the Curious Incident of The Blog That Disappeared in the Night-time. Great blog, beautiful blog, probably the best blog of all time. RIP blog.
Love it. Apologies to the other Don.
I expect that it was the ultimate pinnacle of human endeavour, an inspirational masterpiece of creativity and wit that would have ushered in a utopian age of peace and togetherness across the Earth and still further beyond; a joyous hymn of blissful harmony that would have echoed forever around the entirety of creation.
Oh well. Thanks anyway. Happy new year!
I’m weeping in frustration
Not at the races today at all…
Didn’t see the hiddens, solve the cryptics or the long anagram at 1d. I was on the right track thinking party wall but the penny didn’t drop.
Thanks V & I
Couldn’t parse CAVE as I was trying to make it work with COVET, but knew COVE was wrong. Also a bit surprised to have 3 purely cryptic clues. COD BEAT IT. Thanks Izetti, and Vinyl for helping out at short notice.
Well…. I am clearly so far out of step with the quick solvers above that I should be dishonourably discharged. I spent a ridiculous amount of time on DISLODGE, LOCUM, SHUN after slowly making my way through the likes of SEMIDETACHED (no hyphen?), DISCIPLE (good clue) BEAT IT (didn’t parse) etc.
I don’t understand my brain fade – I hardly touched a drop last night and had a good night’s sleep.
And I thought I had managed recent puzzles from Izetti rather well -more low teens than usual. I finished but this was not a good start to my Crossword year.
Happy New Year All!
14:37 Perhaps because I wasn’t the only one painting the town red last night…turned out heirs repainted venue.
TaVAI
Despite an unhelpful grid I was finished in 9 minutes. LOI DISCIPLE, a good clue.
COD DISLODGE.
David
4:29. Quite gentle for Izetti and a nice start to the year. Thank-you Izetti and Vinyl/Templar.
A gentle start to the year. Commiserations to Templar and thanks to Vinyl for the blog! From HEIRS to SEMIDETACHED in 5:35. Thanks Izetti.
Quite fast then struggled with DISLODGE, as had at first put Threw Out for 16a. Also slow on CAVE/VENUE (latter great clue). The two long down clues helped. Also liked BEAT IT, LACONIC, and ESAU, among others.
Happy New Year and thanks to Vinyl, Templar and all our other valiant bloggers.
Happy New Year everyone!
I am happy with a fully solved and parsed Izetti for the first QC of the year.
FOI EMIGRES – talk about an easy anagram
LOI BEAT IT – took some time for the penny to drop
COD ESAU
Thanks Izetti, Vinyl and Templar.
DNF. Seeing how easily most seem to have tackled this Izetti, I’m worried about my brain. Couldn’t get REPAINTED, DISLODGE or BEAT IT. Also biffed CELL for CAVE so couldn’t get VENUE. And I didn’t even stay up for New Year!
We seem to have shared a similar experience (I posted on mine above). I’m glad I am not alone. Most people today seem to have been on-wavelength. I can’t understand how I was so far off it…….
6:32
COD to BEAT IT
LOI was DISLODGE
Thanks Vinyl, Templar and Izetti
Happy New Year to everybody
I needed most of the crossers to see Theatregoers, and was similarly slow with Relate and Laconic. Semi-detached however went in straight away. My last pair, Shun (via Snub) and Dislodge blew any remaining chance of a window seat, and left me in a bit of a grumpy mood. Then I came here and read about Templar’s misfortune and realised others have had a much worse start to the solving year.
CoD to Beat It for the smile; my thanks to Izetti and Vinyl and commiserations to Templar. Invariant
13:26
SEMI DETACHED and THEATREGOERS both took too long.
LOI HEIRS.
I thought the two cryptics, HEIRS and REPAINTED a bit weak today. But that’s often the way with cryptics.
COD BEAT IT, although definition “act like a fool” would also work with today’s slang. If someone says “don’t be a tit” they are not usually telling you to refrain from mimicking a songbird.
Alternatively ‘Act like a bird and fly!’?
Definitely echo Vinyl’s comments about this. I was expecting a much harder workout, but most answers went straight in. FOI the hairy man, without even looking at the rest of the clue, LOI SEMIDETACHED. While seeing this was a CD, it still took me a while to get the answer, though luckily I’d immediately corrected VENUS to VENUE on reading the clue properly. Is he being kind to fragile morning solvers?
A nice easy start to the new year with a 7.37 finish. Went to bed early last night as my wife is still recuperating from her flu ordeal, and missed celebrating the moment for the first time in over thirty years. Having said that, our near neighbours decided to celebrate at midnight with a firework display that rivalled the one at the London Eye, so I was awoken to welcome in the New Year after all!
Liked many, SHUN stood out. The cryptics popped right out which is unusual as I generally struggle before the penny drops.
A better than average time for me between 15 and 20 minutes which left me out of the club and motivated to make my own celebratory breakfast full of saturated fats and calories including a large dollop of Hollandaise sauce for good measure. Oh well, I suppose the fresh orange juice was a healthy contribution. After a troubled 2025 I am starting 2026 in high spirits and I wish all fellow commenters, setters and bloggers a Happy, Healthy and Joyous New Year. Thank you all for Richly enjoyed entertainment and mental acrobatics.
I usually enjoy an Izetti and this was no exception. Particularly enjoyed “beat it”
Happy New Year to everyone, especially our bloggers and setters. I don’t often post here, but I read the blog every day and it is a great way to continue to learn the dark arts of cryptic crossword solving.
17.05, so a fairly quick solve for an Izetti puzzle for me. Relatively straightforward, just held up a bit by CAVE/VENUE in SW corner.
Must be on Izetti’s wavelength today as I fairly tore through this QC. Had doubts about one or two definitions – is LACONIC a synonym for curt and SHUN for evade? Like many, got stuck on VENUE/VENUS initially. Liked BEAT IT and LOCUM. Thanks to Izetti and Vinyl, and commiserations to poor Templar. Happy New Year to all who make this site – so helpful and such fun.
A good start to 2026 for me, coming in at 9:22. Despite my moaning about cryptic definitions I enjoyed SEMIDETACHED, though probably only because it popped into my head quite quickly. Struggled at the end with CAVE and VENUE, though looking back I’m not sure why.
Thank you (both) for the blog(s)!
21:13
Unaccountably pushed into the SCC by being unable to spell LOI DISCIPLE.
Failed to see how the definition for REPAINTED was cryptic. It just seemed a straight definition which caused me to hesitate before entering it.
A run of the mill 12:31 here with LOI BEAT IT, being slow to understand the ‘act like’ bit. CAD couldn’t really have been much else once we had the checkers but didn’t see the hidden until coming here! Liked DISCIPLE, and BEAT IT once the penny dropped. A Happy New Year to all.