Parksolve time = 43 minutes. Solving time was a little slower than usual and the run was just a glorified walk. Nice morning for it though on Sydney’s north shore.
Our solver today is City, making his / her 3rd Saturday appearance and 4th appearance overall. I’ll be interested as usual to hear how people found it. One notable feature of the puzzle is the almost total lack of anagrams (one and a half by my count) which presumably suits some solvers more than others.
(Apologies for posting this a bit late and without fleshing out some of the explanations. I had almost finished it before running into some old mates, which led to a beer or two, which led to me forgetting my duties, so…sorry!)
(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 | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hit Philip with eastern weapon (8) |
| BLOWPIPE – BLOW (hit) + PIP (Philip) + E (eastern) | |
| 5 | Inferior blessing not entirely needed (4) |
| LESS – Contained in (not entirely needed) bLESSing | |
| 8 | Fine material wrapping new blade (5) |
| LANCE – LACE (fine material) “wrapping” N (new) | |
| 9 | Elegant silver over in US city (7) |
| CHICAGO – CHIC (elegant) + AG (silver) + O (over) | |
| 11 | American/Irish song (3) |
| AIR – A (American) + IR (Irish) | |
| 12 | Indian Premier League welcomed by member of royal family, 23 (9) |
| PRINCIPLE – IPL (Indian Premier League) “welcomed by” PRINCE (member of royal family)
The definition is “23”, as in 23 across = STANDARD |
|
| 13 | Leave Antarctica? (6) |
| DESERT – Double definition
The experts will tell you it’s a desert but I don’t see them filming Lawrence of Arabia there. |
|
| 15 | Upset, wearing green (6) |
| INVERT – IN (wearing) + VERT (green) | |
| 18 | Failing like gun turned the other way around (4,5) |
| VICE VERSA – VICE (failing) + [AS (like) + REV (gun)] reversed (turned) | |
| 19 | I hate this short novel? (3) |
| BOO – “short” BOO |
|
| 20 | At first, some heard, I nearly dominated in Green Party (7) |
| SHINDIG – Initial letters (at first) of Some Heard I Nearly Dominated In Green | |
| 21 | Pigs’ blood putting off outsiders in White House (5) |
| IGLOO – Inner letters (putting off outsiders) of pIGs bLOOd | |
| 22 | Disgusting position (4) |
| RANK – Double definition | |
| 23 | Model bear next to A road (8) |
| STANDARD – STAND (bear) + A + RD (road) | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Post openings of love letters penned by committee (7) |
| BOLLARD – LL [initial letters (openings) of Love Letters] “penned by” BOARD (committee) | |
| 2 | One admitting wife in Nevadan city is upset (5) |
| OWNER – W (wife) in ONER [RENO (Nevadan city) reversed (upset)] | |
| 3 | New paper established — it’s agreed beforehand (11) |
| PREAPPROVED – (PAPER)* + PROVED (established) | |
| 4 | Walk in the park, and what comes next? (6) |
| PICNIC – Double definition | |
| 6 | More than enough to support former partner, for instance (7) |
| EXAMPLE – AMPLE (more than enough) “to support” EX (former partner) | |
| 7 | Small ice cream cake (5) |
| SCONE – S (small) + CONE (ice cream) | |
| 10 | Spell in prison headquarters initially overlooked (11) |
| INCANTATION – IN + CAN (prison) + |
|
| 14 | Coe isn’t running district (7) |
| SECTION – (COE ISN’T)* | |
| 16 | Double act slow to riff, so fall behind ultimately (7) |
| TWOFOLD – Last letters (ultimately) of acT sloW tO rifF sO falL behinD | |
| 17 | Alarm following fit (6) |
| FRIGHT – F (following) + RIGHT (fit) | |
| 18 | Shade of some Levi’s originally (5) |
| VISOR – Hidden in (of some) leVI’S ORiginally | |
| 19 | Like dog to upend wood (5) |
| BALSA – [AS (like) + LAB (dog)] reversed (to upend) | |
I would say that this puzzle is quite difficult – the QUITCH is at 134. The big problem was the lack of anagrams and chestnuts, which the skilled solvers use to fill in the easy ones before biffing their way to the end. Actually having to solve each clue definitely slows one down! I was held up in the end by bollard, not the first words that comes to mind, which then gave me blowpipe. But I still had rank to go, and needed an alphabet trawl.
Time: 13:16
CHICAGO, EXAMPLE and PICNIC all went in as chestnuts but they are filling the same NE area so don’t necessarily help fill out the grid as you say. I’ve seen SCONE before as well.
Even the quickies are getting harder! I did enjoy it though there were a few that should have been write-ins that slowed me down; SCONE, PRINCIPLE, TWOFOLD and IGLOO, where I could see ‘loo’ but stupidly failed to include the middle of ‘pigs’ and failing to remember that an igloo is a White House. Duh! Saw the two long downs which helped with checkers. Thanks for the image of camels and tribesmen wandering across the ice G. COD to CHICAGO.
Thanks G and setter.
I struggled with this one, with several of the definitions proving elusive. PRINCIPLE for standard in particular eluded me while solving, and I remain unconvinced: “those are my principles” and “those are my standards” are close but not really the same to me. Right for Fit in FRIGHT also escaped me while solving, and Station for Headquarters in INCANTATION is another which left me scratching my head – I can’t think of a phrase where they can substitute for each other. Rev for Gun in VICE VERSA took some thinking about too – not sure I’ve seen that one before. As for “What comes next” indicating PICNIC, it seems to me a cryptic reference (and a pretty loose one at that) rather than the second half of a DD.
16:39 for the solve, and eventually all done, but all in all I was left more grimacing than smiling at this puzzle.
Many thanks Galspray for the blog. P.S. (on edit) – you’ve really confused the SNITCH with your time for solve and Parkrun – it has scored you as 43 minutes for the puzzle alone!
Yes, tricky but satisfying with a lot of groaning as the PDMs came. All done at 26.12 while waiting for enough light to brave the sub-zero temperatures for our walk.
I think station and HQ are pretty much synonymous for the emergency services, fire, police, ambulance?
COD to shindig for misdirection of being sure there was a homophone in there until it turned out to be arguable one of the easiest clues on the grid!
Thanks City and Galspray
Thanks for the thoughts on station/HQ. I fear though this is one for the late Queen’s famous “recollections may vary” comment – fire station and police station, most certainly, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard them called “fire HQ” and “police HQ” respectively.
Agree, Cedric.
Pretty tough.
I had BACK FIRED for 18A until the subsequent answers knocked it out.
SCC 21:33. Picnic blowpipe fright with principle and vice versa. Ho Hun.
Ta GAC
I could not get on the setters wavelength. Reading the explanations I’m baffled that this could have been edited and approved as a quickie. Thanks though!
7:21. A bit of tester today! My slowest for nearly a month. I was stuck for a minute at the end on STANDARD having in incorrect and unparsed TWOSOME for 16D where I failed to spot the “final letters” wordplay for too long. Thanks City and Galspray.
I really didn’t enjoy this. It felt more like a Guardian crossword than the Times.
12:19 for the solve. Last 4 mins on tricky SW double-defs of DESERT, RANK linked by the tricky SECTION anagram, with INVERT also to be done. Enjoyable puzzle (with the exception of the PRINCIPLE cross reference to 23A – Galspray I wonder if this definition should be explicitly explained in the blog)
Frosty morning down here on the south coast so decided against driving some miles to any of my local parkruns and just ran from home. Strava tells me that my 5K came in at 22:41 so my unofficial parksolve coming in at 35mins on the dot. I really need to do more aerobic work if I’m to get faster on the runs.
Edit: thanks to Galspray and City
By aerobic do you mean baseline / easy / zone two HR as I used to in cycling terms?
There’s so much terminology out there it’s hard to know what anyone means these days. Essentially though I’m a fast-twitcher so I’m naturally weaker at distance – I just need to do a lot more easy running below LT1 to improve the aerobic side. That’s probably zone2 in your cycling terminology. I’ve just got out of the habit of running anything slow recently!
The big thing as we get older (an I’m now 75) is maintenance of muscle mass and strength. Dead lifts with a hex bar, done with a fast but smooth action, are very effective.
Like you, I was fast twitch dominant as a cyclist, so sprinter rather than distance rider although light enough to be a reasonable climber.
As you may have read from my previous comments, I had a crash in a closed road time trial three years ago resulting in a spinal cord injury. I was doing upper body weights from three weeks after. I was doing the odd Park Run back in 2019. Times weren’t that good as I was staying with my wife’s pace. Never got under 40 minutes.
Yes, I’m aware of your situation plus how ageing affects fitness. Recovery is the big problem as it takes longer with age but also, as you say, maintaining recruited muscle and strength are a key aim.
I went back to the gym for the first time in over 15 years last winter (6mth membership) and back again at start of this past October. I talk with the powerlifters and learn from them while remaining mindful that their focus is different to my running one.
I did some deadlifts last year but a minor injury forced me to focus on other lifts. I’ve been more successful this time around – pulled 3 sets of 6x 122.5kg just before Christmas which is about 1.4x body weight (89kg). The running recommendations I’ve seen are 3 sets of 8 for 1.5-1.8x body weight (135-160ish) – you then develop power with the quick stuff later on.
I’m sure you will understand that with gym currently twice per week for lower body – it’s a little harder to maintain the aerobic side for running at the same time. No matter – maximising good health (i.e. balancing training vs recovery) is my real priority.
gallic acid is great for increasing skeletal muscle mass AND curing cancer
Great time ND! 👏
When will you become a blogger?
Thanks, I doubt that will happen. I’m in bed by 10:30pm and not staying up to blog something at midnight!
That would put me off too! 🤣
Having visited the washroom instead of the BATHROOM yesterday, and spoiled today’s Concise with yet another typo, my pink square count is running wild. Consequently I approached this with caution, and didn’t try to be speedy. It worked.
FOI LANCE
LOI SHINDIG
COD PICNIC
TIME 5:23
After the first few minutes, I didn’t try to be speedy, either. Definitions of ‘speedy’ may vary…. 😉
This was very tough. I finished but had to resort to one or two biffs, once enough crossers emerged. I was well into the SCC when I completed this. All the puzzles from City have been difficult to see as QCs. I managed the last one without breaking the 20 min barrier and thought perhaps the setter was beginning to get the message. Sadly, not.
Thanks to City for a real workout but not much joy.
Thanks to Galspray, too; I will now check the parsing.
I am with gcook52 – the Crossword Editor is clearly away for New Year.
Phew, exhausted. Needed hint from CCD for BALSA (despite my avatar) as I was stuck in the SE, having plodded slowly around the grid, solving here and there. Anyway BALSA gave me BOO, IGLOO and LOI TWOFOLD, and enabled me to finish eventually. Feel I should have seen ‘ultimate’ letters in that one.
Liked BLOWPIPE, SHINDIG, BOLLARD. Struggled with parsing today so thanks, Galspray. CNP biffed VICE VERSA. I always vaguely wondered what it meant when Americans ‘gun’ the engine of a car, now I know they mean ‘rev’.
As I was making even slower than usual progress and felt to be in unfamiliar territory, I decided to see who the setter was (Settings, Puzzle info) and found CITY. I do wish The Times would show setter’s name on the puzzle. Unfamiliar with CITY, I plodded onwards to finish in 32 mins. Difficult and I struggled to get a hold on this one. Had to think hard before I parsed REV. Doesn’t apply in a Tesla.
Thanks Galspray and CITY.
Very slow, but very enjoyable, no clue taking more than a minute or two, but almost none taking much less. Thanks to city and galspray.
5:49
Gorblimey. It’s after 10am (UK) and I’m up in the heady heights of 16th on the leaderboard. I found this quite mild, without too many holdups, indeed I can’t really see what might have slowed others down. Hey ho – next one will probably be easy, and I’ll be the fall guy that can’t see the answers.
As for Parkrun, it’s too frosty in hilly Lancaster for the event to go ahead, so an extra hour in bed was very welcome.
Thanks Galspray and City
Galspay’s parksolve was quicker than the 47 minutes it took me to finish this puzzle but it was actually a nice steady solve until the final two: STANDARD and FRIGHT (didn’t consider f for following) which added a good 10 to 15m.
I would never have parsed VICE VERSA but thankfully the two Vs made it the only answer. And thankfully I remembered there is only one C.
DESERT went in with fingers crossed.
Thanks both.
26:23 to limp home. Very difficult, several pure guesses needed to finish, being totally unable to parse several answers. These QCs are becoming too hard to be fun lately.
Super stuff – tough, but fair – very much enjoyed some clever clues. 11 mins.
Thanks C&G
26mins which is about par.
I must have been on City’s wavelength as I did not find this particularly difficult. Much to enjoy – some witty clues. I found the clues very clear and enjoyed the misdirections.
CODs DESERT, PICNIC, SHINDIG
LOI TWOFOLD
Thanks to City and galspray.
I struggle without anagrams. I find the Ikea clues hard to decipher at the best of times.
7.00
Usual enjoyable scan through the comments. Puzzle and blog decent too. Did think it tough but had a rush of answers, once a few checkers appeared. (I refer readers to the secrets revealed by the estimable Vinyl!)
11.17 I spent a couple of minutes not parsing LOI TWOFOLD before submitting it and immediately seeing it. Thanks galspray and City.
Enjoyable, though not easy. Some clever clueing – I was particularly foxed by Antarctica, trying to think how it could be described, yet missing the obvious DESERT until near the end, because we are conditioned into thinking hot and dry for deserts, rather than cold and dry. A boring clue would have been ‘Leave Gobi?’ which would have just been a write-in. Although I got BLOWPIPE straightaway, it took a long time to see BOLLARD, as I was thinking of a different meaning of post. The lack of anagrams certainly required more application than usual.
I agree that this was tough. The last one I did flew in on 6 minutes something – this one needed more than double that. Having said that, I enjoyed this tussle. The warmth of Sydney’s North Shore, beers with mates – our blogger is making me jealous!
I warmed up for this with a 17-minute completion of yesterday’s Breadman which, being very fast for me, gave me hope and enthusiasm for the task ahead. However, as I have just discovered, my hope was false and my enthusiasm misplaced. 47+ minutes for me, but at least it wasn’t a DNF.
Very few clues were write-ins and too many required several minutes work apiece. My L2I were INCANTATION and INVERT, both of which had me fooled for ages.
Many thanks to Galspray and City.
Tricky but enjoyable. I imagine not worrying about time taken is very helpful with this sort of QC. Couldn’t parse VICE VERSA or TWOFOLD, and reverse-engineered OWNER. Lots of clever clues including BOLLARD, INVERT and PRINCIPLE, but I must say I did miss a bit of humour. Many thanks for the blog galspray. Thanks City.
One of those puzzles where I’m sure I could have been a lot quicker (🙄) if only I’d bothered to read through all the clues first. Instead, I waded through treacle for long periods before loi Desert finished off a distinctly unimpressive 30+min solve. Invariant
Enjoyed this one – all green in 9:34 which is about par for me.
From BLOWPIPE to FRIGHT in 9:44. Totally missed the cross reference in 12a so wondered where the definition was! Thinking cap definitely required for this one. Thnks City and Galspray.
I didn’t enjoy this and was finally beaten by PICNIC so DNF. I haven’t come across REV for revolver before, and just biffed VICE VERSA. Could only think of Vegas in Nevada so took ages to reluctantly put in OWNER. I didn’t like PRINCIPLE for STANDARD either. Not having a good start to the year!
No, you rev/gun a car engine, and then reverse it to give ver.
18:12 and boo, I was going to say, or maybe boohoo, but then looked at the quitch, and it seems I could easily have got into the club but for a bit of luck.
It all went swimmingly until I got into a tangle in the SE, which finally resolved itself after I reasoned my way through STANDARD (I totally forgot that there was a helpful hint in the clue for PRINCIPLE, which I had put in from the wordplay). As usual, straightforward in retrospect, that’s the beauty of cryptics. Many sly clues with fine surfaces. COD VICE VERSA, wow. WOD BOLLARD; they’ve been popping up everywhere around here lately, driving us old-timers crazy, and when I join in the general whining I find that nobody but me seems to use this word.
I must say, INVERT was a stretch. Thank you, French class.
Thanks to City and galspray.
We struggled today with our LOI INVERT going in at 25:11, about twice our average, and we didn’t even have them all fully parsed! Couldn’t understand either VERSA or TWOFOLD both of which went in from checkers. The latter was certainly a doh! moment when we came to the blog. Thanks all.
DNF
Thought that was quite tricky but just couldn’t see last 2, FRIGHT and STANDARD.
Tricky!
Thought the Nevadan city a bit obscure for a UK paper and rev for revolver a bit of a stretch (never heard of gunning an engine before).
Igloo COD
Another dreadful performance. Why do I waste my time with this when I simply cannot do it? Beyond fed up! I spend hours on 15 x 15, then come to QC and have a nightmare. 😡
Keep going – six months in you’ll be down to ten minutes or so. Although this one took me 20, but I really enjoyed it.
Thanks for the encouragement. 👍
Unfortunately I’m 5 or so years in already. I have some good days, but the nightmare days are the ones that stay with me and drain my confidence.
I managed all but 4 clues in the 15 x 15 today, although it took forever.
27mins…
Tricky I thought – even taking into account a couple of afternoon beers. I must have stared at 4dn “Picnic” for an age.
FOI – 11ac “Air”
LOI – 4dn “Picnic”
COD – 1ac “Blowpipe”
Thanks as usual!
18:50 here, found this tricky but enjoyable. COD to SCONE, with honourable mentions to SHINDIG and TWOFOLD, my last two in, for successive excellent PDMs.
Thanks to City and Galspray.
Late in the day and gosh this was tricky. Couldn’t find a steady toe hold and had to dodge about picking up answers here and there. I didn’t do myself any favours by thinking 1a was ‘pipebomb’ and sorting that out didn’t help all that much. Finally staggered home in 25:05 for my second consecutive day in the SCC.
Thanks City and Galspray
Tough, but enjoyable for me too. Lots of clues needed thought to work out but satisfying to get there.
FOI Blowpipe
LOI Scone
COD Twofold
thanks City and Galspray
19:01, and for a while I thought I was heading for a DNF – tricky stuff today. A terrible start, but picked up a bit as I worked my way down, and I thought that IGLOO was particularly nice.
Thank you for the blog!
DNF, couldn’t get INVERT. Didn’t know vert for green other than in French, but Collins says it’s heraldry so pffft.
Many thanks City and gallers.
I’m surprised by all the comments saying this was tough. I rated it as fairly easy, apart from LOI Invert, which took me a while. NHO Rev= gun but got Vice Versa anyway. I found Tuesday’s and Thursday’s crosswords (Joker and Izetti) both much harder than this one. As I am not a very experienced solver, maybe vinyl1’s comment about lack of chestnuts is the reason.