Parksolve time aproximately 38 minutes. (Very slow run, possibly due to being 12ac and 20ac).
Good solid fare from Teazel. I got through it in a decent time and didn’t find anything remarkable to comment on, so I think I’ll just sit back and appreciate the comments.
(On edit: Maybe a few minor obscurities for American solvers, but their always-impeccable manners on here will prevent them from complaining).
Hope you enjoyed 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 | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Legislator has to look intently at long sentence (4,4) |
| LIFE PEER – LIFE (long sentence) + PEER (look intently) | |
| 5 | Anti-American slogan shows common sense (4) |
| NOUS – NO US (Anti-American slogan) | |
| 9 | Doctor to take advantage of computer equipment (5) |
| MOUSE – MO (doctor) + USE (take advantage of) | |
| 10 | One checking for poison impounds old kitchen appliance (7) |
| TOASTER – TASTER (one checking for poison) “impounds” O (old) | |
| 11 | Tree has to evolve (3) |
| ASH – (HAS)* | |
| 12 | Showing signs of age, mangling sentences (9) |
| SENESCENT – (SENTENCES)* | |
| 13 | Speaker’s disconcerted in high seat (6) |
| THRONE – Homophone of THROWN (disconcerted) | |
| 15 | One being milked, everyone admitted, is immature (6) |
| CALLOW – ALL (everyone) “admitted” to COW (one being milked)
Ah, so that’s what callow means. |
|
| 17 | Level stage in position in field (6,3) |
| SQUARE LEG – SQUARE (level) + LEG (stage)
For the non-cricketers, it’s around from fine leg and opposite point. Not the worst place to field as you can have a chat to the umpire to pass the time. |
|
| 19 | Youngster’s short aria (3) |
| SON – SON |
|
| 20 | Decrepit stranger needs to fill empty diary (7) |
| DODDERY – ODDER (stranger) “needs to fill” DY (empty DiarY) | |
| 21 | Trunk finally sent to Bristol regularly (5) |
| TORSO – T [last letter of (finally) senT] + ORSO [alternate letters (regularly) of tO bRiStOl] | |
| 22 | Time to arrest unknown Biblical figure (4) |
| EZRA – ERA (time) “to arrest” Z (unknown) | |
| 23 | Discontinue meetings involving professional rascal (8) |
| PROROGUE – PRO (professional) + ROGUE (rascal)
Most commonly used with respect to Parliament I think. So perhaps another disadvantage (after the cricket clue) for the Americans. |
|
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Business graduate in final thrash (7) |
| LAMBAST – MBA (business graduate) in LAST (final) | |
| 2 | Having plenty of money, not proud (5) |
| FLUSH – Double definition
When you’ve had a good day at the track you come home flush with funds. And when two surfaces are perfectly level with each other they are said to be flush, as opposed to one sitting proud of the other. (Designated by ODE as a Brit usage according to Kevin in the comments. Used commonly in Australia, but the odds continue to stack against our American friends). |
|
| 3 | Partial sense spoiled polite remarks (12) |
| PLEASANTRIES – (PARTIAL SENSE)* | |
| 4 | Consumed portion of meat enchilada (5) |
| EATEN – Hidden in (portion of) mEAT ENchilada | |
| 6 | Taking breakfast, say, love to start with porridge (7) |
| OATMEAL – O (love) + AT MEAL (taking breakfast, say) | |
| 7 | Engineer traps young herring (5) |
| SPRAT – (TRAPS)* | |
| 8 | Argument: lash out, and that could mean prison (12) |
| MANSLAUGHTER – (ARGUMENT LASH)* | |
| 14 | Being fatter, cut game short (7) |
| ROUNDER – ROUNDER |
|
| 16 | Attractive, so have a few successes (7) |
| WINSOME – WIN SOME (have a few successes) | |
| 17 | Grasslike plant in small border (5) |
| SEDGE – S (small) + EDGE (border) | |
| 18 | Film solicitor getting divorced from wife (5) |
| LAYER – LAWYER (solicitor) “getting divorced from” W (wife) | |
| 19 | A little holly perhaps essential to grasp right (5) |
| SPRIG – Hidden in (essential to) graSP RIGht | |
8:06
Didn’t get the ‘not proud’ meaning. (ODE marks ‘proud’ in the relevant sense as (Brit.); I did know ‘proud flesh’, but.) DNK SQUARE LEG, but assumed something crickety.
I found this very hard, just over 30 minutes (more than double my average). DNK SENESCENT, LIFE PEER, or PROROGUE, and only vaguely had heard of CALLOW, SPRAT, and WINSOME. I tortuously worked my way around the grid, finding just enough crossers to finish the puzzle, although SENESCENT was a real guess as the most wordy-sounding word I could come up with.
DODDERY took me a long time, I was try to fit an anagram of NEEDS into DY.
Thanks for the blog.
I fell for the needs thing too, especially since the checkers fitted!
I’m impressed by your construction of SENESCENT!
I put in flush without a second thought – the whole idea of cryptics is that you only have to solve one half of the clue. I struggled a bit with the long anagrams, and couldn’t parse sprig, not being able to see how spig could mean essential. Prorogue caught me out again, it should have been a write-in.
Time: 8:39
10 minutes. I lost a little time by writing PLUSH at 2dn having not read the clue carefully, but the arrival of LIFE PEER soon put me right.
21:02. I made very heavy weather of this one. Struggled with all the anagrams, including even SPRAT and ASH. I liked FLUSH and WINSOME.
If you scan the finished grid, wondering about a Nina, it is alarming to see the MOUSE TOASTER.
Thanks to Teazel for the puzzle and galspray for the blog
From LIFE PEER to PLEASANTRIES in 8:24. A bit sluggish, but I’m not quite awake and am doing this to hopefully put myself back to sleep! Like Vinyl1 I wondered what the hell a SPIG was! Thanks Teazel and Galspray.
I felt I made heavy weather of this, particularly the anagram for PLEASANTRIES, and the unknown SENESCENT needed most of the checkers before being tentatively written in.
Started with NOUS and finished with MANSLAUGHTER in 8.17.
Thanks to Galspray and Teazel.
The Snitch was showing ‘harder’ when I started and ‘moderate’ when I finished but for me it was definitely the former. However this was a good workout for the brain on a Saturday morning.
Favourite clues were NOUS and OATMEAL.
Needed pen, paper and all the checkers for LOI MANSLAUGHTER maybe because it has only four vowels.
Thanks Galspray and Teasel
5:21. A neat puzzle, as always, from Teazel. I was held up by not spotting SPRIG was a hidden for a while and the two long anagrams, which were my last 2 in. I liked the clue for NOUS. Thanks Teazel and Galspray.
Home from a fine visit to Australia – thank you Galspray for the beers and the tour of Fremantle – and I think jetlag explains my relatively slow 13:22 on this. The long anagrams in particular proved reluctant to emerge, and I never did parse my LOI SPRIG. I forget whose wise words it was that “if the wordplay doesn’t make sense, look for a hidden”, but if I had remembered it I’d have made more sense of the clue!
Many thanks Galspray for the blog, and I stand ready to resume duties next week.
In hindsight, a delightful puzzle in terms of clueing – all tools provided, however, a bit of local knowledge (FLUSH, SQUARE LEG, LIFE PEER) GK (EZRA) and familiarity with, at least in our world, rarely used words (PROROGUE, CALLOW, SEDGE, SENESCENT) would certainly have expedited completion. Ah, EZRA said we, having built the answer…before thinking of the book … and so it went. And I suppose that is what a good cryptic clue enables you to do – find the answer without necessarily knowing it.
Thank you Teazel for the tools and Galspray for the advice on how to use them.
A very good QC but, after a very quick start, I was slowed by some rather tough clues. They are all identified by others above including SQUARE LEG, DODDERY, SENESCENT, and my LOI MANSLAUGHTER. I was determined to solve all the anagrams in my head but I’m afraid that my last set of slow answers just tipped me into the SCC (but all parsed).
I didn’t equate doddery with decrepit. It is possible to be a bit doddery (unsteady) on shaky, older legs without being dilapidated, decayed, or crumbling. I have quite a few sprightly, smart friends who would admit to occasionally being slightly doddery but who would be very upset (rightly) if described as decrepit. My dictionary has it as: ‘worn out or ruined because of age or neglect’.
Thanks to Teazel for a slightly harder test than usual for my Saturday and to Galspray for a blog that I will now read in detail.
This took me longer than it should have done – c 30 mins. This was mainly because I took time out to find a diagram of cricket fielding positions to try to learn for future crosswords. SQUARE LEG I can just about manage but SILLY MID ON et al don’t come to mind easily.
LIFE PEER eluded me for ages. After that, others were straightforward.
LOI was MANSLAUGHTER.
COD FLUSH
Thanks Teazel and galspray
Could not parse SPRIG as I didn’t see the hidden. Otherwise a satisfying solve, so still not too doddery or senescent. Thanks Galspray and Teazel.
12 minutes. Nothing to complain about and some nice clues from Teazel of which my favourites were MANSLAUGHTER and WINSOME. I wasn’t quite sure of the exact meaning of CALLOW either so it seems that the term “callow youth”, which I’ve heard used a few times to describe an unprepossessing looking adolescent boy, is a tautology.
Thanks to Teazel and galspray
Level is not synonymous with square.
Level is horizontal and measured with a spirit level.
Square is at right angles and measured with a carpenter’s Trisquare.
Other than that four after 20 minutes and 15 after forty despite being very familiar with oatmeal….
Thanks T n’ G
I was thinking of all the possible meanings of square, like fair and square, or an old-fashioned person, or all-square in golf. I think the old-fashioned golf match score terminology works the best.
how about if i owed you money and then I paid you back – we would be both square and level?
19 mins…
A good puzzle to start Saturday with some clever clues. Even better, no errors on accessing the site. Only issue was mistakenly putting “Shrub” for 19dn which held up “Prorogue” for a while.
FOI – 11ac “Ash”
LOI – 19dn “Sprig”
COD – 2dn “Flush”
Thanks as usual!
Too much for me gave up with several still to do. Some hard ones but nothing really to complain about. Thanks Teazel and galspray.
Not that quick, but I was more or less on the wavelength today, so found this enjoyable. Liked many including FLUSH, THRONE, PROROGUE, WINSOME, CALLOW, and various DDs. LOsI MANSLAUGHTER and EZRA.
Thanks vm, Galspray.
Had to do this on my phone today, which I found awkward, not being able to see the whole grid. Hence it took me just over 30 minutes to complete this challenging puzzle. Biffed SENESCENT (NHO). A good example of a QC, I thought.
Today I deleted the Times app and reinstalled it, thus fixing the eccentricities I’ve been experiencing with the Club. Hooray.
Excellent puzzle. I was delayed by looking for an anagram of “needs” in DY at 20a and by joining the SPIG club at 19d. COD NOUS.
Phil was second on the leaderboard when I completed, he must have been flying today!! [edit – Phil top of the QUITCH with 02:08, 22 seconds shed of the Lord Verlaine. Whoosh.]
Many thanks Teazel and gallers.
7:59
Another here puzzled by the mysterious SPIG – blog appreciated for clearing that up. Otherwise, nothing too tricky, though I didn’t know that a SPRAT is a young herring. Learn something new every day…
Thanks Galspray and Teazel
12.04. Failed to see the hidden in ‘sprig’, and it took me too long to work our ‘slaughter’. I was also slowed by the dreaded instability of the Times site and lost the puzzle several times when it flipped to other puzzle pages.
Failed to parse SPRIG, otherwise all went in very smoothly (even the cricket one!). Agree with Blighter about doddery/decrepit. COD WINSOME which made me smile. Many thanks both.
13:04 for the solve which gives me a 35:20 parksolve. NHO SENESCENT and didn’t know a LIFE-PEER is a legislator. Those two along with the PLEASANTRIES and MANSLAUGHTER anagrams added 50+% to my time.
I was pretty slow – 24.20 – but pleased to complete an enjoyable crossword.
i too was trying to fit an anagram of NEEDS into DY, which held me up.
SQUARE LEG and EZRA also took longer than they should have done but I was able to work them out when I had some checkers.
Crumbs! Only just inside the hour. Virtually every clue was really hard. NHO SENESCENT and unsure about PROROGUE, but I made it to the line in the end.
Many thanks to Galspray and Teazel.
To confirm that I am neither SENESCENT nor DODDERY, I went straight through this in one pass – the first time for a couple of years.
My SON is 48, so hardly a youngster!
FOI LIFE PEER
LOI SPRIG
COD WINSOME
TIME 2:08
Cracking time Phil. Well done!
14:51, somewhat think-y, the least I expect of the excellent Teazel. LIFE PEER had me well and truly fooled; I grasped the wrong end of the clue and hung for dear life haha. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at SENESCENT, what a great surface. DNK SQUARE LEG but inferred the “leg” part and reluctantly conceded that “square” might mean “level”. I only vaguely knew the meaning of PROROGUE so thanks to our setter for the clear wordplay. Glad I wasn’t alone in contemplating SPIG. COD MANSLAUGHTER.
Thanks Teazel and galspray. Complain? Do I ever complain? (Don’t answer!)
11:52 for us – faster than it felt it was going to be at one point! Add us to the list of those not seeing the hidden SPRIG which went in from the checkers but with us being totally flummoxed as to why spig should mean essential. Very slow to see not only SQUARE LEG but also LOI LIFE PEER. Thanks, Teazel and galspray.
“For the non-cricketers, it’s around from fine leg and opposite point. ”
This reminds me of an old snooker commentary:
“For those of you watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green.” – Ted Lowe, BBC Commentator
I also didn’t see SPRIG as a hidden, but otherwise I found this straightforward for an enjoyable 8 minute solve.
Thanks Teazel, and galspray for the blog.
18:26. I was zipping along through this until suddenly I wasn’t. Took forever to unravel MANSLAUGHTER and stubbornly kept trying to put an anagram of NEEDS into DY.
COD to WINSOME, shame LOSESOME doesn’t mean unattractive.
Thanks to Teazel and galspray.
9.40 I found this a bit harder than yesterday’s but there were no real hold ups. Thanks galspray and Teazel.
20:08
Pushed into the SCC by LOI SQUARE LEG. Also took an age to unravel the MANSLAUGHTER anagram. Oh, and NHO SENESCENT.
19:50 but I’m on a go slow down to being down with an airport URTI and just woken from a very cold and windswept motorhome on what’s left of the great ocean road. My thoughts go out to all those more seriously affected by the elements. Maybe we Brits should think twice before we grumble about our weather…