Time: 7 minutes. It was nice to finish in well under 10 minutes for once, as those occasions don’t come quite so often these days. I hope others found it easy too but I think there’s one answer that may not be familiar to some and perhaps I was lucky to have met it before in the title of a TV drama series made 50 years ago.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. “Aural wordplay” is in quotation marks. I now use a tilde sign ~ to indicate an insertion point in containment clues. I usually omit all reference to juxtaposition indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
 Across |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Careless LAPD breaking frame (8) |
| SLAPDASH – LAPD contained by [breaking] S~ASH (window frame) | |
| 5 | Idiot following British singer (4) |
| BASS – B (British), ASS (idiot) | |
| 9 | A sailor coming back for reference book (5) |
| ATLAS – A, SALT (sailor) reversed [coming back] | |
| 10 | Look at first person reportedly joining dance (7) |
| EYEBALL – Aural wordplay [reportedly] EYE / “I” (first person), BALL (dance) | |
| 11 | Rules and regulations in Malawi (3) |
| LAW – Hidden [in] {Ma}LAW{i} | |
| 12 | Attentive old maid welcoming bishop (9) |
| OBSERVANT – O (old) ~ SERVANT (maid) containing [welcoming] B (bishop) | |
| 13 | Set out twice and fly (6) |
| TSETSE – Anagram [out] of SET SET [twice]. A nasty insect that sucks blood and spreads disease. | |
| 15 | Husband gatecrashing rubbish party (6) |
| THRASH – H (husband) contained by [gatecrashing] T~RASH (rubbish) | |
| 17 | Doctor a mannerly chap not quite succeeding (6,3) |
| NEARLY MAN – Anagram [doctor] A MANNERLY. Someone who narrowly fails to achieve the success or position expected of them in their particular field. As mentioned in the intro, I knew this from a 1970s TV series called The Nearly Man. | |
| 19 | Bad actor is a bit of a pig (3) |
| HAM – Two meanings, one of them our setter’s signature | |
| 20 | Bachelor stuck it out? Damn (7) |
| BLASTED – B (bachelor), LASTED (stuck it out) | |
| 21 | Increasingly sick assassin losing head (5) |
| ILLER – {k}ILLER (assassin) [losing head] | |
| 22 | Outspoken old king’s lecherous look (4) |
| LEER – Aural wordplay [outspoken] LEER / “Lear” (old king) | |
| 23 | African state’s PM admitting nothing (8) |
| CAMEROON – CAMERO~N (PM) containing [admitting] 0 (nothing). | |
| Down |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Young actress beginning to entertain the French (7) |
| STARLET – STAR~T (beginning) containing [to entertain] LE (‘the’ in French) | |
| 2 | Let almost everyone down (5) |
| ALLOW – AL{l} (everyone) [almost], LOW (down) | |
| 3 | Sad citadels soon destroyed (12) |
| DISCONSOLATE – Anagram [destroyed] of CITADELS SOON | |
| 4 | Those helping you to see detailed plans? (5) |
| SPECS – Two meanings | |
| 6 | Tale of the middle classes going to and fro (3,4) |
| AGA SAGA – No wordplay as such but ‘going to and fro’ indicates that the answer is a palindrome. A novel or drama depicting the lives and concerns of the English middle classes with reference to the popularity of Aga cookers in such circles. | |
| 7 | Break up in Croatian city (5) |
| SPLIT – Two meanings | |
| 8 | Chinese anger upset Google? (6,6) |
| SEARCH ENGINE – Anagram [upset] of CHINESE ANGER | |
| 14 | English chap had to come out (7) |
| EMANATE – E (English), MAN (chap), ATE (had) | |
| 16 | Old poet, punk at heart, a big hit in the States (4,3) |
| HOME RUN – HOMER (old poet), {p}UN{k} [at heart] | |
| 17 | Prize giver undoubtedly neglected periodically (5) |
| NOBEL – {u}N{d}O{u}B{t}E{d}L{y} [neglected periodically] | |
| 18 | Immediately providing cover for broadcasters and press (5) |
| MEDIA – Hidden in [providing cover for] {im}MEDIA{tely} | |
| 19 | Nightmare over for celebrity magazine (5) |
| HELLO – HELL (nightmare), O (over) | |
8:35
NEARLY MAN showed up in a cryptic some time ago (NHO at the time), and surprisingly I remembered it. AGA SAGA is another one I learned here.
Somehow, I knew the nearly man – must be crosswords. It was thrash that threw me – what kind of party is that? Must be a UK thing, over here we have a bash. I didn’t believe LAPD could be part of a word, but so it turned out.
Time: 6:37
Thrash is an (in my experience) American verb which is synonymous to party as a verb (also generally an Americanism)
4:14. Pretty quick, but not within coo-ee of our man from Hong Kong. With luck he’ll be along shortly to share his secrets with us.
When it comes to the ratio of “Used In Crosswords” to “Used in Real Life” AGA SAGA would sit comfortably near the top of the league.
Thanks Oink and Jack.
AGA SAGA in real life comfortably outstripping crosswords at the moment, after Joanna Trollope died just before Christmas. Didn’t stop it being my LOI of course.
Joanna Trollope did not care for the AGA SAGA label but publishers like to stick names on genres, as they see them, e.g. ‘Clogs & Shawls’ do not involve Agas. JT mainly wrote about modern family problems, such as divorce and Other People’s Children.
By the way, the current best-selling genre in women’s fiction is hot ‘Romantasy’.
Yes, I saw that in her obituaries. But it’s just an irresistibly good nickname, isn’t it? It was bound to stick.
Hot Romantasy is apparently such a thing that the Spectator’s weekly writing competition recently set the challenge of crossing it with another genre. I was among the winners, adding noir in Raymond Chandler style. Great fun.
Which week of the Spectator??
Later – Ha, found it, via SEARCH ENGINE and Borrow Box. Bravo, Templar.
Well found! It was a fun competition, that one.
For a busy barrister, you seem to have a lot of hobbies.
After I retired, I started wondering how I ever had time to go to work!
They’re all word based, though.
Snap, re retirement.
Best time of my life!
Probably second only to Pi.
Nice, We like an oink and always raise a cheer at the piggy answer. All done in a very pleasant 17.24. Spent a bit too long thinking “beginning to entertain the French” meant that 1d ended ele but finally clear up with tsetse.
Liked aga saga, spotted the palindrome device but it took a while staring at only the a’s
Thanks Oink and Jack
A steady 10:54. I knew the expression “nearly man” but not the TV series. I just logged it in my head in passing as the Beatles track. You know the one I mean. The one everyone else calls Nowhere Man. I sometimes feel I’m just hanging on here by my fingertips. I did like SPECS. Many thanks jackkt and Oink
‘Nowhere man’ Very funny.
We heard of a young lass who wandered around singing, ‘he’s just a spoon operator’ (smooth operator) and the revised Alanis Morissette lyric – ‘the cross I bear that you gave to me’> ‘the cross-eyed bear that you gave to me…’ : )
A nice change of pace from last week for this top to bottom solve.
Started with SLAPDASH and finished with CAMEROON in 3.50.
Thanks to Jack and Oink.
🚀
Good for Oink! He has started this week with an interesting and enjoyable puzzle which deserves to be called a QC, even though it took me 15.19 (but all parsed).
DISCONSOLATE clicked when I had a few crossers and NEARLY MAN took a few moments. OBSERVANT and AGA SAGA were my last two; I missed the significance of ‘going to and fro’ at first in my LOI.
Thanks to Oink and Jack.
Annoyed with myself as couldn’t see AGA SAGA, but obvious in retrospect and a clever clue in a very enjoyable puzzle. Thanks Jack for explaining SLAPDASH – that sort of frame.
DNK TSETSE (correctly parsed the clue but then thought a word was impossible with those letters)
DNK AGA SAGA
DNF
Did enjoy TYTBAS
As alluded to by Gallers, I suffered a bit of a rush to the head today and managed a new PB. No doubt, back down to earth tomorrow. 3:52
Whoosh!!! 🚀👏🏻
Scorchio!!
Another 🚀!
21:05, but a DNF – defeated by AGA SAGA, just couldn’t think of it. The rest solved steadily, although having to think hard to get SPECS (plans?) and SLAPDASH.
Froze in horror at A-A-A-A. What strange beast is this? Is this a bit of French slang, À La Gala? Eventually light dawned and a self-kicking ensued, because that paralysis cost me what would have been one of my better times, instead finishing in bog standard 07:24 for an I Cudda Binna Contenda Day.
Knew the expression NEARLY MAN but not the TV series. COD THRASH, which Collins marks as “Brit slang”.
Many thanks Oink and Jack.
I’m often amused at the tendency of British English speakers to attribute weird slang to the Americans, and vice-versa. If I haven’t heard of it, it must be British. No.
8:56
Initially biffed ALI BABA as the tale in 6d, half-parsed as the AB demographic (middle classes) being repeated a lot. Being unable to fit in EYEBALL forced a rethink.
LOI was BLASTED.
Thanks Jack and Oink
Me too – same reasoning! EYEBALL kyboshed that. But the saga still defeated me!
Hooray! A real QC at last, thank you Oink for coming to the rescue after so many days (and saving me from dropping below 50% this year). All good: NHO NEARLY MAN but had to be, nor AGA SAGA but Mrs M says it’s GK. Wondered whether Damn = BLAST and BLASTED ought really to be Damned, but won’t quibble. Thanks, Jack.
It’s commonly used as an intensifier – and in the dictionary. Damn nuisance! / blasted nuisance!
I had a MER there too. As a confirmed pedant, if I were writing it would always be “damned nuisance”.
I’m with you on that one.
Yes – well … I said I didn’t want to quibble ‘cos it was a good puzzle … but if we are going down this road, I suggest that whenever someone is heard to say “that damn car” they are actually saying “that damned car”. Damn is the verb, damned the adjective. The final D just gets swallowed.
I think much of it has to do with the spoken language. People tend to say ‘damn nuisance’, so it gets rendered that way.
my father could be heard to say (in the days when one’s car had a choke), ‘that damn car’s choke’s playing up again….
Yes, I would -ed it, as well.
An enjoyable start to the week and all done in 8:27. I have yet to meet AGA SAGA in real life, but fortunately remembered it from the last time it was in a QC. Only minor query was over BLASTED, not really a synonym for Damn in my view. Blast yes, certainly (my father’s favourite expletive was “Damn and blast”), but blasted is for me more an adjective (and usually followed by Heath in my experience), and not itself an expletive.
Many thanks Jack for the blog.
If you’re taking both as adjectives it works. Damn lies and blasted statistics.
We (almost!) crossed!
“The damn thing got away”/”The blasted thing got away”.
Yes, both of those work. Objection withdrawn, though it did cause a minor query as I was doing the puzzle.
From SLAPDASH to EMANATE in 6:01. Thanks Oink and Jack.
Enjoyable clever puzzle. Finished all correct, fairly swiftly. LOI SLAPDASH.
Liked TSETSE (though not irl), OBSERVANT, and SPECS, amongst others.
No problem with AGA SAGA, except CNP.
Thanks vm, Jack.
3:40. A gentle but fun start to the week – all but 4 on a first pass through the clues. LOI CAMEROON. Thank-you Oink and Jackkt.
It was the same for me – the only one that I skipped on first pass was AGA SAGA, which I put in because I realised the answer had to be a palindrome and which I guess I must have encountered at least once, even though I would never read one.
It was actually a bit of a nuisance that it was quite so simple because I sometimes get up and do a crossword when I’m struggling to get to sleep as it breaks the circular thoughts that are keeping me awake; but this one was over almost before it began and so here I am, still awake at 01.38 on a Wednesday morning.
P.S. I don’t generally find the Times crosswords simple, this one was very much the exception.
Even a double alphabet trawl didnt give me 6d, even though the palindrome was obvious. Rest was easy. Thanks Oink and jackkt.
Share the MER at Specs (short for specifications) which in IT and construction say exactly what you want. Plans are what you are going to do and when you are going to do it in order to achive what you want, no overlap at all. Also very slight MER at blasted, which I thought should be damned, or damn as an expletive would be blast?
I think that there is a crossover as in, a building’s plans (specs) can still be obtained years, decades, even centuries after construction.
Dnk AGA SAGA which held me up at the end. That and, I don’t know why, SPECS pushed me just over the 10 minutes. I did know Nearly Man but not from the TV show mentioned in the blog – but can’t think from where.
5.10
Oink delivers again.
I found this to be relatively easy until I got to my last answer (6d). I had absolutely no idea of the answer and after revealing it I am still none the wiser.
I have never heard of Nearly Man, though I did manage to answer it due to the letters already in place.
Though I did not finish this one I enjoyed it very much.
First Lap: 11
Answered (no help): 23
Answered (with help): 2
DNF: 1 (6d)
Time: 34:56
5:08
Could see early doors that this might be a QQC. Reached the point of four left with 4 minutes on the clock. Took a few moments to think of THRASH, before the seen-before AGA SAGA (another here that has never seen the term anywhere else). TSETSE was next leaving the puzzling 1d which possibly took a full 30 seconds – not sure as time contracts and expands worryingly when trying to complete puzzles at speed.
Thanks Jack and Oink
Got most of it done in around 12 minutes and then used another five failing to get AGA SAGA which, on reflection, was time poorly spent. Hadn’t heard the phrase before and I’m not sure how I was intended to work it out from the clue. Don’t mind me, I’m just a sore loser.
Thank you for the blog!
A pleasant easy going puzzle from Oink, resulting in a respectable 7.27 finishing time from me; a welcome rest from last weeks head scratchers. AGA SAGA my LOI where I avoided the temptation to biff ALI BABA.
How nice to have a lovely Oink crossword after the tribulations of last week. Cross with myself for not getting AGA SAGA until I’d looked up the first G: panicked at all those As! Otherwise all done in about 15 minutes.
Pretty sure aga saga was in one of the main crosswords this weekend. And I couldn’t get it then, either!
Mostly straightforward but with a few head-scratchers included. NHO AGA SAGA and didn’t know what it had to do with the middle classes. It also took me some time to see both DISCONSOLATE and CAMEROON. All done in 17 minutes with all bar AGA SAGA parsed.
FOI – 5ac BASS
LOI – 6dn AGA SAGA
CODs – lots of smooth surfaces but I particularly liked THRASH and HOME RUN
Thanks to Oink and Jack
A gentle start to the week, and very welcome after we were out for a curry to celebrate a lady friend’s birthday last night, causing me to awaken a little gingerly this morning.
FOI ATLAS
LOI NEARLY MAN
COD SEARCH ENGINE
TIME 3:13
16:04
Nice and easy until LOI TSETSE. Spent 5 mins over that as my alphabet trawl glossed over TS without giving it proper thought. Only when I decided it might be fly the insect did I see the answer.
Delighted to get AGA SAGA straightaway, having NHO it on either of its 2 previous appearances.
“NHO it on either of its 2 previous appearances”
😂
I know the feeling.
If I had started in the NE corner, instead of an initially fruitless NW, and waited for a few crossers before trying to spell Tsetse (don’t ask), I think I would have been a couple of minutes quicker. As it was, 13 mins is still close to as fast as I can go these days, so a big thank you to Oink for a genuine QC.
Nearly Man was known from somewhere, though I can’t recall the TV series. Loi Aga Saga on the other hand was (eventually) remembered from its previous appearance in these parts. Thrash, in the sense of party, was common enough when I was interested in that sort of thing, but several decades have since intervened.
CoD to Home Run for the smile. Invariant
My thanks to Oink and jackkt.
Some good different ideas here from Oink, and a trademark 19a Ham, perhaps honouring one of the contributors to the Blog.
17a NHO “The Nearly Man”,but got it easily enough.
COD 6d Aga saga which would have taken longer if we hadn’t had it yesterday, or recently anyway. It came as a surprise when I saw it was a palindrome.
What fun we had. No idea of time as interrupted. However, happily tootled along. NHO THRASH or NEARLY MAN and slower than we should have been on SPECS, CAMEROON.
Thank you OINK and Jakkt for adding a hum to our Monday.
Not hard, but with some great clues and surfaces.
No time as also interrupted.
COD to HOME RUN. LOI NOBEL.
Well done Oink.
David
Good puzzle from Oink and I will never again forget how to spell TSETSE; from now on I will think ‘set out twice’ 😃 COD to HOME RUN – brilliant surface! Held up looking at all those As, but AGA SAGA finally appeared. LOI THRASH (DNK this meant party). Thanks Jack and Oink.
DNF
All in bar one in 15 minutes.
Sat staring at A_A,_A_A which I could not make any sense of from the clue even after 2 alphabet trawls. One you had to know.
NHO NEARLY MAN but unlike 6d solvable from the clue.
As others, a MER at BLASTED.
Very enjoyable right up to 6d.
FOI: BASS
LOI: DNF
COD: HOME RUN
Thanks to Oink and Jack
Dear Captain (Sir),
There is hope. I failed on A_A _A_A last year sometime, but I somehow managed to remember it today despite not knowing what one is. Good luck next time it comes up.
Thank you – that was very kind of you.
Made it home in 24 minutes, but with no thanks to 1a (SLAPDASH) and 1d (STARLET), which were my L2I and had to go in unparsed with fingers crossed.
My grid filled up clockwise from the NE corner with (unbelievably) AGA SAGA being remembered from a few weeks/months ago, when it was the cause of a DNF. I still couldn’t point one out if I saw, heard or otherwise came across one, though.
Many thanks to Jack and Oink.
6.02 Quickest for a while. STARLET and DISCONSOLATE needed two looks. LOI CAMEROON. Thanks Jack and Oink.
15 mins
Gentle one for me too.
FOI bass
LOI tsetse
COD Media for a good hidden
thanks Jack and Oink
A lovely puzzle to start the week although SLAPDASH was my LOI. NEARLY MAN was my penultimate solve as I wasn’t totally sure of the definition. COD for me is SEARCH ENGINE……great word play. 6:24
Thanks Jack
Dnf…
12 mins for the whole grid, but put “Axa Paxa” for 6dn which I am sure I did the last time we had this clue. So I’ve obviously learned nothing. The rest was fairly straightforward in comparison.
FOI – 11ac “Law”
LOI – 6dn “Axa Paxa” (incorrect)
COD – 1ac “Slapdash”
Thanks as usual!
My first ever QC solve completing all acrosses in order followed by all downs in order. I am normally sub-10 mins but today’s 6:19 is about as fast as I get.
8:56, though pretty quick for us, should have been faster. No big holdups, rather several which we should have seen more quickly, e.g. LOI DISCONSOLATE, through brains not quite being in gear. AGA SAGA was not among them though – I think we’ve seen it two or three times before in our relatively short crossword history, including very recently as someone else noted. COD HOME RUN. Thanks, Jack and Oink.
Major improvement! – all but 2 clues solved in twenty minutes. Never heard of Aga Saga though. Last week I got less than five clues each day! So how do you explain this? The consensus is that this was easy but I don’t think that explains my result….!
Good news on the improvement! In my own history I find that as I improve the easier ones get actually pretty easy while the harder ones remain hard for a long time. So my average time decreased but my variance stayed the same or increased for a long time. I think it might be decreasing but I’m not fanatical enough to calculate it.
14:24 but with a typo on SEARCH ENFINE, darn. Must be more careful. I was please that I remembered AGA SAGA today after failing whenever it has come up in the past.
Thanks to Jackkt and Oink.
8:58, sharing the common hold-ups at THRASH (which I haven’t yet recorded as “party” in my memory, partly no doubt due to the horror with which I imagine myself plonked down in the middle of anything so called) and – even worse – NEARLY MAN, which went in without any confidence at all after I looked fruitlessly for a different plausible solution. I thought it looked like a “green paint” answer. Otherwise a pretty smooth solve, and hurray for me, I remembered AGA SAGA. EMANATE my favorite.
Thanks Oink and jackkt.
I thought this was a very pleasant Monday QC from Oink which I competed in just under 20 minutes once EYEBALL altered ALI BABA to AGA SAGA .
Thanks to Jack and Oink
A pleasant 32 minute solve with all correct and parsed except the parsing of ALLOW which I couldn’t make sense of -couldn’t work out where the OW came from but thanks to Jacckt I now do. Thank you Oink for a good start to the week.
Really enjoyable 10 minute solve except for 6d which I abandoned having biffed ALI BABA. I know. TSETSE was ingenious as was SLAPDASH, but our STARLET made me smile the most. Dnf so 17a for me but big thanks Oink and Jack
A pleasant puzzle to ease back in with after a week away skiing in France. A bit under ten minutes (not sure of exact time since I answered the doorbell in the middle) for me. I was a bit confused by THRASH, not a usage I know, but a nice word play made it not too challenging. TSETSE and SLAPDASH were my favourites. Thanks Oink and Jack.