Lovely Izetti!
Izetti’s style can take a bit of getting used to, but his puzzles are superbly crafted affairs when you do. There was a time in the earlier days of the QC when he was considered one of the tougher setters, but he’s been fluctuating between extended periods of easy and hard for the last few years and has been on fairly gentle form for the last year. I came home in 6:07, exactly 2 minutes quicker than yesterday.
Some people dislike cryptic definitions, but today we have two examples (a good one and an outstanding one) that will hopefully help persuade otherwise. Lovely puzzle – many thanks to Izetti!
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Scoundrel and titled lady docked in port (9) |
| ROTTERDAM – ROTTER (scoundrel, and missed former blogger round these parts) and DAME (titled lady) “docked” | |
| 6 | Untruth about healthy component of food (5) |
| FIBRE – FIB (untruth) RE (about) | |
| 8 | Space looked down on when one’s on a flight? (9) |
| STAIRWELL – cryptic definition, with a play on a flight of stairs and a flight on a plane. | |
| 9 | Guy in the bar seen regularly (5) |
| TEASE – T h E b A r S e E n “regularly”. To tease/rag, etc, to GUY derives from Guy Fawkes, but in this sense seems to be first used in theatre slang around 1800. | |
| 10 | Row ultimately made me murder crook (9) |
| RACKETEER – RACKET (row) and the “ultimate” letters of madE mE murdeR | |
| 12 | Island ways in broadcast (6) |
| RHODES – sounds like (as in a broadcast on radio) ROADS (ways) | |
| 13 | Rock bands? (6) |
| STRATA – cryptic definition, as in geology. This is so good it feels like it must be a chestnut, but I can find no record of it on TftT. There again, Izetti is the absolute master of the riddle-esque cryptic definition. | |
| 16 | Enter fire, running — get involved ill-advisedly? (9) |
| INTERFERE – anagram (running) of ENTER FIRE | |
| 18 | Chemical smuggled in pram in Exeter (5) |
| AMINE – “smuggled in” prAM IN Exeter | |
| 19 | Noah larks around — don’t take his money! (4,5) |
| LOAN SHARK – anagram (around) of NOAH LARKS | |
| 21 | Crew had a meal, one hears? (5) |
| EIGHT – sounds like (“one hears”) ATE (had a meal). As in a rowing crew. | |
| 22 | Steward getting drunk, he being in that pivotal moment (9) |
| WATERSHED – anagram (getting drunk) of STEWARD, HE going inside | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Second-string soldiers wait (7) |
| RESERVE – RE (Royal Engineers = soldiers) SERVE (wait) | |
| 2 | Roofing material that is seen on church (6) |
| THATCH – THAT is seen on CH(urch) | |
| 3 | Jane in story protects bird’s second nest (5) |
| EYRIE – The storied Jane EYRE protects the second letter of BIRD. | |
| 4 | Character picked up in river (3) |
| DEE – sound like (“picked up”/heard) the letter or character D | |
| 5 | Lament matter being mishandled — act of cruelty (12) |
| MALTREATMENT – anagram (being mishandled) of LAMENT MATTER | |
| 6 | Male relations crack, admitting change of heart over wrongdoing (7-2-3) |
| FATHERS-IN-LAW – FLAW (crack) admitting an anagram (change) of HEART, over/above SIN (wrongdoing) | |
| 7 | Absence of power, deficiency in fight (8) |
| BLACKOUT – LACK (deficiency) in BOUT (fight) | |
| 11 | Demanding old lover being insincere? (8) |
| EXACTING – EX (old lover) ACTING (being insincere?) | |
| 14 | Edward, not strong inside, improved slightly (7) |
| TWEAKED – TED (Edward) WEAK (not strong) inside | |
| 15 | Angel rushes up keeping quiet (6) |
| SERAPH – HARES (rushes) “UP” = reverse, keeping P (Piano = quiet). Some of the details are debated, but one apparently appeared to Isaiah as a flaming six-winged serpent beast, possibly with penises for feet, no less. I reckon you’d be justified in asking for some proof of identity if that thing appeared before you claiming to be a messenger from God, but I guess that’s what separates the prophets from us lesser mortals. | |
| 17 | Gentleman up with little sign of hesitation, one emerging from bed? (5) |
| RISER – SIR (gentleman) “UP”, with ER (little sign of hesitation) | |
| 20 | Clever chap there somewhat lacking (3) |
| APT – |
|
As I put in fiber early on, I thought to myself maybe we need the British spelling here. When I biffed Amsterdam, it was certainly possible, but what sort of scoundel is an ‘amster? I realized rotter would be much better, leaving me with RR. I didn’t bother to parse father-in-law, and ended up with stairwell as my LOI – very nice.
Time: 8:17
6:27
Like Vinyl, I biffed FATHERS-IN-LAW and didn’t bother to parse. ‘Flight’ always means stairs, so STAIRWELL was another biff. STRATA was lovely.
7.15, similar story to those above. Thanks to both.
17 minutes but I had interruptions taking moments to get my concentration back.
I had EXE at 4dn until ROTTERDAM made me think again. My answer fits the clue better as D the letter is spelt DEE, the same as the river, so the aural wordplay is irrelevant. Whereas X the letter is spelt EX, but the river is EXE and needs the sound-alike.
I was also a little puzzled by the definition of APT but when I looked it up and found ‘quick to learn’ I remembered doing so before, and not very long ago.
Another EXE here, and another puzzled by APT.
16:21 Fathers-in-law tweaked fibre strata isn’t something you find halting your progress everyday of the week…
Rode my first eMTB today; might be a game changer…
TaRAI
It should certainly help on the steeper muddy bits so long as you get enough traction. Smooth application of power rather than the stochastic power from just pedalling (unless you are using an ultra low gear). I count four trips to A&E from off road riding and the one serious one off my TT bike….
Well, that’s hint of the year sown up for 2026 for Roly with his efforts on SERAPH – bravo! Felt like I could do cryptic crosswords when I solved that one to finish – all green – in 8.42. Raising my coffee cup to The Rotter.
Thanks for reminding me of The Rotter. He was always an interesting contributor to this blog. He is still much missed.
Likewise. I was a lurker in those days but always looked for The Rotter, using his times and comments as a marker for my own efforts. Very much missed.
16.16 Not unhappy. Delayed by he/she/they/ who appeared to Isaiah but not to us until after minutes of thought and an alphabet trawl (and of course, thanks to the delightful blog we now know all).
A plethora of unwelcome flavours – Rotters, maltreatment, loan sharks, interference, teases, sins… and arguably Seraph…welcome portent though disconcerting appearance?..off to supplement Rolytoly lesson with more from Mr Google.
NHO TEASE though dutifully followed directions and there it was.
Thank you all.
When neither 1a nor 6a appeared I was starting to sweat, but fortunately FATHERS-IN-LAW rescued me and I was off. The only real pauses after that were identifying the right Jane and rethinking LOI RACKETEER, which I had completely misread – I was working on it being an anagram (“crook”) of “me murder” + E (“ultimately madE”). The checkers had all worked until THATCH!
Wonderful puzzle, COD to STRATA, all too swift in 06:44 for an Excellent Day. Many thanks Izetti and roly.
Ditto on RACKETEER…
My misled version was an anagram of last letter of roW + ME MURDER.
I found this fairly gentle only for the curse of the DPS to appear for a typo which was annoying as I’d very carefully gone through the puzzle prior to hitting the submit button.
Thank to Roly for the blog and Izetti for the top quality puzzle.
Forgive my ignorance. What is DPS short for? I could not find it in the Glossary.
I tried online and just get ‘Dead Poets Society’ or ‘Damage Per Second’ ……
That thing online solvers fear above all else. The Dreaded Pink Square.
👍
Izetti has indeed changed both his QC approach and his fearsome reputation since my early days of attempting these puzzles, and this was definitely in his new and more friendly style. 9:41 for the completion, though FATHERS-IN-LAW not parsed and that meaning of APT not known. Otherwise no problems and much to enjoy, especially STRATA, my COD. And I don’t think I’ve ever given my COD to a cryptic clue before.
Many thanks Roly for the blog.
I thought this was going to be a disaster at first but I plugged on and began to fill the grid in a random fashion. It came together gradually and a quick look at the clock (showing 19) spurred me on to get my last two before the watershed. STAIRWELL and MALTREATMENT came from somewhere and the clock stopped at 19.49.
Many thanks to Izetti for a clever, absorbing puzzle. I will now go carefully through all of Roly’s blog to get the full pleasure of a fine but, for me, quite challenging QC.
Too many great clues to pick out a single COD.
Phew! Got there in the end though LOI BLACKOUT took a while for the PDM. Convinced Izetti’s character (4d) was the river Don which also held me up. Thanks, Roly.
EXE was my FOI. Drat! Forgot to recheck after ROTTERDAM went in.Thanks Izetti and Roly.
Very nice Izetti puzzle. with only AMINE NHO. Didn’t bother to parse FATHERS-IN-LAW. Like STRATA.
09:16. Most enjoyable.
NHO AMINE. Seems just about any letters can have INE added for some chemical.
I’d add that Guy=tease was also last heard around the 1900s.
“Thus spake the SERAPH and forthwith”, is a banger of a line. And contains 4 oldie words which seem to crop up in crosswords.
COD STRATA.
11:32
Very slow to get going, with only three across clues on first pass.
LOI was STAIRWELL, having forgotten that flight nearly always means stairs in crosswords.
I have always thought of Tolkien’s balrogs as Seraphim that were corrupted by Morgoth.
Thanks Roly and Izetti
A slightly over target 15:38 thanks to a couple of fat-fingered typos. Once spotted and corrected everything flowed smoothly. I really should revert to pen and paper!
Lots to love in this puzzle but I’m awarding CoD to STRATA. Also liked SERAPH although after reading Roly’s blog I’m having second thoughts.
Every time I see Izetti is the setter I wonder if this will be the time he throws in a toughie, just to keep us on our toes. It’ll still be beautifully clued but a reminder of who’s in charge 😀
Thanks both.
A ‘mare having biffed EXE, WYE before DEE, AMSTERDAM before ROTTERDAM, and STONES (as in Rolling) before STRATA. LOI: RACKETEER, although unparsed as I saw RACK for row, not RACKET and so couldn’t see the remaining ETEER from the clue. 😔
Another who toyed with STONES for a while.
A fail in 17 minutes, with an unparsed FABLE for 6a; obviously wrong but I was stuck on ‘Untruth’ as the def and couldn’t think of anything else.
A good QC from Izetti with more than enough to keep me engaged and challenged.
Thanks to Izetti and Roly
Exactly that for me. 17mins. Fable not fibre!
D’oh!
Right on the money for a QC as far as I’m concerned, with just the right level of difficulty. Not too many gimmes, and quite a few clues requiring a second viewing. I crossed the line in 9.20 with APT being my LOI, as it took a while to accept that as the answer.
5:41. Another confident EXE here and misled into thinking 10A was an anagram of roW + MURDER ME. LOI FIBRE. Nice puzzle as always from Izetti. Thanks to him for that and rolytoly for the blog (especially the description of SERAPH).
Tricky, but I liked this one. As others have said Izetti does seemed to have chilled out since I first started The Times QC. I used to dread, even skip, his puzzles, but now I enjoy tackling them. They’re not easy for me, but certainly more doable and more fun.
At first I answered 1a with AMSTERDAM, but deleted it as I couldn’t make AMSTER a scoundrel. When I got ROTTERDAM, I too remembered The Rotter. He was such a nice chap, always encouraging me in my early days.
I loved STAIRWELL, though I did take a long time to answer it as I was trapped into thinking of being on an airplane.
For 6d I first entered BROTHER-IN-LAW, but then realised that the clue was asking for a plural.
My LOI was THATCH. That one took me ages to answer, and when I did I groaned. Very clever clue.
However, I did need a lot of help with this one. Unfortunately a misspell gave me a pink square.
First Lap: 5
Answered (no help): 17 (incl. 1x incorrect (spelling mistake))
Answered (with help): 7
DNF: Nil
Time: 42:03
10:08
Wow – some fast times today considering the Quitch is currently 108. I plodded through this somewhat, with very little in the top half initially. Not much more to say other than if I had seen ROTTERDAM and MALTREATMENT more quickly, it could have been a different story.
Thanks Roly and Izetti
RIP The Rotter.
The app newspaper crossword doesn’t show the setter’s name but it was no surprise to come here and find it was Izetti. A thoroughly enjoyable QC (9:32) and well described by our blogger.
15:10
Started well but was slowed by failing to realise what sort of flight we were on to get STAIRWELL. Then struggled with RHODES, busy wondering if there was an island homophone for routes. Hit submit only to be warned I was on 99% so had to go back and do a quick alphabet trawl to get LOI APT, only then realising it was a hidden.
Any lingering chance of a sub-20 was thwarted by loi Rotterdam, thanks to foi Exe and opting for Rat as my scoundrel of choice. Even I have to admit that *e*e*m(*) didn’t deserve a seat in the House of Lords.
A rethink quickly produced an (often visited!) Rotterdam in time for a good choice of window seats, where presumably I can be grumpy to my heart’s content until others join.
As to CoD, quite a field to choose from, but I think Loan Shark just about gets up on the line to pip Tweaked. Invariant
Slow to start and to finish. LOI SERAPH after APT which needed both checkers; I too paused, but thought it’s OK on reflection.
I thought of DEE quickly and then EXE so I had both lined up.
Some great clues and a good QC; COD to TWEAKED but STRATA also very good.
18 minutes; a few more than my average.
David
Cantered through with no hold ups until dead stop on 7d, ages later I realised it was deficiency in fight, not fLight. Teach me to read the clue properly, that left only 8a which was also easy given the stairs PDM. Very enjoyable, thanks to Izetti and rolytoly.
I too was very slow to get going: first in was STRATA. I always enjoy Izetti’s crosswords, even though they’re often a bit of a struggle! Finally finished in 23.32 and biffed several: FATHERS-IN-LAW, BLACKOUT, RESERVE, EYRIE. Not on my finest form!
I had to back out”Exe” but otherwise wasn’t ever really in trouble. On another day STRATA might have been COD.
FOI FIBRE
LOI APT
COD STAIRWELL
TIME 3:46
20:52 – more of a normal time than with many recent puzzles. A fairly steady solve with AMINE biffed and FATHERS-IN-LAW unparsed. A good example of a QC.
Can you bifd a hidden? Amine from basic organic chemistry. Strata because I immediately went for something heavy metal before looking at band as in rubber band as in ribbon. Started to bifd brothers in law but too many letters. Technically you can only have one father in law unless you are a bigamist. You can have a father in law and N step fathers in law.
I ended up with 15 so an average performance for me.
. . .but what makes you think the clue is referring to a single family? 😉
30 minutes flat but a complete puzzle so I’m chuffed.
Equally, had to check the parsing of RACKETEER (knew the definition but not RACKET for “row”) and very much enjoyed the headslap when I got STRATA.
Thanks, as always, to the setter and blogger.
Hep
10:40 for me. STAIRWELL was a lovely cryptic took me longer than it really should have done and was my LOI, whilst I thought Rock Bands rather too close to being just a straight definition of STRATA. Great fun, thanks Rolytoly and Izetti.
A very enjoyable stretch today. I took a very long time to see STAIRWELL and EIGHT. I really liked STRATA. As I still mainly do the puzzles in the books, I still lurk around the blog from a couple of years ago, and remember The Rotter with great fondness.
Thanks to both Izetti and RolyToly!