Time: 7 minutes. This was my best QC solving time since my last blog a fortnight ago. How did you do?
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 |
|
|---|---|
| 7 | Is monkey allowed to eat this? (6) |
| CANAPE – CAN APE (is monkey allowed to?) | |
| 8 | A vote, initially on name for space programme (6) |
| APOLLO – A, POLL, O{n} [initially] | |
| 9 | Confirm live data needs correcting (8) |
| VALIDATE – Anagram [needs correcting] LIVE DATA | |
| 10 | Support nobleman when caught (4) |
| PIER – Aural wordplay [when caught]: “peer” (nobleman) | |
| 11 | Abandon the Sahara? (6) |
| DESERT – Two definitions, the second by example | |
| 13 | Quietly recommend expulsion (5) |
| PURGE – P (quietly), URGE (recommend) | |
| 14 | Aussie native runs round and round (3) |
| ROO – R (runs), O (round), O (round) | |
| 15 | Almost losing head at dawn? (5) |
| EARLY – {n}EARLY (almost) [losing head] | |
| 17 | Careless about failure (6) |
| REMISS – RE (about), MISS (failure) | |
| 19 | Couple I encountered on way back (4) |
| ITEM – I, then MET (encountered) reversed [on way back] | |
| 20 | Tory I rip off is most pressing concern (8) |
| PRIORITY – Anagram [off] of TORY I RIP | |
| 22 | Resident gullible about start of trouble (6) |
| NATIVE – NA~IVE (gullible) containing [about] T{rouble} [start of…] | |
| 23 | Shopkeeper selling food increasingly vulgar, I hear (6) |
| GROCER – Aural wordplay [I hear]: “grosser” (increasingly vulgar) | |
| Down |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Two personal assistants for old man (4) |
| PAPA – PA + PA (two personal assistants) | |
| 2 | US state harbouring resistance fighter (6) |
| MARINE – MA~INE ( US state) containing [harbouring] R (resistance) | |
| 3 | Depart NY in turmoil, splitting hairs (8) |
| PEDANTRY – Anagram [in turmoil] of DEPART NY | |
| 4 | Contact attendant at court (4) |
| PAGE – Two meanings | |
| 5 | Policeman, one managing to acquire power (6) |
| COPPER – COP~ER (one managing) containing [to acquire] P (power) | |
| 6 | No crossword setter could be so ignorant (8) |
| CLUELESS – A cryptic hint precedes the literal. | |
| 12 | Ultimate net value to be adjusted (8) |
| EVENTUAL – Anagram [to be adjusted] of NET VALUE | |
| 13 | What you might have at breakfast time in prison? (8) |
| PORRIDGE – Two meanings | |
| 16 | Last of weather holding me up (6) |
| REMAIN – R~AIN (weather) containing [holding] ME reversed [up] | |
| 18 | Former Lothario hoards red wine (6) |
| MERLOT – Hidden in [hoards] {for}MER LOT{hario} | |
| 20 | Periodically protect man of letters (4) |
| POET – P{r}O{t}E{c}T [periodically] | |
| 21 | Outsiders expelled from Athens at that time (4) |
| THEN – {A}THEN{s} [outsiders expelled] | |
Yes, nothing much to hold me up here, though I needed a few stabs before NATIVE fell.
5:13.
If you’re looking for a tougher challenge, today’s main puzzle is a little tougher than your average Monday. The last couple may prove difficult.
4:11
A gentle one–lowest SNITCH in months. A MER, though, at NATIVE; natives are not necessarily resident, nor residents native.
I agree this was pretty easy. I didn’t like porridge because the two definitions are etymologically connected. In the end, I got completely stuck on the canape/marine crossing. Yes, a monkey and an ape are technically two different things, but since I tried can and may early on I should have thought of it.
Time: 7:07
On 23/2 we have #3232, for what that’s worth which is nothing. Came in a tad under 6 having pulled the wrong rein as usual on the PIER/PEER homophone and losing a little time tracking down the error. Enjoyable QC, thanks to Pipsqueak and Jack.
Yep also brisk for me, 7.28 which I think is my personal record… and that’s after initially leading myself astray with LAUD for support/sounding like lord
Well done!
Prefacing this comment by saying that I was going for speed today, and so my error was 100% my fault. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. If I had thought about the clue for more than a second, I would have had a near-PB of 4:09.
Having said that — and I’m guessing this has been a longstanding whinge amongst cryptic solvers for years before I undertook this highly enriching hobby — a monkey is not an ape.
In any event, lovely puzzle. Always nice to encounter a breeze once in a while. Ta Pipsqueak and Jack. COD was CLUELESS.
A real monkey is not a real ape, but there are some slang senses of the words in which they might be used interchangeably.
A pretty good seven on the first pass of acrosses even if most were in the bottom half. The downs were similar and then I the others needed hard work. VALIDATE and PRIORITY both took more unscambling that they shoud have and CANAPE took me past the eight minute mark at the end. Big relief to finally see it to finish all green in 8:23.
7:35 for a fast finish, and as that suggests no major problems. And that despite an unusual grid with a high proportion of answers starting with an unchecked letter, and on top of that a high proportion of checked letters in the top half of the grid being vowels – eg in the NW corner all the checkers in 7A, 9A, 1D and 2D are vowels. Not so easy to get into the answers from letter searches!
Many thanks Jack for the blog.
Mostly straightforward with a bit of a struggle to begin which needed checkers and was last to scrape in on 18 mins.
I liked ITEM which got a smile.
Thanks Pipsqueak and Jack.
Made very swift progress until hitting the buffers with MARINE, NATIVE and REMAIN which all needed some thought.
Finished in 5.27.
Thanks to Jack and Pipsqueak
3.42
No problems here. A few familiar clues but nothing wrong with that, especially on a Monday. Saw CANAPE quite quickly, which helped.
Thanks Pipsqueak/Jackkt
Wow, rapid!
My quickest in ages – 9.38. An enjoyable QC which makes a welcome change from many recent offerings. My LOsI were Apollo and Copper.
Thanks to Pipsqueak and Jack. Now to read his blog and test my parsing.
One of Mick Hodgkin’s recent newsletter emails called this a “sticklebrick” grid, which I liked.
All the acrosses bar PURGE and REMISS, then all the downs, then mopping up. If I could phone-type for toffee today (took me 4 goes to get PORRIDGE right) I’d have been v fast for me, but as it was I happily settle for the pleasingly exact 05:00, 1.2K and an Excellent Day.
COD CLUELESS, very good!
Many thanks Pip and Jack.
ITEM, REMAIN, NATIVE, MARINE took a little time, but a 17:11 finish is one of my better efforts. An encouraging start to the day and sunshine too!
A speedy solve which quite surprised me as I thought it would be more difficult with the portcullis grid and mainly vowels the only checked letters to start with. MER with 7A – the clue could have substituted chimp, say, for monkey. Otherwise very enjoyable. COD CLUELESS. Thanks Pipsqueak and Jack
2:45 and my fastest for a long time. Only CANAPE, PURGE and NATIVE skipped on the first read through the clues. Nice one Pipsqueak – thanks, and thanks also to Jackkt for the blog.
🚀
Wow, well done!
Good grief – did you have time to breathe? 🔥🔥🔥
Wow! Incredible solving time, John.
Well done!
Wow! Romped through that at probably a PB of about 10 minutes. Thanks for a genuine QC, Pipsqueak!
👏
Brilliant !
Congratulations 👏👏👏
Thank you all (above) for your kindness. I don’t know whether congratulations are really in order; this was probably more a measure of the leniency of the puzzle than of a solver’s achievement. But I confess it has been a discouraging month (indeed, ever since 22nd January). Perhaps now there is some hope, like Spring, in the air.
4.40 for me – my second fastest of all time
A bit like Saturday’s I expect some might have preferred it to be a little harder but I appreciated another sensible puzzle – nothing obscure or with words only ever seen in crosswords. Thanks all!
Ignoring 2d and 7a, I raced through then stuck on those two. Final PDMs with MARINE and CANAPE which made me smile. Also liked APOLLO and REMISS, and COD CLUELESS, among others. I can be quite PEDANTic but I don’t split hairs, of course. (e.g. am fussy about Fewer and Less).
Many thanks, Jack.
I’m with you on fewer and less!
Another hand up here!
And here!
Spent half my time on canape (unsuccessfully) , obvious in retrospect. Apart from that an enjoyable romp through. Thanks to Pipsqueak and jackkt.
20 in about 15 minutes then couldn’t get the final five. Anagrams were pretty easy today.
Probably should have got another two at least.
Thanks setter and blogger.
5:51
Having been on a run of pink squares, I took this one extra easily, but it was still pretty rapid, though did need a few moments for the penny to drop with MERLOT.
Thanks Jack and Pipsqueak
6:05, my fastest time since September.
No real problems, apart from my LOI PAGE, which delayed me for a few seconds whilst I considered tennis and law courts before remembering the royal ones.
Thanks Jack and Pipsqueak
This should have been a very quick time but for a calamitous blunder. I occasionally write the answer to a clue in the wrong squares, which then requires some ugly surgery; but never before have I written two wrongly transposed clues as I did with
20dn and 21dn. I knew both POET and THEN were correct, and unfortunately both worked with the crossers having a third letter E. The nearest I could then get to solving the anagram for my LOI was then TRIORIPY which didn’t look right. Only then when I checked to see if there was an alternative to POET did I find my error. PRIORITY was then obvious (as it should have been anyway), and the clock was stopped at 7.20.
Dear Mr Pandy,
Maybe you should make checking for transpositions and the like a trioripy in the future.
A rare visit to sub five territory! Not quite a PB though. From PAPA to GROCER in 4:18.Thanks Pipsqueak and Jack.
5.12.
Reasonably gentle Monday morning solve although I struggled a bit in the NE. I also took too long to see the hidden at 18dn. However all done in 17 minutes with everything parsed except COPPER.
FOI – 9ac VALIDATE
LOI – 4dn PAGE
COD – 6dn CLUELESS
Thanks to Pipsqeak and Jack
My thanks to Pipsqueak and jackkt.
It took me longer than usual, I was surprised jackkt was so fast.
1a Canape, MER as a monkey is not an ape, and can not= may. OK, neither matters so I withdraw the MER.
2d Marine, didn’t occur to me I thought it was something like pugilist with an R in. Chalk 1 to Pipsqueak.
10:45
Very enjoyable with some lovely clues.
FOI: DESERT
LOI: PIER
COD: CLUELESS
A big thanks to Pipsqueak and Jackkt
A quick solve (at least for me) today. Most of it I found easy but five clues did present me with problems solving.
First Lap: 12
Answered (no help): 18
Answered ( with help): 6
DNF: Nil
Time: 36:32
Just 14 minutes on the clock (sprinting eyeballs out for me) and only _A_A_E to solve at 7a. Unfortunately, CANAPÉ took seven minutes to find and I was dumped back into the SCC. Still, this was very definitely a QC.
Some people above have queried whether ‘monkey’ and ‘ape’ are synonyms, but I would like to raise the same question about ‘is’ and ‘can’.
1) Can can be used in place of is?
2) Is can be used in place of is?
3) Is is a synonym of can?
4) Can is a synonym of can?
Er ….!
Many thanks to Jack and Pipsqueak?
Is allowed is the synonym of can.
You can do that but you’re not allowed to….
May I do that, yes you are allowed to do that.
A language designed to confuse the student 🙂
Dear Dear Hector,
I agree that ‘is allowed’ is a synonym of ‘can’, but ‘is’ on its own is not and the clue only had ‘is’ on its own. Maybe there’s an example out there somewhere of how ‘is’ and ‘can’ are interchangeable, but I can’t think of one.
But ‘is’ was not on its own. The clue was ‘is monkey allowed’.
Ah! So it wasn’t. I stand corrected. Thank you very much, DH. I will have to watch out for that in future.
I got through most of this reasonably easily, despite the cursed grid, but was halted in my tracks at the end by CANAPE which took me around three minutes by itself. 11:30 all told, and submitted with a sigh of relief.
Thank you for the blog!
This felt quick for me but I was held up at the end by LOI MARINE ( I had thought of many states before the right one) and REMAIN where I misunderstood the parsing at first. So 11 minutes in the end.
A tough grid but easy enough clues.
COD to CLUELESS.
David
DNF
A very gentle start to the week, nearly done in 8 minutes but then struggled to see CANAPÉ. Sadly let down by biffing DATE for court.
Yeah, pretty easy for me today. I managed 5:35, which is my best time for a good few weeks.
I even thought to check for a Nina since I’ve noticed that they often pop up when there aren’t long clues across the top and bottom rows (I think that is known as a Portcullis pattern?) or when there are similarly no down clues on the leftmost and rightmost columns, and this puzzle grid had both of those characteristics. Sadly, no Nina, or at least none that I could spot, so I have still never spotted one before being alerted to its presence by this site.
8:23 but with one pink square. Did not spend long enough thinking about PIER/PEER.
10:54. Slow compared to most others. No excuses – just not on form, even having trouble with the relatively easy ones like APOLLO and MERLOT. Still, gave me more time to appreciate this very pleasant puzzle.
Thanks to Pipsqueak and Jack
19 mins…
Not as straightforward for me – but I got held up with 10ac “Pier”, after initially putting “Peer” and not being able to parse it.
FOI – 1dn “Papa”
LOI – 10ac “Pier”
COD – 7ac “Canapé”
Thanks as usual!
A straight top to bottom solve. I concur with Kevin as regards NATIVE however.
FOI CANAPE
LOI THEN
COD PIER
TIME 2:07
A PB so far as the Quitch records, by one second. Lightning!
I hadn’t realised it was a PB. Thanks for that.
Raced through most of this before struggling with my final pair. Couldn’t decide where to put the T in the crossers for Native (🙄) before common sense prevailed, and then had a complete blank with loi Page. An alpha-trawl produced a plausible Date (been there, got the T-shirt), but fortunately I pushed on a bit further and finally arrived at Page.
The upshot of all this was that a comfortable looking sub-15 turned out to be a photo-finish.
CoD to Canapé for the pdm. Invariant
3:49 and a PB – Its good to have one this easy every now and again! Only mildly held up by MARINE
Nice QC – Pipsqueak hit the Goldilocks level with this QC – thanks!
Thanks Jack for the blog.
Slow to solve NATIVE and LOI CANAPÉ, otherwise very gentle. COD CLUELESS. Thanks Pipsqueak and Jack.
6:01 for the solve. A lifetime top 10 time just behind Saturday’s 5:59. My inability to resolve anagrams wasted almost a minute midsolve on EVENTUAL and then PURGE/CLUELESS added another 30-40secs at the end. Can’t complain about that time though.
Thanks to Jackkt and Pipsqueak
All but five clues solved in twenty minutes! I don’t get 10 across – this is a homophone with no indicator such ‘we hear’ etc!
and 10 across? – as I understand it – ‘when caught’ >as in, ‘did you catch that?’ – did you hear that?
Oh, woe is us (sort of).
For not wholly laughable reasons, ‘banana’ appealed in lieu of CANAPE. Monkeys are known to be partial to such fruit. Yes, we could not parse it, however, we are far from expert in this game, so we often fall back upon the reality that the inability to parse lies with us rather than it being inherent in the clue.
So -onward and off course we went.
Finally, we rectified all – and finished with a rare sub 11 minutes. Woe then became Whoah! : )
14 mins.
FOI Papa
LOI Canape
COD Pedantry
thanks Pip and Jack
Fell into place for me in 5.05 mins, which is one of my better efforts PIER/ PEER open to question but shoved in former anyhow
11:24, and it would have been a very fast time if not for the PEDANTRY that prevented me from seeing a monkey as an ape. I had to resort to three alphabet trawls before I saw it. Of course my favorite clue was CLUELESS.
Thanks Pipsqueak and jack and congratulations to all the PBers.