So yes, this is only Jet Lag’s second puzzle: the first was back in August last year, which finished up on 111 on the quitch, and I’d put this at a similar level.
And another lovely puzzle, with some cracking surfaces, well-worked anagrams, and tricksy clueing aplenty. Looking back at it, the first had a bit of a US flavour; and so again today, with JOE, CANDY, BOSTON, DENY, among others, so there could be some significance to our setter’s name.
I came home in 8:51, and would have been decently over the 10 minutes had I troubled to parse everything along the way. Lovely stuff – many thanks to Jet Lag!
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Wide-ranging traveller goes through Moldova, Gabon, Djibouti, … (8) |
| VAGABOND – “goes through” moldoVA GABON Djibouti. These three countries would require a 6,000-mile jaunt, as the crow flies, and would be decidedly intrepid however you went about it. I remember being quite surprised on finding out VAGABOND is primarily a neutral word for an itinerant: wherever I first read the word when young, it was with the connotation of rogues and bandits, and that sense lodged in my head. | |
| 5 | Kid finally drank boring American coffee (4) |
| JOKE – K (“finally” dranK) to “bore”/drill into JOE (American coffee). Origin obscure for JOE, but first cited to early 40s, so maybe military. | |
| 8 | After reflection, transfer clock-watcher? (5) |
| TIMER – REMIT (transfer) is one of those words with quite a wide remit, and I quickly remembered from crosswords past that its reverse (“after reflection”) is TIMER, for which “clock-watcher?” is a fun definition. | |
| 9 | Gold stone before grave (7) |
| AUSTERE – AU (symbol for gold) ST(one) ERE (before) | |
| 11 | Business involving buying and selling chessmen opened by brother (11) |
| PAWNBROKING – PAWN and KING (chessmen) opened by BRO(ther) | |
| 13 | Upset at more conspiratorial code (6) |
| OMERTA – anagram (upset) of AT MORE. The OED says the word is not Sicilian in origin, and is most likely a corruption of the Spanish hombredad, meaning manliness; there is little evidence for the other main option, the Italian umiltà, meaning humility. | |
| 14 | High point includes characters in the Odyssey (6) |
| ALPHAS – ALP (high point) HAS (includes). Cunning little use of INCLUDES there. | |
| 16 | Field worker sees her PhD’s wasted (11) |
| SHEPHERDESS – anagram (wasted) of SEES HER PHDS. Very nice! | |
| 18 | Starts to belt a Verdi tune somewhere in Germany (7) |
| BAVARIA – the “starts” to Belt A Verdi, ARIA (tune) | |
| 19 | Quiet part is said out loud (5) |
| PEACE – is “said” the same as PIECE (part) | |
| 20 | Small quantity — it can be seen in this clue (4) |
| DASH – a DASH can be both a small quantity, and, well, the dash-shaped object currently masquerading as an equals sign in the middle of the clue. | |
| 21 | Frankly, I had 50 filling sweets (8) |
| CANDIDLY – I’D (I had) L (fifty in Roman numerals) filling CANDY (sweets) | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Reject love initiated by ex-soldier (4) |
| VETO – O (love) initiated by VET (ex-soldier) | |
| 2 | Maybe old maid quietly holds back animal sanctuaries? (4,9) |
| GAME PRESERVES – GAME (maybe old maid, the card game) P (piano = quietly) RESERVES (hold back) | |
| 3 | Person perhaps observing seagull cavorting with red crab (11) |
| BIRDWATCHER – very nice anagram (cavorting) of WITH RED CRAB. I imagine a (non-cryptic) birdwatcher would consider seagulls pretty thin gruel: how about a bunch of street pigeons to gawp at instead? | |
| 4 | Barney moving close (6) |
| NEARBY – anagram (moving) of BARNEY | |
| 6 | Comedian’s gig about English furniture (3-5,5) |
| ONE-NIGHT STAND – ON (about) E(nglish) NIGHTSTAND (furniture). A one-off play/routine/etc was the original sense, first cited in 1878, with the sex sense emerging in the 1950s (both originally US). There is presumably some 50s sitcom that plays on the confusion this might cause, to great hilarity. | |
| 7 | Invigorate crude genre with one’s elegance to begin with (8) |
| ENERGISE – anagram (crude) of GENRE with I’S (one’s) and E (Elegance “to begin with) | |
| 10 | Part of a dress ought to drape loosely (8,3) |
| SHOULDER PAD – |
|
| 12 | New England city backing commercial fair (3,2,3) |
| NOT SO BAD – BOSTON (New England city) “backing”, AD (commercial) | |
| 15 | Miserable person assuming Time published mistakes (6) |
| ERRATA – RAT (miserable person) assuming/wearing ERA (time) | |
| 17 | Say no to two states bordering Pennsylvania (4) |
| DENY – the two states being Delaware and New York. I had Delaware a good bit further south in my (hazy) mental map, but I see there is a little 25-mile border with Pa. at its very north. | |
Hard! Some tricky wordplay and a NHO ALPHAS. I can never remember OMERTA but once NOT SO BAD went in it came. Never heard of the card game so GAME PRESERVES came from the checkers and ‘animal sanctuaries’. Liked the hidden VAGABOND. Sorry RT but SHOULDER PAD is ‘should’ (ought to) and an anagram of ‘drape’, but I thought the same at first, too.
Thanks RT and setter
Ah yes, of course – thanks for examining the shoulder pad less loosely! Will correct the blog.
I found this much harder than yesterday’s, when I was well on the wavelength. Of course, I took advantage of the easy ones like vagabond and veto, and I saw deny at once. I think of Delaware as bordering New Jersey, just because that’s the easiest way to get there from the NY area. I was a bit nonplussed by one-night-stand, but the cryptic clearly points to it. Peace was my LOI, and even that forced me to think a bit.
Time: 12:58
Once again I had interruptions and was not solving under my ideal conditions but nevertheless progress was very slow to the point where I wondered whether it was just me or the puzzle actually was very hard. I shall be interested read how it goes down with others after the lengthy discussions here yesterday. I suspect that not many will have found it easier.
Slow start with a hard fought four in the first pass but the checkers from ONE NIGHT STAND and NOT SO BAD got me up and running. PEACE was my LOI too, really can’t see why I made it so hard for myself. ALPHAS went in because it fitted and featured alps. All green in 15.29.
I can’t share the blogger’s enthusiasm for this puzzle. Not because it was especially hard, because it wasn’t. But, like many of the newer setters, it feels as though Jet Lag is trying too hard to be clever and the result is just another crossword. It just doesn’t feel like I am doing a Times crossword (QC or otherwise) and it was just a drag.
Sadly, have to echo Agile James.
This is the first QC in which, despite nearing the end, we lost interest and opted to reveal the final few answers.
Then again, we are a diverse audience and a diverse array of offerings is welcomed.
Thank you JetLag and RolyToly
Tricky but some good stuff in there. I had no idea what was going on with definition of ONE NIGHT STAND, but the wordplay and checkers were clear.
Started with VAGABOND and finished with ALPHAS in a satisfactory 9.54.
Thanks to Rolytoly and Jet Lag
I found much of the puzzle rather tricky but managed to see through some of Jet Lag’s quirkiness and finish in 19.28 – a minor achievement for a QC that unbalanced me at times. I see the SNITCH is currently 130 so not everyone is finding it easy.
I worked out ALPHAS but don’t really get it. Apart from that, I parsed the rest (I think) apart from partial bifds for ONE NIGHT STAND and JOkE. I will now go through Roly’s blog and check how well I did this.
Thanks to both.
15 minutes. Not as difficult as yesterday but certainly no doddle. Identifying the correct defs for ONE-NIGHT STAND and NOT SO BAD gave me the most problems and even the “simple” JOKE was no write-in as I didn’t know the American colloquialism. Yes, a US flavour to some other clues as well but no complaints.
Favourite was our hidden but ‘wide-ranging traveller’ for VAGABOND.
Thanks to Roly and Jet Lag
10:04
Just tipping over the 10 minutes, which, while better than yesterday’s, ranks this, as Roly suggests, at a similar level to Jet Lag’s previous outing. With 7 minutes on the clock, things were still looking pretty sparse, but having just spotted VAGABOND, those valuable first letters gave me plenty of down answers. Must admit, I would have thought GAME RESERVES was correct rather than GAME PRESERVES (rhino marmalade? elephant jam?). Liked ONE NIGHT STAND, and as mentioned above, utilised the mental map of US states to know that New York (NY) is one of those required, which led to DENY, recalling Delaware (DE) being adjacent also. A little thought at the end required for LOI ALPHAS.
Thanks Roly and Jet Lag
Very hard and needing alphabet trawls and (wild) guesses to finish in 27:23 with JOKE my LOI – not the faintest what was going on here. Not sure about ALPHAS Or GAME PRESERVES either. Not very satisfying.
ALPHAS – the Odyssey was written in Greek, so ALPHAS are Greek letters (characters).
Thanks for explaining. That’s a trick you don’t often see in the QC but do encounter in the 15×15. Seems a bit much for the QC when you combine that with the “high point includes” wordplay
I got the alpha/letter thing but thought there must be something else to the clue because it seemed a bit weak/convoluted, even with the Greek/Odyssey connection.
I’d say this clue is an example of the difference between say a Trelawney which everybody enjoys and the ones where there’s a chorus of “this wasn’t a QC”. The wordplay was hard but if the definition had been something like “Greek characters” I’d have confidently bunged in Alphas. Instead I spent an extra 2+mins trying to decipher it and couldn’t.
22:21 for the solve. Mostly held up in the SE by ONE-NIGHT-STAND, CANDIDLY, DENY with ALPHAS (LOI) taking me for another visit to the SCC. No idea about the Odyssey and, while a Christopher Nolan film is due for blockbuster release this year, I doubt few people outside of those who studied Classics at Oxbridge could name anything about it. And to be honest, I like a bit of Greek myth.
I also like a bit of Americana but didn’t expect a QC to need intimate knowledge of the layout of states so while I am able to name the ones around Pennsylvania, I discounted that in my solve until I saw NY from the checkers. States geography seems a bit more than GK to your average British solver.
There were some good clues in here (VAGABOND, BAVARIA, NEARBY, NOT-SO-BAD) but felt worn down by it once I got past the fifteen minute mark. Just enough mers – rat=miserable person; a comedian’s gig being a “one night stand” surely it’s “one night only”, the alphas and candy. Bit like yesterday in the sense that the odd strange word is fine but the density of these took away from it. To Roly’s list of Americanisms, I’d add VET and VAGABOND and maybe even GAME-PRESERVES – surely it’s just a reserve.
Thanks to Roly for an excellent blog and to Jet Lag
PS On the other hand, enjoyed the Cryptic Quintagram today!
I don’t think you need to be an Oxbridge classicist to know (a) that the Odyssey was written in Greek and (b) that ALPHAS are Greek characters!
I agree, but as I still didn’t understand the clue when I wrote that I thought you did. Hadrian’s comment only appeared while I was posting and the blog didn’t explain the detail.
Really enjoyed today’s QC with quite a few PDMs. I was given the card game Old Maid as a child, but it stayed unopened as I didn’t like the name. Certainly an American flavour but nothing unheard of. COD DENY. Thanks Jet Lag and Roly
I’m all for being generous and encouraging – I know I should have been more positive in the past about some of these – but unless we call out poorly pitched clues the setters are encouraged to keep getting them wrong! A lot to enjoy certainly so genuine thanks but quite a few that were tenuous and or obscure in my opinion. NHO of Joe and for most of us, I would suggest, a one night stand has a very different meaning!
I went with java for American coffee. I’ve never heard Joe for coffee. Best I could think of for boring American was John Doe. I parsed nine but didn’t bifd any others. Roly you can add night stand to the list of American phrases.
Agree re Game Reserves – where did the unwanted P come from – makes absolutely no sense! NHO Alphas in The Odyssey either. Google tells me it might be something to do with a kids TV series or even a computer game. Can anyone explain or are we all mystified?!
See comment above.
Funny that: Mrs M thought the same so I reached for Chambers and there it was, game preserve, no sign of game reserve. Anyone for deeper research into this?
Google’s AI summary:
“Game reserve” and “game preserve” both refer to protected land for wildlife, but “reserve” is more common globally (often used for conservation/tourism), while “preserve” is more common in North America, often implying a focus on hunting or specific management. Both function as sanctuaries, though “reserve” typically implies wildlife protection
All in all, I feel this setter may be more suited for the New York Times. I don’t think it’s terribly unreasonable to expect British usage to predominate in The (London) Times’ crosswords, which does not seem to be the case here.
Well done – thank you for that excellent exegesis.
Another struggle: after an hour came within four but threw in the towel, over to you, Roly, thanks.
So much US stuff here: NHO JOE or ALPHAS, sweets = CANDY, VET, even the two states. Do QCs over there demand GK on UK kings and queens and counties? Dream on.
Oh I assumed it was PAWNBROKers, no wonder I couldn’t get the two downs.
NIGHTSTAND is obscure, it’s in one out of three dictionaries.
Is a RAT a miserable person? Thought it was usually rogue or traitor. But if it is, I’m distinctly ratty this morning. But oh, loved the surface for SHEPHERDESS.
There’s a reasonably widespread coffee bar chain called “Joe and the Juice” so that wasn’t too hard. ONE NIGHT STAND, on the other hand … very slow to see that, and PEACE (thought the P was going to be the “quiet”), and LOI ALPHAS.
Finished in 10:26 for a Ok Day which makes it slightly easier than yesterday’s, but to me not as enjoyable. Many thanks Jet and Roly.
I lived in the States for 2 years and have never heard of JOE for coffee.
17:46 with LOI PEACE.
NHO JOE for coffee, but it had to be the answer.
I agree with all the comments about game reserves not needing the P. I think GAME PRESERVES should be defined as “confits of pheasant?”.
Thanks Roly and Jet Lag
Dnf…
Turning into a disastrous week.
I thought this was hard again. Agree with all comments regarding “Preserves” for 2dn and whilst I managed 17dn “Deny”, after thinking it may have been “Pass”, I’d forgotten the “Joe” for American coffee (although it has been used here before). Even 6dn “One Night Stand” wasn’t straightforward.
There was a definite American slant on this.
FOI – 1ac “Vagabond”
LOI – Dnf
COD – 12dn “Not so bad”
Thanks as usual!
I made this even more difficult than it already was by biffing PAWNBROKERS, which held up ONE NIGHT STAND until ENERGISES gave me ING instead of ERS. Didn’t know that definition of a comedy gig either. Needed the -O-E and the K from the clue before I remember JOE for coffee. Was just about to hammer on the door of the SCC when that came to mind. From VAGABOND to JOKE in 19:30. Thanks Jet Lag and Roly.
I thought this was a good deal tougher than yesterday’s, as my finishing time of 16.47 would suggest. I didn’t help myself by initially putting in PAWNBROKERS, and it took me a while to correct it, as ENERGISE took some time to solve. Joe as an American coffee was unknown to me, and I spent valuable time looking for an alternative to JOKE.
My train of thought was interrupted midway through the solve, when my grandson appeared to show me the scar from his football injury. He seemed singularly unimpressed when I told him “I’ve had worse”.
Please add me to the list that didn’t really understand GAME PRESERVES. I also couldn’t parse JOKE. I only know joe as an ordinary guy. I did however learn the meaning of the word OMERTA and really enjoyed the cluing for SHOULDER PAD. My LOI was ALPHAS in a sluggish 11:16. Thanks Roly
Well, I got there in the end, but it was quite a struggle after a promising start in the NW corner. Soulder Pad, Candidly and Errata were slow to emerge, but it was Joke, Dash and Deny that were the troublesome trio at the end, and they certainly didn’t come easily. I think once every six months sounds about right for Jet Lag at this level of difficulty.
CoD to One Night Stand for the parsing. Invariant
Surprised that I’m the first to point out that there is in fact no bird species called the “seagull” – there are 54 gull species, none of which are called “seagull”, so in fact a birdwatcher is very unlikely to be observing one!
Very clever I suppose, but apart from a few nice clues ridiculously hard for a Qc. I gave up after getting about one-third.
Yesterday’s DNF HAD 6 blank spaces and one incorrect answer. Today’s had 8 blank spaces (all on the left hand side) and one incorrect answer, so things are going downhill rapidly. NHO Joe meaning coffee, didn’t understand ALPHAS and, now it has been explained, I think it’s weak.
FOI – 1ac VAGABOND
LOI – DNF
COD – 12dn NOT SO BAD
Thanks to Jet Lag and Rolytoly.