Time: 13 minutes. A mostly straightforward solve for me although I lost time over 12ac / 12dn. I struggled to find the signature clue today but got there in the end.
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 Caret 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 | Person calling out during court proceedings? (4,5) |
| LINE JUDGE – Cryptic with reference to tennis | |
| 6 | Family member in Secret Intelligence Service (3) |
| SIS – SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) | |
| 8 | From which one may speak or, turning back, play guitar? (7) |
| ROSTRUM – OR (reversed (turning back), STRUM (play guitar) | |
| 9 | Book unfortunately defending introduction of tariffs (5) |
| ATLAS – A⁁LAS (unfortunately) containing [defending] T{ariffs} [introduction of …] | |
| 10 | Unhappy old canoeists set adrift (12) |
| DISCONSOLATE – Anagram [set adrift] of OLD CANOEISTS | |
| 12 | Lengthy rebuke frightened female avoids (6) |
| EARFUL – {f}EARFUL (frightened) [female avoids] | |
| 13 | What might encourage a couple of Romeos to get into bed? (6) |
| CARROT – A + RR (couple of Romeos) contained by [to get into] C⁁OT (bed) | |
| 16 | Area MP represents could become nicest county (12) |
| CONSTITUENCY – Anagram of [could become] NICEST COUNTY | |
| 19 | Some people eat this rubbish (5) |
| TRIPE – Two meanings | |
| 20 | Person coming to check the books, I hear (7) |
| AUDITOR – Two meanings: Collins 1. a person qualified to audit accounts, 2. a person who hears or listens | |
| 22 | Outstanding university in middle of Bordeaux (3) |
| DUE – U (university) contained by [in middle of] {Bor}D⁁E{aux} | |
| 23 | Place that’s safe from horribly scary aunt (9) |
| SANCTUARY – Anagram [horribly] of SCARY AUNT | |
| Down |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Fat city doctor heading north (4) |
| LARD – LA (city), then DR (doctor) reversed [heading north]. Lard comes from pigs, so this must be today’s signature clue from our porcine setter. | |
| 2 | Increasingly awful wine that geek almost drinks (7) |
| NASTIER – N⁁ER{d} (geek) [almost] contains [drinks] ASTI (wine) | |
| 3 | Open, taking lid off something containing marmalade? (3) |
| JAR – {a}JAR (open) [taking lid off] | |
| 4 | Some deride Mandelson claim (6) |
| DEMAND – Hidden in [some] {deri}DE MAND{elson} | |
| 5 | Complicated tale a bore cooked up (9) |
| ELABORATE – Anagram [cooked up] of TALE A BORE | |
| 6 | Saucy dance? (5) |
| SALSA – Cryptic with reference to the two meanings of the word | |
| 7 | Have a feeling he might be arrested? (7) |
| SUSPECT – Two meanings | |
| 11 | Very many left inspired by noblewoman (9) |
| COUNTLESS – L (left) contained [inspired] by COUNT⁁ESS (noblewoman) | |
| 12 | Hyped-up ex summoned to appear in court (7) |
| EXCITED – EX, CITED (summoned to appear in court) | |
| 14 | A bit of Kashmiri cottage cheese? (7) |
| RICOTTA – Hidden in [a bit of] {Kashmi}RI COTTA{ge} | |
| 15 | Shame about Republican tax (6) |
| STRAIN – ST⁁AIN (shame) containing [about] R (Republican) | |
| 17 | Sound of hooter absorbing one (5) |
| NOISE – NO⁁SE (hooter) containing [absorbing] I (one) | |
| 18 | Heard victim beg (4) |
| PRAY – Aural wordplay [heard]: “prey” (victim) | |
| 21 | I could have one, if not alone (3) |
| DOT – Cryptic. An ‘I’ on its own would usually be a capital letter and therefore not have a dot as in lower case. | |
I also was not sure of the ‘Oink’ reference but LARD must be it. Took me a while for the penny to drop with LINE JUDGE. My first thought for EARFUL was ‘tirade’ but it didn’t parse. Fun Monday quickie and COD to the cryptic DOT.
Thanks Jack and setter.
7.36. I was delayed by EARFUL/EXCITED because I shied away from an EX beginning as that word was in the clue. Fun puzzle, thanks Oink and Jack. I missed the cleverness of DOT and will go with the rest of the room in assuming LARD was today’s example of Oink gettin’ piggy wit it.
5:09
Pretty straightforward, although like Lindsay and Jack I hesitated over the 12s (‘Ex’ seems infelicitous). I doubt that I would have got DOT without the checkers; with them, it was a gimme.
Well, I misspelled sanctuary twice, and I do know how to spell it – haste makes waste. On the other hand, I solved the long anagrams at a glance – disconsolate, constituency, no problem. Earful was my LOI, and I had to think for a minute although it’s a bit of a chestnut.
Time: 5:55
A fine Monday crossword, completed in 8:02. Like Kevin and I suspect others, I only got DOT once the D-T checkers were there – before that I had no idea what was going on with the clue but fortunately the other possibilities (dat, det, dit etc) made no sense.
Many thanks Jack for the blog.
A nice gentle start to the week.
Started with SIS and finished with the clever DOT in 4.52.
Thanks to Jack and Oink.
For 2 down there is an alternative reading – the wine a geek almost (ie a Greek) drinks is retsina – an anagram of nastier
Very clever, but too clever for a QC and an indirect anagram, which is generally deemed a no-no. However I’m sure we’ve seen the wine clued as an anagram of NASTIER many a time.
As I understand the ximenean rules, “Greek almost” would have to be cluing GREE; the shortening indicators can only clip the last letter, not another one in the word or more than one letter from the end.
I assumed TRIPE was the Oink reference but agree that LARD is more pig specific.
Thank you for explaining DOT which I could not parse. Fortunately O was the only vowel that fitted.
COD to DUE which was fun to work out.
Thanks Jack and Oink.
I wondered about TRIPE, but I think most of what is (was?) sold for consumption in the UK comes from cattle, so I discounted it as a piggy clue. Further research has found mention of pig, so you’re right that it’s a possibility.
3:45. Nice and gentle. I missed only EARFUL and LOI CARROT on a first pass through the clues. Thank-you Oink and Jackkt.
15:29 Troubled by excited suspect earful.
TaJAO
18 mins…
Started off fairly quickly, but then got bogged down in the SW corner, particularly with 12dn “Excited” and 12ac “Earful”. I couldn’t parse 21dn “Dot” either and had problems spelling 10ac “Disconsolate” – however, I got there in the end.
Overall, a good puzzle from Oink which felt more cryptic than usual but with some amusing surfaces.
FOI – 1dn “Lard”
LOI – 12ac “Earful”
COD – 13ac “Carrot”
Thanks as usual!
Very pleased with a more or less top to bottom solve in 13.12.
Like others, really liked dot, once both checkers made it obvious. Thanks Oink and Jack
3.42 – an enjoyable sprint this morning.
EARFUL held me up the longest.
Well done Oink. I hope this puzzle heralds a week of actual QCs after a high proportion of clever but non-QCs (imho) over recent weeks.
Enjoyable for me. Almost all parsed. 5 Mins outside the SCC which is OK for me. The long anagrams helped (given a few crossers) and were easier than some of the short answers (thanks for parsing DOT, jackkt). NOISE and my LOI EARFUL held me up at the end.
Thanks to both.
21 in 30 minutes.
Didn’t know the Greek god and no idea on 12ac despite having the E from 12d.
Got the judge from the crossers but not the line. I didn’t associate judge with that sort of person.
Thanks J and O
Very fast then put Arbiter not AUDITOR so DNF DOT either!
Good puzzle. Much enjoyed.
Thanks vm, Jack.
Enjoyable straightforward QC. 12A and 12D my L2I. DOT had to be but couldn’t parse it – thanks Jack for explaining this clever clue. CARROT my COD.
Short but sweet. All but three acrosses, all of the downs with only a momentry pause at dot (what else could it be), and then the last three acrosses all write-ins. I think the Oink reference must be lard (still waiting for Ham!) which is always pig fat (other meats are tallow, and dripping is a mixture of both). Re-fried chips in dripping – yum! Tripe is derived from ruminants according to most sources, which pigs aren’t. Thanks Oink and jackkt.
What a pro. Some easy ones, some a bit harder, LOI EARFUL needing a PDM which at last came: a perfect QC. Thanks, Oink, and thanks Jack for explaining just how AUDITOR (I hear?) worked. Just one thing surprised me: ex = EX.
That trick is sometimes used in difficult puzzles – it often flummoxes very experienced solvers.
6:10
Bit of a slow start but quickly into the swing of things. Didn’t think 21d was the finest clue ever. Assumed LARD must be the piggy reference.
Thanks Jack and Oink
10 minutes for me today with two of those on LOI EARFUL. I too thought of TIRADE first and then had to go back to the clue and work out precisely what was needed.
A fun puzzle, as so often from Oink, but with some potential traps like PRAY.
COD to ROSTRUM.
David
Zoomed through this, apart from the SW, in about 5 minutes. A further 4 minutes were spent on the same clues mentioned by most above. Fun start to the week.
A decent time to start the week finishing in 8.50. Like some others my LOI was EARFUL being wary of the EX of EXCITED being referred to in the clue. TRIPE brings back memories of my childhood, as my mother occasionally used to cook it for my father. It looked revolting to my young eyes, and in cooking smelt even worse; it used to stink the house out. Everyone else in the house wouldn’t contemplate eating it.
My first term in Med school I was in digs in East London, half board. The landlady made tripe for dinner, week one. I walked in and thought something had died. I left a few days later. I still remember the smell!
My mother cooked it once and insisted I eat it, an experience I have never forgotten! Years later, my Lancastrian husband told me that in Lancashire it was often eaten raw, with vinegar. Needless to say, I have never eaten it since (not even in France, where ‘tripes à la mode de Caen’ is a traditional regional dish).
A steady solve in 15 minutes with all parsed bar DOT, where I had no idea what was going on. I thought TRIPE must be the piggy reference but had forgotten about LARD which is more likely. A much more pleasant experience than Friday when I stopped at 30 mins with one outstanding (couldn’t get on the site to comment though).
FOI – 1a LINE JUDGE
LOI – 12dn EXCITED
COD – 12ac EARFUL. Also liked LINE JUDGE and TRIPE.
Thanks to Oink and Jack.
Not too bad. A few head scratchers and, if I’m honest, I used an anagram solver for 10a purely because I could not be bothered to try to anagram the letters.
First Lap: 9
Answered (no help): 23
Answered (with help): 3
Time: 24:19
16:36 – a steady solve with no real holdups. LOI DOT – thanks for the explanation!
8 minutes. An enjoyable but not too demanding start to the week from Oink. The clever DOT was a real highlight. Interesting to read in the comments about LARD which I didn’t know refers specifically to pig fat.
Thanks to Oink and Jack
From LARD to DOT in 7:35. I needed both crossers to get DOT but then saw how it worked straight away. Clever! Saw EARFUL quickly as it was in a puzzle I did yesterday. EXCITED took longer. Liked LINE JUDGE. Thanks Oink and Jack.
I flew through the top half and a bit more of the grid, but then it was as if Oink had subbed the bottom third of the puzzle to a different setter. Earful finally convinced me that 12d actually did begin Ex-, but Auditor and Strain were a struggle (no idea why), and loi Dot stubbornly resisted all my parsing attempts. Standing room only by the time I put the pen down.
CoD to Dot, now that Jackkt has explained the parsing. Invariant
I also experienced a marked change of difficulty between top and bottom halves.
A steady 14 minutes with nothing too scary apart from trying to type ‘discontented’ even when I knew that was wrong. Funny what the brain does!
I was unreasonably irked by 12d actually beginning with Ex- and DOT has to be COD, now that its cleverness has been explained to me.
Thanks Oink and Jack.
A lovely start to the week. I needed LARD and the J to get 1a and like jackkt I got stuck on EARFUL and EXCITED which were my LOsI. I didn’t fully parse DOT until post solve. My COD is CONSTITUENCY as it seems like an oxymoron. 5:26 Thanks jackkt
16 mins. Steady for me too with Tripe being the main hold up. Need the crossers to get dot, and then saw what was going on.
FOI Sis
LOI Tripe
COD Carrot
thanks Oink and Jack
My thanks to Oink and jackkt.
I wasn’t really paying DUE attention and vaguely thought 2d Nastier was something
to do with that being an anagram of RETSINA! I like retsina, so was a trifle miffed. Missed the nerd and the asti altogether. I see LukeS had the same idea.
21d Dot, missed the elaborate logic and biffed it; belated COD. Oh dear, two SUSPECT biffs.
I only missed the very first clue to stop a straight top to bottom solve.
FOI SIS
LOI LINE JUDGE
COD DEMAND
TIME 2:52
Spotted ASTI and biffed RETSINA as an anagram of Nastier and missed the relevance of Nerd altogether. As above re DOT and the harder SW. Spent several minutes trying to parse it but very impressed with the solution. Thanks Jackkt. All finished in 22 minutes. Thanks Oink.
7.45 EXCITED, EARFUL and NASTIER were slow and I finished with LINE JUDGE. DOT was nice. Thanks Jack and Oink.
21 minutes but put Prey instead of Pray!! Fairly straightforward but had a few tricky/clever clues. Thank you Oink and Jack.
The last time I did this well on a QC, I was (very slightly) deflated to learn that it was, per quitch, the easiest in recorded history. It is a comfort to see this one was seen as easy, but well within bounds.
I don’t remember my time then, so I will make a note and consider 8:43 my PB.
Thanks Oink and Jack! A tennis clue to get the ball rolling always appreciated.
Just over 10m with only E R U at 12a to resolve and that took 4 more with help from my wife! Typical Oink with approachable clues and some gettable dds. The long anagrams flew in and the hiddens were nicely clued. Great fun: thank you Oink and lovely blog!
By the way, they don’t have human LINE JUDGEs at Wimbledon any more, just Hawkeye or similar.
I (or i) DID think 21 down was one of the finest clues ever. I love a good Monday start. Kids me into thinking I’m getting better! Thanks Oink.
9:33 with a fat-fingered RoCOTTA. I swear the computer gremlins did it. I liked the scary aunt best. FOI SIS, LOI LINE JUDGE (tennis a weak point). Thanks Oink and Jack.
Couldn’t parse my LOI, DOT, but appreciate the cleverness of the clue.
I did this puzzle yet another week with a good start. Struggled with 10 and 16 across but got there.
Starting to enjoy these puzzles. This took 37 minutes.
11:36 for me, nice puzzle. COD to DOT: coming up with clues for 3-letter words must be one of the harder parts of setting a crossword.
Thanks to Oink and Jackkt.
9 mins, but day spoilt by 15 x 15. Took over an hour for a puzzle with a snitch of 51 and still DNF’d by one! So many people did this in well under 20 mins. Very disappointing.
Some very fast times colleagues! Lots of acrosses followed by lots of downs and then some mopping up. Paused to think in a few places and definitely at the end with EARFUL. Relief when it appeared as the alphabet trawl started a second rotation. All green in 9.09 and the first under 10 for a while.
8:49, much enjoyed – and a good one for sharing on a bank holiday, I think.
Thank you for the blog!
Tackled rather late in the day, but my brain cells seemed to be working moderately effectively. First 20 clues in 20 minutes (so far, so good), but my final six clues required a further 11 minutes. Total time = 31 minutes, which is just outside my target.
FOI: SIS
LOI: EARFUL
COD: LINE JUDGE
Thanks to Jack for the blog and to Oink for a genuine QC.
Well-pitched QC. Completed in 18m 40s, but I couldn’t parse DOT.
Now that you have explained it, Jack, I think it’s very clever and my COD.
More like this one, hoped for, this week.
Thank you, Oink and Jackkt.