Not too much resistance from the Asp today, though many answers were easier to work out than their parsings. Overall a thoroughly enjoyable solve and blog. Just under 6 minutes for me.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Company allowed to keep politician involved (9) |
| COMPLICIT – CO + LICIT with MP inserted | |
| 6 | Beat player with international experience? (3) |
| CAP – double definition. In various sports when players are selected to play for their country, they are said to be awarded a ‘cap’. I don’t know if they get an actual cap, if so Jos Buttler must have a room full of them. | |
| 8 | Refer to one not in novel (7) |
| MENTION – ‘one’ here is the royal version, meaning ‘me’. Add an anagram (‘novel’) of NOT IN. | |
| 9 | Receive grant (5) |
| ADMIT – double definition | |
| 10 | Job gets son covered in dirt (5) |
| DUSTY – DUTY with S for son inside. Not sure if ‘covered’ is supposed to be wordplay or definition, but it probably works best if it’s doing double duty | |
| 12 | Ground rent is something that has been introduced (6) |
| INSERT – anagram (‘ground’, past tense of ‘grind’) of RENT IS | |
| 14 | Got brief experience of something becoming enjoyable (8,5) |
| ACQUIRED TASTE – ACQUIRED (got) + TASTE (brief experience) | |
| 16 | Judge is hardly entertaining female companion (6) |
| GEISHA – hidden word | |
| 17 | Actor killing lead character in film (5) |
| LAYER – PLAYER minus the first letter | |
| 19 | Meandering route deviating considerably from the norm (5) |
| OUTRE – anagram (‘meandering’) of ROUTE | |
| 20 | Forced setter’s model to meet daughter (7) |
| IMPOSED – I’M (the setter is) + POSE + D | |
| 22 | This woman and that man are naked (3) |
| HER – HE + [ |
|
| 23 | Orange, light brown and green I mixed up (9) |
| TANGERINE – TAN + anagram (‘mixed up’) of GREEN I. Obviously a tangerine is not an orange, but as colours they are similar. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Clown’s trick spread by newspapers and TV perhaps (8) |
| COMEDIAN – CON (trick) ‘spread’ (i.e opened up) by MEDIA | |
| 2 | Masculine article? (3) |
| MAN – M (masculine) + AN (article), plus the whole thing is the definition (an &lit). | |
| 3 | People not belonging to the clergy abandoned Italy (5) |
| LAITY – anagram (‘abandoned’) of ITALY | |
| 4 | What may be taken into account for payment? (13) |
| CONSIDERATION – double definition. ‘Consideration’ means payment in legal contexts. For a contract to exist, some sort of consideration has to be paid, which is why completely bankrupt companies get bought for £1 rather than being given away. | |
| 5 | End of freight trains disrupted movement of goods (7) |
| TRANSIT – T + anagram (‘disrupted’) of TRAINS | |
| 6 | Appeared covered in spots? Unwilling to be photographed (6-3) |
| CAMERA-SHY – CAME RASHY | |
| 7 | Top athletes going round track (4) |
| PATH – another hidden word, which I took ages to spot | |
| 11 | Separate witness providing case for search (9) |
| SEQUESTER – SEER (witness) outside QUEST (search) | |
| 13 | Resent move to imprison beggars periodically (8) |
| BEGRUDGE – BUDGE (move) ‘imprisons’ the alternate letters of bEgGaRs | |
| 15 | Small creature visited by quiet vet (7) |
| INSPECT – INSECT ‘visited’ by P | |
| 17 | Fault in circuits on radio (5) |
| LAPSE – sounds like LAPS | |
| 18 | I’m surprised silence follows game (4) |
| GOSH – SH after GO | |
| 21 | Go downhill rapidly and almost lose control of vehicle (3) |
| SKI – SKI[ |
|
Really enjoyed this one, it had a few challenges – COMEDIAN, SEQUESTER and DUSTY spring to mind – but nothing that really stumped me.
Started with COMPLICIT and finshed with ADMIT in 7.21. COD to CAMERA SHY.
Thanks to Curarist and Asp
Yes I agree, some clues easier to solve than parse. I never parsed MENTION (one = me is a new trick to me, but obvious when pointed out), or HER – my excuse for the latter is that it was my LOI and so I got the “game over” screen straight away. The two definitions in ADMIT were also both slow to emerge. But all done in a pleasing 11:27 for a nice start to Friday. COD to the very clever CAMERA-SHY.
Many thanks Curarist for the blog.
18:17 for the solve for the Quitch. About what I’d expect from Asp on a Friday. Took twice as long as any of this week’s puzzle but a decent challenge. Just a general undermined feeling of confidence throughout – couldn’t have told you the meaning of SEQUESTER or LAITY – the latter missed it was an anagram and though I was being expected to do something clever with inserting IT into LAY. Missed the hidden GEISHA until it was LOI. A lot going on in many of today’s clues.
The week coming in just under 53mins but two DNFs both of which were a bit silly. That killed a streak of 34 solves – interesting that I’m always a bit sloppier when they are going in fast as they have this week than when they are struggle as they were in April.
Thanks to Curarist and Asp. Have a good weekend everybody 👍
I was initially slow to make progress with this puzzle. I was frustrated but, for some reason, soldiered on. My pace picked up gradually as crossers emerged . My LOsI were MENTION and COMEDIAN and I was relieved to find that I had avoided the SCC by a minute or two (my entry had seemed inevitable early on).
Not a friendly QC for some of us but a correct finish gave some satisfaction in the end so thanks to Asp for a Friday challenge. It makes a change for me to finish an Asp NVQC in under 20 mins.
Thanks to Curarist; I clearly found it more of a challenge than he did. I bifd a couple so I will now explore his blog to check some post-solve parsing.
19mins for a fully parsed Friday Asp suggests that our setter has turned over a new leaf/shed a skin, or I was very lucky: either way I’ll bank the sub-20, especially as the 18th minute was spent spotting the hidden Path 😉
1ac/d and both long answers went in with barely a crosser in sight, and after that it was just a case of using the starters to best effect. Geisha was a lucky spot, and I always thought Sequester was more like ‘seize’, but I suppose ‘separate’ works just as well.
CoD to the early front runner, Camera Shy, though I did also like the surface of Inspect. Invariant
Good time. Asp has always been tough for me.
I almost didn’t start this when I saw who the setter was, but found it much more manageable than previous offerings.
Very much on Asp’s wavelength today, finishing in 9:57, with LOI ADMIT.
PATH was very well hidden – I wasted time trying to make PROS make sense.
Thanks Curarist and Asp
Completed in a tad under 50 minutes. I can’t claim solved as my first one in was a bifd camera-shy.
It’s another thanks to C&A
If it’s completed correctly then it’s solved. Bifs are as valid a way of getting a solve as figuring out the wordplay. Well done 👍
Couldn’t agree more.
13 minutes
7.47 – so the toughest of the week, but not too hard.
Enjoyable throughout. I liked BEGRUDGE and COMEDIAN best.
Ideal QC fare IMHO. I managed the parsing, with the annoying exception of HER – banging my head against the 15*15 is clearly beginning to help ( with the essential aid of this blog I should add).
So far this week, I’ve run into “ lay”, “ laity” and (most obscurely ) “ laic” ( not all in QC admittedly). Makes me very glad I never had to learn English as a foreign language! I guess the ultimate test of proficiency in a language is a cryptic crossword ( though I wouldn’t want to communicate regularly in “crosswordese”).
Many thanks to both setter and blogger – efforts much appreciated.
Wild guesses all correct, fortunately. Yes, I found the parsing difficult. Had to begin with SKI and trudge back uphill.
CAMERA SHY was a help, ditto ACQUIRED TASTE, TANGERINE and GEISHA. Followed, eventually, by PDMs with COMPLICIT, COMEDIAN and CONSIDERATION.
This QC might be a struggle for beginners, imo.
Thanks for vital blog, Curarist.
15:48
19:48 Got to admit ASP’s acquired taste once I found the path.
Ta CAA
From COMPLICIT to TANGERINE in 7:42. Failed to parse MENTION. Thanks Asp and Curarist.
14:35. Good puzzle. On the challenging side as expected from Asp but nothing unfair or too difficult. Favourite was the clever MAN – not a wasted letter in either clue or answer.
Thanks to Asp and Curarist
Rare is the Asp I can finish and it wasn’t going to be this one either. Tried and tried but it’s time to concede defeat with two to the bad, SEQUESTER and ACQUIRED just too difficult. Thanks Curarist.
Finally, an Asp I got on with.
15:45. Surprisingly speedy for me, all things considered.
Pi ❤️
Very tough, taking 29:40 to struggle home. Not on Asp’s wavelength (as usual) and reliant on pure guesswork too often to make it enjoyable.
21 mins…
A good challenge, probably just at the right level of difficulty from a setter with a fierce reputation for tough crosswords.
Nothing much gained on the first pass in the NW, but steadily worked my way around the grid. Only panic was around the spelling of 11dn “Sequester”.
FOI – 12ac “Insert”
LOI – 15dn “Inspect”
COD – 6dn “Camera Shy”
Thanks as usual!
There have been some good puzzles this week, and today’s offering from Asp is no exception. It was pitched at just the right level for a QC as far as I’m concerned, and my time of 10.12 is just a tad outside my target. The only one I had trouble parsing was HER, and it was parsed only after I’d stopped the clock.
My total time for the week was 48.21, giving me a daily average of 9.40.
Quite enjoyable and reasonably speedy for an Asp QC. FOI ADMIT and LOI INSPECT. DUSTY took me too long. Slight MER at RASHY meaning covered in spots – never heard that term. Liked BEGRUDGED. COD OUTRE. Thanks to setter and Curarist. ( BTW, Curarist, does your name mean you’re an anaesthetist??)
13:53 with biffing all over the place.
Thank you for the blog!
If you have a typo on your last letter entered you don’t get a pink square! The last square orange overrides it. Turns out I’d entered CONSIDERATIOi – so no pink squares but 2 errors as it mucked up TANGERINE too. Really must get better at typing, or at least reading what I’m typing.
Otherwise fun – did it outside with coffee and the cat and only birdsong to distract me.
I found Asp to be in approachable mood this Friday with a smooth solve but for the long ‘un down the middle to which I had to return with crossers. Nice to see the &lit MAN. Super surfaces throughout. GEISHA my favourite. All done in 7.20.
Thanks to setter and blogger
Found this quite chewy, 22:42 for me. Helped by acquired taste finally dropping – thought that was a nice surface and clue of the day.
9:05
Seeing Asp as the setter meant I expected a challenge, as I average more than 10 minutes against this toughest of QC setters. It seemed like no time at all before I was approaching the end with 8+ minutes on the clock. Switching the final two letters of 19a made LOI 15d possible, and I squeaked home with a minute to spare and bring down that average slightly.
Thanks Curarist and Asp
11.47 I worked slowly down the grid getting very little but the answers came quickly on the way back up and I wondered what the problem had been. Thanks Curarist and Asp.
SEQUESTER left me stumped, technical dnf
I too think Asp was in a good mood as I solved this one steadily. My FOI was COMPLICIT although I briefly considered COMPLeted. My LOsI were the hidden PATH and LAITY. Layperson and layman are more familiar terms to me. 7:33 Thanks Curarist
I didn’t find this so easy, particularly the NW corner, and ended up starting at the bottom and working my way back up again, and I spent ages on my LOI – I just couldn’t see one = me. But it certainly took me less time than some previous offerings from Asp. Amazingly, today’s biggie only took me just over double the time!
Thanks for parsing CAMERA SHY – I biffed it and never went back to see what was going on!
Lots to like though, including MAN, OUTRE, INSPECT and ACQUIRED TASTE- quite appropriate as we were having a discussion about learning to like olives recently 😅
Another palindromic time today 14:41 FOI Tangerine LOI Mention COD Path
Thanks Asp and Curarist
I have been there! Started with cooked, pitted black and eventually progressed to greens + stone. Picholines from the south of France are now a particular favourite, but not easy to get in the UK
Was able to do this in under 40 minutes. 6a, 3d, 4d, and 7d took the longest to parse.
Thanks Curarist.
I was quite quick on most of this but a mistake held me up.
I put OUTER at 19a which seemed to fit just about.
As a result I really struggled to get LOI INSPECT. Then 19a corrected.
14 minutes in all on a day when Asp was quite gentle.
COD to ACQUIRED TASTE.
David
8.36.
Nice one Asp, much enjoyed, thank you.
‘Grenadine’ is an anagram of ‘and green I’ but it is neither orange nor light brown 🙄
Took ages to see PATH.
Needed help parsing SEQUESTER, thanks Curarist
24:14
Struggled to get onto Asp’s wavelength or maybe, as others have commented, there were difficult clues to parse. (That and taking time to spot the hiddens.)
That said, all parsed bar MENTION – I’m another who had not seen the ‘royal we’ before.
FOI: INSERT
LOI: MENTION
COD: ACQUIRED TASTE
Thanks to Curarist and Asp
A good and satisfying wrestle. Exactly as Plett, except that I finished rather than started with COMPLICIT (the NW corner was where I had all my hold ups). All done in 07:17 for a Very Good Day.
Many thanks Asp and Curarist.
13 minute DNF.
Put PATE for PATH. Just shows how inept I am. Saw the word PATH but didn’t associate hidden word with ‘going round’ for whatever reason. Must have looked at this clue 6 times and I still got it wrong.
Another awful week to add to the collection. 2 DNFs and still miles behind the competition. Fed up.
PS Just 15 on the big puzzle in well over an hour. Utterly out of my depth. Another day when I wonder whether it is worth continuing with these puzzles when I simply don’t have what it takes. The 15 x 15 is a game for brilliant minds and that is something I do not possess (and never will).
Phew! In spite of the Quitch I avoided getting stuck and had a pleasant 10:20 solve. Started with COMPLICIT and ended with INSPECT, which needed a second look. For once I could see the hiddens and that helped a lot. Like ACQUIRED TASTE once I had enough checkers to see it. Lots of good surfaces, especially OUTRE, and COD to HER, which I couldn’t parse until after. Funny how the mind resists a sequence like “that man are naked”.
Thanks to Asp and Curarist.
I really struggled today. I can only seem to get around two thirds complete each day. Does anyone have any tips on progressing do I just need to keep plugging away? I would say my level is beginner ish.
Unless you have already done so, go online and find a list of all the common abbreviations etc that are used in cryptic crosswords. Keep this to hand, use it when necessary and you will soon find that you get to know most of them.
It’s also a good idea to make a note of the synonyms that crop up as you need a good mental store of these. For about 18 months, I wrote these down religiously as a way of getting them into my mind.
Make sure you read the blog carefully and fully understand the parsing of each clue, even the ones you get right. It’s always worth seeing how a clue has been constructed.
Finally, it is true that taking a break from a puzzle when you are stuck and then coming back to it will normally produce results. I’m not sure why but it does work more often than it doesn’t!
Read the blog, especially for the ones you didn’t get, learn the code phrases and look at both ends of the clue for the target. If all else fails, look for a hidden. Good luck!
DNF. As usual found an Asp offering difficult.
Not on our best form today perhaps. Held up by LOI INSPECT because I’d put in OUTER (far from the middle?) at 19a. We did find it tricky on the whole though. 18:22. Some well hidden hiddens. Thanks to Curarist and Asp.