Happy New Year to one and all, and welcome to the first Quick Cryptic of 2025.
Here in California where I live, there are still 6½ hours to go until 2025 actually arrives, so I can’t use that as an excuse for a slow time. I found this a tricky offering from Joker. I finished in 24:03, well over my target of 15 minutes. But I enjoyed it, especially 17 across (CONSIDERED), which made me smile. I’m still very unsure of the parsing of 16 down (VENEER) and look forward to the hive mind arriving at the correct explanation.
Incidentally, my Tip Of The Day for people who solve on a phone: if you are solving the puzzle in the Times app, there is no way to see the setter’s name. But if you are solving the puzzle in a browser on a phone, then turning the phone sideways switches the display so that you can see the setter. (Thanks to “Peter” for the comment last week about this.) As for the fastest way to get to the puzzle in a browser, that is left as an exercise for the reader. The best I’ve found is to go to the Quick Snitch and click the link given there, which isn’t very satisfactory.
Definitions underlined, synonyms in round brackets, wordplay in square brackets and deletions in strikethrough. Anagram indicators italicised in the clue, anagram fodder indicated like (this)*.
Across | |
1 | Tragedy is a hit in London, perhaps (8) |
CALAMITY – A + LAM (hit) inside [in] CITY (London, perhaps). | |
5 | Help to contain key corrosive substance (4) |
ACID – AID (help) containing C (a musical key). | |
8 | Obvious vessel to capsize (8) |
OVERTURN – OVERT (obvious) + URN (vessel).
“Overturn” was my first thought, but I didn’t parse it correctly and so left it out until the crossers were in place. |
|
9 | Chopped up most of maple tree (4) |
PALM – (MAPL |
|
11 | Notes country in firm control (10) |
DOMINATION – DO, MI (notes, as in do-re-mi) + NATION (country). | |
14 | Speaker exposed moral story endlessly (6) |
ORATOR – take both ends off |
|
15 | A lot sleep with Poles (6) |
DOZENS – DOZE (sleep) + NS [North and South – magnetic poles]. | |
17 | Thought Lab team blue? Just the opposite (10) |
CONSIDERED – Not LABour but CONservative. Not team but SIDE. And not blue but RED.
My COD. |
|
20 | Man, say, misled after cover blown (4) |
ISLE – Remove the first and last letters [cover blown] from Some day, I will remember that “Man, say” can refer to the Isle of Man, and not be a random man’s name. It’s almost always at the start of the clue, as here, so that the required capital letter doesn’t give the trick away. |
|
21 | With meal done served up drink (8) |
LEMONADE – (meal done)*
I’m not sure about “served up” as an anagram indicator. But since “with” can’t possibly be the indicator (can it?), it must be so. |
|
22 | Seize returning boat — not the last (4) |
GRAB – BARG |
|
23 | One owed money making changes to record it (8) |
CREDITOR – (record it)* |
Down | |
1 | Bird lower on farm around river (4) |
CROW – COW (lower on farm) around R for river.
That’s “lower” as in “one that lows”. A word that you knew when you were five and sang “Away In A Manger”. |
|
2 | Vegetable pleasingly smooth when topped (4) |
LEEK – |
|
3 | More plots being redeveloped outside one big city (10) |
METROPOLIS – (more plots)* outside I (one). Or, if you prefer (more plots I)* – it comes to the same thing, although the first one follows the directions in the clue more closely. | |
4 | Fix furrow up for root vegetable (6) |
TURNIP – PIN (fix, as in to a notice board) + RUT (furrow), all reversed [up, since this is a down clue]. | |
6 | Bordeaux securing popular instrument (8) |
CLARINET – CLARET (Bordeaux (wine)) containing [securing] IN (popular). | |
7 | Sink vessel carrying small car (8) |
DIMINISH – DISH (vessel) containing [carrying] MINI (small car).
I entered DEMOLISH here initially, even though I couldn’t even begin to parse EMOL for “small car”. Fortunately the crossing N from DOMINATION eventually showed that that couldn’t be right. |
|
10 | Brief moment when a nose condition is limiting (10) |
NANOSECOND – Hidden in “ Bravo to Joker for a hidden that spans four words. The definition is an early contender for Understatement of the Year 2025: a nanosecond is an exceedingly brief moment, as there are a billion of them in a single second. |
|
12 | Moving about (8) |
TOUCHING – Double definition.
My first thought was “concerning”, but a) it has the wrong number of letters, and b) it isn’t really a synonym of “moving”. |
|
13 | Tree I long in a morning to climb (8) |
MAGNOLIA – Follow the instructions. Take A and AM (morning) and insert I LONG: gives you AILONGAM. Then reverse it [to climb]. | |
16 | Decorative pine cover a couple wanted on each end? (6) |
VENEER – Last two letters [a couple wanted] of “ This was my LOI and I’m still not sure I’ve parsed it correctly, nor am I certain that I’ve correctly identified the definition, since veneers come in lots of varieties, not just pine. I’m also not sure what “on each end” is doing in the clue. EDIT: Silverwaver points out below that “on each end” can be read as “on the end of each”, which makes the parsing much clearer. |
|
18 | Power unit leading wagons along train tracks (4) |
WATT – first letters [leading] of W The watt being the SI unit of power, of course. |
|
19 | Tolerate ecstasy in pub (4) |
BEAR – E (ecstasy) in BAR (pub). |
16a was also my LOI. “On each end” seems OK as we need two letters from the end of each word but I think that “decorative pine cover for example” might make the definition clearer.
Thanks, comments on that clue updated.
While I get the gist of what’s going on, I can’t make this clue work. As you say “we need two letters FROM the end of each word”. The clue is “wanted on each end” which suggests to me adding letters to something or other; not taking them to form the answer.
I did solve this correctly, but veneer was a total guess – I didn’t have a clue about the parsing, and expected it to be wrong. Touching was also difficult, as I tried various likely letters and waited for something to show up – and it did!
Time: 10:32
16:16. CONSIDERED was much enjoyed! I was fine with VENEER- parsing and definition- and like Doofenschmirtz tried to work concerning in somehow before I saw TOUCHING.
First blood to you – this year will be closer … maybe 🤣
Indeed, 2025 awaits us for good or ill!
12-ish for this one but DNG TOUCHING so I start the year with a bust. VENEER also a mystery so thanks to others for explaining. Happy New Year to all.
15 minutes took me right ot the edge of my revised target time. For once it wasn’t intersecting clues that delayed me at the end, it was three separate ones, DOZENS, TOUCHING and VENEER which I polished off in that order. VENEER went in solely as a word that fitted and on the basis of ‘Decorative…finish’. I saw the wordplay later but had no explanation of ‘pine’ other than as part of a DBE which I assume is intended to be mitigated by the question mark.
I think pine is the cheap timber on which you are putting the veneer.
Thanks. I confirmed that pine is a popular choice but not the only one so we’re still in DBE territory . None of the usual dictionaries mentions pine or any other wood.
I think that makes it clear- a decorative covering (of an expensive wood) for the cheap/less attractive basic pine.
A tough one! DNG TOUCHING – I still don’t see how the “about” fits into the clue. Am I missing something?
“Touching on X” is a synonym for “About X”, no?
I think it’s in the sense ‘concerning’, ‘on the subject of’ etc. But I’m wondering if TOUCHING is sufficient on its own rather than ‘touching on’.
Update: Whilst I was writing that, Doofers has posted an example requiring ‘on’, so I think there may be a problem here unless someone can think of an example without it.
“Touching the lady, Eugene.” (=concerning, regarding)
“…my intentions are opposed to touching the lady.”
Dickens, Our Mutual Friend
Thanks. I never got on with Dickens in print and I’m afraid the meaning of that quotation is lost on me. In modern English it would have one meaning, but clearly not what Dickens intended.
I found a (slightly) more recent example, the first words of “Jeeves Takes Charge” (1916) are “Now, touching this business of old Jeeves…”
A tough start to the year but I got there in the end despite having no idea what was going on with VENEER and LOI TOUCHING only half parsed. I also thought that cluing for LEMONADE was a bit strange although it was clearly an anagram.
Finished in 10.43 with COD to CONSIDERED.
Thanks to Doofers for the much needed blog.
I think ‘up’ is doing the heavy lifting as anagram indicator and ‘served’ is there in order to enhance the surface reading.
Agreed. It’s just a strangely clunky clue for a setter as good as Joker.
Had ROUNDING instead of TOUCHING until the other clues knocked it out. Think it worked up to that point.
I find the quickest way to get to the QC in a browser is to use the old URL for the puzzles which I have bookmarked. Then the QC is just one click on the top row.
https://www.thetimes.com/#section-puzzles
Thanks for that tip!
25:35 for the solve! I may have to reapply for membership of the SCC as I’ve averaged over 29mins for the last 5 puzzles and not much better for the weeks preceding it. Today I reached my last four at fifteen mins and then sat quietly until I spotted the LEMONADE anagram which tentatively confirmed the unparsed VENEER then spotted the well hidden NANOSECOND with DOZENS my LOI. Once again, Joker confirming his puzzles have stopped putting the Q in the QC.
In other news … stats for 2024 …
– 222/314 successful solves (71%)
– Median time was 18min16 with average time of 20:00.
– SCC escapes 150 (with a further 31 DNFs in under 20mins).
– Longest time spent on a puzzle 1:00:30 with 31 puzzles taking over 30mins plus 19 quits.
In 2023
– 185/260 successful solves (71%)
– Median time was 24min21 with average time of 28:23.
– SCC escapes 77 (with a further 18 DNFs in under 20mins).
– Longest time on puzzle 1:29:10 with 34 taking over 45mins.
In 2022 (stats from Feb – Dec)
– 112/127 (47%)
– Median time was 45min00 with average time of 52:45
– SCC escapes 14 (with 8 DNF sub20s)
– Longest time on puzzle – 3hours (for a DNF – thanks Izetti) with 35 taking over 1hr
Well done, LP! Excellent improvement, despite stalling on the number of solves. And the 2024 stats include the rather chaotic 2-3 months last Autumn when we were being faced with smaller versions of the main crossword.
P.S. A point of pedantry, but the median is an average. So, I think you mean the mean when you refer to the average. Clear as mud!
Median, mean, mode – more of my patent sloppiness. This is why I’ve stalled at 71% solving rate. That, and the puzzles getting tougher 😉
Great post. Would you like to add it to the (just published) dedicated “review of 2024” post?
Thank-you. I’ve added a Comment – it’s just you and me at the moment!
Edit: deleted comment about getting add to Quitch as I see you’re now on it
👏👏
11 minutes, so a gentle start to the year. My two main hold-ups were the two that seem to have caused others problems, viz TOUCHING (needed a long word search) and VENEER (LOI, and biffed but never parsed at all).
COD to NANOSECOND, which as well as being an early candidate for understatement of the year must surely be in the frame for hidden of the year. At the very least Joker has set the bar high for his fellow setters!
Many thanks Doofers for the blog
Cedric
Happy New Year all from a very stormy land of the roundabouts.
Got going quite quickly and had most of the top in about 8 mins although didn’t parse domination but wondered if domi was some NHO Latin for notes. Can’t believe we didn’t spot do and mi 🤬 Thanks Doofers, and also for veneer.
Bottom half was slower, COD to nanosecond, love a 4 word hidden, with the funny considered close behind. LOI touching took about 15% of our 24.20. Our alpha trawl came up with mooching but couldn’t squeeze that into about!
Thanks Joker
A late start unrelated to a gentle welcome to the New Year. COD Nanosecond. Stuck on Touching to take me to 30 mins and Eggs Royale in the club.
For a New Year Resolution, I would urge all the senior gentleman to consider arranging a PSA test to check on their prostate health. Advice I would have done well to have followed earlier, instead, I am committed to a protracted course of therapy in the months ahead.
Thanks Joker and Doofers, best to all for a Happy and Healthy 2025.
Good advice and good luck with treatment.
Well said and good luck, SC! I had one a year or two ago, but I don’t know if/when/how often I should request a re-test. Any advice from anyone in the know?
Dear Mr Random – in the UK at least, the advice (and NHS funding) is for annual tests once one is past about 55, unless your GP advises more frequent. It is as much as anything the change year-on-year they are looking at I believe.
Thankyou for your reply, Mr S. I will seek another test.
While we’re at it, do the checks for bowel cancer as well. Good luck Steakcity
I suggest you do an Internet search.
These might help you get started:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/psa-test/
https://prostatecanceruk.org/for-health-professionals/guidelines/psa-consensus-2024
Best advice is to ask your GP. I expect most would be happy to repeat this test periodically.
All the best to Steakcity. Hope to see you on this site occasionally even if just to touch base.
Very best wishes for your treatment. I was diagnosed in 2010 and after a period of active surveillance had treatment in 2012. After nearly 13 years I am still going strong, so there is light at the end of the tunnel. Well done on sharing your situation and the good advice about getting regular checks.
20+ years ago (at age 56y) I started annual PSA tests. The NHS said my results were “OK” every time. I insisted on knowing the numbers, which went 1, then 2, then 4. All individually OK but it’s the rate of increase that seems important. I told my GP “my PSA is doubling every year” – and after a biopsy which confirmed cancer I had my prostate removed. My PSA has stayed at zero ever since, and I dodged the bullet. I agree with your advice to older males – have your PSA checked annually.
You were very sensible. Well done.
Aged 60+ I asked GP for a PSA test and was told it was not routine if asymptomatic. No test done.
Five years later, normal PSA for insurance. Never recalled for repeat follow up.
Insurance renewal five years later, asymptomatic, but PSA high led to oncology pathway.
Sadly, it is not recommended to rely on a GP to call you for annual PSA tests or otherwise but best to take responsibility yourself. Early diagnosis matters.
If it’s Movember, get a PSA test.
Sound advice, Mr B. I will obtain and continue to track the numbers myself. I’m pretty good at that sort of thing.
I am with you on this Steak – my brother-in-law died, aged 57, of a heart attack in Nov 2022, and I had a full medical in mid-2023 as a consequence. Completely unexpectedly, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 prostate cancer and completed a course of radiotherapy in October of the same year – now on active monitoring. If my bro-in-law hadn’t died, then I would never have known, and things might have gone south.
All of you chaps, get yourself checked out – prostate cancer is a silent killer.
I wish you all the very best for your treatment 🤞
Thank you Gary
15 minutes for all but 12d and 16d – around my average.
TOUCHING involved a lot of thought and alpha trawling -excellent clue in hindsight, probably COD.
I then spent several minutes trying, and failing, to properly parse VENEER-the only word which seemed to fit.
So after 24 minutes in total I came here without confidence- so it was right. I was trying to detach letters but separated the definition and the wordplay.
Anyway, an all-green start to the year.
Happy New Year to all.
David
DNF
Bad start to 2025, even with my new target time of 20:25. Missed three, VENEER, TOUCHING and DOZENS.
With VENEER I was cure that “pine cover” was the letter p, so tried words with a p in the middle. TOUCHING= about is a non-obvious definition, and I didn’t get there with an alphabet trawl.
What a start to the year! DNF – I can’t remember when that last happened for me (indeed, I don’t think it ever has, since QC number 1). I’m sad to say that I found this to be a poor joke from Joker. I think too many clues were appropriate for the 15×15. Considering my experience today, plus comments from some experienced solvers above, I wonder where new Cryptic solvers are supposed to cut their teeth?
I have become used to nearing/entering the SCC for Joker’s puzzles (although my time for the last one, 2864, was 14 mins). Today’s puzzle finally convinces me that the alleged QC is too erratic in standard for me to take it seriously. I’ll stick to the Torygraph Cryptic in future (and the Eye Cryptic for fun). If I am in the mood for a longer solve, I will stick with the ‘biggie’. I know where I am with that.
Three months in, I’m usually between 75% and 100% before giving up and hitting reveal. And I can then usually parse the ones I missed.
This was nearer 50%, even with liberal use of the check function, and I had to come here to see how several of them were supposed to work.
Starting at 1A, I have never heard of LAM for HIT. And I’m not convinced, seeing it, that side is the opposite of team in 17. The rest I can see now, but I was never working then out without assistance.
LAM is one of those words setters insist on using because they are “useful”. The usage I’m familiar with is LAMP, for hit.
I also had Team/Side as being synonymous, with just the Lab/Con and Red/Blue bits as opposites.
Following on from my moan above, I just had a go at today’s 15×15 and finished it. It took me less than 10 mins longer than I spent failing to finish this. And I enjoyed it more.
P.s. Just out of interest, I see that today’s QC and 15×15 have almost identical SNITCH ratings.
In spite of a late night last night welcoming in the new year with friends, I think I must have woken with my senses heightened this morning as I only required 7.25 to finish this. Generally, The Joker can be relied upon to take me up to my target time of ten minutes, so this was a special surprise to get the new year off to a good start. No problem with VENEER which I parsed pretty much straight away, although the device used certainly isn’t that common.
At midnight after a spirited rendition of Auld Lang Syne we tuned into the London fireworks display. Hats off to the organisers who each year come up with something ever more innovative. It must be the best new year display in the world surely!
Happy new year everyone from me and Looby Loo (only people of a certain age will know who that is).
And a happy new year to you and Mme Loo, Mr Pandy!
A shout out for Teddy as well!
What memories!
My favourites, though, were Bill & Ben (not forgetting little Weeeed), who always had to keep a wary eye out for the gardener returning from his lunch.
I can actually remember as a five or six year old getting quite stressed that the gardener was going to discover them returning from lunch. It was always a close run thing!
Took ages. Pretty difficult. Knew it was unlikely but put Mooching instead of TOUCHING. I also struggled with NANOSECOND (solved but missed hidden), VENEER, DOZENS (POI) and CONSIDERED and DOMINATION. Quite a few!
Was not caught out by ISLE, for once. Liked LEEK, METROPOLIS, MAGNOLIA, ORATOR.
FOI CROW.
Thanks vm, Doofers, and again Happy 2025 to all.🥂
I also put Mooching instead of Touching. it fits the clue as a single definition (mooching around means moving about, doesn’t it?).
Oh well, several people not keen on this clue, which is some comfort.
I had MOOCHING instead of TOUCHING and can see nothing wrong with it. Maybe too Northern?? And still not happy with touching = about.
I was also DNF with VENEER, NANOSECOND, DOZENS and LEMONADE. Kicking myself for a couple of those but happy to get that close given other’s comments.
From CROW to TOUCHING via an unparsed VENEER and several passes in 11:01. A tricky start to the New Year. Thanks Joker and Doofers.
12 minutes. A good puzzle to kick off the year. Worked through this steadily but couldn’t parse MAGNOLIA and bunged in CONSIDERED mainly from the definition without seeing all the ‘opposite(s)’.
I agree about the excellent NANOSECOND hidden which sets the standard for the rest of the year; it will be a hard one to beat.
Thanks to Joker and Doofers
NANOSECOND – Great clue!
I struggled to get started, but then picked up pace and reached the three-to-go point in not much more than a quarter of an hour. However, those three (CONSIDERED, TOUCHING and VENEER) added a further 10 minutes or so to my time. Still, I’m very pleased to get off to such a smooth start to the new solving year.
Many thanks to Doofers and Joker, and a happy new year to one and all.
I enjoyed this so thanks Joker and Doofenschmirtz . Happy New Year to all!! I think sink for diminish is a bit of a stretch but maybe that’s just me. I’ve still yet to see ‘lam’ for hit except in crosswords ( and Ok dictionaries). I think these days people talk are more likely to talk about about lamping people, as in putting their lights out. Thanks again !
54 mins and needed help of synonyms finder etc.
That was tough. Didn’t feel like a QC, but most clues once solved did mostly make sense.
LOI veneer. I agree that “each end” is confusing. Just biffed this.
Thanks Doofers
Quite a tough one I thought. Laughed at my stupidity when I finally saw DOZENS which held out the longest. Couldn’t parse VENEER, also biffed NANOSECOND (didn’t spot the hidden 🙄) and resorted to an alphabet trawl for TOUCHING. Still unsure whether this clue works without an ‘on’; I note Kevin’s comment and quotation above but remain a little unconvinced. Coffee reduced to very cold dregs so this clearly took me a while, but was no less enjoyable for that. Happy New Year all and many thanks to Doofers.
11:13
A similar experience to nearly everyone else. A very fast start, then ground to a halt with VENEERS and TOUCHING. I saw that VENEERS fitted and sort of matched the definition, but could not parse the wordplay. Thanks for the discussion above about how it works.
Thanks Doofers and Joker
Busy in the SCC today! Happy to join the throng, completed albeit with the VENEER unparsed. NANOSECOND was very clever, I missed it for a great many such. Thanks all, hope my 100% 2025 record lasts for a few days at least…
10.21. I don’t think that I have yet woken up for the New Year.
I found this a bit of a slog today but managed to finish all green, although I didn’t parse veneer and nanosecond. Thanks to Joker and Doofenschmirtz for the revealing blog. Happy New Year everyone and happy solving.
DNF
Had TARROW for the root vegetable, which I now realise is spelt TARO. This rendered DOMINATION impossible. And, for good measure didn’t get TOUCHING either.
At least managed to get out early for a New Year’s Day parkrun.
I don’t know why I’m having to re-enter my name each time I post. I have tried to renew my login but the site keeps telling me that I have the wrong email or password.
I am still able to submit comments, so I’m confused.
Same here
We allow those without an ccount to post here with just any name and any email.
If you are having trouble logging in, the administrators can send you a password reset upon request.
Thanks, I don’t have an account but the website has stopped saving my name and email, etc. on the browser despite me checking the ‘save’ box each time. It’s not a big deal but it represents a change
me too
I have had an account for years and have not had this problem before. My username, email address and password have not changed.
I added a post about this 2 days ago having had the same issue.
I’ve now registered to avoid having to add name and email each time.
Happy and prosperous New Year to you all.
An average six solves for me today, two of which can be classed as buffs. I’ll start the fireworks when I manage 20. Current PB is 16.
Meanwhile I continue with my annoying habit of setting my friends clues to recording artists / group.
A flower is key to this female artist…
Answer with a comment if you can be bothered…cheers Rob
Slow to start with on the across clues but picked up speed on the downs. All done in 19 minutes but could not parse veneer or (for some reason) overturn.
I am also having to re-enter my name each time despite ticking the ‘remember me’ box.
FOI – 5ac ACID
LOI – 11ac DOMINATION
COD – 10dn NANOSECOND
Thanks to Joker and Doofers
8:59
All but the last two done in about six minutes, but pretty tough to get over the line – TOUCHING and VENEER were both hard to spot, though the latter was a nice PDM and a clever clue.
Thanks Doofers and Joker
A tough start to the year. Didn’t parse VENEER and couldn’t really see how TOUCHING meant about but it was LEMONADE and NANOSECOND that really held me up. The “with” prevented me seeing the anagram in 21a sooner, and I only saw the hidden after the PDM with 10d. I groaned. Still, it may have taken 38:44, but at least I don’t start the year with a DNF.
Well, that turned into quite a teaser, with Domination, Touching, and Diminish taking me out to the 30min post. After a further 5min struggle trying to make a sensible word after squeezing pe (pine cover) into loi 16d, I pulled stumps for a disappointing DNF start to the year.
CoD to the very well hidden Nanosecond – about 6″ worth of electrical cable if you ever have to do any work with timing circuits. Invariant
And, of course, a very Hapy New Year to all our Setters, Bloggers and contributors
11.06 I didn’t have much joy with the downs in the bottom half but then all the acrosses went straight in giving me plenty of checkers. VENEER was biffed and I needed an alphabet trawl for LOI TOUCHING where I was also hung up on CONCERNING. Thanks Doofers and Joker, and Happy New Year everyone.
Sorry, but 2025 begins badly….
14 minute DNF as I put MOOCHING for TOUCHING. Silly mistake caused, in part, by the desire to record a good time. Didn’t understand the clue which is daft as it was obviously a double definition. A really frustrating way to start the year after I’d done ok with the rest of the puzzle.
PS Thankfully I don’t keep statistics so you won’t be getting further details of my repeated woes in 2024. 🤣
What went well and what did you enjoy?! Isn’t 2025 about smelling the roses? 😃
On the upside, I would have been very happy with the time had it been a finish. Had more than the usual number of write ins. 😊
Just seen Quitch score. I was so close to something good today.
👏
Another ‘mostly OK’ but with two toughies (TOUCHING and VENEER) taking at least 4 minutes between them at the end. It felt rather dissatisfying at the end because not having any idea how VENEER worked didn’t quite compensate for getting it right. All looks clear in retrospect now so my humour is restored! Wasn’t happy with team / side being opposites but was prepared to let that pass. Our 16:20 was a bit of a relief when a potential DNF was beckoning and looking at the Quitch it doesn’t seem too bad. Thanks Doofers and Joker.
I found this harder than the 15*15.
Nano seconds are very brief intervals of time and I always find it mind-boggling that most windows computers track time using the number of 100 nanoseconds intervals since 1st January 1601. As I recall, this is something to do with a quirk of the gregorian calendar working in 400 year cycles.
Another long slog on the 15 x 15. Two hours plus and got about 18. Spent the last 30 minutes staring at the grid in vain, hoping for the inspiration that never seems to arrive.
I’ll now check the answers and see the ‘simple’ clues I completely misread. Rather disappointing after yesterday.
PS After having read blog for 15 x 15 and seen comments of other solvers, I was nowhere near (although 2 guesses which I didn’t enter were in fact correct).
Giving over 2 hours each day to this is mentally exhausting. Back at work tomorrow so may not have any time to attempt it. Having a go at it during the holiday period has been a salutary experience. I am in awe of solvers who are able to tackle this in anything under an hour. Their ability is quite remarkable to me! Astonishing levels of mental agility and lateral thinking.
Last two in TOUCHING and VENEER but feel better seeing I wasn’t the only one to find these two tricky. COD – NANOSECOND. Got the answer but only then realised it was hidden!
Thanks Joker and Doofers. Happy New Year everyone.
14:12. Fun puzzle. never did fully parse VENEER, so thank you for the explainer above. Happy New Year to you all.
10:41. COD CONSIDERED. Couldn’t parse VENEER. Great blog, Doofers – thanks to you and Joker.
23 mins…
Definitely a few tricky ones here, but at least I finished for the first QC of 2025. At some point I will review my stats for 2024 and it will be interesting to see how I compare against 2023 (I know for a fact my mean completion time has got slightly worse).
FOI – 1dn “Crow”
LOI – 12dn “Touching”
COD – 17ac “Considered”
Happy New Year to everyone and best wishes for 2025!
Whoever invented cryptic crosswords should be summarily executed for leading productive members of society down this rabbit hole,shame on you!!