Quick Cryptic No 3078 by Beck

88 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 3078 by Beck”

1. Some lovely clues here with some requiring a bit of thought. EARLOBES, BASELINE, ORCA and others quite clever. Fell for the ‘American = A’ trick and tried to fit ALHAMBRA in 3a thinking it might be ‘Al Hambra’ for palace before the penny dropped. Very enjoyable.
   Thanks D and setter.

2. 19:12. Slow going but worth it- many great clues. I especially enjoyed TOWEL-DRY, EARLOBES, ONLY, and TRIO. At first I wanted DUET for DEBT before seeing sense.

   1. Trying to parse DUET was where my brain switched out of flow.

3. 5:42 – with the last 2 minutes dedicated to TOWEL-DRY and EARLOBES. A classic case of not thinking laterally enough, or rather confining the lateral thinking to not enough senses (studs = bosses and studs = horses). I was considering a MER at ‘remove wet’ (as opposed to eg ‘remove wetness’) as a definition, but that also seems persnickety.

4. 13:57
   I mean who spent any time at all getting started with AL CAPONE. It doesn’t get any more straightforward than that.

   A little slow at the end with the INVENT/VILE cross. A lot of French towns to check.

   CYANIDES seems an unlikely plural, but a chemist might be researching “one of the cyanides”.
   Could not parse TRIO, so thanks for that, Doofers.
   Is CAROUSEL American enough to need the signifier “in US” in the definition? Seems pretty common usage here too.

   COD EARLOBES

   1. I did, as I wrote the answer in the wrong place in the grid and that prevented me progressing with the answers leading off it.

   2. I did, as I read “American Gangster turning” and bunged LA straight into the first 2 … then I read the clue properly.

   3. The Hollies from 1965 I think or roundabout that time.

      1. ‘Roundabout’… Like it!

         1. I try …I have a set of cryptic clues to musical artist. An example:

            Honestly I almost got my Taser out.

5. Eight on the the pass of acrosses and plenty of downs followed but the NE remained stubbornly bare. Enjoyed the gangster being the definition and not just clueing ‘Al’ – still my first one in but I got there pretty slowly. TOWEL DRY was a fun clue that took me all over the place from General Municipal Boilermakers to even stranger places. All green in 8.51.

6. I needed 12 minutes for this. I might have achieved my first sub-10 solve in over a week had I not carelessly written AL CAPONE at 1dn instead of 3ac and not immediately noticed my mistake.

   Since 2000 Brighton has been part of the City of Brighton and Hove, but I suppose it’s fair enough to clue Brighton as a town.

   1. I have no idea why I convinced myself that the plainly wrong Paignton had to be the answer to 23a.

      1. The SW Tourist Board will be delighted that Paignton is uppermost in your mind.

   2. Most definitely. My sister in law lives in Brighton, and I have NEVER said, “we’re going to Brighton and Hove” to visit her.

      1. It’s twin town’s full name is “Hove actually”

         1. Isn’t that the title of a film?

            1. Also Shakespeare in Hove

         2. Its 😜

7. The top left held me up but it didn’t really matter because I stupidly put BrightOn and was pink-squared in 10 and a bit. LOI was BRED and before that CYANIDES (I couldn’t make sense of the anagrist for ages) and BETRAYER (nice clue) added a couple of minutes to my time. Thanks to Beck and the Doof. I’m going to pass on the Santa Cruz carousel invitation because the US doesn’t seem all that welcoming to foreign arrivals these days.

8. 10:39

   Slightly off the pace if the Quitch (currently 100) is anything to go by – that would normally equate to 9m30s for me. Although I saw the enumeration for the gangster straight away, I just did not twig that the answer was AL CAPONE, indeed I had only five of the acrosses in after the first pass. I, too, was foxed by the French town, until the L checker made it clearer.

   Thanks Beck and Doofenschmirtz

9. I thought this was a top quality puzzle which provided a lot of smiles along the way – EARLOBES, BASELINE and TOWEL DRY being good examples.
   Nothing particularly tricky but I messed up the homophone of BRIGHTEN and ended up with a DPS.
   Thanks to Doofers and Beck

10. Stretch at 2d is precise for an engineer. Strain is the amount of elongation of a material when a given force is applied (causing stress)

11. 18:24 Towel-dry MER for me… are you going to remove wet? Yes I’m going to towel-dry! It’s something I often get asked by my friend Yoda.
    Trio was far too clever for me but I got there in the end with an alphabet trawl (an unusual device for the QC methinks) and towel dry fell into place with the o for tory.
    I’m with Merlin on the need for in US which imho was an intentional misdirector.
    Clever puzzle.
    Ta D&B

12. Like others I took time to see TOWEL DRY and EARLOBES, but steadily solved the rest of this neat puzzle.

13. Many nice easy ones but a few hard to parse and two I couldn’t see at all. Thank you, Doofers; vaguely thought of TOWEL-DRY but NHO it as an expression (verb?), and thought of solder but weld escaped me. It had to be DEBT but NHO “king or queen” bed (king-sized bed, yes, but not without “sized”).
    Don’t understand “ride in US” – does the carousel not exist elsewhere? I had CAROUSaL which seemed plausible for “drink freely” but the rest of the clue was over my head. Same with TRIO/RIOT, was nowhere with that. And being in a bit of MERish mood may I suggest (though it had to be ONLY) yard always = yd, never just Y – unless someone can find a context? Anyway, three to the bad …

    1. I agree with you on the lack of any reference for “y=yard”. Mr Collins never reveals his references.

       1. Perhaps he referred to Mr Chambers.

14. The top half went in without a hitch (apart from earlobes) and, just as the lower half started to slow me down, granddaughter came in and chaos ensued. I got back to it, biffed a few, and finished with EARLOBES and TOWEL DRY but don’t have an accurate time – around 15/16 mins?
    A very uneven QC, I thought – from very easy clues through to really rather challenging ones. Maybe it is just me.
    Thanks to both.
    Note. Both of my last two Becks sent me to the SCC so no complaints today.

15. Still getting slower. Approximately 15.53. Just not on wavelength today.

16. 8:16 (Hywel ap Caradog becomes King of Gwynedd)

    I found this to be on the straightforward side today. Started with AL CAPONE, finished with TRIO.
    COD to TOWEL DRY.

    Thanks Doofers and Beck

    1. I dread the day when Hywel ap Caradog is clued as “old king” 😳

       1. . . .14 letters, so you can relax 😉

17. 5.32 WOE

    Managed to type BRIGHTIN but am pretty sure I was attempting to bung in BRIGHTON so got what I deserved.

    Some nice clues in here. Liked the BED thing for K or Qu and EARLOBES.

    Thanks Beck and Doofers

18. Found this one a lot of fun, frequently misinterpreting clues and having to re-approach. Usually with the QCs I can parse the clues immediately, I just cant always think of the answers. Got this down in 17:13

19. Unfortunately, with crossers -O-E- for 8a I put in —HOLES before properly looking at the clue, and then ended up with EARHOLES, which fitted the definition fine, but I couldn’t parse it. I should have realised that I needed to look again at it. Otherwise, a delightful crossword with some excellent misdirection. Particularly liked TOWEL-DRY and BASELINE. Thanks to Cedric and Beck.

20. All correct, in the end. Fairly quick then stuck fast on last two. Final PDMs with TRIO and TOWEL DRY – ah, Weld in Tory, of course. Had been led astray trying to think of what the metal workers union might be, doh!
    Liked EARLOBES, BETRAYER, DANGLE among others.
    A CAROUSEL is just a fairground roundabout/merry-go-round, isn’t it? Maybe different in the USA.
    Thanks vm, Doofers.

    1. Indeed, a carousel is a roundabout/merry-go-round. Your comment pretty much explains why USA is in there because Brits typically refer to them as you did.

       1. OK, I think of CAROUSEL as a French word, but interesting that Doofers has a super one in Santa Cruz.

          1. You’re not wrong there …

             Wikipedia says “The word carousel derives from the French word carrousel, meaning little battle, a reference to European tournaments of the same name starting in the 17th century. Participants in these tournaments rode live horses and competed in various cavalry skill tests, such as ring jousting. By the end of that century, simple machines were created in which wooden horses were suspended from a spinning wheel mounted on top of a central pole, allowing competitors to practice ring jousting without tiring their horses.”

             The article begins with “A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders.”

             Galloper – who knew?! Let’s hope the setters don’t!

             From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carousel

             1. I knew Galloper and believe it’s specific in that the figures/seats are only horses and they have to move up and down too.

       2. Also the rather dubious method of “rebirth” in the 1970’s classic film Logan’s Run.

    2. Now I think of it, Brighton beach used to have a carousel (might still be there), near the Victorian penny arcade, just west of the Palace Pier. And I think they did refer to it as a carousel, perhaps in keeping with the old-timey nature of the penny arcade.

    3. Ditto with TRIO and TOWEL DRY – added 20% to my solve time.

21. 16:51 for the solve. The NE flew in and then everything went quiet. The left side was definitely more of a tussle.

    Wasn’t keen on the BETTER clue as I don’t know what “habitue” means and still don’t as the blog doesn’t explain. I would bring up my old “I haven’t done French in 40 years” complaint but as VILE went in from just the checking V; it’s probably moot. Didn’t much enjoy the “moolah” clue for its slang but when I got the answer I thought of Saturday’s discussions around breeding!

    Took BRIGHTEN and CAROUSEL carefully as I’ve used the wrong spelling in past puzzles. Was hesitant about bunging in the biffable TRIO (LOI) until I finally saw the parsing.

    Thanks to Doofers and Beck

    PS Hoping Doofers’ wife hasn’t been researching cyanides too much!

    1. Habitue = frequent visitor / regular (Collins)

       1. Thank-you

22. AL CAPONE was an easy starter. CYANIDES took a while longer and LOI, TOWEL DRY exercised the neurons somewhat! 8:42. Thanks Beck and Doofers.

23. It was nice to get back on track with a reasonable time after yesterday’s poor showing, and I managed to come in within target at 8.49. I agree with those that have said what a good puzzle it was, and to my mind it pretty much hits the mark as the definition of what a QC should be. Took care not to fall into the BRIGHTON trap at 23ac, as it is so easy to do when you’re speeding to a finish.

24. Found this fairly simple, and would have got it in less than 20 minutes if it hadn’t been for struggling with my last two, the pairing of ORCA and STRAIN – didn’t know the OR for gold, and couldn’t at the time think of the ‘melody’ meaning for strain. Thanks for the explanations!

25. So much to enjoy here and I was off to a speedy start with AL CAPONE. All parsed and completed in 6:23 with my favourites being EARLOBES, DEBT, TOWEL DRY and LOI TRIO. Thanks Doofers

26. 9:53 but wrote brighton instead of brighten, through inattention to the exact wording of the clue

27. DNF.
    As I had never heard of moolah, 15ac was never going to happen.
    Thanks for blog.

    1. Hard luck, Mr Numpty. I had the same problem with habitue at 7a, but Mrs Random came to my rescue

28. 18 mins…

    The top half went in fairly easily, but I slowed down as I neared the bottom. 25ac “Towel Dry” and 20dn “Trio” took far longer than they should, and I nearly put “Paignton” for 23ac. I never did parse “Trio” properly, so thanks for the explanation.

    FOI – 3ac “Al Capone”
    LOI – 20dn “Trio”
    COD – 1dn “Betrayer”

    Thanks as usual!

29. I’ve been pondering “French town lacks heart”. Does it necessarily have to be a 5 letter town missing its third letter? If a French town starts VI and ends LE couldn’t any number of letters in between be considered its heart? Perusing a list of French towns starting with V turned up Vierville, Vieville, Vienville, Vigeville, Vignevieille, and Villardebelle(among many more!). Oh well, that was a half-hour productively spent.

    1. Wow, I am ever impressed with where thoughts take people on here.
       I’ve got some paintwork that needs rubbing down if you are short of other activities!

       1. Sure, sounds like fun. I won’t ask for minimum wage but would appreciate a modest snack and beverage.

    2. I’m fairly sure I have seen multiple letters taken from words (even accounting for two needing to be removed from an even-numbered word). But think of the outrage if expected to digress beyond Paris, Nice, Angers, Caens and one or two of the other French mainstays of the QC!

       1. Agree-scary to think about!

30. Hooray! Back out of the SCC after a bad start to the week, with 15:21. I was completely baffled by BASELINE until I got to the very helpful blog – thank you!

31. Enjoyable puzzle, finished in 30 minutes, and a good mix of quick ones and more difficult ones to solve. Favourite clues go to CAROUSEL and JOLLIEST. Thanks for the blog 😁

32. A fast start in the NE corner filled me with hope, but I couldn’t maintain the pace and had serious trouble even making it to the line. Two pairings, DEJECTED/JOLLIEST (is that a real word?) and BETTER/STRAIN (my LOI) held me up for nearly a quarter of an hour at the end.

    At 17a I could only think of siLIEST and funnIEST, and at 7a I didn’t know what ‘habitue’ meant. Mrs R just said I should know more French.

    My favourite clue today was TOWEL DRY.

    Many thanks to Doofers and Beck.

33. Relatively new to the QC as only started in January. Got the solves down to around 12-15mins in general, but today’s took 27:45 and earned a visit to the SCC. Was beguiled by some of the misdirections which seemed more left field than normal. However, couldn’t really complain once the answer had loomed through the fog.

    EARLOBES is interesting because in reality it is not possible for a person to be given more than one OBE, so the Earl with “multiple awards” doesn’t really work. The OBE is one of the ranks of the Order of the British Empire, which start with the MBE and progress through OBE to CBE, KBE and finally GBE (Knight/Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire). Where someone with an honour is given a new one, then the honour is upgraded to the new rank, so that the recipient still holds only one honour.

    Good puzzle despite that, and thanks for the solve which in these parts is much needed!

    1. Welcome, crowdedcat. The EARLOBES clue is a classic example of ‘lift and separate’. A person may not hold more than one OBE, but ‘peer’ is cluing EARL, and separately ‘multiple awards’ is cluing OBES – more than one, but not awarded to the same person.

    2. Welcome to the blog!

34. 31 minutes.

    Total, absolute, utter nightmare. I just cannot do this to anything like the standard to which I aspire. Five years and I’m still deep in the SCC territory. I spend ages trying to improve by attempting the 15 x 15, and I still can’t solve a QC in under half an hour! There is no pleasure for me in being this bad. Another week blown to smithereens.

    1. we know the feeling, but keep going and enjoy the comments and challenge.

       1. Thanks ianelin. I appreciate your encouraging words.

35. Was working with ‘weld’ for ‘union, plus ‘dry’ but inexcusably failed to find TOWEL-DRY

36. 10 minutes; LOI TRIO.
    COD candidates TOWEL-DRY and ONLY amongst others.
    I was going to say pretty straightforward but I see I have written BRIGHTON on my paper; so a DNF.
    David

37. Contrary to the snitch scores, I found this harder than Hurley’s QC yesterday. The bottom half of the grid was troublesome. Doofer’s blog didn’t say but it eventually struck that the king or queen was referring to bed sizes. Thought that was a clever mis-direction.
    Took a while also to work out Baseline, Better, Only, Trio , Brighten and Towel-ready.
    Thanks all.

38. Took me about 45 mins, despite thinking I was off to a flyer with the NE corner write-ins. A fair chunk of the time spent trying to reshape Democrat and think of a three letter word for just.

    FOI Al Capone
    LOI Trio
    COD Baseline

    thanks

39. Very dull today, and my 22-minute solve was topped off with a careless, exhausted BRIGHToN (“I solved it in my head!”). The write-in AL CAPONE certainly led me to expect an easier solve than it turned out to be. Spent far too long going through my list of French towns, couldn’t see jolt for jar. Until I got tired of trying this and that here and there, and gave up the task to my back office, couldn’t see much of anything in fact. So I was lucky to finish in spite of my WOE.

    Liked DEBT and TOWEL-DRY for the misdirections. Loved the empty/nonempty lockers. But COD to ONLY for the elegance and misdirection combined.

    Thanks to Beck and Doof.

40. After a little Al Capone write-in enticer, Beck led me a merry dance from bear trap to bear trap -(Democrat)* fitted the crossers at the time – with the occasional rabbit hole (Baseline server, King and Queen, French town), thrown in for good measure. Needless to say, this wasn’t a quick solve, with loi and CoD Towel Dry ensuring that the 30min post was in plain sight.
    Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed parsing Beck’s teasers (Trio and Only were excellent) and thought this QC was a fine example of why the time taken isn’t the be all and end all of solving. Well played Beck. Invariant

    1. Thanks for your reply the other day all germane. The Times newspaper doesn’t have a timing machine but it’s very good for doodling on. I once read that watching your solving times was the quickest way to improve your skills. I soon stopped that it made me nervous, what is life for …

       1. 👍

41. we know the feeling, but keep going and enjoy the comments and challenge.

42. 10 – good in the north east.

43. Misdirected time after time by Beck’s clever clueing. Lots of wry smiles as the pennies dropped. Nice one Beck. Lots of nominees for COD, including BETTER, EARLOBES and BRED, but the award has to go to TOWEL-DRY for the surface 😆 Many thanks D.

44. Medium to easy? We obviously enjoyed lunch with our friends rather too much today! 16:32 with our downfall being in substantial part due to LOI TOWEL-DRY where we were too focused on C (or CON) for conservative. We’d still have been slower than our average without that though. Nevertheless, good fun and perfectly fair so thanks to both Doofers and Beck.

45. Ah! Thought of RIOT but not quick enough to cotton on to T raised, clever. Started slow and got quicker, not going to mention BRIGHTON … silly. Fun today thanks

46. Thanks for the explanations for jolliest and trio. I had the answers but did not understand the clues.
    According to Mr. Chambers Carousel is spelt carrousel in the US though he does day it is a North American merry-go-round.
    Best clue for me was Towel-dry.

47. Tricky in places (TOWEL-DRY, which seems a bit green paint to me, INVENT, STRAIN) and very enjoyable. Terrible typing but good proof reading for a change. All done in 09:52 for a Sluggish Day. Many thanks Doofers and Beck.

48. 15:14
    Lots of crossers and downs on the first pass.
    On balance I really liked this, I thought there was a nice spread of really easy through to quite taxing clues. With the easier clues giving crossers to the harder ones.
    More the 3 minutes added to my time with the last 2 in TOWEL DRY and TRIO.
    FOI: AL CAPONE
    LOI: TRIO
    COD: BETTER (made me smile)
    Thanks to Doofers and Beck

49. The second day running where the quickie took only a few minutes less than the biggie! I did wonder if there was a connection between the two today, bearing in mind the answer to 6a in the 15×15!
    Me Merlin! I was looking for some sort of Spanish palace 😅
    Is CAROUSEL especially American? That’s what I would call the old fashioned gallopers, just like the ones we saw in Weymouth last week.
    Not much to say really otherwise – I’m clearly not getting the same vibes as others today. This one seemed pleasant but that’s about it. In fairness, I did like the misdirection of king or queen at 13a (not a chess piece or a monarch, or K, Q or R then) so I’ll give it a tick.
    12:14 FOI Orca LOI Towel dry COD Debt
    Thanks Beck and Doofers

50. Over an hour on 15 x 15, with three incorrect answers. One was so easy that I could scream at my inability to see what was staring me in the face.

    ☹️

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