With two 13-letter and two 12-letter anagrams including 1 across and 1 down, you would have been in good shape if you had your anagram hat handy. Sadly, anagrams are my kryptonite. I needed 19:05 to finish this, with large areas staying stubbornly blank for a long time.
My favourite clues of the day are the two on the bottom row: THYME is very neat, and the instruction on how to build DEFEND was brilliantly hidden – at least from me. I also liked the northern chap’s touching line.
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 | Denies bodice ripped in act of insubordination (12) |
| DISOBEDIENCE – (DENIES BODICE)* | |
| 8 | Up, making case in court, not quiet at first? (7) |
| LEADING – As in “She was leading/up in the race”. |
|
| 9 | Some getting easement in shade (5) |
| TINGE – hidden in [some] |
|
| 10 | Slide into swimming pool in hotel, attractive on outside (5) |
| CHUTE – CUTE (attractive), outside H for hotel.
Fortunately I didn’t spend too long trying to justify NICHE as the answer here. |
|
| 11 | Cheers northern chap’s touching line (7) |
| TANGENT – TA (thanks, cheers), N for northern, GENT (chap).
Tangent as in geometry, where it is literally a “touching line”. Nice misdirection: nothing to do with the spoken word. |
|
| 12 | Twitter abandoning core elements? Finish to be widely discussed (5) |
| TREND – T This wasn’t the first definition that came to mind, but I guess if you are “trending on social media”, then you are being “widely discussed”. |
|
| 14 | Hint: it’s a dog (7) |
| POINTER – A double definition. | |
| 15 | Second joint phase rearranged in good order (9) |
| SHIPSHAPE – S for second, then HIP (joint), then (PHASE)*. | |
| 17 | Frequently one feels tense initially (3) |
| OFT – first letters [initially] of O |
|
| 19 | Financial predicament means Starmer must reform, bringing in billions? (13) |
| EMBARRASSMENT – (MEANS STARMER B)* – the B indicated by “bringing in billions”.
Fortunately I remembered that this word has both double-R and double-S. |
|
| 21 | Support ultimately continued use of the loan word (6) |
| DEFEND – Last letters [ultimately] of This was my last one in, taking a good 4 minutes all by itself. I didn’t parse this until just now: it went in unparsed as the only word I could come up with that matched _E_E_D that could mean “support”. |
|
| 22 | Herb, formerly your setter (5) |
| THYME – THY (formerly ‘your’), ME (setter).
Very nice. I’m happy that the answer didn’t actually depend on the setter’s name, since I can’t see that while solving on my phone in the Times app. |
|
| Down | |
| 1 | Shop’s nice deals set in motion (12) |
| DELICATESSEN – (NICE DEALS SET)* | |
| 2 | Certain about trait regularly noticed in level of achievement (7) |
| STATURE – SURE (certain) containing [about] every other letter [regularly] of T |
|
| 3 | Newlywed losing grand in card game (5) |
| BRIDE – BRIDGE (card game), losing G for grand.
This clue seems a bit backwards to me, but you could say “lose the G in ‘bridge'” and it would be at least comprehensible. |
|
| 4 | Figure — like it a lot (5) |
| DIGIT – DIG IT (like it a lot). | |
| 5 | Sixteen becoming involved, extremely valuable, far-reaching (9) |
| EXTENSIVE – (SIXTEEN)*, then the first and last letters of V |
|
| 6 | Nice ref, not coy, put out sweets? (13) |
| CONFECTIONERY – (NICE REF NOT COY)* | |
| 7 | Annoy noble, taking in septic tank at first (6) |
| PESTER – PEER (noble), including the first letters of S |
|
| 13 | Merit of French tennis shot (7) |
| DESERVE – DE (‘of’, in French), SERVE (tennis shot).
That’s “merit” as a verb. |
|
| 14 | Notice location for the most part north of a road (7) |
| PLACARD – PLAC In a down clue, North and South can mean top and bottom, or above and below, like on a map. |
|
| 16 | Inspire one making bold, unusual, effort at the outset (5) |
| IMBUE – I (one) and then the first letters [at the outset] of M I faintly knew this word, but “inspire” wouldn’t have been my first definition. But, per Oxford Languages: “imbue: inspire or permeate with (a feeling or quality)”. So there you go. |
|
| 18 | Handle difficult IT lessons? Not entirely (5) |
| TITLE – Hidden in [not entirely] |
|
| 20 | Prescribe stage scenery (3) |
| SET – A double definition | |
Stinking cold and couldn’t sleep but on the plus side this resulted in having the time to complete the puzzle in one go on day of publication (a rarity these days) and at a super quick time for me (25:26).
I was a bit slow. I saw disobedience and embarrassment immediately from the anagram letters, but I needed crossers for delicatessen and confectionery. It’s the vowels that always get me in these long words, but the key vowels were checked. I also had to think about defend, but eventually I got it from the cryptic.
Time: 7:44
Decent puzzle, this, with DEFEND, as Doofers says, a little jewel of a clue, and bringing up the rear for me too. 8:54
5:47
I biffed the four long anagrams, never bothered to check. ‘Ultimately’ is frequently used to indicate final letters (as ‘initially’ is for initial letters), so I should have been quicker to get DEFEND. I suspect ‘ripped’ hasn’t been used as anagrind before, but I can see how the setter couldn’t resist; 1ac a lovely surface.
9 minutes marks a return to form after yesterday’s DNF when I gave up on JAVA. The parsing of DEFEND was the last hurdle here but the answer came easily enough with all the checkers in place.
I had also looked twice at the parsing of EMBARRASSMENT where strictly speaking B (billions) is not part of the anagrist but an enclosure indicated by ‘bringing in’.
9.21. DEFEND was also my LOI, nice clue. Thank you Hurley and the Doof.
Surprised to see a pink square – but deserved. Had ‘eight’ for figure but invented my own homophone requirement to make ‘ate’ mean “like it a lot”. –G-T was too much for me to resist. Then didn’t notice when DISOBEDIENCE changed the starting letter to D. Add me to the list of those that ended with DEFEND – nice to have a clue at the bottom left at the end for a change! Not all green in a shade under 10,
8:16
I didn’t have much in the bottom half for a while, and needed SHIPSHAPE to come up with each of 13d, 14d and 16d. Same as others on this blog, finally left with DEFEND – had pencilled in LEGEND for a short while (LEG = support) but obvs couldn’t justify it. Eventually spotted the trick…
Thanks Doofers and Hurley
With 1A and 1D both very long anagrams I looked elsewhere to start this puzzle and that resulted in a bitty solve, jumping all over the grid. I didn’t get the definition of TREND, but otherwise all solved and parsed eventually. Like several others DEFEND was my LOI – it was slow to come and pushed me out to a 10:47 solve.
Many thanks Doofers for the blog.
I had one of those days where everything clicked. The 1s went straight in and everything else followed at a gallop before finishing with DEFEND in 4.54.
Thanks to Doofers and Hurley
Started solving at the bottom, then realised the anagrams were not that difficult so went back to the top and finished fairly quickly.
Liked SHIPSHAPE, THYME, TANGENT. DIG IT kinda 50s or 60s speak.
Thanks vm, Doofers.
Enjoyable. I was very quick…until I wasn’t. 13:38.
Pi ❤️
As usual, exactly the same experience as Plett; also as usual, a little slower than him. 05:02 for an Excellent Day.
Other notes. I was lucky that the E in CONFECTIONERY was checked or I’d have had a DPS – I’d have given you any money that it ended ARY. DEFEND also LOI and COD for me; took a wee while to spot! 1a a cracking surface.
I checked. Wiktionary allows both. Then I counted the As in the anagrist; 0.
You are not the only one grateful there was no ‘a’ in the anagrist.
Those of us old enough remember when high streets had stationERs who sold stationERy, and confectionERs who sold confectionERy. That’s what works for me,
18:33 – not a bad time at all for me to finish this well pitched puzzle. Biffed DEFEND, not seeing it was the last letters. My LOI was POINTER, not being a doggy person.
Just about managed that, though spent far too long stupidly determined that it was merit + de = tennis shot, almost gave in to ignorance of tennis. For a QC, some not-Q definitions (TREND = widely discussed? IMBUE = inspire? TITLE = handle?), but it was all doable. Thanks Hurley and Doofers.
I am not fond of long anagrams as I have to look closely at the letters – spelling is a big issue. My FOI DELICATES— being a case in point. DISOBEDIENCE arrived much later. I could see EMBARRASSMENT fitted in the grid but I didn’t know of the financial predicament definition which is strange given that I am an accountant. DEFEND went in from checkers and the parsing arrived shortly afterwards. The NW corner was the last to fall, LEADING being my LOI in 6:49. Thanks Doofers
9:33. I managed to get the anagrams OK but was slow to see a few of the others. I liked DEFEND – one of the ones I was slow to spot – and the surface for the POINTER double def.
Thanks to Doofers and Hurley
The long anagrams went in fairly quickly, with EMBARRASSMENT ensuring I corrected a misspelled CONFECTIONARY. LOI DEFEND. All fair and lots of great clues. Thanks Hurley and Doofers
16:54
With only one in after the first across pass I was getting a little worried.
Slightly more success with the downs and like Cedric, a ‘bitty solve’.
Very enjoyable nonetheless.
Oh, and as others, my LOI took some time for the PDM.
FOI: OFT
LOI: DEFEND
COD: DIGIT (for the smile that ensued)
Thanks to Hurley and Doofers
17 for me, missed a couple of “easier” ones.
@doffers – you can access the setter’s name when using the phone app. I discovered this about a month ago…. settings – puzzle info
Not that I bother looking often….
Thanks for the blog and thanks setter who is no longer a mystery….
A good and very fair QC that was well pitched, I thought. Some interruptions for me but the long anagrams helped me recover and I finished in 13.28 despite the breaks in my concentration.
My LOsI were POINTER and TANGENT.
Thanks to Hurley and Doofers.
15:48
A similar experience to most of you, with DEFEND holding me up for ages at the end, finally biffing it, and needing the blog to see how the worldplay was concealed. I saw that “ultimately continued” gave D, but failed to keep going with that theme, instead wondering whether “efend” was some loan word in everyone’s vocabulary except mine.
Thanks Doofers and Hurley
Only 4 clues left after the first pass, during which I cleared all the Downs.
FOI/COD DISOBEDIENCE
LOI DEFEND
TIME 3:08
I had to write out the long anagrams and even then CONFECTIONERY was the only one which sprang out at me. This and not too many on the first pass led to a slow solve in 24 minutes but most enjoyable for all that.
FOI- 12ac TREND
LOI- 21ac DEFEND
COD – 22ac THYME. Also liked SHIPSHAPE.
Thanks to Hurley and Doofers.
10:50. FOI 1dn DELICATESSEN. LOI POINTER; I had wondered about a pangram and thought I needed a Z in the dog, which seemed plausible given the names of some breeds, but it made an easy clue impossible until the penny dropped. I liked CHUTE and TANGENT.
Nice grid. Lots of first letters available from the 12-letter words at 1ac and 1dn. Unlike the dreaded portcullis, this was a friendly one.
Thanks to Hurley and thank you Doofers for the blog
Bizarrely I found this one of the easier puzzles and I zipped through at a pace to finish in an excellent 12 mins. Rare to be sub 15. Lots of “construct” clues (first/last letter/word content) and anagrams which I usually find easy(ish). A moment of deliberation on CONF … ERY before concluding the anagram doesn’t include an A (fortunately). COD EMBARRASSMENT. How true.
Thanks Hurley and Doofers
Yet another QC that has hit the Goldilocks level. That’s three in a row this week. We are in for a treat. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.😀
Thanks Hurley and Doofers.
I zipped through the top half of this one then slowed considerably, and finished up breezeblocked by 21a. Was on about seven mins when I reached it, but by the time I submitted, I was at 10:13. Doh! Rather well hidden, as the consensus seems to indicate. DELICATESSEN and DISOBEDIENCE were first 2 in. Thanks Hurley and Doofers.
if you go to settings puzzle info in the mobile app you can see the setters name.
Three genuine QCs out of three, this week (IMHO). All done and fully parsed in 15 minutes, which is sprinting pace for me.
DISOBEDIENCE didn’t come straight away, but I moved on quickly and came back to it once I’d found DELICATESSEN. Neither of the other long anagrams put up too much of a fight, although it was only when I was writing in EMBARRASSMENT that I found I’d misspelt CONFECTIONaRY.
DEFEND was my LOI and it took a few moments to spot what was going on.
Many thanks to Doofers and Hurley.
I really couldn’t get on with this one. It didn’t keep me interested and in the end I just stopped.
I always enjoy a Hurley puzzle, and this maintained the high standard this setter provides. Quite a spelling test today with some of the long anagrams, and I needed to carefully check the available letters to make sure I had spelt everything correctly. Like Templar I think I would have spelt CONFECTIONERY with an A, although the crosser would have corrected it anyway. After yesterdays poor showing it was nice to be back to form finishing in 8.15.
My thanks to Hurley and Doofenschmirtz.
Yes, not a doddle.
1a Disobedience; I loved the bodice ripper.
12a Trend, I resent the social media takeover of this otherwise useful word.
21a LOI Defend, I was given the D and biffed the rest. Thanks Doofenschmirtz.
7d Pester. I liked the septic tank.
I needed the initial D from foi Delicatessen to see Disobedience, but with those two in place the next five minutes were spent writing in answer after answer – what a difference initial letters make. A slight mer at the definition for 19ac, which I got round by thinking of ‘an embarrassment of riches’, though whether that counts as a predicament is a different matter.
Like others, my loi was Defend, which delayed me just long enough to miss out on a sub-15, so quite a good week so far.
CoD to Shipshape, as that prompted me to look up the usual adjoiner ‘and Bristol fashion’ (tidal swings meant Bristol cargo had to be well stowed.) Invariant
Nice jog through for all except 21a where I spent ages trying to justify depend. Eventually I dropped the penny and put in a f an then it worked. Thanks to Hurley and Doofers.
Spent a long time on 1a, only to leave it until I had some checkers. Had to double check spelling of EMBARRASSMENT 😳 Needed DELICATESSEN to solve both LEADING and CHUTE. In retrospect I made this puzzle much harder than it was. COD to POINTER which made me smile, although I also liked DESERVE. Many thanks D and Hurley.
23 mins.
No probs with 3 of the long anagrams, though waited for the crossers on 19ac (embezzlement, entanglements etc). Took a while to spot what was going on with 5d.
FOI Disobedience
LOI Tinge
COD Pointer
thanks Hurley and Doof
5.45, so a little over target. Like so many others, the last one in was defend, although when I look at it, I wonder why. I guess that makes it a particularly good clue.
Thank you Hurley for a quality, nicely pitched crossword, and Doofers for an entertaining blog.
10:32 — a slow start, accelerating to the end. I saw DISOBEDIENCE immediately but came up empty after that until SHIPSHAPE. I should have gone right away to the downs, where DELICATESSEN and CONFECTIONERY were write-ins, oh well. I joined the DEFEND-as-last-one-in club, it seems odd to me that so many of us failed to see it immediately.
CsOD DISOBEDIENCE for the surface, TANGENT for the misdirection, POINTER for the concision and the chuckle.
Thanks Hurley and Doof.
5.38 All parsed. I managed to spell both DELICATESSEN and CONFECTIONERY with As for the final Es but EMBARRASSMENT fixed them both. LOI DEFEND. Thanks Doofers and Hurley.
Unusually, did this on the right day – no time but probably around 20mins over lunch. Very enjoyable. Like others, defend was LOI when I eventually twigged on the parsing.
12:59 – I am bad at anagrams
4.41
Usually long anagrams are not my forte but the literals + specific jumble of letters were sufficient for all four long ones here.
Thanks Hurley and Doofers.
8:44, and done on a phone which i usually find harder. LOI DEFEND.
COD EMBARRASSMENT
I was on for my quickest time ever but then spent 10 minutes on LOI DEFEND. Even once I had it, I couldn’t parse it until I came here. Note to self, when the clue seems to make no sense, stop trying to piece together a charade and look for a hidden word or acrostic