A fairly gentle puzzle for a Friday from our baker friend – it took me 4:06. I needed a few checkers from the downs to see some of the across answers (e.g. the boxer), but they all went in on a second pass through the clues. Thank-you Breadman. How did you all get on?
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Phil’s turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the crossword here. If you are interested in trying our previous offerings you can find an index to all 152 here.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions}and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Daughter is last to finish food (4) |
| DISH – D (daughter) + IS + last letter of finisH | |
| 4 | Extremely demure uniform characteristic of speaker (8) |
| DELIVERY – Outside letters, [extremely], of DemurE + LIVERY (uniform). | |
| 8 | Alison failed to secure EV around European country (8) |
| SLOVENIA – (Alison)* [failed] includes, [to secure], EV [around] -> VE. | |
| 9 | Periodically, fruit pie’s ready to eat (4) |
| RIPE – Alternate letters, [periodically], of fRuIt PiE. | |
| 10 | Foreign nobleman encounters unknown shire (6) |
| COUNTY – COUNT (foreign noblemen) + Y (unknown in a maths equation). “Encounters” here is a juxtaposition indicator. | |
| 11 | Maybe Bob ate duck around Ireland (6) |
| HAIRDO – HAD (ate) + O (0; duck in cricket) [around] IR. (Abbreviation for Ireland). Bob who? I thought initially, before I saw the answer. | |
| 12 | Boxer wobbling, hurt, finally beaten amid cheers (5,8) |
| ROCKY MARCIANO – ROCKY (wobbling) + MAR (hurt) + last letter of beateN in CIAO (cheers). I left this until I got checkers from the downs which led me directly to the answer.. and then I parsed it later. | |
| 16 | Points affected another part of engine (6) |
| PISTON – (Points)* [affected]. | |
| 17 | Formal attire boyfriend, southeast Asian, picked up (3,3) |
| BOW TIE – Sounds like BEAU (boyfriend) + THAI (southeast Asian), [picked up]. | |
| 19 | Unrestrained Republican in charge (4) |
| FREE – R (Republican) in FEE (charge). | |
| 20 | Band start to tout single that’s often played on phones (8) |
| RINGTONE – RING (band) + first letter of, [start to], Tour + ONE (single). | |
| 21 | Liqueur developed in estate (8) |
| ANISETTE – (in estate)* [developed]. | |
| 22 | Schedule artist retains over time (4) |
| ROTA – RA (Royal Academician) including, [retains], O (over) + T (time). | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 2 | US soldier set up facilities in simple dwelling (5) |
| IGLOO – GI (US soldier) reversed [set up -it’s a down clue] -> IG + LOO (facilities). | |
| 3 | Dropping litter and becoming anxious (6,7) |
| HAVING KITTENS – Double definition, the first a mildly cryptic hint. | |
| 4 | Foppish fellow departs with Yankee (5) |
| DANDY – D (departs, from e.g. a train timetable) + AND (with) + Y (Yankee in the phonetic alphabet). | |
| 5 | Earl abroad covers the skin (7) |
| LEATHER – (Earl)* [abroad] outside, [covers], THE. | |
| 6 | State service provider missing one location in Surrey (8,5) |
| VIRGINIA WATER – VIRGINIA (state) + WA{i}TER (service provider) without, [missing], the I (one). I used to live quite close to Virginia Water 30 years ago. | |
| 7 | Enlisted chief journalist to probe Ripon criminal (5,2) |
| ROPED IN – ED (editor; chief journalist) in, [to probe], (Ripon)* [criminal]. | |
| 10 | Aggressive dog’s curfew half ignored (3) |
| CUR – CUR{few} [half ignored]. | |
| 13 | Greek character’s minor company briefly reorganised (7) |
| OMICRON – (minor co)* [reorganised], with “co” for company [briefly]. | |
| 14 | Some athlete ran impulsively up tower (7) |
| MINARET – Reverse hidden, [some… up] in ahtleTE RAN IMpulsively. | |
| 15 | Duke supporting old English verse (3) |
| ODE – O (old) + D (duke) + E (English). “Supporting” indicates the D is below the O as this is a down clue. | |
| 17 | Head bishop formerly (5) |
| BONCE – B (bishop in chess notation) + ONCE (formerly). | |
| 18 | Pub exactly what’s needed, don’t you think? (5) |
| INNIT – INN (pub) + IT (exactly what’s needed, as in “that’s it|”). | |
3:50 here, my fastest ever by a second, and would’ve been faster if I hadn’t psyched myself into worrying that some _specific_ British “shire” was being requested in 10A… “Oh no…CORNEY? COONEY?? Ahhhhhh oh wait it’s just COUNTY”
Congratulations on the PB.
Just the opposite for me. Most of it was OK, but I got most thoroughly stuck on delivery/Virginia Water/roped in/hairdo. The only state I could think of for a long time that starts with V is Vermont. I suppose if I knew more about the geography of the UK it would have been a write-in, but I have actually heard of Virginia Waters.
Time: 11:59
A great puzzle from the Breadman. For me a very long time over par 15:39 but I’ve had a billion Maunday Thurirsty pints.
I am surprised that some of the early correspondents have dealt with this so easily- that said I attempted about five different spellings of the Greek letter.
LOI and COD 11a HAIRDO
A great QC
Managed to snatch 5 mins on holiday to do this on my phone, and very glad I did as I enjoyed it. Very smooth clues.
Needed the checkers to get Rocky Marciano, and haven’t really heard of ANISETTE but it had to be. No major hold ups for a fairly swift solve!
COD to RINGTONE for a great surface.
After 3 really bad days this week I stormed through this puzzle in 8 minutes with very few answers needing more than one visit. ROCKY MARCIANO was one of these, although his name popped into my mind as soon as I saw ‘boxer’ and the enumeration (5,8) with the first checker ‘R’ already in place. But I couldn’t see the parsing so I held off until further checkers came into play.
A whopping 1o (ten) on the first pass of acrosses but things slowed a bit on the downs. I was also worried throughout that 4a was going to cause me problems – and it did, DELIVERY was LOI. Previously held up by the NHO ANISETTE where I needed a couple of goes with the letters to make them look like something that might be something. The construction of ROCKY MARCIANO was beautiful but I barely glanced at it because the checkers made it inevitable. All green in 9.33.
11:45 for a par solve, and a relief after some very chewy ones earlier in the week. Like John and others I got ROCKY MARCIANO from the definition and checkers and only subsequently worked out the parsing – with such clues I do wonder what proportion of solvers get the answer via the wordplay. At least I parsed that one eventually; I never parsed INNIT at all as I couldn’t see any wordplay for the IT. We must I suppose be grateful that Breadman avoided the kneejerk reference to sex for it, but “exactly what’s needed”? Even seeing John’s explanation I’m left shaking my head. ANISETTE (NHO) was my LOI, a lucky guess as I struggled to form a plausible word from the anagram letters.
Many thanks John for the blog and I look forward to the Sunday Special.
I thought that was going to be fast but ended up with 07:23 and a Bang Average Day because I got stuck on three clues: HAIRDO (where yet again I forgot had=ate), FREE (where I thought “unlimited Republican” was going to be the name of one of Trump’s gang without first and last letters) and the boxer, whose last name I was struggling to spell and didn’t see ciao for ages.
Good fun, COD BONCE. Many thanks Breaders and John.
A nice puzzle that caused no serious problems despite having never heard of the liqueur.
Started with DISH and finished with the tricky HAIRDO in 6.09. COD to ROCKY MARCIANO for the ciao/cheers PDM.
Thanks to John and Breadman
Nice gentle puzzle.
Not sure the parsing is correct for 4d? I read it as
4d. Foppish fellow departs with Yankee (5)
DANDY – DAN (fellows name) + D (departs) + Y (Yankee in the phonetic alphabet).
Sorry. I had failed to underline “fellow” as part of the definition in my parsing – now fixed. Your parsing works for the definition “Foppish” so I guess we are both right.
I had it like you, John. I’m not sure that “dandy” means “foppish” as an adjective – the dictionaries have it as things like “fine” or “very good”.
Ah, I see. Yes, sorry it does make more sense than mine!
FWIW use of random names as part of clues (i.e. Dan) is now frowned upon in The Times. Names can still be answers.
Everything except 11ac in 44 minutes. I had HxIxDx but I didn’t pick up on IR for Ireland and not just the I. And Hair Do is 4,2 and not 6 in my head anyway.
Thanks J and B
Absolutely not on the wavelength – having had some rare moments in the past week near the times of those who are usually way quicker. Fascinating how this happens.
NHO BONCE, VIRGINIA WATER, ANISETTE, ROCKY MARCIANO (tried to parse STALLONE)
Chuckled at HAIRDO (PDM) and HAVING KITTENS
You’ll find us in the SCC.
Thank you Breadman and JohnInterred
Rocky Marciano was always a decent trivia question – he’s only the heavyweight to finish his career undefeated. 49 wins in 49 contests. But reading up on him his career spanned 1947-55 and he died in a plane crash in 1969 aged 45 – all of which is many years ago.
….thank you… and just read Wiki. Gosh, so many different ways of leading a life, and his a comparatively short one.
Thanks. I thought he was fictional.
Goodness, I’m “quite common” ( so I’ve been told – sarf London, me), but BONCE, INNIT, HAIRDO ? Heaven help our friends overseas ( not to mention the place in Surrey) – perhaps revenge after yesterday’s rash of Americana.
Nice gentle start to an otherwise stormy Bank Holiday. All very fair IMHO ( at least if you’re from my neck of the woods). Many thanks to setter and blogger.
Yes, an Irishman living in Barcelona found it too English but enjoyable. What’s her name, Virginia Plain?!!
Not too tough but with some head scratchers. I did get one answer wrong and needed a little help with some of the clues.
First Lap: 8
Answered (no help): 22
Answered (with help): 2
Incorrect: 1 (22a)
Time: 30:18
19:05 for me today.
It took a while to convince myself that INNIT was correct. HAIRDO took a while to see (I was thinking Bob Hope, Hoskins, Monkhouse etc). NHO Anisette, but it was the most persuasive fit for the remaining letters once the checkers were in place.
Pi ❤️
7:01 for the solve. Biffed my way through a few of these – DANDY, OMICRON, INNIT, VIRGINIA WATER and unsurprisingly ROCKY-MARCIANO where apart from the N, its synonyms are probably all winning Pointless but Xs on the Family Fortunes’ board. Minute wasted at end needing pen&paper for the vho ANISETTE and then HAIRDO (LOI). Love BONCE as a word.
Seeing Breadman’s name on a Friday was a cause for concern so pleased to rip through that. Week completed in 1hr27.
Thanks to JohnI and Breadman. Have a good Easter weekend everybody.
Whizzer😊 very fast 11.03, and much enjoyed. Got most clues on first look after Mrs RH saw the litter reference and we built from there. Hairdo is indeed a great clue.
Thanks Breadman and John
Every clue parsed and entered on the first pass. Very rare for me. I wish I had timed it now.
A “clean sweep”. Well done!
16:31 fail. Had to reveal Hairdo and Anisette, despite having the checkers. Very poor showing on the across clues but got all the downs in sequence so armed with all the checkers the across ones were nearly completed. Thanks Breadman and John
From DISH to ANISETTE in 5:46. I biffed our boxer. I’ve been to VIRGINIA WATER so no holdups today. Thanks Breadman and John.
What does biffed mean. Seriously curious as I only recognise it as slang for hit?
If you look in the Glossary on this page you’ll find a number of definitions for the various abbreviations we use. Biffed is actually BIFD which stands for Bunged In From Definition, but biffed struck me as a punny way to comment.
Thanks. I had not seen the glossary. Really appreciated.
I don’t know, all these people rushing through the clues, timed to seconds like some Olympic event… Little chance to savour, to appreciate, to wonder (often), to bang one’s head against the screen…. I was not remotely quick, but will sit in the SCC and enjoy the small glow of achievement in filling and parsing my way through.
HAIRDO was neat. No interest in boxing, and active before my time, but the name clicked eventually. I need to be better acquainted with Greek beyond just beta, mu and pi, and with strange sounding liqueurs, but for now I worked them out.
Slow solvers unite – we have nothing to lose but our spare time. Thanks Breadman (does he do hot cross buns?) and John
Each to their own of course, but I’m with you: parsing is at least half the fun of this game.
Indeed it is. The other thing to enjoy that some speed solvers miss is the clue surfaces. My pick of today’s is the wobbly boxer, which makes it my COD. Update: I’ve just had the fun of solving the Monthly Club Special (which I blog) which is, for me, the parsing treat of the month.
I don’t have the confidence to biff; the only way I can really solve is by parsing!
I rarely solve online, partly because banging my head on the newspaper is a little more comfortable.
😂
I agree – parsing is part of the fun 😊 It doesn’t feel like an achievement if I don’t acknowledge what’s going on while I solve. Although I must admit to biffing VIRGINIA WATER today, I thoroughly enjoyed the clue when I read it properly.
Much enjoyed this QC. On the wavelength. After I had solved the easy CUR, ROCKY MARCIANO was the first boxer to enter my head, luckily.
FOI IGLOO. LOsI HAIRDO after PDM, ANISETTE and FREE.
Liked VIRGINIA WATER, DELIVERY, BOW TIE, and COD HAVING KITTENS.
Many thanks, John.
Just squeaked in under target at 9.51, with this enjoyable puzzle. ROCKY MARCIANO went in with a few checkers in place, but for those that have never heard of him, it is a formidable task to get it from wordplay.
My total time for the week was 56.45 giving me a daily average of 11.21. It was yesterdays puzzle put me into the red for the week.
From DISH to a lovely HAIRDO in 8:08. I was slow to see HAVING KITTENS and couldn’t make Southern WATER fit with the parsing and checkers! Thanks John
ROCKY MARCIANO a write-in from the checkers but couldn’t parse. COD HAVING KITTENS – a smiling PDM. Not a fan of INNIT, but if it appears in a Times crossword, does that mean it’s acceptable?! Thanks John and Breadman.
Thank you, Breadman, for my last-minute reprieve from the threatened whole-week failure. Just about managed that, though had to look up the Rocky – had to be Rocky but NHO MARCIANO. LOI HAIRDO. CNP DANDY; thanks John but how long since any train timetable has used d for departs? And I’m a bit MERish about IR for Ireland; can that be substantiated, as opposed to the clearly genuine EIR or IRL?
Having this morning checked the South Eastern trains timetable for my annual Good Friday pilgrimage to a fish restaurant in Borough market I can confirm that d for depart and a for arrive are live and well.
Well done! Thank you – I’m delighted to be proved wrong and will remember. Apologies for error and ignorance.
Never apologise for not knowing something Martinů – we all learn through our (and others’) errors 😊
Well! If that’s sympathy, then thanks; but two things there, I think. Firstly it doesn’t cost anything to apologise (some people have a problem saying “sorry” and I have a bit of a problem with such folk). Secondly I agree with you: I don’t think I would apologise, or was apologising, for not knowing. It’s rather that in this blog we are often more or less expressing criticism of the crossword itself (or of the setter) for cluing something that is perceived to be invalid, obscure or tenuous. If then that criticism is exposed as unfounded due to the ignorance of the one wagging the finger, then I suggest an apology is appropriate. Is that fair (if long-winded, sorry)?
Absolutely no apology, i have read some of your blogs on music. They are way over my head, no apology for not knowing them, they are delightful, it is great to be connected via crosswords with all sorts of people that know all sorts of things that I dont.
Greetings, Ham, and thank you for that. I read your comment some hours ago and my initial reaction was as below. But upon reflection, this occurs to me: I thought our identity was masked by our usernames; may I ask how you managed to find my (few) contributions to the musical blog world? But if you found some entertainment therein, then I’m delighted.
It looks like it’s my turn to say sorry – I was indeed trying to be sympathetic as I thought you were being rather hard on yourself. I misinterpreted your comment and do now see what you were getting at. I couldn’t agree more about the importance of apologising when we’ve done something wrong!
I also so agree with Ham about the extraordinary range of people you ‘meet’ on here – such a wide range of interests and skills 😊
Thank you both – I am humbled – this seems to call for a nice emoji but I’m not very good at finding the right one … maybe this? 😊
😊
12 mins…
However, the main thing was to break my Dnf losing streak. A fairly gentle puzzle from Breadman. Luckily, I used to work near Virginia Water, so knew it fairly well. 21ac “Anisette” was unknown to me, so it was a bit of a an educated punt with the checkers which paid off.
FOI – 1ac “Dish”
LOI – 21ac “Anisette”
COD – 7dn “Roped In” – purely for the amusing surface. Those pesky criminals from North Yorkshire!
Thanks as usual!
VW is rather nicer than Staines, isn’t it James! MrB doesn’t miss it at all 😅
It most certainly is. Although I also worked just outside of Windsor which was a bit nicer.
I remember we talked about this a while ago! I certainly know the Windsor office – the family home is just over road 😊
9:56. Seeing Breadman as the setter I was expecting this to be harder but fortunately saw HAVING KITTENS and VIRGINIA WATER early on which then helped with ROCKY MARCIANO. Steady as she goes with the rest including ANISETTE which I had heard of.
There was one benefit of COVID – admittedly probably the only one – in that I now won’t forget OMICRON.
Thanks to John and Breadman
A steady enough solve, with two out of three of the long answers going in without too much bother. Just a shame the token unknown SE town wasn’t as accommodating. Like others, the simple Hairdo turned out to be anything but, needing several visits to sort out before looking presentable. Similarly Anisette was, at best, a vho, but the crossers fortunately left little doubt, so in it went.
A second recent appearance for the dreadful Innit detracted from an otherwise decent Friday solve, with loi VW nudging me into a welcoming window seat.
CoD to the foreign Earl’s involvement in the parsing of Leather. Invariant
The ease of recollection of Rocky Marciano perhaps indicates that many of us are of a certain age. Now, if you asked to name any of the three most recent world heavyweight champions, I would have to say “I haven’t a clue”.
In Sept 2024 Wurm gave us “Usyk say needs minute stopping man (5)”.
Oleksandr Usyk is current heavyweight champion for WBA, WBC, IBF having beaten Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury for two of those belts. The latter two would be nameable along with the now retired Klitschko brothers. Fabio Wardley is interm for WBO.
The comments recorded a vote of 11 NHOs to 3 who knew him!
Me neither – there will be some with with the requisite knowledge, but not very many I suspect, and how many would have ever heard of him without the movies. Still a stock crosswordland boxer along with Ali. Footballers (despite being many more of them) are pretty-much certain to be George Best.
Would have been a lot quicker if I hadn’t put in HAVING PUPPIES and was convinced the Bob was something to do with Bob Hope.
13 minutes after a delay correcting PANSY at 4d. I should have noted my first reaction -how can that be right? LOI DELIVERY.
An enjoyable QC and I was greatly helped by knowing the boxer. But I did miss the intricate parsing- so a retrospective COD to that.
David
Ah, respite after a couple of tricky days. Thanks Breadman.
Nothing scary here and no time as solving in a noisy house so just grabbing a moment here and there. This didn’t spoil my enjoyment and I particularly liked HAIRDO and BONCE.
Thanks John for the blog.
A genuine QC at lat last: quick, entertaining, solvable (for me, at least), tricky in places, but nothing too obscure. 21 minutes and no particular hold-ups, so a prime seat in the SCC today. And, it has rescued my week – Mon. 40+ (DNF), Tues. 75, Wed. 50, Thurs. 62 (DNF).
I started with DISH, SLOVENIA and RIPE and finished with DANDY, BONCE and the NHO ANISETTE. INNIT is a horrible word, but it was easily counter-balanced by the enjoyable HAVING KITTENS.
Many thanks to John and Breadman.
Lovely puzzle completed all bar one in 15m and then 5 more for the dnf clue HAIRDO! My problem was duck and Ireland – latter is Eire and a duck can be eider, so I was lost in a fruitless search for an anagram of eider plus b for Bob. Duh! So obvious now. Well played Breadman.
My cod was the homophone for a Beau meeting a Thai – that made me smile. So did the GI’s convenience (have we had that one before? It rings a bell). Having got ODE at 15d, the only boxer’s name ending in O had to be a wobbly MARCIANO. Why do I associate him with Marilyn Monroe?
Anisette btw is more for lovers of pastis than fruit liqueurs. I’ve never taken to it.
I’ll now go and comb my barnet and adjust my bob. Happy Easter all and thanks to Breadman and to John
My most recent distilling experiment was making some of my own pastis. It has turned out rather well so I might make some more.
I have just been told that a well-known hairdo for Rockers (remember them) was called a duck’s a*se. Different duck obviously but eider way it’s fun!
Tee hee!
I think that was Teddy Boys with the DAs, not Rockers aka Greasers if you were a Mod like me, Mids aka Scooter boys or Panseys.
Of course I remember them I was one. Should you need to know IMHO the Ariel Arrow was the finest motorbike ever made.
I’m very much an odd one out here. Couldn’t see the wood for the trees and took a miserable 26:07 to limp home. I can’t see how anyone can complete the QC in under 4 minutes when it takes me this long to even read the first clue or two!
Poor performance again! Y by the way is not an unknown it is X and if Y is acceptable then so is any letter of the alphabet! I’m wondering if doing these on-line makes it easier. In the crosswords I compile for an on-line newspaper, when the correct letters are entered they are green: https://www.hellolincoln.co.uk/categories/crosswords
One of the modules of my degree was maths (1976), and I have been in IT for most of my working career. x,y and z have always been the “unknowns” in both. If you only allow x then what do you do if you have more than one unknown? A whole branch of GCSE maths called simultaneous equations requires there to be more than one unknown. Most 14 year olds know that.
By the way I am not going to click on the link – smells like a scam to me
7:12
I’ve never been to VIRGINIA WATER but am aware of the Tyrannosaurus Rex (before they became T. Rex) track from their first album, called ‘Chateau In Virginia Waters’ [sic] and kind of knew it was in Surrey or Berkshire or some such. Nothing else particularly tricky though did need checkers for RINGTONE and to think of ANISETTE.
Thanks John and Breadman
A two-word place in Surrey beginning with V – for this ex-local, it could only be Virginia Water! I didn’t even need the rest of the clue but parsed post entry 😅 It should be lovely with all the rhododendrons at this time of year. Do you remember the Wheatsheaf John? It was one of our favourites when I was young (they didn’t mind too much if you were under 18 in those days 😲), but I haven’t been there for many years!
I started very quickly on this one but slowed down a bit with my last few, although in retrospect I don’t know why – there wasn’t anything too unusual going on!
9:12 FOI Dish LOI Anisette COD Virginia Water -quite apart from the memory, I thought it was a cracking clue
Thanks Breadman and John
I don’t remember the Wheatsheaf – I lived in Binfield and the Victoria Arms there was my local. I do remember the the rhododendrons, though. A great show. These days we head north to Sheringham Park for a day at the beginning of May for our rhododendron experience and a walk that takes in the coast path.
I still haven’t been to Sheringham for the rhododendrons but I know they’re meant to be marvellous. It’s on the list!
The Wheatsheaf (which belongs to Greene King now!) is a big place on the A30 near the lake.
This is what our day out to Sheringham Park is like… Sheringham Park Day Out and Walk. We’re going again with our walking group friends on 20th May this year.
Gorgeous! I feel the north Norfolk coast calling me 😅
If you ever find yourself in this neck of the woods, you should visit Stoneywell – an NT arts and crafts cottage near Leicester with more than 150 varieties of rhododendron in the garden.
And another little connection. I’m sure Black Prince used to be kept at the GCR in Loughborough.
Good fun today. The kittens made me smile. Anisette caused the most bother, which is ironic as it’s Mrs L’s favourite drink.
Completed and enjoyed over a mug of tea in a leisurely 25 minutes.
Nice to see some slang with BONCE and INNIT. What do foreigners make of these I wonder?
Thanks Breadman and John.
Slowed somewhat by the NHO ANISETTE and while VHO the Surrey town I have to admit I thought was in America. Not so much a QC as a medium pacer. Enjoyed the litter dropping.
17 mins – the last 5 of which were spent on my LOI Hairdo, which I bunged in after trying and failing to parse it, but had nothing better. Had to play vowel roulette with the liqueur too. Otherwise agree this was on the easier side for Breadman.
FOI Dish
LOI Hairdo
COD Bow tie was easily biffed but nice to parse
Thanks Breadman and John
16:08
And a nice way QC to go into the weekend with after 2 consecutive DNFs.
The NE and especially ROPED IN and my LOI added 25% to my time – but all very fair.
All parsed bar MARCIANO who it had to be – thanks John.
FOI: DISH
LOI: HAIR DO
COD: HAVING KITTENS (for the grin it induced)
Thanks to Breadman and John
9:52 for me. Sadly with a typo, but as I had the answer correct in my mind, I’m putting this one in my mental “win” column. Definitely a big swing back to UK-specific GK and phrases compared to yesterday. I wonder if that was deliberate.
Thanks to Breadman and John.
8.12 Much gentler. HAVING KITTENS was nice. Finished with ANISETTE. Thanks John and Breadman.
11:40, with the completely unknown VIRGINIA WATER and the unfamiliar BONCE holding me up. Then I froze on DANDY for a while; the fear of an unknown bit of British vocabulary sometimes keeps me from seeing the obvious. Well, that’s not the only thing keeping me from seeing the obvious but we need not go into that. I was surprised to see the boxer (great clue); that was quite some time ago. Are we being teased again with INNIT? I persist in liking the word, but of course I never hear it except when muttering to myself. Thanks to Breadman and John.
No time today as I was solving in a noisy room with half an ear on other conversations but it must have been well within my standard range of 15 – 20 minutes. A nice change from the last two days’ DNFs.
FOI – 1ac DISH
LOI – 11ac HAIRDO
COD – 3dn HAVING KITTENS
Thanks to Breadman and John.
I came to this very late following an interrupted drive home after a week in North Norfolk.
I must say I quite enjoyed the solve and the parsing (like Plymouthian above).
I do record my times here but not in a super-competitive way. I used to manage plenty of sub-10 minute times but, at my age, I find the competition between the whizz kids quite amusing and hope my late post means I can get away with saying so without having lots of outraged/sarky responses.
It is not just an excuse because I am slowing down but I now much prefer to take some time and admire (or not) the clues along the way.
I took 18.40 today and am content with that. I enjoyed HAIRDO, HAVING KITTENS, and VIRGINIA WATER but am impressed by the way some of our non-Brit posters manage to deal with clues like these.
Thanks to Breadman and JohnI.
Hear Hear.
When I used to time my pb was 7:50, not supersonic but respectable. Now retired I can spend much more time savouiring.
Bow Tie was a lovely clue, not difficult so zoomed past by those on roller skates but a delightful double homophone.
👍
Nice chewey one, didnt get hairdo but no complaints. I am partial to a drop of Pernod (try mixing 1:1 with lemonade) so anisette was no problem. On post-solve checking I find that Pernod isn’t actually anisette, ho-hum. So I thought I must try some of this anisette stuff , log in to amazon to buy a bottle, and top of their list for anisette is Pernod, ho-hum.
Web site still playing up – rejects my password, so I do a reset and it tells my that I cant reset my password the same as my existing one (that it just declined)
Thanks to Breadman and John.