Solving time: 28 minutes. I don’t know that having 6 double defintion clues is excessive, but having 5 of them in the Down clues in close proximity made blogging them very repetitive.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. I usually omit all reference to positional indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
Across | |
1 | Object vaporised after mixing around phosphorus (10) |
DISAPPROVE | |
Anagram [mixing] of VAPORISED containing [around] P (phosphorus) | |
6 | Short race on your bike (4) |
SHOO | |
SHOO{t} (race) [short]. ‘On your bike’ means ‘Go away! Clear off!’ and dates from the 1960’s | |
9 | Rogue swimmer in sport (7) |
CURLING | |
CUR (rogue), LING (swimmer – fish) | |
10 | Power tool put back beside table, initially requiring support (7) |
RELIANT | |
NAILER (power tool) reversed [put back], T{able} [initially] | |
12 | If I die, sadly, start to sob after sun sets (10) |
SOLIDIFIES | |
SOL (sun), anagram [sadly] of IF I DIE, then S{ob} [start] | |
13 | Pick up cash for fur (3) |
DOE | |
Sounds like [pick up] “dough” (cash – slang). I thought first of doe as a deer and had difficulty equating that with fur but of course doe is also a female rabbit and that accounts for the fur. | |
15 | Corrosion wore away wheel (6) |
ROTATE | |
ROT (corrosion), ATE (wore away) | |
16 | Possible cause of upset in cabaret, I suspect (8) |
BACTERIA | |
Anagram [suspect] of CABARET I | |
18 | Briefly cook bird in wine (8) |
SAUTERNE | |
SAUT{é} (cook) [briefly], ERNE (bird) | |
20 | Important, flat device with push-button controls (6) |
KEYPAD | |
KEY (important), PAD (flat – apartment) | |
23 | Bird flying east or west just the same? (3) |
TIT | |
Indicated as a palindrome | |
24 | All so fine after splitting say (10) |
EVERYTHING | |
VERY (so) + THIN (fine) contained by [splitting] EG (say) | |
26 | Jumper for summer sport (7) |
CRICKET | |
Two definitions, the first vaguely cryptic | |
27 | Fashion on street, not so hot? (7) |
AVERAGE | |
AVE (street – avenue), RAGE (fashion). ‘Not so hot’ is neither good not bad. | |
28 | Construction of planks and beams etc abandoned (4) |
SHED | |
Unless I’m missing something this is a double definition, the first of which is decidedly loose | |
29 | Snake chasing tick finding renewed energy (6,4) |
SECOND WIND | |
SECOND (wait a tick), WIND (snake) |
Down | |
1 | Weed moor (4) |
DOCK | |
Two meanings. A handy relief from nettle stings acquired when tying up your boat by the river bank. | |
2 | Remedy, golden beer bottles (4,3) |
SORT OUT | |
STOUT (beer) contains [bottles] OR (golden – heraldry) | |
3 | Trial — result of whiplash? (4,2,3,4) |
PAIN IN THE NECK | |
Two meanings, with ‘trial’ in the sense of an annoying person who tests your patience | |
4 | Win back article stolen by country after uprising (6) |
REGAIN | |
A (indefinite article) contained [stolen] by NIGER (country) reversed [after uprising] | |
5 | Spotless old instrument (8) |
VIRGINAL | |
Two meanings. The second is an early keyboard instrument resembling a spinet; it’s more usually in the plural. Here’s what it sounds like… | |
7 | Magpie in greyish-white, colour seen from below (7) |
HOARDER | |
HOAR (greyish-white), the RED (colour) reversed [seen from below]. According to Collins a magpie can be a person who likes collecting and keeping things, often things that have little value. | |
8 | Where diamonds may be found in store (2,3,5) |
ON THE CARDS | |
Two meanings, the second said of something that is likely to happen. | |
11 | Allow one’s mind to drift perhaps and falter as an embroiderer? (4,3,6) |
LOSE THE THREAD | |
Two meanings | |
14 | Truth of the matter, knickers finally found in piles of underwear? (5,5) |
BRASS TACKS | |
{knicker}S (finally) contained by [found in] BRA STACKS (piles of underwear) | |
17 | Throw uniform on top of sewer in anger (8) |
UNSETTLE | |
U (uniform – NATO alphabet), then S{ewer} [top] contained by [in] NETTLE (anger) | |
19 | Loosen tight nut, white perhaps? (7) |
UNTWINE | |
Anagram [tight – drunk] of NUT, then WINE (white perhaps) | |
21 | Crack shot, one from Southern Asia (7) |
PUNJABI | |
PUN (crack – joke), JAB (shot), I (one) | |
22 | Live wire turning up in so many devices (6) |
DYNAMO | |
Hidden [in] and reversed [turning up] in {s}O MANY D{evices} | |
25 | Cattle perhaps caught by the ears, heartlessly (4) |
HERD | |
HE{a}RD (caught by the ears) [heartlessly] |
Mind lad, ’tis best uttered wi’ a Yorkshire accent.
Edited at 2021-07-13 03:49 am (UTC)
POI HOARDER and antepenultimate SOLIDIFIES, one of three I had near the end with all the crossers but that I still had to ponder a while. Up to that point, I was making good time. I empathize with Kevin on PUN, which I didn’t see as “crack” until I saw JAB as “shot” (and how timely).
On these shores, it’s “in the cards,” not ON THE CARDS, but the British idiom certainly fits the clue better.
Edited at 2021-07-13 03:21 am (UTC)
I had managed it in just 14 mins which is rather fast for me these days. You further stated that even after 50 years of dedicated solving there were five words with which you were not familiar. After 60 years of dedicated solving I knew OBSIDIAN, AMICE and Andrew MARVELL (some have said he wrote parts of Shakespeare), with only LAPLACE and MARA unknown, but the answers was easily done as per invariant.
We should ever encourage the speedy over the weedy and hopkinb proved my point with an 11:35 minute solve! Wow! He was backed-up by plymouthian1 and invariant who both did pretty well. I wasn’t asking folks to finish it – just have a go! Experience is everything in crosswordland.
However, I would not recommend today’s 15×15 to the QCers, even though I know all the words – and I suspect you do too. Your 28 mins is a slight improvement – my 22 minutes is heading in the wrong direction!
My proof? Mr. Snitch was at 59 yesterday and this morning is at 107.
Edited at 2021-07-13 03:48 am (UTC)
Edited at 2021-07-13 04:44 am (UTC)
Edited at 2021-07-13 09:00 am (UTC)
Btw, you know this already, but the use of ‘weedy’ or other disparaging references to solvers and their efforts has no place in this forum.
Edited at 2021-07-13 05:15 am (UTC)
Edited at 2021-07-13 08:45 am (UTC)
A couple of years back someone emulated Donald Trump doing the London Times, on this blog – that’s when I started reading it. It was amusing! But it was soon stopped in case it offended the snowflakes!
Also, there is a great difference between discussing politics and discussing politics online. It’s not a surprise that the moderators of this blog don’t want to court the latter. (If you’ve been on the internet longer than five minutes, you should know what I’m talking about.)
Anyway, discussions about politics on the internet are possibly the quickest way to turn conversations acrimonious. There are plenty of places to have uncivil discourse on the internet if you want it, and I can’t blame the moderators for trying to maintain a little civility here.
If you find this discussion too anodyne for your tastes there’s nothing stopping you from starting Times for the Times “After Dark” where you can discuss the crosswords and whatever else you like. I think the two could exist happily side by side and I’m sure there are people in this forum who would enjoy that.
Edited at 2021-07-13 04:26 pm (UTC)
So fast start slow finish. Liked solidifies as it was hard to get even with clear instructions, but COD to everything.
Thanks setter and blogger.
FOI 2dn SORT OUT
LOI 6dn SHOO I had it early but didn’t see shoot.
COD PUNJABI – 21 although I would argue it is in Central Asia and not Southern Asia where one finds BENGALI
WOD BRASS TACKS – for the well upholstered
I’m going for a lie down.
Edited at 2021-07-13 03:52 am (UTC)
36 minutes. I liked ‘on your bike’ at 6a (“on yer bike” might have made it too obvious) and PUNJABI.
Thanks to Jack and setter
COD to the excellent DYNAMO which I’d taken to be a DD and didn’t realise was a reverse hidden until reading Jack’s blog.
Pushed for time, and couldn’t come up with shed or untwine.
Thanks, jack.
Edited at 2021-07-13 07:21 am (UTC)
Thank you!
I know the term VIRGINAL as a musical instrument from “Lady Standing at a Virginal” by Vermeer.
It’s also in Chambers as an alternative for Sauternes but Chambers is wrong.
Edited at 2021-07-13 09:04 am (UTC)
On SAUTERNE, I spotted the tern as a bird and thought that was it. I needed Jack to put me straight on that, for which thanks as ever.
And today they inflicted the TIT
A response to these birds
Could be four letter words
But that would offend, wouldn’t it
I might have to excuse that PEWIT
As there aren’t other words that would fit
But I ask of the setter
TAT for TIT, ain’t that better?
Or are you just tòo full of ornithology?
For SAUTERNE, it’s all perfectly above board (and I think I’ve done it in my own clue-setting), but I always find it a little unsatisfactory when the removed letter then appears as the next letter in the answer anyway.
“In a forum that aims to be a friendly and safe place to discuss crossword puzzles I can see no reason why it would be thought necessary to comment adversely on someone else’s best efforts.” jacktt earlier!
Today I could only manage 12.44mins. COD PAIN IN THE NECK
I can’t say I ever notice the preponderance of a particular clue types while I’m solving (apart from anagrams maybe) but I can see how it might get tedious for a blogger.
Never knew Hoar was a colour. Like Kevingregg, I found the SW pretty tricky, but it was well worth the effort.
COD SAUTERNE
Thanks to Jack and the setter.
Edited at 2021-07-13 11:09 am (UTC)
Took the longest time to see BACTERIA, thought SHED was a poor clue unless we’re all missing some extremely crafty.
SHOO and HOARDER last in after a trudge through the NW.
Better luck tomorrow.
Does the wife count as an aid or a handicap?
Edited at 2021-07-13 12:41 pm (UTC)
LOI AVERAGE street is usually ST in my book. Sneaky.
FOI DISAPPROVE
LOI SHED
COD BRASS TACKS (despite the loose definition)
TIME 9:32
Edited at 2021-07-13 02:29 pm (UTC)
Thanks setter and blogger.