Hello again. This crossword I thought was likeable and not too hard. I particularly liked 22ac, informant of mine, and the cat up a tree at 17dn.
What with the PARANOID NEUROSIS, and the TANTRUM, I worry for our setter’s mental stability. There’s a NARCISSIST in there somewhere, too.
I use the standard TfTT conventions like underlining the definition, CD for cryptic definition, DD for a double one, *(anargam) and so forth. Nho = “not heard of” and in case of need the Glossary is always handy.
| Across | |
| 1 | Liking early appearance of public transport (8) |
| PENCHANT – P(ublic) + ENCHANT, to transport. In a nice way. | |
| 9 | Honour officer stabbing a rebel (8) |
| ACCOLADE – COL(onel), an officer, in A CADE. Jack Cade has appeared here several times. Not far from my house is a dell, above the North Downs, called Jack Cade’s Hole. Allegedly he hid out in it for a while. | |
| 10 | Empty-sounding vessel (4) |
| VEIN – sounds like “vain.” I trust nobody struggled with this, given that an almost identical clue appeared only last Thursday. | |
| 11 | Photographing famous actor — one with brilliant short career? (8,4) |
| SHOOTING STAR – SHOOTING (photographing) STAR, a famous actor. | |
| 13 | Some incentive originally to slip a chain (6) |
| SIERRA – S(ome) I(ncentive) + ERR (to slip) + A | |
| 14 | Positive moods, with written approvals to move home (2,6) |
| UP STICKS – UPS (positive moods) + TICKS, approvals | |
| 15 | Find how any other planet may jocularly be defined? (7) |
| UNEARTH – a DD, one, as it says, jocular | |
| 16 | Hinder half of solution for long-contested region (7) |
| BALKANS – BALK (hinder) + ANS(wer). Other regions seem even more contested at present, but give it time, no doubt. | |
| 20 | Sanctimonious manner towards vegetable (8) |
| PIMIENTO – PI (sanctimonious) + MIEN (manner) TO(wards). I would call it a pimento myself, why waste an i? | |
| 22 | Singer, valued informant of mine (6) |
| CANARY – A fun CD. Though less fun for the canary, I understand, that is expected to indicate the presence of carbon monoxide by keeling over… | |
| 23 | Cross heroine worked out horny types (12) |
| RHINOCEROSES – *(CROSS HEROINE). Spelling, the only issue with this one! | |
| 25 | Make available online job (4) |
| POST – A DD | |
| 26 | Lift very hot water, holding right away from mouth (8) |
| UPSTREAM – UP (lift, as in up ones game) + R in STEAM. | |
| 27 | Soldier without dog tag perhaps showing fear of persecution (8) |
| PARANOID – PARA (soldier) + NO ID. “Just because you’re not paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t all out to get you.” | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Choice of English lesson delivered in church (8) |
| ELECTION – E + LECTION. No, me neither, but there it is in Collins.. | |
| 3 | Two characters changing positions in discussion for environmental protection (12) |
| CONSERVATION – CONVERSATION, a discussion, with the S and V neatly reversed. | |
| 4 | Plying oar, gaunt fellow aboard boat (8) |
| ARGONAUT – *(OAR GAUNT) Mates of Jason, of golden fleece fame. | |
| 5 | Time county’s united to quash one outburst of rage (7) |
| TANTRUM – T + ANTRIM, a county, with the I changed to U(nited) | |
| 6 | These enable one to track small amounts of money (6) |
| SCENTS – S(mall) + CENTS, money. Wouldn’t help me much. Tonto, perhaps. | |
| 7 | Back from hospital, a way to survive (4) |
| LAST – (hospita)L + A ST(reet) | |
| 8 | Anxious condition of Neil’s regularly about money (8) |
| NEUROSIS – EUROS (money) in N(e)I(l)S | |
| 12 | Entering beach, choose vessel, extremely neat (5-3-4) |
| SPICK-AND-SPAN – PICK (choose) in SANDS, + PAN, a vessel, different to 10ac. | |
| 15 | Part of shoe damaged — blow! (8) |
| UPPERCUT – UPPER (part of shoe) + CUT, damaged. | |
| 17 | One cat’s run off: she may be up your tree (8) |
| ANCESTOR – *(ONE CATS R(un). | |
| 18 | Self-regarding individual wants borders of scarlet flowers (8) |
| NARCISSI – NARCISSI(st), ie without the S(carle)T. | |
| 19 | Briefly comment on suspicious page in such a contract (2-5) |
| NO-TRUMP – NOT(e), brief comment, + RUM (suspicious) + P(age). I refrain from further comment. | |
| 21 | New university that is switching around parts of atoms (6) |
| NUCLEI – N(ew) + UCL (either University College London, or (bonus!) the University of Central Lancashire) + IE, that is, reversed. | |
| 24 | Given that, doubts nothing (2,2) |
| IF SO – IFS (doubts, like buts) + O, nothing. | |
34 minutes. Should have been sub-30 but I was delayed unduly by four clues in the NW as my last ones in.
Jerry, you have a typo at 23ac, -CES should be -SES
Thanks, corrected. I did say that was the only issue!
Knew it had to be PIMIENTO but had forgotten the correct spelling. Like our blogger, thought CANARY and ANCESTOR were both very clever. Also liked UNEARTH. Don’t know anything about bridge but managed to see NO-TRUMP from the wordplay. Had to look up the plural of rhinoceros to get the correct spelling, duh, just add ‘es’. SIERRA was clever for the ‘chain’ rather than range. Liked UPPERCUT too. COD to CANARY.
Thanks Jerry and setter.
28.30, nice puzzle. NHO LECTION and needed the blog to learn how CONSERVATION worked (turned out it was very simple). LOI IF SO. I’m assuming NO-TRUMP is something to do with bridge. Thank you Jerry.
From The Times They Are A-Changin’:
The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be LAST
For the times they are a-changin’
Yes, apologies. In contract bridge a no-trump contract is the senior one, worth more than hearts
or spades, which are in turn worth more than clubs or diamonds. A contract of say, 3 no trumps requires the bidding pair to win 9 tricks, 6 + the 3.
31 mins withe NW holding out til last. LOI SIERRA. Quite clever really.
I too liked the CANARY, THE RHINOS (yes, sp carefully checked) and SPICK AND SPAN.
Thanks JerryW and setter.
11:59
Surprisingly easy. I was reminded by 16ac of Bismarck’s famous prediction that when war came it would be started by ‘some damn fool thing in the Balkans’; long-contested region, indeed. COD to CANARY.
Typo in 12’50”, a pity. No issues. Liked SIERRA and the daffodils.
Thanks jerry and setter.
50:13, clean solve
— LOI was PIMIENTO where the extra I threw me. Also was trying for a six letter word for “sanctimonious manner” before thinking of PI.
— Liked UNEARTH, but surprised to see it clued as “jocular”, it’s just a cryptic def.
— I think CANARY is a double def? Since “singer” is a clue by itself? COD anyway
— I am glad that RHINOCEROSES is now the accepted plural, rather than the cod Latin ending in -I, although it was used by great effect by Flanders and Swann in their Hippopotamus Song.
— In a similar VEIN, SPICK AND SPAN has turned up twice recently.
— Guessed LECTION from the LECTIONARY which dictates readings and collects for each day.
I think the “jocular” indicates that we are looking for an “Uxbridge English Dictionary” entry, where words are given alternative humorous definitions. “Not Earth” would be normal English.
You can certainly read the clue for CANARY like that but since the two definitions are effectively defining the same thing you can also take them together. I tend to the view that a proper DD needs to reference two separate meanings of the answer but we’re all free to read it however we wish!
DNF – biffed my LOI as PARANOIA after seeing the noun construction at the end of the clue, which I suspect is what the setter intended, grrr.
32 minutes, finding the LHS tricky. I should have seen SIERRA quicker. I’ve never been a bridge player and had only heard of NO-TRUMPS which made me apprehensive about missing off the s, And I only knew PIMENTO, and that as as a tomato, which any fule l will tell you is a fruit and not a vegetable. Hence, LOI was PIMIENTO, based on the cryptic. COD to UNEARTH. Thank you Jerry and setter.
One error in about 25 minutes. I had UPSWINGS for UPSTICKS having read the clue too hastily and back to front. Back to tackling it at breakfast time so perhaps that explains a higher error count.
Hadn’t realised that there was a substantial difference between PIMIENTO and pimento. Biffed ACCOLADE as I had forgotten Jack Cade. COD CANARY.
Thanks to setter and JerryW.
I would say stakes instead of sticks and I see that’s the North American usage.
19:41. Straightforward. LOI PIMENTO + I which balances out the U I kept trying to put in RHINOCERI.
Following the recent demise of Ozzy Osbourne I was thinking of possible clues for PARANOID, maybe “Unduly worried by satanic ritual”.
Thanks jerryw and setter.
19.16 with sierra and election my last two. Glad to see I’m not the only person not to have worked out election. Pimiento gets my COD.
16:33* (1 x typo)
A relatively straightforward solve let down by a silly typo. A shame as I enjoyed a few of the clues mentioned above.
TANTRUM should have been a write-in but county and country cause me no end of self-inflicted bother as my brain only ever sees country. Either new specs or more attention to detail is required I guess.
Thanks to both.
10:31. No issues. I liked the cat up the tree best. Thanks Jerry and setter.
DNF, with the same error as Mudge above in PARANOIA – serves me right for not bothering to parse the second half of the clue!
– Always get confused between balk and baulk, and balk meaning hinder is something I’m less familiar with, but BALKANS had to be
– Agree with Merlin above that CANARY is a double definition
– Was held up by NUCLEI for a while as I initially thought ‘university’ was just giving U
Thanks Jerry and setter.
COD Ancestor
I enjoyed this puzzle with maybe only the clue for NARCISSI a bit less satisfying. Guessed LECTION from LECTIONARY as did others. Thanks for the blog.
A very pleasant solve in 26 minutes, ending with SIERRA. Thanks Jerry for taking on (alternate) Wednesdays, I am enjoying retirement.
13.54, continuing a week of pleasant solves. Particularly enjoyed the singer in the mine (last in), the cat up a tree, and the UED UNEARTH.
40 mins. Knew the Bridge term, so enjoyed NO-TRUMP. LOI was SIERRA, which troubled me for far too long. Everything here fair, I thought, and a decent mental workout.
28 minutes, no major problems except that I wondered what the dog was doing in the dog tag = ID clue. SIERRA was entered without parsing because it was one of the few words that fitted and a sierra is a chain. Only parsed afterwards. Three easyish ones so far this week. I hate to think what we’re in for.
An enjoyable puzzle. I started with LAST and worked my way clockwise, finishing with PENCHANT. However in my weakened condition, with coughs and splutters interrupting the proceedings, made 2 silly errors, failing to fully read the instructions and ending up with PARANOIA and UPSWINGS. 17,31 and 4 pinks squares. Thanks setter and Jerry.
Enjoyable puzzle done and dusted in 20’20”. 4D was a nice reminder of last evening’s BBC4 repeat (for the umpteenth time) of the excellent episode of ‘Porridge’, in which Warren and McClaren, to Fletcher’s annoyance, have a disagreement about whether the film was ‘Jason and the Astronauts’ or ‘Jason and the Juggernauts’. They don’t write them like that any more.
Well not too terribly hard but I didn’t really gel with this one. For instance
1a Penchant, NHO P=public, so biffed. LOI.
10a Vein SLOI; last Thursday was far too long ago for me to remember… or perhaps not long enough, it is my short-term memory that is questionable.
13a Sierra; I don’t see any homophone indicator, so I took a long time to get this.
27a Paranoid corrected from paranoiA immediately after my hand wrote the noun before the brain needed the ID.
2d Election, biffed. Never thought of looking up Lection.
21d Nuclei. NHO University of Central Lancashire! Have heard of UCL though.
Thanks to JerryW and setter.
‘Early appearance of public’ is P (rather than it being an abbreviation). No homophone needed for SIERRA!
Oh yes, I see now. Thanx.
But it isn’t P = public. It is P = early appearance of public.
Yes, thanks.
I accompanied my spouse when he attended a conference in Preston, the uni was invariably referred to as UCLAN.
They were great hosts btw, unusual extras included a dinner at a football club from the directors’ bolt hole overlooking the pitch, and folk songs in dialect.
They are wise to use UCLAN else everyone would go to the wrong place… reminds me of some London toffs getting into a taxi, to go to see some footie at “Stamford Bridge.” “Why are we on the M1?”
19:46
Snuck under the twenty minutes with this enjoyable grid. Liked LOI CANARY and ANCESTOR. Had wondered which contested region until I had both the K and S checkers. Like others, hadn’t come across LECTION before so waited for the crossers before inking it in.
Thanks Jerry and setter
7:41. Liked the CANARY and the lovely clue for ANCESTOR. Never heard of a LECTION.
I did OK, dithering a little between elective and election until I got the bottom crossers. I did like the no ID bit at the end of paranoid, and the cat up the tree.
Time: 20:36
24 mins but another with a hasty UPSWINGS. Nice puzzle. Thanks all.
17:55 with no problems, CANARY and ANCESTOR were also my LOIs and good clues. Oh yes, and the para with no id too.
No typos today!
Thanks setter and blogger
Not too hard, with my last two in being CANARY and ANCESTOR, both with clever definitions that took me a moment to see.
Jerry: at 26A you need to underline “away from mouth”.
Done, thanks, with an extra brownie point for being the first to notice that …
I thought I’d try this today having got better with the QC. I managed to parse six.
Look at the explanations here, some you may remember for next time… it took me years to regularly solve the Times crossword but if you want to, in time you will.
Seconded – it’s all about practice and learning from this useful blog! Like you I felt I had mastered the QC so had a go at the “big” one and very often only worked out a few answers. Took a couple of years of regular practice but these days I generally complete at least 80% and the whole thing 2/3 times a week. Very satisfying and a great way to expand word knowledge. Good luck!
Thank you for the encouragement. When I was at university some 50 years ago I was branded as an illiterate scientist by my friends from the faculty of letters :-). Slightly less insulting than being called a plough boy like the agricultural students.
Keep at it, the blog is an invaluable aid, especially in learning to recognise anagram indicators (anagrinds).
lateral thinking is said to help combat Alzheimer’s. I hope they’re right.
A steady finish in 38.23 but with two errors. I see I’m not the only one to fall foul of UPSWINGS and PARANOIA. I really must pay more attention to properly parsing my answers.
25:32 but a NECROSIS instead of NEUROSIS. I figured it maybe a currency I hadn’t heard of and you probably would have some anxiety if you suffered from it. Should have twigged it was a bit of a stretch.
COD CANARY
Thanks blogger and setter
Completed, but with 2 errors I now see. I thought PARA for soldier, glanced at what I assumed was the definition and bunged in PARANOIA without parsing. And, in what I suspect is a first, error-wise, IS SO, on the basis that adding ‘that’ means there are no doubts. No wonder I thought it poor! LOI VEIN, after a lengthy alphabet trawl – obviously I didn’t do last Thursday’s crossword!
24:30 Ish … not too hard but a bit of crunch today. good level for me to get teeth into.
21’46”. Thought we might have had SHOOTING STAR from Oh Mercy in our Dylan feature today. Not sure the UNEARTH clue works. Even in a jocular way. Or maybe I need a sense of humour. Many thanks.
30:23
LOI was SIERRA – I took a long time to see what sort of chain was needed.
COD to CANARY.
Thanks Jerry and setter
28.59 Enjoyable. The NW held me up at the end. LECTION was a guess and I finished with SIERRA. If I did last Thursday’s I remember nothing about it. Thanks JerryW.
18.37 DNF
Another PARANOIA. Poor. Otherwise liked it. Thanks Jerry and setter
Oh, that dog tag! No idea what I thought IA might be referring to, but the recent appearance of PARANOIA led me to enter it again. At least I am not alone.
I rather liked the rest of the puzzle, which took me about 35 minutes. Many very good clues jogging the mind into hidden corners.
Mostly enjoyable and completed in about 20 minutes this evening with one eye on the Barcelona-PSG game. The clues that gave me the most trouble were: ELECTION – it had to be the right answer given the checkers, but I have never heard of a “lection”; PIMIENTO, another NHO pieced together purely from the wordplay, somewhat reluctantly because I am always irked by the “sanctimonious”, “very good”, etc, = ‘PI’ convention. In my world, PI is a letter of the Greek alphabet and a mathematical constant, and nothing else.
Perhaps I need a sense of humour transplant, because I didn’t find the UNEARTH clue remotely amusing or clever, just irritating: at least it wasn’t difficult given that I had a couple of checkers by then, but it would definitely not have been my FOI.
Those gripes aside, there was a lot to like.
ANCESTOR was just brilliant.
Which crossword clues did the author particularly enjoy, and why? Greeting : S2 Akuntansi
Very enjoyable and fun solve, with some outstanding misdirections and clever definitions. Particularly liked CANARY (informant of mine!) my COD. But also ANCESTOR, which I didn’t get at first because I was making good time and just bunged in what fitted with the crossers I had , which was IMPOSTER. Which I turn held me up with the singer… that aside, made good time and a boost to the confidence; thank you setter ( and blogger of course).