Time: 45:45
Solved in a couple of foggy sessions between Lemsips, due to my being victim to a new and improve version of Covid, so I was slower than the SNITCH suggests. Nevertheless, after rolling back on my original MARKS (disciple + first of Stage) at 1dn, things fell into place quite nicely.
A gentle end to a gentle week.
Definitions underlined.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Little kid held prisoner? One growing up slowly (10) |
| STALAGMITE – a STALAG (German POW camp) + MITE (little kid) may be described thus. | |
| 6 | Scrubbing back, use little brush (4) |
| SKIM – SKIMp (use little) minus (scrubbing) the last (back). | |
| 10 | Damage a lawsuit, leaving English couple shaken (7) |
| MARACAS – MAR (damage) + A CASE (a lawsuit) minus E (English). | |
| 11 | Expand route to tunnel through mountain (7) |
| BROADEN – ROAD (route) contained by (to tunnel through) BEN (mountain). | |
| 12 | European landmark one dreamt in need of reconstruction (5,4) |
| NOTRE DAME – anagram of (in need of reconstruction) ONE DREAMT. | |
| 13 | Line on high-flying group — as running feature? (5) |
| NASAL – L (line) on NASA (high-flying group). Pertinent, in my case. | |
| 14 | Crow, something with feathers and wings in short! (5) |
| BOAST – BOA (something with feathers) + outermost letters from (wings in) ShorT. | |
| 15 | I get paid by word of mouth to carry on boxes during the day (9) |
| DIURNALLY – sounds like (by word of mouth) “I earn” (I get paid, I URN), which DALLY (to carry on, fuss, delay) contains (boxes). | |
| 17 | Brother, I’m no fixer! (9) |
| MENDICANT – MEND I CAN’T (I’m no fixer). A Friar. | |
| 20 | Outdoorsy type, cyclist changing in the van? (5) |
| HIKER – bIKER (cyclist) changing the letter at the front (in the van(guard)) to H. | |
| 21 | Fork skewering item, morsel finally getting consumed (5) |
| SPLIT – SPIT (skewering item) with the last of (finally) morseL contained (getting consumed). | |
| 23 | Failure though not on in wobble for measuring instrument (9) |
| TELEMETER – LEMon (failure) minus (though not) ‘on’, contained by (in) TEETER (wobble). An instrument for measuring distance. | |
| 25 | Access connected with digestive tract (7) |
| ENTERON – ENTER (access) + ON (connected with). Not in my lexicon, but gettable from the common suffix ‘entero-‘. | |
| 26 | Mildly obscene — as love, did you say? (7) |
| NAUGHTY – sounds like (did you say?) “nought-y” (as zero, love). | |
| 27 | Lover of the bottle, very green (4) |
| LUSH – double definition. | |
| 28 | That’s the way the cookie crumbles — but this food’s solid! (4,6) |
| HARD CHEESE – cryptic hint. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Disciple heading for stage, that’s my cue! (5) |
| SIMON – first of (heading for) Stage + I’M ON (that’s my cue). | |
| 2 | A rising rent drops for unconventional vehicle? (9) |
| AEROTRAIN – A + reversal of (rising) TORE (rent) + RAIN (drops). Like Maglev, but using an air cushion to levitate the train rather than magnetism. NHO but was interesting to read about on Wikipedia. | |
| 3 | Dead and buried Corinthians, yet to come alive? (7,7) |
| ANCIENT HISTORY – anagram of ( to come alive) CORINTHIANS YET. | |
| 4 | VIP into dirt — seedy stuff? (7) |
| MUSTARD – STAR (VIP) contained by (into) MUD (dirt). | |
| 5 | Greek character frames clever picture (7) |
| TABLEAU – TAU (Greek character) contains (frames) ABLE (clever). | |
| 7 | Credit, five hundred invested in market on the up (5) |
| KUDOS – D (five hundred) contained by (invested in) the reversal of (on the up) SOUK (market). | |
| 8 | Merely a fluid that’s bottled in vessel (9) |
| MINELAYER – anagram of (fluid) MERELY A that contains (has bottled) IN. A ship for deploying mines. | |
| 9 | Miserable result of eating duck? (4,2,3,5) |
| DOWN IN THE MOUTH – cryptic hint. | |
| 14 | A knockout, knockout blow? (9) |
| BOMBSHELL – double definition. | |
| 16 | Foot on shovel, take out a weed somewhere in the Sierra Nevada (4,5) |
| LAKE TAHOE – last of (foot on) shoveL + an anagram of (out) TAKE + A + HOE (to weed). | |
| 18 | Broadcaster of back-to-back articles around 10 (7) |
| ANTENNA – AN and AN (articles) put back-to-back (ANNA) containing (around ) TEN. | |
| 19 | Nato led astray — hawkish? (7) |
| TALONED – anagram of (astray) NATO LED. | |
| 22 | Flower bunches including text for you (5) |
| LOTUS – LOTS (bunches) containing (including) U (text for ‘you’). | |
| 24 | Frost in interview, right louse for White House, say? (5) |
| RHYME – sounds like (in interview) RIME (frost). | |
Lucky with a few write-ins, such as LAKE TAHOE, known from Steinbeck’s early life. Last in MENDICANT – with a groan, naturally.
23:45
DNK AEROTRAIN (not in ODE, but in my E/J dictionary). DNK ENTERON, which I tried only after giving up on ENTERIC & ENTERAL. I wasted some time trying to figure out how ‘maracas’ could fit in 18d; I had thought that Arabic numerals referred to clues, while number words referred to words. Clearly, you don’t want ‘ten’ in the clue to clue TEN in the solution, but still. I liked MENDICANT & SKIM, inter alia.
Will saying he found this gentle has made me wonder if I’ve become allergic to Friday puzzles in the same way that some QC solvers are immediately wary when they see the names of certain setters.
I found this really hard and when an hour had passed and I still had one answer and two letters of another missing I decided I’d had enough and resorted to aids. It turned out I’d never heard of TELEMETER and I was nowhere near to cracking the wordplay based on ‘failure / lemon’ – not a synonym I’m particularly aware of anyway. I found the wordplay to DIURNALLY impossible to decipher and it’s not a word I’ve come across that often.
There was a lot to enjoy elsewhere but very few answers went in on first reading.
33.51
TELEMETER is both an instrument for measuring distance – how far am I away from this object/event? – and an instrument for measuring at a distance – what is the temperature/radiation level within the Chernobyl reactor?
Held up at the end by a couple of NHOs (ENTERON, AEROTRAIN) but otherwise a pleasing Friday puzzle.
Thanks Will and setter.
Telemetry is a common term in the satellite business, (since obviously we’re routinely measuring things at a considerable distance). Hence a pretty short step to TELEMETER
16.40
I was all geared up for a Friday work-out, and now I feel like I’ve unexpectedly received a bye.
I liked DIURNALLY and HARD CHEESE, but my COD was RHYME. I’ve just been reading Hunter Thompson’s obituary of Nixon, which included: “I beat him like a mad dog with mange every chance I got, and I am proud of it. He was scum.”
LOI LUSH
What exactly did he mean?
In Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail he describes Nixon especially asking that he (H.S.Thompson) accompany him (Nixon) on a car drive (or plane flight?) as Nixon wanted to relax talk football not politics, and Thompson was acknowledged as being most football-knowledgeable amongst the accompanying press pack. Thompson describes Nixon in almost glowing terms. Briefly. Before reasserting he’s scum.
And, with the denouement of the US football season upon us, I pencilled in Superbowl for 14dn, as a slightly dodgy &lit – knockout game, knockout kinda means super, ‘blow’ knocked out, ending in L, squinting a bit.
DNF for me, had to resort to aids. Liked DIURNALLY. With a middle letter M I guessed the wrong disciple which was James.
I have found this week’s offerings difficult so was delighted to finish this in about 40 minutes. NHO AEROTRAIN but it made sense although uI’d forgotten about the MAGLEV. I found many of the clues rather amusing but that’s probably just me.
LOI STALAGMITE. COD MENDICANT (with a chuckle).
Thanks to setter and William.
I finished with an unknown ENTERON to fit the crossers but which sounded possible. I’d done something similar with TELEMETER previously. I started slowly trying to make DOWN IN THE DUMPS work. I couldn’t. Having finally thought of MOUTH, things didn’t speed up much. But, as the other Dylan says, do not go gentle. I didn’t. I’d have raged if I’d had enough energy. A tough puzzle. COD to MENDICANT. Thank you William and setter.
I had DOWN IN THE DUMPS at first. It works perfectly but I was a bit surprised – it seemed a bit scatological for the Times 😳
I had that too, but assumed it meant rubbish dumps! Slightly lower on the filth-ometer but not by much. Did seem odd at the time but of course MOUTH was there all along ….
Agree – I had that first as well and thought it was brilliant. Our American friends would have loved it.
For 9d I had DOWN IN THE DUMPS, a perfect fit, which made it for a brief while my clue of the year. It was with a heavy heart that I was later forced to amend it to fit in with the crossers.
A plea to the setter -remember this much better answer and work it into a future puzzle.
20 minutes or so.
– Only knew MENDICANT as someone who begs
– Got TELEMETER from having heard of telemetry, in the same way as Astro_nowt above
– Had to trust the wordplay for ENTERON
– Couldn’t have told you what an AEROTRAIN is, but again the wordplay helped a lot
– Didn’t understand RHYME
Thanks William and setter.
FOI Simon
LOI Aerotrain
COD Lake Tahoe
RIGHT LOUSE is a rhyme for WHITE HOUSE, and RHYME sounds like RIME.
Thanks – I got that it rhymed, I just didn’t know (or had forgotten) that rime is a kind of frost. Sorry, I should have made that clear!
Just short of the hour. I was held up by carelessly banging in SNOWDON at 11ac so my last clue was T-S-E-U, having finally worked out DIURNALLY, I saw the error and the two went in.
Funny one for me today as i had most of the RHS filled in quite quickly but could make no headway on the left. Once i saw the anagrist for ANCIENT HISTORY, I was off again.
I liked MENDICANT, very cheeky.
Thanks william and setter.
12:44
Like jackkt I found that few answers went in on first reading, but a lot did on second. I enjoyed this for the fair measure of jokey stuff (so not just you Pelforth).
I said yesterday that tomorrow is another day. Turns out it isn’t. 8:24 but with LIKE TAHOE, somehow.
29:24. Very slow to start but gradually clicked with the setter’s style and finished at a sprint. Brilliant puzzle full of humour and still a proper workout for me.
COD STALAGMITE but honourable mention to HARD CHEESE, MENDICANT, NAUGHTY, the Corinthians anagram …
Many thanks to william and setter.
My thanks to william_j_s and setter.
Not easy, but easy for a Friday I thought.
25a Enteron NHO but gettable.
1d Simon COD.
9d Down in the… DUMPS held me up somewhat, I thought it a little rude as did boltonwanderer, keriothe and steve smith. Then mouth came to rescue me.
POI 24d Rhyme, “in interview” is a new one for a homophone isn’t it?
22.11 for what henceforward will be known as a Pelforth: lots of humour laced with excellent wordplay. DOWN IN THE DUMPS would have completed the hilarity: expect to see it soon in a Sunday, where the poo stuff is not just expected, but obligatory.
MENDICANT straight from a Dickensian Christmas party game, STALAGMITE shouldn’t really be funny, but is. Nought-y, but nice.
Our setter seems to be familiar with Koine: Greek bits here and there, SIMON and the riff on Corinthians – an excellent anagram and straight out of the Book: “behold, I tell you a mystery…” Look it up.
There’s a place for Friday wrestling matches, but this sort of firework display is also very welcome.
PS Commiserations to William: well blogged through the Covid fug!
Dnf as had ENTERIN, otherwise about 25′. Really liked MENDICANT.
There is really no connection between poo and DOWN IN THE DUMPS, but now it’s been said I expect to see it in the other broadsheet.
Thanks william and setter.
Mostly enjoyed this, but TELEMETER defeated me because ‘lemon’ as a synonym for ‘failure’ was totally unfamiliar (isn’t a ‘lemon’ a car/device that’s poorly made?). DNK ENTERON, and only got there after trying ENTERIC – with consequent confusion that took me some time to correct.
Enjoyed the challenge of this, although a small handful left at the end after an hour.
“Enteron” a new word for me as was “stalag” although the answer was clear from the definition and checkers.
Didn’t understand “hiker” which I like now I understand the “van” element from this helpful blog.
Thanks to both our blogger and setter.
Really enjoyed that, even with total failure. Had 10ac correct (knew the instrument) except for the spelling and the wordplay: Malacas! With so many saags and primas and stalags and taus and souks and Notre Dames in the past 24 hours MAL for damage seemed feasible. So a fail there, aerotrain ungettable, and also ENTERIN: after enteric, gastroenteritis etc.
COD too hard to pick amongst so many amusing clues.
Quite a few unknowns found from wordplay and crossers (ENTERON, AEROTRAIN) as well as one unparsed (DIURNALLY). SIMON was also a biff until I came here and realised the clue was “disciple” and not my misread “discipline” doh!
About 40′ for an accessible Friday.
Thanks William and setter.
Quick solve. Down in the mouth went straight in, care of Bert in Mary Poppins.
Thanks, w.
Finally, a Friday finish. Yay!
KUDOS was my FOI and I managed the RHS fairly quickly, but came to a grinding halt on the sinister side. Eventually ANCIENT HISTORY (biffed, missed the anagram) and STALAGMITE hove into view and I finished with BOMBSHELL, SPLIT and finally LUSH. 34:11. Thanks setter and William.
For a moment I thought that I’d somehow grown in solving ability because I did this towards the faster end of my times nowadays. But sure enough, as I knew really and as the SNITCH shows, this was a much easier crossword than those we have been having on Fridays. I liked much of this: nho ENTERON but it was fairly obvious; likewise TELEMETER. The only clue I didn’t like was 14dn, BOMBSHELL, which seemed feeble. I can’t see how the two definitions are really much different.
With BOMBSHELL, I think the first definition is referring to a stunningly attractive person (usually a woman).
25:30 – struggled a bit with this, particularly in the NE. A not particularly gentle finish to a rather less than gentle week for me
DNF. I had “enterin” at 25A and should have looked more closely.
This was accessible but not easy. At first it was impenetrable, but as I got a few checkers the answers start to pop into my head. Down in the mouth and ancient history were key breakthroughs, opening up the puzzle. I finished with minelayer and skim. This is what a Friday puzzle should be, or maybe just a bit tougher.
Time: 33:44
Very much the same experience for me except it took 53 minutes in two sessions separated by a visit to a root canal specialist.
32.44 a pleasing end to the week. Got a bit stuck with enteron but once that was sorted the path was clear. LOI boast.
50 minutes. Maybe should have been quicker but it was good to finish with everything parsed. I liked STALAGMITE, NAUGHTY and the MEND I CANT ‘Brother’.
Thanks to setter and to William – hope you recover from the dreaded COVID soon.
34.07 – very gentle all things considered. I did really like STALAGMITE and MARACAS as well as MENDICANT once I worked out what the blazes was going on. Thanks blogger and setter!
I was definitely on the wavelength for this one and thought it fair, fun, and topical.
Topical as in right louse for White House……true
And of course VIP into dirt – seedy stuff.
Thoroughly enjoyable. Many thanks, William and setter.
18 mins today – unusually fast for me. Is it really Friday? I seemed to be very much on Setter’s wavelength. I didn’t know AEROTRAIN and ENTERON was but a vague memory, but they didn’t hold me up. Lots of clever witty clues; my favourites were to SKIM, BOAST, SIMON and LAKE TAHOE. Thank you to Setter and Blogger.
One error in 25 mins. Ancient Picture.
COD: Ancient History. Lovely anagram which I didn’t spot.
Thanks to William and our setter.
I literally laughed out loud at DOWN IN THE MOUTH.
39:53
Hardish, I found it, missing my current target of 33:30 for a Snitch of 97. After a swift start, came to a grinding halt for several minutes before scraping around for the odd answer. Got going again with several downs across the top which was enough to fill in the top half, leaving ENTERON (thought it might be ENTER__ but had no idea what went at the end. Even with the final N in place, then would I or O precede it?), MENDICANT, BOMBSHELL and finally LUSH. Liked DOWN IN THE MOUTH and MENDICANT a lot.
Thanks William and setter
46:18 obviously didn’t find it as gentle as others.
STALAGMITE only one unparsed but that’s because I got LAG=prisoner fixed in my head.
SIMON I misread the clue as discipline and assumed was some play on “Simon Says”. Thankfully wordplay was kind with checking letters.
Liked ANCIENT HISTORY
Thanks blogger and setter
Same here re STALAGMITE. I confidently had lag and mite and then found I couldn’t parse it. Took a while to catch on..
45:40 for my first ever unassisted Friday 15×15. OK, it was an easy one today but it still counts.
Thank you for the blog!
Definitely counts – well done!
It seems a mixture of those that found it a doddle, and some like me who struggled with it. I was really slow out of the blocks, and after the initial pass had only six or seven answers. I completed it in two sessions which often seems to help when answers come more readily after a complete break. My solving time was about an hour, but with unknowns like AEROTRAIN, ENTERON and TELEMETER, I was pleased to finish with all correct.
32:58, parsed ENTERON immediately but wasn’t convinced it was a word (and neither is Chambers’ website!), so wasted a good 5 minutes pondering alternatives.
RHYME didn’t click right away and made me feel foolish when it finally did.
NAUGHTY was my favorite.
About 15 minutes. I thought we were in for another Friday stinker when my FOI was 20ac but then the wavelength suddenly kicked in. As others have said, a really good witty puzzle.
Satisfactorily completed but, while I knew of Lake Tahoe and biffed it, I never got the parsing. Thanks for filling that in.
21.37
Struggled to parse all of LAKE TAHOE but knew it from my first watch of The Godfather Part 2 many years ago. I hesitated but bunged it in anyway. Liked the puzzle and particularly MENDICANT.
I am travelling and did this late and too slowly, but I really enjoyed it.
I thought ENTERON (NHO), LAKE TAHOE, AEROTRAIN and MENDICANT were quite hard. Nonetheless, they were fairly clued, and it was fun to work through and get them in the end.
Loved the clues for DIURNALLY, NAUGHTY, DOWN IN THE MOUTH, RHYME.
One of my favourite crosswords ever. I failed on the bottom left few, but it was a fair fight and me and the crossword shook hands afterwards and now I’m taking it for a pint
😄🍺
I rarely finish a Friday puzzle but managed this in just under an hour and rather enjoyed it.