I’ve been off the ball recently, with another sluggish solve today. Your comments will tell if we’re in a tough patch, or if it’s just me.
I had to solve this grid in four quarters – none of the checkers that spilled over helped, so I had to start again each time. I must have spent at least 2 minutes staring at 17ac, but also had difficulty with 10dn and 16dn. I notice very concise definitions throughout, a propos of nothing.
Definitions underlined.
Across |
1 |
Unmarried albeit excited in church (8) |
|
CELIBATE – anagram of (excited) ALBEIT contained by (in) CE (Church of England, church). I only knew this word to mean ‘sexless’, but my dictionary has ‘unmarried’ as the first entry. |
5 |
Frond in meadow flower’s opening (4) |
|
LEAF – LEA (meadow) and the first letter of (…’s opening) Flower. |
8 |
Calcium put into cosmetic cream for spot (8) |
|
LOCATION – CA (Ca, calcium) contained by (put into) LOTION (cosmetic cream). |
9 |
French wine to embrace European mood (4) |
|
VEIN – VIN (French wine) containing (to embrace) E (European). |
11 |
Proletariat accepting start of Latin’s polite comment (10) |
|
PLEASANTRY – PEASANTRY (proletariat) containing (accepting) the first letter of (start of) Latin. |
14 |
Show English model receiving kiss (6) |
|
EXPOSE – E (English), then POSE (model) next to (recieving) X (kiss). |
15 |
An anthropoid ape shunning ill goat (6) |
|
ANGORA – AN, then GORillA (anthropoid ape) deleting (shunning) ‘ill’. |
17 |
Punish one following teacher round at home (10) |
|
DISCIPLINE – DISCIPLE (one following teacher) containing (round) IN (at home). |
20 |
Knock back beer, some amount, in style (4) |
|
ELAN – reversal of (knock back) ALE, then N (some amount). |
21 |
Thoughtless ace rival shot (8) |
|
CAVALIER – anagram of (shot) ACE RIVAL. |
22 |
Going into Tolstoy, staged plays (4) |
|
TOYS – hidden in (going into) tolsTOY Staged. |
23 |
Robust law changed in shock (8) |
|
STALWART – anagram of (changed) LAW contained by (in) START (shock). |
Down |
1 |
Leg muscle a little lower? (4) |
|
CALF – double definition. ‘Lo’ = ‘moo’. My CoD. |
2 |
Spike‘s line brilliant (4) |
|
LACE – L (line) and ACE (brilliant). As in spike a drink. |
3 |
Tablets working on joint destroyer? (10) |
|
BATTLESHIP – anagram of (working) TABLETS then HIP (joint). |
4 |
God cross having to secure a chest (6) |
|
THORAX – THOR (god) and X (cross), containing (to secure) A. |
6 |
Choice initially denied in ballot (8) |
|
ELECTION – sELECTION (choice) with the first letter deleted (initially denied). |
7 |
Imagine mum with new lover (5,3) |
|
FANCY MAN – FANCY (imagine), MA (mum), with N (new). |
10 |
Shot said to make cathedral cleric weep (10) |
|
CANNONBALL – sounds like (said to make) “canon” (cathedral cleric), then BALL (weep). |
12 |
Feckless person exhausted (8) |
|
DEADBEAT – double definition. |
13 |
Cooking pasta with soy is treachery (8) |
|
APOSTASY – anagram of (cooking) PASTA and SOY. |
16 |
Physical training to keep climber mostly flexible? (6) |
|
PLIANT – PT (physical training) containing (to keep) all-but-the-last-letter of (mostly) LIANa (climbing plant, climber). |
18 |
Artist banking one grand for capital (4) |
|
RIGA – RA (Royal Academician, artist) containing (banking) I (one) and G (grand). |
19 |
Nasty kid runs into club (4) |
|
BRAT – R (runs) contained by (into) BAT (club). |
FOI 4dn THORAX
LOI 10dn CANNONBALL
COD 11ac PLEASANTRY
WOD 7dn FANCY MAN — Ena Sharples speak!
Jack, I am pretty sure we had 13dn DEADBEAT very recently?
(DEADBEAT took me a minute because I was trying to see two clue parts for the two words, but there’s only one.)
Pb
… for the 12D Deadbeat / 17A Discipline combination. With that though, a 12 minute finish.
Much enjoyed 15A Angora. A textbook example of lift-and-separate — spent some time thinking about ill goats and with the -O-A ending, wondering if I was expected to use an anagram of goat somehow.
Many thanks to William for the blog
Cedric
FOI: LEAF
LOI: PLEASANTRY
COD: CANNONBALL or FANCY MAN
Thanks William and Wurm.
Good puzzle which took me over target but I did manage to avoid the SCC. Thanks to Wurm and William. John M.
Edited at 2022-01-12 06:41 pm (UTC)
Other than that I managed to answer all clues. But…for some reason I put “BRUT” instead of “BRAT” giving me an incorrect answer, and therefore a DNF.
32 minutes.
So congratulations on your effort today.
I would say that you are going to get pretty good at this game…
FOI CELIBATE, LOI DEADBEAT, COD FANCY MAN, time 16:14 for 2.3K which would normally be a Bad Day but I enjoyed the puzzle so much I’m giving this a Fun Day rating!
Many thanks Wurm and William.
Templar
FOI CELIBATE
LOI DEADBEAT
COD STALWART
TIME 4:48
On a more positive note, I had a go at the Monday 15×15 which was recommended in the QC blog that day. I romped home, with all correct, in an unheard of 14:34. Thanks to all for the tip-off.
Edited at 2022-01-12 10:49 am (UTC)
Edited at 2022-01-12 10:50 am (UTC)
Worried about BATTLESHIP as obviously, as all the Navy chaps will affirm, it is not a Destroyer (but it destroys, I suppose)
Liked, among other good clues, CAVALIER, LOCATION, ANGORA, PLEASANTRY, VEIN, ELAN.
Thanks vm, William.
“Fancy Man”, that seems straight from a 70s sitcom like “On the Buses” or “The Liver Birds”
COD CANNONBALL and CALF. Both good.
I joined the crowd who PB-ed the 15×15 on Monday. Got an unheard of time of 21:31
Edited at 2022-01-12 11:54 am (UTC)
FOI Celibate
COD Location
DNF
Thanks Wurm and William
Edited at 2022-01-12 12:13 pm (UTC)
Edited at 2022-01-12 01:27 pm (UTC)
Andyf
Finished in 20.39 with LOI PLEASANTRY.
Thanks to william and well played Wurm
A few of the blanks I don’t really have an excuse for if I’m being honest. 10dn “Cannonball” should have been a write in, as should 12dn “Deadbeat” and 17ac “Discipline”. I must remember 20ac “Elan” (I’m sure it’s been on here loads of times) and 13dn “Apostasy”.
Ah well – there’s always tomorrow.
FOI – 1ac “Celibate”
LOI – dnf
COD – 7dn “Fancy Man”
Thanks as usual!
FOI – 1ac CELIBATE
LOI – 12dn DEADBEAT
COD – a tie between 11ac PLEASANTRY and 10dn CANNONBALL, both of which made me smile.
Thanks to Wurm for a fine xwd.
Jim R
Today, I really struggled with the lower half of the grid.DEADBEAT (my LOI), DISCIPLINE, PLIANT (NHO liana), BRAT and CAVALIER all put up massive resistance, and I had to endure long periods making no progress at all. Once I’d finished it was Mrs Random who kindly pointed out that I had erred on PLEASANTRY. She’s so helpful!
Actually, Mrs R also found it hard going today, but she finished all correct in 43 minutes. Her time would have been several minutes quicker had she had the confidence to go with LACE without parsing it. The definition eluded her for too long.
Many thanks to Wurm and William
I like following this site. It is so helpful and interesting. Thank you all.
Fred
Good to see you — hope you’ll visit more often
A tough puzzle.
David
SWMBO has a mer about calf muscle as that is not terminologically correct
Edited at 2022-01-12 10:51 pm (UTC)
DEADBEAT took me forever – a cup of tea, then a distraction talking to the builders, then an “ah sod it I’ll use crosswordsolver to get it” and it dropped in out of nowhere while the site was loading.
Enjoyed it though. Thanks William and Wurm.