Times Quick Cryptic 2102 by Teazel

44 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 2102 by Teazel”

1. At 6:45 I had this on the harder side Jeremy, but not quite the beast that you’ve described, so maybe you were off your game. I will admit though that as I entered LOOKOUT as a write-in I felt a pang of sympathy for our American solvers. Same for LEG SPIN I guess.

   Couldn’t quite make sense of what had to be RAVIOLI, only to now see that it was hidden in plain view.

   Thanks Teazel and Jeremy.

2. Got everything right but couldn’t parse tractor or lookout so appreciate insight from blog. I wonder if the “still” in 4 Down is perhaps just a reference to the fact that records and needles might be somewhat outdated? I notice 3 Down clues home for answer house and 10 Down has house in clue to get answer home.
3. I found this hard and spent ages on LOOKOUT and NEEDLE since I wasn’t convinced “plumb” meant out, and I missed then putting a needle on the record (and I don’t see what “still” is doing either). So I went away and did the 15×15, came back and put these in as the most likely and was pleased to be all green.
4. …except pupa, which I read should have got. I knew Chelsea tractor and leg spin – the three-legged clue has been used before. I biffed ravioli and lookout without a second thought.

   If only pupa had been clued as the first dog or something like that, I would have seen it immediately.

5. DNF; never got PUPA. I did an alphabet-trawl, but probably omitted P. Didn’t understand ‘plumb’, but thought of LOOKOUT as in ‘that’s your lookout’. ‘Chelsea tractor’ vaguely familiar.
6. All green in 12. Slowed at the end by LOOKOUT and PUPA. The ‘out’ bit went in immediately but the look bit took longer. Wanted to write ‘tuna’ where PUPA ended up, when they’re in tins they are creatures in hard coverings and it fitted but alphabet trawled in the end — I’d thought ‘seal cubs’ not ‘pups’ for some weird reason on first read through. I thought this was a good one!
7. Over 30 minutes for this.
   FOI: LOATHING then a bit of a struggle hopping around the grid for the easier pickings.
   LOI: NEEDLE, I had written this by the side early on but wasn’t convinced so left it until LOOKOUT fell the cricket wordplay stumping me there.
   Got RAVIOLI from the checking letters spotting the hidden post solve.
   COD: TROUT.

   Edited at 2022-03-30 07:28 am (UTC)

8. 11 minutes. I lost time at the end on PUPA and trying to understand ‘plumb to umpire’ as a definition of OUT. I NHO it re cricket, nor have most of the usual sources although there’s something in Chambers that appears to confirm it.
9. Gave up on PUPA after 10 or so

   Struggled with some of it but LOOKOUT and LEGSPIN were okay

   Thanks Jeremy and Teazel

10. Seems like a mixed bag today. I had no problem with PUPA but LOOKOUT (despite knowing the cricket term) took time as did RAVIOLI, BROW and LOI DO IN. Enjoyed HOUSEBOUND in particular and crossed the line slightly over target in 10.22.
    Thanks to Jeremy
11. DNF with PUPA left undone. Much the same issues as Jeremy. 4d and 12a were my last two. Not entirely convinced by LOOKOUT, even as a regular at New Road, where Worcestershire play.
12. I found this very difficult and struggled to get started, then struggled in the middle and then struggled to finish. EGGS was FOI, NEEDLE was LOI. PUPA took a while as did LOOKOUT and LEG SPIN. 14:51. Thanks Teazel and Jeremy.
13. DNF after 25 mins, without PUPA, LOOKOUT, REGENT (doh!) and NEEDLE.

    Very similar feelings.

14. … almost … 23:50 DNF on PUPA. Brain couldn’t get away from tuna (the seal connection) or nuta (hard casing and was sure it was some kind of small science particle!).

    Had 5 left at 18-mins – NEEDLE, BROW, NARROW, REGENT, PUPA and the latter two with 30secs to get out of the SCC.

    You were buggered if you don’t know cricket with LEGSPIN and LOOK-OUT … which judging from the England team’s recent performances, no-one does.

    CHELSEA-TRACTOR – has that termed been used since the 90s?

    FOI – GESTURES
    COD – AISLE
    LbOI – REGENT (didn’t see the hidden word but gentle made me think of it so on some level I did; just like VIOLInist)

    Heartening for someone of my ability to see Jeremy only DNFing a couple of mins ahead of me. And I tend to do well on Teazel grids. Thank-you to both!

    Edited at 2022-03-30 09:12 am (UTC)

15. Very pleased this morning as I more than halved my average time and smashed my pb with a time of 7:30. I normally take 15 to 20 mins and this is only my second sub 10 minute finish. I can see why non-cricket lovers might struggle and non UK solvers might not have heard of Chelsea Tractors, just lucky for me today.
    Thanks Teazel and Jeremy
    1. Nice one – halved your average time.

       Certainly seemed to me like clues/answers jumped off the page from the definitions. Maybe too obvious for some of the more experienced solvers but right up my street for wordplay.

16. DNF. Couldn’t get past tuna, and didn’t put it in as surely it wasn’t right, as even with the hard shell (nut) backwards it had nothing to do with a seal. FOI eggs, ten on first pass, then stuck. Husband saw ravioli at 14d but did not know why. At that point I saw the hidden, which was the key to finishing the grid, except for pupa. Seal – a. Cripes. Plumb is an obvious LBW, which will look out to the umpire from where they stand, but will have to be checked upstairs. These days. Hope that’s clear now. Thanks, Jeremy, and Teazel.
17. DNF
    Failed on 9 Across “PUPA”.
    Quite a nasty one this. Not much fun.
18. I didn’t think this was too bad, although I sympathise with anyone who isn’t into cricket.

    Personally, I felt 12ac was a little clunky. I would always say “looks out”, but I guess the use of “appear” (without the “s”) justifies it.

    My interpretation of 4dn was that you “still” put a needle on a record, although it would still make sense without it.

    FOI — 1ac “Loathing”
    LOI — 21ac “Brow”
    COD — 23ac “Do In”

    Thanks as usual!

19. …. were, in my opinion, down to atypically loose clueing from Teazel. In particular, is an arrow a weapon ? It’s technically a piece of ordnance, as in the case of a bullet.

    It took me nearly half a minute at the end to justify my LOI, where ‘unfriendly feeling’ seemed a rather wishy-washy definition to me.

    FOI LOATHING
    LOI NEEDLE
    COD LEG SPIN
    TIME 4:38

    1. I’ve seen many a film where an arrow has been used as a kind of short, stabbing spear/knife. Whether that’s realistic or not I have no idea, but I guess the pointy end means it’s fairly adaptable.

       Take your point on a number of loose clues though.

20. After a slow start (even for me), with only 5 clues solved after 15 minutes, I picked up speed through the middle section before slowing down again and grinding to a complete halt with one to go. Unfortunately, Mrs Random suffered the same experience and came to grief on the same clue. Why have so many of us failed on PUPA?

    EGGS, GLUCOSE, SMART and TRACTOR (all down the RHS) were the only clues I solved on my first pass through the grid, but I somehow managed to build out from those to get a foothold on the LHS. I enjoyed seeing RAVIOLI appeared before my eyes and smiled when HOUSEBOUND came to mind, but I didn’t (and still don’t) like LEG SPIN – very tenuous wordplay, IMHO.

    And then it came to the struggle with PUPA. I seriously considered PUMA, TUFA (hard covering) and LUGA (tiny creature A and beLUGA whale), and I even toyed with PUPA, but rejected it on both definition and wordplay grounds. Mrs Random put GUMA (seal A), but wasn’t convinced. So a double-DNF ensued in the Random household.

    Many thanks to Teazel and Jeremy.

    1. These days, I find myself more fascinated by the journey than the destination. So the question of why PUPA was a toughie is one that appeals.

       My gut feel is it’s partly because the checkers tend you towards biffing words like tuna, cuba, puma. But PUPA isn’t obvious because of the double-P and I can’t think of another UPA word other than private healthcare providers.

       Also I’d pronounce it PEW-PA which gets you away from the PUP-A clueing.

       And of course, it’s not a common place word. I doubt I’ve used it since studying caterpillars and butterflies in middle school forty-odd years ago.

21. though I seem to be an outlier.

    I like cricket, and am well aware of PUPAE.

    I couldn’t be any closer to my target time.

    LOI was RABID, not for any particular reason, I just came to it last. V good hiddens today I thought.

    6:00

22. I enjoyed this one despite ending up with the aforementioned TUNA to which I exclaimed BUGA on reading the blog.
    My slow chewy approach looks for low hanging fruit in hiddens and anagrams so seemed to suit the setter’s style and with a Chelsea tractor in the garage I motored into the club on 23 minute mark. Howzat folks. Thanks Teazel and Jeremy.
    1. I’m noting that when I first started the hidden words were the ones I searched for. (Actually the only ones I got!)

       More recently I find myself getting towards the end and thinking “we really ought to have had a hidden word by now”. And usually missing them completely – as per both RAVIOLI and REGENT today.

23. Managed to struggle through it all with the exception of PUPA (like several others above). Just could not see it.
24. Yay! One inside target, but not by much. I was surprised to come here and see such luminaries as have struggled with this one. DO IN was last one in, and I think EGGS was my favourite. Thanks both.
25. Like (almost) everyone else I failed on PUPA, although I had considered it as amongst the most likely possibilities. 20 minutes for everything bar that. I found this tricky and had to solve from the bottom up as I couldn’t get anything in the top half on first read through. I entered several answers while remaining unconvinced about my parsing, which was subsequently confirmed by Jeremy. Got RAVIOLI from the crossers without ever seeing the hidden. Not one of my favourite crosswords although there were some gems.

    FOI – 18ac REVENUE
    LOI – DNF
    COD – liked 12ac LOOKOUT and 3dn HOUSEBOUND

    Thanks to Teazel and Jeremy.

26. A dnf because of pupa. Did the rest in 15. Much of the main puzzle was easier than this! I think it has to be ‘egg on’ or ‘eggs on’ if you want it to mean to urge but I knew it had to be that. Bits to enjoy but badly pitched in my opinion.
27. My first pass yielded only two answers Eggs and Leg Spin. As a qualified cricket umpire I was determined to solve 12 ac and it is one of the questions you ask yourself when the bowlers appeal (sometimes far too enthusiastically). Does it ‘look out’ before considering all the other technical laws that need to be satisfied.

    Steady but slow trawl through the rest with Nebula my LOI

    20.22 a one minute five second improvement on Monday’s puzzle but the first time I’ve completed two puzzles in a week

28. Tough one today. Could someone explain again 1d Leg Spin… ‘…at least three limbs…’I. still don’t get it, although bif’d safely. I’m not too interested in cricket but have picked up a fair smattering of the jargon. Had to trust my judgement on 12a until I resolved 7d with the familiar ‘trams’ where I had first thought of ‘savvy’. FOI 5a eggs. LOI 9a Pupa – the most likely of the options and with fingers crossed. COD 24a man-eater. Not very enjoyable in my view. Some great clues but some too vague for happy parsing. Cheers.
    1. Leg spin is a type of bowling delivery. Shane Warne, for example, was a leg spin bowler.

       Legs suggests there are two legs.

       Another word for legs is pins therefore the presence of LEGS + PIN = 2 + 1 = 3

       (May be useful for future crosswords to know the right and left sides of the cricket field are called LEGside and OFFside – which depending on whether the batter is right or left handed and therefore which way they stand)

       1. LEGside is interchangeable with ONside as well…
       2. LEGS = at least two!
       3. Legs in bingo = 11 !
29. Slowed down in sw corner by putting in prow for 21a, but pleased to finish within our modest target. Pupa did not cause any problem due to the knowledge of one of us.
30. 😥

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