Another real Tuesday struggle – for me, at least. So much of the top half did not yield that I thought I wasn’t going to finish. 14 minutes later and I was proved correct – I didn’t finish (by one letter)! 16ac did for me. Where have all my 7-8 minute solves gone?
Definitions are underlined in bold italics.
| Across | |
| 1 | Settle always has dog across it (3,2) |
| PAY UP – always (AY – poetic) with dog (PUP) around. | |
| 7 | Set fire to one part of house, which may be brought to court (9) |
| LITIGABLE – set fire to (LIT), one (I), part of house (GABLE). | |
| 9 | Comic book contributing to human gaiety (5) |
| MANGA – inside hu(MAN GA)iety. NHO this type of Japanese comic book which often contains material that is intended for adults – but it was clear from the clue. | |
| 10 | Unfortunately shut, a sure store of knowledge (9) |
| THESAURUS – anagram (unfortunately) of SHUT A SURE. | |
| 11 | Perish, failing to finish slimming programme (3) |
| DIE – slimming program failing to finish (DIE)t. | |
| 12 | Wastes no time and acts to start machine? (7,2) |
| PRESSES ON – double definition- the second one humorous. | |
| 14 | Person so organised departs — for such a walk? (9) |
| SPONSORED – anagram (organised) of PERSON SO, departs (D). | |
| 16 | Machine gun that sounds as if it is leaking? (3) |
| UZI – homophone (sounds as if it is) leaking – oozy. Well, I think I have heard of this, but only now that I’ve looked it up, but I didn’t get the American ‘Zee’ on an alphabet trawl. It’s a compact sub-machine gun made in Israel. | |
| 18 | No bad notice returned to me for disc (9) |
| MEDALLION – no (NO) bad (ILL) notice (AD) all returned with me (ME) at the front. | |
| 20 | Level time in race perhaps (5) |
| EVENT – level (EVEN), time (T). | |
| 21 | Flower lies tangled with weeds (9) |
| EDELWEISS – anagram (tangled) of LIES WEEDS. Clocked the anagram but spent some while arranging the spelling. | |
| 22 | Artist may work at this line, simplicity coming first (5) |
| EASEL – line (L) with simplicity (EASE) coming first. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Shook vigorously and questioned persistently (6) |
| PUMPED – double definition. The first as in a hand shake. | |
| 2 | Bet sketch shows old American dandy (6,6) |
| YANKEE DOODLE – bet (YANKEE – I don’t bet but this rang a faint bell), sketch (DOODLE). As in Yankee Doodle Dandy I suppose. | |
| 3 | New play put on stage, initially for one with big bill (8) |
| PLATYPUS – anagram (new) of PLAY PUT on top of (S)tage. | |
| 4 | Two articles on extremely noble goddess (6) |
| ATHENE – two article (A, THE) on top of (N)obl(E). | |
| 5 | Turkish officer secures right site for mausoleum (4) |
| AGRA – Turkish officer (AGA) holding right (R). Aga is an Ottoman Empire military commander. Site of the Taj Mahal. | |
| 6 | Argue about a child (6) |
| REASON – about (RE), a (A), child (SON). | |
| 8 | Ruins meals for Scottish celebrations (5,7) |
| BURNS SUPPERS – ruins meals (BURNS SUPPERS). | |
| 13 | African takes Europeans through short canal (8) |
| SUDANESE – Europeans (DANES) inside a short canal (SUE)z. | |
| 14 | Adder, and when to see it? (6) |
| SUMMER – to add up/sum up and someone who does it. The word play suggests that adders (the snakes) are more active in the summer. | |
| 15 | No good in growing grape (6) |
| RAISIN – no good (G) in growing (RAISIN)g. | |
| 17 | At home quiet, we hear: drop in (6) |
| INSTIL – at home (IN), homophone (we hear) of ‘still’. | |
| 19 | Rule on new garden feature (4) |
| LAWN – rule (LAW) on top of new (N). | |
Delighted that so many found it so hard! I thought I had four clues, but only had three, as I put ATHENA. Probably thinking about their posters! I thought of BURNS, but couldn’t think of the second part, so didn’t put it in. The three I got were DIE, LAWN and EVENT. I think this is a classic example of a QC that really isn’t a QC, and is more than likely to quickly deter newbies rather than encourage them to continue. This is a shame.
Nice to have another Ian amongst us!
It was a hard one today Ian, but – if I can make a suggestion – think about the clues that were anagrams. These were often the ones I concentrated on when I began. Look at the words used in 14ac and 21ac (organised and tangled). These are good indicators that you are looking at something that needs to be unscrambled.
Also, you can find online a list of common abbreviations in crosswords. Every QC has a smattering of these and you can learn the main ones reasonably quickly.
I hope this helps.
Finished just over our target. Slow to start, had litigated for 7a, until we solved 8d. No problem with uzi, just the spelling. Vaguely knew manga. Been to a number of Burns suppers, good fun.
After days of struggling with the QC, I finished this one in 13.27. I have heard of MANGA but thought it was a music style! Didn’t manage to parse SUDANESE but nothing else seemed to fit. Otherwise I found it quite straightforward .
Sadly with those who thought this way to hard / discouraging for a QC. Lots of tricky clues and obscure knowledge, though I did know UZI.
I found this to be a bit tricky, but I got there in the end. I’m from a part of the UK where supper is a cup of Ovaltine and a sliver of cheese, so Burns Dinner was the obvious answer. It took some time to realise my error and complete the grid.
Having taken about 45 mins, I was glad to see that others found this hard. I also had litigates and Burns dinners, which held me up badly. Got there in the end and relatively happy given the level of difficulty.
I struggle badly with the use of the word ‘about’ as the wordplay. I can never work out if it means an abbreviation of the word about, if it means a word going backwards or if it means a word that goes around another. For 6dn, I wasted time looking for a a five letter synonym of argue to go around a to make a six letter word for a child.
Also, I got 1ac but don’t understand ‘ay’ for always. Apologies if I’m being a bit thick, but can someone explain this?
Chambers: 1. Ever 2.always 3. For ever
It’s Scots, N English or archaic.
About: that’s exactly why it’s a cryptic crossword! Misdirection rules!
Sorry to have been AWOL today but been busy. In an additional misdirection – it’s also poetic – sometimes with an ay’E’.
Thanks for the clarification – much appreciated.
Well over an hour but got it all. Very pleased to parse everything although some biffing.
“Uzi 9mm” The Terminator (oozy!)
Aga as in the Aga Khan.
Very good
Couldn’t have done this a year or two ago but thanks to trying most days – and this site- have come a long way.
Many thanks for all your help
Nick