Times Quick Cryptic 2292 by Joker

80 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 2292 by Joker”

1. It took me a while to un-see BRACKET, too; in fact I didn’t see the mistake until I submitted. That’s what I get for not reading the clue. The Nene River appeared here once, and somehow remained in my memory. 4:47 but.

   1. I’d never come across HUM meaning unpleasant smell or TENDERFOOT. But really enjoyed the puzzle. COD and FOI BALDERDASH. LOI COMBAT. I always forget MB for doctor (thinking DR,GP,MO etc) despite being one! Just over 30 mins which is OK for me.

      1. Probably a bit of slang, but saying something is “humming” when it stinks I think is fairly widespread.

2. Indeed, quite fair and enjoyable. More biffing than usual. Kudos all around.

3. Scraped in on target at 10 minutes only to find an error where I had biffed SARI at 19ac intending to go back and check wordplay but then forgot to do so. NHO NEOPRENE which I would never have got if I hadn’t known the name of the river at Northampton, a town not very far from me which I used to visit a lot at one time. Perhaps the name of the synthetic rubber is more widely known than I imagine, but I wondered about its suitability for a QC puzzle, especially when clued by reference to a somewhat obscure river.

   The careless biff SARI brings to an end my run of 10 consecutive QCs solved within my target time which I suspect (but haven’t yet confirmed) has been my most consistent patch to date.

   1. I know neoprene as the material that wetsuits are made from. Living in coastal California, this wasn’t obscure to me.

      1. So we each had knowledge of one element of the clue but not the other! It will be interesting to read later comments as I suspect a fair number of contributors will have known neither.

         1. Having shared a flat in Northampton with a keen climber back in the 1970s, neoprene was a gift from the gods for me!

         2. I knew NEOPRENE (wetsuits etc) but not the Nene so this was POI for me

         3. I would have thought NEOPRENE is well known but my viewpoint is skewed by living near a big windsurfing/kitesurfing area and hanging around with sporty types.

            I almost went to Nene College when I was looking at higher education back in the day so it was familiar to me but it would have been a stretch otherwise. Just like neoprene itself!!

   2. I suspect we’ve had NEOPRENE (not in a QC but), as I can’t imagine how I’d know it otherwise.

      1. Kevin, it has only appeared once as an answer, in the 15×15 27457 in September 2019, but you didn’t comment that day. The only mention in a QC was re QC 1019 in September 2018 in a comment by blogger johnintterred who wrote of another clue:

         Rubber ring in polystyrene (4)
         TYRE – A lovely hidden word to finish with, in {polys}TYRE{ne}. But we all know its neoprene not polystyrene they are made from, don’t we?

         That was the very last clue in the blog, and the very first comment underneath it was by you – not that you mentioned it, but you may have read John’s remark and absorbed it.

         1. Jack, your database and your knowledge of past puzzles and comments is truly awesome! Not least because to disinter John’s blog comment of 4 years ago you have had to stretch back over the divide and into the LiveJournal days. Respect …

            Cedric

            1. Far be it from me to downplay Jack’s ability but didn’t he just use the Search engine up top right? All the data on LiveJournal got ported over, for example https://timesforthetimes.co.uk/times-quick-cryptic-no-1019-by-joker

               Quite how he knows how many times people have blogged or set though is less searchable.

               1. Thanks to Cedric nevertheless, but you are right about the records having been transferred across. He is correct in one respect in that on occasion, and depending what one is looking for, it’s easier to use the LJ database as I did this morning because its search facility trawls both blogs and subsequent comments simultaneously whereas our new site, so superior in almost every respect, requires two separate searches and the Comments search is only available to those of us with privileged access rights.

                  The number of people’s blogs and setters’ puzzles can be worked out via the search facility but it’s a tedious business and easily prone to error whereas I have kept my own spreadsheet of records since the day the QC was launched and can use filters to supply any data as required.

                  1. We are fortunate you take on all this and share it with us-it is very interesting -thanks!

                  2. Google will search both the blogs and the comments of the new site (though you will need to use the site: operator to restrict it to just searching this site) and, from a small sample size of past experience, it’s more accurate than the LJ search facility.

4. 7.49 but…

   …a sloppy SARI. Knew the w/p didn’t immediately support it but “dress” and four letters ending in -i was hard to resist.

   Some nice surfaces.

   Thanks Joker and Mr D

5. 8:18. A good start to the puzzle with BALDERDASH, which I have heard in everyday conversation, and lots of other good ones to follow. I didn’t know (or had forgotten) the river NENE, but one to add to that long list of English rivers; most are much more familiar to me in crossword land than the real world. Interesting to see that the usual A on B means A after B convention was followed for CHUCKLE but not for HUMAN.

   Is a MAXI still a thing in the fashion world?

   Thanks to Joker and Doofenschmirtz

   1. The A-on-B convention applies to across clues, not down clues.

      1. Thanks. Didn’t even bother to look at the grid or take note if the clue was across or down – that’ll teach me.

   2. *Is a MAXI still a thing in the fashion world?*

      Oh yes! Actually, maxi dresses were very much in fashion this summer.
      Despite that, it was Mr SR (whose mind is far too lofty for such fripperies) who got it while I was still messing around with “sari”. Tsk!

6. Northamptonshire is the county next door but I didn’t know the Nene and all those E’s made it hard tell where to put the rearranged rope but NEOPRENE emerged eventually. The Nene goes East from Northamptonshire which pushes it away from the bits of Britain I know best. All green in 12.

7. A puzzle with several tricks, turns and traps; fortunately I somehow avoided them all on my way to a 10 minute finish.

   Count me in the “knew the river but not the material” team, but with the 4 checkers and the river the choice was between Neoprene and Nerpeone, and the latter looked most unlikely! I also saw then un-saw Sari; in my case I also toyed with Mini until Blanket put me right.

   Balderdash is a splendid word in regular use in the Statherby household, along with similar words like Poppycock and the slightly less polite Cobblers. Don’t know the etymology of any of them ….

   Many thanks to Doofers for the blog
   Cedric

   1. Cobblers’ awls = balls (CRS). Lowbrow etymology is my thing.

      1. 😄

   2. Same with us! Tommyrot and piffle also come to mind.

8. A quick start with WOD BALDERDASH and it’s offshoots but the rest of the puzzle proved a bit more taxing. I’d never heard of the river but knew about NEOPRENE from wetsuits – still needed all of the checkers before the answer came to mind. TENDERFOOT was also new to me and it took some time to get the last 4 letters.
   Finished in a pleasing 9.10 with MAXI and STREETWISE, where I’d missed the anagram indicator.
   Thanks to Doofers and to Joker for an entertaining puzzle

9. 15 mins, so positively sprightly for me, slowing a little in the SE corner. LOI COMBAT where I was assuming MO for “doctor” and so struggling to make sense of the rest. NEOPRENE is virtually daywear in these coastalparts so no problem with that, mine will be donned for a paddle later across Plymouth Sound.

10. I found that a little easier than my usual struggles with Joker, helped by getting BALDERDASH and its danglers straight away. Progress was slower towards the bottom – took a long time to see PURR (what a clunky surface – Golden Raspberry from me!), NEOPRENE and LOI AROSE (which I tried very hard to make ABOVE). Almost had to write out the anagrist for STREETWISE but it suddenly clicked.

    A slick, clever puzzle. All done in 07:25 for 1.5K and a Very Good Day.

    Many thanks Joker and Doofers.

    Templar

11. Joker normally fools me in various ways but today’s nice offering was rather straightforward.
    After seeing BALDERDASH immediately (I seem to remember another recent write-in given away by ‘bald’), it was almost a top-to-bottom solve (very rare for me) although I left spaces, filled at the end with TENDERFOOT, ESTEEM, and COMBAT. Luckily, I corrected a stupid biff (MINI for 19a – solely on the basis of the final i) when BLANKET clicked. More haste, less speed…..
    No trouble with NENE (pronounced NENN locally) since it is not too far down the A6 main road from us.
    A very good QC, completed in 11.32. Am I getting back on track or have we been offered some quicker cryptics recently?
    Thanks to both. John M.

    1. In Northampton and West of the A1 the river is pronounced N-enn, but then in Peterborough and East of the A1 the pronunciation changes to N-een. Apparently the changeover happens in the village of Wansford – discovered this thanks to Look East, the local BBC news programme many moons ago.
       Update- sorry simjt & johninterred missed your comments later on.

       1. That’s interesting, Goose. Sounds a bit like the distinction between ‘Kentish men’ and ‘men of Kent’ depending on which side of the Medway they were born.

12. 23 minutes.
    FOI: BALDERDASH then a steady work through to LOI: ESTEEM.
    No problems with NEOPRENE as I have worked with it. And I think I remembered TENDERFOOT from the cowboy comics of youth.
    Favourite: BLANKET.

    1. Lots of bloggers have commented on TENDERFOOT.
       It was familiar to me from my time as a boy scout in my youth. I’ve checked and it also is a term used within the girl guides – in UK as well as the US.
       Originally from the US Indians (and I think new settlers in the west). Applied to those who are inexperienced, not yet ‘hardened’ by experience (as in hiking!).
       I’m sure this dates me terribly…….. John

13. I was on track for a sub 10m solve, but was held up at the end by STREETWISE, which I just could not get until I resorted to writing out the anagram on paper.

    A friend who used to broadcast on Hereward radio 40 years ago (covering Peterborough and Northampton) learned to avoid ever mentioning the Nene, since the Northampton listeners insisted it was pronounced Nen, whilst the Peterborough listeners insisted it was pronounced Neen.

    Thanks to D and J

14. Slow today with a carelessly biffed ‘sari’ for MAXI. NHO TENDERFOOT but got from the wordplay. No problems with NEOPRENE (wetsuit knowledge!) but DNK the Northants river. Initially saw ‘nonsense’ as anagram indicator until I had a few checkers and BALDERDASH appeared. Slow to parse ELECTORATE – looking for a homophone. Enjoyable as ever. Thanks all, especially Doofers and Joker.

15. I had no problems with the River Nene or NEOPRENE as I knew both. But how do you pronounce the name of the river? It appears it depends on where you live. Last year croquet teams from Northampton and Peterborough which it flows through decided to agree on the pronunciation used by the winners of a croquet match. Northampton won 7-2 so the Cambridgeshire folk are required to pronounce it NENN until they win in a future match, rather than use it’s (to my mind) proper, Cambridgeshire pronunciation of NEEN. Read about it here. Oh the rest of the crossword was good too. I liked BALDERDASH (which I bracket with POPPYCOCK and FIDDLEFADDLE) and the neat NEAT. Thank-you Joker and Doofers. 4:01.

    1. I live about 300 yards from the Nene (Fenland) and it seems to be pronounced Neen here.

16. I’m getting slower this week…

    Mostly fine – it was the east and north-east that delayed me.

    Sometimes anagrams just don’t click for me, and so it was with PRETENCE, ABLUTION and STREETWISE. COMBAT was my LOI though, after I did an alpha trawl, got to W – thought of WOMBAT, then realised what the answer was.

    COMBAT, MAXI and BLANKET were my favourites today.

    8:27

17. Very pleased to finish that in 33:38 😊 Joker is a setter who I feel should be easy but usually turns into a struggle. Today turns out to be my fastest solve for him(?) with most usually around 35-45mins.

    First pass of clues produced nothing in top half beyond NEAT and ESTEEM but things began to go in at the bottom with ELECTORATE, OZONE and NEOPRENE (see comment above). Anagrams all had to be done on paper today so they were slow.

    After yesterday’s amphitheatre spelling issues, I was jogged to remember that ASPHALT is also one of those words that doesn’t spell anything like I want to say it. I either want to ASH- it or -FELT it 🤔

    Final two of TENDERFOOT and FLAGPOLE incurred some alphabet trawling. Prior to that over on the east side LIMIT, STREETWISE and MAXI. The latter I spent pretty much my whole solve with MA-I in my head 🙄

18. Started well with BALDERDASH and TENDERFOOT – the latter sprang from the depths of what remains of my memory. STREETWISE appeared after a brief struggle. In fact lots of clues needed a brief struggle. Only decided on CHUCKLE after ELICIT. Finished everything except FLAGPOLE, penny dropping finally, which enabled me to biff NEOPRENE.
    Thanks vm, Doofers.

19. I usually find Joker a tricky setter, so was surprised to zip through this one in 5:48. BALDERDASH set me on my way and TENDERFOOT finished the job. Thanks Joker and Doofers.

20. Sped through this quite nicely and looked like finishing in just over 7 minutes but couldn’t parse my LOI which I thought was probably SARI. Just for once I decided that I would spend a little more time on it, as of late I’ve regretted putting an answer in with fingers crossed. I was rewarded by thinking of MAXI but it did cost me a further 60 seconds. Crossed the line in 8.05 a happy chappy.
    Lucky I checked my submission before sending, autocorrect just changed my chappy to crappy!

    1. Autotext is a real danger! My phone knows far too much about me, because whenever I type the word White, it always suggests that the next word should be Burgundy.

       1. 😆

       2. Brilliant!

21. An off day for me today. At first I entered MINI at 19A although I couldn’t parse it. Then when I finally saw BLANKET I changed MINI to SARI as I couldn’t think of any other dress that fitted the -A-I grid. And I used to wear maxi-dresses in my student days!

    I then forgot that I hadn’t solved 8D but I doubt that I would have managed to anyway as I had NHO TENDERFOOT and was looking for an American version of a ‘comer-in’ as they say in my neck of the woods.

    So a failure at 11 minutes with those two errors. Back to the drawing board.

22. I thought today was going to be my post sub 10 minute dnf day – but no – I managed it in 21 mins.

    On the trickier side I thought, but an enjoyable offering from Joker none the less. 8dn “Tenderfoot” has graced the QC before, so that wasn’t as unknown as it could have been. I was also a near miss on the sloppy Sari for 19ac, but for once I realised it didn’t parse.

    FOI – 3dn “Disc”
    LOI – 20dn “Purr”
    COD – 20dn “Purr”

    Thanks as usual!

23. Last Friday’s man-flu progressed into the inevitable Covid red line, which prompted a bit more sympathy from Mrs I (especially now that she has it as well), and at least gives me an excuse for any slow times. 25mins today, with loi Neoprene, only dimly remembered from its association with wet suits. CoD to 15d, Blanket, clunky but effective, a bit like the clue. Invariant

24. No excuses for poor performance from me. I found this one to be tricky in places, leading me to use aids for a few of the clues.

    I have never heard of tenderfoot, but it seemed to fit and sounded like it could be a word, so in it went.

    I wanted to put Sari for 19a as I had – A-I. However, I couldn’t make it for the clue. Chambers crossword dictionary used to find this one.

    Despite finishing this was a DNF for me as I put ABOVE for 18d.

25. Quite challenging but fair – a steady solve. Got NEOPRENE as river known and TENDERFOOT from depths of subconscious. Took a while to see why PURR was right and why 19a was MAXI and not MINI!

26. Pleasant and steady solve in 15 mins all parsed so I am very happy today. Was joker giving us a gentle run in to the holidays? I am always impressed by what a word can be turned into by an anagram so STREETWISE gets COD from me today.

    Thanks Joker (do the setters ever read this blog) and Doofers (I enjoy your blogs and that you admit to your struggles with some of the clues – gives me encouragement 😀)
    Prof

27. Made it harder for myself by entering typos albution and streeewise, giving BIM_T (limit) and _OMB_E (combat).
    Also struggled with flagpole, tenderfoot and neoprene . I own 2 wetsuits so that helped.
    15m which I am blaming on local cider and red wine yesterday.
    COD ablution.

28. All done in about 20 mins(I don’t time myself but my phone told me that, as I finished, it was 22 mins since I paid for my coffee..). No problem with the river or the material as I’ve just bought some “warm” wellies made with (as the blurb explains) 4mm thick neoprene.

    I started with 1a and, unusually for me did pretty much top left to bottom right solve. I usually have to dot around, filling things in as I get more crossers.

    I’ve also realised that I’m getting more confident at biffing from the def and perhaps understanding a bit of the wordplay even when I can’t see the whole thing.

29. It’s said that you learn from your mistakes, in which case I’m learning a lot! 47 minutes but a DNF as I was another one who biffed Sari despite working out the MA_I from the returning “I am”, but failing to get X as the wrong mark.

30. 14 minutes. STREETWISE took me the longest to get. As a boy in Cub then Boy Scouts we had a manual titled From Tenderfoot to Queen’s Scout. I also think when we started out, before getting any badges ,we were classed as “Tenderfoot”. I remember the word too from Jack London’s stories of the Klondike Gold Rush as a slighting term for inexperienced newcomers.

    1. I agree with your comments on Tenderfoot. We obviously shared similar experiences in our youth. I posted (much further above) some 5 minutes before your post so: snap! John

       1. Read your comment and unbegrudgingly cede you TENDERFOOT laurels! Interesting to learn from you also the origin of the term.

          1. I knew TENDERFOOT as the title of a Warner Brothers TV Western series (1957-1961) when shown here by the BBC – in the USA it was called Sugarfoot a term that ranks even lower in the hierarchy cowboy skills than a tenderfoot. Quite why the BBC chose to rename it remains a mystery to this day apparently, but it was odd because they retained the title song called Sugarfoot sung over the opening and closing credits.

31. 9.25. I’ve got a cough (no double red line so fingers crossed it doesn’t develop) so am not feeling on top form today. Maybe that’s why I didn’t really concentrate on the surfaces but just plodded through. Looking through them now, I see that there’s a lot to enjoy! Despite my background, I got stuck on 6a, as I was sure that subedit was the correct definition even though I couldn’t parse it, so TYPESET was definitely a PDM 😅
    FOI Balderdash LOI Combat COD Typeset (although I have a real issue with people calling typefaces fonts – there’s rather a big difference!)
    Thanks Joker and Doofers

32. An early solve today. Got off to a fast start from 1A Balderdash but slowed up for the final half a dozen. As usual its of lovely clues and well misdirected by 17a Flagpole until a PDM. Not misled into 19a as Sari. Some gratifying flashes of correct inspiration with Tenderfoot/Typeset/Blanket and Streetwise. Living near the Northants border and familiar with the county meant Nene was a given.
    FOI 1a Balderdash
    LOI 14a Combat
    COD 20d Purr for cunning misdirection.
    Pleased to finish a Joker in a single sitting.

    1. My two-day break from the SCC came to a juddering halt with this one. Deep into SCC territory and found many clues to be extremely hard for the QC. NHO 12dn or 8dn, but did manage to work them out. I will console myself with the knowledge that (a) I completed this, and (b) this time last year, I would not have finished it. Still frustrating to think I am getting on top of the QC and then to have a day like this.

       COD – 17ac
       LOI – 8dn

       Thanks for the great blog Doofers.

       1. Always going to be tough ones cropping up Gary. As you say, tTry and stay focused on the bigger picture. A year ago I don’t think I’d even completed one QC without aids.

          Incidentally not sure why you refer to clues by their numbers? I always find my self having to go back up to the blog to find out what you’re referring to.

          1. To be honest, there’s no particular reason why I do that. I suspect I saw someone else do it when I was starting and simply copied them. I’ll change it for the future.

             Well done on your time today. Impressive given the difficulty of the puzzle.

             Gary

             1. Thanks GaryA – always appreciate your support 👍

33. Just watching Back to the Future 3 – the one set in 1885. Biff Tannen (did he do crosswords?) just called someone a TENDERFOOT !! Still impressed by this series of films

34. Golf today but rained off after 9 holes -not forecast here. So late to this.
    To the puzzle: my FOI was BALDERDASH but it was far from the first clue I read.
    After that I went very quickly finishing in 9 minutes all told with ASPHALT.
    Somehow I knew two unknown words: NEOPRENE and TENDERFOOT; they came to me so quickly I must have seen them before. And I immediately knew the river Nene which helped.
    An enjoyable QC from Joker.
    David

35. A classy puzzle and as a “tenderfoot “ to QC s was chuffed I got as far as I did . I couldn’t get the Streetwise anagram but COD was 16dn Elicit . As a Cornish girl neoprene has helped me face those surf waves in Newquay

36. Terrible again. So much harder than yesterday. Only three solved today: FLAGPOLE, OZONE and ELECTORATE.

    1. Do you have a break and come back for a second sitting ? You might be surprised how the mind sometimes carries on working out the answers. Also, do you understand any remaining answers now that you have read Doofer’s blog ? All of us have setters that we like and those that we find less enjoyable – even now there’s one I don’t bother with.

       1. No, one sitting only. I have tried second sittings in the past, but this has never worked for me! I’ll give it a try tomorrow. Thank you for the suggestion.

          Yes, the blogs are always helpful to my understanding. I wonder if my problem is that I often can’t identify the type of clue? Anagrams, hidden words, homophones often ok, but almost always stumped by charades and others.

          1. Definitely part of the skill is knowing/identifying what the setter wants. I found Joker hard to read today whereas Hurley yesterday was a biff-fest. Think your experience matches that, so you’re certainly not alone.

             If I recall you get the Print edition. It’s a shame you don’t have the Online because you could Check or Reveal answers there and I always found that a good way to then make more progress. I suppose you could come on the blog and try to look at one or two of the early clues in the same way. Certainly might help to see what is in the top line as that usually has many clues hanging down off it.

             Still pulling for you friend 👍

             PS It can’t all be bad. You got FLAGPOLE and that was my LOI

37. Found this tough today and did not manage to finish. Everything seemed to take a long time despite getting 1ac almost immediately. No problems with either NEOPRENE or the river Nene, both known to me, but took an age to see COMBAT and CHUCKLE for some reason. Wanted to put SARI at 19ac but couldn’t parse it and gave up with that one clue outstanding after 30 minutes. Never managed to parse PURR either.

    FOI & COD – 1ac BALDERDASH
    LOI – DNF

38. Phew that was a tough one but fair and pleased to eventually finish. Clock says 1h 49m but I did leave it running at times. Three finishes so far this week.
    LOI was 14a COMBAT which was definitely a struggle.
    Biffed but didn’t parse NEOPRENE and assumed wrongly it and to do with the NE twice.
    Thanks Joker.

    1. Well done Ian on your three finishes. Fingers crossed for the full set of five! 🤞

       1. Thank you. Not so long ago my target was just to finish a QC.
          Always good to have new targets.

    2. Well done #5

       Just looking back through my records which start in February (having started QCing last Dec). I solved 8 of 20 with seven of them taking over 58mins and three over 1hr40! My times omit any stoppages where possible or there’d be some 6-10hrs elapsed.

       I got the book of QCs for Christmas* last year and another for my birthday, so I reckon it’s taken me almot 500 (plus a few from other papers) to get to the point where I’m averaging just under 30-mins to complete them.

       Keep ’em coming,
       #50 😀

       * Such things are great for those of us who don’t really want anything for Christmas/birthdays but have others who desperately want to get us something.

39. After two easy days my brain has gone into meltdown
    Found this one tough but got there in the end

40. Very slow – over 30 minutes but two sessions and inaccurate time.
    Balderdash straight in, and all going well, but most issues with Typeset and Tenderfoot (not familiar with) and Blanket, Maxi and Streetwise all slow.
    So a tricky one in my book.
    Neoprene no problem but not heard of the Nene!
    A good challenge!
    Thanks all
    John

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