Solving time: 10 minutes with nearly 2 minutes spent at the end on 13ac.
Other than that I found it reasonably straightforward but I’m sure as usual there will be a full range of experiences to report.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. I usually omit all reference to positional indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
 Across |
|
| 1 | Unusual arms mag? Tip leads to realistic approach (10) |
| PRAGMATISM | |
| Anagram [unusual] of ARMS MAG TIP. This word seems to have featured in a lot of the political news over the past week. |
|
| 7 | Some kleptocracy — nicking? One believes the worst (5) |
| CYNIC | |
| Hidden in [some] {kleptocra}CY NIC{king}. As a confirmed one of these I’d suggest it’s more a case of someone who doesn’t believe the best. | |
| 8 | Hot drink by rented holiday house (6) |
| CHALET | |
| CHA (hot drink – tea), LET (rented) | |
| 10 | Aid to be doubled at the end — that’s the intention (3) |
| AIM | |
| AID becomes AIM when its last letter is interpreted as a Roman numeral (D = 500) and then doubled (M = 1000) | |
| 12 | Strong criticism of minor routes I’d echo (9) |
| BROADSIDE | |
| B ROADS (minor routes as opposed to A roads), I’D, E (echo – NATO alphabet) | |
| 13 | Asian republic, India, king’s backing (6) |
| ISRAEL | |
| I (India – NATO again), then LEAR’S (king’s) reversed [backing]. My LOI by some way. I was caught out yet again by a country in the Middle East being referred to as ‘Asian’. I wonder how this one qualifies to enter the Eurovison Song Contest? | |
| 14 | Kind bid (6) |
| TENDER | |
| Two meanings | |
| 17 | Teach girl badly lacking energy (9) |
| LETHARGIC | |
| Anagram [badly] of TEACH GIRL | |
| 19 | Agent appears, recalled on regular basis (3) |
| REP | |
| {a}P{p}E{a}R{s} reversed [recalled] [on regular basis] | |
| 20 | Dislike intensely core of plot — articles to follow (6) |
| LOATHE | |
| {p}LO{T} [core], then A + THE (indefinite and definite articles) | |
| 21 | Roam around front of ship, large (5) |
| PROWL | |
| PROW (front of ship), L (large) | |
| 23 | Look for gold maybe, American — detailed information found here (10) |
| PROSPECTUS | |
| PROSPECT (look for gold maybe), US (American) | |
| Down |
|
| 1 | Cold place I misrepresented? Not a serious fault (10) |
| PECCADILLO | |
| Anagram [misrepresented] of COLD PLACE I. This is a diminutive of the Spanish word pecado meaning ‘sin’. |
|
| 2 | Law negative, just a bit — bristle! (3) |
| AWN | |
| Hidden in [just a bit] {l}AW N{egative}. This is present on some grasses and cereals. | |
| 3 | Car beam poorly adjusted — that could be grim! (7) |
| MACABRE | |
| Anagram [poorly adjusted] of CAR BEAM | |
| 4 | Extremely trendy firm working for magnate (6) |
| TYCOON | |
| T{rend}Y [extremely], CO (firm), ON (working) | |
| 5 | Pay for raised platform (5) |
| STAND | |
| Two meanings | |
| 6 | Note childcare person’s souvenir (8) |
| REMINDER | |
| RE (musical note), MINDER (childcare person) | |
| 9 | City rail system cut back, I suspected initially (10) |
| METROPOLIS | |
| METRO (city rail system) then LOP (cut) reversed [back], I, S{uspected} [initially] | |
| 11 | Mother with artist, though briefly, before November race (8) |
| MARATHON | |
| MA (mother), RA (artist), THO (though briefly), N (November – NATO again!) | |
| 15 | One’s got out, showing energy, unexpected pace, in southeast (7) |
| ESCAPEE | |
| E (energy), then anagram [unexpected] of PACE contained by [in] SE (southeast) | |
| 16 | As an example referring to second small exit path (6) |
| EGRESS | |
| EG (as an example), RE (referring to), S (second), S (small) | |
| 18 | Matter to take into account, heading off to see film star? (5) |
| ACTOR | |
| {f}ACTOR (matter to take into account) [heading off] | |
| 22 | At the outset open paper frequently (3) |
| OFT | |
| O{pen} [at the outset], FT (paper – Financial Times) | |
Fast in parts, slow in parts, but completed OK.
Couldn’t parse AIM, ACTOR, NHO AWN.
I was able to do the anagrams without writing them down, so that’s an improvement.
Yes, I was trying to think of a CROPOLIS city at first, instead of the obvious.
Good clue. Also liked CHALET, TYCOON, PROWL, BROADSIDE.
Yes, I suppose the Middle East is part of Asia geographically but ISRAEL held me up too.
Thanks vm, Jack.
Ditto!
After an early morning sunny, pre-work trip to the driving range, managed a lunch break moment to catch up on the QCC and enough time to nip into the SCC for a quick coffee!
I found this quite tricky in places, although I did finish all correct in 31 minutes (about average for me, these days). Mrs Random, on the other hand, found it relatively easy and finished in the low 20’s.
I’d NHO AWN, but saw it hiding in the clue and, whilst I’d heard of PECCADILLO, I had no idea what it meant. TENDER and REMINDER required 8 minutes or so of head scratching and were my last two in.
My CoD has to go to AIM. I was pleased to parse the clue as I went along, but I needed the M from MARATHON before it dawned on me.
Many thanks to Hurley and Jack.
Very pleased with our PB of 15 minutes.
Awn not known but alphabet trawl didn’t produce many other options
A very quick start soon slowed down, but I’m more than happy with 18:28 overall. NHO AWN but the wordplay and checking letters made it a decent bet. COD BROADSIDE.
Thank you to jackkt and Hurley!
Just under 9 mins, only hold ups were reminder and LOI tender.
COD aim, have seen this device before but only in the 15×15.
Solved in 8:44, but with an annoying fat fingered typo at BROADSODE/REMONDER for 2 errors. Drat. PARGMATISM was FOI. Last 2 in, TENDER/REMONDER, Grrhh! Thanks Hurley and Jack.
Didn’t you get a couple of pinks for PARGMATISM too?
Lol. Fortunately that typo was just in the comment.
16 minutes elapsed time, but that includes a significant ‘bad news’ interruption from neighbours, so comfortably inside target. I liked AIM and STAND and LOI was METROPOLIS. No problem with the geography test for ISRAEL. Many thanks Jackkt and Hurley
DNF. Just could not see ISRAEL, and also had no idea about AWN.
The AIM/AID thing passed me by completely, not sure if I like it or not.
Still getting used to the updated Times iPad app – very cross that I have to log in again every time it idles – any tips anyone? Unfortunately the temptation to use the new (to me) ‘reveal word’ function proved too strong for LOI ISRAEL, so a DNF. I must resist and persevere as I did before the wretched update.
Anyway much to like including COD BROADSIDE. Thanks for explaining the parsing of AIM – one to remember. Gentle apart from the NHO AWN and ISRAEL. Thanks Hurley and Jack.
19/24.
👍👍👍
79%-still trending in the right direction!
6.20 With 1d and 1a providing lots of initials the answers flew in. NHO AWN. Didn’t parse AIM. ACTOR slowed me a little at the end. Thanks to jackkt and Hurley.
I don’t find this one too difficult, though I needed the cat’s help with 1d as I have never heard of PECCADILLO before. Luckily he had.
I had never thought of Israel being in Asia. In fact I even Googled it, as it just didn’t ring true with me. But it’s right. Guess I didn’t consider the Middle East to be Asian. Asia always brings to my mind places like China, Thailand, Cambodia, etc.
13:55
FOI: 1ac PRAGMATISM quickly followed by 7ac and 8ac leading me to think I could be on to a very quick time. Moments later, reality came crashing home.
Fortunately, I found the anagrams and hidden clues relatively easy which helped me (eventually) get the rest. I did hamper myself by blindly putting STAGE in for 5dn (STAND) until the penny dropped with 12ac BROADSIDE allowing me to correct 5dn and get my LOI: 6dn REMINDER.
Thanks jackkt for explaining the derivation of 10ac AIM – I would never have worked it out.
COD: 9dn METROPOLIS
Thanks again jackkt and thanks to Hurley for an enjoyable QC.
Pretty much as Kevin said in the first comment. I liked the double D becoming M in AIM. TENDER my LOI. Thanks Hurley and Jackkt. 4:24.
10:06 here, almost a rare sub-10, but the time taken to parse ISRAEL pushed me just over. Enjoyed this a lot, with COD to AIM.
Thanks to Hurley and Jackkt.
10:50
Super easy and just over half my target time of 20 minutes. Only delay was figuring out the anagram for LOI PECCADILLO.
18:11 for 50th SCC escape of the year in 132 completions (38%) of 191 QCs (26%). Just the matter of only a 69% success rate. Online is quicker but somehow encourages me into errors I don’t make on paper.
While technically correct, thought the misdirection of Israel as an Asian country wasn’t suited to the QC. Couldn’t make headway on it until I finally unravelled PECADILLO which I didn’t know then meaning of.
Not too bad for a Hurley though. As per others, I liked what was going on with AIM.
50 escapes this year? Marvellous! I still haven’t reached that milestone after approx. 3.3 years. Mind you, my success rate nowadays is around the 90% mark (+/-).
P.S. I solve only on paper.
See you tomorrow.
Thanks – will be interesting to discuss our different approaches later! From the upcoming weather looks like we’ve picked the right day to meet up.
Congratulations on hitting the 50 mark! 👍👍
Does 50th escape make you consider ditching the L-Plates and trying out New Driver again?
Nah … quit again today at 30mins. I don’t know what my benchmark for considering myself ‘qualified’ is. Failure weighs heavily on me.
Mainly straightforward apart from AWN (clear from clue but NHO), AIM (couldn’t parse at all), METROPOLIS (took ages) and STAND (tried for ages to fit DAIS into S-A -D).
3rd consecutive 11-minute finish on a Monday. So close to breaking 10 mins with just one letter to get, the ‘w’ in 2dn. NHO AWN and, by the time I did an alphabet trawl and realised the answer was just a hidden word, 9 mins had become 11. Aaargh!
Not a good day for hidden words. Missed one in the Quintagram as well.
Long, long day at work tomorrow (14 hours), so very low expectations.
Thanks for the excellent blog.
Well done GA – the regularity of those 11minuters should be heartening. When the correct Monday comes along, you’ll fly through it even quicker!
The 10a device was new to me. Wondered about 13a Israel but it had to be with a clever clue.