Times Quick Cryptic 2604 by Izetti

104 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 2604 by Izetti”

1. Guys… I was at 11:14 on an Izetti with only one clue to go

   And I DNF on ESTHER.

   I’m still not sure I get it. ‘French art’ – is ‘art’ like the verb ‘to be’ in this case? Because that’s brutal.
   Random girls name, actually using ‘the’, knowledge of French verbs and ye olde English verbs. I mean, it’s fair and it’s fun but brutal. I will remember this French art for the future.

   1. Yep, je suis, tu es, il est = ic eom, þu art, he is.

   2. “French art” (or “Parisian art” or “Nice art” etc) is standard code for ES, Tina, tuck it away.

      See also “French is” for EST.

      1. I’ll tuck it away too but it’s a bit contrived….

         1. Er… Yes, because it’s a crossword. That’s the point.

2. TRADE/TITANIA and ESTHER held me up from what would have been quite a good time. TITAN for large and DART for hurry took a long time to come to mind. Luckily I’ve seen RAIMENT before, I think I would have found that clue difficult otherwise.
   Can someone please explain ES = French art? Not sure I recall seeing it before.

   1. It shows up often enough in the 15x15s. I am=je suis, thou art=tu es etc. See vinyl above.

      1. That’s why I don’t recall seeing it. I’m too cowardly to venture into 15×15 territory without significant backup…

3. I have had a string of bonehead mistakes in the Quickie, but tonight I hit the wavelength. The first four across clues went right in, and I got quite a few others. The anagram for anniversaries was a bit hard, and it’s a good thing the A was checked. I ended up biffing change of heart without analyzing the cryptic, and submitting.

   Time: 6:40

   1. Sorry, but as a real newbie to all this cryptic business (but loving it), what do you mean by “biffing”. Are you basically saying “guessing” , without understanding how the cryptic definition relates?

      1. BIFD. Bunged in from definition. For other such, see the glossary https://timesforthetimes.co.uk/glossary

4. 9:07. Breakneck speed for me. OUTFITTER and CHANGE OF HEART were favourites. Thanks, Mike, for interesting info re CADDIE, LEDGER, LIEGE, MAIDEN overs, and Companion of Honour.

   1. Instead of going breakneck speed, you should slow down and spell the roses. Let some of slowbies get by instead of trailing in your wake!! 😃

      1. Was really able to concentrate well today so seemed to move with inordinate speed. But I’m sure I’ll be visiting the SCC a few times again in the coming weeks!

5. 4:46. Felt like I was trudging through this, but there turned out to be no major hold-ups.

   Sympathies to those seeing the “French art” device for the first time. I recall being bewildered by that experience. Just add it to the box of tricks and move on.

   Quite liked SPANIARDS. Thanks Izetti, and Mike for the informative blog.

6. Failed with LEDGER and TRADE. Should have got them, but a lot of choices for LEDGER, and I was not convinced about “far side of village” just equating to “e”.

   CHANGE OF HEART is one of those reverse cryptics, too clever for me. The problem is there is no signpost in the clue that this is going on. “Could do for” doesn’t really scream out, hey, look for a reverse cryptic.

   COD ASHORE

7. 10 minutes. Marginally easier than the average Izetti perhaps?

8. Another quickie for me in around 16 minutes, so that’s 3/3 so far this week. (I think I need a lie down.)
   Nothing seemed too tricky even though I couldn’t parse ESTHER, (this despite my having taken French conversation classes since Christmas), and DEARIES seemed a little tenuous.
   My favourite clues today were IMPALA and CICERO.
   I felt this was a fine QC so thank you Izetti, and thank you Mike for the blog.

9. Did no one else put in GOLFER at 1d? I damn well carried my own clubs during my short, embarrassing career as a golfer. Caught wise finally, but it wasted a lot of time. And for some reason I couldn’t parse TRADE for the longest time, and hesitated to submit until I could. 8:46, rather beyond my goal of 6 minutes.

   1. I too put golfer at 1d.

   2. GOLFER was my FOI but immediately realised that 1ac made it impossible.

   3. Yes, I tried GOLFER to start with which ended up with me looking for alternatives to DEARIES and INGLE which slowed me down.

   4. Was I the only one to consider DEALER?

      1. I thought of cards at first too.

   5. Another GOLFER here!

10. I thought this was relatively straightforward from Izetti, 7.29 and would have been quicker except I’m simultaneously watching Straya v Un Zud in the T20 cricket and have to pause for each delivery. No maiden overs so far. Hey Mike how about a maiden speech in Parliament? I was about to proffer a suggestion but don’t want to lower the tone. In a classic demonstration of the importance of actually reading the clue, I had TITANIC for ages which made CAESAR tough to get. The anagram for ANNIVERSARIES leapt straight off the page and into the grid. OK, there isn’t an actual page. Fortunately these days I twig immediately when I see the words French art, but like Galspray (and others, obvs) I was flummoxed on my maiden encounter.

11. Flew out the blocks missing only a few of the acrosses on the first pass – including RONDO with a smile having never heard of it before it recently appeared – and then doing pretty well on the downs before the trouble started. Neeeded to repair the too hasty ‘impish’ and ‘dearest’ when I got to ANNIVERSARIES and CHANGE OF HEART before slowing to grind out RAIMENT, TRADE and ESTHER. Got lucky with the unparsed ESTHER but didn’t with TITANIA where I parsed correctly to arrive at the unknown Queen only to inexplicably spell her TITiNIA. Stopped Shakespeare after school so my knowledge extends only to Macbeth, King Lear, Othello and Romeo and Juliet. Not all green (again) in 13.

12. A little slower than average at 28.15. Lots to like but spent too long on wrong wavelengths for several clues. Was convinced having got all the crossers than LOI 1d must be Cedric and Izetti was paying tribute to one of our bloggers until Mrs RH had the PDM

    COD Cicero mostly because it’s always a joy when you get the first one from spotting and understanding the word play

    Thanks Izetti and Mike especially for parsing of trade and Esther. We are in the club of first timers for es but did think maybe the first 3 letters were from il est which led to the answer.

13. Flew through most of this until hitting the buffers with CADDIE and LOI ESTHER, the latter of which I couldn’t parse but should have done because I’ve seen the ‘art’ thing before.
    DEARIES is a really horrible word (nothing wrong with the clue) and one I would rather not see/hear again.
    Grump over, I finished this in slightly below average 7.12.
    Thanks to Mike

14. Seeing the setter and with my FOI not until All over, I was fearing a long haul, but the pace quickened and even approached something of a gallop as I completed the grid in 8¾ minutes, well inside my average for Izetti and exactly 1K for a Most Unusual Day. It helped that I have seen the French art before (and more importantly remembered it), that Anniversaries went almost straight in, opening up the RHS, and that the two hiddens were not too challenging, but overall, just one of those rare days when I seemed to be on the setter’s wavelength.

    Many thanks Mike for the blog
    Cedric

15. I slogged through this in 23.24, and all green despite biffing RAIMENT, TRADE and ESTHER from the checkers. Needed the blog to parse those.

    It was a precarious ride as I was rarely 100% sure of many of my answers, so trying to fit tentative new words into what were already tentative checkers gave me a growing sense of impending doom, until they did just seem to slot into place.

    I truly, deeply, viscerally detest random names as answers (I mean ESTHER – TITANIA I can live with, as it’s GK). I feel total anticlimax when I realise what they are, and not some clever build of an actual word. But hey, I’m new at this, and I guess the rules ain’t gonna change for me.

    Overall pleased to have completed this, entirely unaided.

    Happy Wednesday all. Pi ❤️

    1. Well done 👍 I agree, I never enjoy QCs where I’m lacking confidence in the answers. Think I had the same with last week’s Teazel. It gets better with practice

       1. Thanks! I hope so.

    2. Your membership certificate of the RNHC (Random Names Haters Club) is in the post.

       1. Why, thank you. And auto-enrolment! What a great service.

          1. I heard the RNHC had split into two factions – the RICHARDs* and DONNAs**

             *Resentment Incited by Clues Having A Randomly Designated name society
             ** Dislike Of Names Needed for Answers society

             1. 😂 👏🏻 I may join both factions.

       2. Membership numbers have now reportedly reached four figures …

          1. Must put the sub up!

16. 13.06. with a hold-up on OUTFITTTER/TRADE/TITANIA taking me out past the 10min mark.

    Last Izetti was in similar time range, I feel he has got back on track with his setting in recent months. Somehow while it was complicated, it was gettable. Quick enough for me to be able to appreciate the setting. I liked that ASHORE/ABOARD and CICERO/CAESAR were in the opposite corners. Liked SPANIARDS / CHANGE-OF-HEART, not sure about DEARIES. Nothing unheard of.

    Isn’t ESTHER a biblical character – he loves to squeeze in at least one religious ref. Like others, didn’t get the French art – and would say it’s a bit unfriendly for QC. Think I’ve only seen it once before in 2+ years. (Edit: quick search suggests it’s only come up last August since I started solving. It was QC #2461 – an Izetti !)

    Pleased with that and more of the same please Don. I did his “Pasquale” Guardian Quiptic this week in 10min45 which is a record for that – freely available on the website, so worth a look if others have time.

    1. Agreed re this week’s Quiptic – very approachable indeed.

    2. Having learned here that it was an Izetti (you still can’t see the setter on a phone 🙄), I had a look back to see if there was an ESTHER theme but I couldn’t see any trace of Mordecai, Haman or the Medes & Persians. And Purim isn’t till March.

       1. Maybe you’re just not looking hard enough.

          He’s not going to make it that easy by giving you the obvious possibilities … 😜

          1. 😄

    3. ESTHER is indeed a book in the Old Testament, and thanks for the tip about religious clues in his puzzles. I’ll look out for them in the QC, although of course they aren’t identified in the Daily Cryptic. I had forgotten the identity of Izetti – but it must be very difficult for a setter to gauge the extent to which he stretches his solvers, even for a master of the art (pun intended). And if the intention is to move towards solving the Daily, then it seems fair enough to include well-used devices like ‘Nice’ to indicate a French word, as until you’ve come across it, you won’t be familiar with it!

       1. This is why we need a “like” button Alto. Great post.

          1. 👍

       2. Izetti is usually more obvious with his religious clues. His last one had Gabriel and also seen Abbot / Lydia in January. Last year though he was bamboozling with CISTERCIANs and Clare nuns.

          I don’t particularly aspire to move up to the 15×15 at the moment. That’s the trouble with the online world – in a printed newspaper, I’d probably glance at it as I turn the pages and get into it. Online, you have to make the effort to try it. I do occasionally when the SNITCH is low but, at this time, my mind has enough to challenge it. Probably in five years time, I will be.

          1. I had the advantage (?) that when I started, there wasn’t a Quickie available to practice on!

17. Indeed at the easier end of Izetti’s spectrum – at least for me – having seen plenty of French art and similar devices before.

    CADDIE was LOI, and I always like clues like CHANGE OF HEART.

    4:39

    1. 🔥

18. Cracking good puzzle, I really enjoyed that. CHANGE OF HEART (COD), SCHOLAR and SPANIARDS all worth the price of entry alone. I was held up by the crossing DEARIES (dreadful word) and CADDIE for a wee while at the end.

    All done in 08:13 for a Most Enjoyable Day. Many thanks Izetti and Mike (excellent and informative blog 👍🏻).

    Templar

    PS Mike – you don’t need to do the awkward pronouns for Izetti, he’s Don Manley. In fact I think Jack has told us that all the current setters are male, though there may have been some new ones since he said that.

    1. Thanks for the tip Templar – I did not know that but of course respect the right of any setter to use whichever pronouns they so wish 😉

       1. From today’s puzzle, I suspect Izetti’s preferred pronouns might be thou/thy. 😜

          1. 😂

          2. “Like”.

          3. Very droll!

          4. “Like”

          5. 😂😂

    2. I don’t know the real names of quite all the current QC setters but the first names I’m aware of are all traditionally associated with the male sex.

       With reference to Don, if anyone’s feeling brave he has another puzzle published today in The Guardian where he sets as ‘Pasquale’. It’s do-able but expect 15×15 level rather than QC.

       Google ‘Guardian Puzzles’ if you want to have a go.

       1. As per New Driver’s comment above, he also set Monday’s quiptic over at the Guardian, which was QC level.

       2. We had a puzzle set by “Lupa” quite recently, about 2 weeks ago, and apart from establishing that he/she is the creator (or aenigmatifex) of the Saturday O Tempora crossword, I’m not sure we got any further on whether we have our first lady setter. I believe you have suggested before Jack that although Jalna and Juno sound feminine, you don’t think the setters behind them are, so the fact that Lupa is Latin for a she-wolf may not be conclusive evidence.

          Cedric

          1. I’m afraid that Lupa is the splendidly-moustached Julian Morgan.

             https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aenigmatifex_a-good-day-today-my-latest-alter-ego-lupa-activity-7161106854788415488-e2Ho?trk=public_profile

19. 3:29. Possibly my fastest for an Izetti. I liked CHANGE OF HEART. A tick for that on my copy and nothing else against the clues except to underline the anagrist in 6D. Thank-you Izetti and Mike.

    1. Well done JohnI … absolute flier ✈

20. 9:23 (birth of King Eadred)

    LOI CICERO – only then did I spot that there might be a theme with CAESAR, too late to be of use to me in solving.

    Thanks Izetti and Mike

21. 11′ Didn’t help by banging in golfer at 1dn but soon got over it. Titania brought to mind being taken to a cinema in the early 70s to watch a film version of MND by our school’s English dept. The costuming was actually quite racy, a real bonus for 14 year olds at an all boys Catholic school. Not sure the trip had the intended consequences.

    1. This 1968 version? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIZ2f8hvgmE

       What a cast – David Warner, Diana Rigg, Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Ian Holm among others.

       I may actually try and watch that later. Obviously in the interests of improving Shakespearean knowledge, not for racy costumes!

       1. Yes I’m sure it is. I’d forgotten that it was Judi Dench that I once got all hot and bothered about! Though Diana Rigg and Helen Mirren surely had something to do with it too!

       2. Likewise am intrigued to watch this for purely sociocultural reasons- in fact will make a point of fastforwarding through any scenes with said actresses that become too absorbing.

22. One of Izetti’s gentler offerings, as demonstrated by Mohn, Verlaine, and Aphis all breaking the 2 minute barrier. I was spared the “golfer” conundrum by starting in the NE corner and working more or less clockwise.

    FOI IMPALA
    LOI CADDIE
    COD CHANGE OF HEART*
    TIME 3:34

    * A song by the late great Gerry Rafferty from his grievously underrated album “Sleepwalking”, and now my earworm for the rest of the day – or until something else jumps in 😂

23. Started quite quickly with Cicero, Impala and quite a few offspring, but then I had to go out and of course it was a different story on my return. I kept on thinking 14d could be Tsarina, until Singing came along, but Titania then took ages to make a dignified appearance. Loi, by quite a distance, was the elusive Esther, but by then all the window seats had long gone. However, it’s not every day you see Don referred to as he/she, so still something to smile about. Invariant

24. My decision to start with the down clues certainly backfired with my confident insertion of GOLFER for 1dn. On returning to the across clues I then realised some repair work was necessary. Apart from this hold up, nothing really held me up to any great extent, and I crossed the line in a reasonable 8.09 with my LOI ESTHER.

25. Gentler?? Pretty tough, I thought. Failed on TRADE/LEDGER.
    Biffed ESTHER unparsed. Now see ‘tu es’, mais trop difficile. But I see above that it is standard Crosswordese. Frightfully pleased with myself when I got CICERO, CADDIE, OUTFITTER, INGLE, TITANIA, but I see you chaps solved them easily.
    Thanks for much needed blog, Mike.
    Now for wet and windy dog walk.

26. Enjoyed this offering from Izetti and finished in 17:08 though I failed to parse TRADE and my LOI ESTHER. NHO INGLE but I like it. Might have to wait a few months before I get to use it in conversation though. Thanks Izetti and Mike.

    1. If you lived in this part of the world, you may well use Ingle! There is a little street in Loughborough town centre delightfully called Ingle Pingle 😊

27. 16:56
    Distracted and found it tricky but that could be tiredness.
    LOI Esther.
    COD Change of Heart.

28. As for the ES business. I normally love Izetti puzzles but this annoys me. I got the answer after crossers but couldn’t parse it. Apparently thanks to helpful people here it is common in 15*15 puzzles. surely the whole point of the quicks is that solvers don’t have to be proficient and familiar with the larger puzzle, so why use such an obscure convention here. Not on in my view.

    1. You will see it next time around, though…

    2. It’s definitely not 15 only – I hardly ever do the 15 and I’ve seen the “French/Parisian/Dior art” device enough times to have entered it in my list of “crossword things I always forget but hope to remember”! (And we had “is in Paris” for EST in July 2023 – QC2436, Hurley.)

29. 6:05 on an Izetti – put out the bunting! I did think this was very user-friendly but nice to have such a crossword after some of the troubles I’ve had recently.
    I’m in a tearing hurry so haven’t read all your comments but will later.
    FOI Cicero LOI Outfitter COD Spaniards – that made me LOL
    Thanks Izetti for the ego boost and Mike for the very interesting blog

30. I quite enjoyed this one. CICERO got me off to a quick start, then fairly steady progress until LOI, CADDIE, took a bit more thought. Quite used to seeing art = ES, so no trouble with ESTHER. 6:55. Thanks Izetti and Mike.

31. Well well. Having just last week finished reading a translation of selected works of Cicero, I failed to get 1a despite having knowing it must start CIC. How stupid I now feel.
    I also failed to solve the garment at 3d, the queen at 14d and the traffic at 19a.
    My worst DNF for a long time.
    Hey ho, at least I got ESTHER.

    For what it’s worth, COD to the wonderful CHANGE OF HEART.

32. Managed to complete this one in 33 minutes, mostly on the bus using my iPhone. Because the keyboard on iPhone is so small it seemed to take me just as long to type the answers as it did to answer them, having to constantly correct typos.

    22a had to wait until I got home in order to ask Pumpa. Luckily it was raining outside and so he was in bed. He didn’t want to help me initially but rather wanted to sleep. However, one Tesco cat stick (salmon flavour) later and I had my answer.

    My verdict: Enjoyable.
    Pumpa’s verdict: Another cat stick please! 🐈
    ( No, Pumpa. You know the rules: only one stick per day!)

    1. Sorry, PW, but I second Pumpa’s motion. It’s only fair.

33. I found this tricky and finished up taking 23 minutes to complete. MORAL, TRADE and ESTHER remained unparsed. I don’t recall seeing the French art = es device before (I probably have but it didn’t lodge in the brain). I was another who entered ‘golfer’ confidently at 1dn but 1ac soon made that untenable. MER at DEARIES, not for the clue but for the word itself. However I did find most of this fairly straightforward for an Izetti.

    FOI – 4ac IMPALA
    LOI – 19ac TRADE
    COD – 2dn CHANGE OF HEART. Also liked SPANIARD

    Thanks to Izetti and to Mike for the helpful blog

34. Delighted to finish this relatively quickly afte yesterday’s disaster. Only slight hold ups with ESTHER (I hate these random name clues) and TRADE (put in TRACE, then had a rethink).

35. 8:38 which is quick for me for an Izetti. I’ve seen the old ‘French art’ trick a few times before so at least wasn’t held up by ESTHER. I liked the surface for SPANIARDS.

    Thanks to Izetti and Mike

36. Very enjoyable with CADDIE causing the clock to tick a couple of seconds over ten minutes. Thanks for the blog.

37. 6.41

    One of Izetti’s better recent efforts with CHANGE OF HEART particularly good.

    But… what exactly is the non-cryptic meaning of 1d? First thought was “golf” so what is the cryptic bit? For me something like DEALER would be a more logical answer though you have to squint a bit for it to make sense card-wise. We all know CDs can be tough to get spot on and this one didn’t quite do it for me

    Lots elsewhere to like though

    Thanks all

    1. ‘with many clubs’ initially suggested football to me – I had a vision of a footballer transferring from club to club, but felt immediately that that would be a blind alley. Clubs are also a feature of card games of course. I thought of golf but waited for a couple of checkers to commit

38. Funny how different we all are – we make fusses about different things: got ESTHER without trouble (French art couldn’t be anything else), also ANNIVERSARIES, CHANGE OF HEART and DEARIES straight off, but NHO INGLE and failed to see several others.

39. Held up by DEARIES (not what I was thinking of at all) otherwise I seemed to zip through – very unusual for an Izetti. Remembered ‘es’ trick from previous QCs so ESTHER no problem. Didn’t parse CHANGE OF HEART but this is COD after seeing how it worked. Also liked clue for SPANIARDS. Thanks Mike and Izetti.

40. 11.56 None of the acrosses in the top half went in so I turned to the downs and, like others, confidently entered GOLFER. The rest of the puzzle wasn’t too bad and I finished up back in the NW. A nice puzzle. Thanks Mike and Izetti.

41. I had GOLFER for 1d, but then saw DEARIES. Final score: 12/24.

42. On the easier side for us. Started slowly but then gathered pace and finished in a respectable, for us, 10:41 with LOI TRADE which, however, went in unparsed until we went back to look at it. Fortunately remembered art = ES from prior offerings. COD CHANGE OF HEART.

43. It went fast for me, just over 19 minutes. Certainly my fastest Izetti ever, so maybe he’s had a CHANGE OF HEART. Many enjoyable clues, the terrible drains drew a guffaw from me (now there’s a word).

    Great blog too, thanks Mike!

44. My FOI was an incorrect GOLFER and LOI with a bit of a ‘surely not a girl’s name clue’ was ESTHER. I also struggled to spell CeaSAR. However ANNIVERSARIES was a write in as I am currently with my 83 year old parents celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary. 7:13 for a very good day.

45. 9:44 here, which feels like it’s probably my PB against Izetti, although I don’t keep records. Liked SPANIARDS and CHANGE OF HEART very much, didn’t fully parse ESTHER because it was my LOI and I really wanted that sub-10 minute finish! (I should probably turn off the timer.) When I read the blog, I realised that I had seen the ‘French art’ device before.

    Thanks to Izetti and Mike: I didn’t know the history of LEDGER.

46. Our usual slow solve, but enjoyable. Declension of French verbs still in the mind after 70 years still stick in the ageing brain.

47. I found out today I cant spell CEASAR and that really held me up in finding TITANIA which is was convinced must end ANNE

48. 33 mins…

    Enjoyable, although I got bogged down with 3dn “Raiment” and wasn’t massively sure about 8ac “Dearies”. 22ac “Esther” was a bit of a punt and will have to look at this whole French Art = ES thing.

    FOI – 4ac “Impala”
    LOI – 3dn “Raiment”
    COD – 1ac “Cicero”

    Thanks as usual!

49. 17 minutes.

    Pleased with that until I came here and saw how easy most people found it (and I don’t mean the speed solvers). If this was easy, then I really am nowhere with the QC, because I found it tricky.

    Now rather flat and cross that I wasted time trying (and failing) to parse TRADE, before putting it in as LOI. Strange how satisfaction becomes dejection so quickly, and I’m still angry at myself for the DNF yesterday.

    Thanks for the blog Mike.

50. 27:41

    Another hugely slow solve. Was convinced the companion in 17ac was PAL which meant I couldn’t get CHANGE OF HEART and never really did parse ESTHER. Only when I realised the student was a SCHOLAR did it fall into place.

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