Hello everyone. If you finished this you did better than me: Wurm wriggled away from your hapless blogger. I had 5 minutes something on the clock with two to go, but then ground to a halt. I let the timer tick on to 10 minutes then stopped it and took a break. Normally this would help, but my mental block persisted so I gave in to a dictionary search. It turns out I had been defeated by a couple of twisty cryptic definitions: 2d was obvious the moment I saw the right answer, while 6d needed more thought. Dawned on my eventually. Self-kick duly administered. The French comic wasn’t the only cunning definition here: there is also 17a’s “Banana Bunch” and “measure up” at 17d. Very nice if you can get them. Thanks Wurm – but I’ll be more of an early bird next time and catch you then!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics, specified [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER. For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.
| Across | |
| 7a | Wimbledon champion we notice inside (4) |
| WADE — WE; AD (notice) inside | |
| 8a | Heavenly tale wrong about this place (8) |
| ETHEREAL — TALE anagrammed (wrong) around (about) HERE (this place) | |
| 9a | Herculean task for governing party (6) |
| LABOUR — Two definitions | |
| 10a | Adept corrected welcomes new stickler (6) |
| PEDANT — An anagram of (… corrected) ADEPT takes in (welcomes) N (new) | |
| 11a | Connection with 007? (4) |
| BOND — Two definitions | |
| 12a | Prudish woman making bloomer (8) |
| PRIMROSE — PRIM (prudish) + ROSE (woman) | |
| 15a | Tyrant Richard Murphy reported? (8) |
| DICTATOR — Sounds like (… reported) DICK (Richard) TATER (murphy, spud) | |
| 17a | Hour with Banana Bunch? (4) |
| HAND — H (hour) + AND (with) | |
| 18a | English in British state work hard (6) |
| BEAVER — E (English) in B (British) plus AVER (state) | |
| 21a | Artist Damien on time to show desire (6) |
| THIRST — HIRST (artist Damien) next to (on) T (time) | |
| 22a | None left? Well! (3,5) |
| ALL RIGHT — If none left, then presumably ALL RIGHT | |
| 23a | On radio man would listen (4) |
| HEED — Sounds like (on radio) HE’D (man would) | |
| Down | |
| 1d | Dandy in a vehicle on entering M1 (8) |
| MACARONI — A, CAR (vehicle) and ON going into (entering) MI [Joker 2365: An 18th-century dandy] | |
| 2d | Get the next round in? (6) |
| RELOAD — A cryptic definition where it’s a round of ammo we are looking for. A round of shots perhaps | |
| 3d | Pride etc terribly battered (8) |
| DECREPIT — An anagram of (… terribly) PRIDE ETC | |
| 4d | Fellow hot wearing beret (4) |
| CHAP — H (hot) in (wearing) CAP (beret) | |
| 5d | Ship on move suddenly reversed (6) |
| TRADER — RE (on) and DART (move suddenly) all reversed | |
| 6d | A French comic entertainer? (4) |
| DAWN — A cryptic definition: DAWN French | |
| 13d | Annoy one rattier drunk (8) |
| IRRITATE — I (one) + RATTIER anagrammed (drunk) | |
| 14d | Menacing relative outside home (8) |
| SINISTER — SISTER (relative) outside IN (home) | |
| 16d | Faulty TV near bar (6) |
| TAVERN — An anagram of (faulty) TV NEAR | |
| 17d | Henley’s first crew measure up? (6) |
| HEIGHT — Henley’s first letter + EIGHT (crew) | |
| 19d | Two lines penned by each girl (4) |
| ELLA — L L (two lines) inside (penned by) EA (each) | |
| 20d | Fix a Latvian city (4) |
| RIGA — RIG (fix) + A | |
Dick Tater indeed!
This took me about ten minutes, with no hold-ups, having seen the Dawn French joke early on (in fact I thought that clue much too easy, given the way the definition was extended). The one that did have me for a while was the CD for RELOAD, which ended up being my COD for this offering. All round a nice crossword for me.
I take the point made about names not being new in The Times, and I welcome the paper’s joining the rest of the rags in allowing living persons to appear. Hopefully, though perhaps not in QCs, the powers that be at The Thunderer will soon allow multi-light answers as well.
Imagine my excitement when, after just 9 minutes (2 mins inside my PB), I had already reached my final two clues. Unfortunately, TRADER then delayed me for 7 minutes and _A_N successfully resisted all of my attempts at solving for the remaining 24 minutes until my (recently adopted) 40 minute cut-off time forced me to give up.
I’m not too concerned about the recent inclusion of references to living people, but I don’t like clues that make no sense at this level, especially when the first letter is unchecked in a full portcullis grid.
Many thanks to Kitty for the blog.
All but 2 in 9 minutes? Wow! Great effort. I did an alphabet trawl for DAWN. Fortunately it’s near the start.
Thank you Dear H.
I also did several alphabet trawls and DAWN appeared, of course. I just never saw how it connected with the clue.
P.S. It’s 7:20pm (in the UK) and I’ve just counted 60 x DNFs vs 9 x successful solves, here. Never would I have expected such a situation.
Had to change CASANOVA to MACARONI to fit the word play. Had SECOND lightly pencilled in for 2D and EARN (sounds a bit like the French UN) for 6D. Got DICTATOR although DNK Murphy for potato. Also somehow managed to leave out 23A so bit of a failure today.
Yes, I also toyed with EARN for the same reason, but I just gave up in the end.
I know its a Quick Xword but today’s feel very much like a moment in time – this wont be reprinted in a collection of the quickies due to 9 across being about the current government. 6 down got me well and truly as I couldnt get away from thinking La was French for a (!!)
Feel a lot better about my Reload and Dawn fails being in such exulted DNF company. Not your usual Monday diet lite QC. Enjoyed solving what I could. Thanks Kitty and Wurm
DNF: yet another whose penny remained undropped on DAWN. Shame, because once I read the answer here, I rather like it. I didn’t know that meaning of HAND: that was a guess.
Thanks to Wurm and Kitty.
Joined those who had problems with 2d and 6d and 7a. Is 6d really cryptic? Otherwise an enjoyable puzzle.
Yes, same experience here as for most others. Gave up with 2d & 6d remaining.
Well! I was feeling quite dispirited by the first DNF for an age until coming here! We were practically racing through until stumped by 2d and 6d. Hadn’t been 100% confident on TRADER (missed on / re) but at least it made some sort of sense. Biffed SECOND with little confidence but had no idea what was going on with 6d and revealed both it and the 2d mistake with nearly 15 minutes gone by that stage. Somewhat consoled to find ourselves in such company but I’m not sure it says a lot for those clues. No problem with the living people aspect, the other clues worked OK for us though I did wonder how familiar WADE might be now if you weren’t British and/or of a certain age.
DNF
RELOAD? Really? Can’t say I’m impressed with the clue. Anyway, couldn’t figure out what was going on and tried Second. Also had a pink square for the girl, put ELLE. Would have been a middling time of 18 minutes.
Having read the comments I don’t feel too bad. It seems DNF is the majority position today. I did get DAWN but only after an alphabet trawl.
Yet another objector to the ‘A’ before French, here. And another who failed on RELOAD, which is a neat if one-legged clue. My wife had to fill me in on Spud/Murphy as a thing, too.
I had the same two left — My mind went immediately to French and Saunders, which was played on Comedy Central in America when I was a teenager. Loved the show; couldn’t remember her first name!
RELOAD was totally beyond me — I just couldn’t see what was going on.
Thanks for enlightening me!
As a newcomer I’m incredibly chuffed to have solved this puzzle in 90 minutes, including DAWN which foxed many of you. Because I’m still learning the ropes I wasn’t put off by the ‘A’ in this clue and thought of Dawn French immediately. I still don’t understand why one of you disparaged this as the worst QC clue ever, on the grounds that it defeated many experienced solvers, but I’m a very happy novice today.
Well done! This comment makes me happy.
(I’m tempted to stir things by suggesting it as evidence in support of the assertion that 6d is in fact one of the best QC clues ever …)
I agree, it’s beaten nearly everyone, but is quite a simple construct. Best clue ever.
Aw thanks, Kitty, I’m glad to have your encouragement!
… and you too, hopkinb!
Well, as the perpetrator of the observation that it was the worst clue ever, I feel I owe an explanation for my opinion (and of course it is just that, one person’s opinion). It was a clue with the first letter unchecked, and the checkers were -A-N, a combination which leads to over 50 words. It had no wordplay at all (one cannot get to DAWN unless one happens to have heard of Dawn French). The role of the A was obscure – if it was to indicate a DBE as our setter implies, I might have expected a question mark at the end of the clue. The “usual usage” of “A French” implies un or une somewhere in the clue. And the person referred to was a very British-specific piece of GK.
None of these are capital offences in themselves. Of course we have clues that have unchecked first letters, and wordsearches that have over 50 possible answers are tough but hardly unknown. I’m not convinced by the use of the A but that is a personal thought. The “usual usage” that “A French” implies un or une somewhere in the clue is just that, usual usage, not mandatory. And while I think Dawn French could have been extremely tough GK for non-Brits it too is hardly against either the rules or the spirit of the QC.
Of course our setters should try to set challenging puzzles. But the combination of all the above made for the highest number of DNFs I have ever seen, including many experienced solvers who almost never fail to complete the QC, and I think this clue overstepped the mark. If the object is to defeat the solver, then yes it was a brilliant clue – but if the object is to set a fair challenge and to entertain, then it was in my view a very poor one.
My apologies for the lengthy reply
Cedric
15m with LOI a lucky guess from a toss up between Dawn and Pawn.
Nice puzzle but I don’t like the Dawn clue. Please cut out/minimise the use of living people.
Cedric is wide of the mark regarding worst ever cryptic clue, that has to go to the Eyot homophone one.
COD reload.
Didn’t Dawn either
Add me to the list missing DAWN. Having seen the answer I do like the clue. I really liked this puzzle especially the humour of 15 & 17 across. I also thought 1 down was clever.
Thanks Warm & Kitty.
My first thought for 6D was BEAN – it didn’t fit, but I couldn’t get past it.
I join the DNF brigade: DAWN and RELOAD. Can’t get to grips with this new living person rule.
DNF.
Dawn did for me.
I don’t like the living person rule change , and fail to see the need for it. English has more than enough words to keep setters happy.
Thanks for the blog.
It is so so late and no one will likely read this, but in the interests of giving feedback I feel I ought to register the number of DNKs in this puzzle: WADE (thanks for the clear wordplay), murphy for potato (biffed it), HAND for bunch of bananas (thankful for the crossers and wordplay), TRADER for ship, Dawn French (which completely defeated me as there was no other way to get it).
By contrast, RELOAD was so uncryptic I was afraid to put it in!
Other than that, Mrs Lincoln rather liked the play 🙂
Thanks to Wurm and Kitty!
So now new solvers are completing a puzzle that I can’t finish. Guess how that makes me feel.
I hated every minute of this. I feel totally disillusioned and depressed by the experience.
Another week ruined!
DNF in 41 minutes, with 3 wrong answers:
SECOND for RELOAD
EAUN FOR DAWN – don’t ask
HANG for HAND – I don’t understand this clue or the answer. Don’t bother explaining, I’m past caring.
I wish I had never started cryptic crosswords. I can’t do them and my self-esteem is at an all-time low.
I got less than half on the real crossword today.
Is there any reason at all why I should continue to devote my evenings to this regular exercise in humiliation? I can’t think of one! I’ve tried, I’ve failed. All that effort and I am absolutely nowhere!
Ha ha
Managed 11 across in six hours – and that was it
Yeah, OK. If the idea of the QC is now to give experienced solvers a relatively easy mode then that’s totally valid and fine, go for it; just let me know so that I can do something else.
Late to this, but another DNF with you-know-what. Lousy clue.