Solving time: 9 minutes
Dare I say this was mostly straightforward? I thought so, but how did you all do?
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]. “Aural wordplay” is in quotation marks. I usually omit all reference to juxtaposition indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
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1 | I sang a lot, drunkenly longing for home (9) |
NOSTALGIA | |
Anagram [drunkenly] of I SANG A LOT. DBE-ish because one may be nostalgic for many things other than home. |
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6 | Meal and drink (3) |
TEA | |
Two meanings | |
8 | Pragmatic attitude is found in kingdom (7) |
REALISM | |
IS contained by [in] REALM (kingdom) | |
9 | Vessel located in cafeteria or tavern (5) |
AORTA | |
Hidden [located] in {cafeteri}A OR TA{vern}. Blood vessel. | |
10 | Battler with steel built supportive platform (7,5) |
TRESTLE TABLE | |
Anagram [built] of BATTLER STEEL | |
12 | Just terrible after fifty (6) |
LAWFUL | |
L (fifty), AWFUL (terrible) | |
13 | Associate part of the body with hand or foot? (6) |
MEMBER | |
Two meanings | |
16 | Bug, ant and wombat are confused (5,7) |
WATER BOATMAN | |
Anagram [confused] of ANT WOMBAT ARE | |
19 | Top off cook (5) |
OUTDO | |
OUT (off), DO (cook) | |
20 | Dry biscuit, fabulous thing (7) |
CRACKER | |
Two meanings | |
22 | Sister welcomed by brethren, unsisterly (3) |
NUN | |
Hidden in [welcomed by] {brethre}N UN{sisterly}. Exceeding our limit of just one pure hidden answer per puzzle. | |
23 | Lean beyond wobbly fringe, extremity (9) |
FINGERTIP | |
Anagram [wobbly] of FRINGE, then TIP (lean) |
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1 | Emperor, one stumbling round capital in Rome (4) |
NERO | |
Anagram [stumbling] of ONE containing [round] R{ome} [capital in …] | |
2 | Line under pole for bird (7) |
SPARROW | |
SPAR (pole), ROW (line) | |
3 | Boxer seen in America, lippy (3) |
ALI | |
Hidden [seen] in {Americ}A LI{ippy}. Oh dear, a third pure hidden answer! | |
4 | Risk romp, did you say? (6) |
GAMBLE | |
Aural wordplay [did you say]: “gambol” (romp) | |
5 | A role people took, originally flat (9) |
APARTMENT | |
A, PART (role), MEN (people), T{ook} [originally] | |
6 | Pulse that’s here resembling ordinary bean, first of all (5) |
THROB | |
T{hat’s} + H{ere} + R{esembling} + O{rdinary} + B{ean} [first of all] | |
7 | Dabbler, a friend pure at heart (7) |
AMATEUR | |
A, MATE (friend), {p}UR{e} [at heart] | |
11 | Just not on, prepare to fight (6,3) |
SQUARE OFF | |
SQUARE {just – fair, honest), OFF (not on) | |
12 | Confidential information at the bottom? (7) |
LOWDOWN | |
LOW DOWN (at the bottom) | |
14 | 4 down holding series of shelves — might this secure it ? (7) |
BRACKET | |
BET (4 down – GAMBLE) containing [holding] RACK (series of shelves) | |
15 | Count flies besieging a bird (6) |
TOUCAN | |
Anagram [flies] of COUNT containing [besieging] A | |
17 | Bird, an enormous individual (5) |
TITAN | |
TIT (bird), AN | |
18 | Cut odd bits in cargo up (4) |
CROP | |
C{a}R{g}O {u}P [odd bits in …] | |
21 | Amazing card, exceptional, the tops! (3) |
ACE | |
Four definitions. All but the second mean pretty much the same. Thanks to curryowen for pointing out this can also be parsed: A{mazing} + C{ard} + E{xceptional} [tops]. |
12:54. You can also get ACE from the first letters(tops)of amazing card exceptional. FINGERTIP was hardest for me, TOUCAN my favourite.
Thanks. I have added your parsing to the blog. I suspect it’s the one the setter had in mind as, although my version works, I’d expect the meanings in multiple definition clues to be more distinct.
DNF. NHO the bug. There’s no limit on the number of hiddens in a QC (one in a 15×15, two if one’s a reverse hidden, two in a Jumbo [or three if one’s a reverse?]).
Have we had a ruling on this that perhaps I have missed or forgotten about? The 15×15 one is long established, and in the absence of any direction to the contrary that I’m aware of I assumed the QC would be the same, or perhaps fewer because of the smaller grid. I never heard anything about the Jumbo either but since it contains roughly twice the number of clues as the 15×15 it would make sense for any allocation to be double.
No ruling that I remember/know of; but I distinctly remember the question coming up a couple of years ago already. I think you were the blogger, in fact; in any case, the blogger commented on the presence of two hiddens in the day’s puzzle. The next day there were three, and I commented, saying it appears the setter can have as many hiddens as he pleases. I’ve certainly seen more than one since. It would be nice if the editor could let us know. (I have a vague memory of someone saying something about 2 hiddens in a Jumbo.)
Thanks. Hard to track down. I found a couple of comments about hidden words including one made by me, but nothing that sheds any light on having more than two.
I’m not sure, but I think it came up in a Q&A session at the Championship a couple of years ago and I seem to remember RR answering that for a QC it is up to 2 straight hiddens and 1 reverse hidden.
I remember RR saying that too.
Peter B wrote more generally on the subject of hidden answers and rules in 2018: I very strongly believe that solvers should not learn them all and expect them to be followed all the time. One reason is that an editor could forget to apply their own rule. Another reason is that rules like this may be changed, and if they are, there will not be an announcement in the paper to tell you. The biggest reason is that crossword solving should be an exercise in using your wits, not remembering arcane rules.
I have some sympathy with his POV but it’s inevitable that in this community when such changes or breaches occur, comment will be passed.
I too remember a discussion a while back about the numbers of different clue types in a QC, including the thought that it could be helpful, as a learning device, from time to time, to have lots of clues of the same type (hiddens, say) in one QC, but I don’t know that that was a “ruling”
That rings a bell. It may have been around the time The Guardian introduced their weekly Quick Cryptic designed specifically for learners , which concentrated on restricted types of clue and gave solvers advance notice of what they would be. I never looked past the second week so I don’t know how this has developed over time.
The Guardian QC is still doing their same “four types of clue” each week. It’s been well received by many of those new to Cryptics and reading the comments there are still people taking 30+ mins or using Check / Reveal buttons to complete what seems a straightforward puzzle to an old hand like myself. Even with the limited clue types, there have been some tougher puzzles due to the words/clueing. Particularly if the 4 types don’t include hiddens/acrostics or anagrams.
As an aside, I know some of the more experienced solvers approach the puzzle without looking at what the four types of clues to make it more challenging.
Thanks for the update.
Interesting.
I never ever notice NINAs, nor what mix of clue types are present. I won’t gain any benefit from any fixed rules.
I think the Grauniad idea would have helped in the early days.
NHO the insect, LOI. Nice to learn something new, even if it’s nasty.
I parsed ACE as curryowen did, but that can (very neatly) coexist with the four definitions.
Water boatmen aren’t nasty!
Though the term is very vague, maybe the US ones have some unpleasant members.
PS – the blog has suddenly stopped knowing my name & email.
I’d agree it was mostly straight forward but that didn’t stop me taking an age to get WATER BOATMAN and finally SQUARE OFF. Just four on the first pass of acrosses – although I could often see what was needed but could immediately solve. Didn’t feel totally comfortable with OUTDO and has to pause to unravel TRESTLE TABLE which I realise I’ve never seen written down and have been saying ‘tressel’ both times I’ve wallpapered – I have heard of a WATER BOATMAN though! . Liked the appearance of NOSTALGIA. All green in 15.30.
14:46. Yes, it was mostly straightforward, but I still slowed right down in the south-west with SQUARED OFF, OUTDO, LOWDOWN and even TITAN. I liked LAWFUL
Just missed the slow coach today. Struggled finding square and had porc (thought it might be an oink puzzle) for ages as a unconvincing cut of meat until I realised I was using up twice. ACE puzzle. Thanks Jack, Mara and CurryO!
A solve of two halves for me.
The top was a write in and I thought I might be approaching PB territory but the bottom proved a stiffer challenge. WATER BOATMAN, TOUCAN, OUTDO and LOI FINGERTIP putting up the most resistant.
Finished in 6.42.
Thanks to Jackkt
A steady solve with a bit of a slow down in the middle. In the end, 24.12 is on the slower side for us but much to enjoy. Mara is so good at misdirection- I’m looking at that comma in “took, originally” among others.
LOI outdo took a while and eventually as a meaning of top off, entered and hoped. Is there another way in which do = cook other than “if you do the meat, I’ll do the spuds”. It seems to us, that by that reasoning, “do” could substitute for almost any verb as long as you knew the context??
It is, at least, in Chambers (as definition 15 of ‘do’, along with many other meanings!)
Yes, I think ‘do/cook’ is more specific than would be possible with most other verbs. Chambers Crossword Dictionary lists them as synonyms both ways, and if we take the past tense ‘done / cooked’ are very specific and can be substituted in expressions such as ‘Is the meat done yet? How do you want your steak cooked? Well-done.
I guess “done” as in “a well-done steak”
“Do” the crossword, for example.
Do you prefer your crossword fried or grilled, Merlin? 😉
My thought was a shady accountant doing or cooking the books.
5:48. Held up by WATER BOATMAN having AND in the anagrist (and not ARE), was unconvinced by OUTDO and failed to see TOUCAN was an anagram + inclusion until I had the checkers. Nice puzzle. Thanks Mara and Jackkt.
Thanks Jackkt and Mara. I’ve always smiled at the awful wedded wife joke. Lawful went straight in. I agree top half of the puzzle was looking like a PB, but then slowed terribly.
Yes, mostly straightforward – I started at great pace and much of the top half was a write-in (once I had corrected NOSTALGIc). But I failed to parse SPARROW (S for the pole and then PARROW for the line? but it could not be anything else), biffed OUTDO without connecting do to cook (tenuous IMO), and did not see SQUARE as just. So 10½ minutes to all green but a somewhat incomplete completion.
Many thanks Jack for the blog
Cedric
A square deal could be be considered a just deal?
Yes that probably works – a square deal is an honest and fair transaction, and so could be thought of as just. In similar vein, the closest I got to equating square and just was the phrase “fair and square”, where both elements mean “honestly” and so justly. But even so it is a tad tenuous I think, and I’m not even sure where “square” = “honest” comes from – or even if “fair and square” arises merely because it rhymes nicely.
I was another who set off like a rocket, but was slowed down in the bottom half. I biffed OUTDO.
FOI NOSTALGIA
LOI WATER BOATMAN
COD LOWDOWN
TIME 4:33
28:21 for the solve! Was something of a struggle once I reached the lower half. Maybe if I could have unravelled water-boatman quicker I would have got there but I couldn’t. Too many birds, mate, justs for my liking. Currently averaging 23+ mins for the last 14 puzzles – I need some Q in my QC
Thanks to Mara for a fair QC that came much closer to fitting the definition than seven out of the last ten (for me, at least). The grid was friendly and most answers went straight in but, like others, I slowed in the lower left quadrant. I still managed to finish in 12.58 – well within my new nominal target of 15mins. Perhaps my slowing brain still has a little to offer….
Thanks to jackkt. I never notice how many clues of different types there are – too busy simply trying to get answers that fit – so the discussion above passed me by, I’m afraid.
A nice way to approach the end of a very mixed QC year.
10:53, held up at the end by TOUCAN, where I wasted too long going through the names of fictional counts, having failed to spot ‘flies’as an anagrind.
I was impressed by ACE.
Thanks Mara and Jack
15 minutes. I didn’t know the ‘bug’ at 16a, which made this a difficult anagram, even with the enumeration. I also convinced myself that 6a was going to be RYE, which made the NE difficult.
Highlights were the first and last clues; the surface of NOSTALGIA was apt and ACE was a beauty, the first ? quad def cum cryptic def I can remember coming across.
Thanks to Mara and Jack
9.40. No particular problems, just a bit slow.
As others, fast for the top half and much slower for the bottom.
14 minutes in all. LOI was CRACKER, one of several good clues.
The Water Boatman took a while to find; I remember them being fairly common once.
A nice QC. FINGERTIP was tough.
COD to LAWFUL.
David
7,16 but with a typo. LAWHUL. Drat!. Thanks Mara and Jack.
Did fine but was held up in SW, apart from LAWFUL NUN. Once the penny dropped with WATER BOATMAN (can vaguely visualise the insect) I finished the rest.
LOI OUTDO which I dimly failed to parse.
Liked LOWDOWN, THROB, TITAN, AMATEUR.
Thanks so much for all your blogs, Jack.
Romped through the top half but the SW corner was harder and ended up stumped by five. If WATER BOATMAN is a bug I’ve NHO it; OUTDO was just plain hard (don’t like cook = DO); NHO SQUARE OFF (hoped it might be GLOVES OFF) but then I’m not a fighter; LOWDOWN and TITAN yes of course. (Jack, you have a typo there: bird not gird.) Thank you, Jack.
Well, I don’t know what happened there, but I was certainly on the same wavelength as our setter today and screamed out of my usual place at the back of the SCC to get a massive pb of 12:30!
Started with 1A, followed by all of the down clues off it and then proceeded to work down the grid finishing with a bit of a PDM with 20A – one of those that you don’t know why you didn’t see it sooner.
Thanks to Mara and Jack
🔥🔥
12:00
Indeed, mostly straightforward. Thanks for the blog, I just biffed ACE, but now I see that it’s a great clue.
Pleased to get WATER BOATMAN early, felt that others might struggle, and the comments reflect that.
COD NOSTALGIA
I used to get bitten by WATER BOATMEN in an uncle’s Somerset swimming pool as a child, so that was an easy one for me. As per many people above, the bottom was a lot slower than the top – I took a long time to see “tip” for “lean”, “square” for “just” and OUTDO.
Got there in the end for 08:37 and an OK Day. Many thanks Jack and Mara.
Found the bottom half tougher than the top and was very unsure of LOI OUTDO, failing to understand off=out. No problems with WATER BOATMAN (which is exactly what they look like). Many thanks Jack and Mara.
I had a lot more trouble with this one than Jackkt did, taking 17.23 to finally cross the line. I am feeling under the weather today with a throat infection and full blown cold, but I don’t think this made a lot of difference. I’ve seen enough David Attenborough programmes to have heard of a WATER BOATMAN, but had to convince myself that SQUARE OFF was right, I always think of it as Square Up, although that wouldn’t fit this particular answer.
Nice and quick in the top half, a nightmare in the bottom half, finishing in 22:00. Nice to get a mention in 16a and yes, I was very confused by the time I got to that point. OUTDO seems unnecessarily weird.
Thank you for the blog!
Finished correctly in 50 minutes. First for a while. Hooray !
Re 17 Down: “Bird, an enormous individual (5)
TITAN
TIT (bird), AN”
I assumed this clue referred to “Titan Birds” i.e. from Wikipedia :
Titanis (meaning “Titan” for the Titans of Greek mythology) is a genus of phorusrhacid (“terror birds”, a group originating in South America), an extinct family of large, predatory birds, in the order Cariamiformes that inhabited the United States during the Pliocene and earliest Pleistocene.
19 Across :
Top off cook (5)
OUTDO
OUT (off), DO (cook)”
I do not understand this answer. Does OUT=OFF ? or DO=COOK ? – I think not.
See above for ‘do / cook’. Out and off can both mean away, elsewhere.
Hi Jackkt
I know what you are saying but we get into the “anything can mean anything” scenario if
we stretch these meanings too far. Ah well. Never mind.
Have a happy New Year.
Regards
Well done Gordon 👍
Dnf…
How frustrating – after sailing through the top half and prematurely thinking I might be on for a good time, I slowed down at the bottom and then failed to get 11dn “Square Off”. What’s even worse is that it was on the tip of my tongue, but even after a quick alphabet trawl I was grasping at air and not associating “square” with “just/honest” didn’t help either.
FOI – 1dn “Nero”
LOI – dnf
COD – 14dn “Bracket”
Thanks as usual!
26 minutes.
Enjoyed this. Found outdo and toucan last of all.
Thanks to jackkt and mara.
Yes, mostly straightforward though our LOI OUTDO took some thinking, even with all the checkers. Still don’t feel comfortable with do/cook even though it came up no more than about three days ago in another puzzle. Thanks Jack and Mara.
Top half OK, bottom half a bit of a struggle but finished eventually all parsed in 21 minutes. Knew Water Boatman but still took a long time over the anagram.
FOI – 8ac REALISM
LOI – 5dn APARTMENT
CODs -7dn AMATEUR and 21dn ACE
Thanks to Mara and Jack
DNF @ 18 mins. Due to the dubious Outdo. Of the rest they fell into either straight write ins, or solved after a checker or two. Great puzzle. Thanks all
25 minute horror show as I took 10 minutes to get my LOI, GAMBLE (and OUTDO was a total guess).
As the time ticked away, I became increasingly stressed and anxious. A miserable day as I found myself unable to derive any enjoyment after such a poor finish.
There are people above who took far longer than you and are pleased. What did you enjoy about the puzzle?
Nothing TBH. When it takes me longer to get a straightforward LOI (with 3 checkers) than it takes for many to complete the entire puzzle, I am hardly likely to derive any enjoyment from the experience.
So why do it? It ain’t compulsory. Takes me 30 ish most times and I’m clever at other stuff, just not crosswording. But I enjoy the challenge – emphasis on Enjoy. Else, it’s pointless, surely??!
It’s many years since I’ve seen a water boatman. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zkUcr2q1mI
A very apt name
2d Sparrow. Failed to parse, thought someone might have invented SP=south pole, with an arrow being a line-ish. Doh!
16a Entered WAerrBOATMAN which delayed 17d Titan a lot.
21d Ace COD. ***** (5 star). Never seen a quad def let alone a double solution with the same answer.
7.08 That was very straightforward. I lost 40 seconds at the start because the web page was starting the timer without showing the puzzle. Clearing Firefox’s cache fixed it. The only other hold-up was LOI APARTMENT because of a careless NOSTALGIC. Thanks Jack and Mara.
15m. Still have the post Christmas foggy head. Struggled with gamble, water boatman, lowdown, member, and outdo.
COD Lowdown.
90 minute on 15 x 15. Four wrong answers, three by only one letter and the fourth after I had guessed the correct answer but couldn’t parse it. Very frustrated.
Is there a problem with the website?
Each time I comment, I am asked to enter my name and email address, despite me having saved these previously.
Thanks.
The same thing is happening on both my phone and my laptop.
13 solved today, I expect Monday’s to be easier. I’m getting better at spotting anagram indicators and content but still biffing based on an intelligent guess. Pleased to have solved trestle table, toucan and finger tip.
Re ACE, I read this as three, not four, definitions (as well as the initial letters, lovely clue). I read the first definition as Amazing Card, as it is generally the best card in the deck.
I’m another who didn’t warm to Outdo.
16:11 including 2 or 3 minutes talking when I forgot to stop the clock. The only one I couldn’t parse was LOI OUTDO.
22:59, continuing a run of slow times. WATER BOATMAN had to be dredged up from the depths. Not at all keen on the cross-reference at 14 down: for some reason I couldn’t bring GAMBLE to mind for ages, which meant 14d was also blocked.
Thanks to Mara and Jackkt.
Straightforward qc and when I’d finished I realised that the timer was on.
9 min 39 sec. Thanks, Mara and Jack.
Top off cook = OUTDO is the worst clue I can remember for a long time.
Makes no sense.
Off is not out. Do is not cook. Top is not outdo.
After spending an hour and a half I was left with this nonsense.
I’m fuming!
Lots of places where the equating of two words was either unsatisfactory or I failed to see the connection: Does NOSTALGIA mean longing for home? (no). Does LAWFUL mean just? (well …). Does ASSOCIATE mean member? (well …). Does dabbler mean AMATEUR? (at a pinch?). Does square mean just? (sort of …).
But I have no problem with do = cook. A bit of one, though with out = off.
At 13 I had it as a triple definition, with part of the body one of them, and a dreaded ‘with’ as a link-word. But that’s too rude for The Times and Jackkt’s parsing is much better.
8:13
Still in catch up mode – my time seems to have been about par for the course for the Quick Snitch (94) – pretty quick at the start, but slowed down towards the end. Wasn’t sure with SQUARE OFF until enough checkers in place, WATER BOATMAN required writing out the letters of possible anagrist before seeing it – thankfully knew what one of these looks like. LOI OUTDO
Thanks Jack and Mara