Times Quick Cryptic 2920 by Trelawney

123 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 2920 by Trelawney”

1. 6.05 for me, I agree that we seem to be going through an easier patch – mostly. There were quite a few anagrams today (I counted five) and the longer ones held me up while I waited for crossers. Liked HOME BREW, the cleverly hidden AGENDA and MOSES once I got it. Thanks Jack and Trelawney.

2. 7:46. I didn’t think of Moses as a prophet but all the sources I consulted confirmed he was. In fact in Deuteronomy he even made the claim for himself. And here I’d always thought I’d been paying attention in Sunday School.

3. Pretty slow to get some of the answers today and just worked my way around the grid. Took a while to see HOSTAGE for some reason and thought of Laird first before LIEGE popped out. Liked HOME-BREW and BRIGHT SPARK.
   Thanks Jack and setter.

4. I’d become so used to manage(d)=run/ran that I’d forgotten about ‘cope’, and it wasn’t until I saw COP that I remembered. 6:15.

5. A proper QC Finally.

6. Under 7′, so very straightforward, but enjoyable nonetheless. MOSES made me smile.

7. Looks like they have easy Monday for Quickies, too – I wonder what Friday will bring? I went as fast as I can go, getting about 2/3 of the across answers on the first pass, and then most of the downs. I really only had to go back for bright spark, home brew, period drama, and malarkey, and they were obvious with all the checkers.

   Time: 5:38

8. Thought I was going to be mega-fast when I got nine of the acrosses at the first pass but even with all those checkers the downs were trickier. Struggled for the longest with BRIGHT SPARK and then with RAPIDLY – where I failed to separate ‘quickly’ from ‘knock’ and so was in the wrong place for the definition, plus ‘idly’ and idly’ don’t sound the same! MALARKEY and HINDRANCE were both hard to unravel. Still quick in 10.15.

9. 9 minutes. As usual a slow start in the NW with HOME-BREW and MOSES both needing all the crossers and even HOSTAGE putting up some resistance. The rest went in without too much trouble, helped by a few answers which have appeared (wholly or in part) in various other places recently. Favourite was the surface for ESTRANGED adjacent to the poor old COP(s) who have to deal with this sort of thing.

   Thanks to Trelawney and Jack

10. Did this while awaiting the 15×15 blog. MALARKEY known but never used. Knew of the moshpit but didn’t know the verb, is it the same as pogoing?

    4’58”, thanks jack and setter.

    1. I’m not an expert so happy to be corrected, but I believe that pogoing is a ‘dance’ where you jump up and down as if on a pogo stick (although with your arms at your side) whereas moshing is a bit more chaotic.

    2. The area in front of the stage at concerts that encourage such vigorous activity is “the mosh pit”. Not an area I chose to frequent, it generally involved a lot of beer (and worse) throwing, and people throwing themselves into each other as violently as possible. Odd, but plenty seemed to indulge.

11. 5:15 for the solve and a new PB! Good old Trelawney – I’ve always found myself on the Squire’s wavelength, often more so than many of our esteemed solvers, and it appears that is the case again today.

    Eight of the Across clues banged in nice and quickly which gave a good framework for the Downs. Tentatively put MOSES and HOME-BREW and was held up by BRIGHT-SPARK, HINDRANCE, BREAK-IN and MALARKEY – which is a great word.

    1. 🔥🔥

    2. Well done on the PB.

    3. Think it’s time to lose the L plates.

    4. Congratulations!

    5. Congratulations! Bet that feels very good… : )

    6. Well done #50 on a fantastic time.

    7. 🔥🔥🔥
       I’d noticed some fast solves from you in recent days but 5.15 is a stunner!
       🔥🔥🔥

    8. Wow! Amazing! 🥳

    9. Mercy! I heard you roaring by in my sleep.

    10. !!!

    11. Congrats 🎂

    12. Thanks everybody 👍

    13. 👏👏👏

12. I found this a smidge trickier than some of Trelawney’s offerings but still at the easier end of the spectrum. HOME-BREW and RAPIDLY were the two that put up some resistance.
    Finished in 5.53
    Thanks to Jackkt

13. AGENDA and JAIL were the ones that caused me the most issues, EMBER made me smile. 52.13 for me, I’m not nearly as fast as many on here! But very happy to finish it.

    1. ‘It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.’ Well done Alex, the time doesn’t matter

       1. I agree, Lindsay. I don’t time myself, which is why I post only replies, here.

    2. Well done Alex. Glad you enjoyed it.

       My time above is one of the faster ones above, but three years ago in February 2022 I only had two successful solves in under an hour and many fails. Keep practicing and you will naturally start to see answers quicker.

       But also, as LindsayO says, the time doesn’t matter

    3. Well done on the finish! For me it’s not really about how fast you can solve but how much you’ve enjoyed the process. This is a fantastic site but it can also encourage a certain competitiveness. This element is clearly loved by many commenters but for others, myself included, it can detract from the pleasure of the solve and appreciation of the setter’s art. If you fall into this latter camp take care not to be sucked in and just enjoy this gentle, mind-expanding hobby.

    4. That’s our view too. Done easily over a snack lunch which is what we aim for.

14. In contrast with some of our other solvers, I was a bit concerned when I only had three or four of the acrosses on the first pass. But the downs proved easier and gave me a nice framework to work from thereafter.

    A nice start to a Monday. Thanks to Trelawney and jackkt

15. 4:59. A pleasant start to the week. None of the anagrams came easily apart from MALARKEY. My current HOME BREW is the makings of some absinthe… to be distilled this Thursday. Thanks Trelawney and Jackkt.

    1. Home brew absinthe!!! Ye Gods. Look out for the thujone.

       1. It is tasting rather good when done like this

    2. I love absinthe, it always gets an odd look when I ask for it in a bar. Prague is the place, they have specialist absinthe bars there.

       1. Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.

       2. It is tasting rather good when done like this

    3. To be taken with one of your super-hot chilis perhaps 😵‍💫

       1. It is tasting rather good when done like this

    4. Absinthe. Yum!
       I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, John.
       Cheers!

       1. It is tasting rather good when done like this

16. I took a while to get going, though on reviewing the puzzle afterwards I can’t see anything that should have unduly delayed me. I only parsed my LOI afterwards

    FOI SUSHI
    LOI MOSES
    COD RAPIDLY
    TIME 4:37

17. Sub SCC whilst replying to messages, so a friendly start to the week for me. HOME BREW required some checkers before I worked out what to do with “om” but otherwise no major problems. Needed that to arrive at MOSES and the dancing reference.

18. Grateful for an easy one on a half-asleep morning. The anagrams were a bit slow to come but otherwise hesitated only on HOME BREW (where I first thought that the mantra would be “hari”) and JAIL. All done in 06:37. COD EMBER.

    Many thanks to Jack and the Squire.

19. Very enjoyable, though somehow took a while to spot HINDRANCE despite checkers.

    Pi ❤️

20. 8:59. Good fun. I liked MALARKEY and BRIGHT SPARK but COD to HOME-BREW

21. 6.57 for me today. Like others found this a gentle solve. Had never heard of “OM” in 1AC so thanks Jack for clearing that one up. Seems that Trelawney has mastered the brief for a QC. Expecting the SNITCH to be very low today.

22. I biffed MOSES from the checkers, not being familiar with the dance, but that apart all smooth till my LOI POTTER, which I was slow to see: I think of a ceramicist as more to do with tiles not pots, and even briefly tried Loiter. It fits the checkers but not the wordplay, so I thought again and finally stopped the clock at 8:14.

    Many thanks Jack for the blog.

23. A pleasant start to the week. I was slow to start in the NW (and elsewhere!) but jumped around and gradually built up the grid, getting a bit faster as crossers emerged. Just over 15 mins in the end which I’ll accept quite happily on a Monday morning.
    I enjoyed the anagrams, plus EMBER, HOME BREW, and AGAINST.
    Thanks both.

24. 8:14 (death of Charlemagne)

    LOI was ESTRANGED, where on first pass I had assumed “alienated” was the anagram indicator and was looking for a word meaning “racing”.

    Thanks Jack and Trelawney

    1. I’m glad I’m not the only one that made that assumption.

25. Woohoo!

    12mins full solve is a PB. Thrilled and most enjoyable

    1. Congratulations 👏

    2. 🏆🔥💪

       Thrilled for you!

    3. Great progress!

26. 11.25 PB we think.
    Himself and I were zooming along , 7.35 (our best ever by a mile) with only 2 to go…and there we sat, slowed by JAIL (so obvious in hindsight of course) and PATTERN.
    AGAINST tickled. Was ‘unhurriedly’ necessary in 15 A?
    Question: when young, mother taught me that when doing concise crosswords, to work from words/letters you had already put in- both to provide a hint for the ‘next’ word and to minimise chance of an erroneous entry.
    For cryptics, it seems the usual method is to do all across then all down.
    Was mother’s method aberrant? Or is it that Cryptic answers, being logically derived, have parsing as an inherent check method?
    Advice welcomed, we are still very much on the learning curve.
    Thank you all – we may be slower than most of those who have commented above, but so much faster than when we started : )

    1. I know that some favour the all Across, then all Down technique but I think they may be the speedsters who like to biff as many as possible and then deal with stragglers. Many here, including myself, work on the basis of ‘get one in and build from there’, only venturing to other parts of the grid when they can build no further. Another method is to go for all the short answers (3, 4 or 5 letters) and multi-word answers which can often be a well-known phrase or saying that can really open up the grid.

       1. I think Simon Anthony gave similar advice to your mother on his Friday video (Cracking the Cryptic is an excellent channel on YouTube that I sometimes put on in the background mostly to understand his thought process – he is an excellent solver). it’s buried somewhere in a 90 minutes solve of the Friday 15×15.

          if its really easy then sometimes I just do the crossers and downers but 99% just fill in from the corner.

          there’s also a theory that setters often get a bit tired towards the lower right of the grid and the clues might be slightly easier there. I sometimes do this when it’s a stinker and I haven’t got anywhere on my first run through.

       2. That’s very helpful.
          After reading this blog I’ve settled into the all Across then all Down method but observed that I always solve more down than across clues on the first pass presumably aided by the letters already in place. But after reading your comment I’m going to try the ‘build on success’ method and see if my times improve.

          1. I go for a quick fire across and down and then the build method, if there is anything to build on (!) If I don’t get an answer within a few seconds I move on. Anagrams are easier with a couple of checkers.

       3. Thank you for this – we are ready to try all sorts of approaches – and having a glimpse of the reasoning behind each is very welcome.

          1. I start with the acrosses and if I get a few I’ll keep going for as long as I can. If I get none I’ll go to the downs after five or six across failures, and usually that will get things going because everybody knows the down are easier ha ha

          2. FWIW I used to religiously work through every clue in order before filling in the (often very large) gaps.

             When I eventually allowed myself to abandon this method my solving speed increased dramatically.

       4. I vary my approach according to mood, but I am never a biffer. I always parse everything, and I actually think that doing the acrosses (or downs) first is a much purer approach. I started doing it to force myself to approach each clue as a standalone exercise, which has to be solved without the benefit of a single letter. When every clue is a blank (for whichever direction you’re doing first), then you simply have no choice but to focus on the clue, because it’s all you have. I would have thought that the “building” approach is much more conducive to biffing, because you can glance at the checkers and think “that fits with X” before you’ve even looked at the clue.

    2. I always started with 1a, and if I see it build out from that corner. I move in quickly if I don’t see it from the start, then build out from my FOI wherever it is.

    3. Congratulations on your PB 💪

       Depending on my mood, I do it either way. Some of my fastest times have come organically growing the grid off of one answer. Today was Acrosses then Downs.

       I typically advise beginners to go through all the Acrosses then Downs systematically to get some letters on the board. Get the low hanging fruit. Fact is, as a beginner, I often had almost nothing to build off of, so why stare at a clue for 5mins thinking “Seven letter word beginning with a P that might mean …?” and frustrating oneself when there might be two or three clues elsewhere which give you more leverage.

       If, like today, I’m doing Acrosses then Downs, I take a quick look at each clue to see if anything crops up. Anagrams I often skip straight past – although estranged went straight in today because I expected it to end -ED and that left less to rearrange.

       The main drawback with an organic solve is that when the puzzle turns out to be difficult, I’ve occasionally found myself 15mins into it and discover a clue that I hadn’t previously looked at which turns out to be easy and gets things going.

    4. PB, excellent! 🏆🏆🏆

       Like many here I use a hybrid of building on what I have but also making sure I see all the clues early so that I catch all the write-ins and have something to build on. The right mix of tactics seems to be personal, and for me there’s a lot of juggling back and forth. On top of the juggling within each clue as I figure out the function of each word, it’s quite the wake-up experience.

27. A very enjoyable half hour spent on this.
    Thanks Trelawney and jackkt.

28. 17:30 and on the easier side. NHO “Moshes “, but answer obvious when crossers in. LOI MALARKEY, which we had not long ago.

29. An enjoyable QC, completed steadily. About the right level, as far as I was concerned. But a few unparsed, e.g. EMBER (COD), HOME BREW, MOSES (NHO Moshing), BRIGHT SPARK.
    Also liked JAIL, CRACK, RAPIDLY, among others.
    So blog much needed, Jack.

30. 9:11. The anagrams not jumping out at me at all today… lovely puzzle.

31. 18a assuming alienated was the anagram indicator threw me off. Managed to get ten mostly SE so, yes, on the simpler side.

32. 7:44 so a better than average time for me, but no pb, unlike others I see. Must try harder!

33. FOI HOSTAGE and LOI MOSES. I was slow to see HOME BREW, my penultimate solve, despite thinking of OM (from my yoga classes). Moshes is a familiar term but I used to dance rather than mosh in the 80s. COD to EMBER. 6:52

34. 4.30. So within my five minute target, which makes it a pleasant well judged starter for the week from Trelawney.
    FOI Jail, LOI Errand, but only because I take a completely random approach to these things, and they were the first and last that I looked at.
    I have commented before that regular solvers spot an anagrind quite easily, but that some of them, and I would include “racing “in this category, are a little hard to justify to a newbie.

35. NHO moshing, but MOSES an easy biff. Vaguely remembered OM. Good straightforward QC. Thanks Jack and Trelawney.

36. From HOME BREW to RAPIDLY in 6:42. I do a quick pass of the acrosses and downs, not lingering on clues that don’t come straight to mind, then build from the letters I’ve acquired. Thanks Trelawney and Jack.

37. 4:01

    Not many hold-ups in this quickfire grid. L2I were HOME-BREW and MOSES. I have been in a few MOS(H)ES, more by accident than design, some have been pretty wild and scary (if you should fall over, or drop your ‘phone, then it’s not much fun), and with others you get a bonus shower of beer (at least I hope it was beer!) – Hole at the Brixton Academy 1995 was when I ended up most drenched…

    Thanks Trelawney and Jack

38. 11 minutes for me. I should have paused to parse but biffing BRIGHT STARS held me up quite a bit at the end; I knew it probably would not pass muster.
    LOI BREAK IN which then prompted the correction.
    Could not parse MOSES but that did not delay me unduly.
    COD to EMBER.
    David

39. Finished correctly in an hour. First success for a long time.
    This may have seemed an easy one to some, but I am very grateful to Trelawney for creating a puzzle which gave a non-expert solver like myself a chance.

40. 13:22
    I think this may be a PB for me and certainly a rare trip outside of the SCC.
    Biffed HOME BREW from the checkers and slow to see AGAINST, LIEGE, JAIL and AGENDA – all for no obvious reason. Otherwise it could have been a sub 10:00 which, for me, would have been unbelievable.
    All in all, very, very happy!

    A big thanks t0 Trelawney & jackkt

    1. Well done CJ 👏

    2. Congratulations, take your place on the podium!

41. 7:34. Fast one, LOI PERIOD DRAMA, needed all the checkers.

    Liked SHE GOAT/HOSTAGE

42. 7:34. Fast one, LOI PERIOD DRAMA, needed all the checkers.

    Liked SHE GOAT/HOSTAGE

    COD EMBER: clever device, not seen before

43. I was rather slow on this judging by the above comments. It took me 19 minutes with several not parsed or not completely parsed. NHO either om or moshing which made the NW corner a bit tricky.

    FOI – 8ac SUSHI
    LOI – 2dn MOSES
    CODs – 18dn EMBER and 6dn AGAINST

44. Started with JAIL, needing all the checkers for HOME-BREW which ended up as one of my favourites alongside MOSES, MALARKEY and BRIGHT SPARK (such a great surface). Held up by RAPIDLY as I failed to separate quickly and knock (doh). Lovely puzzle. Thanks Trelawney and Jack.

45. 15 enjoyable minutes. Once I get one answer I just try and work from it. If really struggling go to the double words and anagrams first.
    Thanks Trelawney and Jackkt

46. Struggled a bit with the anagrams today – Period Drama really should have been a write-in – but it was loi Bright Spark that finally nudged me into the SCC. I was (bizarrely) thinking the green bit might be ‘stalk’, and once the wrong idea takes up residence I find it’s a devil to evict. CoD to 23ac, Malarkey, for the novelty. Invariant

47. I seem to have bucked the trend today by finishing in a slower than usual time. I eventually crossed the line in 12.22 for a relatively poor day.

48. I crossed the line safely in just short of half an hour, although it would have been several minutes quicker but for an unexplainable brain freeze at around the half-way point. Does anyone else hit the buffers for an extended period with lots of clues still to go at and then resume at normal speed (as if the hiatus hadn’t occurred) as soon as one of those clues has been cracked? It happens to me all of the time.

    All parsed, except HOME BREW and MOSES, although I sort of worked them out a bit.

    Many thanks to Jack and Trelawney, a true QC setter.

    1. I have moments of quick solving, then takes me ages to finish the rest. After 15 minutes I had 9 clues left, which then took me another hour to figure those ones out 🙂

    2. I have a similar block, where I complete all but four clues and an completely stuck, then go off and do something. Return an hour, or two, later and three of the four are write-ins and the fourth yields soon afterwards.
       I can only assume that my homunculus is working on it, when I’m not.

49. Was unaware at 2d Moses that to mosh is a verb, but I had heard of the Mosh Pit from D2 (born 1987) so not a great leap to the verb. 1st mention of moshing is from 1978, so older than D2, to my surprise. The verb added to Cheating Machine. Remind self not to have anything to do with moshing; rather like Dad Dancing, to be avoided at all costs.

50. 7.11 Quickest of 2025 again. The only real hold-up was reading the first word of 16d as “quietly”. Several times. Thanks Jack and Trelawney.

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