Hi everybody. This took me a little longer than typical for a Pipsqueak, but not unduly. I was a little surprised but also amused by 13d. Thanks Pipsqueak!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, most 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 | |
| 1a | Open a beer? (4) |
| AJAR — A JAR (a beer) | |
| 3a | Block old boy’s story involving Conservative (8) |
| OBSTACLE — OB’S (old boy’s) TALE (story) containing (involving) C (Conservative) | |
| 9a | Examine records protecting US (7) |
| DISCUSS — DISCS (records) surrounding (protecting) US | |
| 10a | A large number gather (5) |
| AMASS — A MASS (a large number) | |
| 11a | Sign peace agreement after change of heart (5) |
| TRACE — TRuCE (peace agreement) having had the central letter replaced (after change of heart) | |
| 12a | Rejection of deal about Northern Ireland (6) |
| DENIAL — DEAL around (about) NI (Northern Ireland) | |
| 14a | Opening an account like this long ago? (4,4,1,4) |
| ONCE UPON A TIME — A double definition | |
| 17a | Spike drink brewed by rogue? (6) |
| IMPALE — ALE (drink brewed) by IMP (rogue) | |
| 19a | Smile broadly, eating a bit of cereal (5) |
| GRAIN — GRIN (smile broadly) taking in (eating) A | |
| 22a | Strange echo in N American lake (5) |
| EERIE — E (echo) in ERIE (N American lake) | |
| 23a | Monstrosity I witnessed, you might say (7) |
| EYESORE — Sounds like (you might say) I SAW (I witnessed) | |
| 24a | Bless City fans abroad (8) |
| SANCTIFY — An anagram of (… abroad) CITY FANS | |
| 25a | Teacher taking temperature in prison (4) |
| STIR — SIR (teacher) taking … in T (temperature) | |
| Down | |
| 1d | Test India out somehow (8) |
| AUDITION — An anagram of (… somehow) INDIA OUT | |
| 2d | Adrift, as sailor often is (2,3) |
| AT SEA — Two definitions | |
| 4d | Angry doctor is so enfeebled (6,7) |
| BESIDE ONESELF — Make an anagram of (doctor) IS SO ENFEEBLED | |
| 5d | School attendants (5) |
| TRAIN — A double definition | |
| 6d | Man attending international eating this? (7) |
| CHAPATI — CHAP (man) + AT (attending) + I (International) | |
| 7d | Animal’s heading off towards the sunrise (4) |
| EAST — bEAST (animal)’s first letter is removed (heading off) | |
| 8d | Boyfriend pinching your desk (6) |
| BUREAU — BEAU (boyfriend) around (pinching) UR (your) | |
| 13d | Horny creatures on the pull at Christmas time? (8) |
| REINDEER — A rather naughty cryptic definition | |
| 15d | Romance upset PM once (7) |
| CAMERON — ROMANCE anagrammed (upset) | |
| 16d | Fisherman left in fit of pique (6) |
| ANGLER — L (left) inside (in fit of) ANGER (pique) | |
| 18d | American guy who works for Mossad? (5) |
| AGENT — A (American) + GENT (guy) | |
| 20d | A fight? That’s concerning (5) |
| ABOUT — A BOUT (a fight) | |
| 21d | Confusion among Times staff (4) |
| MESS — The answer is hidden among TiMES Staff | |
JAR = BEER is new to me, can someone please explain?
Thanks.
It’s just an informal word for a glass of beer. As in ‘let’s have a jar’
Thanks, appreciate it.
Australian slang
I thought the Australian slang for beer is “piss”! 🙂
🙂
I always thought Castlemaine XXXX was called XXXX because the Aussies didn’t know how to spell piss! 😄
Castlemaine 4X??
I thought we were talking about beer….. 🙄😄
Once upon a time, the landlord of our local was nicknamed “Castlemaine” because he had four ex-wives..
I thought Aussies enjoyed “a few scoops”. A JAR (or 3 or 4) is much enjoyed in and around Manchester.
Never heard jar used in Australia. Or scoops for that matter.
Very much an Irish usage in my experience, but not surprising that it would also be common in the north of England.
Bunged in ‘obstruct’ for OBSTACLE before seeing my error. Thought BESIDE ONESELF meant worried rather than angry but I see it can also mean ‘with anger’. Liked REINDEER. Everything else pretty straightforward.
Thanks Kitty and setter.
4:40
Can’ t remember the last time I got below 5′. DNK ‘on the pull’, but no problem. As a confirmed rhoticist, I needed a little time to get EYESORE.
From one “confirmed rhoticist” to another, lovely phrase.
Another ‘confirmed rhoticist’, here.
I had to look it up…
It seems cruel to have an R sound at the beginning there.
A touch of mondaymoringitis for me as I made hard work of some of this. It took me an age to see past ‘obstruct’ at 3a and a couple of the anagrams proved tricky.
Started with AT SEA and finished with CHAPATI in 7.18.
Thanks to Kitty and Pipsqueak
16 minutes. I solved all by 11ac in 10 minutes but failed to notice I had written some letters in the wrong order in AUDITION at 1dn. I was never going to get TRACE until that was corrected.
Fun! 13.38.
Pi ❤️
My Monday morning lethargy led to a longer time- 17.20 – a little slower than recent Pipsqueaks for me. A jumpy solve around the grid gradually provided essential crossers in many cases. A good puzzle, though.
I finished by filling in the empty NE corner which opened up once I saw OBSTACLE, my final EAST, TRAIN, and AMASS followed quickly (together with the rather neat CHAPATI).
Thanks to Pipsqueak and Kitty.
Brisk business on the penultimate Monday morning commute of 2025. Only hold up was the very good IMP ALE, which was LOI and reminded me of Hobgoblin beer.
When I had bar jobs as a student, pints were served either in smooth glasses with no handle (“straights”) or in the old school dimpled glasses with handles (known as “mugs” or “jars”). People could be very particular about which style of glass they wanted.
All done in 05:43 for 1.25K and an Excellent Day. Many thanks Pip and Kitty.
When I worked in a pub it was straight glass or handle in the salon bar or glass or a jug in the public bar. I thought the Australian slang was tinny.
Back when living in the ME, Aussie mates always invited us round for a few stubbies.
My friend from Perth called a beer can a tinny and small beer bottle a stubby.
I also worked in a pub, in Southampton in the 70s, where a jar was a very common expression, e.g. “I’m going for a jar”. I then moved to London, and worked in a pub again. Nobody had ever heard of the expression (they also didnt have straight glasses, only vulgar northerners had them.) When they did get straight glasses they had a bulge around the top (called sleeve glasses) to stop the glass slipping through your hand when it was wet with condensation caused by very cold beer (usually lager). True straight glasses have completely straight sides, sloping outwards towards the top. I think all of those colloquial expressions will depend where exactly you were bought up in England (completely different set for Wales, Scotland and Ireland), and to a great extent what level of wealth your parents had. Only wealthy Londoners write the dictionaries!
So that’s what those bulges were for! Thank you!
Plenty of handled glasses in the north during the 70’s, so not sure where the “vulgar northerners” expression came from. But I guess during that time, beyond the north circular everyone was northern.
They had handled glasses in the north, but unhandled pint ones were rare in the south in 60s and 70s. (not none, and I was refering to the attitude, which I also found distasteful).
I’m from Southampton – Woking to Watford = midlands, beyond that is frozen wastes. (also ironic).
A nice Monday puzzle. COD REINDEER Ho Ho Ho (somebody had to say it!).
Thanks Pipsqueak and Kitty
Wandered around the grid like a drunk ant. : )
Path complicated by silly mistakes (e.g. HEAPS in lieu of AMASS)
Spent too long trying to find a boyfriend in lieu of a desk.
And gosh, how many words are there for prison? : ) I would rather learn here than there.
And can’t think of a sentence where attendants = TRAIN. Can someone help please?
Haven’t thought of Hobgoblins for a long time..now off to sort difference b/w HG and plain Goblin.
Thank you Pipsqueak and Kitty.
All I can think of is paige boys behind a bride. I didn’t like that reasoning either.
“Train” (Collins) a long line of people, vehicles or animals moving slowly in the same direction. A bride’s train was originally the people (attendants), not the part of the dress.
Ah, thank you for that…. camel train etc.. : )
I’ve been that drunk ant!
6.07 with a typo
Another OBSTRUCT but sorted everything out. Liked REINDEER. Once stayed with some reindeer herders in Siberia for a few days. They’re much smaller than you think (the reindeer not the herders).
Nice blog; nice puzzle.
I was going to ask why but I suspect the answer would be yes I can tell you but I’d have to shoot you afterwards.
DNF, put in Allot instead of AMASS in haste. EAST went in so fast I didnt even spot the mistake. In the end I made up ColmATI for the food rather than look for an error. D’oh. Would have been a decent (for me) sub 8 time otherwise
13 in 20. Reindeer was a write in.
Annoyed at myself for having twigged beau as it appeared a few weeks ago in the concise I think, and then not completing the square.
19:06. A fairly steady solve after realising OBSTRUCT was wrong, albeit needing a couple of biffs to get there.
A bitty solve, jumping all over the grid, but I never quite came to a stop and finished in 11:24. Another who started with OBSTRUCT, but it was only lightly pencilled in as I could see it didn’t parse. BESIDE ONESELF was the key to unlocking much of the grid.
Thank you Kitty for the blog.
11 minutes. Same comment re BESIDE ONESELF as Quadrophenia so I was slow to get that and just about had to do an alphabet trawl for JAR for ‘beer’ at 1a. Otherwise not too many problems. I enjoyed REINDEER and the ONCE UPON A TIME double def.
Thanks to Pipsqueak and Kitty
Made heavy weather of this, finding BESIDE ONESELF and AUDITION difficult. REINDEER bit too obvious, though? (Oh! I missed the double entendre, thanks Kitty.) LOI TRACE.
LOI PDM AJAR ‘when is a door not a door?’
Tottered around the grid in fit and starts, biffs and bounds.
Liked EYESORE, TRAIN, BESIDE ONESELF.
Thanks vm, Kitty.
I have struggled a bit with Pipsqueak, so I was pleased to squeeze a sub-20 today, despite a slow start. While Once Upon a Time was a write-in, Beside Oneself needed quite a few crossers – I even began to doubt my choice of anagrist at one point. Loi Impale also took some time to see.
CoD to 7d, East, for the smooth surface. Invariant
Not too many difficulties with this gentle start to the week although I needed an alphabet trawl for my LOI. All done in 13 minutes and all parsed except 4dn – I realised it was an anagram but I had so many crossers by the time I got to it that I didn’t spend any time working out the anagrist.
FOI – 1ac AJAR
LOI – 11ac TRACE
COD – 13dn REINDEER. Also liked 6dn CHAPATI
Thanks to Pipsqeak and Kitty
No particular problems here. FOI AJAR and LOI BESIDE ONESELF in 6:34. COD to REINDEER because it made me smile. Thanks Kitty
I finished inside target at 9.26, but my feeling was that I should have been a good deal faster. I didn’t help myself by biffing OBSTRUCT for 3ac, and the delay and confusion caused by sorting it out probably adds at least a minute to the time. My LOI was MESS where as usual I failed to spot the hidden until the eleventh hour.
From OBSTACLE to DISCUSS in 8:26, with a smile at REINDEER en route. Had to write out the anagrist for AUDITION before that and AJAR materialised. Thanks Pipsqueak and Kitty.
12:07. The only holdups were 3a and 4d. ‘ Obstruct’ was obviously wrong but took a silly amount of time to see why and the long anagram would have been easier with pen and paper. Once those were sorted everything else fell happily into place.
Liked ‘impale’ and ‘eyesore’. Sniggered at ‘reindeer’.
Nice puzzle. Thanks Pipsqueak and Kitty.
9 minutes for me today; quicker than my average. LOI IMPALE; COD for me.
After Dean Mayer’s very tough Sunday puzzle (only got a few), this was a welcome return to QC land.
A lot of nice clues here.
David
An enjoyable start to the week. 16.09. I too biffed OBSTRUCT but knew it was wrong and came to OBSTACLE eventually – once I had the C from CHAPATI. Thanks Pipsqueak and Kitty.
That felt quite hard in places, with REINDEER and IMPALE taking me a third of my 15:30 total. I think I’m starting to develop a complex about cryptic definitions.
Thank you for the blog!
24:19
That was quite the workout with plenty of head scratching. Everything parsed in the end but for a while I had no idea what was going on with LOI IMPALE. I was looking for an anagram with brewed in there.
Also had Monday brain fog. SE three-quarters all quick, NW quarter ridiculously slow (in retrospect). Nice one, no quibbles for me, jar as a pint and train as a line of bridal attendants both well known, thanks Pipsqueak and Kitty.
My thanks to Pipsqueak and Kitty.
I found this very different from the usual QC, very clever and surely took an age to build. I found I was quite clueless on many of these, and the PDM came only after most of the check letters were in. I too thought the reindeer would be some kind of cracker. More like a Private Eye (Cyclops) clue than a QC.
11a Trace, OK I suppose trace=sign sometimes.
14a Once upon… Not a bank account then.
17a COD Impale.
8d Bureau, oh, UR not YR.
Wow! From AJAR to CHAPATI in 15 minutes, which is very fast for me. Mercifully, no breezeblocks today.
I enjoyed ONCE UPON A TIME. I have almost finished reading Dickens’ Hard Times and, given its grim plot and subject matter, have decided that the next book I read has to be more uplifting and able to be prefaced by ‘Once upon a time’ and concluded with ‘and they all lived happily ever after’. The latest Thursday Murder Club adventure by Richard Osman, perhaps?
Many thanks to Kitty and Pipsqueak.
I loved Hard Times and was just thinking about re-reading it! Maybe it will mellow in your memory 🙂
Read one of the Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde – first book is The Eyre Affair -if you want something offbeat and humorous
Liked this puzzle very much, finishing with warm tea still in the cup. REINDEER made me grin. LOI: BESIDE ONESELF because for some reason I took a while to cotton on to DOCTOR. Felt pretty stupid when the penny dropped!
Anyway, all parsed and correct in reasonable time
Thanks Pipsqueak and Kitty
11 mins…
A fast time for me, but not entirely straight forward. A few clues such as 1ac “Ajar”, 11ac “Trace” and 5dn “Train” needed thinking about.
FOI – 1ac “Ajar”
LOI – 9ac “Discuss”
COD – 13dn “Reindeer”
Thanks as usual!
Once I’d backed out “obstruct” (which was my actual FOI) it was smooth sailing. Thanks Pipsqueak and Kitty.
FOI DISCUSS
LOI AJAR (never mind last one in, somebody get ’em in!)
COD REINDEER
TIME 4:28
I had trade for TRACE, even though it made absolutely no sense whatsoever! I liked REINDEER and EYESORE. Just had a go at biggie. Failed to solve two but the rest seemed fairly doable if you’re wanting to trade up. Many thanks Kitty.
10:31 and the big laugh at REINDEER kind of wiped out all my other impressions. Though the furniture-stealing boyfriend also made its mark. Thanks Pipsqueak and Kitty.
Today is the two-year anniversary 🎉 of my discovery of TfTT and the beginning of my daily QC habit. Although I love the QC itself, I’m not sure I would have stayed with it so tenaciously without the benefit of the good-natured group that gathers here.
What began as a daily experience of a lengthy, bewildered solve, or failure to solve, followed by a lesson from the TfTT blogger, has ripened into an amusing game that sometimes takes second place in my pleasures to the discussion I find here afterwards. Instead of an entertaining but solitary pastime, I get to read about your experiences and points of view, all expressed in a civilized, light-hearted conversation that enriches my days. I look forward every day to hearing how you fared with the puzzle, what you liked, what peeved you, your triumphs and frustrations, wit and wisdom, and to sharing my own thoughts with the sympathetic audience I know I can count on.
So many thanks to the setters, the bloggers, and the commentariat. Long may we solve!
… and I forgot to add my thanks to the behind-the-scenes maintainer(s?) of the blog!
May I absolutely second your, and Too often Lost’s comments.
My only regret is that I have to miss some QC’s and the subsequent blog and comments on TfTT.
May I say, I am in love with your cute avatar.
Happy anniversary!
As for your comments – Hear! Hear! Very well said.
I tiptoed into the TfTT site with genuine trepidation, worried I was not up to scratch, that the group may be tightly knit and.. and…
Instead, I found a choir of kindly and witty souls, voices heard, never to be met.
I look forward to my morning merriment of solving challenge and post effort banter. My comparatively slow mosey around the grid only serves to extend the pleasure. One must pity those poor souls who come and go within just a few minutes.😉 Yes, long may we solve though faster may we become…
Terrific post!
🥂🍾
How well you expressed the way I feel, too. I’m sure that all involved, here, will be warmed by your comments.
Surrendered @ 25 mins. With Impale beating me. Most clues were quickly solved except Besides oneself, which took a long time to workout despite seeing the obvious anagram. Thanks all
19:35
As others hampered myself with not being able to get OBSTRUCT out of my head even though it clearly didn’t work.
Also as others, meandered all over the grid like Too Often Lost’s inebriated ant.
Despite that, a thoroughly enjoyable QC with a rare parsing of all the clues.
FOI: AJAR
LOI: IMPALE
COD: REINDEER
Thanks to Kitty and Pipsqueak
7.34 A slow start with FOI EAST. I was sufficiently awake to realise that OBSTRUCT didn’t work but not enough to solve it without checkers. LOI DISCUSS. Thanks Kitty and Pipsqueak.
Thanks for comments so far. I should have subtitled the blog, “when is a beer not a beer?”.
Nice one, Kitty 😺
😂
9:48 for the solve. Thanks Kitty and Pipsqueak
I just give up with this! ☹️
21 minute DNF after putting EYRIE for EERIE. That’s another week blown. Why do I make these idiotic mistakes?
Struggled throughout and didn’t enjoy it. A dismal effort given the Snitch score and comprehensively beaten by the vast majority of solvers here.
Might have finished 15 x 15 (still to check), so it must have been ‘easy’ according to the Snitch.
Totally fed up at my continuing ability to make a mess of this.
2 hours on ST cryptic yesterday and still 4 short! Then realised no answers until next week, so unable to see where I went wrong.
7.28. Add me to the list of those expressing appreciation to the bloggers and administrators,
15:53 done a day late. Held up by the most Ikeaish (could almost be a Ronseal) of them all …denial
Ta KAP (and all the rest of you wonderful peeps)