Times Quick Cryptic 851 by Joker

15 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 851 by Joker”

1. …because the Times decided that Monday should last until nearly 3 AM on Tuesday morning – never seen that before!

   My time was 10:35, as I biffed answer after answer into 2 down. A surprising number of words that might mean ‘keep in mind’ fit the slot, but they were knocked out one by one as the checkers went in. Finally, I had no choice but to put in the correct answer.

   Most of this was pretty easy, which was why I attacked it so aggressively.

   1. I assume the late rollover to Tuesday (which I noticed because for once I actually wanted to read the news in the very early hours) was down to the delicate political situation in the UK at the moment, and they were waiting as late as possible to finalise the day’s content. The facsimile version of the newspaper available through one of the more expensive subscription schemes is regularly not accessible until around dawn.

2. Fairly straightforward. Liked HEATHEN, and especially THE GONDOLIERS, which has as Jack says a lovely surface. COMMEMORATION was my LOI,which I was parsing as I typed, thinking of ME (a musical note) unfortunately; parsed once the congratulations were over. 4:17.
3. 24 mins and enjoyable.

   Last 4 were cleft, suppose, westerner and LOI broach which was a bit of a tossup between brooch and broach, maybe too early with lack of coffee.

   Lots of nice clues, particularly COMMEMORATION and COD HEATHEN.

4. Raced through this until I got to the dreaded operetta in 6dn. I knew it was THE something, but had to cheat to get the answer, I’m afraid. My knowledge of anything opera-related is nil. This led me to biffing in NELSON at 23ac without understanding why it worked. Thanks to this blog, I now do. Still think there were some slightly tricky ones here for beginners. Including my cheat at 6dn, finished in 35 minutes. Gribb.
5. Just after Orpington, which makes it at the easier end.

   Loved HEATHEN and THE GONDOLIERS (I walk past Sullivan’s memorial in the Savoy Gardens most mornings).

   Thought 2dn was “commemorating” but the anagram at 22ac sorted that out.

   Whenever I see “millions”, plural, I automatically think it’s signifying MM not M – to me, M should be clued as “million” not “millions”. (Eg £10m = ten million pounds.)

   Thanks to Joker and blogger.

   Templar

   1. Actually £10m is more than one million so is plural, even if it is always said as “ten million”, and if you didn’t want to be precise you could have said “millions of pounds” rather than £10m (sorry to be so pedantic)

      Edited at 2017-06-13 10:36 am (UTC)

      1. Conversely, £1m is not more than one million. Which is why I think that M should be used for “million”, not “millions”.

         Templar

         1. As so often with such discussions about crosswords it comes down to what the source dictionaries support, and it’s clear that “m” can stand for million or millions. However it’s rather fun that in another context it can only stand for a thousand.

            Edited at 2017-06-13 01:06 pm (UTC)

6. 9 mins – very good for me
   Would have been quicker except for trying to fit “WESTENER” and crossing it out when it didn’t fit.
   I used to do lighting for an amateur dramatic group, our rehearsals were immediately after the Light Opera group so I have heard all of G&S in small bits more times than I care to think about.

   Edited at 2017-06-13 10:30 am (UTC)

7. 6.07 with the two long ones last to fall. From first glance both looked likely to be much easier with all the checkers in place, especially as my knowledge of opera is patchy at best. Everything else was pretty straightforward.
8. I retired to bed long before today’s edition appeared, so have just rattled through the concise, quickie and cryptic puzzles after a late breakfast and perusal of the news. BICEPS was my FOI. Both the long down clues yielded quickly. I smiled at HEATHEN and finished with REAGENT. 9:38. Thanks Joker and Jack.
9. 17 mins for me, but I lost a couple transferring from platform to train and then looking for a seat, so probably close to my target. At first I thought the opera might start with DIE, as in Die Fledermaus, but I had also played with THE something, which actually helped me get CRATER.

10. I spent an enjoyable 15 minutes on this one and was very relieved when I managed to pluck 6d out of the depths of my memory as I always get a bit anxious about opera clues. Particularly enjoyed my LOI 17a.
    Thanks for filling in Jackkt
11. 9d was my last one to get so I had all the checkers and STILL couldn’t get it!
    So gave up and came to look on the blog, thanks Jack and Joker.

    COD 17a because it gave me a smile.

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