Times Quick Cryptic No 1803 by Joker

65 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1803 by Joker”

1. I biffed HIPPO, SERPENTINE, & GAS, parsing post-submission; GAS took me a while. For humans, the hippopotamus is the deadliest animal in Africa. 5:21.
   1. I thought man was the deadliest animal for humans in Africa.
      1. It’s the mosquito. By some distance.
2. After 27 minutes, I gave up on HEROINE and PASTEL (hiding in plain sight)! I had a faster time on the main.
3. Check my blog of the daily – I think there is a shared theme, with HIPPOPOTAMUS, IGNORAMUS and GAS contributing to it from the QC
   1. 6D really should have been MUD.
4. ….reading the first three words of 1 across and putting in hippopotamus, and finishing the top half in less than three minutes. Unfortunately, as often happens, I lost momentum and ended up taking 10:50 to finish. Abominate and discontented were particularly elusive.
5. 9 minutes. I don’t know if hippos have always been associated with the word ‘wallowing’ but for most Brits who were around in the 1950’s and 1960’s the connection was firmly established in ‘The Hippopotamus Song’ written and recorded by Michael Flanders and Donald Swann and featured in their revue ‘At the Drop of a Hat’ that played to acclaim both in London’s West End and later in the US. The song was also recorded by the singer Ian Wallace for whom it may well have been written originally before the revue was envisaged. The chorus goes:

   Mud, mud Glorious mud,
   Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood,
   So follow me, follow,
   Down to the hollow,
   And there let us wallow
   In glorious mud.

   The word IGNORAMUS appears elsewhere in the lyric rhyming with HIPPOPOTAMUS, in that verse pronounced HIPPOPOT-AYMUS in order to fit.

   One of their other most famous songs was ‘The GAS Man Cometh’.

   Edit: Written before reading George’s blog.

   Edited at 2021-02-04 07:26 am (UTC)

   1. This is OK but I far prefer the follow-up in ‘At the Drop of Another Hat’:

      The amorous hippopotamus whose love song you know
      Is now married and father of ten
      He murmurs ‘God rot ’em as
      He watches them grow
      And he longs to be single again…’

      1. Fortunately we can have both! I’ve listened to all the songs so many times over the years that sometimes I decide to really concentrate on Donald’s exquisite piano-playing. It’s an absolute treat and his music always matches the words perfectly.
6. ..another careless typo

   Nice puzzle. Liked BULLION. Biffed GAS

   Dont live a million miles from Cheddar but still wanted it to be ENLARGE. COD for that one.

   Thanks Jeremy and Joker

7. Another very satisfying puzzle without any obscurities. The flow took me from the bottom upwards and I had the lower half of the grid completed within 15 minutes. The top half took another 20, so, finished and all parsed within my target 40 minutes. Happy days. If only I could solve life’s challenges so easily.
   LOI ANON. COD Too many to list.
   Thanks Joker and Rotter.
8. Pink squares for the third time this week and second time due to carelessness. NHO of SERPENTINE as a mineral and it look me a long time to untangle the anagram which I then entered incorrectly and so messed up KNAVE. Also took a long time over HIPPOPOTAMUS despite seeing POP immediately but it was PANNIER that really held me up. I’ve heard of the film — and know Shirley Temple was in it — but didn’t know she was an orphan so that was tough but the time taken over PASTEL was all my fault. 18m with 2 errors from one typo — which I’d never have done on paper etc etc

   Edited at 2021-02-04 07:50 am (UTC)

9. Sorry Mr. Rotter – this is yesterday’s QC post.Your intro is short, sweet and so easy to access. I’m delighted my WOD made you smile earlier this week. Your blog, a perpetual joy! as noted before, the 15×15 would suit you well.

   FOI 1ac HEARTACHE

   LOI 9ac EYESORE

   COD 20ac ABALONE

   The time of this 13dn was 12:30 mins

   More later!

   1. Many thanks — I get your drift, and look forward to later.
10. An unscathed submission made a pleasant change. I thought this was quite tricky for a QC despite knowing all the words and almost all their meanings. Serpentine sleekness was always my weakness like a simple tune, although not as a mineral.
11. I’ve been putting off getting new specs during lockdown for obvious reasons, but it caused me some bafflement today. I read the definition of 1a as wallflower and only saw the real definition when reading Rotter’s excellent blog. When the checkers eventually made the answer obvious I stuck it in with a shrug and wondered if there was some random plant named after the animal as they’re not known for being particularly shy. 🤣
    Other than that it was steady going with SERPENTINE being new to me but it was kindly clued and didn’t hold me up for long once a couple of checkers were in place. Finished in 12.49 with LOI SLENDER and CoD to IGNORAMUS.
    Thanks to Rotter
    1. Specsavers advert comes to mind!
12. An enjoyable QC but with some twists. Like steak city, I started from the bottom up. I only got 1ac given a few crossers and left rotter to parse it for me. LOsI were TWEAK and PASTEL which, again clicked when given crossers. Time flew by and I was surprised to be a minute over target at 16mins. I started to list my favourite clues and gave up because there were simply too many. Grateful thanks to Joker for an excellent puzzle and to rotter for his usual thorough but focussed blog. John M.
    1. FOCUSSED! Like it.
13. Hmm. My first post disappeared… Try again. I was on Joker’s wavelength today and fairly whizzed through this pausing only at the end to work out the parsing of my LOI, GAS. COD to IGNORAMUS, not least for its connection to 1A that Jackkt has already noted. A pity we didn’t get MUD at 6D. 3:47.
14. … as all done in just under 10 minutes. LOI was 23A Chat, as I had not heard of (or I think more likely had heard of but could not remember) the little bird; but the answer was clear from Joker’s very nice cluing and the two checkers so in it went.

    That apart, all parsed: as Rotter says in his blog, nothing unusual, obtuse or difficult here. In fact we are in what I consider a purple patch of really good QCs, all fair and all enjoyable. Thank you setters, and perhaps our collective reward for slogging through some much more chewy ones in January.

    Many thanks to Rotter for the blog, and I do agree with John that 6D should have been Mud!
    Cedric

15. The blogs are numbered. This is 1803. Your comments are for 1802 (where posts can still be added). Not helpful.

    Edited at 2021-02-04 09:07 am (UTC)

    1. Read between the lines!

       Edited at 2021-02-04 09:08 am (UTC)

16. 
    FOI: 1a
    LOI: 4d

    Time to Complete: 45 minutes

    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 24 (Yes! You read that right!)

    Clues Answered with Aids (3 lives): Nil

    Clues Unanswered: Nil

    Aids Used: Nil

    Wrong Answers: Nil

    Total Answered: 24/24

    Let me just recover for a moment. After yesterday’s disappointment, which left me questioning my ability to solve these QC crosswords, I have had a fantastic result. Not only did I manage to complete this one, but I used no aids at all!

    I took a risk with 7d SERPENTINE as I was not aware of a dark green mineral so named. I was tempted to use an aid for this one, but decided against it. Rather, I risked it in order to get my first full completion without aids.

    My FOI was HIPPOPOTAMUS, and that answer came to me immediately on reading the clue. I then backwards engineered it to see if it fit the clue, and it did.

    My favourite clue was 12a KNAVE, as the clue had lots of parts to it, but was very clever.

    A great start to the day. Not only have I completed this QC without aids, but my new Pea Coat arrived today.

    Oh, and I completed this in 45 minutes.

    Edited at 2021-02-04 09:42 am (UTC)

    1. Congrats, PW, and well done for persevering further along the bumpy road.
    2. Well done! You are obviously learning the lingo.
       Even the professionals fail to complete the odd one, for some of us, completing the odd one is a reward in itself.
    3. Nicely done. I still have the printed copy of my first QC completed with no aids.
    4. Well done!! Hopefully many more to come.
    5. Well done. It seems that you got the ‘completion high’ ! The only problem is you will now be addicted ..The faster you solve the more time left in the day to do less enjoyable things too.
       1. Well, there is the 15×15 I could attempt and blog. However, I feel that my blog entries would just be filled with expletives, as I struggle to answer a single clue.

          I sometimes attempt the Daily Telegraph crossword. I find its clues have more individual word play than The Times QC. I am assuming it’s the same for the 15×15.

17. 13:38, I think I am looking at an aggregate of close to 60 mins for the week so far. Nothing to scare the horses today, either.

    NHO SERPENTINE. Seems that the setter went for a tertiary definition, here. Perhaps for a QC the clue might have read “Convoluted Newton…” or even “London Lake where Newton was found among rocky pine trees”. Most minerals end “-ITE”, so I was penciling words such as “Spreennite”

    COD BULLION. Always good to have a new clue type, I’ve not seen “overlap” before.

    ABOMINATE is a much rarer word as a verb than the adjective Abominable. So rare that I wasn’t sure it was a word at all.

    12A: This hand (K,A,5,3) is a low score in cribbage (fifteen-two)

    Edited at 2021-02-04 10:35 am (UTC)

    1. Ah, but perhaps the box might improve your cribbage score. For example two 4s would be very helpful! MM
18. A quick solve today. FOI hippopotamus — fascinating to see how it was clued. Much to enjoy here — the clueing was amusing without being over-obscure. I normally solve on paper, but I do use the digital version. I get some wizard times whacking in a grid I’ve already solved! I’m timid about checking the clock before I start the paper version as I always expect to come unstuck somewhere, so I never really know how long I take to solve, but somewhat inside ten minutes today. As an aside, I tried the 15 x 15 yesterday, managed about a third of it, then used reveal on a couple of intransigents which meant I could solve a few more with checkers. Might have a go today since this went quite quickly. Thanks Rotter and Joker. GW
19. Finally completed a Joker successfully !! What a feeling,almost as good as when Thistle score!
    About 31 mins too! Might have to frame it.
    Cheers Therotter and, of course, Joker.
20. I woke early today and got stuck into 1803 straight away. Because of some cognitive issues I rarely do more than 20 or so minutes at a time but today I pretty much worked straight through it. I solve on paper so didn’t get the pink square alarm bells that not all was right. FOI, Hippo, saw it straight away. Something else I saw straight away was Garribaldi for 10d, once I had 14a and 18b (how many biscuits have a b late in in their name?). I biffed and thought I’d parse it later. Hence I spent an age on 24a thinking it began IN…! I eventually realised my error and things fell nicely into place thereafter. EXCEPT, I couldn’t get “shed” out of my head for small building at 9a. I answered “shedder” and only realised I was wrong on reading Rotter’s blog. I need to learn to be less stubborn. COD 17d. LOI (wrongly) 9a. Despite some issues I really enjoyed today’s QC. Many thanks to Joker and Rotter.
21. puzzle.

    Heroine last in. Liked the device for BULLION. Also liked SHORTBREAD, PANNIER and BASIC!

    6:02.

22. FOI HIPPO, LOI HEROINE
    A witty QC.

    COD SHORTBREAD which made me smile. Also liked BULLION, SLENDER, REMARK, BASIC, and was amused that SPROUT is an anagram of Proust.

    Biffed SERPENTINE anagram. NHO mineral.

    Thanks vm, Rotter.

    Edited at 2021-02-04 10:24 am (UTC)

23. Worked my way steadily through this challenging puzzle and pleased to finish it, guessing SERPENTINE.
24. A really good morning today. New word SERPENTINE, I didn’t know that meaning.

    It took me ages to get GAS ‘cause I put ENLARGE instead of ENGORGE.

    Thank you, Joker and Rotter.

    Diana

25. An enjoyable 15:27. FOI HIPPOPOTAMUS, with the right spelling. Crosswords have taught me not to put too many Os in it and, anyway, the cluing helped. COD SPROUT for being so unbelievably awkward.
26. Indeed an opportunity missed at 6dn. FOI 1ac the HIPPO: yes it kills c.500 persons per annum. The deadliest animal/insects are the mosquito and the tsetse flies – a tad more dangerous.

    LOI 4dn PASTEL – initially missed!

    COD 2dn IGNORAMUS – ‘You silly, twisted boy, Neddy!”

    WOD 7dn SERPENTINE – geology A level

    Time 8:45

    Edited at 2021-02-04 11:21 am (UTC)

27. Needed help with 1A – what a brilliant answer – and 15A. Might have got 24A if hadn’t put in gas for 22D. Thanks.
28. An excellent puzzle from Joker. It took me about 10 minutes on paper with a delay at the end over 11a, HEROINE, where I had not got the definition clear. FOI was CHAT.
    Smooth surfaces and just the right level of challenge for a QC, I thought. COD to IGNORAMUS.
    David
    1. And there in a nutshell is the challenge we solvers set the setters. Your FOI was my LOI — and yet we ask them to set a puzzle that both of us find fair and enjoyable. After the debates (to use a neutral word) of the last fortnight or so I am growing both in admiration that they ever satisfy any of us, and tolerance when I find one not entirely to my taste.

       Cedric

29. An enjoyable 10 minutes or so but FOI was 14ac so I wasn’t hopeful at first. For some reason I mis-parsed 21ac and had gougere in my head ( a french cheese Choux concoction ) . Rushed into 20ac with million until I re-read the clue. ‘Always read the question’ came into my head from exam days….
30. FOI 2D: IGNORAMUS
    LOI 11A: HEROINE

    Another enjoyable puzzle – unavoidably interrupted part way through which put paid to a sub-10 minute.

    Thank you, therotter and Joker.

31. Congratulations.
32. I found this tricky — and had just one answer after 8 mins which was worrying. However, after getting a foothold in the SW corner I worked my way back up and managed to complete in 23 mins. Like Rotter, looking back I’m not sure what was so difficult — however, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

    Overall, I thought this was a good puzzle. Liked 1ac “Hippopotamus” and 7dn “Serpentine”, although it took far too long to see “Shortbread” even though I had the “bread” part.

    FOI — 6dn “Mad”
    LOI — 9ac “Slender”
    COD — 20ac “Bullion”

    Thanks as usual.

    Edited at 2021-02-04 12:31 pm (UTC)

33. I had no problems with this until I submitted and found that despite my proof reading, I had missed a typo with HIPPOPATAMUS. Careless!. Otherwise 8:34 WOE. Thanks Joker and Rotter.
34. This was definitely a ‘can’t see the wood for the trees’ day. Not only did I waste time trying to think of a word meaning endlessly for 1ac, I also tied myself in knots (that will be P for soft…) with loi Pastel. Throw in the surprisingly troublesome Sprout, and an age to think of Object, and 27mins starts to look like a small triumph. Lots to enjoy, with 3d, Pannier particularly good, but CoD to 8ac, Anon — quite a few of them around these days. Invariant
35. Thank you Joker – we had a lot of fun with your puzzle. Some excellent clues that were a pleasure to solve. We finished in 10 minutes.

    FOI: hippopotamus
    LOI: gas
    COD: bullion (Mrs Peel), shortbread (Steed)

    Thanks for the excellent blog Rotter.

36. I am a bit like Rotter wondering why I didn’t finish sooner but I am not complaining as I sneaked in under my 10 minutes target. HIPPO went straight in before I had even finished reading the clue but there were plenty of hesitations all over the grid. I biffed PASTEL and PELICAN once I had most of the checkers in place and OBJECT required the B from BULLION…not sure I have seen this overlapping clue type before now. SERPENTINE was a guess and my LOI was SLENDER. Thanks all.
37. A successful solve in 58 minutes for me today, but it could have been 20 minutes quicker if I hadn’t got totally stuck on the two intersecting pairings of HEROINE/PASTEL and ENGORGE/GAS. What is it that makes one’s brain freeze up, so that relatively simple words become out of reach?

    So far this week, Mrs R (23 minutes today) has spent significantly less, in total, than half the time I have on the QCs – and, unlike me, without suffering a DNF.

    Thanks to therotter and to Joker.

38. Some lovely clues today. Particularly liked HIPPOPOTAMUS, KNAVE and PANNIER.

    NHO SERPENTINE, or CHAT as a bird, rather than an Indian starter. Both were nicely clued though so had to be correct.

    Thanks Joker and Rotter.

39. Really fair qcs so far, this week. Much enjoyed. Thanks, editor, setters and bloggers.
40. Like Rotter I was stumped by SPROUT in 15A for no good reason and also failed to see the parsing of PASTEL though I biffed it.

    COD was definitely BULLION as I liked the overlapping indicator.

    Thank you for the explanations, Rotter and Joker for the puzzle

41. An early post from me… I was surprised how I was able to switch to Joker’s wavelength so easily today as 1a and most of the top half dropped in with all those first letter to confirm my reasonings. Many clever clues to enjoy and a new device (for me) in 20a. I was set for a fast time but got stuck being uncertain of 23a Chat for too long, and having seen Gorge too short for 21a entered Enlarge until 22d Gas forced a rethink and then, of course, it was obvious that I had been on the right track all along. Reading Rotter’s blog I see I missed a couple of anagrams (24a entered from crossers; 2D seemed too nice to ignore after 1a cf Jackkt et al) and even the 4a Pastel from the initial letters. If it hadn’t been for my last 21a/22d it would have been a rare sub-30 minutes for me rather than about 45. But what an entertaining way to spend 45 minutes on a rainy day!

    Thanks to Joker for an entertaining puzzle and Rotter for his usual high standard blog.

    FOI 1a Hippo. LOI 21a Engorge. COD 15a Sprout for the surprise anagram.

    (Still getting the error messages pestering for a new ID & password and now locked out for an hour – what a pain).

42. Tricky in places for no apparent reason. How long can it take to untangle a 6 letter anagram? Also took a long time to see PASTEL which, with the 20/20 vision of hindsight, was glaringly obvious. 26 minutes with interruptions.

    FOI – 14ac REMARK
    LOI – 4dn PASTEL
    COD – 10dn SHORTBREAD

    Thanks to Joker for a fine puzzle and to Rotter for the blog

43. Always pleased to see Joker’s name at the top of the QC and today’s was particularly enjoyable. FOI was HIPPOPOTAMUS, though I didn’t parse the end bit of it for a while. LOI SHORTBREAD. Not sure I’ve come across the word ABOMINATE before, but I like it, so I think I’ll make that my WOD. Difficult to choose a COD, but I think I’ll go for 20a. Time was 23:23, so almost respectable for once. I’m sure I’ll be crashing back to Earth tomorrow. Thanks Rotter and Joker.
44. Brilliant completion and a really good time for a Joker too. Well done!
45. ….beware of a HIPPOPOTAMUS in the SERPENTINE !

    My only problem here came at the very end as I tried to justify “upsort”. What a stupid boy !

    FOI HIPPOPOTAMUS
    LOI SPROUT
    COD PELICAN (for the image it conjured up !)
    TIME : 3:59

    1. I had UPSORT too but thankfully remembered to go back and check it before it was too late! MM
46. Reading the clue properly will help.
    I was weeding in close proximity to my wallflowers yesterday so missed Hippopotamus early on. Drat.
    But a final dnf….just couldn’t see Heroine… which in hindsight is fairly obvious- especially if you have all the checkers…around 25 minutes with the dnf.
    Lots to enjoy, many smart clues.
    Couldn’t parse Mad so thanks for the blog.
    Thanks all,
    John George
47. I did this in just a smidgeon over a quarter of an hour. I’m feeling delighted that I was so close to Rotter’s time. I got HIPPOPOTAMUS first which gave plenty of starting letters. (I saw Flanders & Swann in At the drop of another hat- they were brilliant). Like others it took me ages to see why 4d was PASTEL. I wasn’t sure about 23a but I know of the stonechat.
    COD PANNIER
    LOI OBJECT ( I put INTENT to start with which makes no sense)
    An enjoyable solve. Thank you Joker & Rotter.
    Blue Stocking

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