Solving time: 11:43
My third blog in succession where I’m blogging a setter for the first time – this time it’s Pedro. Curiously, my solving time is exactly the same as for Jalna two weeks ago (QC2407).
I didn’t find today’s offering that straightforward and initially wondered whether I might be having an off day. However, looking back over Pedro’s last seven grids, I’ve grasped a soupçon of comfort to find that of those seven, I had broken ten minutes only once (QC2344).
Could Pedro be one of our consistently more-challenging opponents? Let me know what you think….
Definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [directions in square ones].
| Across | |
| 1 | Snapshot capturing final manmade material (7) |
| PLASTIC – PIC (Snapshot) ‘capturing’ LAST (final)
Capturing is used as a photography-relevant ‘containing’ word here. |
|
| 5 | Show weariness, encountering a long tale (4) |
| SAGA – SAG (Show weariness) encountering A | |
| 7 | Search female? Anger about that (5) |
| RIFLE – RILE (Anger) about F (female) | |
| 8 | Determined soldier standing behind a barrier (7) |
| ADAMANT – ANT (soldier) behind A DAM (barrier) | |
| 10 | Sailor cheers end of tour (3) |
| TAR – TA (cheers i.e. thanks) {tou}R [end of TOUR] | |
| 11 | New trams made for this city? (9) |
| AMSTERDAM – Anagram [New] of TRAMS MADE | |
| 13 | Number wait, losing heart, for legal official (6) |
| NOTARY – NO (Number) TA{r}RY (wait – with middle letter removed [losing heart])
This was my LOI – bunged in from definition and three checkers and parsed post-completion. |
|
| 14 | Spirited meeting in the main, delightful after one departs (6) |
| SEANCE – SEA (main) N{i}CE (delightful) with I removed [after one departs] | |
| 17 | Irish city’s sailors providing bottle opener (9) |
| CORKSCREW – CORK’S (Irish city’s) CREW (sailors) | |
| 19 | Understand time, for example, after reflection (3) |
| GET – T (time) EG (for example) all reversed [after reflection] | |
| 20 | Contact with rugby player about excellent start to season (7) |
| LIAISON – LION (rugby player) about AI (excellent i.e. A1) S [start to S{eason} i.e. first letter of] | |
| 22 | Opening paint-roller, removing wrapping (5) |
| INTRO – Hidden [removing wrapping] in paint–roller
Bunged in from definition and checkers – saw the hidden only after completion. |
|
| 23 | Avoid rear-end collision, for the most part (4) |
| SHUN – SHUN{t} (rear-end collision) with the final letter removed [for the most part] | |
| 24 | Are French invading armies a provider of entertainment? (7) |
| HOSTESS – ES (‘are’ in French i.e. ‘Tu es’ = ‘You are’) inserted into [invading] HOSTS (armies) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Being moral is remarkably un-piratical (11) |
| PURITANICAL – Anagram [remarkably] of UN-PIRATICAL | |
| 2 | Batty at heart to protect trees initially (2,5) |
| AT FIRST – ATT i.e. central letters [at heart] of {b}ATT{y} wrapped around [to protect] FIRS (trees) | |
| 3 | Lexicon in this way accommodating a user that’s confused (9) |
| THESAURUS – THUS (in this way) containing [accommodating] anagram [that’s confused] of A USER | |
| 4 | Crude oil initially featuring in vehicle’s energy (6) |
| COARSE – O i.e. first letter [initially] of O{il} inserted into [featuring in] CAR’S (vehicle’s) E (energy) | |
| 5 | Marine creature ditching lake — for this? (3) |
| SEA – SEAL (Marine creature) ditching i.e. get rid of L (lake) | |
| 6 | Pull up after intervention of University security officer (5) |
| GUARD – DRAG (Pull) reversed (up – apposite as it’s a down clue) with U (University) inserted [after intervention of] | |
| 9 | Seems put out, agitated, wild (11) |
| TEMPESTUOUS – Anagram [agitated] of SEEMS PUT OUT | |
| 12 | Flower I planted in weedless ground (9) |
| EDELWEISS – I in [planted in] anagram [ground] of WEEDLESS | |
| 15 | Close to fastening negligee (7) |
| NIGHTIE – NIGH (close to) TIE (fastening) | |
| 16 | Curate’s beginning to manage church — a critical moment (6) |
| CRUNCH – C i.e. first letter [beginning to] of C{urate} then RUN (manage) CH (church) | |
| 18 | Get to give a sermon, being initially denied (5) |
| REACH – {p}REACH (give a sermon) with the first letter removed [being initially denied] | |
| 21 | Not far off, having shaken off an old boy (3) |
| SON – SOON (Not far off) with one O (old) removed [having shaken off an old]
Didn’t parse this until post-completion – had been thinking ‘Not far off’ might equate to NEAR or SO NEAR – took several minutes to think of SOON! |
|
Very difficult, but solved with a couple of biffs and 2 long pauses for thought. Could not parse COARSE, LIAISON or NOTARY. Must have disheartened a few today.
DNF, being undone by the south-west corner. Would never have thought “lions” for “rugby player” or indeed “A1” for “excellent”, so LIAISONS was always going to be a problem.
Thank you for the blog!
I found this one quite tricky and needed some help.
More challenging than yesterday but made slow, steady progress around the grid. Much to savour along the way including HOSTESS and LIAISON. Agree with others than puritanical is not quite the same as being ethical. Couldn’t parse SON or NOTARY. Enjoyable. Many thanks Pedro and Mike.
19.38 Just slow today and I couldn’t parse LOI SON. I blame the heat. Thanks to Pedro and Mike.
14 mins…
Yesterday’s paper tantrum well and truly forgotten, as I managed a satisfying completion in a better than average time.
As Alan Partridge would say: “Back of the net!” (He’d probably say a few other things, but they wouldn’t be printable)
FOI – 5dn “Sea”
LOI – 2dn “At First”
COD – 11ac “Amsterdam” – nice surface
Thanks as usual!
Started off quite fast but then slowed down towards the end. Eventually finished in 22 minutes which I was reasonably happy with as I find Pedro one of the more difficult setters. Didn’t parse SON and disn’t fully parse AT FIRST or THESAURUS, so thanks for the explanations Mike.
FOI – 5ac SAGA
LOI – 2dn AT FIRST
COD – 17ac CORKSCREW
I enjoyed this – about the right difficulty for a quick crossword.
14:30 (Joan of Arc captured by Burgundians)
My first time here after a fortnight recovering from an operation on one of my eyes that necessitated a week spent looking vertically down, which rather got in the way of doing crosswords.
I enjoyed this crossword. My last two in were PLASTIC and COARSE. It took a long time to stop reading 1a as “final manmade” and trying to fit E into PHOTO to make a material.
Thanks Mike and Pedro
I enjoyed this but could not solve the RIFLE and AT FIRST combination.
I was so pleased with myself for remembering that Flower is usually a river that it took ages to see the cleverly disguised anagrind in 12d.
Thanks Pedro and Mike.
Slow and steady today, finished in 40m, over target of 30m. Loi son, missing the wordplay. Enjoyable puzzle.
Agree this was difficult, but enjoyed the challenge. Nothing stood out but couldn’t get SON, an off-day preventing me from separating old from boy. FOI PLASTIC, LOI LIAISON, COD CORKSCREW. Thanks Pedro and Mike.
I was doing well and properly working out the clues (rather than biffing) until I was held up towards the bottom of the grid by LIAISON, SON, HOSTESS and REACH. Some tricky clues but I made some daft mistakes. Disappointed with 23 mins as I was hopeful of avoiding the SCC.
On Monday there was a spirited discussion about using a bad day as a learning experience. Whilst this wasn’t a bad day as such, I felt that I did a lot of learning.
COD – LIAISON/ADAMANT
LOI – SON (not parsed)
Another excellent blog from Mike. Many thanks as always. 😊
Apologies for being thick, but can someone explain the es/are, es/art discussion between some of the earlier contributors? I dutifully worked out ‘es’ today but I didn’t follow the ‘art’ point.
Thanks.
In modern English we say “you are” for both singular and plural, but previously we said “thou art” when talking to an individual. It still persists in the traditional form of the Lord’s Prayer. In French “you are” (plural) is “vous êtes” and “thou art” is “tu es”.
I couldn’t see this at the time. For me, “are” in French would be either “sommes”, “êtes” or “sont”.
And the French still address God as “tu”.
Thanks for the explanation Mike, very much appreciated.
Mike
You made the comment before I did. Es far too obscure. In German ‘the’ could be 3 genders and 4 cases. Surely the QC isn’t going there.
Saw in the Times today that the French are having a nightmare with being gender neutral due to ils and elles etc. maybe the Germans have it right with the neuter- das. J
DNF
Spelt LIAISON with double S, but that’s no excuse for failing to get the rest of the SW corner, with SHUN and SON unsolved after 30 minutes.
Two clues had me thinking for quite a while – SON & SHUN.