Well, this was a surprise from Izetti, containing plenty of new (for me) general knowledge, including a town in Texas, a Flemish coin and a target for Zen Buddhists. I managed to complete in 17 minutes, 2 over target, so the unknowns were reasonably generously clued, and I found the whole puzzle very satisfying, with some real challenges – just what we have come to expect from The Don.
After seeing the early British, heavy-browed, square-jawed Bronze-agers getting a mention in the fourth row, I looked for more paired answers, but nothing stood out, and it isn’t really Izetti’s style to include a Nina.
Some of our newbie solvers may complain about the difficulty level, but I loved it. What did you think?
Across
7 Yours truly’s in the French capital (4)
LIMA – I’M (yours truly’s) inside LA (the in French). LIMA is, of course, the capital of Peru.
8 What orchestral leader did at beginning or end of concert? (4,1,3)
TOOK A BOW – I think this is a pure &Lit, where the whole clue is the definition. Whilst an orchestra may be led by a conductor, the orchestral leader is typically the principal or first violinist. He / she will TAKE A BOW at the start of the concert to be able to play his / her instrument, but will also TAKE A BOW (pronounced bough) at the end when thanked by the conductor for their leadership.
9 Magistrate with little hesitation producing a vessel (6)
BEAKER – BEAK (magistrate, old slang) and ER (little hesitation). A BEAKER is a large drinking bowl or cup..
10 Folks work, engaged by famous footballer (6)
PEOPLE – OP (Opus, work) inside (engaged by) PELE (famous footballer). Last week we had George Best in a clue. It is arguable which is more famous.
11 Preserve Southern Avenue (4)
SAVE – S{outhern} and AVE{nue}.
12 Garment gran ruined with acid (8)
CARDIGAN – Anagram (ruined) of {GRAN (with) ACID]. I do love a cardigan!
15 Various characters in Leeds are set free (8)
RELEASED – Anagram (various characters in) of [LEEDS ARE].
17 Scottish island’s slime? (4)
MUCK – Double definition, the first in the Inner Hebrides.
18 Where pupils may be learning – in brief (6)
INFORM – IN FORM = in class, where pupils may be learning. To brief someone is to inform them.
21 Arrange again to go to one US city or another (6)
LAREDO – LA (one US city) and REDO (arrange again) to give LAREDO (Texas city, another one).
22 Relation up a tree? (8)
ANCESTOR – cryptic clue relying on an ANCEST{O}Ral tree.
23 By the sound of it, wins sporting trophies? (4)
URNS – Homophone clue, sounds like EARNS (wins). At first I had an MER for URN = sporting trophy, and then I remembered The Ashes, the cricketing trophy.
Down
1 Dog given fresh air and drink (8)
AIREDALE – AIRED (given fresh air) and ALE (drink).
2 One of those rising in anger? (6)
HACKLE – Cryptic definition and &Lit. If your hackles are raised, you are angry!
3 A stretch of land’s said to offer charms (8)
ATTRACTS – Another homophone (said), sounds like A TRACT’S (a stretch of land’s).
4 First course thus over? (4)
SOUP – SO (thus) and UP (over).
5 Some babysat, originally finding enlightenment (6)
SATORI – Hidden (some) in {baby}SAT ORI{ginally}. I admit to not knowing this, but it was an obvious hidden. SATORI is a state of enlightenment sought in Zen Budhiism.
6 Gosh – lake is anything but warm (4)
COOL – COO (Gosh) and L{ake}. GOSH and COO are each expressions of surprise.
13 Severe warning upset the German – later modified (3,5)
RED ALERT – DER (the in German) reversed (upset) and an anagram (modified) of [LATER]. We had a few RED ALERTS last week for Storm Ciaran
14 What can produce mishap? Misdirected edict can (8)
ACCIDENT – Anagram (misdirected) of [EDICT CAN].
16 Went off to the match unannounced? (6)
ELOPED – Cryptic definition.
17 Girl invited to garden to embrace artist Harry (6)
MARAUD – MAUD (girl invited to garden – cast your mind back if you will to the popular poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, set to music in 1857 by Michael Balfe and first performed by Sims Reeves). MAUD is interrupted in our answer by RA (artist).
19 Number at home visiting Durham’s region (4)
NINE – IN (at home) visiting (inside) NE (Durham’s region).
20 Coin shows tiny creature (4)
MITE – Double definition, the first an old Flemish coin of very small value, the second any of various tiny arachnids.
Found today’s offering rather challenging. Felt good getting orchestral leader but then put the answer in present tense and spent too much time wondering what skip had to do with first course. Gave up with just about half completed.
Disaster – took about half an hour over the whole day because I got stuck on the SW corner. I thought I’d finished but have just discovered that I’d got my COD in the wrong tense 🙄 That would explain why I couldn’t parse Skip at 4d!
Never mind – despite the challenges, I enjoyed a lot of this, especially CARDIGAN, ANCESTOR, AIREDALE and ACCIDENT.
FOI Lima LOI Inform COD Took a bow (I had Take a bow) DNF
Thanks Izetti and Rotter
Came to this very late and really dragged it out. MARAUD was very hard to spot in a down clue – wrote it out horizontally and there it was. Had to reverse engineer to see ‘Maud’ – heard of the song couldn’t put a tune to it. NHO LAREDO with a population of 256,000 I’m as likely to have heard of Khimki in Russia. Took a long time to get to URNS. Generally outclassed today. All green in a personal worst 45m. Very impressed by those who came in close to their usual times – including Rotter – but very very impressed by Busman’s extraordinary performance.
90 minutes of sheer hell. Didn’t expect anything else. Going downhill fast.
DNF (of course):
2dn – put RANKLE; didn’t get the clue at all – another example of my lack of mental agility and general ignorance
8ac – put TAKE A BOW; idiotic error that I am ashamed to admit to
4dn – put SKIP (caused by TAKE rather than TOOK in 8ac)
6dn – put CORL; NHO COO, but answer should have been obvious even to a simpleton like me
As usual, I have nothing good to say. I have spent 4 hours on the QC this week already. To take 90 mins and still not finish is frustrating beyond words.
I am absolutely at the end of my tether and can’t take much more. I should have been able to complete today. At this precise moment, I would rather stick pins in my eyes than attempt another QC. I will however be back tomorrow for my final dose of humiliation for the week. ☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️
Thanks for the blog Rotter.
Not sure I can take any pleasure in winning the SCOTT at your expense.
I had all the same issues as you apart from I quickly corrected COR to COO when I knew it wasn’t a word. Actually saw it was COOL and then saw that COO is an expression of surprise. There really isn’t that much between us.
Was all a bit dispiriting to take this kind of hammering today despite having performed so well recently. I can see if we get back into a run of toughies then I’ll need to step away and get my mind settled.
It seems to me like you’ve got a little bit too close to the grindstone and are now locking yourself into a bad cycle. You really could do with implementing that 30min cutoff or whatever because while there is satisfaction to be had from a successful solve, it’s much more likely at the moment that you’re just adding frustration day after day. While it’s not satisfying to quit, the amount of bile that builds up is less I reckon.
Anyway, I would focus on the positives. For me that was how quickly the first dozen or so flew in. Secondly that I did grind it out. And finally that I managed to keep my patience/perseverance enough to go through the possibilities on hackle/rankle. Reinforce the positives.
Good luck tomorrow! At least we know it won’t be Izetti 🤣 (Focus on the positives)
Thanks L-Plates, I’m trying to be positive but struggling with it to be honest.
I think anyone outside the top rank of solvers who completed this should be proud of themselves. That’s why I kept going as long as I did.
Hopefully tomorrow will be kind. I’ll be relieved to get to the end of the week.
Good luck tomorrow 🤞
Perhaps it’s not so much about being positive, but acknowledging what you did well. Gratitude diaries and all that.
Dnf…
Not surprising really. Started this on the train to London and it turned into a bit of a slog. Dnk “Laredo, “Maud” for the girl in the garden, “Satori” for enlightenment nor the Flemish coin. Some were obtainable, but a couple wouldn’t come. I haven’t read all the comments above, but as far as I was aware there was only one ashes urn, so the use of the plural for “trophies” seemed a bit weak in my opinion.
Genuinely can’t remember where I started or where I ended or if I had a favourite or not. Not the best day 😀
Thanks as usual!
Finished this in the early hours of this morning when I woke up and remembered (probably from PG Wodehouse) that a Beak was a magistrate. Hence got Beaker, and finally Hackle, which I didn’t know was a word in the singular. NHO Satori or Laredo, but I did get them, and did finish. Normally I only post when I finish the crossword the same day, and maybe nobody will read this, but I thought it’s a shame that I never post anything when the crossword is extremely difficult. I did find it quite dispiriting because of the level of difficulty, but was pleased to get there in the end. Thanks Izetti and Rotter.
You have at least one reader. 😊
Thanks!