We have a sparkling quick crossword from the late Corelli today with several characteristically witty clues. Favourites for me were 8A, 14A and the laudable motto at 20A. In all it took me a bit over target at 6:04, but I didn’t mind that.
Furthermore, it being a Corelli puzzle, we probably have a Nina. I think I’ve found it, but it is a bit mysterious. Have I missed something or seen something that isn’t meant to be there? Further thoughts welcome.
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is my turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the crossword, entitled “The City? Great! You said when?”, which is a clue (answer 6 letters) to the theme, here. If you are interested in trying our previous offerings you can find an index to all 106 here.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions} and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Defiant remark from drunk present (2,5) |
| SO THERE – SOT (drunk) HERE (present). | |
| 5 | Light contact from moving skis (4) |
| KISS – (skis)* [moving]. | |
| 7 | Swindler pinching girl’s large gun (6) |
| CANNON – ANN (girl) in CON (swindler). | |
| 8 | Arguing continuously? (2,1,3) |
| IN A ROW – Double definition, the first a cryptic hint. Nice one. | |
| 9 | Witnesses experiment, one with funds (11) |
| TESTIMONIES – TEST (experiment) I (one) MONIES (funds). | |
| 10 | Mission to go wrong, in addition (6) |
| ERRAND – ERR (go wrong) AND (in addition). | |
| 12 | Sparkler in use, weirdly, around Quebec (6) |
| SEQUIN – Q (Quebec in the phonetic alphabet) in (in use)* [weirdly]. | |
| 14 | Agree three letters with number inside for reading out (3,3,2,3) |
| SEE EYE TO EYE – SEE (c) EYE (i) TO (2) EYE (i). Sounds like 3 letters C C and I with a number 2 inside. What fun! | |
| 17 | Be undecided as doctor about one article (6) |
| DITHER – DR (doctor) about I (one) THE (article). | |
| 18 | Japanese entertainer’s portion of wage is halved (6) |
| GEISHA – Hidden in waGE IS HAlved. | |
| 20 | Live, I hesitate to say, for drink! (4) |
| BEER – BE (live) ER (I hesitate to say). | |
| 21 | Soldier dropped at party by ten? That seems impossible! (7) |
| PARADOX – PARA (soldier dropped) DO (party) X (ten). | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Is a play regularly seen in Cheltenham? (3) |
| SPA – Alternate letters of iS aPlAy. The ? indicates that Cheltenham is a definition by example. | |
| 2 | State in USA: it’s wild (7) |
| TUNISIA -(in USA it)* [wild]. | |
| 3 | Listlessness of some in jacuzzi unnerving, on reflection (5) |
| ENNUI – Reverse hidden in jacuzzI UNNErving. | |
| 4 | Their job may be to correct abuse of steroid (7) |
| EDITORS – (steroid)* [correct]. | |
| 5 | Knows how army kit is: primarily this colour (5) |
| KHAKI – Initial letters of Knows How Army Kit Is [primarily]. | |
| 6 | He’s in hose, busily polishing footwear! (9) |
| SHOESHINE – (he’s in hose)* [busily]. As the dictionary says, “(the act of) polishing footwear“. | |
| 9 | Entry barrier to alter appearance, we hear (9) |
| TURNSTILE – TURN (alter) STILE, sounds like STYLE (appearance). | |
| 11 | Outing presumably not a stumble in the dark (3,4) |
| DAY TRIP – Double definition, the second a cryptic hint. Ho ho. | |
| 13 | Doubted that French wine’s found around India (7) |
| QUERIED – QUE (that in French), I (India in the phonetic alphabet) in RED (wine). | |
| 15 | Alien female’s solvent (5) |
| ETHER – ET (Alien) HER (female) | |
| 16 | Big cat finally running inside bank (5) |
| TIGER – Last letter of runninG in TIER (bank). | |
| 19 | Bewitch bloke with 5 across (3) |
| HEX – HE (bloke) X (kiss; the answer to 5 across). | |
From SO THERE to TESTIMONIES in 6:26. As usual I missed it:nina, what nina? Thanks John and RIP Corelli.
Much more straightforward than yesterday’s offering from Pipsqueak, thankfully. And, had it not been for a two minute hold up at the end over ERRAND (my LOI), I would have enjoyed a day out from the SCC. 21 minutes for me in the end.
My FOI was KISS and I enjoyed BEER and PARADOX the most. Slight MER at IN A ROW, because I don’t think it’s a good replacement for ‘continuously’.
Posthumous thanks to Corelli and thanks also to John who, despite his unusual surname, I hope is still very much alive and kicking).
I’ve always assumed John dwells somewhere near the buried noted saint. Not sure why.
Ho ho. Yes I live in Bury St Edmunds. the username is a terrible pun. Sorry.
Hmmmmmmmmmm
Forgiveness is yours.
What a gem of a QC. Such a great setter as well as a lovely human, it really makes me feel our loss.
13:43, fast for me. I experienced the common hold-ups. The Nina is a great one, thanks to those who remember to look for these things. It’s interesting to me that we have here a puzzle that includes two of the pet peeves of some of us solvers, i.e. a Nina and a clue cross-reference, and it is as smooth as any QC I’ve ever done.
It’s hard to pick a COD but I’ll go for PARADOX.
Thanks to Corelli and John!
Lots of smiles along the way (see eye to eye) (sot here) and a most ingenious paradox (G&S) but DNF for me, beaten by cannon and Tunisia. I decided 7a was a bagman, being a crook or swindler, and spent ages thinking of T-M place names: lesson learned. I thought Corelli must be Richard Rogan and what a clever puzzle he set: huge thanks (he is much missed) and to John for excellent blog. I think I need some of Tina’s restorative medecine!
Really well pitched puzzle, liked CI2I. Can never see the Nina’s and definitely wouldn’t today! Thanks Corelli (RIP) and John
With a K and an X I started looking for a pangram but was wide of the mark. Couldn’t see 8a in a RoW… but a a MER in any case. The Nina far too subtle for me!
FOI 1d – Spa – looking for the starter to 1a
LOI 8a – In a row
COD 21a – Paradox
DNF
Beaten by LOI SEE EYE TO EYE.
A very entertaining and well pitched puzzle. I enjoyed the challenge today.
16.29 Many solvers found this easy but it’s very late and I’m rather drunk so I was pleased to finish. SO THERE, TESTIMONIES and ERRAND were the holdouts. Thanks John and Corelli.
29 minutes.
I dare say no-one will read this or will care, but I am running out of words to describe the utter ineptitude of my performances. When I look at the other times today, I want to scream in frustration and self-reproach.
I have zero ability, zero confidence and zero enjoyment. This week has been horrific:
M – 10 mins (ok but very, very straightforward and I don’t regard it as anything particularly special)
T -27 (lousy)
W -50 (indescribably bad)
Th – 23 (poor)
F -29 (see above)
Total – 139
I am being left in the dust by those I was once on a par with and I am at the very bottom of the class. How is it that I go backwards not forwards? I make schoolboy errors and hit total blind spots most days.
I’ll return next week for more agony and humiliation, although I am losing the will to go on with this daily torture.
Thanks for the blog John and well done to those with good times. I can’t recall the last occasion I had a time that pleased me. I want desperately to enjoy and do well on the QC, but my brain simply isn’t equipped to achieve this. No improvement = no fun!
I’m far too late with this (been away for a long weekend). No one seems to comment on TESTIMONIES – surely a witness is the person and the testimony is the information that they reveal? Collins says a testimony is a declaration, or evidence; can it also be a person?
Anyway, I failed that, also TUNISIA and TURNSTILE, both too difficult for me.