Solving time: 8:14
Approaching medium-paced in my opinion, this is quite a mixed bag of clueing from the brow of Mara. There are six full anagrams, three partial anagrams, three hiddens and three double definitions alongside the usual collection of wordplay clues.
A slightly unusual clue at 15d should hopefully not delay for too long, particularly if you already have a checker or two in place. I was mildly stumped at the end by my LOI 3d and its slightly bewildering set of checkers – took a minute or so for it to suddenly leap into focus…
I hope you all enjoyed it as well – let me know how you got on….
Definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [directions in square ones].
| Across | |
| 1 | Dump plate if damaged (7) |
| FLEAPIT – Anagram [damaged] of PLATE IF
Typically, a FLEAPIT refers to an old and dirty cinema or theatre. |
|
| 5 | Call on grandma, mum and uncle last of all (4) |
| NAME – Last letters [last of all] of {o}N {grandm}A {mu}M and {uncl}E | |
| 7 | Landscape viewed, reportedly (5) |
| SCENE – Homophone [reportedly] of SEEN (viewed) | |
| 8 | Published letters for remote district (7) |
| OUTPOST – OUT (Published) POST (letters) | |
| 10 | Something frozen that is keeping cold (3) |
| ICE – IE (that is – abbreviation of ‘id est’) containing [keeping] C (cold) | |
| 11 | Even six pence extremely bad — too much money (9) |
| EXPENSIVE – Anagram [bad] of EVEN SIX and the outside letters [extremely] of P{enc}E | |
| 13 | In quarantine, the risk lower … (6) |
| NETHER – Hidden [In] within quarantine, the risk | |
| 14 | … lowest, possibly, for young birds (6) |
| OWLETS – Anagram [possibly] of LOWEST | |
| 17 | Text lab put out about each old weapon (6-3) |
| BATTLE-AXE – Anagram [put out] of TEXT LAB about EA (each) | |
| 19 | Located in suburb, a new block (3) |
| BAN – Hidden in [Located in] suburb, a new | |
| 20 | Single frightfully hot tongue (7) |
| ENGLISH – Anagram [frightfully] of SINGLE then H (hot) | |
| 22 | Woody plant right inside untidy bush (5) |
| SHRUB – R (right) inside anagram [untidy] of BUSH | |
| 23 | Close ranks to preserve banks! (4) |
| STOP – Hidden [banks] in ranks to preserve | |
| 24 | Tree, European fixture at spring festival? (7) |
| MAYPOLE – MAY (Tree – another name for the Hawthorn) POLE (European)
The Hawthorn is also known as the MAY as hawthorn blossom typically appears at the beginning of May in England. A pagan symbol of fertility, this tree is the ancestor of the Maypole, its flowers making up both the crown of the fairy queen and the wreath of the Green Man. Although beautiful, it is said that MAY blossom should never be brought into the home – partly because it is considered unlucky, and partly because the flowers smell so bad. In medieval times, the smell reminded people of the Great Plague! |
|
| Down | |
| 1 | Half a bone is replaced in hip (11) |
| FASHIONABLE – Anagram [replaced] of HALF A BONE IS | |
| 2 | Always best avoiding peak — this the highest! (7) |
| EVEREST – EVER (Always) The definition refers back to the word ‘peak’ in the first part of the clue. |
|
| 3 | Man, upset male in bits (9) |
| PIECEMEAL – PIECE (Man – in chess, man and PIECE are synonymous) then anagram [upset] of MALE
My LOI, which I stared at for at least a minute, with all checkers in place, before working out what to do with MALE… |
|
| 4 | Touring company moved to Peru (6) |
| TROUPE – Anagram [moved] of TO PERU | |
| 5 | Head: might that be screwed on? (3) |
| NUT – Double definition – the first, straight; the second, slightly cryptic | |
| 6 | Old pollsters welcoming a NZ native (5) |
| MAORI – MORI (Old pollsters) containing [welcoming] A
Market research company MORI (Market and Opinion Research International) was founded in 1969 and merged with Ipsos in 2005 to become Ipsos MORI. In 2022, the company was rebranded to simply Ipsos. |
|
| 9 | Traitorous motive in board (11) |
| TREASONABLE – REASON (motive) in TABLE (board) | |
| 12 | Calf, quite possibly, in US state? (3,6) |
| NEW JERSEY – Double definition, the first of which is somewhat whimsical – a young Jersey cow might be a NEW JERSEY | |
| 15 | 19 across rough game with Rob (7) |
| EMBARGO – Anagram [rough] of GAME with ROB
Unusual for the definition to be the answer to another clue. Noted too that they cross each other which might cause some consternation if 19a were trickier to solve… |
|
| 16 | Understand imperial measure (6) |
| FATHOM – Double definition
The measurement comes from the Old English fæðm “length of the outstretched arms” (a measure of about six feet). Its figurative sense of “get to the bottom of, penetrate with the mind, understand” is from 1620s. |
|
| 18 | On having departed this evening, stretched (5) |
| TIGHT – T |
|
| 21 | British leader I sent up, little rascal (3) |
| IMP – PM (British leader i.e. abbreviation for Prime Minister) then I all reversed [sent up – ‘up’ is apposite as this is a down clue] | |
A happy solve, 9.29, no major problems but I had to come here to have my LOI STOP explained. Oh. A hidden. Again. I did not FATHOM that definition of dump for quite a while, so FLEAPIT and PIECEMEAL (all those E checkers!) were at the back end of the solve. The Hawthorn AFL club in Melbourne were once, long ago in another century, known as the Mayblooms, but they changed it to the Hawks which sounds a lot more aggressive.
Even with P?E?EMEAL I still couldn’t see it, I’d thought it was an anagram of ‘upset male’ at first until the three Es came along, but should have picked up on MAN/PIECE! That and OUTPORT let me down, no excuses. Liked FATHOM and FASHIONABLE. COD to EMBARGO. Pleasant enough.
Thanks MH and setter.
I start all right, with some easy answers and a little biffing. Answers like Everest, New Jersey, expensive, and treasonable went right in, and supplied a rich harvest of crossing letters. I left fashionable until nearly the end. I was left of course, with piecemeal, which I was afraid was not going to be easy, but then I suddenly saw what it must be.
Time: 10:16
Started fast, finished slow. Eight on the first pass of acrosses but took a fair while over PIECEMEAL, FATHOM and STOP. Lost time trying to justify New Mexico which I can’t explain and also wondering if bushel might work for FATHOM – tried length, volume and area but never thought of depth! All green in 14.45.
14:34
LOI FATHOM FOI ICE (Something frozen, three letters, a Gimme if ever)
COD FASHIONABLE, nice anagram and surface
Fell into the trap of looking for an anagram of (UPSET MALE)* [in bits], which fitted a lot of the checkers. Very good misdirection.
I didn’t like the surface split across two clues at 13 and 14, don’t see the point since the combined surface doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Didn’t know MAY as a tree, so had BAY in there for quite a bit. And although I knew Mori, setters need to start dropping conventions when the organisation no longer exists, see also ICI.
10 minutes with no issues. Crossers OWLETS and EMBARGO were my last two in.
A nice steady solve to 17.41 with fathom holding out longest. Some nice clues and clever anagrams.
I know May from the gardener’s expression ne’er cast a clout ‘til May is out, which is often thought to be the month but actually refers to the blossom on the tree. Would be a useful adage if I knew where to find the local Mays.
COD to New Jersey for the grin.
Thanks Mara and Mike
Didn’t know that about the gardener’s expression – thanks for sharing
I think of it as more of a grandmother’s advice. “Button up to chin ‘til May be in. And don’t cast off your clout/coat ‘til May be out.”
Roundabout, if you live in the country, you can see wild hawthorn hedges flowering white in the Spring everywhere.
Oh, of course I knew it was hawthorn! There’s loads round about here 🙂 and it gives me hay fever!
Goes to show how these sayings get bastardised – I’ve always thought clout was to do with turning the soil, but now see it is indeed clothing!
No major hold ups today. My biggest issue was the Crossword Club playing up, having pressed submit the site crashed so eventually I went to the Quitch to see if I’d been successful.
From NAME to COD PIECEMEAL in 6.58.
Thanks to Mike
Delightfully easy – finished in what must be record time. LOI STOP. Slightly cheated, though: three were not fully parsed before being just written in as the obvious answer, so I now go back and read Mike’s explanations.
Ah, so STOP was a hidden – how does “banks” tell you that? (Thank you both, below – seems far-fetched to me but ok………)
Always forget man = PIECE (given the crossers the word jumped out at me).
Thankfully TREASONABLE was obvious – the wordplay is difficult!
Thank you, Mara and Mike.
And what is that new record time? Well done, whatever it is.
If you bank your money, you put it away out of sight.
Thank you for your curiosity! Don’t know; haven’t yet had the confidence to start the stopwatch in the assumption that I’ll finish at all. At a guess, about 15′.
Banks, as in the banks of the river, which “contain” the river.
LOI FATHOM had to be dredged up from the depths, ho ho. I’m here all week.
Otherwise no dramas, all done in 06:31 for an Excellent Day. Felt very anagram heavy today.
Many thanks Mara and Mike.
Very approachable puzzle, done in just under 8 minutes with no significant hold-ups. I did fall into the same trap as some others and start 3D by looking for an anagram of upset male, but for once the “unhelpful” checkers (all those Es) were very helpful indeed in putting me straight.
Many thanks Mike for the blog
Cedric
Could not parse FATHOM – like Mendesest, was thinking of every other imperial measure apart from depth. MAYPOLE reminded me of primary school. We must have been well taught to do the intricate dances required to make the patterns of ribbons on the pole. Happy days!
14:40
Missed the hidden STOP but biffed anyway. Also failed to parse PIECEMEAL. LOI the innocuous NUT.
Nice and straightforward, despite the cross-reference. Thanks Mara.
FOI FLEAPIT
LOI STOP
COD FASHIONABLE
TIME 3:57
13:00 for the solve! Enjoyed the new jersey cow.
Spent too long trying to work out FLEAPIT (and failing) before racing through the next few and then gradually slowing to eventually finish in 17:44 with FATHOM. I had GATHER in there for a while, which sounded like it could be a measure of something, but I doubted it was if I’d never heard of it. MAYPOLE put paid to it of course. I remember a few years ago thinking how unfair it was to put some obscure old name for hawthorn in a QC. Now I’d have to remind myself of that to avoid being surprised at someone else not having heard of it, even though I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody actually refer to hawthorn as may in the real world. Thanks Mara and Mike.
What about the Darling Buds and also the Mayflower? ’ere in ‘ampshire we do talk about may. (Sorry, can’t seem to reverse curly quotemark on the iPad.)
Thank you for correcting my assumption that Shakespeare meant the buds of the month of May! (Which came first, the month or the tree?)
I went for gather too, like a clutch of eggs. No go unfortunately
21 mins…
A steady solve overall. I must have looked at 1dn “Fashionable” for an age looking for an anagram, but I just couldn’t see it. Yet, looking at the blog above, it’s literally staring me in the face.
FOI – 5ac “Name”
LOI – 12dn “New Jersey”
COD – 18dn “Tight”
Thanks as usual!
I found this a bit tricky. Started with NUT and finished with EXPENSIVE then PIECEMEAL. 11:15. Thanks Mara and Mike.
Made heavy weather of this but all correct – in the end. Particularly slow on LHS. Finally solved FASHIONABLE and after a long break LOI PIECEMEAL seemed obvious. Also slow on ENGLISH, FATHOM, STOP.
Liked OUTPOST, MAYPOLE, NAME.
Many thanks, Mike.
9.55 with a typo
Stared at _A_H_M for ages at the end. Needed an alpha trawl on the middle letter till the light dawned. I then managed to type it in wrongly. Hum ho.
Thanks Mike and Mara
About on the money for a QC I thought, and a fairly even solve in 8.16. The only answer that held me up to any extent was PIECEMEAL which was my LOI. Things are looking up, that’s two solves under target in a row. I note from the brief comment about today’s 15×15 that it’s a semi-final puzzle, so I expect this to be my only finish. We’ll see!
8:46
Took to long to get FATHOM as I hadn’t the M checker from LOI MAYPOLE.
Most enjoyable, thanks Mike and Mara.
I was on Mara’s wavelength today. Admittedly, a lot of the answers went in semi parsed and MAORI I only parsed after submitting. From FLEAPIT to PIECEMEAL in a very quick 5:12.
Seemed reasonable albeit a slightly slow 13.10 for me – cogs seemed to be grinding very slowly this morning. Slight hiccup in having TOP instead of NUT at first.
LOI: STOP – seemed to be a few folk had this last even though on reflection it’s an easy enough clue
COD: a few made me smile but I will go with FASHIONABLE
Solved steadily with FATHOM and STOP the last in. Odd to see FLEAPIT again so soon.
A great start with FLEAPIT, NAME and FASHIONABLE all going straight in, thereby providing a lot of starting letters. Then made very good progress before slowing down towards the end.
My final clue (PIECEMEAL) held me up for quite a while, as I couldn’t tear myself away from the definition being Man. And, even when I got it, I couldn’t see why PIECE = Man. Ridiculous, given that I do play chess.
Many thanks to Mara and Mike.
Found this one fairly easy though the parsing of piecemeal was a mystery until I read this blog.
Interestingly, both FLEAPIT and BATTLEAXE have recently featured in the “actual” Times crossword (what do we call it on here?) — though I hasten to specify that I can only manage that as a group effort with spouse and daughter.
12:05. PIECEMEAL, FASHIONABLE, and MAYPOLE were favourites. NHO MORI.
13:35
Could have been faster but slowed down by the anagrams (I count 10) and I needed to write most of them down.
COD New Jersey.
Enjoyed this and all done in 15 minutes. Biggest hold-up was my perverse conviction that there must be a long medical term for the hip (bone) but no amount of re-anagramming could produce it! Also couldn’t fathom FATHOM for a while (I wondered about MAYHEM) until the school song ‘Full Fathom Five’ suddenly clicked! Clueing very fair I thought: thanks to setter and blogger.
Finished correctly in 1 hour.
Quite tough, I thought.
I think that the conversation about chess pieces being classed as “men” went on some years ago and the person objecting to it has stopped using this blog. However, I endorse his view and say that chess pieces should not be call “men”. A queen is not a man. Neither is a castle (or rook).
Very strange usage of the word “banks” , bank=hide ? Really ?
On a lighter note, I saw staff at my local supermarket putting up a 12 foot Christmas tree this week.
So a Maori Christmas to one and all.
17:47, seems to be about my ceiling at the moment. I didn’t know man=piece although the answer leapt out at me. Also didn’t follow “banks” meaning hidden which meant that was my last. Next time, next time..
Going nicely until STOP, which I thought was obscure parsing , there must be 100+1 ways to cryptically parse STOP without getting this nebulous
Made heavy weather of this one but crossed the line eventually. Struggled to see FATHOM/MAYPOLE which we last two in. Thanks for the blog – hadn’t spotted the hidden in STOP and wasn’t too sure about the parsing of TONIGHT either (doh). Thanks Mara.
Very nice QC with some tricky ones to finish.
With 21a I was at the wrong end of the anagram again trying to make a word for ‘single’ out of H and TONGUE. Fortunately the I in IMP finally pointed the way to ENGLISH. lovely clue.
Thanks both.
Started off very fast but struggled with last two clues. Got there eventually with aids.
Thanks both.
Not on Mara’s wavelength at all. I made heavy weather even of the easier clues. Tried to anagram ‘upset male’ at3dn, didn’t see the hidden at 23ac, had ‘gather’ for a while at 16dn, etc,etc. I had no idea what was going on at 11ac and couldn’t parse it even when I had the answer. Couldn’t parse 3dn either. However at least I finished it, albeit in 28 minutes.
FOI – 7ac SCENE
LOI – 16dn FATHOM
COD – 12dn NEW JERSEY
Thanks to Mara and Mike
Thanks Mara and Mike,
Well this is unusual for me, that’s two puzzles solved this week all be it I came back to it several times across the day. Very anagram heavy which is not my strength but got there is the end.
COD: New Jersey – made me smile when it finally clicked
16:30, a moderately quick time for me. Plenty of entertainment and some head-scratching here. Pleased by the anagrams FASHIONABLE and EXPENSIVE, what does this say about my tastes? Could not parse MAORI; now that I’ve read the blog, no wonder. PIECEMEAL baffled me until it dropped with an enjoyable clunk. COD!
Thanks Mara and Mike!
DNF. Could not see the hidden STOP and entered STEP on the basis that one way to protect a steep bank from collapsing is with a series of steps, and closing ranks involves stepping. The hidden makes a lot more sense.
18.58 Slow today. Despite having exactly the same problem a few weeks ago I struggled to remember US states beginning with NEW. EMBARGO, OWLETS, MAYPOLE and FATHOM took a good while too. A nice puzzle though. Thanks Mike and Mara.
Enjoyable puzzle.
Found this relatively straightforward for once – took about 15 minutes. I don’t ever feel really elated to finish if there are too many anagrams or hidden words as they don’t tax the grey matter so much! However an enjoyable puzzle and nothing unheard of in the answers. Thanks Mara and Mike.
Hooray finished it all, without help.
LOI Stop, despite everyone reminding us to check for hiddens when stuck.
COD New Jersey, happy to get this because I can never remember any american states!
13 minutes.
LOI PIECEMEAL which it took me a while to decipher.
Nice puzzle.
David
16 mins LOI the embarrassing easy Outpost. Thanks all
I still don’t understand why “banks” means it’s hidden?
The answer, STOP, is hidden or contained by the other letters on either side, so it is banked, sided, between them. A bit weak in my view, but it occurred to me quickly enough so I must have seen it used before.
18 minutes.
Thought I’d done well until I came here.
and saw that most found it easy. Rather depressing as I found it tricky! Shows what little progress I have made. ☹️
PS Just looked at Snitch – I feared as much when I read the comments.
This is beyond belief!
I spent 2 hours on the big puzzle and failed by one lousy letter (not a typo).
I was feeling proud of myself and now I just want to 😱. An entirely avoidable mistake.
Every single time I think that I am getting somewhere, this kind of thing happens. I must have had at least 2 dozen fails by one letter or clue this year, probably more.
What an awful end to the day. I don’t know when things will ever improve.
Thanks, Mara and Mike. I enjoyed that, but I appear to be the only person to have a howler with TWEETS instead of OWLETS. Fitted the checkers perfectly! Ah well.