Solving time: 7:05
More than a year has passed since I last blogged a Teazel (QC2477). I found it fairly medium-paced with a couple of less common definitions used to define some of the answers. Today’s puzzle is also replete with double definitions – I counted five – outstripping the four anagrams.
Merry Christmas to you all!
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 | Braggart’s play cancelled (4-3) |
SHOW-OFF – SHOW (play) OFF (cancelled) | |
5 | Manage priest’s cloak (4) |
COPE – Double definition…
…the second of which is from the late 13c. in the specific ecclesiastical sense of “large mantle of silk or other material worn by priests or bishops over the alb on special occasions” from Medieval Latin capa “cloak” |
|
7 | Cut loose, notice crack (6) |
ADRIFT – AD (notice) RIFT (crack) | |
8 | A chief accountant joining US agency: this grows thorny (6) |
ACACIA – A CA (chief accountant) joining CIA (US agency)
Being a plant dunce, I assume that this is a thorny plant – I am not sure I could pick one out in a line-up |
|
9 | Beautiful insects foreign lads disturbed (11) |
DRAGONFLIES – Anagram [disturbed] of FOREIGN LADS
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder – the first adjective I saw when reading up was ‘predatory’! |
|
10 | Gruel I cooked is more unpleasant (6) |
UGLIER – Anagram [cooked] of GRUEL I | |
12 | Professional person has whiskey in bed (6) |
LAWYER – W (whiskey – NATO phonetic alphabet) in LAYER (bed) | |
14 | Remarkable rarities, but they become part of the mainstream (11) |
TRIBUTARIES – Anagram [Remarkable] of RARITIES BUT | |
17 | Blocked, fail to break record (6) |
CLOSED – LOSE (fail) inserted into [to break] CD (record)
Is a CD (compact disc) the same as a record? Those of a certain vintage (including me!) might balk slightly at the notion that a CD is the same thing as a vinyl record. However, in the sense that a record can be a collection of recordings, which is what a CD also is, then their synonymity is perhaps strengthened… |
|
18 | Eventually not late (2,4) |
IN TIME – Double definition | |
20 | Man nearly hosting queen (4) |
ANNE – Hidden [hosting] in Man nearly | |
21 | Sarcastic wordplay by fellow (7) |
PUNGENT – PUN (wordplay) by GENT (fellow)
I wasn’t aware that PUNGENT and Sarcastic are synonymous, but at least one online dictionary has this entry for PUNGENT: “(of comment, criticism, or humour) having a sharp and caustic quality“ |
Down | |
1 | Unhappy, said I must leave (3) |
SAD – SA |
|
2 | A folder holds paper for this (7) |
ORIGAMI – Cryptic definition
I didn’t get this in flight, wondering if the clue referred to the I newspaper, but couldn’t see what the rest of the wordplay might be. Only following some deep contemplation and meditation did I realise that ‘folder’ meant a person who folds… |
|
3 | Excel in the garden party (5) |
OUTDO – OUT (in the garden) DO (party) | |
4 | Nervous of loud rebuke (7) |
FEARFUL – F (loud i.e. abbreviation for forte – musical direction for Strong (i.e. to be played or sung loudly)) EARFUL (rebuke) | |
5 | New World animal’s pelt I collected (5) |
COATI – COAT (pelt) I
The COATI, also known as the coatimundi, is a medium-sized, tree-climbing mammal found in South America, Central America, and south-western North America. |
|
6 | Pagan officiant, arranging step, rises (9) |
PRIESTESS – Anagram [arranging] of STEP RISES
Each of the online dictionaries notes that a PRIESTESS is a woman who has sacred duties and responsibilities, particularly in non-Christian religions. Within the Christian framework, the vast majority of ordained women either use “Priest”, “Pastor”, “Minister”, “Deacon”, “Deaconess”, or “Elder”. |
|
9 | Sort of radio at home that offers stimulation (9) |
DIGITALIN – DIGITAL (Sort of radio) IN (at home)
Collins online defines DIGITALIN as a “poisonous amorphous crystalline mixture of glycosides extracted from digitalis leaves and formerly used in treating heart disease”. |
|
11 | Go about to collect, and raise an awkward number (5,2) |
ROUND UP – Double definition. I wondered at first whether there was any wordplay here, but could not see anything.
The first definition might, for example, suggest a sheepdog herding a flock of sheep? Or a team of cowboys rounding up the cattle? The second definition suggests that some numbers, particularly long ones which might be difficult to remember, can be rounded up to something less awkward to remember. |
|
13 | Signal to start playing card game extremely late (7) |
WHISTLE – WHIST (card game) then the outside letters [extremely] of L{at}E
Many team sports are started with a whistle – loud enough so that everyone in the playing area is aware that the game has begun. |
|
15 | Something to discuss in publication (5) |
ISSUE – Double definition | |
16 | Story accepted by an immigrant perhaps (5) |
ALIEN – LIE (Story) inserted into [accepted by] AN | |
19 | Came across a weather office (3) |
MET – Another double definition
I wondered whether MET (without the ‘office’) was the correct abbreviation for ‘weather office’ or whether it should be ‘MET office’ = ‘weather office’. Collins online does not have MET on its own, but Cambridge online and other online dictionaries do have it. |
This one was not too hard if you have the knowledge – the priest’s cope, origami, acacia. I agree a CD is not a record. The Met is certainly flexible, referring to the weather forecasters or the police force in London, but in New York it’s either the opera or the museum – unless, of course, it’s a baseball player.
Time: 8:05
I’d suggest that the BBC could be as good a reference for us as Collins. Here’s the evidence:
In the late 1990s Radio 3 changed the name of long-running ‘Record Review’ to ‘CD Review’ due to the change in format which most of its listeners by then were using. Sort of catching up with the times, but maybe a few years late to the party.
A year or two ago, again possibly a bit late to the party, they changed the name back, saying that ‘CD’ was too restrictive in an era of streaming, vinyl, and maybe even some CDs.
The problem I have is that I can’t figure out from all the name changing whether they consider records and CDs to be the same or not. The first change looks like not; the second like maybe so.
Best for a good Christmas to everyone, especially the blogger and setter.
Pretty gentle fare, perfect for tackling on Christmas morning when waking first en famille. 5:23
Not too hard. Tempted by CAPE but vaguely remembered COPE may have something to do with priests. Yesterday we had CDs too, although clued as “albums” which I think is unobjectionable. I didn’t think twice about it being clued as “record” today but if Vinyl1 says it is wrong it probably is since he clearly owns zillions of them. Some tricky anagrams until you got some checkers: DRAGONFLY, TRIBUTARIES. I liked ORIGAMI. There probably is a team sport that is not started with a WHISTLE, but I can’t think of one.
Baseball, for one.
Cricket for two
I don’t have a problem with CD for RECORD. I see it simply as one of the three (main) mediums used for the recording, as in: tape recording, vinyl recording and compact disc recording. But, it’s Christmas so who cares!
NHO the COATI and coat/pelt didn’t occur to me. I thought ORIGAMI was clever with the misdirection of ‘holds’ to suggest an insertion indicator and gets my COD.
Have a great Christmas everyone, it’s nearly over here in the antipodes.
Thanks MH and setter.
For centuries, paper (or similar variants) was the main medium used for making records!!
9 minutes.
I wondered about ‘Pagan officiant’ for PRIESTESS as ‘pagan’ seems unnecessary even if it can be applied in some circumstances, and ‘officiant’ was unknown to me. Although its meaning was not difficult to deduce from the context, the word has never before appeared in a clue or answer in the TfTT era.
I don’t recall meeting DIGITALIN before but it has cropped up 3 times previously. In fact I blogged it in a QC in December 2017 and the very next day ‘Digitalis’ turned up in the 15×15 also blogged by me. Anyway, I’m glad the wordplay today left no room for doubt and the final letter was confirmed as a checker.
CA clued as ‘chief accountant’ may be a first but it’s in the dictionaries.
Rounding up (and down) is a standard presentation device with its own function formulas in spreadsheet applications. For the sake of clarity, especially in tables, numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest whole number, or one or two decimal places.
CD clued as ‘record’ doesn’t bother me.
18:36 for the solve! That’s a good time for me on a Teazel, a setter who I would prefer not to have faced on a Christmas morning puzzle before I have to rush off and do things – like parkrun. NHO DIGITALIN or COATI and wasn’t entirely sure about the COPE being a cloak. ORIGAMI elicIted a groan when I finally unfolded it. No particular issue with CD=record, more troubled by lose=fail. Now 9 puzzles in a row since I had a sub-15 time.
Merry Christmas everybody 🎄
Dear LP/ND,
Will you be at Wimborne Orienteers’ Boxing Day Canter at MVCP tomorrow? If so, I will look out for you.
Merry Christmas!
Probably not. But I see it starts at 11am so if I find I’m not doing much else I may wander down and see if we can catch up for a cuppa. Or we could go to the pub another time you’re down
I know of Digoxin and digitalis, but not familiar with DIGITALIN.
Likes the nicely hidden ANNE
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas all! Shamelessly reposting these again to see if I can get some last minute feedback on some clues I wrote for my dad before I go round with them written up this evening 🙂
If anyone is interested I’ve written some clues for my dad as part of his Xmas present – the answers are all Christmas related. Thought I’d share for a bit of fun / any feedback welcome
1. Salvation Army has bad nit condition – they present annually? (5,4)
2. Sounds like you will remember this for afters (4,3)
3. We’re stuffed full – no starter, no heart motion when digesting (2,4,2,3,3)
4. Prize targeted on the radio? (4)
5. Breakdown service called back, oil drained and its belted for Christmas (5)
6. Christmas number for Northern Ireland Listed first in Houses of Parliament? (6,5)
7. Maybe A Professor’s first idiot (6)
8. He’d stuff Christmas Jumper in sock, losing to king with empty gesture (7)
9. Present bishop with short hymn arrangement(5)
10. Holy man can start a new religion here (6)
11. Note newspaper dropped by instant message to sick boy (4,3)
12. Offering honest anger (12)
I hope that your Dad enjoys them; I’ve only solved 5 and 12 so far. Not sure about ‘belted’ in 5, but I can’t offer a better alternative at present.
Best wishes.
And just seen 9.
And 2.
I put loads on feedback yesterday – no reply there
That’s not true I did reply, and I appreciate the feedback
Apologies .. I only kept checking for replies until about 10pm last night and my email didn’t inform of any after (it can be iffy).
have just added to my sock comment over there albeit probably too late.
Your Dad is a lucky chap that you took the time to create something personal for him like this. I’m sure it has taken a few hours of work and refinement 👍 Hope he appreciates it
(on my phone so not proper login as can’t remember password)
Put CAPE instead of COPE but as it’s Christmas I let myself off so a finish in 32 minutes.
Liked the surface of the anagrams such as TRIBUTARIES and DRAGONFLIES.
Merry Christmas all.
Merry Christmas everyone. From SHOW OFF to MET in 9:03. I got bogged down in the SW. No problem with CD. It is a record of someone’s performance, just as the paper list of songs that comes with it is a record of the contents. Thanks Teazel and Mike.
6.39 by the time I corrected my typing errors and the vagaries of the Times’s website.
Best wishes everyone.
An enjoyable if straightforward Xmas offering, solved with zero difficulty.
FOI SHOW-OFF
LOI ADRIFT
COD TRIBUTARIES
TIME 3:04
11 minutes. Not exactly zero difficulty, but still, just right for a pre-Christmas dinner solve. I haven’t come across COATI and DIGITALIN for a while and I took longer than I should have to get EARFUL for ‘rebuke’. Some consolation in seeing ORIGAMI, which on another day might have stumped me, pretty quickly.
Thanks to Mike and Teazel and merry Christmas to all
6:46
A gentle pre-church solve.
Thanks Mike and Teazel.
Merry Christmas to everyone.
Six for me
I half biffed dragonflies by looking at the anagram words phonetically. I’m solving on my phone without pen and paper.
I missed Anne.
Yesterday I mixed a Dickens in with the Shakespeare by accident. ADHD more haste less speed.
Seasons greetings – covers all faiths without causing offence hopefully.
23.38 with no errors. Many seem to have found this easy – and the Snitch (currently 89) seems to back them up. I found it the most difficult since Joker’s last Friday (which I have yet to finish). Must be a “wavelength” thing as I nearly always struggle with Teazel. I haven’t heard of DIGITALIN and couldn’t convince myself such a word existed, I had to enter it as it fitted the wordplay and I couldn’t think of anything better. I should have got LOI COATI quicker than the (at least) three or four minutes I spent staring at C-A-I and coming up with nothing. I also struggled with TRIBUTARIES and PRIESTESS even though they were obviously anagrams. Overall not a good performance from me today, hopefully I’ll do better tomorrow. Thanks to Teazel and Mike
DNF!
C_P_ meaning manage or cloak. Since I couldn’t parse it this became a tossup between CAPE and COPE. I guessed wrongly. 15 mins otherwise.
16:42. TRIBUTARIES, FEARFUL, and ROUND UP took the most time.
Managed cope, coating, origami, acacia with ease, but didn’t like priestess for pagan. ( why priestess and not priest?), I wouldn’t call record a CD, and a definite doubly raised eyebrow++ for digitalin and its definition as stimulant.
NHO digitalin – it is a glycoside similar to digoxin apparently.
OK, so there are a few uses in heart failure for digoxin, but it was never great at increasing cardiac stroke volume and is not widely used. Even if digitalin==digoxin I disagree with describing its action as stimulation. It is a positive inotrope but its main pharmacological action is by inhibiting one of the sodium channels in cell membranes.
(https://bjcardio.co.uk/2024/08/the-modern-day-role-of-digoxin-in-heart-failure-and-atrial-fibrillation-benefits-and-limitations/)
Enough of the Christmas Lecture !
Apart from those three mers, there were some lovely clues. COD: coati.
Many thanks to Mike for his Christmas Day blog. Happy Christmas all.
Well, if digitalin is a glycocide and the herbicide Roundup is a glycophosphate perhaps we have a slight step towards a Nina?
😆
16:18 and a very pleasant time. A bit of a Christmas surprise, since Teazel is often too hard for me. Loved DRAGONFLIES, of which I am fond. CD=”record” nearly eluded me, as I come from the vinyl era.
Thanks Teazel and Mike, and Merry Christmas or happy holidays to all frequenters of the blog. I’ve been hanging around here for just over a year and it has brightened my days considerably [blows kiss].
21.22
Liked the boozy pro in 12A.
Happy Christmas all! All done in 10:57, but with a typo. Dang. LOI COATI, dredged up from who knows where.
Thanks to Mike and Teazel.
Relatively quick today. Thanks vm, Mike, for Holiday blog.
Feared I would have to manage without a puzzle today, but, lo- there it was!
Happy Christmas to all QC friends/bloggers/countrymen again.
Hard work! Probably somewhere in the region of 40 minutes.
My COD is TRIBUTARIES. Very clever!
I DNK COATI, COPE or the meaning of Braggart (SHOW OFF). And I CNP (could not parse) ORIGAMI, CLOSED or FEARFUL (my LOI).
Failing to parse ‘fail to break record’ is embarrassing, especially as I was listening to my new vinyl copy of David Gilmour’s Luck and Strange (a Christmas present from Mrs R) whilst doing this puzzle. My favourite track, btw, is Scattered – beautiful, reflective and poignant, IMHO. I wonder if it will turn out to be Mr G’s parting gift to us.
Many thanks to Teazel and Mike, and merry Christmas to everyone.
Compliments of the season to setters, bloggers and solvers and even the rest of humanity as yet unconverted to the way of the grid. A relaxing solve, not requiring me to get close to disturbing the SCC. Onward to the TfTT Xmas special.
15m after champagne, guinness and red wine.
COD tributaries.
Greetings all. Used this to introduce younger members of the family to cryptic crosswords and found myself fending off a number of questions from puzzled nephews: why is lose the same as fail, why is a CD clued as a record when they are different, what is the word pagan doing in 6D, what is an awkward number in 11D – and that was before we all puzzled over DIGITALIN. I was running out of ways of saying “It’s a bit loose, I agree, but I think we need to cut the setter some slack here, it is after all Christmas ” …
No time, but I thought as I was doing it that it was medium difficulty and (despite barrage of questions from nephews) not a bad one to act as an introduction to the next generation.
Many thanks Mike for the blog
Cedric
6.19
Very late entry but very best seasonal greetings to one and all
Liked this with some good anagrams and thought the cryptic ORIGAMI, though presumably chestnutty, was very good
Thanks Mike and Teazel
9.06 When I finally had time to look at this yesterday I was in no state to. Mostly straightforward. I’d heard of digitalis but not LOI DIGITALIN. Thanks Teazel and Mike.
22 mins…
Don’t normally do the Xmas Day QC, as I like to do the paper copy, but as I’ve been doing the Saturday online versions for quite a while I decided why not (albeit a day late)
Overall a good challenge for the big day – with quite a few unknowns (5dn “Coati, 9dn “Digitalin”, 21ac “Pungent”) – however the clueing was generous.
FOI – 1dn “Sad”
LOI – 5dn “Coati”
COD – 14ac “Tributaries”
Thanks as usual and hope everyone had a good Xmas.