Times Quick Cryptic No 2869 by Jimmy

Cracking puzzle, much enjoyed!

If a puzzle hits 100 on the quitch, I think it tends to feel a bit harder than average, which is pretty much where I’d put this. I came in a bit over 8 minutes, after a short stare at PHONIES, which could be trickier for those solving on devices that don’t display the setter’s name. (I found it tricky even with.)

Lots of lovely clues, with wit and imagination aplenty – many thanks to Jimmy, and a merry Boxing Day to all!

Across
1 Making impure drug, cutting quantity for a grown-up (12)
ADULTERATION – E (drug) cutting ADULT RATION (quantity for a grown-up)
8 Banks in Orleans look for capital (4)
OSLO – OS (“Banks” in OrleanS) LO (look)
9 Illegally sell footwear and haircare product from the east (7)
BOOTLEG -BOOT (footwear) and GEL (haircare product) from the east = reverse. Literally from the carrying of liquor in one’s bootlegs, however improbable that sounds. I do love the OED’s way of putting things: in 1993 it updated its definition to include “gramophone records and tapes prepared and distributed without authorization.”
11 Jimmy dressed in rings? They’re not genuine (7)
PHONIES – Jimmy is the setter, so from their perspective the clue reads as: I am “dressed” in PHONES (calls). Phoney most likely derives from FAWNEY, a slang word for a ring, with a fawney-rig being a con trick with a long history: the OED gives a quote from 1789,Fawny, an old, stale trick, called ring-dropping”, that you can read about here.
12 Belief which can come from the Right or the Left? (5)
TENET – which, for the clue’s purpose, is a palindrome.
14 Vehicle used in winter has extremely special advantage (6)
SLEDGE – the “extreme” letters of SpeciaL and EDGE (advantage)
15 Very cold   beer (6)
BITTER – double definition
18 Gag pitiful person uttered (5)
RETCH – is “uttered” the same as WRETCH (pitiful person)
20 Intellectually defeats Oxford University buffoons (7)
OUTWITS – OU and TWITS (buffoons)
21 People who quibble with journalist in underwear (7)
PEDANTS – ED (journalist) in PANTS (underwear)
23 Heads for giant rollercoaster inducing panic? Hold tight (4)
GRIP – the “head” letters of the subsequent four words
24 Nine urgent changes absorbing business meeting (12)
ENCOUNTERING – anagram (changes) of NINE URGENT absorbing CO. (business)
Down
2 Somewhat caddish? One’s terribly given to fibbing (9)
DISHONEST – “Somewhat” cadDISH ONES Terribly. Very impressive to hide a word so well in such a pertinent surface.
3 Yearn to seize booty I’m regularly plundering (7)
LOOTING – LONG (yearn) to seize the “regular” letters of b O o T y I m
4 Walls of emporium foreman, say, put an outstanding design on (6)
EMBOSS – “walls” of EmporiuM, BOSS (foreman, say)
5 Take on publicity work, over time (5)
ADOPT – AD (publicity) OP(work) over T(ime)
6 Suffering with 1 + 2 x 50 (3)
ILL – I = 1 + 2(L=50)
7 Kit when retiring from NHS, eg, it’s arranged to cover doctor (10)
NIGHTDRESS – anagram (arranged) of NHS EG ITS to cover DR. As in retiring to bed.
10 Item maybe misplaced by greengrocer or a pet shop, strangely (10)
APOSTROPHE – anagram (strangely) of OR A PET SHOP. As in the proverbial greengrocers apo’strophe. (Although, more recently, a greengrocer’s apostrophe is likely to be an unpleasantly lewd aside from Greg Wallace. (I remember from a previous puzzle that another meaning of apostrophe is something close to an aside.))
13 Goodness supplied by food I turn into crackers (9)
NUTRITION – anagram (crackers) of I TURN INTO
16 Bury boxes for example, perhaps two or three (7)
INTEGER – INTER (bury) “boxes” E.G. (for example)
17 Escort prancing around in tight-fitting garment (6)
CORSET – anagram (prancing around) of ESCORT
19 Believer welcomed inside church in Dunstable (5)
HINDU – “welcomed inside” churcH IN DUnstable
22 Dwarf fish from the south (3)
DOC – COD (fish) “from the South” = reverse. As in Snow White.

 

56 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 2869 by Jimmy”

  1. Nice puzzle with no holdups except I carelessly mistyped CORSET as CORSTT and didn’t notice. Took me a moment to see what was going on with PHONIES since I’d not taken note of the setter’s name.

  2. I biffed ADULTERATING, which of course caused trouble with 7d, so I finally looked at the clue and corrected it. Also biffed ENCOUNTERING & NUTRITION, parsing post-submission. I could make nothing of 11ac and biffed PHONIES faute de mieux. It was only after submitting that I noticed the name of the setter. (It’s in such tiny print, and I never look at it.) 8:52.

  3. 10:14

    Solved on phone so didn’t get the Jimmy bit initially. With current Snitch of 111 in mind, my time is about par.

    Thanks for the blog Roly

  4. 13 minutes but delayed by my own stupidity not paying sufficient attention to wordplay although I usually go out of my way to understand parsing as I solve.

    Like Kevin I went for ADULTERING at 1ac, but even worse, I put SLEIGH at 16ac, on the basis that there couldn’t possibly be more than one ‘vehicle used in winter’ to fit the checkers S?E?G?, could there? But at least I eventually realised both errors before setting the completed grid aside.

    1. Hi Jackkt
      Oddly I made the same mistakes for ADULTERING, SLEIGH (and a few others) but it took me a good 30 minutes more than yourself to recover from these error and get the correct answers. Still a good result
      for Boxing day considering the amount of food and drink I imbibed yesterday.

      Regards
      Gordon Kennedy.

  5. Nice puzzle from Jimmy (solved on laptop so was able to parse PHONIES). All green in 13:30 which looking back seemed a bit laboured. Had never heard of greengrocers APOSTROPHE.

    FOI EMBOSS
    LOI ADULTERATION
    COD to the very well hidden DISHONEST

    Thanks Roly.

    Is it too early for a Bailey’s with or without the apostrophe – asking for a friend?

    1. Believe I’m right in saying the greengrocer’s apostophe is where you would see a sign outside stating … Apple’s … Pear’s … Banana’s

      I’d say crack on with that Baileys as long as you’ve done your morning calisthenics

      1. Only sledge

        I have to dispute 6d having no checker’s (sorry, couldn’t resist not correcting the auto-complete).

        Special “S” with 1 and 2×50 = 100 “C’
        SIC not ILL

        I was suffering reportedly…

        The significance of the setter is a nuance I am yet to grasp notwithstanding that I am solving on the phone app

  6. I found this trickier than some of Jimmy’s previous offerings and never did fully parse LOI PHONIES despite being aware of who the setter was.
    Finished in 9.09.
    Thanks to Rolytoly

  7. Steady 13 minute solve, with the long clues the most stubborn, which accounts for the slightly slower than average time as the grid took time to open up. Major holdup though was PHONIES, the clue for which made no sense at all as I was solving on a phone so had no idea who the setter was. This is a very long-running irritant, and if setters are going to self-refer, it really does need to be put right. Come on Times, make it 2025’s New Year’s Resolution to resolve this!

    Many thanks Roly for the blog
    Cedric

      1. Ha! Didn’t know that. Why oh why they don’t fit it on to the portrait view….

        Landscape on a phone has the slight disadvantage of not being usable. But good to remember for checking the setter!

    1. I agree that The Times needs to reveal the setter’s name on the digital puzzle.
      It is surprising that the editor hasn’t found a way to do this.

  8. 13:41 for the solve! Another highly enjoyable puzzle from Jimmy – APOSTROPHE and the OUTWITS were my favourite. One of my slower solves for Jimmy’s puzzles and I sort of derailed myself by banging ADULERATION in first glance and then barely being able to get any of the Downs off it. Held up for a couple of mins by PHONIES but more because I was trying to do something with a J for Jimmy 🤦‍♂️

  9. 11 minutes. Like Kevin, I paid the penalty for biffing ADULTERATING for 1a, therefore needing an extra few minutes to get NIGHTDRESS. No excuses, as I could see the name of the setter on the Club webpage, but PHONIES took longer than it should have at the end. Not a difficult clue, but I liked the surface for GRIP.

    Thanks to Roly for the blog and to Jimmy

  10. DNF

    Beaten by PHONIES. Couldn’t parse and looking for something not genuine which fit the checkers put PROXIES. I found this one really annoying as I don’t really look who wrote the crossword until complete.

  11. 12:13
    LOI NIGHTDRESS, where I wasted time looking for a medical specialist ending in IST, thinking kit was part of the anagrist and doctor the definition.
    PHONIES took a long time to see, since I had forgotten that Jimmy was the setter.

    Thanks Roly and Jimmy

  12. 26 mins…

    Not particularly quick this morning, but an enjoyable puzzle nonetheless. Overthought 6dn “Ill”, thinking there was some kind of BODMAS maths thing going on and never did parse 11ac “Phonies”.

    FOI – 5dn “Adopt”
    LOI – 11ac “Phonies”
    COD – 10dn “Apostrophe”

    Thanks as usual!

  13. This seemed easy at first but it wasn’t. Some great clues and, solving on paper, I knew Jimmy was the author.
    Time 15 minutes. LOI PHONIES/EMBOSS. I had biffed EMBLEM which held me up. And I also assumed 1a ended ING.
    I liked OUTWITS and CORSETS whilst solving , but lots of candidates for COD including the excellent hidden.
    Well done Jimmy.
    David

  14. 16:09 but with one typo.

    Liked APOSTROPHE, took some while to see it.

    PHONIES was LOI, didn’t understand the Jimmy reference. Also though PORKIES was a good match for “they’re not genuine”.

    If you haven’t seen Peter Biddlecombes blog on our TFTT Christmas Co-op Crossword, it’s worth a read, so you can appreciate the skill of setters and the precision of the Editor. Our clues aren’t bad, either.

  15. Only sledge

    I have to dispute 6d having no across letters

    Special “S” with 1 and 2×50 = 100 “C’
    SIC not ILL

    I was suffering reportedly…

    Not sure why this has appeared twice…

    1. SIC is not bad! But are you seeing a different clue than I am? I see “Suffering with 1 + 2 x 50”. Disputing your dispute 🙃, I note that there’s no indicator to take the first letter of “suffering”, which would be needed to get SIC. Only, judging by what I’m running across in the 15×15 lately, I might be on thin ice!

      1. Not at all, more like me clutching at straws.
        English might be my first language but spelling is not my strong “suite”…

  16. Over par at 11.10 but not the easiest of puzzles I thought. My LOI was PHONIES, and although I glanced at the setters name before setting off, I still didn’t twig that the I was specifically Jimmy. The other one I failed to parse was APOSTROPHE even though the anagram made the answer obvious. When used as an answer before, there is generally an apostrophe somewhere in the clue, but as I’ve never heard of the saying connecting it with a greengrocer, I was left mystified.

  17. 42 mins but used check once – when it was clear adulterating would not work. Had relied on verb making as denoting the answer to end -ing.
    LOI phonies- on app so no idea where Jimmy came in.
    Enjoyed this. I should have been a bit faster but also listening to an old In Our Time from BBC sounds as well. Not a good mix!

    Thanks to Jimmy and Roly.

  18. 38 minutes.

    Once again my fragile confidence is destroyed by a QC from Jimmy.

    Took forever to get APOSTROPHE and PHONIES. Didn’t have a clue what 10dn meant. Probably spent half my time on these two clues.

    A depressing day. All that hard work on the big puzzle and I’m still nowhere with this. Still right at the bottom. When I get badly stuck, I struggle hugely to find a way out.

    My new weekly goal of 5 solves in 100 minutes seems far fetched at this moment.

  19. Have struggled to access the Club site today, so did this on the ordinary puzzles page. From ILL to PHONIES in 6:40. Thanks Jimmy and Roly.

  20. Very nice puzzle taking about 40 minutes.
    I suspect the combination of Greengrocer’s APOSTROPHE and PEDANTS was not an accident. I’m often accused of being one of the latter when pointing out grammatical errors.
    Thanks Jimmy and Roly.

  21. Finished and much enjoyed, not that quick on LHS until PDM with APOSTROPHE (COD). Also liked PEDANTS, BOOTLEG, SLEDGE, OUTWITS.
    I confess I am not sure what an INTEGER is but the parsing was obvious.
    Biffed DOC as don’t know the names in Snow White.
    Missed well hidden 2d, so again biffed. CNP PHONIES.
    Thanks for much needed blog, Roly.

  22. Nice friendly Christmas offering from Jimmy, thank you, though couldn’t work out why LOI PHONIES. Thank you, Roly. Being a PEDANT, enjoyed APOSTROPHE.

  23. 21:00 for me. Started well but slowed. Was solving on my phone as the paper wasn’t delivered today, which I’d like to think slowed me down, particularly when it came to the PHONIES clue. Liked APOSTROPHE, though I think there may be a few greengrocers out there who feel they have been unfairly singled out. Thanks Roly and Jimmy.

  24. Spot the setter

    10:44. Done on my phone, without knowing it was by Jimmy, so I enjoyed the bonus. An extra puzzle, and we all like puzzles? Having deduced the answer to 11ac – from rings (phones) and the definition – I was able to deduce the setter. Nice one. I find I can sometimes spot Oink puzzles too

  25. CsOD for APOSTROPHE which evaded me for some time, but gave me a good laugh at the PDM, and the well hidden DISHONEST. OUTWITS came faster but also raised a smile, and the scantily clad journo. I was another who biffed SLEIGH and then took ages to realise it might not be quite so obvious and, um, didn’t actually parse fully. And PHONIES went in without seeing where the I came from.

  26. With 1ac and 10d as write-ins, this quickly turned into a fairly straightforward solve and, since I parse as I go, I even managed to avoid some of the pitfalls mentioned by earlier solvers. Once thoughts of Ruth’s involvement at loi 19ac had departed, my reward was an (admittedly squeaky) sub-20. Fortunately it was close enough to bluff my way into what I hope will be an entertaining afternoon at the SCC. CoD to the generalisation (. . .probably apocryphal) found at 20ac🙂 Invariant

  27. 15.04 but with one typo (NUTRIrION). Disappointing as it’s immediately logged as an incorrect solve even though I knew perfectly well what the answer was. Must remember to check all spelling before hitting submit. FOI – OSLO, LOI – NIGHTDRESS (which slowed me down until I corrected ADULTERATIng), CODs – DISHONEST and OUTWITS. Thanks Jimmy and Roly.

  28. 18:39 and a very amusing puzzle! Never understood APOSTROPHE, which I had to write out, so off to read the blog. (I think this must be the British analog to the American misplaced quotes on signs.) Slow to see PHONIES, felt very silly when I did. OUTWITS my favorite!

    Thanks to Jimmy and roly!

  29. 8.18 Bucking the trend I found this quite straightforward. APOSTROPHE was nice. LOI PHONIES was biffed and parsed after I was done. Thanks rolytoly and Jimmy.

  30. Lazily biffed SLEIGH then forgot to go back and parse. Very enjoyable QC-ish puzzle. Liked PHONIES/APOSTROPHE which got the brain cells working a bit more. Many thanks Jimmy and rolytoly.

  31. 13:33, and another very nice puzzle from Jimmy. What with one thing and another I didn’t get around to yesterday’s QC, so a belated Merry Christmas to you all.

    Thank you for the blog!

  32. 13:37 for me, about my average time. COD to OUTWITS for the laugh. Solved on phone, so I never worked out where the I in PHONIES came from.

    Thanks to Jimmy and rolytoly.

  33. Nice straightforward puzzle. Liked APOSTROPHE and the clever cluing of PHONIES.
    Thanks Jimmy and Roly.

  34. My thoroughly dismal day is now complete.

    2.5 hours on 15 x 15 and 6 answers wrong or incomplete. A few others were guesses. It’s like hacking rock with a toothpick.

    Over 3 hours of humiliation today. I do not understand why I cannot make any progress with cryptic crosswords and I’m deflated and disillusioned.

    I have no confidence whatsoever. I spend hours on this and get nowhere. In my case, hard work simply doesn’t pay off. Perhaps that’s why I’m so miserable?

  35. A game of two halves, as they say. The lower half of the grid proved relatively accommodating and I managed to complete it before solving even a single clue in the upper half. Eventually (and I really do mean eventually), however, TENET came to mind and it gave me just enough of a foothold to start making progress – inch by inch – above the halfway line.

    OU TWITS made me laugh out loud and is, therefore, my COD.

    Time = roughly 40 minutes.

    Many thanks to Jimmy and Roly.

  36. Given the Quitch we were about on the money with this at 13:33 but it felt like we were getting through it faster than that. There was a lot to enjoy on the way though. Special mentions to APOSTROPHE, OUTWITS and the superbly hidden DISHONEST. LOI BITTER took some seeing despite a feeling that we’ve seen it before. Thanks to all.

  37. Only just got round to this QC as full on with family over the last few days. Worth the wait – a really great witty puzzle. Particularly appreciated APOSTROPHE – I have a mental red pen every time I see its misuse. Thanks very much Jimmy and Roly for the blog.

  38. I really enjoyed this, coming in at just over 10 mins. Like Rolytoly, 2D stood out for me – great hidden, lovely surface.

    Just discovered the printing puzzles on the Times website (I use puzzles to get me off screens, so never manage to do them in time to comment on the day!), so only getting round to doing this now!

Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *