Around average difficulty.
I made fairly even progress through this, finishing up in 6:28, about two minutes slower and quicker than the previous couple of days, respectively. I doubt I’m alone in not hanging around too long to check some things like the anagrist of the skin expert, or the second half of the two chess colours clue, but there were some lovely things along the way, my favourite being that superb CARDIAC. Many thanks to Joker!
Across | |
1 | Sleazy bar outside City area is influential (8) |
DECISIVE – DIVE (sleazy bar) outside EC (City of London area) IS | |
5 | Suddenly realise what grows on tree (4) |
TWIG – double definition | |
8 | Skin expert got old-timer as transformed (13) |
DERMATOLOGIST – anagram (transformed) of GOT OLD TIMER AS | |
10 | Best one of those scoring one in Scrabble turns? (5) |
ELITE – E TILE (one of those scoring 1 in Scrabble) “turns” | |
11 | Get too big for old hat having good line (7) |
OUTGROW – OUT (old hat/uncool/etc.) having G(ood) ROW (line) | |
12 | Spur incorporated it by end of shoe (6) |
INCITE – INC. IT E (“end” of shoE) | |
13 | Brawl with a very loud fellow (6) |
AFFRAY – A FF (Forte = loud in music) RAY (fellow) | |
16 | Flowers I dropped in heaving boutique (7) |
BOUQUET – anagram (heaving) of BOUTIQUE, after having dropped/removed the I | |
18 | Where one can stay very warm — the middle of Hell (5) |
HOTEL – HOT (very warm) EL (the “middle” of HELL) | |
20 | Both sides on board admitting no middle ground (5,3,5) |
BLACK AND WHITE – double definition | |
21 | Victor leaves noisy celebration dance (4) |
REEL – V(ictor) leaves REVEL (noisy celebration). A carelessly biffed 12d meant I was briefly looking for an unknown dance D_ E _, and an improbable celebration D_ V E _. That’s generally the time one should consider reconsidering one’s biffs. | |
22 | Make winning chess move for childhood friend (8) |
PLAYMATE – PLAY (make) MATE (winning chess move). I think in the sense of MAKE = PERFORM = PLAY, but I’m struggling to think of a direct swap. |
Down | |
1 | Avoid Italian magistrate imprisoning daughter (5) |
DODGE – DOGE (Italian magistrate) imprisoning D(aughter) | |
2 | I initially avoid clubs after what could be ace of hearts (7) |
CARDIAC – I A (“initially” Avoid) C(lubs) after CARD (what could be ace) | |
3 | Puts on tense fight like a starry-eyed player? (5-6) |
STAGE-STRUCK -STAGES (puts on) T (Tense, in the grammar sense) RUCK (fight/beef/etc.) | |
4 | Reportedly in France, you perform black magic (6) |
VOODOO – sounds like (reportedly) VOUS (you, in France) and DO (perform, not in France) | |
6 | Buzz initially within hive is running riot (5) |
WHIRR – “initial” letters of the next five words | |
7 | Escape, breaking gate system (7) |
GETAWAY – anagram (breaking) of GATE and WAY (system) | |
9 | No longer being obstructive? That’s unusual (3-2-3-3) |
OUT-OF-THE-WAY – cryptic hint, rather than a double definition, which would need the hyphens out of the way to mean out of the way. | |
12 | Drunk, perhaps, I am investing billions in German beer (7) |
IMBIBER – I’M, and then invest B(illions) in BIER (German beer).
I looked as far as DRUNK and I _ B _ B _ _, and assumed wrongly. |
|
14 | Partly secret sin — alcoholic drink (7) |
RETSINA – “partly” secRET SIN Alcoholic. | |
15 | Part of threat on a link having no established key (6) |
ATONAL – “part of” threAT ON A Link | |
17 | Employment of university philosopher (5) |
USAGE – U(niversity) SAGE (philosopher) | |
19 | Belgian city under feudal tenure (5) |
LIEGE – double definition |
I, too, saw skin expert and wrote in dermatologist without reading the rest of the clue – it seemed likely enough. I saw imbibed was wrong when I parsed the clue, as its bier they drink over there. I did like the voodoo clue, very clever.
Time: 6:45
12:08. I mistakenly went for IMBIBED first too. STAGE-STRUCK and CARDIAC took the longest for me to parse.
Same same re IMBIBED, I saw drunk and that was that. Also don’t get make = play in 22ac and am struggling to see how OUT-OF-THE-WAY means unusual as opposed to ‘off the beaten track’ or some such. Five stars to LOI CARDIAC and VOODOO, thanks Joker and Roly. 8.57.
“I go to out of the way places for my holidays”?
In 22A if you take it all together “play mate” = “make winning chess move” was good enough for me
For 22ac, MAKE = PLAY as in chess: make a move, play a move
Thanks rolytoly and Joker. I took this as a DD. Play mate (as in the last move of chess) and playmate in the school yard.
Ah yes, thanks TL – I didn’t really have too far to look!
Luckily, I had REEL in place so avoided the error others made with IMBIBER. A fun mix of QC and 15×15 I thought, 8a, 20a being write-ins and then the clever 2d for example requiring a bit of thought. Was tempted to biff WHINE. for 6d before reading the clue again.
Thanks RT and J.
Solved PLAYMATE as DramS did on the way to an all green 11.25. Only four on the first pass of acrosses. Struggled with STAGE STRUCK partly because I’ve never heard of it and partly because I had ‘stage’ as ‘puts on’ and so had a rogue S before the T I took a while to explain. Enjoyed TWIG. Finished with INCITE and then IMBIBER so the R from REEL was already there and saved me from even considering imbibed.
9 minutes. No problems, although it took me a moment to see that ‘both sides on board’ (20ac) probably refers to opponents at chess.
18:25
The NE corner was the hardest, with WHIRR LOI, often miss those clues which are acrostics, stopping after the first one ( W).
In what context does t=tense? Would a linguist say “I made an error putting 12d in the past t.” I’m sure I’ll be told “it’s in Collins”, but Collins should give references.
COD BLACK AND WHITE
Most abbreviations are never spoken, they’re used to save time and space when written. You’ll find ‘t’for ‘tense’ in books about language and grammar.
I’m with you, Merlin: I’ve many “books about language and grammar”, but never seen that abbreviation.
19.52 Happier overall though embarrassingly slow to TWIG.
Smiled at VOODOO
Not familiar with ‘t’ for tense.
Biffed but did not parse (until the blog) OUTGROW
Currently in Cyprus, had a bottle of RETSINA between us the other day. Can never decide if we like it. Learnt about the Aleppo Pine though.
Thank you Joker and RT
Love Retsina when in Crete, but the funny thing is that it doesn’t travel. Once bought one here at a supermarket, but was distinctly non-plussed by it – never again.
Ooh that was a hard one here, after a quick start with decisive, voodoo and the skin expert going in immediately. Then it went south.
The NE was our biggest downfall, took a ridiculous amount of time to come up with twig which only revealed itself after we finally spotted whirr, only just preceded by elite to finish in a little over 30.
Thanks Joker and Roly.
5.18 with a typo
Two more chess clues – like it!
VOODOO was rather good but liked ELITE (though not a Scrabble player)
Thanks RT and Joker
25 mins…
I made hard work of this. My final two clues of 12dn “Imbiber” and 21ac “Reel” taking me a good 5 mins over my average. As noted above, I first went down the Imbibed route but couldn’t parse it. Also wasted far too much time on 19dn “Liege”, mainly because I was thinking of that film with Colin Farrell in it, and whilst I knew it wasn’t that, trying to recall it wasted a good few more minutes.
FOI – 1dn “Dodge”
LOI – 21ac “Reel”
COD – 5dn “Whirr” – primarily for misdirecting me down some convoluted, non-existent anagram.
Thanks as usual!
Film with Colin Farrell that you couldn’t recall – everybody tries to forget his 2012 remake of Total Recall.
Good in The Penguin series though…
6.45. Just what rolytoly has said.
Like our blogger I found this of average difficulty. No serious delays along the way, I just steadily worked my way around the grid.
Started with TWIG and finished with CARDIAC in 7.56 with COD to the E-TILE.
Thanks to rolytoly.
A good puzzle with some nice tripwires for me. I did the RHS smoothly but, like JamesEd, I had problems at the end with IMBIBEd (my fault, I didn’t parse it properly) and hence with REEL. This, and a fat-fingered typo, took me to the edge of the SCC.
CARDIAC was an outstanding COD; ELITE would have joined it if I had parsed it. Thanks to both.
5:06. I already had REEL so never thought of IMBIBED, but saw the BIER immediately anyway. Held up by writing AFFRAY in the space for 12A and I spent some time trying to make that one TOECAP, but wrong definition. LOI ELITE and COD to the clever CARDIAC which also took me a while to spot. Thanks Joker and Roly.
11:05 for a gentle and enjoyable puzzle, though STAGE STRUCK held me up (t for tense? as others have queried) and was my LOI. I would say it was otherwise mostly straightforward, but that sounds rather dismissive of Joker’s fine craftsmanship and certainly doesn’t do CARDIAC enough justice – a fine clue and my COD when I realised its parsing.
Many thanks Roly for the blog
Cedric
A witty, clever puzzle from the funny man. COD to ELITE but lots of other crackers, including CARDIAC and VOODOO.
I wasn’t totally convinced by the definition “like a starry-eyed player” for my LOI STAGE-STRUCK. I’ve always understood that as a description for someone who *wants* to be an actor, not someone who already *is* an actor as the clue suggests. Chambers and Collins agree.
Anyway, great fun for 07:42 and a Very Good Day. Many thanks Joker and roly.
11:09 with a correction on STAGE-STRUCK. Caught out by frustration/impatience again having reached my last three (also CARDIAC/ELITE) in 7-8mins. While I could get -STRUCK; I couldn’t parse the clue and my mental alphatrawl only returned stare and state. It was nice to have a quick day up to that point.
10:30, with WHIRR my LOI. No real hold-ups. COD to CARDIAC.
Thanks Joker and Roly
No problems. Liked CARDIAC and ELITE, which was post-parsed.
All except two letters: battled for ages with S-A-E-STRUCK, but NHO STAGE-STRUCK (nor, for that matter, tense = T, or RUCK). Everything else friendly and enjoyable (oh, CNP ELITE – bit obscure, that “tile”). Thanks, Joker and Roly.
Struggled at first, but slowly got to grips with it. LOI CARDIAC and IMBIBER (once I saw REEL). On the harder side, I thought.
18 minutes for me, it’s funny how different people see different things, CARDIAC was one of the first in for me once I started playing around with ace of hearts being a card and suddenly it was obvious. REEL and ELITE however delayed me for ages and I couldn’t parse ELITE or DECISIVE until I read the blog. VOODOO was definitely my favourite clue.
18 minutes is a good time for me, so overall very pleased. Thanks of course to Joker (one of my favourite setters) and Roly
I thought this was tougher than average, but I seem to be in a minority so I guess I was off The Jokers wavelength today. It was basically a puzzle of two halves for me where I found the top half a good deal trickier than the bottom half. Eventually I got my act together and with my LOI STAGESTRUCK crossed the line in 11.40.
I thought this was a tad more difficult than yesterday, ending up with a good choice of window seats after 21 mins. Jumped over the (nearly full) Imbibed bear trap, only to fall into the one at the tanner Whirr, while searching for a B missing from the hive (do keep up).
Doge/magistrate and T/tense seemed on the hard side for a QC, as did some of the IKEA clues, but 20ac, Black and White, must be in with a chance of the easiest DD of the year award.
CoD to 2d, Cardiac, for the surface. Invariant
20 minutes for me, which is my second best time. I seemed to be on the setter’s wavelength for once.
FOI: TWIG
LOI: STAGE STRUCK.
COD: ELITE.
Thanks for a useful blog rolytoly, and thanks to joker for an enjoyable QC.
Biffed a few on my way to a 16 minute solve. I managed to avoid the imbibed trap as this was one I actually did parse. Slowed a bit by incite and white but a notable improvement over the last couple of days.
FOI – 8ac DERMATOLOGIST
LOI – 6dn WHIRR
COD – 4dn VOODOO
Thanks to Joker and Rolytoly.
DODGE was FOI, then came DERMATOLOGIST after a brief glance at the anagrist. IMBIBED, hurriedly changed to IMBIBER preceded LOI, REEL. 8:13. Thanks Joker and Roly.
Stuck at home today, so I had plenty of time to get stuck on this. And I did.
Finished eventually in 20 minutes. LOI REEL having corrected IMBIBED. Like others I did not pause to parse properly.
Held up by STAGESTRUCK -discussed fully above.
But this was a high quality puzzle, so no complaints.
Did not parse ELITE but now see how clever it was.
My favourite while solving was HOTEL.
David
12 pretty much all of the east side after two passes, then ground to a halt. Three or four of the unsolved clues didn’t pass parsing muster for me. I did look at the elapsed time today, about 12 minutes.
20:13
Started quickly but the last few in the NW corner ate up 5 mins on the clock. Forgot that EC = city, was looking for an I for Italian so took ages to get DODGE and didn’t fully parse LOI ELITE.
7:56
DODGE to DECISIVE only really pausing for WHIRR.
COD ELITE
Thanks Joker and Roly.
Bang on my par at 11.01. Good puzzle LOI as for several others was WHIRR. Couldn’t see where T came from in STARSTRUCK so thanks Roly.
From DODGE to WHIRR in 7:49 which is close to my average solving time for the QCs I finish. I liked VOODOO but my COD goes to CARDIAC. Thanks all.
Oh darn, just couldn’t get STAGE though managed STRUCK. How dim.
Otherwise much enjoyed this one though took ages to parse ELITE/ E Tile and CARDIAC.
Yes, bunged in DERMATOLOGIST, after FOI DODGE.
Liked VOODOO, TWIG, REEL (also a late solve). But mostly I flew through pretty quickly, apart from 2d and 10a as mentioned, pity about DNF.
Thanks vm, Roly.
Completed this in quadrants. SE first, followed by NE and SW. NW proved tricky. ELITE was my COD which I was delighted to tease out (each letter of the answer also scoring one in Scrabble – don’t know if this was in Joker’s mind). Thanks rolytoly for the help in parsing a few of these.
As Roly says, a few went in on trust – like DERMATOLOGIST, which I did think was a great anagram, but I coudn’t really parse CARDIAC and I didn’t parse STAGE-STRUCK at all. IMBIBER made me chuckle and I liked REEL too – they sort of go together (not forgetting the RETSINA)!
9:24 FOI Twig LOI Stage-struck COD Bouquet
Thanks Joker and Roly
We made heavy weather of this with LOI REEL after – you’ve guessed it – a too hastily biffed IMBIBED. Made a meal of STAGE-STRUCK and WHIRR also took us a while to see, did anyone else wonder whether WHIVE was some NHO slang? COD most definitely CARDIAC though. 13:54. Thanks Joker and Roly.
A bit trickier than yesterday. Needed blog to parse STAGE-STRUCK (didn’t know tense = t) and ELITE (very clever clue). LOI REEL, after working out IMBIBER. Liked HOTEL, AFFRAY and GETAWAY. Many thanks RT. Nice one Joker.
8:53
Like others, bunged in DERMATOLOGIST and moved on. Felt on the slowish side today – wasn’t entirely comfortable with OUT-OF-THE-WAY though it was clearly the correct answer. Didn’t even notice the T for tense in my LOI STAGE-STRUCK – not seen that particular substitution before.
Thanks Roly and Joker
07:52. I liked the puzzle, I think COD was HOTEL. spent a bit of time working out INCITE, but the rest went in fairly smoothly. thanks both!
We do indeed see these things in different ways.
I just did my normal slow but steady toddle round the squares and wasn’t held up by anything for too long. Thanks to both.
9.39 The usual biff delayed IMBIBER and REEL at the end. All parsed except for STAGE-STRUCK. Thanks rolytoly and Joker.
DNF because I blanked on 3d and lost patience, possibly because the rest had gone in so quickly. DNK RUCK for fight (ruckus, yes) or T for tense, and got hung up on SpAcE due to “starry-eyed”. Otherwise enjoyed mightily, agree CARDIAC was really good. I wonder if toying with the 15×15 is what led me to immediately think the definition was probably “of hearts”. HOTEL made me smile as I’ve been in a few hellish ones.
Thanks Joker and rolytoly!
DNF @ 20 mins with Reel and Usage not solved. Once I hit the blog and got reel, Usage was obvious. Some really great clues very enjoyable. Thanks all
This is in my view an ideal Quick Cryptic. Clever but logical clues, complete absence of obscure, ancient or too clever by half answers. Phew, what a relief after some of recent offerings. Well done Mr Joker, thanks
13:42. Didn’t parse ELITE, thinking that it was just a word made up of all 1-point tiles, but that’s perhaps just a coincidence. Add me to the list of people with twitchy eyebrows about T for tense. COD to cardiac, for having to lift and separate “ace of hearts”.
Thanks to Joker and rolytoly.
Quick for me …. until the final clue, that is!
I started well with TWIG, DERMATOLOGIST and OUTGROW, and managed to maintain a fair old pace for most of the time. I struggled a bit with the PLAY bit of PLAYMATE and the CARD bit of CARDIAC, and it took me a while to parse ELITE.
So I arrived at my LOI shortly after being welcomed into the SCC, but it took me another 6-7 minutes to find STAGE STRUCK. A very common breezeblock experience for me.
Many thanks to rolytoly and Joker.
13 minutes.
Only 3 on Quintagram.
19 on 15 x 15 in 80 minutes. Out of my depth really.
Need a 10-minute finish on QC tomorrow to make new target. Pigs might fly!