Today I have the privilege of blogging the first Quick Cryptic by a new setter. Welcome Juji! I struggled to get on the wavelength a little, but my biggest problem was inexplicably entering POEITC for 17A, making 18D impossible. The puzzle took me about 7 1/2 minutes thanks to that gaffe and a struggle to see 16D. COD to 13D for the surface but I also enjoyed 12A. Thank-you Juji! How did you all get on?
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Phil’s turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the crossword here. If you are interested in trying our previous offerings you can find an index to all 125 here.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions} and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Witty person such as joker (4) |
| CARD – Double definition. | |
| 3 | Supply lid going over cooking vessel (8) |
| STOCKPOT – STOCK (supply) TOP (lid) [going over] -> POT. | |
| 9 | Power likely open to manipulation (7) |
| PLIABLE – P (power) LIABLE (likely). | |
| 10 | Tactical unit undercover ultimately within the law (5) |
| CORPS – Last letter of undercoveR in COPS (the law). | |
| 11 | One working, in charge of classic architecture (5) |
| IONIC – I (one) ON (working) I/C (in charge). | |
| 12 | Announced market price for photo (6) |
| SELFIE – Sounds like [announced] SELL (market) FEE (price). Nice one. | |
| 14 | Earwigs may be responsible for this autumnal event failing to open (13) |
| EAVESDROPPING – {l}EAVES DROPPING (autumnal event) without the first letter. | |
| 17 | Mention work about type of licence (6) |
| POETIC – CITE (mention) OP (opus; work) all reversed -> POETIC. | |
| 19 | River runs on high land mostly (5) |
| TIBER – TIBE{t} (high land) [mostly], R (runs). | |
| 22 | Soft rock from Wings in Cork covering Prince (5) |
| CHALK – HAL (Prince Henry) in outside letters, [wings], of CorK. | |
| 23 | Improve small space with hazard, removing lead (7) |
| ENHANCE – EN (small printing space) {c}HANCE (hazard) without the first letter. My LOI | |
| 24 | Teen and I try changing age (8) |
| ETERNITY – (Teen I try)* [changing]. | |
| 25 | Get lost, reportedly in Oxford? (4) |
| SHOE – Sounds like SHOO (get lost) [reportedly]. As it happens, I’m in Oxford at the moment. Read about Oxford shoes here. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Headwear measured and turned over (8) |
| CAPSIZED – CAP (headwear) SIZED (measured). | |
| 2 | Some future ignoramuses to be in command (5) |
| REIGN – Hidden in futuRE IGNoramuses. | |
| 4 | Container of valuables secure and threats diverted (8,5) |
| TREASURE CHEST – (secure threats)* [diverted]. | |
| 5 | Name of man that’s caught nits brought up (5) |
| CECIL – C (caught), LICE (nits) [brought up] -> ECIL. | |
| 6 | At home, I cut up mushrooms (7) |
| PORCINI – IN (at home) I CROP (cut) all reversed -> PORCINI. | |
| 7 | First in team to request job (4) |
| TASK – First letter of Team, ASK (request). | |
| 8 | A way to transfer funds blocked by university’s old computer (6) |
| ABACUS – U (university) in A BACS (way to transfer funds). | |
| 13 | A veggie mistakenly eating starter of rabbit gets upset (8) |
| AGGRIEVE – First letter of Rabbit in (a veggie)* [mistakenly]. | |
| 15 | Break stringed instrument case in three (7) |
| VIOLATE – VIOLA (stringed instrument) and outside letters, [case], of ThreE. | |
| 16 | Uneven, like a plot of land? (6) |
| PATCHY – Double definition, the second a cryptic hint. | |
| 18 | Track being regularly unavailable (5) |
| TAKEN – Alternate letters, [regularly], of TrAcK bEiNg. | |
| 20 | Height of Glaswegian church seat (5) |
| BENCH – BEN (Scottish mountain; height of Glaswegian) CH (church). | |
| 21 | Long formula chemist pens (4) |
| ACHE – Hidden in formulA CHEmist. | |
Ah, another new setter with whom I hope I will become better friends in due course. Today, off the wavelength, and a number of MERs as referenced by many above. However, the majority were within my ken and perfectly fair, the others were fair but a bit unQCy. SELFIE, nah.
Usually I stick in and work through, but for the first time in quite a long time I went off to do something more do-able part way through the bottom half, not having worked out the earwig thing. I just wasn’t feeling the fun, or satisfaction even when cracking another tricky clue. Hopefully just having an off day.
This felt like a diluted 15×15 rather than the sort QC that us non15ers tend to favour. That’s an observation, not a criticism. However, the 15ers do (usually!) have the 15×15 to go off to, whereas with us its this or bust.
I do feel we have hit a tough run recently, regardless of whatever the Quitch may suggest. Or senility is sneaking up on me faster in my QC solving than in the other brain activities which I attempt.
Thanks for the very much needed blog, John: I did come back to see what I needed to have seen earlier, and it was very helpful. Juji, I will try harder to find the wavelength next time.
Forget it. The most impressive character of the QCs is the restraint and consideration of the daily bloggers and the commenters who respond to every puzzle with so much helpful excellent and entertaining information. But the original ethos and intention of providing the daily QC has got completely lost. No one can pretend that today’s QC will provide any form of learning experience for a cryptic crossword puzzler who is trying to make a bit of progress. It’s just too cryptic. Most of these clues mean almost nothing to a QC person. I am one of them and have been from the beginning many years ago.
17m
Hard for a QC, especially corps, patchy, tiber.
COD eavesdropping.
I was quite pleased with myself getting ‘plate’ for the river – being most of ‘plateau’. Sigh
Great answer! Shame it wasn’t the right one.
Well I got through with aids and judicious use of the check button.
Some enjoyable clues: COD capsized.
However too many answers went in because they fitted, and not because I had parsed them.
Pleased to have reached the end of this cryptic.
Thanks for the blog.
Completed after a couple of stints probably totalling over an hour . Only completed with some hints from Mr P -“you’re too old” got me selfie when I was struggling to think of a word for photo beginning with s, and then being told that small space was in the printing sense, led to enhance. I made hard work of some of the easier stuff, but enjoyed the tussle. Thanks to John and Juji.
65 minutes.
A horrible end to a nightmare week:
M – 15 m
T – 45 m
W – 33 m
Th – 90 m DNF
F – 65 m
Over 4 hours for the week and easily my worst week since I began solving without aids.
There are no positives to draw from this. I always thought that I was an imposter here and this week just proves it. There is no pleasure in solving in such a slow time, only frustration and disappointment.
What makes it even worse is that I have tried hard to improve by attempting the 15 x 15 when I have the time. All that effort for absolutely no return.
Thanks for the blog.
PS Just three on 15 x 15 before I gave up in despair 😞
I think you’ll find most people have found this week very tricky Gary!
I’ve had a busy week and so it was only today that I looked properly at the comments and Snitch scores for the week. I see what you mean! 🙂
Another weird mix! A new setter, I thought – and quite a friendly start, and then it got a bit more tricky. I had to go out so abandoned it with about 3/4 done after 13+ minutes. When I came back, it took another 2 or 3 to finish, so only a bit below my average. I mostly enjoyed it, but like others, really struggled with Tibet for high land.
Surprised how many people didn’t know BACS. We use the system all the time for paying / transferring funds.
It does seem as if we need a few easier ones every now and then. I absolutely take on board what JC said last week, but when long standing and experienced members of this community are talking of throwing the towel in, I suggest it’s time for a rethink.
FOI Card LOI Selfie COD Chalk made me smile
Thanks Juji (hope you don’t feel too battered) and John
I came perilously close to back-to-back DNFs here, and if it wasn’t for that I think I’d have given up. I enjoyed a lot of this one but the SE corner seems a bit unreasonable to me, particularly TIBER and BENCH.
Thank you for the blog!
DNF – half of it was like a 15×15 to me.
To think I would get Tibet as high ground and take off the last is outside my cryptic pay grade.
I just biffed it.
Didn’t get eavesdropping- would never think of leaves dropping and earwigs going to earwigging to eavesdropping as the definition.
Perhaps they should grade the puzzles, as they do sudoku. Easy, hard, fiendish.
This would have been a fiendish!
Catching up with last week’s QCs, we felt this was another not very friendly QC. We DNF with 5 not done & 1 NFPd. We struggled again today, especially in the SE corner not getting BENCH, TIBER, ENHANCE or PATCHY. SELFIE didn’t work for us and we failed to parse the end of VIOLATE. However we very much liked EAVESDROPPING after a PDM – probably our COD. We also happened to be in Oxford on Friday. I wonder if our paths crossed.
I’m sure our paths must have crossed. It was rather crowded at the breaks! A great day, I thought, and, inter alia, I never imagined 10th century old English riddles could be so interesting.