Solving time: 5:22
Today’s Quick Cryptic is the 3000th in the series, another milestone in the project introduced in 2014 by Richard Rogan, the then new Times crossword editor. The first puzzle appeared on Monday 10th March 2014 and was set by Des, one of Richard’s many pseudonyms.
Although Richard passed away last year, he left several puzzles for us to enjoy, and it is fitting that the 3000th QC published today should be one of Richard’s, this time under his Felix pseudonym. Mick Hodgkin has confirmed in the Puzzles Newsletter that today’s puzzle will be the last by Richard, marking the first anniversary of his death on June 1st.
As is typical with a Richard Rogan puzzle, there is a nina, which if you so choose, you can read about here…
Enjoy then, for the last time, a new puzzle by Richard Rogan, and do please let me know how you found it…
Definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [directions in square ones].
| Across | |
| 1 | The work of Johnson, say, or that of Pepys, embracing new tonic (10) |
| DICTIONARY – DIARY (that of Pepys i.e. The work of Pepys) containing [embracing] anagram [new] of TONIC | |
| 7 | Clean one’s teeth, having fluorine deprivation (5) |
| FLOSS – F (chemical symbol of fluorine) LOSS (deprivation) | |
| 8 | Australian native without means initially to play cricket (6) |
| WOMBAT – WO (without – the abbreviation would typically have a slash between the two letters i.e. w/o) then first letter [initially] of M{eans} BAT (to play cricket) | |
| 10 | Final goal (3) |
| NET – Double definition – the first of which is in an ‘after taxes’ sense e.g. Bob’s net/final salary was in the region of £500k per annum | |
| 12 | Nut I chop as it’s cracked (9) |
| PISTACHIO – Anagram [cracked] of I CHOP AS IT | |
| 13 | US DJ receiving kiss in Tuesday party (6) |
| TUXEDO – X (kiss) in TUE (Tuesday) followed by DO (party)
A dinner jacket (DJ) in the US is known as a TUXEDO, a man’s evening dress for semiformal occasions, named around 1889 after Tuxedo Park, then the chief “pretentious rural resort” for wealthy New Yorkers and site of a country club where it was first worn. |
|
| 14 | Tusked creature used to be grabbing large sort of football (6) |
| WALRUS – WAS (used to be) containing [grabbing] L (large) RU (sort of football i.e. Rugby Union) | |
| 17 | No returning the total in one’s account, all things considered (2,7) |
| ON BALANCE – NO reversed [returning], then BALANCE (the total in one’s account) | |
| 19 | Evasive person vexedly avoiding odd items (3) |
| EEL – The answer alludes to the idiom “as slippery as an eel,” which may refer to a person who is difficult to catch or pin down, or is cunning or evasive in their behavior. |
|
| 20 | Snack to show off on board? (3-3) |
| HOT-DOG – Double definition – the second being a mildly cryptic reference to the art of performing showy, and often dangerous stunts when surfing.
Matt Warshaw’s Encyclopedia of Surfing is more specific, describing hotdogging as a “quick and flashy style of surfing, generally limited to small waves” and including moves such as: the head dip; the fin first takeoff; and Mickey Munoz’s quasimoto [sic]. |
|
| 21 | A bad actor with Oscar from west US city (5) |
| OMAHA – A HAM (bad actor) with O (Oscar – NATO phonetic alphabet) all reversed [from west]
OMAHA is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. |
|
| 23 | Displayed by nobleman, a gem enticing handling (10) |
| MANAGEMENT – Hidden [Displayed by] in nobleman a gem enticing
Took me more than one pass to spot this… |
|
| Down | |
| 1 | Meaning to dine in, if working (10) |
| DEFINITION – Anagram [working] of TO DINE IN IF | |
| 2 | My chef isn’t finished (3) |
| COO – COO{k} (chef) without its last letter [isn’t finished] | |
| 3 | At home, drink one had is tasteless (7) |
| INSIPID – IN (At home) SIP (drink) I (one) ‘D (had – HAD is often abbreviated to ‘D – e.g. “SHE HAD gone to see her grandmother” could be rewritten as “SHE’D gone to see her grandmother“) | |
| 4 | Most modern and cosy home we must visit (6) |
| NEWEST – NEST (cosy home) with WE inserted [must visit] | |
| 5 | Dance and drink with graduate (5) |
| RUMBA – RUM (drink) with BA (graduate i.e. abbreviation for Bachelor of Arts) | |
| 6 | Veteran fighter with arrow he’s shot (8) |
| WARHORSE – Anagram [shot] of ARROW HE’S
The figurative sense of “seasoned veteran” is attested by 1828. |
|
| 9 | Extremely useful to put in reliable senior doctor (10) |
| CONSULTANT – Outside letters [Extremely] of U{sefu}L put into CONSTANT (reliable) | |
| 11 | Send message to reserve standard publication (8) |
| TEXTBOOK – TEXT (Send message to) BOOK (reserve) | |
| 15 | Excellent payment — finally one is solvent! (7) |
| ACETONE – ACE (Excellent) then last letter [finally] of {paymen}T then ONE
ACETONE is literally “a derivative of acetic acid,” from Latin acetum “vinegar” + Greek-based chemical suffix -one denoting a “weaker” derivative. |
|
| 16 | Puzzle that’s complicated in game (6) |
| ENIGMA – Anagram [that’s complicated] of IN GAME | |
| 18 | Ancient region seen in early diagram (5) |
| LYDIA – Hidden [seen in] in early diagram
Lydia was an ancient country of Asia Minor bordering the Aegean. It’s last king was Croesus, famous for his wealth, who reigned from 585-546BC. |
|
| 22 | Cockney cuts audibly — using this? (3) |
| AXE – Homophone [audibly] of ‘ACKS (cuts – Cockney-fied i.e. HACKS with its leading H removed) | |
I didn’t notice that this was the last by RR even though it says it at the top of my print-out. An enjoyable puzzle with nothing too difficult. Failed to spot the Nina, clever. Didn’t know the meaning of HOT-DOG in the surfing sense and didn’t know LYDIA but luckily it was a hidden.
Thanks Mike.
When I finally put DICTIONARY in, a tear came to my eye. 5:42
Nice timing for Richard’s final puzzle, and a very fun solve.
I was a bit disappointed it wasn’t a bit harder, although the late RR was the one who originated the Quickie and set the standard initially. The bottom did delay me a bit, as I couldn’t come up with on balance and textbook as quickly as I should have. I never saw the Nina, of course.
Time: 6:38
7:30 but with one pink square.
Nice puzzle, lots of clever clues. COD ACETONE
The beautifully-hidden MANAGEMENT was my LOI and a fitting way to end both the 2000s and Mr R’s outstanding contribution to this addictive, delightful and often aggravating pastime. 10.03 for me, many lovely clues, thank you Mike.
9 minutes today equals the time I needed for QC #2 by Tracy published on 11th March 2014, but my experience with Des’s inaugural QC the previous day (which it was my privilege to blog) was not quite such a happy experience as it took me half-an-hour. I don’t think that puzzle was particularly hard or my solving skills were not up to it, but there had been a glitch in the system by which the multi-word and hyphenated answers were not indicated as such in the enumeration of the clues. This was corrected by the second day, and 3000 QC puzzles (and 330 QC blogs) later I am still enjoying my daily fix.
My only unknown today was HOT-DOG as a skateboard manoeuvre, although I suspect it has probably come up before.
It’s good to see the QC still thriving and moving forward, and I think we at TfTT should also acknowledge our debt to Richard for his innovation because it injected new life into our activities here and has brought us probably hundreds of new contributors and some of our best bloggers. Long may this continue.
P.S. For those who may not have seen the Newsletter, Mick H mentioned that Richard’s final puzzle to be published will be the 15 x 15 this Friday.
Here here
Hear hear! FYI 🙂
Was trying out some audible wordplay… 🙂
Well said, Jack.
When 1a fell immediately, and I was struck by its elegance, I realised just how much I am going to miss Richard Rogan’s puzzles. Fitting though that his run should end on such a gem. No, it wasn’t difficult—but it is perfect example of what I look for in a QC. All the style and feel of the main Times crossword but without the levels of abstraction so it becomes a relatively easy and quick solve.
Love the word ‘elegance’.
We are relative newcomers and missed many of the puzzles set by this late gentleman. We are the poorer.
There is a gentle, quiet attention to detail. I imagine he may have allowed himself a small smile as he sent the less wary (e.g. Himself and I) off on tangents, up and down garden paths.
13A DJ (ah! Not the music kind), 23 A ‘Handling’ (ah! Not an anagrind) 15D ‘solvent’, hot on the tail of ‘payment’ (ah! not talking about money then after all).
Yes, wander lost we did – every time – then, we’d return to the clue and found all we needed to get the correct answer was there, sitting innocently as if there never had been intent to mischievously mislead.
That takes skill.
Many thanks to RR. Your crosswords may have finished, however, your Masterclasses in both setting and solving will not be forgotten.
Very well said indeed!
Well said
3000! Looking forward to the 10000! C00!
On balance a textbook QC very enjoyable and dine in 12:23
Vaguely remembered to generously clued Lydia and even though I longboard (badly) I had always associated hot dogging with skiing rather than surfing.
Lots of fun words today and imho, and when I was in that line of work, NHS senior doctors (the wombats!) often wanted to axe the hotdog management consultants.
Many thanks MH and one final time RR
It’s a mark of how successful this blog is that we were able to complete this at all, let alone in a spritely 13.14.
The QC is a brilliant invention that has provided us with so much pleasure and brain stretch, as well as developing the thinking skills to have an occasional go at the biggie. With no QC on Sundays we start the day with a look at the week’s Nitch and trying our hand at the “easiest”. More often than not we can finish (with aids).
Thank you RR, and to all of you bloggers
A QC to please most tastes, I hope, and a fond farewell to RRs contributions here. I may even go and stare blankly at Friday’s 15×15 – then just read the blog!
A near perfect hidden at the end, much to enjoy on the way to it.
I associate hot-dogging with snowboarders, those largely incompetent inconsiderate despoilers of the slopes.
I suspect there is more to the Nina, as I see that wombat is an acronym for Waste of Money, Brains and Talent…
…and walrus, Write and Learn, Read, Understand, Speak!
Wow. Great acronyms.
Both of which acronyms evoke (or are evoked by) the east side phrase
It feels very fitting that QC 3000 is supplied by RR, although it’s sad that this is the last one of his we’ll see.
The QC has been such a brilliant addition to the puzzles in The Times as I’d always wanted to learn how to do cryptics but was put off by how intractable the main crossword seemed. I remember being very excited when the first QC appeared back in 2014 and it continues to provide so much enjoyment all these years later.
The puzzle itself was fairly straightforward but no less entertaining for it. Started with DICTIONARY and finished with WARHORSE in 5.38 with COD to TUXEDO.
Thanks to Mike and RR.
Echo your second paragraph. QC came just as I retired and has been brilliant fun getting my brain to adjust to cryptic fun and misleading sentences.
A fitting tribute to the setting ability of RR alias Felix, who hit the mark in terms setting a QC to suit most solvers I would think. I confidently put in END for 10ac which threw me for a while, before realising DEFINITION meant it was something else. My finishing time of 9.40 was just within target, but it would have been over a minute faster if I hadn’t decided that I wouldn’t stop the clock until I’d parsed ACETONE.
Excellent puzzle full of fun clever clues, epitome of a good QC in my mind
One exception… 10A how can that clue not be END! I understand we get checkers but that level of “ambiguity” is crazy to me (i put ambiguity in inverted commas because in my view it’s unambiguously END)
4.42
Agree with everyone’s comments – particularly what a fab thing the Quickie is.
No problems here – thanks Mike
Needed astonishing willpower not to put ‘awesome’ in as the answer to ‘excellent’ and to instead read the clue and arrive at ACETONE for ‘solvent’ instead. A high point in an enjoyable puzzle. DICTIONARY was my last RR clue. Thanks Richard. All green in 10.05.
6.29. A compiler and editor who will be missed.
How time flies! The QC a splendid idea and has given us all much pleasure (and occasional pain!) since its inception. Thanks to all who have contributed over the years. A good example today which took me an average 21:11 to complete with NET, HOT DOG and the well hidden MANAGEMENT holding me up a little.
Very enjoyable and on the easier side again, which I appreciate as it means I get a happy QC buzz then get on with my day. Thanks Mike for the blog
7:03, I thought for a while I might be on for my first sub 5 minutes solve but I slowed down at the end, as always happens, and ACETONE was my LOI.
Many thanks to Richard Rogan, who is rvidently still greatly missed
7:40 for the solve! A lovely puzzle from Richard and a good choice for the 3000th QC. A reminder of how good his setting was under all his guises. Despite some attempts through my younger years, I doubt I would have got into cryptics without his innovation of the QC. Thanking him for that and may he continue to rest in peace.
And thank-you to Mike, along with all the others who have blogged for TfTT over the years. It’s been invaluable having somewhere to find out the answers I couldn’t parse, as well as a place to moan / complain / celebrate / be whimsical about the day’s puzzle!
PS 29secs on the Cryptic Quintagram – first ever write-in!
Congratulations. Your fingers are faster than mine. The quintagram was a write in for me (also the first ever), but I still needed 57 seconds.
1ac and 1d were write-ins, but then I became convinced 10ac was End and consequently spent a good minute or so hesitating over Definition before Net came to the rescue. That delay turned out to be significant, because everything else flew in for a 12min solve – just two away from the long sought, but never reached, sub-10.
On the plus side, that will be my best ever RR time even if it did come from a QC that seemed to be made from the residue of his starter clues. Shame about his Dickens fixation, but what a great setter he was. We are all in his debt. Invariant
RIP Felix and how lovely of him to bow out with one that is both interesting and friendly. FOI 10a seemed obviously END but of course it was not to be and NET was eventually LOI. Some parsings escaped me (fluorine, hot-dogging), so thank you, Mike.
Oh dear … it wasn’t quite so friendly after all: fell into the AWESOME trap, no chance of getting any of the elements of the NHO ACETONE.
A great puzzle for both the landmark number and to say goodbye to Richard Rogan. Satisfying and straightforward – surely the essence of a QC. NHO HOT-DOG in the sporting sense but fairly obvious. COD DICTIONARY. Thanks Mike.
Lovely last puzzle from Mr Rogan. I thought it was going to be a struggle when I failed to get any of the first 6 or so across clues but then they all went in without any trouble after that. Fortunately, as a one time devotee of the Tony Hawk Playstation games, I was familiar with Hot Dog. Some lovely clues in there, a fitting last puzzle and a fitting 3000th QC.
As always, I failed to spot the Nina, even though I knew there had to be one.
Generally a lurker here. I just wanted to add my tuppence worth: I love the QC. The hard ones and the easy ones. It is a daily delight. Thank you.
8m
Perfect QC level.
Didn’t know the surfing definition like Jack but that was the only question mark I had.
COD dictionary/enigma.
LOI net.
Finished correctly in 30 minutes. A good result for me. I had not finished one of these puzzles for a while due to my current depression, so this cheered me up somewhat.
Nothing remarkable in the clues, but also nothing in the least bit unfair. Not too easy, but not that hard. This is what I think a good QC should be like. A satisfying start to the day – not a torture as
some recent ones have been.
Glad to hear it cheered you up, Gordon. Crosswords are a great boon.
Thanks for that.
Glad it boosted your mood, and may you find many more such occasions!
I’m truly sorry to read about your depression Gordon. It is a terrible feeling and I hope you are able to overcome it.
A lovely puzzle and a fitting way to mark the landmark. Felix in all his guises is a great loss. I started with COO and finished with MANAGEMENT. HOT DOG went in from crossers and a suspicion it was something to do with skateboarding. 7:27. Thanks Mike and Felix.
An excellent crossword to mark the 3000th. great posthumous gratitude to Felix for both the concept, which started me on cryptic crosswords, and for this one.
I didn’t know the Latin derivation of Acetone, but ONE is now the IUPAC (international official) ending for a ketone which is two hydrocarbons stuck together with a carbon and an oxygen.
After yesterday’s typofest I stuck my tongue out, squinted fiercely and did my very best single-finger-phone-typing technique. Rewarded by 05:18 on this simply lovely puzzle. COD to HOTDOG for the “board” deception (I got there via snowboarding slang).
RIP RR, and thanks Mike. Since it’s RR’s last ever puzzle I’ll have a go at Friday’s 15, though I can tell you now that it’ll be way above my abilities.
Enjoyable, difficult in parts. Put Awesome instead of ACETONE too.
Took a while to realise 1d was an anagram, but that helped me solve POI DICTIONARY.
Liked many inc WALRUS, WOMBAT, COO, TUXEDO, TEXTBOOK.
Thanks vm, Mike and, indeed, RR.
Much to like in this puzzle. NHO hot dog but it had to be that. Didn’t spot the nina. Farewell and many thanks to RR and thanks to Mike for the blog
10:35 for a most enjoyable puzzle, though HOT-DOG was biffed (skateboarding terms are a closed book to me) and the very slightest of queries over NET = Final. I confidently put in END until the checkers suggested otherwise, and in the end NET was the obvious answer, but it’s not for me a close synonym of Final and even Mike’s example of net salary/final salary didn’t really persuade me.
Many thanks Mike for the blog and a long final salute to RR, who gave us all such pleasure.
Gross is the amount you are paid before tax, Net is the pathetically small amount you are left with after tax, i.e. the “final” amount that you are paid.
I do understand the thinking but I have never heard the phrase “final salary” used to mean “salary net of taxes” and I do query whether anyone uses it in that sense in real life. in an otherwise sparkling puzzle the clue does stand out as odd.
Good point – I don’t think I have ever heard it spoken either. It is used in specifications to mean after all of the deductions that could possibly be made, pensions, season ticket loans, social club etc etc.
Net income certainly – but the only time I’ve really ever heard final salary is in relation to the type of pension scheme that, sadly, has practically vanished in the private sector.
They argued into the early hours, the net result being nothing but a lack of sleep.
As a lurker can I agree with earlier comments that this was a perfect example of a quick crossword
9:44 with thanks to RR for this elegant final QC. I liked DICTIONARY, WOMBAT, TEXTBOOK….
Thanks Mike for the blog
Either I’ve got incredibly good at these out of nowhere, or the last two days have been quite easy! I’ll take it either way, under ten minutes again.
A fitting tribute for the 3,000th iteration of the QC. I thoroughly enjoyed it and came home in 15 minutes. I didn’t manage to parse CONSULTANT or ACETONE so thanks to Mike for the explanations – obvious with hindsight. I didn’t look for a Nina as I never spot them.
FOI – 1ac DICTIONARY
LOI – 15dn ACETONE
COD – 23ac MANAGEMENT – took me a long time to see it even after I had worked out it was a hidden.
Does ‘from west’ indicate reversal? From east surely!
Edit to add, so I’m not just griping: I thoroughly enjoyed this one – a fitting tribute
Well spotted
I fell into the AWESOME trap as my LOI and never emerged, despite not being able to parse it satisfactorily. I’d also put END, but that was quickly corrected by 1d. Had I thought of the chemical meaning of solvent, I would have reconsidered, but of course I was cleverly mis-directed to think of the usual monetary meaning. I expect to take considerably longer over Friday’s final offering!
By the way, my partner reports that he can no longer access the Puzzles App on his phone. Has anybody else had this problem? He’s tried all the usual tricks and is curious to know whether it’s his phone or an app problem.
6.11. It was very biffable. I hesitated over NET and LOI AXE. Thanks Mike. RIP RR.
A delightful puzzle to celebrate 30000. I think I have done them all and bought all the books for redoing on holiday and long flights. Long live the QC.
13 mins…
A nice, straightforward final crossword from RR. I noticed yesterday it was the 2999th puzzle and wondered if today’s would be anything special. In the end, I think it sums up the ethos of why the QC was created in the first place. Long it may it continue for another 3000 editions!
In terms of time, I think I should have done better – but hit a slight brick wall with my LOI 23ac “Management”.
FOI – 2dn “Coo”
LOI – 23ac “Management”
COD – 14ac “Walrus”
Thanks as usual!
Not timed today, but definitely a quick finish.
Most enjoyable and a satisfying spot of the amusing perimeter.
Thanks all
A very enjoyable puzzle, took me about 30 minutes. LOI was ACETONE as thought it was awesome for the longest time, couldn’t parse it, then saw ACE for excellent which sent me down the right path. Feels right it being the 3000th one to say I’ve been doing them for 6 months now, and it’s been a lot of fun learning lots of new words. And what a lovely send off for Richard Rogan having the 3000th puzzle. Thank you for the blog 😄
A really enjoyable QC to bring up the 3,000 mark, despite me not fully parsing every clue (e.g. DICTIONARY), not knowing or understanding every definition (e.g. LYDIA) and not spotting the Nina (I rarely do). Just over 21 minutes which, whilst not an SCC escape, is still very fast for me.
I will miss RR’s QCs as, whichever guise he adopted, he judged the required level of difficulty very well and he always set out to entertain.
Many thanks to Mike H and Felix.
A pretty straightforward 8:21 with only END / being forced to give way to NET causing any puzzlement. Oh, that and how do people spot Ninas? Thanks, Mike and Richard!
A good time had and a good time achieved (by our standards).
The bulk of our thoughts covered by response (above) to post of AgileJames.
How clever these setters are – and how grateful we are for having them about. Bloggers likewise.
Happy mid week everyone –
RR’s final gift is truly a TEXTBOOK QC, thought-provoking without being frustrating, with witty surfaces, and a Nina as a bonus. Thank you to the august shade.
The only real ENIGMA for me was TUXEDO, clear enough from the wordplay, but not knowing DJ=”dinner jacket” I decided there must be a well-known deejay who operated under that name. Well, it got me there, however unlikely. COD to the well-hidden MANAGEMENT.
A pleasant 13:53 and then another five minutes to look again at all those great clues and try to see the Nina. Just those two phrases Mike pointed out jumped out at me. FLOSS your WOMBAT? RUMBA with a WALRUS!
Thanks to Mike for the chatty and informative blogging. And I join the chorus of thanks for the QC, the bloggers, and the commentariat, which adds so much pleasure to my otherwise solitary pursuit.
Lovely puzzle. Straightforward but some lovely clues. All over rather too soon. Paused over NET but otherwise all very fair. Thanks for the great blog and thanks of course to RR. I echo everyone’s appreciation of the setters, bloggers and this fabulous community.