A bit on the tricky side.
I only managed four on a first pass of the acrosses (8, 10,19, 20), but the two long anagrams did help things along, and the downs did provide a few gentler entry points into the grid. Still, answers were generally quite slow to materialise, despite all seeming very gettable in hindsight: a sign of good setting. I came home in 8:27, significantly slower than the last few days.
Much enjoyed – many thanks to Alex!
| Across | |
| 1 | Individual gathering hot gravel (7) |
| SHINGLE – SINGLE (individual) gathering H(ot) | |
| 5 | Paddy harbours revolutionary (5) |
| STROP – PORTS (harbours) “revolutionary”. To be “in a paddy” is to be in a “fit of temper”. The OED provides a 1933 quote: “Both Irish and the colloquial Paddy are used for anger.” Irish = “fieriness of temper” came first and was originally US, as in the phrase “to get one’s Irish up.” Paddy is now “potentially offensive” (OED) or “sometimes offensive” (Collins). | |
| 8 | Arrangement of rations Hector distributed (13) |
| ORCHESTRATION – anagram (distributed) of RATIONS HECTOR | |
| 9 | Title of man going around new church (7) |
| MINSTER – MISTER (title of man) going around N(ew) | |
| 10 | Hulu creditors hiding money (5) |
| LUCRE – hidden in huLU CREditors | |
| 11 | Come out and come together after finale of Pride (6) |
| EMERGE – MERGE (come together) after E (“finale” of pridE) | |
| 13 | Plots to remove current depositories (6) |
| STORES – STORIES to remove I (SI unit for current) | |
| 15 | Filth from unpleasant European (5) |
| GRIME – GRIM (unpleasant) E(uropean) | |
| 16 | Stop next to snake for paving material (7) |
| ASPHALT – HALT (stop) next to ASP (snake) | |
| 19 | Acolytes going crazy for doctor (13) |
| GYNAECOLOGIST – anagram (crazy) of ACOLYTES GOING | |
| 20 | Prepare clothes (5) |
| DRESS – double definition | |
| 21 | Thanks leaders for turnover (7) |
| TAKINGS – TA (thanks) KINGS (leaders) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Random rot seen partly rising in tumult (5) |
| STORM – randoM ROT Seen “partly rising” | |
| 2 | Something annoying in toilet (13) |
| INCONVENIENCE – IN and CONVENIENCE (toilet) | |
| 3 | Visitor suspected we hear (5) |
| GUEST – we hear the same as GUESSED (suspected) | |
| 4 | Complete part of shipment I received (6) |
| ENTIRE – “part of” shipmENT I REceived | |
| 5 | Vegetable will go extinct ultimately (7) |
| SHALLOT – SHALL (will) gO extincT “ultimately”. | |
| 6 | Check flower’s appearance in new form (13) |
| REINCARNATION -REIN (check) CARNATION (flower) | |
| 7 | Caters first of parties with 50 per cent off ciders (7) |
| PANDERS – P (“first” of Parties) AND (with) “50% off” |
|
| 11 | Busy engineer getting on (7) |
| ENGAGED – ENG. (engineer) AGED (getting on) | |
| 12 | Horses for example upset flying geese (3-4) |
| GEE-GEES – E.G. (for example) “upset”, and an anagram (flying) of GEESE | |
| 14 | Five love to board wagon and frolic (6) |
| CAVORT – V (five) O (love) to board CART (wagon) | |
| 17 | Put down cheap wine (5) |
| PLONK – double definition. PLONK for cheap wine comes from a jocular pronunciation of vin blanc. | |
| 18 | Carries infant with ease we hear (5) |
| TOTES – TOT (infant) and EASE sounds the same as E’S | |
Pretty straightforward. MINSTER had come up in a recent 15×15, so it was fresh in memory. I was a bit surprised to recall ‘paddy’ so quickly. The hiddens (usually a problem for me) were quickly spotted. 6:04.
Not the easiest of quickies but got there in the end. My biggest hold-up was the ‘ae’ in GYNAECOLOGIST. Like Kevin, saw MINSTER straight away after remembering it from a recent 15×15. Saw the reversed ‘ports/harbours’ for STROP before seeing the hidden. COD to REINCARNATION.
Thanks R and setter.
I did not find this too difficult, although I managed to put in an incorrect non-British spelling of gynaecologist, which prevented gee-gees for a bit. I wanted to put organization instead of orchestration, but discovered it didn’t fit. However, inconvenience was my LOI, and needed all the checking letters.
Time: 7:19
All good, 6.43 although I had never heard of STROP, paddy or anything else in that vein. Thanks Alex and roly.
Don’t get stroppy with me!
Oh, right, I’ve heard of that, just not in the noun form. And I’m pleased because when your comment popped up in my emails I thought I must have inadvertently offended you!
Just to be absolutely clear, Paddy meaning strop is ALWAYS offensive. Its use in this context is up there with some of the most offensive racial stereotyping words one can think of. I am appalled that it would appear in a crossword in a reputable newspaper.
Indeed. I didn’t like it, either. I cannot imagine that any setter, or Crossword Editor, would include a word that used to be associated with Germans, or Italians, to provide two examples.
10 minutes but only just. I was caught up for ages working out GYNAECOLOGIST.
COD INCONVENIENCE. 18.20 for a good day. STROP took a while without letters as I tried to find a way to get CHE/RED in somehow.
Thanks Alex and Roly
Five on the first pass of acrosses with the two long clues where I could see what was going on but knew I was going to need a few more letters to crack. The LHS then flew in leaving hard work on the right. PANDERS was last in – took a long time to see what ‘with’ was doing in the clue. Took extra special care of my typing to end up all green in 13.57.
17:14
Held up with a typo in STORM, which meant ORCHESTRATION starting with an R. Generally slow throughout, COD INCONVENIENCE.
I agree that PADDY is mildly offensive and worth avoiding.
I took 22:19, found it quite hard. Maybe that was because I just woke up!
A day in the zone! All done in a sprightly 17.12 with plenty of time spent enjoying the setter’s art. Really like gee gees and emerge but lots of others to appreciate. Only real hold up was panders until the lift and separate to get with=and (again).
Thanks Alex, and Roly for the blog and extra info.
Steady going with the long anagrams being very helpful in opening up the blank parts of the grid after my initial run through.
Started with SHINGLE and finished with TOTES in 8.04 with my favourites, from a strong field, being EMERGE and TAKINGS.
Thanks to rolytoly and Alex
Like some others so far, the first run through of the across clues yielded very few answers, and I thought I was in for a hard slog. Fortunately the down clues were more accommodating and I managed to finish under target at 8.55. I was held up at the end however with my LOI GYNAECOLOGIST, where I had to carefully construct the spelling from the available letters.
Could have been worse. The big boys puzzle offers the possibility of OPHTHALMOLOGIST which is easier to say than spell!
With the exception of 5A this was quite straightforward
All done in a sprightly 10:19, and much helped by the four 13-letter words
most unusually going straight in – long anagrams are not usually my forte but both ORCHESTRATION and GYNAECOLOGIST for some reason emerged very readily.
Many thanks Roly for the blog
14:45 Panders to Inconvenient Shallots, Totes Amazeballs.
That’s your lot, that’ shallot, which sounds like slang for end of life / go extinct possibly? I didn’t get that despite it being one of my father’s favorites for calling time on us as children.
I missed all three hiddens. Solved five quickly and then hit the buffers.
“Aye aye, that’s yer lot” (pronounced “shallot”) was the catchphrase used to end his act by the comedian Jimmy Wheeler who was a big star in the 40s, 50s and 60s.
9:39. Always nice to be under 10. I thought Hulu was odd in 10ac. (It’s an American subscription streaming media service, part of the Disney empire. Should we all know that?) But if something looks a bit odd it’s a clue that there may be a hidden; so it helped. I liked PANDERS and TAKINGS.
Thank you Alex for the crossword and rolytoly for the blog
I thought Honolulu would have made a better surface.
I thought this was reasonably straightforward decent puzzle done in 9.35 but irritatingly fat fingered a W in MINSTER.
LOI EMERGE
Thanks all
We don’t seem to see a puzzle from Alex very often but they are always fair and interesting. True to form, I finished smoothly, helped by the long anagrams.
An enjoyable QC.
Thanks to Alex and Roly.
From what Jackkt has said in the past, I believe Alex is the only female setter for the QC, though that may have changed since.
Thanks, I will try to remember this. I’ve made a small change. No disrespect to the excellent Alex.
Weirdly I found this much easier than yesterday’s, once I got going. GYNAECOLOGIST and REINCARNATION (!) were early solves. Smiled at INCONVENIENCE. Also liked SHALLOT, SHINGLE, CAVORT, ASPHALT.
Thanks vm, Roly.
I was a little slow to start but didn’t find any particular problems with the solve. My main hold ups – the spelling of GYNAECOLOGIST and REINCARNATION which required a PDM. Thanks Roly 7:31
25:11 to finish after a bit of a grind. Only managed a few across clues at first look, but with some down clues solved it all began to come together eventually.
Slow start but gathered pace from the lower reaches.
4.42
Dunno what was in the coffee this morning but raced through this one for some reason. Saw the long anagrams quickly which helped.
Nice puzzle/blog
Rocket!
14:27. Similar experience to others; a slow start with only a few across clues got on first pass, but no really tricky clues. I wondered if I was just having a slow day, so reassured coming here to find it was not just me.
STROP and SHALLOT my last two in. Rather than an alphabet trawl I was doing an allotment trawl, but unfortunately I am not growing shallots this year.
Thanks Roly and Alex
By no means a write-in. The left-hand side was fairly straightforward, but I was slow to get REINCARNATION (obvious in retrospect) and had filled in the rest of the grid before the NE corner had anything in it. LOI PANDERS, which appeared a few weeks ago in the 15×15 in its original sense, so did not cause confusion. Liked SHALLOT and STROP. A nicely challenging puzzle from Alex.
I found this remarkable straightforward and finished in 18.43. Must be a wavelength thing.
All the long clues went in quickly which helps.
Thanks Roly and Alex.
Humph. LHS easier than RHS, eventually got all except one letter, guessing STRiP (paddy field?) but no idea what was going on there. NHO paddy/Irish meaning anger, obscure and obsolete (any of us born in 1933?) and surely becoming more so.
A ‘paddy’ as a tantrum was pretty common when I was growing up, a good six decades on from 1933.
In that case it’s more interesting and I stand corrected. Thanks.
I am glad to hear you never encountered it. There were a lot of words in common usage 50 years ago which, thankfully, we would or should never hear in polite society these days. The origin of this word, based on an offensive racial stereotype, should render it obsolete even in crosswords.
Fairly straightforward for me. From SHINGLE to STROP in 6:18. Thanks Alex and Roly.
16 minutes of hard work for me. LOI MINSTER where I was looking for a different definition.
All the four long answers delayed me.
A high quality crossword.
COD to GYNAE etc.
David
5:42
Same four acrosses in as Roly, but did rather better on the downs with ten out of twelve going straight in, only ENGAGED and GEE-GEES remained unsolved. No problem with STROP/Paddy, common when I was growing up in the 1970s/80s, but didn’t know there was an actual Irish connection.
Thanks Roly and Alex
Ditto growing up in the 60s. I saw no Irish connection when thinking of paddy/STROP
I had to give that a good chew – found the top acrosses intractable, so started with INCONVENIENCE (ho ho), then solved anti-clockwise from SW corner until finally returning to LOI STORM. A really well-set, enjoyable puzzle. COD to EMERGE, which is a brilliant surface.
The dictionaries suggest only that using PADDY as a term for an Irishman might cause offence, not that using it as a term for a hissy fit is offensive.
All done in a rather sluggish 08:58, so only an OK Day, but it was a lot of fun. Many thanks Alex and Roly.
Slowish start so worked from the bottom up. Like others had to spell GYNAECOLOGIST very carefully. Needed the P From PANDERS to get STROP – knew it was an anagram but still struggled. Glad LUCRE was a hidden as it’s only VHO. COD INCONVENIENCE (boom boom) 😆 Felt trickier than yesterday and pleased I got a longer coffee break. Thanks Alex. Thanks also for great blog Roly, especially info about paddy and pander.
I thought this was quite a bit more difficult than the puzzles of late, or perhaps I simply haven’t got used to Alex’s style. Either way, this was a 25min little teaser, with quite a few pdms. As for Plonk coming from vin blanc, surely that needs inebriated, rather than just jocular, as the required level of intoxication?
CoD to Inconvenience, a good example of an impossible clue until the pdm came along. Invariant
8:02 DNF technically due to STROP, NHO that meaning of paddy. Slightly disappointing showing from myself given that I’ve been going well with the back-catalogue of QCs recently.
REINCARNATION was eminently gettable but for a long time I thought it was an anagram. Need to work on not getting stuck with one particular interpretation of a clue.
Similar issue with SHINGLE.
Couldn’t get 1a, 5a or 1d initially, which got me off to a poor start. The bottom of the grid went in much more easily and I finally clocked in at 15:33, around my average. COD to INCONVENIENCE, which had me scratching my head for a long time.
Thank you for the blog!
An excellent QC in my opinion. Just the right level of difficulty to bring me in under target (14:25) without feeling it was a bit too easy. Growing up in a shingled house helped me with my FOI (a recent drive by confirmed the shingle is no more). LOI PORTS, COD to the unpleasant European’s filth. Thanks Alex and Roly.
I had the same experience as others with the across clues proving problematic on first run through. From there on a steady solve for what seemed like a tricky puzzle as I was doing it. The two long acrosses jumped out fairly quickly which was a help. In the end I was pleased to finish in 17 minutes all parsed.
FOI – 8ac ORCHESTRATION
LOI – 12dn GEE GEES
COD – lots to choose from and I liked the revolutionary Irishman. However I have to give joint top spot to the two 13 letter down clues INCONVENIENCE and REINCARNATION
Thanks to Alex and Rolytoly
Found this pretty straightforward (unusually for me) for the 3rd day in a row. Only holdup was the bottom right where I initially had plomp instead of plonk, couldn’t think what the right alcoholic word was, and that was preventing takings, with me not realising the right meaning of turnover. Was pleased to get cavort and strop within 30 seconds, as they feel like clues I’d usually struggle with.
Very enjoyable, if extremely slow, solve. Strangely enough, given other comments, strop was a write-in once I had the P. One of only two, dress being the other one. Thanks to both.
On Alex’s wavelength today for a very quick time (but not timed as I am in Hay Festival bar). Had everything bar EMERGE and GRIME on first pass and the downs’ checkers cleared those two up.
Thanks all.
PS I introduced OTTO to this blog at the Hay Festival and I’m hoping he’ll read this and feel the urge to join.
How wonderful.
10:02. Luckily the crossing letters made STROP inevitable as to me a strop sharpens razors and a paddy grows rice!
13.10 for us. Would have been out of the teens were it not for the inconvenience of fat fingers typing iiconvenience. Humph.
Like many, slow start – nothing until ASPHALT ( which I have long pronounced ‘ash -felt’-oops), then we were off at a steady pace.
Smiled when parsing ASPHALT, INCONVENIENCE, TAKINGS.
All in all a very pleasant undertaking.
Thanks to Alex and to all.
Paddy is a term frequently used by my many mates of Irish descent. I went to a Catholic school. I had no idea of its etymology. I shall be more careful in the future. About 20 today. J
9.06 A good puzzle. I was slow to get going. STROP delayed me at the end and REINCARNATION immediately followed to finish. I liked GEE-GEES. Thanks rolytoly and Alex.
20 mins today. I was on the right wavelength.
An enjoyable QC. Thanks rolytoly and Alex.
Just over 20 minutes for me, the slowness entirely down to an inexplicable ability to see STORES. Sometimes just happens that way.
Another excellent QC as far as this SCC resident is concerned. Thanks Alex.
Yes I knew the paddy / STROP pairing but had never (grew up in Leicester in the 60s) made an Irish connection
25 mins…
Hardly anything on the first pass, but like Rolytoly things started to shift once I managed a few of the longer clues like 19ac “Gynaecologist” and 6dn “Reincarnation”. Definition wise there was nothing too difficult, however clever clueing pushed this into something trickier.
FOI – 10ac “Lucre”
LOI – 13ac “Stores”
COD – 6dn “Reincarnation”
Thanks as usual!
15:20 here. As others have said, only a few went in on the first pass, and none of the four long answers came quickly for me. COD to GYNAECOLOGIST: I find anagrams hard and have no idea how Alex spotted ACOLYTES GOING there.
Thanks to Alex and rolytoly.