Times Quick Cryptic No 3097 by Jalna

Author   rolytolyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Not too tricky today.

I found this quite a breezy solve, coming home in 5:34, which is good as I’m in something of a rush today, so apologies for the terse blog. (And fingers crossed no 500 message thing appears..)

Looking back over it there were rather a lot of double definitions, but there was plenty to like, and I particularly like “punctuation” clues for some reason, of which we get two today. So consider me very contented – many thanks to Jalna!

1 Pool faucet repositioned in the wrong location (3,2,5)
OUT OF PLACE – anagram (repositioned) of POOL FAUCET
7 Failures in force leading to cuts (5)
FLOPS – F(orce) LOPS (cuts)
8 Transfer of data dumps Leonard periodically picked out (6)
UPLOAD – the “periodic” letters of d U m P s L e O n A r D
10 Cover that’s trimmed at both ends (3)
HAT – tHATs, well, trimmed at both ends
12 Working together   live on stage? (2,7)
IN CONCERT – double-ish definition
13 Complaint with joint (6)
WHINGE – W(ith) HINGE (joint). That pesky W for with!
14 City living initially is good in Paris (6)
LISBON – L (Living “initially”) IS and BON (good, in Paris)
17 Issue arising from non-union activity? (4,5)
LOVE CHILD – cryptic definition, with a play on issue = offspring
19 You and I primarily browse huge source of information online (3)
WEB – WE (you and I) B (“primarily” Browse)
20 Input to AI tool   executed without delay (6)
PROMPT – double definition
21 Alcoholic drink in cup is cold (5)
PISCO – hidden in cuP IS COld
23 Tough   cheddar? (4,6)
HARD CHEESE – another double-ish definition
Down
1 Unorthodox   way a squash ball may be hit (3-3-4)
OFF THE WALL – and another double-ish definition
2 Couple ultimately don’t show love (3)
TWO – “ultimately” donT shoW lovE
3 Following a smart diet (7)
FASTING – F(ollowing) A STING (smart)
4 Start a filling daytime meal (6)
LAUNCH – A fills LUNCH (daytime meal)
5 Character appearing in Mission: Impossible? (5)
COLON – cryptic definiton, the first of two punctuation answers
6 Acknowledge the audience and prepare for violin performance? (4,1,3)
TAKE A BOW – another double-ish definition
9 Very poor boys on trek getting lost (5-5)
STONY BROKE – anagram (getting lost) of BOYS ON TREK
11 Individuals centrally involved in the actual act of stealing (8)
THIEVERY – I is the “central” letter of indiv-i-duals, involve it in THE and VERY (actual)
15 Thorough department in one new hospital (2-5)
IN DEPTH – DEPT(artment) in I N(ew) H(ospital)
16 Tipped to the side, like some significant buildings (6)
LISTED – double definition
18 What indicates slight pause in dialogue from sitcom, maybe? (5)
COMMA – from within sitcom , maybe
22 Understand   where a bishop may have responsibilities (3)
SEE – double definition

 

72 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 3097 by Jalna”

  2. Saw the W for ‘with’ in 13a but took a while to see hinge for joint. Liked LOVE CHILD for the out of union issue. NHO PISCO. COD to THIEVERY.
    Thanks R and setter.

    1. Definitely worth trying a Pisco Sour or two. After three you may have trouble standing/walking.
      (Reposted sure to Server 500 error).

  3. 8:43, with the only real hold-ups being in the SW corner, where LISTED and THIEVERY were slow to emerge. Not sure about calling a COLON a character – to me it’s a punctuation mark, and I would think of a character as being a letter of an alphabet.

    Many thanks Roly for the blog.

    1. I see what you mean about a punctuation mark not being a ‘character’ in text, but maybe you could look at it as a punctuation mark being a ‘character’ on a keyboard?

      2. Nice puzzle that took us a leisurely 18.12. Finding it harder to get going as the mornings get darker 😕

        NHO pisco and finally saw the hidden after a complete alpha trawl and rejecting pesto. COD to out of place, nice anagram and surface plus always nice to get 1a at first glance

        Thanks Jalna and Roly

      3. Collins on “character”:

        “11. a symbol used in a writing system, such as a letter of the alphabet
        12. Also called: sort (printing)
        any single letter, numeral, punctuation mark, or symbol cast as a type”

      4. Trust Collins to find an obscure meaning – here, from blocks in a printing set – that is technically correct and some way from common usage. But BR’s justification is good enough for me.

  4. No problems but I was in a leisurely frame of mind and spent an enjoyable 11.35 doing this. Thanks Jalna and Roly.

  5. A slow 13 minutes, mainly due to initially entering an unparsed THIEVING for 11d. This had me staring without inspiration at 20a for a few minutes before I took the trouble to get around to parsing 11d properly. I’m a fan of punctuation mark defs or answers as well and liked the two on show here today, especially COMMA where the mark itself was in the middle of the hidden letters.

    Thanks to Jalna and roly

  6. 17:03 (average: 31, target: 29)

    I found this much easier than yesterday’s Teazel which took me 44 mins. On the face of it they are quite similar standard puzzles. I think what made the difference was a determination to be quicker and more flexible with the wordplay. I was in a very literal mood yesterday and it did not help at all.

    NHO on PISCO for me too, but it was a carbon copy of yesterday’s PANGA (also NHO) and both sounded plausible.

    LISTED gave me some thought. Kept thinking TILTED but stuck with the wordplay until the PDM

    Thanks Roly (good post I thought especially under time pressure) and Jalna

  7. Would have been under 10, honest, but somehow deleted the C of LOVE CHILD to get the 99% message. Before that I’d been held up by PROMPT and THEIVERY and trying to work out what sort of CHILD was at 17a. New 1a was gettable so invested 40s on OUT OF PLACE at the start. All green in 10.08

  8. 3:53. Quite enjoyed the not one, but two, punctuation-related answers. Nearly came a cropper with TILTED but changed to LISTED after a bit of thought. Nothing too arcane except the sign of the times with ‘prompt’. Thanks rolytoly and Jalna!

  9. NHO PISCO, but it had to be that.

    THIEVERY, LOVE CHILD and FLOPS came slowly, so completed in 15.02.

    Pi ❤️

  10. A two paced solve for me. I started off very quickly but the bottom of the grid proved tougher than the top.

    I needed all the checkers before being convinced that PISCO was a real thing, tried hard to justify that ‘wangle’ could be a complaint, spent too long with an unparsed THIEVing clogging up the SW and LISTED required an alpha trawl before the penny dropped.

    Started with OUT OF PLACE and finished with LISTED in 9.05.
    COD to LOVE CHILD.

    Thanks to rolytoly for the blog and Jalna for the workout.

  11. Biffed THIEVERY but otherwise sliced through in a relatively orderly manner to finish in 18 mins, so, on the easier side for me.
    Have spent several trips for work to Chile/S. America and Pisco Sours and locally distilled variants are common. Delicious, moreish and deceptively potent IMHO.
    Thanks Roly and Jalna

  12. 42:02 and that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

    LoI in depth
    PoI love child
    CoD whinge

    Thanks Roly

    Many thanks Jalna

  14. Original Comment disappeared in the ether. (error 500 world)
    A fiasco for us – GIVE A BOW seemed to fit both possible defintions..so delayed matters there
    And, accustomed as we are to not fully parsing all clues >THIEVING… so PROMPT was anything but.
    For a while I wondered who COLIN might be before himself offered COLON. I then wondered how we were at that bit of the body.. then PDM…old and slow.
    So – unforced errors and slow moments.
    Suspect we will be lonely in the SCC
    Enjoyed regardless – thanks to Jalna and to Rolytoly.

    1. I don’t think GIVING a bow would help much in violin-performance preparation, sorry. It had to be TAKE.

      1. Thank you! More food for thought. I see where you are coming from, however I was thinking of giving the violinist his bow ( as could not play without it) – hence – ‘give a bow’ to the violinist .. in preparation for his playing.

  15. 22 minutes. I can’t account for this other than I may have nodded off. I’m used to solving QC’s early morning but I tackled this at bedtime. NHO PISCO which made me think of hairdryers and other small electrical appliances in a bygone era.

  18. All went very well indeed until I was blocked in the SW by having biffed THIEVing (my fault for not parsing although actual=very didn’t come to mind quickly, even when I read Roly’s blog). My laziness meant that 20a became impossible (-N-M-T). I was not aware of the use of ‘prompt’ as ‘input to AI’ so that left me with a DNF.
    So, it was not as easy for me as for many speedier solvers above. I never find Jalna to be an easy setter – there always seems to be a sting in the tail that takes me close to (or into) the SCC.

  19. I’m another THIEVing solver … that plus my unfamiliarity with AI terminology held me up considerable at the death. Hey ho, it was brisk enough at 06:01.

    COD to LOVE CHILD, what a cracking clue. Very much enjoyed this puzzle.

    Many thanks Jalna and roly – and special thanks to Mick and the team for restoring the Crossword Club tile!

  20. 25 minutes to finish today, with COLON as my last one, and also my favourite when it dawned on me. Lots of good clues today, liked LOVE CHILD too. Thanks for the blog 😁

  22. 10:34

    I found this to be on the slower side, but with the Quitch at only 83, I must have been off the wavelength. Stuck at the end on four – TWO and FLOPS, and PROMPT and LISTED – of course, it didn’t help being another with THIEVING bunged in. NHO PISCO but the wordplay was clear.

    Thanks Roly and Jalna

  23. PROMPT was delayed by THIEVING. OUT OF PLACE was FOI and COLON LOI. 8:18. Thanks Jalna and Roly.

  24. Initially very, very easy for a Jalna, then blocked at the end by PROMPT, owing to a bifd and unparsed THIEVING. On the basis that Jalna doesn’t do unparseable, I revisited and finished. I also wanted to put TILTED, but ditto re parsing. COD LOVE CHILD.

  25. 11:17 for the solve. About two mins of that lost to initially putting an unparsed THIEVing and finishing with an unparsed THIEVERY. Can someone explain ACTUAL=VERY please. COD to LISBON

    Thanks to Roly and Jalna

      1. Ok thanks. Can see the very version but “the actual thing” seems a contrived way of speaking. I’d have thought people would say “that’s actually the thing…”, “just the thing” etc.

  26. I found this tougher than most finishing in 11.33. My main problem was biffing THIEVING and not checking the parsing as others seem to have done, and this together with my LOI PROMPT took me over my target time. The mention of ‘tipped to the side’ and ‘significant buildings’ took me to Pisa, and it took me a while to convince myself 16dn wasn’t LEANING. Never heard of PISCO either, and as usual it took me too long to spot the hidden.

  27. 14:35

    Fairly straightforward but failed to parse COLON, and struggled to see LOVE CHILD and LOI IN DEPTH.

  28. Lovely workout with Jalna today – 1a followed by 1d, then 23a followed by 9d! Enjoyed the comma and the colon and lol at LOVE CHILD: I spent far too long going through TUC and UNISON and UNITE issues before the coin fell. 12 minutes with THIEVING corrected to THIEVERY once loi PROMPT went in. Great fun: thanks setter and blogger.

  29. DNF due to the THIEVERY/PROMPT crossing. I was another one who had an unparsed ‘thieving’ in at 11dn, making 20ac impossible. Did the rest in around 18-20 minutes, so not that easy imo. FLOPS, IN CONCERT and WHINGE very slow to appear for some reason.

    FOI – 1ac OUT OF PLACE
    LOI – DNF
    COD – 17ac LOVE CHILD. Also liked LISTED.

    Thanks to Jalna and Rolytoly

  30. I thought I was in for another good time until coming unstuck in the SW with THIEVERY, LISTED and LOVE CHILD. The latter needed all the crossers as I had no idea what was going on until the penny drooped.
    COD LISTED after trying CANTED.
    Could not parse COLON until I finally spotted it was in the clue. Doh!
    Thanks Jalna and Roly

    1. Any time you see “issue” think children. It’s an old term, the age of which is shown by me recently coming across it in Moby Dick or The Mayor of Casterbridge, but the setters seem to use it relatively frequently.

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