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 | |
6.04 Another quickie. OFF THE WALL and FLOPS needed the checkers. Thanks rolytoly and Jalna.
18 mins…
A few tricky clues in this – particularly in parsing 11dn “Thievery” and working out the enjoyable 5dn “Colon”. Haven’t played squash in years – although it was definitely the go to sport in the 1970’s. Many of the old squash courts have now been converted to gyms.
FOI – 1ac “Out of Place”
LOI – 5dn “Colon”
COD – 17ac “Love Child”
Thanks as usual!
I haven’t played squash in a couple of decades either, got into it in the early 90s just as it was dying out. It seemed to be a corporate sport for professionals which then got overtaken by golf. Then when the golfers found out that the game is hard and buying a new driver just means being able to hit the ball further into the trees, they took up cycling which has even more opportunities for purchasing gear while also drawing no distinct competitive lines.
A fast solve for me, helped by getting 1a (OUT OF PLACE) and 1d (OFF THE WALL) early, until I ran into the sand with five clues to go. 19 minutes had passed by then, but the NHO PISCO and four clues in the SW corner proved almost intractable.
PROMPT, LOVE CHILD, THIEVERY and LISTED (my LOI) remained hidden for nearly as long again as the time I’d taken to that point and I ended up crossing the line in a disappointing 37 minutes.
Many thanks to Roly and Jalna.
6.21 WOE
A STONE here; serves me right. saw the LOVE CHILD idea (is that a thing nowadays?) but flummoxed by COLON. Put it in but no idea why. I’ve been caught out with punctuation things in the past so nicely played, Jalna and thanks RT.
12:04 NHO PISCO. The clues FASTING, COLON, and IN DEPTH remind me of a medical procedure I have to undergo in a few weeks!
😕
DNF FLOPS, PROMPT and put THIEVING too, failing to change. Also missed LISTED – COD.. NHO PISCO but it had to be. PDM LOVE CHILD. Liked OFF THE WALL and other long ones, and COMMA and COLON.
Thanks vm, Roly.
Took me ages and I used check a couple of times.
Pleased to have got COMMA and NHO PISCO from wordplay as I totally missed both hiddens
Thanks for the blog.
We’ve had (and enjoyed) PISCO sours so no problems there. In fact this was again pretty straightforward for us excepting the embarrassingly long time spent trying to parse F(LOSS). As FLOPS was our LOI it was as well we persevered in looking for alternatives to avoid a DNF. 11:14 at the finish. Loved LOVE CHILD. Thanks, Roly and Jalna.
Finished correctly in 50 minutes. I considered it quite hard. I mean it – I am not just taking the Pisco.
2 Down “Couple ultimately don’t show love (3)
TWO – “ultimately” donT shoW lovE” ?
I think you meant to say :
TWO – “ultimately” donT shoW + O (=love)
Complete mess in SW because did not get VERY for ACTUAL, had LIVE WIRE for the NON-UNION and GRADED for TIPPED. Also NHO PISCO.
15:48, never really got into any sort of rhythm. But looking at it again, it’s a fine puzzle, so that’s on me for being woolly-headed this morning.
Thanks to Jalna and rolytoly.
You can request the CT scan version. You still have to fast etc., and they use compressed air to inflate the bowel. This is a much faster procedure. Unfortunately it transpired that I was allergic to the CT image enhancer which may contain penicillin or Iodine or both….
Ah well, couldn’t last, not quite there on fourth day this week. Should have tried THIEVERY not Thieving, and still trying to avoid any type of input to AI but it’s getting harder. Will Wiki survive I wonder and original sources are fading away. Also I had Stone Broke as Stoney wouldn’t fit, my much-thumbed Pocket OED knows better! All thanks
6.08.
Like rolytoly, I thought this one was pretty easy – and if I think so then it probably is.
LOI PISCO: I could see at first pass that PISCO might be then answer but, since I had never heard/seen the word before, I didn’t trust it until I had all the checkers.
I thought Monday was the pits. Turns out I was wrong.
I had all bar PROMPT in 9 mins but recorded a 27 minute DNF. I put GROMET, God knows why. The clue was meaningless to me and largely still is.
I’m sure this was a breeze for most of you, which makes it all the worse.
Why do I put myself through this daily agony when I lack any kind of ability to finish these wretched puzzles?
Just once I’d like to have something positive to say, but there is nothing remotely good about this wretched effort.
To compound the agony, I got just 9 on the proper crossword in over an hour. Truly inept.
Probably my worst ever week here taking into account how easy the puzzles have been. Five years of struggle and stress, with very little progress.
PS Actually only 7 on proper crossword now I’ve checked. How bad is that!
I feel your pain.
No matter what anyone says, these puzzles are not easy.
Just keep trying.
That’s what I do.
Thanks Gordon 👍
If I may say so, solving all but one clue in 9 mins is far from wretched. You’re doing great.
And, yes, these puzzles are not easy. No cryptic crossword is really.
Thanks Jalna 👍
Didn’t find this easy at all, perhaps because I’m doing it at 11 pm on holiday after a few drinks. THIEVERY? PISCO.? Biffed them to finish in 22.04. Ah well. Off to bed now.
Only just got home – raced through this – alas, too quickly, biffed tIlTeD for the clearly correct LISTED. Couldn’t see how THIEVERY worked (thank you, Roly). Otherwise delightfully easy, thank you, Jalna.