Times Quick Cryptic No 3120 by Joker

Author   Mike HarperPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Solving time: 8:21

I’m not sure if I was just a bit slow with this one – I didn’t find it too tricky whilst in flight, but time seems to have passed quickly (maybe the hallmark of an entertaining puzzle).

I bunged in COUCH initially at 1a which slowed things fractionally until the anagrams at 2d and 3d confirmed I was barking up the wrong tree; and it took three checkers to see 15a. Must say, I did like the ‘brief illness’ at 8d and the ‘very much al dente’ at 1d.

Let me know how you got on.

Definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [directions in square ones]. The tilde ~ indicates an insertion point in containment clues.

Across
1 Hide origin of chronic pain (5)
CACHE – First letter [origin] of C{hronic} then ACHE (pain)
7 Fruit, a number outside crate, damaged (9)
NECTARINE – N~INE (a number) outside an anagram [damaged] of CRATE
9 Take on work in audit regularly (5)
ADOPT – Insert OP (work) into AD~T – alternate letters [regularly] of A{u}D{i}T
10 Flavoured wine turned out nastier (7)
RETSINA – Anagram [turned out] of NASTIER

RETSINA (Greek: ρετσίνα) is a Greek white (or rosé or very rarely red) resinated wine, which has been made for at least 2,000 years. Its unique flavor is said to have originated from the practice of sealing wine vessels with Aleppo pine resin in ancient times.
11 Partially see mantid (or mantis) resting (7)
DORMANT – Hidden [Partially see] mantid (or mantis)

Ignore the punctuation
12 KLM maybe fine with hours lost (7)
AIRLINE – HAIRLINE (fine) with the H (hours) removed [lost]

KLM is an abbreviation of Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (literally ‘Royal Aviation Company’) and is the flag carrier of the Netherlands.
15 Clear glass of claret’s drunk (last of day for English) (7)
CRYSTAL – Anagram [drunk] of CLARET’S with the last letter of {da}Y replacing the E (English)
18 Minutes finishing off repair (7)
MENDING – M (Minutes) ENDING (finishing off)

As in “I left my down-at-heel shoes at the cobblers for repair/mending“
20 Soundly fix roofing slab touching (7)
TACTILE – Homophone [Soundly] of TACK (fix) then TILE (roofing slab)

TACTILE comes directly from Latin tactilis “tangible, that may be touched,” from tactus, past participle of tangere “to touch”. The Proto-Indo-European root tag- “to touch, handle” is related.
22 Get rid of king with moderate protection (5)
ERASE – R (king i.e. abbreviation of Rex) contained [with… protection] by E~ASE (moderate)
23 Book short month with European renter mostly (9)
NOVELETTE – NOV (short month) E (European) then all but the last character [mostly] of LETTE{r} (renter)

How long is a NOVELETTE? A work of fiction of between 7500-19000 words is generally considered a NOVELETTE. It’s longer than a short story (1000-7500 words), and flash fiction (<1000 words). Novellas are generally longer and have their own distinguishing features.

Examples of NOVELETTEs:
The Fall of the House of Usher – Edgar Allan Poe (1839)
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)
The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka (1915)
The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943)
24 Fear of departed around end of October? (5)
DREAD – D~EAD (departed) around last letter [end] of {Octobe}R
Down
1 Vegetable initially cooked very much al dente (5)
CHARD – First letter [initially] of C{ooked} HARD (very much al dente)

Did you know? Chard is one of the most common ingredients of Croatian cuisine, being known as the “queen of the Dalmatian garden“
2 I cry “booh” to upset singer (8)
CHOIRBOY – Anagram [upset] of I CRY “BOOH“
3 Catch parent running (6)
ENTRAP – Anagram [running] of PARENT
4 Mother’s holding spades — ace? (6)
MASTER – MA~TER (Mother) containing [holding] S (spades)

Think the question mark is just for surface.
5 Flag up digital assistant (4)
SIRI – IRIS (flag) reversed [up]

‘Up’ is apposite as this is a down clue.

SIRI is a digital assistant purchased, developed and popularised by Apple Inc.
6 Visibly embarrassed about former family (7)
RELATED – RE~D (Visibly embarrassed) containing [about] LATE (former)
8 Shortening of brief illness (11)
CURTAILMENT – CURT (brief) AILMENT (illness)
13 Water equipment limited by one speed (8)
IRRIGATE – RIG (equipment) contained [limited] by I (one) R~ATE (speed)

Water is a verb here
14 Superb quality solvent (7)
ACETONE – ACE (Superb) TONE (quality)
16 Small amount of pudding (6)
TRIFLE – Double definition
17 Truly popular act (6)
INDEED – IN (popular) DEED (act)
19 Good grass is a sin (5)
GREED – G (Good) REED (grass)

One of the seven deadlies…
21 Aromatic spice but left out bay (4)
COVE – CLOVE (aromatic spice) without the L (left)

68 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 3120 by Joker”

  1. Couch was my first thought too but thought I’d better check 2d first and although I didn’t solve the anagram right away I could see there was no ‘U’ available to allow couch. MASTER was pretty good I thought along with CURTAILMENT. Don’t think I’ve heard of a NOVELETTE before. COD to CRYSTAL for the letter change.
    Thanks Mike and setter.

  2. 7:10, I think it was on the tough side. I had to stop and think about parsing a lot more than normal. Has anyone done a ‘chard’/’charred’ homophone before? I would have thought ‘novella’ is a much more popular word, but not sure if it’s exactly the same thing.

    For anyone thinking of trying the 15×15, don’t do so today!

    Thank you for the entertaining blog. And the workout, Joker.

    1. or take a look at the 15×15, just out of curiosity. It is the first of the Championship puzzles from last Saturday

  3. CACHE went straight in with no thought of couch but then just three more acrosses before the downs helped fill the grid. Steady, enjoyable progress until the end when IRRIGATE and especially ERASE held me up – really wanted it to end in ‘me’ (moderate protection) and could only think of ‘evade’ to fit the gaps. Ended up all green in 12.36.

  5. Another day out of the SCC, our seat will be getting cold. Finished in 17.30 with the last minute spent on related, trying to fit ex or kin in somewhere.

    DNK an Iris is called a flag but it had to be, also needed Mike’s help to parse erase, thanks.

    Thanks Joker

  6. An entertaining romp from Joker this morning.
    I started with CACHED and finshed with RELATED in 4.50.
    Thanks to Mike

  7. 19:20 took ages to lift and separate water equipment and didn’t master erase with ease.
    Ta MAJ

  8. 12 minutes. I was hoping things would be quicker, but for some reason I just couldn’t see RELATED until the very end, being stuck on the usual KIN for ‘family’. I liked the surface for RETSINA which is definitely not my favourite wine and was interested in Mike’s comments on and examples of NOVELETTE(s).

    Thanks to Joker and Mike

  9. All done in 11:07 but needed the blog to understand the parsing of MASTER – I was barking up the wrong tree with the MAS- from mother’s = ma’s, and then could not explain the -TER. Also puzzled by MENDING, which seems the wrong part of speech for repair, so thank you for the explanation/example there.

    NOVELETTE – it had to be, and I know the word exists, but it is a rather unattractive word which I hereby decide never to use in real life.

    Many thanks Mike for the blog.

  10. Bit of a struggle but just about possible. LOI IRRIGATE. Agree NOVELETTE seems obscure (as opposed to the usual novella – tried so hard to get Feb in somewhere!), but it’s there in the big book. Learnt ACETONE here earlier, no idea what it is but now wise to it. Some are chortling about the insulting surface to RETSINA bu I love it when in Crete (tried it once in South London, never again).

    1. Acetone is the active ingredient in nail-polish remover so you’ll know the smell. The other component is just oil I think, intended to limit damage to the nail.
      You are right about Retsina; lovely in Greece, horrible everywhere else.

      1. I notice that the setter placed ACETONE and RETSINA on different sides of the grid- good reminder to us all to store these liquids at a distance from each other so mistakes don’t occur.

  11. A very good puzzle from Joker. I never find him easy and usually end up close to (or in) the SCC. Like Mike, I found this entertaining and involving – to the point where I was genuinely surprised to find that I had been tipped a few seconds over 20 mins (but all parsed). So, I appear to be the first to enter the club room today. I am sure I will not be the last. It is uncanny the way the clock speeds up when I concentrate on the last few clues.
    Some very clever clues. I didn’t see 1a at first and filled the rest of the grid before returning to it, by which time crossers made it a doddle.
    My COD was RETSINA – nastier was a superbly apposite anagrist.
    Many thanks to Joker for another enjoyable test and to Mike for a blog I will now return to and read properly to confirm my parsing….

  12. I thought this was going to be v fast when I’d got through the first 8 or 9 acrosses without pause. But I found the bottom third a lot tougher, and in the end it was a bog standard 07:38. Mind you I often struggle with Joker, so now I know it’s him I’m not too disgruntled!

    COD CHOIRBOY, which made me chuckle. Like Bletchers I am not a RETSINA fan, in my case after an unfortunate experience in my teens.

    Many thanks Mike and Joker.

  13. 30:19 (average: 35, target: 31)

    Joker pushed my target to its limits as always but not beyond this time which is, I think, an improvement.

    COUCH is a good alternative answer to 1a. I had the letters of CACHE as soon as I looked at it but was misdirected by the sound of the word until I came back with some checkers. MASTER took some parsing until my Latin teachers came back to the rescue once again. CRYSTAL was a brilliant clue that also resisted parsing for a long time. KLM sounded familiar for a long time but I thought it was one of the kids’ boy bands until the checkers came in and I realised where I’d seen it. LOI MENDING.

    Thanks Mike and Joker

  14. 14:04. A bit slow. I was up late last night and did it then. I should have just gone to bed. LOI CHOIRBOY, hard to see even with all the checkers. I liked CURTAILMENT and the ACE TONE. Thank you Mike for the blog and info on NOVELETTEs; your examples seem much too substantial to be given such a dinky name. Thank you Joker for the puzzle

  15. 25mins, so, usual corner seat. Top half went in quickly and slowed in the lower half. Thanks to all.

  16. No time due to repeated interruptions but I suspect not that speedy. Finally completed with a careless fat-fingered DPS. However these minor irritations didn’t spoil my enjoyment of a fun puzzle; I particularly enjoyed CHOIRBOY and CRYSTAL.
    Thanks to Joker and Mike

  17. Enjoyable puzzle today. PDM with CHOIRBOY as I’d been trying to find an obscure bird. LOI IRRIGATE. Thanks Joker, and Mike for great blog.

  18. DNF ERASE, but otherwise quick and enjoyable.
    Lots of fun.
    Many thanks, Mike.
    Despite having been in the book world, NHO NOVELETTE, only Novellas these days.
    Actually I quite like RETSINA, if it is cold enough.

  19. I only managed four today. I’ve not been sad enough to start a moving average spread sheet on my computer or bothered enough to research how to do it on Android.

  20. around 17m – plumber here so focus inconsistent as doubtless kroner pouring out faster than the water…
    Enjoyed – very slow on first pass with no instant fill until last gasp 24A. How embarrassing.
    Made up for that until excessively delayed by COVE as we tried to remove a B for bay… oops.
    SIRI also slow, even though yellow flag iris cause me grief.
    Liked RETSINA clue, though only enjoy the drink when in the environment…sand, sun, mediterranean, Greek vista and all that… out of setting I find it like drinking tree sap. That said, it has that ‘must be good for you’ flavour — so take me to the Aegean Sea please.
    Thanks to all.

  21. Seemed difficult at first look and only solved a few across clues, but better luck with the downs. Surprised to finish in 21:43 as I could not parse 3 answers – TACTILE, ERASE and IRRIGATE.

  22. A brisk start in the NW corner convinced me that I was perfectly tuned into Joker’s mindset so, given the crossers at the time, Contraction and Acronym were confidently biffed for 8d and 12ac (Spoiler: this didn’t end well).
    A worrying gap of really difficult clues began to develop, before Novelette confirmed that I wasn’t quite as aligned as I thought. Fixing that mess meant I was left scrambling for a seat by the time loi Irrigation went in.
    CoD has to be Retsina for a very appropriate surface. Invariant

  23. A very enjoyable QC from Joker. My FOI was CHARD and my LOI TACTILE where I had a bit of a ‘duh’ moment. 7:07 and COD to CHOIRBOY. Thanks Mike for the detailed blog.

  24. I got NECTARINE immediately but then failed to get any of the relevant down clues from it. The whole puzzle proceeded in the same way with moments of inspiration followed by periods of barren head-scratching. I eventually finished up on 23 minutes, all parsed. NHO NOVELETTE and I was considering whether ‘novelease’ was a thing until CURTAILMENT put me right.

    FOI – 7ac NECTARINE
    LOI – 22ac ERASE
    COD – 20ac TACTILE

    Thanks to Joker and Mike

  25. No major problems with most of it but I couldn’t find ERASE, so DNF after about 20 minutes.

    Thank you for the blog!

  26. I usually find The Joker stretches me to my ten minute target, but today I was plainly on song as I completed in 7.13. I had visions of being even quicker at one time, as I had all but four done in five minutes with only the sw corner to complete. CRYSTAL set me going again and NOVELETTE finished the job. I wonder how many times I’ve written RETSINA as an answer to a crossword, being so beloved by compilers. It’s the only time I come across it having never tried it, and as far as I can remember I don’t recall ever seeing it on any wine list.

  27. ERASE and IRRIGATE LOsI, confirming the usual trend of Joker solves – everything in swiftly apart from two crossing clues which hold me up an extra 5 or more minutes.

  28. I often find Joker one of the trickier setters, but today’s puzzle went smoothly from CACHE to TRIFLE in 6:24. Thanks Joker and Mike.

  29. I can best sum up the discussion on THAT Greek wine, when, years ago lunching with a colleague he said ” I was in a Greek restaurant last night and I got a duff bottle of retsina ” ! I asked him “How did you know ? “

  30. I started quickly and then got stuck; and then started biffing including CONTAINMENT at 8d- not recommended.
    In fact I found this hard to finish and was not sure of all the parsings.
    After 16 minutes LOI was CRYSTAL. Relieved to see all correct.
    I could not see Fine = Hairline whilst solving, but do now.
    COD to TACTILE.
    David

    1. I’m not an Apple user (though do have an ancient iPod), and expect there are many others who are the same, whereas IRIS and FLAG appear as crossword synonyms quite regularly. I do agree though that there may some that are newer to the QC that might not yet have come across that.

    3. Forget banners and pennants, it’s just a common yellow iris known as a flag iris (or simply flag).

      1. Thanks for this. I’ve been putting in ‘iris’ for flag now for years, and I always thought it had something to do with banners.

  32. 23:59 – a good workout for the brain this morning. I never find them easy but I enjoy the challenge and am slowly improving.
    Enjoyed CHOIRBOY as like others I was looking for an obscure bird! Started with CACHE and finished with RELATED. Thanks Mike and Joker.

  33. DNF

    This week is turning into a bit of a disaster, that’s 3 DNFs in a row. First time that’s happened for a couple of years. Today’s stumbling block was SIRI. I suppose I could have guessed it but didn’t know IRIS = FLAG so went for another digital assistant, WI-FI.

  35. My thanks to Joker and Mike Harper.
    A little bit sticky this one, but no great problems.
    10a Retsina. I was misinformed about this; I was told that the Muslim Turks tried to stop the Greeks getting drunk by flavouring the wine with nasty resin. I seem to have been misinformed! It is one of 6 other anagrams of nastier, which is a record.
    12a Airline, easily biffed and the (h)airline came later.
    23a Novelette. Never knew it had a precise meaning, thanks Mike.
    5d Siri, DNK Apple bought her.
    8d COD Curtailment.

  36. 8.36

    Like Mike found this tricky. CONTRACTION straight in from the first word (SHORTENING) which led to major problems with RETSINA (harking back to – like others – past problems of another youthful kind). Ended in the SW with NOVELETTE and ACETONE neither of which jumped out from the definition. Sigh, guess that is why these things have w/p 🙂

    Thanks Mike and Joker

  37. I do love a Joker! As it happens I picked up Times 2 this morning thinking ‘we haven’t had a Joker for a while’ and there it was!

    Lovely puzzle, all finished and parsed before the teacup was drained. Particularly liked CRYSTA and TACTILE. I belong in the anti-retsina group. Greece has better to offer.

    Thanks Joker and Mike

  38. Crikey! Just 17 minutes for a Joker, following on from 22 minutes yesterday and 15 minutes on Monday, means that the first three QCs have only detained me for 1 hour. That may be some sort of record (for me). Maybe I should turn professional ….

    …. I have just consulted Mrs Random and, in summary, her response was “Ah!”. That’s because her entire response was “Ah!”, at which point she went off to do something useful.

    Nothing to add, really, other than 10a (RETSINA) gave both of us a good laugh and is easily my COD.

    Many thanks to Mike and Joker.

  39. My horses slept through this, but it was nicely constructed. I biffed CRYSTAL and DORMANT, but quickly parsed them afterwards.

    FOI NECTARINE
    LOI DORMANT
    COD CURTAILMENT
    TIME 4:47

  40. NECTARINE – the setters’ favourite fruit (and mine 😋). Talking of setting, I have just finished making a load of quince marmalade and jelly! What a palaver.
    I thought this was a lovely example of Joker’s trademark wit – lots of clues which are really worth rereading after the solve, including RETSINA, CRYSTAL, ACETONE and INDEED to name a few. But I’m with the anti-retsina brigade when it comes to drinking the stuff, here or there.
    9:01 FOI Chard LOI Acetone COD Dread – not long before the trick or treating starts again! Time to carve a pumpkin 🎃
    Thanks Joker and Mike

  41. Easy romp through, no hold ups at all. First glass of retsina = yuk, second=mmm, third and subsequent=yum! Certainly beats the domestica which is fit only for cleaning the bicycle.

  42. 10.33 A slow start and I was breeze-blocked for three minutes by the chestnut TRIFLE. I liked RETSINA and CHOIRBOY. Thanks Mike and Joker.

  43. 10:13. I found this one quite hard … CHOIRBOY being a stinker of an anagram, nothing to get your teeth into. I bunged in IRIS at first and then got RETISNA which didn’t quite work! Nice puzzle and good to have something a bit more moderate than today’s 15×15!

  44. 25 minutes. Appalling. Should give up if that’s the best I can do. My brain just isn’t capable of doing these puzzles in anything approaching a decent time. Already well over an hour for the week and massively behind almost everyone else. Feel humiliated.

  45. 12 mins…

    Joker fluctuates for me – sometimes straight forward, sometimes hard – today was the former. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted Retsina, but it’s been in the crossword so often I almost think I’m a connoisseur (if that’s even possible). With regards to 12ac, many years ago I used to fly with KLM to the Far East, and if you were lucky enough to go business class you were given a commemorative porcelain replica of a Dutch house. I believe there was quite a different range to collect. I’m guessing they no longer do it.

    Apart from the blatant lie that 5ac “Siri” is an actual assistant, I don’t think there were too many hold ups.

    FOI – 1dn “Chard”
    LOI – 4dn “Master”
    COD – 2dn “Choirboy”

    Thanks as usual!

    1. You haven’t really missed anything: a nose like creosote and a taste like what I imagine could be similar to burnt TCP. However memory can play tricks – I’ve yet to try a second sip.

  46. 19:17 here. The lower half seemed harder than the upper for me today, had nothing below the midline after my first pass. COD to CRYSTAL, with a nod to the seasonal reference in DREAD.

    Thanks to Joker and Mike.

  48. Another typically reliable classic from Joker. Always worth persevering to enjoy the twists and turns and ignoring the time taken.
    FOI 10 Retsina
    LOI 1a Cache
    COD 15a Crystal.

  49. Ah SIRI, very clever, I never ask Siri anything because I’m not sure what to say and I don’t think I’m connected, but we do have Iris Siberica in the garden and Flag Iris hanging in a picture on the wall, and a granddaughter’s name is Iris, so I wonder why AIAI sounded like a Lemur!

  50. 10:48
    I rattled through the first six across clues, and though I was heading for a fast time, then hit normality, finishing in a time close to my average.
    LOI was RELATED.

    Thanks Mike and Joker

Comments are closed.