There’s lots to enjoy in this third Quick Cryptic from Loon. Some great clues and immaculate surfaces. It took me 6:11 – exactly the same time as I took for Loon’s first in October. My COD goes to the amusing and clever 10A, but I also liked 17A…. and plenty of others. Thank-you Loon! How did you all get on?
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Phil’s turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the crossword here. If you are interested in trying our previous offerings you can find an index to all 149 here.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions}, and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | I must get into dynamic core and abs exercise (8) |
| AEROBICS – I getting into [dynamic] (core abs)*. | |
| 5 | Recognise geek from the back (4) |
| KNOW – WONK (geek) reversed, [from the back]. | |
| 9 | Obscure album plugged by singer Reed (5) |
| CLOUD – LOU (singer Lou Reed) in CD (album), with [plugged] the insertion indicator. | |
| 10 | State where Prince Harry spent nine months? (7) |
| INDIANA – A bit of whimsy – Prince Harry was IN DIANA when she was pregnant with him. My COD. | |
| 11 | Unfriendly, expensive public relations leaves (3) |
| ICY – {pr}ICY (expensive) without the PR (public relations). | |
| 12 | Gold leaf coats Chinese children’s home (9) |
| ORPHANAGE – OR (gold in heraldry) + PAGE (leaf; piece of paper) outside, [coating], HAN (Chinese) | |
| 13 | Make concrete dome by using mixer? (6) |
| EMBODY – (dome by)* [using mixer]. We had EMBODY as recently as this Monday’s Trelawney. | |
| 15 | Dash off to swim after end of Friends (6) |
| SCRAWL – Last letter, [end], of FriendS + CRAWL (swim). Dash off as in writing quickly. | |
| 17 | Stupidly short the adapter? That could kill you (9) |
| DEATHTRAP – [Stupidly] (th{e} adapter)*, shortening the “the”. Great surface. | |
| 19 | Gossip initially about living in Great Britain (3) |
| GAB – First letter, [initially] of About in GB (Great Britain). | |
| 20 | On the wrong path going around hot waste receptacle (7) |
| ASHTRAY – ASTRAY (on the wrong path) [going around] H (hot). | |
| 21 | Right issue and terms of reference (5) |
| REMIT – R (right) + EMIT (issue). | |
| 22 | Phrase checked by interpreter maybe (4) |
| TERM – Hidden in, [checked by], interpreTER Maybe. | |
| 23 | Try interrupting sportsperson who’s focused on the drama? (8) |
| PLAYGOER – GO (try) in PLAYER (sportsperson). | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Principal setter’s record collection (7) |
| ARCHIVE – ARCH (principal) + I’VE (setter’s). | |
| 2 | Small jumper belonging to me is generously proportioned (5) |
| ROOMY – ROO (abbreviation of kangaroo; small jumper) + MY (belonging to me). | |
| 3 | County forbids introduction of deer here, strangely (12) |
| BEDFORDSHIRE – (forbids d{eer} here)* [strangely], with just the first letter, [introduction], of Deer. | |
| 4 | King Charles is beginning to prepare snack using potato (5) |
| CRISP – CR (King Charles) + IS + first letter, [beginning to], of Prepare. | |
| 6 | Falls over in North America? (7) |
| NIAGARA – Cryptic definition. | |
| 7 | Large animal’s audible sound of distress (5) |
| WHALE – Sounds like, [audible], WAIL (sound of distress). | |
| 8 | Notice vice-president gathering troops for initial mission (7,5) |
| ADVANCE PARTY – AD (notice) + VANCE (vice-president of the USA) + PARTY (gathering). | |
| 14 | Relatively tasteless, second-rate slice of bacon? (7) |
| BRASHER – B (second-rate) + RASHER (slice of bacon). | |
| 16 | Gastronomic delicacy served up in Margaret’s bolognese (7) |
| LOBSTER – Reverse hidden in, [served up in], MargaRET’S BOLognese. | |
| 17 | Plan recruitment of American soldiers (5) |
| DRAFT – Double definition. | |
| 18 | Leads in remake of Yojimbo are looking magnificent (5) |
| ROYAL – Initial letters of [leads in] Remake Of Yojimbo Are Looking. Fortunately you don’t need to know this Japanese film to solve the clue. | |
| 19 | Soup’s adhesive with unpleasant smell (5) |
| GUMBO – GUM (adhesive) + BO (body odour; unpleasant smell). | |
4m 20. Delayed for at least 10 seconds struggling to contain myself after solving 10ac. Very nice.
I was a bit alarmed seeing cloud in the blog, as I didn’t remember solving that clue. Then I realized I had put Lou in the middle, and much later solved archived and Bedfordshire, and I didn’t even notice that I had the answer – no pictures on scorecards! I agree the in Diana clue is a truly great one. The puzzle was not an easy one – both John and I are a bit over our average.
Time: 10:05
There is a nice modern feel to this with the Spare and the Veep. Quirky and fun.
9:51
Yes, well. At 11ac I put IVY instead of ICY, thinking the def was ‘leaves’ on the end of the clue. No it made no sense at all, top marks for stupidity, otherwise enjoyable though not easy, I ‘finished’ in about 10. Thanks John and Loon.
Biffed a bunch–CLOUD (DNK Lou Reed), BEDS, AEROBICS, DEATHTRAP, …–and it still took me 10′. INDIANA was a great clue, but I got it instantly.
Only four on the first pass and not many more downs. Most of my troubles were in the corners. Once ADVANCE PARTY went in I got moving – delayed there trying to force ‘Pence’ in, not a good morning for up to date GK! DEATHTRAP slowed me down before finishing with KNOW which made LOI WHALE obvious (finally). All green in 15.19.
Enjoyed this from Loon and finished in a slightly better than par 9:01.
As others enjoyed INDIANA.
Tried to over complicate NIAGARA so thanks John for clearing that up.
Very good.
Main hold ups were the parsing of BRASHER (so not taste WRT food) and INDIANA, which produced a snort of amusement when the penny finally dropped.
Started with CLOUD and finished with DEATHTRAP in 8.32.
Thanks to John and Loon
Only five this morning. The easy ones, crisp, know, Niagara, whale, lobster. Got the xLOUx and that was about it. I didn’t sleep well but I did get Wordle in three…
Thanks John and Loon
From AEROBICS to INDIANA in 7:51. Nice puzzle. COD INDIANA. Thanks Loon and John.
Am I the only one who found the clue for Indiana rather tacky?
No
Also, no.
I do rather suspect you’re all in the minority, though I see where you’re coming from.
Yes, it was tacky, imo
No. In very poor taste, and I’m a republican.
I thought it was tacky too.
I found it in very bad taste.
No, I was quite surprised to see that one.
I was not pleased (and I was not particularly fond of the princess). It reminded me a little of the rant in the novel White Noise about “he entered me” where she says, if I remember aright, “I’m not an elevator”.
I agree – poor taste.
I don’t really click with Loon, I’m afraid. I don’t know why. This was a struggle at first but I accelerated modestly as crossers emerged. Like with Loon’s previous two, I ended up all correct around the 20 min mark having almost set the puzzle aside after an interruption.
Some interesting clues (identified by others above) but it just didn’t hang together for me. I am sorry but I didn’t really enjoy it. A wavelength thing, I suppose.
Looking back it was a bif-then-parse puzzle for me; once I had crossers I could identify words that would fit.
I think that sums up how I found it, too. My bifs emerged as I wandered down the grid and they became more successful on the way back up to the NW corner where I finished.
My experience exactly. Nothing more for me to say.
20:26 for the solve. Only my 5th visit to the SCC this year. Blimey I found that hard to get into as only 8 answers on my first readthrough and that took 7-8mins in itself where I’m often in finishing up mode. Hadn’t mentally prepared myself for tackling 15×15 style clues and wanted to quit and come back later; but persevered and gradually worked from SE to finish up in the NW. COD to INDIANA.
Been a slow week at 1hr20 and even the Trelawney taking over 10mins.
Have a good weekend everybody. Thanks to JohnI and Loon
Don’t know time, – on Eurostar and interrupted…around 20 before DNF ARCHIVE
NHO Wonk for nerd – nor GUMBO for soup – Lou Reed only remembered after the event.
Some fun clues and clever surfaces.
Have a feeling I am about to have a possibly mildly embarrassing PDM – however, can anyone help… I understand how Setter = me or I, and Setter’s = his…. why can’t I get to Setter’s = ‘I’ve’? : (
Thank you John I and Loon.
I think Setter’s = setter has = I’ve
When written from Loon’s own perspective, the setter’s/I’ve got to take the negative feedback along with the positive?
Setter’s = Setter has = I (the Setter) have = I’ve. But I only got it because I’ve seen it before.
Nothing to enjoy for those at the back of the class. Couldn’t do even half of this. NHO GUMBO – what’s that?! NHO Lou Reed – who he/she? NHO PLAYGOER. If this is what QCs are, I’m not staying around much longer. But thanks, John, for revealing the obscure mysteries.
I was going to offer an answer but, instead, I just followed my usual path and clicked on the word to highlight it before tapping ‘look up’. It always works with definitions online these days.
It works for GUMBO and PLAYGOER.
With Lou Reed, it comes up with ‘no content found’ but it always gives the alternative: ‘search web’ which brings up all you need to know about Lou (with photos and background).
Note. Just for the record, I never look up words in this way whilst solving but I do find it useful when coming across an unfamiliar word or acronym in the main Times online newspaper.
Thanks but I think you must be on some app or something – I’m very simple, do (or try to do) the crossword in the paper version, and have no knowledge of any of the operations you describe. But others will know what you mean!
Well said.
Usually takes me about an hour, pen and paper. I’ve been doing the TQC for a couple of years now and rarely got more than a couple to start with. Now I usually get almost all the answers and finish it two or three times a week. Persistence.
It’s nice to finally see posts where people take longer than 10 minutes and don’t claim that “it’s an easy one today!” – everyday…
I’ve been struggling with cryptic crosswords for years, read various books, blogs and watched YouTube videos; and instead of being inspiring it’s actually very deflating when I’ve spent 45 minutes methodically going through every clue of the Quick Cryptic and barely have half the grid complete before needing to resort to external help.
(And regularly I can spend 10 minutes starring at the main puzzle just trying to get one or two clues to kick things off.)
I’m starting to wonder if there’s a point when, despite my enthusiasm, I should admit that crosswords just isn’t for me.
Lou Reed was the lead singer in the Velvet Underground. Today he’s probably better-known for his solo hits like Walk on the Wild Side and Perfect Day.
GUMBO is a sort of stew (which always reminds me of Forrest Gump). ‘Theatregoer’ is maybe more common than PLAYGOER, but part of the fun of crosswords is putting together the constructions to learn something new!
Gumbo gets a mention in the classic Hank Williams country song “Jambalaya”. Also a crawfish pie.
Thank you – but it’s all US, i.e. foreign, culture! (NHO Hank Williams or Jambalaya or crawfish pie, by the way.) I know, I was attacked here on the grounds of “what does he know about anything, who only England knows”. To which my answer is: no, I hope my GK is to an acceptable extent world-wide. I only question why it is deemed essential to know so much about specifically US popular culture, more than, say, German, Italian, Indian or Chinese culture.
GUMBO – a soup/stew of chicken, prawn and okra popular throughout the Southern US – especially Louisiana; Lou Reed – influential US musician of the 20th century (Walk On The Wild Side and Perfect Day amongst his better known numbers); PLAYGOER – someone who goes to a performance at a theatre.
Amoeba – snap, precisely!
Thanks to both (above) – ah, that explains it: all this US culture is what always catches me (NHO Velvet Underground). Why so much US culture in a UK crossword? The US is as much a foreign country as, say, India or China, yet GK is apparently deemed to embrace all the popular “culture” (including sports) of the US. But I do know I’m bashing my head against a brick wall.
Oh, yes, PLAYGOER: I suppose it is! And so equally would a symphonygoer be “someone who goes to a performance at a concert hall” – but it’s not ever said. Is PLAYGOER?
Well, there do seem to be a number of Cajun restaurants in London, and of course the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed were very influential on the UK glam and art-rock scenes, such as Roxy Music.
I am often annoyed that the Times crosswords seem to know more about Indian and French cuisine than I do.
Oh, no! Please don’t go!
Like you, I had NHO PLAYGOER nor of GUMBO – could think only of the bendy man, Mr Gumby (the memory brought a smile ).
There’s fun to be had. Moments of self declared genius on solving a clever clue may be few, but are undeniably delightful.
Shared grumpiness and discontent is a different pleasure of sorts… suffering alone is less amusing.
Those at the back of the class have a unique camaraderie.
You’ll find I’m often there, grateful for company.
I figure this blog makes solving a team sport. We all need each other. : )
Thank you for your kind camaraderie! (I seem to remember that word in a QC some time ago.) I suppose it’s all a question of balance, whether the fun and the PDMs outweigh the discouragement, sometimes the feeling that one is not getting anywhere, not learning anything (or, at least, enough). Curious (galling?) that others don’t seem to have found today’s particularly difficult. But thanks for your words of comfort.
Yes, this one was best left to the expert solvers. I got about one third after a struggle.
14:48
I initially had AUTUMNS for 6d, which delayed the NE corner. I then wasted time trying to parse NIAGARA, thinking NA=North American, but how did IAGAR=over?
KNOW was my LOI.
Thanks John and Loon
8:43. Not too many problems though I tried to over complicate NIAGARA as well; I agree that it’s “just” a cryptic def without wordplay. I liked DEATHTRAP and the potentially topical (let’s hope not) ADVANCE PARTY.
Thanks to John and Loon
I find Loon one of the more original and quirkier of setters, with a different take on what constitutes a QC clue to some. Sometimes the result is magnificent – I chuckled mightily at INDIANA – but more often I am left way off wavelength and in biff-then-parse mode. That was particularly the case with the anagrams today, with the anagrist for both DEATHTRAP and BEDFORDSHIRE needing constructing before one could solve the anagram, but ORPHANAGE, CLOUD and ARCHIVE were also BTP clues. I did eventually not just solve everything but parse it too, but it took 16:27 for a Slow Day – and looking back at my records that is par for the course for this setter.
Many thanks John for the blog, and I look forward to Phil’s Sunday Special.
21 mins…
When I saw 10ac “Indiana”, I had to put the paper down for 5 minutes as I was laughing so much. Probably the funniest clue I’ve seen since I’ve started doing this. The rest went in steadily – but overall, a great puzzle from Loon.
FOI – 7dn “Whale”
LOI – 1dn “Archive”
COD – 10ac “Indiana”
Thanks as usual!
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one! That was my 1249th QC and probably the best clue I’ve ever seen.
An early solve for me as I’m visiting my elderly Dad and he’s currently having a nap in his chair (having been up several times in the night, of course). I cooked him mushrooms on toast for breakfast and when he wakes up we will walk along the river (where we always try to count the swans – usually 30-50, but we have seen >100 on some occasions) and into town for coffee and cake. A round trip of a mile and a half, so not bad for 96 years old.
Not sure why I went off at a tangent there, but I’m feeling upbeat as I knocked this one off in 24 minutes, which is quite good for me, despite continually thinking it was difficult and I was about to crash.
AEROBICS, ROOMY, BEDFORDSHIRE and CRISP in the NW corner got me started and my LOsI were LOBSTER, GAB, REMIT and GUMBO down in the SE. Along the way I failed to fully parse a number of clues (incl. SCRAWL and BRASHER), but I was sufficiently confident to write them in and move on.
Overall, an enjoyable challenge and a good day. Now to (gently) wake him up and encourage him out.
Many thanks to John and Loon.
Update:
We’re now enjoying our coffees and cake in my father’s regular cafe, having seen 37 swans, 19 mallard ducks, 11 pigeons, 2 cormorants (all prime numbers, interestingly) and an uncountable number of gulls of various sorts.
Impressive
Lovely time with your Dad, a pleasure to hear about it.
20:25
As soon as I had __A_A_A I biffed Aga Saga. Only then did I read the clue. Sadly not the answer today.
Held up by WHALE and WONK. Spent too long looking for a land animal. Then stuck on ICY and LOI ARCHIVE taking me into the SCC.
Very, very slow, but finished. I did need inspiration from the CCD for CLOUD. NHO Lou Reed.
Liked PDM ADVANCE PARTY (COD). Also slow on SCRAWL, AEROBICS, ARCHIVE, PLAYGOER.
Thanks vm, John.
DNK the soup and took ages over bedfordshire, and trying to parse Niagara. Barely cryptic IMHO, leave the “over” out and its a coffee time clue. Very enjoyable (particularly 10a) if somewhat slow for me. Thanks Loon and John.
Another struggle for me but finally all done in 22.39. Very few on first pass then got on better with down clues. Biffed AEROBICS and KNOW and never fully worked out the BEDFORDSHIRE parsing.
For some reason not a very enjoyable solve.
Staggered through this with a lot of biffing in 31 minutes. Not really on Loon’s wavelength. Couldn’t parse KNOW (NHO wonk), CLOUD (NHO Lou Reed), DEATHTRAP, GUMBO or NIAGARA (looking for the non-existent wordplay). Didn’t know PLAYGOER as a word although it was fairly obvious and found INDIANA rather tasteless, although admittedly clever.
FOI – 11ac ICY
LOI – 9ac CLOUD
CODs – 12ac ORPHANAGE and 8dn ADVANCE PARTY
Thanks to Loon and John
I struggled with this one from the off, but on completion in 15.35, I look back at the answers and think I just had an off day perhaps. KNOW and my LOI WHALE held me up for about two minutes at the end, mainly because I have never heard of ‘wonk’ being a synonym for ‘geek’. I particularly liked the INDIANA clue, very inventive.
My total time for the week was 58.44, giving me a daily average of 11.45. So overall, a tougher than average week I thought.
I’m not remotely PC, as my COD will testify. I’ve been flying through the puzzles this week, and, even though it was inside my Qsnitch average, this was my slowest of the week. Some great clues, but a CD could be a single rather than an album. DEATHTRAP would have been COD on most days. I didn’t bother to parse BEDFORDSHIRE until afterwards.
FOI AEROBICS
LOI KNOW
COD INDIANA
TIME 4:07
Good luck to everybody tackling my Weekend Special.
I’m not remotely PC either, but INDIANA, while witty, nauseated me a bit.
INDIANA an early contender for Clue of the Year, IMO. I much enjoyed DEATHTRAP, GUMBO, and ROOMY too. Great puzzle. Thanks johninterred and Loon.
I think this is my first Loon QC, as I do not recognise the name, but I have to say that I really didn’t enjoy this one. Could be just me but I found some of the clues rather clunky.
I gave it a good go but just could not finish it.
First Lap: 3
Answered (no help): 17
Answered (help): 4
DNF: 5
Time: 47:57
I don’t know what’s happened to my anagram hat, but it was again nowhere in sight when needed. Aerobics, Embody and Deathtrap all took ages to untangle, and Bedfordshire started life as Herefordshire before finding it didn’t match the anagrist– nor the number of spaces for that matter. The upshot was a rather tedious 30 min solve.
Add me to the list of those finding 10ac in poor taste. Invariant
A toughie, not helped by endless interruptions (a delivery, a man come to service something at another person’s house, a call). I stopped the clock each time but somehow on resuming my brain had gone a bit cold and needed firing up again!
I spent a while wondering if there was a state called “INUTERO” before the penny dropped … very good! Other hold ups were WHALE/WONK and ARCHIVE – “arch” for “main” gets me every time.
I thought that that was fresh and witty. Bravo. COD INDIANA. All done in 11:11 for an OKish Day.
Many thanks Loon and John.
The potential INUTERO momble made my day. 😂
7:33 but…
…a poor show from me, as I scrawled in a shrugged DEATHGRIP at 17a without seeing the anagrist. Otherwise, very nice puzzle, with plenty to enjoy.
Thanks John and Loon
My thanks to Loon and Johninterred.
I thought it was a bit difficult, and sort of odd. That is not criticism just an observation.
Thanks again Johninterred for the parsing of 5a Know, I never saw the wonk. Doh!
9a Cloud, NHO Lou Reed added to Cheating Machine.
17a Deathtrap is often 2 words; other version added to C.M.
16:28 touogh
Is Loon from the USA? Took me a long 29:11 to finish. Got hardly any of the across clues at first look, but more successful with the downs, then much biffing to get the rest that I couldn’t parse or didn’t need to (ORPHANAGE, (B)RASHER. Didn’t see that REED = Lou or that GUMBO is a soup or that WONK is a word.
Did giggle at INDIANA, though. Somehow not overly enjoyable.
I found this decidedly tough. Revealed LOI TERM (same as yesterday: when will I learn to think of a ‘hidden’ possibility 😞 ). NHO wonk as geek so KNOW/WHALE took a while to solve. Mixed feelings about INDIANA. Clever but left a slightly bitter taste. NHO GUMBO but solved from wordplay. Despite struggling (and reservations about 10a) I thought this was a really entertaining QC. Many thanks John.
A slow start for me with tricky clues across the top and down the left. Things picked up a bit when I resorted to tackling the clues sequentially, ending with WHALE/WONK in 17:14.
Thank you for the blog!
Some great clues and like many others on here laughed out loud when INDIANA came to mind!! Other great clues for – ASHTRAY
ADVANCE PARTY and ORPHANAGE
All done in 29 minutes. Thanks Loon and John
I’m pleased to see a few other people at my end of the learning curve to add a reality check to the under ten minute folk. Today I solved 13 clues in 30 mins which is 13 more than yesterday! There was a culture bias in some clues and when the term ‘Vice President’ appears I don’t immediately think of the US, but instead VP! So again it seems like previous experience is what drives speed!
Like Martinü I’m usually at the back of the class and got off to a very slow start today. Slowly worked my way round and ended up having finished to my delight and amazement! (Ok, it took an hour or so)
COD (month, year, decade) clearly to INDIANA! Overall the clueing seemed tricky but precise to me . . . And helped by knowing Lou Reed, gumbo and JD Vance.
Tricky in places but finished in an on par 12:57. We did enjoy INDIANA but can see how reasonable minds might differ over which side of ‘the edge’ it is close to. Thanks to Loon and John.
Haha it wasn’t my reasonable mind, it was my stomach!
WOE WOE WOE 13:52 to not finish, as I biffed-then-didn’t-parse IvY (note to self: quit doing that!). Other than that, and the nauseating most-people’s-COD, an enjoyable solve of this quirky, well-made puzzle. I found NIAGARA so barely cryptic that I left it until last, a double-double-cross from Loon. COD was CLOUD.
Thanks Loon and John.
Guess I may be the last to comment today. Started late and, like Templar, had many interrupions, including a long one from Mrs Muscovite, who wanted to watch the curling semi-final which I saw last night. I got drawn in and watched it again! Well done GB and good luck for the gold!
So I really didn’t get stuck in to the puzzle until after lunch. All correct and parsed, though I had to check that wonk exists. Held up by the NW corner and finished in an over average time
Thanks loon and John
Last to comment? I doubt it. I often get comments on the Friday QC on a Saturday or even later. I’m with you on the curling – great result. I will be watching the final along with Mrs (oops I mean Dr) Interred.
11:39 for me, which makes me happy. Today the anagrams came quickly, put me in the camp that enjoyed INDIANA.
Thanks to Loon and John.
Lovely and amusing crossword, very much enjoyed. No proper time as I’m watching the wonderful Olympics at the same time.
COD to Indiana, of course. Brilliant stuff, thanks Loon and John.
On edit: I also thoroughly enjoyed the weekend special – great stuff – thanks, Phil!
8.50
Off to foreign climes so tapping away on a bumpy train to Gatwick didn’t assist things plus I really struggled to get a toehold. But when I did they fell fairly easily.
My first response on seeing INDIANA was “meh”. (Been down listening to the kids). On reflection I was fine with it.
Thanks John/Loon.