Solving time: 7:25
It’s been a while since I blogged a Wurm puzzle, so was pleased when their name popped up onscreen – I greatly enjoyed the challenge.
I initially completed the puzzle a minute earlier, but was served with the ‘Unlucky’ message. It took a further full minute to spot that I’d given the tragic heroine too many Es (I could have sworn it was spelled that way!)
Slight eyebrow twitch at 2d as the definition and answer are not strictly synonymous.
Let me know how it was for you…
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 | Baby elephant mostly quiet female (4) |
| CALF – All but the final letter [mostly] of CAL{m} (quiet), then F (female) | |
| 4 | Gateau served after meat in hunks (8) |
| BEEFCAKE – CAKE (Gateau) after BEEF (meat)
Hunks as in muscly gym bunnies. |
|
| 8 | Second Greek character backed Labour group (8) |
| MOMENTUM – MOMENT (Second) then MU (Greek character) reversed [backed]
Only properly parsed post-solve. I had been fixated on Second = MO, rather than the complete word MOMENT. I wonder how many might be baffled by the definition of MOMENTUM. Personally, I’d never heard of this British left-wing political organisation, which has been described as a grassroots movement supportive of the Labour Party. |
|
| 9 | Hellish river flows no more from mouth? (4) |
| STYX – Sounds like [from mouth] STICKS (flows no more) | |
| 10 | Some returned from enchanted mountain (4) |
| ETNA – Reverse [returned] hidden [Some] in enchANTEd | |
| 11 | Loudly criticises army accommodation (8) |
| BARRACKS – Double definition | |
| 12 | Roman stoic disrupted seance (6) |
| SENECA – Anagram [disrupted] of SEANCE | |
| 14 | Defect in hose that fireman uses (6) |
| LADDER – Hose here refers to stockings, socks or tights. Firemen, of course, use much bigger LADDERs… | |
| 16 | Minoan is astir: one possible cause (8) |
| INSOMNIA – Anagram [astir] of MINOAN IS ‘astir’ is kind of doing double duty here as ‘one possible cause’ refers back to it |
|
| 18 | Ecstasy wrapped in cannabis for bard (4) |
| POET – E (Ecstasy) contained by [wrapped in] PO~T (cannabis)
BARD originates from the Old Celtic term bardos, meaning “poet” or singer.” In historical times, it was a term of great respect among the Welsh, but one of contempt among the Scots (who considered BARDs as itinerant troublemakers). Why is cannabis also known as POT? The term is most likely derived from potaguaya, which itself is a portmanteau of the Mexican Spanish potación de guayaya, an alcoholic/medicinal drink made from cannabis leaves and guava. |
|
| 19 | Shop in Indian metropolis did you say? (4) |
| DELI – Sounds like [did you say?] DELHI (Indian metropolis) | |
| 20 | Pains restricting poorly Greek hero (8) |
| ACHILLES – ACH~ES (Pains) containing [restricting] ILL (poorly) | |
| 22 | Arctic animals check two rivers (8) |
| REINDEER – REIN (check) DEE (river) R (river) | |
| 23 | Farewell from Indian steel producer (2-2) |
| TA-TA – TATA (Indian steel producer)
Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel company headquartered in Mumbai. It was ranked 8th globally in crude steel production in 2024. |
|
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 2 | Disciple and saint in a bar (7) |
| APOSTLE – ST (saint) inserted [in] into A PO~LE (bar)
Hmm. While an APOSTLE is always a disciple, a disciple is not necessarily an APOSTLE. According to multiple religious websites, a disciple is a follower and learner of Jesus, while an APOSTLE (from the Greek word for ’emissary’) is specifically sent out with a mission to spread the Gospel. |
|
| 3 | Runs into whimsical American goddess (5) |
| FREYA – R (Runs – cricket abbreviation) inserted into F~EY (whimsical), then A (American)
In Norse mythology, FREYA (or Freyja), from the Old Norse for “Lady,” is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). |
|
| 4 | Joe Root’s cricket club? (3) |
| BAT – Yorkshire (the county cricket club that Joe Root plays for) doesn’t fit, so club here refers to the implement Joe uses to hit the ball, which is called a BAT
I spent a while, post-completion, looking for something deeper than this, but I couldn’t see anything else. Let me know if you spotted anything… |
|
| 5 | De la Mare’s wild, tragic heroine (9) |
| ESMERALDA – Anagram [wild] of DE LA MARE’S Correct me if I’m wrong, but I am not aware that Walter De La Mare ever wrote about ESMERALDA. If he had, this would have been an even better clue. . ESMERALDA refers to the fictional character in Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French: Notre-Dame de Paris). ESMERALDA was born Agnès, but is referred to as ESMERALDA due to the paste emerald she wears around her neck. |
|
| 6 | Sauce from copper with famous daughter (7) |
| CUSTARD – CU (copper – chemical symbol) with STAR (famous) D (daughter) | |
| 7 | Canoe going in either direction (5) |
| KAYAK – “going in either direction” here suggests that the answer is a palindrome i.e. reads the same forwards and backwards | |
| 11 | Bright idea: view a barn that’s renovated (9) |
| BRAINWAVE – Anagram [that’s renovated] of VIEW A BARN | |
| 13 | Feeling close to marriage proposal (7) |
| EMOTION – Last letter [close to] of {marriag}E, then MOTION (proposal) | |
| 15 | First woman leading others in highest peak (7) |
| EVEREST – EVE (First woman) leading REST (others)
Very chestnutty. |
|
| 17 | Relative close to collapse in French city (5) |
| NIECE – Last letter [close to] of {collaps}E inserted [in] into NI~CE (French city)
Same words “close to” to point to last letter, as in 13a… |
|
| 18 | One in plan to do the Wright thing? (5) |
| PILOT – I (one) inserted [in] into P~LOT (plan)
“do the Wright thing?” refers to the American aviation pioneers, Wilbur and Orville Wright, a.k.a. the Wright brothers. They are credited with inventing, building and flying the world’s first successful airplane. |
|
| 21 | That woman seen in Chertsey (3) |
| HER – Hidden [seen] in CHERtsey | |
6:40
Like Mike, I took second=MO, and never parsed the clue. And I had no idea about the Labour group. I also had no idea who Joe Root was. A poor clue.
Pretty quick DNF on this one, another ESMERELDA. Writing it down it looks obviously wrong, but vertically in the grid I didn’t even think about it. I’m sure there will be many others.
Agreed on the Joe Root clue, it’s a bit weak. I thought HOSE was a great clue though.
Add me 😔
A DNF in 10 minutes; I was tripped up by the ‘tragic heroine’ too, having the unchecked E and A the wrong way round. I didn’t know BEEFCAKE could be used for muscle-bound men in the plural as well as the singular.
The only suggestion I have for the ‘Joe Root’ clue is that the word “batsman” (now “batter”) can be informally abbreviated to just BAT, so as Joe Root is a batsman, it could be seen as one of those double def cum barely cryptic def clues.
Thanks to Wurm and Mike
Not ‘batter’ for many of us! As if someone should be given the authority to impose their choices on others…
Yep, I’m afraid I don’t toe the line and call the person batting a batsman or a batswoman; I’m not a fan of batter and even less of being told that I should use the word.
I was surprised to see we have a fireman in the clues!
9 minutes with one error as I didn’t understand the wordplay at 3dn and guessed the goddess as FREDA instead of FREYA.
Elsewhere SENECA went in with fingers crossed from wordplay, and TA-TA from ‘farewell’ as I didn’t know the steel producer.
I had no idea what Joe Root had to do with anything.
Oh I got it was an anagram and also the Hunchback of Notre Dame connection, but put ESMARELDA, never having seen it written down and it seemed more reasonable. I see the Emerald connection now. Not one of the finest clues for a Quickie.
EMEReLDA – no excuses, I wrote the letters out and still messed up. Lots to like here.
I thought I had counted the a’s and e’s carefully but still put Esmerelda. I must have watched the Disney version hundreds of times when our children were young and was convinced that was her name.
That aside, all done in 18.16 after a fairly erratic solve around the grid
Thanks Wurm and Mike
I thought this was going to be a real toughie as I drew a blank on the first few clues, but things got a lot easier further down the grid. Fortunately I double checked the anagram fodder for ESMERALDA as otherwise I’d have joined the ‘extra e club’.
Started with BARRACKS and finished with BAT in 6.28.
Thanks to Mike and Wurm
A rapid 7:32, but with one pink square, a rogue E IN ESMERELDA.
7:29, finishing with the Cretan clue. Would have been 7:20 and a non-finish if I hadn’t overcome my habitual casualness and actually checked the anagrist for the heroine.
14 east better than west.
12:27, but only after checking ESMERALDA several times to count the Es and As. In general I am not a fan of clues where there are two spellings, the letter that can change is not checked and the required answer is the less common form, but in this case I think it’s a fair clue, as it is an anagram. But still devious.
Which is more than I can say for BAT, which I agree with others is a strangely weak clue. I looked for something beyond the obvious in it but failed. And as some have implied, it requires some pretty specific GK – both Brit-centric and indeed cricket-centric. Not very “G” GK – and I might level the same accusation against MOMENTUM and TA-TA too.
A completion then, but not I think the finest QC ever. But I did really like LADDER.
Many thanks Mike for the blog.
5:28 but also fell tragically on the spelling of the Heroune
Mine was going to be a quick solve until I hit FREYA and REINDEER (no excuse…..). The pennies dropped over a minute or two (I finally thought of FEY and it all fitted.
17 mins in the end but I was horrified to see that I had misspelt ESMERALDA so a DNF. Esmeralda and Notre Dame only surfaced in my muddy subconscious later.
A good puzzle (apart from BAT and APOSTLE – I agree with Mike); I liked LADDER.
Thanks, both.
23:28 after struggling with MOMENTUM and FREYA. Some thinking also required for a few others, so an above average solving time.
9:57
15 minutes. Slow to start but once I’d tuned in to Wurm’s style it flowed pretty well.
Liked LADDER and INSOMNIA but for COD I’m swimming against the tide of opinion and picking BAT which made me roar with laughter once I’d seen it.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
Tried to make something more of BAT as it seemed a bit too obvious. Fortunate today that I had no problem with the GK needed for some of the solutions. COD LADDER. Thanks Wurm for enjoyable puzzle and Mike for informative blog – particularly interesting info about BARD.
Seem to have managed this somehow, though NHO Joe Root or LOI MOMENTUM. Thanks for explanations, Mike. Liked the “double duty” in INSOMNIA.
8:58, finishing with MOMENTUM, a group I had forgotten still existed – I thought they were primarily a Jeremy Corbyn supporters club, but it seems they continue to have links with Labour even after JC has not.
Hesitated over the barely cryptic BAT.
COD to INSOMNIA.
Thanks Mike and Wurm
5.10
Remarkably didn’t fall into the same spelling error as everyone else, only because the way I say it makes it an A. Lucky. Otherwise, knew the GK. The pate was scratched for the BAT clue first time round, and later needed the B. Actually I quite like it but not a helpful clue for non-cricketers I will concede.
Thanks Mike/Wurm.
9:55 for the solve with a further nine seconds required to amend ESMaReLDA having during the solve gone for the three Es version and checked the anagrist. Making it not a great puzzle with the NHO FREYA, the didn’t know he was a stoic SENECA and I don’t pay close enough attention to the news TATA. The latter being the problem with allowing modern things into the puzzle – I doubt anyone will remember that in ten year’s time – MOMENTUM too. Think BAT is just a pure cryptic definition as Mike suggests.
All that said, thought LADDER and PILOT were good clues.
Thanks to Mike and Wurm
TATA has existed in some form since 1907, but only on the global stage since the 1970s. Maybe one of those companies that will pop up in these puzzles from time to time?
Fair enough that it’s been around a long time and will probably continue to be. I assumed it was only used because it was major news a couple of years ago about whether UK Government money should be used to bail out the steelworks in Wales owned by them. Or something along those lines – names of steel companies are not something I make a point of remembering. Whereas Joe Root is a name quite often seen on the sports pages – and I note he is now the 2nd highest scorer in Test History.
A look at the Quitch sees it currently at 92 … but 42 of 58 ref solvers have been excluded with an error. (By comparison Monday had 3/73 excluded, Tuesday 13/76)
😮
I agree this is an issue with the Quitch / Snitch method. This puzzle is harder because so many solvers are making an error, but that is not factored in. Using Website average score, which factors in errors, this puzzle sits at 148 using a similar calculation method as Quitch.
The Quitch excludes 42 solutions with errors in 100 reference solvers, with 58 correct solutions. The point still stands – the number of errors, presumably Esmeralda / Esmerelda is higher than usual. Worth debating whether one careless error really means that the puzzle is much harder?
Thanks for the clarification 👍
I think if it is harder to complete correctly, it is harder, irrespective of whether the error is a bit ‘careless’, as long as it is not a genuine typo. I agree you can debate how to factor in errors (a % of excluded solvers factor, or some other kind of adjustment?). For my part, I have made an index using three measures: Quitch, website average score, and the time of the 100th correct solver on the morning after. The latter two take into account the effect of errors, and I use an average. Using that measure, today is at around 117 (although that is an estimate until the 100th time is reliably calculated). I think that is about right, but then it’s my idea!
ESMERELDA. Thanks Wurm and Mike.
The joy of 04:37 swiftly followed by the despair of the DPS … yes, I’m another E. A Tragic Day.
Amazed this is a Wurm, partly on difficulty level but also because the amount of Classical stuff in it (STYX, ETNA, SENECA, ACHILLES, Minoan, Mu) made me sure it was a Lupa while solving.
COD to PILOT. Many thanks Wurm and Mike.
I finished in exactly 9.00 but on checking found I had made two errors. I carelessly put FREDA for 3dn, having not a clue how it was parsed. I should have remembered FREYA who I knew to be a Norse god, but still the parsing would have beaten me. My second error was in the spelling of ESMERALDA which I misspelled as ESMARELDA, which was annoying as I took such care to check the letters of the anagram were all there. To paraphrase Eric Morecambe, all the right letters but not necessarily in the right place.
DNF on two counts. Add me to the esmarelda club (doubley annoying as I originally had it correct but changed it because it didn’t look right) and failed to complete the NW corner. After 12 minutes I only had 1ac, 8ac and 3dn outstanding. At length after a complete brain freeze MOMENTUM fell but the other two never did.
FOI – 4ac BEEFCAKE
LOI – DNF
COD – 14ac LADDER. Also liked CUSTARD
Thanks to Wurm and Mike
DNF disaster, in the NW. Just not on the wavelength, except for ESMERALDA. NHO MOMENTUM group.
Liked BEEFCAKE and coped with the classical stuff.
Oh dear.
4:04. No problem with ESMERALDA so I was surprised to see how many had got her wrong. I didn’t know she was born Agnès, though (thanks Mike). I liked PHEASANT but COD to LADDER. Thanks Wurm and Mike.
A gentle puzzle today, although I too couldn’t spell ESMERALDA: in my case I dyslexed it as esmArElda rather than adding an extra E. For 2d, Chambers gives a definition of Apostle as “one of Christ’s twelve chosen followers” and a definition of disciple as “A follower, esp one of the twelve apostles of Christ” so I think that works just fine. Thanks Wurm and Mike.
My thanks to Wurm and Mike Harper.
I was gobsmacked for a while until the wheels started turning.
4a Beefcake, oh that sort of hunk. I was foxed.
16a Insomnia, I didn’t know what I was looking for.
3d Freya, in WW2 the Germans named their radar Freya because “she can see for 100 miles.” I guess before Napoleon even the Germans had miles.
4d Bat. I think Root is specifically a bat rather than a general cricketer?
18d Pilot. I wondered for a while if the setter had gone mad and wanted Plain (one in plan), being dyslexic!
A steady solve left me within sight of a sub-15 with two to go. Looking for an e*n*e* check to go between R–r at 22ac scuppered that target, well before common sense prevailed. That just left the F*e*a goddess at 3d.
For some reason I toyed with the idea that Fie might mean whimsical, but Fiera didn’t ring any bells. An alpha-trawl then produced Fey and a vho Freya, for a respectable 17min Wurm finish. Unfortunately, that included a careless EsmArElda, so it became a DNF.
CoD to the Artic Reindeer, a red nose ahead of the fireman’s Ladder. Invariant
DNF.
Very disheartening.
Just too hard for a so-called “Quick Cryptic”.
15:55
I remembered MOMENTUM from the Corbyn/McDonnell days but DNK FREYA which I had been avoiding until it became my LOI. After 2-3 minutes of deliberation it went in with fingers crossed.
Didn’t like BAT as the ‘Joe Root’ bit of the clue, who I had heard of even though I don’t follow the game, just didn’t work for me.
I had all the checkers prior to solving ESMERALDA so dodged the spelling error.
FOI: BEEFCAKE
LOI: FREYA
COD: LADDER
Thanks to Wurm and Mike
8.27 Another DNF with ESMERELDA. MOMENTUM took a while at the end. Thanks Mike and Wurm.