A middle-of-the-road Quick Cryptic from Juji today, for me, although your mileage may differ, taking me an average 5:12. LOI the overheard nobleman. Thank-you Juji. How did you all get on?
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Sawbill’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 150 here.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions}and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | I glance around like divine messenger (7) |
| ANGELIC – (I glance)* [around]. | |
| 5 | Characters involved in kendo joined training facility (4) |
| DOJO – Hidden [characters involved in] kenDO JOined. A place where judo or karate, etc are taught or practised. | |
| 7 | Steal fruit from rugby players quietly (6) |
| SCRUMP – SCRUM (rugby players) + P (piano; quietly). | |
| 8 | In old make of car, cross English city (6) |
| OXFORD – X (cross) in O (old) + FORD (make of car). I started to write in EXETER before stopping to read the clue properly. | |
| 9 | Sharp-billed birds spooked crew at sea (11) |
| WOODPECKERS – (spooked crew)* [at sea]. | |
| 10 | Children of similar ability play on internet-enabled device (6) |
| STREAM – Double definition. | |
| 12 | Tot and this writer start to relish hot weather? (6) |
| SUMMER – SUM (tot up) + ME (this writer) + first letter, [start], of Relish. | |
| 14 | Ringing home good following argument (4-7) |
| DING-DONGING – IN (home) + G (good) after, [following], DING-DONG (argument). | |
| 17 | Bleak nobleman in conversation (6) |
| BARREN – Sounds like [in conversation] BARON (nobleman). | |
| 18 | You are entering end of chess game fully developed (6) |
| MATURE – U R (you are in textspeak) in [entering] MATE (end of chess game, if it’s not a draw, stalemate, a player runs out of time or a player resigns). | |
| 20 | Formerly working, empty chute (4) |
| ONCE – ON (working) + ChutE without the middle letters, [empty]. | |
| 21 | Fervour dancer represented with ultimate in energy (7) |
| ARDENCY – (dancer)* [represented] + last letter, [ultimate in] of energY. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Heard flood survivor’s development of story (3) |
| ARC – Sounds like, [heard], ARK (Noah’s Ark; flood survivor). The development or resolution of the narrative or principal theme (in a novel, play, or film). | |
| 2 | Sugar from Greek island used in gum (7) |
| GLUCOSE – COS (Greek island) in GLUE (gum, the verb). | |
| 3 | Really enjoy being ahead in circuit race? (3,2) |
| LAP UP -Double definition, the second a cryptic hint. | |
| 4 | Options of frozen desserts with the fourth picked out (7) |
| CHOICES – CHO{c}ICES (frozen desserts) without the fourth letter [with the fourth picked out]. | |
| 5 | Editor backed rival author (5) |
| DEFOE – ED (editor) [backed] -> DE + FOE (rival). | |
| 6 | Cheese left in pots on ice (9) |
| JARLSBERG – L (left) [in] JARS (pots) + BERG (iceberg; ice). A Norwegian cheese and one of my favourites. | |
| 9 | Recalled comic sketch set in outskirts of Hamilton (9) |
| WITHDRAWN – WIT (comic) + DRAW (sketch) in the outside letters of [outskirts of] HamiltoN. | |
| 11 | Crazy about an elevated lady in artwork (7) |
| MADONNA – MAD (crazy) + ON (about) + AN reversed, [elevated], -> NA. Did I Ninja Turtle this from ‘Allo ‘Allo? Would I admit it if I had? | |
| 13 | Wet items on ground (7) |
| MOISTEN – (items on)* [ground]. Neat. | |
| 15 | Tender calves running uphill to some extent (5) |
| NURSE – Reverse hidden [uphill to some extent] in calvES RUNning. | |
| 16 | Identified fellow climbing English peak in danger (5) |
| NAMED – MAN (fellow) [climbing] -> NAM + E (English) + first letter of, [peak in] Danger. | |
| 19 | Regularly avoided greasy fish (3) |
| RAY – Alternate letter, [regularly avoided], of gReAsY. | |
14:11 couldn’t quite scrump barren woodpeckers ding-donging in stream.
TaJAJ
Still no closer to getting back to Blighty from NZ. Might try a 9pm call to Traifinders (8am Friday morning UK) because no-one is answering or responding to our plight. Ho Hum another month in NZ isn’t that problematic.
Go east ?
I, too, like Jarlsberg, so that was a write-in. Most of the puzzle was a write-in, but at the end I could just not see withdrawn/stream for the longest time. Scrump might have given trouble in the past, but I have added it to my vocabulary.
Time: 9:07
12 minutes. DOJO won’t stick in my brain despite three previous appearances here.
9:36. Took some convincing that DING DONGING was a real word.
LOI STREAM where I was sure “children of similar abilities” was SET.
COD (Cheese of the Day) JARLSBERG
Another solve in the teens at 16.31, it’s been a good week here. Also fixated on set for streams but I knew there was another word. Spent a bit too long thinking the birds were some kind of cocks. Also could not see ardency from the anagrist for a very long time, even with 2 crossers. Liked scrump, bringing back memories from my childhood!
Thanks Juji and John
15.27.
Happy with that given I’d never heard of JARLSBERG. Given the multiple recommendations here I’ll have to seek some out this weekend. Was easy enough to parse so was mostly confident it was correct. Dallied a little over DING-DONGING. LOI BARREN.
Thanks Juji and John.
Mostly the same as others, going well until STREAM and WITHDRAWN but I was also slow on DING DONGING.
No major dramas but needed all the checkers before being convinced that DING DONGING was a thing.
Started with ANGELIC and finished with BARREN a smidge over average in 8.04.
Thanks to John and Juji
NHO Jarlsberg or Dojo. A lot to enjoy here but I think you had to be on Juji’s wavelength and I certainly wasn’t! Thanks though.
Perhaps I am out of step again but, for me, this was anything but a QC. I have found Juji very variable in the past – from easy to very hard – but this one was a DNF for me.
Some very good clues mixed up with some very testing (and some beyond quirky) but I could not find the energy or enthusiasm to finish it.
I didn’t enjoy it and really don’t think my detailed comments and criticisms would be at all helpful given that most posters above found this a doddle.
Completed in 12:07 but that hides a lot of biffing, umming and aahing. I saw “old car … English city” and put in OXFORD without hesitating based on the old Morris Oxford, and then of course failed to find a sensible parsing. I also biffed GLUCOSE and never parsed it, took an age to see ARDENCY, even longer to admit DING-DONGING was a word at all and finished with MADONNA (and like John with ‘Allo ‘Allo on my mind). Not really on Juji’s wavelength at any time in the solve and not my most glorious effort.
Many thanks John for the blog and I look forward to the Sunday Special.
I look forward to your comments, as always.
I hope a few of the regulars on here will give it a try. The more the merrier.
17:04 for me, a really nice challenge COD was moisten I thought the anagram was well hidden and took me ages to spot. Like many I wasn’t convinced ding donging was a word, but nothing else fit or worked once everything else was there!
Thanks to Juji and John
19:26 with DOJO and DING-DONGING NHO but successfully biffed, to my surprise. Otherwise, pretty straightforward.
Leslie Phillips is still DING-DONGING somewhere, I’m sure.
On wavelength for that, though WITHDRAWN and LOI GLUCOSE required a bayonet charge to winkle them out at the end.
Fortunately the E in JARLSBERG was checked, because I wasn’t sure if it was that or a U. I can’t share the enthusiasm for it, flavourless rubbery stuff.
All done in 06:30 for a Brisk Business Day. COD STREAM, very neat. Many thanks Juji and John.
27 minutes thanks to some nice tricky clues.
NHO SCRUMP but it parsed perfectly and I assumed a link with cider as scrumpy.
Also NHO DOJO but suspected it was a hidden and Jarlsberg clinched it.
COD MADONNA for the parsing.
Thanks Juji and John
Top half very quick , but then stuck in SW. Finally needed hint for WITHDRAWN which enabled me to solve the rest. Got LOI NURSE but missed hidden. PDMs with MADONNA and STREAM. Doubtful about DING- DONGING but it had to be. Knew DOJO and the cheese.
I liked SCRUMP, OXFORD, and LAP UP among others.
Thanks vm, John.
Back inside my target time with 14:30. Either my brain is functioning at near normal levels again or I’m more on Juji’s wavelength.
Enjoyed this. Thanks setter and blogger.
Fairly straightforward for me today although biffed GLUCOSE – parsing obvious in retrospect. DNK DOJO but clear from the clue. Initial thought SET must be part of 10A until the checkers in place. WOODPECKERS great anagram. Thanks Juji and John.
9:02 for the solve. Nice mix of clueing with some straightforward defs but there were certainly some needing a bit of thought (NAMED, MADONNA, ARDENCY, BARREN LOI). NHO JARLSBERG – but it’s probably the best cheese in the world.
Decent week of QCs which would all have come in under ten mins had I not had to spend a few extra seconds on Wednesday correcting the problematic tragic heroine. And then an impatient bif yesterday for another mistake. But all done in 41mins which is my best weekday total.
Have a good weekend everybody – thanks to Juji and to JohnI for the blog and editing of Sawbill’s Weekender which I will attempt later.
4.42
Managed to see WITHDRAWN quite quickly which opened up the southern vistas. Very much with Templar on the E or U quandary. No idea what was going on with GLUCOSE but a third checker and the w/p emerged.
Thanks John/Juji
13.31 happy here and found this very enjoyable – though ARDENCY not a word we’d usually turn to.
Missed the hidden aspect of NURSE and the ‘peak’ of danger – NAMED ( now thinking of James, the little snail in danger…).
In haste now, to listen to Faure’s Requiem in a little old church – then a wander about the town.
Off to be cultured!
Happy weekend everyone – and thank you to Juji and JohnInterred
7:58
Flying start – first four acrosses right off the bat – came to nothing as I managed only three more. I found STREAM and WITHDRAWN a challenge but once settled on the unlikely DING DONGING, what else could they be? ARDENCY was also a tricky anagram, even with three of the checkers in place.
Thanks John and Juji