Solving time: 6:34
Joker delivers another quality mid-range puzzle, with very little to worry the equines. Though the grid is of the portcullis variety, which, some might say, is trickier due to the lack of first letters produced by the first across and down clues, none of the words are unknown, though 1d might be the most rarely used of this set.
While I particularly enjoyed both 13d and 14d, I was less keen on the device used for 19d.
What did you think?
Definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [directions in square ones]. The caret ^ indicates an insertion point in containment clues.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 7 | An objection over brass instrument (4) |
| TUBA – A BUT (An objection) reversed [over]
From Latin tuba “straight bronze war trumpet” |
|
| 8 | Ancient water clock? (3-5) |
| OLD-TIMER – Mildly cryptic pointing to ‘Ancient’ as a noun
In ancient Greece, a water clock was known as a clepsydra Water clocks are some of the oldest time-measuring instruments. The simplest form of water clock, with a bowl-shaped outflow, existed in Babylon, Egypt, and Persia around the 16th century BC. Other regions of the world, including India and China, also provide early evidence of water clocks, but the earliest dates are less certain. Water clocks were also used in ancient Greece and in ancient Rome, as described by technical writers such as Ctesibius and Vitruvius. |
|
| 9 | Annul a law initially after peer’s upset (6) |
| REPEAL – Anagram [upset] of PEER, followed by A and first letter [initially] of L{aw} | |
| 10 | Irritable agent grabbing sleep (6) |
| SNAPPY – S^PY (agent) containing [grabbing] NAP (sleep) | |
| 11 | Leave completely, finishing early (4) |
| QUIT – QUIT{e} (completely) without its final letter [finishing early]
Are ‘quite’ and ‘completely’ synonymous? Well, you could say, “The room was quite/completely empty.“ |
|
| 12 | Cross and abrupt about endless wild party (8) |
| TRAVERSE – T^ERSE (abrupt) about RAV{e} (wild party) without its final letter (endless) | |
| 15 | Frailty of snakes we disturbed (8) |
| WEAKNESS – Anagram [disturbed] of SNAKES WE | |
| 17 | Small building just half completed (4) |
| SHED – Half of {fini}SHED (completed)
What is ‘just’ doing there? While it might seem superfluous, is it somehow synonymous with ‘right’, indicating the right half of the word defined by ‘completed’? |
|
| 18 | A large tree in the mountains (6) |
| ALPINE – A L (large e.g. in clothing sizes) PINE (tree) | |
| 21 | Almost new advance (6) |
| NEARLY – N (new) EARLY (advance) | |
| 22 | Special importance of the mph as I speed? (8) |
| EMPHASIS – Hidden [indicated by the little word ‘of’] in the mph as I speed | |
| 23 | Cake good for a bribe (4) |
| BUNG – BUN (cake) G (good) | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Rest of question I study in music (8) |
| QUIETUDE – QU (question) I ÉTUDE (study in music)
An ÉTUDE is a short musical composition, typically for one instrument, designed as an exercise to improve the technique or demonstrate the skill of the player. |
|
| 2 | Most recent Californian cricket match? (6) |
| LATEST – If a top-level cricket match was to be held in the Californian city, Los Angeles (aka LA), it might be referred to as the LA TEST | |
| 3 | Game permitted in road? (8) |
| ROULETTE – LET (permitted) in ROU^TE (road) | |
| 4 | Betting figures on Derby Day shown only for starters (4) |
| ODDS – First letters [only for starters] of O{n} D{erby} D{ay} S{hown} | |
| 5 | Become obsessed with God’s will holding team up (6) |
| FIXATE – F^ATE (God’s will) containing [holding] XI (team i.e. eleven) reversed [up] | |
| 6 | Difficult to understand river power (4) |
| DEEP – DEE (river) P (power) | |
| 13 | Cause of bad lighting on stairs must be changed (8) |
| ARSONIST – Anagram [must be changed] of ON STAIRS
Humorous definition – ‘bad’ indicating ‘for nefarious purposes’; ‘lighting’ indicating the starting of a fire |
|
| 14 | Pronouncing l-i-k-e a w-i-t-c-h? (8) |
| SPELLING – Witches, of course, are renowned for casting spells, or SPELLING
I’m inclined to think this is an all-in-one as I am not sure that ‘Pronouncing’ would work as the definition on its own. The words ‘like a witch’ are spelt out. |
|
| 16 | Report of what could be black chess piece (6) |
| KNIGHT – Homophone [Report of] of NIGHT (what could be black) | |
| 17 | Second taxi driver is despicable (6) |
| SCABBY – S (Second) CABBY (taxi driver)
SCABBY is British informal/slang use for “contemptible, mean, nasty, morally low-grade.” It’s in Collins Online… |
|
| 19 | Fruit somewhere between ugli and melon (4) |
| LIME – Consecutive letters [somewhere between] of {ug}LI ME{lon}
Botanically, I am not educated enough to say whether this might be true, but all things considered, I wasn’t convinced that this clue works very well? |
|
| 20 | A piece of cake? Queen’s left nauseous (4) |
| EASY – |
|
No one has queried or explained early = advance in 21A I can see that early = IN advance but there is no sign of ‘in’ here. Can anyone give a sentence in which these words are interchangeable? DNF for me today though I enjoyed the witch and quietude. Once upon a time it used to be common to set out an exercise or exam paper with Qu1, Qu2, Qu3 etc.
Maybe “secure your booking with an advance payment.” You wouldn’t put “early” there because “advance” is idiomatic, but that’s what it means.
Yes, that works well.
Thanks, Chabuduo.
Busy all day, so didn’t solve until this evening. A Joker classic! Perfectly pitched for a QC and lots of fun to solve. All correct and parsed while the cuppa cooled.
Loved ARSONIST and many others
Thanks Joker and Mike
A day late getting to this as I spent most of yesterday travelling. I didn’t want to miss tackling a Joker puzzle though, one of my favourite setters.
I’m glad I took the trouble as it was of its usual high standard, and I had to be at my sharpest to finish in 8.43.