As usual on a Monday the puzzle on the Times button is a week out of date so here’s the link to today’s for those unable to find it by other means: http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20140505/147/ . Regulars may note that the formula for calculating the code number at the end of the url has changed to 100 + puzzle number + 6 as by the previous formula today’s should have been 146.
At 24 minutes this was my worst solving time for a Quickie since #1 when at least I had the excuse that the enumeration of multiple word entries wasn’t indicated. I really don’t know what the problem was here, but I became bogged down on the RH side with 9, 12, both 17s and (of all things!) 7 giving me pause for thought. Maybe my brain’s still addled after Friday’s ordeal blogging the main cryptic, and Saturday’s which proved almost as tricky. Anyway, this is a neat puzzle with a good variety of clue-types.
Definitions are underlined
Across |
|
---|---|
1 | Various clans to note here? (8) |
SCOTLAND – Anagram [various] of CLANS TO, D (note) | |
6 | Follow orders of former pupil, easy as flying off (4) |
OBEY – OB (former pupil – Old Boy), E |
|
8 | Make aware of danger of conflict (new) (4) |
WARN – WAR (conflict), N (new) | |
9 | After first sign of squabble mine sack fighter (8) |
SPITFIRE – S (first sign of Squabble), PIT (mine), FIRE (sack) | |
10 | Some love he-men, tough, very intense (8) |
VEHEMENT – Hidden in loVE HE MEN Tough | |
11 | Celebrity in demand brought back (4) |
NAME – Hidden and reversed [brought back] in dEMANd | |
13 | Her tray stolen unfortunately – a blow (5-8) |
NORTH-EASTERLY – Anagram [unfortunately) of HER TRAY STOLEN | |
16 | Imply it’s average (4) |
MEAN – Double definition | |
17 | Social occasion where female encounters affected charm (8) |
FUNCTION – F (female), UNCTION (affected charm) | |
19 | Opening feature gets a top novel (8) |
GATEPOST – Anagram [novel] of GETS A TOP | |
21 | Leaving Italian city, I change direction (4) |
TURN – TUR |
|
22 | Famous footballer (most excellent) (4) |
BEST – Double definition | |
23 | Book Human Resources introduced to rural worker (8) |
THRILLER – HR (Human Resources) inside TILLER (rural worker) | |
Down |
|
2 | Man – one protecting monarch i.e. minder (9) |
CHAPERONE – CHAP (man), ER (monarch), ONE. ‘Protecting’ indicates enclosure. | |
3 | Not relaxed giving present perhaps (5) |
TENSE – Double definition | |
4 | Self-disciplined in beret, suavely looking up (7) |
AUSTERE – Hidden and reversed [looking up] inside bERET SUAvely | |
5 | Split after 500 wander off (5) |
DRIFT – D (500), RIFT (split) | |
6 | Resentment one time as very loud English intrude (7) |
OFFENCE – FF (very loud – music) + E (English) inside ONCE (one time) | |
7 | Heart to heart makes sense (3) |
EAR – Hidden – the ‘heart to’ (or of) the word ‘heart’ is EAR. I raised an eyebrow at this for a moment thinking an ear is not a sense, but figuratively one might say someone has ‘a keen ear’, for example, meaning they have a good sense of hearing. | |
12 | Opera star finishes early on old vessel (European) in Oz port (9) |
MELBOURNE – MELB |
|
14 | Line upset Nationalist fellow (7) |
TANGENT – NAT (Nationalist) reversed [upset], GENT (fellow) | |
15 | Guy from Valencia maybe clutching at politician? (7) |
SENATOR – AT inside [clutching] SENOR (guy from Valencia) | |
17 | Show contempt for leader of faction (boor) (5) |
FLOUT – F (leader of Faction), LOUT (boor) | |
18 | Child with a large sum (5) |
TOTAL – TOT (child), A, L (large) | |
20 | Eastender’s healthy drink (3) |
ALE – |
But I then went on to complete the “slowie” in 25 minutes.
Unusual to have 3 hidden words.
My COD was spitfire, possibly because it’s one of my all-time favourite aircraft and my Dad helped improve its performance in WW2, by getting the wings pre-heated so they didn’t buckle.
Lovely blog Jack precise & clear.
It is an absolute and downright disgrace that the Quick Cryptic is generaly inaccessible yet again today and this has still not been corrected some 14 hours after it should have gone on-line.
The button on the Times site still links to last Monday’s puzzle (#36 set by Joker) instead of #41 by Hurley, and even the “backdoor” access via url is hard to negotiate as the last 3 digits, which should have been 146 today, have jumped forward to 147 for no apparent reason.
Those who haven’t yet been able to find the puzzle can do so by clicking here: http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20140505/147/ .
On a free site one might accept a level of inefficiency but subscribers to the Times are paying through the nose for a service that seems to be run by amateurs who can’t even learn from their past mistakes. We are now in the NINTH week of Quick Cryptics, FGS, and we still haven’t had a single week free of access problems!
What really baffles me is that such shoddy workmanship should be tolerated over a sustained period by the management of a leading global brand that has for centuries been positioned as the epitome of excellence in the newspaper industry. Quite bizarre.
I get the paper version of the Times so do the crosswords the old fashioned way. But understand how frustrating it must be to have had all the problems on the web version. It really isn’t good enough is it, especially as they are pushing the web versions of the paper so hard!
Nigel from Surrey
I understand Jack’s anger, but I have long since despaired of the Times paying any regard to the number of punters who must buy the paper principally because of the crossword. For example, how long is it since the prize for the Saturday crossword was increased, despite continual rises in the price of the newspaper and the cost of postage for those entering in the traditional way? Likewise, the removal of the puzzle from the back page.
In my opinion, the Times crossword remains the best daily puzzle for variety and good taste (though some of the setters for the Guardian and Independent are excellent) but the cryptic crossword does not get the attention it deserves from the publishers.