You are viewing times_xwd_times

Previous Entry | Next Entry

Solving time 12:28 + a tad for previous knowledge

This was the first puzzle in preliminary session B of the championship, and it was solved by 53 per cent of the competitors. After some daft mistakes in the last few days (see next Mephisto report as well as comments on Times puzzles), I'm quite pleased to have finished it at all! The W side (corrected from "E side" after posting) came out first, then the S three rows or so. I ended up fairly well stuck on 5,11,17,6 and 8. Got these as pairs of 17 and 8, then 11 and 6, and finally 5 - most of which were annoying as the tricks behind them were all pretty simple and familiar. Adding up my times for session B and adding a bit for prior knowledge gives about 33 mins - probably good enough to qualify, but in about 8th place, I'd guess, so the nerves might have been jangling.

Across
1T.U.,TO,RAGE - wasted time pondering tutelage
5(ban)JOISTS - basic idea has certainly been used in clues for 'banjoist(s)'
11SHAFT - 2 meanings
12PI(e)TY
13F(I,RED)RILL - red = a signal currently showing red
15A,S(TONI)SHED - wasted time looking where to put an "It."
17W(est) HAM is the soccer team
20WEATHERMAN - MA in anag. of 'new heart'
22OR,CHEST,R.A. - beginners note this fairly standard break-up of a useful word
24W.,ARM
27ESTATE CAR - state="condition checked" in rev. of race

Down
1TOM,E - a little joke about the fact that competitors could not "thumb dictionaries" you'd think, except that these were supposedly randomly selected puzzles.
3REA(m),DYING
4GO,OFF - simple wordplay, but I usually "nod off" rather than "go off" - to the irritation or amusement of those with me after a few glasses.
6ONSIDE - on=leg from cricket - beginners note this one, "onside" = in a good (well, legal) position in various forms of football, hockey etc.
7SPANISH AMERICAN - fell right into the "Mexican criminal" fake anagram trap, then remembered hearing about this clue when this clearly didn't fit with AMERICAN as second word. 'shame' in anag. of 'in Paris can'. "A admit B" = put B in A is a bit of a stretch for my tastes - the wordplay really wants "admitting". With 'can' at the end, it seems possible to do something like "... criminal in Paris admitting humiliation in front of prison".
9WE,A R(I=middle of shift)EST
14F(ASTB=anag. of bats)OWLER - if a fowler hunts birds he can be "out for a duck"
18SEAWATER - anag - "drink"=slang for seawater
21REVE(A)L - possibly an old chestnut but a very nice clue
23ACT,ON - London district with several tube stations, Wormwood Scrubs and the Thames Valley Harriers track now called "Linford Christie Stadium".
25BRIE(f)

Shameless advertising
On 20th January next year, I'm holding a one-day "how to do cryptics" course in aid of a local good cause. This is NOT for those of you who read this to see whether you took PB x 3 or PB x 4 today - it's for people who can just do a few clues in a broadsheet cryptic, or who have never tried but might think "my mate Steve can do them and I'm just as smart as him, so how come I can't?". More details here.

My times for puzzles since my last posting
23,442 - 7:57
23,443 - 6:22
23,444 - 7:58
23,445 - 20:00 - one wrong answer
23,446 - 9:27 - but EAST for ERST. Good thing Virgilius in the Indy was doable!

Comments

the_od
Nov. 15th, 2006 01:42 pm (UTC)
Shameless boasting!
After yesterday's debacle, a little better for me today - managed to undercut PB for the first time ever with 9:11. And before you ask - no, I was NOT at the preliminary session B in Cheltenham!

Obviously helped that I did not fall for the Mexican criminal "anagram", in fact I got that one almost immediately with just the S from JOISTS in the grid.

Loved the way the definition was worked into 20A, WEATHERMAN!
petebiddlecombe
Nov. 15th, 2006 03:01 pm (UTC)
Re: Shameless boasting!
"Met man" at 20 was indeed very clever - forgot to mention it. With my delay in the NE corner I'm not surprised to be undercut - plenty of my quick times have been down to exactly the same kind of "avoided problem" as you had with 5 and 7.