I particularly liked this one because my name appears in 6-D, and I enjoy a 6-D. Am planning to retire soon, so I should be able to enjoy even more 6-D's!
Hooray, my first ever completion - and very nearly unaided. Should have thought harder about 1a instead of taking the reveal, but that opened everything else up. Learned a bit of georgraphy and ornithology too.
Yes!!! That's really nice. Thank you all kind contributors (nobody minds a bit of help on a Monday). I am on a QWERTY - and still trying to work out after thirty odd years of blundering and wasted time, why they put caps lock next to the A. I suppose some gifted folk can look at the screen while they type, but not this one.
Incidentally, I've been writing my Christmas cards this evening, using what Mrs K calls 16th-century technology: actually the Parker I won from the Listener puzzle in about 2000. It writes like a ski on a well-groomed piste.
There was I, racing through this thinking I was getting cleverer at these cryptics, only to find
BTL that this one was particularly easy. Still, no reveals and the barest smattering of checks made be feel very good about myself for a short while.
The toughest part of this is the fact that my pupils are still slightly dilated from a retinal scan this afternoon.
The tempo was set by 1a being largely tipped-off by a recent Prize clue.
A pleasant jaunt.
Very enjoyable. Yet again, as others have noted, we have the ‘ too easy’ patronising brigade advertising how brilliant they are. The less able of us are quite content to let them have the Picaroons of this world to balance it up. Rather than ‘pathetically easy ‘, why not simply say ‘ I prefer harder ones as I found it easier than usual’ - that takes away the smugness.
Can't sign up to this idea that a good crossword has to be difficult - if the wordplay and lateral thinking are amusing enough, and the surfaces polished, then a puzzle at any level will be pleasant to spend time with.
I suspect the "too easy" brigade are mostly complaining that they would have liked a lot more of this puzzle, which is a complaint I can share - more of this sort of thing on Mondays please!
Yes, worth reading the interview with him in the blog (there's a link towards the top of the page) - it adds an interesting perspective to solving this.
That was a blast. More fun than the quiptic and easier too. Not that I did it in anything close to 5 mins... I can't type that fast .and was held up by whacking in an obvious (but wrong) answer to 15d without bothering to parse it. Loved 25a.. my LOI and only parsed after the event.
Wow....one of the easiest ever. Only one I’ll need to check is 23. I don’t see the team, but that’s not surprising. I liked 16 and 12. 1a has gotten quite a workout lately.
Cryptic crossword No 28,316
Comments
Fun puzzle Vulcan! Perfect for a Monday morning. 25 across was brilliant!
most enjoyable. I managed this, but failed on the Quiptic. Go figure
Did this get accidentally swapped with the quiptic???
Hooray! I finished it. No cheating!
I particularly liked this one because my name appears in 6-D, and I enjoy a 6-D. Am planning to retire soon, so I should be able to enjoy even more 6-D's!
Nice & gentle & wittily clued. Perfect in the other slot.
Thanks Vulcan. Enjoyed it.
Hooray, my first ever completion - and very nearly unaided. Should have thought harder about 1a instead of taking the reveal, but that opened everything else up. Learned a bit of georgraphy and ornithology too.
Feel free to go elsewhere for your fix then. Crosswords don't all have to be The Listener.
Nonsense. Nothing at all like a quick. It wasn't difficult as cryptics go, but it was still a cryptic.
Cheers Vulcan! No time to have a go until this evening so a nice wind down for the day.
Very enjoyable. Some cryptics are a bit of a marathon race. This one a quick, lively playful sprint. Thanks Vulcan.
Yes!!! That's really nice. Thank you all kind contributors (nobody minds a bit of help on a Monday). I am on a QWERTY - and still trying to work out after thirty odd years of blundering and wasted time, why they put caps lock next to the A. I suppose some gifted folk can look at the screen while they type, but not this one.
Incidentally, I've been writing my Christmas cards this evening, using what Mrs K calls 16th-century technology: actually the Parker I won from the Listener puzzle in about 2000. It writes like a ski on a well-groomed piste.
25 is explained below.
Easy, except that I'm not parsing 25.
There was I, racing through this thinking I was getting cleverer at these cryptics, only to find
BTL that this one was particularly easy. Still, no reveals and the barest smattering of checks made be feel very good about myself for a short while.
Nice easy Monday puzzle - thanks Vulcan.
Sounds like you’re not getting any.
Blimey! I rattled though the cryptic and spent ages on the quiptic. Felt like they were the wrong way round today.
As simple as it gets.
The toughest part of this is the fact that my pupils are still slightly dilated from a retinal scan this afternoon.
The tempo was set by 1a being largely tipped-off by a recent Prize clue.
A pleasant jaunt.
I think we saw 1a a week or so ago as separate clues.
25 across is delightful.
Jolly good, my coffee is still warm.
Very enjoyable. Yet again, as others have noted, we have the ‘ too easy’ patronising brigade advertising how brilliant they are. The less able of us are quite content to let them have the Picaroons of this world to balance it up. Rather than ‘pathetically easy ‘, why not simply say ‘ I prefer harder ones as I found it easier than usual’ - that takes away the smugness.
lots of fun clues today!
Spoiler alert - please scroll down
Literal prose.
Praise or tell.
Sell Pretoria.
Or lips relate.
Plot realiser.
Mine has the Gaul not to be positioned exactly as Vulcan mentions - I'll need to Getafix for my keyboard.
Can't sign up to this idea that a good crossword has to be difficult - if the wordplay and lateral thinking are amusing enough, and the surfaces polished, then a puzzle at any level will be pleasant to spend time with.
I suspect the "too easy" brigade are mostly complaining that they would have liked a lot more of this puzzle, which is a complaint I can share - more of this sort of thing on Mondays please!
Yes, worth reading the interview with him in the blog (there's a link towards the top of the page) - it adds an interesting perspective to solving this.
That was a blast. More fun than the quiptic and easier too. Not that I did it in anything close to 5 mins... I can't type that fast .and was held up by whacking in an obvious (but wrong) answer to 15d without bothering to parse it. Loved 25a.. my LOI and only parsed after the event.
Like JayZed sums it up perfectly... and there's always the more challenging Quiptic on Mondays if desired.
And we're off .... I got a clean sweep through until Saturday last week. Practice making perfect, perhaps?
Doesn't work with a QWERTZ either.
Comfortably the quickest I've ever solved a cryptic crossword, but despite being easy was also fun and clever, just what you want on a Monday.
That's why it says "may" be over 8. As in "If you use qwerty keyboard"
Quick and easy but with really satisfying clues. A great tonic for the post weekend blues
Exactly. Not on my iphone.
careful now!
A swim away from Martinique(almost)
23 exactly what I expected. Forgot to mention a tick for 25.
Wow....one of the easiest ever. Only one I’ll need to check is 23. I don’t see the team, but that’s not surprising. I liked 16 and 12. 1a has gotten quite a workout lately.
I don’t live anywhere close but isn’t the ‘narrow separation’ singular, properly?
Nice crossword!
Usual Monday write ins. Finished before my breakfast arrived - but this is Barbados. No hurry here!
Okay. I give in. I've spent more time looking for your theme than I spent on doing the crossword.
Look down
I would have preferred something a bit more challenging, but it was good fun while it lasted
An easy one on a Monday, but still they're witty and entertaining clues - thanks Vulcan!
Yes, very easy, even for a Monday but worth it for 17 alone.
Lovely. A quiptic and a cryptic both nice and easy. It's Monday!
A nice Monday one with some clever and enjoyable clues. Thanks Vulcan.
Unless you're an android phone!
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