Quick Cryptic No 3067 by Hurley

Author   TemplarPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

A neat puzzle from the ever-reliable Hurley, with a good mix of clues and a cracking Dad-joke. It took me 07:33 and I hope you enjoyed it too.

Definitions underlined in bold.

Across
1 Appeal of strange archaism (8)
CHARISMA – Get going with an anagram [strange] of “archaism”.
5 Crossword feature, everything ultimately clear? (4)
GRID – Onwards with G [everything ultimately] + RID [clear].
9 Learner at church door might have this (5)
LATCH -On again using L [learner] + AT [at] + CH [church].
10 Untimely disclosure in peril — so disorganised (7)
SPOILER -Discover another anagram [disorganised], here of “peril so”.
11 Climbing plant of creamy white colour, not gold (3)
IVY – Blinking IVY, the bane of gardeners. IVORY is the creamy white colour; remove “or”, which is the heraldic term for “gold” [not gold] to get the plant.
12 Refuge in Tuscany a builder finally revamped (9)
SANCTUARY – Yes, another anagram [revamped] – of “Tuscany a r” [r being “builder finally”].
13 One seen as different if making a comeback in film (6)
MISFIT – Even though I knew it didn’t parse, when I had the M and I checkers I decided it must be “Matrix” and wasted time trying to justify it. I should instead have focused on the wordplay: FI [if making a comeback] inside MIST [film]. My LOI.
15 Confused store with right list (6)
ROSTER – “Store” is made into an anagram [confused] with R [right].
17 Made to conceal weapon, article left something applied to soldier? (9)
MARMALADE – Crumpets were clued as breakfast items recently; now we have the equally heretical suggestion that “soldiers” (as in fingers of toast) are to be covered in marmalade instead of being dipped into a soft-boiled egg. Is nothing sacred at the Setters’ Breakfast?  MADE goes round [to conceal] ARM [weapon], A [article] and L [left].
19 Interest in British silver (3)
BAG – You need B [British] + AG [silver]. As in “Not my bag, man”.
20 Concession about name for shellfish (7)
SCALLOP – Lured away from the straight and narrow by my expectation that “name” would indicate N, this took me a moment. It’s SOP [concession, as in “give a sop to Cerberus”] contains [about] CALL [name].
21 Strike out and render a service to some extent (5)
ERASE – Oh, it’s a hidden [to some extent] – inside “render a service”.
22 Maybe rowers  boasted (4)
CREW – Very neat double definition, the second being the past tense of the verb to crow. That usage is flagged by most sources as British and archaic, but may be familiar from the King James Version of Peter’s denial of Jesus (eg “And immediately the cock crew” Matthew 26:74 KJV).
23 Wary, promises to pay after share-out, with first part of addition included (8)
CAUTIOUS – Ends with IOUS [promises to pay], coming after CUT [share-out] including A [with first part of addition included].
Down
1 Element serene as clique on regular basis is accommodated (7)
CALCIUM – LQE didn’t look likely for every other letter of clique so it was easy to see CIU [“clique”]. That goes inside CALM [serene].
2 With change of heart, put one’s name forward in suitable way (5)
APTLY – You “apply” for a position by putting your name forward; change the central letter [change of heart] of “apply” from a P to a T to get the answer. Tricky.
3 Unfriendly lip, one’s habit unfortunately (12)
INHOSPITABLE – Original surface. It’s an anagram [unfortunately] of “lip one’s habit”.
4 Stone worker’s two family members (5)
MASON – Lump together MA + SON.
6 Showing dependence, payment containing pounds I advanced (7)
RELIANT – Dredging up RENT for [payment] was my obstacle here. That contains L [pounds] + I + A [advanced, as in A Levels, for example].
7 Classic  hat (5)
DERBY – Double definition. There are five English horse races known as the “Classics”, the other four being the Oaks, the St Leger, and the One & Two Thousand Guineas.
8 Delay in mail, quiet — one intended, they say (12)
POSTPONEMENT – Ornate IKEA clue. POST [mail] + P [quiet] + ONE [one] + MENT [intended, they say – aural wordplay for “meant”/”intended”]. Phew.
14 Outside expert on navigating the web? (7)
SURFACE – Groan. If you “surf” the internet a lot you could be called a “surf ace” … well I laughed, COD from me!
16 Compensation as daughter becomes good — move back (7)
REGRESS – a letter swap clue, in which you have to think of a word meaning “compensation” in which D can be swapped for G [daughter becomes good] to make a new word meaning “move back”. So it’s REDRESS becoming REGRESS.
17 It’s nice to hear Manchester United survive in Cup initially (5)
MUSIC – first letters [initially] of “Manchester United survive in Cup”. Not all music is nice to hear – I give you Dissonant Death Metal, for example.
18 Clinical pharmacy shows character (5)
ALPHA – hidden [shows] inside “Clinical pharmacy”
19 It’s next after 18!  Well done! (5)
BRAVO – double definition. I’m not generally a fan of cross-referring clues but this one is rather good. Since 18 was ALPHA my immediate thought was “beta”, but of course that’s too short. What we need here is the next letter after alpha in the NATO alphabet, not the Greek alphabet.

90 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 3067 by Hurley”

  1. 9.02. I thought this an enjoyable and nicely balanced QC requiring a few pauses for thought but nothing too difficult. LOI MARMALADE, I was thrown by the soldiers ref. The two long down clues came very quickly which made life easier than it otherwise might have been. Thanks to Hurley and Templar.

  2. 17 minutes. My solving times have been very mixed recently and this was my fourth excursion into the red (15+ minutes on my spreadsheet) since Monday of last week. Today I solved all but 4 clues in 8 minutes then spent 9 minutes on the remainder.

    I agree with the adverse comments about marmalade on soldiers.

  3. Really held up in the NE – totally misdirected with GRID trying to find a word ending in R (‘finally clear’) and that only fell when I finally saw that I had to combine two of my many areas of weakness: horseracing and US names for types of hat. Once I got DERBY -R-D for a crossword feature seemed terribly easy – well played Hurley. MARMALADE with egg, no thanks – I’m on porridge with frozen raspberries at the moment. Quite healthy but leaves me needing lunch at about eleven. All green in 15.39. Good one, thanks Hurley – and Templar for the reminder of breakfast crumpets.

  4. 4:58, but enjoyed it mostly for the relief after two failed 15*15s in a row. Had to look thrice at APTLY, agree was a bit tricky especially since I briefly had LAPSE (Catholic lapsing at church door?) which would have worked with APPLY. Of course I can’t agree on the death metal.

    Thank you Templar and Hurley.

  5. I enjoyed this so thanks Hurley and Templar. It’s a shame about about the marmalade clue – it’s irritating, not just because it’s controversial but because it’s unnecessary.

  6. I enjoyed putting in Marmalade and thinking, of this site, ‘they’re not going to like this one’. Similarly, I don’t read the Times articles on Meghan n Harry but scroll straight to the comments, which are always (justifiably) vituperative.

  7. Oh dear, another DPS to continue my awful solving this week (not a single puzzle completed under average). Today I had a genuine typo which I missed during my ‘proof read’ leaving me with SPOILiR.

    As someone who avoids marmalade at all costs even my eyebrows started breakdancing at the thought of applying the vile stuff to soldiers! Other than that I thought this was an excellent puzzle with COD to SURFACE.

    Thanks to Templar and Hurley

      1. Marmalade on bread = abomination. Marmalade on white soughdough toasted to perfection so still chewy with very cold thick butter and a coating of bitter but finely shred orange marmalade – perfection (imho!)

        1. Marmalade on toast, in sandwiches, even in home made sponge cakes and puddings – yum yum 😋😋 But maybe not on soldiers – too flimsy!

        2. Agree to all this except finely shred.. marmalade must be home made and chunky

  9. Add me to the list of those appalled and horrified at the thought of MARMALADE on soldiers! But otherwise a pleasantly straightforward puzzle, all done in 9:47. Though I needed the blog to unravel the parsing of SURFACE – I got the surf and ace components and the answer was clear, but I could not see how “expert” on “navigating the web” didn’t produce ace on top of surf – or even surfing to fit the verb form in the wordplay.

    Many thanks Templar for the blog and the new conversational style!

  10. Like Dr.Shred I originally had “lapse” at 9A, and realized quickly that “apply” just didn’t work for 2D. Changed P to T and the PDM for LATCH was almost immediate.

    Soldiers have always struck me as a strange concept – as, indeed, have boiled eggs for breakfast. MARMALADE should simply be spread on a slice of toast, and as a “dessert” to follow poached eggs, preferably served Benedict.

    FOI CHARISMA
    LOI GRID
    COD SPOILER
    TIME 4:59

  11. 10:48 for the solve. Over a minute on the LOI SURFACE. Good puzzle from Hurley which I can’t decide whether it’s hard or easy. Almost bunged in a desperation BeAnO thinking there was some kind of Be A Number thing going on but refrained long enough to spot the cross reference.

    COD to MUSIC – while I’m not particularly interested by football this was great for the surface and the dig at the fallen.

    Thanks to Templar and Hurley for the enjoyable blog and QC. Good luck to those receiving their ‘A’ level results today – if you come on here please let us know how you did!!

  12. This had a tough start – GRID was my LOI and CALCIUM was also not immediately gettable, but in the end it took 6.45.

  13. 25:15

    Mostly ok although the NE required a bit of biffing with GRID and RELIANT but then became completely stuck on MISFIT and LOI SURFACE which took 7 minutes between them.

  14. Unusually difficult for a Hurley. Stumped by three in the SW corner (the two Ms and SURFACE); got CREW but suggest that version of the past tense has *never* meant “boasted”. The archaic “crew” is for the cock crowing; the other meaning is (I suggest) more modern, and has always been crowed. Please correct me!
    P.S. (on later edit): 1. Liked GRID. 2. Thank you, Templar!

    1. Wiktionary has:
      “Usage notes
      The past tense crew in modern usage is confined to literary and metaphorical uses, usually with reference to the story of Peter in Luke 22.60. The past participle crown is similarly poetical.”

      1. Precisely – thank you! Don’t think any of those “literary and metaphorical uses” have anything to do with boasting?

  15. DNF. Gave up after 20 minutes having got just 6 answers. Just too hard for me.
    Not much fun recently.

    17 Across : ‘A “marmalade soldier” refers to a bread or toast soldier (a strip of bread) spread with marmalade, often paired with baked cheese, like a camembert, to be dipped into the cheese.’
    Apparently some people find this delicious !
    As we say up north – there’s nowt as queer as folk .

  16. 11:45. Slowish for no good reason except I had trouble in the NE with the crossing GRID and RELIANT. For once I didn’t mind the cross-referring clue as getting BRAVO enabled me to “back solve” 18d straight away. I’ve seen it somewhere before but the SURF ACE still raised a smile.

    Thanks to Templar and Hurley

  17. I agree with Martinu about CREW (despite the archaic biblical usage).
    I was slow to develop any momentum and only got some traction when crossers were available – they were more necessary than usual in many cases. I finished, but just slid into the SCC. Disappointing after a number of decent times recently.
    I didn’t enjoy the puzzle. Just a bit too clever-clever for a QC, in my opinion.
    I have mixed reactions to Hurley – I sometimes seem to complete his puzzles quickly but, more often, am tipped into the SCC. Looking at my recent records, I actually failed to finish one and added the word ‘bored’ to my note. I simply don’t get on with Hurley.
    Sorry!
    Thanks to Templar for a good blog. He (almost) convinced me about BAG. Easy, but a poor clue.

    1. Thank you, Blighter! I suppose it’s not surprising we all have different perceptions; for me Hurley has always been one of the most enjoyable (together with Trelawney), today’s unusual.

  18. 3:36 for an enjoyable solve.

    The cross-reference clue provided the rare experience of solving 18dn without looking at the clue, having solved BRAVO first.

    COD to MARMALADE mainly for the sentiments expressed above by brickthick.

    Neat puzzle, excellent blog. Thanks Hurley and Templar.

  19. 27 minutes, so a good day for me, although I couldn’t fully parse APTLY and SURFACE, I DNK that DERBY was a type of hat and I was very unsure about CREW.

    I started with CHARISMA, finished with ROSTER and my COD was POSTPONEMENT.

    Many thanks to Templar and Hurley.

  20. 15 half bifd.

    Soldiers / marmalade – just no.

    I took after 18 as a golfing reference.

    I know it’s surfing as in surfing the (radio) waves but it should be cerfing in honour of Vint Cerf.

    Thanks H and T

  21. 17:16. Slow today. I struggled with lots, including CHARISMA. CALCIUM, CAUTIOUS, MISFIT….

    19dn – BRAVO – was not “Well done!” to my mind. Here is a fact. In the NATO alphabet the letter A is represented by the word Alfa. Not Alpha. It goes Alfa Bravo Charlie Delta etc. I have said this before and no-one listens. Oh for heavens sake kapietro stop nit-picking…

    It is of course possible that some other phonetic alphabet exists that features Alpha, in which case my point is addressed to you Templar, for attributing it to NATO, and not our revered Hurley.

    Whatever, thanks to you both for the puzzle and blog

    1. ALFA and JULIETT are spelled that way to avoid mispronunciation by people unfamiliar with English orthography. Otherwise French speakers might say JULIE-AY, and Turks would say ALP- Ha.

    2. Kapietro, we have discussed this before here, in which my comment (posted at 11:10) also contains a link back to a posting by Peter B. I thought we had agreed that variations can apply e.g. Juliet, which some authoritative sources have as ‘Juliett’. The whole point of the alphabet is clarity in spoken communication rather than minor differences in spelling which have become accepted over the years.

      The usual dictionaries, insofar as they list radiocommunication words, support Alpha for A and Juliet for J. None of them has Alfa or Juliette. Also confirmed is that the proper name code-words s don’t have to be spelt with capital letters.

      2. Thank you Jackkt. As expected. I know my place. I will still never stop feeling uncomfortable with the misspelling of NATO words. You yourself would not feel comfortable with misspellings of words in dictionaries or any other authoritative sources on the grounds that “they sound the same”.

        It would really help if we could just leave NATO out of it. With all our variations and flexibilities, the alphabet we are using is not the NATO alphabet any more. The bunch of words we have and all your “minor differences in spelling which have become accepted over the years” give us Crosswordland’s own generic phonetic alphabet. Problem solved

        1. Many thanks, kapietro, and apologies are due if my response came across in any way as dismissive, which was not my intention. If the objection is to describing the usage as coming from the NATO alphabet, then I have to hold my hand up on that one as I have done this in my blogs many a time and I shall try to avoid doing so in future, at least for the controversial items. Would ‘phonetic alphabet’ suit better?

          As for the flexibilities, I think the Wiki article has these covered in the ‘International Adoption’ section as variations that are or have been used by other agencies. Also they are all covered by one or more of the source dictionaries used for Times crosswords so they are not a Crosswordland invention.

      1. During WW II, the Americans used a different system: Able, Baker, Charlie etc. I sometimes wonder how we managed to win. . .

    4. I’m not entering into the debate as to the rights and wrongs, but thank you K for creating the entertaining and interesting discussion – worth doing the puzzle just to come here and read the commentaries 😊

  22. Stopped after 25 minutes with half done.
    I couldn’t get into this at all. The ones I did get I did not find satisfying. Sorry, Hurley. At least others appreciated it.

    I looked up marmalade soldier to find one reference – a recipe made up by a marmalade producer.
    Is this really a thing?? I found this a bit esoteric for a QC. As far as I am concerned the only thing that is legally allowed to go on soldiers of the bread variety- other than butter/margarine – is marmite.

    Thanks for the much needed blog Templar.

  23. 13:01 (the future Edward II is the first heir to the throne to be given the titles Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester)

    I share the general horror about spreading MARMALADE on soldiers of toast.
    I took a surprisingly long time to see GRID.
    SURFACE was my LOI.

    Thanks Templar and Hurley

  24. 8:15

    As with others, my eyebrow was twitching at the thought of MARMALADE on soldiers. Don’t get me wrong, I love MARMALADE but it surely deserves its own full slice of toast.

    A trifle slow around the course today, I felt, but then noted the Quitch is at 100 which would normally equate to 9 minutes or so for me, so perhaps not so bad after all. Didn’t parse APTLY, went in from checkers. LOI CREW.

    Thanks Templar and Hurley

  25. Enjoyed today’s QC in spite of a couple of minor quibbles. Needed blog to parse GRID. Had always thought it was ALPHA in the NATO alphabet – learn something new every day. COD SURFACE. Thanks Templar for your usual interesting blog.

  26. 18 mins…

    An enjoyable puzzle with a good mix of clues. Main hold ups were 2dn “Aptly”, 23ac “Cautious” and 17ac “Marmalade”, where I nearly put Margarine until I realised it wouldn’t work with 18dn “Alpha”.

    Not a massive fan of those letter swap clues (we got two here I think), as I don’t always find them obviously signposted.

    FOI – 1ac “Charisma”
    LOI – 17ac “Marmalade”
    COD – 14dn “Surface” – a win for the dad joke.

    Thanks as usual!

  27. Another LAPSE here, though INHOSPITABLE eventually put paid to that, as well as being tough to reconcile APSE with church door.

    MARMALADE soldiers? I’m with the appalled majority on this. Court martial for Hurley!

    A slow 20.50 in the end, due to LAPSE.

    Pi ❤️

  28. 11:35, goodish time.

    SURF for using the internet is already archaic. It goes back to old dialup days when the user was the agent and could bounce around at will, without being pushed around by billionaires and their algorithms. Modern usage is “on one’s phone” (which never means actually making a telephone call).

    Saw BRAVO first, so went back and put ALPHA in on seeing it was a cross reference.

    I make soldiers for soup. Much more surface area for dipping than a simple slice.

  29. I cannot remember the last time I had MARMALADE in the house but the clue did get me thinking about the origin of SOLDIERS in this context. It is a classic British thing seemingly dating from the 60s and also used by the Egg Marketing Board in commercials. I certainly remember the “Go to work on an egg” slogan. As for IVY I have a lot of that in my garden. FOI CHARISMA and LOI SURFACE in 7:00. Thanks Templar

  30. 15.09 Mostly quick but DERBY, GRID, REGRESS and especially ERASE held me up at the end. Thanks Templar and Hurley.

  31. LOI GRID – had to do an alphabet trawl. Oh dear.
    Yes, a shocked laugh at MARMALADE PDM. Did smile at SURFACE. CNP various inc SCALLOP, not my BAG, BRAVO and NHO anyone say CREW instead of Crowed.
    So thanks vm, Templar.

  32. MISFIT, SURFACE, BRAVO, APTLY, POSTPONEMENT all biffed, so thanks to Templar for the explanations. An average time of 21:11 to solve. COD MARMALADE, although surely a boiled egg should be the soldier’s destination.

  33. I’m with Mike Harper on requiring a full slice of toast for my marmalade, which I usually restrict to holidays, as I normally have porridge and fruit for breakfast, unless I’ve run out of bananas, in which case I’ll have scrambled eggs on toast with bacon and tomatoes. I look forward to running out of bananas, but in the interests of healthy eating, try not to do it too often. Anyway, from CHARISMA to CREW with a delay while parsing GRID, in 8:26. No problem with APTLY, which then led straight to LATCH and INHOSPITABLE. Thanks Hurley and Templar.

  34. A slowish solve, but with enough pennies collected by the end to make me reminisce about arcade games. Inhospitable and a bifd Postponement finally opened up a tricky grid (x2), but loi and CoD Marmalade made up for earlier frustrations. The soldier is just the narrow piece of toast; what it’s used for is down to personal preference. Lightly buttered for egg dipping, or smothered in delicious thick marmalade are just two options. 23mins in total, so just in time to nab a window seat. Invariant

  35. Another raised eyebrow here for marmalade soldiers. My breakfast seven days of the week involves a slice of toast and marmalade, and the thought of cutting it up to form soldiers is absurd. Incidentally, my marmalade is Frank Coopers Vintage Thick Cut (available at Sainsbury’s, other marmalades are available!), and is totally delicious. I would urge others to try it!
    My time for today was 8.20, which for me is a pretty decent time for a Hurley. I think I was on his wavelength today.

      1. As you and I are of the same vintage Jack, I wouldn’t mind betting that as a child your mother would have been buying Robertsons Golden Shred, which seemed to be the only one available in the fifties. They had a marketing campaign that encouraged children to save tokens to get a free Roberstsons golly brooch. Little did we all realise at the time, and the same applied to my mother I’m sure, of the racial connotations. The age of innocence!

        1. You’re right about buying Golden Shred, but we also had Silver Shred, the lemon version, which was always my preference at the time. I saved the golly tokens but never got round to sending in for the brooch.

    2. I have graduated from Extra Thick Cut via Vintage to Fine Cut, as mrs andyf prefers it and I have come to agree with her.

  36. Rather slow all round today and needed an aid to get SURFACE. Not on Hurley’s wavelength at all I’m afraid.

    FOI – 9ac LATCH
    LOI – 5ac GRID
    COD – 17ac MARMALADE (I’m not getting into the soldiers debate).

    Thanks to Hurley and Templar

  37. 18:34. Spoiler alert couldn’t get this grid and found no sanctuary in Derby which took far to long to arrive at.
    Like others my soldiers invariably get dipped into a softly boiled egg although I am rather partial to a marmalade soldier with a British chipolata cut in half lengthwise and plonked on top (after I’ve had a few with mustard on)
    A clever puzzle but avoided the SCC and ended up with a QTPi
    Thanks Templar and Hurley

    2. I haven’t tried the sausage and marmalade combo, but it’s no weirder than bacon and maple syrup. But when I was a child, we always put marmalade (probably Robertson’s golden shred) on fried bread, after what is now called a full English but was just a fry-up in those days! Absolutely delicious 😋

  38. I’m pretty sure I’ve come across ‘marmalade’ as military/naval slang for the gold braid applied to uniforms, and the somewhat derogatory use of the word for the senior officers wearing it.

      1. Yes, you’re right. I was probably getting my foodstuffs mixed up! But I do seem to remember an old WWII film where marmalade was mentioned in an unlikely context.

    2. I thought that gold braid was nicknamed “scrambled egg” – a different breakfast item.
      Happy to be put right if “marmalade” is correct though.

      Edited – Oops! X-posted with andyf

  39. Got a bit stuck in the MARMALADE, nearly fooled by the SURFACE, but those two clicked and I was safely done. Enjoyably thought provoking, thanks Hurley.
    Great blog, Templar, apart from the appalling abuse of IVY which should be an essential component of any proper garden, even small back yards such as mine. Easy to control with a little attention, usually evergreen, ecologically significant. I have at least five varieties in different forms, colouring and size.

  40. 7.05

    I sometimes wish we could just dispense with the crossword and enjoy the fun banter. Marmalade and reminders of Juliet Bravo. Who needs wordplay?

    Par-ish sort of time here. Not sure I’ve seen the ARCHAISM = CHARISMA anagram before. Neat.

    Thanks Setter/Hurley

    2. …but what would we talk about and how would we start the conversation. We are all so unopinionated 😂

  41. Thought this was a particularly good puzzle from Hurley with gave us a few smiles and much satisfaction in solving – thank you.
    Enjoyed reading the blog, thanks Templar.
    Also had LAPSE initially and had entered APPLY on the strength of that, though it didn’t parse all that well.
    Sorted out by the arrival of INHOSPITABLE.
    Came to MARMALADE after thinking of toast soldiers and originally considering “margarine”. Enjoyed previous comments about the MERs caused by marmalade on soldiers but, having been thoroughly appalled at the thought of marge instead of butter on a nice toast soldier, marmalade seemed far the lesser of two evils.
    I no longer make marmalade but did use to produce a dark, thick-cut preserve that would have been anathema to fans of Golden Shred.

  42. A slow but steady 26:15 for me. Not quite sure why all the fuss about marmalade soldiers. Surely if marmalade on toast is acceptable, it makes no difference if it is cut up to make soldiers, perhaps to serve to a small child. It’s still toast and marmalade. Anyway, I was very interested to learn about the spellings of the NATO alphabet (or alfabet I suppose), so thanks to Kapietro for that. LOI SURFACE, COD to MARMALADE. Thanks Hurley and Templar.

  43. A very enjoyable 12:38, marred only by a brief flash of horror at the marmalade sacrilege. I was lucky enough to get BRAVO before ALPHA, which made the latter very straightforward.

    And a very enjoyable blog too, thank you!

  44. No problems. I’ve come across the surface and crew clues before. I wouldn’t spread marmalade on anything. I prefer extra virgin olive oil.

  45. Easier than the last couple of days but needed blog to parse GRID, RELIANT (rent, of course) and SURF ACE which now gets COD vote. Same thoughts as others re MARMALADE. Didn’t know about Alfa/alpha – interesting discussion. Thanks all.

  46. This Hurley’s QC is reliable as ever but do feel the wordplays are getting trickier. Enjoyable nonetheless. Parsing of aptly hit me soon after I hit the pillow as I do the QC around midnight these days. I may have heard wrong, scientists say 1 AM can be a aha moment.

  47. 14 minutes with LOI and COD SURFACE.
    Also liked SPOILER.
    I think CREW in this sense has come up recently, but maybe not in a QC.
    An interesting discussion above.
    David

  48. Hate marmalade but – unlike some – loved the clue! My COD. A model QC, some lovely smooth clues.

  50. An enjoyable puzzle but we were somewhat off the pace at 13:51. LOI CAUTIOUS. I liked the clue construction for MARMALADE (which came pretty quickly) but am otherwise in the ‘just no’ camp. Thank you for the research, Gordon (and AndyF), but soldiers are for boiled eggs! Thanks, too, to Templar and Hurley.

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