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The Plague 😂

Sorry, Brendan. Forgot it was you who posted the scoring system.

It does appear via the online puzzle page. In the upper left hand corner (below "Everyman"), there's an image with three parallel horizontal lines. Left click on that, then click on "How to Play" and an explanation of the scoring appears.

No problem Geeker and, in all fairness, whenever anything like this needs explaining, it is invariably Jono who comes up with the goods, so it was a fair assumption to make:-)

I am also not interested in the score/time and of course its a ridiculous notion if one tackles the puzzle in bites around other Sunday happenings.

That said.

Fastest ever for me so must have been towards the easier end of the spectrum.

Some nice clues. Rhyming pair primarily, hidden, no spoonerism.

CoD 25a.

And if you are really in need of an ego boost, you can print out the puzzle, solve it on paper, and then go back online and fill in the solutions. But why would you?

When the Times Crossword Competition was held in the UK, a similar system was applied. The winner usually completed all four puzzles at an average of under 10 minutes.

I’m not keen on the time thing and wish it could be turned off. It took me 9 minutes apparently, which I doubt, but I don’t consider a puzzle “complete” until I’ve fully parsed all the clues, not merely filled the grid.

Friendly Azed grid today, with some long anagrams to get you started.

Today's Guardian Quiptic is significantly harder than this one.
I would post a link, but I don't know if my answers would still be showing.

“Alia” is a new name to me. I wonder if this is a new setter or a new pseudonym for an existing one?

I saw someone posted that “Alia” is Paul’s sister in Dune. Hmm?