QC 1935 by Orpheus

Author   astartedonPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Everything here went in pretty smoothly for me. There were a couple of clues (17A and 5D) that pushed me to the edge of my GK, but they still went in straight away because in each case the rest of the clue left no room for ambiguity. 17A came out of my horticultural knowledge black hole, but I vaguely remembered the plant in question and the cryptic was very kind. And in 5D I didn’t know the Scottish farm labourer (in spite of my Scottish ancestry) but the definition was so straightforward that the cryptic was almost superfluous. Thanks very much to Orpheus for a gentle start to the week.

My FOI was 1A, and I think my LOI was 18A. No particular stand-out COD but I’ll go with 4D.

Definitions are underlined and everything else is explained just as I see it as simply as I can.

Across
1 Policeman left girl: that’s the problem (7)
DILEMMA – DI (Detective Inspector, policeman) + L (left) + EMMA (girl).
5 Embrace European of substantial proportions (4)
HUGE – HUG (embrace) + E (European).
7 Lament extinct bird in Scottish mountain (6)
BEMOAN – MOA (extinct bird) ‘in’ BEN (Scottish mountain, as in Ben Nevis).
8 Proceed on horseback in American territory (6)
CANTER – hidden word: ‘in’ AmeriCAN TERritory.
9 Eg hotel booking giving rise to doubt? (11)
RESERVATION – double definition.
10 Stick publicity notice in this place (6)
ADHERE – AD (publicity notice) + HERE (in this place).
12 Part of school day — full stop! (6)
PERIOD – double definition.
14 Confined criminals given regular coaching (11)
CONSTRAINED – CONS (convicts, criminals) + TRAINED (given regular coaching).
17 Showy plant in lodging-place, one in borders of Zambia (6)
ZINNIA – INN (lodging place) + I (one) ‘in’ ZA (the ‘borders’ of ZambiA).
18 Authority to keep daughter’s cosmetic (6)
POWDER – POWER (authority) ‘keeping’ D (daughter).
20 Covered in writing fluid — and smelly? No way (4)
INKY – stINKY (smelly with no ST (street, way)).
21 Huntsman’s cry produced by friend in front of this house (5-2)
TALLY-HO – ALLY (friend) ‘in’ T (front of This) + HO (house).
Down
1 Female creature drover regularly observed (3)
DOE – DrOvEr ‘regularly observed’.
2 Quick inspection from king in flowing robe, ultimately? (4-3)
LOOK-SEE – K (king) ‘in’ LOOSE (flowing) + E (robE ‘ultimately’).
3 Pit employee of little importance, do we hear? (5)
MINER – sounds like (‘do we hear?’) MINOR (of little importance).
4 A vice securing top of rotating light (3,4)
ARC LAMP – A CLAMP (a vice) ‘securing’ R (‘top’ of Rotating).
5 Old Scottish farmworker, initially identifying Asian language (5)
HINDI – HIND (old Scottish farmworker) + I (‘initially’ Identifying).
6 One gored badly crossing western forest (9)
GREENWOOD – anagram (‘badly’) of ONE GORED ‘crossing’ W (western).
9 Revolutionary undertaking, preparation for publishing (9)
REDACTION – RED (revolutionary) + ACTION (undertaking).
11 Passage from old religious pamphlet (7)
EXTRACT – EX (old) + TRACT (religious pamphlet).
13 Fugitive Garda finally found in part of airport (7)
RUNAWAY – A (GardA ‘finally’) ‘found in’ RUNWAY (part of airport).
15 Girl’s granny, extremely canny (5)
NANCY – NAN (granny) + CY (CannY ‘extremely’ (i.e. taking the ‘extremes’ of the word)).
16 Horrify a friend, parking in the centre (5)
APPAL – A PAL (a friend) with P (parking) in the centre.
19 For example, one’s initial self-importance (3)
EGO – EG (for example) + O (One’s initial).

67 comments on “QC 1935 by Orpheus”

    1. My eldest son took up the QC in lockdown and messaged me today to say that he’d done this one in 12:49, which he was very pleased with. When I’d done it I told him my time (06:35), because a little parental triumph is important every now and then. But I pointed out that that meant that Kevin would have broken 4 minutes … and lo it has come to pass!
  2. …at 6:08. If you have all the knowledge, the puzzle is quite easy. I had to get all the crossing letters for greenwood, my LOI.
  3. 9 minutes with CANTER as my LOI and then only because of the definition and checkers. I stared at it long and hard after that before spotting that it was hidden.

  4. Made it out of the SCC today with a just over 15 minutes solve. Canter was also my LOI, and managed to dredge Zinnia out of the depths of my brain. I did wonder if each letter had been used – Z, Y, & W were – but I think we’re missing v and j.

      1. You’d be right — but as someone who had a suspected one of those last year (mercifully it was benign) I can’t say that was a particularly amusing comment 😉
        2. One doesn’t give away the answer to a puzzle that others may not have approached yet–as Invariant says. Rotter, you should know better than to ask.
              1. Well I think that is the accepted way, and it is why, by default just in case I make an error, that I always refer to clues by their number. Having said that I realise I am inconsistent as I sometimes put the word itself into the header of the comment. A practice I will try to stop.
            1. Thanks. No problem, the doctor cut it out in the office. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.
  5. FOI: 1a. DILEMMA
    LOI: 17a. ZINNIA
    Time to Complete: 37 minutes
    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 22
    Clues Answered with Aids: 2
    Clues Unanswered: Nil
    Wrong Answers: Nil
    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 24/24
    Aids Used: Chambers

    I was not confident when I saw Orpheus as the setter, as I find his puzzles to be at the 15×15 end of the QC. However, today I was pleasantly surprised to find this one relatively easy. A few of the clues had me stumped, such as 17a. ZINNIA, a word that did not exist in my vocabulary. With the extinct bird of 7a, I immediately thought of dodo, and spent a few minutes trying to lever that word into the answer.

    A pleasant start to the week.

    1. Watch out for the Moabites! They’re usually clued as old people who bird attacks.
  6. Fairly gentle going today with the two unknowns – HIND and ZINNIA – being kindly clued. Spent some time trying to think of synonyms for sins at 4d before the penny dropped and the C from ARC finally helped me see that LOI CANTER was a hidden. Finished in 6.12 with my favourite being NANCY.
    Thanks to astartedon
  7. 21 mins to maintain my SCC membership, might have strayed out if I had seen the elusive CANTER and ARC LAMP sooner, and been able to parse LOOK SEE more quickly. Like others, HIND was unknown but didn’t delay answering, and overall a nice start to the day. Liked the clue for NANCY.
  8. An entertaining puzzle which took us 10 minutes to complete. As avid gardeners we didn’t have any issues with ZINNIA and, although we hadn’t come across HIND as a Scottish farm worker, the answer to 5D was pretty obvious.

    FOI: HUGE
    LOI: CANTER
    COD: CONSTRAINED (amused us)

    Thanks to Orpheus and Astartedon.

    Ps we’ve just completed (except for one clue) today’s 15×15 in 49minutes. It’s almost certainly on the easier side but it’s our best ever effort.

    Edited at 2021-08-09 08:09 am (UTC)

    1. Yes, the 15 x 15 is accessible, I just completed it in 31 minutes. Which one did you not get?
  9. A zippy 6:45 – troubled by the same clues as mention by our blogger – HINDI and LOI ZINNIA – but I trusted the cluing and all was well. Girl’s names in clues can be a frustration but NANCY left no doubt. Thanks Orpheus and blogger for a pleasing start to the week.
  10. As a gardener, Zinnia was easy, but nho HIND so a dnf, but much enjoyed.

    Thank you all,

    Diana

  11. A very vague suspicion that I’d seen hind as a farmworker in a previous puzzle lurked in the depths of my mind, so I wasn’t troubled by 5d. DILEMMA was my FOI and I just kept going. ZINNIA was built from the word play and INKY was LOI. 5:21. Thanks Orpheus and Don.
  12. By far my best time ever today, everything seemed to fall into place in 4:38 – maybe this is a sign I’m actually moving out of the SCC! (but I won’t get my hopes up)
  13. Now I think about it, HIND sounds a bit like how a Scot might pronounce HAND, and obviously in English farmHANDs are commonplace. I don’t know if that is the correct etymology but it rings true to me.

    Edited at 2021-08-09 08:07 am (UTC)

    2. It is not the correct etymology per Lexico: “Late Old English hīne ‘household servants’, apparently from hīgna, hīna, genitive plural of hīgan, hīwan ‘family members’.”
      1. Thanks! I just thought I’d take a flier on that without looking it up. When I was younger I would have done but now it feels as though there are more important things to do with my time. Not that I use it very wisely at all of course. Look at me sitting here typing this for instance…
  14. normally makes me struggle, but today was too quick for parsing. LOI – CANTER – eye roll, bunged in from definition and hidden spotted shortly afterwards. HINDI biffed too.

    3:41.

    Edited at 2021-08-09 08:18 am (UTC)

  15. Just inside target at 14:50, which is disappointing given the comments and times above. I was slowed a little by the unknown ZINNIA, but not by much as the clueing was so generous. Similarly, I delayed entering the biffed HINDI until the checkers were all there to confirm it. COD CANTER, FOI DOE, MINER, LOI ZINNIA and WOD LOOK-SEE. Thanks Astartedon and Orpheus.
  16. A pleasant start to the week which took under 10 mins despite a knock on the door from our postman. Thanks to Otpheus and Don. John M.
  17. Quick this morning – only hesitation LOsI BEMOAN and HINDI. Latter had to be.
    Everything else slotted in straightaway, so an encouraging start to the week. TALLY HO barely cryptic.
    Liked INKY and many others.
    Thanks vm, Don.
    1. We have a very pleasant postie who usually comes late morning or early/mid afternoon but occasionally seems to start delivery at the other end of the round. Keeps us on our toes!

      Edited at 2021-08-09 09:06 am (UTC)

    2. Similar to ours, about 3pm. Although, some weeks there is no delivery on Tue, Wed and Thu and then a deluge of mail, on Friday!
  19. Thinking about HIND has brought to mind some Scots phrases from my youth (mostly from my grandmother). Just posting them here for random entertainment:

    Ye ken ess?

    I’ll gie ye a steen ahint a lug!

    Ye cannae see green cheese!

    Hud yer wisht!

    Lang may yer lum reek!

    I’m sure there must be others.

    1. If you want a good laugh/yarn with more of the same I recommend Series 1 of Outlander which I have just completed (Amazon).
      Once you get over the ‘nonsense’ you may like this… not for the faint-hearted mind!
  20. Done on train as we set off to Inverness via Newcastle. Advance ticket plus Two Together Railcard has justified First Class Ticket (only the Businessman in a suit not wearing a mask) but it has meant I’ve been distracted by the abomination of a raspberry croissant. Whoever makes these things up? Tastes neither of raspberry or croissant 😀

    Interesting xword — plenty of gimmes but fingers crossed for the unknown (though generously clued) ZINNIA. And slightly surprised by the definition for REDACTION. But liked INKY and LOOK-SEE

    Thanks Orpheus and Don

  21. A gentle enough 14 mins, despite an early panic running through Anne, Mary and Lucy before Emma helped solve my 1ac problem. Canter was a lucky spot, or that would have been another one to leave for crossers. I grew a Zinnia a few years back, so that was another piece of good luck, but generally it was a case of just follow the cryptic. I thought Inky was a cut above the usual type of QC clue, but 14ac, Constrained, gets my CoD vote by a short head. Invariant
  22. 13 mins for me, although it felt longer. Didn’t know the already mentioned “Hind” or “Zinnia” but they were fairly obtainable. Oddly enough, I thought of “Arc Lamp” for a clue a few months back (which it wasn’t) so nice to see it make an appearance.

    Also had a discussion with someone else on another site about the increasing use of “period” in this country — not necessarily as “full stop”, but as an expression added at the end of a sentence to mean “end of” or “fact”.

    FOI — 1dn “Doe”
    LOI — 17ac “Zinnia”
    COD — 20ac “Inky” — simple but fun!

    Thanks as usual!

  23. A gentle start to the week from Orpheus, which I completed in 9 mins. NHO hind for farmworker, so waited for the crossers for 5dn. Didn’t properly parse 11dn thinking that perhaps extract was an old word for religious pamphlet – the answer appeared obvious anyway so didn’t give it too much thought.

    FOI – 5ac HUGE
    LOI – 7ac BEMOAN
    COD – 14ac CONSTRAINED

    Thanks to setter and blogger

  24. Another 7 minute-r for me — just waiting for my nemesis (probably a brilliant but challenging Izetti!) I used to find Orpheus very hard too but finally seem to have clicked with his style.
    An interesting mix with a few gimmes — eg ADHERE and MINER, and others rather more tricky — BEMOAN (I could only bring roc to mind, and that was mythological anyway) and INKY (not helped by the fact that initially I entered redacting). Also didn’t know hind but as everyone has said, it was easy enough to see the answer.
    FOI Doe
    LOI Inky
    COD Extract
    Many thanks Orpheus and Don
    Off to have a go at the biggie now — hope all the comments above don’t jinx it 😅
  25. 12:38, not much to add. NHO ZINNIA.

    I think “Huntsmans cry (5-2)” must rate as one of the easiest clues for some time.

    COD REDACTION

  26. An enjoyable solve, but I didn’t find it quite as easy as some others as I came in at 19:28. Forgot Jack’s rule (I think it’s Jack’s) of “If in doubt, look for a hidden” and hence wasted time on 8a CANTER, which I never managed to parse. Anyway, FOI HUGE, LOI CANTER, COD BEMOAN. Thanks Orpheus and Astartedon.
    1. Not my rule unfortunately, otherwise CANTER would not have been my LOI today, and even then I didn’t understand the parsing until after I had stopped the clock.
  27. I find Orpheus the most challenging of our QC setters and my success rate against him is only 30%, so to finish in 31 minutes (fast for me) is a real confidence boost.

    I can’t claim to have parsed every clue fully as I went along (e.g. I didn’t spot CANTER was a hidden, and I mostly biffed TALLY-HO and REDACTION), but I felt confident enough at the end to put my pencil down and come here.

    As with Teazel last Friday, I came to a juddering halt with just four clues to go. However, whilst Friday’s last four took me more than half an hour, today’s took just 4 minutes. Once it had dawned on me that both ‘lodging-place’ and ‘one’ could be inside Z____A, ZINNIA quickly came to mind. That was the catalyst for me then to solve NANCY, INKY and REDACTION without too much further anguish.

    Many thanks to Orpheus and astartedon.

    Edited at 2021-08-09 12:07 pm (UTC)

  28. Nice puzzle. Had to guess Hindi. I was quite quick for me. Prob about 20 mins. Would someone please remind me what the SCC is? Thank you. Fred.
    1. There’s a useful link to a glossary at the top of the page, Fred. It says : “SCC – The acronym for the Slow Coach Club, a name the less speedy solvers of the Quickie have made up for themselves. Some are permanently resigned to their fate. Others hope to improve and join the speedsters, not realising that speed isn’t important. See also Kevin.”
      1. I’ve never seen the glossary–I’m denied access for some reason–but 1) SCC isn’t an acronym; 2) what does the entry for Kevin say (had no idea there was an entry)? If what I suspect, it should be Phil.
        1. Hi Kevin, here is your entry:
          Kevin – A jocular unit of speed invented by the SCC, in which they compare their times to one of their faster solvers.
  29. Fun puzzle with only real hold ups being ZINNIA and HINDI.

    TALLY HO brought back memories. When I was a youngster I was involved in a case with one of the oldest silks then at the Bar; he lived alone in a grand house in Cheyne Walk with a large staff of Filipinos to whom he had taught the entire vocabulary of English hunting calls. Very eccentric fellow.

    FOI DOE, LOI REDACTION, COD ARC LAMP, time 06:35 for 1.75K and a Very Good Day.

    Many thanks Orpheus and Don.

    Templar

  30. 3:40 this morning. Straightforward start to the week with no real obscurities although I haven’t come across a “zinnia” for some time.
    Slight delay at 5 ac where my first thought of “farsi” had to be replaced by “hindi”.
    COD 20 ac “inky”.
    Incidentally my time appears to have survived a server failure crash in the Crossword Club website, just as I was submitting.
    Thanks to Don for the blog and to Orpheus, in a generous mood today

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