Times Quick Cryptic No 1938 by Trelawney

Author   rolytolyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Possibly a touch on the gentle side of average difficulty today. I say possibly: I seem to be solving better than usual at the minute and took 6:33, around a minute quicker than yesterday’s done just before. Lots of very nice clues, with smooth surfaces abounding – rather too many to make sense listing, in fact. Well ok… particular favourites were 10ac, 19ac and 5d. A quality puzzle – many thanks to Trelawney!

Across
1 Impulsive, gobbling small girl’s vegetable (6)
RADISH – RASH (impulsive) gobbling DI (small girl – as in short for Diana)
4 One expressing disapproval outside unknown pub? (6)
BOOZER – BOOER (one expressing disapproval) outside Z (unknown)
8 Top technician developed aid for quitters (8,5)
NICOTINE PATCH – anagram (developed) of TOP TECHNICIAN
10 Canoe bobbing on this? (5)
OCEAN – anagram (bobbing) of CANOE.
11 Foreign helpers reportedly are indebted to couples (2,5)
AU PAIRS – AU sounds like (“reportedly”) OWE (are indebted to) PAIRS (couples)
13 Team sets fire to facial hair (9)
SIDEBURNS – SIDE (team) BURNS (sets fire to). A reversal of “Burnside“, on the theme of “side-whiskers”, named after Ambrose Burnside, a US Civil War general who sported rather distinctive facial hair.
17 On the line Keats composed after a time (2,5)
AT STAKE – anagram (composed) of KEATS after A T(ime)
18 Front removed from toy gun (5)
RIFLE – front removed from tRIFLE (toy)
19 Soulmate is considerate with wine and liquor (7,6)
KINDRED SPIRIT – KIND (considerate) with RED (wine) and SPIRIT (liquor)
21 Criticise a mother country (6)
PANAMA – PAN (criticise) A  MA (mother)
22 Near front of tall cupboard (6)
CLOSET – CLOSE (near) T (front of Tall)

Down
1 Hurried a bit, nearly producing kidnapper’s demand (6)
RANSOM – RAN (hurried) SOMe (a bit) nearly/not quite/ditch the last letter.
2 Noblewomen having fees to bag game (9)
DUCHESSES – DUES (fees0 to bag CHESS (game)
3 Glossy fabric was a substitute (5)
SATIN – and SAT IN = was a substitute
5 Propane explodes, theoretically (2,5)
ON PAPER – anagram (explodes) of PROPANE
6 Spot stringed instrument without her (3)
ZIT – ZITher (stringed instrument) without “her“
7 Unoriginal work theatre has hosted in part (6)
REHASH – “in part” theatRE HAS Hosted
9 Arena band ordered Indian food (4,5)
NAAN BREAD – anagram (ordered) of ARENA BAND
12 To the extent that fashionable couch breaks regularly (2,2,3,2)
IN SO FAR AS – IN (fashionable) SOFA (couch) and b R e A k S “regularly”
14 Indian city captured in poorly lit picture (7)
DIAGRAM – AGRA (Indian city) captured in DIM (poorly lit)
15 Reverse support (4,2)
BACK UP – double definition
16 Take a hike from bottom of Mongolia into Tibet, somehow (4,2)
BEAT IT – A (“bottom” of mongoliA) goes into an anagram (somehow) of TIBET
18 Drive away partner, initially, during folk dance (5)
REPEL – P (Partner, initially) during REEL (folk dance)
20 Relative in finance (3)
NAN – “in” the letters of fiNANce

54 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1938 by Trelawney”

  1. Biffed NICOTINE PATCH; with IN SO FAR AS & KINDRED SPIRIT, I suppose strictly speaking I didn’t biff, as I typed them in without reading the clue. 3:56.
  2. …..to avoid being trounced – this really must have been easy. Curiously, I could get started for nearly a minute, but then the answers came thick and fast, with a lot of write-ins from the enumerations.

    Time: 6:39.

  4. I know it’s a gentle offering when I come in under 15 minutes. Slight hold up at the northeast where I was trying to fit in something about copy until I spotted the hidden rehash and then boozer slipped into place

  5. Gentle but loads of excellent clues with v smooth surfaces such as KINDRED SPIRIT or clever anagrams such as NICOTINE PATCH. Liked ON PAPER too for its simplicity.

    Thanks Trelawney and rolytoly

  6. At 5:25 mins I hardly paused — but still a Whippet. This may well be my fastest time.

    FOI 1dn RANSOM — Arfur!?

    LOI 4ac BOOZER must have walked past it!

    COD 8ac NICOTINE PATCH a perfect anagram — with no IKEAN extras!

    WOD 2dn DUCHESSES that’s spuds innit!?

    Watched ‘The Tailor of Panama’ two nights ago! I love that film.

    Greyhound under-5s — Whippet under-10s — Pemier Coach under-15s — Coach Class under-21s

    1. I’ve been enjoying a self-selected resume of Le Carre films, tv series and books recently, prompted by reading his semi-autobiographical ‘The Pigeon Tunnel’, but ToP is one film that has passed me by, so thanks for the reminder, and for determining this afternoon’s entertainment.
      1. But be aware that the original story was passed on to le Carre by Graham Greene. It has a very ‘Our Man in Havana’ feel. Enjoy!
        And please tell me what you thought of it.
        1. I’m pleased you have taken the Greyhound – Whippet – Coach analogy a step further – into The Glossary!? I notice no mention of the SCC – very wise! Today I was up with the hare – 3.52 minutes! COD NICOTINE PATCH hopkinb gets a ‘like’ from me.
        2. Just finished watching TToP with Mrs R, and thoroughly enjoyed it – very much the lighter side of Le Carre. I was aware of the debt owed to Our Man in Havana, having read and seen both before. The vibrating bed scene had us in stitches, and it was all good. Thanks again.
    2. I like the league table – thanks. I’ve wondered for a while how to categorise those of us who are (mostly) out of the SCC but nowhere near the super speed merchants. You may have solved the problem 😉 Very happy to be a whippet today.
  7. From RADISH to DIAGRAM in 5:36. A whole lot of biffing going on! Like Kevin, I hardly bothered to read some of the clues! Thanks Trelawney and Roly.
  8. FOI: 18a. RIFLE
    LOI: 12d. IN SO FAR AS
    Time to Complete: 37 minutes
    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 24
    Clues Answered with Aids: 0
    Clues Unanswered: 0
    Wrong Answers: 0
    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 24/24
    Aids Used: Nil

    I was slow to start on this one, not getting my first clue until 18a, a clue which I immediately recognised as being quite a popular clue in these QC.

    13a. SIDEBURNS – I did have MOUSTACHE entered at first. I saw an anagram of TEAM in that answer, a word that appeared in the clue follow by “set fire to”, leading me to think it was an anagram. But the rest of the answer did not make sense, and as I completed answers around it, I soon became convinced I was wrong. Penultimately, it came to me.

    3d. SATIN – Though I answered this one, the substitute clue gave me some difficulty, until, that is, I came here and saw an explanation.

    37 minutes solve without aids – yes, I am happy with that one.

      1. Thank you, rotter.

        Yes, I believe you are right, I think that was my fastest pure solve. I did not realise it until you mentioned it.

  9. I’m another probably in pb territory at 7.50. Like vinyl I started slowly. OCEAN was the first of only five to go in on the first pass but after a while prising out DUCHESSES the downs flew in. End up quite stumped by BEAT IT and especially AT STAKE where I couldn’t see what Keats was doing. Late drama when I realised I’d overlooked NAN. Very fast for me but still two full Jeremys, scraped under 2k though!

    Edited at 2021-08-12 06:48 am (UTC)

  10. I’ll echo the previous comments – nothing too tricky but plenty of entertainment along the way. ON PAPER was excellent as was DIAGRAM, amongst many others. Finished in 7.29 with LOI CLOSET.
    Thanks to Rolytoly
  11. ….after yesterday’s very fine but rather demanding QC. I managed this in 11 mins, 4 mins under target (and all parsed, even though, as others have said, some answers just dropped out). Some very neat clues. A true QC, for which thanks to Trelawney and Roly for the blog. John M.
  12. On the computer, that is pretty good for me. Judging from the SNITCH value, the 15×15 is well out of my league.
    Many thanks for the blog
    Andrew
  13. An enjoyable puzzle …
    … which took me 11 minutes in all. That’s faster than my average, but only by a bit, and I didn’t think this was quite as easy as some early comments suggest. How Kevin and others write in answers without even reading the clues beats me!

    But I do agree with all so far that there were some lovely surfaces, and — almost more praiseworthy — no MERs or shrugs of the shoulder at all. A classy puzzle then!

    COD to 19A Kindred spirit, which I shall for evermore read as Kind red spirit and think of something sweet and warming and comforting.

    Many thanks to Roly for the blog
    Cedric

    Edited at 2021-08-12 10:11 am (UTC)

  14. A splendid QC today, which I finished without too much trouble. It’s more fun when it’s not too easy or too difficult and this one fitted the bill perfectly.

    PANAMA made me smile, and I liked ZIT too.

    Thank you, Trelawney and Roly

      1. I have deleted a subsequent comment by a third party as it was not related to the crossword puzzle.
  15. 9:20 (its hard to find good historical events this early). After watching a couple of videos I decided to try solving on my Laptop, I think this saves a couple of minutes over the iPad.

    FOI RANSOM, LOI DIAGRAM

    I liked ZIT, and the Z immediately led to BOOZER, after I had been experimenting with bar, inn, local, pub etc.

    Nearly COD PANAMA as I am actually wearing a Panama hat at the moment. Nice clue, but seen it before.

    COD KINDRED SPIRIT, although a bit easy. A good example of a cryptic clue to the uninitiated.

  16. Must have been easy today, as I solved it. Only the second or third where I have managed the whole puzzle.

    Yesterday’s was a disaster by comparison.

    1. Congrats! Keep going – I hope you’ll be enjoying that feeling more and more often 😊
  17. SATIN made me smile, as did PANAMA, SIDEBURNS. Interesting to hear about the American general.
    FOI RANSOM, LOI DIAGRAM.
    Thanks all, esp Roly.
  18. At 13 minutes, this was a comfortable enough solve, but not the walk-in-the-park that some others seem to have enjoyed. Very nice puzzle though! I probably slowed myself down a little after seeing BOOZER / ZIT early on by looking for / expecting a pangram on the strength of the Z — foolish boy! Thanks as usual.
  19. Interesting experience today – my (relatively) beginner son told me he’d done this in sub 7 mins, so I approached it with a “let’s go fast” mindset. The result was that I did go fast but I definitely enjoyed it less than usual – I felt the time pressure.

    Nick the Novice (formerly of this parish) once said that crosswords were like recreational sex – “it’s fun, and the longer it goes on the better”. I’m not sure I’d go that far but I definitely enjoyed today’s “wham bang thank you Trelawney” experience less than I would have done if I’d tackled the puzzle in my usual way! I’m not inclined to do that again; I had no time to enjoy the clues, just approaching it as “solve it asap and hit the next one”.

    Anyway. FOI NICOTINE PATCH, LOI DUCHESSES (only because I’d misread the clue as saying “noblewoman”, singular, in my rush), COD OCEAN, time 06:09 for 1.3K but a Curiously Unsatisfying Day.

    Many thanks Trelawney and roly.

    Templar

    1. Super time, but I know what you mean. Part of the fun is enjoying the setter’s art 😊
  20. No real hold ups.

    TOP TECHNICIAN cracking anagram I thought.

    ON PAPER also a v. good surface.

    BEAT IT was my LOI

    4:24

  21. I really enjoyed this and finished in 13 minutes. Lots of clever clues with some amusing surfaces, particularly 8ac “Nicotine Patch”, 13ac “Sideburns”, 11ac “Au Pairs” and 1ac “Radish”.

    Nearly stumbled on 6dn thinking it was a derivation of “Sithar” rather than “Zither”.

    FOI — 1dn “Ransom”
    LOI — 7dn “Rehash”
    COD — 19ac “Kindred Spirit” (great surface and construction)

    Thanks as usual!

    Edited at 2021-08-12 09:56 am (UTC)

  22. For one horrible moment I thought Trelawney was trying to follow in Izetti’s Adit footsteps with an unknown Indian city (an extensive list), but a second look at the clue (well, someone’s got to make up for Kevin) prompted Diagram and an 18min finish. Lots of enjoyable clues to choose from, but 6d Zit ends in front — by a nose 😉 invariant

    Edited at 2021-08-12 10:20 am (UTC)

  23. After my disaster of yesterday, today’s lovely puzzle restored my spirits. Thank you, Trelawney.
    According to horryd, my time today puts me comfortably in the Premier Coach division, which is a very nice place to be.
    Loved KINDRED SPIRIT and ON PAPER — very clever!
    My pen and my brain were not entirely in sync today, however — I wrote “sidebords” when I distinctly remember instructing my hand to write SIDEBURNS. Luckily, I spotted this grapho-sabotage before it could ruin the rest.
    Thanks to setter and blogger.
  24. Yes, perhaps on the gentler side – it must have been as I did it in 6:34 on a proper keyboard. Touch typing – learnt back in the 70s – still holds me in good stead, despite trying to prune one of my fingers while gardening last night, and is much more accurate than using a touch screen and index finger! But I thought this was a delightful puzzle, full of great surfaces. I suppose some of the clues were more like a codeword, where, like Kevin, I just filled in the blanks (DUCHESSES and REHASH) but that didn’t stop the clues being worth revisiting and savouring.
    FOI Ocean
    LOI Beat it
    COD Nicotine patch
    Many thanks Trelawney and Roly – very interesting about SIDEBURNS
  25. A time of 18:16 makes this my first sub-20 solve! I started as a complete beginner to cryptic crosswords about 9 months ago in lockdown and have learned everything through this blog. It took me a long time to be able to complete them and I have gradually edged my average times from 60+ mins to around 30-40 mins. Today was a pleasant surprise so I thought I’d celebrate with my first post. Thanks to all the bloggers and commentators for the explanations!
  26. I thoroughly enjoyed today’s QC. I was very quick (for me) but could have been quicker had I not stopped to admire the cluing for NICOTINE PATCH (COD). My FOI was RANSOM and my LOI was DIAGRAM. A rare sub 6 mins solve at 5:47
    1. We’re good at cryptic stuff around here but your comment needs further explanation. I suspect you’re making an assumption that’s not implicit in the clue, nor in the answer or wordplay.

      Edited at 2021-08-12 01:52 pm (UTC)

      1. I think that I see anons point…If you have a certain mindset you could think that this clue belongs in Private Eye… perhaps not the best surface read.
  29. ….but a nicely constructed puzzle.

    FOI RADISH
    LOI NAAN BREAD
    COD NICOTINE PATCH
    TIME 4:04

  30. About 10 mins on the phone, held up by putting dot for 6d. Once corrected boozer was last in.

    Main crossword is hard today.

  31. One expressing disapproval outside unknown pub?
    BOO = expressing disapproval
    Z = unknown
    ER = her majesty, hence, “One..”
    That was my take on it.
    Thanks Trelawney and Roly.
  32. In 18 minutes — when I got stuck on LOI Diagram — which took me all the way to 25 minutes.

    I just couldn’t see Diagram and got hung up on Indian Cities — sadly the hardest way to approach the clue IMO.

    But pleased that most others did so well with it!

    Thanks all

    John George

  34. Well after having Cole Porter appear in both the quiz and the QC yesterday, we have a ZIT and zit cream combo today. Coincidence?
    As others have commented, this was relatively gentle, and though I was a bit slower over some clues than perhaps I should have been, I finished in 16:55. This was very welcome as I really should have been getting on with packing the car before my son and I embarked on a road trip to Scotland. First stop (where this comes from) is Newcastle. Thankfully the traffic was kind as we ended up leaving 90 minutes after I intended. Anyway, FOI BOOZER, LOI BEAT IT, COD BOOZER. Thanks Trelawney and Roly.
  35. Haven’t commented for a while, but was inspired to by this effort from Trelawney. This is to my mind the perfect QC. Nothing too taxing, but not a simple write-in full of in-clues (chestnuts) either. No ancient or obscure words or terminology.

    Some lovely wordplay and humour too. Particularly liked RANSOM and AU PAIRS, and my COD was KINDRED SPIRIT. More like this please!

  36. If we’d known we could complete this in 6 minutes we might have tacked it on Thursday! However, better late than never….

    Really fun crossword. It’s good to have an assortment of difficulty levels throughout the week — keeps us on our toes. However, as soon as we realise that we’re solving a QC quickly we immediately adopt a “let’s go for a PB” mindset which makes it a far less enjoyable experience!

    Thanks Trelawney and Rolytoly.

    Edited at 2021-08-14 08:31 am (UTC)

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