Times Quick Cryptic 2276 by Breadman

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

 

Grandparent duties now successfully and fun-fully completed, I’m back an ocean away. Should get back over more often.
A big thank you to those who covered for me whilst I was away. If anyone else fancies having a go then you’d be very welcome.

So to the puzzle:
I found this pangram fun and it took me fractionally under 13 minutes. Only your times will tell if this puzzle is medium difficulty as my time will be skewed by lack of practice.

Definitions are underlined in bold italics.

Across
1 Thanks Mike, when confronting stormy North Sea, for hat (3,8)
TAM OSHANTER – thanks (TA), Mike (M), anagram (stormy) of NORTH SEA. I’d have bunged in a couple of hyphens but I’m sure somewhere there’s a two word spelling.
8 Lie high-class religious books near Old Testament book (7)
UNTRUTH – high-class (U), religious books (NT), Old Testament book (RUTH).
9 Was guide around ancient city enticed? (5)
LURED – was guide (LED) around ancient city (UR).
10 Position east of Charlie on European lake (9)
CONSTANCE – position (STANCE) east if Charlie (C) on (ON).
12 One’s handling female’s doubts (3)
IFS – one’s (I’S) holding female (F).
13 Substitute some workers at zoo (6)
ERSATZ – some of work(ERS AT Z)oo.
15 Question, painting for example duck, size of paper (6)
QUARTO – question (QU), painting for example (ART), duck (O). QU stands for quart, quarter, queen, query and question.
17 On reflection, reject writer (3)
NIB – reject – bin – on reflection (NIB).
18 Overwhelming rush of pain besetting naval invalid (9)
AVALANCHE – pain (ACHE) around an anagram (invalid) of NAVAL.
20 Poet‘s private room almost west-facing (5)
ELIOT – private room almost (TOILE)t facing west. Liked this one.
22 Film in Europe initially engages bon vivant (7)
EPICURE – film (PIC) inside Europe (EU), (E)ngages. I’m missing the ‘R’ – anyone spot where it comes from?
23 Jersey might be so closely integrated (7-4)
TIGHTLY-KNIT – a jersey/jumper might be knitted tightly.
Down
1 Giant bird on banks of Amazon (5)
TITAN – bird (TIT) on top of (A)mazo(N).
2 Medical officer Una carries special tent for Italian peak (5,4)
MOUNT ETNA – medical officer (MO), Una (UNA) holds an anagram (special) of TENT.
3 Wrongdoing outside public house by inscrutable person (6)
SPHINX – wrong doing (SIN) outside public house (PH), by (X as in times by).
4 Little weight in aluminium hand tool (3)
AWL – (W)eight inside aluminium (AL).
5 Row stifles stray dog (7)
TERRIER – row (TIER) around stray (ERR).
6 Lost ciders, concerning newsman, found again (12)
REDISCOVERED – anagram (lost) of CIDERS, concerning (OVER), newsman (ED).
7 Cricket interval: one team munched Spam? (8,4)
LUNCHEON MEAT – cricket interval (LUNCH), anagram (munched) of ONE TEAM.
11 Instruction from Edward, head lowered in auction (9)
EDUCATION – Edward (ED), the head (first) letter lowered down in auction = (UCATION).
14 Relative in Spain agreed on jewellery (7)
SIBLING – in Spain the word for agreed = yes = (SI) on jewellery (BLING).
16 Jack to mimic tracks, jesting (6)
JAPERY – Jack (J), mimic (APE), railway tracks (RY).
19 Heard nicked criminal on trial here? (5)
COURT – homophone (heard) of nicked – caught.
21 Tasteless stuff, whichever way one looks (3)
TAT – reads the same backwards as forwards.

 

69 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 2276 by Breadman”

  1. I biffed a couple–TERRIER, REDISCOVERED, SIBLING, EPICURE. Forgot to check the last two. As for EPICURE, I’d imagine that it’s EUR for Europe. 5:01.

  2. Welcome back, Chris.

    9 minutes for this with no particular difficulty. When ERSATZ came up I made a mental note to check for a pangram at the end and then promptly forgot to do so.

  3. 11mins and disappointed it wasn’t quicker as they all went in without much pause for thought.

    Enjoyed TAM OSHANTER and LUNCHEON MEAT.

    No complaints on any clues.

    Thanks Breadman and Chris

  4. I found this tricky. Sat on a train so not pushed for time and unhurriedly reverse engineered more than usual – AVALANCHE, EDUCATION, LUNCHEON MEAT, CONSTANCE. Either I’m out of form or we’re in a tricky patch. No exact time as my tablet doesn’t seem to have given me one but not fast – I started in one county and was two stops into the next by the time I submitted. Under 30.

  6. I didn’t know some of the words like the hat, epicure and ersatz but I really really like the type of clue where you move a letter like for EDUCATION

    I never notice pangrams 🙁

  7. For once the Pangram helped, after getting SPHINX I noted the Q and J and wondered where the Z might be and this unlocked ERSATZ and SIBLING where I had been stuck on jewellery = ring.

    Surely the cricket interval is already called “luncheon”, this got me a bit confused with the extra “one”.

    Also mildly distressed with the missing “u” in QUARTO. I don’t buy that “question” can be abbreviated to QU. I’m running a conference later today, I’m going to ask for QU and A, and see how far I get.

    COD and WOD JAPERY

    1. Extract from MCC Laws of Cricket published on the Lord’s website: 11.2.1 An interval for lunch or tea shall be of the duration determined under Law 2.3 (Consultation with captains), taken from the call of Time before the interval until the call of Play on resumption after the interval.

      Qu / question is in Chambers and the Shorter Oxford Dictionary. Collins has it online under and American entry.

    2. On the occasions I’ve listened to cricket the commentary team only ever refer to it as LUNCH e.g. “they’re taking lunch”, “the score at lunch is” etc.

      I reckon had the setter used “luncheon” more of us would have been up in arms about that

  8. 21 minutes and I spotted the possibility of a pangram early, I think after SPHINX although it didn’t affect my solving and was confirmed as ERSATZ was clear to see.
    FOI: TAM O’SHANTER.
    LOI: JAPERY after I got the WP.
    Favourite ELIOT.

  9. Started swiftly with TAM O SHANTER (not seen it without the apostrophe before) and thought it was going to be a speedy solve but got bogged down as I worked my way down the grid.
    Spent some time on REDISCOVERED as I was trying to make an anagram of ‘lost ciders’ followed by ed with concerning as the anagram indicator. EDUCATION, AVALANCHE and JAPERY also caused delays.
    Missed the pangram which would have been very helpful with LOI SPHINX.
    Finished this entertaining challenge over target in 11.27.
    Thanks, and welcome back to Chris

    1. Scottish hat. It’s true to say it always takes an apostrophe but as crossword grids have no means of accommodating punctuation it has to be ignored. Allowing for that, the enumeration (3, 8) is valid according to Chambers but the other usual sources (the Oxfords and Collins) have the hat hyphenated as tam-o’-shanter, so (3-1-7) might have been more usual. The character in Burns’s poem is Tam O’Shanter.

  10. I really like doing the puzzle on the train but I really don’t like doing it on my phone but if I do it on paper on the train I can’t do it through the Club. Aarrggh.

    Anyway. Fun puzzle despite lots of fat fingered typing. Enjoyed AVALANCHE, EDUCATION and COD LUNCHEON MEAT (I really hope it doesn’t still exist, though I bet it does). All done in regulation 08:22 for 1.7K and a Decent Day.

    Many thanks Chris and Breaders.

    Templar

  11. After a disasterous DNF yesterday I was relieved to finish today in about 25 mins.
    ELIOT had me scratching my head for a while, clever.
    The ancient city of Ur was one of the first “only in Crosswordland” words I learned, but I haven’t seen for ages, so that raised a smile. On the other hand, by =X still gets me every time but at least it was obvious today.

  12. 35+ min DNF as only vaguely know EPICURE as a word. I’m glad to see Chris couldn’t parse it either – I went with USE for engage. EPICUsE seemed as possible to me.

    As ERSATZ went in, I thought “that’s unusual to have two days in a row with a Z”. Late on as I was struggling with the last intersection of EDUCATED, EPICURE; I saw the pangram and figured I needed the Q for my LOI QUARTO.

    Fortunately Simon Mayo on Greatest Hits Radio – Drivetime Show has been talking about TAM-O’SHANTERs recently so it sprung to mind quickly once TAM was in.

    Overall thought that was what I’d liked to see as a tougher QC. Just enough of a step up without being impossible (even if I did DNF!!)

  13. Finished and enjoyed, but struggled in parts. Missed pangram, of course.
    FOsI TITAN, TAM O’SHANTER.
    Liked QUARTO, ELIOT, ERSATZ, SIBLING, among others. Always good to see UR.
    LOI JAPERY.
    Not sure why vet has to check dog’s teeth again but off we go. (🦷£££)

    2. If it’s any consolation, I’m convinced dentists do the same thing with unnecessary X-Rays.

      1. Amazingly only 90p for a new dog toothbrush today (£££ last week). Dog himself was highly relieved not to have to stay at vets.

  14. I seem to have found this tougher than some finishing over two and a half minutes outside target at 12.31. For newbies ERSATZ may present a few problems, but for those who are old hands in crosswordland, no problem. A knowledge of European lakes certainly helped with CONSTANCE, and were it not for the clear direction I would have had an A instead of an O in TAM OSHANTER.

  15. DNF. FOI TAM OSHANTER, LOI NIB, COD ELIOT. Defeated by SIBLING as I couldn’t get
    RING out of my head.. i found most of this easy, but some very difficult, especially the frustrating SW corner thanks Breadman and Chris.

  16. A good start with 1ac practically a write in, followed by most of the offspring. Slowed a little lower down, but I was still in with a shout of a sub-20 with just Epicure to dig out. Pen down three minutes later after a slow alphabet trawl- I’m surprised Breadman doesn’t know that ET is the standard film in the QC 😉. Several CoD candidates, but 7d Luncheon Meat wins for the smile. Invariant

  17. Hats off to those who whizzed through this one. I couldn’t get going at first and then half of the answers went in like an avalanche with lots of Biffing.
    I found the last few hard – all in the SW corner (compounded by guessing Pap for 21d). I thought SIBLING was tough but clever and, once I had corrected 21d, TIGHTLY KNIT and my LOI ELIOT followed (again clever when it emerged). Just into the SCC again (by a minute) and I am beginning to question either the standard of recent QCs or else my declining ability.
    I don’t appreciate Pangrams (I think they are an unnecessary indulgence on the part of the setter) and, again, I knew something was up when things failed to flow early on. Clearly, SPHINX was there in order to include the X but I biffed it and thought ‘times/by’ was poor (thanks, Chris, for clarifying this).
    Despite that, thanks to Breadman for the better clues and to Chris. John M.

  18. I started at breakneck speed and thought I was heading for a 6 minute completion; so I was a bit disappointed to finish in 12.
    The SW held me up. I did not read 7d properly so wasn’t clear on the definition; Luncheon Time did not have a good ring to it. Once I had LUNCHEON MEAT (COD to that) I finished quickly . LOI was TAT.
    JAPERY was tricky.
    Did not spot the pangram.
    A good QC.
    David

  19. I more or less strolled through this, helped by having studied the Burns poem for ‘O’ Level English Literature. My LOI was all that remained after two straight runs through the clues, and brought back childhood memories of “plopped ham with chalk” as we and Dr.Spooner were wont to describe it. I suspected the pangram, but didn’t bother to check it.

    FOI TAM O’SHANTER
    LOI LUNCHEON MEAT
    COD CONSTANCE
    TIME 4:07

  20. 9 minutes for me, and I spotted the pangram early which certainly helped with one or two clues towards the end.

    Surprised no-one has commented before me on the trick in Rediscovered, where we are asked to form an anagram without being given all the letters, but instead needing to see concerning=over first. I have not seen this sort of two level wordplay clue in the QC before. Mrs S comments that it is not uncommon in the 15×15 but I think it is a bit more of a stretch for us mere QC-ers, and in the end one I biffed without parsing.

    Many thanks to Chris for the blog – and welcome back.
    Cedric

    1. Not sure I quite understand what you mean. There are 3 things going on – an anagram of CIDERS, then concerning=OVER, then newsman=ED.

      1. You’re absolutely right – I not only misunderstood the clue, but then your blog as well!

        **Retreats in embarrassment**

        1. Please don’t retreat! All comments are very welcome – and no one else gets everything all the time – reference ‘Epicure’ and my stopping at EU for Europe and not carrying on for EUR.

        2. Nothing better than coming up with a fantastic explanation for something and realising you’ve totally got the wrong end of the stick.

          Happens to me on here many times 😀

  21. I couldn’t finish this one. I found it too difficult for me, with some words I was previously unaware of. Ersatz and Tam O’Shanter for example.

  22. Long alpha trawl for ELIOT, face palm administered when I finally got it.

    Otherwise I thought this a good puzzle. I liked two of the longer ones – LUNCHEON MEAT and TAM O SHANTER.

    7:42

  23. Surprised by enumeration of FOI, TAM OSHANTER, but it had to be. LOI was AVALANCHE. 8:08. Thanks Breadman and welcome back Chris.

  25. Thought I was going to whizz through today but was slowed down in the SW and needed a full 25 mins. Got hung-up on closed-knit for TIGHTLY KNIT, couldn’t work out the anagram in LUNCHEON MEAT (feel under pressure whenever there is even a vague reference to cricket!) and needed the initial ‘e’ for ELIOT to finally fall. Thanks for explanations for non-parsed EPICURE and CONSTANCE. FOI TAM O’SHANTER, LOI ELIOT, latter also my COD. I loved the challenge today. Many thanks Breadman, and of course also to Chris.

  26. Taken into the SCC again, where my face is becoming more familiar to the regulars. 22 minutes after a quickish start in the north, where TAM and all of his descenders went straight in. EPICURE LOI, but slow on plenty of others in the south. A very good QC IMHO, with some slightly esoteric vocabulary, necessary for the pangram. Thanks and welcome back Chris.

  27. EPICURE – film (PIC) inside Europe (EU), (E)ngages. I’m missing the ‘R’ – anyone spot where it comes from?

    …isn’t it simply EUR rather than EU?

    Chambers:
    Eur.
    2. Europe

  28. I found this difficult again, but at least I finished – crawling in at 34 mins.

    1ac “Tam Oshanter” was a write in as it’s often seen in crosswords (although I can’t remember whether there is an apostrophe after the “O”). Should have known Constance, but had other lakes in mind, and struggled somewhat on 7dn “Luncheon Meat”.

    Missed the pangram – but then I often miss the Ninas.

    FOI – 1ac “Tam Oshanter”
    LOI – 22ac “Epicure”
    COD – 9ac “Lured”

    Thanks as usual!

  29. 14 minutes, so a bit better than yesterday. The biggie on the other hand was hard work – I abandoned it after half an hour, so nothing like yesterday!
    Of course I didn’t notice this was a pangram – too busy focusing on solving. On reflection, I did think that ERSATZ and QUARTO were slightly unusual for a quickie 😅 SPHINX was also a little enigmatic!
    Overall, I thought this was quite fun, although a little chewy, and I was also initially confused about the R in EPICURE (that’s one I would pronounce!)
    FOI Tam O’Shanter LOI Eliot COD Court – not a problem for this non-rhotic!
    Thanks Breadman and Chris – nice to see you back 😊

  30. My crossword wouldn’t work!
    As I tried to enter clues, the previous letters disappeared.
    Frustrating.

    1. I know that in the menu you can select to ‘skip filled squares’ or not. I haven’t heard of previous letters disappearing.

      1. Hi- thanks, I was beginning to think maybe I didn’t exist!
        It was just impossible to fill in- letters randomly disappeared after I entered them.
        I was wondering if it had happened to anyone else.
        Thought maybe my sub had lapsed but existential torture seemed extreme (and it hadn’t)!

      1. Excellent plan- thanks. The rest of the day was going fairly badly, but I would like to think the answers lies in the real world!

      2. Thanks, a huge relief.
        Ovo and Marks and Spencer’s between had almost fully convinced me that my status as a person had been withdrawn.

        1. My daughter once got a letter from her bank which started “We are sorry to hear of your death and offer our condolences”. It went on on similar idiotic style including asking her to cut up her bank cards …

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