Quick Cryptic 1764 by Tracy

54 comments on “Quick Cryptic 1764 by Tracy”

1. I’m not sure I’m ever going to remember that crosswords think peter means safe. I made good early progress with nine of the acrosses going in on the first pass and finding the downs going in nicely too but then I came up against PETER PAN, PRESIDENT, INGESTED and TOY STORY none of which yielded easily. PRESIDENT went first, I think I was wrong footed by the definition and by wanting ‘in attendance’ to be ‘there’ – and which I ended up spelling PRESIBENT to give pink square – but once that went in INGESTED and TOY STORY became clear and I couldn’t see what had taken me so long. I wasn’t sure whether the utensil was a ‘pin’ or a ‘pan’ and couldn’t see what went in _E_E_. Finally twigged the definition was at the other end and that PETER PAN was a play as well as a book and a film – which is odd because I saw the pantomime either last year or the one before. Oh dear. 14.20 with a typo. Not a good end to a tricky week.

   Edited at 2020-12-11 07:46 am (UTC)

   1. I think you mean 16d, not 16a.
   2. Peter is prison slang, for both a safe and a prison cell.
   3. I’m glad that evidently, you are not a peterman…
2. Good end to the week with a time just under the puzzle number (1728)

   16a required some GK from the horsey set, nice misdirection with Badminton.

   1a WATCHDOG, went in quickly which was pleasing as that word was a cause of a DNF two weeks ago.

   LOI PETER PAN vaguely remembered that Peter for ‘safe’ is a crossword convention, ie used nowhere else. And even with two checkers there seemed to be an elusive pan type. My Missus has lots of pans, probably a bevel pan, jewel pan or level pan in there somewhere.

   COD ; BLISTER

3. Took me a moment to remember PETER, to see EVENTER, and to remember the TORY meaning of ‘blue’. 5:47.
4. I seemed to tune into Tracy today as this went in without any problems and the PETER/SAFE thing seems to have finally lodged in memory bank. I see that GROUNDHOG DAY makes an appearance along with PETER PAN and TOY STORY (my COD). A fun end to the week which took me 7.17 with LOI GROUNDHOG.
   Thanks to curarist
   1. I missed GROUNDHOG DAY! FWIW LOOT is also a film (originally a play, by Joe Orton).

      H

      1. SPLIT is also a film.
5. 11 minutes. I had real problems getting started with this and then establishing flow around the grid. I was leaping around all over the place so it’s little wonder that I exceeded my target 10 minutes. PETER PAN was my LOI as I was fixated the answer being a utensil rather than a play.
6. My FOI was BATH and then I proceeded clockwise round the grid. Just a few pauses today. I had to fully parse the terrain element of EVENTER otherwise I would have misspelled it. The film TOY STORY came to me quickly but the play PETER PAN held out to the end and was my LOI and COD. Sub 8 mins for an excellent finish to the week. Thanks to curarist and Tracy.
7. Done, dusted and enjoyed by the 16 minute bell, this morning. Today’s was an easier, if, IMO, rather less clever than yesterday’s.
   Every time I see “safe”, my first thought is “peter”, so 10 across, PETER PAN, was actually my FOI. Nice clue, though. 14 down, BLISTER, is probably a chestnut but I don’t remember seeing it before and it made me smile. I also enjoyed TOY STORY, especially the definition of “blue ” which had me all over the place for a while, searching for synonyms for sad, rude, ocean, sky, etc. Neat.
   Potentially a thick-reveal, but does the “ate” in LATE, 23 across, mean ‘worried’ as in “the worry of it all ate at me/ate me up “? Am I missing something?
   Thanks, Curarist, for the blog and thanks too to Tracy
   1. Yes, you have it.

      Edited at 2020-12-11 09:19 am (UTC)

      1. Phew! Thanks, jackkt.
         1. ‘ate’=worried is something of a chestnut, so keep it in mind. On the other hand, if you automatically see ‘peter=SAFE’, then you are a man, my son. Wait a moment, that doesn’t work; anyway, you’re coming along nicely!
            1. Hahaha! A very welcome laugh this morning! Thanks, Kevin, and thanks, too, for the advice and the encouragement.
               1. Also worth remembering that “ate up” in a down clue leads to the Greek letter “eta”, though I suspect we’re in 15×15 territory at that stage.
                  1. Thanks, Phil. I’ll try and tuck that away in the crossword section of my brain. It’s getting a bit crowded in there these days…
   2. Meet the Feebles. An early effort from LOTR director Peter Jackson.
8. 11 minutes here for an easier end to the week. As well as GROUNDHOG DAY, TOY STORY and PETER PAN picked out by Plett, we have LOOT in the grid, making a mini-play -film theme. Any more? My LOI was FEEBLE.
9. For me, an ideal QC: about half went in on the first pass leaving a few chewier ones, with lots of lovely surfaces.

   FOI: 8a SHOP
   LOI: 5a GROUNDHOG (trying to be too clever and put ‘reed’ as the guts of ‘greedy’ in a word for field)
   COD: 25a TOY STORY for the smooth and utterly misleading surface

   9:32 for 1.6K and all in all a Very Enjoyable Day.

   Thanks to curarist and Tracy.

10. A lot to enjoy in this so thanks setter and blogger. A couple of minor irritation. Ate for worry as in it ate away at him doesn’t really work for me.I’m not too sure that many will be familiar with masthead and even fewer with peter outside crossord cliques, but in both cases they were the only things which fitted with the cluing so just about fair enough!
11. … with another very enjoyable, very fair puzzle and all done in 13 minutes. Would have been faster if only I could remember that Peter = Safe! I am coming to the conclusion that there is a gradation of words, all the way from commonly used to unusual to rare to archaic to obsolete – and one after obsolete is “in crosswordland only”, of which Peter is IMO a good example.

    I shared Louisajaney’s slight hesitation over Ate = worried in 23A: I think the surface is weak (one cannot replace worried in the clue by ate – worry is an active verb and to be eaten up is a completely different construction), but it couldn’t be anything else.

    That apart, several contestants for COD, and nearly awarded to the B-lister at 14D, but for me 25A Toy story pips it.

    Thanks to Curarist for the blog and a good weekend to all
    Cedric

    1. I think you will find “peter” actually used in crime stories from the 20s and 30s, where the wrong ‘uns drop their aitches.
12. So Peter Pan was a play before it was a novel. I had no idea. Every day’s a school day in Crosswordland.

    FOI BATH (I have finally adjusted to clubs being bats), LOI PETER PAN (like Jack I was looking at the wrong end), COD BLISTER (made me laugh), time 1.9K for a Respectable Day.

    Many thanks Tracy and curarist.

    Templar

13. Fri, 11 Dec 20
    FOI: 17a MINI
    LOI: 15a HATRED

    30 Minute Mark: 11/26
    60 Minute Mark: 20/26
    Time before use of aids: 40 min

    Total Answered: 20 of 26

    Made a valiant effort on this crossword. I had a wrong answer in 4d for a while. I had put COP. My reasoning behind this was Police Officer = PC, Hollow = O. I thought that PARKING might have been an indicator that I should switch Police Officer (PC) around. Therefore CP. Add in the hollow (O) and I came up with the word COP (Police Officer). At about the 45-minute mark I began to realise that I had got that answer wrong.

    I guessed at EVENTER but didn’t really understand how that answer was obtained from the clue until my 60 minutes was up, and I came here.

    I didn’t manage to attempt yesterday’s QC, though I may go to it over the weekend. All in all, this has been a good week for me with the crosswords. More and more I am finding the hidden meanings in cryptic clues. A few of the cryptic clues today came to me naturally, it seemed.

    1. It is indeed a knack – you start to instinctively see how the clues work, without really knowing why.
       1. Indeed that is exactly what I am finding.
14. Another slow start so I moved up from the bottom. Quite a few gifts on the way up, although I entered, and removed, LATE thinking it was a bit ropey, despite being aware or ‘ate’ for worried. Had to come back to reinstate it, though. Some nice clues, on reflection, but it didn’t ‘light my fire’ and it took me 17 mins to get back to the top and finish with WATCHDOG.
    Many of the clues are not so difficult as I made them at first. Perhaps I’m not in a good mood. Our new(ish) heating system has given up completely and I’m probably going to actually light a fire to keep the cold at bay. Brr. Thanks both but I hope next week takes us back to the Q in QC. John M.

    Edited at 2020-12-11 10:48 am (UTC)

15. Well, things have come to a pretty pass when Tracy’s name brings a sense of relief, but after yesterday’s shocker I’ll happily take a little cluing mischief from Tracy. Started in the NE with Bath, and worked clockwise round the grid finishing just short of 17mins with an alphabet trawl for loi 1ac Watchdog – just couldn’t bring ‘watch’ to mind. The only other significant hold up was 10ac, and CoD, Peter Pan, where having Pan just reinforced the cooking theme before Peter/Safe provided the pdm. Invariant
16. I thought about you yesterday PW, when I blogged a difficult QC, and then looked to see how you fared. If you do have a crack at it, don’t be put off, it was a chewy number that caught out a good many more experienced solvers. Keep the faith!
    1. I shall give it a go tomorrow, therotter. I enjoy reading your summaries, so I am looking forward to that too.
17. Nothing too scary, though found myself jumping around the grid a bit. Held up slightly by PETER PAN due to “play safe” leading me away from looking for a play. But the penny eventually dropped. Oh, and biffed FEEBLE before spotting BEEF. 7:14 for an easy end to the week.

    COD MASTHEAD

    H

18. Peter Pan first appeared as a charcter in the adult book ‘The Little White Bird’in 1902. Barrie’s play ‘Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens’ came two years later – roughly at the same time as the second book. The character was based on J.M.’s brother David who died in an ice-skating accident on the eve if his 14th Birthday. It is said that his mother called him the ‘Forever Boy’.

    FOI 1ac WATCHDOG

    LOI & COD 10ac PETER PAN

    WOD 5dn GROUNDHOG esp for 11dn T.

    Time 11 minutes

19. I must say that I didn’t find this half as easy as the experts seem to have. It was a DNF for me, not getting TOY STORY or PETER PAN and putting DIGESTED instead of INGESTED for 11d which meant I couldn’t get PRESIDENT despite knowing that PRESENT must be there somewhere. Guessed LATE (23a) – why does ATE = worried? Hey ho.
20. ….but that didn’t cause any problems in solving this delightful puzzle from Tracy.

    FOI BATH
    LOI PETER PAN
    COD TOY STORY
    TIME 3:47

21. 11:56 so a good time for me. FOI ATHLETE to check and dislodge EYESTALK for 1ac. Then pretty smooth progress through the grid. Stuck briefly on MASTHEAD and on PETER PAN even though i remember peter=safe from a previous crossword. I still think it exists outside crosswordland with one member of a backrobbing gang being the peterman, there to deal with the safe. COD to INGESTED.
    1. You are indeed correct!
22. I was going reasonably well when I stopped the clock (due to an interruption) on 16 minutes with just 1ac, 4dn, 10ac and 11dn to go. Unfortunately these took another 10 minutes once I restarted. 11dn was made made impossible by the fact that I had digested instead of ingested at 19ac. Once that was corrected it was immediately apparent. I eventually managed to remember peter for safe, so 10ac fell next. For some reason 4dn took a long time even though I had resisted the temptation to put cop in. Once I had thought of DI for police officer 1ac became obvious. Altogether a rather frustrating day, especially in the NW. Nothing wrong with the clueing, just my brain, although I didn’t like 23ac. Ate doesn’t equate to worried IMO, although I understand the reference to being eaten up with worry.

    FOI – 6ac BATH
    LOI – 1ac WATCHDOG
    COD – a toss up between 14dn BLISTER and 23ac TOY STORY

23. 28 mins for me, but probably should have been quicker (again). A really good QC, with a nice mix of straight forward clues and slightly more difficult ones with a good smattering of misdirection.

    To start with, initially biffed “Detest” for 15ac and was then convinced that 25ac started with “Sky”. As a result the SE corner sapped my time. I wasn’t sure about “ate” either but didn’t stop to pause, but I will never, ever, ever remember that “peter” = safe as long as I live.

    FOI – 6ac “Bath” (not Hull)
    LOI – 1ac “Watchdog”
    COD – 25ac “Toy Story” – great misdirection.

    Thanks as usual.

24. PETER PAN. Couldn’t think of a utensil and what play could end with Pan? I asked myself idiotically. Then laughed when at last the penny dropped.

    CsOD BLISTER and TOY STORY.

    FOsI BATH, BOOKLET, TANGO, DAY, MINI

    Thanks for blog and comments, always fun.

    Edited at 2020-12-11 04:32 pm (UTC)

25. A certain genre of cops and robbers tales such as The Sweeney, used the terms peter for safe and peterman(as Kapietro mentioned) for safecracker, so it’s not just a crossword convention. I started this one with COPSE and finished with MASTHEAD. ATE for worried is a staple of the 15×15, and don’t forget EAT as present tense. 7:50. Thanks Tracy and Curarist.
26. 
    A peterman is a safe breaker….
27. always manages to make me work hard, and PETER = safe needs to be fixed more securely in my head, as Jack and Merlin and James (and others) all mention above!

    Very much off wavelength at 8:50, though a good part of that was trying to get a cooking utensil out of ?E?E?/PAN..

    I liked FEEBLE, TOY STORY and BLISTER, and even though I was off wavelength, I though this a very good puzzle.

28. …but was surprised to finish in 9:28 – it seemed like only about 7 minutes. I was not really held up on any one clue, just a little slow, as it took me a bit to see answers like Peter Pan, masthead, and watchdog.
29. Another significant DNF for me. This blog is really excellent and the bloggers very helpful, but I find it rather depressing when people say ‘nothing to trouble/frighten the horses’ and I have a great deal of trouble. And this after 4+ years of daily practice. Clearly I’m useless, but I was completely solving some of these a while ago. Some of the clues perhaps I should have got but several were impossible. This has been a bad week!
    1. Don’t despair, it has been a week with its difficult moments. And some horses are more sensitive than others, often the budding champions – there’s no shame in that!
    2. It has been a hard week – no question about that. Maybe even a couple of weeks with no really easy QC’s.

       If you were completing before, you’re clearly not useless! Don’t lose heart!

    3. Quite a few of us have commented that the QCs seem to have become a bit more of a challenge of late, so please don’t think it’s just you!
30. Held up by putting in digested for 19a, which caused us problems. Otherwise generally a pleasant solve.
31. Good fun throughout, but Peter’ed out at the end. Damn and blast.
    Plymouthian
32. Would have been my second fastest ever had it not been for PETER PAN (of whom I’ve never been a fan). I was all done apart from that in under 14 minutes, but I eventually thought of Peter and then remembered coming across Peter = safe before, at 21:32. Still quite good for me though. COD to BLISTER. Thanks all.
33. Another very slow solve for me. FOI 17a Mini; LOI 5d Groundhog which I had worked out fitted but was uncertain until all the crosses convinced me to try it; COD 21a Masthead. 1a took too long. 23a had to be but was unsure of parsing. Never liked Peter Pan and never seen Toy Story but both worked properly. Not fazed by Peter or Eventer – suspected both these word usages as soon as I saw them. Puzzled too long with seeing the parsing for Hear.
    I guess my brain just wasn’t in gear for Tracy but the clueing was all fine. I took this as easier than yesterday but still a difficult end to the week.
34. …but taking the next 2 weeks off so shouldn’t fall behind (let’s hope 😃). Took us 13 minutes to crack this gem of a QC. We really enjoyed it – thanks Tracy.

    FOI: dip
    LOI: hear
    COD: ingested and blister (equal billing)

    Thanks for the blog Curarist

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