QC 1775 by Trelawney

Author   astartedonPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Not much time to say anything this week what with recovering after the hollowed out Christmas which I hope you all managed to enjoy as well as you could in the circumstances.

FOI was the obvious 1A and LOI was 21D as you would expect from a puzzle of this level of difficulty where I found most of the clues to be straight write-ins. My COD was 11D. I don’t particularly know why, I just really liked how it fitted together. Many thanks to Trelawney for not taxing my poor little grey cells too much after the Christmas revels.

Hi to plusjeremy with whom I have been corresponding about his project of revisiting the very basics of cryptic clues. I meant to comment on his blog last Wednesday but didn’t get to it until the end of the day and as I have said before there isn’t much point in posting at that time as everybody has moved on. So just to say quickly here good work and I applaud and support his approach.

Wishing you all a happy New Year and hoping it will be a better one for all of us. Definitions are underlined and everything else is explained just as I see it as simply as I can.

Across
1 Furry creature to relax in the country (10)
CHINCHILLA – CHILL (to relax) ‘in’ CHINA (country).
8 Villain is after British accent (6)
BROGUE – ROGUE (villan) ‘after’ B (British). A brogue is a type of accent, usually applied to the sound of English spoken with an Irish accent, but it can apply to any regional accent. Another meaning for the word that you will often meet in crosswords is a type of shoe.
9 Footballer you wouldn’t want to release? (6)
KEEPER – double definition. Footballer, as in goalkeeper. And a ‘keeper’ is also something you would not want to release. I bought a guitar recently and I took it to a local guitar shop to get it set up properly, checking the action, frets, electrics etc. When the technician gave it back to me he said: “That’s a keeper that one. If it was mine I’d definitely hang on to it.”
10 Stagger back and stare (4)
LEER – REEL (stagger) reversed (‘back’).
11 Praise cook drinking coffee (8)
FLATTERY – FRY (cook) ‘drinking’ LATTE (coffee).
12 Clear I cooked a rich dessert (6)
ECLAIR – straight anagram (‘cooked’) of CLEAR I.
14 The lady’s adopting a bird — big mistake! (6)
HOWLER – HER (the lady) ‘adopting’, i.e. ‘taking in’ OWL (bird) gives one of those things that a 9A is always in danger of committing (viz. recent Arsenal performance in Carabao Cup).
16 Ban for greeting segment (8)
PROHIBIT – PRO (for) + HI (greeting) + BIT (segment).
18 Story‘s thread (4)
YARN – double definition. A pretty old and big chestnut in crosswords.
20 Italian food around a public square (6)
PIAZZA – PIZZA (Italian food) ‘around’ A.
21 Make money if port is drunk (6)
PROFIT – straight anagram (‘drunk’) of IF PORT.
22 Lend heroes recycled gear for Oktoberfest? (10)
LEDERHOSEN – another straight anagram (‘recycled’) of LEND HEROES. Lederhosen are the traditional German leather trousers worn particularly in Bavaria, especially at festivals such as the Oktoberfest.
Down
2 Mob store, reportedly (5)
HORDE – sounds like (‘reportedly’) HOARD (store).
3 Earing I prepared for African Country (7)
NIGERIA – straight anagram (‘prepared’) of EARING I. At first I thought this was a misspelling of ‘EARRING’ (although it did not affect my solution of the clue because the anagram indicator was so obvious) but when I looked it up I learned that an EARING is “a rope attached to a cringle and used for bending a corner of a sail to a yard, boom, or gaff or for reefing a sail.” So now I know. But I bet deckhandiana knew that already. And probably lots more of you did too.
4 Desire to get rid of power tool (3)
HOE – HOpE (desire) ‘getting rid of’ P (power) leaves HOE.
5 Large furniture shop’s popular very quickly (4,1,4)
LIKE A SHOT – L (large) + IKEA’S (‘furniture shop’s’) + HOT (popular).
6 Spy is a polite fellow (5)
AGENT – A GENT is a polite fellow. As in ‘You’re a proper gent, Sir’. Abbreviated form of GENTLEMAN.
7 Absurd greed over English qualification (6)
DEGREE – anagram (‘absurd’) of GREED ‘over’ E (English). This has to be a down clue as we are instructed to put DEGRE ‘over’, i.e. above, E.
11 If upset, change the image of troublemaker (9)
FIREBRAND – IF ‘upset’ i.e. reversed (or even anaground, if you can talk about an anagram of a two letter word) = FI. Add on REBRAND (change the image of) and you have the answer.
13 Expression of surprise over serving American’s dogs (6)
CORGIS – COR! (expression of surprise) + GI’S (serving American’s, a GI being an American soldier (‘GI Joe’) roughly equivalent to a British Private (‘Tommy’).
15 A potential route — bravo! (3,2,2)
WAY TO GO – staying with the Americans, WAY TO GO is a phrase often used across the pond as an expression of encouragement. And I can just imagine Basil Fawlty interpreting the phrase as ‘a potential route’. As when an American in one of the Fawlty Towers episodes threatened to “bust somebody’s ass” and Fawlty politely translated the threat down the telephone as “he says he’s going to break your bottom”.
17 Smog left brown colour (5)
HAZEL – HAZE (smog) + L (left).
19 By the sound of it, completely destroy lift (5)
RAISE – another homophone. RAISE sounds like RAZE as in RAZE to the ground.
21 Golfer’s target in jeopardy (3)
PAR – hidden word: ‘in’ jeoPARdy.

75 comments on “QC 1775 by Trelawney”

  1. Talk about getting back into the swing of things! Whew! CHINCHILLA may have been obvious to you, but it was my next-to-last in, followed finally by HOE.
    1. So glad someone more experienced than me said that! It was my LOI and I needed all the checkers. The beauty of crosswords: what for one person is a real challenge is for another a write-in …

      Cedric

  3. 7 minutes. We had HOE and HOES in wordplay last week and it was still fresh in my mind.

    My only query was WAY TO GO which I would never have associated with ‘Bravo!’ although I was aware of it as a mild expression of encouragement to keep on working at something. But not standing alone, only as part of a longer comment e.g. ‘So far so good, there’s some way to go but…’ which is hardly the full-blown praise of ‘Bravo!’ as shouted at the end of a thrilling performance of a concert piece.

    1. I’d definitely use (I’ve definitely used) “Way to go!” to mean “Bravo!” or “Well done!”. Note the exclamation point; it’s “(that is the) way to go!” not “(there is a) way to go (but)”. But I’ve always assumed, I think, that it’s an Americanism.
      1. I’m sure you’re right about it being an Americanism, but I’ve also heard it used in that context in Britain often enough to be surprised that jackkt is unfamiliar with it.

        –AntsInPants

  4. Sometimes an anagram leaps out of the page at you. Unfortunately ‘Eritrea’ leapt out at me this morning despite not remotely fitting the anagrist. Which is doubly annoying since I took perhaps excessive care over LEDERHOSEN. It wasn’t until BROGUE that I finally realised it ought to have been NIGERIA which then allowed CHINCHILLA and then HOE. A few seconds over ten minutes but crucially one more than Jeremy – a missed opportunity!
  5. Thanks to Trelawney for not overtaxing us during the Crimbo limbo. We finished this fun puzzle in 7 minutes thus equalling our PB.

    FOI: Nigeria
    LOI: howler
    COD: Chinchilla

    Thanks for your blog Astartedon.

  6. Slowish solve, but clues dropped in regularly, FOI NIGERIA, although with some 50 countries in Africa, a few to go through. LOI FIREBRAND where I had if=FOR, before backtracking.

    If you watch an American youth sports team, then you’ll hear “Way to go” every few minutes as encouragement.

    COD LIKE A SHOT for having IKEA in there, don’t often see brands in puzzles, makes for a change.

    1. If you watch an American youth in a sports arena, then you’ll hear “Build the Wall” every few minutes as encouragement.
      1. I don’t watch American youths, in or out of sports arenas; might I ask what you’re talking about?
  7. A slow start in the NW but once I moved on the rest of the grid proved much more straightforward. A lot to enjoy along the way with CORGIS making me smile, a tip of the hat to FIREBRAND but my favourite was LIKE A SHOT. Finished back in the NW with not so obvious CHINCHILLA, HORDE and finally HOE, in 7.07.
    Thanks to astartedon
  8. I took the 6.45 Express this morning from Lagos to Walthamtow Central.

    FOI 3dn NIGERIA

    LOI 4dn HOE – Hoe Street is Walthamstow’s main drag.

    COD 5dn LIKE A SHOT – no surprise hereabouts as IKEA is our sponsor after all!

    WOD 1ac CHINCHILLA and not 22ac LEDERHOSEN!

    If you wish to revisit the basics of cryptic clues etc might I recommend ‘Puzzled’ by David Astle, from People Books, 2012. Actor Geoffrey Rush called Astle, ‘The Sergeant Pepper of Cryptic Crosswords.’

    My congratulations go to The Mayfield Two: Emma & John

  9. A sleepy 40 minutes, slowly savouring each morsel before digesting the solution and committing it to its rightful place in the grid.
    A little surprised to see IKEA showing up, but then why not. Will keep an eye out for ASDA or TESCO showing up any day now.
    Thank you Trelawny and AsdarteDon

    Edited at 2020-12-28 09:14 am (UTC)

  10. 14 minutes, so no doddle for me. I found the top bit hardest, and like others (but unlike our blogger) CHINCHILLA was slow to appear. LOI was HOE, FOI AGENT, COD KEEPER and WOD BROGUE. Thanks Astartedon and Trelawney, and well done themayfield2 on equalling their PB. My suspicion is that today won’t be the day that PoisonWyvern breaks his duck!
  11. I looked at this blankly for a minute or two but then started from the bottom and worked up and it all seemed to fall in. I would say that ‘Way to go’ is quite common these days for well done, probably more common than ‘cor’. Also I agree that Chinchilla is far from obvious. I only latched on to it once I knew it finished l?a. I do think after the disappointments of some of last week this was a proper quickie so thanks trelawney and astartedon.
  12. Dear Mr. Rotter, I concur. Will he even do it 2021 – I can’t get odds! And why the poison? Is this all a hoax!?

    On Edit! Suddenly it’s all over! Shock indeed, I suppose under 30 is the next hurdle.

    Well done Mr. Wyvern. What’s your poison?

    Edited at 2020-12-28 11:51 am (UTC)

  13. Mon, 28 Dec 20

    FOI: 22a LEDERHOSEN
    LOI: PIAZZA

    30 Minute Mark: 12
    Time to Completion: 42:32
    Time before use of aids: 30 mins

    Total Answered: 24/24

    Let me pick myself up off the floor. My first QC completion! This was a relatively easy one, at least for me, though there were some answers I did struggle to get, resulting in my use of the Chamber’s Crossword Dictionary. 11a FLATTERY was an example of this. Yet when I saw this word it became very obvious as to why it was so. Another example was 8a BROGUE.

    What a great start to the week!

    3. That is so good to hear!

      You are a shining example of why we do these blogs. I am sure they will now get much easier for you much more quickly. If you know you can do it once, you know you can do it again, and before long you will know you can do it every time.

      You must feel exactly as I felt when I first managed to complete a 15×15 probably all of 40+ years ago. A sort of quiet ecstasy. No Quix available in those days of course, and certainly no blogs, just a daily grapple with the grid followed by reverse-engineering of the clues by checking the answers the next day accompanied by much head-slapping and dropping of pennies. But steady and sure progress once the footholds were in place.

      All the best

      Don

    4. Well, I’ll go to the foot of our stairs! You certainly proved me wrong PW, and I couldn’t be more delighted. Welcome to the Society of Bona Fide QC Solvers, where I hope you will be happy for many years. Boris does Brexit, and PW does the QC – what an end to a dismal year!
      1. Thank you therotter!

        I think you were the first person here to offer me advice and encouragement when I first came here, so your comments mean a lot to me. I am grateful to everybody here who has helped me and encouraged me, but it is your comments that I particularly like to read, as well as your QC summaries.

        Normally I give myself an hour to do these QC. but from 1st January I think I will abolish that 60 minute limit. I’ll spend an hour on it in the morning, and then return to it later in the day if needs be. The only minor issue I have with that is that the timer on the crossword will keep on ticking down. I wish it would pause when I close the browser window. Perhaps by getting rid of my self-imposed one hour limit, I might be able to complete more. Once I start to regularly solve the QC in under an hour, perhaps I can then re-introduce a timed limit.

        Thanks again to everybody who has encouraged me on this, and on my previous attempts. There have been times when I wanted to give up, but every time I read your comments on my QC attempts, I am greatly encouraged.

        PS> I always feel a little guilty when I use an aid, such as a Crossword Dictionary. Is that just me being silly?

        2. Use them while you need them. And then when you don’t need them any more throw them away! That day will come sooner than you think. You will reach a level where the cryptic is so clear to you that you know the word that you have deduced must be the answer even though you have never heard of it. As Sherlock said, once you have exhausted all other possibilities whatever remains, however unlikely, must be the truth. Or something like that.
        3. You can switch off the timer, in the top right-hand corner, by clicking on the three parallel lines.
          1. Hi.

            I think that just hides the timer, but it still runs invisibly. I am sure I had turned it off once before, and then when I turned it back one some hours later, there were some hours on it. I’ll try again tomorrow, perhaps I did not do it properly. Thank you for the tip.

    6. I’m genuinely please for you, Wyvern. We all make our own rules regarding timers, aids, breaks and limits. Print it out and save it, I did when I did my first one.
        1. As an additional well-earned feather in your cap, your breakthrough comes on a day when THIS so-called “expert solver” had a DNF. Congratulations ! Your next target should be to finish one without aids – you may need to allow longer, but you WILL get there, and will be able to take great pride in the achievement.
            1. Yes that’s what I do if I know I’m not going to beat my own record.

              Brilliant, PW, SO satisfying.

              Diana

    7. Congratulations! You’re by now very aware that everyone has been rooting for you. Glad it happened in 2020!
    8. Dear PW,

      Many congratulations and seriously well done on what I found a rather difficult day (50 minutes for me). I’m also pleased that you have decided to remove your self-imposed time limit. I did the same a couple of months ago and, without the pressure of time, I have finally started to solve the whole puzzle more reliably (although that’s still only about 50% of the time).

      Another tactic of mine is to pause when I get properly stuck – e.g. 10 minutes with no progress at all (a frequent occurrence for me) – and to go and do something else entirely for a while. I’m amazed at how often I manage to solve the previously impossible clues, fairly quickly. Today, for example, I got really stuck on 15d (WAY TO GO), 1a (CHINCHILLA) and 2d (HORDE). However, after tackling some washing up and a stride to the greengrocer, their solutions popped into my head quite soon after I re-started. As I do it on paper, I don’t have the problem of the clock ticking on whilst I’m away.

      I hope your second (and third and …) complete solve comes soon – and please keep posting, as news of your daily battles are also motivating me to keep grappling away.

    9. PW, for some reason I’m being prevented from inserted this in the appropriate place underneath one of your later comments, but I gather that you are solving on-line with the timer running and I had not realised that before. Others have suggested you turn the timer off, which is good advice, but might I ask if you have considered printing the puzzle and solving on paper? I never solve on-line as it interferes with my thought processes, and having a clock running on the screen would be enough to shut my crossword brain down almost completely. I time myself only by noting down when I start and not looking at the clock again until I have finished. Certainly during the learning stages there is no reason to subject yourself to the pressures of exam conditions.
      1. Hi, and thank you for your comment.

        I do have a printer, but I’d need to subject myself to daylight robbery to use it. In other words, I need to buy myself some ink cartridges for it. But perhaps I should do that and try the paper solving method.

        Many thanks.

  14. Couldn’t see anything clearly today. The furry creature eluded me until l could work back up into the NW corner from below and there were too many other “doh” forehead slap moments. Still, the weather is foul and no time pressures so I may go and grapple with the weekend Jumbos now the little grey cells have been urged into life.
    Well done Wyvern, thanks setter and blogger.
  15. I just didn’t see CHINCHILLA until late in the game, I’m afraid. I found the top end very frustrating (apart from NIGERIA and HOE) so I began from the bottom and made slow progress. Given crossers, the top was finally completed – with audible groans. I was outside my target but managed to avoid the SCC. My dull brain must be a consequence of too much good living over the past week. Perhaps a fast will remove the extra insulation from body and brain. COD was LIKE A SHOT but I also enjoyed HOWLER, FIREBRAND, and PROHIBIT. I disliked WAY TO GO which I only saw after the W and the two Os were available. Thanks to Trelawney and Don. Roll on tomorrow…. John M.

    Edited at 2020-12-28 01:14 pm (UTC)

  16. Right on 8 minutes so obviously no real problems but 1 ac prevented a faster time. I’m with plusjeremy on last two in – chinchilla then hoe.
  17. The chinchilla only emerged very late for me after Australia and Argentina were dismissed. On the country theme my FOI was NIGERIA; my LOI was HORDE where I needed the CHINCHILLA.
    COD to HOWLER. But there were other good ones. Tricky Trelawney today. Took me 10:28.
    David
    PS congrats to Wyvern for the completion of a demanding puzzle.
  18. Enjoyed this one. CINCHILLA, HOE and LEER LOsI.
    Liked LEDERHOSEN, FIREBRAND.

    FOI PIAZZA

    Thanks, Don and solvers. Just right today.

    Edited at 2020-12-28 01:04 pm (UTC)

  19. A very enjoyable puzzle…
    … finished in a bit over 8 minutes, and for me a perfect example of a well-crafted QC. FOI 8A Brogue – I’m pretty sure we have had Brogue relatively recently – and LOI 1A Chinchilla.

    Something of an international feel with 12A Eclair, 20A Piazza and 22A Lederhosen. All I think well enough understood in English, even if Piazza is possibly still seen as a foreign word and Lederhosen probably so. Which leads to a question – are there any rules for how well assimilated a word has to be before it is fair game in a Times crossword?

    Congratulations to PW on completing the puzzle, and smashing the hour mark to smithereens to boot! Great stuff. And thanks to Don for the blog.

    Cedric

  20. My congratulations to anyone, Astartedon included, who had Chinchilla as their FOI. After a brief dabble with -rest/ease- I wisely decided to pass and move on. The rest of the grid seemed far more accommodating, but I thought I was stuck before 2d, Horde, finally unlocked Chinchilla. CoD Like a Shot, Flattery and Firebrand then fell like dominoes to give me a satisfying 17min solve. Lots to enjoy today from Trelawney, who we surely need to see more often in 2021. Invariant
  21. And if it had not been for the crossing of Chinchilla, Horde, Hoe and Brogue that would have been a 20 minute finish! But that NW corner stumped me for a good 10 minutes and required a dictionary to assist with the elusive word for desire. The rest fell it to place after that.

    A very enjoyable Monday morning puzzle all in all

    FOI 3D Nigeria
    LOI 8A Brogue
    COD I rather liked 9A Keeper, as I was expecting it to be a footballers name and was prepared for it to go in last when the penny dropped!

    Thanks Don and Trelawney. Congrats PW!

  22. After swiftly passing on 1ac at first glance, I adopted the IKEA method of snaking around the grid until I found my way back to the beginning – all completed in a satisfying 20 mins.

    A nice start to Crimbo Limbo (apologies to anyone who hates that term) from Trelawney.

    Didn’t have an issue with “Way to go!”, although I can’t decide whether it’s an American expression or not. Not sure whether an eclair is a rich dessert either.

    FOI – 3dn “Nigeria”
    LOI – 1ac “Chinchilla”
    COD – 16ac “Prohibit”

    Thanks as usual.

    1. I like the ‘IKEA method’. A good description. I’m sure I will use it in future because it describes a frequent approach of mine so well.* John
      * Including getting lost frequently on my way round……

      Edited at 2020-12-28 11:52 am (UTC)

  23. Hear, hear! Excellent second usage of the Swedish!

    ‘The Wyvern Way’ is new too. At this rate he’ll be under ten minutes by Easter! I think he’s Verlaine in disguise.

    1. The V in Poison Wyvern made me think, ages ago, that he was an anagram of Verlaine. Just shows how good I am at spotting anagrams. Congratulations to him. 15:37 for me today for a very nice QC. kap
  25. Not as easy as Astartedon makes out IMO, but not too difficult either. In other words a perfect QC. Struggled at first to get a foothold but once started all done and parsed in 14 mins for a relaxing Monday morning coffee break.

    FOI – 12ac ECLAIR
    LOI – 11ac FLATTERY
    COD – 5dn LIKE A SHOT

    Thanks to Trelawney and Astartedon and many congratulations to PW.

  26. Yes I got that one, Don!

    Trivial fact: there’s only one “rope ” on board a Tall Ship: the “Bell Rope”

    But I thought that “proper names” such as IKEA weren’t allowed? If they are, surely there’s nowhere to stop. And it could be described as advertising.

    A good and enjoyable puzzle.

    Diana

  27. An enjoyable puzzle but I didn’t find it as easy as some. My simultaneous LOIs were CHINCHILLA and HORDE and they didn’t arrive in my brain until 20 minutes had elapsed between this pair and my FOI, BROGUE. Very much liked CHINCHILLA, though. I think it took me so long because I was trying to find a 10 letter country that ended in “- H * L * A” . Duh. In fact, I liked lots of clues today, including LEDERHOSEN and FIREBRAND. Thanks so much, Don, for your blog and thanks too to Trelawney
  28. Thank you.

    “Why the poison?”

    I chose the name Poison Wyvern as I play a game on my Xbox called Ark Survival. It’s a survival game where you are marooned in a land on which dinosaurs and mythical creatures live. One such creature is the wyvern, of which there are various types, including Crystal, Fire, Lightning and Ice. But my favourite wyvern, indeed my favourite creature in the game, is the Poison Wyvern.

  29. It took me a while to see 1a too. BROGUE was my FOI. HOE took a while. I spotted NIGERIA quickly though. The rest of the top half was completed in short order, although HORDE took ages to emerge from the mists of the seasonal overindulgence. The rest went in without further ado and I stopped the clock at 8:47. Thanks Trelawney and Don.

Comments are closed.