QC 2945 by Mara

Author   MerlinPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Straight down the middle, nothing too easy or hard.

12:10 for me, nothing too bad. 1D was my LOI, and it still doesn’t seem quite right. Thoughts?

Definitions underlined in bold , synonyms in (parentheses) (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, other wordplay in [square brackets] and deletions in {curly} brackets.

Across
1 Forged art, say, is wrong (6)
ASTRAY – (ART SAY)* [Forged]

This clue almost works both ways, with either “forged” or “is wrong” being anagram indicators. I think “is wrong” is better for the defintion, though.
4 Object in white, moonstone (4)
ITEM – Hidden in white moonstone

Of all the words beginning with m that Mara could have chosen, why “moonstone”? Sometimes setters choices are very odd.
9 Rodent caught with the newfangled mechanical device (7)
RATCHET – RAT (rodent) + C{aught} + (THE)* [newfangled]
10 The blue canoe is new! (5)
OCEAN – (CANOE)* [is new]

“The blue” is more often the sky, but this quote from George Eliot has it both ways:

Where one may float between blue and blue.
Daniel Deronda
11 Fish netted by country working independently (9)
FREELANCE – EEL (fish) contained in FRANCE (country)

Originally referring to a mercenary in the Middle Ages, although no usage from before that great glamoriser of the chivalric time: Walter Scott in Ivanhoe.
12 Chestnut  tree (3)
BAY – Double def

The first relates to colours of horses, where “chestnut” and “BAY” are used as nouns. My sources tell me they are not the same, the difference lies in the black areas such as the ears, mane, tail, and lower legs. Chestnut horses, on the other hand, lack any black hair, presenting a uniform coloration across their body.

It goes on to say “For horse enthusiasts and professionals alike, understanding these differences is crucial.”
13 Engineer building tower, somewhat unfortunate if fell! (6)
EIFFEL – Hidden in “unfortunate if fel”

Sharper eyes than mine (thanks, Lindsay) point out that it’s not actually an anagram : (IF FELL)* [unfortunate].
15 Confirm the correctness of a time trial (6)
ATTEST – A + T{ime} + TEST (trial)
17 Punch   chest (3)
BOX – Double def
18 Ruin Ghana after moving from European country (9)
HUNGARIAN – (RUIN GHANA)* [after moving]

The “ruin” is the anagrist not the anagrind: see our Glossary if this makes no sense.
21 Vacate the French avenue (5)
LEAVE – LE (“the” in French) + AVE{nue}
22 Male factor, a reddish colour (7)
MAGENTA – M{ale} + AGENT (factor) + A

“factor” for an agent or a representative is not so common, but this is the original meaning, for example the Lord would send his factor to collect rents.
23 Desire  Shakespeare, say? (4)
WILL – Double Def
24 Sorted out and put away (6)
STORED – (SORTED)* [out]
Down
1 Somewhat sweet, is it? (1,6)
A TRIFLE – Double def

I struggled with justifying the “A”. But its meaning of “somewhat” always includes an A. And then for the second part, an “a” is needed in the answer to the question “Sweet is it?”.
2 19 things in the last edition, originally (5)
TITLE – First letters of “things in the last edition”

19 cross-references NAME below, hence TITLE.
3 Weakness and evil in Chelsea he condemned (8,4)
ACHILLES HEEL – ILL (evil) contained in (CHELSEA HE)* [condemned]

Although originally an ancient myth, only crops up in English in the early 19th century, notably by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
5 Quaver from soprano captivating musician, initially (7)
TREMBLE – TREBLE (soprano) contains M{usician}

I expect ex-choristers (like me) to query this. Although soprano and treble both sing the top line of choral music, sopranos are always female. Although in choirs “Treble” seems to always refer to boys whose voice hasn’t broken, the word treble is used for any of the highest ranges (eg treble recorder, treble clef).

So all sopranos are trebles (the reverse is not true), and in this clue that is what Mara needs.
6 Notes and coins one dropped in well! (5)
MONEY – ONE inside MY! (well!)

This is the exclamation of surprise.
7 School where sci-fi film is being shown? (4)
ETON – ET (sci-fi film) ON (is being shown)

Other schools are available.
8 Flat perhaps and neat, the last few yards (4,8)
HOME STRAIGHT – HOME (flat) + STRAIGHT (neat)

I blogged about HOME STRETCH last time, when the clue was RUN-IN. So I confidently entered it this time, but was a letter short.
14 Fix a lot with styling brush (7)
FOXTAIL – (FIX A LOT)* [with styling]

Actually made from soft, natural fibers like horsehair: name comes from its resemblance to a fox’s tail, both in shape and texture.

The ones I saw on Amazon look just like the brush that goes with a Dustpan.
16 Student finally drank a dodgy mug of beer (7)
TANKARD – {studen}T + (DRANK)* [dodgy] + A

I looked this up and was surprised to see that it was a “drinking-vessel, formerly made of wooden staves and hooped”, just like a mini barrel (capacity 4 pints!)
17 Elbow bent under (5)
BELOW – (ELBOW)* [bent]
19 Call chap up on phone, in the end (4)
NAME – NAM[=MAN (chap) reversed ] + phon{E}
20 Private investigator neatly nailing eccentric rogue, on all fronts (5)
INNER – Initial letters [on all fronts] of “investigator neatly nailing eccentric rogue”

75 comments on “QC 2945 by Mara”

  1. Hey Merlin you fell for the same 13ac trick as me, thinking ‘if fell’ is an anagram of EIFFEL – but it’s not. For a while I thought Mara had messed it up but actually the answer is a hidden. I never thought a BAY was a chestnut either. 10.16, held up by the two long downs, thanks to both.

  2. 12 minutes with no notes or comments on my printout. I recall a slight delay along the way thinking that the biffed ACHILLES HEEL was clued as a pure anagram and then realising that it couldn’t be.

  3. Like Lindsay and Merlin I solved EIFFEL as an anagram – and even doubled my Fs accordingly. More outraged by MAGENTA being a ‘reddish brown’ – I have only ever defined it as ‘Spectrum purple’. A most enjoyable puzzle, only five on the first pass of acrosses and felt like I was working quite hard without ever getting totall stuck – with the run of anagram, anagram, starting letters for TANKARD, BELOW and INNER helping a lot in the bottom half. Nice to see Merlin have to blog ETON (possibly again). All green in 11.30.

    1. On my iPad edition, MAGENTA is clued as “reddish colour”. Does yours say differently?

      1. Careless of me to use quote marks and not bother to get the quoted text right – magenta was still purple on a Spectrum though!

        1. I used to work for Deutsche Telekom (and T-Mobile), whose corporate colour is magenta. My sons were not impressed by the corporate merchandise (hats, towels, etc) that I occasionally brought home. “Dad, that’s pink!”.

          “It’s not pink, it’s magenta!” became a catch-phrase in our household.

  4. Nice puzzle that we finished in a sprightly 16.10, must be a PB for a Mara.

    We know a foxes tail as a brush and indeed Chambers has definition 5 for brush = a fox’s bushy brush like tail, I don’t think these are available on Amazon 😂 (is there a tonge in cheek emoji?)

    Thanks Mara and Merlin

  5. I was very slow to get going but once I tuned in everything fell into place in a rush, although I think I may have joined the distinguished club of those who assumed that EIFFEL was an anagram.

    Started with ATTEST and finished with A TRIFLE in 8.20 with COD to OCEAN, simply because I enjoyed the novelty of a clue that rhymes.

    Thanks to Merlin

  6. i loved 7 down. Eton crops up quite often but this is the nicest clue for it that I’ve ever seen.

      1. Eton is probably the most useful school in wordplay along with perhaps LSE (London School of Economics) but it doesn’t turn up so often as an answer in its own right as in today’s puzzle. As answers go, Harrow is also popular but of very limited use in wordplay.

  7. Completely undeserved MERs at Title (missed 19 in the clue) and Astray (anagrind is wrong rather than forged a definition)
    12:19 so happy with that.
    Laughed at the ‘chestnut’ which I must have come across before surely? COD 18a for a sublime surface, exact instructions and perfect définition 👏
    Cheers Mara and Merlin

  8. I liked the surface for 6d MONEY.
    Another one who fell for the EIFFEL non anagram, even spelling it EIFELL initially.
    All finished in 32:27.
    Thanks Mara. Informative blog Merlin.

  9. Back out running this morning after a 6 month lay off following injury sustained walking the Coast to Coast so the receptors were firing this morning helping to deliver a sprightly 7:45 and all green.

    Slow to get going with FOI ITEM and paused slightly at the end for last two in being A TRIFLE and finally 1ac ASTRAY despite it being a straightforward anagram. Thanks to Mara for hitting the QC brief nicely and Merlin for the write-up.

    Cheers

    Horners

  10. I made a real hash of solving Mara’s pleasant puzzle, well into the SCC. Several clues, especially BAY where I knew what was going on but couldn’t fight through the brain fog for ages. Lightbulb moment on MONEY, eventually. More coffee, waiter…. ETON, funnily enough, went straight in at “School… “ before I’d even checked how many letters were required!
    I’m not sure other schools are available, Merlin, at least not in Crosswordland, but thanks for the blog. In 4A I wondered if Mara was trying to get Opal in peoples heads as a lazy biff, but who knows. It was my first thought, soon discarded.

  11. I saw Forged as the anagram indicator for ASTRAY as well; it works much less well as the definition. Main hold-up was my perennial blind spot over how to spell ACHILLES, the pronunciation of which always tries to persuade me to spell it Achilees. But this time I resisted the urge for all green in 7:32.

    Thank you Mara for a very nice puzzle and Merlin for the blog.

  12. Eight so a reasonable result. SE corner solved

    A fox’s tail is called a brush but I’ve never heard of foxtail as a single word.

    As an ex time trialist (until I had a spinal cord injury incident in a time trial) 15a was interesting. Time trialist call themselves “testers” so I was playing around with that. I got stuck on “a test-er”. Being a dyslexic scientific type doesn’t help.

      1. Not so much painful as paralysing. My wife said I shouldn’t have been competing at my age but I was doing OK with the occasional age group win. I spent two months in the JR and seven months in rehab at Stoke Mandeville. Paraplegic now hence doing crosswords instead of out door activities.

        3. Nutshell, that sounds an incredibly long, hard and life-changing road to recovery, especially for someone formerly very active…

  13. I suspect the “brush” intended by Mara in 14d was as per Collins sense 5: “the bushy tail of a fox, often kept as a trophy after a hunt”.

    The two “ones” were my LTI, which is always a bit frustrating, and then I managed to fat-finger TRIFEE anyway so I was 07:31 but OWL. Grrr.

    Lots to like here; COD to FREELANCE from me, very good!

    Many thanks Mara and Merlin.

  15. Another EIFFEL here, would never had known about had I not read Lindsay’s comment. Struggled a lot with 1D (which Merlin mentions, but most others seem happy!) – this took me to just over 10′ for the solve.

    Some very nice clues in here – thanks, Mara, and Merlin for the blog.

  16. Never on Mara’s wavelength. FOI WILL which unlocked that little corner, then the NE corner fell in as well … and that was about it. Well a few more, but ended eight to the bad. Thank you, Merlin.

  17. Thanks to Mara for joining the group of setters taking the trouble to set a QC at an appropriate level. An immersive solve that I finished in 14.30 with A TRIFLE and ACHILLES HEEL to finish (I always leave the longer ones until I have crossers).
    I confess to almost biffing tremolo for 5d but, thankfully, failed to parse it.
    I enjoyed the puzzle and hope that the pleasure of the first two days continues for the rest of the week. Just like old times!
    Thanks to Merlin, too.

  18. I’m still a beginner at trying to solve cryptic crosswords but if I’ve calculated correctly nine different ananagram indicators in this puzzle. I need to try and spot those earlier.

    1. If one looks too hard you find indicators that aren’t there sometimes 🙂

      I’m also very much a novice. If I get to 10 it’s a very good day.

    2. There are several attempts to make a list of standard anagrinds (yes it is a real word!) – see for example https://cryptics.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_anagram_indicators – but their attempts to be exhaustive are doomed to fail as the list of words that can be used to indicate anagrams is almost endless and subject only o the setters’ imaginations, quirks and need to create a nice surface. It’s part of the fun of doing these puzzles to spot one you have not seen before …

  19. Steadily solved in 20 minutes. Another to put in EIFFEL thinking it was an anagram! Please can we ban ETON as a solution for any school clue?

    1. It no longer bothers me. At least it is usually an easy answer to slot in.
      I thought today’s clue was an imaginative (and new to me) variation.
      😉

  20. 17:59 here, for a leisurely solve post-breakfast. LOI today was OCEAN, where I missed the obvious anagram indicator and was obsessing over the fact that three of the words rhymed.

    Thanks to Mara and Merlin.

  22. I got a bit stuck on my last three: HOME STRAIGHT, STORED and LOI INNER. Just not getting the right nudges from the clues.
    Finished in 13 minutes, about my average.
    Another good QC I thought. No problem with A TRIFLE and COD to ETON, perhaps controversially, but I liked this novel variation.
    David

  23. 5:44

    Pretty quick all round, though didn’t notice that EIFFEL was a hidden – wrongly assumed from the clue that it was an anagram. Bunged in HUNGARIAN without much thought, MAGENTA needed that final A to see it.

    Thanks for the blog Merlin, and for the puzzle, Mara

  24. I never really built up a head of steam on this puzzle finishing in a disappointing 12.52. I note the times generally are pretty fast, so it was just a poor day at the office for me by the look of it. Biffing BRUNEL for 13ac didn’t help, but at least when I corrected it I didn’t fall for the false anagram, just for once seeing the hidden.

  25. Much enjoyed this crossword. Liked FREELANCE, HOME STRAIGHT, A TRIFLE, TREMBLE, among others. MONEY COD.
    At a race meeting you will see a horse designated as a chestnut or a BAY. Setters should not think they are synonymous for fear of a Stewards Enquiry.
    Yes, a fox’s tail is a brush.
    Thanks vm, Merlin

  26. Finished all correct at my usual leisurely pace. Much gentler than last week. Slow to spot the hiddens and 1d held out a little as I wasn’t quite sure of the parsing – thanks Merlin. I think initially I had the same concerns as you. We’ve had FREELANCE somewhere very recently so that went in straightaway. Quite liked FOXTAIL and ELBOW. Thanks Mara and Merlin (excellent blog as usual).

  27. Well I should have guessed you were blogging today Merlin from that school clue (one of the better ones)! I agree this was a middling QC. I solved steadily from TITLE to FOXTAIL/BOX. I needed all the checkers for HOME STRAIGHT though and initially got hawthorn and chestnut mixed up and bunged in mAY which was easily corrected when TREMBLE arrived. 8:01 for a middling day. Thanks Merlin.

  28. Another relatively straightforward puzzle. No doubt a stinker will arrive by Friday.
    Will be in good time for my croquet match 🙂
    Thanks Mara and Merlin

  29. Brain seems sluggish today. From RATCHET to TITLE in 10:07. Took ages to get started and then had to dart around the grid. Thanks Mara and Merlin.

  30. Mara demonstrates how to compile a QC. Other setters please take note.

    A rare outing from the SCC for me today, as I finished a minute or two before 20.
    My FOI was ASTRAY and my last was LEAVE. Slightly fortunate to spot the two long Down clues (ACHILLES HEEL and HOME STRAIGHT) with very few checkers to work from, but they provided good material to work from in the lower half of the grid. No agonising barren spells today, so an enjoyable experience all round.

    Many thanks to Merlin for the blog

  31. I agree with Merlin that this was, at heart, a straightforward QC. That didn’t stop me making a complete pig’s ear of it. If I say that two of my last half dozen were Item (!) and Bay, and that I needed an alpha-trawl for Trifle in order to get loi Freelance, you can perhaps understand why this was one I need to try and forget. Attest gets my CoD vote. Invariant

  32. 6’48” today, held up by FOXTAIL – is this a word? Like OXTAIL perhaps?

    I agree with Merlin that boy trebles are not sopranos, but the abbreviation SATB doesn’t recognise this.

    Thanks Merlin and Mara.

  34. 12a Bay, never thought of the horse so was foxed and biffed. Interesting that in the horsey world bay not=chestnut.
    Got 2d Trifle before the x-ref 19d Name, making the latter a write-in. But 19d took a bit of parsing. Odd really.
    5d TreMble, thanks Merlin for the lesson. I am no musician and need to get familiar with all the words used, even though it is rarely important to know what they mean! I put tremolo at first, but couldn’t parse it because it was wrong.
    COD 6d Money.
    14d Foxtail. I doubted the brush and both Wikipedia and Wiktionary don’t mention any brushes. As Merlin says Amazon knows about them. But a fox’s tail is called a brush, so that’s probably what Mara meant.
    Thanks Merlin & Mara.

  35. 11:28

    A very gentle puzzle. Failed to parse TANKARD, wasn’t 100% on BAY and had to think about LOI INNER before I saw how the clue worked.

  36. A relatively speedy 12:58, made longer by my inability to remember HOME STRAIGHT (not “stretch” as here at home) until I had enough crossers. TREMBLE was really good! and embarrassed me because I do a lot of singing as a “treble” in the American shape note tradition, so the wordplay ought to have been enough, but I needed the crossers to put me off “tremolo”. But my COD is the blue canoe.

    Thanks to Mara and Merlin.

    PS: I wondered about that white moonstone and looked for some sort of Wilkie Collins theme but didn’t find it.

  37. 13:12 with no errors. Along with Trelawney and Jimmy, Mara is one of my favourite setters. I usually seem to be on the same wavelength as all of them. FOI – ITEM, LOI – BOX, COD – CANOE. The only problem I have with ETON is I that I don’t like the way it is spelt (my surname is EATON – the correct spelling as far as I’m concerned). Thanks to Mara and Merlin.

  38. 24 mins…

    Had nothing in the NW corner to start, but made some headway in the NE and then worked around in a clockwise manner. Initially thought 5dn might be “Tremolo”, but I misread the clue.

    Merlin – aren’t there boy sopranos? I’m sure I’ve heard that term many times. Or does the fact you have to put “boy” in front of the term show it relates specifically to females?

    The straight forward anagrams of 1ac “Astray” and 24ac “Stored” took me an extraordinary amount of time to work out.

    FOI – 4ac “Item”
    LOI – 1ac “Astray”
    COD – 13ac “Eiffel” – kept me guessing right until the end.

    Thanks as usual!

    1. I want to know about the boy sopranos as well.
      Wiki tells me: The word “soprano” comes from the Italian word sopra (above, over, on top of), as the soprano is the highest pitch human voice, often given to the leading female roles in operas. “Soprano” refers mainly to women, but it can also be applied to men; “sopranist” is the term for a male countertenor able to sing in the soprano vocal range, while a castrato is the term for a castrated male singer, typical of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, and a treble is a boy soprano, whether they finished puberty or are still a child, as long as they are still able to sing in that range.
      So I’m not much wiser really.

  39. 17:58 for the solve. About a third of it going in during the last two mins and that includes 45secs trying to figure out A-TRIFLE from the checkers. Was reminded how poor my anagramming can be with an inability to unravel ASTRAY, SORTED, FOXTAIL despite spotting immediately it’s what the clues wanted.

    Thanks to Merlin and Mara

  40. Lots to like here. The Blue Canoe is New – very Dr Seuss! 😂.
    Many thanks to Merlin, Mara and Jason

  41. Exactly the same time as yesterday, 8:08, though I confess we didn’t pause long enough to notice that neither EIFFEL nor ACHILLES HEEL was a (complete) anagram. Similarly, our LOI TITLE, which we’d left until having done 19d, was entered before stopping to understand the clue. Thanks for putting us straight, Merlin, great blog as always and thank you too to Mara.

  42. 21 minutes mainly due to a slow start but I then came here and realised I hadn’t solved 20dn. I don’t think it would have held me up much though. Couldn’t parse money or Eiffel – the latter because I realised it wasn’t an anagram but completely failed to see the hidden.

    FOI-4ac ITEM
    LOI (except it wasn’t) – 20dn INNER
    COD – 9ac RATCHET

    Thanks to Mara and Merlin

  43. 9.24 I had to come back to the NW where only FREELANCE and ETON fell on the first pass. The rest was mostly straightforward. ASTRAY and TITLE were the last two. Thanks Merlin and Mara.

  44. 16m
    Sluggish from lack of sleep.
    Had to move around the grid to finish. Last 2 were eiffel and A trifle.
    COD Ocean.

  45. Quickest solve for some time, A Trifle and Freelance were the last in, thanks Mara for a pleasant puzzle

  46. 20 min finish. Held up by the easy Astray that then led to completing on Achilles Heel. Thanks Merlin and Mara

  47. 14:18. Held up by thinking DEAD STRAIGHT at first and then getting stuck on A TRIFLE.

  48. Another reasonable day, but I had an MER at A TRIFLE – I take Merlin’s point, but I don’t love the clue. I biffed MAGENTA and forgot to go back and parse it.
    As soon as I saw ETON, I thought: Oh no, Merlin won’t like that! Completely forgetting it was your blogging day, just to rub it in 😅 I mean, just for once, couldn’t setters just say ‘village near Windsor’ or ‘type of collar, or mess, or boating song’ if they’ve got to use those letters? Mind you, it still all comes back to the school.
    Nothing really stood out as COD but TANKARD did raise a smile.
    8:10 FOI Astray LOI Ocean
    Thanks Mara and Merlin

  49. 8.30. Should really have been faster. I did like the new slant on some old chestnuts (not bays) like ‘Eton’.

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