Quick Cryptic 2987 by Peridot

Author   BletchleyRejectPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

 

I’m perhaps chancing it here, but I don’t think there will be too many complaints about the difficulty level of this puzzle. This is Peridot’s fourth appearance and his first in almost six months. An anagram of the Peridot pseudonym gives a clue as to the setter’s real identity as alluded to here in the comments section of the TfTT blog for QC 2708, Peridot’s second puzzle; scroll down about 15 comments to see  johninterred’s post and the next few following it.

As usual, I was slow getting 1a after becoming stuck on ANTI for ‘opposing’ but otherwise there weren’t many headscratchers to delay progress. No cryptic defs, for which again no complaints from me.  Favourites were the image of our alcoholic friend luxuriating in the bubble bath at 19a and the other nationalist party that wasn’t at 18d.

All finished in 6:18.

Thanks to Peridot

Definitions underlined in bold, deletions or letters in wordplay not appearing in answer shown by strikethrough.

Across
1 Voice opposing general drift (12)
COUNTERTENOR – COUNTER (‘opposing’) TENOR (‘general drift’)
8 Mediterranean country turning in waybill (5)
LIBYA – Reverse hidden (‘turning in’) ‘wAYBILl‘
9 Social circle in crib by lake (7)
COTERIE – COT (‘crib’) ERIE (‘lake’)

This word seems to me to be used more often in the sense of a group of people or faction working together to a particular end. The dictionaries however emphasise the “exclusive of other people”, or clique aspect.
10 Either way round, she’s in order (3)
NUN – A palindrome (‘Either way round’) of a woman in an ‘order’ or religious community

A three-letter answer containing only two different letters but such a good clue. As well as the religious group meaning, the letter sequence and the tidy or organised senses of ‘order’ can also come into play in the surface reading.
11 Returned copies evaluated and split up (9)
SEPARATED – Reversal (‘returned’) of APES (‘copies’) then RATED (‘evaluated’)
13 Authority in charge of football international lacking conviction (5)
FAINT – FA (‘Authority in charge of football’) INT (‘international’)

See below…
14 Half-hearted kidder’s upset and annoyed (5)
IRKED – Anagram (‘upset’) of KIDDER (‘Half-hearted kidder’)
16 Wasted an age with ease in waters off Greece (6,3)
AEGEAN SEA – Anagram (‘Wasted’) of AN AGE EASE
17 Post Office making U-turn after small concession (3)
SOP – Reversal (‘making U-turn’) of PO (‘Post Office’) following (‘after’) S (‘small’)
19 Place for soak that’s squiffy, into bubbly? Not half (7)
BATHTUB – Anagram ((‘is) squiffy’) of THAT contained in (‘into’) BUBbly (‘bubbly not half?’)

The ‘is’ in the parsing from the apostrophe s in ‘that’s’.

Great surface; all the while sipping on the champers.
21 Train diagram covering the country (5)
INDIA – Hidden (‘covering’) in ‘TraIN DIAgram‘
22 Scorned shiny fragments pulled together (12)
SYNCHRONISED – Anagram (‘fragments’) of SCORNED SHINY
Down
1 Punctuation mark that’s part of tract (5)
COLON – Double definition

Another good surface, suggesting a different type of ‘tract’ entirely.
2 Lacking flexibility, not stopping to take in Britain (9)
UNBENDING – UNENDING (‘not stopping’) containing (‘to take in’) B (‘Britain’)
3 Last train can’t break down crossing pond (13)
TRANSATLANTIC – Anagram (‘break down’) of LAST TRAIN CANT

Requires a lift and separate of the ‘can’t’ and ‘break down’, which the surface reading discourages.
4 I creep around to get set of instructions (6)
RECIPE – Anagram (‘around’) of I CREEP
5 Former name given to one country’s destruction (13)
EXTERMINATION – EX (‘Former’) TERM (‘name’) I (‘one’) NATION (‘country’)

Nothing to do with Persia, Siam, Rhodesia etc which was my first thought.
6 Row, expelling hot air at regular intervals (3)
OAR – hOt AiR (‘expelling hot air at regular intervals’)

I think crossword land is the only place I’ve come across OAR as a verb.
7 Maiden over fixed (6)
MENDED – M (‘Maiden’) ENDED (‘over’)
12 Picks up date in Rome to join party? (4,5)
TAKE SIDES – TAKES (‘Picks up’) IDES (‘date in Rome’)

Another good surface. I’d always thought that the Ides was the 15th day of all Roman months but my browser “AI Overview” tells me the Ides corresponded to the rise of the full moon and fell on the 13th day of the month in all months except March, May, July and October.

Not as good as “Thirty days hath September…” but:

In March, July, October, May
The Ides fall on the 15th day.
(Thanks to the Vindolanda Tablets Online website for a slight variation on that one.)

So not today then.
13 Meat wrapped in iron — a match needed for this dish? (6)
FLAMBÉ – LAMB (‘Meat’) contained in (‘wrapped in’) FE (‘iron’)

Not that it matters for entering the answer into the grid, but the usual dictionaries all have the accented FLAMBÉ(E) spelling and don’t give the unaccented spelling.
15 I very much exclude feature of weather map (6)
ISOBAR – I (‘I’) SO (‘very much’) BAR (‘exclude’)
18 Half of nationalist party in tartan (5)
PLAID – PLAID CYMRU (‘Half of nationalist party’)

No, not the other ‘nationalist party in tartan’.
20 Attempt touchdown (3)
TRY -Double definition

80 comments on “Quick Cryptic 2987 by Peridot”

  2. 7 minutes, so second sub-10 following on from last week’s disaster. 1ac went in straightaway, which helped.

  3. Left at the end with the top and bottom clues and all the checkers and still needed a while to get to SYNCHRONISED where I only saw what ‘fragments’ was doing once I saw what would fit and then finally COUNTERTENOR with a thud as ‘voice’ made sense. Enjoyed FLAMBE, PLAID and loads of others. All green in 8.57.

  5. Undone by a half parsed effort in 11:31 with my NAN giving me a pink square. Should have fully parsed the obvious order.
    Two perfectly set QCs to start this week; that doesn’t bode well for later 🤔
    Cheers BR for the blog and for a gem Peridot

    1. My gran ordered a nan bread in her curry too. U was too far down the alphabet for me to consider it. Doh!

      2. That’s like the old Culture Club joke: what’s Boy George’s favourite curry? Korma Chameleon.

        I’ll get my coat.

  6. Nothing too testing apart from a user error on my part as I transposed the ‘m’ and ‘b’ in FLAMBE which made LOI BATHTUB tricky.
    Finished in 7.17.
    Thanks to BR and Peridot

  7. 8:42, I’m on a roll this week.
    Excellent comment about the Ides of May.

    LOI FAINT as couldn’t get REF (authority in charge of football) out of my mind. Soon the Government will appoint a Football Regulator, so they’ll be in charge then.

    COD TAKE SIDES

  8. Started very slowly – first across clue to go in was not until AEGEAN SEA – but for some reason almost all the downs were write-ins and when I returned to the acrosses they were much more straightforward second time round. All done in 9:46 and an excellent QC – as others have said, no obscurities or unusual tricks, just a very fine puzzle.

    Many thanks BR for the blog

    1. So pleased to see we were not alone! We, too, naively thinking we were on a roll after yesterday’s effort, had not entered a word until AEGEAN SEA. Things picked up from there. Delightful puzzle.

  9. Plaid means “party” in Welsh and so 18d is a double definition. “Half of Nationalist” is not needed but does it make it easier??

    1. I think if a word in a foreign language is used, there has to be an indicator, not so?

        1. Puzzled by “harsh”. The people aren’t foreign – they’re as British as we are – but to us English speakers the Welsh language is incontrovertibly a foreign language. Onid felly? Diolch!

  10. 11:11, which I blame on being up early, but also on wavelength. Overall an instructive puzzle for me.

    Many issues:
    1) My mind just wouldn’t consider ‘fragments’ as a verb.
    2) Didn’t know ‘squiffy’ = drunk, nor ‘sop’ = concession. Only knew ‘tenor’ = general trend very vaguely.
    3) ‘Crossing pond’ and ‘colon’ took ages.
    4) Is it just me, or does ‘picks up = takes’ seem a bit…loose? Vague? …Just me? Okay.

    1. Another sub 20 finish (18.45) but I admit to several Bifs and missed the frequently used “copies-apes” device. Considered FIA parsing FAINT for a moment before a DUH hit me between the eyes and I took my foot off the accelerator and kicked it into touch.
      Thanks Peridot and Bletch

    2. Picks up = takes did strike me as odd but I wouldn’t call it vague or loose, I’d say it’s literal to a degree we don’t usually see

  11. 17.12 Had nothing in until AEGEAN SEA and feared a return to the SCC. Happily, it was not to be.
    Spent way too long on LOI MENDED.
    NHO SOP and himself, a past rower of some note, frowned at OAR.
    So many clever clues. Great Puzzle.
    Thanks indeed to Peridot and to Bletchley Reject… we are now the full book on the Ides : )

  12. Both today’s and yesterday’s completed before 8:30! After a tricky run where I wondered if I was actually getting worse at cryptics (and from a very low starting point) it’s nice to have some encouragement!

  14. Very fast today. Had to think for a minute about FLAMBE and FAINT, LOsI, but otherwise found it a fun run.
    CNP BATH TUB, TAKE SIDES. Date in Rome, of course! Interesting blog there.
    FOI COUNTERTENOR. (Contralto not long enough). Liked ISOBAR, SOP, NUN, COTERIE, among others.
    Thanks vm, BR.

  15. Second gimme in a row, I’m expecting a toughie sometime this week. Well inside target at 6.06, but not as quick as yesterday’s, although it felt as quick. I solved all the down clues on first reading, so perhaps if I’d started on those instead of the across clues it may have been PB territory. I biffed RILED for 14ac and it was correcting this that cost me time. I think I had RIDDLE in the back of my mind as some way of parsing it, even though it doesn’t work.

  16. I came in a couple of seconds over my 10:00 target with LOI, 1ac, causing far more problems than it should.

    I’m with BP on COTERIE – in my mind a coterie implies a group that is very hard to get into that is constantly plotting against others, or at least talking about them behind their back.

  17. First thought that 1A would begin with CONTRA held me up slightly until I started with the down clues. A most enjoyable puzzle and blog. Thanks Peridot and BR.

  18. I think this was about the right level of difficulty. I solved from COLON to SOP in 6:16. My doh moment was having to read the blog to parse IRKED! I particularly liked the cluing for COLON, TRANSATLANTIC and PLAID. Thanks BR.

  19. 12:40 with a correction from NaN. Seems reasonable to me, nan/grandma is a “She” and Nan breads could be in your order down the curry house. Although I’d spell it naan but I’m sure I’ve seen it on here as nan.

    I don’t think it was that easy and COUNTERTENOR was my LOI with an “I’m not entirely sure” as it’s vaguely heard of.

    Thanks to BR and Peridot

  20. Took a little time to get BATHTUB and TAKE SIDES and biffed COTERIE and FLAMBÉ, but finished in 18:52, a rare sub 20 minutes for me.

  22. 12:59
    BATHTUB biffed but never parsed. My LOI, SYNCHRONISED, needed pen and paper to untangle.

    Thanks BR and Peridot

  23. Back to my usual times, just under an hour today, but an enjoyable puzzle. A few I couldn’t figure out from the word play, but the clues were very good. Thank you for the blog 🙂

  24. Thought I wasn’t on the wavelength at all – FOI the only obvious one, AEGEAN SEA – but eventually everything somehow went in (LOI FAINT), only COLON biffed, never parsed. Thank you, BR – sorry to be dense but still don’t get it: what kind of “tract”, please?

    1. Hello Martinů, The COLON is part of the gastrointestinal tract.

      1. Ah – you are so kind, BR! Ahem … I do see, almost TMI … but my knowledge and understanding of anatomy being nil, did need that extra bit of spoon-feeding. Thank you.

  25. 13 half-ish bifd pretty much all the west side except for countertenor and faint which considering that I had F A I x T says it all.

    Missed oar and India bizarrely.

    NHI coterie, I was there with cot but thinking tarn or pond.

    Thanks setter and blogger.

  26. 5:10. Pleasant puzzle. About an average time for me with a few giving pause for thought, which is as it should be for a good QC. LOI UNBENDING. COD to BATHTUB. Nice one. Thank-you Peridot and BR.

  28. I don’t get the rise of the full moon link. The moon has a periodicity of appropriately 28 days so how does that fit with the 13th and 15th of the Roman months? I’ll look it up….

    1. The Roman calendar (pre Caesar) was lunar, having 10 named months and a lot of odds and ends. Julius swapped to our present chaotic and wierd 12 mos based on the solar year. He knew that there are 365 and a bit days, and settled for the approximation of 365.25, leaving us 11 days adrift when Pope Gregory put us all right in 1582, with 365.2425 days, which is a bit closer but….
      “Beware the ides of March.” (William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar.)

  29. Absolutely hopeless – gave up with loads still to do. No idea why, they all look quite doable in retrospect.

  30. A nice quick completion today, biffed TAKE SIDES as the ides concept wasn’t seen, despite 15th March being my wife’s birthday! Enjoyed COUNTERTENOR as those with such a high voice range are often ignored!

  31. Harder than yesterday, this took me 14 minutes with LOI TAKE SIDES.
    But all was clear and well-clued.
    COD to NUN.
    David

  32. I had very few of the acrosses on first reading but the downs proved a good deal more tractable, leaving just a few to mop up at the end. All done in 14 minutes and all parsed except COLON. Oh that sort of tract – thanks BR.

    FOI – 8ac LIBYA
    LOI – 14ac IRKED
    CODs – 12dn TAKE SIDES and 15dn ISOBAR

    Nice puzzle – thanks to Peridot and BR

  33. Great effort by peridot, missed NUN- order trick, and inserted NAN without knowing why( unsuccessful biff)

  34. 6:07

    Mostly straightforward though paused on the last five letters of 1a and had to write out the letters of 22a. Another here that didn’t parse BATHTUB until post-completion.

    Thanks BR and Peridot

  35. I found it much easier than yesterday’s. Enjoyable (until a nuisance telephone call from a home insulation pest). Despite that, I stayed below 15 mins.
    Some nice clues and I parsed them all apart from BATHTUB and a stupid biff that gave me IONIAN SEA until I solved 2d and saw my error.
    Thanks to both.

  36. From COLON to ISOBAR in 5:05. Nice puzzle and Blog. Thanks Peridot and BR.

  37. A few curious general knowledge was needed to fully parse – countertenor, plaid, try
    Thanks to our blogger.

  39. Good QC this. All green in 9.32. Took a while to get going with FOI RECIPE and then was stalled with some bad attempts at spelling the Greek sea. COD NUN.

    Thanks all

  40. Well, that was an interesting solve. There were quite a few clues I wouldn’t like to come across on a dark night alone, that suddenly dropped into place with the help of some friendly crossers. Definitely a biff then try and parse type of solve, so not quite as quick as others found and consequently I had to scramble for a seat at the back of the coach. Loi Countertenor was a pdm after poi Unbending finally ruled out a Con- start. CoD to the well hidden, but thoroughly explored, India(n) rabbit hole. Invariant

  41. Another nice test for this week, both today and yesterday being very enjoyable. Thanks to Bletchley Reject for the “ides” information, I had only associated it with March and Julias Caesar! Thanks also to Peridot for a very well pitched QCC.

  42. A proper QC, and two passes did the trick -helped by my LOI being the only down clue not cleared on the first bash, and even there I’d entered “ination”.

    FOI LIBYA
    LOI EXTERMINATION
    COD BATHTUB
    TIME 3:44

  43. 13:24

    Nothing to worry about here. Had to check the spelling of AEGEAN as my first attempt was a letter short. I was slow to spot the hidden INDIA which is annoying as hiddens are one of the first things I look for. That then gave me EXTERMINATION and finally the not fully parsed COUNTERTENOR.

  44. 7:33. nothing to be worried about here – a nice level of difficulty for a Tuesday!

  45. A perfectly pitched QC, IMO. Interesting, varied, sufficiently challenging and achievable by a moderately competent solver in the time it takes to drink a mug of coffee. If Peridot and Trelawney (yesterday) can achieve it then so can the other setters …. if they put their minds to it. Just 18 minutes, so a rare day out from the SCC for me.

    LIBYA, COTERIE, NUN, COLON and RECIPE were my FOsI, but I struggled with three of the four long clues. EXTERMINATION was the exception and it provided several useful checkers lower down.

    I had FAINT written in faintly for quite a while, as I was unsure that it really meant lacking conviction. COUNTERTENOR was my LOI, as it took a while for that meaning of tenor to click.

    Many thanks to BR and PERIDOT.

  46. 12.56 I entered RECIPE as RRECIE which snarled up the NE for a good while. Fortunately I checked the anagram and corrected AUGEAN SEA. Which brings to mind holidays on British beaches. SYNCHRONISED was slow at the end. Thanks BR and Peridot.

  47. 8:30. Like Mr RandomChap I had trouble equating FAINT with lacking conviction and I needed the blog to parse BATHTUB. I note there were comments questioning the definitions of OAR and COTERIE but I think I have heard those words used in the senses here.

  48. Really liked this one. Took a while to see the hidden LIBYA and to parse IRKED, otherwise fairly plain sailing. COD NUN 😆 but also appreciated COLON for the misdirection. Had to double check spelling of AEGEAN. Many thanks Peridot and BR. Didn’t know about the ides not being in every month and like ‘In March, July, October, May…’ Very useful!

  49. Thanks to BR & Peridot.
    I was pretty quick on this (for me, not by others’ standards.) Pretty much top to bottom.
    1d Colon. Swiftly bunged in Comma 2OI, and after 8 second’s thought decided I wasn’t confident, as it’s unparsable. Left it 13a FAINT until 8a Libya rescued me about 8 seconds later.
    5d Extermination. I keep seeing those ghastly Daleks….
    6d Oar. Some verb. Some don’t. Wiktionary has the verb, “literary”, so OK then.
    POI 13d Flambe. There is some discussion about E acutes in the 15*15 which uses one today. That might help a bit if you come here before trying that, but only IMHO removes some worries that some solvers had over it. If it spoils your day then I apologise.

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