Times Quick Cryptic 2986 by Trelawney – one from the bottom

Author   KittyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Hi everyone.  Trelawney is a setter who knows how to keep the difficulty level in check, so I am expecting many happy campers today.

Perhaps because I could smell a PB in the air, I had a moment near the end when I forgot how to type and had to have a few goes at it … and then found I had inexplicably entered some rubbish into another of the entries.  So no record for me.  (Actually I was quite far off my best time because on checking my just-for-fun-and-the-love-of-stats spreadsheet I’ve been reminded that once upon a Trelawney I broke the 3 minute barrier.  My previous best had stood for so long I’d actually forgotten that!)

My award for Clue of the Day goes to the Hull resident in 12d, a cute definition which made me smile.  Thanks Trelawney!

Definitions are underlined in the clues below.  In the explanations, most quoted indicators are in italics, specified [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER.  For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.

Across
1a Carelessly put down cheap wine (5)
PLONK — We start with a double definition
4a Send away detectives and teacher (7)
DISMISS — DIS (DIs: detectives) and MISS (teacher)
8a Some squires ponder answer (7)
RESPOND — Some squiRES PONDer
9a Poets cooked pasta sauce (5)
PESTO — POETS anagrammed (cooked)
10a Very dark sports field beginning to let in support (5-5)
PITCH-BLACK — PITCH (sports field) + the first letter of (beginning to) Let in BACK (support)
14a Film a big tank by a tower, ultimately (6)
AVATAR — A + VAT (big tank) + A + toweR, ultimately
15a Almost sense an exotic bird (6)
TOUCAN — All but the last letter of (almost) TOUCh (sense) + AN
17a No central American nation accepts extremely peculiar award (5,5)
NOBEL PRIZE — NO + BELIZE (central American nation) takes in (accepts) the outside letters of (extremely) PeculiaR
20a Booze held back by predicament (5)
CIDER — This is contained backwards in (held back by) pREDICament
22a Praise, in an insincere way, is less exciting (7)
FLATTER — Two definitions
23a English nap — back to front — most relaxed! (7)
EASIEST — E (English) + SIESTA (nap) with its last letter moved to the beginning (back to front)
24a Planet hater gets confused (5)
EARTH — HATER is anagrammed (gets confused)
Down
1d Component of snare turned over (4)
PART — TRAP (snare) reversed (turned over)
2d Expel leader abandoning medieval event (4)
OUST — The first letter is leaving (leader abandoning) jOUST (medieval event)
3d Kenya’s leader currently with one lanky smart alec (4-2-3)
KNOW-IT-ALL — Kenya’s initial letter (leader) + NOW (currently) + I (one) + TALL (lanky)
4d Take off edges of drainage tube (6)
DEDUCT — Exterior letters of (edges of) DrainagE + DUCT (tube)
5d Drain liquid from a tree (3)
SAP — A double definition
6d Example of fashionable posture (8)
INSTANCE — IN (fashionable) + STANCE (posture)
7d Supplying baby’s beds upset monarch (8)
STOCKING — COTS (baby’s beds) reversed (upset) + KING (monarch)
11d Prehistoric period began with zero struggles (6,3)
BRONZE AGE — BEGAN with ZERO is anagrammed (struggles)
12d Hull resident ran cable haphazardly? (8)
BARNACLE — An anagram of (… haphazardly) RAN CABLE.  Resident on the hull of a ship.  Chambers defines the barnacle as “a cirripede crustacean that adheres to rocks and ship bottoms” (and cirripede is now my WOD!)
13d Island pub awful, so heading north (8)
BARBADOS — BAR (pub) + BAD (awful) + SO going upwards (heading north)
16d Academic exposed City to make money (6)
PROFIT — PROF (academic) + cITy without its outer letters (exposed …)
18d Kerfuffle starts to seem terribly insignificant really (4)
STIR — Initial letters of (starts to) Seem Terribly Insignificant Really
19d Principal part of the foot (4)
ARCH — Another double definition
21d Regularly arouse regret (3)
RUE — Alternate letters of (regularly) aRoUsE

88 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 2986 by Trelawney – one from the bottom”

  1. I always love a Trelawney. I wasn’t super quick, mainly because I solved on the phone today and took the time to parse each response fully.

    I also enjoyed BARNACLE – it took a few letters to see it. As a leisure mariner, I should have spotted it sooner!

    Pi ❤️

  2. A typically enjoyable puzzle from Trelawney.
    Started with PLONK and finished with BARBADOS in 4.57 with COD to BARNACLE.
    Thanks to Kitty

  3. Not that I race at QCs, but it was nice to finish within 10 minutes again after last week’s disaster.

    I wondered briefly whether ‘supplying’ was quite the same as STOCKING but presumably if a trader stocks an item they will supply it to someone so it’s fair enough.

    Like others, I enjoyed BARNACLE, and EASIEST was good too (parsed after I had stopped the clock).

  4. 6:21 for the solve! I rather let myself down on the last Trelawney QC by recording 9+mins (he said wryly) so today was a return to form – with this being the 4th sub-7 puzzle from the Squire of this year.

    As I put in BARNACLE, I marvelled at Trelawney’s ability to come up with QCs which are fast yet have lesser-used words or clueing. NOBEL-PRIZE was quick yet not the easiest construction involving Belize, KNOW-IT-ALL similarly. PLONK is another and wouldn’t spring to mind.

    Thanks to Kitty for the blog and to Trelawney

      1. The only way I’ll ever achieve that is to do the QC whilst Im on the run.

      2. Just three Saturday QCs under 10mins this year but I missed a trick on Jan25th when I didn’t go to parkrun and we had a Trelawney puzzle (6:09).

  5. A rare sub 10 (9:13) today. Not completely BIFD but most definitely Half Parsed Efforts for easiest and toucan. PDM on reading the blog for siesta and touch (should have spotted both tbh) so thanks Kitty for explaining and Trelawney for a well set puzzle. COD profit with a strong nod to the Hull crew.

  7. Like NOBEL PRIZE and the canny BARNACLE for a sub 20 min 17.30. EASIEST semi Biffed as I saw there was a Siesta involved somewhere. Thanks Kitty and Trelawney.

  8. 8.33, a nice puzzle with a few wily ones, CIDER LOI, thanks Trelawney and Kitty.

  9. 20 in 30 minutes, stalled in the SW corner apart from Nobel Prize an rue. Missed deduct.

    Happy Monday all.

  10. 9:30 for this enjoyable puzzle, only really held up by the SW corner where I was slow to see BARBADOS, being convinced that the word “awful” in the clue meant an anagram was required, and EASIEST, a very nice clue indeed which required a bit of thinking to parse.

    Thank you Kitty for the blog.

  11. Also slowed down by the SW corner. Wrote in EASIEST before PDM. Knew it had to be CIDER, but brain ridiculously slow to see the reverse hidden. COD BARNACLE. Thanks Trelawney and Kitty.

  12. Just over 20 minutes to do this entertaining puzzle. LOI BARBADOS/EASIEST.

  13. Nice quick puzzle. COD BARNACLE. Also liked TOUCAN, NOBEL PRIZE, EASIEST, and AVATAR, among others.
    Rather a lot of biffing then parsing today. Good to start the week so well. LOI CIDER, also missing the hidden at first.
    Thanks vm, Kitty.

    1. 10:47, as fast as it gets for me. No real holdups, just had to come back to part and plonk at the end.

  14. 3:49. Very friendly. All but 10A and 23A went in on a first pass. I liked the “Hull resident”. Thanks Trelawney and Kitty.

  15. Perfect friendly QC – thank you, Trelawney as so often. SW corner held out longest; LOI CIDER. Liked the Hull resident, Liverpudlian, Mancunian, BARNACLE!
    Never quite sorted out the support in BLACK – support can be so many things. Thank you, Kitty.

  16. I managed 6:45 today, so (for me) quick but not blistering. I agree, BARNACLE definitely COD.

  17. 10:21
    A fast start, slowed down by the SW corner. EASIEST was my LOI.
    Like nearly everyone else, BARNACLE is my favourite clue today.

    Thanks Kitty and Trelawney

  18. Just repeating what everyone has said: nice crossword indeed, with COD BARNACLE, and EASIEST getting close.
    Thanks Trelawny and Kitty (esp for cirripede!)

  19. 4:39 which is just about as fast as I can go! A lovely puzzle to start the week with yet another commenter awarding COD to BARNACLE. Thanks Kitty

  20. A good QC. I went through most of it very quickly and expected a record finish (I am usually on Trelawney’s wavelength).
    However, I came to grief in the SW. BARBADOS took me much longer than it should have done and I kicked myself for not seeing CIDER immediately. EASIEST was a clever clue but held me up for a while and I groaned when I finally entered my LOI BARNACLE (great clue).
    So, the door of the SCC was ajar when I finished (my slowest Trelawney for many months). My fault, though.
    Thanks to both.

  21. 4:06 for a pretty smooth solve. Not sure why PITCH-BLACK just wouldn’t come to me until all the checkers were in place.

    Liked BARBADOS and BARNACLE.

    Thanks Trelawney and Kitty.

  22. A very pleasant puzzle, with BARNACLE also raising a smile here. From PLONK to EASIEST in 6:01. Thanks Trelawney and Kitty.

  23. Just back from holiday in Madeira and glad to get back to the QC. Not as challenging as the landing approach to Funchal. Also liked the Hull resident. Just right for a QC

    Thanks Kitty and Trelawney

  24. 23:07. Agree with Kitty and everything above including the COD.
    Missed the reverse hidden of course.
    Thanks both.

  26. A very easy start to the week courtesy of the squire, and I finished in 5.22. I would have been under five minutes if I hadn’t tried solving 12dn whilst looking at the available space in 13dn, and initially being up in Yorkshire when I should have been on board a boat.

  27. 12 mins…

    Can’t really add much more that hasn’t been said – a good, enjoyable Trelawney QC. I particularly enjoyed 3dn “Know-it All”, 23ac “Easiest” and my COD 12dn “Barnacle”. The ‘cable’ element of 12dn reminded me that Hull used to have its own dedicated communications network, which was separate from BT. Not sure if that’s still the case, but the telephone boxes used to be white if I rightly remember.

    FOI – 4ac “Dismiss”
    LOI – 16dn “Profit”
    COD – 12dn “Barnacle”

    Thanks as usual!

  28. After a run of puzzles where I was close to getting out of the SCC, but the last few clues pushed me back to my usual time, this puzzle is the first time I’ve been able to do a sub 20, with 18 minutes! I’m expecting to go back to my usual times tomorrow though 😁 Enjoyed BARANCLE a lot, and my LOI was EASIEST, though couldn’t parse it. Thank you for the blog today.

    1. Congratulations! Sure we must have met many times then, in the SCC. Such a nice feeling to breathe the outside air… we, too, do so infrequently enough that it still seems very fresh. : )

    2. Congratulations. In my first month of solving I had a 30min Trelawney and followed it a few days later with a 24min Hurley. It then took me another 5 months to get under 20mins!

      1. Thanks to all 3 of you for your lovely comments. Think I’ve been doing the QC regularly for 6 months now, and it’s always good fun. Learn new stuff every day which is a bonus too.

  29. 9:47. Nice to be under 10 minutes. LOI the PITCH of PITCH-BLACK because I wanted to put REC in somehow. COD BARNACLE, of course. Thanks Trelawney and Kitty

  30. A pleasant 15mins stroll, from Plonk to the (not so) Easiest – Siesta not being the first word for nap that comes to mind. CoD by a country mile to Barnacle, a clue that Haddock would no doubt describe as Blistering. Invariant

  31. 5:02

    Another ‘Hull resident’ fan here. Blasted through this gentle introduction to the week without too many pauses – PITCH-BLACK took a few moments to alight on the correct answer – was initially thinking REC rather than PITCH. I wondered too whether AVATAR might slow down a few.

    Thanks Kitty and Trelawney

  32. 5:52, happy but with a feeling I could have done better. COD joint BARNACLE/EASIEST, LOI AVATAR.

    DISMISS took far too long. My mental bank of teacher synonyms: SIR, PROF, DON, HEAD – was lacking.

    NHO PLONK = cheap wine.

    1. I think plonk might be an Australianism (because it was used by my father and his generation) that stemmed from soldiers in France in WWI: vin blanc = plonk. Whether that’s right or not it sounds like the way words evolve.

      1. I think I’d heard the vin blanc / plonk explanation before too, but am not sure it’s especially antipodean – my parents certainly used to talk about having a bottle of plonk with the Sunday roast, and that was way back when!

  34. I felt this was well-pitched and that I should be on for a fast time. However I was rather slow to see the quite straightforward DEDUCT, PITCH BLACK and FLATTER for some reason. All done in 18 minutes with everything parsed.

    FOI 1ac PLONK
    LOI 23ac EASIEST
    COD 12dn BARNACLE. Also liked DISMISS

    Thanks to Trelawney and Kitty.

  35. As others, a race away except SW. Held up by 11d until I realised that there is no such thing as the Nobel Price, memo to self – write more clearly.
    Excellent workout, thanks to both.

  37. 8 minutes. Good to get PLONK straight away which gave me confidence for the rest of the puzzle. I was pleased to be able to get a ‘Film’ at 14a that was more than just ET but have to thank the helpful wordplay. All green at the end, though I’ll own up to not having parsed the BELIZE bit of NOBEL PRIZE.

    Thanks to Trelawney and Kitty

  38. Approx. 25 minutes here. Slower than most above, but still quite fast for me. I might even have escaped the SCC had the SW corner not intervened. PROFIT, CIDER, NOBEL-PRIZE, EASIEST, BARNACLE (my CoD), BARBADOS and AVATAR (my LOI) all conspired to obstruct my progress later on.

    Still, I broke my (almost) 5-year streak and took several days off from the QC last week, but I came back refreshed and actually looking forward to the challenge today. I will do that more often in future, especially when the setters forget their target audience – which Trelawney never does.

    Many thanks to Kitty and Trelawney.

  39. 13:07

    A nice gentle start to the week. Pondered EASIEST for a while until I spotted siesta. LOI DEDUCT.

  40. 12.52 which, while a plod for many of you, was a joyous event for us. We are well-pleased with slow but sure improvement (‘small by small’ as a dear French friend would say… a phrase we have adopted with delight and one we feel better reflects usual reality).
    COD KNOW-IT-ALL for the multilayered construction
    Many thanks to Trelawney and Kitty.

    1. Small-by-small – how lovely! Anyway, it wasn’t a plod for you and that’s all that counts – congratulations 😊

  41. A very pleasant start to the week, coming in at 9:22 for my first sub-10 in a while (and that was probably a Trelawney too).

    Thank you for the blog!

  42. 8:17, fast for me. Buffed CIDER and EASIEST at the end for LOI BARBADOS.

    My employer makes an appearance at 5 down. Didn’t know definition of drain=SAP

    COD BARNACLE

  43. Very gentle QC today. COD BARNACLE for the surface. Thanks Kitty and Trelawney.

  44. 6.45 Mostly straightforward. BARNACLE was nice. LOI CIDER was biffed and parsed afterwards. Thanks Kitty and Trelawney.

          1. That’s a good point- I think it is a double negative. We’re taught either/or and neither/nor in school but I think in this case “No flies either” makes more sense. Having said all that, be assured there are no flies on curryowen!

  46. 6:14

    All been said: SW tricky, LOI EASIEST (ironically).

    Thanks Trelawney and Kitty.

  47. Both my wife and I had (separate) PBs today. BARNACLE was a very good clue.

    3’48”, thanks Kitty and Trelawney.

  49. 11:39 here. Agree with all of the above: I thought I was being clever looking for a sailor for the “Hull resident”. Ho hum.

    Thanks to Trelawney and Kitty.

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