Times Quick Cryptic 1546 by Teazel

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

There are some great clues in here – with my appreciation of them and a very clever/fiendish (delete as appropriate) 21ac and 6dn long delay at the end left me in SCC territory at 16 minutes. Hat off to Teazel for a good cryptic workout.

ACROSS

1. Fielder’s success, perhaps, an unexpected difficulty (5)

CATCH – double definition.

7. A reduction on top is clearly superior (1,3,5)

A CUT ABOVE – a reduction on top (A CUT ABOVE).

9. Scottish youngster’s brain a little affected (5)

BAIRN – anagram (a little affected – so little it’s just the R which moves) of BRAIN.

10. Slash more antiquated energy store (9)

GASHOLDER – slash (GASH), more antiquated (OLDER).

11. Company, they say, that is part of network (3)

TWO – part of ne(TWO)RK.

12. Unusual relatives with many skills (9)

VERSATILE – anagram (unusual) of RELATIVES.

14. Pet in front of a barrier heard to yowl (9)

CATERWAUL – pet (CAT) in front of a homophone (heard to) of a barrier (a wall – ER WAUL). Not seen this before but it works.

16. Newt left as lake vanishes (3)

EFT – left with lake (L) vanishing l(EFT).

18. One given discretion to let spy out of prison (4,5)

FREE AGENT – to let spy out of prison (FREE AGENT).

20. Child receiving a second slice for breakfast? (5)

TOAST – child (TOT) receiving a second (A S).

21. Characteristic of a m-mark of respect (9)

ATTRIBUTE – a (A), stuttered mark of respect (T TRIBUTE). COD.

22. That man in drink gets discharge (5)

RHEUM – that man (HE) inside drink (RUM).

DOWN

1. Loaf, key element (6)

COBALT – loaf (COB – there are a lit of term for bread), key (ALT – on a keyboard).

2. Revellers’ options just before November (5,2,5)

TRICK OR TREAT – cryptic definition of this demand for sweets with menaces.

3. Good to enter royal house? It can be a headache (8)

HANGOVER – good (G) to enter royal house (HANOVER).

4. Mark on computer screen has one swearing aloud (6)

CURSOR – well, I suppose it is a mark on a screen – took me a while to see it though. Homophone (aloud) of one swearing – curser.

5. Sign of sainthood? Henry has nothing (4)

HALO – Henry (HAL) has nothing (O).

6. Man alone at the bottom in ravine (6)

GEORGE – alon(E) in ravine (GORGE). This could be a marmite clue – whilst I like marmite, I wasn’t a fan of this one.

8. Two A-levels I’d failed? A fanciful story (3,5,4)

OLD WIVES TALE – anagram (failed) of TWO ALEVELS ID.

13. Silver family of piglets, all shiny (8)

AGLITTER – silver (AG), family of piglets (LITTER).

14. Dress that’s loose at the back placed in metal container (6)

CAFTAN – at the back (AFT) inside metal container (CAN). Took some effort to prize apart this surface.

15. A meeting place in Broad Street (6)

AVENUE – a (A), meeting place (VENUE).

17. One beaten to motorway more than once (3-3)

TOM-TOM – To (TO) motorway (M) more than once (twice).

19. Like taking ends off (4)

AKIN – t(AKIN)g.

46 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1546 by Teazel”

  1. About 25 mins, but I had a late night watching A-Ha in Dubai, including a fair bit of red wine.

    Thought dress was spelled kaftan

    Loi caftan, akin, attribute.
    Cod akin.

  2. 9 minutes once again with little to add other than having ‘gasometer’ fresh in my mind from the other day I needed an extra second or two to come up with an alternative name for it.
  3. I thought this was a cut above the usual QC. Very 15×15. Excellent puzzlement from The Teazelman!

    FOI 1ac CATCH

    LOI 19dn AKIN

    COD 21ac ATTRIBUTE

    WOD 14ac CATERWAUL

    Did 8dn upset anyone?

    Time 8.45 mins.

    Edited at 2020-02-11 10:13 pm (UTC)

  5. I nearly gave up after 20 minutes with 1d still unsolved. I had got the wrong end of the stick thinking the key was C,then looking for an element and knowing COBBLER was a loaf; so Cobble possibly, a loaf with a slice off. However a rethink got me to COBALT and then I had to correct ECO, so TWO was LOI after 22:39.
    FOI was CATCH which I quickly crossed out to put Migraine at 3d. It was that sort of day.
    Well done Teazel for an excellent puzzle although the caftan raised an eyebrow.
    David
  7. … in my humble opinion. It took me more than twice as long as normal to get to the LOI (COBALT). I did finish it – I have to, these days, because I have set up a puzzlers’ group amongst my friends so I feel duty-bound to work my way through the crossword even if – like today – it’s above my brain grade…

    It’s not so much that there was anything unfair here – even 16 across (an eft?? A what???) was workoutable – it’s just that some of these clues were Very Hard.
    Lots of them were also really clever – I’m thinking of 7, 14 and 21 across and 2 and 17 down.
    I was led astray by NOVEMBER in 2 down , imagining that I was looking for a phrase that meant “just” immediately before a letter N.I liked 11 across but here, too (no pun intended), the misdirection had me looking for a homophone because of “they say”.
    I have three utterly subjective, and very tentative, nominations today for the Golden Raspberry award – 1 down,(too hard) 16 across (too obscure), and 6 down (too daft:technical cruciverbalist term). I accept that I am probably just being miserable.
    Thanks so much to Chris for the blog and thanks, too, to Teazel for frying my brain.

    1. Meadvale beat me to it re EFT, although I would have thought it most chestnutty in the NYT; ALT is something of a chestnut here, along with ESC for ‘key’, not to mention A-G; as for GEORGE, well, one gets used to these! Hang thee in there.
  9. EFT is the chestnut of all chestnuts; so much so that it is probably deliberately avoided by some setters and therefore maybe not familiar to relatively new solvers. I also thought CAFTAN should start with K but it didn’t hold me up – unlike other clues! I really struggled in the NW corner with TRICK OR TREAT, TWO and COBALT, my LOI. One day I’ll remember the ‘keyboard’ reference, but clearly not today.

    My thanks to Teazel and Chris.
    10’10”

    1. Thanks, Meadvale.I’ve only been attempting cryptics for two years or a bit less. I love them though and I am learning all the time.

      I see that eft is yet another chestnut to add to my bag of conkers.

  10. Exactly one second over my upper 15 minute target, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. No problem with EFT, remembered from pond safaris at junior school, or with COBALT (elemental!), and any east-midlander will be familiar with COB, and ALT for key is an old chestnut. I did raise my eyebrows at CAFTAN instead of KAFTAN, and stumbled over the long-forgotten GASHOLDER. My LOI was AKIN, but only because it was the last clue looked at. Thanks Chris and Teazel – great fun.

    Horrid, are you still in lockdown? I think of you every time there is an update on the news re the virus, which is all the time.

    1. Dear Rotter, Yes, self-imposed quarantine is des rigeurs. I haven’t been out for three weeks. One of local supermarkets has been closed yesterday as a bloke from Wuhan tested positive – everywhere demands one’s temperature apparently (taken with a ‘pen’ on the wrist. A few shortages especially masks – we received 5 from ‘The Management’ and ten from friends in London. (Thanks Finky & Takeaway).

      It is noteworthy that this ‘flu season’ in America just short of 200,000 and deaths have just topped 10,000. That’s five percent. Here it is about 2.1%. Keep out of New Hampshire – big crowds!

      The Brit. Gov. is advising return to UK. But my American doctor says ‘hunker-down’. I am very busy writing at the moment so no inconvenience as long as the computer VPNs stay active.

      A question to you. From where in the East Midlands do you hail? – my home patch too (Boston, Sleaford, Godmanchester). Leicester is my guess?

      Thanks for your concern. Much appreciated.

      horrid & Lockdown Lil’ (Shanghai Lil’ as was and ‘her outdoors’!)

      Edited at 2020-02-11 12:07 pm (UTC)

      1. Glad to hear you are OK, and good luck for the future. You are about right with Leicester. I was born in Nottingham, but spent my youth in Leicester (Gateway Boys anyone?), before running away to sea when 17. After a career or two in the Royal Navy, and one or two in the IT industry (both supply and demand sides) I am now retired and living in Surrey with Mrs Rotter.

        Best wishes to anyone else caught up in this virus epidemic (thankfully not yet a pandemic).

  11. Thought this was a nice puzzle and – for me – went quite quickly through it once I got a start, but totally failed to see the man in the ravine, although now I fail to see why not. Annoying DNF on an otherwise good day.
    Plymouthian
  12. Two sittings for this so no time, but there was a lot of it. Off the mark immediately with FOI 1a. LOI GEORGE which needed an alphabet trawl. Come across EFT in a concise but never heard it used IRL.
  13. ….A CUT ABOVE some QC’s, but the clueing was completely above board, and I was comfortably within my time limit (I’ve sneaked into the top 10 on the leaderboard – for now at least !)

    FOI CATCH
    LOI AKIN (a “duh” moment !)
    COD CAFTAN

  14. I thought this was easier than yesterday’s so I guess it sometimes depends how much glue I have in my brain. I ‘ad never ‘eard of the ‘eft and waited for both checkers before reluctantly writing it in. Words cannot describe my aversion to answers which are random Christian names, but otherwise a fun puzzle, with lots of really clever clues.

    FOI CATCH, LOI GEORGE (don’t do that, Teazel), COD AKIN, time 2.4K but a Good day.

    Thanks Teazel and Chris.

    Templar

    Edited at 2020-02-11 12:36 pm (UTC)

    1. I don’t think any of us like random names in clues, but I think one can make a distinction between a name that is the solution–hence should be gettable from wordplay–and a name that is part of the wordplay–so that from eg ‘Young girl with …’ we’re supposed to come up with FI… or DI … or SUE… or whatever as part of the solution. Hate it when that happens.
      1. Funnily enough I’m the other way round (given the relatively limited range of possibilities short enough to be part of the wordplay). But yes, neither is popular!
  15. I did this in 10 minutes precisely, but totally failed to see what was going on at 11a, interpreting it as a homophone clue, Company(TWO(‘s)), they say giving TOO, also (in a network). I know, I know. Shoot me now! WOE is me. Thanks Teazel and Chris.
  16. Had a similar experience to yesterday – was going great (even with the enhanced clues), got slightly bogged down in the SW corner and then just couldn’t get 6dn “George”.

    I guess if I’d stuck at it and done an alphabet trawl it may have eventually popped in – but I’m also of the opinion that using Christian names as an answer is a little out of order.
    I also didn’t know 16ac “Eft”.

    Saying that – some really good clues 1dn “Cobalt”, 21ac “Attribute” (haven’t seen the stutter usage in a long time), 14ac “Caterwaul”.

    FOI – 1ac “Catch”
    COD – 17ac “Tom Tom” (just liked the surface)

    Thanks as usual.

  17. Finished, though had to look up akin and then knew I should have seen it. Also failed to recognise the stutter. But, as an amateur, pleased to have solved George.
  18. First time commenting for me. Only started doing cryptic crosswords about a year ago. Can usually manage most of these. Varies day to day but did ok today. Really wanted to say how much I appreciate this blog and everyone’s comments – really helps me learn!
    1. You’re very welcome – in every sense. If you don’t quite ‘get’ anything anytime then do ask.
  19. Those of us old enough to have been brought up on Charles Kingsley’s “Water Babies “ would, like me, have got eft easily.
    Having said that, I only managed less than half the puzzle. .. perhaps the continuing gale battering the house distracted me
    Thanks to all.
    Diana
  20. About 15 min. LOI 6d, having been stuck on HEARSE (man on bottom) for a long time, wondering whether there might be a ravine by that name in some famous Western, but couldn’t believe the Times would do that. Eventually thinking about ravines put me on the right track.
    3. Funnily enough I nearly had “Coffin” for 14dn – thinking it could be a metal container.
  21. I did this late (after quickly completing the Torygraph Cryptic having picked up a copy free in Waitrose) and the prior brain activity must have helped. This was much easier than yesterday’s QC for me and I managed it in under 2K which is my best for a while. I thought this was a very well-constructed puzzle with too many good clues to list. I’ll just read through Chris’s blog to savour them again. Your 21a and 6d are among my CsOD, Chris, together with CAFTAN, RHEUM, and COBALT. Thanks to Teazel for an accessible but satisfying puzzle and to Chris, as ever. John M.

    Edited at 2020-02-11 02:45 pm (UTC)

  22. … as the NW, NE and SE corners fell into place in no time, leaving me dreaming of a PB. But the SW corner then brought me back to earth with a bump. Could not parse the -er- in 14A Caterwaul, have not previously met the stutter convention in 21A Attribute, initially dismissed 14D Caftan as I have only met the word with a K before.

    Eventually surrendered to the parsng for 14D and then LOI 21A for an inglorious 16 minutes. Many thanks to Chris and others for explanations and comments, and to Teazel for a good challenge.

  23. We also found this easier than yesterday. Some clever clues and the answer came from having the crossers than from deciphering the clue eg 6d 16a. Nice to finish with a minimum of help.
  24. A quick start – just over 10 minutes for most of the puzzle but then a very slow crawl for the last three – Attribute, George and Caftan. Re the stutter device in 21a – I’ve seen it before but am not keen. I got completely stuck on George because I was looking for a random man plus E (bottom of alone) to make a ravine, and did a similar thing with Caftan – trying to pop an E (loose at the back) into some sort of metal container to make a dress.

    I did enjoy this though, and was pleased to finish without referring to aids – I was concerned that it was creeping a bit close to my cut-off time of 20 minutes.

    Cob went straight in, although we do get very confused in this East Midlands house! My Geordie husband calls them bread buns, as a southerner I call them rolls, and the kids refer to cobs. To me a cob was always a large round loaf – like the bottom part of a cottage loaf. Having just come back from a couple of days in Liverpool, I’m now aware of barms! The names for this particular form of bread vary hugely around the country, and seem to cause a great deal of – what shall I say? – discussion.

    FOI A cut above – not surprisingly, there is a hairdressers in town with that name (although they are on the ground floor)
    LOI George
    COD Aglitter – I love the idea of the shiny piglets, although I liked Avenue and Cobalt a lot too
    Time just over 15 minutes

    Thanks Teazel, Chris, and Vinyl for the fascinating etymology of ‘eft’ 😀

    Edited at 2020-02-11 04:30 pm (UTC)

  25. Thrown by cobalt where I had coburg which is a loaf with cog as key element.
    As for ‘man alone at the bottom in ravine’, how about hearse!
    Much better..
  26. I started off really well with this and thought I was definitely on Teazel’s wavelength. It was all going swimmingly and then I got totally stuck on 4d (I ought to have got that though I’m not sure it is a mark), 6d, 14d (I wanted it to be coffer, or have Cu in it or containing the e from the end of loose)and 21a. I found them all using aids-but I would never have got 21a on my own.
    FOI 1a, COD 11a
    Thank you all round
    Blue Stocking
  27. I didn’t have any problems with COBALT, GEORGE, CAFTAN or even EFT (which I guessed) but I did get stymied with CATERWAUL (I had to look up the spelling) and my LOI ATTRIBUTE which required an alphabet trawl and went in with a hey-ho in 12:18. Thank you Chris for the explanation of 21a ATTRIBUTE as I had no idea what was going on with the word-play. Unlike others I cannot say I am a fan of the stuttering device.
  28. Most of this went in at a decent pace but the SW (including 2d) had me scratching my head for a while, eventually finishing with CAFTAN and ATTRIBUTE. GEORGE also held me up along the way.
    A good workout which I finished over target in 16.10.
    Thanks to Chris
  29. Having caught up with another backlog of QCs, contrariwise I found this very straightforward and although not a PB it ‘only’ took me 32 minutes. FOI 1a LOI 6d COD 16a as a DNK but had to be. Very enjoyable but having completed yesterday’s and today’s I now need to buy a paper tomorrow! Thx Teazel for a relaxing end to day and our blogger too.

Comments are closed.