QC 1495 by Izetti

Author   astartedonPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Nothing here to break anyone out in a cold sweat. Some straightforward anagrams, obvious cryptic definitions and double definitions make up the main framework and there are no other startling devices to write home (or indeed blog) about. So another gentle Monday start to the week. Many thanks to Izetti for a puzzle that I imagine was a very soft-boiled egg for the pacesetters.

My lack of discipline meant that my eye randomly snagged on the easiet clue that immediately jumped out at me (rather than starting at the beginning, going on to the end and then stopping as you are taught to do in kindergarten), which was 8A. LOI was, however 20D as I forgot about this tiddler till right at the end. In fact I thought I had finished until I saw the little white space winking up at me waiting to be filled. COD is again difficult to choose as no one clue presented any more of a challenge than the others, but I think I liked the humorous cultural specificity of 13A. So, unusually for me I am plumping for an anagram.

Definitions are underlined and everything else is explained just as I see it in the simplest language I can manage.

Across
1 Modern musician‘s cover in the auditorium (6)
RAPPER – sounds like (‘in the auditorium’) WRAPPER (cover).
4 Frolics happily, given drink aboard ship (6)
SPORTS – PORT (drink) ‘aboard’ SS (steamship).
8 One may remove coat (5,8)
PAINT STRIPPER – cryptic definition.
10 Wander in street with just a bit of light (5)
STRAY – ST (street) + RAY (just a bit of light).
11 Reds are disturbing folk at university (7)
READERS – straight anagram (‘disturbing’) of REDS ARE. For those unfamiliar with academic staff levels at universities a READER is a grade somewhere between a Senior Lecturer and a Professor.
13 A rest home dished up food British wouldn’t want? (9)
HORSEMEAT – straight anagram (‘dished up’) of A REST HOME.
17 One has lost a member (7)
AMPUTEE – cryptic definition.
18 Part of Switzerland shortly offering a bt of poetry (5)
CANTO – CANTOn (part of Switzerland ‘shortly’).
19 As a despot I sin, somehow showing no emotion (13)
DISPASSIONATE – straight anagram (‘somehow’) of AS A DESPOT I SIN.
21 Powerful male, 80, with energy draining (6)
MIGHTY – M (male) + IGHTY (80 minus ‘E’ (with energy draining)).
22 Dry outside facility providing meal service (3,3)
TEA SET – TT (teetotaller, i.e. dry) ‘outside’ EASE (facility).
Down
1 Composure shown by model again (6)
REPOSE – if asked to ‘model again’, you might be asked to RE-POSE.
2 Monk’s office, earlier his extraordinary source of power (9)
PRIORSHIP – PRIOR (earlier) + SHI (anagram of HIS (‘extraordinary’)) + P (‘source’ of Power).
3 Hospital department initially restricting your access (5)
ENTRY – in Crossworld the hospitals have a very limited number of departments, and the one that is most often visited by far is Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT). Add on R + Y (Restricting Your ‘initially’) and you will be admitted.
5 Ape an archbishop? (7)
PRIMATE – double definition.
6 Reprobate is the reverse of holy, right? (3)
RIP – I don’t think I have heard this definition before, but it is an entirely logical (RIP sounds like REP) and guessable bit of slang with a cryptic that could hardly be clearer: PI (holy) + R (right) reversed.
7 An aspect of pronunciation bringing trouble (6)
STRESS – double definition.
9 Sneers set somehow to lead to an abrupt manner (9)
TERSENESS – straight anagram (‘somehow’) of SNEERS SET.
12 Europeans succeeded, interrupting public school types (9)
ESTONIANS – S (succeeded) ‘interrupting’ ETONIANS (public school types).
14 Soldiers coming on to extended area pull back (7)
RETRACT – RE (Royal Engineers, soldiers) + TRACT (extended area).
15 Little female along with old maiden in group of enthusiasts (6)
FANDOM – F (little female) + AND (with) + O (old) + M (maiden, an over in cricket in which no runs are scored).
16 Wood and minerals wrapped in newspaper (6)
FOREST – ORES (minerals) ‘wrapped’ in FT (Financial Times, a British newspaper).
18 Something spicy about sweetheart (5)
CLOVE – C (circa, about) + LOVE (sweetheart).
20 Wise person, briefly, to sink (3)
SAG – SAGe (wise person ‘briefly’).

35 comments on “QC 1495 by Izetti”

  1. I took the 9.45 this morning.

    FOI 8ac PAINT STRIPPER

    LOI 6dn RIP!

    COD 12dn ESTONIANS

    WOD ETONIANS one or two might well be Estonian.

  2. Wasted a bit of time trying to make ROCKER work at 1ac; I tend not to think of rap as music. Is RIP still used? I associate it with 19th century novels. 5:31.
  3. 10 minutes. To answer Kevin’s question, RIP is in Collins (at least) as ‘archaic’ so I doubt it’s used much now, but it’s a good word and needs to be known for when it turns up in books from a certain era where a young man might be referred to as a ‘rip of a lad’.

    FOI PAINT STRIPPER.

    LOI FANDOM, which I must admit I thought meant something else. Must have been watching too many female stand-up comedians!

  4. I didn’t find this easy, taking 39 minutes, nearly twice my target. I struggled with the anagrams, and my last two were FANDOM and AMPUTEE. I think less experienced solvers find Izetti a relatively more difficult setter than some of the others.
    I also once saw rap described as ‘music with a capital C’

    Brian

    Edited at 2019-12-02 07:18 am (UTC)

  5. has a couple of pot-holes but is quite do-able.

    There is also a new General Knowledge 15×15 which I managed in 11.30 mins so it could well appeal to devotees of the QC.
    No anagrams no wordplay – just Words with a capital W!

    Edited at 2019-12-02 07:26 am (UTC)

  6. No dramas or dead ends, although that meaning of RTP was beyond my ken too. LOI FANDOM as I was puzzled how FAND at 15D could be a little female. Doh. 4:55
  7. Just over two Kevins and on an Izetti I’m scoring that as a Good Day, even if I no longer get that sinking feeling that I used to get on seeing his name! My main hold up was somehow managing to think that 19ac was a ten letter answer and not being able to work out which bit of the anagrist to cut. Durr.

    FOI RAPPER, LOI & like Don COD HORSEMEAT

    Thanks Don x 2

    Templar

  8. Apart from PAINTSTRIPPER, I was slow to get any acrossers in the top half so I started to jump around the grid (always a bad sign for me). A good puzzle but it took me ca. 4K so a poor start to my QC week. I liked FOREST, FANDOM, RAPPER, HORSEMEAT, TEA SET. Two READERS in a week (or was the other one in a non-Times Xword)? Thanks to both. John M.
  9. This came together nicely in the end- thanks setter and blogger. Only minor grouse is ‘rip’ – a answer which is never used from a clue which uses an expression (pi) which is never used apart from in cryptic crosswords!
  10. ….but currently 8th on leaderboard, so no STRESS.

    FOI PAINT STRIPPER
    LOI STRESS
    COD FANDOM

    1. For me, at least, Izetti usually heralds half an hour of head haze; this was no different today with several clues unfilled.

      I’m not sure what makes it tricky for a novice like me to complete Izetti’s puzzles, because few of today’s answers were particularly problematic.

      I think I get disheartened if nothing jumps out straightaway and so I move on to the next. In contrast, Teazel’s QC last week was enjoyable as nearly all the clues had something to get a hold of from the first read.

      1. Izetti is a very elegant and fair compiler. It’s well worth fully analysing his clues after you finish – you can learn a great deal about parsing. Keep plugging away, it’s very satisfying as you progress.
  11. 13 minutes for me. DNK / NHO RIP, but the wordplay was unambiguous. The only other doubt in my mind was FANDOM which is defined simply as noun in my Chambers, with no reference to a group. Again, the wordplay was clear, but I think of a group of fans as a fan club or fan base, rather than a fandom. Otherwise, a nice puzzle from the Don, and nicely blogged by another one.
  12. I started off with RAPPER and kept going with no particular holdups until LOI, RETRACT, which I shoved in as RETREAT. Fortunately my proof reading spotted DISPESSIONATE, and a quick retraction saved the day. 7:26. Thanks Izetti and Don.
  13. I always struggle with Izetti and today was no exception. Failed with FANDOM did not recognise in this context), TEA SET and PRIORSHIP (unknown), and still don’t get RIP even with the blog. Hope for better tomorrow!
  14. Not a great start to the week time-wise. Have to disagree with Don the Blogger – sorry! I thought it was a quite chewy – not that I’m a pacesetter, so soft-boiled is never on the menu anyway 😉

    Nearly 4K (with a couple of small interruptions) to complete this classic of an Izetti. As Phil says, elegant cluing with great surfaces – and it’s always satisfying to complete something you have to work at. I liked paint stripper and horsemeat – well, as clues anyway!

    FOI Canto (took a while to get going)
    LOI Amputee
    COD Sports
    Weather Sunny (hooray)

    1. I used to visit an Indian restaurant in Birmingham in 1970. It was the easiest place for the members of our shift (computer operators) to fall into after midnight. The curry was perfectly eatable once you recognised that “meat rogon josh” was probably equine. Their lager would probably have stripped paint too !
        1. The curry was actually very tasty. I only had the lager once – lesson learned, it was water from then on !
  15. Couldn’t get the grey matter going this morning, finishing in a sluggish (for me) 6’30”. Nothing that difficult in hindsight. I do have some sympathy with an obscurity clued by an obscurity (RIP), however ‘pi’ is such a crossword regular that it is the first port of call for any ‘good’ or ‘holy’ or ‘sanctimonious’ clue.
    My thanks to Don and Izetti.
  16. Most of this was relatively gentle by Izetti’s standards but I was very slow working out that 1a was a homonym and I also thought the definition was ‘modern’, with musician’s cover cluing ‘MN’.
    I got bogged down at the end by SPORTS (not heard of it in that context) and RIP, where the wordplay was clear but the word new to me. Finished in 12.44.
    Thanks for the blog
  17. I thought I’d have a quick look at the QC before the dog walk today.The poor dog was breaking into a cold sweat as I was still solving after 30 minutes.
    I thought this was hard but probably not helped by the sense of trying to get it done quickly.I took a long time to get FANDOM,FOREST, CANTO and CLOVE. COD to HORSEMEAT which was also slow to emerge. Last two were PRIORSHIP which had been Friarship and finally RAPPER ; I had been wondering whether John Rutter was eligible for a QC (he’s still alive apparently) but could not parse him.
    Well done Izetti for a good test and to those who solved this quickly.
    David
  18. A complete disaster this morning. Had hardly anything on the first pass, and even after 45 mins there were still plenty of empty squares on the left side of the grid. Did something else for an hour to try and clear the brain, but it was still hard going and I eventually gave up and bunged in Riffer and Friarship for my last two, fully expecting them to be wrong – I wasn’t disappointed in that respect. Invariant
  19. At 10:20. Nothing too bad, just didn’t get into the flow. Was unsurprised to see that it was Izetti causing me problems.

    LOI TEA SET. TT is often slow to mind when dry appears in a clue.

  20. Your explanation of reader is almost correct. In fact most British universities award a readership to people who have a particularly strong research record. A senior lectureship can be awarded to those with strong teaching records. Technically a readership can only be awarded to those who could have won a senior lectureship and have a strong research background. However the two grades attract the same salary and are normally regarded as equivalent. End of pedantic embellishment.
    1. Yes, in my experience a Readership is sought by academics (in Science at least) with a strong research record who are happy to have the recognition without the heavy administrative resonsibility that was always attached to a Chair/Head of Department. Of course, I refer to the days when most departments or sub-departments had a single Professor in post with, perhaps, a rare ‘Personal Chair’. These days, we have gone in the direction of the USA where ‘Professor’ is a title that is much more widely distributed and is the expected career title. There are UK Universities now that confer many Professorships (often to try to stop academic staff moving on to posts elsewhere). Some also employ staff as ‘Assistant Professors’ instead of Lecturers/Senior Lecturers. A pedantic, personal embellishment!

      Edited at 2019-12-02 02:18 pm (UTC)

      1. Indeed. I held all three titles at one time or another and am now Emeritus Professor. When I was made a Reader, my then small daughter asked if that menat I worked in the libraray now. Lovely thought.
  21. Is Izetti a Kiwi? Only they can do this with vowel sounds. Better night for England last night. I assume that the Times Puzzles come out at midnight which means I can start when they break for lunch. Anyone else do this?
    DNF today. Johnny
  22. When I saw Izetti’s name for a Monday morning I was filled with trepidation. Unfortunately, my fears were realised and having completed many of his/hers puzzles recently, today was a complete nightmare.

    It didn’t help that I had two answers wrong which stalled any progress on my final 4 answers.

    I had “Imitate” for 5dn which meant I was scratching my head on 4ac and 7dn. For 18ac I had “Canon” which I thought was a style of poetry (obviously not) and thus hampered 16dn and 22ac.

    Frustrating really, as I was pleased with my progress on the rest of the grid once I got over the usual 30 mins of staring blankly trying to tune into Izetti’s wavelength.

    Hopefully tomorrow will be better…

  24. Today’s 15×15 is well worth a go – there are more than enough ‘straightforward’ clues to help out with the trickier ones. Invariant
  25. I found this mostly straightforward for an Izetti. FOI RAPPER, LOI FOREST after TEA SET. PRIORSHIP also took a good while to fall into place, having flirted with PRIME (being one of the daily offices, and fitting the checkers that I had at the time), but it turned out to be the other sort of office. I solve on paper, and had a MER about the clue to 9 down, which read “Sneers set somehow to lead an abrupt manner”, and from which I could not work out what “to lead” was doing in the sentence. In the version quoted above it is “to lead to” instead, which is entirely reasonable; the paper version must just have been a misprint. I seem to remember another misprint fairly recently, which caused somewhat more confusion. At least on this occasion it didn’t interfere too much with the solution. COD to the straight cryptics, 8 and 17ac, just because I enjoy a free-thinking approach, and these two were gentle examples of the type.

Comments are closed.