QC 1415 by Teazel

Author   astartedonPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

No time to stop and say anything today. I’m afraid I totally forgot I was on duty and am doing this in a complete rush before having to deal with the rest of life. Many thanks to Teazel for a puzzle which I am sure would have been enjoyable had I had but world enough and time.

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

Across
1 Part of book that may come out in the theatre (8)
APPENDIX – double definition. The theatre in question obviously being an operating one.
5 Shortly announce a piece of data (4)
STAT – STATe (‘shortly’ announce).
9 Stiff outfit I had (5)
RIGID – RIG (outfit) + ID (I’D = I HAD).
10 Wildly annoyed — relieving drug found (7)
ANODYNE – straight anagram (‘wildly’) of ANNOYED.
11 Dog old police force rejected (3)
CUR – RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) ‘rejected’.
12 Magazine I’m not involved in? (9)
SPECTATOR – if I am a spectator then I am not involved.
13 Signify assent, given sweet dessert? Negative reply (2,4)
NO DICE – NOD (signify assent) + ICE (sweet dessert).
15 Tucking hard into alcohol, daughter complained peevishly (6)
WHINED – WINE (alcohol) with H (hard) ‘tucked in’ + D (daughter).
17 Injured Cuban, lame, collected in this? (9)
AMBULANCE – straight anagram (‘injured’) of CUBAN LAME.
19 Joker, one accompanying a footballer (3)
WAG – a footballer is often escorted by one of the pack of Wives And Girlfriends.
20 Shows off extremely faithful relatives (7)
FLAUNTS – FL (‘extremely’ FaithfuL) + AUNTS (relatives).
21 Entitlement, OK? (5)
RIGHT – double definition.
22 Cover over swimming pool (4)
LIDO – LID (cover) + O (over).
23 In old heaps, wild flower (8)
ASPHODEL – straight anagram (‘wild’) of OLD HEAPS.
Down
1 Perhaps Egyptian’s day in a prison (7)
AFRICAN – FRIday in A CAN (prison)
2 Publicity about period radio device (5)
PAGER – PR (publicity) ‘about’ AGE (period).
3 Holiday camp that is barely visited (6,6)
NUDIST COLONY – cryptic definition.
4 I count as angry (5)
IRATE – I + RATE (count).
6 Take liberty to see if dress fits (3,2,2)
TRY IT ON – double definition.
7 Those people’s time with the next in line (5)
THEIR – T (time) + HEIR (next in line).
8 Assess price of electrical connection to be very expensive (4,3,5)
COST THE EARTH – cryptic definition – COST (assess price of) + THE EARTH (electrical connection).
14 Expert wrong to pick up cards (3,4)
DAB HAND – BAD (wrong) backwards (‘to pick up’ in this down clue) + HAND (cards).
16 Glad it can be twisted round one of the fingers (7)
DIGITAL – anagram of GLAD IT (‘twisted’) ’round’ I (one).
17 Permitted to remove top, very bad (5)
AWFUL – remove the ‘top’ (i.e. the first letter in this down clue) of lAWFUL (permitted).
18 Are they found in top of tree in loch? (5)
NESTS – semi &lit.: T (top of Tree) in NESS (loch).
19 Carried on having weekly-paid job (5)
WAGED – double definition.

26 comments on “QC 1415 by Teazel”

  1. Pretty straightforward, although I didn’t understand WAG (I should know it by now), and I only remembered the RUC after I’d solved 11ac. (Not much of a ‘solve’, with the C and R in place.) TRY IT ON (not in my dialect) also took a moment to recall. 5:08.
  2. 8 minutes. The acronym WAG used in the singular as a back formation of ‘wives and girlfriends’ still grates on me.
    1. I do agree and it is something I might have commented on if I had had more time. I suppose also if a footballer is behaving himself then he will only be with a single female who would then be a ‘Wife OR Girlfriend’, but I can immediately see why an acronym formed from that might be controversial.

      It is an interesting question also what with the rise of women playing ‘unsuitable’ sports such as football (the FA’s historical judgment not mine) what the corresponding acronym for their partners might be.

      Also looking back I note that unconsciously I used the collective noun ‘pack’ for a group of WAGs. But I’m sure all you inventive wordsmiths can come up with a better one. Or perhaps there is in fact an official one? A herd of WAGs, A whistle of WAGs? A gaggle, or would it be a giggle?

  3. Inevitably this came down to the (to me) unknown plant at 23a. Until then I had taken about 14 minutes to complete this enjoyable puzzle. I liked COST THE EARTH ,which took me a while. Also paused over AFRICAN. My FOI was ANON at 5a -completely wrong and changed after others emerged.
    I had several goes at the plant even wondering whether the fodder included INO. In the end ASPHODEL looked the most likely of a bad bunch-and it was right,luckily.
    16:19 in the end. David
  4. Nice to have an easier solve after last week.
    I didn’t help myself though putting ‘info’ in for 5 across – thinking that shortly announce could be inform shortened. This made that corner a bit tricky til I saw the error of my ways!!
    I’ve never heard of Asphodel.
    I also made a bit of a meal if 1down which was my LOI.

    Thanks again for the blog

    Carolyn

    1. Yes indeed! An easier and therefore most satisfying solve, without resort to any aids.
  5. I was a bit slow to get going with this and then scuppered myself with PUT IT ON for 6D, which made 5A and 10A impossible. Eventually I spotted STAT and resolved the problem. I also took a while to twig the type of theatre for 1A – my COD, but I liked NO DICE and AMBULANCE too. 7:24.
  6. A wrong guess with the order of the vowels at 23a (OSPHEDAL)spoiled what was otherwise a pleasant solve of middling difficulty. The magazine also held me up as I was looking for synonyms rather than the title.
    Thanks for the blog
  7. I’m still at the stage of needing help so had to look up lists of wildflowers. I put anodyne in because it was the only anagram of annoyed that I could come up with but I had no clue that it had another meaning as a noun. I got appendix almost immediately (FOI) – I am a medical librarian so this should be my kind of clue! So it was COD as well. Struggled with African and had to cheat by checking letters. I puzzled over Stat for a while (LOI) pondering bit and byte, item and atom. I got Their and put it in as a possibility and then the puzzle was done. Thank you Teazel and astartedon.
  8. 12 minutes, so comfortably inside my target today. I was only vaguely aware of the plant -clues referring to vegetable organisms still worry me because of the vast diversity of possible answers, despite mankind’s efforts to reduce the extant ones to a more manageable number!

    I needed to twig AFRICAN before I spotted APPENDIX, but otherwise, no hold-ups.

  9. A good puzzle and a good blog. Finished it and got African, 1 down. However, what I don’t get is the Egyptian tie up. Any takers please on enlightening me? Thanks
  10. A nice start to the week. I always enjoy Teazel’s challenges – there’s always a nice mix of clues. I whizzed through most of it in about 10 minutes, then ground to a halt on 12a – I couldn’t see what was going on and now don’t understand why I made such heavy weather of it. The penny dropped with a particularly loud clank! About 12 minutes in the end.

    FOI Rigid
    LOI Spectator
    COD Spectator

  11. Thank goodness for more approachable puzzle after last week’s offerings. I actually managed to complete it without resorting to aids… Even the anagrams didn’t hold me up (except 16d, which I biffed, nit realising it was an anagram until reading the blog – for which, many thanks)?
      1. It helps that I’m married to a lady that has a good knowledge of garden plants and wildflowers 🙂
  12. ….when I couldn’t immediately break into it, I turned in my fastest time for a couple of weeks. No unknowns, and Teazel’s clues all nicely presented.

    FOI APPENDIX
    LOI THEIR
    COD NUDIST COLONY
    TIME 3:43

  13. I also needed the penny to drop for AFRICAN before I was able to solve 1a, which gave me a chuckle. I’d heard of the plant, but didn’t know the drug meaning of ANODYNE, so took that on trust as it was the only arrangement of the anagrist I could come up with. 9:10. Thanks Teazel and Don.
  14. Three Kevins for a Not Very Good Day, my excuse being that I was solving over a cup of tea after a long hill walk in Glencoe and my brain was moving at the same speed as my legs!

    FOI AFRICAN, LOI ASPHODEL, COD NUDIST COLONY (such a Benny Hill staple).

    Thanks Don and Teazel.

    Templar

  15. A late start but a much more friendly puzzle after some of the horrors last week. Slow to start at the top so I worked up from the bottom again. I ended up a few seconds over 3K so I’m back in the rut. Some good clues. I liked APPENDIX, COST THE EARTH, DAB HAND, and SPECTATOR. LOI NO DICE and COD NUDIST COLONY. Thanks to Teazel and Don. John M.
  16. My fastest ever at under 9 minutes, a smooth run through after some struggles last week.
  17. If you’ve ever read a footballer autobiography then it’s most definitely AND not OR. Speaking of which a much easier ride today after last week. Johnny

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