Quick Cryptic 582 by Teazel

Author   nick_the_novicePosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
An elegant puzzle characterised by a number of cryptic double definitions / clues – which are fine if you are on the setter’s wavelength, but can prove tricky if you are not (somewhat like a shared sense of humour).

Fortunately I was well tuned in to Teazel today and found this one fairly straightforward, but interested to see what the rest of the gang thought.

Grateful thanks to our setter.

Definitions underlined: DD = double definition: anagrams indicated by *(–): letters removed indicated by curly brackets {–}

Across
1 Rented accommodation where the city fathers meet? (7,5)
COUNCIL HOUSE – I’ve marked this down as a DD (with the second one being somewhat cryptic) although it could conceivably also be categorised as a straight cryptic. In any event, all roads lead to Rome…
8 Prize-giver born during Christmas (5)
NOBEL – B (abbrev. born) inside (during) NOEL (Christmas)
9 Show how to change reference book (4,3)
WHOS WHO – *(SHOW HOW) with “to change” as the anagrind
10 Understand about beer – is into it (7)
REALISE – RE (about) + ALE (beer) with IS injected “into it”
11 European goes in circle, almost, in French city (5)
ROUEN – E (abbrev. European) ‘in’ ROUN{d} (circle almost – i.e. last letter removed)
12 Wildly attack bible defended by wise man (6)
SAVAGE – AV (bible – abbrev. ‘authorised version’) inside (defended by) SAGE (wise man)
14 Pain in the side, an irritation on the way (6)
STITCH – ITCH (an irritation) follows (on) ST (abbrev. street – ‘the way’)
17 Moves from side to side large stones (5)
ROCKS – Straightforward DD
19 In Paris, a touch clumsy and ungraceful (7)
UNCOUTH – *(TOUCH) – with “clumsy” as the anagrind – and UN (‘a’ in Paris) also thrown into the mix
21 Strong flavouring eased in cooking (7)
ANISEED – *(EASED IN) with “cooking” as the anagrind
22 I must leave Tobias turning a wooden shoe (5)
SABOT – TOB{I}AS reversed after I has left, giving us the French peasants’ shoe carved out of a block of wood. Was vaguely aware of this word, but in any event the wordplay meant it couldn’t really be much else!
23 Have little money, but be aware of having pocket picked? (4,3,5)
FEEL THE PINCH – Witty cryptic clue
Down
1 Nude photo perhaps – waist was bulging? (6,6)
CENTRE SPREAD – Not unlike 1ac – a DD with the second being a tad cryptic
2 Shadow some dumb rating (5)
UMBRA – Hidden (indicated by ‘some’) in dUMB RAting
3 Seizing gangster, hold on, trying to attract attention (7)
CALLING – CLING (hold on) ‘seizes’ AL (gangster – Mr. Capone)
4 Relaxed look at wicket by opener (3-3)
LOW KEY – LO (look) + W (cricket abbrev. wicket) + KEY (opener). Smooth and elegant surface, my COD
5 Smell is nothing grim (5)
ODOUR – O (nothing) + DOUR (grim)
6 Stud was reshaped, a result of carpentry? (7)
SAWDUST – *(STUD WAS) with “reshaped” as the anagrind
7 Drink up, going below deck? (4,3,5)
DOWN THE HATCH – And another slightly cryptic DD…
13 Medical precaution: climber swallows a small quantity (7)
VACCINE – VINE (climber) ‘swallows’ (i.e. takes in) A + CC (small quantity)
15 Puts to bed, with food and drink (5,2)
TUCKS UP – Answer also derived from TUCK (food) + SUP (drink)
16 Horribly hard up in seclusion (6)
PURDAH – *(HARD UP), originally used to describe the separation of women from men in some religious groups, but now more widely used to describe pre-election periods and other instances where certain things are off limits or separated
18 Write letters in work period (5)
SPELL – I may have missed something, but I think what we have is a DD with two (at least for me) slightly odd definitions
20 From the city, not initially an African one (5)
URBAN – {D}URBAN – the KwaZulu-Natal city loses its first letter (not initially)

24 comments on “Quick Cryptic 582 by Teazel”

  1. I made the mistake of biffing ‘tucks in’–which is what I’d say, not ‘up’–which slowed me down at 23ac until I actually looked at 15d. I also for some reason had a hard time with 4d, my LOI. Nick, is ‘in’ part of the 1st def in 18d? I’d read it as 1) write letters 2) work period. 6:25.
    2. Is “in” part of the definition? To be honest, your guess is as good mine! I too pondered this question and finally plumped for including it in the definition, but very nearly went the other way.

      My thinking (which didn’t really convince myself so is unlikely to take things much further!) was that simply “write letters” (a potentially random activity) seemed a pretty odd definition of “spell”, whereas “write letters in” seemed (possibly) to indicate a considered attempt to enter letters somewhere (possibly in a crossword grid!) correctly (as opposed to randomly). But then again…

      Bottom line – I thought it was a bit of an odd clue all round. And with a shrug, your humble blogger moved swiftly on…

      1. Possibly the split is ‘Write letters in work’ and ‘period’ . A pupil doing a piece of work would be spelling the words as he/she wrote the letters down.
        There again, I think I prefer your version, Nick.
  2. A fast one for me 19:19. Also didn’t really parse SPELL, LOI. SABOT a new word for me, I didn’t spend too long trying to shoehorn in ‘clog’, the only wooden shoe known to me. Originally had FLATS for HOUSE at 1a which slowed down the NE corner. I like double defs, and particularly FEEL THE PINCH today, my COD.

    Edited at 2016-06-01 04:18 am (UTC)

  3. 12 minutes, and delayed 2 minutes past my target by the elusive 1dn (my LOI) as I didn’t associate nude photos with CENTRE SPREAD. What an innocent life I must have led!
  4. Another one I did from SE to NW, which is not going to lead to a quick time. Thought 9a particularly clever. I too have my doubts about 18d, just because I write letters does not mean I am spelling, which is why I always have a pencil with a rubber on the end, and while “spell” means a period why “work”? That apart a smooth puzzle so thanks Teazel and blogger.
  5. SPELL is also a verb, which means you take over from someone working at a task, doesn’t really help the possible confusion. SABOT is the origin of ‘sabotage’, where French activists used to throw their wooden shoes into machines to stop them. I am pretty sure the famous models were described as CENTREFOLDS, a CENTRE SPREAD being another type of newspaper/magazine story. The Civil Service went into PURDAH over the EU referendum a few days ago. 5’26” today, thanks setter and blogger.
    2. Agreed on centrefolds v centre spreads.

      I think, but haven’t checked, that sabots are what chefs’ clogs are generally called.

  6. I finished this in 20 minutes, equalling my best ever. Strange, as I usually striggle with Teazel and I got absolutely nowhere with yesterday’s Joker.
    Brian

    Edited at 2016-06-01 09:13 am (UTC)

  7. I thought there were a number of cracking clues here. 1ac, 23ac, 1d, 7d. Found 18d odd. Taking “a spell” is more usually used to indicate a period of resting from work rather than a period of working. As a result it was my LOI.
    Overall, most enjoyable
    PlayupPompey
  8. Now I think I’m well on their wavelength. Tracey and Mara, on the other hand, are still causing me considerable problems…

    Enjoyable puzzle; great blog as always.

  9. I seem to be going through a slump in form at the moment having struggled with both today’s and yesterday’s – odd as I usually find Teazel quite straightforward. I finally finished this in around the 40 minute mark with LOI 1d. I also initially went for ‘tucks in’ at 15d which made 23a a struggle until I spotted my mistake.
  10. New to us was AV for bible, more used to OT and NT. Reading the blog now mandatory……where else would one come across an explanation of the origin of sabot? Agree with comments on 18d as had difficulty parsing spell.
    1. Yes, I had to think about AV / bible for a bit (not being, I must confess, overly familiar with such matters…) then the penny finally dropped.

      I think you’ll find OT and NT are usually brought in by reference to “books”, whereas a reference to the bible itself (i.e. all of it) will be taking you somewhere else – such as AV.

  11. In Christian circles, KJV is the usual abbreviation for Authorised Version.
    1. KJV for King James’s Version is universal in the USA, and common in Biblical Theology but I think AV is common in the C of E in this country. It was of course only authorised to be read in churches here but the recent 400 year anniversary talked of the AV. Katie Rose.
  12. Took me some time to get started and then managed the E first before managing 1a council house and inching my way to completion. Thx blogger for explaining the ‘why and how’ of 8a nobel, and 4d low key – with the checkers it had to be low, and key was obvious, but now I understand it properly. I too tried NT and OT in 12a, but realised that I needed to find an alternative version….
  13. Decided to have a break after 40 minutes needing 1d, 12a and 13d.
    After a further look I was no further forward so I asked the family. My daughter came up with Vaccine and then I quickly got the last two.
    My COD was 13d and I thought 1d was difficult as even with Centre … the second word was not obvious. A good challenge and my first non- completion for some time. David
  14. 25:17

    Mostly flew in, except 1a, 1d and 4d, which I didn’t fully parse. “lo” for “look” being new.

  15. I remember a song by the above band called Centerfold (American spelling).
    Wiki reminds me it was a big hit.
    And I forgot to say 4d was an excellent clue. David
  16. I seem to be finding these very hard going at the moment, only just inside the hour.

    I too had tucks in and the sinful drinking that implies!

    I thought spell here might refer to a spell of bowling in cricket, but even then ‘work’ period doesn’t seem quite right.

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