Quick Cryptic No 286 by Teazel

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Something of a teaser from Teazel. Quite a lot of work to do in some of the parsing, a few cryptic definitions and then we get onto old letters. If you’ve got a good grasp of Greek, old Icelandic or Middle English alphabets this bit will be a doddle. I haven’t so it wasn’t and I still have 5dn to fully parse. Good luck!

Definitions underlined, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition, deletions CROSSED OUT

Across
1 Moral principles in one county somewhat lispingly mentioned? (6)
&nbsp &nbspETHICS – Lispy homophone of Essex.
4 Compulsory for daughter to tour church (6)
&nbsp &nbspFORCED – FOR and D around church (CE).
8 Within reason, love to circulate (2,5)
&nbsp &nbspGO ROUND – Love (O) inside reason (GROUND).
10 Go up in game in record time (5)
&nbsp &nbspERUPT – Game (RU) in record (EP) and time (T).
11 In shelter, check what may have drawn blood (5)
&nbsp &nbspLEECH – Shelter (LEE), check (CH).
12 In nursing-home, somewhat bleak (7)
&nbsp &nbspSPARTAN – Somewhat (PART) in nursing home (SAN).
13 Make mistake with it in Conservative area (9)
&nbsp &nbspTERRITORY – ERR with IT inside TORY.
17 Not involved in university, somehow learnt outside (7)
&nbsp &nbspNEUTRAL – University (U) with an anagram (somehow) of LEARNT outside.
19 Sharp point in old letter (5)
&nbsp &nbspTHORN – dd. The first, sharp point=THORN is the easy bit. The second is our first old letter teaser. It’s a Germanic character of runic origin Þ used in Old and Modern Icelandic to represent the voiceless dental fricative sound of th, as in thin, bath. Its use in phonetics for the same purpose is now obsolete. It can also be this same character as used in Old and Middle English as an alternative to edh, but indistinguishable from it in function or sound. Well, it’s obvious now isn’t it? To be fair to Teazel this was gettable from the sharp point and the checkers – and as such I approve – it’s good to learn something new.
20 Boy with bow and arrow in revolt, arrested by detectives (5)
&nbsp &nbspCUPID – In revolt (UP – as in arms) inside (arrested by) CID.
21 In organised sortie, quiet return thrust (7)
&nbsp &nbspRIPOSTE – Quiet (P) inside an anagram (organised) of SORTIE.
22 Tight-lipped naval officer? (6)
&nbsp &nbspPURSER – cd/pun.
23 But these well-heeled travellers are not all black (3,3)
&nbsp &nbspJET SET – cd with a pun on jet=black.

Down
1 Tentacle finally flung out to swallow up (6)
&nbsp &nbspENGULF – Tentacl(E), anagram (out) of FLUNG.
2 All gathered for this dinner? (7,6)
&nbsp &nbspHARVEST SUPPER – cd.
3 Credit cinema employee, one doing the grind (7)
&nbsp &nbspCRUSHER – Credit (Cr), USHER.
5 After round, “Time up” — it’s the end (5)
&nbsp &nbspOMEGA – the definition is ‘the end’ – the 24th and last letter of the Greek alphabet (Ω, ω), a long vowel, transliterated as o or ō and the ending or last of a series. Quite how we parse OM I’m not sure. If it’s after (following) round (O) then I don’t know what the M is doing before Time (AGE) upwards. I can’t find a reference to MO meaning after (with round meaning backwards). So – any suggestions welcomed.
On edit – thanks to Bob for his comment – the print version has ‘Order’ instead of ‘After round’ which is much more satisfactory as OM means Order of Merit – further details in comments below.
6 France, say, puts up large residences (7,6)
&nbsp &nbspCOUNTRY HOUSES – France say (COUNTRY), puts up (HOUSES).
7 Very fond of acting, securing opening in theatre (6)
&nbsp &nbspDOTING – Acting (DOING) around (T)heatre.
9 Girl, less bubbly, may acquire spirits from here? (9)
&nbsp &nbspDISTILLER – Girl (DI), less bubbly (STILLER).
14 Couplet rewritten in eight parts (7)
&nbsp &nbspOCTUPLE – Anagram (rewritten) of COUPLET.
15 Mushroom in pack brought up (3,3)
&nbsp &nbspINK CAP – In (IN), pack upwards (KCAP).
16 Small creature in group catches cold (6)
&nbsp &nbspINSECT – In (IN), group (SET) including cold (C).
18 Travel round grand, extensive hill-top (5)
&nbsp &nbspRIDGE – Travel (RIDE) round grand (G).

18 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 286 by Teazel”

  1. Went through this smoothly enough until I came to 15d, where I first wasted time trying to think of XXX CEP, then typed CUP for CAP. Oh, well. I wondered about OMEGA as I put it in; I’m still wondering. 5:20.
  2. OM is Order of Merit. Not a particularly good clue, but there we are.
    Incidentally, the thorn was sometimes printed as “Y” and so “the” is often read incorrectly as “ye” as in “ye olde pubbe” whereas “ye” properly means “you”.
    1. Still not sure why OM is ’round’. I’ve heard of the order of merit meaning a dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Is this another one? I’ve just been looking up amateur golfing competitions which have an order of merit and obviously rounds. Is this what you’re referring to?
      1. I think Bob’s reply below clears up the confusion – I was doing the paper version, so no problems for me!
  3. 10 minutes to complete the grid with an error at 15dn END CAP which I hastily corrected when I went back to check the wordplay. I’m as baffled as others by 5dn, and even more so if deezza’s explanation is the correct one. I strongly suspect a misprint.

    Edited at 2015-04-14 08:06 am (UTC)

  4. The treeware version has a slightly different clue:

    “Order “Time up” – it’s the end (5)”

    Bob

    1. Thanks, Bob. So you do get something extra (correct clues) for the £1+ which must be gratifying!
      1. Sorry to bring up an old thread but I’m just working through Time QC Book 2 and this has a different (and much better, IMHO) clue for 5d “Nothing terrific in the last letter”

        (I now see others, below, have also commented on the revised clue)

        Edited at 2021-07-18 11:06 am (UTC)

    2. Ah, that explains things. Another double clue (one for print, one for electronic), as happened in Saturday’s prize puzzle – except this time one is not preferable to the other; one is needful rather than the other.

      Edited at 2015-04-14 09:06 am (UTC)

  5. 13 minutes, with SPARTAN and the bewildering OMEGA last in. ‘Part’ as an adverb meaning ‘somewhat’ is not the first word(s) to come to mind (‘partly’ and ‘a bit’ fulfill that function), but of course it’s found in contexts such as ‘part ghetto, part luxury housing estate’. I was also held up at 4a, thinking it must start PRO, never thinking the ‘for’ would just be transported from clue to light.
    1. Don’t fret Sarah. I gave up on Teazel a long time ago – he lives in a world of his own. Invariant
  7. I was completely out of my depth with this one, several of the clues felt (to me) like they belonged in the 15×15. Thanks for the blog, as that has cleared up a lot of my bemusement. Probably best to use today as a learning experience.
  9. I did the left hand side reasonably easily (for me). But struggled with several on the right.
  12. On 5 down I thought nothing was O and terrific was MEGA, certainly was when I was a kid.

    Last letter is the definition.

Comments are closed.