Quick Cryptic 206 by Hurley

Author   mohn2Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
The URL shows another numbering leap, which isn’t a problem for people solving on publication date but is a bit of a bind for bloggers trying to prepare their meagre offerings in advance who have to make dozens of guesses at the correct URL /rant over. The button on the Times site works but here’s the link anyway: http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20141222/428/

I didn’t find anything particularly difficult about this one, with only perhaps 21A and 18D outside of the realms of everyday vocabulary. There are some slightly awkward surfaces, but the advantage of that from a solving point of view is that you aren’t as likely to be misled by the wording. Definitions are underlined.

This will be the last puzzle I blog this year, so let me take the opportunity to wish all solvers an enjoyable festive season and I’ll see you again in 2015.

Across
3 Article about Religious Education Cardinal‘s produced (5)
THREE – THE (Article) about RE (Religious Education), with three being an example of a cardinal number. Note that the capitalisation of Cardinal here is a little deceptive, as the definition wouldn’t normally be spelled with a capital (though the surface reading wouldn’t be affected by using lower case). This tends to be the more acceptable form of deceptive capitalisation – using a lower-case word that would normally be capitalised can get people’s goat.
7 Talk a little covering chemical compound (6)
ALKALI – hidden in (covering) TALK A LIttle
8 Clubs quarrel, gloat (4)
CROW – C (Clubs, i.e. the playing card suit) + ROW (quarrel)
9 Step made in a frenzy? Many! (8)
STAMPEDE – anagram (in a frenzy) of STEP MADE. I would call this an extended definition clue.
10 Starts to tense up, restless, nearing junction (4)
TURN – initial letters (Starts to) of Tense Up Restless Nearing
11 Cruel taunt (crack) to provoke in the end a fightback (7-6)
COUNTER-ATTACK – anagram (Cruel) of TAUNT CRACK TO provokE (provoke in the end, i.e. the last letter of provoke)
15 In a flap confused prince can’t ski (5-8)
PANIC-STRICKEN – anagram (confused) of PRINCE CAN’T SKI. The British royal family are known for their love of skiing, which gives the surface here some additional meaning.
16 Man perhaps is left without paper (4)
ISLE – IS + LEft (left without paper, i.e. left without FT, the Financial Times). The definition refers to the Isle of Man – this device is quite common and hence worth remembering.
18 Dad at home with metallic sound – work of art? (8)
PAINTING – PA (Dad) + IN (at home) + TING (metallic sound)
20 Saucy, obstreperous about shows (4)
PERT – hidden reversed (about shows) in obsTREPerous
21 Ambassador with a great desire backing poet (6)
HEANEY – HE (Ambassador, i.e. His/Her Excellency) + A + NEY (great desire backing, i.e. yen reversed). The poet in question is Seamus Heaney, who died last year. Though he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995, I couldn’t quote you a single line of his or even name one of his poems, which is a poor performance even by my standards when it comes to knowledge of the cultural luminaries that appear in the Times crossword(s). In fact the only thing I did know about him was that he’d done a translation of Beowulf, though quite why that had stuck in my mind is a mystery.
22 Regular time in 1500 metres maybe (5)
EVENT – EVEN (Regular) + T (time). The 1500m is an athletics event in which Sebastian Coe won Olympic gold in 1980 and 1984. My maths teacher at secondary school once beat Coe in a race (when they were both about 6 years old).
Down
1 Request to admit Thunderer is too much! (8)
PLETHORA – PLEA (Request) around (to admit) THOR (Thunderer, i.e. the Norse god of thunder). The Thunderer is/was a nickname for the Times. We had this exact same construction in a Quicky in early July with the clue “Excess god in prayer!”, as well as in the main cryptic two weeks ago with “A lot of prayer involving God”, not to mention in the FT in June with “Petition god to intervene in flood”
2 Windless California at beginning of May (4)
CALM – CAL (California) + M (beginning of May, i.e. the first letter of May)
3 Put new top on old radio, indefatigable (8)
TIRELESS – change the first letter of (Put new top on) wireless (old radio). Though the instruction may seem a bit vague in that we aren’t told what to change it to, the first letter is a checked letter in the grid, plus about the only other word that would fit is fireless, which doesn’t tally with the definition.
4 Lightly cooked – that’s unusual (4)
RARE – double definition
5 Cite cast in play as very happy (8)
ECSTATIC – anagram (in play) of CITE CAST
6 Ill-mannered guy – show disapproval (right) (4)
BOOR – BOO (show disapproval) + R (right)
12 Odour I absorbed – dry English hazelnut chocolate (8)
NOISETTE – NOSE (Odour) around I (absorbed), + TT (dry, i.e. teetotal) + E (English). Nose in this sense is often applied to a wine’s bouquet. Noisette is one of those interesting words with diverse meanings – apart from the chocolate, it can also be a small round piece of meat (usually lamb) and a hybrid rose.
13 Attitude (unwilling to spend) with no weaknesses (8)
AIRTIGHT – AIR (Attitude) + TIGHT (unwilling to spend)
14 Detergent, say, Conservative lists with indication of hesitation (8)
CLEANSER – C (Conservative) + LEANS (lists) + ER (indication of hesitation)
17 Rung of ladder dogs perhaps upset (4)
STEP – reversal (upset) of PETS (dogs perhaps)
18 After parking drink in enclosed area (4)
PALE – ALE (drink) after P (parking). Perhaps not the most common meaning of this word, though I would imagine most solvers will have heard of a paling (same root), which could surround a pale.
19 Note in the morning group working together (4)
TEAM – TE (Note, from do, re, mi, etc) + AM (in the morning)

10 comments on “Quick Cryptic 206 by Hurley”

  1. After quite a lengthy run of quick solves I came a cropper yesterday at 17 minutes and today even more so at 19. The main problems were needing most of the checkers before I could crack the two long anagrams, the obscure poet and the unusual definition of pale. I suppose ‘beyond the pale’ would be the most usual context for this but I’m afraid I’d never thought about the derivation of that phrase.
    1. Ah yes, of course – I really should have read the entire entry in Chambers. It also mentions the English Pale (a part of Ireland that was under English control for a few hundred years) and the Jewish Pale (an area of Imperial Russia in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed).
  2. This struck me as meatier than most, though I can’t now remember what in particular impressed me. The only NOISETTE I knew of was the meat type, but I figured wotthehell, which is the way I tend to figure. I liked PLETHORA, although I was thinking of The Times at first. Didn’t know that Heaney had died, and was wondering if the ban didn’t apply to quickies. I’m almost sure that the rule is that gratuitous capitalizing is OK, but using lower case when the word is normally capitalized is flat out; correct me if I’m wrong. Or better yet, don’t; I hate being corrected when I’m wrong. 7:45. Merry Christmas, mohn; see you next year, I trust.
    1. I hesitate to mention the X word, as his name can be a red rag to some solvers plus I don’t think any of the main daily cryptics follow his “rules” to the letter, but since his book contains many thoughts that seem reasonable about the construction of clues then this is what Ximenes has to say on the subject (p.45 in “Ximenes on the Art of the Crossword”):

      “… May one use a capital, where it isn’t necessary, in order to deceive? May one abolish one, where it is, strictly speaking, needed, in order to deceive? My answer to the first question is: Yes, at a pinch; but try, if you can, to put the word first in the clue or after a full stop in the course of it. My answer to the second is: No! If you do abolish it, you aren’t saying what you mean. Illogical? I don’t think so. Capital letters are often obligatory; but they are also used in certain contexts, especially in nouns, in words that don’t normally need them. So the composer may claim that he is making his context such a context. …”

      An example of such a context is a book or film title, say. I don’t think I’ve seen a Times setter uncapitalise a word for the purposes of deception, but it certainly occurs elsewhere with more libertarian setters/editors (e.g. Boatman in the Guardian) and generates a lively discussion whenever it happens.

  3. I appreciate the conversation above – these intricacies are fascinating. During the crossword however I ploughed on regardless and rather successfully – one of my quicker solves for a while. I’m in a run where the the ones I find hard, others find easy and vice versa – so I will hold off any comments about ease of solving in my blogs for a while.
    Completely agree with the frustration of changing URL numbering. One needs to be logged in to a subscription account to access it – so why the coyness?
    COD to 16ac for the smile it gave when working the parsing.

    Edited at 2014-12-22 09:49 am (UTC)

    1. Do you mean it’s actually done deliberately in order to throw us off the scent? I’d say the evidence to date makes this extremely unlikely as I doubt they are capable of any such coherent strategy and they’d have a problem with the proverbial p-up in a brewery!

      Edited at 2014-12-22 10:35 am (UTC)

  4. My experience resembled Jack’s in terms of long anagrams last and mohn’s in terms of knowing (and having read) Heaney only for Beowulf. Forgot to turn the online stopwatch on, but under 10 minutes anyway.

    A curious puzzle, since a plethora of easy stuff (eg CALM, CROW, BORE, TURN) was mixed up with some tricky stuff: the afore-mentioned anagrams and the clues for PLETHORA (less usual word) and PALE (less usual sense).

    1. 15×15 9 December 2014
      PLETHORA – THOR (god) inside PLEA (prayer)

      Quickie 1 July 2014
      PLETHORA – God (Thor) inside prayer (PLEA).

      Edited at 2014-12-22 02:15 pm (UTC)

  5. I found this quite hard and did it in two stretches. I find if I solve some clues and leave it for a while and come back I can then finish it off. I won’t win any prizes but I do complete the puzzle. I did find the capitalisation in 1a off-putting but I will know next time. Luckily I knew the original of ‘beyond the pale’ ,referring to the area around Dublin. Thanks to the blogger and Happy Christmas to you.

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