Quick Cryptic 139 by Pedro

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
As at this moment (00:12 BST) the Times Quickie button is not working, so here’s a link to the puzzle:
http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20140918/271/

I solved most of this in 10 minutes but then took as long again to work out 6ac/dn and 11ac. Finally cracking 6dn was the breakthrough I needed and the remaining two answers then came to me immediately. Apart from that difficulty this struck me as mostly straightforward, my only other query being how well-known the expression at 9ac is.

Curly brackets indicate deletions. Definitions are underlined

Across
1 Expression of masculinity, measure of speed shown by one’s doctor (8)
MACHISMO – MACH (measure of speed), I’S (one’s), MO (doctor)
6 UK seaway with one-third reduction in fish (4)
SOLE – SOLE{nt} (UK seaway – the channel between the Isle of Wight and the mainland)
8 Observe maximum returns (4)
SPOT – TOPS (maximum) reversed
9 Escaping no Hamlet broadcast (2,3,3)
ON THE LAM – Anagram [broadcast] of NO HAMLET. I can’t find the definitive origin of this expression but it seems to be agreed that it’s North American slang and has no connection with the usual meaning of ‘lam’ that appeared in yesterday’s 15×15.
10 Small-town resident gets endless dreadful beer (8)
VILLAGER – VIL{e} (endless dreadful), LAGER (beer)
11 Point, indicating second stop on pub crawl (4)
BARB – BAR (pub) , B (second – in a sequence). If the first stop is at Bar A, the second will be at Bar B where it might fitting if there was a queue.
13 Ace menu option, designed for a fairy tale start? (4,4,1,4)
ONCE UPON A TIME – Anagram [designed] of ACE MENU OPTION
16 Tax: it’s not involved in light-heartedness (4)
LEVY – LEV{it}Y (light-heartedness) with  IT left out [not involved]
17 Dangerous blaze: vehicle with lease taken round front of farm (8)
BUSHFIRE – BUS (vehicle) then HIRE (lease) goes round F{arm}
19 Confrontation of French by groom-to-be (8)
DEFIANCE – DE (of French), FIANCÉ (groom-to-be)
21 Artist abandoning chasm to depict plant (4)
VINE – {ra}VINE (chasm) with RA (artist – Royal Academician) left out [abandoned]
22 Congregation’s response put right without end (4)
AMEN – AMEN{d} (put right) with its end letter left out
23 Channel’s latest repeat exhibiting culture? (8)
LITERATE – {channe}L, ITERATE (repeat)

Down
2 Device in Palace re-designed to restrict parking (9)
APPLIANCE – P (parking) goes inside anagram [redesigned] of IN PALACE. “Restrict” is the enclosure indicator.
3 Holiday location turning up in epistle to home (5)
HOTEL – Hidden and reversed inside {epist}LE TO H{ome}
4 Energy required to hold high note, just for a while (4-3)
STOPGAP – TOP G (high note) inside SAP (energy)
5 River creature‘s more than enough on English river (5)
OTTER – OTT (more than enough – Over The Top), E (English), R (river)
6 Drink‘s fixed, incorporating mint? (7)
SHERBET – HERB (mint – the ? indicates that it’s an example) inside SET (fixed)
7 Meadow mostly unproductive (3)
LEA – LEA{n} (mostly unproductive, as in “lean times”)
12 Artist using eye movement to mark conclusion of portrait (9)
REMBRANDT – REM (Rapid Eye Movement), BRAND (mark), {portrai}T
14 Easily moved by name of delightful spot (7)
ELYSIAN – Anagram of EASILY, N (name)
15 Developing article that’s picked up trail (7)
NASCENT – AN (article) reversed [picked up], SCENT (trail). “Picked up” would often be used as a homophone indicator, but not on this occasion.
17 Prohibit a line in stock (5)
BANAL – BAN (prohibit), A, L (line). The definition here is an adjective meaning commonplace, everyday.
18 Illness Father catches the day before (5)
FEVER – EVE (day before) inside FR (father)
20 Spy, upset, dumping nothing in tree (3)
ELM – M{0}LE (spy dumping nothing) reversed [upset]

17 comments on “Quick Cryptic 139 by Pedro”

  2. 5:20, but I never did figure out BARB, just going with checkers and definition; a nice clue, as, I thought, were 17ac, 2d (smooth surface), & 14d. On the other hand, I thought a couple of the clues were too easily solvable from definition (1ac, 13ac, esp. with the enumeration, 22ac, 7d). Where Jack was slowed down on 6ac, I got it quickly, because my ignorance of British geography limited the possible choices (the Solent, thanks to cryptics, and, ah, some others).

    Edited at 2014-09-18 03:31 am (UTC)

  3. I’m not sure about your parsing of 5D. I think it’s a double definition – the Otter is an English river (just down the road from me) and also a river creature. I think the OTT stuff was OTT! 😉
    2. Ingenious idea, but a DD parsing doesn’t account for ‘more than enough on’. In a down clue, the ‘on’ signifies that the OTT (‘more than enough’) goes before the next bit (in this case, ‘E’ for English).

      Beautiful part of the country, by the way.

  4. The only time I’ve ever heard the phrase ‘on the lam’ was in the film the silence of the lambs, I had to look it up afterwards because I didn’t understand it (and the confluence of lam and lamb confused me too). It’s always stuck with me as a result. Also as a result, I have heard of chianti and fava beans. So if there are ever any food/drink clues about them I’ll be fine.
  5. An amusing 9minutes with 2 of those spent wondering about a drink beginning with M having confidently entered MULL in 6 ac (as in of Kintyre). COD to BARB, which would not be out of place in the main puzzle as has been noted above. Thanks Pedro and Jackt

    Edited at 2014-09-18 08:20 am (UTC)

  6. To my mind, the toughest quickie yet; 15 minutes all told. Like other contributors, all went fairly smoothly until the NE corner which took me more than the rest of the puzzle to sort out. I also never fully parsed 21a, but decided it couldn’t be anything else than VINE. Thanks to setter and, especially, to Jack.
    1. I agree. A vey difficult puzzle for the QC. Some new stuff here for me. The measuring device – Mach was unknown and I had never heard of ‘on the lam’. Would never have related banal to stock either and couldn’t get sherbet – although after checking blog it’s my COD. Suppose this will all help with my transition to the main but found this so hard I might have to give it a miss today.
  7. Super puzzle. Like others I finished with SHERBET and BARB. I missed the excellent BAR B aspect. Favourite clue REMBRANDT.

    Thanks for the blog Jack.

  8. Interesting that the comments so far indicate different players had difficulty with different clues – probably the hallmark of a good challenging crossword.

    I struggled with the VILLAGER / APPLIANCE clues – my last two in. Villager threw me for a while until I got STOP GAP and saw the lager flow, so to speak – I had not equated small town with village as (probably somewhat pedantically) I had always thought of a town and village being distinct, irrespective of qualifiers such as small. I have no rational explanation for struggling with appliance! SOLE, by contrast, was a write in.

    Anyway, most enjoyable puzzle and thanks – as ever – to Jack for his blog.

  9. 5 mins. I enjoyed this after my tussle with the main puzzle. I saw the “Bar B” wordplay for 11ac straight away, the B checker helped me get SHERBET, and then SOLE fell into place. I finished in the SE with VINE and only saw how it was parsed post-solve.
  10. Two new words for me LAM and REM. And two more to learn NREM is non-rapid eye movement and LAMISTER is a fugitive!
  11. Nice quicky, solved in a little over 10m for me.

    As a bitter drinker, I like the pairing of vile and lager in 10. The two words are always linked in my mind, hence my foi!

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