Quick Cryptic No. 58, by Izetti – it’s all Greek to me

Author   piquetPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
An interesting mix of simple write-in clues and some more obscure ones, especially the two which require a smattering of biology and Greek architecture knowledge to avoid guessing from the checking letters.
I think fifteen minutes would be a good performance for a regular beginner at cryptics tackling this format.

Across
1 STABLEMATE – Hidden word, THI(S TABLE MAT – E)xquisite, def. ‘partner’. A nice gentle morale-booster to start.
8 AVERTED – Not a US state abbreviation, for once, but state= AVER, old rocker=TED, def. ‘turned away’ as in ‘he averted his eyes’. AVER for state is a common synonym in crosswords, if not in life.
9 CHILE – Sounds like ‘chilly’, so easy you wonder if it’s right.
10 PART – Celebration not quite finished = PART(Y), def. ‘some’.
11 FACTIONS – Deeds = ACTIONS, ‘initiated by’ F (female),m def. ‘coteries’.
13 STOMA – Anagram of (A MOST)*, indicated by ‘unusual’. I knew the word in relation to human surgery but am no botanist, had to check it in Wiki. στόμα is Greek for mouth. If you have the three checking letters there’s not much else you can make from the five letter anagram.
14 RATTY – Def. ‘irritable’. Artist = RA, abstaining from booze = TT, ending in misery = Y. A nice surface to this clue.
16 REGIONAL – (GAIN ROLE)*, indicated by ‘working’, def. ‘local’. Not an exact synonym, we tend to think national, regional, local, but it will do.
17 TERM – Double def., TERM = a spell of time, TERM = a word with a specialised use. Easy when you see it, but it made me think for a minute.
20 CELIA – Def. is ‘name of female’. Not a very specific def., there must be thousands, but in crosswords priest is often ELI and CA is short for Central America; ELI ‘in’ CA is the answer, clear if you already have C_L_A (well it could be our Cilla I suppose).
21 RETREAT – Religious Education = RE, outing = TREAT, def. ‘opportunity for comtemplation’. When I saw ‘outing’ I first thought of male pop stars and politicians, but it’s not that. I must get out more.
22 HEADMASTER – Def. ‘schoolteacher’, HEADER goes around MAST = post.

Down
1 STAMP – Good person = ST (saint), A, member = MP, def. ‘mark’.
2 A HEART OF GOLD – Not much to say about this, except if you didn’t get it right away, from 1,5,2,4 and the clueing, you need another hobby.
3 LATE – Left = L, had meal = ATE, def. ‘after the due time’.
4 MEDLAR – A fruit that sounds like ‘MEDDLER’.
5 TACITURN – Def. ‘tight-lipped’, TAC = ‘tiger (CAT) coming up’, I, TURN = become. Or you could see it as CAT turned by I TURN.
6 SIX OF THE BEST – Def. ‘beating’. Another amusing cryptic definition, go to the naughty step if you didn’t get it quickly.
7 JERSEY – Double def., and Guernsey doesn’t fit.
12 BARONAGE – BAR ON AGE is a restriction on time. Collective noun for a bunch of barons or other titled gents.
13 STRUCK – Double bend = S, vehicle = TRUCK, def. ‘hit’.
15 HATRED – Bowler = HAT, showing embarrassment = RED, def. ‘animosity’.
18 MOTOR – Maureen (little) MO sits on TOR = hill, def. ‘car’.
19 STOA – Hidden word in VISITOR(S TO A)THENS, a Stoa is or was a covered walkway or portico for public use in ancient Greece. The Stoa of Attalos in Athens is a fine restored example. I can’t help wondering if the occurrence of STOMA and STOA in the same puzzle brought a smile of satisfaction to our setter’s face.

13 comments on “Quick Cryptic No. 58, by Izetti – it’s all Greek to me”

  1. 5 mins. I found this easier than yesterday’s but I agree that STOA may give some difficulty to the less experienced solver. REGIONAL was my LOI after STRUCK.
  2. Oh dear! This was one of my longest solves. 21mins. Ze leettle gray cells were not, ‘ow you say, working. For some reason I put STRIKE/KILDA instead of STRUCK/CELIA and I struggled with STABLEMATE. Back to the naughty step for me! Thanks for the blog, Pip. Informative and entertaining as always.
    1. Well I can see ‘trike’ is a vehicle of sorts, so it is almost a viable alternative, but as Jimbo said yesterday, Occam’s razor applies. Kilda for a girl’s name? It must be hard for non native speakers to work out whether ‘hit’ in any particular instance is in the present tense or the past.
  3. 21 minutes. Stuck in STAIN for 1d, thinking of member as “in”. Left me gazing at the last clue for ages wondering what 4 letter word beginning with N I didn’t know, before realizing the silly error….
  4. 26 mins with Z8ery on 5 clues. Move over, Martin, I need to share the naughty step!

    I did get the two long verticals fast, though. LOI was 4dn, simply because I completed the bottom before the top.

    COD was RATTY – beautifully constructed & witty.

    An excellent blog, Pip, if a mite censorious.

  5. 12 minutes here. STOMA was unknown and MEDLAR unfamiliar though I’m sure I used to know of it. I wasn’t over keen on ‘treat/outing’ but eventually found ‘treat’ in Chambers defined as ‘pleasure excursion’ so that covers it well enough.

    Edited at 2014-05-28 12:56 pm (UTC)

  6. As a beginner/improver, I found this difficult, although I was watching the tennis at the same time. I have never heard of either baronage or stoa. The four letter words are more difficult than the long phrases because there are so many alternatives. J.
  7. I was also in the STAIN camp. Unfortunately I did not correct it. What I put in for 10a is best left untold. This was a much tougher puzzle from Izetti. Not sure whether I was mad about this.
  8. Keep at it anonymous contributor. As an old lag at this crossword lark I found this quite tricky, and it probably took me as long to complete as the big boys’ and girls’ cryptic puzzle.
  9. My first posting. I found this a lot harder than many recent puzzles. Didn’t finish but That is usual for me. Find the blog and Comments useful.
  10. I was confounded by STABLEMATE & STOMA, and have never come across MEDLAR & BARONAGE. But quite proud that I got the rest.
  11. I’ve been trying to get to grips with crosswords for years and not quite got it. I’m getting more and more of the quick cryptic each time, and things like MP for member and ST for good person are really good additions to my crossword vocab. I was so pleased to get motor because Maureen cropped up in the Telegraph at Christmas and I learned of it then. Thanks for a super site and really useful comments.
  12. As if I need any more. Would someone please say where these can be found.

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