QC 1065 by Teazel

Author   astartedonPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Last time I was sitting in this seat I referred to the little game that the crossword gods seem to play with us when the mood takes them where they taunt us with answers that are literally under our noses. Such as the FELT TIP PEN I once found myself inking in with that very implement.

Then the very next day, as I recall, along came a very enjoyable main puzzle in which the last down clue was VERLAINE. And in fact that very gentleman came forward to say that that had been his LOI for the day. Which seemed to kind of reinforce my thesis, until I realised that from what I know of that gentleman’s abilities, he tends to just write them in in clue order anyway. So of course that would have been his LOI.

Then came the sublime 26,999, in which the same gentleman was namechecked in one of the clues, but in which many other pleasant surprises lurked for those of us who got to the end.

A few days later I then found myself in court, with my brief running a bit late. So what would I be doing to while away the waiting time but solving number 27,003. And there I found several clear but oblique examples of those capricious deities gently mocking my situation. There was the need to define a SUIT as an ACTION (on the way to the final answer of ACTON). There were the AREOPAGITES, who were cryptically members of a ‘high’ court, and although I was in the County Court I was seeking leave to enforce my action in the High Court as a belt and braces to my main intent. And finally, of course, there was the answer BRIEFEST, which, although it had nothing to do with lawyers in either the definition or the cryptic, still had a ‘BRIEF’ winking out at me from her hiding place in the grid whereas in real life she was nowhere to be seen!

It was all looking a bit spooky to me. But then my brief turned up, I got everything on my Court Order shopping list, the mockery seemd to fade away, and I was left with nothing more than a vague sense of having been involved in a Carl Jung synchronicity anecdote.

Then came my gig today and… nothing in the least referential to my current situation turned up.

So all I can say is:

1. Don’t know what my real time was as I was doing it at the same time as packing a bag to get out of the house and go away.
2. Thought it was medium difficulty and so probably would have taken me about 9-10 minutes.
3. FOI 8A.
4. LOI 1A (nice anagram and although obvious I couldn’t immediately see it and had to come back to it).
5. COD 8D just because the straightforward cryptic and surface appealed to me, along with the Shakespearean allusion that it tripped in my mind.

So, 15D, this was a very enjoyable puzzle with quite a few clues that I had to look at more than once although everything was definitely very fair game for a quickie. Nice cluing from Teazel and many thanks.

Definitions are underlined, and everything else is explained just as I see it.

Across
1 Adjust shattering moves (10)
STRAIGHTEN – anagram of SHATTERING (‘moves’).
8 Set of dishes for religious ceremony (7)
SERVICE – double definition (dishes as in dinner SERVICE)
9 Sign left by one supporter (5)
LIBRA – a Crossword Land supporter is usually a PROP, a FAN, a TEE (for golfers) or, as here, a BRA.  L (left) + I + BRA gives a sign. Sign of the zodiac, that is, and I add that as an afterthought as I wonder is it just me, or are there far fewer astrologers around these days? Recalling my youth, it seems to me that all the tabloid newspapers used to be stuffed with astrological supplements whereas nowadays they don’t really get a mention. Have we all as a society become much more rational? Or have they all gone online or something? Or maybe all the ‘celebrity’ astrologers have just died (not being able to have foreseen and predicted their own demise, which I guess if they had done might have brought them some degree of posthumous additional celebrity)?
10 Miranda’s internal state (4)
IRAN – hidden in MIRANda.
11 Adolescent that is way the smallest (8)
TEENIEST – TEEN (adolescent) + IE (that is) + ST (way).
13 Countryman’s sport with short bat (6)
RUSTIC – RU (sport, Rugby Union) + STICk (a ‘short’ bat).
14 Edward backed our diversion (6)
DETOUR – DET (Edward (TED) ‘backed’) + OUR.
17 In compartment, I attempt to secure a foot treatment (8)
PODIATRY – POD (compartment) + I + TRY (attempt) ‘securing’ A.
19 Used to be a sort of wolf? (4)
WERE – double definition, one slightly cryptic. You used to be a WEREwolf once, WEREn’t you? OK, it doesn’t quite come out grammatically but it makes the point I think.
21 Dark lake one goes round (5)
UNLIT – UNIT ‘going round’ L (lake).
22 Here you may find aircraft hovers around a river (7)
HANGARS – HANGS (hovers) around A + R (a river).
23 Spot on a car cutely sorted (10)
ACCURATELY – anagram of A CAR CUTELY (‘sorted’).
Down
2 Hard inside, handles menaces (7)
THREATS – TREATS (handles) with H (hard) inside.
3 A song coming up, one from an opera (4)
ARIA – A + RIA (song ‘coming up’ in this Down clue).
4 Bloke in hot spring talking (6)
GEEZER – homophone of GEYSER (hot spring).
5 Having gifts, ten dealt out (8)
TALENTED – anagram of TEN DEALT (‘out’).
6 Peer shows no belief, oddly (5)
NOBLE – NO + the ‘odd’ bits of BeLiEf.
7 Teachers hold vital tools for comprehensive entry (6,4)
MASTER KEYS – MASTERS (teachers) ‘holding’ KEY (vital).
8 Rider’s parting shot? (7,3)
STIRRUP CUP – cryptic definition, STIRRUP CUP being the drink (shot) served to members of a hunt once they are mounted and ready to ride to the ‘fell and cruel hounds’. (Viz. “When mine eyes did see Olivia first, methought she purged the air of pestilence. That instant was I turned into a hart, and my desires, like fell and cruel hounds, e’er since pursue me.” Or words to that effect. Sorry, one of my favourite lines in all of Shakespeare and if I had half an excuse to get it in… well, I was going to. So there.
12 Enormous American soldier acting badly (8)
GIGANTIC – GI (American soldier) + anagram of ACTING (‘badly’).
15 Finished everything? Take this garment off? (7)
OVERALL – OVER (finished) + ALL (everything), giving a garment that you might wear while doing some work, and which you might then take off when it is ALL OVER. A rare example of a clue where the definition is not (or does not include) either the first or the last word of the clue.
16 King showing some heart — hurrah! (6)
ARTHUR – hidden in heART – HURrah.
18 Greek character in mouth of river (5)
DELTA – double definition.
20 Make garment perhaps new in outfit (4)
KNIT – N (new) in KIT (outfit).

17 comments on “QC 1065 by Teazel”

  1. Like jackkt it took a while to work out which word was the definition in 1a. I was also held up by biffing pedicure for 17a and only resolved it with the help of 12d.
    One day I’ll remember that ‘sign’ can refer to astrology as I nearly resorted to biffing something which I very much doubt would appear in a Times crossword for my LOI 9a.
    Completed in 13.19 and my CoD goes to 1a.
    Thanks for the blog
  2. Struggled a bit but came home in 13 minutes, 3 over my target 10. LOI STRAIGHTEN – I knew it was an anagram of ‘shattering’ but couldn’t decide which of the other words was the anagrind and which the definition. In the end I just found a word that fitted and reverse engineered.

    Edited at 2018-04-09 07:21 am (UTC)

  3. 30 minutes but DNF with the unknown stirrup cup, had stirrup _U_ but would have gone for gun, jug, rub, bug and many others before cup.

    Cur pup stir crazy for rider’s farewell drink would be fairer.

    Apart from that rather niche horsey clue, I enjoyed the rest including talented, were, and COD Arthur.

    Edited also to say thanks for the blog.

    Edited at 2018-04-09 08:51 am (UTC)

  4. It has just been pointed out to me that TEAZEL has managed to get his name into the 4th row of the puzzle.
    1. The 4th row from the bottom is CENTKRY, so I’m guessing this is Teazel’s 100th puzzle – he was in the 90s in January but I stopped keeping track about then. Perhaps the original answer to 20D was UNIT but the editor changed it as that word was already part of the wordplay to 21A, without realising that the first letter was part of the Nina.
      1. I should, of course, have added my thanks to Don for the blog and my congratulations to Teazel on the milestone! Quite a tricky puzzle, where it took me a while to realise that 1A was an anagram rather than a charade, and I can imagine 8D was a bit of a stinger if the expression wasn’t familiar.

        Edited at 2018-04-09 09:44 am (UTC)

      2. Well spotted! Your theory would also account for the otherwise stray ‘S’ in the fourth row.

        Unfortunately, at least according to my records which I think are accurate, this appears only to be Teazel’s 98th puzzle (still an achievement and not to be sneezed at), so perhaps editor intervention also caused it to appear out of sequence.

        Edited at 2018-04-09 10:48 am (UTC)

        2. Maybe this is Teazel’s little joke, with a CENTKRY being not quite a hundred, but I suspect it’s more likely that your surmise is on the money, which is unfortunate for Teazel.
      3. Well, if I was Teazel I’d be extremely annoyed at the editor if that’s indeed what happened.
      4. Why didn’t Teazel put in UNIT instead of KNIT if he/she wanted the word CENTURY? Or have I missed something? Congratulations in any event. COD to STIRRUP CUP.
  5. 16 minutes for me, so above average hardness on the rotterometer. I had no problem with Stirrup Cup as I lived across the road from a pub of that name in rural Leicestershire when I was nought but an ankle-biter. I didn’t spot the NINA(s), so thanks for pointing it/them out.

    Thanks and congratulations Teazel, and thanks for the blog Astartedon

    Edited at 2018-04-09 09:55 am (UTC)

  6. Decided to change from being Anonymous so have created account.

    Wasn’t Fridays’ QC Joker’s 100th? Sue

  7. Congrats to Teazel on the approaching(?) milestone. I awoke early with earache so tackled this at an unusually early hour, accompanied by paracetamol and eardrops. ARIA was my FOI and STRAIGHTEN my last, as I didn’t bother with pen and paper, and waited for crossers to help me decide which bit of the clue was the definition. Nice puzzle. 10:06. Thanks Teazel and Don.

  8. 22 mins. 1a was a bit of a hurdle. Two ten letter words which are co-anagrams are reasonably rare.

    I also biffed ELEVEN PLUS for comprehensive entry…

Comments are closed.