QC 1155 by Joker

Author   astartedonPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Medium dificulty for me, I would say just under 10 minutes although I fielded an early morning business call in the middle which muddied the waters. But it felt like the easy side of average on my scale.

I think my FOI was 8A although looking back I can’t see why it was not 5A. My brain flirted with that one, tasting it as the easiest initial prey but for some reason (probably visual association, one of the mental facilities that one generally has to try to switch off while wandering through Crossword Land) I kept thinking of POLO as in the water version. LOI was, uncommonly, 1A, as I swooped back round for the third time and twigged to ‘LAY’. I think that has to be my COD too (I also liked 9A but ultimately felt that the surface was a bit laboured). In passing I wonder if the surface of 1A was at all inspired by recent news items involving Downside and Ampleforth but then I may just be oversensitive having known people who lived through St Benedict’s.

Many thanks to Joker for a pleasantly challenging accompaniment to my Monday morning wake-up cup of tea.

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

PS Itried to post this about an hour ago but on checking the website just now it doesn’t seem to have appeared. I think I must have pressed the wrong button in my early morning haze. Doing it again now.

Across
1 Unprofessional with boy during PE break in school (8)
PLAYTIME – LAY (unprofessional) + TIM (boy) ‘during’ PE.
5 Place for swimming game (4)
POOL – double definition.
7 I assembled returned article (4)
ITEM – I + TEM (MET (assembled) ‘returned’).
8 Menace near the front of tent, moving (8)
THREATEN – anagram (‘moving’) of NEAR THE + T (‘front’ of Tent).
9 Standards for judging writer sacrificing wife taken in by spies (8)
CRITERIA – CIA (spies) ‘taking in’ RITER (WRITER ‘sacrificing’ W (wife))
11 Suitable small apartment (3)
APT – contraction (‘small’) of apartment. Nearly a double definition except that the contraction isn’t really a word.
13 Lines held by last Anzacs (6)
STANZA – hidden word – laST ANZAcs.
16 After start of printing, our editor’s served tea? (6)
POURED – P (‘start’ of Printing) + OUR ED (our editor).
18 Part of colonel’s unit (3)
ONE – hidden word – colONEl.
19 Visitor called cutting rest, unfortunately (8)
STRANGER – RANG (called) ‘cutting’ STER (anagram of REST (‘unfortunately’))
20 Dawn’s daughter — certainly not heavy (8)
DAYLIGHT – D (daughter) + AY (certainly) + LIGHT (not heavy).
22 Make heavy demands on current vehicle (4)
TAXI – TAX (make heavy demands on) + I (the conventional physical symbol for the electrical quantity ‘current’). On first reading you might think this would have to be a down clue, with TAX being ‘on’ I, but on closer reading ‘on’ falls within the surface verb phrase.
23 Cry over small employer (4)
BOSS – SOB ‘over’ (i.e. reversed) + S (small).
24 SAS tried sorting out calamity (8)
DISASTER – anagram of SAS TRIED (‘sorting out’).
Down
1 Royals their sister cut? (7)
PRINCES – if you cut PRINCESS by taking off the last letter you get PRINCES.
2 A man hugs another from the New World (8)
AMERICAN – A MAN ‘hugging’ ERIC (another man).
3 Vast liner converted for short breaks (9)
INTERVALS – anagram (‘converted’) of VAST LINER.
4 Expensive losing diamonds in some corn (3)
EAR – DEAR (expensive) ‘losing’ D (diamonds to all you Bridge players).
5 Deposit metal coating on gold table (7)
PLATEAU – PLATE (to deposit metal coating on, cf. 22A above) + AU (chemical symbol for gold, aurum). Once again ‘on’ falls within the verb phrase of the surface.
6 Oxygen exercises used on speed run (7)
OPERATE – O (oxygen) + PE (exercises) + RATE (speed).
10 A quiet soldier needs time with American kit (9)
APPARATUS – A + P (quiet) + PARA (soldier) + T (time) + US (American).
12 Expecting ruling after pressure (8)
PREGNANT – P (pressure) + REGNANT (ruling).
14 Strong wind ripped advert off, initially (7)
TORNADO – TORN (ripped) + AD (advert) + O (Off ‘initially’).
15 Pointers being almost not necessary (7)
NEEDLES – ‘almost’ NEEDLESs, i.e. with the last letter chopped off.
17 Row after doctor’s introducing iodine that’s more contaminated (7)
DIRTIER – TIER (row) ‘after’ DR (doctor) ‘introducing’ I (chemical symbol for iodine as well as current. A versatile scientific letter that in its lower case guise also represents the square root of -1, so making a significant contribution to each of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.).
21 Precious metal’s left out. Mercury, perhaps? (3)
GOD – GOLD with L (left) out = GOD.

20 comments on “QC 1155 by Joker”

  1. Did it in 25 mins. Enjoyed it. Should have been quicker. But I was really stuck on 15d for a good 5 mins.

    At least the QC didn’t seem to need any obscure knowledge – and therefore more in keeping with a QC rather than simply a smaller full cryptic. Some days this puzzle takes me hours.

    Perhaps I should try the main one again? I never seem to get more than one or two clues…

    1. Today’s 15×15 may be worth a try. You might not finish it all but you will probably get a good few more than one or two and that would boost your confidence.
  2. I didn’t even notice the APT ONE gimme’s, but then I hadn’t done the downs yet; odd, even for a QC. 4:36.
  3. 7 minutes, but with that typo you get when (not being a touch typist) you put the first letter of the answer in the second square. As it (almost) says in Big Brother today, “more haste, less ssped”.
    I was convinced 8ac began with NIGHT (near front of tent) but couldn’t squeeze MARE into the remaining space.
    I don’t recall seeing the “block” layout (11 and 18) in a Times grid before.
  4. A gentle start to the week but highly enjoyable nonetheless – I thought 1a was particularly good. My one gripe is with the freebies – surely all clues should need solving.
    Completed in 8.47 with LOI 21d.
    Thanks for the blog
  5. 8 minutes. We don’t often see ‘free gift’ answers like 11ac and 18ac in Times puzzles. Spotting X,Y and Z sent me looking for a pangram but we are missing four or five other letters.
  6. The freebies still need the solver to know to look for Double Definitions or Hiddens and so are not so much free as easy. 19 mins today so just below average for me. The bottom half went in much quicker than the top.
  7. 10 minutes in with just 1ac to go and I had a complete block. It took 5 minutes to turn my brain away from the definition being ‘unprofessional’ in order to complete. Humph!
  8. I liked Playtime and God. LOI Dirtier. A good start to the week but it took longer than I anticipated – just under 3 on the Kevinometer.
    Thanks to Joker and astartedon. John M
  9. THREATEN my LOI, thinking the definition was ‘moving’ at first and then leaving until I got the checkers. Solved 11a and 18a on the way through the acrosses before reaching the downs, so they weren’t free for me. DISASTER my COD for the neat surface, but this was not a DISASTER for me… 1 minute under average. Thanks joker and astartedon.
  10. I was flying with this one until I came back to my LOI, 1a. Then like Chris, I stared at it for at least 2 minutes before the definition struck and I stopped looking for a word for unprofessional. 8:13. I solved 11a and 18a before getting the down clues. Thanks Joker and Don.
  11. I actually found this quite difficult, as I often do with Joker. I find it quite difficult to get on his wavelength, and after a first pass had about 4 scattered around the grid. Enjoyed PRINCES (COD), LOI PLAYTIME (when I realised that unprofessional was lay not amateur (or am) as I first thought. INTERVALS took far longer to work out than it should have done (pen and paper job in the end). Bad Monday, let’s hope I brighten up during the week.
    PlayUpPompey
  12. Was so pleased with myself as I finished this puzzle in 25 minutes. Prematurely pleased, as it turns out, because I immediately received the errors message… I had forgotten to flip over “sobs ” to make it “boss ” in 23 across. Ho hum… Thank you, setter and blogger.
  13. No time today. Slow to start with FOI 3d INTERVALS. Last two in were 8a THREATEN and 5d PLATEAU. 8a is also my COD as I missed the anagram indicator. Thank you for the blog.
  14. Neither of the 1s came quickly to mind which always causes a flutter when you are speed solving. The rest was plain sailing though and they fell straight away when I returned and saw the LAY element of 1a.
    The grid is rather unsatisfactory, what is the point of clues you don’t have to solve? 4:56
  15. I am on holiday in a damp Nothumberland. A warm drizzle over everything, like in some restaurants these days.
    Normally I am on Joker’s wavelength but my last two today, 1d and finally 1a, held me up for some time.
    No time recorded for an enjoyable drowsy post-lunch solve. David

  16. Ran through most of this quite quickly, with just a minor pause over the unknown Regnant part of 12d. However that then left me with my last three in the NW corner, 1ac/d and 7ac. And at that point I was well and truly stuck for ages. Nothing seemed to fit. In the end, I went away and had a cup of tea, came back and saw 1d, Princes, immediately and hence the others. Not a good start to the week. Invariant
  17. I’ve generally greatly enjoyed Joker’s contributions to the QC but I have to say this was the dullest QC ever.. Very easy which is perfectly OK on a Monday, but no clue that was remotely witty, original or gave a sense of solving achievement, not that any of us are perfect!

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