QC 1395 by Teazel

Author   astartedonPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Well having had my first PB for a long time two weeks ago I now have another one that has taken me under the 6-minute mark. So many thanks to Teazel for giving me that milestone (and it is most appropriate as I believe my first ever blog puzzle was a Teazel). I think that after being a natural paper solver these many years I have now managed to get used to how the online version deals with overwriting of letters so that I don’t waste so much time re-entering stuff. Onwards and upwards from here I hope!

FOI was 1A as God intended. After that most of the rest of the across clues went in pretty easily although not all on the first pass, but then practically everything went in in the down department so that when I came through again it was all ptretty straightforward. LOI was, I think, 12A. No particular clue really stands out for difficulty so I’ll give my COD to the neatest surface which I judge to be 5D.

Not so much as a twitch on the NATRAF.

Definitions are underlined and everything else is explained just as I see it in the simplest language I can manage.

Across
1 Throne for baby? (4,5)
HIGH CHAIR – cryptic definition.
6 Something lacking in a student’s year (3)
GAP – double definition.
8 Within radius, one has exclusive knowledge (7)
INSIDER – INSIDE (within) + R (radius).
9 Miss capturing rook — feeble! (5)
FRAIL – FAIL (miss) ‘capturing’ R (rook, as in the chess piece).
10 City casino — francs wasted (3,9)
SAN FRANCISCO – straight anagram (‘wasted’) of CASINO FRANCS.
12 Complain aloud, getting cut (4)
MOWN – homophone (‘aloud’) of MOAN (complaint).
13 Fearsome type making some progress (4)
OGRE – hidden word (‘some’): prOGREss.
17 But older women can also take this trip (6,6)
MAIDEN VOYAGE – cryptic definition.
20 Not demanding illumination (5)
LIGHT – double definition.
21 Repel it, horrible snake? (7)
REPTILE – straight anagram (‘horrible’) of REPEL IT. Question mark included in the definition as other forms of reptile are available.
23 On the wagon, consuming zero alcoholic drink (3)
TOT – TT (teetotaller, i.e. on the wagon) ‘consuming’ O (zero).
24 Paraded, like some foods? (9)
PROCESSED – double definition.
Down
1 Song is heard: one may succeed (4)
HEIR – homophone of AIR (song). An HEIR succeeds to an estate.
2 Special postage for secret police (7)
GESTAPO – straight anagram (‘special’) of POSTAGE.
3 Fish not paid for till it arrives (3)
COD – double definition (COD = Cash On Delivery).
4 A minor thoroughfare, not in the UK (6)
ABROAD – A + B ROAD (minor thoroughfare).
5 Beef regularly served in clergy-house dining room (9)
REFECTORY – EF (bEeF ‘regularly’) ‘served in’ RECTORY (clergy-house).
6 Informer that may be regularly 12? (5)
GRASS – something that may regularly be MOWN (cross refer to 12 across above as there is no 12 down).
7 Cheek raised on soft cushion (6)
PILLOW – LIP (‘cheek’) reversed (i.e. ‘raised’ in this down clue) ‘on’ (again in this down clue) LOW (soft, as in a low whisper or voice)
11 Such delicate control: grip net if loose (9)
FINGERTIP – straight anagram (‘loose’) of GRIP NET IF.
14 Recovers, for example, in the wet season (7)
REGAINS – EG (for example) ‘in’ RAINS (wet season).
15 A drug-smuggler on time? This may be lucky (6)
AMULET – A + MULE (drug smuggler) ‘on’ T (time) in this down clue.
16 Exaggerate what lover doubtfully admits (6)
OVERDO – hidden word (‘admits’): lOVER DOubtfully.
18 At home, received what may be gold (5)
INGOT – IN (home) + GOT (received).
19 Drop article into cot (4)
BEAD – A (indefinite article) ‘into’ BED (cot).
22 Exercise, having eaten one baked dish (3)
PIE – PE (exercise) having ‘eaten’ I (one).

20 comments on “QC 1395 by Teazel”

  1. I was too quick reading 12ac, took ‘complain aloud’ to be the definition, and put in MOAN, simply forgetting about ‘cut’. What with the enumeration, and ‘francs’ in the clue, 10ac wasn’t very impressive. 4:05 but.
  2. 7 minutes. Straightforward stuff with only one minor delay in the parsing of 7dn where my intial thought was that P accounted for ‘soft’ so I was left wondering how WOLLI could be clued as ‘cheek raised’.

    Edited at 2019-07-15 06:31 am (UTC)

  4. Has a command been issued from on high for easier puzzles on a Monday? Does feel that way at the moment (I’m certainly not complaining).
    This gentle one took me exactly 2 Kevins but with no “but”. I’m usually not a fan of cross-referenced clues but in this case I only got MOWN from GRASS, having spent ages trying to make “moan” work.

    FOI COD, LOI PILLOW, COD MAIDEN VOYAGE

    Thanks Teazel and Don

    Templar

  5. I think this was nearly my quickest ever but I was careless with the comma and put moan in too 🙂 Slightly annoyed that I didn’t pay enough attention to 6d as that would have put me right. Good gentle start to the week – thanks all!
  6. I got nowhere in the NW but speeded up as I moved south and climbed upwards. I still struggled to put the last few in the NW and kicked myself when HEIR, HIGH CHAIR, and ABROAD (my COD) finally fell – perfectly reasonable, all. The MOAN/MOWN thing caught me, too. Some nice clues. I still seem to be stuck in a rut in the mid teens. Perhaps I’m still recovering from the cricket…. Thanks to both. John M.

    Edited at 2019-07-15 08:36 am (UTC)

  7. Nice to have an easy one to start the week. The first time I’ve managed sub 20 minutes and I came in at 13:19. Nearly caught by mown though. Thanks all! I feel I’ve graduated from beginner to amateur now.
  8. A gentle offering and like Templar was relieved when 6d clarified the homophone at 12a. My one hold up was 1d where an alphabet trawl was followed by an almighty clang as the penny dropped. Completed in 7.37.
    Thanks for the blog
  9. 18 minutes, so two under target. It could have been better but I spent two on my LOI ‘OVERDO’ – I don’t usually fail to spot lurkers these days but this was a good one. My COD was not COD but ABROAD.
    Thanks to Teasel for the puzzle and to astartedon for sorting out my few queries aboit parsing.
    Brian
  10. ….which would be eminently suitable for someone making their MAIDEN VOYAGE into the waters of the Crossword ocean.

    FOI HIGH CHAIR
    LOI LIGHT
    COD OVERDO (I loved Brian’s description of “lurker” !)
    TIME 2:41

  11. This was definitely the easiest puzzle I have ever seen. I never finish them and I did this in 10 mins. It is nice to get occasional easier puzzle really encouraging.

    Tim

      1. Me too. I’ve been out the loop for a couple of weeks due to a ludicrously (for me) demanding work schedule. Was my 3’05” PB down to a return to normal hours and an unscrambled brain? No, just a really easy puzzle.

        Nonetheless, my thanks as always to setter and blogger.

  12. I was just outside my PB in 7:06 ( My PB is 6:55). Had I not misspelled SAN FRANsISCO which caused me to dither over REFECTORY as the answer to 5d I think I would have got there. I biffed 6d GRASS from checkers without reference to 12a and like jackkt couldn’t parse 7d PILLOW initially. Thanks Teazel and astartedon.
  13. As everyone has said, it is sometimes nice to have an easier QC. However that makes my DNF -yes, the MOAN – make me GROAN!! I knew it didn’t parse but forgot to go back to 6d to get it right. So annoyed with myself! MM

    FOI 10a
    LOI 1d but of course 12a was wrong!!
    COD 17a probably because of my “older woman” status!!

  14. 7.37 but with a question on 12ac. The homophobe indicator is in the middle, so why can’t it be MOAN with complain as definition then “aloud, getting cut” as homophone of moan? Or is there a convention on homophone indicator preference? Happily I went with MOWN but help appreciated…

    NeilC

    1. It looks as though the comma indicates that the answer is “complain aloud – as heard but not spelt”…and if any doubt was settled by the cross-reference in 6down!
      Regards!
      John

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