QC 1655 by Trelawney

Author   astartedonPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Sorry, no time to say very much this week, too much going on in the world outside the blogosphere.

Another very gentle Monday. One of those ones where I think I might have had a PB under ideal conditions. As it was I got home in about 7 minutes without really trying to bust the clock.

Many thanks to Trelawney for providing another one of those valuable puzzles that gives everybody (I hope?) a boost of confidence at the start of the week.

FOI was the obvious anagram at 7A. LOI was 21D because, well, it was the last clue I came to. And in these gender-fluid times when I read everybody’s arguments and see everybody’s points of view and just thank my lucky stars that I am reasonably secure in my boring old male heterosexuality and so personally don’t have to worry about any of all that (in spite of the influence of my beloved avatar as mentioned in recent weeks), my COD was 18A for its nimble playfulness.

Can I just say as well many thanks to somebody who has been very kind to me. I hope he knows who he is and I will write him a grateful email shortly but sadly it has just been a very hectic week.

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

Across
1 Very easy task collecting river junk (5)
DROSS – DOSS (very easy task) ‘collecting’ R (river).
7 Cartel had demolished place of worship (9)
CATHEDRAL – straight anagram (‘demolished’) of CARTEL HAD.
9 Greek character hiding in handsome garden (5)
OMEGA – hidden word: ‘hiding in’ handsOME GArden.
10 A close friend beginning to mistrust NATO, for example (7)
ACRONYM – A + CRONY (close friend) + M (‘begining to’ Mistrust).
11 Noblewoman starts to develop unusual board game (7)
DUCHESS – D + U (‘starts’ to Develop Unusual) + CHESS (board game).
12 Alerts posh folk, embracing one quietly (7)
TIPOFFS – TOFFS (posh folk) ’embracing’ I (one) + P (piano, quietly).
15 Worker returning woman’s aerial (7)
ANTENNA – ANT (worker) + ENNA (ANNE (woman) ‘returning’).
18 Fe-male superhero? (4,3)
IRON MAN – IRON (chemical symbol = Fe) + MAN (male).
20 Sprinted to grab magical device from African country (7)
RWANDAN – RAN (sprinted) ‘grabbing’ WAND (magical device).
22 Tuna swimming with small relations (5)
AUNTS – anagram of TUNA (‘swimming’) + S (small).
23 Irish city’s sailors producing bottle opener (9)
CORKSCREW – CORK(‘)S (Irish city’s) + CREW (sailors).
24 Knock out jockey regularly — that’s strange! (5)
KOOKY – KO (knock out) + OKY (jOcKeY ‘regularly’)
Down
1 Robot starts to design rocket on its doorstep (5)
DROID – ‘starts to’ Design Rocket On Its Doorstep.
2 Gloomy about group of actors (8)
OVERCAST – OVER (about) + CAST (group of actors).
3 Climbed like an armadillo, perhaps? (6)
SCALED – an armadillo has scales.
4 Triple jumping — go for it! (3,3)
LET RIP – straight anagram (‘jumping’) of TRIPLE.
5 I was in charge of foreign land (4)
IRAN – I + RAN (was in charge of).
6 Fashioned himself a European language (7)
FLEMISH – straight anagram (‘fashioned’) of HIMSELF.
8 Are nitrates changing brewing equipment? (3,8)
TEA STRAINER – straight anagram (‘changing’) of ARE NITRATES.
13 Long-legged creature burning oxygen (8)
FLAMINGO – FLAMING (burning) + O (oxygen).
14 Fancy putting limit on staple food (7)
CAPRICE – CAP (limit) ‘on’ (i.e. ‘above’ in this down clue) RICE (staple food).
16 Detectives imprisoned by lunatic who’s barely seen? (6)
NUDIST – DIS (Detective Inspectors) ‘imprisoned’ by NUT (lunatic). Cryptic definition.
17 After a short time, tout punk rock hairstyle (6)
MOHAWK – MO (short time) + HAWK (tout).
19 Finally clean a pig enclosure that’s unpleasant! (5)
NASTY – N (‘finally’ cleaN) + A + STY (pig enclosure).
21 Farm building lacking roof is well ventilated (4)
AIRY – dAIRY (farm building) minus the first letter (i.e. ‘lacking roof’ in this down clue).

44 comments on “QC 1655 by Trelawney”

  1. As everyone else has said – a nice start to the week. Lots of great surfaces and witty anagrams – I particularly liked CORKSCREW, SCALED and LET RIP, but agree with the comments on doss. I’m another one who only knew the lazing about meaning, so DROSS was very nearly LOI. All the same, although everything went in fairly smoothly, I wouldn’t say this was a complete doss!

    FOI Cathedral
    LOI Iran
    COD Iron man
    Time 10 mins

    Thanks Trelawney and Don

    If it’s not too late, I will echo the recommendations to have a go at the biggie if you’re not a regular over there 😄

  2. A lovely puzzle to breeze through after a wedding anniversary picnic lunch on the riverside.
    I really liked RWANDAN, CAPRICE and FLEMISH but I am another member of the DNK DOSS club and I also thought that TIPOFFS should be hyphenated.
    COD goes to NUDIST for raising a smile.
    Thanks to Trelawny and Don for giving us a great start to the week.

    Edited at 2020-07-13 02:19 pm (UTC)

  3. Despite having been a regular at Le Caprice during my carefree, child free 20s, I still sat and stared at 14dn for a good 3-4 minutes … just couldn’t see it!

    Great fun puzzle, lots to enjoy. LET RIP and FLEMISH were really well-concealed anagrams.

    FOI CATHEDRAL, LOI CAPRICE, COD IRON MAN. Done in a whisker over 2k for a Good Day.

    Many thanks Trelawney (NB the spelling, Don!) and Don.

    Templar

    1. Oh dear that is a bit of a glaring error isn’t it. Sorry, I’ll amend it.
  4. who say have a go at the 15×15 today.

    I managed it in 22 seconds less than today’s QC, and smashed my PB by approx 4 minutes.

    1. According to Collins, ‘tipoff’ can be one word but only in the sense of a move in basketball, but I can’t find any support for it with the meaning intended by the setter.

      Edited at 2020-07-13 05:32 pm (UTC)

  6. … with all done and (for once) parsed in 8:10. As a sub-10 finish is increasingly rare (and a sub-2K one even rarer). I feel set up for the week. Thank you Trelawney!

    COD 18A Iron man; clever concatenation of Fe and male!

    Thanks to Don for the blog
    Cedric

  8. The hectic week continues and, sadly, the QC isn’t our top priority. That said, we loved Trelawney’s puzzle – thank you – it was a perfect pause – so nice to use our brains instead of our brawn. A quickish time for us today, can’t give a number but definitely less than 15 mins.

    FOI: droid
    LOI: caprice
    COD: so many candidates but we liked acronym, Flemish, let rip and scaled

    Thanks to Astartedon for the blog

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