QC 1715 by Wurm

Author   astartedonPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

This was an extremely easy puzzle from Wurm (whom I think I have only met once or twice before). In fact I do think it is the easiest puzzle I have ever blogged and many thanks therefore for providing a puzzle that even the newest anonoymous beginners should be able to get their teeth into.

As we often say this is one of the main purposes of the Quickie,  to get people to have a go at cryptics and realise that they are not as far out of their reach as they might have thought. I remember when I started I used to stare at a blank 15×15 grid and wonder how I would ever be able to penetrate the surface. Then after a couple of days I was managing to get a few of the clues and before long I was finishing the puzzle regularly. Nowadays the Quickie helps you through those early head-scratching stages so you should be able to be filling in at least some of the grid from the very beginning.

Pretty much sequential solving today, with FOI being 6A and LOI 19D. I think my COD was, for reasons of neatness rather than difficulty, 8D.

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

Across
6 Swimmer in location without current (6)
PLAICE – PLACE (location) ‘without’ (i.e. ‘outside’) I (physical symbol for electric current).
7 Bet here as coin thrown about (6)
CASINO – straight anagram (‘thrown about’) of AS COIN.
9 Drink around north is bargain (4)
SNIP – SIP (drink) ‘around’ N (north).
10 7 game allowed to get in way (8)
ROULETTE – LET (allowed) in ROUTE (way). ‘7 game’ is referring to 7A CASINO.
11 Use machete repeatedly with expedition! (4-4)
CHOP-CHOP – You use a machete to CHOP, and if you do it repeatedly you get this colloquial expression for ‘hurry up’.
13 Good base for light (4)
GLOW – G (good) + LOW (base).
15 Black rodent irritating child (4)
BRAT – B (black) + RAT (rodent).
16 Become sunnier in resort, we hear (8)
BRIGHTEN – sounds like (‘we hear’) BRIGHTON (south coast resort).
18 Precious stones found in suit (8)
DIAMONDS – double definition.
20 Prepare some korma kebabs (4)
MAKE – hidden word: ‘some’ korMA KEbabs.
21 Relative brings us into money (6)
COUSIN – US ‘brought in’ to COIN (money).
22 Get to the point? (6)
NEEDLE – double definition.
Down
1 One to embrace decisive argument (8)
CLINCHER – double definition.
2 Creature this puma moved across river twice (12)
HIPPOPOTAMUS – anagram (‘moved’) of THIS PUMA ‘across’ PO PO (the longest river in Italy ‘twice’).
3 Beginning to deal with world shortage (6)
DEARTH – D (beginning to Deal) + EARTH (world).
4 Rugby-playing group quietly steal apples (6)
SCRUMP – SCRUM (Rugby-playing group) + P (piano, quietly).
5 Join outfit that protects knight (4)
KNIT – KIT (outfit) ‘protecting’ N (symbol for the knight in Chess).
8 Tool has blade: hard to smuggle into jail (12)
SLEDGEHAMMER – EDGE (blade) + H (hard) ‘smuggled into’ SLAMMER (jail).
12 Rower in Tromso arriving (3)
OAR – hidden word: ‘in’ TromsO ARriving.
14 Large liver OK cooked, but too much (8)
OVERKILL – anagram (‘cooked’) of L (large) + LIVER OK.
16 Graduate meets fool in plant (6)
BANANA – BA (graduate) + NANA (fool).
17 Stupid and senseless to incarcerate son (6)
INSANE – INANE (senseless) ‘incarcerating’ S (son).
19 Hero at home entertaining company (4)
ICON – IN (at home) ‘entertaining’ CO (company).

59 comments on “QC 1715 by Wurm”

  1. I’m with those who don’t think it’s quite as easy as the blogger makes out. I was at the slow end of my target range of 15-20 mins and never managed to parse 8dn. I do agree however that some clues were very straightforward, so much so in fact that I actually spent some time over 18ac and 22ac as the answers seemed a little too obvious.

    FOI – 7ac CASINO
    LOI – 8dn SLEDGEHAMMER
    COD – liked both CHOP CHOP and HIPPOPOTAMUS

  2. Late to the party today. Done in 07:26;LOI GLOW.
    No problems. Nice start to the week.
    David
  3. It all fell into plaice with delays over casino (didn’t spot the obvious anagram for too long) and having got the hammer bit took too long to see the sledge or the slammer – otherwise it would have been a sub-10.
    A nice exercise that didn’t take up my time (an interesting debate today).
    Maybe I should try them all after 8 pm!
    Thanks all
    John George
    1. Not when applied to people, no. But you could say that, say, some of Boris Johnson’s guidelines about the virus situation “are just insane”, meaning they are stupid.

      By the way I am not being partisan there and that is not necessarily my opinion, I am just taking a random topical example to illustrate the point.

      Don

  5. I just want the whole world to know about this spell caster I met
    two weeks ago, [email protected] I cannot say everything he has done for me my wife
    left me 3 years ago left with my kids I was going through online
    when I meant this wonderful man’s testimony online I decided to
    give it a try and my wife is back to me now and we ar1e happily
    married again cause is too much to put in writing all I can say is
    thank you very much am very happy .and does alot of spell
    including Love Spell
    Death Spell
    Money Spell
    Power Spell
    Success Spell
    Sickness Spell
    Pregnancy Spell
    Marriage Spell
    Job Spell
    Protection Spell
    Lottery Spell
    Court Case Spell
    Luck Spell etc. In case you need his help contact him on this email
    address [email protected] he is a good man
    thanks.whatsapp number +234813 648 2342

Comments are closed.