QC 1875 by Mara

Author   astartedonPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

There were quite a few of the sorts of clues that are often regarded as ‘easier’ in this gentle Monday morning stroll. I counted five double definitions and six clues that were either full anagrams or which used an anagram as a partial device. There were also two hidden words (one reversed). So many thanks to Mara for easing us gently into the week. I didn’t quite manage everything sequentially but wasn’t far off. Did you all have a similar experience?

FOI was 1A and LOI 21D. COD I think was 5D for its original (to me at any rate) wordplay.

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

Across
1 Move quickly back for jazz? (4)
TRAD – DART (move quickly) ‘back’ gives TRAD. This is a bit of a chestnut as I am sure I have seen this exact clue several times before and I am by no means a heavy crossword addict.
4 Boxer who sat up, befuddled (8)
SOUTHPAW – straight anagram (‘befuddled’) of WHO SAT UP.
8 Upper-class crystal (3-5)
CUT-GLASS – double definition, the first as an adjective normally applied to a ‘posh’ English accent. 
9 Rook in front of tree is not considered (4)
RASH – R (Rook – from Chess) + ASH (tree).
10 Sharp-tasting dessert (4)
TART – double definition.
11 Fascinating job for metalworkers! (8)
RIVETING – another double definition.
12 A type of bean in another country (6)
ABROAD – A + BROAD (type of bean).
14 Cheerful: shame supercilious (6)
UPPITY – UP (cheerful) + PITY (shame).
16 Anchor adrift in my kingdom (8)
MONARCHY – ONARCH (anagram (‘adrift’) of ANCHOR) ‘in’ MY.
18 Munch chop after chop, initially (4)
CHEW – C (Chop ‘initially’) + HEW (chop).
19 One swamp recalled in desert (4)
GOBI – I BOG (one swamp) ‘recalled’.
20 Nine acts rewritten, for example (8)
INSTANCE – straight anagram (‘rewritten’) of NINE ACTS.
22 Different date I require shortly — one being held (8)
DETAINEE – DETAI (anagram (‘different’) of DATE I) + NEEd (require ‘shortly’).
23 Joint seen kicking, partially pulled back (4)
KNEE – reversed hidden word: sEEN Kicking ‘partially pulled back’.
Down
2 Edible stalks rot (7)
RHUBARB – double definition.
3 A number like it (5)
DIGIT – DIG IT (like it). Groovy man.
4 Ultimately, this deep sea is a source of fresh water (3)
SPA – thiS deeP seA ‘ultimately’.
5 Horrible sweet, is it? (9)
UNSAVOURY – if things can be SWEET or SAVOURY, then if something is UNSAVOURY it could well be SWEET in a cryptic way.
6 Tough, best car (7)
HARDTOP – HARD (tough) + TOP (best).
7 Parish priest’s heading off — it’s a crime (5)
ARSON – pARSON parish priest with ‘heading’ removed.
11 Lessening of dose perhaps cured it, on receiving treatment (9)
REDUCTION – straight anagram (‘on receiving treatment’) of CURED IT ON.
13 Instrument installed in auto, car in Aberystwyth (7)
OCARINA – hidden word: ‘installed in’ autO CAR IN Aberystwyth.
15 Sticky substance in bottom of pot on variety of cereal (7)
TREACLE – T (bottom of poT) ‘on’ (i.e. ‘above’ in this down clue) REACLE (anagram (‘variety’) of CEREAL).
17 Australian figure in fresh air (5)
OZONE – OZ (Australian) + ONE (figure).
18 Expert attempt (5)
CRACK – double definition. As in ‘the CRACK para regiment had a CRACK at eliminating the international terrorist leader’.
21 Recognise character on the radio? (3)
SEE – C is a character and when you pronounce it (as on the radio) it sounds like SEE.

67 comments on “QC 1875 by Mara”

  1. I found this very difficult, taking 12:32. The main was much easier today.
    1. Really? Today’s 15×15 is certainly worth a try for QC solvers who want to make the transition but I doubt many of them would report back that they found it much easier than this. Time will tell perhaps!

      Edited at 2021-05-17 04:53 am (UTC)

      1. Sorry this terminology has gotten me into trouble before. I don’t mean easier in an absolute sense. I mean that, compared to respective averages, I found the main easier.
  2. 7 minutes.

    1ac may be a chestnut but I didn’t feel confident which way it was going until I had a checker in place. It seems pretty clear, but a truly devious setter might have intended DART.

    OCARINAs may not feature much in written music but it’s incredibly popular as a toy and has value as a simple instrument that can introduce children to making music and awaken their interest in studying a ‘proper’ instrument. Just look at the variety available for sale on Amazon and elsewhere on-line!

  3. Like Jeremy I didn’t find this so easy but then again it’s normally easier if I’ve woken up

    Plenty to like if no stand out clues

    Thanks Mara and Don

  4. I found this tough in the NW but OK beyond that. I should have known TRAD for jazz and did once I got DIGIT, which I liked once the penny dropped but those two stood empty for a long time. With _ _ G _ T as checkers I tried to force ‘eight’ into 3d because I know it’s a number and it fitted but (obviously) couldn’t parse. DIGIT finally went in but not before I’d wasted time seeing if the E of ‘eight’ might help with the jazz. SOUTHPAW took quite some unravelling too but it is a term I know — probably through Rocky which is where 96% of my boxing knowledge comes from. UPPITY (if only I’d watched not recorded last night’s Mr Men celebration) and UNSAVOURY also held me up. All green in 18 in the end.

    Edited at 2021-05-17 06:06 am (UTC)

  5. First ever sub 20 minute solve in 19.55. Kept expecting to get stuck but just kept going with the odd hop around the grid. LOI CHEW. I was pretty sure it was right but dithered over it for a while without being able to parse it. Thanks Don.
    As there was nothing obscure or unduly cryptic and all appeared to be following ‘the code’ I would put this on the gentler end of my solvability scale, around a 3-4. Thanks Mara for a good start to Monday.
    May celebrate self recovery and end to partial lockdown (is it?) by going into work for first time in over a year. Feels more than a bit odd. Will have to find a shirt that has seen an iron.
  6. A good start to the crosswording week. A few looseners to get going and a couple that made me think a bit such as CHEW, UNSAVOURY and DETAINEE, but nothing too tricky. I enjoyed the hidden OCARINA (which I only know through crosswords) but my COD goes to CHEW.
    Finished in 8.15 with LOI OZONE.
    Thanks to astartedon
  7. 1713. Tough in the NW corner, with TRAD/DIGIT/TART holding out. I also tried EIGHT but I liked DIGIT, when the penny dropped.

    Maybe try the 15×15 later, I also recommend Saturday’s Jumbo cryptic.

    COD UNSAVOURY

    1. Saturday’s Jumbo should be a suitable test for many on here. It was very friendly, and I cleared it in two passes through the clues in a few seconds over 21 minutes (an average one takes me 35-40, a hard one over an hour).
      1. I found it very approachable, and finished in a couple of hours.

        A useful measure is clues per minute (cpm). A QC has about 28 clues, so my cpm is around 1.5-2 (14-20 minutes). For me, the Jumbo Cryptic (80 clues) has a cpm of about 0.6. The 15×15 (30 clues, 90 mins) is lower at 0.3.

        Edited at 2021-05-17 10:30 am (UTC)

  8. I too would only know OCARINA from crosswords were it not for my musically-challenged niece. When her school worked out that she had no aptitude for any ‘proper’ instrument they gave her one of these to play in school musical activities. In my day such people were usually given a triangle.

    Other than that she has grown up to be a highly useful member of society, certainly as far as we are concerned. She has just turned up on our doorstep to take our dog away for the day. She takes him to her WFH house where she and her cohabitants play with him all day instead of doing anything to further the cause of British industry, leaving it up to us older generation to keep things moving. It’s a fair exchange.

  9. … with more than enough play in the clues to amuse but not so much as to confuse. All done in 9 minutes, with 5D Unsavoury both LOI and COD. That apart only 4A Southpaw really held me up. I could see it was an anagram (“befuddled” being one of the less controversial anagrinds!) but looking at the letters and a word ending in …H-A- it took time to appear.

    Like many I may never have seen an ocarina in real life but it appears to be every crossword-setter’s go-to musical instrument so it was not too difficult to spot.

    Now off to my first business meeting “in person” for over a year, and then later dinner with my daughter — not on her patio but actually indoors! Life is returning …

    Many thanks to Don for the blog
    Cedric

  10. A slow start in the NW so I moved, fitfully, clockwise around the grid gaining momentum. A bit of a spurt when finally back in the NW (with a few crossers in place) left me wondering why I found it so hard to start in that corner. Monday morning mental lethargy, perhaps. In the end, I was just a minute over target. Thanks to both Mara and Don. John M.
    Maradona? (Mar-a Don-a).

    Edited at 2021-05-17 01:45 pm (UTC)

  11. FOI: 19a GOBI
    LOI: 1a TRAD

    Time to Complete: 81 minutes

    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 23

    Clues Answered with Aids (3 lives): 4a, 8a, 3d

    Clues Unanswered: Nil

    Wrong Answers: Nil

    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 26/26

    Aids Used: Chambers, Bradford’s,

    I found this crossword easy in some areas, and tough in others. There was one clue that I would never have been able to answer had I not resorted to using a life.

    4a. SOUTHPAW – I would never have been able to answer this one without help, even with all the checkers in place. I have never heard of this word.

    8a. CUT-GLASS – I have not heard of this phrase being used to denote upper-class. However, I certainly have heard of cut-glass crystal. Second life used.

    3d. DIGIT – Initially I had EIGHT pencilled in as I had _ _ G _ T, but it never sat right with me. Used a third life for this and kicked myself when I saw the answer. So obvious!

    5d. UNSAVOURY – “if something is UNSAVOURY it could well be SWEET in a cryptic way.” I have absolutely no idea how the blogger sees this. Perhaps it’s like when my 13-year-old nephew describes something good as being “sick”? I managed to answer it due to the checkers being in place.

    A good start to the week. No candy for me though as I do not deserve it. When my alarm clock sounded at 5am this morning, for my routine early morning run, I didn’t get up. Bad me!

    1. Hi Poison. Congratulations on getting through it. Sorry to hear about your run but at least you tried to do one at 5.00 a.m. whereas I never have done. Too busy doing the crossword I guess.

      Sorry if I wasn’t clear enough about UNSAVOURY. It’s more that when you put UN in front of something it can turn it into its opposite. So you might be ABLE to do the crossword, or you might be UNABLE to do it.

      So cryptically, if you put UN in front of SAVOURY you could be said to be turning it into its opposite, which would be SWEET. The reason it is a cryptic answer is because nobody uses the word UNSAVOURY to mean SWEET, but in the twisted cryptic world of the crossword it’s possible!

      1. Hi astartedon

        Hey, you have no reason at all to apologise. Your description was certainly clear enough, and now I feel like a right dolt, not realising ” if you put UN in front of SAVOURY you could be said to be turning it into its opposite,”.

        Like so many clues I attempt, the answer might make no sense at first. But when I see the explanation I shake my head for not having seen it. But it’s all good experience.

        Thank you for taking the time to open my eyes.

        1. Just to slightly clarify “CUT-GLASS”, it’s only really used to describe an accent (ie someone who talks “posh”). What we Northern heathens describe as “talking with a plum in his/her gob”.
    2. Re cut-glass, as our blogger said it is usually an adjective applied to a version of the RP accent where users pronounce all the consonants crisply in ringing tones. Don’t agree with Phil – a cut-glass accent is not the same as a plummy one. 🙂

      Edited at 2021-05-17 10:26 am (UTC)

  12. After FOI SPA, and then SOUTHPAW I got each clue almost straightaway until some hold-ups. I returned several times to CUT GLASS which became my LOI. CRACK and KNEE held me up.
    UNSAVOURY excellent clue and COD for me.
    A good puzzle overall. 10:21 in the end.
    David
  13. A gentle introduction to the week. I liked the apposite surface “Joint seen kicking” best 3:34.
  14. Another quick one for me at 15:45. It doesn’t quite make the top 10, but I was glad it wasn’t any quicker because that would have meant I was more disappointed to come on here and find I actually had one wrong, having put in CHALK for 18d. I had circled 18 as being one to check the parsing but it seemed reasonable at the time. I assumed that among the expressions like “at the chalk face” and “chalk it up to experience” there might be an “old chalk” meaning expert and something else meaning attempt. I should have checked for other possibilities, but the problem with trying to go faster is that I have developed a reluctance to check things, knowing it’s but a short step back to the SCC. I never parsed KNEE either or UNSAVOURY. Anyway, never mind, perhaps I will try the 15 x 15 later and have more success. Thanks Mara and Astartedon.
  15. Needed aid for SOUTHPAW.
    FOsI TRAD, CUT GLASS, KNEE, TREACLE
    Liked ABROAD, CRACK (LOI) along with CHEW.

    Thanks, Don, vm.

  17. Held up by SW corner CHEW/CRACK/KNEE but got there with a little help. Enjoyable.
  18. The challenge for me here was too many words of which I was unaware, though have now looked them all up:
    had not heard of TRAD for jazz
    nor RHUBARB for ‘rot’
    never run across an OCARINA (though could parse that one)
    nor REACLE for a cereal.

    Overall the puzzle was do-able, but slow for me due to clear inadequacies on these definitions!

    Thanks to Astartedon and Mara

      1. Well then, that’s one more ‘new’ word to forget! Thank you… not feeling any cleverer for missing the clue ‘variety’ !
  19. Held up on the CRACK/KNEE intersection but otherwise few delays.

    Interesting that Don includes double definitions as a type of clue often thought of as “easier”. I don’t see them in that way, because if they don’t click very quickly it can take me a long time to winkle them out. (CRACK being an example today, which cost me an alpha-trawl.)

    FOI SOUTHPAW, LOI CRACK, COD KNEE, no time since interrupted by calls and forgot to stop the clock but around 10 mins plus or minus one.

    Many thanks Mara and Don.

    Templar

  20. Relatively gentle introduction to the week although tricky in a couple of places. I had it all complete and parsed in 15 mins, including a short interruption. I was one who wanted 3dn to be EIGHT but couldn’t parse it which held up 1ac. I also took a long time to see CRACK at 18dn for some reason.

    FOI – 4ac SOUTHPAW
    LOI – 17dn OZONE
    COD – 5dn UNSAVOURY with 17dn OZONE a close runner-up

    Thanks to setter and blogger.

  21. of those that required concentration, and I looked up after submitting and was pleased to see I was under my target.

    I liked REDUCTION and UNSAVOURY. LOI was UPPITY, after TREACLE gave me the T.

    5:46.

  22. ….”uppish” to UPPITY at the very end, I still came home in under 3 minutes. A piece of cake for an old hand “like what I am”, but a very nicely constructed puzzle from Mara which ticks all the boxes for a QC.

    FOI TRAD
    LOI UPPITY
    COD UNSAVOURY
    TIME 2:56

  23. These puzzles usually take me between fifteen and twenty minutes, this one came in at the fifteen end, all parsed apart from chew, which I solved and biffed. My husband saw the hew in it straight away. FOI cut glass. Only four acrosses at first, but they began to fall as the downs went in. LOI see – this was one that rattled around in my head for a while. I understand it, but was never completely satisfied with it for some reason. Some nice anagrams and double definitions – I especially liked crack. Thanks, Don, and Mara. GW.
  24. A pleasing 12 mins for me. This is a classic example of a puzzle that would have taken much longer if it wasn’t for experience and knowing certain crossword terms that often pop up: trad being a form of jazz, the mysterious “ocarina”, the beheaded fire-starting vicar of 7dn.

    Whilst Ozone may be a form of oxygen, I wouldn’t recommend breathing it in too deeply no matter how “fresh” it is described.

    FOI — 1ac “Trad”
    LOI — 22ac “Detainee”
    COD — 3dn “Digit” — a bit of a chestnut, but I still like it’s simplicity.

    Thanks as usual!

  26. Anyone else enter 12 across as French? Came to me immediately and parsed i.e. in another country. Took some unravelling.
    1. Given a blank grid, it wouldn’t be an unreasonable assumption — I hop you were working in pencil !
  27. 14 minutes for me, which I thought a bit slow, particularly in the NW. I put my tardiness down to over-celebrating the Foxes outstanding achievement on Saturday evening — now they need to repeat that tomorrow. Otherwise I enjoyed this puzzle and award COD to UNSAVOURY. Thanks both.
    1. Agree. But the offside rule does need to be changed in the light of VAR examination of miniscule margins of contravention. It makes a mockery of the game.
    2. We broke the no screens at the table rule on Saturday evening, and I almost got indigestion in the last few minutes! Hooray 🏆🦊🦊
  28. Ocarina – not so rare! We’ve got a pretty little ceramic one picked up on a Greek holiday (those were the days) years ago. It makes rather a nice sound.
    Interesting what people find easy – I’ve said before, I find DDs difficult, so was pleased to finish in 10 minutes, bearing in mind how many there are here! SOUTHPAW and UNSAVOURY took a while, and – as is often the case – a reverse hidden went unparsed! Ticks next to RIVETING and CUT GLASS.
    FOI Rhubarb
    LOI Unsavoury
    COD Abroad
    Thanks Mara for a nice start to the week and to Don for the blog.

  29. FOI: 4A SOUTHPAW
    LOI: 2D RHUBARB

    Unlike comments from others, this was a very easy puzzle for me – and I then went on to make a small mess of the 15 x 15! Horses for courses.

    Thank you to astartedon and Mara

  31. Very fair puzzle and a gentle intro to the week. Finished below target in 4:34 with a little hesitation over LOI 8ac Cut Glass. There is a Scottish variation of describing such accents as in “he talks as if he has bools in his mooth” (marbles in his mouth). Not terribly complimentary I feel.
    Particularly liked 4 ac Southpaw and 18 ac Chew.
  32. Sorry forgot to include my thanks to Astartedon and Mara for blog and puzzle respectively
  33. So apparently I am a SOUTHPAW in the sense that I am left handed but despite seeing the anagram fodder I required 3 of the 4 checkers to work out the answer and this was my POI. The resulting U gave me UNSAVOURY as my LOI. Still no complaints as I came in just under target 8:44.
  34. A pleasant puzzle, we were a bit slow with the se corner for no apparent reason. Do not hear so many 8ac these days, perhaps they are dying out, also ours are tucked away in a cupboard. Missed Mr Random today, he always provides amusement.
    1. … the Random’s are still alive! It’s just that our usual routine was kicked into touch by another commitment, so it was a late solve for us today. It may be another late-ish one again tomorrow, as we’re both visiting my in-laws, who are both rather elderly now. Thank you for reading my posts – that’s more than Mrs R does.
      1. Very pleased to hear that, we are also old, we solve together, amicably mostly!
  35. A fairly smooth solve in 11:54. I got a bit stuck on REDUCTION trying to do something with “dose” (Lessening of dose…) but I guess it’s just there for the surface.
    It was Monty Python who introduced me to the OCARINA. John Cleese was a schoolmaster. He and his wife were giving a sex education demo to a class of boys. They weren’t interested. One was playing with his ocarina.
    I liked MONARCHY and CRACK
  37. My FOI came fairly quickly, but I then suffered a long drought before the next arrived. Eventually got going, then moved quickly until just 1a (TRAD) left. However, I had EIGHT instead of DIGIT for 3d and it took me a full 10 minutes to realise and correct my error. In the end I was relieved to finish all correct in 37 minutes.

    Mrs Random also had EIGHT initially for 3d, but saw her mistake quickly and completed her attempt in 19 minutes. Normal service then here, in spite of it being very late in the day.

    Many thanks to Mara and astartedon.

  38. Some chestnuts and some opaque…pleased to have finished all ok. only 6 across and 6 down on first pass. FOI 10a Tart. LOI 5d Unsavoury COD 18a Chew. Thx both to Mara and Astartedon.
  40. Well, that wasn’t too taxing but it was fun. If we’d known it would only take 8 minutes we would have done it yesterday! We had such a hectic day on Monday and last Friday’s marathon sort of put us off.

    FOI: RHUBARB
    LOI: CRACK
    COD: UNSAVOURY

    Thanks to Mara and Astartedon.

  41. No problems for me here and done in 10 minutes, unlike the 15×15 which remained largely blank!
    1. As an experienced solver of both types I find it amazing that you could do this one in 10 minutes and yet not make some sort of dent in the 15×15! I’d have thought you would get at least half of it done (and they get easier of course the more you fill in!)
      1. I know. I don’t quite understand it myself! It’s like my brain just switched on/ off. So frustrating.

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