QC 1905 by Tracy

Author   astartedonPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

A straight sequential solve for me. Not many anagrams, double definitions or hidden words which are the types of clue I normally find it easiest to get my teeth into so it must just be down to the mysterious ‘wavelength’. Unless of course you all come back and say that the clues were just very striaghtforward. Many thanks to Tracy for a gentle start to the week.

A few weeks ago someone commented that they were surprised when I said I found double definitions ‘easy’. This was a good comment and it set me thinking. On reflection I realise that it is not strictly true. Certainly in the QC I usually find double definitions easy, with the candidate answers that occur to me most easily usually being correct. In the 15×15 however I often find double defs much more clever and challenging with obscure or cleverly disguised definitions providing some great PDMs. A good double def can often be the most satisfying and economical clue in the puzzle.

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

Across
1 Authorisation for each assignment (10)
PERMISSION – PER (for each) + MISSION (assignment).
8 Point during drink, and talk louder (5,2)
SPEAK UP – PEAK (point) ‘during’ SUP (drink).
9 Beginning to drink a tea in Boris’s country cottage? (5)
DACHA – D (beginning to Drink) + A CHA (a tea). Boris appears here as a common Russian name rather than a reference to our beloved PM pointing us to Chequers.
10 Artist capturing male bird that can’t fly (4)
RHEA – RA (artist, Royal Academician) ‘capturing’ HE (male).
11 Take another look at donkeys put in reserve (8)
REASSESS – ASSES (donkeys) ‘put in’ RES (reserve).
13 Fixed allowance of one sailor back working (6)
RATION – I TAR (one sailor) reversed (back) + ON (working).
14 Suitable for salesperson after retirement (6)
PROPER – PRO (for) + PER (rep (salesperson) reversed (i.e. ‘after retirement’)).
17 Understudy with good reputation (8)
STANDING – STAND IN (understudy) + G (good).
19 Opera song from Farrar I adored (4)
ARIA – hidden word: ‘from’ farrAR I Adored.
21 Sound of hooter across island (5)
NOISE – NOSE (hooter) ‘across’ I (island).
22 Decent type of piano (7)
UPRIGHT – double definition.
23 Short letter sent out about end of prom sinking (10)
SETTLEMENT – anagram (‘out’) of LETTE (‘short’ LETTEr) + SENT ‘about’ M (end of proM).
Down
2 Sherpa’s first to leave most demanding mountain (7)
EVEREST – S (Sherpa’s first) to leave sEVEREST (most demanding).
3 Type score (4)
MAKE – double definition. I suppose SCORE = MAKE most obviously in Cricket, as in “he made a century on his international debut”.
4 Army engineer‘s forged papers (6)
SAPPER – straight anagram (‘forged’) of PAPERS.
5 Attempt to follow long Asian river? That’ll be hard work (8)
INDUSTRY – INDUS (long Asian river) + TRY (attempt).
6 Hot in pleasant recess (5)
NICHE – H (hot) ‘in’ NICE (pleasant).
7 Valet in husband’s tavern, drunk (10)
MANSERVANT – MAN’S (husband’s) + ERVANT (anagram (‘drunk’) of TAVERN).
8 Unexpected, small rebellion involving Republican (10)
SURPRISING – S (small) + UPRISING (rebellion) ‘involving’ R (Republican).
12 Loss of confidence resulting from former charge in court (4,4)
COLD FEET – OLD (former) + FEE (charge) ‘in’ CT (court).
15 Model in quiet Spanish region (7)
PARAGON – P (piano, quiet) + ARAGON (Spanish region).
16 Yearly, see a nun swimming in a lake (6)
ANNUAL – anagram (‘swimming’) of A NUN ‘in’ A + L (a lake).
18 Champion boxer with a second assumed name (5)
ALIAS – ALI (champion boxer) + A + S (a second).
20 Passenger vehicle coming from market overturned (4)
TRAM – MART (market) ‘overturned’.

47 comments on “QC 1905 by Tracy”

  1. I doubt if I’d ever have come up with MAKE unless I had SPEAK UP already, and even then I’d have wondered about ‘score’.
  2. Mainly straightforward, but I confidently put in MARK at 3d which meant that I spent some time alphabet trawling LOI SPEAK UP. I got their eventually but remain unconvinced by MAKE/SCORE.
    MANSERVANT, COLD FEET and SETTLEMENT also provided some resistance. Finished in 10.18.
    Thanks to Astartedon
    1. Well as I say, I think you have to look at it through a cricket lens. But then we often have to do that in Crossworld, with OFF/ON and LEG and EXTRA and BYE and OVER turning up regularly. Perhaps it is going out of fashion, with a basic knowledge of cricket no longer being an essential part of a good education, but certainly it is there in the historical fabric. As I write this though I realise that one can talk of ‘making’ tricks in card games such as bridge or whist as well.
  3. I tried all the acrosses first getting seven on the first pass including PERMISSION and SPEAKUP so ‘mark’ for MAKE was never an option. Instead I was faced with the unpromising M_K_ which held out to the end. I needed Don’s nudge to see how score = make, that works for me but I must admit to having submitted with fingers crossed in a pb territory 8.29. SETTLEMENT put up stiff resistance and I needed that final checking T to finally get COLD FEET. Other hold ups included briefly wondering if a ‘dabit’ was a cottage and forgetting about the Indus.

    Edited at 2021-06-28 06:41 am (UTC)

  4. FOI: 9a. DACHA
    LOI: 23a. SETTLEMENT
    Time to Complete: 41 minutes
    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 19
    Clues Answered with Aids: 3
    Clues Unanswered: Nil
    Wrong Answers: 2
    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 22/24
    Aids Used: Chambers, Bradford’s

    Gah!! A typo resulted in two wrong answers due to the fact that the typo was in a square crossed by two answers. How clumsy of me! I had spelt 23a as SETTLEME(m)T, which lead to 15d being PARAGO(m). More annoying because I finished in 41 minutes, which is good for me.

    An enjoyable puzzle though.

  5. We too were caught out by MARK and MAKE and it was only after solving SURPRISING that we realised our mistake. Took us ages to get SETTLEMENT and we ended up taking 14 minutes to complete the puzzle. Great puzzle – nice start to the week

    FOI: EVEREST
    LOI: SETTLEMENT
    COD: COLD FEET

    Thanks to Tracy and Astartedon.

  6. I made quick progress starting with a write in at 1a PERMISSION. I looked at the double definition clue starting with the M and decided it could wait. Indeed it was my LOI with a mer. I can’t quite see how MAKE is equivalent to score. Small hold ups were trying to decipher the wordplay for MANSERVANT without using an H and SETTLEMENT required all the checkers. Biffed COLD FEET. 6:39 for an excellent day.

    Edited at 2021-06-28 07:53 am (UTC)

  7. I join the list of ‘MARK’ers with SPEAK UP coming to the rescue at 8 minutes. So, other than this, it all flowed more smoothly than I’d expect for a Tracy. Particularly liked NOISE – I was misled at first and then enjoyed the surface.
  8. Thought SETTLEMENT was going to end -ing which slowed me down on that and my LOI COLD FEET where charge is one of those words I never seem to get the right synonym for. Other than that a minor shrug for MAKE for the reasons others have said but only a minor one.

    Otherwise pleasant start to the week.

    Thanks Don and Tracy

  9. Got totally bogged down in the SW where three clues doubled my time – SETTLEMENT (forgot the “short” device, plus was sure it would end ING), STANDING and COLD FEET.

    FOI SURPRISING, LOI COLD FEET, COD DACHA (Boris had better check it for hidden cameras), time 16:12 for a Terrible Day. I need a coffee.

    Thanks Tracy and Don.

    Templar

    Edited at 2021-06-28 09:05 am (UTC)

  10. I completely baffled myself by entering ALIBI at 18d, and spent ages trying to work out what was going on at 23a. So much so that I wasted about 9 minutes before I rechecked 18d and spotted my mistake. That took me to 17:30 instead of the 9 minutes I was heading towards. Sheesh! Thanks Tracy and Don.
  11. Like Templar and others I got bogged down, in my case with 3 left after well under 10 minutes.
    I finally saw COLD FEET (COD for me) and then SETTLEMENT where I was also looking for an ING ending.
    LOI was MAKE where I put MARK to begin with. I did see the parsing before submitting.
    13:35 in the end.
    David

  12. Steady solve, with PERMISSION and MAKE my last two in. I do struggle with double definitions. I usually try and spot the anagrams first.
    Thanks, as always, for the blog.
  13. jackkt
    Jun. 28th, 2021 05:05 am (local)
    Select:

    7 minutes, no queries.

    Thanks Don for pointing out my other comment was on the wrong blog. I have now transferred it to the 15×15.

    Edited at 2021-06-28 08:57 am (UTC)

  14. Failed on COLD FEET , SETTLEMENT
    Very slow today, getting the odd clue around the grid. FOsI DACHA, NICHE, RHEA, RATION, ARIA.
    PDMs with PARAGON, EVEREST, PERMISSION, MANSERVANT.
    Liked STANDING, NOISE. Looked up Type in the end, though I did get SPEAK UP.
    Thanks vm, Don.
  16. Tracy at his/her most toothless. At least for me, seemingly not for all.

    Started with PERMISSION, ENDED with SPEAK UP and then MAKE (where I went in on the basis of the first definition, but kind of had “on the make” in my mind as the second definition – hadn’t thought of making runs, so I suppose that’s a biff.

    Not quite the elusive “perfect” solve where you get all the acrosses, and then all the downs, but not far off.

    I liked COLD FEET best.

    3:21, which I think takes 13 seconds off my previous PB.

    I even went and put it on the crossword club to see where I would have placed – couldn’t quite time it right, submitted in 3:22, but wouldn’t have changed my position – 15th. Only a minute behind Verlaine in =7th!

    Edited at 2021-06-28 03:51 pm (UTC)

  17. 19:31, but many minutes burnt on PERMISSION/MARK. I listed 30 or so –K- words, (including WOKE!). Eventually went back to 1A and was able to figure out “for each”=PER.

    In basketball you “make a basket”, that was the only thing I could think of.

    COD STANDING

    Edited at 2021-06-28 10:17 am (UTC)

  18. Very straightforward today with the exception of MAKE which, as with other solvers, I had to think what went with the K in SPEAK. I still think this is a bit dubious.
  19. Couldn’t see Permission to start with, nor Everest, and decided type/score needed a checker or two, so FOI was Sapper. After that, they more or less went in with no problem all the way down to Settlement, where parsing the clue first put me on the right track. Permission and Everest were by then obvious, but I hesitated over loi Make until I thought of the card connection — hard to believe I was at one time the school cricket scorer. A brisk (for me) 17mins, with CoD to 17ac, Standing. Invariant
  20. 5:20. Nothing too difficult here but Monday sluggishness in evidence this morning.
    Wasn’t too sure abut 3 d “make”
    COD 12 d “cold feet”, one of the trickier ones today.
    Thanks to Don and Tracy
  21. Was on for a really good time for me (around 20 mins) but then got seriously held up by COLD FEET — kept wanting to use ‘ex’ for ‘former’. Knew the definition was loss of confidence so asked my other half (who has never done a cryptic crossword before) and he biffed the answer straight away — exceedingly irritating!!!
    COD INDUSTRY
    LOI very definitely COLD FEET
    Thanks all. Very enjoyable despite husband swooping in 🤨
    1. That proves what I find sometimes: that the more we learn of the mechanics of these, the harder we make them for ourselves. We over think it and forget to look for the obvious.
  22. A satisfying 18 mins for me and one of the more enjoyable puzzles for quite a while. Luckily I solved 8ac before I got to 3dn, so didn’t have the Make/Mark issue.

    Main hold up was 12dn “Cold Feet” and 23ac “Settlement” which needed a few checkers before the pdm. Similarly, thought 10ac might be “rating” for a while.

    FOI — 2dn “Everest”
    LOI — 15dn “Paragon”
    COD — 2dn “Everest” — lovely surface.

    Thanks as usual!

  23. 11 or 12 minutes (interrupted by a short drive), with everything straightforward for me, so thanks to Tracy and Astartedon. I can still do it at 70!
  24. A late start today but a steady solve for me with delays over MAKE, SPEAK UP, and COLD FEET, shared with others. Some nice clues. I finished a minute under target so solid but nothing spectacular for me (again). Thanks to both. John M.

    Edited at 2021-06-28 01:08 pm (UTC)

  25. … my last three in took 50% of the total time. They were:

    12d COLD FEET This eventually required a slow alphabet trawl
    17a STANDING Came to me quickly, once I had 12d
    23a SETTLEMENT Saw it as soon as I had all the checker, but it took 12 minutes to parse fully. I thought the S was short for ‘short’, couldn’t see the anagram, and suspected it might end in ‘…ing’.

    Total time = 46 minutes (or 34, if I ignore the parsing of my LOI). Which time should I take?

    Mrs Random didn’t have much time to devote to the puzzle today, so she completed it in 15 minutes.

    Many thanks to Tracy and to astartedon.

  26. Completed this several hours ago but only just got around to posting. A relatively gentle introduction to the week which I finished in 17 mins. Never managed to parse EVEREST (obvious now I ‘ve read the blog – thanks Astartedon). Spent a bit of time wondering how to shoehorn our esteemed PM into 9ac until the penny dropped.

    FOI – 8ac SPEAK UP (therefore no mark/make problems)
    LOI – 15dn PARAGON
    COD – 12dn COLD FEET but quite a few other contenders.

    Thanks to Tracy.

  27. Off to a very quick start with this one, thinking I might have another 3 minute time, but I lost mental energy towards the end.

    Strangely, had no trouble with MAKE. Like many, I tried MARK first but my eyebrow wouldn’t go down, and then I simply thought of ‘make a point/goal’ = ‘score a point/goal’. And for what it’s worth, I wasn’t thinking of cricket at all (because I know nothing about it).

    I had a much harder time with the likes of PARAGON, COLD FEET, SETTLEMENT, etc, which weren’t exactly hard, but were not as readily forthcoming as most of the top half of the puzzle.

  28. I was defeated by MAKE and COLD FEET like some others, but otherwise not too bad a time.

    NOISE made me smile…

    Thank you Tracy and Don

    Diana

  29. ….SPEAK UP before coming to 3D, so MAKE was a shoo-in.

    A reasonably easy start to the week.

    FOI PERMISSION
    LOI ANNUAL
    COD STANDING
    TIME 3:20

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