QC 2516 by Wurm

Author   MerlinPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Happy Halloween if you celebrate it, not much to be afraid of in this offering from Wurm.

14:32 for me, with the bottom left being the holdout.

Definitions underlined in bold , synonyms in (parentheses) (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, other wordplay in [square brackets] and deletions in {curly} brackets.

Across
1 Unexpected blow son received in belly (4)
GUST – GUT (belly) contains S{on}
3 The Saint strangely indecisive (8)
HESITANT – (THE SAINT)*
9 In pieces like subordinate? (7)
ASUNDER – AS (like) + UNDER (subordinate)
10 Ultimately elegant Irish language crisply brief (5)
TERSE – {elegan}T + ERSE (Irish language)

ERSE is another name for Irish Gaelic, apparently.
11 Jog back for one horse (5)
NUDGE – E.G. (for one) + DUN (horse), all reversed

DUN, like ROAN in a puzzle I blogged recently is a colour which can stand on its own for a horse. Also GREY.
12 Polly run over in neighbourhood (6)
PARROT – PART (neighbourhood) contains R{un} and O{ver}

Both Run and Over are abbreviated this way in cricket (specifically in bowling analyses). A neighbourhood is a PART of a town, I guess.
14 Riled bears with disconcerting show of aggression (5-8)
SABRE-RATTLING – (BEARS)* + RATTLING (disconcerting)

“Riled” is one of the less common anagram indicators. The OED says this usage of RATTLING is colloquial  and originally U.S., but I think it is pretty standard now.
17 Japanese island hard on footwear we hear (6)
HONSHU – H{ard} + ON + SHU [sounds like SHOE(footwear)]

Tough one, HONSHU is the largest one of the Big Four, where Tokyo is. The others are: Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. At least 200 others are inhabited.
19 Teacher‘s pet, last to be expelled (5)
RABBI – RABBI{t} (pet)

RABBI/RABBIT is a real chestnut.
22 Best supplied with ball on both United wings? (5)
OUTDO – UTD (United) has an O (ball) on both sides

“Best” is a verb here, not the more common adjective or adverb. This is a great clue. I kept trying to get something with “optimum”, and even thought that OPTIO (centurion’s deputy) might work. As several bloggers confirmed, Best here in the surface refers to George Best.
23 See silver found in island excavation (7)
IMAGINE – AG (sliver) in I{sland} + MINE (excavation)
24 Tennis shot from pro: European worker (8)
FOREHAND – FOR (pro) + E{uropean} + HAND(worker)

Not ACE(tennis shot) or ANT(worker).
25 Stops  goals (4)
ENDS – Double def
Down
1 Rewritten slogan on way for Russian policy (8)
GLASNOST – (SLOGAN)* + ST

Very good surface, as Glasnost was really just a slogan, it turned out.
2 Shilling — another twenty needed for calamari? (5)
SQUID – S{hilling} + QUID (=twenty shillings)

Clever. In Old Money, a pound (QUID) was worth 20 shillings.
4 Continental marriage? We’re no longer in it (8,5)
EUROPEAN UNION – Cryptic Definition

First clue I’ve seen that brings up the painful Brexit issue.
5 Playwright’s quietly leaving Bury (5)
INTER – P(quietly) is removed from PINTER (playwright)

With a five letter playwright, starting with I had banged in Ibsen before having a rethink.
6 A leading monk, upstanding character in theory (1,6)
A PRIORI – A + PRIOR (leading monk) + I (upstanding character)

If you jump from cause to effect without “showing your working”, this is said to be reasoning a priori. This is complex stuff, and its meaning seems to have changed to something simpler, as in just a previous assumption.
7 Precious little time — almost seven days! (4)
TWEE -T{ime} + WEE{k} (seven days)

Originally: ‘sweet’, dainty, chic. Now only in depreciatory use: affectedly dainty or quaint; over-nice, over-refined, precious, mawkish. (OED)
8 Stick lands regularly at this spot (6)
ADHERE – {l}A{n}D{s} + HERE (at this spot)
13 Is this what can make us single? (8)
UGLINESS – (US SINGLE)*

I think this is what experts call an &lit, where the whole clue is also the definition. Very clever.
15 Fish from lake carried in straw hat (7)
BLOATER – BOATER (straw hat) contains L{ake}

I though this was a dead fish floating at the surface. But apparently it is a type of Herring. I found this quote in the OED:

Real Yarmouth BLOATERS are herrings very slightly salted, and smoked for three or four hours only.
16 Sailor Brown checked Scottish cloth (6)
TARTAN – TAR (sailor) + TAN(brown)

I was a bit dense here, trying Scottish=MAC for TARMAC.
18 Keep quiet about fate and sin (5)
SLOTH – SH (keep quiet) around LOT(fate)

This is definition by example, as SLOTH is one of the seven deadly sins.
20 Scots child I housed in farm building (5)
BAIRN – BARN (farm building) contains I

I learned this distinction when checking in the dictionary: BAIRN is used in expressing relationship, rather than age; “child” can’t be used this way, but “offspring” can.
21 Bolt to glide smoothly when lifted (4)
WOLF – FLOW (slide smoothly) reversed

Bolt as to eat rapidly, hence WOLF. Both usually followed by “down”.

73 comments on “QC 2516 by Wurm”

  1. Got stuck on SW corner – just didn’t see OUTDO or WOLF at all, even after eventually geting SLOTH and FOREHAND, which took ages. I see now, thanks to the blog!!

  2. Went through this quite fast until I got to the last 4 or 5 clues which pushed my time out to 16 minutes. No problems with the general knowledge, HONSHU or GLASNOST going in fairly rapidly. There are some fine clues here but I didn’t really like NUDGE or PARROT, although I seem to be in the minority on the former.

    FOI – 3ac HESITANT
    LOI – 11ac NUDGE
    COD – 22ac OUTDO
    WOD – 1dn GLASNOST

    Thanks to Wurm and Merlin

  3. This all seemed reasonably straightforward, but, like others found, my hopes of a sub-20 were to be dashed on the Cornish rocks. Wolf, Outdo and even Forehand (yes, I dabbled with -ant as well) had to be teased out with the trusty crowbar. And to cap it all, loi and (eventual) CoD Nudge ensured that all the good window seats had been nabbed. Still enjoyed it though, so thank you Wurm, and Merlin. Invariant

  4. I enjoyed this until I didn’t! DNF – could not see A Priori …. NHO and didn’t think of prior..
    So undone at the last. Surprised to not read of other DNF as a result of this – presumably something that has come up many times before in the 15×15…
    As other(s) not so keen on nudge and parrot but forgiven based on the stretching of grey matter.
    Thanks all
    John
    (About 25 minutes until gave up)

  5. Like some others DNF because of the SW corner. Didn’t get OUTDO or WOLF. Old enough to know GLASNOST. But quite a bit of happiness along the way. Thanks all.

  6. Dnf…

    I struggled with this, particularly 12ac “Parrot”, 6dn “A Priori” (NHO), 22ac “Outdo” and 21dn “Wolf”. After 18 mins, I couldn’t see a way out so threw in the towel. In the end, I got 20dn “Bairn” wrong anyway, and put “Brian”.

    FOI – 1ac “Gust”
    LOI – dnf
    COD – 1ac “Gust”

    Thanks as usual!

      1. Apart from thinking it was Scottish (which it plainly isn’t), I couldn’t get “Brian” (aka King Charles) out of my head – and, with his Scottish links, just slotted it in.

  7. Just over 8 1/2 minutes. I agree UGLINESS seems a bit harsh but at least it makes no reference to gender and the clue is a question, leaving room for doubt, rather than a statement. BTW, I’m probably talking through my hat, but to me the clue would qualify as a semi-&lit as ‘Is this’ doesn’t contribute to the wordplay.

    A PRIORI is one of those many terms I think I understand but really don’t. I did understand the ‘Best’ bit of the surface reading for OUTDO though and it was my COD.

    Thanks to Wurm and Merlin

  8. I didn’t find this as wriggly as some of Wurm’s puzzles and finished in 10:51.
    I didn’t really get to grips with OUTDO – it was a biff but I really like it now I understand it!
    Does anyone eat BLOATERs any more? I’m not sure I ever did 😅 I’m another who thought 13d UGLINESS, although clever, was rather unkind, and 4d EUROPEAN UNION was just depressing. But I liked HESITANT and ASUNDER.
    FOI Hesitant LOI Sloth COD Wolf
    Thanks Wiggly Woo and Merlin too

  9. Just made the SCC cut off today. Very enjoyable from Wurm, who I normally find extremely difficult.

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