QC 2777 by Mara

Author   MerlinPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Nice Puzzle from Mara, I messed up a few of the clues, leading to a longer than usual time, close to 15 mins.

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

Across
1 A line to one side? (5,7)
STAGE WHISPER – Cryptic definition, and a hard one
8 Celebrity beginning without ending (4)
STAR – STAR{T} (beginning)
9 Sensed, advice for writer (4,3)
FELT TIP – FELT (sensed) + TIP (advice)
11 Bag that’s worn-out in large room (7)
HOLDALL – HALL (large room) contains OLD (worn-out)

OLD=worn-out seems a little unfair on our more senior readers. I expect a few comments raging against the dying of the light.
12 Turner taking some Miro to Raphael (5)
ROTOR – Hidden in Miro to Raphael
14 Ring  launderer(6)
WASHER – Double def

That ring that goes round a bolt.
15 Motor’s gauge deep, so adjusted (6)
SPEEDO – SO contains DEEP reversed

Missed opportunity for some schoolboy humour here with PEED:

Took a leak inside Esso dial (8)
18 Severe rash turned hot (5)
HARSH – (RASH)* [turned] + H{ot}
20 Better bags right for waste (7)
FRITTER – FITTER (better) contains [bags] R{ight}

We had this clued last week with its alternative definition of “fried food”
21 Iron clothes clerk ordered for Mark (7)
FRECKLE – FE (Iron) contains (CLERK)* [ordered]
23 Nippy, while temperature beyond freezing, initially (4)
FAST – F{reezing} + AS (while) + T{emperature}

No see easy, that use of Nippy for cold confused me as Jalna slyly intended. Not sure that the phrasing is very natural. Beyond means “place after”, as “initially” is already being used as a truncation indicator.
24 Flying KLM’s safer tho’ it maintains a constant temperature (7,5)
THERMOS FLASK – (KLMS SAFER THO)* [flying]

Bit of a clumsy phrase, with both an acronym and an abbreviation. I was held up by trying THERMAL first.
Down
2 Calculator Aristotle broke (9)
TOTALISER – (ARISTOTLE)*

I think this nice anagram is a bit of a chestnut (most good one are). That’s why new ones look clumsy – KLM’s safer tho.
3 Relevant language, English (7)
GERMANE – GERMAN (relevant) + E{nglish}

Has nothing to do with Germany or the Germans.

German comes from Latin Germanus, first attested in Caesar, which was used to describe the Germanic tribes by the Romans. According to OED it may be of Celtic origin.

germane comes from Latin germanus (adjective “related, relative”, noun “brother”) This comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *gen-, which means something like “give birth”. Our word germ, from Latin germen, “sprout”, is from the same root, as is genetic, through Greek genesis, “birth”.

So that means that there is potential for some Latin jokes here.

“Cur Germanus frater semper pertinens est? Quia germanus est!”
4 Gas on for potato cake (6)
WAFFLE – Double def

In crosswords, the word “gas” seems to be used more for “waffle” than for the third state of matter.

Most waffles are sweet cakes, and don’t contain potato, surely? Sure, there is a specific type of waffle called “potato waffles” that does use potatoes as a key ingredient (grated or mashed potatoes in the batter, along with other ingredients like onions, eggs, and seasonings).
5 Loafer in crimson I raised, heel finally slipped into it (5)
IDLER – RED (crimson) + I  reversed [raised] contains {hee}L
6 Lifted, first prize (3)
POT – TOP (first) reversed [lifted]

Pot = slang for a cup (trophy), common in crosswords rare in IRL.
7 Body of work reporter and I reviewed, ending in article (10)
REPERTOIRE – (REPORTER +I)* [reviewed] + E
10 Eat lard and rabbit! (4,3,3)
CHEW THE FAT – Double def, second one cryptic

Rabbit can mean to talk loquaciously, to go on and on. Not sure that CHEW THE FAT is quite the same, more friendly bonding over smalltalk.

Unlikely etymology warning. Possibly related to sailors chewing salt-hardened fat, North American Indians chewing animal hides, or British farmers chewing cooked pork. Earliest citation 1885.
13 A setter is composing pieces of written work (9)
TREATISES – (A SETTER IS)* [composing]

“Treaties” are also written works, and this sent me on a bit of a wild goose chase until more checkers appeared.
16 Messed up final agonising (7)
PAINFUL – (UP FINAL)* [messed]

Hard to see the anagram here as UP looked like a reversal indicator, and I don’t see how “messed” can cue an anagram on its own, surely “messed up”?
17 Tale is here in stale pudding (6)
AFTERS – “tale” is “after S” in the word “stale”

Figuring out this parsing took me longer than the whole rest of the puzzle. Not sure how to classify the clue. Quite like it, though.
19 Smell about right for garbage (5)
HOKUM – HUM (smell) contains [about] OK(right)

“smell” is always clued by Hum in crosswords. It’s a common definition that is worth remembering for its frequency along with rubbish=rot and drunkard=sot (all rare IRL).

I thought this was a ringer for Anglo-Indian origination (like loot, thug etc), but it seems to be a blend of “Hocus-pocus”  and “Bunkum”
22 First Lady never hugs! (3)
EVE – {n}EVE{r} . “Hugs” indicating that the outer word “never” hugs the inner word.

Doesn’t really work for me. It’s the “NR” which hugs EVE. I think “never holds” would be better.

Eve is surely canonical First Lady!

82 comments on “QC 2777 by Mara”

  1. 11.51 This was going very quickly then I spent as long again on HOKUM, FRECKLE, REPERTOIRE, FRITTER and AFTERS. All parsed for once. Thanks Merlin and Mara.

  2. Good concise clues. Like others, couldn’t parse AFTERS but – when explained- quite enjoyed it! Also liked FRECKLE and FRITTER.

  3. A quick start and a slow finish, 17:10 overall. Add me to the list of people who couldn’t parse AFTERS – with hindsight I should probably have managed it, but at least I’m in good company.

    I had trouble getting FRITTER out of my brain when considering 4d (despite it having too many letters). Imagine my delight when I then couldn’t get it back into my brain when considering 20a.

    Thank you for the blog!

  4. 22:00, all correct but AFTERS unparsed. Very neat. Lots to like here: FRECKLE gets my COD by a nose from AFTERS.

    Thanks to Mara and Merlin.

  8. DNF. This was never, never going to be solved by me. Difficult but gettable things were STAGE WHISPER, SPEEDO (that’s a swimsuit), THERMOS FLASK (that’s a thermos bottle or just a thermos to me), TOTALISER (unknown word from another subculture from another country), “rabbit” for talk, “hum” for smell.

    But the impossibles were WAFFLE (potatoes, really?) and AFTERS. I mourn the lack of GK that prevented me from working through this great clue! I knew “pudding” for US “dessert” but not “afters” for “pudding”; didn’t even recognize it as a word.

  9. Thanks Merlin for the very informative blog!
    Minor point for 15a speedo, surely the word play is just an anagram of deep so? I don’t see any indicator referring to deep reversed within so.

  10. 14:38. Slow to finish. and like many stuck on AFTERS (COD once I’d seen the parsing) for quite some time. I liked the difficulty level, good to have a couple of stinkers at the end to keep you guessing… thanks both!

  11. 26 minutes

    Hated every minute of it. Couldn’t see anything clearly! A very bad day.

    Got about 3/5 of big crossword in well over an hour ☹️ (proof that completing yesterday’s was a fluke).

    Did not enjoy quintagram at all.

    Improving at the speed of a glacier.

  14. I do these crosswords weeks later. Evidently. Now…POT doesn’t refer to the prize trophy, it refers to the pot of money won in a game (or a betting game). ‘She’s won the pot’ = she’s won the prize money.
    Oh yes, thanks for parsing AFTERS. That’s how I found this site.

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