QC 3059 by Alex

Author   MerlinPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Tough Tuesday, never really got on the wavelength today, and a visit to the SCC.

As I look through the clues, many of them have nouns that need to be re-read as verbs (prompt, groom, fan, suspect, cheer ) This is a common trick of setters, worth remembering when you hit a wall.

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

Across
1 False promises to pay following prompt (8)
SPURIOUS – SPUR (prompt) + IOUS (promises to pay)

IOUS often appears in crosswords as its a common set of letters. It is not an acronym in the traditional sense: each letter doesn’t represent a separate word. Instead, it directly mimics how “I owe you” sounds. It actually comes from the 1700s but is in the same class of much more recent shorthands like K9,or EZ.
6 Remove line from cut belt (4)
SASH – S{L}ASH (cut)
8 Horse biting male groom (4)
COMB – COB (horse) contains M{ale}
9 One who lives for rest (8)
BREATHER – Double def

First one is cryptic, I can imagine paramedics at an accident scene darkly proclaiming “We’ve got a breather here”
10 Former test for country (8)
PASTORAL – PAST (Former) + ORAL (test)

So not a country, then. There are 20 8-letter countries to run through.
12 Swear a vicar flipped (4)
AVER – A + REV (vicar) reversed [flipped]
13 Shoes with fringes (6)
WEDGES – W{ith} + EDGES (fringes)

Wedges are footwear where the sole gradually inclines from the toe towards the heel,
15 Heartless referee crushed cigarette (6)
REEFER – (REF{E}REE)*  [crushed]

“Heartless” indicates the middle letter (an E) should be dropped, then anagrammed. It’s a slang term for a marijuana joint, but you already knew that.
17 Scorch vegetable having removed end (4)
CHAR – CHAR{d} (vegetable)
19 Dental appliance trainee fixed after run (8)
RETAINER -R{un} + (TRAINER)* [fixed]

I usually call them “braces” but that’s not actually correct. Braces move teeth but RETAINERs keep them where they are.
21 Getting cold feet about daughter studying (8)
DREADING – D{aughter} + READING (studying, as at University)

On University Challenge you can hear the Oxbridge contestants say “reading”, and other universities say “studying” or “doing”.
23 Flea destroyed part of plant (4)
LEAF – (LEAF)*

Very pleasing compact clue.
24 Shoetree regularly in this place (4)
HERE – {s}H{o}E{t}R{e}E
25 Time and love make that woman well-organised (8)
TOGETHER – T{time} + O (love)+ GET (make) + HER (that woman)

Collins has this as an adjective with the plausible quote “I know on the surface I appear to be quite a TOGETHER person, but I’m really quite disorganised“
Down
2 In favour of cool European being blasphemous (7)
PROFANE – PRO (In favour of) + FAN (cool) + E{uropean}

That FAN was tricky, a lot of  words fitted: PRO- – – E. The old noun-to-verb trick from Alex.
3 Plunder books for automaton (5)
ROBOT – ROB (plunder) + OT (Old Testament=books)

The tough part here was reading “automaton” correctly, not “automation”.
4 Sphere held by major benefactor (3)
ORB – Hidden in “major benefactor”
5 Suspect malts earl manufactured (5,1,3)
SMELL A RAT – (MALTS EARL)*

This was tricky if you assumed that “suspect” was the anagram indicator, and “manufactured” was the definition, as I did.
6 Fully gratify one entering gallery following special arrangement initially (7)
SATIATE – TATE (gallery) contains I (one) prefixed by S{pecial} A{rrangement}
7 Scandinavian   root vegetable (5)
SWEDE – Double def
11 Prudence about to pull head of technology (9)
RESTRAINT – RE (about) + STRAIN (to pull, as in a muscle) + T{echnology}
14 Sugar bag emptied partly in rubbish (7)
GARBAGE – Hidden in “Sugar bag emptied”
16 Raise cheer drinking bevvy regularly (7)
ELEVATE – ELATE (cheer) contains {b}E{v}V{y}

If you ELATE someone you fill with high spirits, exhilaration, pride or optimism (Collins). Not common, I’ve never heard this verb used, but of course its outcome, ELATION, is very common.
18 Crowd in store chanted (5)
HORDE – sounds like HOARD (store)

“chanted” is an odd homophone indicator, a little unfair I think
20 Small bay trees primarily found south of popular lake’s edges (5)
INLET – IN (popular) + L{ak}E + T{rees}

Nice clue with “bay trees” needing lift and separate treatment. “south” here is not S, but a positional indicator in a Down clue.
22 Band’s performance going up and down (3)
GIG – A palindrome

It’s believed to be short for “engagement,” referring to a musician’s performance commitment. 

74 comments on “QC 3059 by Alex”

  1. Biffed ELEVATE. As usual, I was slow to see the hidden in GARBAGE, first wasting time taking ‘bag emptied’ to be BG. A MER at DREADING=getting cold feet. 5:57

  2. Liked this and saw everything on reading with the exception of BREATHER and SPURIOUS. Also had a bit of a mer at ‘chanted’ as a homophone indicator. Wasn’t sure about WEDGES but seemed to remember them as a shoe. COD to PROFANE.
    Thanks Merlin and setter.

  3. 9:16. By luck I happened to avoid most of the traps that snared Merlin except for the ‘country’ that wasn’t which was my last in. I liked the surface for RESTRAINT; just as well the ‘head of technology’ was in lower case, otherwise it may have prompted naughty thoughts.

    Thanks to Merlin and Alex

  4. 7.39. For a while I was going like a rocket but I slowed down considerably in the SW, LOsI being CHAR and HORDE. Things aren’t too taxing on the 15×15 today, for those tempted to have a crack. Thanks Alex and Merlin.

    1. Thanks, Lindsay. Your post encouraged me to attempt and solve the 15×15 today and I enjoyed the experience. My fastest time ever for the ‘biggie’ – well worth 40 mins of my time. Brain not quite dead yet.

      1. Good for you Blighter! I actually think anyone who can make sense of the QC can make decent headway on the big board (putting aside the occasional impenetrable day) but too many are convinced they can’t so don’t even start. With a bit of application and the help of this fabulous blog site it’s there for the taking!

        2. Dear LindsayO,

          For me, not starting the 15×15 is not because I’m convinced I won’t make reasonable headway but because, after spending 20-50 minutes on the QC and some time reading the blog and everyone’s comments here, I really don’t have any more time to devote to this (wonderful) pastime.

          Update: I gave it exactly 30 minutes.
          Result: Of the 30 clues, I correctly solved and parsed seven. I also biffed, but could not parse two further clues and I entered three incorrect answers.
          A 30% success rate in half an hour on an easy day indicates why I rarely tackle the biggie. It’s well beyond my capability and probably always will be.

        3. Can’t say that’s been my experience of the 15 x 15. I’ve tried so hard to do it now for the last year and always fail. I dread to think how many fruitless hours I have devoted to it. It certainly hasn’t improved my times on the QC, which was the whole point of starting it in the first place.

          1. I have approached it off and on for years but only very occasionally in recent months because I found it increasingly arcane and difficult. I rarely finished in under an hour and my skills were not improving dramatically at my age.
            I simply pick up on an occasional comment on this blog about the 15×15 and, if it looks approachable (and I have some time), I see how far I get.
            I also checked the SNITCH today and it was in the low 80s which is closer to my level. I tried it, got sucked in, and finished it. Surprise!
            I think that it works for me when I choose a likely puzzle (based on tips and SNITCH) and just stick at it for half an hour and then choose to continue or do something else if I run out of steam.
            Have a go at today’s offering and see how far you get!

            1. Well done for completing it!

              As so often, I was one short after about 70 mins. Several guesses along the way.

              1. Well done for your (near) completion. It may have been an easy one for the whizz-kids but not for me. You deserve a beer, at least!

            2. Hello Blighter. I did give a go (see addendum above). P.S. Well done to you!

              1. That is better than where I was after 30 mins. Getting started on the 15 x 15 each day is hard as there are few gimmes. I often find that I have a similar total to you after 30 mins and then, on a good day, I get a run of 4 or 5 answers very quickly. It’s amazing how much progress you can make once the grid starts to fill up. It’s getting a foothold that is the very hard part.

          2. You’d be quicker on the QC if you got out of your own way and just bunged the answers in. Too much mental floss holding you back and not enough credit about what you can do when it goes well.

            Note how the positive attitude of Bazball has turned England’s cricketing fortunes around. But, as shown yesterday, they are willing to lose – you fear it too much just like the teams of 3 years ago and therefore suffer the QC equivalent of a batting collapse without ever getting near the total.

      2. Congrats on the 15×15 PB Blighter. Your post got me to give it a go. I took 31mins with eight mins spent on the last two down in the SW.

  5. 11 minutes, taken over my old target of 10 by the intersecting pair, CHAR and HORDE.

    All the usual sources mention ‘cigarette’ in their definitions of REEFER, but only Collins allows for it to contain something other than cannabis, the more important feature being that it’s hand-rolled.

  6. PorTugaL would have fitted at one time but didn’t even come close to parsing and that sent me off to other parts of the grid. Finally saw GARBAGE leading to WEDGES then RESTRAINT, PROFANE and finally PASTORAL. What was all the fuss about? Slow, quick, deadly slow. Still fastish though at 12.19 all green. And now 14 days without a typo – surely a record!

  7. 7:03 – PASTORAL was clever but took a while to see. DREADING also took a while, less forgivably. But what really held me up was having biffed SPECIOUS for SPURIOUS, finally noticing the error around the 6-minute mark.

    The whole thing was overshadowed by the annoyance of a typo in the concise which I did just prior, one day away from my error a month ago (if indeed that’s how it works – still not sure) being expunged for leaderboard purposes.

  8. A smidge under average for me with my main difficulties being BREATHER, PASTORAL (both contenders for COD for their PDMs) and the first part of SPURIOUS.

    I share Vinyl’s concerns with the REEFER/Cigarette link regardless of what the dictionaries say. If you asked someone for a cigarette and they gave you a reefer you’d get a bit of a shock, but it’s a minor quibble.

    Started with IOUS and finished with PROFANE in 7.56.
    Thanks to Merlin and Alex

  9. Just about got there in the end; LOI PASTORAL (did I go through all the countries ending with L, though: Brazil, Senegal, Portugal!). Long time getting started, eventually with FOI LEAF. RESTRAINT was difficult (= prudence? well I suppose so) and HORDE took time. Liked SMELL A RAT. Thanks, Alex and Merlin.

  10. What’s going on? 8:54 a rare sub ten under 2K and a QTB. Must be something in the water. Lots of biffing but mostly more than half parsed. Checkers really helped. Dreading Pastoral Breather held me up somewhat. Swede spotted in the allotment yesterday and I swear (without profanity) aver’s everywhere these days.
    Cheers Merlin and Alex

  11. 11.10

    Well over par today. Struggled on lots, but BREATHER in particular. Never knowingly seen it in the first sense of someone who breathes but it’s the first definition in the dictionary.

    Thanks Merlin/Alex

  12. On song with this one, finishing in 9:55. SW corner last to fall, as WEDGES took some lateral thinking (not something ever seen in the Statherby household). That unlocked the remaining blanks though, with LOI HORDE because I had no clue what chanted was doing in the clue and only got the answer from the checkers.

    Many thanks Merlin for the blog.

  13. A mixed bag . 8.16 for me which is better than par. A few were very straightforward and a few felt a bit iffy. Our old friend AVER I only ever see in Crosswordland and in one form or another every other week. LOI for me RESTRAINT .

    Thanks Merlin and setter

  14. 12:15 with the last several minutes on BREATHER which had me totally stumped till I pencilled in the 2 Rs and then I finally saw it.

  15. A bit slow on this today, not being on the right wavelength and needing to biff a few and parse later. BREATHER, SPURIOUS and ELEVATE the main stumbling blocks.

  16. I was very slow to start this one – simply off-wavelength. I persevered and reached the bottom with little to show for it but accelerated on the way back up the grid.
    I had the same hiccups as related in many posts above (including a slow recognition of the hidden GARBAGE) and had never heard of retainer for dental brace. I finished in 15.50 all parsed (although ‘chanted’ was very iffy). My run of recent 15 min +/- times continues. My LOsI were SPURIOUS, SATIATE and, finally, BREATHER.
    Thanks to Alex and Merlin.
    P.s. I got the dreaded ‘500 server error’ again for my first 2 attempts to access the blog but, thankfully, things seem to have settled down now.

  17. 14:05 for the solve. Wasted 2-3mins at the end on the sitter that is DREADING by looking at the wrong end of the clue – and even seeing reading 🤦‍♂️ BREATHER the other hold up taking me past ten mins. Six of first seven Across clues produced nothing beyond AVER and I was beginning to wonder whether it would be tough Tuesday.

    Thanks to Merlin and Alex

  18. Slow on this and couldn’t get on the wavelength, though no complaints about the quality of the clues. A MER at REEFER, and RETAINER unknown. Didn’t see the hidden GARBAGE until the answer went in and the chestnut CHAR took far too long. LOI RESTRAINT. Well done, Alex…

  19. 20 mins…

    May have been quicker if I hadn’t got held up with 1ac “Spurious”, looking for an anagram of ‘Promises’ that wasn’t there. Other than that, a nice puzzle with a few clues that required some thought.

    FOI – 4dn “Orb”
    LOI – 1ac “Spurious”
    COD – 25ac “Together”

    Thanks as usual!

  20. Like many others, I found this quite tough, finishing in a rather dozy fashion with HORDE and CHAR. 10:54.

  21. Took me 9,05 to solve, but I tripped over my fingers typing my LOI, RESTARINT, to get 2 pinks. Drat! SPURIOUS was FOI. Took a while to see PASTORAL and BREATHER. Thanks Alex and Merlin.

  22. A mixture of speedy write-ins and some chewier clues with satisfying PDMs. Not entirely happy that GET is a synonym for MAKE in 25A. LOI RESTRAINT. COD PASTORAL for its misdirection. Thanks Merlin and Alex.

  23. I was tuned in to Alex today finishing in 7.38. Almost came a cropper on my LOI when after a quick scan of the letters wrote in RETAINEE. Fortunately I took a few extra seconds to check the anagrist, and realised it was RETAINER.

  24. 8:46

    Slow start, so flipped to the bottom clues and made better progress. You know it’s not your day when you see ‘flea’ anagrist and can’t see the answer! LOI INLET

    Thanks Merlin and Alex

  25. 15:24 but with a couple breaks and 1 typo. Found this a little trickier than average

  26. (Mrs Wade) Beaten by this one: never heard of ‘RETAINER’ though knew I was looking for an anagram. And ‘WEDGES’ unfamiliar to me, though should have been able to work it out!

  27. I was a lit slow to get started with ROBOT and ORB my FOsI. I really struggled with the anagram fodder for SMELL A RAT. I spotted PASTORAL quite quickly but, like others here, BREATHER held me up and was my LOI. 7:34 Thanks Merlin

  28. I didn’t find this as tricky as some others have for some reason. I was all done in 16 minutes with all parsed except for RESTRAINT. I was held up by looking for an actual country at 10ac and by not having heard of RETAINER in a dental context.

    FOI – 1ac SPURIOUS
    LOI – 21 ac DREADING
    COD – 9ac BREATHER

    Thanks to Alex and Merlin.

  29. 11:40

    This seemed fairly straightforward but a technical DNF as even though I’d worked out INLET I thought I’d come back to it at the end just to make certain and accidentally hit submit without filling in the squares. So annoying!

    LOI RESTRAINT.

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