Quick Crossword 559 by Tracy

Author   emu66Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Nothing too controversial in this Friday’s offering, and for once the number (22a) was a number and not something that numbs!
Thank you to Tracy.

Across
1 Defend comic, pro: STAND UP FOR
Comic = stand-up, pro (in favour of) = FOR
8 Forbid one to leave subdued ceremonial dinner: BANQUET
Forbid = BAN, subdued = QUIET, one leaving gives QU(i)ET
9 Colour Morecambe rock contains: AMBER
Hidden word
10 Employed American editor: USED
American = US, editor = ED
11 Just released, with nitrogen in mixture: BRAND NEW
With = AND, nitrogen = N, all inside mixture = BREW
13 Doctor reversed Conservative’s fungal disease: DRY ROT
Doctor = DR, Conservative = TORY, reversed = YROT
14 United picked up after losing opener: ALLIED
Picked up = RALLIED, losing opener =(r)ALLIED
17 Go round more than is usual, and surrender: ROLL OVER
Go round = ROLL, more than is usual = OVER
19 Fight Pole: SPAR
Double definition
21 At no time lost nerve: NEVER
Anagram (lost) of NERVE
22 Number imbibing drop of sherry, dry: THIRSTY
Number = THIRTY, including drop of sherry = S
23 Type of novel unusual for Maclean: ROMAN A CLEF
Anagram (unusual) of FOR MACLEAN, an &lit clue

Down
2 Attempt to employ girl where leather is processed: TANNERY
Attempt = TRY, including girl = ANNE
3 Part of speech some denounced: NOUN
Hidden word
4 Winning spin, a boost: UPTURN
Winning = UP, spin = TURN
5 Cloths for trousers: FLANNELS
Double definition
6 Steal from popular boy: ROBIN
Steal from = ROB, popular = IN
7 China’s top horse race: CROWN DERBY
Top = CROWN, horse race = DERBY
8 Making a mistake below, wearing conspicuous jewellery: BLUNDERING
Beneath = UNDER, wearing conspicuous jewellery = BLING
12 Man with groom redesigned design embroidered on clothing: MONOGRAM
Anagram (redesigned) of MAN and GROOM
15 Deadlock that is broken by politician, fool: IMPASSE
That is = IE, with politician = MP, fool = ASS inside
16 Church caretaker attacked carrying cross: SEXTON
Attacked = SET ON, carrying cross = X
18 Organ, as it happens, last of tour: LIVER
As it happens = LIVE, last of tour = touR
20 Record find? Not half!: DISC
Find not half = DISC(over)

15 comments on “Quick Crossword 559 by Tracy”

  1. This was late in coming; when I tried at 10ish (around 2am Greenwich), yesterday’s was all I got. Anyway, as Emu says, nothing controversial; but some nice clues, like 11ac or 23ac. 6:21.
  2. All going swimmingly until the bottom, 23a is a phrase I vaguely remembered but it gave a c for 20d. Could I think of a suitable word to fit? Head scratching pacing room, sighs etc, until Mrs Tim, tired of all the disturbance, looked over my shoulder and said “disc” so a DNF for me but the family rule OK.
    Thanks to Tracy for my first DNF for a few weeks, some smooth clues 8d and 15d especially, and thanks to blogger for explaining 11a.

    Edited at 2016-04-29 07:11 am (UTC)


  3. I have never come across ROMAN A CLEF before. So although 10:15 I DNF! At least I have it now but this is a bit Mephistoish for the QC.

    So even the Friday QC has a greater degree of difficulty.

    Or is ROMAN A CLEF more common than I think?

    horryd Shanghai

  4. i never really liked the idea of a ROMAN A CLEF, if it’s true why disguise the names? And how can you tell what bits the author has made up? Nice clue though. Definitions, and roles, of SEXTON vary from church to church. 7’ today (after a dnf in the big one). Thanks blogger.
  5. Back to sub-10 minutes today (8 actually) so only Hurley’s Thursday offering beat me this week.
  6. One or two nice misdirections from Tracy, and an unusual novel form, made this a challenging 45 mins QC. Tracy’s style certainly takes a bit of getting used to, but clues like 20d make it worth the effort. Invariant
  7. A full set this week, although this was one slowest at 72 mins. ROMAN A CLEF was a tough one, and also needed my wife’s help for DISC, as only words I could think of were zinc and talc. Bizarrely I saw the construction of 22a quickly, and even considered TWENTSY as an answer before getting THIRSTY it as a surprising LOI.
  9. Found this so much easier than yesterday and possibly a PB at 35min! A full set this week even admitting I needed help one of them, but nice feeling. Thx for the explanation of 11a. It’s nice to know why you’re right.
  10. Not entirely sure how long this took me, as I left and came back to it a number of times in the hope of finding inspiration. Whatever I did, it appeared to work as I managed only my second ever complete finish! Thank you Tracy!

    At least, I thought I had until I saw “Monogram” for 12d. I had HOLOGRAM, which is an anagram of GROOM and our man HAL! A cursory google does indeed show that a hologram can be embroidered, so I shall stick with my gut instinct…

    LOI was 20d, which came with a sigh of exasperation when I finally saw it.

    1. It’s a nice idea but it’d be an indirect anagram (requiring the use of letters that don’t appear in the clue) which, as far as I’m aware, is off-limits to setters of Times crosswords
  11. Toughest of the week for me, I got completely bogged down at the bottom of the puzzle. I’d never heard of 23a before so it was my LOI and I needed all the checkers in place. For some reason I drew a blank with 16d and 20d for a while as well. But perseverance paid off in the end.
    Also couldn’t parse 11a, so thanks for the clarification Emu
  12. Some nice clues today. I particularly liked 13a.
    23a was my first one in; my eyes were drawn to the clue in the paper – a familiar term to me.
    Not sure about time taken but much quicker than yesterday. LOI was 11a. David
  13. Found this so much easier than yesterday and possibly a PB at 35min! A full set this week even admitting I needed help one of them, but nice feeling. Thx for the explanation of 11a. It’s nice to know why you’re right.

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