Quick Cryptic 1044 by Mara

Author   CuraristPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I’m writing this in a French hotel with the most pathetically slow internet connection, which feels like I’m sending every word by carrier pigeon. Nothing to scare the horses here, I think. It started very swiftly but became a little more challenging towards the end. Some nice anagrinds to add to the list. Hard to pick a winner, maybe 15dn? My LOI was 19ac, inexplicably.

Across
1 Dwell on team (6)
RESIDE – RE (on) + SIDE
4 Figures in various phases (6)
SHAPES – anagram (‘various’) of PHASES
8 Inevitably — but not now? (6,2,5)
SOONER OR LATER – cryptic definition
10 Item at auction, American flower (5)
LOTUS – LOT + US
11 As quickly as possible, lying down (4,3)
FLAT OUT – double definition
12 Lacking feeling in end of toe, still (11)
EMOTIONLESS – E (end of TOE)  + MOTIONLESS (still)
16 New crack found in toilet, way back (4,3)
LONG AGO – N (New) + GAG (crack), all inside LOO
17 Small instrument out of tune (5)
SHARP – S + HARP
18 Check flower is forming anew (13)
REINCARNATION – REIN (check) + CARNATION
19 Sea with a unifying idea (6)
THEMED – THE MED (sea)
20 Note singer voiced (6)
TENNER – sounds like TENOR

Down
1 Some nightmare’s ultimate consequences (6)
RESULT – hidden word: nightmaRE’S ULTimate
2 Perks I slam, not terribly fair (13)
SPORTSMANLIKE – anagram (‘terribly’) of PERKS I SLAM NOT
3 Gown kept in padre’s sideboard (5)
DRESS – another hidden word: paDRE’S Sideboard
5 Found in large room, ancient bag (7)
HOLDALL – OLD (ancient) found inside HALL (large room)
6 Travelling, stop later on: it’s a place to fill up (6,7)
PETROL STATION – anagram (‘travelling’) of STOP LATER ON IT
7 Supernatural being tormented priest (6)
SPRITE – anagram (‘tormented’) of PRIEST
9 Not at work, a shade ill (3-6)
OFF-COLOUR – OFF (work) + COLOUR (shade)
13 Share last of sugar in the can, freely (7)
TRANCHE – last of sugar is R, inside an anagram (‘freely’) of THE CAN. ‘Slice’ in French
14 Red — Irish county Marxist, ultimately (6)
CLARET – Iris county is CLARE + T (‘Marxist ultimately’)
15 Frenchman turning up after work, the first in? (6)
OPENER – Frenchman is RENE, turning up (reversed) after OP
17 Utter shambles? (5)
STATE – double definition.

22 comments on “Quick Cryptic 1044 by Mara”

  1. Not the slightest edginess among the horses. TRANCHE has been in the 15x15s a couple of times, or I wouldn’t have known it. I still don’t, really, but it’s used in finance. 5:03.
  2. 8 minutes after yet another delayed start. Needed all the checkers for my LOI (17dn) as I couldn’t see ‘shambles’ as STATE for ages.
  3. My fastest time for a very long time at just over 12 minutes. I was thinking in terms of a PB for a while until the SE corner slowed me down. Good to have a confidence booster for a change.
  5. I felt I was getting bogged down as several clues in the NE and SW failed to yield at first perusal. However I didn’t tarry and filled in the rest, returning to the stragglers for more detailed consideration, and was surprised to find I’d submitted at 8:23. I was introduced to this modus operandi by watching Magoo’s Cracking The Cryptic videos. It really does speed up solving. I’ve noticed the same improvement with the main puzzle too. Mind you when I went back to the clues I failed to see first time, I couldn’t really understand why. Nothing tricky really. Maybe I need another coffee! Thanks Mara and Curarist.
  6. First half good, second half not so good. Held up on the bottom bit but still managed a reasonable solve. COD to 15dn as Rene reminded me of allo, allo. Thanks to Mara and Curarist
  8. I think this was a wavelength puzzle; and I was on it until I got to 19a, like our blogger.
    14 minutes before I stopped and, after trying everything, put the puzzle down for a bit. I had Themea as the unlikely name for a sea; my geography is bad enough to have gone for that but I didn’t.
    Once I came back to the puzzle I saw Themed immediately.
    Well done setter. David

  9. Yes, like others, 19a was LOI for me, which was a bit maddening because I already had ‘THEME’ so needed a break (for an extra cup of tea) for the penny to drop. Otherwise, finished over breakfast.
    A fun puzzle, esp. enjoyed 16a and 19a which was a BIFD ( Biffed?) and made me smile when parsed.
    Thanks to Mara and Curarist
  10. Agree with all the above. Competently on wavelength in the top half – different story down below – themed, tenner, sharp, state. 11/20 so still a QC and a good one at that.

  11. 1a / 1d trouble as I had INSIDE/INSULT. Inside was fair, insult a failed Biff.

    COD THEMED but I am sure I will be told it’s a chestnut.

    Slow today.

  12. For some reason I found this nigh on impossible (after quite a good week). Reading the blog I’ve no idea why — it’s all pretty straightforward! And I have a question again: in 1d, shouldn’t it be “consequence” singular, as the answer is “result”, singular? A tiny thing, I know, but it did make me stop for a second and wonder if I’d got it right. I’m still new to this!
    1. It made me stop for a second, too, and although there’s no need for agreement–a set of consequences could be called the result of something–I don’t see why the setter used the plural. But of course it’s irrelevant to the wordplay.
      1. Interesting point, Lucy. I never noticed at the time. My take would be that singular or plural would be equally valid, but the plural version gives a more natural surface. Such are the subtleties of the setter’s art.
  13. Made really heavy going of this, though strangely 19ac went in without too much trouble. If only I could say the same of 2d or 17d, both of which took far too long to see. 11ac was another ‘easy’ clue that I messed up by biffing Full Out and only revisited when I couldn’t think of a bag with H*l*l*l. . . It’s been one of those days. Invariant.
  14. I got very bogged down in the SW corner, which wasn’t helped by my ignorance of Irish counties (even though Clare seems to come up every now and again). Like others 19a (LOI) held me up at the end for some unknown reason. Finally completed in 22 minutes, COD 15d. A good work out to end the week. Thanks to Mara and Curarist
  15. Took much longer than it should have done (just over 30 minutes), but at least I finished. Wasted far too much time with winner at 15d. I should have checked the parsing more carefully!
    I thought this QC was really well-written and challenging, even if most of you found it on the easy side. There were so many really good clues but my favourite has to be 18a and I rather liked 12a too, so cleverly and simply clued.
    (Incidentally, there was so much written about whether it was acceptable to have two hiddens in a crossword but nobody has mentioned it today. I don’t have a problem with this – I need any help I can get!!)MM
  16. After a relatively slow start, having to skip over a few clues, this fell into place quite steadily and I finished about 20% faster than average. One or two quite tricky for a QC, I thought, but at least you could get plenty of checkers for, I think, the trickiest – 18a : my COD. nice puzzle Mara, and thanks for the blog curarist.
  17. Well yes I did have quite a fast time (6 min) by my standards (but not by those of some of the people who post on the 15×15 site), but one has to realise that there were only 22 clues. Is there a 13×13 grid with fewer clues that is used for The Times QC?
  18. More of a struggle than perhaps it should have been.
    Last in were STATE and THEMED. Themed is absolutely fair and I was just dim about it. Not quite so happy with Shambles = State, though I can see it. Not much to hang on to in that clue. Clever surface, yes, but a bit of a guess as to whether the answer really is the answer. I prefer clues that leave you in no doubt when you’ve solved it. And on that theme, I’m increasingly inclined to feel that in the Times QC, setters sometimes prioritise a clever surface at the expense of rigorous clueing. Am I alone in this thought?

    treesparrow

  19. 38 minutes with a careless tennor and ages spent on state and LOI themed. Couldn’t get away from theorem/theory.Well it is the first day of the week here!

    COD Reincarnation.

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