Quick Cryptic 1052 by Hawthorn

Author   nick_the_novicePosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Not sure if this was particularly tricky or if I just made unduly heavy weather of it, but this took me an age to complete.  I suspect it was probably a bit of both: some tight cluing from Hawthorn, plus I was pretty much out on my feet when I tackled it after a seriously tough day earning a crust.

No frills blog I’m afraid as I am completely knackered.  Thanks to our setter.

Definitions underlined:  DD = double definition:  anagrams indicated by *(–):  omitted letters indicated by {-}

Across
1 Poet’s residence by river (5)
HOMER – HOME (residence) ‘by’ R (river)
4 Drifting wreckage seen as half of family lost at sea
(7)
FLOTSAM – *(FAM{ILY} LOST) with “at sea” indicating the anagram
8 Cleric leaving one place of worship (7)
MINSTER – MIN{I}STER (one – I – leaves cleric)
9 Ate some shortbread in Edinburgh (5)
DINED – Hidden in (some) shortbreaD IN EDinburgh
10 Comedian keeping end of jokes clean is matter of
space (6,4)
COSMIC DUST – COMIC (comedian) with S inside (keeping end of jokeS) + DUST (clean)
14 Definitely not embracing king and country (6)
NORWAY – NO WAY (definitely not) ’embracing’ R (king)
15 New throne for queen, perhaps (6)
HORNET – *(THRONE) with “new” signposting the anagram.  The female hornet is a queen: did not know this, but seemed eminently plausible on the basis of a queen bee so in it went…
17 Rhyming couplet that has four sprightly feet? (5,5)
HOUSE MOUSE – Cryptic definition based on two meanings of “feet” (pedal extremities, and spondees, trochees and all that jazz that I vaguely recall from school but about which I really have no idea).  And it rhymes.  And a mouse has four feet.  There may be additional cunning twists in this clue that are way beyond my understanding…
20 Book a woman’s back treatment (5)
REHAB – B (book) A HER (a woman) all reversed (back)
22 Bard’s beginning revision of woeful epic poem (7)
BEOWULF – B (Bard’s beginning) + *(WOEFUL) with “revision” pointing to the anagram
23 A loud cry after wife’s total failure (7)
WASHOUT – A SHOUT (a loud cry) comes ‘after’ W (wife)
24 The same detective returned over the top (5)
DITTO – DI (detective) + OTT reversed (returned over the top)

Down
1 Bad smell linked to papa? It’s a hunch (4)
HUMP – HUM (bad smell) + (linked to) P (papa – in the phonetic alphabet)
2 Fix blokes drinks at the outset… (4)
MEND – MEN (blokes) + D (Drinks at the outset)
3 … A justification to share out beer? (9)
RATIONALE – RATION (to share out) + ALE (beer)
4 Discussion groups university introduced to classes (6)
FORUMS – U (university) goes inside (introduced to) FORMS (classes)
5 Former heads of our legal department (3)
OLD – First letters of (heads of) Our Legal Department
6 Fruity buns turn scorched on the outside? (8)
SUNBURNT – *(BUNS TURN) with “fruity” signalling the anagram
7 Contemplate friend consuming awful diet (8)
MEDITATE – MATE (friend) ‘consuming’ *(DIET) with “awful” pointing to the anagram
11 Bridge news: a much-loved part of The Times (9)
CROSSWORD – CROSS (bridge) + WORD (news – as in ‘the word on the street’)
12 Wear thin, possibly becoming bare (2,3,3)
IN THE RAW – *(WEAR THIN) with “possibly becoming” signposting the anagram
13 Game in which St Helens initially defend after turnover
(8)
DRAUGHTS – STH (St Helens initially) + GUARD (defend) all reversed (after turnover)
16 Fight Club follows The Big Sleep (final cut) (6)
COMBAT – BAT (club) after (follows) COM{A} (the big sleep) minus its last letter (final cut)
18 Cambridge boat’s gamble (4)
PUNT – DD (loosely speaking – Cambridge boat is not really a ‘deinition’ as such, as punts can be found in many locations – but are particularly associated with Cambridge)
19 Mop of hair caught up in extractor fan (4)
AFRO – Reverse hidden (caught up)  in extractOR FAn
21 Expression of dissent forbidden? No thanks! (3)
BOO – {TA}BOO (forbidden minus TA – no thanks)

38 comments on “Quick Cryptic 1052 by Hawthorn”

  1. I agree – way off the charts for a quick cryptic. 17ac, 20ac, and 13dn particularly hard.
  2. Definitely hard; I actually found myself saying ‘these are hard!’ to myself–I didn’t reply. I biffed DRAUGHTS (to nit-pick, I’d say it was ST + H(elens); ‘St Helens initially’ would be SH) and COMBAT from the BAT. That’s a clever surface, by the way. I wondered about HOUSE MOUSE; it’s a rhyme, but a couplet? if so, it only has two feet. 7:30.
  3. Yes, I thought the clue for HOUSE MOUSE was rather left-field. I was working with ‘horse’ until I got the U in the first word from DRAUGHTS.

    SUNBURNT was my last in; no complaints here – ‘fruity’ as the anagram indicator was too good for me! I thought the SUNBURNT clue and the REHAB clue were really good example of transitional clues to the main cryptic, while DRAUGHTS probably belongs in that category too (now that I have parsed it!) And COMBAT! Probably many more.

    In fine, a good workout for those looking to graduate.

    Thanks to Hawthorn and put-upon blogger!

  4. I haven’t looked at the QC for some months.

    This was not an easy return with the SW causing the hold ups.

    11.45mins with a well dodgy QC clue from the hawthorn bush.

    I refer to 17ac HOUSE MOUSE (sprightly!?)!

    WOD 23ac WASHOUT!

    Edited at 2018-03-21 04:02 am (UTC)

  5. 24 minutes, with house mouse, rehab, boo, and LOI combat taking the bulk of the time.

    Not too keen on hornet for queen, I presume there is one queen per nest. Also not keen on the house mouse clue.

    Liked draughts, cosmic dust and COD sunburnt.

  6. I didn’t find this too hard although I overrran my target time yet again (by 1 minute). I agree HOUSE MOUSE was very odd and probably didn’t belong in a QC. Now that I’ve read other comments I can see some of the other clues or answers were perhaps a bit much too, for a QC.
    1. Forgot to mention for those who don’t know, today’s setter, Hawthorn, is the Times Puzzles Editor so if there’s an increased level of difficulty today as perceived by most contributors, it’s presumably fully intentional.
  7. (Well, 13/14 and 1/14 to be exact.

    Around 3 and a half minutes for all but 13 and 17, 3 minutes of head scratching, then HOUSE MOUSE thrown in on a wing and a prayer ending with finally spotting DRAUGHT at 6.42

    Still not sure how HOUSE MOUSE is technically a rhyming couplet but hey ho – perhaps more suited to a 15×15 that one?

    Edited at 2018-03-21 07:59 am (UTC)

    1. Glad I’m not the only one who was puzzled by the HOUSE MOUSE. Blogging can be a lonely row to hoe when you are convinced that you have missed something obvious!
  8. Mostly a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle … and then there was the SW corner …

    Got DRAUGHTS just from suddenly “seeing” the word from the checkers; couldn’t parse it but thanks to Nick for setting me straight. Then the U from DRAUGHTS enabled me to guess my LOI HOUSE MOUSE … which (forgive me) I think is just a rubbish clue … if this is what graduating to the Big Boy crossword is like, then I’m sticking to the QC … two words which rhyme are not a rhyming couplet.

    I did it on my phone (which I hate doing) because I was too late on the platform to have time to pick up a paper, so I know that it took me 24 minutes, of which 10+ were spent on DRAUGHTS and HOUSE MOUSE.

    Templar

    2. Some dictionaries give ‘couple’ as a sense of couplet, so I don’t think the clue is quite as bad as all that!
  9. I found this took a couple more minutes than usual. I liked the Editor’s self-reverential clue at 11d. I put in HOUSE MOUSE but didn’t quite parse it. I wasn’t sure what ‘sprightly’ was doing.
  10. I found this tricky in the SW too. HOUSE MOUSE went in on the basis that it fitted the checkers and rhymed! DRAUGHTS was my LOI mainly from checkers(ha ha, nice catch Kevin) but I did see the parsing after the fact. HUMP AND HOMER FOsI. 10:58. Thanks Hawthorn and Nick.
  11. 15m for me this morning, back to my old target time!

    Agree all of the comments from HOUSE MOUSE, and it took me a little while to spot the parsing for BOO, delaying my entering of the obvious answer. Everything else though was very fair, so no complaints here.

    Thanks for the blog Nick, and our Editor for a fun puzzle.

  12. This was too dofficult for me. I ground to a halt after my 30 minutes target with the whole SW corner blank.
    I hope this level is not a sign of things to come!
    Brian
  14. This was for me about at tough as it gets. HOUSE MOUSE was a total guess based on the checkers, the fact that it rhymed, and a mouse has 4 feet.. Despite the best efforts of our bloggers I am still nowhere near understanding the parsing. I needed the “B” before I figured out BOO. Neat clue though. MINSTER took a while, another neat clue, and learnt some new anagrinds.
    Good challenge and feeling pleased to have finished at all.
    PlayUpPompey
    1. I don’t fully understand HOUSE MOUSE either. Perhaps Hawthorn might drop by and explain it to us??
    2. Your rationale for the confounded Mouse was exactly the same as mine – no issue with your failing to get the parsing…
    1. You and me both. Every time I get complacent, a little reminder comes my way. Out of my league.
  16. My story mirrors others. It took me about 30 minutes to get down to my last four in the SW: 17a 20a 13d and 21d.
    I had just got Rehab,my COD, which was a huge help.Last two were 13d and finally House Mouse which seemed the best possible but not quite right. So about 35 minutes in all.
    Definitely tough. David
  17. I liked House Mouse – cryptic indeed, but I thought it was clear – and the long reversal at Draughts. Thx Hawthorn, and thx NtN

  18. Obliged to be out by 8.30am, yomping in the ice and bitter winds, so only managed to get a few answers in before leaving. One of which was 14a: Norway….are we having an ‘Uxbridge’ week this week? Almost entirely the definition!

    On return, DNF – stuck with 13d and 17a crossers. For some unknown reason had ‘HOUSE’ pencilled in for second part of 17a.

    I completed 15×15 on Mon. and believe that this QC was more difficult.Not complaining- I just have so much to learn.

    Thanks to Hawthorn and Nick

  19. I’m another who got held up by 13 and 17 at the end, and still don’t understand 17, despite the best efforts of our blogger and others. Shame really as it spoiled a decent puzzle.
    No precise time as I had to take a break before solving the final two but would estimate that this took me around 30 minutes.
    Thanks for the blog
    1. I think if you read the comments above, everyone is a bit bemused by 17 (particularly me). You are not missing anything – nobody gets it…
  20. Second sitting required for House Mouse – I think the editor needs to have a quiet word with himself – and I couldn’t parse Boo for love nor money. Apart from those two, (and Daughts took some time to see as well), it wasn’t too bad, but definitely towards the harder end. Invariant
  21. Certainly hard for a QC, pushing me out to about half as long again as my usual time. Came here expecting to find a comment along the lines of “What? You don’t know that incredibly well-known 17th century nursery rhyme about the sprightly HOUSE MOUSE?” but apparently not. I shall just have to be glad I got there despite that…

  22. The Qc has lost it’s way. This was far too difficult. Random abbreviations, dodgy clueing. How is hump a hunch?
  23. Hardest for about 2 months, if my own times are to be a judge. HOUSE MOUSE, my LOI, went in with a shrug. Like others, I had no idea what “sprightly” was doing in the clue.
  24. Only just finished this one. I’m never quick, often taking an hour. A good day is less than 30 mins and my best ever is 9 minutes … Once!

    But House Mouse which I eventually biffed?! What? There has to be more to this clue than four feet & rhyme?

    To me – however let this puzzle through is failing in their editorial duty & missing the point of what is so successful about the QC – an opportunity to bring on a whole new audience of readers that were intimidated by the main puzzle. But that is just my opinion!

    Hawthorn – please, please explain your clue

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