Quick Cryptic 1154 by Felix

Author   CuraristPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Well well. All pretty fair and straightforward but with a major controversy at 4dn. BIt heavy on the double definitions for my taste but enjoyable overall. A couple of well constructed anagrams. 8 and a bit minutes.

Across
1 Great emotion to overtake one performing? (7)
PASSION –  PASS (overtake) + I (one) + ON (performing)
5 Lots of exaggerated praise often going with pants? (5)
PUFFS – double definition
8 Beyond one’s understanding where one’s hat might be! (5,4,4)
ABOVE ONES HEAD – double definition
9 Glee? It’s unusual for this writer (7)
ELEGIST – anagram (‘unusual’) of GLEE ITS. Nice surface.
10 Was hesitant, displaying sporting trophy (5)
ASHES – hidden word: wAS HESitant
11 Dog found by daughter in south coast resort (6)
POODLE – daughter is D, inside POOLE (South coast resort)
13 Population count in North and South America by church (6)
CENSUS – CE is church + N + S + US
15 Girl’s ‘orrible experience in New York (5)
NELLY – horrible experience is HELL, drop the aitch, put inside NY
16 University fellow had, on reflection, to sound indecisive (2,3,2)
UM AND AH – U (university) + MAN  + HAD backwards
19 Chasing some latest style? Sort of (5,1,7)
AFTER A FASHION – cryptic definition
20 Rugby union back in top that’s garish (5)
LURID – rugby union back(wards) is UR, inside LID
21 A remedy for upsetting expression of dismay (5,2)
DEARY ME – anagram (‘upsetting’) of A REMEDY

Down
1 Aircraft quietly landing on narrow road (5)
PLANE – P + LANE
2 Inevitably, but never at the appointed time? (6,2,5)
SOONER OR LATER – double definition
3 Lack of warmth in retiring old British people (5)
ICENI – ICE + IN backwards. Boudicca’s tribe
4 A number appearing in the middle of corn-exchange (6)
NINETY –  Now hang on, this turned up in Wednesday’s 15 x 15 and I didn’t get it then. Buried inside CORN-EXCHANGE is XC which is ninety in Roman numerals. Bit stiff for the quickie? We’ll see what you all think, but I predict a riot.
5 What’s paid to send things after time? (7)
POSTAGE – POST (after) + AGE (time)
6 Bright and energetic, says he’s afraid, strangely (5,2,1,5)
FRESH AS A DAISY – anagram (‘strangely’) of SAYS HE’S AFRAID. Nice.
7 Cruel people with unhappy lives crossing street (7)
SADISTS – SAD (unhappy) + IS (lives) around ST
11 NB: everyone is following very good game (7)
PINBALL – Very good is PI, add NB + ALL
12 Like a wedding cake set before husband, finally (7)
LAYERED – LAY (set) + ERE (before) + D (last letter of husband)
14 Clipped, as shirtsleeves often are? (6)
CUFFED – double definition
17 Some boats easily might be this (2,3)
AT SEA – hidden word: boATS EAsily
18 Joint, hot, served by Scandinavian girl (5)
HINGE – H + INGE

29 comments on “Quick Cryptic 1154 by Felix”

  1. Quite a few of these clues went above ones head to start with, but sooner or later the penny dropped after a fashion. Perhaps I should tackle these things when I’m fresh as a daisy. Less um and ah, all at sea, not on your Nelly, deary me. Was Felix toying with us, do you think?
    Number of minutes taken? Inside sixty!
    Oh, and I liked POST AGE.

    Edited at 2018-08-10 08:09 am (UTC)

  2. I benefited from seeing the 4d wordplay in the 15×15. I didn’t get it then but paused only briefly this time round. FOI 5d POSTAGE and LOI 18d HINGE. I biffed UM AND AH. Completed in 13:05.
  3. With 14 minutes for this one I did not have the best of weeks for QCs and achieved my 10-minute target only twice. 1ac and 1dn went in straightaway but other than that I had to read too many clues too many times before the answers came. It’s very odd that XC for NINETY should turn up again so soon, and in a QC this time!
  4. I likewise had the advantage of remembering XL from the recent 15×15. PINBALL my LOI thinking NB was the definition. UM AND AH was fun and ASHES was nicely hidden, but ELEGIST is my COD for the great surface. 1 minute below average time. Thanks Felix and curarist.

    Edited at 2018-08-10 07:56 am (UTC)

  5. 13 minutes here – the XC in 4dn passed me by as I biffed it in – so thanks for the explanation. At the end I was stumped for some time on hinge, pinball and loi nelly.
  6. Despite having the parsing of NINETY explained in the blog in the recent 15×15, it still passed me by again and I just biffed it. Perhaps it will sink in now! I expected to solve the puzzle sooner or later, after a fashion, but it took me over my target to 10:37. Thanks Felix and Curarist.
  8. Ninety was one of the answers I managed to get on Wednesday (although unparsed at the time), so I did (eventually) spot what was going on today. Only then could I get 9ac and loi 3d – quite a tricky corner in places, and the reason for an above average 35 mins finish. I thought Ashes was very well hidden, but 16ac Um and Ah gets my CoD vote. Thank you for the work out, Felix. Invariant
  9. Well done Felix and blogger. Lots to chew over but certainty when the penny drops. Only Iceni was slightly obscure for overseas solvers but not that difficult, especially with the wordplay.
  10. No need for a riot. XC is exactly in the middle of corn-exchange as the clue suggests.
  11. I stormed through this before coming to a juddering halt with POODLE (where I convinced myself I was looking for D + a dog somewhere on the South Coast), PINBALL (where I needed the P from POODLE to remind me of PI) and, of course, NINETY (LOI) which I never parsed. Evil clue for a QC so COD.
    However, made it more or less on time with several surfaces to enjoy
    PlayUpPompey
  12. Hopped around the grid a bit, but at pace to get home in 5:23. I didn’t get NINETY the other day but like The Who I won’t get fooled again.
  13. I found this quite tricky finishing after 25 minutes with Ninety unparsed. I then spent some time trying to find something better.
    Coming here I am reminded of the XC in the recent 15×15 blog which I read without doing the puzzle. Maybe I’ll remember it now.
    I did not help myself by putting On And On at 16a when I first read the clue. COD to 11a. David
  14. Don’t know how I fit in category wise, going on for a year of QCs, but get nowhere with 15×15 (apart from the recent easy one). Found this quite straightforward, saw ninety fairly quickly but struggled for a while with um and ah having started with up and up which seemed a good fit until 18d wouldn’t work. Possibly you 15x15ers were overthinking it?
    Paulw
    1. I certainly find, if I try this after Big Brother, I can be looking for more complications than there actually are, which makes solving harder. But today’s, I think, really was was more challenging than usual.
  15. Quite chewy in places today, taking me 19.45 to complete with a typo in 5d. Like some others the parsing of 4d passed me by completely. Enjoyed 16a
  16. Please can you explain why pi means very good in 11 down? Many thanks, Mandy W. (A confused beginner!)
    1. It’s short for pious I believe. One of those bits of crosswordese that I’d never heard of before starting QCs
  18. Managed this one ok but puzzled a while over 4d until I saw how it worked. Clued this way, I don’t consider it beyond a QC. Only ever finished a 15×15 on Monday…and thought really was a slightly larger QC. 16a seemed pretty straightforward but I didn’t get the full explanation of ‘had’ reversed until I came here. I never remember pi until after it’s been written in – must try harder. What I found slightly disconcerting was the range from ‘could it be that easy?’ answers to the really tricky ones – I generally look for some consistency as reassurance I’m on the right wave-length. Today the wave-length seems to vary all the way through. Maybe it’s just me….but a fair puzzle from Felix and a helpful blog! Thx both. Time – two large Costa’s (about a zillion Kevins).
  19. I was fine with “ninety ” and got it straight away. Wish I could say the same for “Nelly” and “poodle”. I could kick myself over the latter… it’s obvious once you know… but, though as a beginner it might be cheeky to say it, I wasn’t impressed by the clue for 15 across. Thank you, blogger and setter.
  20. Just for my education are you allowed in a Times crossword, exactly to repeat ones from the wordplay?
  22. No problems with ninety — right in the middle as pointed out elsewhere. Stuck on hinge. Went wrong on Nelly — put Ellis on the basis of taking aitches from Hellish with Ellis Island lurking in my mind, lol! So that killed off pinball and layered with a not unusual DNF, but entertaining nevertheless.

Comments are closed.