Quick Cryptic 1404 by Joker

Author   CuraristPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Not a difficult one, although NW corner took a moment or two to get going. Some real gems – love 1dn, love the use of ‘glance’ as definition in 2dn, and some interesting anagrams. 7 minutes for me.

Across
1 Warm coat extended some length (7)
FURLONG – FUR (warm coat) + LONG (extended). 22 yards, originally ‘furrow length’, the distance that a team of oxen coould plough without stopping.
7 Sterile space, it must be treated (7)
ASEPTIC – anagram (‘must be treated’) of SPACE IT
9 Want, we hear, briefly to question hair product (7)
LACQUER – LAC (sounds like ‘lack’, want) + QUER(Y)
10 Mostly respect a large ship’s commander (7)
ADMIRAL – most of ADMIR(E) + A + L
11 Source for drug company has beginnings in Central America (4)
COCA – CO + C + A
12 One lets up with changes abounding (9)
PLENTEOUS –  anagram (‘with changes’) of ONE LETS UP
14 Big guns badly interrupting main traffic route (9)
ARTILLERY – ILL inside ARTERY
16 List of options of chaps before university (4)
MENU – MEN + U
17 A number for instance in winter going topless (7)
INTEGER – EG inside (W)INTER
20 Practical computer program gave a false answer (7)
APPLIED – APP is a computer program, LIED is gave a false answer
21 Bronwen’s desperate for a fresh addition to the family (7)
NEWBORN – anagram (‘desperate’) of BRONWEN
22 Team boss has time for married bird (7)
TANAGER – MANAGER is team boss, swap T (time) for M (married)

Down
1 Wishing well — life’s upset before throwing coin at it (12)
FELICITATION – anagram (‘upset’) of LIFE, then anagram (‘throwing’) of COIN AT IT
2 Glance from wealthy alien holding company (8)
RICOCHET – RICH + ET (alien) with CO inside. ‘Alien’ is ALWAYS ‘ET’
3 Responsibility of working with United States (4)
ONUS – ON (working) + US
4 Style of music coming back — for instance a piece by Joplin (6)
GARAGE – EG A RAG all backwards
5 Tory EGM frantic about European subject (8)
GEOMETRY – anagram (‘frantic’) of TORY EGM with E
6 Famous entertainer deserts, upset (4)
STAR – RATS backwards
8 Turn down joint that’s far from warm (4-8)
COLD-SHOULDER – self-explanatory
12 Multi-lingual parrot reportedly acquired outside Lima (8)
POLYGLOT – POLY (sounds like POLLY, a parrot) + GOT outside L (phonetic alphabet)
13 Sacrifice of iron circlet? (8)
OFFERING – OF + FE (iron) + RING
15 Queen to speak wildly? That’s out of place (6)
ERRANT – ER (Queen) + RANT
18 Area that’s developed to west and north (4)
TOWN – TO + W + N
19 Turn quickly in parking in serious error (4)
SPIN – P inside SIN

18 comments on “Quick Cryptic 1404 by Joker”

  1. An entertaining way to finish the week, with plenty to amuse me throughout. The anagrams at 7a and 5d took a bit of time to unravel and I also had trouble with LACQUER, which I had to dredge up from the depths of my memory. My LOI was the unknown bird which I should have spotted more quickly as it was kindly clued. Finished in 13.57.
    Thanks for the blog
  2. I enjoyed this puzzle. It took me 9:16 to get through, so not the easiest, but as Curarist says, a couple of unusual definitions such as RICOCHET for glance. TANAGER was lurking somewhere in the depths, but I really needed the wordplay for it. Thanks Joker and Curarist.
  3. Am I really the first to comment? Has the apocalypse occurred? Where is everyone? (No doubt by the time I’ve typed and posted this there will be six comments…) [on edit – ok it was only two]

    Not such a walk in the park for me as for our esteemed blogger; in fact I found this quite chewy (but like curarist, enjoyed and admired it). My first pass through the acrosses yielded only four answers, which was alarming, but remembering wise advice on here that the setter often seems to put all the fiend-factor in the acrosses I soldiered on and was able to solve all the downs in one pass, one after the other. So I got a lift from the downs and finished in 16:46 for an estimated 3.5K and a Not Great But Not Bad Day.

    FOI ADMIRAL, LOI ASEPTIC, COD OFFERING. I thought TANAGER was pretty obscure for a QC and wrote it in with a shrug and a prayer.

    Thanks Joker and curarist.

    Templar

    Edited at 2019-07-26 12:44 pm (UTC)

  4. Can’t remember anything about this. I’ve never seen a TANAGER–they’re mainly South American–but I knew the word long before I began doing these, no idea why. 5:36, so only 3K, templar.
  5. A very good puzzle – chewy (for me) but fair. I couldn’t get going in the top half and started bottom up. Gradually speeded up and finished very quickly once there were some crossers. Still SCC though, thanks to the slow take-off but under 4K. I liked GARAGE, LACQUER, RICOCHET (my LOI), POLYGLOT, ARTILLERY (though that become a write-in given some crossers). DNK TANAGER. Thanks to Joker and curarist. John M.

    Edited at 2019-07-26 08:43 am (UTC)

    2. 9 minutes with a moment’s hesitation at the end constructing TANAGER from wordplay via ‘manager’ and then remembering I have met it before. It has come up half-a-dozen times over the years in the main puzzle but this is it’s first outing in a QC, I think.

      Edited at 2019-07-26 07:53 am (UTC)

  7. ….Rick O’Shea make an appearance.

    A lovely puzzle which, despite a slow start, took less time to complete than to analyse and admire. Thanks Joker.

    FOI COCA
    LOI OFFERING
    COD FELICITATION
    TIME 3:37

  8. I think this was quite difficult. My solving time was not helped by the split anagram at 1d but most of my problems related to my somewhat less than PLENTEOUS vocabulary. I really had to rely on the wordplay for PLENTEOUS, TANAGER and my LOI POLYGLOT. 14:22
  9. Started slowly with time wasted thinking about 1ac and 1d before moving on to more amenable clues. Not an easy puzzle, with a few tricky anagrams as well, but it was satisfying to finish after 28mins. Tanager was unknown, as was Garage music before I started doing these – style of music (6) beginning with a ‘G’ is now (sadly) a write-in. Invariant
  10. Greatly enjoyed this and somehow one clue led on to allowing further solving when after initial read through I thought all was lost. Pleased to get Felicitation early and Artillery and Plenteous helped. I got Tanager but had to confirm it was a word and then DNF because I gave up on Polyglot, which I now regret looking up because I should have seen polly…
    But good fun
    Thanks all,
    John George
  11. Hmm. I found this far too difficult. But eventually got there.

    Never heard of a Tanager. But did eventually deduce that this must be the answer.
    Never heard of Aseptic. Clearly had a poor education. But I was at least able to imagine that this word existed.
    Didn’t know Coca was the actual leaf – but accept that I surely should have known it

    And finally – is there such a word as a single Felicitation? I suppose there must be, but I’ve only ever used it in the plural…

    Oh well. Live & learn…

    1. I agree it’s more usually in the plural, but in the singular a felicitation can be a congratulatory message or speech.
  12. To be picky an Admiral is not a ship’s commander. When one goes to sea which is rarely he is not in command of the ship he is on. Good puzzle loi the unknown bird
  13. Very hard climb, this — we did under half before metaphorically pitching the tent overnight. But a gradual slog the following day hinted at the sunlit uplands and we finally crested the last rise to the welcome song of the tanager (assuming the wretched creature, of which I had never previously heard, can sing). I spent an age on this final clue, before interpreting it correctly and deciding the answer could be nothing else.
    Thanks to setter — some lovely clues — and setter.
    Tim (not that Tim).

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