Quick Cryptic 146 by Flamande

Author   mohn2Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
The puzzle is available at http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20140929/278/

I think this will be considered at the easier end of the Quicky spectrum, with perhaps only the general knowledge required in 11A, 16A, and 6D having the potential to cause problems. I thought that the surfaces were very good, with 5D the pick of the bunch for my money.

Please ask in the comments if you require any clarification.

Definitions are underlined.

Across
1 Mother’s meeting son for church service (4)
MASS – MAS (Mother’s, i.e. ma’s) + (meeting) S (son)
4 Fool takes the plunge a short time later (8)
DIPSTICK – DIPS (takes the plunge) + TICK (a short time). The “later” is needed for the surface reading and in the cryptic reading should be interpreted as meaning “coming after”
8 Very happy not moving east of the city (8)
ECSTATIC – STATIC (not moving) after (east of) EC (the city, i.e. the postcode for the City of London)
9 Grass in Cornwall bending backwards (4)
LAWN – hidden (in) reversed (bending backwards) in CorNWALl
10 Feel very hot running water? (4)
BURN – double definition, the second not really requiring a question mark
11 Swellings on skin? Surgeon’s put on first of bandages (8)
BLISTERS – LISTERS (Surgeon’s, i.e. a reference to Joseph Lister, a pioneer of antiseptic surgery after whom Listerine mouthwash is named) after (put on) B (first of bandages, i.e. the first letter of bandages)
12 Workshop producing piece of jewellery I love (6)
STUDIO – STUD (piece of jewellery, generally referring to a small earring but could also be applied to a piercing of other body parts) + I + O (love, i.e. zero in tennis)
14 Sailors boarding part of ship? That’s it in a nutshell (6)
KERNEL – RN (Sailors, i.e. Royal Navy) inside (boarding) KEEL (part of ship?). The definition is a reference to the fact that the kernel of a nut is to be found within the shell
16 US president glared, if put out (8)
GARFIELD – anagram (put out) of GLARED IF. A reference to James Garfield, 20th President of the United States and the second to be assassinated. Wikipedia tells me that Garfield’s doctor in his last months had the given name Doctor – shades of Major Major
18 One employed in women’s gym to clean (4)
WIPE – I (One) inside (employed in) W (women) + PE (gym, i.e. physical exercise)
19 Communicative old writer (4)
OPEN – O (old) + PEN (writer). Laszlo Biro, the inventor of the ballpoint pen, was born today in 1899
20 Greek war hero unwell, beset by pains (8)
ACHILLES – ILL (unwell) inside (beset by) ACHES (pains). This construction is something of a chestnut, though I suspect that many solvers won’t need to read beyond the definition
22 Rented accommodation: temporary shelter housing European people (8)
TENEMENT – TENT (temporary shelter) around (housing) E (European) + MEN (people)
23 Enjoys hot cooked meat dish (4)
HASH – HAS (Enjoys) + H (hot). The defining attribute of a hash seems to be more that the ingredients are chopped up small rather than that the dish necessarily contains meat, though ODO does give that definition
Down
2 Story a nobleman read aloud (7)
ACCOUNT – homophone (read aloud) of A COUNT (nobleman)
3 Stain ruined shiny material (5)
SATIN – anagram (ruined) of STAIN
4 Mark time after celebration (3)
DOT – T (time) after DO (celebration)
5 Ate out, having photograph taken (9)
PICNICKED – PIC (photograph) + NICKED (taken)
6 Satellite rattles around (7)
TELSTAR – anagram (around) of RATTLES. Telstar has been the name of various communications satellites and was immortalised in the 1962 hit single of the same name by The Tornados. This was clued similarly as “Distant transmitter rattles alarmingly” in the main cryptic in June 2012
7 Business we run will make you cringe (5)
COWER – CO (Business) + WE + R (run). The “will make you” is simply a phrase linking the wordplay and the definition
11 Agent’s business bankrupt? Anger ensues (9)
BROKERAGE – BROKE (bankrupt?) + RAGE (Anger). The “ensues” is needed for the surface reading and in the cryptic reading should be interpreted as meaning “coming after”. The question mark seems to be there purely for the surface reading
13 Protection from French swordsman if cut (7)
DEFENCE – DE (from French, i.e. a French word for from) + FENCEr (swordsman if cut, i.e. fencer without its last letter)
15 Intercity train, say (7)
EXPRESS – double definition
17 Fruit drink is about a couple of pence (5)
APPLE – ALE (drink) around (is about) PP (a couple of pence)
18 We don’t say a word about large British people (5)
WELSH – WE + SH (don’t say a word, as an imperative) around (about) L (large)
21 Headgear not initially expected in hot weather (3)
HAT – HeAT (hot weather) without the e (not initially expected, i.e. without the initial letter of expected)

10 comments on “Quick Cryptic 146 by Flamande”

  1. 14 minutes with the last 4 or 5 spent stuck in the NE corner, 5 and 11 being my last ones in. I’m old enough to remember Telstar and the record, written and produced by Joe Meek who led an interesting life. He was the subject of a rather good biopic made for TV a few years ago, also called Telstar.

    Edited at 2014-09-29 12:08 am (UTC)

    1. I remember them too.. btw there are many Telstar satellites beyond the first one, Telstar 18 was launched in 2004.
      The first one only operated for about six months before being put out of commission by radiation from US high altitude nuclear bomb tests
  2. Fairly quick, but 4ac and 5 & 6d slowed me down. With the checkers, I thought of ‘clicked’ for 5, which of course led nowhere. A nice clue, with a nice, smooth, misleading surface, as Mohn says. And I thought 6 would end in -ter, which led in the same direction. The ‘will make you’ at 7d is a link from wordplay to definition, all right, but it is also nicely ambiguous: it provides a misleading surface (make you cringe), and it is literally true: CO+WE+R will make you COWER/cringe. 5:45.

    Edited at 2014-09-29 03:22 am (UTC)

  3. Not so easy for me. The President didn’t spring to mind, and the satellite was a bit of a guess, among others. I thought the definition at 14 was fun!
  4. 1a – MASS went in very easily as did 2d – SATIN. Then a bad guess at starlet for 6d caused me all sorts of problems. LOI was 22a -TENEMENT. Even with all checkers I still struggled. I liked picnicked. Thanks to Mohn2 for blog. Much appreciated.
  5. 4 mins. I had the three pieces of GK mohn2 referred to in the blog so those answers were just about write-ins. For those solvers without the necessary GK I thought BLISTERS was far more gettable from definition alone than GARFIELD and TELSTAR were. The ACHILLES/HAT crossers were my last ones in.
  6. Possibly a stupid question, but why is Burn a definition for ‘running water’?

    As always, were a few that I got without parsing completely (see Burn) but all went fairly quickly before I got stuck in the NE corner. Liked Picknicked, couldn’t get Kernel, better luck next time.

    1. A burn is a small stream or brook. The word is chiefly used in Scotland (e.g. Bannockburn) but also the north of England (e.g. my own home town Saltburn).
  7. Definitely at the easier end of the spectrum. Slightly held up by 23ac in that, with the checkers in place, “it had to be” hash. Struggled to parse it, but finally came up with HAS=ENJOYS as our blogger writes.

    Remembered Garfield as one of those assassinated, but still think of the cat first 🙂

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