Quick Cryptic 151 by Joker

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
12 minutes for this mostly excellent puzzle which is not all easy by any standards. I noticed quite a few adverse comments about the difficulty of some puzzles last week – Friday’s in particular – and I’m a little sad about that. It’s true the level of difficulty does vary from day to day, but how else can the Times cater for varying levels of solving skills and offer the occasional challenge to those who wish to test themselves and progress towards the 15×15? If it was a write-in every day what would be the point of that? To those who struggle from time to time I’d say take heart and stick with it; there’s always tomorrow!

Deletions are indicated by curly brackets.

Across
1 Roam splendid rambling area offering all one could want (8,4)
PROMISED LAND – Anagram [rambling] of ROAM SPLENDID
9 An accessory nowadays put on (3-2) An accessory nowadays put on (3-2)
ADD-ON – Double definition. I imagine “nowadays” indicates the modern usage of the first meaning referring to an additional feature of a computer application. For example every time I take an update to my browser the installation process checks that my existing add-ons are compatible. The second defintion is a little weak with “on” already in the clue.
AD (nowadays), DON (put on). AD (Anno Domino) is a old cryptic chestnut perhaps more usually clued by “in our time”. Thanks to ulaca for pointing out the correct parsing which is how I marked it up when solving but then unaccountably ignored.
10 Ridicule a parliamentarian taken in by an idiot (7)
LAMPOON – A + MP (parliamentarian) taken in by LOON (idiot)
11 Put down roots outside a West Coast City (7)
SEATTLE – SETTLE (put down roots) outside A
12 Count, say, number to enjoy life either side of fifty (5)
NOBLE – NO (number), BE (enjoy life) either side of L (fifty – in Roman numerals). “Say” is included to indicate that “count” is a defintion by example. I’d say “enjoy” is used here to mean “experience” rather than necessarily to indicate pleasure.
14 Allowed for each glove being cut down initially (9)
PERMITTED – PER (for each), MITTE{n} ( glove being cut), D{own} (Down initially)
18 Frequently one’s upset about Financial Times (5)
OFTEN – Anagram [upset] of ONE about FT (Financial Times)
20 Sharing making alterations to dress (7)
GARNISH – Anagram [making alterations] of SHARING
21 Rubbish wagon reversing for farm vehicle (7)
TRACTOR – ROT (rubbish) + CART (wagon) reversing
23 Complete roadside channel that’s not been started (5)
UTTER – {g}UTTER (roadside channel that’s not been started)
24 Fine porcelain unusually enriched with sand (7,5)
DRESDEN CHINA – Anagram [unusually] of ENRICHED SAND

Down
2 Teesside racecourse, favourite for VIP treatment (3,6)
RED CARPET – REDCAR (Teesside racecourse), PET (favourite)
3 Large lizard egg found in upland area (7)
MONITOR – NIT (egg – e.g. of a louse) in MOOR (upland area)
4 A joiner fighting in the army, one going with fortitude (9.4) (13)
SOLDERING IRON – SOLD{i}ERING (fighting in the army, one – I – going), IRON (fortitude)
5 Devil in protest over the ending of sin (5)
DEMON – DEMO (protest), {si}N
6 State of unrest in Cappadocia (3)
ADO – Hidden inside CappADOcia
7 Note great annoyance where such hazard is created? (6)
DANGER – D (note), ANGER (great annoyance)
8 About to exploit something deserving of support (5)
CAUSE – CA (about – circa abbr.), USE (exploit)
13 Pottery linked to low quality which is played out in court (9)
BADMINTON – BAD (low quality), MINTON (pottery)
15 Finished in the endless long grass (7)
THROUGH – TH{e} (the endless), ROUGH (long grass)
16 Completely defeated and told where to go (6)
ROUTED – Two meanings
17 Talk about right plan (5)
CHART – CHAT (talk) about R (right)
19 Saw half of explosion going up (5)
NOTED – DETON{ation} (half of explosion) reversed [going up]
22 Grow old and wise – not the first (3)
AGE – {s}AGE (wise – not the first)

19 comments on “Quick Cryptic 151 by Joker”

  1. 10 minutes for an excellent, challenging puzzle. I was ages getting into the promised land, and at 11a wasted time working around LA.

    Jack, 9a I parsed as AD (‘Anno Domini’ – nowadays) + DON (put on), with the literal being ‘an accessory’.

    Edited at 2014-10-06 02:38 am (UTC)

    1. Thanks for this. Having checked the notes on my print-out, so did I! Shame I didn’t refer to them when writing the blog.

      Edited at 2014-10-06 05:12 am (UTC)

  2. 7′, and as Jack and Ulaca said, a very good puzzle. I hesitated over ADD-ON precisely because of the ‘on’, and like Ulaca, I was looking for LA in 11ac. Liked 1ac and 3d for their smooth, misleading surfaces. I got 2d from checkers and definition, but realized after the fact that I’ve come across Redcar before in cryptics, although I doubt that I ever knew where it was.
    1. Most of us don’t!

      A few other “clueable” racecourses to look out for (besides Ascot and Newmarket, which come up a lot) are Ripon (Yorkshire), Cartmel (Cumbria), Newbury and Windsor (both Berkshire).

  3. Very challenging for me – took almost an hour, with half of that time spent staring at 4 down.

    I guessed DRESDEN and was grateful for the elucidation of many clues here. There are some cracking cluesclues too: nice to have a west coast city that’s not LA, and some testing anagrams.

    Thanks setter and blogger.

  4. I agree completely with Jack’s sentiments about the variation in difficulty between different days. It will happen anyway, since sometimes we will be on the setter’s wavelength and sometimes not – so we may as well get used to it! For me, it is a good thing and part of the charm of crosswords.

    I thought today’s was an excellent quick cryptic. Anyone who completes it may care to try the main cryptic today as well, which is an exceptionally straightforward one

  5. 5 mins. I echo the sentiment that this was a good QC. If the definitions for 1ac and 24ac hadn’t been as clearly signposted they might have been tough clues to crack because they were excellent anagrams. The SEATTLE/CAUSE crossers were my last ones in.
  6. I thought this was another tough one. Got there OK, and surprisingly quickly, but I never felt comfortable solving. For example, 9ac as ADD-ON immediately came to mind, but didn’t like the “on” in the clue. Put down MONITOR for 3dn, but didn’t parse it at all, so many thanks to Jackkt for the illumination.

    With respect to the difficulty of some of the Quickies and some of the negative comments Jackkt notes from last Friday, I have sympathy for both viewpoints, i.e. there should be challenges, but it can be dispiriting if newer solvers consistently fail to complete the puzzles. I hope that the right balance can be achieved.

  7. Isn’t 7d an exception to the rule that the definition should be at the beginning or the end of the clue i.e. Note or Created in this case? Hazard is in the middle.
    1. I think one can see it as an extended definition – ‘where such hazard is created’ – with the ‘where’ referring back to the wordplay elements.
  8. One of the most satisfying TQC so far. 13d a bit of a problem – I knew Ming, but had to look up Minton.

    However, I find clues like 9ac a bit disappointing: despite the neat parsing, the use of “on” in the clue and the answer spoils the wry smile I like to feel when it falls into place.

    Philip

  9. I had to cheat to finish it today – couldn’t get Badminton (being ignorant of minton) and I failed to spot Garnish.

    However, inspired by Jerrywh’s comment I tried the main cryptic and managed it (slowly!).

    As a newer solver, I think the quick cryptic level is about right, I can do it most days, some days are a bit too hard for me, but the level is challenging enough to help prepare me for the main crossword.

    Edited at 2014-10-06 06:11 pm (UTC)

    1. I didn’t know MINTON (not until reading your comment, actually!) but you don’t really need to in order to get the answer. BAD + ‘court’ should be enough to trigger the answer.

      I say this not as any criticism, but because doing these things is as much a synthetic as an analytic exercise. Sometimes leaving the analysis incomplete (at least until post-solve time) enables you to get onto the all-important ‘setter’s wavelength’ and find the rhythm that helps you surf over the crest of the waves rather than ploughing through them.

      Edited at 2014-10-07 01:19 am (UTC)

      1. You are, of course, right. Unfortunately in this case I seemed to manage every other meaning of court apart from the one I needed!
      2. “doing these things is as much a synthetic as an analytic exercise. Sometimes leaving the analysis incomplete (at least until post-solve time) enables you to get onto the all-important ‘setter’s wavelength’ and find the rhythm that helps you surf over the crest of the waves rather than ploughing through them.”

        A very insightful observation, beautifully expressed.

        1. Why, thank you. I am indebted to CS Lewis for the notion, and I rather imagine, much of the wording!
  10. Late to leave a comment I know but I was too busy to do this yesterday. I thought it was a lovely witty puzzle and particularly admired the very well disguised anagram for GARNISH. My time on these varies between 10 and 20 minutes and afterwards although I can rarely see exactly why,my time is usually in tune with the difficulty level that others express. This also happens with the big crossword and is all part of the challenge.
  11. Another late comment too. As a novice, in collaboration with my other half, really starting to enjoy these. Last week’s all went well except for Friday’s which we DNF. (Even getting the abbrs now!) Minton was a joy, as I was drinking coffee from Minton at the time! Thanks to all the bloggers and comments which are so helpful. Now to tackle today’s!
    1. Welcome, anon. Glad you and your other half are enjoying the puzzles – and the blog! I hope you will stick around and contribute regularly. Why not sign up to a Live Journal account (it’s free) and give yourself a name and user pic? It makes things more friendly.

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