Quick Cryptic 18 by Tracy

After erring on the difficult side in week 1, I think the quick cryptic setters have found just the right level and I thought this puzzle was just right. Hopefully nothing obscure for solvers, although I couldn’t fully parse 6 down (Hat-tip to Ulaca). I still haven’t persuaded the missus to have a go, which is her loss. Sorry for the delay in blogging- I had a plumber round this morning, which is always a worrying time given the state of our plumbing. Thankfully passed without incident. Here goes:

Across
1 BOOKCASE – rearrange (versatile) cook to give ‘OOKC’ inside ‘BASE’ (military centre) gives ‘BOOKCASE’. Def= item of furniture. Not sure I’d consider this an item of furniture, but my bookworm wife definitely would
5 STUN – enthusiasts are ‘NUTS’ which when reversed (returned) gives ‘STUN. Def = shock
9 MINIM – ‘M’ is the first letter of motive (originally) at the back of (behind) ‘MINI’ (very short) gives ‘MINIM’. Minim is a half note, which can be divided into crotchets, quavers, semiquavers, demisemiquavers and hemidemisemiquavers. I thought my music lessons at school were a thorough waste, but little did I know. I wish there had also been lessons on obscure composers, which would have come in very handy as they are a staple for the cryptic. Def = note.
10 INCENSE – a double definition; ‘INCENSE can mean 1)smoke used in church masses, and 2) to cause great anger
11 IRE – ‘IRE is ‘EIRE’ with the first E chopped off (leader leaves Ireland). Setters will often clue longer words using shorter words like IRE, so when you see incense,anger or other synonyms think IRE or RAGE. Def = anger shown.
12 OFF COURSE – ‘OF COURSE’ means ‘no doubt’ which goes ‘around’ an ‘F’ (female) to give ‘OFF COURSE. Def = not going in the right direction.
13 ORANGE – ‘O’ is round (can also be clued as circle, love) combined with ‘RANGE’ (variety) to give one of the 7-10 portions of fruit and veg we’re now being advised to eat (until the next medical study decides otherwise). Def = fruit
15 FLAMBE – a hidden answer indicated by ‘some’ inside ‘beeF, LAMB, Etc. A cooking procedure in which alcohol is added to the pan to create flames, a show-off way of cooking meat which I thought was only used for desserts.
17 HARMONICA – ‘HAR’ is harp without the p for the ‘incomplete instrument’, followed by a girl (‘MONICA’) to ‘provide another’ (instrument). Pet name of Rachel Aniston in Friends
19 BYE – ‘reportedly’ indicates a homophone for purchase (buy). ‘BYE’ is an extra (extras are runs not scored by the batsmen in cricket) that wicketkeepers hate conceding. Def = extra
20 REVENUE – ‘RUE’ is the Parisian street, with ‘EVEN’ (‘flat’) inside it to give ‘REVENUE’ (income). Def = income
21 TRIPE – ‘T’ is the centre of canTeen, followed by ‘RIPE’ (ready to eat) to give a food (in a manner of speaking). I’m not one for offal. Def = food
22 HOLD – ‘H’ is husband, followed by ‘OLD’ (advanced in years) to give HOLD. A nice surface. Def = support
23 ALL RIGHT – nothing left is ‘ALL RIGHT’ (geddit). A neat clue. Def=safe

Down
1 BAMBINO – ‘BA’ (bachelor of arts) is the graduate (scientists never get a look-in in crosswordland) followed by ‘MB’ (doctor) and ‘IN’ (at home) and ‘O’ love to give the sweet Italian word for infant. Nice misdirection with the use of love child by the setter. Def = child
2 OUNCE – ‘U’ is the chemical symbol for uranium, inside (brought in) ‘ONCE’ (long ago). Def = small amount. Setters often use ounce as a synonym for cat, ounce also being a snow leopard (a large feline mammal)
3 COMMON GROUND – COMMON is familiar followed by GROUND (stadium). Def = shared views
4 STIFF – ‘S’ is son, followed by ‘TIFF’ (spat). Def = difficult.
6 TANTRUM -‘T’ is time after ‘time, an’ to give ‘TANT’ followed by ‘RUM’ (odd) to give the bane of every parent. Hat tip to Ulaca- I couldnt parse this, being thrown by the comma after ‘time after time’. Nice clueing. Def = a childish fit of rage
7 NIECE – ‘NICE’ (kind) keeping ‘E’ (energy) inside it. The containment indicator is ‘conserve. Def= relative
8 SCHOOLMASTER – anagram of ‘TOO CHARMLESS’. Possibly is the anagrind. Def = teacher
14 ARRIVAL – ‘A RIVAL’ (a challenger) crossing ‘R’ (river) to give ‘ARRIVAL’. Def = newcomer
16 EVEREST – ‘sEVEREST’ is most serious, with the first letter removed (heading off) to give ‘EVEREST’. Def = high peak (or double glazing firm that has thankfully stopped its advertising)
17 HARSH – Last of cheddar is ‘R’ inside (into) ‘HASH’ (to mince). Def = grating
18 IDEAL – ‘IDEA’ (plan) over ‘L’ (lake). Def = perfect
19 BRING – ‘B’ is bishop (chess notation?) following by ‘RING’ (token of his authority). Rings are worn by catholic and anglican bishops. Def = fetch

12 comments on “Quick Cryptic 18 by Tracy”

  1. Thanks Allan.

    Much quicker than normal for me. Don’t know why, but they all just seemed to fly in. Most gratifying after yesterday.

    I seem to do well when the first letters of each solution mostly check with the others. Having say the second letter isn’t as helpful for me.

    I’m also noticing that the QC seems to have few clues requiring more than two bits of construction in the wordplay e.g. BAMBINO, TANTRUM. Main puzzle normally contains more and the wordplay is more complex.

  2. I was heading for a quick finish (in my terms) until I got held up in the SW corner. Overall about 30 minutes.
    Good puzzle with last one in HARSH and favourite ALL RIGHT.
  3. Nice blog Allan, thanks for that. Your “aside” re. minim took me straight back to my years as a churlish primary school kid learning the recorder – “what’s the point…?” If only I’d understood the bigger picture – it’s preparation for cryptic crosswords…!

    Quite straightforward, liked ALL RIGHT and HARMONICA.

    Edited at 2014-04-02 12:23 pm (UTC)

  4. Time after time, an odd childish fit of rage (7)

    It’s so simple it’s confusing! T (‘time’) after T+ AN (‘time an’) + RUM

    Edited at 2014-04-02 11:55 am (UTC)

  5. 9 minutes for this, held up by the 17s, where I needed to get the hash before I could get the instrument, as I was convinced that I was looking for a 4-letter girl’s name, such as Rita or Tina.

    Agreed that this was a fine puzzle.

    Edited at 2014-04-02 11:58 am (UTC)

  6. 4 mins for an enjoyable puzzle. I could possibly have done it a little quicker if I had solved 1ac straight away. I saw that the answer would probably contain an anagram of “cook” inside a four-letter word for a military centre, and my first thought was “base”, but because I didn’t see the answer immediately I went on to the next clue and didn’t see that one either. It was the same story for 9ac and 10ac, and I didn’t solve one until I got to 12ac. From that I built up the RHS, then the SW, and finally the NW where BOOKCASE was actually my LOI.

    I like the hints that the blog gives that could help solvers with future puzzles. Nice job Allan.

  7. Thanks for the blog Alan.

    A steady solve for me, in which those I had skipped fell into place on second thoughts (except waiting for the H before getting HARMONICA). I liked BOOKCASE for the surface reading of the clue, but I groaned when I saw ALL RIGHT (sorry Nick!), having spent several minutes juggling Os and Ls in my head.

  8. Just want to say thank you for the walk-through. As a newbie I really appreciate the blog and in particular the clear explanations.

    Thank you again and please keep up the good work.

  9. Needed more Z8ly support than yesterday.. I suspect I was tired. Off course, revenue,and all right brought smiles & harmonica a groan simply because I happen to be the girl in question. COD was 10ac mainly because Z8 had compiled a Christmas cryptic crossword for church which included this, using pretty similar clueing.
    Beautifully clear blog, Allan, many thanks 🙂

    Edited at 2014-04-02 11:26 pm (UTC)

  10. Well done Allan. As a newcomer to cryptic crosswords (formerly hooked on Times 2 crossword) I’ m really enjoying this new cryptic and am slowly improving. Very useful to read your blog when stuck and the explanations are so helpful. Val Jarvis

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