Quick Cryptic 1854 by Felix

Author   CuraristPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I’d say this is on the easire end of the scale. I can’t give you a time because I was interrupted but I reckon 7 minutes or so. Lots of anagrams. Favourite clue probably 20dn or 23ac. Not so keen on the attempted public health announcement at 24ac

Across

1 Tarquin flustered at first later becoming calm (8)
TRANQUIL – anagram (“flustered”) of TARQUIN + L
6 Young attendant, quiet and mature (4)
PAGE – P (quiet) + AGE
8 Heard bell tolling for Ms Gwyn? (4)
NELL – Sounds like KNELL. Nell Gwyn, legendary restoration-era good-time girl and mistress of Charles II
9 Bargain-hunters her gals, out to claim goods primarily (8)
HAGGLERS – anagram (“out”) of HER GALS with G inserted
10 Potato dish consumed in quiet: it’s a great success! (5,3)
SMASH HIT – MASH inside SH with IT added
12 Old fellow in ME sultanate (4)
OMAN – O + MAN
13 Curiosity moving friend ultimately to DIY (6)
ODDITY – anagram (“moving”) of D (last letter of FRIEND) + TO DIY
16 Shop finally directs petitions (6)
PLEADS – P (last letter of SHOP) + LEADS
17 Nude appearing in club at last, live (4)
BARE – B (last letter of CLUB) + ARE
18 Minds children in small sections crossing gorge briefly (4-4)
BABY-SITS – BITS oustide ABYS(s)
21 Dally outrageously with hip girl (8)
PHYLLIDA – anagram (“outrageously”) of DALLY + HIP
22 Eager to display grief (4)
KEEN – double definition, the second I only learnt by doing crosswords
23 I’m turning red, including yarns, primarily? (4)
DYER – RED backwards with Y for yarns inside, and the definition is the whole clue so it’s an ‘&lit’.
24 Some sunbathe? Sit at eateries? Don’t all rush! (8)
HESITATE – hidden word, denoted by the word ‘some’: sunbatHE SIT AT Eateries. Maybe a bit topical..?

Down
2 Discharge fellow into alcoholic drink (5)
RHEUM – HE inside RUM. watery discharge from nose or eyes.
3 N Ireland originally let in no goals? (3)
NIL – NI + L
4 Half-hearted “yes” from Ruth, thought to be oddly absent (2-3)
UH-HUH – alternate letters of rUtH tHoUgHt
5 Prepare to smoke? Ray finished (5,2)
LIGHT UP – self explanatory
6 Woollies turned up on large romantic couple (9)
PULLOVERS – UP backwards on L + LOVERS
7 Fish to catch for Judy? (7)
GARLAND – GAR + LAND
11 Will sever nuts to provide revolving part? (9)
SWIVELLER – anagram (“nuts”) of WILL SEVER
14 The lady wandering, so very pale? (7)
DEATHLY – anagram (“wandering”) of THE LADY
15 Vulgar Yankee old boy found by mistake (7)
YOBBISH – Y + OB + BISH
19 Top military officers thought of as bold? (5)
BRASS – self-explanatory
20 River discovered by Rex, camping? (5)
TRENT – R in TENT, ie ‘camping’
22 Little Christopher’s equipment (3)
KIT – short for Christopher, as in Kit Marlowe.

70 comments on “Quick Cryptic 1854 by Felix”

  1. PHYLLIDA? Google tells me there’s an artist called Phyllida Barlow and that it’s Emma Thompson’s mother’s name but it tails off pretty fast after that. Not helped by reading ‘dally’ as ‘daiIy’, was a bit dense on NELL Gwyn and wondered if Gwyn Peel might be might be someone I should know and I was slow to see what was going on with PULLOVERS and will try to learn the meaning of KEEN. All green in 17.

    Edited at 2021-04-16 07:03 am (UTC)

  2. I biffed SMASH HIT and BABY-SITS; never figured out the latter. Raised my eyebrow a bit at PHYLLIDA, but figured that maybe Britain has lots of them. Is ‘UH-HUH’ half-hearted? 5:47.
    1. I sometimes see uh-huh written down in fiction but I’m never sure if it means yes or no. It just depends on the tone and inflection when it’s said, IMHO.
  3. I got bogged down in the SW where I needed to get pen and paper out for the anagrams of DEATHLY, SWIVELLER and the lesser known PHYLLIDA. I always find &lit clues tricky so LOI and COD DYER took a bit of figuring out and ODDITY became easier once I noticed that the definition was ‘curiosity’, not ‘curiously’. UH-HUH and HESITATE were the other standout clues for me. Finished in 11.53.
    Thanks to curarist
  4. 9 minutes. This setter gives us a Nina more often than not these days but I haven’t been able to find anything unless there’s some significance to the names in the clues, Tarquin, Gwyn, Ruth, Ray, Rex and Christopher. Maybe it’s a family thing like the names of his children’s classmates to go with the teachers we had on a previous occasion?

    Edited at 2021-04-16 06:25 am (UTC)

  5. Oh dear — fell into the “not sure what Mrs Gwynn has to do with PEEL” bear trap but inbunged anyway.

    Sailed through most of it but just couldn’t arrange the anagrist to come up with SWIVELLER and struggled a bit with the unusual girl’s name

    Nice crossword — thanks Felix and Curarist

    8.07

  6. RHEUM? Reminded me of Inspector Clouseau.

    That was my LOI.

    Unlike the esteemed curarist, I found this the trickiest of the week. Nothing unfair – I just wasn’t on wavelength, or it’s too early or something.

    Lots of good clues – I liked NELL and TRANQUIL, both of which came towards the end. UH HUH caused some thinking too. In fact it was that NW corner that held me up really.

    8:05

  7. A chewy rather dry puzzle. All were solvable but could not parse ODDITY and gave up thinking about BABY SITS. NHO PHYLLIDA; what parent would choose that I wonder.
    SW took longest and I echo comments above.
    8K in two bursts, so definitely at the longer end of my scale.
    Thanks Felix and Curarist
  8. Having never heard of Ms. Gwyn I tried the equally likely PEEL which of course is not correct…
  9. Almost biffed PHILLIPA but wrote out the anagrist instead and came back from the brink that I didn’t spot in BABY SITS which I also biffed. FOI, TRANQUIL, LOI, the vaguely remembered PHYLLIDA. Thanks Felix and Curarist.
  10. Annoyed with myself because I couldn’t see swiveller, but also with my Oxford gizmo which reckons to be based on the OED but doesnt recognise swiveller as a word.
    1. From the glossary – top right of the site there’s a link to it.

      &lit – short for “and literally.” Most clues have the definition of the answer as one part, and the wordplay as a separate part. With an &lit clue the entire clue consists of the wordplay and is designed to be read literally to give the definition. This is unusual, since the surface reading of a clue is usually only there to distract and confuse..

      So it is one of the clue types, just a different one.

      “oddly absent” indicates that the odd numbered letters are removed (or absent), 1st, 3rd, 5th etc, to leave you with UH HUH.

    2. &lit means “and literally” – as mentioned, the whole clue also acts as a definition.

      “Oddly absent” means ignore the odd-numbered letters, so just use the even ones.

      EDIT: I must have typed that slowly, you beat me by 4 minutes!

      Edited at 2021-04-16 08:55 am (UTC)

      1. But swivel is also a verb, so something which swivels could well be called a swiveller.
      2. I agree, it is not a great clue, but probably the best that could be achieved to fit the grid!
        With regard to the &lit, I just turned Red to DER and popped in the Y without too much thought as I am not really attuned to &lits but the blog here is a great source of enlightenment. Worth sticking with QCC as there is method in the madness which does yield satisfaction.
        1. Sniveller? There is a challenge to produce a good clue (but at least it is a word).
          1. It should be remembered that Dick SWIVELLER is a Dickensian character, and definitely NOT something that could be bought from Anne Summers !
  11. I thought I was on for a super-fast solve to finish the week and filled in the top half and most of the lower half without pausing. Unfortunately, the SW was my downfall. I added BARE, DYER, and YOBBISH but had lingering doubts. PHYLLIDA was just one of the variants of names starting with PH and finishing with I*A that came to mind and I thought I vaguely remembered something like Phylida in connection with Emma Thompson but bunged it in with the extra L anyway. Only then did I manage LOI SWIVELLER without much enthusiasm — it is a truly cruddy definition IMO (I was tempted to use Felix’s ‘quiet with it’ as a description). A strange puzzle. Thanks to Felix for the workout and to curarist for a clarifying blog. John M.

    Edited at 2021-04-16 08:59 am (UTC)

  12. Had to hop about the grid. FOsI PAGE, OMAN, KIT, KEEN.
    LOsI UH HUH, SWIVELLER
    SMASH HIT made me smile.
    Thanks all, esp Curarist.

  13. FOI: 1a TRANQUIL
    LOI: 8a PEEL (!)

    Time to Complete: 61 minutes

    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 23

    Clues Answered with Aids (3 lives): 2d, 15d

    Clues Unanswered: Nil

    Wrong Answers: 8a

    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 25/26

    Aids Used: Chambers

    I was excited to have completed this crossword, until I read the answers here and found I had a wrong answer.

    8a. NELL – I put “PEEL”. Not knowing who Ms Gwyn was from Eve, I had _ E _ L. I guessed that the answer was PEEL. I take a little comfort in seeing that I am not the only one who tripped up on this one.

    21a. PHYLLIDA – I was a little apprehensive putting this one in. I thought I had heard the name before. I was sure there is a lady named Phyllida (or similar) in the Bible.

    22d. I was not aware of “Kit” being short for Christopher, and so this was another hesitant entry. But I had the K from KEEN, and so in it went.

    15d. YOBBISH – I had entered 21a prior to answering this one, but had initially written PHYLLDIA, which put a D in 15d. This threw me until I turned to Chambers for help, saw YOBBISH and then realised my spelling mistake.

    A very enjoyable crossword, but disappointed with my wrong answer at 8a.

  14. I thought this was difficult. And if you weren’t on the wavelength, like me, very difficult.
    I finished in about 15 minutes having got RHEUM (discarding various names like Ed and Al) and then LOI PEAL ( a best guess). I realise now that my spelling of Nell Gwynn has always been wrong; anyway she never occurred to me.
    And I’m afraid Judy Garland also never occurred to me as I went for the GURNARD (I agree, hard to parse that).
    So two errors for me. I did remember Emma Thompson’s mother; and I ‘d just read the review of Emma’s new film in the T2- one to avoid apparently.
    David
    1. I initially also put in GURNARD with a twinge of delight having caught one or two in the Gulf of Mexico, but knew it was wrong. Known as Sea Robins they are ugly, pre-historic looking creatures that walk on the sea bottom to stir up sediment to eat. Apparently edible, I was happy to return them to their sea bed.

    2. I had just as much trouble parsing Garland, and I’m afraid GAR+LAND just made it worse. I could see ‘Judy Garland’, but couldn’t find any reference to a fish only a crab.

  15. Started quickly, but then a disaster in the SW, where I read Daily for Dally. I already had the H from Deathly, and R was in the anagrist for 11d, so of course Char confidently went in as the first four letters of a girl’s name… That took quite a bit of sorting out, particularly as Bish for error was new to me — I bet I’ve only used Bish about half a dozen times in my life, and always immediately followed by Bash. So Bish can join Keen as having new meanings. I also had to give up trying to parse Baby Sits, with an orphaned IT. In the end, just grateful to finish in what I view as a respectable enough 23mins. Invariant
  16. Obviously a wavelength puzzle; clicked for me. SIX anagrams/partial anagrams! There’s got to be a Nina in there somewhere, but I can’t find it.

    Agree with Ed McBain that SWIVELLER is not a word. It’s not in Lexico, Chambers or Collins online, nor in my tree-based SOD.

    FOI TRANQUIL, LOI SWIVELLER, COD UH-HUH, time 07:17 for 1.3K and an Excellent Day.

    Many thanks Felix and curarist.

    Templar

    1. Of course SWIVELLER is a word, and of course it’s not in the dictionary, any dictionary. There’s a very productive rule in English that adds an agentive -ER to a verb: teach/teacher, read/reader, destroy/destroyer etc. Assuming that SWIVEL is a verb, which it is, then we automatically have SWIVELLER. You won’t find e.g. READS or TEACHES in a dictionary, either. Dictionaries don’t (bother to) include rule-generated forms, unless they have some specific meaning that can’t be deduced from the rule.
      1. We’ll have to agree to disagree, Kevin. Given the infinite flexibility of English, of course you *can* add ER to a verb for a neologism. But the function of dictionaries is to record usage; nouns created from verbs (like teacher, reader, player) are in usage and thus are in the dictionaries. SWIVELLER is not, and that is because it doesn’t yet exist. Your example of conjugated verbs not being in dictionaries is absurd.
        1. Nothing in the least absurd about it. Past tense -ed is rule-generated and thus ignored in dictionaries, so you can’t find e.g. ‘walked’ in any of them (whereas you will find exceptional ‘taught’ or ‘hid’); yet ‘walked’ is a word. Agentive -er is rule-generated and thus ignored in dictionaries, except where the noun has taken on some more specific meaning, so you won’t, I daresay, find ‘enjoyer’ in a dictionary, or ‘rejoiner’, yet they are words.
          1. Merriam-Webster has “enjoyer” further down on the page for ENJOY and “walker” (way) under WALK, but Collins doesn’t have either of them, although of course it lists the verb conjugations. As that hit-and-miss finding shows, you can’t count on dictionaries to exhaust the possibilities for rule-generated formations and thus for what a stymied or mischievous setter might get up to.

            Edited at 2021-04-16 10:16 pm (UTC)

        2. Try this. “Does he move well when he dances? Oh yes, he’s a great swiveller of his hips”.
          In all honesty I have used the word ‘swiveller’ myself. It is a word

          Edited at 2021-04-18 09:38 am (UTC)

      2. Well said, excluding words ending -er unless specified in dictionaries would place unwelcome restrictions on setters and remove some of the fun of solving. I think it might even see the end of flower = river, just to give one example.

        On the TV gameshow Countdown the adjudicator and Oxford lexicographer Susie Dent doesn’t permit agent nouns unless specified in the Oxford/Lexico dictionary and over the years this has led to many an absurd ruling when perfectly ordinary words suggested by contestants have been disallowed even though they are in common usage.

        Edited at 2021-04-16 01:18 pm (UTC)

  17. 14 d brought to mind “Oh what can ail thee, wretched wight, alone and palely loitering? The sedge is wither’d from the lake, and no birds sing.” Twelve minutes, quite quick for me. A few not fully parsed, but easily decoded from parts of the clue, e.g. uh huh, baby sits. FOI page, sixteen at first pass, the rest falling into place all over. LOI oddity. I found the clue for 2d, rheum, decidedly yucky, it almost conjured up an image but I resisted the thought process taking me there. Setter was on dangerous ground with the clue involving the potato, he did well to avoid the pitfall there, I thought. A few write-ins, e.g. Trent, keen, kit, brass, a puzzle none the worse for those. COD swiveller. I love the Keats poem, not sure why, so a prize to Felix for reminding me of it today. Thanks, Curarist, for the blog, and Felix for a very enjoyable interlude. GW.
  18. Exactly 15 and one half minutes for me, with last two in being PULLOVERS and OMAN. Like Jackkt, I suspected a Nina from the plethora of proper names, but so far I can’t see an obvious connection. I’ll take a longer look when I have finished my chores. Thanks both.
  19. Was happy with 20 mins until I read the blog and realised I’d fallen into the “Peal” trap (if it indeed was one). Unfortunately didn’t know Ms Gwyn, so it was a pure guess hoping it was some literary character I hadn’t heard of. Whilst the rest was tricky, it was still approachable, with some neat clueing and parsing.

    Had fun mentally rearranging the surface for 10ac “Smash Hit” with a not so appetising potato dish.

    FOI — 6ac “Page”
    LOI — 8ac “Peal” (wrong!)
    COD — 6dn “Pullovers”

    Thanks as usual!

  20. Solved steadily in 15 minutes without getting too held up anywhere. A few biffs – ODDITY, PULLOVERS and BABY SITS – so thanks to Curarist for the parsing of those. NHO PHYLLIDA as a name, so waited for all the crossers before putting that in. A slight eyebrow raise at SWIVELLER which I wasn’t sure was a “proper” word, although its meaning would of course be perfectly obvious if it were to be used in a conversation (a little difficult to imagine!).

    FOI – 8ac NELL (I won’t say I managed to avoid the trap here as PEEL never even occurred to me)
    LOI – 6dn PULLOVERS
    COD – 1ac TRANQUIL

  21. So close, but not quite there, due to a very silly biff. Like David, I bunged in GURNARD even though I broke every rule about not entering something if you can’t make any sense of it! We have seen gar before, but I completely forgot about it. Shame really, because I got quite a good time – 9 minutes. No problem with PHYLLIDA – one of my mother’s best friends had that name. Personally I think it’s a nice name, but that’s probably because she was a very nice person. In answer to Steakcity, I guess 1930s parents!
    Since it was Felix, I looked for a nina, but as I rarely see them, it didn’t bother me that I didn’t spot it today either 😉 I await enlightenment from Rotter. I liked DYER and BRASS.
    FOI Tranquil
    LOI Oddity
    COD Deathly
    #Thanks Felix and Curarist

    New (post) lockdown activity – I’m going to start reading more poetry. You guys make me feel quite ashamed at that gap in my education!

    Edited at 2021-04-16 11:11 am (UTC)

    1. I know three Phyllidas and know of at least two more. UK thing? Generational thing?
  22. A good end to the week …
    … and all done in 11 minutes, fast for me for any Felix puzzle, let alone one on a Friday.

    I wonder if I am alone in finding “words” like 4D Uh-huh vaguely unsatisfactory. English as spoken is full of filler noises like er, um, y’mean and they often have varied spelling when rendered into writing. Uh-huh could equally be spelt Oh-oh.

    That apart, most held up by the cross of 21A Phyllida and 11D Swiveller. What a pair of words, and to have them crossing was a real challenge.

    I very much liked 20A, and the PDM moment when I worked out that Rex camping meant Rex in tent. A clever trick, and not one I think I have seen in a QC very often before if at all.

    Many thanks to Curarist for the blog and a good weekend to all
    Cedric

  23. … I have finally achieved a 5-0 week. Hooray!!

    27 minutes for me, the last four of which were spent just trying to assure myself of the parsing of RHEUM (a word I didn’t know), NELL, SMASH HIT, KEEN (NHO the alternative meaning) and PHYLLIDA (Why does ‘outrageously’ also apply to ‘hip’?). So, whilst my time was quick (for me), I found the clueing somewhat unsatisfying in places.

    Mrs Random saw that I was on for a fast time, so she made sure she stayed ahead and finished in 21 minutes, today.

    Many thanks to Felix for the challenge and to curarist for the blog.

  24. “I’m” plays no part in the wordplay of 23a, so strictly speaking it’s a semi-&lit clue. A very nice one, nonetheless.

    —AntsInPants

    1. “I’m” must refer to the answer to the clue.

      Edited at 2021-04-16 10:18 pm (UTC)

  25. Whoop whoop. I was all over this one like a rash. FOI was TRANQUIL and then followed a rapid clockwise solve. Biffed a couple i.e. BABY SITS and my LOI ODDITY. I know of PHYLLIDA Law, actress mother to Emma and Sophie, so that wasn’t a problem. Submitted in my second fastest time ever 5:36 or 0.99 Kevin. Is there a NINA?
  26. Interestingly, Curarist (correctly) references rheum to “watery discharge from nose or eyes” although watery flowing may be more accurate. I would also bring attention to Rheum as in “Rheumatology”. First described by Hippocrates to describe the flowing current of gout within the body. Although gout was described more than 2,000 years earlier it was Hippocrates that ascribed it to a systemic disorder. The topical relevance of CoVid in its forms of a severe, systemic autoimmune disease brings rheumatology and its therapeutic armamentarium ever more into the public eye.
    A perspective from past practice!
  27. Long-time lurker here – many thanks over the last few months for slowly (!) teaching me how to parse a Quick Crossword; getting there with 4/5 puzzles this week fully solved, very pleased.

    Just wanted to raise that Dick Swiveller is a friend of Fred Trent and little Nell, and works for the Brasses, in Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop – those searching for a NINA (which I’d NHO before today) will find it there.

    1. as are Mr Garland and Kit Nubbles, Wikipedia tells me. There’s also a character Daniel [tran]Quilip, and Curiosity is itself referenced in 13a
      1. Thanks for the Old Curiosity Shop. That explains Swiveller etc. Penny has belatedly dropped about the first word in the original clues, not the answers, of 12, 13, 16 across.
        And welcome! (also belatedly)

        Edited at 2021-04-16 02:37 pm (UTC)

    2. Many thanks for that piece of detective work 😊 Of course it was Dickens — it usually is with Felix! Clearly I’m going to have start reading more Dickens as well as poetry — I know which I prefer though 😉 Welcome to the gang btw — good to have you aboard, and congrats on a successful week!
  28. I put nell in easily but thought Nell Gwynne was spelt this way? Slightly surprised no mention of oranges, but have I missed something?
  30. 12 minutes, so a good time compared with yesterday. The SW corner held me up a bit! But all perfectly fair!
  31. But north of 35 minutes at least.
    I thought that this was tricky but then I find most of them tricky! Surprised myself by being able to complete when for a while I thought that the NW corner would defeat me.
    FOI Page
    LOI Pleads
    WOD Rheum — not familiar with the discharge meaning

    Needed the blog to parse 18a

    Took far too long for Pullover and Smash Hit

    Thanks all
    John George

  32. ….the Nina was wasted on me, but I’ve had better things to do with my day.

    FOI PAGE
    LOI PHYLLIDA
    COD TRENT
    TIME 4:00

  33. I was going to say that this felt like it was compiled in a hurry and hence Felix was forced to resort to words like SWIVELLER and PHYLLIDA, but clearly that was just the fault of including a Nina. I usually don’t mind Ninas, but this one seemed a bit obscure and many of the clues seemed a bit forced. Like most others it seems, I have never read The Old Curiosity Shop and so hadn’t a hope of seeing the connection. I do like the way the theme was written in the clues though. Anyway, luckily, not having a clue about the Nina did not stop this being one of my fastest ever solves (4th or 5th I think) as I came home in 15:08. I am glad that Nell Gwyn came up in another crossword recently otherwise I wouldn’t have had a clue. As it was, it went straight in (well, after a few seconds thought). FOI PAGE, LOI SMASH HIT, COD BABY SITS (although I biffed it). Thanks Felix and Curarist.
    1. I agree with your comments about forcing in clues and answers in order to satisfy the rather self-indulgent need to include a Nina. Like Phil Jordan and others, I really don’t see the point and wish setters wouldn’t do it. It can just spoil an otherwise good puzzle (as it did today, for me).
  34. Top marks to ex-Lurker who came up with the brilliant insight of today’s NINA. Not being a Dickens fan, it passed me by completely. FOI 1a Tranquil. LOI 21a Phyllida – new to me but it had to be. COD 18a Baby Sits. 22a Keen not problem to a fan of John Buchan stories – one of the Gorbals gang is always keening before getting angry and even…. Grateful to Curarist for the correct parsing of 17a and for todays erudite blog and discussion. Thanks also to Felix for bringing us another Nina, and still making it solvable to me without understanding it!
  35. Nice puzzle which we started a day late but finished in 12 minutes. No problems with PHYLLIDA – Phyllida Law is Emma Thompson’s mum.

    FOI: TRANQUIL
    LOI: GARLAND
    COD: SMASH HIT

    Thanks to Felix and Curarist.

  36. 5d is a double definition isn’t it? Ray (of light) finished (up). Not certain about the grammar in 6a. Mature is an adjective but to my knowledge age is only a noun.
  37. Done on Saturday due to illness.
    Thought the puzzle straightforward and didn’t even think of a Nina.
    As i have said before dictionaries do not always have all of the words in our language and I thought swiveller was ok.
    All done in well under one course .
    1. Yes there is a tendency sometimes for us to overthink things, and stress about Ninas we wouldn’t have spotted if they hadn’t been mentioned by someone else 🙂

      Of course “swiveller” is a perfectly acceptable word. In fact, arguably the -er suffix entry in dictionaries covers all non-entries anyway

  38. I’m only just getting to this one on Sunday morning so not sure if anyone is here any longer. Could someone please explain the parsing of ‘TRENT’? I see that Trent is a river but I had the T from T-Rex and then what is rent to do with camping? Or if tent is from camping and the r is from river where does rex come into it?
    EDIT: I’ve got it now. Rex means king not a name so can be shortened to R. Rex camping means it is in a tent. Giving us Trent, the river. Clever clue.

    Edited at 2021-04-18 09:45 am (UTC)

Comments are closed.