Quick Cryptic 1884 by Mara

Author   CuraristPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Quite the anagram fest today, which usually indicates the easier end of the spectrum, though I took 8 minutes which is mid-range for me. CoD probably 16ac.

Across
1 Thought of French being set free (12)
DELIBERATION – DE + LIBERATION
8 Reddish-brown colour one’s seen in mushy peas (5)
SEPIA – I inside anagram (‘mushy’) of PEAS. Curarist’s third law is that a nice familiar two-word phrase (e.g. ‘mushy peas’) should always be split up to solve the clue
9 Imagine extraordinary red feline returning (5,2)
DREAM UP – anagram (‘extraordinary’) of RED plus PUMA backwards
10 Money trimmed, small figure (3)
ONE – mONEy
11 Gives up prostitute, getting shot in the arm (4-5)
KICK-START – KICKS TART
13 Short day in warmer African country (5)
SUDAN – DA inside SUN
14 Fruit gobbled up by little mongrel (5)
LEMON – hidden word: littLE MONgrel
16 Extraordinary row with Samoan rower (9)
OARSWOMAN – anagram (‘extraordinary’) of ROW + SAMOAN
17 Days in March initially quite dark (3)
DIM – Days In March
19 Before noble, one queen (7)
EARLIER – EARL + I + ER
21 In need of opening, kitchen passage (5)
ALLEY – GALLEY minus the first letter
22 Shop offering drunk ale, no regrets! (7,5)
GENERAL STORE – anagram (‘drunk’) of  ALE NO REGRETS

Down
1 Club is in district of Washington and capital of Ohio (5)
DISCO – IS inside DC, plus O for Ohio
2 I see what you’re saying! (3,6)
LIP READER – cryptic definition
3 Both chess players going to extremes (5,3,5)
BLACK AND WHITE – self-explanatory. Though I’m not sure whether ‘going to’ should be part of the definition.
4 Drop awful crude joke, finally (6)
REDUCE – anagram (‘awful’) of CRUDE + E
5 People in the Bible destroying Satan with holiness (13)
THESSALONIANS – anagram (‘destroying’) of SATAN HOLINESS. St Paul wrote to them a couple of times
6 Unit giving nothing to Her Majesty (3)
OHM – O + HM. SI Unit of electrical resistance
7 Notice working? Exactly! (4,2)
SPOT ON – SPOT + ON
12 Burrowing animal, or llama I’d cooked! (9)
ARMADILLO – anagram (‘cooked’) of OR LLAMA ID
13 Pelt despicable group (6)
SHOWER – double definition
15 Barium processed in Italian region (6)
UMBRIA – anagram (‘processed’) of BARIUM
18 Some mistake by ambassador reversed, perhaps (5)
MAYBE – reverse hidden word: mistakE BY AMbassador
20 Eggs for two people, ultimately (3)
ROE – last letters of foR twO peoplE

60 comments on “Quick Cryptic 1884 by Mara”

  1. I got off to a good start with 1a and most of it’s offshoots going straight in. But, with my lack of biblical knowledge, I skipped the long anagram until I had all the checkers in place and then had to write it out.
    Struggled a bit with LOI SHOWER as despicable feels a bit strong – I’ve always understood it to be more synonymous with disorganised or scruffy – although I’m sure it’s justified in the usual sources.
    Finished in 9.18 with my COD going to LIP READER.
    Thanks to curarist and to Mara for what felt like a return to normality after a very tough week.
    1. I agree re shower. My grandmother would describe a raucous bunch of children, as a shower.
      As you say, it presumably has a more serious definition.
    2. It is indeed in the usual sources. Your interpretation is there too, but SOED has:

      8 A worthless or contemptible person or group; a pitiful collection. slang. M20.

      I think ‘contemptible’ covers ‘despicable’ well enough.

  2. Normal service resumed. 15m with a pink square for a careless OARSWOMeN — no excuse as I’d written it out and crossed off the checkers. LOI was SHOWER where I was wrong footed by thinking pelt was a bit strong for shower as well as for a dispicable lot (like plett11). Held up by ONE — deceptively simple and enjiyed SPOT ON. Good one!
  3. Straightforward, so far as I can remember; which isn’t very far. I only knew and remembered SHOWER because it came up once in a 15×15, where someone linked to a clip from “I’m All Right, Jack”, where Terry-Thomas uses it (“shah”). 5:48.

  4. Nice way to ease into the weekend which is a Bank Holiday in the UK and looks like beautiful weather. 11:23 this morning which is one of my fastest times. My joint CsOD 10 and 11 across; the first for its simple elegance and the second for its saucy elegance. Many thanks as always.

  5. @ 13dn hath to be thaid in a posh Tewwy Thomath lithp for full effect! As Mr. Rotter would aver!

    My time – a rethpectable nine-thirty.

    FOI 1dn DITHCO

    LOI 13dn!

    COD 2dn LIP READER

    WOD 5dn THESSALONIANS who today live in Thessaloniki – what a shower!

    Edited at 2021-05-28 07:21 am (UTC)

  6. After more than two hours of crosswords this week, I did not achieve a single completion.

    Much easier today, but spent 10 fruitless minutes on SHOWER, which seemed a somewhat weak clue. No PDM when I saw the answer. Was not totally convinced about the initial S, as I don’t see Sun=warmer, unless that is one of those “jokes” like bloomer, flower etc. I thought there might be another African country lurking along with Benin, Gabon etc.

    I’ve commented before about using “prostitute” as a clue, forcing us to recall unsavoury synonyms. How about “eliminates cake addiction” instead?

    If I’d got SHOWER it would have been a rare sub 10 solve. After spending more time on one clue than on the “other 99”, time to admit defeat.

    COD LIP READER

    1. I wish I had thrown in the towel on SHOWER after just 10 minutes (see below). I endured my longest ever alphabet trawl, and it didn’t bear fruit.
  8. Mr. Merlin, do please enlighten the setters to your proscribed list. NB Cake and tart are not synonymous.
  9. Monday’s QC turned up eventually… the long ones went in fairly quickly giving a good frame for filling in the rest, resulting in a just into SCC 21 mins. SHOWER was the sticking point, not helped by an initial urge to put in STONES as a double def: pelt(s), and the despicable or perhaps just naughty Rolling ones. I could see it didn’t quite parse, but it amused me too much to allow me to think clearly about other options.
    Pleased to have managed a completed week.
  10. Yes, a return to normality. Thanks to Mara for a good puzzle. I was well within target until I hit SHOWER. I wanted to pelt with stones and consider the Stones as a group but common sense prevailed because pelt and stoneS didn’t gel. I finally went half a minute over target as the penny dropped. I won’t list favourite clues but I think it is well worth going back to curarist’s excellent blog to enjoy many of them again. John M.
  11. … with a QC with the emphasis on Q for a change. Much welcomed after a pretty tough week, and this one fair flew in for a very rare sub-6 minute completion. If I used a stopwatch (as opposed to the calendar that much of this week needed) I could check the seconds and it might even have been close to the magic 1K.

    Fast finish very much helped by the long clues being very addressable. Much use by Mara of “lift and separate” too — mushy and peas in 8A, warmer and African country in 13A, Samoan and rower in 16A, kitchen and passage in 21A.

    A nice QC, the sun is out, daughter is coming to stay for the weekend — all sorts of good things come eventually.

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

  12. Lexico has “shower” as “A group of people perceived as incompetent or worthless”, which is how I understand it – not really “despicable”.

    Anyway, a fun romp through the anagram-fest today with lots to enjoy. Hooray!

    FOI DELIBERATION, LOI SHOWER, COD THESSALONIANS – what an absolutely brilliant surface, time 07:10 for 1.2K and an Excellent Day.

    Many thanks Mara and curarist.

    Templar

    Edited at 2021-05-28 08:41 am (UTC)

  13. For some reason I was very slow to get going on this. However once I’d wrestled a few answers, the rest followed quickly. LOI was ONE where I was looking for another word for Money! Prior to that, SHOWER where I too was distracted by Despicable and pelting rain is more than a shower.
    COD to LIP READER. Time 13:11.
    David
  14. Put Stones instead of SHOWER tho, like Old Blighter and Plymouthian, wasn’t sure why the Stones should be a despicable group. Maybe Mara didn’t like their music, I pondered. Of course, the dread Wrong Part of Speech worried me. (I dare say Capt Mannering sometimes calls his troops a shower, a bit of a shambles rather than despicable.)
    Anyway, I enjoyed it.
    FOI DELIBERATION. Lots of good clues.
    Many thanks, Curarist.

  15. FOI: 8a. SEPIA
    LOI: 13d. SHOWER

    Time to Complete: 40 minutes (Average: 72 min. PB: 32 mins)

    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 22

    Clues Answered with Aids (3 lives): 13d, 15d

    Clues Unanswered: Nil

    Wrong Answers: Nil

    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 24/24

    Aids Used: Chambers

    Hurrah and huzzah! A completion, and in a respectable time (at least for me).

    13d. SHOWER – Initially I had STONES pencilled in. Pelt & (The Rolling), but despicable would not help me. In the end Chamber’s revealed the answer.

    11a. KICK-START- I loved this clue. It made me laugh.

    21a. ALLEY – Second life used here. I had alley pencilled in, but just could not equate it with “In need of opening”, until I came here.

    I am happy with my result today.

  16. A nice 18 min completion (in complete contrast to the rest of the week), but I thought 13dn was a bit of a sting in the tail. NHO of “shower” as a despicable group, so was left wondering whether group related to “set”, resulting in a futile trawl for the first three letters, or whether it was some obscure fur. In the end took a punt with my initial thought which was correct.

    Liked 1ac “Deliberation”, 1dn “Disco” and nice to see Oarswoman rather than oarsman for a change on 16ac. Quite a lot of 1ac on whether 9ac was “Dream On” or “Dream Up” until I sorted the parsing.

    Let’s hope for a slightly more varied mix of puzzles next week.

    FOI — 10ac “One”
    LOI — 13dn “Shower”
    COD — 8ac “Sepia” — just loved the “mushy” anagrind.

    Thanks as usual.

  17. I finished for the first time for ages — I love anagrams.

    A joy to do, thank you!

    Diana

  18. What a nice way to end the week. I didn’t time this but, at somewhere around the 10 minute mark, that suggests it was at least twice as solvable as Monday to Thursday’s challenges. Very much liked LIP READER. Also, despite the potentially hyperbolic clueing of “despicable ” in 13 down, SHOWER made me chuckle and went in without hesitation. Thanks so much, blogger and setter
  19. Raced through and checked the calendar to see if I had missed the weekend and woken up on Monday. Difficulty 3 – 4 and 4K. In common with many here, LOI SHOWER and wasn’t convinced it was right, otherwise would have been a sub 15 minute record.
    Once I realised Corinthians wouldn’t fit I needed the checkers to get 5D.
    Looking forward to a sunny weekend and getting the roofless car out for the first time all year for a drive through the countryside and a long dog walk.
    Thanks Curarist and Mara
  20. A bit of a write-in today. FOI one. Only three acrosses on first pass, but as the downs went in, the acrosses fell into place. I found myself geeing myself up for a quick time, a strange experience for me. I don’t usually care how long it takes for a solve as long as I solve, but this was going well so I hoped for a good time. Ten minutes – at the very low end for me. LOI shower, seen within the time, but only parsed by having a long think about it. If I included the thinking time for that, I’d have to add a few minutes. Pondering the question of a COD, I suppose I really like a bit more of a challenge than this, although it doesn’t always feel like it when I’m in the middle of one. As a biologist, I’m going for armadillo, lovely animals, I’ve never seen one except on TV. Didn’t parse disco. Thanks, Curarist and Mara. GW.
  22. Definitely felt on the easier side of the scale but considering some of the offerings this week, much needed!

    All in in just over 20mins, and would have been a lot quicker except for a sticky NE corner where 9ac, 11ac, 5dn and 9dn just wouldn’t resolve themselves, but got them eventually.

  23. At last, something resembling a QC — thank you Mara. Mostly straightforward, once I corrected my biffed Dream Of, until loi 13d Shower. I was convinced this would end in -set, so wasted a couple of minutes trying to find a three letter word for despicable. What a pity Rotter’s not blogging today, given his Avatar. 21mins in total with CoD to 5d, Thessalonians: as Templar noted, the surface is spot on. Invariant

  24. Like others, struggled with Shower which I didn’t know meant a despicable group. Chucked it in and hoped for the best. Thought 4d was a great clue

  25. WmMorris here but I can’t sign in on my phone.

    Happy to report that I solved the blighter today. I’m sure it was easier than recent offerings, and I’d printed it out which definitely helps the grey cells in my case.

    Thought “kicks tart” was a bit controversial but then I had a sexist moment myself in wondering why “oarsman” wasn’t long enough. LOL.

  26. 12 minutes, with SHOWER last one in like others. I can hear my avatar describing us all as an awful sha’ah as others have commented, so once I dragged my mind from fur and hide, it made perfect sense to me. A pleasant change to end a tough week — let’s see what next week brings (in addition to better weather, it is hoped). Thanks both.
  27. 4:42 for the most straightforward QC of the week but with a hold-up with LOI 13 d “shower” (although I see that I’m far from alone in raising an MER). Strange that a 6 letter clue with 3 crossers can prove obstinate yet a 13 letter anagram (5 d) without crossers goes straight in. Part of the fascination of cruciverbalism!
    COD 2 d “Lip Reader”
    Thanks to Curarist for a clear blog and to Mara.
  28. If it wasn’t for the despicable SHOWER I would have been submitting a solve of just over 5 mins but I needed an alphabet trawl and then some and was pushed out to 6:39. Still, what a lovely end to what has been a testing week in QC land. My only other hesitation was with the spelling of THESSALONIANS (not sure why I knew this as my biblical knowledge is on a par with my knowledge of cricket terms and Dickens characters….ie very poor). Thanks to Mara and Curarist.
  29. SEPIA was my FOI, then a steady solve with SHOWER, then EARLIER last 2 in. I resisted the temptation to submit without proofreading in order to get under my target time, although in this instance there were no typos. 10:09. Thanks Mara and Curarist
  30. … After 34 minutes I had just one clue to solve (13d: SHOWER). 49 minutes of meticulous alphabet trawling later (yes, forty-nine minutes!) I abandoned my quest as a lost cause.

    During that time I found 52 different words that fitted the S_O_E_ space. And, what’s more, the correct solution was among them. However, I pronounced it in my head only as someone who shows something. The upshot was, therefore, that for the third day in succession I suffered an 83-minute DNF. I simply can’t believe it – and neither can Mrs Random, as she finished comfortably in 27 minutes.

    In summary: A total of 6 hrs 09 mins of mostly fruitless toil for me this week, as compared with my usual 3-4 hours (max.), and far and away my worst week since shortly after I started last June. Surely, it can’t continue like this next week – can it?

    Thanks, as usual, to Mara and curarist.

    1. Not fruitless — we had the benefit of your ever enjoyable comments 👍
      1. Thankyou! And I also learned some more stuff this week, which I hope will come in handy in future puzzles and even in real life. The weekend beckons, so onwards and upwards!
    2. I have deleted a comment posted in response to the above.

      Posters are reminded that TfTT is a forum open to all solvers whatever their current standard, including newcomers who are trying their hand at cryptic crosswords for the very first time, and our aim is to be supportive and constructive at all times. Comments that attempt to diminish the efforts of other solvers or disrupt the prevailing atmosphere of friendly discussion will be removed.

      Edited at 2021-05-28 07:29 pm (UTC)

  31. I’m with Merlin re 11a — I felt that it should have been 4d-ed, so to speak. Plenty of preferable options. Shame, because I really rather enjoy those types of clue when you just shift the gap to make something completely different.
    There is — unfortunately — a rather more unsavoury phrase describing a despicable group as a shower. I think I prefer Plett’s more genteel version 😊
    So glad to see DISCO clued as a club rather than a party — that really irritates me! Also liked LIP READER a lot.
    I seem to have been fairly consistent this week, despite all our travails, mostly coming in a bit below average and with one DNF. Today was 11 minutes GoT — (give or take!)
    FOI Sepia
    LOI Shower
    CsOD Thessalonians and Maybe — top surfaces
    Thanks Mara for a more relaxed end to the week and Curarist for the clear blog
  32. My first sub-20 minute solve of the week at 16 mins. Much to enjoy in this offering from Mara, although I have “sort of” enjoyed the mental challenges posed earlier in the week. My mother used to use shower in a distinctly perjorative sense when referring to a group of people of whom she disapproved, so it raised no eyebrows here.

    FOI – 8ac SEPIA
    LOI – in common with a lot of others 13dn SHOWER
    COD – 2dn LIP READER

    Thanks to Mara and Curarist

  33. Most enjoyable. A PB for me — under 15 minutes though at least the last 2 minutes were taken up by 13d. Lots of lovely clues. Well done, Mara, for discovering that Thessalonians is an anagram of Satan and holiness!
    FOI sepia
    LOI shower ( I would describe a generally disorganised and incompetent group as ‘a right shower’ — hardly despicable)
    COD so many to choose from but Ill go for lip reader.
    Thank you Mara and Curarist.
  34. A good end to a challenging week for me.

    Except for 13A ‘sun’ being answer for ‘warmer’, which seemed a bit vague to me, I enjoyed the clues.

    May the sun shine warmly this bank holiday weekend, though!

    Thanks to the curarist and Mara.

  35. ….before the reverse hidden jumped out and kicked me.

    FOI DELIBERATION
    LOI MAYBE
    COD DREAM UP
    TIME 4:33

  37. No dramas — wanted DREAM ON but saw the light

    Thought this might gave been an Izetti puzzle with the biblical reference (solve on phone so can’t see the setter’s name)

    Thanks curarist and Mara

  38. After a very bad week with a couple of major DNF I thankfully flew through this crossword until I came to 13d. My first thought was STONED which fitted the checkers but not the clue. Thankfully I soon got SHOWER.

    FOI deliberation
    COD thessalonians

  39. Mr and Mrs Random are among the stars of this blog! We love hearing how Mrs R solved the QC while making three quiches and a cake.
    1. Thankyou! Mrs R made a handpainted birthday card, wrapped some presents and made some rhubarb and ginger jam today — mostly while I struggled away.
  40. 23:15 for me, so by far the quickest of the week. It should have been a bit less still, but I was distracted by an unwanted phone call after just under 15 minutes and though I tried to keep up a conversation and solve at the same time, I was not too successful. Once I’d hung up (is that still what one does in these days of mobiles?) LIP READER, SUDAN, ONE, SHOWER and LOI DISCO went in in fairly short order. Quite a relief after one of the toughest weeks I can remember. Thanks Mara and Curarist.
  41. Just wondering …
    … when does the Editor choose which puzzle to run? Is it set in stone weeks in advance or can he/she tweak the order?

    I ask, because this was almost the perfect soother at the end of a long and hard week for most of us, almost as if the Editor had read all the cries of dismay of the last four days and taken pity on the struggling masses!

    Cedric

    1. The puzzles are certainly not selected during the week of publication. I also doubt very much the editors are hanging on our every word or even if they read us at all except perhaps when they have set one of the puzzles themselves.
  42. For some time I thought it was going to be a clean sweep of DNFs for me but I managed to finish today’s one albeit taking 27 mins to do so. Like many other posters, it was SHOWER that caused the major holdup. This was my worst week for a very long time, but thanks to all you helpful bloggers I am now a lot better informed (and possibly even wiser).
  43. Much more approachable today, but stuck on 13d SHOWER – never saw it! COD 11a.
  44. I hesitate to say this was easy because it’s not if you don’t find the groove. But I did and it’s done in a tidy ten minutes, with the clues done roughly as they came. Thank you.

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