Quick Cryptic 270 by Flamande

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I don’t think there’s much to frighten the horses in this one, but we’ll see. It took me 8 minutes with the last minute spent on 14dn alone whilst I worked out what was going on there.

This is the first Quickie blog that I’ve not been able to prepare in advance because after last Monday’s leap forward of some 326 url codes I resolved not to bother trying to find this week’s but wait for the link on the Times site. It was just as well because this time it’s gone forward 950! And the rest of the week doesn’t follow on in sequence either so beware, my fellow bloggers, or you may waste a lot more time than you save trying to track the puzzles down.

Definitions    {deletions}   [indicators]

Across
1 Nonconformist unsettled residents (9)
DISSENTER – anagram [unsettled] of RESIDENTS
6 Unusual rugby match just beginning (3)
RUM – RU (rugby – union), M{atch} [just beginning]
8 Poet, one who splashes out? (7)
SPENDER – Double definition, the poet being Sir Stephen Spender 1909-1995
9 Duke finished port (5)
DOVER – D (duke), OVER (finished)
10 Large cocktails for a tennis foursome? (5,7)
MIXED DOUBLES – one double definition and a cryptic description
12 Fellow divorce laws repelled, partly (4)
ALEC – hidden [partly] and reversed [repelled] inside {divor}CE LA{ws}
13 Swimming pool cover has round shape (4)
LIDO – LID (cover), O (round shape)
17 Bet   it’s what bird will do when learning to fly? (4,1,7)
HAVE A FLUTTER – one definition and a cryptic clue
20 Chorus incorporates western dance music (5)
SWING – SING (chorus) incorporates W (western)
21 Brief stroll with European prime minister, once (7)
WALPOLE – WAL{k} (brief stroll), POLE (European). Sir Robert Walpole 1676-1745.
23 Creature seen in Rhodes, oddly (3)
ROE – alternate letters [oddly] of R{h}O{d}E{s}
24 Doctor ready to invest a little money in care facility (3,5)
DAY CENTRE – enclose [invest] CENT (a little money) inside anagram [doctor] of READY

Down
1 Speed shown by car’s instrument panel (4)
DASH – double definition
2 Small cooked plaice, dish of the day (7)
SPECIAL – S (small), anagram [ cooked] of PLAICE
3 Unbeaten, Doncaster will secure goal (3)
END – hidden [secure] inside {unbeat}EN D{oncaster}
4 Stuck in traffic, I rant (6)
TIRADE – I inside [stuck in] TRADE (traffic)
5 Communist with once-trendy hairstyle? That’s fishy (3,6)
RED MULLET – RED (communist), MULLET (once-trendy hairstyle)
6 Music maker left after wild party (5)
RAVEL – RAVE (wild party), L (left)
7 Gloomy doctor stood up (6)
MOROSE – MO (doctor), ROSE (stood up)
11 Traded old coins – pre-decimal pennies (9)
EXCHANGED – EX (old), CHANGE (coins), D (pre-decimal pennies)
14 Tedious comic finishes at last (4,3)
DIES OUT – anagram [comic] of TEDIOUS
15 One drink after another for huntsman (6)
CHASER – double definition
16 Little by little, son’s getting mean (6)
SLOWLY – S (son), LOWLY (mean)
18 Something wrong about old tenor, perhaps (5)
VOICE – VICE (something wrong) about O (old)
19 Cost includes entry to the gala (4)
FETE – FEE (cost) includes T{he} [entry]
22 Story line not new (3)
LIE – LI{n}E [not new]

12 comments on “Quick Cryptic 270 by Flamande”

  1. I try to prepare my blog in advance so as to be able to post in the early morning – thinking I was assisting any night birds or Antipodean crossword fiends (or friends). I would like to know why The Times crossword editor finds this such a problem that the addresses have now been so encrypted. If it is because he doesn’t want the general readership to access future dated puzzles, can we be given the encryption key? This site does prove its reliability by not posting the answers to prize puzzles before the deadline dates so cannot we be trusted?

    As things stand, expect a very late blog tomorrow moring. 😢

    Edited at 2015-03-23 08:45 am (UTC)

    1. Whilst I appreciate your frustration, Chris, having just been through similar (though I don’t actually have your working-day issues now that I’m retired), I don’t think we have any right to expect advance access for blogging purposes – we’ve never had it for the main puzzle, for example. That we’ve had it at all was never by design.

      Having said that, you have a lot more faith than I do in SNAFU Central being organised enough either to have an encryption key that determines the url of future puzzles or to organise and carry out a campaign to thwart our attempts to find the puzzles in advance.

    2. Hear hear! Whilst I theoretically have the advantage of being an Antipodean (at least by location) fiend, work commitments mean I’m rarely able to start looking at the crosswords until about 7pm local time which is 8am UK time (and will shortly be 10am when the clocks change).

      I reckon this site has played a significant role in supporting the splendid initiative of the Quickie, and – if any of you Times people are reading – please give us a bit of a hand here.

      1. I don’t know that there’s any official objection to our having advance access as I know that one blogger has obtained PDF copies from the current editor (RR not PB) and he obtained one for me on a previous occasion.
        1. Sorry jack, had not seen your earlier reply to Chris before I replied to his comment.

          Yes, fair comment re. comparison with the main puzzle (which just underlines how awesome the weekday 15×15 bloggers are).

  2. So, to the crossword. I agree with Jack’s assessment – 10 minutes here with LOI 21ac – couldn’t get away from European = E. COD 14 dn for the deception – can’t remember comic as an anagrind before and the clue worked well.
  3. Personally I found this a bit trickier than usual. Nothing obscure or overly complex, maybe just me being a bit sluggish today after a hard day at the factory.

    Particularly enjoyed 21a – as with Chris, took me a while to get past the E trap.

    Thanks to our setter, and as ever thanks to jack for the blog.

  4. Top half went in without any difficulty, but my failure to spot the anagrams in 14d and 24ac made the bottom half a real struggle. I seem to flick between inventing non-existent anagrams and missing some obvious ones. Very frustrating. Invariant
  5. Oof – the URL numbering shenanigans is a bit of a downer. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that some kind of pattern will eventually reveal itself, as I find it hard to believe that the Times IT bods would do this purely to spite Quicky bloggers.

    Not a difficult puzzle, though I used to work for a chap called Wale so 12A had another (highly unlikely) answer in the absence of checkers. Another fan here of DIES OUT.

    Edited at 2015-03-23 02:34 pm (UTC)

  6. Enjoyed this one and did not find it difficult. However, initially put in an unparsed revel at 6d but on the basis that an unparsed answer is probably wrong saw my error. Particularly liked the devious use of doctor as an anagram indicator in 24a so that gets my COD.
  7. Missed some of the anagrams as I do not recognise all the Anagrinds (new word). Then I got Wanders as W with Anders the recent Danish Prime Minister and that held me up.

    Edited at 2015-03-23 05:33 pm (UTC)

  8. Had trouble with the SE corner but once I saw the anagrams it became a bit clearer. Eventually had to give up on 21a, which was just as well really as I wasn’t looking for names of PMs so I could have been there for a very long time.

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