Quick Cryptic 2747 by Breadman

Author   BletchleyRejectPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

 

I always look forward to Breadman’s puzzles and this did not disappoint.

There is the usual sprinkling of Q, J, X and Z’s and there’s something else going on. If you haven’t noticed it, click below to see what it is:

Breadman often performs wondrous tricks with the placement of the less common letters in the grid but tantalises with the pangram, which often falls one or two letters short. This however is a double pangram, quite an achievement in a 13×13 grid.

 

I did very much enjoy this but made heavy weather of it, just avoiding the SCC in 19:36. I could pretend that I was looking for the grid treats on offer, but that would be fibbing; I was just plain slow, particularly in the SW corner with 22a and 20d, my last two in.

Thanks to Breadman

Definitions underlined in bold, deletions indicated by strikethrough.

Across
7 Scottish poet avoiding southern stream (4)
BURN – BURNS (‘Scottish poet’) with S deleted (‘avoiding southern’)
8 Lift the Spanish woman before rocky outcrop (8)
ELEVATOR – EL (‘the Spanish’) EVA (‘woman’) TOR (‘rocky outcrop’)
9 Disregard wild region (6)
IGNORE – Anagram (‘wild’) of REGION
10 Three successive characters, having fish, pay (6)
DEFRAY – D E F (‘Three successive characters’) RAY (‘fish’)
11 Writing material on king revealing mental quirk (4)
KINK – INK (‘Writing material’) following, in an across clue (‘on’) K (‘king’)
12 One enters bar and luxury hotel somewhere on French coast (8)
BIARRITZ – I (‘One’) contained in (‘enters’) BAR (‘bar’) RITZ (‘luxury hotel’)
15 Jeremy peripherally traps wild cat, heading off danger (8)
JEOPARDY – JeremY (‘Jeremy peripherally’) contains (‘traps’) LEOPARD (‘wild cat, heading off’)
17 Cry of enthusiasm, hearing second part of brotherly pop group (4)
JEEZ – Aural wordplay (‘hearing’) of BEE GEES (‘second part of brotherly pop group’)

Queenslanders might like to claim the Gibb brothers as Brisbane’s most famous sons, although the Brits, including those on the Isle of Man, may justifiably have something to say about that.
18 Canadian region’s mosque becomes partly apparent (6)
QUEBEC – Hidden (‘partly apparent’) in ‘mosQUE BEComes’
21 Wearing struggle with wife is visible (2,4)
IN VIEW – IN (‘Wearing’) VIE (‘struggle’) W (‘wife’)
22 Seafood sauce artist knocked back in small harbour (8)
MARINARA – AR (‘artist knocked back’ = reversal of RA) contained in (‘in’) MARINA (‘small harbour’)

No excuses, I had a complete mental blank on this one; about the most well-known ‘seafood sauce’ there is.
23 Spindle left in fire (4)
AXLE – L (‘left’) contained in (‘in’) AXE (‘fire’)
Down
1 Quantity of paper around AGM complicated situation (8)
QUAGMIRE – QUIRE (‘Quantity of paper’) containing (‘around’) AGM (‘AGM’)

Now refers to 25 sheets of paper, or one twentieth of a ream; I can never remember which is which. According to Collins and the OED a QUIRE can also refer to (i) 24 sheets of paper and (ii) in earlier times, “four sheets of paper or parchment folded to form eight leaves”.
2 Release clipped hound, barking satisfactorily (6)
UNHOOK – Anagram (‘barking’) of HOUND (‘clipped hound’) then OK (‘satisfactorily’)
3 Maybe stag recruits engineer and doctor for festive time (8)
DECEMBER – DEER (‘Maybe stag’) contains (‘recruits’) CE (‘engineer’) and MB (‘doctor’)

I think the ‘festive time’ is meant to include Advent as well as Christmas.

We had CE for civil engineer in a crossword not a million miles from here very recently. CE also comes up in the dictionaries and search engines as an abbreviation for a chief or chemical engineer. According to Wikipedia, “CEng” refers to a chartered engineer, an engineer registered in the UK with the Engineering Council who has both postgraduate qualifications and significant practical experience; I couldn’t find anywhere that CE can be applied in this context as well.
4 Recognise duke, tournament player (4)
SEED – SEE (‘Recognise’) D (‘duke’)
5 Blunder initially riles boss (6)
GAFFER – GAFFE (‘Blunder’) Riles (‘initially riles’)

As heard on British TV programmes. Not used much in this part of the world and noted as “British” in Webster.
6 Shot, dram occasionally, that’s often mixed with whisky (4)
SODA – Alternate letters (‘occasionally’) of ShOt DrAm

An appropriately alcoholic surface.
13 Play, with Act One terribly unorthodox (8)
ATYPICAL – Anagram (‘terribly’) of PLAY ACT I (‘one’)

Anagram blindness today. This took ages.
14 Most of them reportedly circled English woodland tract (3,5)
THE WEALD – THEM (‘Most of them’) then aural wordplay (‘reportedly’) of WHEELED (‘circled’)

The word WEALD itself, marked as ‘archaic’ in Collins, means forested or woodland country. I knew the term THE WEALD referred to an area somewhere in S. England but had to look it up for further details. For non-UK solvers who (like me) don’t know, it’s the area of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, once covered with forest, between the North and South Downs.
16 Posh British student in picture generally known (6)
PUBLIC – U (‘Posh’) B (‘British’) L (‘student’) contained in (‘in’) PIC (‘picture’)
17 Cheery Jack round with medicine bottle? (6)
JOVIAL – J (‘Jack’) O (’round’) VIAL (‘medicine bottle?’)

The question mark I suppose as a VIAL may, but does not have to, contain medicine.

Collins has VIAL as “a less common variant of phial”; I would have thought the reverse.
19 Asian river tour and meal — each fifty per cent off (4)
URAL – toUR meAL (‘tour … meal – each fifty per cent off’)

‘- each fifty percent off’ meaning half of the letters of each word.

One of the commonest non-UK crossword land rivers which I decided to finally look up. It runs about 2,400 km through Russia and Kazakhstan, flowing S. from the Ural Mountains, then W. and S. again before ending in the Caspian Sea. It is regarded as one of the boundaries between Europe and Asia, hence ‘Asian river’.
20 Persuade helmsman to grab key (4)
COAX – COX (‘helmsman’) containing (‘to grab’) A (‘key’)

A as an example of a ‘key’ in music; I know not everyone approves of the vagueness of this. My LOI. As you do, I became stuck on “captain” for ‘helmsman’, even though it’s not an abbreviation I’d ever come across before.

109 comments on “Quick Cryptic 2747 by Breadman”

  1. After my disaster on the QC, I spent well over an hour on the proper crossword.

    I managed 8 clues.

    Is it time for me to quit and simply accept that I cannot do this? It drives me mad that I am unable to get anywhere near respectability with these puzzles.

    I feel frazzled, confused and humiliated.

    1. Gary, I believe it can take almost lifetime to be able to regularly complete the main Times crossword. I wonder whether you’re just expecting too much too soon? Solving 8 on the main crossword after only a few years QC practice sounds pretty good to me. But… I hear how frustrated and bewildered you are and from your posts these feelings seem to occur more or less every day. Maybe it might be time to do something that makes you happy instead. We’re only here once after all and there’s lots of life outside of crosswords.

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