Quick Cryptic 2865 by Wurm

10:33 for the solve and too hot for a Parkrun today.

This took me more than twice as long as my usual Quickie time.  Not sure I can point to any specific difficulties other than lacking a bit of the required GK.

So was it just me?  Please let us know how you went.

(In the clues, definitions are underlined and anagram indicators are in bold italics.  In the explanations (ABC)* indicates an anagram of abc.  Deletions and other devices are indicated accordingly, I hope).

Across
1 Wallachian ruler restructured DVLA (4)
VLAD – (DVLA)*

Odd anagrist for an odd but familiar name.

There were at least seven Vlads that had a crack at the Voivode of Wallachia gig.  All were from the Draculesti branch of the Basarab family.  Not to mention a couple of Vladimirs from the Danesti side.

Enemies must have quailed at names like Vlad the Usurper, Vlad the Dragon and the ever-popular Vlad the Impaler before the family appeared to lose its “rizz”.

Vlad the Monk? Vlad the Younger? Vlad the Drowned? Vlad the Fan from Slatina (my translation)?  Just not the same je ne sais quoi, and that was the end of the Vlads.

4 Rascal in Virginia and Georgia with 007 (8)
VAGABOND – VA (Virginia) + GA (Georgia) + BOND (007)

Rascal and vagabond can both mean a dishonest or disreputable person.  Of course they can both mean other things as well, but that’s not Wurm’s problem.

8 Say farewell: head for Chinese meal (4,4)
CHOW MEIN – Homophone (say) of CIAO (farewell) + MAIN (head)

In Australia we don’t say “Chinese meal” anymore, it has to be “succulent Chinese meal”.

All because of this guy…

HK-based crossword blogger in Chinese meal kerfuffle

9 Grain cost reduced by penny (4)
RICE – PRICE (cost) without (reduced by) P (penny)
10 Eggs left somewhat out of round? (4)
OVAL – OVA (eggs) + L (left)
11 Crack from cleric and fool in church (8)
CREVASSE – [REV (cleric) + ASS (fool)] in CE (church)
12 Dotty blamed for disorder (6)
BEDLAM – (BLAMED)*
14 Runs into an elderly poet (6)
ARNOLD – R (runs) in AN + OLD (elderly)

Anyone know any good Matthew Arnold (1822-88) poems?

16 Character suffered in flight (8)
AIRBORNE – AIR (character) + BORNE (suffered)

Hands up if you wasted too much time trying to rearrange the letters of “in flight”?

(Insert hands-up emoji here).

18 Quack keeping two ducks closer? (4)
DOOR – DR (quack) “keeping” OO (two ducks)

Closer as in “something that closes”.

Some of us oldies still talk about visiting “the quack”.  Just a casual term for doctor that isn’t meant to carry the more pejorative overtones of spurious behaviour.

And duck meaning zero is cricket terminology but I think it has escaped that domain and entered the broader vernacular.  A bit like being hit for six.  Correct me if I’m wrong.*

(*Ed:  Don’t worry Galspray, they will).

19 Large having eaten seconds, restrict diet (4)
FAST – FAT (large) “having eaten” S (seconds)
20 Something from Pret in Kentish Town? (8)
SANDWICH – Double definition

Ah.  Most of you will know of the Pret a Manger “sandwiches and coffee” franchise in the UK and elsewhere.  I didn’t.

How’s their coffee?  This is required information for when I’m visiting next year, as last year my coffee experience was varied.  Bit of local knowledge always helps.

22 Shopper needs carrier taking drink outside (8)
BETRAYER – TRAY (carrier) taking BEER (drink) outside

“Shopping” someone is Arfur Daly-speak for ratting on them.

23 Italian island having strength for revolution (4)
ELBA – Reversal (for revolution) of ABLE (having strength)

Elba is the poster child for reversible place names, hence “Able was I ere I saw Elba”.

Down
2 Reveal criminal drinking hotel port (2,5)
LE HAVRE – (REVEAL)* “drinking” H (hotel)

A port city that was unknown to me but would be common knowledge to our very worldly solving community.

3 Peg to prosper endlessly (5)
DOWEL – DO WELL (prosper) without the last letter (endlessly)
4 Struggle avoided periodically (3)
VIE – Every second letter (periodically) of (aVoIdEd)
5 Drink playing a part in bootlegging era legitimised (6,3)
GINGER ALE – Hidden in (playing a part in) bootlegGING ERA LEgitimised)
6 Pub profit to negotiate (7)
BARGAIN – BAR (pub) + GAIN (profit)
7 Steals nothing reportedly (5)
NICKS – Homophone (reportedly) of NIX (nothing)

Nix meaning nothing (along with squat and jack) would be more common in the US than the UK I think?

11 Chase with army somehow ducking shots? (6-3)
CAMERA-SHY – (CHASE + ARMY)*

Love the definition.  Nice one Wurm.

13 Bloater’s not a bad seafood option (7)
LOBSTER – (BLOATERS)* without the A (not a).

Lobster fishing is a humble pursuit that made a few people I know very wealthy.  Personally I have lobster on my “over-rated” list along with dancing, Madonna and the second new ball.

15 Pride issue about copper in library (4,3)
LION CUB – [ON (about) + CU (copper)] in LIB (library)

Another clever definition.  Keep ’em coming Wurm.

17 Rodent entering that is angry (5)
IRATE – RAT (rodent) “entering” IE (ID EST, that is)
18 Search for water — amount round wicket (5)
DOWSE – DOSE (amount) round W (wicket)

Also known as divining.  In fact I only knew it as divining until encountering dowsing here in Crosswordland.

21 Neither number right (3)
NOR – NO (number) + R (right)

53 comments on “Quick Cryptic 2865 by Wurm”

  1. 7:19

    Felt easy to me but then I’d just ground out yesterday’s tough 15×15.

    Pret coffee is serviceable; I’d drink it rather than go without, but, here in London at least, there’s almost always a better option within 100yd.

    Thanks for an enjoyable and informative blog!

  2. Gee, you had me worried for a minute. I thought I had been done (without my knowledge – as most people are done here) for infringing the ravenous National Security Law.

    Took me eight minutes or so, with the last two spent on AIRBORNE, which I managed to do without any attempt to make an anagram of ‘in flight.’ Not sure if that makes me bright or not.

    1. Previous comment deleted as I now realise what you were referring to. Nothing if not slow today.

      Heh. His resemblance to my mental image of you is remarkable! (Ignoring your recent avatar which paints a disappointingly respectable picture).

  3. Being from Sandwich, I really enjoyed this! Quite tricky though!.

    >Anyone know any good Matthew Arnold (1822-88) poems?

    Dover Beach is wonderful.


    Ah, love, let us be true
    To one another! for the world, which seems
    To lie before us like a land of dreams,
    So various, so beautiful, so new,
    Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
    Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
    And we are here as on a darkling plain
    Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
    Where ignorant armies clash by night.

    >How’s their coffee?
    Dreadful.

      1. As a Pret Ultra I vehemently disagree! But then I only drink espresso macchiato, so I don’t have a view across their range.

  4. 13m
    No accurate time as solved on and off on the train.
    Liked Vagabond, Door, Le havre, and Ginger ale.

    Didn’t parse chow mein.
    LOI airborne, which took ages, I was focused on BORE in flight as the wordplay.

  5. Gave up at 25mins with AIRBORNE unsolved. Had thought of born for suffered but though it needed to go in something for flight, was never getting character for air. That was the problem with this puzzle – too many 5th level definitions e.g. vagabond which most people think of as a tramp being a rascal. See also able=strength, door=closer, nix=nothing. Couldn’t parse chowmein either. Wish I could feel more positive about the QC this week but every day has been dragged out

  6. Wurm was on top form for this one and I particularly enjoyed the clever misdirections for a number of definitions. There were too many excellent clues to pick a COD but GINGER ALE, LION CUB and CAMERA SHY were the main contenders.

    As a non coffee drinker I can’t comment on their quality of the coffee but I remember being bemused when Pret started selling ‘bread free sandwiches’ as I couldn’t work out how they differed from salads.

    Started with VLAD and finished with AIRBORNE (I was in the ‘in flight anagram club’) in 7.56.
    Thanks galspray

  7. I didn’t find this too bad having raced through the top half uncommonly quickly. Just held up by a few cheeky clues (closer, ducking shot, pride issue), with AIRBORNE the last in without fulling understanding it.

    This puzzle and blog have been a nice late-year discovery. Thanks all.

  8. For a change I found myself largely untroubled by a puzzle the blogger has deemed a stiff test – it is much more often the other way round! All done in 10 minutes, with at least two of those on my LOI AIRBORNE which I got from the checkers and never parsed. CHOW MEIN also not parsed, probably because I pronounce MEIN as MEEN. (And how did the Irate Diner story end – we need to be told!)

    Having been born within 2 miles or so of the London area of Kentish Town, I was initially misled by the clue for SANDWICH. I did think that a relatively unknown north London suburb was a tough bit of local knowledge to include in a QC – until I realised that Kentish Town meant Town of Kent. (Cue argument about Kentish Men and Men of Kent – broadly speaking, it depends where in Kent one is born, with a Kentish Man being a person born west of the River Medway, and a Man of Kent being a person born east of it. But that is perhaps Too Much Information for a Saturday morning …)

    Coffee in UK: main tip would be to try to frequent independent coffee shops, of which there are many in most towns, rather than any of the chains. They vary of course, and the occasional one can be awful, but most are good or very good and they are certainly more interesting (and usually cheaper) than the likes of Costa, Starbucks or Pret. (I would myself make an exception for Caffe Nero, which for me is the best of the chains and good coffee – but that is of course a personal preference not an authoritative guide!)

    Many thanks for the blog and for all your Saturday blogs this year. Do let us all know when you are over and if you have time for a drink …
    Cedric

    1. And many thanks to you Cedric.

      I recall enjoying a cup at a Cafe Nero somewhere near Kings Cross, although that might have been down to the garrulous Liverpudlian publican that sat and chatted with me.

      As for a drink, last time I managed to make my visit coincide with a TftT catchup at The George. Hoping to do the same next year as it was a real highlight. See you there!

  9. Time not recorded – well, the app said 11 mins but it was easily 30 minutes. I wish!

    Had to use check function a couple of times but I got there. LOI DOOR. Forgot about the seemingly obligatory cricketing clue in QC.
    Enjoyed this, even though I was not able to parse some of them.
    COD for me LIONCUB.

    Thanks to galspray and Wurm.

  10. 10:37
    Held up at the end by AIRBORNE. I had also been looking for the non existent anagram, and after the checkers showed this to be false I failed to separate the last three words and so spent time looking for synonyms of airsickness.

    Thanks Galspray and Wurm

  11. I had twelve after the second pass. Top left and bottom right mostly. And that was at four AM. I was going to post on the blog then but it wasn’t up. Going back for another look now I’ve woken up again.

    Rob

    1. One more – ginger ale – on second attempt. Failed to see two anagram indicators, not that I’m any good at anagrams. I usually biff them with an inspired guess if I have some letters in place already. Not the case with camera shy.

  12. Based on the fact I was all green by 10am (still something of a rarity 3 months in), and could fully parse the clues, I was expecting to read that this was the easiest one in months!

    I’m starting to gather that sometimes you’re just are or aren’t on the same wavelength as the setter – there have been other ones that I’ve mostly just stared at blankly that have been described here as on the easier end.

    More like this one please!

  13. Raced through 80% of this in about 3 minutes and was then breeze blocked by LOI AIRBORNE as well as BETRAYER notwithstanding I was looking for a synonym for informant from the off and COD CAMERA SHY which I got instantly on finally digging out a pen and paper to solve the anagram. Finished in around 15mins in the end. Good puzzle though.

    Thanks Wurm and Galspray.

  14. Dnf…

    For some reason I can’t spell Le Havre and interchanged the “v” and the “r” resulting in a forlorn attempt to get 10ac “Oval”.

    Overall though, I thought this was tricky (what else? It’s Saturday!) and it took 25 mins to get everything else.

    With regards to 7dn “Nicks”, the German word for nothing is “Nichts” (pronounced very similarly) so I wondered at first if it had something to do with that.

    FOI – 1ac “Vlad”
    LOI – Dnf
    COD – 11dn “Camera Shy”

    Thanks as usual!

  15. Got stuck at the end on AIRBORNE which I eventually revealed. Much to enjoy elsewhere, especially CHOW-MEIN. Took an age to solve BETRAYER but the PDM made me smile. Thanks G and Wurm. Now, back to Christmas prep…

  16. Unusually fast for me: 8m 23s but struggle so much with 15x15s, only finishing maybe one in ten (and even then checking along the way). It still amazes me how they can be completed in 5 minutes. It would take me longer just to read and type the grid even if I had the answer to each clue given to me…

  17. Came in at 39 minutes after a quick start and a slow finish.
    Enjoyed BETRAYER, DOOR and LION CUB for their misleading language.
    ‘Say farewell head’ led me to try CHOP CHOP for 8a but I was being too clever.
    Thanks Galspray for the amusing blog, and Wurm of course.

  18. A bit tougher than average I thought. After several passes the SW was still blank, but was eventually opened up by IRATE. GINGER ALE put paid to my attempts to use in flight as anagrist. AIRBORNE was LOI. 10:27. Thanks Wurm and Galspray.

  19. Saturday wiggle from Wurm then.

    I was untroubled by this, whizzing through in around 8 minutes. I thought the clues were pretty easy, nicely put together, with a few being very nice indeed. Top three for me CAMERA-SHY, LION CUB, and (the closer def for) DOOR in that order.

    Galspray you missed Vlad the Impala. It just sends shivers doesn’t it?

  20. 5:07. Nice one Wurm! Held up most (as I see others were) by AIRBORNE, but not by much, to finish the week in an average time of 4:40. Who says the QCs are getting too hard? Lol. Don’t answer that! Thanks Wurm and Galspray.

  21. I very nearly pulled stumps at the 10min mark, with the grid still very thinly populated, but had a ‘pull yourself together’ moment and carried on. I’m glad I did, not just because I finally made sense of the impossible and finished (c27mins) with Airborne, but because I would otherwise have missed two stand-out pdms with jCoDs Betrayer and Lion Cub.
    I’m still of the view that the Saturday QCs seem a cut above the usual fare, but I have to say today’s solve was distinctly odd – a game of two halves, Brian. Invariant

  22. 17.29 with no errors. Lots to enjoy today, particularly liked DOOR, BETRAYER, LION CUB and COD – CAMERA SHY. FOI- VLAD, LOI – AIRBORNE. Thanks Wurm and Galspray.

  23. 14:09 for us though it was mainly the SW corner which held us up. I’m with Invariant in having particularly enjoyed BETRAYER and LION CUB.

  24. I too found it slow going at 26 minutes, though I put it down to just being out of sorts. CAMERA-SHY my favorite among many entertaining clues.

    Thanks Wurm and galspray, excellent setting and blogging.

  25. 8.17 Fairly quick after a very average week. I hesitated over 8a because some of the local restaurants render the dish as chow mien. LOI AIRBORNE took over a minute at the end, though the anagram never occurred to me. Thanks galspray and Wurm.

  26. I’m happy enough with 15:23 for a puzzle that I thought was a bit vicious in places. I was held up by my own idiocy with BETRAYER, even though I immediately thought of “container” = “tray”, and rightly assumed that we were looking for a snitch. I then compounded that by struggling with GINGER ALE because I plain forgot that hiddens are a thing. Oh well.

    Thank you for the blog!

    PS – If anyone has a few spare minutes with nothing better to do, I recently devised my first crossword. It’s supposed to be easy, but who knows? It’s here. Mods, if this is considered bad form, please nuke this comment!

    1. Nice puzzle thanks Wombat.
      I’m a slow player and it took me about 30 minutes. Medium difficulty QC I would say.
      All parsed except 21a.
      Liked 20a for the PDM.

      1. Thanks Ian! 21a: anagram (“undermined”) of NHL (“American hockey league”) + “you”. I think it’s fair to say that that’s not the best clue anyone’s ever seen.

    2. Hello – this is VERY late in the day, but I just got round to your own QC of the 21 Dec. Can I simply say –
      I found it very enjoyable
      Probably a tad on the easy side for a Times QC, but some great surfaces
      Found the website (I had not printed off all the clues!) and gratified by the constructive comments; also a useful website for finding more crosswords to solve!
      and, I hope you persevere with setting!

  27. 9:01 Smooth sailing again- I’m on a decent run. I was born in Windsor in Ontario and the original settlement was called Sandwich until the current name was chosen. I grew up in the township of Sandwich West just outside the city. Sandwich East and Sandwich South also used to exist.

  28. Cracking puzzle from His Wiggliness. Really enjoyed that. 08:02 for a Good Day.

    Turns out I’ve been pronouncing CHOW MEIN wrong all these years. And I’m in the “in flight” club too (no, not like that).

    Terrific blog gallers, thanks.

  29. 7:35

    LOI AIRBORNE. Coffee-wise, I agree with someone previous saying there’s usually a better cup to be had within 100 yards. Personally, of the best known chains, I like Costa, Nero, Starbucks in that order, but I do recommend McDonalds as having a perfectly serviceable coffee which is a third of the price of the big boys.

    Thanks Wurm and Galspray

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