Quick Cryptic 2975 by Oink

Author   BletchleyRejectPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

 

Few if any obscurities here in today’s puzzle from Oink but challenging enough to be enjoyable.

Several interesting definitions as alluded to in the comments below, but the accompanying wordplay meant the clues weren’t too difficult. Finished in 8:35.

Definitions underlined in bold, deletions and letters in the clue not appearing in the answer indicated by strikethrough.

Thanks to Merlin for filling in for the last few weeks and thanks to Oink

Across
1 Dance with man briefly three times (3-3-3)
CHA-CHA-CHA – CHAP CHAP CHAP (‘man briefly three times’)

I’m embarrassed to admit that this was my last in; I wasted time on it at the start, before hunting elsewhere.
6 Young producer finding love in southwest (3)
SOW – O (‘love) contained in (‘in’) SW (‘southwest’)

A sneaky definition for Oink’s trademark porcine clue, with ‘young’ misleadingly as a noun.
8 A row about boy — one whose every wish comes true? (7)
ALADDIN – A (‘A’) DIN (‘row’) containing (‘about’) LAD (‘boy’)

Cryptic definition here helped by wordplay.
9 Social worker in South America who calls on you each year? (5)
SANTA – ANT (‘Social worker’) contained in (‘in’) SA (‘South America’)

The second cryptic-ish definition in a row
10 Sat around eating old man’s food (5)
TAPAS – TAS a reversal (‘around’) of (‘Sat’) containing (‘eating’) PA (‘old man’)
12 Some foreign items catch fire (6)
IGNITE – Hidden (‘Some’) in ‘foreIGN ITEms‘
14 Drug dealer who loves life in the fast lane? (5,8)
SPEED MERCHANT – SPEED (‘Drug’) MERCHANT (‘dealer’)

Third cryptic definition with wordplay
16 Criticise an old lady’s hat (6)
PANAMA – PAN (‘Criticise’) A (‘an’) MA (‘old lady’)
17 Artificial material children’s writer initially ignored (5)
RAYON – CRAYON (‘children’s writer initially ignored’)

For some reason my first thought was “Blyton”, but the ‘children’s writer’ is something which can be used to write, not an author’s name.
19 Picture stolen, dumped in river (5)
PHOTO – HOT (‘stolen’) contained in (‘dumped in’) PO (‘river’)
20 The writer’s urge to dazzle? (7)
IMPRESS – I’M (‘The writer’s’) PRESS (‘urge’)
22 Diary regularly censored for 24 hours (3)
DAY – DiArY (‘Diary regularly censored’)
23 Nobody desperately intent on joining army in the end (9)
NONENTITY – Anagram (‘desperately’) of INTENT ON then (‘joining’) armY (‘army in the end’)
Down
1 This case sadly leading to reprimand (8)
CHASTISE – Anagram (‘sadly’) of THIS CASE
2 Husband welcomed by breakdown service, I see (3)
AHA – H (‘Husband’) contained in (‘welcomed by’) AA (‘breakdown service’)

AA for Automobile Association
3 He’s keeping Bill in hell (5)
HADES – HES (‘He’s) containing (‘keeping) AD (‘Bill’)
4 Payment that involves careful thought (13)
CONSIDERATION – Double definition
5 Harmful substance in medicine’s rarely shown up (7)
ARSENIC – Reverse hidden (‘in… shown up’) in ‘mediCINES RArely‘

What; no ‘As’? Must be a first.
6 Shelter sought from horribly scary aunt (9)
SANCTUARY – Anagram (‘horribly’) of SCARY AUNT

Amusing surface. My COD.
7 Indecisive period for the audience (4)
WEAK – Aural wordplay (‘for the audience’) of WEEK (‘period’)

WEAK for ‘indecisive’? Close enough and “indecisive” is in the Oxford Thesaurus entry for “weak”.
11 Badly portrayed, as shark is? (9)
PREDATORY – Anagram (‘Badly’) of PORTRAYED

Another for which wordplay was the main source of the answer. The surface refers to the perception of a ‘shark’ as being a ferocious man-eating beast à la Jaws, but times are changing… at least until the next shark attack is reported in all its gory details.
13 Fails to intervene: stalls extremely busy (6,2)
STANDS BY – STANDS (‘stalls’) BusY (‘extremely busy’)
15 Mythical beast eats old soldier (7)
DRAGOON – DRAGON (‘Mythical beast’) contains (‘eats’) O (‘old’)

As has been discussed before, a dragoon was originally a mounted infantryman but also means more generally a cavalryman. I didn’t know this, but the original dragoons were named after the firearm they carried which in turn was so-called because when it was fired it resembled a fire-breathing dragon (OED).
17 Mature Republican beginning to investigate US prison (5)
RIPEN – R (‘Republican’) Investigate (‘beginning to investigate’) PEN (‘US prison’)

PEN as an abbreviation for “penitentiary”, a term mainly (? now exclusively) used in the US for ‘prison’.
18 Small sweet potato (4)
SPUD – S (‘Small’) PUD (‘sweet’)

“Sweet” as a definitely non-U term for “pudding”/PUD.
21 Old priest’s daughter leaving food shop (3)
ELI – DELI (‘daughter leaving food shop’)

Time for a moratorium on the use of poor old ELI? He’s been worked very hard for a long time in crossword land.

110 comments on “Quick Cryptic 2975 by Oink”

  1. PB here too, but I enjoyed the puzzle for the many witty clues rather than for the speed.

    I was another “Who’s Lyton?”, and I hesitated over LOI WEAK. Otherwise fast and all done (and parsed, and proofread) in 04:41. I still only just squeaked into the top 100!

    Many thanks Oink and Bletchers (I shall pass on the fire-breathing information to my Dragoon Guards son).

  2. Really enjoyed this puzzle. Seemed to be a genuine QC as opposed to some we have seen recently

  3. 7:36. North American baseball pitchers who rely mainly on their fastball are often called SPEED MERCHANTS by commentators.

  4. Ten with cha cha Cha going on straight away and mostly filling the north west.

    My parafin heater has had its day, what should I do? Get a lad in…

    The Aladdin building on the A40 just after the target roundabout is now a Dunelm Mill.

    The Target pub is now a MacDonalds.

  5. 6.58 I had to come back to ARSENIC, SPEED MERCHANT and DRAGOON but this was all pretty straightforward. Thanks BR and Oink.

  6. A really enjoyable crossword. Felt like my fastest ever but still 11 minutes, though all parsed. Thank you Oink.

  7. Lots of fun, with lots of ticks and smiles along the way – SPEED MERCHANT, RAYON, PHOTO, PREDATORY and SPUD were particular favourites.
    I also wondered briefly if there was an artificial material called LYTON 😂
    I didn’t remember the info about DRAGOONs and their weapons – almost quite whimsical!
    I thought this was pretty easy but as I do it on paper, I would be hard pressed to write much more quickly and keep it legible.
    Happy days in the SCC!
    6: 17 and no biffing! FOI Cha cha cha LOI Dragoon COD Sanctuary
    Thanks Oink and BR – welcome back

  8. An early solve and kept a slow pace as waiting for car to be valeted! Probably otherwise a PB.
    FOI 1 a cha cha cha
    LOI 15d dragoon
    COD 17a rayon, not Luton!
    Welcome back to BR and thx to Oink for a gentle coffee & cake in the Sun

  9. Thanks for all your comments. I’m glad pretty well everyone found this such an accessible QC. From the fast times reported, looks like the blogger has been one of the slow (or at least slower) coaches today!

    1. As well as so many who found it accessible, we noted the number who said it was also enjoyable. We hope the crossword editor is taking note! Thanks Oink for a great QC, and Bletchers for your blog.

  10. 11 minutes, all parsed. That’s quick for me though sadly not a PB as I have in the dim and distant past dipped under 10 minutes. A short delay while I briefly considered whether ‘Lyton’ was a material at 17ac and a moment of panic when I saw -a-a-a at 16ac but otherwise plain sailing.

    FOI – 1ac CHA CHA CHA
    LOI – 7dn WEAK
    COD – lots to like but I think my favourite is the speedy drug dealer at 14ac

    Thanks to Oink and BR

  11. Wow, Oink must be in a gentle mood today because I finished in a fast-for-me 9:10 in spite of some distracting bad news arriving in the middle of the solve! Or maybe it’s better to be distracted, that’s possible too. Anyhow, an entertaining puzzle with no frustrations. FOI was CHA-CHA-CHA, for which it helped to be a Sam Cooke fan. Enjoyed “children’s writer” for cRAYON, liked the scary aunt best. So happy to be spared As for ARSENIC, still haven’t learned it.

    Thanks to Oink and Bletch. I share your concern for poor old Eli.

  12. Very gentle, except, like at least one other person above, I had to resort to an alphabet trawl for LOI WEAK; I need some convincing that “indecisive” and “weak” are remotely synonymous.

  14. DNF chasing a PB of sub 15 mins. Panama the easy one that eluded me! Otherwise was on Oinks wavelength. Doing it on paper helped see Oinks name and made Sow sooo much easier. Thanks all

    Ps why does AD = Bill?

  15. Nowhere close to our PB though still very much on the faster side. Only slightly held up by having foolishly biffed PASTA, with no reference to letter order, before CHASTISE forced a rethink. Re the use of ELI, we were particularly amused by the use of deli in its clue which, once upon a time, also seemed to be ubiquitous. Also amused by PANAMA. 8:41. Thanks all and congrats to all the PBers.

  16. 6:26. A really fun one, nothing too challenging though it took me quite a few crossers to get the drug dealer…. thanks both!

  17. 8:58, which is quick for me, and I might have wandered in the vicinity of a PB if SPEED MERCHANT hadn’t tripped me up at the end. Hadn’t heard the term before but Chambers doesn’t have a problem with it.

    Thank you for the blog!

  18. 9:51

    I do enjoy an Oink puzzle. This was definitely at the easier end of the spectrum. Sub 10 is very rare for me. LOI WEAK.

  21. A tad under 5 minutes for me including 20 seconds discussing tea with my wife. Either just on wavelength today or the setter was being kind. Only DRAGOON and RAYON needed a longer think.

    COD: RAYON if I am going to fall for the children’s writer trick I may as well give it a round of applause.

    Thanks Oink and blogger

  22. 6:30 here, my second fastest ever. Enjoyed the unusual feeling of getting most clues first time.

    Thanks to Oink and BR.

  23. 13 minutes.

    A dreadful performance given the Quitch score. Very disappointing day. 3 minutes on WEAK, an apt word for my level of ability.

    1.75 hours on 15 x 15 and still 7/8 short. Useless.

    PS Having how read the blog for 15 x 15, I am more convinced than ever that I will never get the hang of cryptic puzzles.

    PPS Congrats to those with PBs today. You must tell me what it feels like.

  24. PB as well today. 8’51’’. For once it all fell into place. Back to normal tomorrow I presume

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