Quick Cryptic 3032 by Jalna

Author   CuraristPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

So a little stiffer than usual –  7 minutes for me – but with some cracking clues. 14ac is both an slightly obscure piece of GK and a fiendishly well-disguised hidden word, which may raise cries of foul. But what a clue!

Across
1 Grilling, or being fried, possibly (10)
DEBRIEFING – anagram (‘possibly’) of BEING FRIED
8 Filth, look, fills plaza almost entirely (7)
SQUALOR – LO (look) inside SQUAR[E]
9 Some monosodium — a mightily savoury taste (5)
UMAMI – hidden word
10 Contact striking the head that hurts! (4)
OUCH – TOUCH minus the T
11 Exasperating book containing anger and spite primarily (8)
TIRESOME – TOME (book) with IRE + S inside
13 Hidden store of money picked up (5)
CACHE – sounds like CASH
14 Piece of felt alongside cards laid on a table (5)
TALON – Hidden word. In various card games, the talon is the pile of cards not yet in play. It’s one of the million words I only know because I do crosswords. Pretty tough clue if you don’t know it.
16 Quit a job, or agreed to a new contract? (8)
RESIGNED – double definition, the second probably needs a hyphen
17 In a higher position at work (4)
ATOP – AT + OP
20 Everybody has almost rejected God (5)
ALLAH – ALL + HA[S] backwards
21 Erewhon’s about non-existent place (7)
NOWHERE – erewhon backwards. Also the title of a satirical novel by Samuel Butler
22 Don’t say I’ve changed, it may be scary to behold (5,5)
VIDEO NASTY – anagram (‘changed’) of DON’T SAY IVE. Rather dated term describing the moral panic that accompanied the arrival of the video recorder in the early 80s. See The Young Ones for more details.
Down
1 Club record with vocoder in the middle (5)
DISCO – DISC + [VOC]O[DER]
2 Uncle and boys act out something at a kid’s party? (6,6)
BOUNCY CASTLE – anagram (‘out’) of UNCLE BOYS ACT
3 Passage lacking a key (4)
ISLE – AISLE minus A
4 In favour of proposed ban (6)
FORBID – FOR (in favour) + BID (proposed)
5 Well-organised European suppressing a US revolt (8)
NAUSEATE – NEAT + E with A + US inserted. Quite a lot of moving parts for a quickie, and my LOI.
6 Male writer such as JRR Tolkien or DBC Pierre? (3,2,7)
MAN OF LETTERS – cryptic definition
7 Continue working after wicked uprising (4,2)
LIVE ON -ON (working) after EVIL backwards
12 Principle of harmonious design for which iron is hung in pieces (4,4)
FENG SHUI – FE (iron) + anagram (‘in pieces’) od IS HUNG
13 Grass and concrete beneath church (6)
CEREAL – REAL under CE
15 Someone who is unkind — that is to say, below average (6)
MEANIE – MEAN (average) + IE (that is to say)
18 Devotion and compassion holding true in the end (5)
PIETY – PITY with [TRU]E inserted
19 Double whiskey in metal receptacle (4)
TWIN – W inside TIN

80 comments on “Quick Cryptic 3032 by Jalna”

  1. 9 minutes. A nice puzzle. I don’t think I ever heard of TALON in this sense before although I am a keen card player. A little research suggests the term is mainly applied in card games I’ve never played and mostly never even heard of. The “stock” is what I’ve always called it. Fortunately with the aid of checkers I spotted the answer was hidden.

  2. After 3 minutes of staring at the first few clues, nada. Went to the bottom, finally saw twin and that got us going. Annoyed not to have spotted 1a was an anagram, that might have been a different story. Gradually worked our way up and left.

    As suggested, NHO talon but got from word play, liked man of letters.

    Nauseate took a lot of unpicking until the PDM of inserting aus to finish in 26.05

    Thanks Jalna and Curarist

  3. I didn’t find this at all easy and got round in 11.50, with no idea about TALON. Nor did I spot it was a hidden. Some of these, like NAUSEATE, took a fair bit of unpacking especially when I had the clue the wrong way round and was looking for a word meaning ‘well-organised’. When I look now at some of the other dopey mistakes I made I’m surprised my time wasn’t longer. Thanks to Jalna and Curarist.

  4. Thanks for the explanation of talon. I could see the hidden but had no idea of that meaning. Also nauseate is a mystery. Does it mean you stomach is revolting?

    1. If you find something nauseating it could also be said that you find it revolting i.e. a bad smell.

    2. To nauseate is to revolt. “Crumpets at breakfast nauseate/revolt me”

  5. Aaaaaaaghhhhhhhh. For the second day in the row I’m bottom of the leaderboard after spellcheck failure. Today ‘nohwere’ provided the two errors to match those I got yesterday (on the subject of 21a, did anyone else find it hard to make out the italicised letters in the anagram fodder?).

    Other than that an enjoyable and mid-diffiulty solve finishing with TALON, which was unknown in that sense.

    Thanks to Curarist and Jalna.

  6. 12:03 and all the answers understood, even TALON which I had VHO. NAUSEATE and CEREAL my L2I and added at least 2 minutes to the solve. But my ignorance today was over a word in the clues, specifically vocoder, totally NHO. I shall now go and look it up.

    Many thanks Curarist for the blog.

  7. Some tricky stuff today, but, it is Friday. NHO of the TALON for cards but saw the hidden and moved on. Remembered VIDEO NASTY from the days of Mary Whitehouse. Some of the anagrams were not easy: NAUSEATE, DEBRIEFING, TIRESOME. Remember DBC Pierre and his book ‘Vernon God Little’. COD to SQUALOR.
    Thanks C and setter.

  8. 14:20 Well, did the tiresome and evil umami nauseate me? Did it by George. All fairly clued and as one with GORD surprised I couldn’t fetch them up (apologies for the sick joke)
    Thanks J&C

  9. 9.38. Saw TALON early but had never heard of it in that sense. LOI was TWIN where for some reason I hade been looking for a very unlikely solution that contained WW.

    Denied in the end by a fat fingered typo. Annoying.

    Thanks all

    Horners

  10. In my early days of operating large mainframe computers (1968-73) a lot of time was spent playing cards while we waited for the magnetic tapes to need changing, and at Kalamazoo Systems in
    Birmingham we liked to experiment with
    different games – I’d acquired a secondhand version of “Hoyle” so there
    were plenty to go at. We particularly liked piquet, and it was from there that I knew TALON in the required sense.

    I thoroughly enjoyed this, despite another sub-Snitch performance. I really can’t decide on my COD, so for the first time ever I’ve selected two.

    FOI UMAMI
    LOI BOUNCY CASTLE
    COD DEBRIEFING or VIDEO NASTY
    TIME 5:18

    1. Yes, of the many card games I found when researching TALON the only two I knew by name were Piquet and Ecarte. I’ve never played either but they are crossword regulars.

  11. After passing over the first couple of clues I actually made quite a strong start but the hard work started there with the RHS being noticeably bare for quite a while. Loved OUCH and enjoyed MAN OF LETTERS and video nasty. Stretched out beyond 20m.

  12. Lovely puzzle. Unaware of that meaning of TALON but it had to be. Great surfaces and some interesting choices of words and phrases. 9:18.

  13. I have had mixed success with Jalna – after a run of slow solves, my last two puzzles were finished in fairly good times. However, not much joy at first with this one so it was a painful series of hops around the grid discovering some good clues and pdms. I entered TALON with fingers crossed and took a while to get DISCO and DEBRIEFING. I was left with 5d and, as I moved into the SCC, I lost the will to search for it so dnf. Ah well, I had a reasonable run this week up until today.
    Thanks to both.

  14. Worn out and it’s only 9am. I admit I feebly looked up synonyms for Wicked to solve LOI LIVE ON, as had spent an age on this not so Quickie.
    Otherwise all correct, eventually. Biffed NAUSEATE, CNP.
    NHO TALON, but it had to be. Managed TIRESOME after a struggle.
    FOsI DEBRIEFING and DISCO should have been a good start but then had to plod around the grid solving here and there.
    PDM FENG SHUI. Liked CEREAL, MEANIE, MAN OF LETTERS.
    Thanks vm, Curarist.

  15. 13:09 for the solve. I rather enjoyed that. The BOUNCY CASTLE and dated VIDEO NASTY were fun; UMAMI not to be confused with the true essence of self-defense – “unagi”!

    First week of clean solves since mid-April taking 1hr11 for the five puzzles – just need to finish it off with a decent Saturday solve.

    Have a good weekend everybody and thanks to Curarist and Jalna.

    1. Ah, New Driver, I sensed it was you…
      Shame there never was a “The One with the Crossword” episode 😊

  16. 13:15 (Edward Bruce proclaimed High King of Ireland)

    Held up at the end by NAUSEATE and the NHO TALON.

    Thanks Curarist and Jalna

  17. On wavelength today but it was a proper workout, with Jalna spinning the ball this way and that. NHO LOI TALON, but as Jack says it fitted the checkers … so in it went. COD to CEREAL but lots to choose from – even Phil couldn’t decide!

    Home and hosed in 06:47 for a Very Good Day. Many thanks Jalna and Curarist.

  18. Tough one today but got through it. I had heard of talon because I’m a fan of piquet, but it was a surprise to see it.

    2. Florida keys but I always thought they should be quays. I blame phonetics.

  20. A real struggle to limp home in a very slow 28.07. NHO TALON in this sense, but biffed it. NAUSEATE, CEREAL, LIVE ON difficult to parse. Hard work. Coffee needed now.

  21. FOI NOWHERE as knew it was an anagram of Samuel Butler’s novel. Pleased I remembered the Florida Keys. Then raced through until held up by NAUSEATE for no obvious reason, and having got that, NHO TALON was a write-in as it was clearly marked as a hidden. Thanks Curarist and Jalna.

  22. From DEBRIEFING to TWIN in 8:08. NHO that meaning of TALON. Thanks Jalna and Curarist.

  23. Only five today. Bit too high brow for me. Missed men of letters which was annoying.

  24. Saw TALON as a hidden on the first pass but my more frequently card-playing OH hadn’t heard of it in that context so it was our LOI once we had all the checkers. I might have come across it once before but couldn’t recall. I can’t relish the thought of drinking whisky out of a tin. I was once bought a pewter beer mug and barely used it – difficult to suppress the taste of metal. Loved TOUCH though. Just on the faster side again for us today at 11:23. Thanks, Curarist and Jalna.

    1. I had exactly that problem with my pewter beer mug. It got left behind when I broke up with my second wife, as did my beloved black labrador, Merlin. I still think of him often, but the tankard? No!

  25. No time recorded

    Strangely, I had to pause my solve when I received an urgent email but on reopening the puzzle the clock hadn’t stopped. I guess the time was around 20 minutes.

    Struggled in the NE where I didn’t know TALON had anything to do with cards and didn’t associate revolt with NAUSEATE. LOI ISLE where the meaning of key only clicked after an alphabet trawl. Thankfully not many I blank L blank words.

  26. Jalna is always difficult but finished this in the end (about an hour plus). CNP OUCH (of course, thanks, Curarist), NHO TALON (but there it was), can’t quite see MAN OF LETTERS but it fits, and NAUSEATE took for ever to sort out. MEANIE: “to say” seems superfluous (“that is” = IE).

    1. This is the strongest evidence I have seen to date to support the claim by men of letters that all scientists are illiterate…..

      Comment from a post grad when marking my chemistry practical report with “sudgests”. They didn’t have dyslexia in 1970 …

  27. I thought this was a fun Friday puzzle, not too easy but not too hard. I completed it in 10:44 so a little over my target of 10:00.

    I didn’t manage to parse OUCH, which on seeing the blog makes me wonder why I didn’t see it. I do know TALON in this sense, probably because when I was young I had a book about card games and read the rules of loads of different games, very few of which I’ve ever subsequently played! It was my LOI, when I looked at it, I thought TALON, then read the clue and connected it to the definition. I didn’t really parse it though, glibly thinking to myself, TAL must be a (NHO) piece of felt with ON for alongside (bit weak I thought), before immediately coming here to check OUCH. so I’m glad to be set straight by our blogger today.

    Thanks Jalna and our blogger.

  29. Longer than usual today, but completed. Plenty to warm up the synapses and a glow of satisfaction as NAUSEATE went in. When the NE filled in without too much sweat I thought it might be an easier Jalna, but further on and around the difficulty escalated. Many clues where I could discern an outline of the answer but took time to nail it down; several sets of odd letters pencilled in to work around.
    A fun Friday, thanks setter and blogger.

  31. I reached my cut-off time of 30 minutes with NAUSEATE and TALON outstanding. NHO the latter in this sense. I was slow throughout but had most of it completed in around 20 minutes but was slow to see several including ISLE which is a bit of a chestnut.

    FOI – 8ac SQUALOR
    LOI – DNF
    COD – 11ac TIRESOME

    Thanks to Jalna and Curarist.

  32. 5:14

    Sailed through this, pausing only for second to last TALON – didn’t know the meaning, but the wordplay was clear – which gave the T to make NAUSEATE much easier to solve. Liked MAN OF LETTERS.

    Thanks Curarist and Jalna

  33. Guessed ‘talon’, fine other than that. ‘Nowhere’ a bit disappointing because that’s where the name Erewhon comes from anyway.

  34. For the second day running I found this to be tough finishing in a slow 13.40. Two unknowns for me in TALON and UMAMI, although I notice no one else seems to be unaware of the latter.
    My total for the week was 53.18, giving me a daily average of 10.40.

  35. 6:23, powered by the first proper night’s sleep all week. Dread to think what would have happened otherwise.

    LOI VIDEO NASTY.

    Nice puzzle, I thought.

  36. Curarist, 21ac, Erewhon is an anagram, not a reversal, of Nowhere. I’ve not read the book, but believes it describes a society with reversed values, hence perhaps inventing the title as a near-reversal of Nowhere.

  37. Curarist – you’ve blogged …

    21 Erewhon’s about non-existent place (7)
    NOWHERE – erewhon backwards. Also the title of a satirical novel by Samuel Butler

    If I’m not mistaken that would be “nohwere”. I’ve got it down as an anagram with “about” as the anagram indicator

    Edit: just to be clear … if “about” in the clue is an instruction to reverse Erewhon, you would get Nohwere. Therefore I am suggesting “about” is anagram indicator.

  38. No time to read everyone’s posts just now, but I will when I get back!
    So just a quick report: a better day as I managed to finish the crossword in one sitting – I’ve had a couple of breezeblocks this week, where I’ve had to go away for a couple of hours and come back to put the last two in, and then get a DNF to boot.
    A couple of tricky ones – I didn’t know TALON but it couldn’t be anything else and I couldn’t parse OUCH- so obvious too 😅 I liked VIDEO NASTY (so to speak – never actually liked horror films) and LIVE ON.
    FOI Umami (no Marmite on crumpets for me today, just butter on toasted seeded bread) LOI Tiresome COD Bouncy castle
    Thanks Jalna and Curarist

    On edit: I took 10:34 and also really liked DEBRIEFING

  39. I think I was firmly on the wavelength today, somehow finding this a stretch in parts but still very doable, finishing in 13:09. Feels a bit like this one was created for me personally, which I appreciate – long may it continue.

    Thank you for the blog!

  40. I am blaming my appalling NITCH today on an inordinate amount of time over TALON. I’d never heard of it in that sense before, even brief Google search didn’t bring up anything and I just couldn’t believe the “Quick” Crossword would have included anything so obscure.
    Shows how little I know then.

  41. As a confirmed nit-picker I have comments on 21, Nowhere – it is famously not Erewhon backwards, although it looks like it. 15d Meanie. Mean and average are different measures, but only to statisticians.
    I knew about 14a Talon but it did NOT come to mind and I didn’t see the hidden, so biffed and score 1 to Jalna. Bother!
    Anyway quite a hard one I thought as I couldn’t get started on 1a Debriefing because I didn’t spot the (pretty easy) anagram at first. And plenty more challenges IMO. NHO vocoder for 1d Disco, but didn’t need to know what it means. I do now though!
    Thanks Curarist and Jalna.

  42. Several interruptions today, but I solve on paper and was therefore able to jot down my pause/re-start times as I went along. Here’s what happened:

    5 mins – All Across clues attempted, but only four solved. (Mike H and Busman are just about to finish)

    12 mins – First full pass completed, but still only seven clues done. This is challenging.

    26 mins – A good spell has propelled me to my LOI (5d) …. or so I think. However, I don’t know it yet, but my biffed ‘ALL IN’ (cards laid on a table) at 14a is incorrect.

    36 mins – My error dawns on me and I can’t believe my stupidity. Why didn’t I spot that the solution to 14a was a single, 5-letter word (not a 3,2 as I had)?

    39 mins – TALON (unknown to me) finally arrives and I’m at my LOI again.

    47 mins – Having trawled extensively, and I really do mean extensively, I write in NAUSEATE – but only because it’s the only word I can find that fits the space. I’m entirely unconvinced, because I haven’t spotted NEAT for ‘well-organised’ and I can’t see how NAUSEATE means ‘revolt’.

    So, I avoided a DNF, but only by pure chance and I really should have pulled stumps 20 minutes earlier. 47 minutes is relatively slow for me these days, but not that unusual I’m afraid.

    Many thanks to Curarist and Jalna.

  43. Tricky in places but very enjoyable. Biffed TALON and couldn’t parse OUCH 🙄 LOI was LIVE ON (took an age before I thought of reversing evil). COD ISLE. Thanks C and Jalna.

    1. From experience, I’ve found that “wicked uprising” and other synonyms that are highlighted as needing to be reversed, often end up being “evil”.

  44. DNF. Stopped at 30 mins.
    I found S much easier than N.
    Thanks for the useful blog Curare

  45. 10.26 That felt tricky. DEBRIEFING was very good. TALON was new. ATOP and PIETY took a couple of minutes at the end. Thanks Curarist and Jalna.

  46. 17 mins…

    Didn’t know “Talon” or “Umami”, but the setter is forgiven as they were easily obtainable with the checkers. This definitely took a bit of thought with some excellent clues pitched at just about the right level of difficulty. It didn’t help that for some reason I was trying to fit the clue for 9ac into 8ac on the grid. Done this a couple of times recently, and never quite get over the feeling of discombobulation when I try and work out what is going on.

    Anyway, enjoyed 11ac “Tiresome”, 22ac “Video Nasty” (I remember the panic well) and 19dn “Twin, which took far longer than it should have (I also fell for the double “W”). But, my clue of the day goes to the simply surfaced, yet intricately clued, 5dn “Nauseate”.

    FOI – 1dn “Disco”
    LOI – 11ac “Tiresome”
    COD – 5dn “Nauseate”

    Thanks as usual!

  47. Much too hard for me. Lots of MERs. 10 minute search of Google doesn’t find the slightest overlap between debrief and grilling. Ah! PDM must be a Collins-only special.

    1. I agree – they surely require completely different approaches. It’s like saying whispering and shouting are the same because they both involve speech.

    2. Chambers gives:
      Debrief – To gather information from (soldiers, spies, etc) at the end of a mission or activity
      Grill – 3. To interrogate aggressively

      1. I don’t understand your point, in fact you have proved mine. The first definition is of debrief – gather information, hopefully politely and gently, the dozens of debriefs that I encountered were. The second is of grill – to beat the crap out of someone. Where is the definition that has both meaning the same? – Ah I thought not. (I was tempted to add “not even in Collins”, but Jackkt will rap my knuckles if I do)

  48. A near 30min slog, not helped by not spotting that 1ac was an anagram until late on. I am continually amazed that my one and only clean sweep was with Jalna, as I often find his clues fall into the ‘impossible until blindingly obvious’ category. Loi Nauseate certainly fits that description. Invariant

  49. Finished in just over an hour. Some tricky clues, but needed it to wake me up today! Thank you for the blog, helped me understand what a TALON was, only got it from the word play.

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