Quick Cryptic 305 by Tracy

Author   mohn2Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I thought this was one was of average difficulty, though I’m not sure how well known the answers to 10A and 14A will be. Nothing that blew my socks off here, but nothing objectionable either. Thanks, Tracy.

If you’re having trouble accessing the puzzle from the Times site, it can be found here: http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20150511/4336/

Definitions are underlined.

Across
1 Unstable arrangement of deck? (5,2,5)
HOUSE OF CARDS – cryptic definition, referring to a deck of cards
9 Gentleman’s gentleman Virginia hired (5)
VALET – VA (Virginia, i.e. the usual abbreviation for the US state of Virginia) + LET (hired)
10 Grandmother eager to find cloth that’s buff-coloured (7)
NANKEEN – NAN (Grandmother) + KEEN (eager), for the buff-coloured cloth originally from Nanjing (or Nanking as it was). This cropped up with a similar clue in Quicky 14 in March of last year but it’s a word that I would associate more with the main cryptic than the Quicky.
11 Grow profusely in a French river, one in decay (3,4)
RUN RIOT – UN (a French, i.e. one of the words for “a” in French) + R (river) + I (one), all inside ROT (decay)
12 Small figure in corner from fashionable collection (5)
INSET – IN (fashionable) + SET (collection), for something (e.g. a map) inserted in the corner of another
13 Turn over soil, soft by lake (6)
PLOUGH – P (soft, i.e. piano as a musical instruction) + LOUGH (lake – the Irish equivalent of a loch)
14 White whale, a bulge at sea (6)
BELUGA – anagram (at sea) of A BULGE, for the white whale predominantly found in Arctic waters and known as the canary of the sea. Not Moby Dick, nor a source of caviar. The surface kind of makes sense, by virtue of the fact that the beluga has a bulge (called the melon) on the front of its head, used for echolocation.
17 Colour of bream when cooked (5)
AMBER – anagram (when cooked) of BREAM. A smooth surface.
19 I suffer over lad’s affair (7)
LIAISON – reversal (over) of I AIL (I suffer), + SON (lad)
21 Upper garment in basin with cap (4,3)
TANK TOP – TANK (basin) + TOP (cap)
22 Marauder, losing face, is furious (5)
IRATE – {p}IRATE (Marauder) without its first letter (losing face)
23 One invested in my top project that’s a good little earner? (5-7)
MONEY-SPINNER – ONE inside (invested in) MY SPINNER (my top)
Down
2 Rosalind’s lover in a city in Florida (7)
ORLANDO – double definition, the first referring to the character from Shakespeare’s As You Like It
3 Well-placed? Rather, after session (7,6)
SITTING PRETTY – PRETTY (Rather) after SITTING (session)
4 Decorated knight brought in to give a speech (6)
ORNATE – N (knight, in chess notation) inside ORATE (to give a speech)
5 Thought payment a factor (13)
CONSIDERATION – triple definition, but sadly the setter didn’t want to cook nice tandooris as well
6 Flightless birds and hares running wild (5)
RHEAS – anagram (running wild) of HARES, for the ostrich-like birds native to South America which have also apparently created a small community in north-eastern Germany
7 Singer posed to accommodate popular artist (7)
SINATRA – SAT (posed) around IN (popular), + RA (artist). Bonus point for anyone who put in Sinitta from the checkers.
8 Finished series of deliveries (4)
OVER – double definition, the second referring to cricket
13 Ghost in Christmas show capturing hearts? Marley’s head (7)
PHANTOM – PANTO (Christmas show) around (capturing) H (hearts), + M (Marley’s head, i.e. the first letter of Marley). An intentional reference in the surface to Jacob Marley from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. In related news, Bob Marley died today in 1981.
15 Outshine in winning leg (7)
UPSTAGE – UP (winning) + STAGE (leg)
16 Raised student’s mistake (4-2)
SLIP-UP – reversal (Raised) of PUPIL’S (student’s)
18 Mountain peak in African country (5)
BENIN – BEN (Mountain peak) + IN, for the West African country known as Dahomey until 1975
20 Christmas verse taken from book (4)
NOEL – NOvEL (book) without the v (verse)

10 comments on “Quick Cryptic 305 by Tracy”

  1. When I clicked on the URL provided–and when I try to access the Quickie through my regular login procedure–I get an advertisement window urging me to subscribe to the Times–I do–a window, moreover, that cannot be closed. Anyone here have anything like this problem? Needless to say, I’ve inquired at the Times–a week ago and again today–and am expecting a reply before the next bank holiday.
  2. 8 minutes, straightforward, but with the same doubts that NANKEEN and BELUGA as a whale will be widely known.
  3. 10A crops up fairly regularly in books. I found this puzzle slow but steady – to me a while to find and opening but it went quite smoothly after that. Nothing wierd no archaic language or knowkedge of food/wine required. Yes, Rhea cropped up again but we see it so often that it’s fine now. The trick will be when a bird clue isn’t a rhea or an ibis. Then I will be stuffed!
    1. “In books” is quite a wide category 🙂 I would guess that nankeen perhaps comes up in period works by the likes of Georgette Heyer. From occasional stabs at the Listener, I’ve learned that there’s a whole slew of horrendous bird names out there such as the ani and the tui, none of which I would particularly care to encounter without a copy of Chambers by my side.
  4. My best time yet. Agree about 10ac but knew 14ac through a grandson obsessed with sharks and whales!
  5. I read this slightly differently as, mONEy, ie. one invested in my, and then Spinner for top.
  6. Raced through this puzzle, one of my fastest solves. Assisted by remembering 10a from last year’s quickie. Last in LIAISON which I did not parse. Favourite MONEY SPINNER.

    May pluck up courage to try the main cryptic, but my attempts are usually not very successful.

    1. The main cryptic today doesn’t have much in the way of complex wordplay, but a few bits of the vocab aren’t everyday words so it’s a good one to try from the standpoint of honing your wordplay-deciphering skills.
      1. I got just over half unaided but there were some I had no chance with. Pleased I got a couple of unknowns from the wordplay.
  7. I thought this was one of the easier ones we’ve had recently, only took me about 15 minutes which makes it one of my faster solves. It helped that 1a went in instantly and therefore gave me a lot of first letters. Hadn’t heard of 10a before but the word play made it quite clear (to me). Only 19a wasn’t parsed, but it couldn’t be anything else from the checkers.

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