Quick Cryptic 38 by Orpheus

I’ve blogged an Orpheus crossword before, and this one was pretty similar in style. Perhaps on the easier side, but some will be grateful for that after yesterday’s tricky offering. Nice clueing with the important element of humour. I was wondering if solvers might like a difficulty rating with the quick cryptic (as per Su Doku). The disadvantage of this is that it takes away some of the surprise, and I enjoy the full cryptic more for not knowing the solver or difficulty, but quick cryptic solvers might prefer it to give them some forewarning- any thoughts?

Across
1 HOPSCOTCH – The bound is a HOP rather than being certain as the surface suggests, combine with SCOTCH (‘whisky’) to give the kids playground game.
6 FAR – The RAF are the ‘airmen’, which when reversed (‘retreating’) gives FAR. Def = a long way
8 PADLOCK – An anagram of ‘old pack’; the anagrind is ‘funny’. Combination words (eg PAD-LOCK) are often the most difficult anagrams, if you’re struggling with an anagram, try and think of a combination word. Def = a form of security
9 WHALE – W is the first letter of was (‘initially’) followed by HALE (‘healthy’) to give a mammal not a fish as we are all taught early on. Def = large mammal
10 LADLE – LAD is the youth, followed (‘pursued’) by LE (the in FRENCH) to give a large soup spoon rather than someone frequently in trouble as the surface suggests. Crossworders need to know some foreign articles- le, la, un, une (French), der, ein (German), el (Spanish). Def= one often in the soup
12 NOVICE – A double definition, the second one being cryptic. Novice means an inmate of a religious house who has not yet taken their vows, and said inmate should hopefully ‘aspire to’ NO VICE (apart from cryptic crosswords). Def = religious probationer
14 SKATEBOARDING – S KATE is the southern woman, woman being loosely interpreted as any girl’s name. Combine with BOARDING (‘getting on’ as in a plane). Def= travelling like a youngster
16 PAGODA – A GOD (‘ a deity’) ‘in’ PA (US state code for ‘Pennsylvania’) to give ‘PAGODA’. Pagodas are eastern temples, the Peace Pagoda in Battersea on the bank of the Thames is a beautiful sight, but I haven’t seen it lit at night for a while. 2 letter US state codes often come up in crosswords (NY, CA, FL, OK, RI (new york, california, florida, oklahoma, rhode island respectively) are the most common I think. Def = where some worship
17 ALERT – Queen Victoria’s husband was ALBERT, which with the B (‘bishop’) removed (‘dismissed’) gives ALERT. Def = lively (
19 TRIER – A double definition, ‘one who attempts’ is a TRIER, which is also a German city on the banks of the Moselle. I had only vaguely heard of the city, hopefully more familiar to others.
20 INSTANT – IN is ‘popular’ combined with ‘ST’ (short for street, ie a ‘way’) and ‘ANT’ (‘worker’) to give INSTANT. Way could also indicate LA (lane) or RD (road) Def = a sort of coffee.
22 PIE – the first letters (‘originally’) of ‘prepared in eastbourne’ are PIE. Def = baked dish
23 PRETENDER – double definition; ‘one indulging in make believe’ is a PRETENDER which can also mean a claimant to a throne as was Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Down
1 HOPELESS – Apparently Bob Hope made a series of ‘Road to’ movies, hence HOPELESS is ‘unlike such movies. Sometimes I’m afraid you just have to put in the clue from the checkers if you don’t know the General Knowledge aspect. Def = Pathetic
2 POD – PO is the Italian river (probably most common river used in crosswords) with D (‘beginning of dive’ – ie first letter) ‘under’ it to give POD. A pod or school is the name for a group of dolphins.
3 CLOVE – C (‘cook’s initial’) combined with LOVE (‘passion’) to give a spice whose oil is good for toothache. Def = spice
4 TAKEN FOR A RIDE – To be taken for a ride is to be swindled, and I suppose you might also be taken for a ride by a girl at an equestrian centre. Def = Swindled
5 HOWEVER – WE is ‘you and I’ (unless I’m royalty) with HOVER (hang) ‘around’ it to give HOWEVER. Def = though
6 FRANCHISE – FRANCE is the European country, which when ‘accepting’ HIS becomes ‘FRANCHISE. Def = right to vote
7 REEL – REEL is a homophone for real (‘genuine sounding’) and can also mean a dance. Def = Scottish Dance
11 DRAMATISE – Rearrange ‘It’s a dream’ to give DRAMATISE. ‘Somehow’ is the anagrind. Def = to adapt for the stage
13 AGITATOR – An AGITATOR is a political activist, and to agitate can mean to cause a stir. Def = activist
15 EGO TRIP – Rearrange ‘to gripe’ to give EGO TRIP. The anagrind is ‘dreadfully’. Def = self centred activity
17 AISLE – Sea-girt apparently means enclosed by the sea, so an ISLE is a ‘sea-girt territory’. Combine A and ISLE to give AISLE. Def = passage
18 STOP – POTS (‘lots of money’) when reversed (‘raised’) gives STOP. I wonder if STOP is the four letter word with the most anagrams (ed- actually it’s SEAT with 7 anagrams as pointed out by Mohn2)? Def = Prevent
21 AID – AD is a notice (advertisement), when placed around (‘about’) an I gives AID. AD can be indicated by plug, bill, poster, promotion etc. Def = benefit

21 comments on “Quick Cryptic 38 by Orpheus”

  1. Good blog, Allan. My take on a difficulty rating is that it depends so much on the individual solver – I’ve seen numerous situations where I found a puzzle difficult and someone else found it easy, then the very next day it’s been the other way around. People tend to agree on puzzles that are at the extremes (i.e. very easy or very difficult) but the middle ground is a substantial grey area.

    I think SEAT might be the four letter word with most anagrams.

    Edited at 2014-04-30 11:36 am (UTC)

  2. Allan – I don’t have access to the Quick Cryptic, but I have read your blog and would like to compliment you on an excellent presentation. I am sure that solvers who are just starting to tackle cryptic crosswords must find this extremely helpful.
  3. Just under 15 minutes so on the easier side for me. Unfortunately I am old enough to get 1d, I suspect some of the younger solvers may struggle with this one. Liked 1a and 23a. Yesterday I got the long answers quite quickly but today SKATEBOARDING was my LOI.
  4. 11 minutes for this one whereas I did both Orpheus’s previous offerings within 10. I don’t like 14ac because there’s nothing age-related in the actual definition of the word.

    I agree with what mohn2 says on the subject of difficulty ratings and would not want to see them introduced.

    Edited at 2014-04-30 01:13 pm (UTC)

    1. 14ac – I don’t agree. Wouldn’t you say skateboarding was associated with youth?
  5. Hurrah! For the first time ever I finished today with help from a colleague on 16a and 15d. Think that shows it must have been easy but I feel very pleased! Great blog.
  6. This was *much* better for me than yesterday and has made me very happy. I finished but I couldn’t fully explain why trier, instant, and aisle were the correct answers until I read the blog.

    On difficulty ratings, it would help me to know whether I am likely to be able to complete a puzzle or whether I should be content to solve just one or two clues. I would have thought that rating crosswords for difficulty would be harder that rating SuDoku and I regularly rant about the often wildly inaccurate SuDoku ratings, so if it can’t be done any better than that, don’t bother!

    Off to celebrate now….

  7. I am really pleased with myself as I only failed on 15a and 5d. This is the nearest I have got to completion as I am a complete cryptic novice. So pleased that the blog is there it is a great help and I look forward to a full house soon.
    Thank you .
  8. About 4 mins for this one, which I would classify as straightforward but enjoyable. SKATEBOARDING was my LOI.

    Count me as another who wouldn’t like to see difficulty ratings.

  9. The difficulty rating is really interesting. Crosswords are far more personal than Sudoku as they rely on knowledge you may/may not have (I didn’t know 1dn but it was a pretty easy guess with the checkers). I think therefore that the idea of having some kind of rating may have been behind the founding of this website – its called Times for the Times as people are expected to put down a time (if they finish!) and you tend to get used to who does what sort of time. Today for me was 11 minutes – less than half yesterday’s effort. Andy Burrows often does these in 4 minutes (but took 11 yesterday) [on edit – just seen Andy’s comment after I clicked ‘post’ and he was to par today with 4mins!]. So you get to judge your own ‘rating’ and it is wonderful when your times come down relatively.
    As for today’s crossword itself, I’m so pleased to see people finishing. It would be great if you registered with Livejournal (like Docbee6) so we can see who you are and congratulate you personally!

    Edited at 2014-04-30 04:40 pm (UTC)

  10. Great blog, thanks

    Felt to me that “by a girl” in 14ac was superfluous. Though answer became clear, this addition made parsing it take a while, as kept looking for something gender related.

    1. “by the girl” is in 4dn, but you make a very good point. It’s the same sort of thing as I commented on re “like a youngster” in 14ac – introducing additional elements that have nothing to do with the clue.
  11. Nice to see Docbee and others finish the crossword for the first time. Cryptics are definitely something you get better at with practice because of the time it takes to pick up all the numerous conventions/abbreviations and indicators, so newer solvers should find they improve over time. Seems there was universal dislike of difficulty ratings, I also prefer not having them, but thought I’d float the idea.
  12. Was a novice when starting on the Quick Cryptics and now at no. 38 reckon to complete most of them (eventually) but also with help from xword phone app. The blogs are really helpful in the learning process especially with the parsing. The generalisations from today’s blog also v.good
  13. First time I have completed a QC in under an hour. 47 minutes a lot easier than yesterday. Thanks again for the blog very interesting and helpful
  14. 10 minutes and enjoyable. I agree with most here – difficulty ratings do often seem to be subjective as there are a number of puzzles I find much easier/harder than the majority and if one is rated really hard it may put people off trying….
  15. I’m new to Cryptic crosswords and I’m loving the new version from The Times. Really appreciate the blog. Sorry to hear one of your regular contributers is unwell.
  16. These QC s are perfect for getting going and applying your basic understanding of the many types of word play. I get nearly all these right before turning to this blog but haven’t necessarily understood why every clue gives its answer. Maybe in due course through practice here and learning from this blog I will progress to the main cryptic though most days I don’t find enough time. Excellent keep up this wonderful site please and Times please keep the quickies and give us one on a Saturday too please.

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