Quick Cryptic 390 by Flamande

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
 8 minutes for this one, helped by the fact that the most unusual answer (at 10dn – and it was a long one) came up very recently in a 15×15 so it was fresh in my mind. Other than that and two biblical references in the same clue (12ac) which may not be familiar to some, I think it’s mostly straightforward, but we shall see what others made of it. My favourite clue was 11ac for its touch of humour.
For those wishing to graduate eventually to the main Times cryptic, today would be a good day to have a go.

As usual, definitions are underlined, {deletions are in curly brackets} and [indicators are in square ones]

Across
1 After confusion, get old text (7)
MESSAGE – MESS (confusion), AGE (get old)
5 Turn quiet? My goodness! (4)
GOSH – GO (turn), SH (quiet)
8 Groups arresting Italian criminals (7)
BANDITS – BANDS (groups) enclosing [arresting] IT (Italian)
9 Record   book? (5)
ALBUM – Two definitions. I’m not sure if records and albums are in the modern vernacular, but they’re good enough for an oldie like me.
11 Agitator – Trotskyite leader – one employed at Russian mint? (12)
TROUBLEMAKER – T{rotskyite}[leader], ROUBLE-MAKER (one employed in Russian mint). Ho-ho!
12 Priest’s initially hesitant, encountering a prophet (6)
ELISHA – ELI’S (priest’s), H{esitant}[initially], A
14 Workers together study Italian (6)
TUSCAN – TU (workers together – Trades Union), SCAN (study)
15 A walk in the park in part of Dundee? (1,5,2,4)
A PIECE OF CAKE – One idiomatic term for something that’s very easy leads us to another and there’s a cryptic hint with reference to Dundee cake to help us on our way. Both expressions are used a lot in TftT when puzzles are considered perhaps a little too easy.
17 First umpire carries part of wicket (5)
STUMP – Hidden in {fir}ST UMP{ire}
18 Fellow’s Conservative past (7)
HISTORY – HIS (fellow’s), TORY (Conservative)
20 Fibre, sort of rayon, nothing less (4)
YARN – Anagram [sort of] of RAY{o}N [nothing less]
21 Entertained by legendary crooner, listener’s standing (7)
BEARING – EAR (listener) enclosed by [entertained by] BING (legendary crooner – Harry Lillis Crosby jr)

Down
2 Woman from East Virginia (3)
EVA – E (East), VA (Virginia)
3 Social inadequate, weird when upset? (5)
SADDO – ODD (weird) + AS (when) reversed [upset]
4 Get lost, as firemen will in emergency? (2,2,6)
GO TO BLAZES – Another idiomatic expression plus a pointer to a more literal usage
5 Earl and son wandering in French city (7)
ORLEANS – Anagram [wandering] of EARL SON
7 The last words in bingo and chess for this resident (9)
HOUSEMATE – HOUSE (last word in bingo), MATE (last word in chess)
10 Ends of incisor infected badly? Toothpaste needed (10)
DENTIFRICE – Anagram [badly] of I{nciso}R INFECTED. This word came up recently in the main puzzle and some contributors claimed it was foreign, however it emerged that DENTIFRICE used to be in common English usage especially prior to the 1960s  before toothpowder and other such cleaning products were replaced by tubes of toothpaste.
11 Means of communication Ethel and Pat developed before end of century (9)
TELEPATHY – Anagram [developed] of ETHEL PAT, {centur}Y [end of…]
13 Second XI on Queen Elizabeth, a sea-going vessel? (7)
STEAMER – S (second), TEAM (XI), ER (Queen Elizabeth)
16 Portion of carrot cake served up for performer (5)
ACTOR – Hidden in [portion of] {car}ROT CA{ke} reversed [served up]
18 Governed Asian republic, except for the capital (3)
RAN – {I}RAN (Asian republic) [except for capital – first letter]

22 comments on “Quick Cryptic 390 by Flamande”

  1. No walk in the park for me today. I slowed myself down at various points, e.g. by looking for -con at 14ac, indeed almost rejecting TUSCAN when I got it, or by flinging in Elijah at 12ac, giving me a J to start 13d. I also didn’t twig to the imperative reading of ‘Get lost’ at 4d. I remember being surprised by the surprise over DENTIFRICE; but as some American explained at the time, the word became known to us when the American Dental Association endorsed a toothpaste for the first time (because it had fluoride) and used the term. Jack, your bracketing at 16d needs repairing. 9:20.
    1. Thanks. I’ve amended it now. Brief research (looking at Wiki) suggests that the first fluoride toothpaste appeared in 1950 and from memory I’d say it wasn’t available in the UK for some years after that. Gibbs Dentifrice however dates from many years before that as witnessed by this advert for it dated 1943 http://www.1900s.org.uk/1940s-cleaning-teeth.htm
      I doubt such a product would have been launched during the war so it probably goes back to the 1930s.
  2. I found this quite tricky too. The NW was the last area – I’d put EVI in as 2dn which didn’t help at all. Also held up with DENTIFRICE – I really should do letter circles for longer anagrams.
  3. I found this not too difficult but was glad to remember DENTRIFRICE from the recent 15×15. I liked 11a but also 17a for the neat surface. 6:30
  4. Thanks for the blog today Jack. I follow it every day and appreciate the explanations even though I can by now almost do it by myself. Except days like this when I was unable to get Dentifrice. Keep up the good work!
    1. Me too! Don’t be disheartened – you’re all a great help! See my comment on the main puzzle site 🙂 Penny
  5. Had 12a down to _L_SHA, and even knowing that the first 3 letters had to mean “priest” and the whole a “prophet”, still didn’t get it.

    Also didn’t get BEARING, but apart from that, it was pretty plain sailing.

    Got TUSCAN but needed this blog to understand it!

  6. I thought this was quite hard. In the end I had 3 clues in the NW corner plus 12a outstanding. At a second sitting I got Bandits, then Saddo (tricky I thought) then Message which was easy but only with hindsight.
    I then went back to 12a and tried various combinations, including Elisha whom I had never heard of. I have just googled Elisha and got a Canadian actress.Anyway A DNF.
    Generally I prefer it if a word can be used rather than GK;Plasma would have fitted and the setter could have had some fun clueing that. David
    1. Yes, I thought ELISHA might prove tricky and in my opinion it’s a poor clue because it calls upon two pieces of GK from exactly the same area of knowledge. ELI for ‘priest’ is definitely worth remembering though as it’s standard cryptic puzzle fare.

      Edited at 2015-09-07 04:57 pm (UTC)

  7. We seem to be heading for an all-time lowest response to a Quick cryptic blog. It’s very disappointing the way that interest seems to be falling off. I hope it’s more widely read than recent conributions might suggest.
  8. I both enjoy and appreciate the daily blog so thank you all. I do not like to comment as I always read these amazing times whereas I am thrilled if I can finish at all! I would be happy to log in but have unfortunately even failed to achieve that.
  9. Too tough for me. Couldn’t get 12a and biffed hearing in for 21a. Only got Dentifrice after a lot of patience. Particularly enjoyed 11a
  10. Jack – we really appreciate the daily blogs. My wife and I have been following since day 1 and the blog really helps us to improve. Our solving time is down from 45 mins to around 15-20 with rare DNFs. Not so good at the 15×15 though – we consider a success to be when we solve more than 5 clues! Keep up the good work!
  11. I too read the blog every day that I get to the crossword. I don’t contribute too often as I seldom get a chance to finish before about 8pm BST and then it seems far too late. It is really helpful in unravelling the right way to answer something I got to by whatever means I could! This one was not so very hard but a frustrating DNF just for the want of 21a. Please keep up the blog for those of us who NEED it even if we can’t share the more abstruse chatter. – Andrew
  12. I read the blog most days and really appreciate it although I don’t often comment. It has really helped – thank you
  13. The 3d, 8ac combination was very nearly my undoing, but got there in the end. Strangely, I didn’t have a problem with 21ac. Just goes to show that one size doesn’t fit all.
    Off on hols for a bit, so please don’t read anything into my silence. Invariant
  15. just read yesterday’s blog. All the bloggers are very much appreciated by those of us who still struggle with the QC but are making steady progress to shorten our solving times. The 15×15 remains a long-term goal, but I’m very happy with progress in the QC. it would probably get a little tedious if we all contributed to the blog every day, but absence of a comment is not an indication of lack of interest.
    1. Thanks for this, John. I see your point re daily contributions. Perhaps we need a counter to show how many people have visited the blog or a “like” button so that people can register their interest by a single click. I shall find out if anything is available in LJ.
      1. Due to time constraints it’s often a day or two (sometimes a week) before I get a chance to look at the crossword and at that point it’s not really worth my commenting.

        However when I do I the crossword I always check these blogs and they are so very useful.

        Thanks to you and the other commentators I’m now pretty much 100% within 10 mins on the Quick and about 50% within 60 mins on the Main. That would have been impossible without the blog, so please do keep up the good work – it is appreciated even if you may not always know it!

  16. Thank you again for the good work. I didn’t get ‘Tuscan’ and 21d just had to be ‘ran’, although I never thought of Iran as being in Asia for some reason. I’m old enough to remember tins of Gibbs dentifrice being around when I was a kid, although I never used anything but toothpaste. I remember some adults at the time swearing by the stuff for removing the yellow stains from the teeth of heavy smokers.

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