Quick Cryptic 462 by Rongo

Author   nick_the_novicePosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Thought this was a fine QC offering from Rongo, with a good mix of some “entry level” clues and some trickier stuff (11ac in particular required a bit of working out). All in all, very enjoyable so thanks to our setter.

This is my last blog before Christmas, so a very merry Xmas to all, and particularly thanks to all our setters who do such a terrific job in irritating the hell out of us on a daily basis! Great job guys…

Definitions underlined; DD = double definition; anagrams indicated by *(–)

Across
1 Applaud actor who overdoes it in South London area (7)
CLAPHAM – CLAP (applaud) + HAM (actor who overdoes it) giving us London SW4
5 Travel about, moving over (4)
ROVE – *(OVER) with “moving” as the anagrind
7 Remnant of fire found at the end of three months (5)
EMBER – End of Sept, Nov and Dec. Elegant clue, I thought
8 Listless, glad Uni is out (7)
LANGUID – *(GLAD UNI) with “is out” as the anagrind
10 The man that can be heard in church song (3)
HIM – Sounds like “hymn” (church song)
11 Having written a will protecting husband and son in America (3,6)
THE STATES – TESTATE (having written a will) has an H inserted (protecting husband) plus an S (and son). Good and quite tricky clue, I thought: spent some time thinking the definition part of the clue was at the beginning rather than the end. Very neat.
13 Change designation of item, an error partly reversed (6)
RENAME – Hidden reverse (indicated by partly and reversed respectively) in itEM AN ERror
14 Piano music’s silence, with nothing played fast (6)
PRESTO – P (piano – soft / quiet in music terminology) + REST (music’s silence – name given to notation indicating no note to be played at that point) + O (nothing). I had to revert back to primary school recorder playing days to work out exactly what was going on here…
17 Frightfully damp reaction? (4,5)
COLD SWEAT – Gentle cryptic clue – a “damp” reaction occurring when you are frightened
19 Odd pieces removed from very new organ (3)
EYE – Every other letter (odd pieces) of vErY nEw
20 Edges of travelator, enough to walk on (7)
TRAMPLE – TR (edges of TravelatoR) + AMPLE (enough)
22 Proudly claim vessel carries spades (5)
BOAST – BOAT (vessel) ‘carries’ an S (spades in bridge notation)
23 Work with teeth, clubs and axe (4)
CHEW – C (clubs – more bridge notation…) + HEW (axe)
24 A study developed around English calendar item (7)
TUESDAY – *(A STUDY) with “developed” as the anagrind, plus E (English) also being thrown into the mix
Down
1 Maybe Tom from Warrington, one with a lingering happy expression (8,3)
CHESHIRE CAT – DD, the first being a pleasant cryptic (Tom cat and Warrington being a town in Cheshire)
2 White LP, almost complete (7)
ALBUMEN – ALBUM (LP) + EN (END minus its last letter – ‘almost complete’), giving us the word meaning egg white, and a no doubt intentional echo of the Beatles’ White Album
3 Firm multiplied by showing work of Dickens (4,5)
HARD TIMES – HARD (firm) + TIMES (multiplied by)
4 Ponder extraterrestrial form of sea life (6)
MULLET – MULL (ponder) + ET (extraterrestrial) giving us the fish available in red or grey
5 Prune without its skin makes you go fast! (3)
RUN – First and last letters (without its skin) removed from pRUNe
6 Safe place to jump (5)
VAULT – Straightforward DD
9 Part of meal being cooked perhaps with unusual style, not in the true way? (11)
DISHONESTLY – DISH (part of meal) + ON (being cooked) + *(STYLE) with “unusual” as the anagrind
12 Part of deck on which 45 may go for a spin (9)
TURNTABLE – Barely cryptic cryptic… (although I guess it might be a bit mysterious to generations brought up on CDs and iTunes etc.)
15 Attendant almost to tread on person in care (7)
STEWARD – STEp (last letter removed from step – ‘almost to tread’) + WARD (person in care)
16 To change sides is a fault (6)
DEFECT – Straight DD
18 Seal swimming at end of beach shows restraint for an animal (5)
LEASH – *(SEAL) with “swimming” as the anagrind, plus H (end of beacH)
21 Clumsily handle father and wife (3)
PAW – PA (father) + W (wife)

9 comments on “Quick Cryptic 462 by Rongo”

  1. 20 mins, so thats quite fast for me. TURNTABLE was an answer hiding in plain sight – I’ve got used to taking nothing at face value and was trying to think up nautical terms for a ship’s deck and what 45 might be in roman numerals… reversed. No such gymnastics required!
  2. 9 minutes. Slightly easier than the past few days, I thought, and my first sub-10 solve since last Thursday. Warrington reminded me of those cinema ads many years ago for Vladivar Vodka which was made there, pronounced Varrington.
  3. A fairly straightforward one but I got stuck with Warrington as it used to be in Lancashire when I learned my English Counties and I could not decide whether to spell it albumin or albumen as it seems that either will do.

    Edited at 2015-12-16 09:48 am (UTC)

  4. Nice to get back on track after yesterday’s DNF. Got held up a bit by trying to get muse into 4d and figuring out the parsing of 23a – my LOI. Thought 11a, 2d and 9d were particularly good clues.
  5. I agree with Nick this was a good mix of clues. About average difficulty, I thought. 4d my favourite for the nice surface. Below 6 minutes.
  6. Pleased I am not the only one who thought that Warrington is in Lancashire. But then I was brought up when Middlesex and Rutland still existed.
    1. Rutland was merged but then reinstated and has its own County Council. The County of Middlesex still exists; it has its own Cricket Club so it must do!

      Edited at 2015-12-16 01:13 pm (UTC)

  7. Am I the only person who gets to do these of a late afternoon or evening!? Like this puzzle as there were a good range of clue types and levels of difficulty. As someone who is not at all good at anything musical, I was particularly pleased to successfully resolve 14a. 17a brought me close to a 17a to allow a decent answer to 16d to finish.
  8. Not hard compared with yesterday’s puzzle. Briefly deflected by Warrington – I thought it was in Lancashire but the clue answer was obvious.All fairly straightforward apart from Cold Sweat possibly. David

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