Quick Cryptic 473 by Orpheus. A Very Happy 2016 to All.

Author   oliviarhinebeckPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Ding dong – no not merrily on high, but get me to Brooklyn Borough Hall on time.  My younger daughter is getting married in the morning.  That’s the way to ring out the old!  I’ll have a look here when I get up but then I’ll be away from my desk for most of the day and when I come back to it I’ll probably have had more than one petit verre de vin (Malbec, Pouilly Fume and Bugey Cerdon for the bubbly in case you’re wondering).  So if anything needs correcting in the meantime please no one hesitate.  This is an elegant and very fair puzzle needing no esoteric knowledge except for the cricket reference which certainly put me in my place (although I prefer it to football or rugby).  5 minutes plus a few seconds.  Clues in italics, definitions underlined, answers in bold caps.

Across
1.  Tom, possibly, welcomes nude entertainment (7)
CABARET.  “Cat”=tom contains “bare”=nude.  Neat.
5.  Give away retail outlet  (4)
SHOP.  Double definition.  When one crook peaches on another, he “shops” him.
7  Good to be in control and wear the crown (5)
REIGN.  G (good) in “rein”=control.
8  Dynamic governor of Indian state (2-5)
GO-AHEAD.  Goa is the Indian state and “head” is the governor.
10  Liable to appear regularly in camp, etc. (3)
APT.  Alternate letters in [c]a[m]p [e]t[c].
11  What bowler does, perhaps, to engage cricket team? (9)
YORKSHIRE.  I believe a York is a particular kind of way of bowling a ball.  Add that to “hire”=engage and you get the team.  I’ll leave it right there.
13  Songs principal first violinist mentioned in speech (6)
LIEDER.  The German song cycle.  Homophone for the head or leader of a school or college, and the leader of the orchestra.
14  Entertainment Londoners may associate with Oxford or Cambridge (6)
CIRCUS. Double definition.  Two roundabouts familiar to Londoners, one at the junction of Oxford and Regent Streets, the other known as the centre of intrigue in John Le Carre’s Smiley books.
17  Work Ellen made, given glossy coating (9)
ENAMELLED.  Anagram of “Ellen made”.
19  Turkish commander abandoning son at beginning of story (3)
AGA.  Dropping the s[on] at the beginning of saga (story).
20  Second among a number requiring drink (7)
THIRSTY.  S[econd] contained in “thirty”=number.
22  At first it raises a question involving Middle Easterner (5)
IRAQI.  First letters of “it raises a question involving”.
23 Peaceful bird plunged downwards over the pond (4)
DOVE.  This side of the Atlantic (pond) people say “dove” instead of “dived”.
24  Sailor accomodates terriers initially – for this? (7)
RATTING.  What terriers do.  “rating”=sailor containing the initial T from terriers.

Down
1.  Truncation of short illness (11)
CURTAILMENT.  “Curt”=short plus “ailment”=illness.
2. Show irritation seeing stiff hair on brush (7)
BRISTLE.  Double definition.
3.  Flowing drink, say, where king signed charter (9)
RUNNYMEDE.  “Runny”=flowing plus homophone for “mead”=drink.  King John (an awful king per Sellars and Yeatman) was forced to sign Magna Carta there in 1215.
4  Big cats finally standing in rows (6)
TIGERS.  Last letter in standin[g] contained in “tiers”=rows.
5 Health resort in Southern Pennsylvania (3)
SPA.  S[outhern] PA, abbreviation for the state.
6 Daggers concealed in robe lining (5)
OBELI.  Typographical term.  Contained in “r[obe li]ing”.
9  Its practitioners may be working on shifts (11)
DRESSMAKING.  Making shifts, as in dresses.
12  Find trips at sea producing spray (9)
SPINDRIFT. Anagram (indicated by “at sea”) of “find trips”.
15 Bread fellow takes an hour after midday. (7)
CHAPATI. This comes with all different spellings but it’s an Indian bread.  “Chap”=fellow followed by “at one.
16  Rising agent houses non-professional actor (6)
PLAYER.  “Rep”=agent backwards (rising)containing “lay”=non-pro.
18  A Russian fighter meeting old friend in Madrid (5)
AMIGO.  A “mig” is the Russian fighter jet plus O[ld].
21  Visit Canterbury for example. (3)
SEE.  Double definition, “see”, as in visit and as in archbishopric.

13 comments on “Quick Cryptic 473 by Orpheus. A Very Happy 2016 to All.”

  1. 9 minutes, but I thought there were some potential problems for newer solvers here with SPINDRIFT, SHIFT for “dress” and the vague definition at 24ac leading to RATTING. My LOI was CIRCUS – something of a “doh!” moment as I had immediately thought of the university boat race when I saw Oxford, Cambridge and “entertainment in London”. There’s no roundabout at either intersection these days.
  2. Congratulations Olivia – hope it all goes OK and you have a great day. Well done for a good blog under the circumstances!
    I’m not sure about 13a: certainly LIEDER are the songs, and the first violinist is the homophone LEADER, but I’m puzzled by the “principal”, unless it goes with “first violinist”, which is then tautologous. Certainly it also means “leader”, but the “in speech” belongs to the violinist. Bit strange.
    Like Jackkt, 14a was my LOI where I spent at least a minute through some neat misdirection in the clue. So it’s also my COD.
  3. Sadly a DNF after yesterdays triumph! I failed on 11a and 9d. As a cricket fan I should have got 11, a yorker is a delivery that pitches at the batsman’s feet and sneaks under his bat.
    Still very enjoyable though, 23 and 24a were great clues.
    Brian
    1. . . . So that if a bowler bowls a yorker, he yorks, which ties in to ‘what bowler does’.
      Congratulations Olivia. I hope that the day goes just fine.
  4. After a promising start, defeated by the bottom right corner. Gave up after 50 mins or so.
  5. Thanks all. I’ve corrected a couple of typos and done some tweaking in 13a (this was a slightly distracted job because we were also feeding dinner to various people here last night!). Yes Deezzaa’s right about “principal” – it is a bit adrift so I wondered if it had an additional meaning. And no, it wasn’t a triple def., more a homophone. They always addle me a bit.

    Even when I lived in London I never went near either circus (any more than I do Times Square) so I’m not familiar with the traffic patterns, but I’ve no doubt Jack is right that they’re not actually roundabouts.

    1. Jack is correct but Oxford Circus in particular is strange as it is a crossroad but instead of pedestrians getting to cross their ‘streets’ at appropriate times, all traffic gets stopped and pedestrians can stroll where they wish (diagonally etc).
  6. Thanks for the blog, Olivia, and have a lovely day. Didn’t get circus – fixated on blues and rowing.
  7. Must confess I thought the Aga Khan was Persian not Turkish. The only 3 letter Turkish leader I know of is a Bey.
  8. Thank you Olivia for the blog, and indeed to all bloggers over the past few months since I have been entertained most days by the QC. This one took me 20 mins. Like others I was delayed by 14a but otherwise a steady solve.
    Hope you have a lovely day tomorrow Olivia.
  9. A neat puzzle to end the year… slightly trickier than average, I thought with some nice surfaces. As for 13a, there are many first violinists (and second violinists) in an orchestra, but the leader is the principal first violinist, so I think the clue is fine. 15d my favourite. Have a great celebration day, Olivia. 6 3/4 minutes.

    Edited at 2015-12-31 12:50 pm (UTC)

  10. Sadly, a DNF to end the year with. Had to resort to aids for 1d and 13d, both of which I should have got. . . and it all started so well, with the top half going in quite quickly. My thanks to all the bloggers for their help in getting me this far. Invariant
  11. I liked this puzzle a lot. Got it all done but it was challenging and much to like on reflection for example 18d and 14a (but also 1d,8a et alia).
    At the end, I had two left, 14a and 15d ( I’m very poor on all matters food so I knew I needed the first letter of 15d). Getting Circus was the key and it is my clue of the week if not longer. David

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