Quick Cryptic 480 by Izetti

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I struggled to get going on this one, perhaps a little in awe of the setter as I don’t often have the opportunity blog one of Izetti’s offerings, but having finished eventually after 14 minutes I wasn’t sure that there was any real difficulty here apart perhaps from the answer at 6dn which may not be familiar to some. The clue construction is precise and efficient as one would expect from a master but there’s nothing at all complex, consisting for the greater part of anagrams and double definitions.

Definitions are in bold italics, deletions in curly brackets and indicators in square ones

Across
1 Governor cried ‘Rot!’ when upset (8)
DIRECTOR – Anagram [upset] of CRIED ROT
5 Boss wants some in vexatious TU dismissed (4)
STUD – Hidden in {vexatiou}s TU d{ismissed}. One of those definitions one sees more often in Crosswordland than outside it.
8 Pakistani maybe and a second man from Scotland? (5)
ASIAN – A, S (second), IAN (man from Scotland)
9 Aunt so troubled about cat initially getting birds (7)
TOUCANS – Anagram [troubled] of AUNT SO C{at} [initially]
11 In predicting, ignore facts foolishly (11)
FORECASTING – Anagram [foolishly] of IGNORE FACTS
13 Proclaim this female a lady regularly (6)
HERALD – HER (this female), A, L{a}D{y} [regularly]
14 Sullen little Maureen rebelled (6)
MOROSE – MO (little Maureen), ROSE (rebelled)
16 New York – no small temptation for Adam? (3,3,5)
THE BIG APPLE – Two defintions, one straight one cryptic
18 Old archdeacon comes in to be repaid (7)
AVENGED – VEN (archdeacon) inside AGED (old)
19 Any number may tuck into cheese that’s salty (5)
BRINE – N (any number), inside BRIE (cheese)
20 Wee drinks for little kiddies (4)
TOTS – Two meanings
21 Free to be given to a new tenant? (8)
RELEASED – Two meanings

Down
1 Raffle that sees no one winning (4)
DRAW – A definition with a cryptic hint relating to a second
2 Strengthening for building material is under control (13)
REINFORCEMENT – REIN (control), FOR, CEMENT (building material)
3 Governing Conservative being nasty on the internet (11)
CONTROLLING – CON (Conservative), TROLLING (being nasty on the internet)
4 Devices in pubs for scientific study (6)
OPTICS – Two meanings
6 In certain plays I screamed – I got apoplectic (13)
TRAGICOMEDIES – Anagram [apoplectic] of I SCREAMED I GOT. Not a word in everyone’s vocabulary I suspect.
7 Intended journalist should turn up, endorsed (8)
DESIGNED – ED (journalist) reversed [should turn up], SIGNED (endorsed)
10 Notable pups running, bound to keep going for ever (11)
UNSTOPPABLE – Anagram [running] of NOTABLE PUPS
12 Insect given a hit went berserk (5,3)
WHITE ANT – Anagram [berserk] of A HIT WENT
15 Manage to convey composer’s sound (6)
HANDLE – Sounds like “Handel” (composer)
17 Given payment and something to eat (4)
FEED – Two meanings, the first as in “paid a fee”, the second a noun as in “animal feed”

15 comments on “Quick Cryptic 480 by Izetti”

  1. Like Jack, I felt myself struggling while doing it, wondering what the fuss was after finishing. TRAGICOMEDIES no problem (I thought Polonius mentioned the genre in Hamlet, but no, he only lists tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, and tragical-comical-historical-pastoral). But OPTICS would have been had I not learned the word from a cryptic a while back. 6:40.
  2. I interpreted 15d as a triple definition: manage, to convey and a homophobe for good old George Frederick.
  3. Got off to a flyer with several of the long anagrams falling into place very quickly (for me). Didn’t spot that 12d was another one, so wasted a lot of time looking for a two word phrase meaning berserk . . . 18ac was my favourite today, from several close contenders. Invariant
  4. A DNF, but this was my best attempt at an Izetti so far as I’ve struggled in tbe past. I failed on 15d, 17d and 21a, I may have done better if they hadn’t been connected.
    Brian
  5. Not too tricky by Izetti’s standards but there were a few that took a while to parse e.g. 18a, 17d (I never knew fee could be a verb) and spotting that 6d was an anagram once I’d guessed the answer from the checkers. 18a was my COD mainly because of the doh! moment when I finally figured out the parsing.
    1. I wasn’t sure that ‘feed’ as a verb actually existed but assumed it worked for crossword purposes because if someone who receives a salary can be said to be ‘salaried’ then why not ‘feed’ for someone on a fee? But there’s no question-mark in the clue to suggest there’s anything a bit dodgy about one of the meanings, and on checking the dictionaries, Collins has the required meaning, although it qualifies it as being ‘rare’.
  6. I agree with Kevin on this and it could be quite at home in the other cryptic – it’s far from obvious unless you know. And “ven[erable]” for archdeacon is another one. Speaking of the other cryptic – today’s is a hard puzzle but there’s a very entertaining blog on it right up the page from Jack’s. Anonymous’s homophobe had me laughing into the fresh-squeezed (it’s breakfast time here in the Big Apple) – thank you sir or madam! Good puzzle – something under 6 minutes.

    Speaking of “feed” Jack, I see that you and Mohn sometimes post the feed for these puzzles in case of access problems. How is that done and where is it to be found?

    1. Olivia, it varies according to device and browser and I’ve posted loads on the subject that turned out to be irrelevant because the person under advice was in a different place. If you’re using a desktop or laptop and one of the standard browsers, Firefox, IE or Chrome please contact me privately and I shall be happy to advise. But if you’re on i-pad or android I’m afraid I can’t help.

      Regards

      J

  7. Like eurcon I got stuck on AVENGED / HANDLE, but unlike him/her I didn’t get there in the end, and pretty sure I wouldn’t have done even if I spend more than the hour I did on it. Didn’t know VEN, and the wordplay is misleading. I parsed the composer one but Handel didn’t come to mind.

    Apparently an “optic” is the measuring device with a window on those upside down spirit bottles that you get in pubs, in case anyone else was wondering.

  8. A welcome back to Izetti and another precisely clued crossword.
    I solved the long anagrams pretty quickly and they were well signposted.The rest followed fairly easily. Optics seemed obvious but I only knew the pub meaning.I too paused at 18a and 15d. I could see Avenged fitted but it took a minute or two to parse; then Handle came quickly.I liked 8a which stumped me for a while.
    David

  9. Another great quickie from Izetti, with some straightforward clues to get you going and then some trickier numbers. 8a my favourite for reminding me of being sent to do the “messages” by my grandmother to the corner shop in Glasgow run by the first man.. Just under 6 1/2 minutes.

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