Quick Cryptic 511 by Teazel

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Today is my first experience of the timer and I can accurately report that I took 14 mins 31 seconds on today’s puzzle. A little slow, perhaps, for what felt like a not too difficult, yet entertaining offering.
If I had heard of the antelope I must have forgotten it and went haring off after okapi. Other than that it was a steady solve.
Having now gone through the blog there is quite a lot of word play to fit together and some less than usual vocabulary – I’ll be interested to see how 14 minutes stacks up against the regulars.

ACROSS

1. Oliver Twist. Cryptic definition where the whole clue is the definition. Where would we be without our excellent posters? Anonymous below is spot on with – ‘boy’ is OLIVER and ‘wanting more’ is TWIST (give me another card) as in Pontoon card game and then the whole clue can also be read as the definition or just ‘this book’ is the definition.
2. Aspen – one quivers – as in the expression ‘to quiver like an aspen’. I’ve heard Bertie Wooster use this one but it turns out to be from the pen of Thomas Carlyle. Made up from seen (AS), by (next to), writer (PEN).
10. Farrago – confused mixture. Put right (R) inside distant (FAR) and past (AGO).
11. Corporeal – bodily. Energy (E) inside CORPORAL.
13. Lea – meadow. Spring (LEAp) without parking (P).
14. Native – local. Time (T) inside NAIVE.
15. Avowed – admitted. Being married (WED) seen with (just after) Bible (AV – authorised version of the Bible – sorry if you haven’t come across this before it’s just one of the numerous abbreviations you need to pick up at some point) and ring (O).
17. Ten – number. Temporary accommodation (TENt) reduced – without the last letter.
18. Returning – double definition. Sending to parliament (not necessarily sending again to parliament – I think there’s a returning officer who officiated at election counts) and getting back.
21. Nosegay – bunch of flowers. Anagram (bad) of SAY GONE.
23. Oribi – antelope. I (I), pen (BIRO) all backwards. I went ploughing off down the okapi route which a) didn’t fit with 20dn and b) isn’t an antelope. For those that are interested an okapi is from the family Giraffidae (only two species – giraffes and okapis) whereas an oribi is:
a small African antelope, Ourebia ourebi, of grasslands and bush south of the Sahara, with fawn-coloured coat and, in the male, ridged spikelike horns
24. Painted Lady – butterfly. Made portrait of (PAINTED), madam (LADY). Given that the Madam Butterfly opera will include many painted ladies there was a good level of distraction in this clue.

DOWN

2. Leper – one diseased. Drive away (REPEL) upwards.
3. Vancouver – Canadian city (and one of my favourite places). Vehicle (VAN), insurance (COVER) around university (U).
4. Rifle – double definition. Steal and carry off/weapon.
5. War – fight. With (W), a (A), republican (R). All are accepted abbreviations.
6. Shallow – unintellectual. ALL inside SHOW.
7. Fascinating – of great interest. Anagram (unusual) of GAINS IN FACT.
8. Now and again – occasionally. Possibly a double definition but I think the ‘twice in all?’ is word play – once now and also a second time so twice in total.
12. Liverpool – football team (doing well this year). Anagram (upset) of I’LL PROVE plus nothing (O).
15. Tunisia – country in Africa. Anagram (moved) of A UNIT IS.
19. Thyme – herb. Homophone (I say) of time. The right moment/the time to do something.
20. Iliad – poem. One (I), boy (LAD) takes inside one (I).
22. Gun – one shot. In le(G UN)deterred.

22 comments on “Quick Cryptic 511 by Teazel”

  1. I too went down the line of okapi but knew it had to be Iliad. Never heard of oribi as an antelope. Thought yesterday’s and today’s much better and like the crosswords used to be . Novices like me are soon deterred by some of the ones we have had lately.
  2. At 6 minutes this was my fastest QC solve since last October and possibly equal with my best ever as I’m not sure if I have achieved 5. I don’t think it’s that easy a puzzle but I was on the setter’s wavelength.
  3. Held up by 1a for far too long.

    Nothing too difficult, but good vocab and good crossword grammar / knowledge (e.g. 16a). 20 mins

  4. I got the construction and looked up the word, guessing its definition. That’s allowed according to my rules. I liked the Madame Butterfly red heering (COD for me): I thing butterfly names always provide great clues. I didn’t get the LEA definition (weak in my opinion)

    Completed at 06:30 am, in 20 mins (very good for me). I tried to enter the solution to the community, but couldn’t figure out how to post.

    2. Funny. Could you sign a name perhaps – we get more than one anonymous and it would be nice to know who you are. You don’t have to do the whole joining thing if you’d rather not although it doesn’t cost anything and doesn’t take long.
  6. I think there is more to 1a – ‘boy’ is OLIVER and ‘wanting more’ is TWIST (give me another card) as in Pontoon card game and then the whole clue can also be read as the definition or just ‘this book’ is the definition. Am I seeing too much in this?!
      1. Agreed. I wrote the answer straight in and spent the remaining time wondering what I had missed and half expecting things to go wrong…this is a very nice idea.
    2. Brilliant! I’ve copied your comment into the blog. If you’d like your name up there in lights with it let me know.
  7. I wonder if the setter might prefer this typo that hints at a slightly less gentle approach.
  9. 13 minutes with a brief doze in the middle! No reflection on the puzzle which I enjoyed. As has been said, less challenging than some recent ones. It’s good to have a variety so that we are both stretched and also have our confidence boosted regularly.
  10. I got 1a and 3d straightaway and solved steadily after that finishing with the antelope -about 30 minutes.
    It seems we have to learn all antelopes and quite a lot of stars to succeed in Crosswordland. Oribi was new to me but gettable and overall I liked the puzzle. David
  11. 9 minutes for me. LOI 23A, never heard of it but got it from the checkers and the clue. Was all v straightforward I thought. Obviously just matched my knowledge set.
  12. 25 mins, which means it’s on the easy side of average, or maybe I’m getting better.

    Was unsure about a number of clues and needed this blog to confirm that I was all correct (fortunately I was), never having heard of a “nosegay” or “oribi” (spellcheck hasn’t heard of that one either!), unsure of why an ASPEN should quiver, and having not parsed LEA or TEN.

    1. Maybe a reference to Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott” :
      Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
      Little breezes dusk and shiver…
  13. A relatively straightforward solve with a lot of excellent clues, as I find is usual with Teazel’s puzzles. 16a was unparsed and I have logged AV in the memory bank (I hope) for future reference. Fortunately the unknown words in 10a and 23a had some simple wordplay to figure them out.
  14. Managed in, possibly, under the hour. That would make two consecutively. Must be facing comeuppance tomorrow! Managed 21a nosegay before realising it was an anagram…and 7d suddenly realised that was an anagram too that helped with the word-ending. Now I know how to spell farrago….not as I thought. Thx bloggers.

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