Quick Cryptic 524 by Teazel

Author   emu66Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I didn’t do this one on the timer, so couldn’t say where it fell on the difficulty spectrum for me, but a couple of clues did hold me up – 8a and 12a – and I’m still not sure I got the parsing right on them. And is gnu really pronounced knew? All this time I thought it was ‘I’m a g-nu, how do you do?’ COD 22a for conjuring up the Fighting Temeraire.
Thank you to Teazel for an entertaining puzzle.

Across
1 Noise had horrible clinging quality: ADHESION
Anagram (horrible) of NOISE HAD
5 Neighbour’s brass instrument returned: ABUT
Brass instrument = TUBA, backwards (returned)
8 Mountain height reached by a so-dominant male: ALPHA
Mountain = ALP, height = H, a = A
9 Dance: couple’s favourite returns: TWO-STEP
Couple’s = TWOS, favourite = PET, backwards (returns)
11 Four of the Romans meeting unknown climber: IVY
Four of the Romans = IV, unknown = Y
12 Robin’s years as a boy?: CHILDHOOD
Cryptic definition, relating to Robin Hood
13 Station us in school: EUSTON
Us = US, in school = ETON
15 Renounce donkey, captivated by little dog: PASS UP
Donkey = ASS, inside (captivated by) little dog = PUP
18 Pleased to have met: SATISFIED
Double definition, having met certain conditions
19 Was aware of talking animal: GNU
Homophone (talking) of was aware = KNEW
20 Old man has excellent secretary: GRANDPA
Excellent = GRAND, secretary = P(ersonal) A(ssistant)
21 Plutocrat finally given a curtsey: NABOB
Finally = last letter of given, a = A, curtsey = BOB
22 Turner’s ‘Cutter crossing lake’: AXLE
Cutter = AXE, crossing lake = L
23 Chaps curse clothing: MENSWEAR
Chaps = MEN, curse = SWEAR

Down
1 Spreading caviare, causing greed: AVARICE
Anagram (spreading) of CAVIARE
2 Very quiet in the grass, and joyful: HAPPY
Very quiet = PP, in grass = HAY
3 Ill-fated actors dress badly: STAR-CROSSED
Anagram (badly) of ACTORS DRESS
4 Away, in good health, getting set of clothes: OUTFIT
Away = OUT, in good health = FIT
6 Character in pantomime needing cask on front of stage: BUTTONS
Cask = BUTT, on = ON, front (first letter) of Stage
7 Not enthusiastic to see power in Parliament rising: TEPID
Power = P, Parliament = DIET, rising = backwards
10 Random stuff finishes beneath uneven beach: ODDS AND ENDS
Uneven = ODD, beach = SAND, finishes = ENDS
14 To leave port is least problematic: SET SAIL
Anagram (problematic) of IS LEAST
16 Tradesman is parking unwanted furniture: PLUMBER
Parking = P, unwanted furniture = LUMBER
17 One taken in by very wise face: VISAGE
One = I, in very = V, wise = SAGE
18 Foreign character’s mark of disgrace, wasting time: SIGMA
Mark of disgrace = STIGMA, without T (wasting time)
19 End of roof beginning to buckle in strong wind: GABLE
Beginning = first letter of Buckle, strong wind = GALE

30 comments on “Quick Cryptic 524 by Teazel”

  1. 9 minutes, so just within target. It took me a while to get any sort of flow going as I hopped around the grid whenever I hit a clue that needed more than one reading. ALPHA and TWO-STEP(or possibly ‘one-step’) came up somewhere within the past few days and both leapt out at me today.

    Your two uncertain parsings look fine to me, Emma.

    GNU is pronounced both “knew” and “noo” to satisfy solvers on both sides of the pond, but not “g-nu” except by lovers of Flanders and Swann who could be counted in their millions at one time and there are a lot of us still around who never fail to sound the G despite knowing that it’s incorrect.

    LUMBER defined as “unwanted furniture” is a new one on me after 68m years on the planet. I knew it only as “timber” which my dictionary informs me is chiefly North American usage and secondary to the furniture thing. As they say, one lives and learns.

    Edited at 2016-03-11 07:28 am (UTC)

    1. With only a few years less than you Jack, I seem to remember that second-hand furniture stores used to be known as “lumber shops”.
      The trouble with 8a is what is the “so-” doing in the clue – it seems unnecessary unless you say that “So!” is “Ha!”, in which case you don’t need the “height”. For what it’s worth, I parsed it like you.
      Fairly straightforward for a Friday I thought – and none the worse for that.
      1. In my youth (60-odd years ago), the rag and bone man used to trawl the streets of London shouting ‘Any old lumber?’ which I always assumed meant furniture, junk etc/
    2. Flanders and Swan’s animal actually said, “Oh, gno gno, gno, I’m a Gnu” – with two syllables – or is this a diphthong?
      1. Hi, Ian. I’m no expert on linguistics but my understanding is that a diphthong consists of adjacent vowels that run together in speech, so GNU, however it’s pronounced, doesn’t qualify.

        Is the point you’re making with reference to the F&S song disagreeing with what I said above? If so, I’m not clear what it is. But maybe it was just a similar observation, in which chase we’re both singing of the same song-sheet, so to speak.

        Regards

  2. I didn’t know that def. of lumber either but I had heard of a lumber room and guessed that is where you would put it…
    Count me a lifelong fan of Flanders & Swann. The song of the weather seems pretty appropriate at present
  3. My new 1 Hour rule is leaving a lot of DNFs this week, although I tore through three quarters of this one in record speed. Stopped by GRANDAD rather than GRANDPA, thinking that AD must be some obscure military definition known by crossword lovers. Also, should have got AXLE, but was stuck on ‘saw’ for cutter.

    Had to wait a bit for 10d checkers as ODDS AND SODS also fit (another British English slang for you collectors)

    TWOSTEP follows ONESTEP from earlier this week.

    1. “onestep” was in both QC and Times2 on the same day, funny, the latter puzzle is a good training for puzzle words, I find, some quite abstruse!
    1. A diet can be a formal legislative assembly.

      Japan’s government is a diet but there are/have been others I think.

  5. Just inside half an hour today, I’m really enjoying the current run of puzzles.

    Nabob is a completely new word for me.

    I thought lumber was just a cheeky definition – when you stop needing it as furniture, it reverts to being just lumber.

    Loved the Turner clue, very clever and definitely COD.

    I always pronounce the G!

    1. To g, or not to g? That is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to call it a wildebeest is altogether a different matter.
      A gentle end to the week from Teazel.
      GeoffH
  6. The “Nattering Nabobs of Negativism “, one of the memorable quotes of Adlai Stevenson (?)

    Edited at 2016-03-11 11:20 am (UTC)

    1. Also, the Nabob of Banipur was one of Billy Bunter’s schoolmates – does anybody read this now? Fine until I got the SW corner, which was painfully slow trial and error. I enjoyed this one. Funnily enough I found the QCs earlier in the week more difficult than Thursday and Friday.
    2. It was said by the late unlamented Spiro Agnew who had to resign from the US Vice Presidency in disgrace, thus paving the way for the replacement of Nixon by Gerald Ford. He didn’t actually coin it himself. It was dreamed up for him by his speech-writer William Safire who later became a distinguished NY Times columnist. I remember it all with crystal clarity because that was when I’d just moved to the US.
  7. Huree Ramset Jam Singh, known as Inky. I thought he was a Nawab, is there a difference? The Nawab of Patudi could be added to that list of ‘famous’ cricketers.
  8. I enjoyed this. Lots of good humorous clues e.g 12a,13a and 20a. Finished in about 25 minutes but with two hold-ups. Early on I carelessly put in Bits and Bobs.The unravelling of a half-baked answer always seems to take much longer than any time potentially saved.In the end I struggled with the plutocrat and the tradesman. I could not get Clutter out of my head for 16d which clearly didn’t fit. You can never get a plumber when you need one. No problem with lumber. And I think someone predicted the GNU on the blog recently. David
    1. Yes, and I had “clobber” as an anagram for tradesman “cobbler”, which was no use either!
    1. Yes, unspammed now, David. It was the missing space that did for you: “Bits and Bobs.The unravelling…”
  10. Thrilled to bits to get all but 4 answers on this – I’m a newbie and usually only manage a couple right. Still don’t understand what Turner brings to 22a … And COD please?
    1. An axle turns therefore it’s a turner. COD is clue of the day (I think). From fellow newbie.
    2. Welcome, both newbies! Your explanations, Charlesy, are spot on.

      Edited at 2016-03-11 06:23 pm (UTC)

  11. I flew through this, the top half of the puzzle were all write ins apart from 12a, as the parsing took a bit of figuring out. The SW held me up a bit but it was my fastest ever solve at 17 minutes.
    As usual I really enjoyed Teazel’s clues with 22a being my COD but honourable mentions to 20 and 23a for putting a smile on my face. My one quibble, until reading the blog and comments, was 19a – it turns out I’ve been pronouncing it wrong all my life.
  12. As a neophyte, COD to me only means “Cash On Delivery” What do you mean by it, please?
  14. My quibble with AXLE is that axles do not rotate (most of them, anyway) and thus do not turn.
    Just one of my many unsolved clues on this one!
    Misocapnic

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