Quick Cryptic 776 by Breadman

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
11 minutes for this rather elegant crossword from Breadman (an unusual setter? – I’m sure someone will let us know). A lot of clues seemed complex but broke down easily. There were a few clues where the definition was less than obvious (12ac, 17ac, 20ac, 18dn) but the word play was fair – and brought about a smile or two when twigged.

ACROSS

1. Yearned – felt great desire. To acquire money (EARN) hoarded by ‘the’ old (YE), duke (D).
7. Ice show – entertainment. I (I), anagram (specially) of CHOSE (W)oolley.
9. Legatee – one who’s been left (a legacy). Shelter (LEE) around opening (GATE).
10. Stilton – cheese. Not (NOT) left (L) it’s (ITS) all brought backwards,
11. Omit – overlook. Part of Dol(OMIT)es.
12. Solitaire – patience. LOI as it took a while to twig that we were after a card game. Anagram (going mad) of I LOST, a (A), rage (IRE).
14. Announcer – broadcaster. Female (ANN), little weight (OUNCE), (R)ejected.
16. Rhea – bird that cannot fly. Homophone of back – rear.
17. Mapless – without a guide. Representative of Canada (MAPLES), (S)ails.
20. Toccata – musical piece which I dnk but the word play was plain. Kitty (CAT) in an anagram (played) of COAT.
21. Rampage – rush about wildly. Sheep (RAM), yearly (PA per annum), for example (E.G.) moving backwards.
22. Remorse – feeling of regret. About (RE), male (M), equine h(ORSE) losing head.

DOWN

1. Yellowhammer – bird. Fearful (YELLOW), with (W), manual tool (HAMMER).
2. Anglican – church member. Anagram (shaking) of IN GAL, tin (CAN).
3. Nuts – double definition.
4. Diesel – fuel. Peter out (DIE), (S)h(E)i(L)a.
5. Demister – ventilation device. Anagram (unusual) of ITEMS inside ‘the’ in German (DER).
6. Chat – conversation. Tea (CHA), time (T).
8. Winter Palace – royal residence. Part of year (WINTER), friend (PAL), expert (ACE). The Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was, from 1732 to 1917, the official residence of the Russian monarchs.
12. Saucepan – kitchen utensil. Impudence (SAUCE), criticise (PAN).
13. In the air. Double definition – at work a pilot could be in the air – which also means uncertain. Hopefully a pilot wouldn’t be so uncertain when at work in the air.
15. Custer – American general. Signal (CUE) when crossing street (ST), run (R).
18. Trainer – the sports shoe – pump. Mark (M) interrupts young dog (PUP).
19. Scam – swindle. Quiet (P) and one (I) taken out of seafood (SCAM)pi.

40 comments on “Quick Cryptic 776 by Breadman”

  1. I took a moment or two to get started on this one but then things fell into place reasonably quickly and I completed in 9 minutes. Breadman has made three appearances to date, September 2015 and August 2016 prior to today. I’ve a vague idea I heard he is one other setters using a different name but I’m not sure about it.

    Edited at 2017-02-28 01:21 am (UTC)

  2. Slowest for a few weeks. Had trouble in SW, eg. didn’t see trainer=PUMP, quite clever, and NW, with LEGATEE last one in. I also biffed WINDSOR CASTLE early on, which is pretty unimpressive considering it doesn’t even fit!
  3. Slowed down by 12ac and 16ac in particular: it took me a long time to parse 12, and I took ‘back’ to indicate some word the reverse of the solution; with my rhotic accent, I never spotted the rhea-rear putative homophony. 7:26.
    1. Over an hour and I think quite tough, felt more like the 15×15. Last few were 9a, 21a, 2d, 12d

      dnk yellowhammer
      I have heard of maple as in maple syrup but not the word maples.
      Ice show and toccata are a bit obscure for a quickie.
      2d Anglican tough clue.
      Impudence = sauce.

      COD 4d diesel.

      1. I think it’s “maples” as one might say in the sentence “maples are representative of Canada”, though I was under the impression that was the leaf rather than the tree. To be honest I thought it was a bit dodgy as a clue unless I’m missing something, which is quite possible. Were you querying impudence = sauce?

        Edited at 2017-02-28 06:57 am (UTC)

  4. A slow but steady one. I was slowed down by not actually knowing a few of the words – yellowhammer. legatee, demister – but the clues were generous. I’d say this was at the harder end of QC land, but I’ll happily be told otherwise. Gribb.
  5. I found this quite difficult to get started but then the answers seemed to come quick and fast.
    Did not know mapless was a word although I did enter it from the clue.
  6. About average today. Really liked TOCCATA. The surface of 7 ac is excellent. Not sure about IN THE AIR, doesn’t it need a qualifier? Also MAPLESS, needs another S somewhere. Thanks Breadman and chris.

  7. Tough one, stopped at 40 mins with one left (SAUCEPAN). I had the clue as meaning Impudence, made up of to criticise ( SLUR? SNUB?, SHUN?) followed by a utensil.

    I liked MAPLESS as a clue, I think Maples are a good representative of Canada: the leaf is on the flag, and it is supposed to be similar to the shape of the country.

    LEGATEE; tough word, needed all checkers. DNK Rhea, and also spelt TOCCATA wrong.

    Are Nuts really a fruit ? Botanists use the word ‘drupe’ for many fruits?

    And PUMP for trainer? In what sense?

  8. When I was at school (a long time ago!) trainers were called pumps or plimsoles
    I also tried to squeeze in Windsor Castle!

    Rita

  10. The difficulty for the China Boy was whether it was SUMMER PALACE or WINTER PALACE as per Beijing (not St. Petersburg which is more Royal than Imperial!). But the season until the 10ac STILTON was served.

    I banged in 1dn YELLOWHAMMER straightaway but never really got going – 10.35 was the result.

    I thought MAPLES was a furniture store in the TCR!

    LOI 12ac SOLITAIRE – that sort of patience!! Doh!

    Nuts are the fruit of a tree.

    COD 18dn TRAINER WOD MAPLESS

    Edited at 2017-02-28 10:17 am (UTC)

    1. Yes it has a few but ‘der’ is one commonly used in Crosswordland. I suspect there would be complaints for ‘the’ =des/dem/den.
  12. I found this a little more challenging than usual. Some unusual words. LEGATEE, MAPLESS, TOCCATA. Not heard PUMP used in that context for many years, although I think dancing pumps is still fairly common. Good challenge, thank you setter.
    PlayupPompey
  14. Some good stuff here from Breadman. 5d was my favourite. Izetti also sets as Bradman, so perhaps this is the e-version of Bradman?
    As to the puzzle, I also -briefly-toyed with Windsor Castle. I ended up needing 12a and 12d and got stuck for a while. I managed to work out 12a but then spent ages thinking of kitchen utensils without alighting on Saucepan. Got there eventually. Nice clue. Over 25 minutes in the end. David
    1. I think there’d need to be a “Don Breadman” connection for Mr Manley to use it, but I’m sure all things are possible in the cryptic world if one’s mind happens to work that way.
  15. I found this harder than usual, taking 16:07 to complete. FOI was DIESEL and LOI, ANGLICAN. Knew all the words but the clues were cunningly phrased. With 7a and 10a in place my first thought for 8d was WINDSOR CASTLE but it didn’t fit the wordplay or the grid. A good workout. Thanks Breadman and Chris.
  16. My, that was a little teaser and a half. Took two sittings and well over the hour, but got there in the end. I was convinced 1ac began with an O, which made the NW quite tricky. . . CoD to 5d, with 10ac close behind.
    There is a very useful page on bestforpuzzles(dot)com for the different setters, but unfortunately doesn’t include Breadman, so he/she remains a mystery. Invariant
  17. Toccata was quite clever as I had the late crossers and assumed the more common sonata realised it was too short and went to cantata. Wrong! For those unfamiliar the toccata is a piece for keyboard that is designed to be showy and technically difficult. Bach created many for the organ.

    On Custer…am I wrong or just being pedantic, but surely he wasn’t actually a general.

    1. Last few titles for Custer – they do include the term ‘general’:
      Brevet Colonel: September 19, 1864(Battle of Winchester, Virginia)
      Brevet Major General, U.S. Volunteers: October 19, 1864 (Battle of Winchester and Fisher’s Hill, Virginia)
      Brevet Brigadier General, U.S. Army, March 13, 1865 (Battle of Five Forks, Virginia)
      Brevet Major General, U.S. Army: March 13, 1865 (The campaign ending in the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia)

      Major General, U.S. Volunteers: April 15, 1865
      Mustered out of Volunteer Service: February 1, 1866

      Lieutenant Colonel, 7th Cavalry: July 28, 1866 (killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876)

      Edited at 2017-02-28 03:32 pm (UTC)

  18. Yes exactly. I don’t think it is normal practice to abbreviate major general to general. General is a significantly higher rank. Yes I am being pedantic. However I doubt you would normally hear people talk of General Custer. He didn’t even manage to retire at that rank which he only held briefly and in an honorary capacity I think. I’ll shut up now !
    1. No need to shut up, Brian, it’s all welcome grist to the mill! Maybe we have to blame Hollywood, but Custer was frequently referred to in Westerns as a General, e.g. in the credits to “Custer of the West” (1967). Also the various high rankings are often lumped together so we have 1-5 star generals though I’m not sure where Custer’s highest rank of Lieutenant Colonel fits in with that. The exact ranking obviously matters within the military, but outside that circle I imagine General as a catch-all expression is probably fair enough.

      Edited at 2017-02-28 06:35 pm (UTC)

      1. You are right Jackkt. I suppose I have an old fashioned academic habit of wanting accuracy. Strictly speaking I think there are a range of American ranks that include the term general. You would see major general and I think lieutenant general and so on. In American terminology these are I think what they call 2 star generals. But precisely because there are many they would not be quoted as just general. 4 and 5 star generals have that privilege. I think therefore our setter is on the edge of acceptability and in my view just the wrong side of it. Custer was only given this major general rank as an honour and it was withdrawn later. He is normally referred to as a military officer or some other such term.
        1. Points taken, Bryan, however I now think this is a case, as so often with meanings of words in crossword puzzles, where an alleged error is a matter for the lexicographers rather than the setter.

          One of the recognized source dictionaries for the Times puzzle (Collins) which contains a certain amount of biographical detail has Custer as “U.S. cavalry general”, and COED, another official source for the puzzle, has two definitions of “general” with reference to military ranking, one of which is “short for lieutenant general or major general”.

          Edited at 2017-03-01 05:06 am (UTC)

          1. Interesting, yes I agree. Good detective work.
            Anyway a good puzzle. I don’t remember this setter before,

            Edited at 2017-03-01 05:37 am (UTC)

  19. First time I’ve seen one of your puzzles but delighted we are on the same wavelength. Took ages, unlike some of the usual fast puzzlers, and only missed Rhea, so am very pleased with myself.
  20. I found this tough going today, as my finishing time of 31 minutes would indicate. I struggled with the clues that were partial anagrams e.g. 2d and 5d. Like others I thought that the definition in 12d (Second LOI) was impudence, which held me up and I then stared blankly at my LOI 12a for an eternity. Finally realised that I’d spelt 4d diesle and then saw the light. COD 20a
  21. Isn’t it fascinating, I’m a relative newbie, but found this one of the easiest for some time – not getting yearned was irritating, but all the others slotted in satisfactorily. Mind you, I have to admit biffing some of them, given some of the letters, and then justifying them …
    Diana.
    1. Welcome Diana. You’ve put your finger on the main problem of blogging – how does one determine the difficulty of a puzzle? The answer sometimes is obvious but mostly it’s whether one is familiar enough with the particular terms used – I suspect this is the ‘wavelength’ thing but, as always, I don’t claim to know…
        1. Well, what’s in a name? I can’t claim to ‘tall’ – I sail a 10m ketch in the Firth of Clyde. Any sailing is a different World, different peace, different challenges.

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