Quick Cryptic 802 by Felix

Author   nick_the_novicePosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
An interesting mix of some straightforward fare and some quite tricky stuff, I thought. Indeed, the detailed parsing of a couple of the answers left me somewhat uncertain: I have a theory regarding 9ac which I put on the table without being 100% convinced, and the parsing of part of 5dn leaves me flummoxed.

Some very enjoyable cryptic definitions (particularly in 8ac, 1dn and the utterly delightful 11dn).

Thanks to Felix for a most enjoyable puzzle.

Definitions underlined: DD = double definition: anagrams indicated by *(–): omitted letters indicated by {-}

Across
1 Member met by Yankee host (4)
ARMY – ARM (member – as in a limb) + Y (Yankee in the international phonetic alphabet – “alpha bravo” etc.). ‘Member’ cluing leg or arm, and references to the phonetic alphabet are both common devices in crosswordland but can cause bewilderment to newcomers – they certainly undid me on a frequent basis when I was starting out.
3 Leaves a couple of cents in battered boot (7)
TOBACCO – A CC (a couple of cents) in *(BOOT) with “battered” signalling the anagram.
8 Freezer box you can buy in lingerie department (9,4)
SUSPENDER BELT – A freezer might cryptically be regarded as a ‘suspender’ (think cryogenics) and if you box someone’s ears you ‘belt’ them. Nice whimsical surface.
9 Kick, but not from drug (3)
TOE – To toe meaning to kick (and vice versa) crops up quite frequently in cryptics, albeit not much in everyday use. The wordplay puzzled me somewhat. “Drug” presumably gives us the E, but TO being clued by ‘but not from’ seemed a bit odd. All I can assume is that it is relying on TO being the opposite of FROM (i.e. it’s not from – it’s to) – but I may be off beam here…
10 Drinks excessively at first, leading to fall (5)
LAPSE – LAPS (drinks) + first letter (at first) of Excessively
12 Sang with partner? Awful deed: tut! (7)
DUETTED – *(DEED TUT) with “awful” pointing to the anagram
14 Aggressive driver got a piggyback I hear! (4,3)
ROAD HOG – Homophone (I hear) of RODE HOG (got a piggyback)
16 Former article and manuscript used for tests (5)
EXAMS – EX (former) + A (article) + MS (abbrev. manuscript)
17 The vicar’s turn (3)
REV – DD
20 She starved you badly: it’s time for pancakes! (6,7)
SHROVE TUESDAY – *(SHE STARVED YOU) with “badly” signalling the anagram
21 Let us in after fixing tool (7)
UTENSIL – *(LET US IN) with “after fixing” pointing us to the anagram
22 Cold, boy dressed (4)
CLAD – C (cold) + LAD (boy)
Down
1 Sailor upset banks: he’s let himself down? (8)
ABSEILER – AB (sailor – naval abbreviation for Able Seaman) + RELIES reversed (banks upset), with a nice cryptic definition
2 Some blossoms on climbing plant (4)
MOSS – Part of (some) bloSSOMs reversed (on climbing)
3 Ordered short tip passed on (6)
TIDIED – TI{P} (short tip) + DIED (passed on)
4 With this lofty perspective I’d be very wise, somehow (5-3,4)
BIRDS-EYE-VIEW – *(ID BE VERY WISE) with “somehow” signalling the anagram
5 Stuff that includes a note and a fattening meal (5,3)
CREAM TEA – The full parsing of this one eludes me – I must be missing something. Looks to me like we have CRAM (stuff) with E inside (includes a note), plus another A (and a) on the end of teA, but where the TE comes from I have no idea. I look forward to enlightenment from my learned friends on this site!
6 Appeal? You’ll get nothing on a Thursday! (4)
OATH – O (nothing) ‘on’ A TH (a Thursday). Whilst the wordplay led inexorably to the answer, the definition left me somewhat bemused as I tend to think of an oath in terms of a solemn declaration or swearing (rather than an “appeal”). However, on checking in Chambers the primary definition of OATH is “a solemn appeal to a god”. Ah well, live and learn…
7 Gambler with small beers for spouses (6,6)
BETTER HALVES – BETTER (gambler) + HALVES (small beers)
11 Branches stocking first Christmas present (4,4)
PEAR TREE – “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree”. Delightful cryptic definition.
13 Unhappy when DIY’s made complicated (8)
DISMAYED – *(DIYS MADE) with “complicated” pointing to the anagram
15 Initially going, returning, end to end, like a little girl lost (6)
GRETEL – First letters of (initially) Going Returning End To End Like
18 Biblical character appearing in thesaurus (4)
ESAU – Hidden (appearing) in thESAUrus
19 Hero doing nothing to an audience (4)
IDOL – Sounds like (to an audience) IDLE (doing nothing)

32 comments on “Quick Cryptic 802 by Felix”

  1. Hi Nick, (it’s CRAM with the note E in it followed by the note TE and then A). On edit: having re-read the blog for the individual clue rather than just your header, I agree that the bit of the clue that should indicate TE is missing. I obviously just glossed over this when solving. I agree that 9a relies on TO not being FROM. Cheers John

    Edited at 2017-04-05 12:16 am (UTC)

  2. I managed to complete this in under 10 minutes at 9:12, which is beginning to feel like a result after some of the snorters we’ve had recently. I raised my eyebrows at OATH as I usually associate THU with an abbreviated Thursday rather than just TH, but no doubt it’s in a reference work somewhere. Liked PEAR TREE and BETTER HALVES. FOI ARMY, LOI TOE as I’d forgotten to go back to it when I had the crossers. Thanks Felix and Nick.
  3. I had the same reaction as Nick to OATH, and to TOE; I think Nick’s parsing of TOE is the right one. 1d struck me as maybe a bit tough for a quickie; is ABSEIL that well known (it wasn’t to me when I first encountered it in a 15×15)? LOI SUSPENDER BELT, a term I didn’t know (I put in VEST, which sounded more lingerie-ish). The more I look at 5d, the more I think it’s just an error. 5:49.

    Edited at 2017-04-05 12:20 am (UTC)

  4. I know! I’m going to go to bed and see if the answer appears overnight. Looks to me like it slipped past the editor unless someone knows different 🙂
    On edit: this was a reply to Kevin’s deleted comment posted while I was editing my first comment. Postings that crossed in the ether!! 🙂

    Edited at 2017-04-05 12:23 am (UTC)

    1. John’s reply (‘I know!’) was to my deleted comment, which said his reading won’t work; I deleted when I saw that he’d revised his original comment while I was typing mine. I didn’t even notice a problem until I read Nick’s comment!
  5. and a very easy QC in 6.59.

    COD 3ac TOBACCO

    WOD SUSPENDER BELT (what is this called in America?)

    Edited at 2017-04-05 03:14 am (UTC)

  6. 44 minutes. As usual flew through a lot of clues then held up for 30 mins by 7/8 toughies

    Some excellent clues (3a, 8a, 9a, 2d, 3d, 11d)

    I don’t understand the parsing for 5d, I presumed cream = stuff somehow, then te + a.

    I also hesitated on oath = appeal.
    I couldn’t parse 1d abseiler so thanks for the blog.

    COD 8a suspender belt.

    Edited at 2017-04-05 05:07 am (UTC)

  7. Relieved to finish on target for the first time this week, but 10 minutes on the nail is only just scraping home.

    Of course I’d have been safely within my target if I hadn’t wasted time trying to parse 5dn which clearly contains an error of some sort. (Actually not, as I didn’t notice the problem until I came here). My guess is that the setter miscalculated for whatever reason, and momentarily thought he was cluing the A in “cream” for containment instead of the E. I have raised this in the Club Forum and will report any response received later.

    OATH/appeal jarred a bit but I’m not at all surprised that it’s justifiable as confirmed by Nick in his blog.

    14ac on its own was worth the price of admission!

    Edited at 2017-04-05 05:19 am (UTC)

  8. I also got confused by stuff and cram initially but then realised if you ‘stuff’ someone at tennis, say, you can also be said to ‘cream’ them.
    1. Unlikely I’d have thought. It also leaves “includes” unaccounted for in the clue. Still, if it got you to the correct answer that’s the main thing.

      Edited at 2017-04-05 07:53 am (UTC)

  9. These are definitely getting harder. Finished just over 30 minutes, taking a long time over 9ac, 11dn and 3dn for some reason. 3ac was deliciously deceptive, and I looked for a word meaning “to go” (leaves) for ages. I didn’t understand the parsing for 1dn, 5dn, 9ac and 11dn, so thanks, blogger. Although it seems that 5dn is still up in the air. FOI Esau, LOI Toe, COD 11dn. Gribb.
  10. Didn’t notice the error at 5dn. Not often you see that in the Times.

    Good puzzle otherwise. Thanks Felix and Nick.

  11. Thanks for the explanation of 9ac.
    Oath as an appeal has to be ok I suppose but is there any chance of getting the compilers to settle on a dictionary. If it has to be Chambers well and good but it seems to be the case that it’s only used for obscure applications of words.
    1. It’s rumoured that they use principally the Concise Oxford and Collins with occasional input from Chambers.
  12. A few here that had me puzzled. never come across TOE meaning to kick (LOI), to TOE-END I understand as a football term. Never thought of OATH as an appeal (now stand corrected on that) and like everybody else think the parsing of CREAM TEA is missing something. Loved PEAR TREE. Delightful clue.
    PlayupPompey
  13. Very enjoyable puzzle today, with many smiles as the answers finally twigged. I couldn’t parse 1d and I spent a while trying to work out whether i’d missed an indicator for sounds like. Thanks Felix and blogger.
    CSky
  14. Just under half an hour for me, but there were a few that had me foxed. Glad others found CREAM TEA hard to see! ABSEILOR I got but in a roundabout way (didn’t parse it correctly but at least I got the answer!), and SUSPENDER BELT left me hanging 🙂 as my LOI. I’m definitely improving though – thanks all again.
  15. I assumed TEA was ‘note’ to do with doh ray mi etc, but stuff = CRAM with A it still doesn’t do it.

    Can anyone explain host = army please?

    2. As in Host of Angels; Heavely Host. Good old KingJames – didn’t do much for my faith, but it made me love english.

      Philip

    3. Host is an archaic term for an army. Its second definition in Chambers is ‘army, great multitude’.

      An example of use comes from Luke Chapter 2 Verse 13: “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying…” The heavenly host here is the army of angels, and God is often referred to as the ‘Lord of hosts’ in the Old Testament.

  16. Not that archaic either; a host of problems, etc. Anyway, I’d think that if one is wondering how host=army, one might start by using a dictionary, sv host or sv army, or a thesaurus (well, a dictionary; I hate thesauruses).
  17. Eighteen minutes for me, which was slower than it should have been. Like others, I was a bit baffled by 5d, but all-in-all it was fairly clued otherwise.

    Blog tomorrow – I hope it is easier to parse.

  18. Really enjoyed this today, after 2 dnf’s monday and tuesday!prob about 30 mins, (which is good as I still term myself a newbie.)
    Although 6d did stump me! – thought it had to do with cricket- “outt” being some weird sort of appeal!
    Thank goodness for the blog!
    Cheers to nick and Felix.
  19. Just over 30 minutes and then an extra 5 trying (and failing) to get a full house by parsing 5d. Glad it wasn’t just me who thought 6 and 9 were a bit of a stretch for a QC. Invariant
  20. About average today I thought, but I encountered similar issues to those already commented on e.g. 5d and the appeal/oath link in 6d. LOI 9a, COD 3a and completed in 17 minutes
  21. MY LOI was 1d as I realised I was not certain of the spelling of Abseiler; I thought there was an E (or two) in there and the clue would not have really worked otherwise; so I had to parse the Banks part. But I was all done in 15 minutes.
    I was uncertain about Toe; and I failed to spot the problem with Cream Tea. A relatively straightforward test today.
    And by the way I have managed to finish today’s 15×15 so any aspiring QCers might want to have a look. I’m not sure I got it all correct though; about to check. David
  22. Much more straightforward than other days, but also found a few difficult to parse. From reading above I can see why now. Also, I thought this had some good misdirection in a few of the clues.

    My FOI was 19d but was initially wrong – I had ZERO thinking it was a homophone due to ‘audience’. Once I had 20ac I realised my error.

    I also got 1d differently and, as a result, wasn’t sure if it was spelt with an “e” or “o”.

    My view on OATH is that it can be seen as a promise and therefore you promise to give during an appeal. May be tenuous but it made sense at the time.

    Same issues with everyone on 5d. COD 7d (was looking for WIVES towards the end until it clicked)

    Enjoyable as usual – thanks to the blog and setter.

    DR31

  23. 5d Surely cream is stuff (cram) that includes a and tea is note (te) and a to make cream tea. SM

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