Quick Cryptic 849 by Teazel

Author   galsprayPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Just over five minutes to solve this Teazel teaser, not bad for a Friday.  I’m a bit pressed for time today, so I’ll post the parsing of the clues now and possibly add some observations later on.  Or better still, we’ll get everyone’s observations in a lively comments section.

Anyway, here’s how I parsed the clues…

Clues are reproduced in blue, with the definition underlined.  Anagram indicators are bolded and italicised.  Then there’s the answer IN BOLD, followed by the parsing of the wordplay.  (ABC)* means ‘anagram of ABC’.

Across
1 Intend to keep free one noon (8)
MERIDIAN – MEAN (intend) to “keep” RID (free) + I (one)
5 Angry about this London statue (4)
EROS – SORE (angry) reversed (about)
9 What helps stop an icy terror (5)
PANIC – Hidden in stoP AN ICy
10 Intelligent to hide a chopper (7)
CLEAVER – CLEVER (intelligent) to “hide” A
11 Become proficient at fitting a glass prosthesis? (3,4,3,2)
GET ONE’S EYE IN – Double definition
13 At two, travelling by a capital city (6)
OTTAWA – (AT TWO)* + A
15 Cruel ruler’s extremely tawdry outburst (6)
TYRANT – TY (extremely TawdrY) + RANT (outburst)
17 Privileged offer — initially given a no? (5,7)
FIRST REFUSAL – FIRST (initially) + REFUSAL ( no)
20 At college, wow! — new fabulous creature (7)
UNICORN – UNI (college) + COR (wow!) + N (new)
21 Relative’s popular set of rules (2-3)
IN-LAW – IN (popular) + LAW (set of rules)
22 Change stage act (4)
TURN – Double definition
23 Sacked director to whom one owes money (8)
CREDITOR – (DIRECTOR)*
Down
1 Plans area to be toured by politicians (4)
MAPS – A (area) “to be toured by” MPS (politicians)
2 Wander in the hills (5)
RANGE – Double definition
3 Detective’s assistant drowns cat — too horrible (6,6)
DOCTOR WATSON – (DROWNS CAT TOO)*
4 Demonstrator heading off one with a bow (6)
ARCHER – mARCHER (demonstrator) without the first letter (heading off)
6 After I struggle through two rivers, a warm coast (7)
RIVIERA – I + VIE (struggle) between R (river) and R (river) + A
7 Calm? Yet siren has gone off (8)
SERENITY – (YET SIREN)*
8 Don’t worry about second person? None of your business! (5,3,4)
NEVER YOU MIND – NEVER MIND (don’t worry) about YOU (second person)
12 As a repairman is summoned, excessively (2,1,5)
TO A FAULT – Double definition
14 Row about stray dog (7)
TERRIER – TIER (row) about ERR (stray)
16 One who’s inclined to be thinner (6)
LEANER – Double definition
18 Distribute a l-large amount (5)
ALLOT – A + L + LOT (large amount)
19 Jug used in brewery (4)
EWER – Hidden in brEWERy

26 comments on “Quick Cryptic 849 by Teazel”

  1. No real problem except the unknown GET ONES EYE IN; and once I had some checkers–especially the Y–it seemed inevitable. 4:17, if I recall. (I’m using a different computer than the one I solved on.)
  3. Oh, dear, I put in CROS (sounds like cross – angry) hoping it was a statue I had never heard of. I would have never got EROS, though. 18dn is rather unusual. I’ve never seen this technique used before. Is it supposed to be a stutter? Gribb.
    1. You got it in one. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it used in a Quickie.
      2. TL, I think Gribb is how, er, Gribb chooses to identify him or herself. Whether it means anything or not, we’d have to ask Gribb.
        1. Oh thanks! I thought it was a FOI, LOI type acronym! Clearly I still have a lot to learn…
          1. Haha. It’s just my nickname, a shortened version of my surname. I think I asked the same question when I noticed someone always putting Invariant at the end of their posts!
  4. 3dn was an unusual answer but not too difficult my COD – with WOD 11ac GET ONE’S EYE IN, as Joe Root likes to – I am not so sure about Messrs. Buttler and Stokes.

    Held up by 1ac MERIDIAN which I had originally as MEANTIME (Greenwhich and all that)- thus 10 minutes and 5 seconds.

  7. Good fun today and finished it in my lunch hour (instead of saving it for surreptitious solving at work!). My first hiccup was getting the clue wrongways about and putting SORE instead of EROS…soon fixed though. Last one in was LEANER – just couldn’t see it, kept trying words with an I because of the “one”. Still, quite proud of myself as a novice today! Thanks all 🙂
  8. 16:36 today so quite quick for me. ‘To a fault ‘ held me up slightly whereas ‘Get ones eye in’ slotted in very quickly.
  9. 8:03 for me, so not too difficult from my point of view. Took me a minute to see what was going on at 18d. I’m not sure I’ve come across that device before. FOI MAPS, LOI SERENITY as I had brain fade from too much election watching and didn’t write the fodder down. No trouble with get one’s eye in as it applies to darts and snooker too. I did have to scan the grid to see why my first go was unlucky and found I’d typed OTTOWA instead of OTTAWA. Thanks Teazel and Galspray.
    1. Except that in darts and snooker, “getting one’s eye in” requires at least two pints.
      1. Precisely. I used to play darts for my local pub, but had to give it up as I had a wooden arm until I’d had my first couple. The away captains all got to know this and used to put me on first at our away matches, so I took to having a couple of glasses(or so) of wine before going out. I eventually stopped playing for the sake of my liver:-)

        Edited at 2017-06-09 02:17 pm (UTC)

  10. 4:33. Nno hold ups. Not entirely conviced by “become proficient” for 11a as, to me, it’s more about getting used to (playing) conditions. But that’s just a minor quibble. 5a my favourite.
  11. Strong criticism of yesterday’s setter. He had landslide but not hung, not better than most pollsters.

  12. 12:05 which is a PB. And was up most of the night watching the election. Always happy to see a new species of clue such as 18d. LOI was 1ac.

  13. As a novice I’d like to know where in 9across is the clue that the answer is hidden in the clue? Normally in the Quicks you have a word like buried for example to give you the hint. Thanks
    1. Good question anon. The setter is suggesting that the letters PANIC “help” the phrase “stoP AN ICy” in the sense that they form an integral part of it.
  14. Not sure of timing but around 30 mins.

    Held up by two intersecting pairs:

    20a and 12d. For 20a I went down a wrong route:
    [UP | ISAY | N] for at college wow New

    And the 2d 9a pair. Range has stumped me before and panic was well hidden.

    COD creditor.

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