Quick Cryptic 862 by Felix

Author   nick_the_novicePosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I’m currently in Australia for a couple of weeks and have to confess I totally forgot my blogging duty today, so this one was pulled together in a hurry. Fortunately it was a relatively straightforward offering from Felix with no major alarums or excursions as far as I could see.

A pleasant solve with the felicitous anagram at 5dn and the cockney’s exhortation at 13dn being my favourites. Thanks to our setter for an enjoyable puzzle.

For some reason the “Preview Entry” feature does not seem to be working at the Live Journal site today so I have not been able to check the blog prior to posting – hopefully it will not contain too many typos or formatting issues…

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

Across
1 Office furniture not, however, used for shaving (6,7)
FILING CABINET – Cryptic definition based on shaving equating to filing
8 Beg Lara to prepare for school subject? (7)
ALGEBRA – *(BEG LARA) with “to prepare” signalling the anagram
9 Affront: own shows being pulled! (2,3)
ON TOW – Hidden in (shows) affrONT OWn
10 Stick with wind instrument that can reproduce sounds (4-
8)
TAPE-RECORDER – TAPE (stick) + RECORDER (wind instrument)
12 Fashionable and fancy ring, dark blue (6)
INDIGO – IN (fashionable) + DIG (fancy) + O (ring)
14 Female faced being sent back for healthier hot drink? (6)
DECAFF – F FACED reversed (Female faced being sent back)
17 Stuff a martial arts expert does for a month (7)
RAMADAN – RAM (stuff) A DAN (a martial arts expert) for the Islamic holy month
19 Even characters in amiable mood, finding Swedish port!
(5)
MALMO – Every other letter in (even characters in) aMiAbLe MoOd
20 Small territory at sea one’s permitted (5)
ISLET – IS LET (one’s permitted)
21 Overlooked doing RE revision (7)
IGNORED – *(DOING RE) with “revision” indicating the anagram
22 Time to attack controversial type of contract, incomplete
(4,4)
ZERO HOUR – Zero hour{s} (controversial type of contract incomplete – i.e. minus its last letter). Not sure if the zero hours contract is known outside the UK – basically it’s a form of employment contract with no guarantee of the number of hours that the employee will be employed for, and none of the usual protections for the worker in terms of notice periods, holiday pay etc.
23 Intent to show one’s grief (4)
KEEN – DD, the second being the verb to keen meaning to lament / cry – not a word used much in everyday speech (in fact I can’t recall ever having heard or read it) but common in crosswordland
Down
1 A plant producing fibre, fine and loose (4)
FLAX – F (abbrev. fine) + LAX (loose)
2 One who’s slow to pull maiden up (7)
LAGGARD – DRAG GAL (pull maiden) reversed (up)
3 Lord’s not overlooking but lauding England’s openers (5)
NOBLE – First letters of (openers) of Not Overlooking But Lauding England’s
4 Seeks to persuade company with primitive weapons (6)
COAXES – CO (company) ‘with’ AXES (primitive weapons)
5 Winsome blond resolved to send one into raptures (4,4,4)
BLOW ONES MIND – *(WINSOME BLOND) with “resolved” signalling the anagram
6 Famous school raised daughter (5)
NOTED – ETON reversed (school raised) + D (daughter)
7 Capital landmark that pulls in the tourists? (5,2,6)
TOWER OF LONDON – Cryptic definition based on ‘towing’ meaning pulling in
11 French resort having pub outside one hotel (8)
BIARRITZ – BAR going round I (pub outside one) + RITZ (hotel)
13 Words encouraging wife, perhaps, to pay own share (2,5)
GO DUTCH – “Go, Dutch!” could be an expression of encouragement to a wife (Dutch being cockney slang for ‘er indoors)
15 In general, a real G&T must be served fresh (2,5)
AT LARGE – *(A REAL GT) with “must be served fresh” signposting the anagram
16 Some coins I turned and placed (2,4)
IN SITU – Hidden in (some) coINS I TUrned
18 Damage surrounding short old tooth (5)
MOLAR – MAR (damage) going round (surrounding) OL{D} (short old)

34 comments on “Quick Cryptic 862 by Felix”

  1. Straightforward by and large, except for two non-US terms: ON TOW (I’d say in tow, and I’m always slow on hiddens anyway) and the contract. I had HOUR early on, but somehow ZERO wouldn’t come, until I finally twigged to BIARRITZ. Your blog’s flawless, Nick. 5:45.
    1. Very familiar with ON TOW from hours spent in traffic behind caravans etc on narrow UK roads in the days before the motorways were built. I’m not sure whether it was a legal requirement to display such a notice on the back, but most drivers of vehicles with trailers did so.

      Edited at 2017-06-28 06:41 am (UTC)

  2. 14:00, although I had MEAN(=intent) as LOI instead of KEEN at 23a.

    Came up with two other resorts ending in Z: St Tropez and St Moritz. Times often conflates two word clues, so these seemed plausible to me.

    Surely NOTED with ETON reversed in it is a clue due for retirement? I’m sure it comes up every month.

  3. 8 minutes. I was glad the wordplay was helpful at 11dn or I might have been tempted to write ‘e’ as the third letter.

    I’m not familiar with AT LARGE meaning ‘in general’ as to me it means ‘free’, ‘at liberty’, ‘unrestricted’. But my dictionary eventually gets to the meaning required here as its fifth definition of the term.

    Edited at 2017-06-28 05:17 am (UTC)

    1. Yes, I also wondered about the definition for a bit, but then the phrase “the public at large” drifted into my mind.
  4. Slow and steady today(seem to do better, the earlier in the day I start!)
    Had mean too for 23a, Dnk keen.
    As an aside, I usually do the daily quiz as a warm up. Really liked q14. Hope you all got the correct answer!!
    Cheers to blogger and setter.
  5. I made the same mistake as Merlin by putting MEAN for 23ac. Just never heard of KEEN meaning “to show grief”. 11dn was also an unknown to me, so had to check. Apart from those two, a fairly straightforward crossword, I felt. Gribb.
    1. I associate keening with the Irish; I bet the villagers keen when the son’s body is brought in in “Riders to the Sea”.
      1. I think I have mostly come cross keening in relation to animals – specifically, IIRC, where a mother has a dead offspring.

  6. Phew, some of this felt like a workout for me.

    Biffed several,didn’t spot the hidden in 16d, but the one that surprised me was 15d biffed, of course, but couldn’t see how it related to ‘in general’ so thanks for the blog , Nick.

    Thanks to Felix

  7. Because I polished this off between London Bridge and Waterloo East!

    I still don’t really think that 1ac works, because filing and shaving just are NOT the same thing (and my Woodwork O-level will fight anyone who says different).

    Otherwise really enjoyed that, thanks Felix. COD shared by BIARRITZ and RAMADAN, both excellent.

    Very impressed by your dedication in blogging on holiday, Nick, thank you!

    Templar

      1. Well I wondered that, but (a) read Nick’s blog – he thinks the opposite and (b) there are lots of things that aren’t shaving … posting snarky blog comments, for example

        Templar

        1. A valiant attempt by jack to defend my clue.
          However, I DID mean that they are, or can be similar.
          After all what are iron filings if not shavings 🙂

          FTC

          1. Ha ha! Thank you, Felix. My Woodwork O-level will see you in the car park.

            Templar

        2. I’m sorry if you thought my comment was “snarky” as it wasn’t intended to be, just putting forward a point of view rather than stating it as fact. I’m not entirely sure it was valid anyway.
            1. No need for apologies, and I’m glad it’s all cleared up. As one of the “maintainers” of TftT for nearly 10 years I can assure you that nobody who’s regular here ever sets out to put another contributor’s opinions down or score cheap debating points, although there may be mild disagreement and a bit of friendly banter from time to time between the regulars.

              Edited at 2017-06-28 01:35 pm (UTC)

  8. This one kept me busy for a bit longer than usual at 14:33. Like some others I finished with MEAN for 23a and then spent a while rechecking the rest of the answers before an alphabet trawl reminded me of the possibility of KEEN, which did the trick. FLAX was FOI, but I did have trouble getting my head around 1a. At large also gave me pause, but the wp was clear. Thanks Felix and Nick. I hope your Antipodean weather is better than the damp grey skies over Middlesbrough!
  9. Pretty straightforward I thought. My Dad (a joiner) always referred to the removal of a small amount as shaving a bit off, whatever method was used so I guess 1ac is OK. Thoroughly enjoyed 13dn. And why is a school subject always ALGEBRA?
    PlayUpPompey
  10. All was going well until the last two – 23ac keen took ages – 4dn coaxes took even longer. I hope my misfortunes give heart to newer solvers out there. Whilst it’s not the height of summer in Oz, it’s always wise to keep hydrated. When I was there they had some very pleasant grape juice.
  11. An excellent – for me – 19 minutes today with no real sticking points, though filing/shaving gave me pause for doubt. I particularly enjoyed 5d which to my puerile mind seemed joyously risqué! Pexiter.
  12. DNF today as I refused to put Mean in for 23ac even though I couldn’t think of anything else. Keen/grief has totally escaped me these past 60 odd years. I’m not over impressed with 1ac, as a clue, either. Invariant
  13. It is a pangram is it not? Not that that fact stopped me from putting in ‘mean’ for 23a, when I should have been looking for a ‘k’.

    Golier

      1. Yes, I checked for a pangram when I saw X and Z but a quick trawl through the completed grid came up with the same omissions that you have listed above.
  14. My account stated this afternoon that I had been locked – out as my password had been attempt too many times – wrongly!
    I finally turned off the machine and am now able to report my 9.56 mins effort. Silence.
    So Kim Jung-Un has probably been having a poke around. Apparently he adores cheese – I wonder what are his favourite? Red Hawk perhaps?

    As for the puzzle COD 23ac KEEN WOD SNARKY

  15. I found this very straightforward and wish I’d timed it properly…but it would still have been a very modest time compared to the experts. Estimated at 35 minutes – good for me. Re 23a, I associate ‘keening’ with the Scots simply because it appears a lot in the Dickson McCunn stories (and elsewhere) by John Buchan; seldom read elsewhere. My COD is shared between 17a and 21d. FOI 1a. ZlOI 23a.
  16. All fairly straightforward today with the exception of 23a where, like Invariant I managed to resist the temptation of ‘mean’, and an alphabet trawl finally got me the right answer. Completed in 15 minutes (the last 4 of which were on 23a), COD 17a
  17. Motored through most of it today (by my standards) and probably got about half the clues without checkers. Had most of the rest by about 30 minutes and finally stopped the watch at 40:57, which would have been a pb had it not been for the fact that I’d put mean in for 23ac. One question, just in case anyone sees this, is why does ram mean stuff? Is it to do with random access memory?
    Crispian
    1. No Crispian, it’s ram as in the stuffing was rammed home into place. Keep posting – I have my eye out for you. Invariant

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