Quick Cryptic 892 by Tracy

Author   nick_the_novicePosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
A thoroughly enjoyable puzzle from Tracy which contained a nice mix of a few “gimmes” (e.g. 12ac, 3dn) and some more tricky stuff. I particularly liked the nicely disguised hidden at 8ac, the literary postman at 7dn and the very neat 5dn.

If I have understood it correctly, 17ac might provide a parsing challenge for less experienced solvers, albeit the answer is fairly clear from definition and cross checkers – but I may have got the wrong end of the stick myself…

Anyway, I suspect this one is of slightly greater than average difficulty so it should provide a good challenge for newcomers whilst also giving old hands pause for thought in a couple of places. Thanks very much to our setter.

Unfortunately I will be on a plane for most of Wednesday so I will not be able to field comments/questions, but I’m sure the usual crew will be on hand to deal with any matters arising.

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

Across
1 Mixed rum cup: it’s so delightful! (11)
SCRUMPTIOUS – *(RUM CUP ITS SO) with “mixed” signalling the anagram
8 A further section of orchestra not here (7)
ANOTHER – Hidden in (section of) orchestrA NOT HERe
9 Petite, the Spanish female elected (5)
ELFIN – EL (the in Spanish) + F (female) + IN (elected – as in “he got in / was elected”)
10 Oscar training, sailor running (9)
OPERATING – O (Oscar – as per the phonetic alphabet) + PE (training) + RATING (sailor)
12 English artist showing age (3)
ERA – E (English) + RA (artist)
13 Grasshopper in place close to desert (6)
LOCUST – LOCUS (place) + T (close to – i.e. last letter of – deserT)
15 Turncoat held by soldiers gets free (6)
GRATIS – RAT (turncoat) inside (held by) GIS (soldiers)
17 Prominent feature from the Left? (3)
TOR – If its ‘from the left’ then it’s also going to the right – hence TO R. At least, I think that’s what is going on here… If I’m right then it’s a more devious clue than most that we find in the QC!
18 Began struggling in lake in US resort (4,5)
LONG BEACH – *(BEGAN) – with “struggling” signposting the anagram – ‘in’ LOCH (lake), giving us the Californian city where the old Queen Mary liner can now be found.
20 Outdo former church leader in local (5)
EXCEL – EX (former) + CE (church) + L (leader in Local)
22 Sporting cry from supporter wearing hot pants (5-2)
TALLY-HO – ALLY (supporter) surrounded by (wearing) *(HOT) with “pants” indicating the anagram
23 Prodigal son writer initially disowned, before the short
break (11)
SPENDTHRIFT – S (son) + PEN (writer) + D (initially Disowned) + TH (th{e} ‘short’) + RIFT (break). Quite a lot going on here…
Down
1 Resentful about conductor’s original musical arrangement (5)
SCORE – SORE (resentful) goes round (about) C (Conductor’s original – i.e. first letter)
2 Listens during actual practice session (9)
REHEARSAL – HEARS (listens) inside (during) REAL (actual)
3 Trading place, home for a bird (6)
MARTIN – MART (trading place) + IN (home)
4 Almost level in cup match (3)
TIE – TIE{R} (almost level). Quite why matches in cup competitions (particularly the FA cup) are often referred to as “cup ties” I really don’t know – they just are…
5 Not on strike? That’s unusual! (7)
OFFBEAT – OFF (not on) + BEAT (strike). Neat clue.
6 As such, do only upset religious class (6,6)
SUNDAY SCHOOL – *(AS SUCH DO ONLY) with “upset” indicating the anagram.
7 Scholar, male postal worker? (3,2,7)
MAN OF LETTERS – A male postal worker could, in a whimsical way, be described as a ‘man of letters’. Rather nice, I thought.
11 Loose blouse — Georgia with blue one (9)
GARIBALDI – I had not come across the garment (a red blouse loosely modelled on the shirts worn by Garibaldi’s army), so I needed to rely on the wordplay for this one. Fortunately it was not too tricky: GA (abbrev. of the state of Georgia) + RIBALD (blue) + I (one).
14 Boat made from carbon, sign of things to come (7)
CORACLE – C (chemical symbol for carbon) + ORACLE (sign of things to come). The sign of things to come / oracle equation threw me somewhat, as I’d always believed that an oracle was one who interpreted the sign rather than the sign itself, but apparently oracle can also mean the message delivered by the interpreter.
16 Grab small part (6)
SNATCH – DD, with the second definition referring (amongst other things) to a “snatch” of – as in a few bars of – a song
19 Strangely easy time, until now (2,3)
AS YET – *(EASY) – with “strangely” pointing to the anagram – + T (time)
21 Boy happy heading off (3)
LAD – {G}LAD (‘happy’ minus its first letter – ‘heading off’)

12 comments on “Quick Cryptic 892 by Tracy”

  1. 17ac is fine, Nick. We had a similar device in the QC I blogged on Monday where “from SW” led us “TO NE”, defined as ‘character’.
    10 minutes today

    Edited at 2017-08-09 05:40 am (UTC)

  2. 23 minutes which is good for one of Tracy’s QCs.

    Started slowly but finished strongly once the two anagrams (scrumptious and Sunday school) fell into place.

    I parsed 4d as tied = almost level, but I think both are ok.

    Couldn’t parse 16d as I was thinking s + part = natch and in 23a I was looking for short break = thrift.

    COD 11 garibaldi, I know the biscuit more than the Italian patriot.

    Edited at 2017-08-09 05:07 am (UTC)

    1. Like Nick, I had TIE{r} for ‘level’ but only because I thought of it first and didn’t think further. I’d agree that TIE{d} works equally well.
  3. Inside 10 minutes today, so I suspect at the easier end of the spectrum. I’m with the flashman seeing TIE{d} first for 4d, but it makes little difference.

    The 15 x 15 is worth a look today – I managed to complete both in my slightly extended commute, so probably about 30 minutes for the bigger puzzle, although I didn’t time it accurately. Don’t be put off if it seems difficult to get a toehold initially – there are some easier clues further down the list that will get you going.

    Thanks for the blog Nick, and Tracy for the puzzle.

    Edited at 2017-08-09 07:46 am (UTC)

  4. This one took me 12:16, so above my 10 minute target, but not too difficult. I cannot get the club site to show my completed grid, so it’s difficult to comment on the clues. I’m using Edge, and I can just make out the grid in green behind the stats and an invitation to share on Facebook, but can’t bring it to the foreground. I tried opening it in Chrome and it showed a blank grid with my time and wouldn’t let me enter anything. Most frustrating! I started with ELFIN and finished with GRATIS. Thanks Tracy and Nick.
    On edit: Solved the review problem by reducing the zoom on the browser.

    Edited at 2017-08-09 11:10 am (UTC)

  5. 25:06 today , so slower than my target and much slower than yesterday. I seemed to start quickly then get stuck for a few minutes before a reasonably swift ending, held up by Garibaldi which I only got from the wordplay. Some entertaining clues, though.
  6. I seem to be the only blogger who found this hard going. I had never heard of a Garibaldi in this context, but the checkers and some knowledge of Italian history made it clear. Spendthrift took me a while to piece together. Enjoyed 5dn and 7dn. All in all, a real challenge.
    PlayUpPompey
  7. Yes, certainly had a few of those during the best part of an hours solve. I thought this was hard even by Tracy’s standards, with 11d taking the biscuit for obscure definitions. . . Invariant
  8. Got 1a immediately followed by 1d and was on course for a record which would be about 600 seconds for me.
    However the trio of 13a, 17a and 14d held me up a bit and I finished in 16 minutes (not bad for me).
    I could not parse Tor or Tie (thanks Nick). Garibaldi unknown in this sense but easy enough to work out; I used to eat them. David
  9. Next time I see a 9 letter clue I intend to biff Garibaldi as it seems to have very many meanings. Nice fun puzzle today, 11 minutes with a hit of head scratching on 15a. Thanks for parsing 18a which was another biff. 17a was a gimme with the checkers but a useful vsriant to remember. I see our esteemed Verlaine hasn’t gone under 10 seconds today. Thanks all
  10. A relief to get my first completion of the week. Nothing too tricky, although I failed to parse 17a and I was grateful that the unknown 11d was kindly clued. I also took a while to figure out that pants was an anagram indicator.
    Finished in 15 minutes, LOI 17a and COD 22a for the imagery.
  11. A late start and a bit of a struggle leads to a late evening post. After the, for me, unusual clueing in yesterdays puzzle I was not expecting the same construction again today with 17a. Not sure how many decades since I last saw 11d, so a feat to dredge it from some dark recess of memory. Couldn’t parse 22a or 18a so grateful for the explanations. Been a bit of a disjointed week for me so far as I have been concentrating on a big Heritage Lottery Fund Application that has left me brain-dead when attempting the QCs in an attempt to have a relaxing break. Will hit the ‘submit’ button tomorrow morning and hope to get back in the swing of the QC thereafter. FOI 1a LOI 3d COD 23a. Good puzzle from Tracy, as usual!

    BTW my IOS app for this site seems blocked by an irritating advert promising a trail iPhone8… – anyone know of a way past it for normal service again?

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