Quick Cryptic No 107 by Pedro

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
15 minutes for me so medium/hard. I got a lot of clues from the definitions (and worked the word play out later which proved to be quite an enjoyable mental tussle) but I have some question marks over a couple of clues (so do debate away!).

Here’s the link just in case: http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20140805/234/

Definitions underlined.

Across
7 Stop having mother in control (6)
REMAIN – Mother (MA) in control (of a horse – REIN).
8 Work hard in attempt for cup (6)
TROPHY – Work (OP) hard (H) in attempt (TRY).
9 Lady’s Equerry’s first in attendance (4)
HERE – Lady’s (HER) first letter of Equerry.
10 Damaged rig, refrigerated, reversing, by end of block — traffic jams result (8)
GRIDLOCK – got from the definition of traffic jam when I spotted rig then had to work out the rest. Anagram (damaged) of RIG, refrigerated (COLD) backwards (reversing), end of bloc(K). Lots to get your mind round there!
11 Assign to a cell roughly behind front of Alcatraz (8)
ALLOCATE – Another where the answer seems more get-able than the definition. anagram (roughly) of TO A CELL all behind first letter of (A)catraz.
13 Put lots of people on deck (4)
PACK – this is my first question mark. Is this a clever cryptic definition – packing a lot of people on a deck (pack)? Otherwise it’s Deck of cards as a definition – no problem, but the word play is ‘put lots of people on’ – using deck again as the place to pack ’em.
15 Net uses some of Times HTML (4)
MESH – Answer is in the clue (uses some of) tiMES Html.
16 Finished with source of mutton, I will have some beef (8)
PASTRAMI – Finished (PAST), source of mutton (RAM – quite liked that one although I’m sure the ewes would have something to say!) and I.
18 Flaunt error involving South African currency (8)
BRANDISH – My second questionable one. Error (BISH) around (involving) Soth African currency (RAND). I didn’t like bish for error but it’s my own problem as it’s an English word – Collins gives this (rather surprising to me) example from a very august publication: And so, then, to Ronaldinho’s brilliant free kick and David Seaman’s final, fatal bish.
TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES (2002)
20 Party line repeated term of endearment (4)
DOLL – Party (DO) line (L) repeated (L). A term of endearment perhaps in an earlier age than today’s one of equality and harassment laws.
21 Easy and quiet, containing debate (6)
SMOOTH – Quiet (SH) around (containing) debate (MOOT – as in to moot an idea).
22 Bird is featuring in film (6)
SISKIN – Is inside (featuring in) film (SKIN – as in on custard).

Down
1 Right to quit dream about large loch — here’s wake-up call (8)
REVEILLE – More word play fun – take dream (REVERIE), take out (to quit) right (R) to get REVE IE and pop large (L) loch (L) in the gap.
2 Be unable to prosecute what streaker will do? (4,7,2)
HAVE NOTHING ON – Double definition.
3 A lot of information perhaps turning up about good puzzle (6)
ENIGMA – Thought this was tough – A (A) lot of information perhaps (MINE as in a mine of information) backwards (turning up as this is a down clue) about good (G).
4 Band upset priest (6)
STRIPE – Anagram (upset) of PRIEST.
5 Unrealistic place is a real spoof, concocted with a hint of devilment (5,8)
FOOLS PARADISE – Another I wasn’t very happy about – a fool’s paradise isn’t really a place – but I think it may work as a mindset – ‘he was in a happy place’. Anagram (concocted) of IS A REAL SPOOF plus D which is a hint (first letter of) of Devilment.
6 Girl, mostly, is smart (4)
CHIC – The term ‘chick’ should be used with the same qualification as 20ac.
12 Drink a drop? Not quite (3)
TEA – A drop (TEAr) without the last letter (not quite).
14 Sleep cut short, leading to obvious bellyache (8)
COMPLAIN – Sleep (COMa) without the last letter (cut short), obvious (PLAIN).
16 Difficulty attaching power to lamp (6)
PLIGHT – Power (P), lamp (LIGHT).
17 School is beginning to mask serious divergence of opinions (6)
SCHISM – School (SCH) is (IS) first letter of (beginning to) Mask.
19 Though not first, do better than bottom (4)
RUMP – Do better (tRUMP) without the first letter.

20 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 107 by Pedro”

  1. I struggled to finish this but came home in 22 minutes eventually. On your queries:

    13ac I had as a double definition (i) “put lots of people on” as one might pack a bus or train or boat with people, and (ii) “deck” as in pack of cards.

    18ac I know BISH as schoolboy slang from a bygone era. I’m sure it crops up in Billy Bunter and probably in PG Wodehouse who packs his books with overgrown schoolboys.

    5dn A FOOL’S PARADISE is a place figuratively speaking.

    Edited at 2014-08-05 01:07 am (UTC)

  2. 7:30, but that was without parsing a couple that were fairly easily gettable from checkers and definition. It’s nice, I suppose, to know that ‘bish’ is still being used in the 21st century; I know it only from these cryptics. 22ac took more time than necessary as I took ‘film’ to indicate ET (it does, often enough, but also MIST, and as here, SKIN). Liked 19d
  3. 13′ finishing with DECK (very good clue). Lots of good stuff here, in fact, and just the right level for those looking to graduate to the Biggie.

    BISH very much a word in currency when I was a kid.

  4. I found this to be marginally more difficult than the average quick crossword, although still able to complete in just on 6 minutes. Re 20 across, in my experience “doll” is sill a term of endearment in my son’s and daughter’s generation.
  5. 6 mins with HERE my LOI after 2dn. I can imagine that some of the newer solvers will have a problem with the “bish” element of BRANDISH. It is certainly a word that I have only ever come across in crosswords.
  6. Found this quite tricky. I suspect the relatively complex wordplay of some of the clues – RUMP, REVEILLE, ENIGMA – will prove pretty challenging for some newcomers.

    Like Jack, I had PACK as a straight double definition – no issue with that one. Hesitated with CHIC, as I initially thought it unlikely that chick / girl would pass muster in today’s climate – but then I recalled FATSO from (I think it was) Tim Moorey’s last offering and decided the Times cryptic remains a refreshingly non-PC zone!

    REMAIN was my LOI as I did not equate it with Stop (though now I can see it with “stop there for a bit”). COMA seemed a bit odd as a synonym for sleep, but I guess that’s fine in cryptic land.

    Thanks to setter and blogger – all most enjoyable.

    Edited at 2014-08-05 11:38 am (UTC)

    1. Oxford has coma as a deep sleep in a jokey sense, as in the sermon sent me into a coma. Since the Greek means deep sleep, it’s pretty pukka, I reckon.
  7. Like others I took a bit longer than usual – about 18 minutes. I enjoyed 8 across a lot but thought that 16 across was a bit tricky for a quick cryptic but perhaps that was just me. I could only think of EWE not RAM. Last one in SISKIN but probably only because I couldn’t see it on the first pass and then it happened to be my last gap working round the knowns.Really enjoyed it while eating my lunch. Thanks.
  8. I also found this tougher than usual, but I think this is a new Quick Cryptic setter (?) so it may just have been an unfamiliarity thing.

    To add to other comments, BISH was common in the Jennings books, usually in combination with frantic or frightful.

  9. Never heard of a siskin but turns out it IS a bird. These puzzles teach you something new each day. Do they use rams for mutton? Might be rather tough.
  10. Although I managed some of the answers 14 d was impossible as was 13a…….
    Anon K
  11. In common with others I’ve had some trouble creating an account on this site.
    The names arbitrarily allocated were not to my liking and my email to the powers-that-be has not been answered yet.

    08:40 – so Andy Borrows +2 as usual!
    REVEILLE held me up as an adjustment is required before inserting the large loch:
    REVE(R)IE … REVE_IE … REVEI_E … REVEI(LL)E.
    (noticed as my spelling of French-derived words is so shaky!)

    Stronon

  12. I foolishly believed I was beginning to get somewhere with these – until today when I really struggled and only made a very few. I also failed to sign in so failure all round . How depressing!
    1. Chin up, Anon, this was a particularly difficult one so it’s likely that you will return to form tomorrow. You just need to keep plugging away and not get dispirited by the odd setback.

      As surmised above, Pedro is indeed a new setter.

  13. That was much harder than most quickies, and certainly a guide to the main crossword – took me over the half hour. Thanks for the Jennings books reminder -I used to love those.
  14. I found this the hardest ‘quick’ (in my case all day, on and off) cryptic yet, solving only 12 of the 22 clues – and some of them only with the help of a dictionary. As a newcomer I find the deduction of solutions very satisfying but just as much enjoy that feeling of ‘Why on earth didnt I see that?’ when giving up and clicking on the hint button. The opposite happens when a solution involves words such as ‘Bish’ which I reckon is about as esoteric as you can get (pace devotees of Bunter/Jennings/Wodehouse). If I look up ‘Bish’ in my online dictionary and thesaurus it’s certainly there. If I look up ‘error’ in the latter ‘Bish isn’t mentioned. I’m not complaining, just making a newcomer’s observation about enjoyment…
  15. I found this tougher than usual, and went for ‘Take Nothing On’ at 2d, on the basis that a streaker takes nothing onto a pitch and I didn’t like the ‘do’ in the clue.
    1. I think ‘do’ as a verb substitute works grammatically in the clue, even though there is to an extent a notional mismatch in a verb indicating state (‘have’) being substituted by one indicating perfomance (‘do’). I think one has to consider ‘do’ as being stripped through overwork of some of its core dynamic sense, as it takes on its very general performative function in the language.

      Thus, the following exchange may be imagined:

      ‘Who had nothing on?’

      ‘The streaker [did]’.

      The example in the clue is more unusual as the substitution precedes the verb group to be substituted rather than following it:

      ‘What will the streaker do?’

      ‘He will have nothing on’.

      (If ‘do’ is being used as a main verb rather than as a substitute, the answer would be different: ‘He will run across the ground’, ‘He will amaze the crowd’, ‘He will get into trouble’, etc.)

      I hope this makes some sense! And I hope I’m on the money. It’s a long time since I did my linguistics assignments/theses!

  16. Thanks for the detailed response ulaca. I was an Eng. Lit. bod rather than Linguistics/Eng. Lan. but I think I follow your reasoning, and I’m sure that you’re right. I sometimes feel like Mr Grumpy for expressing reservations about clues, and it’s certainly easier to nitpick than to write good clues, but I think that one purpose of the blog is to express honest opinions so that others can consider them and, if appropriate comment upon them, as you have done so kindly.
    It was a bad day for me with one wrong in the main crossword too (‘butt’ instead of ‘bath’), but I really think I would enjoy crosswords less if I always got everything correct.
    1. Sentiments echoed. Actually, your answer in the main crossword would probably be accepted in a prize puzzle given the setter’s comments, and your answer here is rather ingenious. My only quibbles would be that it’s more normal to say ‘take no cases on’ and that ‘take no cases / nothing on’ suggests volition more than inability.

      Often it’s just luck of the draw thar we don’t think of alternatives, even if – ultimately – a large part of the crossword skill consists in…thinking of alternatives.

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