Quick Cryptic No 142 by Felix

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
This will, I think, appeal to the more seasoned Quick solvers as there are some tricky clues with harder to spot than usual definitions – unless, of course, I’m just having an off day. I’ll be interested in comments.
A plea to other bloggers – last week the rich text tab disappeared so I have had to complete the blog in HTML only. Any ideas how I can get it back?

Definitions are underlined.

Across
1 Cultured school book series (8)
&nbsp &nbspHIGHBROW – School (HIGH – I’d have expected an indication that this is an example of a type of school), book (B) series (ROW).
5 Requests time off work? (4)
&nbsp &nbspASKS – Work (TASKS) without the T (time off).
8 Give up in rapture? No, unceremoniously (8)
&nbsp &nbspRENOUNCE – The answer is in the clue – raptuRE NO UNCEremoniously.
9 Slowly move part of foot (4)
&nbsp &nbspINCH – Double definition – to inch along is to move slowly and there are twelve inches in a foot.
11 Boy swapping ends for these song words (5)
&nbsp &nbspLYRIC – Boy (CYRIL) swapping first and last letters.
12 Regret on hearing insult in false words (7)
&nbsp &nbspRHUBARB – Regret on hearing (RHU – sounds like rue) insult (BARB). False words as in those which extras make on film sets to provide some background noise.
13 Crocodile, maybe, or horse seen by river (6)
&nbsp &nbspDUNDEE – This one had me all ends up – the definition is after the film hero Crocodile Dundee – the ‘maybe’ indicates not an actual crocodile. Horse (DUN – this didn’t spring to mind but rather inched its way there) river (DEE).
15 Fair game? Nonsense! (6)
&nbsp &nbspHOOPLA – Double definition. Hoopla is an example (hence the ?) of a game played at a fair. Collins has hoopla as (US, slang) nonsense; ballyhoo.
18 Religious leader’s office likely to leak water, it’s said (4,3)
&nbsp &nbspHOLY SEE – It’s said is the homophone indicator for both likely to leak (holey sounds like HOLY) and water (sea sounds like SEE). The religious leader being the Pope and it’s we here he does his stuff.
19 Lady’s outside with bow returning fabric (5)
&nbsp &nbspLYCRA – Lady’s outside (LY – first and last letters) bow (ARC) returning (backwards).
21 What certain doctors may give you for a turn (4)
&nbsp &nbspSPIN – Another one which took an age. I got spin as in a turn but what the doctors had to do with it I had no idea. Then spin doctors came to mind – who, of course, give you spin.
22 Rare vest’s got woven cross (8)
&nbsp &nbspTRAVERSE – Anagram (got woven) of RARE VEST.
23 Heavens above, finally seeing island! (4)
&nbsp &nbspSKYE – Heavens (SKY) last letter (finally) of abovE.
24 Did vast tours, arriving at Southern cathedral city (2,6)
&nbsp &nbspST DAVID’S – St David’s is a town in SW Wales, in Pembrokeshire: its cathedral was a place of pilgrimage in medieval times. Made up from an anagram (tours) of DID VAST plus Southern (S).

Down
1 Thrown across centre of stadium, as jumps must be (7)
&nbsp &nbspHURDLED – Thrown (HURLED) around (across) central letter of stadium (D).
2 Tragic king’s daughter, I left abandoned — that can’t be helped (5)
&nbsp &nbspGONER – This could be the Marmite clue of the day – you either love it (if you know the character) or you don’t. Goneril is a character in Shakespeare’s tragic play King Lear (1605). She is the eldest of King Lear’s three daughters. So, take Goneril and remove (abandoned) I (I) left (L). A goner can’t be helped.
3 Sad thing for photographer’s subject to say in Danish? (4,6)
&nbsp &nbspBLUE CHEESE – I’d been thinking of pastries but no. Sad (BLUE) thing for a photographer’s subject to say (CHEESE). Danish Blue is a type of blue cheese which has been around for ages. Some of the UK offerings now becoming more widely available are IMHO surpassing the established brands – I’m a recent devotee of Broon Coo Brie.
4 Outsize wheels getting awards (6)
&nbsp &nbspOSCARS – Outsize (OS) wheels (CARS).
6 Plums and short bananas for a tanner (3,4)
&nbsp &nbspSUN LAMP – Didn’t see the anagram for a while and was trying to get leather in there somewhere. Anagram (bananas) of PLUMS AN – the an being ANd short (without the last letter). A sun lamp being something for a tanner as in someone who goes brown.
7 South African greeting bishop: Indian gentleman? (5)
&nbsp &nbspSAHIB – South African (SA) greeting (HI) bishop (B).
10 So ugly, a deviation by way of the old country (10)
&nbsp &nbspYUGOSLAVIA – Anagram (deviation) of SO UGLY A by way of (VIA) – the old name for quite a lot of countries to the east of the Adriatic Sea.
14 Cancel last of impromptu stuff up in New York (7)
&nbsp &nbspNULLIFY – Last of impromptu (U) stuff (FILL) backwards (up) all inside New York (NY).
16 Mozart composed initially unaided, when going about (7)
&nbsp &nbspAMADEUS – Composed (MADE) first letter (initially) of Unaided with when (AS) going round the lot. Amadeus being Wolfgang’s middle name.
17 Worry, hiding Queen’s rifle (6)
&nbsp &nbspFERRET – Worry (FRET) hiding (inside which is) Queen (ER).
18 Pipes run from chargers, perhaps (5)
&nbsp &nbspHOSES – Chargers, perhaps are HORSES, run from (take out the R).
20 My private, royal pet (5)
&nbsp &nbspCORGI – My as in My Goodness!(COR) private (GI) gives us ER’s pet dog.

11 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 142 by Felix”

  1. I finally spotted ‘my’ as COR without having to plod through all kinds of other attempted parsings; it’s tripped me up countless times. I’m not sure I get ‘jumps must be’; jumps must be hurdled? I didn’t care for GONER (and now I notice, I don’t care for the comma); ‘tragic king’ has to be Lear, leaving one to choose between 3 daughters. HOOPLA as nonsense is new to me, Murcan though I be; nor did I know it was a fair game. But the checkers sufficed somehow.8:40. Is this 142 or 152? It says 142 over the grid.

    Edited at 2014-09-23 07:37 am (UTC)

  2. Great blog, thanks. 2D was actually my first one in! Interestingly 20D is also an answer in another newspaper’s cryptic today. Different clue obviously. I think 15A probably my favourite clue.
  3. Struggled a bit with this one and finished in 16 minutes with an extra 5 confirming my answer at 21 which went in on the strength of “turn” alone. Like the blogger I took ages to work out what “doctor” had to do with it, yet it’s so obvious once seen!

    I though ST DAVID’S was a bit obscure for a Quickie and GONER{il} might be hard if one doesn’t know one’s Shakespeare.

    Can’t help re Rich Text I’m afraid as I prepare my blogs elsewhere and then paste in as HTML.

    Edited at 2014-09-23 08:15 am (UTC)

  4. I agree that this was tastier than usual. I completed it all except 6d in around 14 minutes – after which it probably took another 4-5 for lightning to strike.
    Like faceofboe 2d was my first one in though I had to go through Regan and Cordelia first.
    I rather winced at 13a – not a Quickie clue at all.
    BTW St David’s is a city, not a town – the smallest in the UK – and a very pleasant place to visit.
  5. Found this tougher than normal today; completed all bar 13a in 11 min and then gave up, before DUNDEE came to mind several minutes later. A good puzzle and a very helpful blog – thanks.
  6. 8 mins but with one wrong. I didn’t see “spin doctor” for 21ac and entered “slip” on the basis the basis that a doctor could issue a sick note (a slip?) and slip is a synonym of turn, although admittedly not a close one. Definitely a trickier than normal QC and not what I wanted after a nightmare with the main puzzle.
  7. Good puzzle. Definitely several degrees above the usual Quickie level of difficulty. Quite a few of the clues would not have been out of place in the main paper’s cryptic. I had to come here to see the anagram in SUN LAMP, which went in on definition and cross-checking letters alone. Well blogged!

  8. A real toughie for a Quick Cryptic. Thought I was heading for a DNF, but slowly worked my way through it. Held up at the end by DUNDEE as I had HURDLES instead of HURDLED for 1dn. Used a cheat to discover that S_N_E_ wouldn’t give any sort of answer and then had the DOH! moment and finished off.

    Nicely blogged chrisw91.

    1. Even though common usage is “lyrics” the singular is just as valid. You can check this in any reputable dictionary.
  10. Many thanks Chris for such a useful and interesting blog, particularly for ‘bananas’ – new to me as an indication of an anagram. However, loved the challenge of this crossword, and got them all (eventually) with a few guesses, except for Ferret.

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