Quick Cryptic No 167 by Flamande

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Well, I didn’t know that – or that… If you liked yesterday’s easy QC and think they should all be like that then look away now. Personally I think these QCs are great. They provide a quicker-than-the-15×15 solve and introduce people to The Times cryptic crossword – which is a different (and far more interesting) beast than any other. I’m not sure I’d even do cryptic crosswords if they were not challenging and I love learning through them (last week I learnt that Aran jumpers do not come from Scotland, tease means guy and it’s lickety-split not spit).
Today I learnt about confectionary and middle class Americans – so that’s a good start to the week.
So, with apologies for blurbogging – my own (as far as I know – on edit – just found blurbogs are a mix of comment and original story which sounds appropriate but I’m a little disappointed that there’s nothing new under the sun) term for burbling on whilst blogging, on with today’s vocabulary lesson.

A footnote to other bloggers, I’m away on my travels for the next few weeks (like, but not with, Mohn2) but am hoping to continue to blog. The time zone should work for me but will wifi? So if a Tuesday blog is not up early UK time – if it’s not up at 5am then it’s not going to happen and I won’t be able to email a request for help – could someone please fill in?

Definitions are underlined.

Across
1 Captured by group of soldiers, woman is subdued (8)
&nbsp &nbspSQUASHED – A group of soldiers (SQUAD) captures woman (SHE).
6 Seven days, we’re told, to get thin (4)
&nbsp &nbspWEAK – Homophone (we’re told) of seven days (week) which gives us (to get) thin (WEAK).
8 Office worker giving note to politician (4)
&nbsp &nbspTEMP – The note is TE – between LAH and DOH, and the politician is MP.
9 Don’t take risks with child’s strongbox? (4,4)
&nbsp &nbspPLAY SAFE – I thought this might have been a double definition but on reflection I think the child’s strongbox is a whimsical description of something a child may play with which is like a safe.
10 It means nothing’s happening in court case (8)
&nbsp &nbspINACTION – In (IN) court case (ACTION).
11 Game confession by James Bond? (1,3)
&nbsp &nbspI SPY – More whimsicality – how would James Bond say he spends his working day?
13 Cheery sort: he is so funny, represented by artist (3,2,8)
&nbsp &nbspRAY OF SUNSHINE – Artist is RA followed by an anagram (represented) of (HE IS SO FUNNY).
16 Price covers entry to this outdoor event (4)
&nbsp &nbspFETE – Price (FEE) covers the first letter of (entry to) This.
17 Work of art: it’s cheap, surprisingly (8)
&nbsp &nbspPASTICHE – Anagram (surprisingly) of IT’S CHEAP.
19 Keep poet’s first book (8)
&nbsp &nbspPRESERVE – Poet’s first letter (P), book (RESERVE).
21 Wimp taking swim across river (4)
&nbsp &nbspDRIP – Swim (DIP) across river (R).
22 I would sleep regularly, being this? (4)
&nbsp &nbspIDLE – I would (I’d =ID) plus the 2nd and 4th letters (regularly) of sLeEp.
23 Book editor completely taken in (8)
&nbsp &nbspDIGESTED – Book (DIGEST – as in ‘The Reader’s’), editor (ED).

Down
2 Confection topped with royal icing? (5,4)
&nbsp &nbspQUEEN CAKE – Well, apparently it’s a small, soft, typically heart-shaped, currant cake. This clue seems to be more complex than baking said confection. I thinks it’s Queen Cake defined by confection made up from royal (QUEEN) on top of cake (where you might find the icing). The other way round you could have confection=cake topped with Queen but then I can’t find any description of a Queen Cake having icing. Please let me know if I’m missing something.
3 Jelly with a pungent flavouring for the most part (5)
&nbsp &nbspASPIC – A (A), pungent flavouring (SPICe) for the most part (without the final letter).
4 Children of the 1960s having food after joint (7)
&nbsp &nbspHIPPIES – Food (PIES) after joint (HIP).
5 Depicted as tired-looking (5)
&nbsp &nbspDRAWN – Double definition.
6 Irritable, like a middle-class American? (7)
&nbsp &nbspWASPISH – So – a WASP is a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant: a person descended from N European, usually Protestant stock, forming a group often considered the most dominant, privileged, and influential in American society. Called a wasp as the acronym for (W)hite (A)nglo-(S)axon (P)rotestant. Living, doing crosswords and learning…
7 Fellow, part of royal family (3)
&nbsp &nbspALF – In the clue (part of) royAL Family.
12 It might make you laugh, end of story (9)
&nbsp &nbspPUNCHLINE – I think this is a cryptic definitin- the whole clue – the end of a joke is the punchline.
14 Supervise poetry written in Old English (7)
&nbsp &nbspOVERSEE – Poetry (VERSE) on Old (O) English (E).
15 Future fortune for example stashed away by cunning gents (4,3)
&nbsp &nbspNEST EGG – For example (EG) inside (stashed away) an anagram (cunning) of GENTS.
17 Old man communist cut down (5)
&nbsp &nbspPARED – Old man (PA), communist (RED).
18 River in America going round capital of Delaware (5)
&nbsp &nbspINDUS – In (IN) America (US) going round first letter (capital) of Delaware.
20 Fellow supplies equipment for angler (3)
&nbsp &nbspROD – Double definition.
Phew! Time for a bite of Queen cake in a waspish cafe perhaps?

24 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 167 by Flamande”

  1. I am reliably informed by my “bake-off queen” that a queen cake is a bun with icing on top. This would make the definition/literal ‘icing’, with the parsing CAKE (‘confection’) after QUEEN (‘topped with royal’). This still doesn’t account for the metonymous use of ‘icing’ (the coating) for the cake itself, so maybe I’m missing something too!

    PS It’s confectionery. 🙂

  2. My understanding (well, that’s what I call it) of WASP is that it includes white trash as well; i.e., that it refers to white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants (in the US). The ruling class in the US has, of course, been almost exclusively WASP, but that doesn’t mean that WASPs are the ruling class. DNK QUEEN CAKE, so I didn’t bother to wonder about whether the wordplay worked, being happy to get it in from checkers.
    1. Far be it from me to argue with someone who lives there, but the OED says: “A member of the American white Protestant middle or upper class descended from early European settlers in the U.S. Freq. derogatory” – thus excluding trash, it would seem
  3. 9 minutes to solve but I (also) had never heard of QUEEN CAKE so that delayed me a bit and I still don’t get how it’s supposed to work.
    1. I thought this one was much easier than yesterday’s, I don’t have a precise time because there was some faffing about with changing train seats and getting my ticket checked etc etc but under 20 mins anyway which is v quick for me sine I type slowly. I didn’t know queen cake (food clue, see. I’m hopeless at these) but the checkers made it inevitable.

      I’m fairly sure wasps do not include less elite groupings. The term means more than the sum of its letter – For example I don’t think you can be west coast and a wasp. Or southern and a wasp.

  4. 21 mins a bit of Z8ery both useful & a lot less so – so I reckon that sums to 0. Didn’t get round to doing yesterday’s – a combination of being Grandma combined with the after-effects!

    COD was PUNCHLINE; LOI was IDLE. The clue is amusing – in fact the more idle you are the less well you sleep – I should know!

    Many thanks to Chris for a lovely blurblog – my favourite kind! Are you now off being a snowboard groupie again?

    1. Ultimately, yes (although, to be technical, I’ll be a freestyle ski rather than snowboard groupie), before that plenty of time to be a soccer groupie and saunter along Route 66 for a while in between the two.
      1. My bad; I checked with Z8 instead of getting my facts sorted. You’ll be a slopestyle groupie!! I wish James all the best! 🙂
  5. The usual time, and this was another QC I enjoyed a lot. It took me a while to get RAY OF SUNSHINE, even with all but one of the checkers, and it was only once I’d got it that QUEEN CAKE went in with a shrug as my LOI.
  6. Pretty much identical experience to Andy B (except my time would have been by a factor of five!)

    QUEEN CAKE very rum.

    WASPISH somewhat rum (maybe that’s a breezer?)

    Chris, enjoy your travels: Tuesdays are generally horror shows for me at work, but will keep an eye open and try to step in if no one else does.

    1. Thankyou! By the way I meant jigsaw puzzle (rather than crossword) the other day – for the turtle shaped piece which only fits into the final turbot shaped space with the assistance of a hammer.
  7. Can anyone find a recipe for a queen cake with icing. I have looked but not found one. I spent a long time trying to get the second word, why cake never came to mind I have no idea. Dead brain cells I guess.
  8. Play safe- is another way to say dont take risks- the question mark after childs strong box indicates a pun
  9. 2 down Another pun royal icing ? Indicates that a royal is the “icing” on the cake.
  10. An enjoyable puzzle and enhanced by coming here and reading the “blurbog”. Thanks for that chrisw91 and I’ve now also learnt something new today 🙂

    I knew what WASP meant, so WASPISH went in quickly, but otherwise I can quite see that it could cause some problems. Like others, I had QUEEN CAKE (couldn’t see what else it could possibly be with all checkers in place) but hesitated to put it in as I couldn’t make clear sense of the clue. The most fun clue for me was 4dn.

  11. Royal icing is a hard white icing made with egg & sugar mainly use on wedding and Xmas cakes
  12. After a few weeks of these I can almost always complete the puzzle but so far I think I have only twice managed to put the thing away without consulting the blog to parse at least one clue.

    This time ‘idle’ would have remained a mystery for ever without the invaluable aid of chrisw91.

    Even so I think the ability to extract l and e out of ‘sleep’ is likely to remain beyond my associative capacity, and even to associate ‘idle’ with ‘sleep’ in any way is for me a bit of a stretch.

    But I will persevere as long as the blog remains to bail me out, so thanks to all bloggers.

    1. Worry not, achillesheling, us bloggers are a hardy lot – spurred on, in my case and I dare say others, by comments such as your own, so we’ll be around around as long as you’re interested. I should say that I had a comment about my Sheffield grammar the other day – so maybe it’s ‘we bloggers’ – always happy to please.
      1. I did not expect an e-mail response. Very gratifying and thanks again.

        The struggle I have with crosswords is perhaps illustrated by my uncertain spelling.

        I used to have an Achilles (boat) and I thought I would make a username via a crosswordy pun. Linking Achilles with ‘heel’ and with what that boat did a lot of in heavy seas, which was ‘heel’ I came up with the stunningly clever ‘Achilesheeling’

        And misspelt it.

  13. 13A sunshine was obvious, so ray of had to be – thx to the blog I now know why! My understanding is that Wasp refers to the elitist community so happy with that. Wish I had got 1a squashed as my solution blocked 2 and 3, 8 and 10 but I could ‘t find my way out of that. Is 19a an anagram of verse and (somehow) pre ? Anyway it worked out ok! Appreciate the blog today, as ever.
    1. Once you put in one wrong it’s always tricky to work out from it. As for 19ac I can see where you’re coming from with poet=verse but I’m happy to stick with PRESERVE – Poet’s first letter (P), book (RESERVE).
      1. Thx for the response! I only get to try these of an evening so my little contributions are very late in the day… As a newbie, I am still trying to judge how hard to work the clues. Sometimes I find a lighter touch more productive but this can lead to misleading myself when a more thoughtful examination is, in retrospect, needed. Today, other than blocking myself over 1a, I would have been close to completing what the blog suggests was a harder puzzle. This suggests that my strategy has some merit for me, but clearly it is not fool-proof. I can see how Preserve works ( from the blog ) but was interested to see if anyone found an alternative way through. Probably not! Looking forward to tomorrow now.
        1. I think I also toyed with poet/verse after I’d got the answer. The fact you’re doing this is very positive, as developing the ability to look at clues in different ways (rather than getting fixated) is all part of the process. As is, dismissing the false workings when you hit upon the true one!

          Rule of thumb: if all else fails, it’s a hidden.

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