Quick Cryptic No 2002 by Pedro

Author   vinyl1Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
For me, this was a bit of a tricky one, but other solvers seem to have done pretty well.   Perhaps I am not on the wavelength?   Normally, Pedro is quite an easy setter for me, but not this time.    The vocabulary was not that obscure, and frankly I missed some chestnuts like friction/fiction which would have definitely sped things up.

So how did you get on?

Across
1 Runs from disagreement? That’s a lie (7)
FICTION – F[r]iction.
5 Task mostly incorporating second check for fingerprints? (4)
DUST –  DU(S)T[y].
7 Angry figures in Ancient Rome (5)
LIVID – L, I, V, I, D – not anyone’s favorite type of clue, but they still use it.
8 Navigational aid in competition given to a ship (7)
COMPASS – COMP + A SS.
10 Fish responsible for some receding ripple effects (3)
EEL –  Backwards hidden in [ripp]LE E[ffects].
11 Aim to go round edges of land and sea to get top prize (4,5)
GOLD MEDAL –  GO(L[an]D,MED)AL, a rather tricky construction most solvers will biff.
13 Not at home, going round US city no matter what (6)
ANYWAY – A(N.Y.)WAY, and not “out” for once.
14 Sudden blow absorbed by the German dealer in cloth (6)
DRAPER – D(RAP)ER, which may give some who don’t know the word difficulty.
17 Dog associated with Hans Christian Andersen? (5,4)
GREAT DANE – A double definition, one allusive, that we have seen before.
19 Notice ends of Möbius strip rarely (3)
SPY – Last letters of [mobiu]S [stri]P [rarel]Y
20 I feel bad backing youngster as intermediary (7)
LIAISON –  I AIL backwards + SON.
22 Clear a number of deliveries will be required before end of Test (5)
OVERT –  OVER + [tes]T.
23 I encountered returning couple (4)
ITEM – I + MET backwards, a chestnut I did recognize.
24 Stage? Run out to play guitar, perhaps (7)
ROSTRUM –  R + O + STRUM.
Down
1 Rebellious figure completely hidden in fen with a northern set (6,5)
FALLEN ANGEL –  F(ALL)EN + A + N + GEL.
2 Chartered Accountant to change when interrupted by 50 horsemen (7)
CAVALRY – C.A. + VA(L)RY, where I wanted to put a plural before seeing how it worked.
3 Annoyed pub worker receiving rude comment (9)
INDIGNANT –  IN(DIG)N + ANT, where you must lift and separate, unless you actually employ ants at your pub!
4 Knight showing reserve about the Spanish? Exactly (6)
NICELY – N + IC(EL)Y, a chess knight, that is.  Nice originally meant exact or finicky.
5 One investing in Deutschmark? Not bright (3)
DIM – D(I)M.
6 Small, unyielding splinter (5)
SHARD – S + HARD.
9 Collection of planets: Mars and — yes — lots spinning (5,6)
SOLAR SYSTEM –  Anagram of MARS + YES + LOTS
12 Very dangerous rumours spread about rising newsman (9)
MURDEROUS – Anagram of RUMOURS around ED upside-down.
15 French chemist in history linked to half of Europe (7)
PASTEUR – PAST + EUR[ope].
16 One ruling against what demonstrators carry? (6)
BANNER – Double definition, only slightly jocular this time.
18 Former legislation is precise (5)
EXACT – EX ACT.
21 Everything is left out of poor-quality housing (3)
SUM – S(L)UM.

56 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 2002 by Pedro”

  1. I too found this one very difficult, not really getting anywhere.

    I thought the make up of LIVID was very clever. I kept looking for a hidden clue.

  2. Scrapped under 20 when the final clues fell in a flurry. Everything that held me up was perfectly fair I was just off the wavelength. RHS went in very smoothly but most of the left took careful extraction. The rush at the end came when I finally pieced together INDIGNANT — someone once recommended reading clues backwards to remove the temptation not to lift and separate but I never take it and often wish I had — which gave NICELY (I’d even flirted with ‘nicele’, and that freed up FICTION and finally that let me see what sort of ANGEL I was looking for. Managed not to write ‘fairy tale’ in where GREAT DANE ended up, since something ‘tail’ = ‘dog’ so perhaps ‘tale’ too — what?!? Low on the leaderboard but loved it!
  3. On good form today …
    … with a 9 minute solve, faster than I usually manage for a puzzle from Pedro. I was a bit surprised to see Competition abbreviated to Comp in 8A Compass, and the Roman numeral trick in 7A Livid was new to me, but otherwise no real hold-ups.

    Calling Hans Christian Andersen a “Great Dane” amused me — it set me thinking how many other Danes might qualify for the sobriquet. King Canute, certainly, and Tycho Brahe perhaps, but there my woeful knowledge of Danish historical figures runs a bit dry.

    Many thanks to Vinyl1 for the blog
    Cedric

    2. Christian Eriksen? The footballer who was resuscitated on the pitch in the Euros, back in the Summer.
  4. Found this one challenging and resorted to blog for NICELY (struggled with exactly = nicely) — thanks vinyl. INDIGNANT took forever as I fell into the trap of not lifting and separating before finally seeing the error of my ways! COD FALLEN ANGEL. Thanks Pedro. Now to finish yesterday’s QC…
  5. 16 minutes and taken 1 over target by this clever puzzle from Pedro. FICTION was my LOI after spotting FALLEN ANGEL very late. On completion, and after seeing no blog here, I turned to the 15 x 15 which I was able to complete in a reasonable time, but with some help from aids. I think we had BANNER similarly clued only a few days ago, and I really liked NICELY. Thanks Pedro and Vinyl.
  6. Unfortunately a DNF, after reaching my 30 minute cut off.

    The right hand side went in rather quickly, but it was the left hand side of the grid that held me up today.

    FALLEN ANGEL was a tricky clue in my mind; the wordplay clunky and the definition fairly unclear. LIVID, GREAT DANE & LIASON also left blank.

    NHO Hans Christian Andersen.

      1. Familiar with the fairy tales but never knew their origin 😌

        Always learning something new here!

  7. just under 20 mins for me, with BANNER LOI. Couldn’t get SIGN for “what protesters carry” out of my head.

    FALLEN ANGEL took me forever and all crossers to get, finally twigged when GREAT DANE went in after a good head scratch.

    5 clues in the SW corner took me more than 10 minutes to get, the rest of the grid flew in.

    Thanks setter and blogger.

  8. No chance with a crossword as hard and nasty as this one.

    I think I will give these so-called QCs a miss for a while.

    1. Well you won’t progress by quitting. Why don’t you read the blog, learn from it and try again another day?
  9. 10 minutes, but only just.

    The main delaying factor was surely that the clues were so lengthy. One clue had only 3 words and one had 14, but the average per clue was 7.3 words, which is a lot for the mind to process especially if working against the clock!

    Like Cedric I was a little surprised by ‘comp’ for ‘competition’ which I don’t recall seeing before, but it’s perfectly legitimate according to the usual sources, and Collins counts it as ‘informal’ rather than as an abbreviation.

    Edited at 2021-11-10 10:52 am (UTC)

  10. Unaccountably went for FACTION/FRACTION at 1A which was my LOI. Another chestnut?

    Runs from disagreement? That might be vulgar (7)

    I think the clue GOLD MEDAL is unbalanced, almost impossible not to biff, then a minor shrug when one doesn’t see the parsing. Obviously biffable clues like this one should have a simpler construction, otherwise the setter is wasting their time. SOLAR SYSTEM was also biffable, but a glance at the second part of the clue left me satisfied that there “must be an anagram in there somewhere”.

    Did not like LIVID, I guess we should look out for CIVIL, MIMIC & VIVID. Apparently DIVIDIVI is a type of South-American tree, but that’s probably a bit much even for PolyMath and Mephisto.

    COD FALLEN ANGEL

  11. Sixteen minutes, which is about average for me. I enjoyed this excellent puzzle. FOI dust, LOI banner. Toyed with poster, but it didn’t fit the definition so I waited for the liaison with the Great Dane, and had a PDM on banner. Some nuances in the parsing in the blog. COD fallen angel. Thanks, V, and Pedro.

    Edited at 2021-11-10 11:03 am (UTC)

  12. I started with EEL and CAVALRY and then made steady progress to LOI, BANNER. Liked LIVID. FALLEN ANGEL and CAVALRY allowed me to get FICTION, which took a while. Nice puzzle. 9:39. Thanks Pedro and Vinyl.
  13. To a 54 min completion. Still needed the blog though (thank you) as I guessed ‘nicely’. I’d NHO it meaning exactly but what other word would fit N-CEL- ? I did actually get Gold Medal from its constituent parts, so pleased with myself there.
  14. I got there, but it took 30 mins and at one point I really didn’t think I’d finish. Quite a few I didn’t parse, including 1ac “Fiction” and 20ac “Liaison” (I have a bug bear about “son” being a youngster).

    Still not sure about the definition for 4dn “Nicely” — will have to look up the context later.

    However, enjoyed 5ac “Dust”, 17ac “Great Dane” and 1dn “Fallen Angel” (when I eventually got it and dismissed various pretenders to the throne). 2dn produced some amusing imagery as well.

    FOI — 5dn “Dim”
    LOI — 4dn “Nicely”
    COD — 3dn “Indignant”

    Thanks as usual!

  15. I normally struggle with QCs by Pedro particularly if there is a theme but I wasn’t held up today. There was nothing obscure and some were gimmes. I was a little slow to start with FOI LIVID and had to return to the NW corner with INDIGNANT (my COD) and finally NICELY in 8:45. A good day.
  16. A tricky one this. Needed a bit of help to get INGIGNANT – could not parse at all. Guessed FALLEN ANGEL and LISAISON too.
  17. A pleasure to see ‘nicely’ used in its precise definition.. A word that has sadly become so watered down in meaning.
  18. After a break from trying to solve these I’ve got more time now and started on Monday where I missed all the C’s, made a reasonable stab at yesterdays but Pedro had me foxed this morning. FOI was Great Dane and biffed Solar System as I saw the anagram quickly and checked the letters after writing it in.

    I can only endorse jackkt comments to @maozedung. However well or badly I have done I always read the blog; it is a rare day when I don’t learn something

    Thanks all

  19. It took me some time to tune into Pedro’s style, but a foothold in the NE gave me access to the RHS of the grid, and then it was just a matter of making best use of the crossers to pick off the remaining answers. Nicely and Fiction (via a Faction rabbit hole) were my last pair and pushed me out to 23mins — not too bad for a tricky puzzle. CoD to 7ac, Livid, which I quite enjoyed. Invariant
  20. A smidge over target today – no particular delays, there were just a few clues that required some thinking such as INDIGNANT, CAVALRY and LIAISON. Finished in 10.32 with LOI DUST. Thanks to Vinyl
  21. A minute or so over target.

    I can’t recall my LOI etc, but I remember struggling with and then enjoying FALLEN ANGEL when it all fell into place.

    6:53

  22. Danny Kaye would turn in his grave…. NHO him either!….Fred Housego!?

    FOI 21dn SUM

    LOI 5ac DUST and there was me thinking DABS!

    COD 1dn FALLEN ANGEL excellent!

    WOD 5dn DIM and DIMMER!

    Time 9:15 minutes

    On edit: I too noticed how verbose some of the clues were. Thanks Jack!

    Edited at 2021-11-10 02:11 pm (UTC)

  23. I admire the way in which some folk parade their ignorance like a badge of honor.
    MY COD just has to go to 17ac Great Dane. I’ll add Peter Schmeichel and Christian Erickson to the list.

    Edited at 2021-11-10 02:05 pm (UTC)

    1. I guess it depends on what you mean by parading.

      I’m quite happy to show what I don’t know (even when it is with a little embarrassment) – mainly because I hope it gives some confidence to others that a lot of the QC’s can be completed without inherent general knowledge. In many cases (and I accept not all) as long as you follow the rules you can finish them.

  24. ….tricky, and I missed my target. A well-constucted puzzle from Pedro, and perfectly fair as a challenge.

    FOI FICTION
    LOI DUST (once I erased “dabs” !)
    COD LIVID (initially entered “cross”, as X = 10)
    TIME 5:18

  25. Didn’t see the Aim = Goal connection in 11ac and built on the third word “go” before biffing it! Thanks to Vinyl1 for the explanation. Glad to complete this although not brave enough to time myself yet.
    1. The fun is the clues and finding the answers, not the time, I think. In fact I believe brandishing the good honest hours and minutes you have taken is refreshing, all of us are learners here.
  26. I found this pretty tough with around a 30min solve. Like others, the right hand side went in more easily than the left. Not getting 1ac is always rather depressing, and I needed the crosses for Angel to get 1db, which then helped me with the rest. Livid was also tricky.

    Thanks to Vinyl and Pedro

  27. Felt I had been pretty quick though held up by last two FICTION and NICELY, both parsed in retrospect. FOI COMPASS and then solved from the bottom up. GOLD MEDAL, SOLAR SYSTEM easy to biff, then had a PDM with FALLEN ANGEL. Failed to parse INDIGNANT and LIAISON.
    Liked the GREAT DANE, also BANNER, PASTEUR. Must be on Pedro’s wavelength today.
    Thanks vm, Vinyl.
  28. Perilously close to a DNF today but we refused to give in and eventually finished in 26 minutes. Lots to enjoy in this puzzle and it really did stretch us which is not a bad thing.

    FOI: DIM
    LOI: ANYWAY
    COD: GREAT DANE

    Thanks Vinyl and Pedro.

  29. I started this under time pressure because of a prior commitment. Should have waited! A good puzzle but I was not on Pedro’s wavelength. Luckily, the grid included shorter, simpler clues so I developed a reasonable number of crossers and moved erratically on. I finished over target and entered the SCC again.
    Most of my observations have been made above so I’ll just thank Pedro and Jeremy. John M.
  30. James, you contradict yourself. Ignorance is bliss, whilst knowledge denotes progress.
    The idea of the QCs is to help one to move onto the 15×15, where GK is essential.
    Ad Astra!

    1. True – but in a world where not everyone has the GK to start with and doesn’t have the time to acquire it going forward, I find the QC a happy (and blissful) halfway house.

    2. It has always been clear that the QC’s are intended to be standalone if that’s what solvers wish. There is absolutely no obligation or expectation to move on to the 15×15 although some may choose to treat it as a stepping stone to that end.

      As for parading ignorance I agree with James that when experienced solvers own up to not knowing things it can give confidence to others. The honesty of one particular blogger when I first came here gave me the confidence to stick around and persevere when the majority of the contributors were so obviously crossword champion material and general brainboxes. I’m always suspicious of people who give off the air of knowing everything and never admit to any failing.

      Edited at 2021-11-10 06:34 pm (UTC)

  31. Finished in reasonable time, but found some difficult to parse eg3d. It was a day of bunging some answers in from the checkers and hoping.
  32. There’s Lund and Troels in Scandi Noir for a start.🙂
    Danes are famous for design – eg Arne Jacobsen
    Karen Blixen – writer as played by Meryl in Out of Africa
    Explorers Rasmussen and Bering.
    Not that keen on the films of Lars von Trier, though, I must admit.
  33. Listening to the T20 Semifinal and so just happy to plug away at this extremely tricky offering (well I found it hard!) — trying to complete over two hours of long on and long offs.
    Last ones in Indignant and then Fiction.
    I got Fallen Angel but must look up the Rebellious figure connection…
    Thanks all
    John George
  34. A finish today, one or two biffs which had to be right, an anti-biff which was right and I parsed before the finish, and a weak biff Liaison where I did not see the ‘ail’ reversed. A regular coach time, two dozen and one minutes.
  35. … but it all started to flow as I got into it, and I ended up finishing in 24 minutes, a very good time for me.

    My last two in were NICELY and DUST because, whilst I had thought of both words earlier, I struggled to parse them.

    Mrs R is away again today, so she will catch up in due course.

    Many thanks to Pedro and vinyl1.

  36. I did most of this and then got stuck with the NW corner. I was going to give up, and look at the blog, but it wasn’t up at that point. I had another look at it after a second coffee, and then managed to finish it. Pretty tough as QCs go.
    BW
    Andrew K
  37. A glacial solve held up entirely by failure to see friction and fallen angel. The RHS flew in but was left staring at the NW corner for ages before it clicked.
  38. 5:49 this morning. Some tricky clues in a well constructed puzzle.
    LOI 5 ac “dust” — I was another looking at “dabs” until 6 d “shard” came to the rescue.
    COD 3 d ” indignant” once I’d remembered to lift and separate.
    Thanks to Vinyl for the blog and muchas gracias to Pedro
  39. A very late solve today after a day out shopping with my daughter, and squeezed in while cooking supper, so an approx time of 9 minutes. It was a bit of a biff-fest tbh and I didn’t really parse a few — LIAISON, SOLAR SYSTEM and INDIGNANT among others. If I’d bothered to parse, it would have taken a few minutes longer for sure.
    I usually find Pedro quite a wordy setter and have just counted up the number of words in today’s quickie compared with the biggie (a bit sad I know, but I was intrigued!) Quickie 190 over 26 clues, Biggie 220 over 30 clues. Mara, on the other hand, can be positively terse!
    FOI Cavalry
    LOI Fiction
    COD Livid
    Thanks Pedro and Vinyl

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