Quick Cryptic No 211 by Mara

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
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I was surprised to have completed this puzzle in 15 minutes because it seemed harder than that. The instant gratification of getting the answer straight from the definition is less satisfying than having to work through the word play to come up with it. I went through the latter process a few times today and ended up really enjoying some clever clues – but I would understand if some newcomers find this a bit of a stretch.

Definitions are underlined.

Across
1 Officer, one meeting fate as captain’s assistant (7)
&nbsp &nbspCOPILOT – Officer (of the law – COP), one (I), fate (LOT). I was misdirected sufficiently into considering whether COPALOT could be an old fashioned term for someone like Baldric in Black Adder!
5 Brush primarily some strange broom (5)
&nbsp &nbspBESOM – First letter (primarily) of Brush, anagram (strange) of SOME. I could vaguely remember hearing of besom before but looked it up later and it’s a broom, especially one made of a bundle of twigs tied to a handle (as in a witch’s).
8 Check flower for further life? (13)
&nbsp &nbspREINCARNATION – Check (REIN), flower (CARNATION – one with petals this time rather than a river).
9 Equipment for supporting Scrabble letters (7)
&nbsp &nbspTRESTLE – Anagram (scrabble) of LETTERS. Excellent deception!
10 Some bride terrified, put off (5)
&nbsp &nbspDETER – The answer is in the clue (some) briDE TERified.
11 Person in an automobile club (6)
&nbsp &nbspDRIVER – Double definition – and a clever one.
13 Some bananas, maybe, about right for meal (6)
&nbsp &nbspBRUNCH – Some bananas (BUNCH) around right (R).
15 It’s a photograph, however (5)
&nbsp &nbspSTILL – Double definition.
16 Seminar that’s not right — is left! (7)
&nbsp &nbspREMAINS – Anagram (that’s not right) of SEMINAR. The exclamation mark points out that the answer isn’t ‘left’ but something that is left.
19 Warranty timed to lapse in delivery area (9,4)
&nbsp &nbspMATERNITY WARD – Anagram (to lapse – as in to make a mistake/error – an unusual anagram indicator) of WARRANTY TIMED. If a delivery isn’t to do with cricket then there’s a fair chance it’s to do with babies.
20 Bottle yet to be returned, first of recycling bagged (5)
&nbsp &nbspNERVE – Yet (EVEN) backwards (to be returned), including (bagged) the first letter of Recycling
21 Change three times, because of that (7)
&nbsp &nbspTHEREBY – Anagram (change) of THREE, times (BY – as in 10 by 5 = 50).

Down
1 Vehicle containing a measure of stones (5)
&nbsp &nbspCARAT – Vehicle (CART) containing a (A). The stones in question could be diamonds.
2 Bizarrely, isn’t premier, I’m the leader! (5,8)
&nbsp &nbspPRIME MINISTER – Anagram (bizarrely) of ISNT PREMIER IM.
3 Proper lap not completed with it (5)
&nbsp &nbspLICIT – Lap (LICk) without the last letter (not completed) plus it (IT).
4 Painter a crank, perhaps? (6)
&nbsp &nbspTURNER – Double definition – the second is a device for communicating motion or for converting reciprocating motion into rotary motion or vice versa. It consists of an arm projecting from a shaft, often with a second member attached to it parallel to the shaft. It is therefore an example of something which turns so is a turner.
5 Bag with burglar initially on run (7)
&nbsp &nbspBLADDER – First letter (initially) of Burglar, on top of run (LADDER – as in stockings). A bladder is an inflated or hollow flexible bag or chamber according to the Oxford dictionary.
6 Raining a little: I’m a long time — double (8,5)
&nbsp &nbspSPITTING IMAGE – Raining a little (SPITTING), I’m (IM), a long time (AGE).
7 King, say, working to break up demonstration (7)
&nbsp &nbspMONARCH – Working (ON) inside (break up) demonstration (MARCH).
11 Council worker mad, nuts, screwy! (7)
&nbsp &nbspDUSTMAN – Anagram (screwy) of MAD NUTS.
12 Amendment of general swell (7)
&nbsp &nbspENLARGE – Anagram (amendment of) GENERAL. This is what your 5dn will do if you have too much coffee with 13ac.
14 A river bird captivating second chap with easel? (6)
&nbsp &nbspARTIST – A (A), river (R), bird (TIT) around (captivating) second (S).
17 Live under tree, perhaps? (5)
&nbsp &nbspMAYBE – Live (BE) under tree (MAY). I’m so used to ‘perhaps’ meaning example or an anagram that it was refreshing for it to be the definition.
18 Speak about deal that’s empty, alas (5)
&nbsp &nbspSADLY – Speak (SAY) about deal that’s empty (DL without the middle). You wait for ages and two come along at once – alas is usually an anagram indicator.

28 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 211 by Mara”

  1. Like the blogger I struggled with some of this and was a little surprised to find it had taken only 4 minutes over my target of 10.

    The ones that held me up were BLADDER, LICIT, and finally COPILOT which I worked out from the wordplay but I couldn’t see it was correct until I twigged the missing hyphen which according to the Oxfords is still obligatory, according to Chambers is optional but Collins has done away with completely.

  2. Another first rate puzzle. Slightly under par solving time for me aided by getting 3 of the 4 long answers quickly. Initially made things difficult at 8a by thinking the flower would be a river but REINCARNATION is my clue of the day. Last in was STILL.

    Chris, thanks for parsing LICIT, something I failed to do. BLADDER not my first thought when thinking of a synonym for bag.

  3. This was a good, crunchy puzzle. LOI Trestle, because I missed the indicator that it was an anagram. COD Reincarnation – I too was expecting a river. Got held up by Artist because I read the clue as ending ‘with ease’. It was only when I noticed the extra l that light immediately dawned. I need new glasses.
  4. A satisfying puzzle with nothing much to quibble about, despite putting MATERNITY UNIT in without thinking. LOI 5d and then only by brute force. 21a was definitely sneaky. COD 8a for me.
    I reckon I would have broken the 10 minute barrier had it not been for my wife insisting on talking at a crucial moment about the state of the garden (sigh).
  5. Got through this in reasonable order – it’s not an easy one – but got held up by being convinced 5ac was BASIL (first of Brush, geddit?) ..which took time to sort out

    Not having seen the comments you referred to, Chris, I looked them up.. and was not in the least surprised to find they were by Don Manley. He is a difficult, rather bad-tempered man and has quite a reputation among his fellow setters. So no worries there. He pops up a couple of times a year and waves his arms about. And of course there is a grain of truth in what he says, since indeed some of us do seem to nitpick at clues. Just human nature though, isn’t it?

  6. An enjoyable puzzle that I might have eventually parsed completely if impatience had not driven me to the comfort of another excellent blog.

    I am no engineer but for me a crank is just a simple mechanical link between two moving bits, the most obvious example being the rod that connects an up and down moving piston in a car engine with a rotating shaft (predictably called the crankshaft)

    It connects to a thing that turns but does not itself turn.

    Or am I a clue nit picker, a Manley baiter?

    1. One of my all time favourite tee shirt slogans was the Cambridge Engineering faculty’s Rag Week offering (circa 1976) “It takes a crank to start a revolution”
      1. Love the T shirt quote. I think I just said the same thing in a (sadly usual) more long-winded way in my reply to achilesheling 🙂
    2. Well, this is why I included the quote from the dictionary as I am out of my comfort zone.
      In my simple World, if something wouldn’t turn without a crank, then the crank is something which causes something to turn so is therefore a turner.
      Please don’t wave your arms about at this comment 🙂

      Edited at 2014-12-30 11:59 am (UTC)

      1. Thank you. Perfect logic. I was seeking ‘turn’ and should have been thinking ‘turner’

        Olly

  7. Very enjoyable and my fastest time yet(17 minutes). I wasn’t sure about COPILOT as I would have expected a hyphen and my Oxford Dictionary confirms this. Also did not understand why there was an ON in MONARCH so thanks for explaining (if something is working it is on – is that right?).
  8. I suddenly thought of the cranks on my bike. It’s years since I had the pleasure of replacing the big end bearings on a piston crank but I ride the bike most days. As the legs supply energy ( mainly) from the down movement of the legs the cranks make the connection to the rotating chain wheel. Looking a cyclist in movement ( sideways on) those cranks are making ipure circles. They turn. Hence the clue is perfect whilst harmoniously my comments thereon are perfect nonsense.
  9. This must rank as one of the best. I kept changing my COD as there were many possible candidates. I was very pleased with and smiled a lot at copilot, still, spitting image and besom but I must give the prize to reincarnation. And I had not realised that Brunch has been around for nearly 200 years!!

    Edited at 2014-12-30 12:56 pm (UTC)

  10. The sound made by a besom is synonymous for this expat with autumn, accompanied by the smell of burning leaves. Always reminds me of Sir Clive Bosom, MP for Hereford, where I lived as a nipper, of who Churchill made his “neither one thing or the other” gag. (All from memory, so quite possible the details are a bit “Turnery” – I know I lived in Leominster, though…)
  11. Took ages to get going – misinterpreted 4 dn & thought it must be an anagram & came up with CRANAK an alternative spelling (??!!) of the painter Lukas Cranach. Z8 had to disabuse me!

    I took 31 minutes with a little Z8ery which leaves me feeling a tad underwhelmed.

    LOI was BLADDER, COD was MATERNITY WARD – though DRIVER was a close 2nd – I love double meanings.

    1. LUKAS CRANACH? What a brilliant name – with hints of Scotland and Poland…just waiting to be anagrammatised.

      ‘A ulacan shark’ materialised as if from nowhere.

      2. I just replied & it was categorised as spam!!! Maybe because I included a link to Wiki all about Lucas Cranach – they spell his first name with a c. 🙁

        I absolutely adore ‘a ulacan shark’!

        I just Googled ‘ulaca’ & found the link to your blog 🙂

      3. Sorry to be a party pooper but there’s a problem there with C’s and A’s. May I suggest ‘Chuck ran, alas’?
      1. Very true, Chris! Ask Z8, I want everything happening the day before yesterday!

        I missed cruciverbalising but my brain was so fried after returning to 5-days-a-week work!

  14. I found this more difficult than usual for the Quickie (about 17 mins). Good puzzle with quite a few clues that would not have been out of place in a main paper Cryptic.
  15. Certainly thought this one was at the difficult end for a Quickie, and happy to work through it in surprisingly quick time. Didn’t now BESOM, but thought it more likely than BOSEM for some reason. Struggled like others with COPILOT, working it only from the cryptic and felt a bit of a Homer Simpson when it finally clicked. But really would have liked to see it clued as (2-5) rather than as one word.

    Thanks to MARA for the puzzle and to chrisw91 for the clear blog.

    Edited at 2014-12-30 06:37 pm (UTC)

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