Quick Cryptic No 251 by Felix

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I was not able to complete the crossword on iPad using Safari (as I usually do) as the keyboard entry has stopped working. In a second blow of fate, when my ancient laptop eventually started, wheezing and issuing steam, it seemed to have fallen out with the integrated keyboard so I’ve had to resort to the on-screen keyboard. So my time of 17 minutes may, or may not, indicate a medium difficulty crossword today.

Some humour, meaty clues, the odd talking point and one unparsed at time of going to press – so let’s get stuck in.

Definitions are underlined.

Across
1 Rod, 40, landed in A&E (4)
&nbsp &nbspAXLE – 40 is XL in Roman numerals inside (landed in) A&E.
3 Twig is to become fashionable (5,2)
&nbsp &nbspCATCH ON – Double definition.
8 Writer, experienced, given bonus payment: pound (4-6,3)
&nbsp &nbspFELT-TIPPED PEN – Experienced (FELT), given bonus payment (TIPPPED), pound (PEN).
9 Girl’s method of voting, suitable for all (3)
&nbsp &nbspPRU – Method of voting (PR – proportional representation), suitable for all (U – film rating).
10 Playback feature looms after editing (3-2)
&nbsp &nbspSLO-MO – Anagram (after editing) of LOOMS.
12 Weapon hurt a Parisian (4,3)
&nbsp &nbspSTUN GUN – Hurt (STUNG), a Parisian (UN in French).
14 Golf tournament champion seen in this sort of bus tour? (4-3)
&nbsp &nbspOPEN-TOP – Golf tournament (OPEN), champion (TOP).
16 German artist’s patterns — tessellated in part (5)
&nbsp &nbspERNST – The answer is in the clue (in part) pattERNS Tesselated.
17 Dismissed? Hooligan’s first to go (3)
&nbsp &nbspOUT – Hooligan (lOUT) without the first letter (first to go).
20 Choosing a number that’s costing little (5,3,1,4)
&nbsp &nbspGOING FOR A SONG – Double definition.
21 Doctor Seuss, eg for conjectures (7)
&nbsp &nbspGUESSES – Anagram (doctor) of SEUSS EG. Quite liked this – its lovely wordplay made me smile and come out of my grump about technology – so it gets my COD. Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer and cartoonist. He was most widely known for his children’s books, which he wrote and illustrated under the pseudonym Dr. Seuss. Wikipedia
22 Sharp, having range of knowledge about science, ultimately (4)
&nbsp &nbspKEEN – Range of knowledge (KEN) around last letter (ultimately) of sciencE.

Down
1 Tennyson, briefly, Burns for example also, outdoors (2,6)
&nbsp &nbspAL FRESCO – My reading of this is that Alfred Tennyson briefly gives us ALFRE, Burns was a Scot – the ‘also’ means briefly as well which gives SCO. Any other ideas welcome.
2 Three lines about start of unearthly calm (4)
&nbsp &nbspLULL – A line is L so three are LLL about the start of (U)nearthly.
3 Tree picked up in this Mediterranean island? (6)
&nbsp &nbspCYPRUS – Homophone (picked up) of a tree (cypress).
4 Put horsemeat out for this runner of sixty-plus years? Cheese more like! (3,9)
&nbsp &nbspTHE MOUSETRAP – Anagram (out) of PUT HORSEMEAT which gives us a long running play which is also a description of some old cheese. A COD contender.
5 Head of newspaper initially gets record label in shape (8)
&nbsp &nbspHEPTAGON – First letters (initially) of Head Of Newspaper (HON) around (gets) record (EP) and label (TAG).
6 Square in ancient Rome I cross? (4)
&nbsp &nbspNINE – 3 squared = 9 so nine is a square. Being stumped on the wordplay I turned to Mrs. chrisw91 (who rarely does cryptics) who came up with the answer. Roman numerals (in ancient Rome) of I (I), cross (X) = IX = 9. Brilliant!
7 Hurry to subdue empty chat? (4,2,3,3)
&nbsp &nbspSTEP ON THE GAS – To subdue (STEP ON THE), empty chat (GAS).
11 Manual often describes this extra car journey? (8)
&nbsp &nbspOVERRIDE – I originally thought the definition was just ‘manual’ but struggled with the ‘often’ – then realised that the definition is actually ‘manual often describes this’ as a technical manual may describe how to override an automatic system. Extra (OVER), car journey (RIDE).
13 Ringtone’s novel element (8)
&nbsp &nbspNITROGEN – Anagram (novel) of RINGTONE.
15 Like sponge, or soup, for a change (6)
&nbsp &nbspPOROUS – Anagram (for a change) of OR SOUP.
18 Silver boxes go on the edge of one’s seat (4)
&nbsp &nbspAGOG – Silver (AG) goes around (boxes) go (GO).
19 I must go south of unknown region (4)
&nbsp &nbspZONE – I – probably not the royal ‘I’ but I as the representation of the number 1 (ONE), under (south of) unknown (Z).

11 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 251 by Felix”

  1. I lost my way on this one and fell asleep so I have no time to offer other than from start to finish it was over an hour. Checking some details of wordplay after the event I needed aids to remind myself that the island and tree at 3dn are spelt differently. BTW, Chris, you need a P in your answer here.
  2. Found this difficult- held up for ages thinking of theories but not being able to fit it in!
  3. Nice blog Chris. I shared your mystification at AL FRESCO and only got as far as ALF in terms of the parsing – but I think you are spot on. Very cunning…

    Good QC of medium difficulty I thought, so thanks to Felix as well as your good self. NINE was indeed excellent.

  4. This is a very good challenge for those looking to graduate to the main puzzle. to take one example, three of the more difficult 4-letter words (6, 18 and 19) made use of different clue types (cryptic definition, insertion and charade/addition, respectively). And there was quite a bit of variety elsewhere, including 11, where we have a “fill in the gap” type clue, which can catch the solver out since they are relatively uncommon. 10’30” for this excellent challenge.
  6. I found this quite chewy for a QC, although that may have been because my brain was a little fried after doing today’s main puzzle. I should have seen how NINE worked but didn’t, it took me much longer than it should have done to get CATCH ON, HEPTAGON wasn’t immediately obvious, and THE MOUSETRAP was my LOI.
  7. Didn’t get 16a (I seem to miss the clues hidden in words too often for my liking) and 1d, 5d and 6d were unparsed, but i really enjoyed the puzzle. COD for me was 8a, because at first and second glances I didn’t think I’d ever get it.
  8. A very interesting QC. Took ages to get some of the shorter words (6, 18, and 19d) but eventually got there with more than just the odd smile. Thank you Felix and ChrisW Invariant
  9. Agree that this was another “chewy” QC and very enjoyable to boot. Nice humor and good variety as mentioned by Ulaca and especially liked the trio of 4, 5 and 6dn. AL FRESCO went in unparsed, but worked out after the ALFRED SCOT connection and also saw OVERRIDE as coming from manual override. For some reason Star Trek came to mind….

    Congrats on completing the blog Chris with all of you travails and hope your iPad resumes normal functioning soon. After a series of problems with WiFi and Mail on my Mac Air and iPhone (both software and hardware related), I’m rather losing faith in Apple’s supposed aura of excellence 😡. Must be coincidence that the wifi on both my wife and my iPhone 4s decided to give up once the Applecare agreement ran out, hmmm…..

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