Quick Cryptic No 2694 by Izetti

Author   DoofenschmirtzPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

 

An approachable puzzle from Izetti. One piece of general knowledge that I didn’t have at all, but mostly fair and enjoyable, although there is one clue (I’m looking at you, 15 across) that I’m sure will generate some adverse comments. I thought of it like two unpleasant people getting married to each other: at least only two people are miserable instead of four.

I came in at just under 16:00, which I’ll take any day for an Izetti puzzle.

Definitions underlined, synonyms in round brackets, wordplay in square brackets and deletions in strikethrough.

Across
1 Counterpart in game (5)
MATCH – A double definition.
4 Regret nasty comment being heard? Nonsense! (7)
RHUBARB – Aural wordplay [being heard] of ‘rue barb’.
8 Loving to make call after a party (7)
ADORING – RING (to make call) after A DO (a party).
9 No longer going to church, having left to thrive (5)
EXCEL – EX (no longer), CE (Church of England), L (left).
10 Discovers sectarians being troubled (10)
ASCERTAINS – anagram [troubled] of SECTARIANS.
14 Idea impracticable, I gathered (6)
NOTION – NOT ON (impracticable) with an I inserted [I gathered].
15 Woman, 21, in building added on (6)
ANNEXE – ANN (a woman) + EXE (the answer to clue 21d in this puzzle).

I foresee some harrumphing here as there are two of the tricks that elicit complaints in this one clue. Not only do we have a random name, we’ve also got a cross-reference.

When I got here, I jumped down to 21d. Fortunately, that came easily and so this one went in on the first pass.
17 Neither going up nor down? That’s fair (2,3,5)
ON THE LEVEL – Double definition? Definition plus a cryptic hint? I don’t think it matters.
20 What causes me to see rubbish! (2,3)
MY EYE – Another double definition.

I’d say that I doubt anyone has said “My eye!” for “Rubbish!” in 30 years, but then I worked with someone who routinely said “Great snakes!”, so I’ve learned not to generalise too much.
22 Mum in highest part of ship (7)
MAINTOP – MA (Mum), IN, TOP (highest).

Lift and separate “highest part of ship”.
23 Son in fairly good journey down mountain? (7)
DESCENT – S (Son) in DECENT (fairly good).
24 Some remembered something glowing (5)
EMBER – Hidden in [some] remEMBERed.
Down
1 Grumble, as fellow possessing nothing (4)
MOAN – O (nothing) in MAN (fellow).
2 Overturned sack to find implement (4)
TOOL – LOOT (sack, as in ‘to sack a city’) reversed [overturned].
3 Greeting on street, one that is icy (9)
HAILSTONE – HAIL (greeting), ST (street), ONE.

I think “one” here is doing double duty, being both part of the wordplay and part of the answer. I don’t think just “that is icy” works as a definition of “hailstone”. But I look forward to being educated.
4 Fiddled, getting dressed (6)
RIGGED – Another double definition.

‘Rigged’ for ‘dressed’ makes me think of Flashman.
5 Element of housekeeper’s employment (3)
USE – Hidden in [element of] hoUSEkeeper.

Unusual to have two hidden words that are both contained within single longer words.
6 Cunning Burl once making records (8)
ARCHIVES – ARCH (cunning) + IVES (Burl once).

I had never heard of Burl Ives. Turns out he is responsible for the recordings of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and Holly Jolly Christmas that pollute all public spaces from about the end of October onwards. Bah humbug.

I wasn’t helped here by misremembering Aaron Burr as Aaron Burl and trying to make that into something useful.
7 Boastful talk securing a post (8)
BALUSTER – BLUSTER (boastful talk) securing [containing] A.

This was my LOI, dredged up from who-knows-where. A baluster is a “a short pillar or column, typically decorative in design, in a series supporting a rail or coping” (Oxford Languages – online). I knew it had something to do with staircases, but would have struggled to distinguish it from “banister”.
11 Unusual Argentine fruit (9)
TANGERINE – Anagram [unusual] of ARGENTINE.
12 Currently successful editor, one’s told (8)
INFORMED – IN FORM (currently successful, like a sports team), ED (editor).

I’m not sure what purpose “one” is serving in this clue.
13 Good person speaks — does so with hesitations (8)
STUTTERS – ST (saint, good person) UTTERS (speaks).

The definition refers back to “speaks” in the wordplay.
16 There’s wood in the strange piece of armour (6)
HELMET – ELM (wood) in an anagram [strange] of THE.
18 Attempt is crazy? The reverse (4)
STAB – BATS (crazy) reversed [um, the reverse].

As in “I’ll have a stab at this blogging malarkey.”
19 Pole in box (4)
SPAR – Another double definition, the second being the verb form.
21 Old lover given Eastern flower in Devon (3)
EXE – EX (old lover) with E (eastern).

The River Exe is, of course, something that flows in Devon. Is this the oldest trick in the setters’ handbook? Not that I’m complaining, you understand.

88 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 2694 by Izetti”

  1. DNF in 44:07. Worse, I revealed RHUBARB in a huff and still couldn’t see RIGGED or BALUSTER. RHUBARB for nonsense is not unknown to me, but not part of my native tongue. RIGGED for fiddled or dressed is a typically remote cryptic quasi-synonym in my book. And I didn’t have the imagination to convert the known “balustrade” to the unknown “baluster”. There you have it. Nice takedown after yesterday’s PB.

    Much respect to all who finished!

    Personally, I liked ANNEXE (although that’s not how I spell it)! Loved the indirection of 12D INFORMED, a real forehead-slapper. MER at EXCEL for thrive.

    Thanks Izetti and Doofers!

    1. Ah bad luck SC. This type of thing was named Penny’s Law by Templar, after I remarked that, like Newton’s Law, every action had a reaction. My version is every PB is followed by a DNF 😅

      1. Penny’s Law! I’m happy to adopt this nomenclature, especially since my name irl is Penny.

        I appreciate the consolation. 🥲

        1. Hard luck. It was one of those days when being on the setter’s wavelength was all important.

          Good luck today! 🤞

Comments are closed.