Quick Cryptic No 299 by Flamande

Author   piquetPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Well, I’m impressed by my own dedication to meeting the blogger’s deadline. I woke up early, far too early really, managed to get the puzzle and solve it on my miniature smartphone, typed up the blog offline, then hovered outside the Hossegor golf Clubhouse (not yet open) to hijack the Wi-Fi and send the post before departing for our breakfast and two hour drive to today’s golfing challenge. It’s an easy enough puzzle with plenty of anagram practice. Apologies for any typos in pre-dawn haste. Thanks Jackkt for posting the link.

Across
1 PARTHENON – PART = role, HEN = female, ON: def. old Athenian temple.
6 WOW – Palindromic word meaning GOSH!
8 CHEERIO – Double definition, of a sort.
9 WHISK – Whisky or whiskey, shortened, def. stir. Stirring isn’t quite whisking but we’ll let it go.
10 EMILY – Hidden reversed in FIZZ(Y LIME)ADE, girl’s name.
12 LEADER – Double definition, maybe a Prime Minister, editorial in paper.
14 ON THE FACE OF IT – (OFFICE THAT ONE)*, def. apparently.
16 DRAGON – DR = doctor, AGON(Y) = slightly reduced suffering, def. intimidating woman.
17 CASTE – CAST = given art to play, E = end of temple, def. Hindu group.
19 AMEND – AD = advert, insert MEN = males, def. alter.
20 IRON AGE – Insert O NAG = old horse, into IRE = anger; def. a long period.
22 KIT – Double def, Kit is a nickname for Christopher.
23 NIGHTFALL – Sounds like Knight = brave man, then fall = ruin; def. when darkness descends.

Down
1 PICKED ON – Sounds like PICT = old Scot, then No backwards; def. bullied.
2 RUE – Alternate letters of aRoUsEd; def. compassion.
3 HARDY – As in Laurel and… def. robust.
4 NO OIL PAINTING – def. not a pretty sight, self explanatory.
5 NEWGATE – NEW GATE = modern entrance, def. old London prison.
6 WRITE-OFFS – (FIRST FEW)* with O inserted, def. wrecked cars.
7 WOKS – W = wife, OK’s = approves of, def. cookware.
11 INTERSECT – (STREET IN C)*, the C being Croatian capital, def. cross.
13 ETHEREAL – (E LEATHER)*, def. exquisite, as in exquisite beauty.
15 EGGED ON – EG = say, G = good, E = English, DON = teacher; def. encouraged.
17 CLOUT – CL = 150, OUT = refusing to work, on strike; def. Strike.
18 SACK – Double definition.
21 AGA – Hidden (not much) in REAGAN, def. military official.

16 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 299 by Flamande”

  2. Well done, Pip!

    Only 9 minutes to complete the grid but I biffed 6dn and took for ever afterwards trying to parse it, ‘in a heap’ being a very well-disguised anagram indicator, at least as far as I was concerned.

  3. This is the first time I have managed to complete the QC since it started !!!!

    I have enjoyed the numerous attempts and especially the great assistance from the numerous bloggers over the last year or so.
    The bad news is that it still took the best part of an hour !!!

    Thanks again to the bloggers and of course to all the setters.
    John

    1. That’s great. Well done you. It’s a great feeling. I managed today’s too but took me ages. Like you, I find the blog really useful. Keep at it! Regards
  5. I also managed to finish this in a record time-about 15 minutes.
    I enjoyed it and my last in was 16 A having been nicely misled by the female element. Eventually I saw unfinished agony and that was that.
  6. Very good, done before the blogger ! still never heard of aga other than a range.
    1. From Wiki
      Agha, also Aga (Ottoman Turkish/Arabic: أغا): ağa “chief, master, lord”, Persian: آقا‎), as an honorific title for a civilian or military officer, or often part of such title, was placed after the name of certain military functionaries in the Ottoman Empire. At the same time some court functionaries were entitled to the agha title.
      1. This was in “The Times” diary on 27th April:
        “Wrong sort of Aga
        I visited Ted Heath’s former house in Salisbury on Saturday, which has been turned into a fine museum. The first room is full of memorabilia from his illustrious sailing career (he also dabbled in politics, they say). No idle-rich boat-owner, Heath was a talented helmsman but he did like to invite his powerful friends on board. Once, the Aga Khan was a guest on Morning Cloud and was taken aback when one of Heath’s crew greeted him with: “I’ve just bought one of your cookers”.
        Vaguely amusing although probably not true.
      2. Thanks Pip very good service ! The clue left no doubt this must be the answer but it’s good to know why.
  7. Thanks again for the great blog; as a newby to QCs it is invaluable. Can you advise me as to what books you feel are useful in solving as there are lots available but I would like to know what experienced solvers use. Thanks in anticipation.
    1. Tim Moorey’s “How to Master The Times Crossword” (2008)is reckoned to be among the best. Full price it’s £12.99 but you can buy used copies on Amazon for a penny plus postage.

      Also by Tim is “How to Crack Cryptic Crosswords” (2014)though I haven’t seen this myself.

      The first one looks a bit daunting with all its charts and diagrams, and if I read it before I learned how to solve cryptics already I think it might have put me off. It all depends how technical you want to get. To be honest it’s likely that many people would have more fun and make more progress by doing the Quickie every day and following the blogs here, and occasionally having a bash at the main puzzle, especially when tipped off (here again) that it’s not too difficult that day.

    2. John,
      I found “Two Girls, One on Each Knee” by Alan Connor quite useful, and a fun read to boot. But, I fully echo jack’s advice that regularly reading the blogs and comments on this site is an incredibly effective way of learning the ropes – much better than any book in my opinion.

      I first stumbled across this site February last year when, on a good day, I could do a handful of clues in the main cryptic (the Quickie had not been launched at that time) but despaired of ever being able to complete a grid. Thanks to the wisdom imparted here, I’m now generally able to complete the 15×15 (albeit slowly) and I’ve been let loose as a blogger for the QC and also the Sunday Times cryptic! And whatever progress I’ve made, it really is all down to this site.

      Anyway, good luck.

      1. Thanks Nick. I will look out for “Two girls..”. I am encouraged by your comments. I can generally solve the QC but in nowhere near the times of some of the other bloggers BUT I am making some progress. I have not yet moved on to the main cryptic, but will do so once I can solve the QCs in under an hour I think.
    3. A bit late to this but I would also echo Jack’s final line. The various “how to” books are interesting but are probably of most use to complete beginners. Once you have acquired an understanding of the mechanics of a cryptic clue then it becomes more a matter of practice and, when you go wrong, determining why you went wrong. That latter step is where this blog comes into its own. Similar to Nick, I have improved substantially in the ~3 years since I discovered the blog.

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