Quick Cryptic No 391 by Alconiere

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
An unusual setter (I’m not implying the setter is odd in any way – simply that I can only find 2 previous puzzles) with some unusual vocabulary to match. There’s also some challenging word play, one of which I haven’t really understood, so this is at the harder end of the spectrum and gives an insight into 15×15’s. This insight is not simply the challenges but also the opportunities to pick up knowledge – 21 down is an example where the setter could have come up with a far simpler word play but chose to improve my education of all things Shakespeare – for which, thanks!
With Z, X, K etc I was looking for a pangram which didn’t materialise (no J or Q). Let me know if I’ve missed something.

Definitions are underlined.

Across
1 Pole a close friend (4)
&nbsp &nbspSPAR – Double definition. I wasn’t aware of the second.
4 Thrill to support illegal payment (8)
&nbsp &nbspKICKBACK – Thrill (KICK), to support (BACK).
8 Perfect order for dessert (5-3)
&nbsp &nbspAPPLE PIE – Double definition.
9 Quits flat (4)
&nbsp &nbspEVEN – Double definition. The first as in ‘call it quits/honours are even’.
10 Some onyx offered in return? Cunning! (4)
&nbsp &nbspFOXY – On(YX OF)fered backwards.
11 Huge myth Gail propagated (8)
&nbsp &nbspALMIGHTY – Anagram (propagated) of MYTH GAIL.
12 More revolting gruel I spilled (6)
&nbsp &nbspUGLIER – Anagram (spilled) of GRUEL I.
14 Blooming bishop I had to defeat at auction? (6)
&nbsp &nbspOUTBID – Blooming (OUT), bishop (B), I’D.
16 Climber having dessert in front of mountain top, briefly (8)
&nbsp &nbspSWEET PEA – Desssert (SWEET), mountain top briefly (PEA)k.
18 Sea eagle to bring home, we hear (4)
&nbsp &nbspERNE – Homophone of earn.
19 Girl acting naturally, not artificially, at first (4)
&nbsp &nbspANNA – (A)cting (N)aturally (N)ot (A)rtificially.
20 Everyone in attendance? Sound! (3,5)
&nbsp &nbspALL THERE – ALL, THERE.
22 He tangled with Tarzan in ME town (8)
&nbsp &nbspNAZARETH – Anagram (tangled) of HE TARZAN. Haven’t seen ME as an abbreviation of Middle East before.
23 Boy with yen to find female (4)
&nbsp &nbspLADY – LAD, yen (Y).

Down
2 Dads love no-good chart hit? (3,4)
&nbsp &nbspPOPSONG – POP’S, love (O), no good (NG).
3 Pick up exchange in court (5)
&nbsp &nbspRALLY – Double definition. The first as in get better.
4 King has very little money to drop off (3)
&nbsp &nbspKIP – King (K), 1p = IP.
5 Lots tucking into fish and a fizzy drink (5,4)
&nbsp &nbspCREAM SODA – Lots (REAMS) inside fish (COD) and A.
6 Variety of tree bug that’s swollen by drink? (4,3)
&nbsp &nbspBEER GUT – Anagram (variety of) TREE BUG.
7 What can symbolise, say, one family or a hundred others (5)
&nbsp &nbspCREST – A hundred (C), others (REST).
11 What can fly inside adrenal pore after rising (9)
&nbsp &nbspAEROPLANE – Adr(ENAL PORE A)ftre.
13 Stop in furniture store to see decorative art (7)
&nbsp &nbspIKEBANA – Stop (BAN) inside furniture store (IKEA). DNK IKEBANA which is the Japanese decorative art of flower arrangement.
15 Shunned US serviceman, on reflection, not a communist! (7)
&nbsp &nbspIGNORED – US serviceman (GI) backwards, not a communist (NO RED).
17 Silver currently is returned for money (5)
&nbsp &nbspWONGA – Silver (AG), currently (NOW) all backwards. I’d only come across the company WONGA in pay day lender news articles but now I found that it means money.
18 Girl’s Spanish article including English translation (5)
&nbsp &nbspETHEL – Spanish article (EL) around English translation (THE). Well, that’s how I think it’s parsed. Either it’s a typo (translation should be article) or it’s a reference to a bible translation – Standard English Version of ‘THE’ Bible – otherwise – please do enlighten me.With thanks to lisiate16 ‘English translation’= the translation of EL in Spanish into English which is THE. Clever and COD.
21 Note young prince brought up (3)
&nbsp &nbspLAH – Young prince (HAL) backwards/upwards. Prince Hal is the standard term used in literary criticism to refer to Shakespeare’s portrayal of the young Henry V of England as a prince before his accession to the throne, taken from the diminutive form of his name used in the plays almost exclusively by Falstaff. Henry is called “Prince Hal” in critical commentary on his character in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2.

25 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 391 by Alconiere”

  1. I assumed that the translation in 18d referred to translating EL in Spanish into English (THE).
  2. I enjoyed this as it had a different feel to it, the setter having only appeared twice before as correctly noted in the blog. I particularly liked 13dn with its modern retailing reference, and 18dn for its ingenuity (as explained in the above comment). 9 Minutes.

    PS: I also didn’t know the second definition at 1ac.

    Edited at 2015-09-08 08:12 am (UTC)

  3. I didn’t know 2nd definition at 1a, which kept me swithering for some time until I ran out of alternatives… otherwise would have been a PB. Helped by seing all the anagrams instantly and the clear wordplay. A neat puzzle.
  4. As a relative beginner I found this one very tricky, but I still enjoyed it. I failed on the first four across clues – I struggle on difficult DDs and ‘Kick’ and ‘Back’ in the same clue was one too many.
    No complaints, although having all the checkers in 13D as vowels was a bit underhand 🙂
    Add 3D to my DDs!

    Brian

    Edited at 2015-09-08 11:09 am (UTC)

  5. Took me 2 hours and still didn’t get IKEBANA (never heard of it). Almost gave up when stuck with only 7 clues done, but persevered.
    1. Welcome and well done – that’s the sort of commitment and attitude we like to see here at TfTT!
  6. Mostly enjoyable but I could not get 13d having never heard of IKEBANA and I did not think of Ikea. Perhaps 1a could have been “Pole at the local shop” as I cannot find any authority for Spar being a close friend? David
    1. I use Collins free online dictionary. Here’s what is has:
      noun

      an unaggressive fight
      an argument or wrangle
      (informal) a close friend

      Many (including me) hadn’t heard of this meaning – but it’s one of the joys of cryptics – getting a word you don’t know from word play. I think this is the definition of a cryptic crossword – whereas concise crosswords are defined as ‘word puzzles’.

      1. I have to disagree. ‘Spar’ for a close friend is a very obscure and possibly unused meaning and spoiled the puzzle for me. ‘Cryptic’ for me means you should be able to unravel the clues by mental gymnastics paired with a good vocabulary. I hadn’t heard of Ikebana but could derive it from the clue and was able to check later what it meant – it’s not a common word but once you know it it’s a useful addition to ones vocabulary. To choose such an obscure meaning of ‘Spar’ seems to me to be wilful obscurity for the sake of it and I doubt whether anyone who did the puzzle today will ever use that word with that meaning!
        1. Applying mental gymnastics paired with a good vocabulary, how many words fit the pattern ?P?R? I make it only three and only one of those (SPAR) fits “pole” which is not an obscure meaning.

          That should be enough for one to derive the answer and check later if perhaps there’s another meaning that fits the remainder of the clue. Setters need to be free to stretch our vocabulary a bit otherwise it’d soon become boring.

          Edited at 2015-09-08 05:12 pm (UTC)

          1. From definition of SPUR:
            5. An oblique reinforcing prop or stay of timber or masonry.
            – which could mean Pole just as much as Spar. I still believe that using a definition which is very obscure and not in current or recent usage is more suited to the main crossword and not the QC. We will have to agree to differ.
            1. You make a fair point re SPUR but you didn’t mention anything about a possible alternative answer in your original comment.
              1. No, because I hadn’t thought of it then. Do I sense a slightly aggressive tone to your replies to me? Is it because I dare to criticise? I hope not.
                1. Hi again David,

                  As this was my blog I get copied on all the posts. It could help you to get a free ID with livejournal – then conversations tend to be easier and also you get an email saying if you’ve had any replies.

                  There are certain clues which I’m not so keen on so you have my sympathies. In the case of 1ac I felt that the other definition was easy enough so I quite liked finding out about spar=friend – just because it isn’t in normal usage doesn’t mean it’s not to be treasured, but each to their own and it’s fine to differ.

                  On the bloggers – we are nothing to do with The Times or their setters – we are purely voluntary – we enjoy solving Times cryptics and give our time for free to encourage others. Jackkt gives more time than any other so please understand that he is trying understand where you’re coming from and to assist.

                  1. Ok, thanks I will sign up for a free ID. I do very much appreciate this blog and those who give their time freely to it. I did think I was being made to feel unreasonable with my comments when I was just expressing my opinion which is obviously different to yours and Jackkt’s. I do enjoy finding out new words and new meanings as I pointed out in my original comment re ‘Ikebana’. I just felt like the setter of the ‘Spar’ clue had looked up a dictionary and gone a long way down the list of meanings to find a really obscure one, and I didn’t enjoy being confronted with that.
                    We should be able to express our opinions on here without being made to feel that we are somehow ‘wrong’ to have that opinion.
                    Enough! I need to get back to No 393 by Hurley which I’m halfway through and really enjoying!
  7. I enjoyed this one despite being defeated by 1a and 3d. For me it felt like a more ‘grown up’ puzzle in that there weren’t that many that I could get just from the definition and then work out the parsing, so I had to actually work them out from the word play.
    Thought 18d was very clever
  8. Not American. First usage in English is 1780. Possibly from French Cap-a-Pied. I.e. In order from head to toe.
  9. It’s meant to be a Quick cryptic, not a Cryptic cryptic. I never finished it, tho’ I got Apple pie straight away.
    1. Spar was most unfair. I tried OPAL. And I got Prince Hal but never thought of LAH for these notes are usually 2-lettered – Do, Re, or should that be Ré ? Mi Fa.. Got ALL HERE but never thought of ALL THERE. Kick-back was clever. Funny how easy it is to get stuck in a thinking rutI Still as a Newbie, I’ll have expanded my horizons. Ian Donaldson
  10. That meaning of SPAR was known to me, which was why I used it. I think of it as being like SPARRING PARTNER but I don’t know if there is a connection.
    Oddly, that meaning is ion the primary dictionaries Collins and COED, but not in Chambers, usually the home of dodgy defs
      1. Thanks for that explanation, Alconiere – and thanks also for 18dn – I thoroughly enjoyed being caught out. 😄

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