Quick Cryptic No 461 by Orpheus

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Having spent an enjoyable hour blogging the QC from the Time site, I find that it was yesterday’s. So the IT folk at the Times have given me the extra pleasure of doing a second blog today – bless ’em.

The crossword can be found here:
http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/puzzles/crossword/20151215/11638/

So here we are at last. I find it hard enough checking typos on one blog let alone two – so all help appreciated.

A few less than usual bits of vocabulary and some initials which crossworders should try to remember (posh, theologian). As I knew the odd bits I got on OK with this – just over 10 minutes.

ACROSS

1. Fable – story. Fantastic (FAB), French the (LE).
8. Viewpoint – attitude. Anagram (distributed) of TO WINE VIP.
9. Sound production – Audio. A, posh (U), girl (DI), (O)rganising.
10. Outplay – perform better than. (P)ianist inside OUTLAY.
11. Canteen – somewhere to eat. CAN, TEEN.
12. Doeskin – sort of leather. Anagram (obtainable from) ONES KID.
16. Execute – perform. Shortened (CUT), serenad(E) with the river EXE at the front (which is nearby).
17. Abetter – one who assists in wrongdoing. A, BETTER.
20. Crooked – dishonest. Bird (ROOK) inside church (CE) and (D)eacon.
21. Droop – sag. Impecunious (POOR), daughter (D) all backwards.
22. Ordinance – authoritative order. One (I) loaded into big guns (ORDNANCE).
24. Reedy – piping – as in a piping/reedy voice. Like Bunter – g(REEDY).

DOWN

1. Franc – old coin. Managed (RAN) inside two notes F and C.
2. Badinage – raillery (pretty sure I’ve heard Jeeves use this one). Acceptable only among the young – bad in age.
3. Evoke – call up. EVE around OK.
4. Second reading – presentation in parliament. Back (SECOND), university of READING (the town).
5. Epithet – word which describes (description or nickname which can be substituted for a name – Jeeves to the rescue again!). Article (THE) inside E and PIT.
6. Bill – account. Bill Sykes.
7. Staying – enduring. Maxim (SAYING) around (T)echnology.
13. Knot-hole – something found in timber. Homophone (sounding) of not whole (incomplete).
14. Reactor – nuclear structure. RECTOR around A.
15. Busking – performing in the street. Transport magnate – BUS KING.
18. Elder – church official. More senior in the family (ELDER).
19. Reply – answer. REP, (L)ength)Y.
21. Odds – starting price. Old (O), theologian’s (DD Doctor of Divinity)’S.

13 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 461 by Orpheus”

  1. Posted pre blog. I wonder if I shall be alone in finding this one really hard. I needed a full 15 minutes and still have one clue not fully parsed as I suspect there’s a shade of meaning that I don’t happen to know without referring to aids.

    Edited at 2015-12-15 10:37 am (UTC)

  2. Most of this went in quite quickly, but I tussled with a couple for a while. I knew 4d couldn’t be SECOND CHAMBER – where was the U or UNI?, but eventually I twigged that the definition was ‘presentation in parliament’ not just ‘parliament’. 14d tricked me too, thinking subatomic physics rather than power station. BADINAGE is an old chestnut. 11a my favourite. A little under 7 minutes.
  3. Took me 29 mins and found it tricky going in places.

    Got 22a. but couldn’t parse as I didn’t appreciate the ordnance / ordinance difference: ignorance on my part.

    Edited at 2015-12-15 12:44 pm (UTC)

  4. My query referred to above is re DOESKIN. I assume ‘doe’ referred to ‘deer’ but in my experience the young of deer are not called ‘kids’. However one of the usual sources has KID as: formerly spec., a roe deer in its first year. ME. so I suppose that covers it. A bit much for a Quickie though IMOH! Kids are goats or (unfortunately) humans.
    1. Collins has doeskin as a supple leather for gloves made from deer. The anagram is of ‘ones kid’.
      1. Thanks for that, Chris. I missed it completely and also failed to read your explanation in the blog correctly. The men in white coats are probably hovering near my door. Bad day at the office!
  6. Surely Kid is merely anagrist? Doe refers to female I think, nothing to do with young at all.
  7. This one brought a smile to my face on a couple of occasions – 11a and 13d. I had a very slow start but once I’d tuned in to Orpheus’ wavelength things picked up right up until I had a complete brainfreeze on my LOI, 5d. Eventually had to resort to the internet so it was a DNF for me today. I won’t be forgetting epithet again any time soon.
  8. Got there in the end, but I think this was one of the hardest QCs I’ve come across during the last couple of years – harder even than Teazel. Invariant
  9. After yesterday’s easy one, I found this really hard -as some others have mentioned. After a good session,I was left with four clues unsolved in the SW. Getting Reactor was the key to finishing it( I was convinced the word contained Atom for a while).Last in 15d which took me ages to get.
    But looking back a very satisfying challenge and nothing too obscure. Lots of good clues and well done with 2d, getting Badinage into a crossword. David
  10. After yesterday’s easy one, I found this really hard -as some others have mentioned. After a good session,I was left with four clues unsolved in the SW. Getting Reactor was the key to finishing it( I was convinced the word contained Atom for a while).Last in 15d which took me ages to get.
    But looking back a very satisfying challenge and nothing too obscure. Lots of good clues and well done with 2d, getting Badinage into a crossword. David
  11. I didn’t find this too bad. Technically a DNF because I spelt ORDINANCE wrong and didn’t properly parse the clue. 32 mins. LOI REEDY which took 6 mins and was a bit of a guess. I’m too young to understand the Bunter reference!

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