Quick Cryptic no 47 by Orpheus

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I’d expect some happy finishers and quick times today. Nothing very hard in this – 8 minutes for me (plus an extra 2 to sort out 12dn). On reflection there are a lot of standard crossword abbreviations in this which, if known, makes this easy. Otherwise this is a great chance to become familiar with HO, ER, RY, CH, S, RA, MB, OP and EL which will stand you in good stead for future puzzles.

Definitions underlined.

Across
1 Inch – Small island bird with head bitten off (4)
FINCH without the first letter.
3 Shamrock – Unpleasant surprise about ram that’s damaged plant (8)
SHOCK around an anagram (damaged) of RAM.
8 Founder – One may establish an institution, hoping it won’t do this! (7)
Someone who founds an institution (FOUNDER) hopes it won’t founder.
10 Leeds – City is ahead, by the sound of it (5)
LEEDS sounds like leads.
11 Nonsensical – Sons in clean play? Ridiculous! (11)
Anagram (play) of SONS IN CLEAN.
13 Resist – Part of Azores is tricky to say no to (6)
The answer is in the clue – Azo(RES IS T)ricky.
15 Moment – Instant vehicle test involving grown-up males (6)
A compulsory annual vehicle test (for cars over 3 years old) in UK is MOT including MEN.
17 In a nutshell – Brazil’s position, to put it briefly (2,1,8)
A Brazil nut is in a nutshell.
20 Thick – Friendly as thieves, but stupid? (5)
To be as thick as thieves is to be very friendly.
21 Boycott – Blacklist young lad with country house not showing age (7)
Young lad (BOY) with COTTage.
22 Reserved – Booked for being uncommunicative (8)
Double definition.
23 Hero – Courageous person‘s house visited by the Queen (4)
House (HO) with Queen (ER) inside.
Down
1 Infantry – Soldiers taking baby on railway (8)
INFANT on railway line (RY).
2 Churn – Honoured companion with vessel, one containing milk (5)
Honoured companion (CH) with URN. The Order of the Companions of Honour was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements.
4 Harass – Artist has son around to badger (6)
HAS S for son around member of the Royal Academy of Arts (RA).
5 Maliciously – Lousy claim I messed up in spite (11)
Anagram (messed up) of LOUSY CLAIM I.
6 Overlie – Rest on top of broken relievo (7)
Anagram (broken) of RELIEVO. It’s not important to the clue but a relievo is a sculpture consisting of shapes carved on a surface so as to stand out from the surrounding background (just in case you were interested).
7 Kiss – X’s tender greeting? (4)
Double definition.
9 Deerstalker – Expensive-sounding speaker clutching small hat (11)
Sounds like dear (DEER), speaker = TALKER with S for small inside. Sherlock Is the best TV for ages, in my opinion.
12 Stiletto – Weapon lit up during fight (8)
TIL – lit upwards – inside SET TO – a fight. If misspelt it messes up 21 across and takes ages to sort out!
14 Spirits – Gins, perhaps? They’re raised when we’re happy (7)
Double definition.
16 Mumble – Speak unclearly, seeing doctor carried by stubborn beast (6)
Doctor (MB) inside MULE.
18 Elope – Run away, getting work in the Spanish quarter (5)
Work (OP for operation) inside the Spanish (EL) and a quarter – east (E).
19 Stir – Commotion in prison (4)
Double definition.

17 comments on “Quick Cryptic no 47 by Orpheus”

  1. I read ‘Gins’ as ‘grins’ at 14d, and flung in ‘smilies’; which doesn’t make sense even if it had been ‘grins’, but it was my LOI and I wanted to get on with things. Serves me right. I wonder what the relative rate of appearance of MO, MB, & DR is for ‘doctor’ (and of course there’s the use of ‘doctor’ as an anagram indicator). There seemed to be a lot of anagrams, but — unlike the big cryptics — I could do these in my head.
    1. Almost my last one; also considered smilies – without misreading the clue!
  2. We had relievo in the main puzzle the other day – makes a change from relief.

    Did you catch ‘True Detective’, the HBO production? Best thing I’ve seen since The Killing (Danish). As for Sherlock, I’ve seen them all – have no choice with a Cumberbatch-mad teengager! – but I only really enjoyed Series 1 Episode I. Difficult to take all the razzmatazz when you’ve been brought up on Rathbone and Cushing!

    Edited at 2014-05-13 02:46 am (UTC)

    1. I also remember Cushing et aI – rather like comparing Sean Connery and Daniel Craig – each perfectly right for their own time. I haven’t come across ‘True Detective’ but have just googled – and will look out for it. Thanks.
  3. Solved in my second fastest time so far – 8 minutes (7 being my fastest) – and prior to this with Orpheus I scored two at 10 minutes and one at 11. So this setter would appear to be consistently at the easier end of the spectrum, or I’m consistently on his wavelength.
  4. More straight forward than yesterday. Just under 20 minutes. Last 2 in SHAMROCK and HARASS. Favourite BOYCOTT.
  5. 17 mins, fastest yet all by myself 🙂
    Glorious puzzle from Orpheus blogged beautifully, Chris!
    Lots of delicious clues including 8 ac, 20 ac, & 1 dn.
    My LOI was 22 ac – I was moving downwards.
    My COD is 17 ac; both witty and clever!
    1. Well done – you’ve obviously got the abbreviations taped. You’ll be doing Z8 out of a job soon!
    2. Thank you so much!
      I rather think Z8 is going to keep a strong grasp of his blogging rights :). It’s like singing tenor; very much his preserve, so I don’t want to get myself into a jam by encroaching!
  6. Compliments to Chris for an admirable blogging style: crystal clear and consistent throughout.
  7. Never time these (too many interruptions at all times of day and night), but pretty sure this was my fastest yet – around 10 minutes excluding distractions from the cats I herd on a daily basis.

    COD for me was 17 across – very droll.

  8. 4 mins with MALICIOUSLY my LOI after SHAMROCK. Another pleasant QC.
  9. I quite enjoyed this one and was gratified to be able to quickly spot the abbreviations that Chris mentioned. I am also pleased to see that I am beginning to regularly solve the QC at steady pace instead of battling for a long time over some of the clues like I do with much of the main puzzle. I’ve noticed that alternatives for the definition part of the clue come into my mind at the same time as parts of the word play. Hitherto, I would focus on identifying the definition part only. I seem to be developing an instinct for the correct solution and confident enough to write it in even if I haven’t fully parsed it. I think this must be what crypticsue described to me a couple of months ago.

    I’m starting to solve more of the main puzzle in the time I allow myself too. I’m even regularly completing the weekend puzzles when I have more time, even if I do require aids for some of the more obscure vocabulary. I therefore conclude that, for me at least, the QC is doing the job it was intended for. Happy days.

  10. I think Chris’ introduction sums this puzzle up perfectly and preceded a splendid explanation of the clues. 8mins for me and equals my best time. That the Quickie is achieving it’s stated aim is summed up well in ianb21’s post. Excellent! Oh, one thing; I’m sure I’ve seen ‘deerstalker’ several times recently, in various puzzles.
    PS…Thanks, Chris, for the explanation of ‘relievo’.

    Edited at 2014-05-13 10:13 am (UTC)

  11. Though OP can mean operation, in this case it’s perhaps more likely to mean opus – a (generally musical) work.
  12. Yes I’m one of the happy finishers today, completing the puzzle in two short sittings — half and hour on the train and then another hour or so while I ate my lunch. Definitely my fastest yet and luckily the splatter of green Thai curry didn’t mess with too many of the clues.

    I didn’t fully understand why STILETTO was right, although I knew it was a small dagger, and had no idea how ELOPE related to Spanish quarters. Thanks to Chris’ clear explanations I’ve got those now and have committed to memory the really useful set of abbreviations at the top of the page.

    On another note, I liked True Detective very much but had to watch it with subtitles on as I couldn’t decode the Southern drawl!

    I hope lots of my fellow newbies get the pleasure of finishing this one…

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