Quick Cryptic No 62 by Tracy

Good get-able crossword. Thanks to Tracy who, I think, has ‘previous’ on providing such entertaining puzzles. A couple of items familiar from previous crosswords – one is the IV/VI each way bet, the other is the female singer. No time from me as I’d completely forgotten about blogging and have rushed about a bit – so let me know if anything is missing.

Across
3 Defender unhappy to withdraw earlier claim (4,4)
Back Down – Defender (BACK) unhappy (DOWN).
7 Have a meal entertaining four, or six – perfect (6)
Divine – Have a meal (DINE) around (entertaining) four (IV) or six (VI). We had a clue not so long ago where it had to be one or the other – this time it’s either or – take your pick. Clever stuff!
8 Humiliated prison reformer’s young children (5,3)
Small Fry – Humiliated (SMALL) prison reformer (FRY).
9 Smooth things out in golf club (4)
Iron – Double definition and often seen in cryptic crosswords – a golf club is usually an iron or a wood – but occasionally the old mashie niblicks may make an appearance.
10 Abraham’s nephew, 50 (Old Testament) (3)
Lot – 50 (L – Roman numeral) Old Testamant (OT).
11 What goes up when something else comes down? (8)
Umbrella – Cryptic definition and a good one at that.
13 Island in Chessel Bay (4)
Elba – The answer is in the clue – chessEL BAy. There tend to be a lot of ‘cockney’ clues but I don’t remember this island being referenced as a joint.
15 Song of praise suggested by that man on the radio (4)
Hymn – Homophone (suggested by AND on the radio) of ‘that man’.
17 Cushy job at home filling safe (8)
Sinecure – At home (IN) inside (filling) safe (SECURE).
19 Take steps in a court (3)
Act – A (A) court (CT).
22 I managed to find land overseas (4)
Iran – I (I) managed (RAN).
23 Former PM‘s daughter, one coming from Tel Aviv? (8)
Disraeli – Daughter (D) one coming from Tel Aviv (ISRAELI).
24 Senior college member dropped round with head of Worcester (6)
Fellow – Dropped (FELL) round (O) head of Worcester (W).
25 Destroy place by squandering (3,5)
Lay Waste – Place (Lay) squandering (WASTE).

Down
1 Couple of shorts ahead of my card game (3,5)
Gin Rummy – Couple of shorts (or should that be shots?) of spirits (GIN RUM) in front of (ahead of) my (MY).
2 Conqueror William’s initial secret (6)
Winner – Williams’s initial (W) secret (INNER).
3 Footballer, second to none (4)
Best – Double definition. Somewhere it must be possible to find the clip of his delicate chip into the goal over a crowded penalty area – and with an old, heavy, leather ball at that – genius.
4 Tea without milk or sugar for clergyman (8)
Chaplain – Tea (Cha) without milk or sugar (PLAIN).
5 Enlarge deli at resort (6)
Dilate – Anagram (resort) of DELI AT.
6 Heated battle over motorway (4)
Warm – Battle (WAR) motorway (M) – or sometimes Bond’s boss.
12 Lacking enthusiasm, not as many supporting programme (8)
Listless – Not as many (LESS) supporting (under) programme (LIST).
14 Pointed remarks about fuss in Caribbean country (8)
Barbados – Pointed remarks (BARBS) around (about) fuss (ADO).
16 Slender new weapon (6)
Narrow – New (N) weapon (ARROW).
18 Cold? I could make a spicy dish (6)
Chilli – Cold (CHILL) I (I).
20 Very enthusiastic over operatic prima donna (4)
Diva – Very enthusiastic (AVID) backwards (over). A recurring theme of Tuesday Quickies.
21 Widespread fire out of control (4)
Rife – Anagram (out of control) of FIRE.

17 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 62 by Tracy”

  1. 4:15, so not problematic for me, I suppose, but I only threw in SMALL FRY from checkers and definition, never having heard of Fry. 20d is the type of clue that drives me crazy, since it wasn’t at all clear whether ‘avid’ or ‘diva’ was wanted, and I started with ‘diva’; fortunately DISRAELI settled that.

    Edited at 2014-06-03 01:54 am (UTC)

  2. 9 minutes including parsing and marking up, so a puzzle at the easier end of the scale for me too. The IV/VI alternatives device seems new to me but has surely come up before. No trouble with FRY as I had a schoolteacher of that name who claimed to be related to her and it’s always stuck.
  3. My second sub 10 minute solve which was in sharp contrast to the struggle yesterday. Initially put in CHILLY for 18d but on re reading the clue spotted I needed another I and corrected.

    Last one in SMALL FRY.

  4. My second ever no-help completion. I like clues like 4d and 12d. But 11 is just a riddle rather than a clue, isn’t it?
    My father and numerous teachers would have howled at me writing in chilly without properly checking it. My spots are leopard-like.
    1. Well done streetsj! There are several types of clue (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptic_crossword). I get caught out by cryptic and @lit types as I’m looking for the word play – but that really is all part of the fun. So yes, 11ac is a riddle = cryptic definition. I also put Chilly to start with!
    2. Brilliant, streetsj! Z8, who was around when I was solving, said it was a Christmas cracker riddle 🙂
    3. Well done, streetsj! Next item on the agenda: a proper avatar for you, instead of the anonymous pinhead. PS I, too, started with chilly. Back to the naughty step for me!

      Edited at 2014-06-03 03:57 pm (UTC)

  5. Finished before 9am, a testament to insomnia as much as to a pleasing and accessible puzzle. Come on fellow newbies — try hard and like me and streetsj you can do this one!
  6. 19 mins with a bit of Z8ery some more or less helpful..

    A beautifully crafted puzzle with an equally beautiful clear blog, many thanks Chris 🙂

    LOI DIVINE simply because I worked round in a circle.

    COD HYMN because I like ‘man on the radio’ as a sounds like indicator.

  7. 10mins, so on the easy side but I, too, started with chilly, as I mention, above. This lunchtime I listened to the first two episodes of the Radio 4 Book of The Week, “A Broken Hallelujah”, a biography of Leonard Cohen, so HYMN was quite apposite. Thanks, Chris, for a good blog, even though you said you rushed it a bit.
  8. I’m new to this game and am learning fast. It’s good to get explanations! I have point about 12 down “Not as many” refers to countable nouns and therefore the correct word should be “fewer”. For the answer to be “less” the clue should have been “not as much”. The old chestnut at the checkout of “Fewer than 10 articles” and “Less than 10 articles”.
    1. Well, anonymous, I like your style! It’s a shame this is a day later as most people (except your blogger) will have moved on and I would have envisioned a lively debate. You are correct in what you say but there are two ways (I think) that we can be happy that the clue works:
      1. ‘not as many’ stands on it’s own in the clue – supporting means underneath and program means list. So separated up it may be more acceptable?
      2. There’s a link on the TfTT page to online dictionaries used
      http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk
      Where it says:
      Less is a grammatically complex word with several part-of-speech functions, as the entry shows. Its use overlaps with fewer when it qualifies plural nouns, especially in conversation:• ?• They admitted this measure will lead to less prosecutions. Strictly, fewer is more correct in this case. The reason less is used here instead of fewer is that the total amount predominates in the mind over the plurality implied by the strict grammar of the noun.
      I suspect you’re more expert in this than me but I hope I have helped.
  9. After spending a month attempting the Quick Cryptic crossword, I have at last completed my first one! Am enjoying the blog which I find very helpful.
    1. Congratulations! Keeping at it is the key. The more clues you ‘get’, the more you will get. There are many clue types and it may be worth having a look here:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptic_crossword#Types_of_cryptic_clues
      It could be that on the days when you don’t get it, the crossword contains clue types you haven’t encountered before – so – forewarned and forearmed – have fun! By the way getting an account name on LiveJournal is really easy – then you can join in the banter on the blog.

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