Quick Cryptic Number 135 by Teazel

Not quite a stroll for me, with plenty of clues I struggled with. 16ac was my first one in and even once I got going I was held up by one or two unusual or archaic bits of vocabulary. I’m looking forward to reading what others made of it as much as the next man, so…

Across
1 HORSE AND CART – an old conveyance, and an allusion to the phrase “put the cart before the horse”.
8 WRUNG – W (wife) + RUNG (phoned) for distressed.
9 GLEANERcollector of scraps from last letter of seeminG (finally) + LEANER (less nourishing).
10 RID – shortened RIDe (journey) is free (verb).
11 NET PROFIT – anagram of TRIP OFTEN (indicated by bad) gives clear gain.
13 SKEIN – double definition, the collective noun for (a lot of) geese (they’re only a gaggle when on the ground) and a knotted yarn, or tangle.
14 HOTLY – last letter of sacramenT received by HOLY (sacred) produces passion.
16 SIDE SALAD – SIDES (teams) with A LAD (a boy) for dish.
17 HUG – almost HUGe (enormous) for embrace.
19 MIGRANTnewly arrived foreigner is MI (M1 motorway) + GRANT (permit).
21 CONGO – CON (study) + GO (game) for African River. At least I think I’ve parsed that correctly!
22 MAKE ENDS MEET – double definition, first one cryptic. This did not jump out at me, even with all the checkers: my last one in.

Down
1 HEWER – H (for Henry) + EWER ( a wide-mouthed jug or vessel) for cutter (one who cuts).
2 ROUNDHEADold soldier is ROUND (circle) + HEAD (cape).
3 EGG ON ONES FACE – cryptic definition.
4 NEGATEnullify from an anagram of AGENT (indicated by travelling) plus East.
5 CLEAR THE DECKS – double definition.
6 RUN – double definition. To run a business, for example, or to run away.
7 PRETTY – R (king) guarded by PETTY (a sort of officer) gives attractive.
12 FAT CHANCE – I’m not sure about this one. If it’s a double definition the second one (being overweight) is insufficient; if it’s a cryptic definition it would seem to lead to “thin chance”.
13 SESAME – the seed found in the spell, “open sesame”.
15 GLUTEN – anagram of LET GUN (indicated by off) for an example of something some people can’t stomach.
18 GHOST – G (grand) + HOST (archaic word for army) gives phantom.
20 GOA – remove the last letter of GOAd (enticement) for this Indian state.

22 comments on “Quick Cryptic Number 135 by Teazel”

  1. 25 minutes. Miles slower than the people who can do crosswords but the quickest I’ve ever managed. Nothing weird, no archaic words, nothing to do with food and the only bit of geog was also the name of a B movie starring Tim curry so I was fine with that! And no cricket terms either. Bit of a result for me I feel.
  2. Just under 7 minutes for me, so clearly I was on Teazel’s wavelength or I had the necessary vocabulary. It just goes to show…

    Talking of which, “Go” is a popular Chinese game played on a 19×19 board that I was quite keen on many decades ago at school. The object is to surround your opponent’s counters so they can’t escape. It’s fiendishly strategic.

    As far as 12d is concerned, I read it as “Virtually no prospect” and “of being overweight”, giving a double definition. I think the meaning was clear, even if the clue doesn’t bear too much scrutiny!

    Good clear, concise blog.

  3. Illustrating that one man’s meat is another’s poison, I found this the easiest ever (I’ve been at them since May). They just seemed to write themselves in until, like the blogger, I got to 22, where I couldn’t get past the checkers in the middle word fitting for “ones”!
  4. At 8 minutes I also found this very easy.

    Like the blogger I’m also a little confused as to exactly what’s going on at 12dn. I agree it doesn’t seem to work as a cryptic leading to the required answer, and as a double definition it would seem that both need to include the word “prospect” giving us i) virtually no prospect, and ii) prospect of being overweight. I’m not sure this really matters but for those wanting to learn how clues work it’s a bit confusing.

  5. In 12d I think “fat chance” is “virtually, no” as in “Would you ever consider supporting the Arsenal?” “Fat chance”
    1. I considered that but couldn’t think of an example to illustrate it so shelved the idea. Now that I see your suggestion I agree with it and think it’s the correct reading.

      Edited at 2014-09-12 09:15 am (UTC)

  6. 4 mins. I thought there was some entertaining cluing and I liked the idea behind 1ac. I read 22ac as a straight charade with “ensure=make”, “objectives=ends” and “are appropriate=meet”. The GLEANER/PRETTY crossers were my last ones in.
    1. If I was just copying down the answers from a solution I wouldn’t have been able to do it in 4 minutes! That’s dyspraxia for you!
  7. Also found this a nice quick one – 8 minutes to do all of it apart from Skein, two minutes staring at S_E_N before just whacking skein in on the basis that a skein of wool could be tangled. Didn’t know the geese definition and I think of a skein of wool being carefully wound, not tangled, so that was new to me too. Thanks for the blog.
  8. I didnt like, still don’t like, the conflation of break-even with careful budgeting in 22a. Or is this just ‘crosswordland’ again? You can budget carefully for a saving, or for a loss. They are completely different concepts.
    1. It’s a useful one to know.

      Here’s the Shorter Oxford entry:

      CON
      4. verb trans. Study, learn by heart; peruse; scan. Freq. foll. by over. LME.

  9. Excellent blog as always, thanks. I thought the T that makes holy into hotly in 14ac came from sacrament rather than at.. Surely sacred=holy and the at last indicates?

    Edited at 2014-09-12 02:59 pm (UTC)

    1. That’s much more like it – thanks. I have corrected the record.

      Edited at 2014-09-12 04:53 pm (UTC)

  10. In the blog, 20d, the word play should be incitement, not enticement (GOAd).

    A lovely crossword for me – the only one I could not solve was 20a – make ends meet!

    The hat lady

  11. Funny old business this crossword lark – I found this significantly more difficult than many other offerings that others have found hard but which I found straightforward. (Sorry, that’s a very ugly sentence…)

    HEWER, SKEIN and CONGO all undid me.

    Thanks for very nice blog william

  12. Just couldn’t get 22ac. Had to smile at the comment that there was nothing archaic here when con is used for study! On 12 down, doesn’t the ‘?’ indicate that prospect is being used twice?

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