Quick Cryptic Number 287 by Rongo

Author   william_j_sPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
One or two minor obscurities, including for me a type of (horse) racing that required a guess and a legal term, but plenty of fun wordplay and a decent mix of clues. I settled in to figure out 1ac before moving on (maybe I had a sense that I knew it straight away?) and found the top half much easier for it.

Any errors or questions, let me know!

Definitions underlined.

Across
1 Perhaps lied in advance, for modular construction? (13)
PREFABRICATED – double definition; the first is jocular, the second needs the question mark as the terms are not neatly synonymous.
8 Physical game involving each coastal settlement (7)
SEAPORT – SPORT (physical game) containing (involving) EA (each).
9 Addition to letter after mother’s disease (5)
MUMPS – PS (post script) after MUM.
10 Nursery school, more gentle, cultivated great name (12)
KINDERGARTEN – KINDER (more gentle) with an anagram (indicated by cultivated) of GREAT plus N (name).
12 Chance to identify criminal dose of cocaine in court (4-2)
LINE-UP – LINE (dose of cocaine) and UP (in court).
14 Where one might find shops are protecting blackguard (6)
ARCADE – ARE surrounding (protecting) CAD (blackguard).
17 Propelled weapon to fail to hit French island (7)
MISSILE – MISS (fail to hit) and ILE (island in French),
19 Stick English after History? (5)
PASTE – E (English) after PAST (history).
20 Small cake’s small pointed shape (5)
SCONE – S (small, the second instance!) plus CONE (pointed shape).
21 Type of racing Los Angeles’s seen in robbery (3,4)
THE FLAT – LA (Los Angeles) inside THEFT (robbery).
22 Line used in avoiding young bird (8)
DUCKLING – L (line) inside DUCKING (avoiding).
23 Flex book to finish (4)
BEND – B (book) and END (to finish).
Down
1 Up-market Post Office shut up (4)
POSH – PO (Post Office) and SH (as in, “Be quiet!”).
2 Toenail broken in high spirits (7)
ELATION – anagram (indicated by broken) of TOENAIL.
3 Audibly, verbally given permission (5)
ALOUD – homophone of (verbally) “allowed” (given permission).
4 Witty comeback in regard to wrongful act (6)
RETORT – RE (in regard to) and TORT (wrongful act).
5 Happen on area with harvester, to fail completely (4,1,7)
COME A CROPPER – COME (happen) on A (area) with CROPPER (harvester).
6 Lure embodied in “caveat emptor” (5)
TEMPT – hidden (embodied) in caveaT EMPTor.
7 Dig up established edition, having no personal stake (13)
DISINTERESTED – DISINTER (dig up) with EST (established) and ED (edition).
11 Quickly saw head of government told untruths about politicians (8)
GLIMPSED – first letter (head) of Government with LIED (told untruths) around MPS (politicians).
13 University transaction is far from perfect (7)
UNIDEAL – UNI plus DEAL (transaction)
15 Clear guilt of able-bodied seaman, very into flatfish (7)
ABSOLVE – AB (able-bodied seaman) with V (very) in SOLE (flatfish).
16 English physicist from modern century? (6)
NEWTON – NEW (modern) plus TON (century, as in a score or sum).
18 I suffer without complaining ’cos it is different (5)
STOIC – anagram (indicated by different) of COS IT.

16 comments on “Quick Cryptic Number 287 by Rongo”

  1. Needed all the cross checkers for 1a and 7d: thought “lied in advance” was very good.

    Enjoyable puzzle, thanks to William for a very clear blog.

  2. At the easier end of the spectrum, with SEAPORT and ARCADE the pick for me. 5’45”.

    Talking of the flat, I once saw a sign outside Ellerslie racecourse in New Zealand that read “No large vehicles aloud”.

  3. A couple of these were perhaps too easily biffable: KINDERGARTEN (def + ‘gentler’), LINE-UP (def + enumeration). Liked ARCADE, though. I must have come across The Flat in a regular cryptic, since I didn’t parse the clue until post hoc. Didn’t we just have ‘head of Government’ in a cryptic? 4:45.
  4. I don’t time myself but this was probably my quickest ever (fully parsed) solve at around fifteen minutes. This is in part due to the fact that I have learnt to assume any odd word in the clue is likely to mean that its initial letter is an abbreviation, regardless of the fact that I could not imagine using it or indeed recognising it as such in correspondence. Of the above I think I have come across only V (for very) in real life.

    I wonder if convention allows setters to deploy any word in this way or whether these and very many others actually figure in some ‘accredited’ list of single letter abbreviations.

    This is just idle curiosity, the ‘any word will do’ system is working fine for me so thanks to the setter for allowing me to win one for a change and for another excellent blog, mercifully for once less than essential.

    1. Jackkt – our leader in fairness to setters and probably lots of others ways too would say that if it is in the online dictionaries (I find Collins-always-free-always-online the most helpful) then it’s fair play. You will find lots of abbreviations there including V which you won’t find in this list: http://crypticcrosswords.net/crosswords/usual-suspects/
      If I studied this list at all rather than just dragged it out on such occasions I would, perhaps, shorten my times but I’m not sure I can be fussed with it – I rather enjoy stumbling over unknown obstacles below the surface – unlike when I’m paddling!
    2. To add to Chris’s comment, I think the main cryptic does have a specific list of single letter abbreviations but I don’t know if that also applies to the Quicky. Either way, all abbreviations used will exist in a dictionary, so it’s definitely not a case of the setter simply picking a word that begins with that letter (even if it may seem that way!) Some of the derivations may not be encountered every day (e.g. d for daughter is from genealogies), but there is a rationale behind all of them. If there are any that you are particularly baffled by, then feel free to mention them and hopefully someone here will be able to give an example of their usage.
      1. Hi
        Many thanks for the response. I avoid dictionaries, lists, solvers, whatever. I simply attempt this crossword with whatever memory and reasoning I can bring to to the task. Some of the setters’ devices for defeating my abilities I find witty, fascinating and instructive. That is why I attempt to solve them; they bring a smile. Sometimes I am less impressed. If I learn something new from the crossword that is a bonus, but only if that something is worth knowing. So learning a list of abbreviations that I would never use or expect to see in normal discourse would be like reading the small print in a contract, necessary perhaps but definitely not something one would do for fun. I have learnt to look for ‘out of place’ words that are there solely for their initial letter. They bring a grimace rather than a smile. They are ‘small print’ clues but I do get some pleasure from spotting the ‘odd word out’ that reveals their purpose, and to be truthful prefer this approach to my ever increasing data base of lists. Lists should be the pleasure base for train spotters, not puzzlers.

        So thank you again for answering the question. I am not surprised that the setters work from verifiable data banks but to be honest I was harbouring a small hope that they might just be winging it!

        Derek

        1. It’s true that solvers need to know a whole bunch of abbreviations in order to correctly parse Times clues, with some of those abbreviations more removed from day-to-day life than others – I would guess that most solvers just pick these up along the way rather than necessarily sit down and learn them by rote. I would point you towards the Listener crossword if you fancy encountering some seriously unfathomable abbreviations 🙂
  5. I agree with achillesheling that when you have learnt the language and the common abbreviations you can improve a lot. I did not recognise ea for each though. Probably my best time at 20 minutes or so. COD for me was Come a Cropper.

    But I will never learn. I solved this clue for unideal only last month but with all the checkers and only two possibilities from the crib, I still could not recognise unideal as a word that I knew. One of those obscure legal words I thought.

    By the way did anyone hear the Radio 4 programme yesterday? Those who were at school during the fifties should learn that it is no longer cool to be a pedant.

  6. Ha! Even I managed to see 6d a mile off. If only they were all that easy. Invariant
  7. Got one wrong today with PREVARRICATED at 1ac, knowing only too well that there’s no double-R. I was planning to go back and rethink it but was interrupted by a phone call and then forgot. 10 minutes otherwise.
    1. This was far more at my level than yesterday’s. It helped that 1a, 10a and 7d were write ins so I had plenty of checkers to work with.
  8. 9 minutes for me with COD to 1ac – lied in advance has 13 letters so I was convinced it was an anagram (indicated by perhaps) until the checkers told a different story and then the pun of the clue became apparent – very well constructed.
    I sent a reply to achillesheling which included a link to a ‘usual crossword answer suspects’ page so got blocked by the spam settings. Not sure if it’s there now or if only I can see it.
  9. Took up doing the Quick Cryptic on Wednesdays a short while ago and this is my first success completely unaided by dictionaries and on-line helpers. New to crosswords so the blog has definitely helped me get the hang of things. Good to be part of a friendly community which by the looks of things spreads around the globe. Peter

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