Quick Crytpic 491 by Tracy

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Even though I knew the Mercian King, the detective, the shrub and the film they took some time to arrive – 17 minutes. Some clever clueing made this a very satisfactory work out whilst completing. As usual it seems so much easier when going through to blog – so I may have made heavy weather of this.

Very interested, as always, in your experiences. I’ve left the explanations brief in the hope that we can have a blog chat (would that be a blat?) to clear anything up.

ACROSS

1. Partisan – one dedicated to the cause. ARTISAN after P for power.
5. Offa – King of Mercia. OFF, A.
8. Magic – double definition.
9. Waspish – easily annoyed. WAS, PI’S, H.
11. Trailblazer – trendsetter. TRAIL BLAZER.
13. Avatar – film. A King (A R) on (the end of) A, VAT.
14. Strain – pull (as in a muscle). S, TRAIN.
17. Country seat – squire’s estate. Settle (SEAT) on (the end of) COUNTRY.
20. Maigret – fictional detective. Satisfied (MET) around A, anagram (vandalised) of RIG.
21. On air – being broadcast. One short (ON)e, AIR.
22. Nuns – sisters. In examinatio(N UNS)ucessful.
23. Vendetta – feud. Close (END), anagram (surprisingly) of TATE after (V)icious.

DOWN

1. Pomp – ceremonial splendour. POP around mass (M).
2. Regatta – events on water. Anagram (upset) of GET A TAR. I think I’d have preferred ‘excited’ as an anagram indicator.
3. In character – typical. Trendy (IN), CHARACTER.
4. As well – too. A, SWELL.
5. Fritz – a German. Fine (F), RITZ.
7. Sticking with – adherent. A, HER inside DENT.
10. Split second. Break (SPLIT), back (SECOND).
12. Watchman – guard, Wife (W), AT, CH on (above) island (MAN).
15. Attract – draw in. TRACT after A, T.
16. Myrtle – evergreen shrub. TRY hiding inside ELM all upside down.
18. Union – double definition.
19. Area – quarter. Of (belonging to – so inside of) nightm(ARE A)bbey.

24 comments on “Quick Crytpic 491 by Tracy”

  1. I made some heavy weather of my own on this. I passed 8ac the first time around simply because the clue seemed too pat; I suspected something more than the obvious. (Not to mention ‘magic’ doesn’t mean ‘wonderful’ in my idiolect.) I had trouble with 12d for some reason, actually flinging in ‘Dutchman’ at first. But the real time-consumer was 13ac; partly because I’ve been conditioned to react ET to ‘film’ (and SHE to ‘novel’), partly because I couldn’t remember the film (nver saw it). I suppose one could argue at 2d that ‘upset’ has the advantage, in a down clue, of suggesting reversal as well as being an anagram indicator. The quotation marks around Tate at 23ac struck me as infelicitous; it makes the surface reading a lot less natural. 6:10. Chris, you’ve got a typo at 17ac.

    Edited at 2016-01-26 08:34 am (UTC)

  3. Enjoyed this one and all went in smoothly except 13a even though I first entered COUNTRY HOME, it did not hold me up for long.

    As for 13a I thought it would start AR but could not find an answer so went through the alphabet and was beginning to think I had missed something until I came to V and the penny dropped. Favourite WATCHMAN.

  5. I put “henchman” in (“wife” = “hen”? – come on, I’m only a newby!) so struggled to get “Avatar” (13a) but in the process discovered lots of other words for “film” and “vessel”: so it was quite a useful error.
    1. I like the thought process for henchman but I like even more the enjoyment of the word search, “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” I think Dumbledore enjoyed cryptic crosswords!
    2. I like the thought process for henchman but I like even more the enjoyment of the word search, “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” I think Dumbledore enjoyed cryptic crosswords!
  6. Enjoyably challenging. I thought satisfied = met was deliciously subtle – not come across that one before.

    Incidentally, the Captcha to prove I am human doesn’t work on my iPad. (Perhaps I’m not . . .)

    Philip

  7. Wondering if adhering could also work for 7d?

    Ding is an informal verb for causing a dent.

    Adhering is a synonym for sticking as is adherent so might be a possible alternative solution?

    Maybe?

    Clutching at straws?

    Maybe?!

    Dan

    1. Well, nice try but I think dent wins over ding. Ding as in causing a dent isn’t in Collins online. Sorry.
      1. However I believe that Adhering goes gramatically better with Sticking, so I think it can really go either way.
  9. I finished this quite quickly but held myself up by confidently writing in Heinz for the German.A in German is Ein;H for hotel. Of course it doesn’t fully parse and causes problems later. I was trying to go too fast. I also put Adhering at 7d as the clue indicated an ING ending; I agree dent is better but …
    So DNF in the jargon.
    My LOI was 13 Avatar as I needed all the checkers to find the film from the all the films in the universe. A vat as the vessel wasn’t the most guessable word.
    By the way the jigsaws to prove you are human can be quite fun for the anonymous contributors. Are many non-humans trying to comment? David
  10. I want to put a ding in the universe. Steve Jobs, (1955 – 2011) Putting a Dent in the Universe. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.
  11. ding 2 (dĭng)
    n. Informal
    A small dent or nick, as in the body of a car.
    tr.v. dinged, ding·ing, dings
    1. To dent or nick.

    American source.
    David

  12. That was tricky for me – took an hour of hard labour! I frightened the rest of the pub (my solving venue) when I screamed with joy at getting 11ac. Must try harder – and must make a list of places that Crosswordland likes to visit. I am a frustrated learner….will it ever get easier?
  13. A DNF for me today, defeated by the film in 13 across. I was desperately trying to think of a film starting AKA but gave up eventually. I’m another who put ‘adhering’ in a 7d
  14. Just discovered another plus joining this blog, learning when your answer fits so well but is not right. I also had adhering, and moved on. Thanks to all above who tried to make it stick but, dong, we were wrong!

    May I query ‘character’ in 3d, I got the answer but don’t quite see it yet? ‘Typical’ = ‘in character’, I think, and an actor can be ditto, but why trendy … Grateful for any help.

    1. Trendy is “in” and individual is “character” with typical being “in character”. That is how I parsed it.
  15. A day late – just catching up – so don’t know if this will be picked up, but we also had adhering for 7D – it seemed the right part of speech to match sticking. Still not totally sure why it can’t be, as a ding is a dent in a car. We also gave up on 13A – Avatar – making it a DNF. Other than that a good puzzle. Thanks for the blog Chris. bandjo
  16. Bit late getting around to this.

    Count me as another with Adhering. In fact I didn’t even think twice putting it in. Shocked therefore to see it’s incorrect and even more shocked, on checking, to see Ding is not even in the dictionary in the sense of a small dent. I’ll now have to rethink my conviction that my car is covered in dings!

    About 10 mins in total with one wrong – held up a little by equally confidently putting in Country Home, but at least I spotted that one.

    Thanks to the setter and blogger.

    1. Google Dictionary

      ding2
      /dɪŋ/
      Learn to pronounce
      noun
      noun: ding; plural noun: dings
      INFORMAL
      a mark or dent on the bodywork of a car or other vehicle.
      DIALECT•SCOTTISH
      a blow on the head.

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