Time Quick Cryptic 1036 by Orpheus?!?!

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I found this an educational, medium difficulty puzzle – anyone getting the three 13 letter answers straight away may find it easier. Completing the blog I was forced to stop and take count of the number of punctuation mark clues – 8 in all (with the last being a double-whammy). Excellent work from Orpheus giving us a lesson on the subject which hopefully will stand people in good stead when taking on the rigours of the 15×15.

ACROSS

1. Ball – wherewithal for game. Care required here to note that cry lustily audibly (a homophone of BAWL resulting in (getting) the requirement for many games. The 3rd letter is not checked by a crossing clue – did anyone bif BAWL?
4. Material – double definition – important and requirement for making clothes.
8. Tomahawk – weapon – not your every day weapon, granted. Made up from man (TOM) a (A) belligerent politician (HAWK).
9. Geek – social misfit. Run (R) is taken away from native of Athens (GrEEK).
10. Pathos – quality arousing pity. Ways (PATHS) to adopt old (O).
11. Number – exclusive group (a group or band of people, especially an exclusive group – e.g. he was not one of our number). The question mark indicates that there’s a play on words here – a local anaesthetic is a number which makes one numb.
12. Heartlessness – unfeeling nature. Another question mark pointing to a pun – a card player without a particular suit could be described as heart-less.
16. Truant – absentee. This question mark does nothing other than make the surface scan. Setters have full reign when it comes to adding superfluous punctuation marks but should provide one if it’s required as an indicator as in the previous two clues. Mostly loyal (TRUe), worker (ANT).
17. Chaste – virtuously abstinent. A homophone (reportedly) of pursued – chased.
19. Nook – shelter. Lack of approval (NO OK).
20. Implicit – understood. One (I) politician (MP) with allowed (LICIT) brining up the rear. The question mark being used to scan.
21. Sentence – a few sensible words. Yet another question mark this time doing duty to indicate that a sentence is commonly, but not always, pronounced by the judge at the end of a trial.
22. Need – require. Key (in music A-G this one’s E) getting inside a study (DEN) backwards (flipping). The ‘!’ is another punctuation mark to make the clue scan.

DOWN

2. Aroma – scent. ‘Found in’ often indicates that the answer is hiding in the clue but in this case it means that it is made up from a (A) and continental capital (ROMA – which is how it is known on the continent – in Italian).
3. Leatherjacket – burrowing larva. Looks like I’ll have to start counting these punctuation marks – this one shows that leather jackets are often but not necessarily worn by and so familiar to bikers.
4. Means – double definition.
5. Takings – earnings. Thanks (TA), college (KINGS).
6. Regimentation – disciplined treatment. Anagram (working) of MEN GET IN A RIOT. good clue as ‘riot’ or ‘in a riot’ could be an anagram indicator.
7. Ageless – apparently never growing old. Anagram (developed) of SEA LEGS.
10. Pah – expression of disgust. Homophone (heard) of father (PA).
13. Earlobe – part of organ. Nobleman (EARL) given award (OBE).
14. Latvian – European. Coming from (inside the clue) ei(LAT VIA N)ovgorod. A nicely relevant word play – our European would have to come a long way – it’s 2,580 miles by road from Eilat in Israel to Novgorod in NW Russia – then a further 362 miles to Latvia.
15. See – visit. Home Counties (SE for south-east) around Jun(E).
17. Copse – wooded area (technically a fenced wooded area to keep the deer from eating the new shoots on coppiced as opposed to pollarded trees). Police officers (COPS), (E)xplore.
18. Tripe – rubbish. And to finish us off – a clue with a double set of punctuation marks (aren’t we lucky!). The ‘!’ is superfluous for scanning purposes. I hope by now you’ll realise by now that the ‘?’ indicates that tripe could (but is not necessarily) from the stomach lining of an ox – cows and pigs are also potential tripe providers.

29 comments on “Time Quick Cryptic 1036 by Orpheus?!?!”

  1. Well, since you asked, I put in BAWL; not a biff, as I thought–mistakenly–that I’d read the clue right, making it all the dumber an error. Wasn’t sure about the ‘exclusive’ meaning for NUMBER, so waited until I had all the checkers. TAKINGS took time, too, since I couldn’t think of the college, or of a TA-word meaning ‘income’. 4:23, but.
  2. 12 minutes, taken over my target 10 by the intersecting TAKINGS and TOMAHAWK, the weapon completely baffling me until I had the K-checker in place. I also lost a moment or two making sure of 1ac and thinking up a context in which NUMBER could mean ‘exclusive group’.

    Re the comment about 22ac, there’s no reason why ‘key’ should be limited to the musical scale as any letter of the alphabet appears on a keyboard, however in practice setters do usually stick with A-G, with ESC as the most common key when they have typewriters and computers in mind.

    Edited at 2018-02-27 05:37 am (UTC)

  3. I was all correct except for BAWL. I think that it is a bad clue to have an unchecked letter like that when the clue is: one word, some indication of sound alike, the other word. It is fine when the indication of the homonym is unambiguous (since it appears at the start or end of the clue).
    1. Still, ‘getting wherewithal for game’ seems pretty unambiguous (in retrospect, damn it).
    2. I have some sympathy over that POV as I struggled to decided which to choose, but it was he presence of ‘getting’ that somehow edged me in the direction of the right answer. Also the punctuation is helpful in this case although one cannot rely on that as the setter is permitted to use it to mislead if he feels so inclined – perhaps not so likely to do so in a Quickie though?
    3. Luckily I never even thought of BAWL or BALL and finally gave up and wrote in WAIL, which I couldn’t get out of my head, even though I knew it was wrong. At least I don’t have the annoyance of a near miss!
  4. I too managed to put in BAWL, and was quite surprised when I saw I was one wrong. The clue does seem pretty clear in retrospect, but I think it’s a bit horrible in a QC, where the object is presumably not to make solvers feel bad about themselves afterwards? Then again, I would say that, with my propensity to race through these guys in 2-3 minutes and ask questions later!
  5. Found this a toughie, ending up stuck with TOMAHAWK/TAKINGS not being able to think of an income starting TA or a belligerent politician (Thatcher didn’t fit!) The penny dropped eventually. Enjoyed HEARTLESSNESS and LEATHERJACKET, and thought BAWL/BALL was quite clear.
    PlayUpPompey.
  6. I thought this was really hard today and nearly gave up. Leatherjacket held me up for ages as did Tomahawk. Eventually finished in 43 mins. However, I do seem to have temporarily lost the knack of answering any question without a great deal of thought.
  7. 3’40”, personal best thinks I with much chest beating and preening. Then I came here to find I’d landed with both feet in the elephant trap that is 1a. Absolutely no excuse in retrospect but annoying nonetheless, despite finding myself in the rarefied company of the legend that is V.
    Thanks as always to setter and blogger.
  8. A few seconds over 10m for me, so at the quicker end of the rotterometer. I had no problems with BALL / BAWL, and thought the clue very fair. I struggled at first with the two long down clues, but these revealed themselves as soon as the checkers from the across clues in the North went in, helping with the across clues in the South. This was essentially a top-to-bottom, left-to-right solve otherwise.

    I hadn’t picked up on the unusual number of punctuation hints whilst doing the solve, so thanks for pointing that out Chris.

    Is there a three word NINA or sub-liminal encouragement to alcoholism in the penultimate row?

  9. Looking back at the clue for 1a, I can see it’s just possible to interpret it either either way, but fortunately for me I picked the right one. It was my FOI. Last 2 were TAKINGS and then TOMAHAWK. 7:22. Nice puzzle. Thanks Orpheus and Chris.
  10. As Chris says, the key to a good time today was undoubtedly the three long clues. Needless to say, I struggled with all of them, initially thinking they were all anagrams, and even choosing the wrong words for the one that was. That, coupled with some tricky clues, left me chasing around the grid for scraps. Crossed the line after 38mins, albeit with 1ac wrong. Enjoyed 19ac, amongst others, along the way. Invariant. PS didn’t finish it until too late to post, but yesterday’s 15×15 is definitely worth a go.
  11. Thought today’s offering was relatively easy although no time was recorded as trying to “work from home” as a result of the snow and resorting to the crossword in moments of inattention. Thought ear lobe was a lovely clue and made me smile. I also fell into the bawl trap. Thanks to Orpheus and Chris.
  12. 6d and 12a seemed pretty easy, so getting into this puzzle wasn’t a problem. There was some tricky stuff however: Tomahawk was my LOI and 3d could have been in a 15×15.
    My first thought for 1a was Wail and because it was clearly wrong I parsed the clue carefully and it had to be Ball. But I agree it was a trap for the speedster.
    COD to 19a. Took me 15 minutes. A good test.
    David
  14. Despite all the comments and desperately trying to get my head around it, I cannot see why one answer is better than the other. Audibly is separated by commas equally between the two halves. I am particularly aggrieved as, at 17 minutes, this would have been one of my best times, but I have to class it as a dnf with one answer APPARENTLY wrong. AAARGGHHH!!!! MM
    1. I think ‘getting’ makes the difference so that it reads something like: Cry lustily, audibily (i.e.sounds like “bawl”) getting (i.e. gives us) wherewithal for game (i.e. BALL – something used in a game).

      Edited at 2018-02-27 07:02 pm (UTC)

      1. I think it could just as easily be read as “Cry lustily, audibly getting (ie hearing) wherewithal for game” (ie sounds like “ball”).

        I considered both equally plausible but like many opted for the wrong one.

        1. I see what you mean, but as written in the clue that gives us a homophone indicator consisting of two words separated by a comma (audibly, getting) which I think would be beyond the pale in any Times puzzle, and certainly in a QC.
          1. You’re probably right Jack, but if I’ve learned one thing from this forum, it’s never trust the punctuation!
            1. Yes, it’s a good rule of thumb not to, but I’ve never yet seen punctuation interrupt an indicator. That’s not to say it won’t ever happen, but when choosing between alternative readings it’s probably better to go with the one that follows the conventions. In the case of an appeal in a competition scenario the adjudicators would be likely to apply them when deciding if an alternative is equally valid and therefore allowable.

              Edited at 2018-02-28 09:34 pm (UTC)

      2. Yes, I think the light is beginning to dawn. Thanks for taking the time to explain in more detail. MM
  15. A strange solve for me today as most of it went in quickly but I ended up with a DNF, as I couldn’t see work out 19a or 3d (despite seeing that it had to be leather something) and eventually gave up. Very frustrating as both clues became blindingly obvious after checking the blog.
    Thanks to Chris for the blog

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