Times Quick Cryptic 1011 by Izetti

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Another quick time for me today – all the more surprising for being an Izetti. Maybe I picked the wavelength – it certainly helped to have spent time in Vancouver where there are references to 5dn. The blog has given me the opportunity to admire the crafting of anagram indicators (1ac, 14dn) and a quick RE lesson at 11dn. COD to the double-anagrammed 10ac.

ACROSS

1. Sentence – series of words. Anagram (excitingly depicted – as anagram indicators go this has to up there with the best of them) of TEN SCENES.
6. Forum – meeting. Supporting (FOR), (U)niversity (M)anagement.
8. Albatross – double definition of seabird and golfing achievement.
9. Years – a long time. Ceremon(Y) with organs (EARS) going on (afterwards).
10. Hydrangea – garden shrub. Two anagrams here – HAY blowing around about untidy GARDEN.
12. Gentry – top people. Dope (GEN – information – get the ‘dope on someone’), test (TRY).
13. Erotica – naughty pictures. Man (ERIC) collects (holds/is around) old books (OT – Old Testament).
16. Addiction – weakness – possibly as a weakness but also as a weakness for something (likes). Rider (ADDITION to a paper) catching cold (C).
18. Throw – cast. Quarrel (ROW) follows cutting of ‘the’ (TH).
19. Commodore – officer. Anagram (around) of RODE on (after) public land endlessly (COMMO)n.
21. Rodin – sculptor. Perch (Collins has perch as a short ROD for a bird to stand on, ROD, pole and perch are also a surveyors tool and unit of length equal to ​5.5 yards), at home (IN).
22. Righteous – upstanding. Anagram (could become) of THIS ROGUE.

DOWN

1. Smasher – attractive person. A smash at tennis is a hard shot so someone hitting one would be a smasher.
2. Nobody – insignificant person. Murder investigations usually have a body (especially in Midsomer where they usually have several).
3. Extra – double definition.
4. Coo – sound a bird (dove) makes. A hundred (C) and two ducks (O O).
5. Saskatchewan – a central Canadian territory. Anagram (moves around) of WATCH AS SNAKE.
6. Flying saucer – a mysterious sight. Crockery flying around a kitchen may be evidence of an argument.
7. Reasoned – logical. Thesi(S) and one (ONE) written down inside study (READ).
11. Gathered – met. That place (THERE) entertained by (hosted by/inside) biblical tribe (GAD). Dnk the tribe but it didn’t stop the answer going in. For information – Gad was Jacob’s sixth son, whose mother was Zilpah, Leah’s maid. The Israelite tribe descended from him took his name and their territory lay to the east of the Jordan and extended southwards from the Sea of Galilee.
14. Ranters – people speaking loudly rather than loud speakers for music etc. Managed (RAN) to get an anagram (after spouting – another anagram indicator to reckon with) of REST.
15. Kimono – garment. King (K) has one (I) lacking colour (MONO).
17. Clout – influence. Conservative (C), group (LOT) admitting universal (U).
20. Mag – periodical magazine. Cropped i(MAG)e.

31 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1011 by Izetti”

  2. I struggled a bit to finish this off and exceeded my 10-minute target by 2 minutes. Some of the SW corner gave me problems, in particular 14dn where I was convinced I was looking for a term for loudspeaker like ‘tweeter’ and ‘woofer’. I should have taken note of the space between ‘loud’ and ‘speaker’ in the clue! I remain doubtful about ‘spouting’ as an anagrind. It’s true that Chambers starts its entry with ‘throw out’, but then continues with ‘in a jet’, so it doesn’t qualify in my view.
    1. I wonder if this is to do with ‘spouting nonsense’ – if someone is decribed as spouting they are not simply talking a lot (of sense).
  3. 31 minutes, found it quite tough.

    Last few were Gentry, flying saucer: needed all the checkers, and LOI the Saskatchewan spelling challenge.

    COD nobody.

  4. A lot of fun today Thanks as always! Never heard dope used that way is that a regional thing?
    1. I don’t think it’s regional – I rather thought it had US roots but I’m not sure.
      It’s in Collins – information which you have been given illegally or secretly.
      [informal] e.g. The government had plenty of dope on him.
  5. I also thought this was at the more challenging end of the spectrum. I couldn’t get Flying Saucer until late on and so for a while the entire LHS of the grid was empty. Once I had the F and the Y things got moving again. 32 mins.
  6. Thank you for all the feedback. I will be discussing the history of crosswords with Chris Maslanka on Radio 4 this Friday at 1204-1216 GMT. The programme (5/5 of Two Thousand Years of Puzzling) will be on i-player shortly afterwards. Izetti
  7. … LHS. Ranters last in on the right, reasoned on the left. Never really built up a head of steam but plodded on steadily.
  8. Steady solve this morning well inside my target time of 15 minutes, so I would have rated this as easier than the norm. I liked NOBODY as it reminded me of the ‘Diary of …’

    Thanks to Izetti for the tip on listening to Radio Four on Friday – I will endeavour to join the audience.

    Thanks also to Chris for the blog.

  9. I was delayed by several alternative options at 1d where I had STUNNER for a while, eventually dredging up SMASHER after SLASHER and SLAMMER. In my defence it was late and I was tired:-) I took 11:39 to complete, with GENTRY my LOI. 1a was my FOI. An unusual grid I thought! Thanks Izetti and Chris.
  10. About usual for me for an Izetti, ie a bit longer than my average. What I like about his challenges is that they are usually on the tough side, but rarely use vocabulary with which I am unfamiliar. Never heard of GAD but had to be. Enjoyed FLYING SAUCERS. my COD.
    PlayUpPompey
  13. A typical Izetti puzzle – not impossible, but a definite challenge. RHS wasn’t too difficult, providing you were taught the ‘after snowy mountains’ mnemonic for Canadian provinces, but I had nothing similar to help with the other long down clue, 6d, so the left side of the grid was thinly populated for quite a long time. I thought 12, 16 and 19ac were fine examples of Izetti’s craftsmanship, and I needed all three before I could see my last two, 17 and 15d. Finally staggered over the line after a very satisfying 50 mins. Invariant
  14. Thought there were too many dodgy clues today, completed it but was unhappy with answers, particularly 13a where the clue indicated erotica, not erotic.
    1. The definition at 13ac is actually “having naughty pictures?” which fits with the answer EROTIC.

      Edited at 2018-01-23 05:51 pm (UTC)

  15. I was in Rochester today and, in the Guildhall Museum, admired the portrait of Sir Cloudesly Shovell whose name adorns the pub near Charing Cross, The Ship and Shovell (not shovel as their website reminds us).
    It is London’s only pub in two parts. Today it is closed due to the Charing Cross gas leak. So it is incontestably London’s only pub in two parts closed by a gas leak today.
    I solved the puzzle largely on the train home from Rochester but got stuck on 6d, my LOI. It came to me on the bus. Time not recorded but another enjoyable Izetti challenge. David
  16. A good challenge today and like others I found the RHS a lot more straightforward than the left, primarily because 6d was my second last in which made 12a (LOI) and 16a real head scratchers. 17d also took me a while to spot.
    COD goes to 10a for it’s misdirection – I initially tried making the anagram out of hay and untidy with the definition being garden shrub.
    Finally completed in 24 minutes
  17. Never finished a QC in less than 7 minutes (and 15 is more like par). Today 3.41 but hang on, that was the brilliant Izetti, one of the all time greats, who at his most generous can never resist two brilliant stinkers. Today all write ins. Hope his weekend was enjoyable as I suspect it was!
  18. Far too difficult for a QC – very uneven, some simple ones mixed with the near impossible. Gen for dope? Gad a biblical tribe? Rider = addition?
    Izetti, please stick to the 15x15s
    Nick
  20. Parsing of 7d doesn’t make sense. What makes you use the last letter of thesis? Thanks

    Srt

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