Times Quick Cryptic 1046 by Tracy

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Thanks to Tracy for a well crafted puzzle which required some unscrambling and contained some great clues. Whilst I think I can say that it wasn’t in the easy category, I find it difficult to say much more as I was ferreting away at the word plays for blog purposes. Some may immediately see 24ac (which was my sting in the tail) and pass lightly on to fast times. 14/20 on my blogger scale.
Could I please ask the usual suspects to answer any questions today (due to travel) – thanks.

ACROSS

3. Handball – game. With (AND) and (B)randy taken inside manor (HALL).
7. Grouse – double definition. A game bird depicted on whisky bottles and beef/grump.
8. Reminder – hint. Concerning (RE), bodyguard (MINDER).
9. Over – double definition.
10. Tie – draw. Level not quite (TIE)r.
11. Transmit – broadcast. (M)onarch in carriage (TRANSIT).
13. Rich – full in the sense of rich with history. Rhode Island (RI), church (CH).
15. Weep – shed tears. Small (WEE), page (P).
17. Sardonic – cutting. Anagram (shuffled) of CARDS NO I.
19. Ash – tree. So (AS), (H)appy. Anyone else fall into the trap of thinking that the ‘at first’ applied to (S)o (H)appy (A)t and then trying to work out why it should be anagrammed?
22. Dais – platform. Anagram (to be repaired) of SAID.
23. Layabout – good for nothing. Song (LAY), referring to (ABOUT).
24. Icarus – legendary character – with wings, wax and the sun. Famous tenor briefly (CARUS)o on island (I). Enrico Caruso was an Italian operatic tenor. Not knowing old Enrico, I limped home here based on some inspired consideration of carousing and then saw the answer. No surprise this was LOI.
25. Streamer – flag. Vessel (STEAMER) carrying right (R).

DOWN

1. Traverse – cross. Note (TE – from the tonic sol-fah) about those at wild party (RAVERS). Any thoughts on makes ‘one’ cross? One who crosses is a traverser but the surface needed something I suppose.
2. Fun run – charity event? The question mark means that fun runs can be but don’t necessarily have to be charity events. (Along) with pleasure (FUN), organise (RUN).
3. Herd – animals in large group. Some of ot(HER D)raft. Excellent hidden answer wins my COD.
4. No matter – it’s unimportant. Gossip (NATTER) about old (O) and medium (M).
5. Banner – flag. British (B), queen (ANNE) and king (R).
6. Leek – vegetable. Fish (EEL) served upwards, on top of (K)ing-size. Should that be king-sized?
12. Mushroom – grow rapidly. Greek character’s (MU’S), hot (H), chamber (ROOM).
14. Critique – appraisal. Little credit (CR) with one (I) and an anagram (awful) of QUITE.
16. Palace – royal residence. Locality (PLACE) surrounding a (A).
18. Ordeal – trial. Alternative (OR), arrangement (DEAL).
20. Pact – agreement. Homophone (what sounds like) full – packed.
21. Stir – commotion. Another lovely clue to finish. Starts of (S)howers (T)hen (I)nmates (R)iot. Such an event potentially taking place in a prison – also know as ‘stir’.

24 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1046 by Tracy”

  1. On the hard side all right; or I was on the dim side. I think ICARUS was my LOI; just couldn’t come up with it. Missed the with=AND in HANDBALL, too. And I wondered, albeit briefly, whether there was a sha tree. 8:54.
  2. 12 minutes needed for this one. I had trouble getting started with nothing jumping out at me in the top half Across or Down until I reached RICH at 13ac. That gave me the first letter of 14dn which when solved opened up the SE corner and from there I worked through the grid backwards and upwards – never a good policy when one is hoping to work up speed, but needs must. Anyway, I got the job done eventually.

    I knew ICARUS (and Caruso) but it was helpful that the episode of ‘Endeavour’ shown on Sunday and some of us were discussing here late yesterday (15×15) was called ICARUS, so the ‘legendary character’ was fresh in my mind.

    Edited at 2018-03-13 06:01 am (UTC)

  3. For beginners this was a very tough puzzle. Only got about 10 clues. Even with the blog I fail to see some of the connections.
  4. 27 minutes with grouse, sardonic, dais (LOI), Icarus, and ordeal taking a long time to crack.

    Couldn’t see the parsing for dais (obvious now) or handball. And guessed the tenor was caruse!

    I completed the 15×15 for only about the fifth time so as vinyl1 says its worth a go today.

    COD traverse or ordeal.

  5. My problems today seemed to be similar to those already outlined with Icarus my LOI. 27 minutes which is outside my target but not too bad. Very enjoyable though. Thanks to Tracy and Chris.
  6. Just flagging up the main puzzle today. Couldn’t agree more with vinyl1 and flashman that’s it’s well worth a look. I’m ‘buzzing’ having competed it in only 5 minutes more than today’s QC.

  7. 40 mins which is 10 mins beyond my usual cut-off. Struggled mightily with the anagram at 17a.

    I went for ICEMAN as a legendary character, hoping to find a tenor whose name started with ICE. (Island=Man)

    COD 14d.

    I will take a crack now at the 15×15 and report back.

  8. I found this a fine QC, with lots of interesting surfaces and fairly buzzed through it.

    To those struggling a bit today, I was in your position a year ago, so would just say, keep going, it’s worth it!

    You might want to remember song = lay.

    1. Please could you explain the connection between SONG and LAY. I got the clue but can’t for the life of me see these two words being linked
  9. As usual I did most of the crossword fairly quickly, but resorted to the blog for the last 3 answers 18d, 20d and 22a. I don’t know why I couldn’t get those 3 – all simple when explained.

    I have time today, so will have a go at the BIG crossword, but find it is usually full of words I don’t know … and I consider myself quite well read. Will just have to read more!!

  10. I zipped through this fairly quickly after my FOI LEEK, which took a minute or so to see, then I ground to a halt with 20d, 21d, 23a 24a and 25a outstanding. Eventually I saw CARUSO and ICARUS, but the others stubbornly defied me. Then I saw STIR and LAYABOUT and the other two dropped in. 8:58, so still a reasonable time. Thanks Tracy and Chris.
  11. Surprised myself by finishing what I thought was a hard QC in 30 minutes – about average. The 18d/24ac combination was responsible for about 5 of those, before I remembered Caruso (singing the Student Prince), but I suspect this was a clue too far for younger solvers. Also took some time over 3ac, having no idea what a handall was. Eventually the penny dropped. Invariant
    1. PS. I can confirm that today’s 15×15 is now a member of a very exclusive club – ones that I have completed without electronic aids. A few more like this would be appreciated. Invariant
  12. FOI was 13a as I searched randomly for an easy clue to start with. In hindsight I solved some of the harder clues early on (eg 24a and COD 14d). Progress steady and LOI was 18d which required a bit of thought. 14 minutes in total. I seem to be getting quicker with all this practice. David
  13. I never felt that I had a secure foothold in this puzzle. I’d overcome one sticky clue, get a couple of easy ones and then hit another poser. A good, stiff test for early in the week (but not necessarily one for beginners).
    Many thanks to setter and blogger.
    6’45”

  15. 15×15 is on the east side today. I came up one short, after an hour or so. Several biffs remained unparsed until I saw the blog, which happens only rarely with the QC.

    men=OR still appears over there. My campaign against obscure military abbreviations continues.

    So the sub-hour 15×15 remains a 2018 goal.

  17. I came to this late today and solved it online so was somewhat surprised that it only took me 13.49. I did however create Handall Manor in 3a (LOI). Will have a crack at the 15×15 tomorrow
    Thanks for the blog and showing me the correct parsing of 3.
  18. Just on traverse/traverser – in skiing terminology, especially tricky off piste parts, a traverse is a section that requires one to cross rather than head straight down. I suspect mountaineering has similar so a traverse could be said to make one cross and one who does so is a traverser.

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