Times Quick Cryptic 1051 by Mara

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I completed this in a medium difficulty time which would have proved quicker had I not missed 1dn. I only found this relatively easy clue when I was struggling to complete 8ac. How does one miss a clue? Granted there was a little distraction here but I can’t see that as an adequate reason. At the end I was left with 15dn and 18dn stubbornly refusing to click. Thanks to Mara for a well judged puzzle in which I particularly liked the brevity of the definition in 10dn and the construction of 9ac but cod for the smile in 3dn.

ACROSS

1. Hatchway – opening. Devise (HATCH), method (WAY).
5. Waif – neglected child. (W)ichit(A), providing (IF).
8. Sloop – small boat. Puddles (POOLS) flipping over (backwards).
9. Sofa bed – part of the furniture. Very (SO), very good (FAB), journalist (ED).
11. Groundswell – growing feeling. Stadium (GROUND), fine (SWELL).
13. Astern – behind (nautically). A (A), street (ST), th(E) campe(R) va(N).
14. Lichen – plant. Anagram (cultivated) of CHILE, new (N).
17. Tea-strainer – something which is full of holes. Compass point (EAST) in shoe (TRAINER).
20. Curtsey – act of respect. Anagram (unfortunately) of SECURiTY without the ‘I’ (one lacking).
21. Beige – shade. A little unravelling required here for ‘grasped by a worker, US soldier moving back’. The worker is a BEE which is grasping a US soldier (GI) backwards.
22. Eden – garden. In Odens(E DEN)mark.
23. Integral – whole – I had a quick double check that these actually are synonyms (which they are) as it didn’t initially leap out at me. Anagram (misshapen) of TRIANGLE.

DOWN

1. Hiss – sound from snake. In trut(H IS S)cary.
2. Thought – idea. However (THOUGH), draf(T).
3. Hippocrates – Greek physician (the only one I’m liable to have a chance of knowing). Cryptic clue/pun – boxes for large animals – HIPPO CRATES!
4. Absent – elsewhere. A (A), bishop (B), posted (SENT).
6. Amble – walk. Risk g(AMBLE) taking top letter off.
7. Fiddling – cheating. Also what one may be doing when playing in an orchestra.
10. Fashionable – in (definitions don’t come much briefer). Anagram (at sea) of FABLE NOAH IS.
12. Particle – piece. Item (ARTICLE) following piano (P).
15. Harrier – a sort of double definition. A harrier is a smallish breed of hound used originally for hare-hunting and also any diurnal bird of prey of the genus Circus, having broad wings and long legs and tail e.g. marsh harrier.
16. Canyon – deep ravine e.g. Grand. Kid (CON) passing around outside some (ANY).
18. Agree – match. Unfinished (take the final letter off) a European (A GREE)k.
19. Veal – meat. In microwa(VE A L)ot.

16 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1051 by Mara”

  1. It looks as though the setter is making it clear to us that he can include as many hiddens as he damn well pleases! EDEN, HISS, & VEAL. At 15d, I thought of the jet plane rather than the bird; I’m not sure I knew of the bird, come to think of it. 10d was nice, as was 20ac. 5:48.
  2. I completed this in exactly 10 minutes so I have hit my target for the first time since Monday of last week. It was a close thing though, as FASHIONABLE and BEIGE suddenly came to me after eluding me for so long.

    Yes, the theory there is supposed to be only one ‘straight’ hidden answer per QC was disproved a couple of weeks ago when I discovered that the very first Quickie contained two of them.

    Like Kevin I’m not sure I knew of the bird meaning at 15dn and thought only of the jump jet when writing in my answer, but I suppose it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that a plane would be named after a bird rather than a dog!

  3. It took me longer than I felt it ought to today but had nothing particularly tricky to hold me up. I guess that means it’s a very well constructed puzzle. 28 mins
  4. A PB for me at 5:35, starting with HISS and finishing with HARRIER, which I knew as a bird and plane, but not as a dog. Nice puzzle. Thanks Mara and Chris.
  5. I thought this was a great QC from Mara today; many interesting surfaces and some fun with 3d, 11a and esp. 13a as I can never see ‘camper van’ without chorlting, thanks to the ISIHAC ‘Uxbridge’ dict. definition: “The one that has more sequins than most’.

    Many thanks to Mara and to chrisw91

  6. A very modest 35 mins for what I thought was a well constructed puzzle from Mara, with some nice surfaces. I take my hat off, (or should that be tip my tile ?) to those experts who do these clues in strict numeric order. As usual, I found myself hopping all over the grid with 1ac almost LOI. Being a cat person, I was dreading the dog clue, but fortunately the crossers gave me the jet/bird. CoD to the brief, but elegant, 10d. Thank you Mara, and Chris. Invariant
  8. This was a very enjoyable struggle (40mins). I always assumed that the HARRIER jet was named after the bird. Never heard of it as a dog. CANYON would not come, but I put that down to living near Cheddar where we have a gorge. Took me a while to cotton on to 20ac as well. COD to 8ac for its elegant simplicity.
    PlayUpPompey
  9. Found it a struggle today as was just not on the right wavelength. Oh well, tomorrow’s another day.
  10. I was very slow today – just not on Mara’s wavelength, and took well over 20 minutes to complete this. All straightforward in the ned, but a devil of a job getting there.

    I think I may have finished the 15 x 15 in less time this morning…

    1. In that case, well done on the 15×15, Rotter. By general consensus it was something of a beast.
  11. I thought this was difficult. Mara is often a challenging setter for me. My hold-up was in the SW. I completed the rest of the puzzle steadily enough but there were very few gimmes. LOI was Agree after Canyon opened up the SW for me. About 30 minutes in total. COD to 9a.
    Excellent puzzle. David

  12. Finished in about 35 minutes. Needed a second sitting after work to crack the last two harrier and integral, finally spotting it was an anagram.

    Liked hippocrates, fashionable, sofa bed and COD tea strainer.

  13. Took longer than I felt it should today. Had lots of possible answers but couldn’t figure out for the life of me how they worked e.g. 17a. But got there in the end. 21 minutes

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