Times Quick Cryptic 1056 by Teazel

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Lots to enjoy here – especially cod 14ac. A couple of points of interest – 9ac and 8dn. Many and varied clue types and enough of a puzzle for me to be surprised to have come inside the 10 minute target. Thanks Teazel. LOI 12ac.

ACROSS

1. Lassoed – caught. Girl (LASS) with dictionary (OED – Oxford English Dictionary).
7. Apparel – clothes. Horrify (APPAL) hiding away (hiding inside itself) (R)ar(E).
9. Wyoming – State. I think there’s a case for “why coming back to ‘ouse” to be all that’s required in this clue as it gives us a WhY hOMING without the ‘H’s. Possibly because there are two ‘H’s to remove or because this is a QC we get the belt and braces homophone of ‘for us to hear’. Comments appreciated.
10. Goes out – leaves. Anagram (being cooked) of GOOSE, workers group (TU Trade Union) turns (backwards).
11. Odds – likelihood (what are the odds for a quick QC time?). Spare (ODD – odd sock). Second (S).
12. Mare’s Tail – marsh plant – sadly we have some of these in our garden – which I wouldn’t describe as a marsh – but the soil is clay. Anagram (may be processed into) of MATERIALS which looks from the word play that we are doing an anagram of the answer to get ‘materials’.
14. Tap dancer. Wonderful clue which is both a cryptic definition and an anagram. A tap dancer does indeed need a floor which is hard and carpet free. Leaving it at just ‘a floor which is hard’ we find an anagram (free) of AND CARPET.
16. Halo – ring (went to Venice recently – so much artwork – with more haloes than you could shake a stick at). Heartless greeting (HA)l(LO).
17. Intrude – trespass. One (I), Aussie territory (NT – Northern Territory), impolite (RUDE).
20. Wrangle – noisy dispute. Some cre(W RANG LE)ader.
21. Shut-eye – snooze. Small (S), shed (HUT), contemplate (EYE).
22. Day trip – brief excursion. Anagram (hit) of PAY DIRT.

DOWN

1. Low Countries – cryptic definition.
2. Snow drop – flower of spring. South (S), these days (NOW) also (with) fail (DROP).
3. Omit – fail to include. Note (MI) in part if bible (OT).
4. Dagger – weapon. In DANGER with good (G) replacing new (N).
5. Appeaser – one offering concessions. Homophone (we hear) of A PISA.
6. Trio – small group. Not entirely pa(TRIO)tic.
8. Little Bo-Peep – she lost her flock (of sheep). Small is LITTLE and also seems to be used to shorten boy (BO)y, having brief look (PEEP).
12. Measured – checked size. Myself (ME) and a (A), certain (SURE), daughter (D).
13. Arranger – tidier – one who tidies. A(A), river(R), warden (RANGER).
15. Chewed – was eating. Revolutionary (our favourite CHE Guevara), married (WED).
18. Taut – not slack. Homophone (soundly) of TAUGHT.
19. Wary – cautious. Conflict (WAR) with unknown (Y).

29 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1056 by Teazel”

  1. I think the ‘for us to hear’ is needed to get from ‘why’ to WY; not that I thought about it at the time, mind you. Also hadn’t noticed the double duty being done by ‘small’, to get LITTLE and BO; is that legit? 8:17.
  2. Just over 20 minutes with the bottom half going in much more easily than the top. Last in was Mares Tail and even having all the checkers left me uncertain. Also held up by not spotting tidier was a noun – crafty. Clocks changing has meant certain house members have been sleeping in longer but what will I do at lunchtime?
  3. 8 minutes. Thought MARE’S TAIL a bit tricky but fair enough. On Kevin’s point about 8dn, I don’t like ‘small’ doing double-duty if that’s what the setter intended, and it can’t be excused on &lit or semi-&lit grounds as they clearly don’t apply.
  4. 27 minutes. Mares Tail (LOI) was quite tricky, until I saw the anagram.
    Also glad 3d was omit and not part of the bible.

    My offering for Wyoming :
    Gym wino trained in part of America.

    State leaders of Western Yangchun oppose Chinese dynasty.

    Little Bo Peep definitely needs an extra small:
    Wee small boy has gander for girl who misplaced her bighorns?

    COD snowdrop.

  5. I just never seem to “get” Teazel. Over an hour and really struggled with Wyoming even with all the checkers. I guess there is greater satisfaction when it all finally drops in but, with my struggles matched by Southern Rail’s inability to run a punctual service, it seems scant consolation.

  6. 15:20, for another sub 20, after a poor week. I did not see the anagram at 14a, but now agree that it is a great clue. 8d was a total write-in, so I’m not going to wade into the small debate.

    What is “Hailo”?

    I also liked the cryptic definition of 1 d.

    1. I considered that but rejected it as it’s not a common enough name and just as likely to be a girl as a boy. You could still be right that’s what the setter had in mind though.
  8. My quickest for a while. Completely missed the anagram in TAP DANCER>. Very clever. Never heard of MARES TAIL, but with the checkers it had to be. Not sure I really understand the parsing of 8dn, but what else could it be anyway? Sorry blogger, don’t agree with you on 9ac. For me ‘ouse indicates a dropped ‘h’ at the beginning of the word. You can’t drop an ‘h’ in the middle of a word.
    PlayUpPompey
    1. The dropped H is from HOMING (coming back to ‘ouse). ‘State why’ is homophone for WY.
      1. ‘state why’ isn’t a homophone: ‘state’ is the definition. ‘we hear’ tells us that ‘why coming back to ‘ouse’ = WY OMING.

        Edited at 2018-03-27 12:04 pm (UTC)

        1. Sorry, you’re right, I read it too quickly. But I still think it works as a phrase: “Why coming back to ‘ouse” = “WY ‘OMING?” which works as a phrase ‘for us to hear’.
          1. That’s how I read it too

            Templar

            PS I loved your introduction yesterday, don’t let the moaners change your style!

            1. Thanks very much! As I think the secret message in The Handmaid’s Tale goes: NOLITE TE BASTARDES CARBORUNDORUM!
      2. Chris here – at a motorway service station unable to work out how to sign in on a phone!
        On the clue my thinking is that the definition is ‘State’.
        ‘Ouse=‘oming.
        ‘For us to hear’is the homophone indicator which is a long way from ‘why’ in the clue – so I thought that the dropped H could be applied to both why and homing.
        Also – Oming doesn’t need a homophone indicator – does it?
  9. I totally missed the anagram for TAP DANCER too. The NE was quite resistant, so I came back to it at the end. FOI LASSOED. LOI APPEASER. Liked TAP DANCER. Never read past “she lost her flock” for 8d. Thanks Teazel and Chris.
  10. As a relative rookie I was thrown by the “in” at the start of 21A, what purpose does it serve other than to make the surface scan?

    Was also thrown by the directionality of 12A and while I got Wyoming, I wasn’t sure I could parse it

  11. Raced through this today in just over 8 minutes, probably a PB.
    Started with 19d, the first clue I read, then after 1d everything went in almost straightaway. Had to pause over 12a and my LOI was 12d when my brain went onto clock-watching and away from solving.
    Not many gimmes so I was on the wavelength today. COD to 14a. David
  12. In yesterday’s blog someone said they’d struggled to get Little Boy Blue because they got fixated on Little Bo Peep … that one must have flown in today!

    My tuppence worth on WYOMING. I thought it was really clear. “State” = definition. Then the whole thing is a homophone for “why coming back to ‘ouse”. That’s why the homophone indicator is at the end.

    I also can’t see that “small” is working twice in 8dn. I parsed it like this: “She lost her sheep” = definition. “Small” = little. “Boy” = bo (I don’t see any need to indicate that this is an abbreviation, any more than using “daughter” to indicate D or “married” to indicate M). “Brief look” = peep. Straightforward.

    Found this one on the easy side and nonetheless enjoyable for that. Thanks to Teazel and Chris.

    Templar

  13. After a slow start – FOI was 21a – I seemed to pick up the wavelength and I worked my way up from south to north, ending with LOI 6d. Completed in 13.29, so no major hold ups but was relieved when I spotted the anagram in 12a.
    Thanks for the blog
  15. Bit late with this comment but Little Bo Peep was what in some games is called a gimme for me. with the configuration of letters it was quite obvious for ‘she lost her flock’ – the rest was superfluous

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