Times Quick Cryptic 1141 by Teazel

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
A pleasant puzzle from Teazel which had points of interest – I was misled by the definitions in 7dn and loi 12dn and dnk 4ac – but there were always easy ones to fill in the grid. As such I expect most folk to enjoy this one and some record times from the old stagers – my time was 6:34. Not so long ago I would have thought I couldn’t even fill in the grid if I had the answers in such a time but today I worked steadily through and raised both eyebrows when I saw the completed time.
Have fun.

ACROSS

1. CINCH – simple task. Commander-in-chief (C-IN-C) finds hard (H).
4. INCUBUS – nightmare – from Collins – a demon believed in folklore to lie upon sleeping persons, esp to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women. In (IN) and America (US) about small child (CUB).
8. PARSNIP – vegetable. Almost separate (PAR)t then trim (SNIP).
9. ENDED – finished. Being repaired (mended) wasting millions (m) = m(ENDED).
10. CLOSED BOOK – mystery (it’s a closed book to me). Someone who has finished reading may have closed the book.
14. HARD BY – very close. Tough (HARD), times (BY – multiply – 2 by 3 = 6).
15. BALTIC – northern area. British (B) and officer (LT) and in charge (IC) touring a (A).
17. SQUARE MEAL. Cryptic pun – although our plates at home are squarish.
20. ICILY – with chilling effect. Remove son (S) from Mediterranean island s(ICILY).
22. ANIMATE – create a cartoon. Anagram (stew) of TEAM IN A.
23. EN ROUTE – on the way. To Paris tells us that it’s this originally French term which is required.
24. TALLY – double definition.

DOWN

1. COPE – double definition. As well as meaning to manage, a cope is a long sleeveless piece of clothing worn by some Christian priests on special occasions.
2. NERO – emperor. Somewhat insa(NER O)ld.
3. HANDLEBAR – moustache. Manage (HANDLE), pub (BAR).
4. IMPOSE – insist on. One (I), male (M), model (POSE).
5. Signal (CUE). Homophone (read out) of the letter Q.
6. BADMOUTH – maliciously criticise. Q – why would I need a dentist? A – if I had a bad mouth.
7. SIDEKICK – associate (the noun – I was looking for the verb for a while). Team (SIDE), pleasurable thrill (KICK).
11. DRAMATIST – playwright. Anagram (converted) of MAD ARTIST.
12. CHASTISE – discipline. Modest (CHASTE) about one’s (IS).
13. CROUPIER – card dealer (note to self – read more carefully – I was looking for car dealer to start with). Anagram (renegotiates) of OUR PRICE.
16. IMPALE – stick as in pierce, run through, spike. If I don’t have any colouring then I’M PALE.
18. PALL – become less interesting. Friend (PAL), length (L).
19. DENY – not admit. Study (DEN), year (Y).
21. YOU – second person. Starts to (Y)ell (O)w (U)nnecesarily.

26 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1141 by Teazel”

  1. Like Chris, I read ‘car dealer’ at first, but luckily had another look at the clue. Liked HARD BY. 5:23.

    Edited at 2018-07-24 12:49 am (UTC)

  2. It was just a steady write-in. Only part of my very brief subway ride home.
  3. 8 minutes. Whilst solving I thought COPE / ‘vestment for priest’ and INCUBUS / ‘nightmare’ might prove tricky for some.

    CUB / ‘small child’ is not actually specified in any of the usual sources as in human terms it usually equates with a young inexperienced or cheeky person who may not be so small in stature or in years of age. Only in the sense of Cub Scout might one assume its a child (up to 12) but I’m not sure even then that ‘small’ is entirely safe.

    Edited at 2018-07-24 04:43 am (UTC)

  4. Finished in 24, slowed considerably by the last 3: impale, chastise and LOI hard by. I was trying to think of a colouring stick for ages, along the lines of im bare or im lack.

    Didn’t know, cope for clothing and hard by.
    Haven’t seen c in c for commander in chief before. I was trying to force OC or Co in at first.

    COD a toss up between impale or animate.

  5. I guess I count as one of the ‘old stagers’… like Guy, I found this quite gentle for a Teazel and finished only 11s over a PB in 3:38. BALTIC, my LOI, was the only one that gave me much pause trying initially to make ARCTIC work. Some very neat surfaces – the last 4 downs, for example, are all good. HARD BY and IMPALE my favourites. Thanks Teazel and Chris
  6. Took me 31 minutes…. not a blogger obviously. I was just pleased I completed it
  7. Now what’s that word for a colouring stick? In Russian, it’s карандашом, derived directly from the French firm Caran d’Ache, then there’s oil pastels and any number of warpaint devices. A little knowledge, when doing these things, is a seriously distracting thing.
    Teazel was right to be circumspect about circularity in 17. These days, if eating out in the more wallet-challenging establishments, you’re lucky to get a “plate” that doesn’t come from a builder’s yard.
  8. lots to enjoy – only quibbles I have are hard by (who ever says that??) and the reference to cub as a small child – (the clue was obscure enough already in my view)
    1. It seems to me that ‘hard by’ has a rather nautical feel to it. Still, crosswordland is more to do with what’s in dictionaries than in general use which gives the opportunity to pick up some more interesting vocabulary. I’m still waiting to use ‘peregrination’ having come across it a few years ago.
      1. yes thanks – I’m sure you’re right. Does raise the question as to whether there might be an accepted dictionary as the torygraph used to have (Chambers) My OED didn’t list Hard by and their definition of Incubus is a demon abusing sleeping women (nightmarish I suppose)
        1. The last statement I can remember on ‘preferred’ dictionaries for the Times 15×15 was many years ago when they were Collins and the Concise Oxford. Editors have come and gone since then but I have no reason to think this has changed significantly. To be completely on the safe side, use them in conjunction with Chambers and that should cover all eventualities. Most of the content of all three is available free on-line.
  9. Thank you Teazel, very enjoyable. I particularly liked BADMOUTH and my LOI, IMPALE.

    A shade over two Kevins so respectable enough, though it had the feel of a fast one for the speedsters! Didn’t help myself by mistyping SIDEKICK so that 15ac ended in K … (had to sprint for the train today so didn’t have time for a paper so had to do it on my phone … so fiddly!)

    Thanks for the blog Chris – I needed it to understand why “by” = “times”.

    Templar

    1. It’s “by” as in “multiplied by”. “expressing multiplication, especially in dimensions.“. Thus you might describe a room size as 5m by 2m (or 5m x 2m), giving a floor area of 10 sq. m.
  10. I enjoyed this. BALTIC last one in. I am struggling with the Times cryptic at the moment, so these are enjoyable, as I usually finish them. Have a book of them to take on hols,
    Thanks as always for the blog
    Andrew K
  11. Very slow start from the NW. Gradually speeded up and don’t really see why it took me nearly 3 kevins. A silly typo didn’t help.
    I seem to add a comment most days so thought I should have a moniker but I can’t see how to do it as a refusenik to Twiiter, Facebook, et al.. John. Thanks to Teazel for his usual interesting challenge and to chrisw (apart from mislead instead of misled). Oops, picky?
    1. Picky? Never! We strive for perfection on this site. Sorry to have misled you.
  12. Another slow one for me today in 17:04. I ground to a halt in the SW corner with the last three in 17a SQUARE MEAL, 14a HARD BY which I thought of and dismissed (I wasn’t sure of the meaning as very close) and 12d CHASTISE where I needed all the checkers. I’m hoping tomorrow’s QC will be a cinch.
  13. Another steady write-in here, only just outside PB territory at 3’55”.
    Thanks as ever to setter and blogger.
  14. Comfortably under my 10 minute target at 8:40. IMPALE took a while as I failed to lift and separate colouring and stick. INCUBUS vaguely known from other puzzles. Nice puzzle. Thanks Teazel and Chris.
  15. 11 minutes for me, so not exactly a walk in the park – but no real problems either.
  16. I started this on the train returning from Rochester. Made good progress. Was not sure about Cope at 1d. Finishing at home my last two were 6d and 4a. Badmouth came first and again I was not sure about Incubus but it seemed to fit. Less than 20 minutes in total.
    Two words to try and remember for next time. Pleasant puzzle. David
  17. A very enjoyable solve with IMPALE standing out for me. Was held up in the SW towards the end but once I’d convinced myself that HARD BY could be a legitimate expression 12d and 17a swiftly followed. Completed in 12.21.
    Thanks Chris

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