Times Quick Cryptic 1210 by Breadman

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

My solving time was 13 minutes with delays in the lower RH corner over 20, 22ac and 22dn. Prior to that it had all been going rather well and I had been well on target to complete the grid within my allotted 10 minutes.

As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]

Across
8 Mean to declare silver necklace ultimately (7)
AVERAGE – AVER (declare), AG (silver), {necklac}E [ultimately]
9 Informant inside that is angry (5)
IRATE – RAT (informant) contained by [inside] IE (that is – Latin: id est)
10 Unfortunately, promotion is obtained by cunning (5)
SADLY – AD (promotion – advertisement) contained [obtained] by SLY (cunning)
11 Old Hollywood actor moving east to absorb atmosphere (7)
ASTAIRE – Anagram [moving] of EAST containing [to absorb] AIR (atmosphere). Fred Asataire and Ginger Rogers made a fortune for RKO pictures in a series of song-and-dance  musicals in the1930s, but prior to that, when Fred did a screen test for them, one of their executives gave their verdict on his performance:  “Can’t sing. Can’t act. Balding. Can dance a little.”
12 Boxers perhaps controlled by sport (9)
UNDERWEAR – UNDER (controlled by), WEAR (sport). One may ‘sport’ a new sweater, for example.
14 Definitely heads for Yarmouth every summer (3)
YES – Y{armouth}, E{very}, S{ummer} [heads]
16 Curve seen in sugarcane (3)
ARC – Hidden [seen] in {sug}ARC{ane}
18 Thinking there’s no time for reconciliation (9)
MEDIATION – MEDI{t}ATION (thinking) [no time]
21 Taxi, one appropriate for a group of politicians (7)
CABINET – CAB (taxi), I (one), NET (appropriate). ‘Appropriate’ in the sense of take over or ‘acquire for one’s own use; a little bit of a stretch perhaps but close enough for crossword purposes.
22 Top trip, without limits, somewhere in the Gulf of Naples (5)
CAPRI – CAP (top), {t}RI{p} [without limits]. I needed the wordplay to jog my memory fpr this one. Here’s a song about th eisland as performed by the exquisite Greta Keller which knocks spots off the perhaps more famous version by “Our Gracie” with her foghorn of a voice.
23 Holy man in Republic of Ireland finding potato-based food (5)
ROSTI – ST (holy man – saint) contained by [in] ROI (Republic of Ireland). I’ve not seen this abbreviation before.
24 Non-daytime / ironing? (7)
EVENING – Two definitions, one vague, one cryptic.
Down
1 Graduate’s cigarette-end on a musical instrument (4,4)
BASS TUBA – BA’S (graduate’s), STUB (cigarette-end), A
2 The woman’s daughter and Edward treated like cattle? (6)
HERDED – HER (the woman’s), D (daughter), ED (Edward)
3 Blue vehicle, turning over, last in rally (4)
RACY – CAR (vehicle) reversed [turning over], {rall}Y [last]
4 Composed a steed that’s excited (6)
SEDATE – Anagram [excited] of A STEED
5 English queen / falls in Africa (8)
VICTORIA – Two very straight definitions
6 Relatives transporting Liam into outskirts of Fowey (6)
FAMILY – Anagram [transporting] of LIAM contained by [into] F{owe}Y [outskirts]
7 Yours truly on lake (4)
MERE – ME (yours truly), RE (on)
13 Italian twitching — he’s sentimental about birds (8)
ROMANTIC – ROMAN (Italian), TIC (twitching). I suppose he could be sentimental about our feathered freinds but I suspect a non-PC definition was the intenton here.
15 Diane’s arranged to leave US city (3,5)
SAN DIEGO – Anagram [arranged] of DIANE’S, GO (leave)
17 Young reporter is initially mentioning art movement (6)
CUBISM – CUB (young reporter), IS, M{entioning} [initially]
19 Doctor embraces one with the trembling condition (6)
DITHER – DR (doctor) contains [embraces] I (one) + THE. It’s more usually a verb, but we need a noun as the answer which still survives commonly in the expression ‘all of a dither’.
20 Rascal to disclose damage (6)
IMPAIR – IMP (rascal), AIR (disclose). One might air/disclose one’s grievances.
21 One in pack is an eccentric (4)
CARD – Two meanings
22 Reportedly vintage rowing team (4)
CREW – Sounds like [reportedly] “cru” (vintage – wine). We really need a question mark as the definition is by example. ‘Crew’ does not have to refer to  to ‘rowing’, nor any other waterborne activity for that matter. Newer solvers may care to note that ‘rowing team’ in a crossword clue is more likely to lead us to ‘eight’ or ‘four’ as the number of people in the team.

48 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1210 by Breadman”

  1. Under 10 minutes, with the equally acceptable NAVY at 2d. I expect the result to be adjusted after an objection and stewards’ enquiry.
    1. I had NAVY too – RACY never occurred to me. Held up briefly by the island and rowers at 22A&D. I liked MEDIATION and UNDERWEAR. A bit over average 6:48 (but with 1 allegedly wrong).
      P.S. Today’s 15×15 is very friendly if you are wanting to try trading up to the QC’s big brother.

      Edited at 2018-10-29 08:27 am (UTC)

  2. I wish I’d thought of NAVY (3d), rather than flinging in CUBIST for no good reason. Didn’t even think of what ‘birds’ was referring to, and just as well.
  3. Thanks as always. Really enjoying learning this fun new hobby.

    General question, hope ok to post it here;
    What do acronyms in this blog stand for, e.g. FOI, LOI?

    I am doctor so very used to dealing with TLAs 😉

      1. Occasionally WOD (Word Of the Day), GR (Golden Raspberry – a neologism coined by Louisajaney for clues people don’t like) and “biffed” (Bunged In From Definition – ie didn’t bother to parse the clue properly and understand its subtleties).

        Templar

    3. You may also get the occasional mer (minor eyebrow raise) or even a MER (major eyebrow raise) as expressions of dissent from solvers.

      6’15” today. I found this quite chewy for a Monday, not helped by initially having MEDIATING at 18a. I didn’t think of NAVY either but it should acceptable as an alternative answer.

      Thanks as always to setter and blogger.

  4. Put me down as a NAVY man. Was I alone in banging in UNDERCARD at 12ac?
    I discovered this blog about 3 years ago, and I hated the word newbie then and I still do.
  5. I managed not to think of NAVY(which I agree needs a Steward’s enquiry), but saw CUB and failed to consider CUBISM. One wrong in 11:52. A good challenge. Thanks Breadman and Jack.
  6. 21 mins, and surprised to be above verlaine and kevin in the leaderboard for 1 day only! Quite a racy puzzle with the romantic underwear.

    Last few were mediation, impair, capri and romantic.
    Loi crew
    Cod astaire.

  7. I found this fairly straightforward and was a bit miffed to discover I’d got one ‘wrong’ as I’m another in the NAVY club. LOI 4d, completed in 9.55
  8. … so, who decides which is correct?

    an gentle Monday offering ….
    19d held me up a little with 24 immediately realised once solved.

    COD: 13d

    thanks to setter, blogger and all who contribute.

    Carl

  9. Yes! Finished this in 17 minutes! A PB. Everything seemed to fall into place very quickly. COD 13 down (even with the non-PC reading!) closely followed by the very neat 1 down! LOI was 7 down which arrived in my brain only once I got the super 11 across. Thanks so much, Breadman, and also much appreciation for your blog, Jack. I biffed quite a few of these and needed your wisdom to explain the answers.
    1. An interesting point. ‘Navy’ is undoubtedly ‘blue’ but does the definition needs to be specific as to the shade? I’m not sure there are any guidelines or conventions in that respect and certainly some of the definitions we accept without question each week are a bit on the vague side. I suspect any ruling by an adjudicator on the subject would be likely to be arbitrary.

      Edited at 2018-10-29 11:50 am (UTC)

  12. Exactly 10 mins with RACY although I concur that NAVY is acceptable. LOI was 22d CREW. I started solving the grid with a half answer at 1d BASS …. and stuck in drum for no good reason other than I was in a hurry. I biffed 13d ROMANTIC and 22a CAPRI and parsed belatedly. Thank you Jack and Breadman.

    Edited at 2018-10-29 11:30 am (UTC)

  13. …so I was surprised to see a score of 756, obviously explained by all those who put NAVY.

    Is cru the same as vintage? I thought the former referred to where a wine is produced and the latter to when.

    Otherwise a good start to the week.

    Thanks for the blog.

  14. I hesitated between RACY and NAVY and chose the “wrong” one (was doing it on paper so thought I was right until I cam here!). I’ve now got YMCA singing “In The Navy” running through my head … arrghh ..

    I stuck with the new (to me) “all the acrosses then all the downs” approach, which I am enjoying as a change. I was soon left with three clues – 18, 19 and 20. Picked them off more slowly, LOI being DITHER.

    I thought “cru” a very loose definition for “vintage” – a cru (literally “growth”) is a vineyard/collection of vineyards. It is used figuratively to denote the quality of wines produced – eg “grand cru” or “premier cru”. But is has nothing to do with what vintage the wine is. Half a GR from me.

    Otherwise very enjoyable; thanks to Breadman and Jack for his customarily excellent blog.

    Templar

  15. As others have mentioned above, today’s 15 x 15 is the ‘easiest’ for the last 3 years according to the SNITCH (the latter monitors the difficulty by comparing regular solvers’ times).
  16. A few distractions today, but my only real excuse for a slow 30min solve was 22d. As others have noted, Cru has nothing to do with vintage so definitely a GR from me. (I was even thinking of husband and wife pairings at one point. . .) If I had thought of it, then I would probably have gone with Navy at 3d, so a lucky escape there. Invariant
  17. I am glad I was not the only one to put in Navy instead of racy. I think the clue needs to have a little more clarity/checker so there is no doubt which is correct

    My COD was 19 Down but then I am new(ish) to this game !

  18. Pretty straightforward and enjoyable but navy is a much better answer than racy! Definitely needs an enquiry!
  19. I seem to be in the very small minority finding this hard – forme the hardest in weeks and weeks. Put in teased for sedate (composed as indicator, excited as definition) and never questioned it meaing astaire and underwear were both left blank. Also blank were crew and capri where some fair clueing should have led me to them. An off day after a good week last week. Thanks to setter and blogger.
    1. I am old enough to have seen the NAVY/RACY issue before. However, I did not see TEASED v SEDATE as you describe.

      Every day is educational.

  20. Does navy not work equally well? Van as the vehicle with “y” from last in rally giving navy as in navy blue?
  21. Straightforward. I happened to think of ‘car’ first so RACY it was. Thought ‘vintage’ = ‘cru’ was close enough to be honest. Otherwise not much to say really. FOI AVERAGE (mean = average is a bit of a chestnut), ~LOI ROMANTIC – didn’t believe the surface- how long is it since young females have been ‘birds’? COD ASTAIRE – although I biffed it.
    PlayUpPompey
  22. Surely 3 down is “navy”, which is blue. Van turned over is nav plus y from rally.
  24. A very pleasant day of golf at Woking today; traffic a nightmare but that’s a constant now.
    No particular hold-ups in this puzzle. FOI was CREW, saw it immediately. LOI was Meditation -a good clue I thought. No accurate time noted.
    At 3d of course I had NAVY.
    David
  27. I agree with mendesest. Also I kept thinking of St Francis for 13d …. I’ve been doing the QC for about a year or so now and have greatly enjoyed and been helped by the comments and the solvers. Thank you all so much. Ann R
  28. Didn’t get to the QC until 10pm. A nice puzzle. I had no trouble with Racy. LOI Romantic. Under 3 kevins again but I don’t seem able to improve on this. Thanks, both. John M.
  29. After some tougher outings and dnfs from Orpheus and Izetti I actually managed to finish Breadman in a decent time. More from Breadman please, most enjoyable. Also loved the clip of Greta Keller.

Comments are closed.