Times Quick Cryptic 1326 by Hurley

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Quite a few anagrams, a bit of piecing together, some thought required on exact definitions and some clever clues. A good QC completed in 09:12. LOI 9ac, COD 10ac.
I know the QC is a long way from football but I thought I’d point to the happy chance of two clues appearing here after Sunday’s highly enjoyable (to a neutral such as me) game where the 6dn’s produced 22ac at Wembley.

ACROSS

1. SIGHT-READS – plays notes from page. Homophone (reportedly) of place – site (SIGHT) and wind instruments – reeds (READS).
8. OCARINA – musical instrument. An egg-shaped wind instrument with a protruding mouthpiece and six to eight finger holes, producing an almost pure tone. Love (O), vehicle (CAR), fashionable (IN) with a (A).
9. SHEET – one of a pair maybe. I suppose there can be a top sheet and bottom sheet (having a duvet makes this less clear). Determined (SET) about man (HE) – he-goat.
10. NASH – architect. Who he? John. 1752–1835, English town planner and architect. He designed Regent’s Park, Regent Street, and the Marble Arch in London. So now we know. Cleverly, these are reasonable (N)e(A)r (S)o(H)o.
11. ALARMIST – one seeing peril. Anagram (wildly) of ART I SLAM.
13. SWORE – vowed. Southwest (SW), valuable mineral (ORE).
14. ALICE – girl. Boxer (ALI), (C)apabl(E).
16. ONE-SIDED – biased. Anagram (out of order) of INDEED SO.
17. FAIR – double definition. Bazaar – market/fair, and passable – a fair imitation.
20. SLAVE – one worked hard. Put money aside (SAVE) including pounds (L).
21. LATVIAN – foreign language. Anagram (translation) of VITAL, article (AN).
22. FEVER PITCH – excitement. Female (F), always (EVER), (P)leasant, desire (ITCH).

DOWN

1. SHOWN – demonstrated. Quiet (SH), private (OWN).
2. GLADSTONE BAG – container. Anagram (sadly) of BAD GANG STOLE.
3. TRIP – journey. (T)hat (R)esults (I)n (P)leasure.
4. EMAILS – communications. From bos(S LIAM E)xamines on the way up (backwards).
5. DISARRAY – untidiness. Daughter (D), is (IS), a (A), right (R), bugbea(R), indeed (AY).
6. SEMIFINALIST – competitor at later stage [of a competition]. Anagram (changing) of MANS LIFE IT IS.
7. STATUE – monument. Condition (STATE) – the Watford supporters were in quite a condition after Sunday’s game, safeguarding (holding) university (U).
12. PEKINESE – dog. After gym (PE), family (KIN), (E)xercise (S)trong (E)ager.
13. SCOUSE – Northern guy. Society (S), firm (CO), employment (USE).
15. LESLIE – man. From Wa(LES LIE)utenant.
18. RANCH – farm. Managed (RAN), church (CH).
19. STOP – end. Successful snooker shots (pots) brought us (STOP).

45 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1326 by Hurley”

  2. Having missed yesterday this was a solid start to the week for me. 9a was my last one in too, needed to come here to parse the definition and relieved to see I (probably) haven’t missed something obvious. Took a while to spot GLADSTONE BAG, I’d been solving without paper and had to go and get some in the end. The G then gave my SIGHT READS, my second LOI. All done and all green in 16:12 for second last on the early leader board.
  3. Held up at the end by Sight Reads and Gladstone Bag. If I’d got 1a sooner I would have been very quick, but still got home in 13:14.
    A clever grid I thought; I was often staring at unhelpful vowels when I needed a consonant to help eg Pekinese.
    David
  4. Not entirely straightforward so I was pleased to finish with 1 minute to spare against my target 10. The concept of having two sheets on a bed seems other-worldly to me now but I’m sure some people keep up the tradition particularly those who don’t want to battle with changing double-duvet covers. At least I remembered that sheets were sold in pairs although that may have changed since the fitted lower sheet became commonplace.

    I think some of these clues (e.g. 1ac) would not have been out of place in the main puzzle.

    1. There’s nothing more uncomfortable than a top sheet and a duvet together.
      Much easier today, what a relief. I thought I was losing it yesterday as Mondays are usually quicker.
      Diana
  5. My brain was quicker than my fingers today. My only hold ups were the unknown instrument at 8a with a toss up between car and van. Car sounded better. SEMIFINALIST was my penultimate solve and my LOI was 9a SHEET which I guessed from the wordplay. 9:16.
  6. No problems for me with this one. Started with TRIP and finished with GLADSTONE BAG in 7:27. Thanks Hurley and Chris.
  8. Good puzzle with a difficult NW corner to start. SIGHT READS was clever but not easy and, for a change, I needed pen and paper for the longer anagrams such as GLADSTONE BAG and SEMIFINALIST (LOI). I agree about SCOUSE – food or adjective to me; I would never call a Scouser a Scouse. I enjoyed this – thanks to Hurley. I agree with Chris that SHEET was a bit odd given that most people now use duvets and have a single sheet but it had to be. Comfortably under 2.5 Kevins today so I’m stabilising in the mid-teens this week. John M.

    Edited at 2019-04-09 08:42 am (UTC)

  9. A straightforward, enjoyable solve – thank-you. The word ‘scouse’ to me, however, refers to a stew or an accent. A person from Liverpool is Scouser. I should know – I’m married to one. But no doubt someone will find a source to contradict me! 😊
    1. This is the times for the times site so – of course!
      Here you go:
      Scouse
      1. Also called: Scouser – a person who lives in or comes from Liverpool
      2. the dialect spoken by such a person
      adjective
      3. of or from Liverpool; Liverpudlian
  10. Enjoyed this – I agree that if it is a Liverpudlian person it tends to be scouser rather than scouse but it was an obvious fit.
  11. A bit under 11 mins so 1.75 Kevins; a Good Day. I enjoyed the puzzle, especially the good anagram surfaces at 2 and 6 dn. Thank you, hurley. However, Golden Raspberry from me to SHEET, which was a seriously iffy definition.

    ALI for boxer is a trick I’ve definitely learned from here, thank you bloggers all! Especially Chris today.

    Templar

  12. I enjoyed much of this puzzle but I found parts of it much trickier and less satisfying than others seem to have done. I feel a right grump for saying so but there were no golden moments today but, instead, two leaden ones: specifically 9 across and 5 down. For the former, I was looking for a synonym for “determined ” that included something that came in a pair – eyes? Legs? But sheets? Not for a moment. With 5 down, I saw “untidiness” as an anagram instruction and tried to concoct a word out of “daughter” which meant “indeed”. And, of course, there’s no such word. I guessed I was barking up the wrong tree because it seemed that this word might also need the last letters of “right bugbear”. Oh, dear. Thank goodness for Chris’s blog. But even then, though relieved to have the answer (so that I could get on with the day! ), I was irritated by the clue construction. And disappointed in myself that nobody else seems to have found 5 down a pain. Time for a soothing cup of coffee, methinks… Thanks so much, Hurley, and massive thanks to Chris for a sanity-saving set of explanations!
    1. 1) On 9 ac: ‘X about Y’ should suggest–not necessarily entail, but suggest–Y embedded in X. And your reading overlooks ‘man’. And for what it’s worth, I lived a long time, until coming to Japan (where we don’t have duvets, but futons), sleeping between two sheets, with a blanket on top. (Of course, that was in the US; I grant that in the UK things might be different, as the Lord Chancellor complains in ‘Iolanthe’: ‘First your counterpane goes and uncovers your toes/ Then your sheet slips demurely from under you.’)
      2) 5d): ‘Untidiness’ isn’t likely to be an anagrind, I’d think, being a noun; e.g. ‘craziness men I’d …’ isn’t likely to invite DENIM, while ‘crazy men I’d’ might.
    2. I agree re 5dn. I finally biffed it having got most of the checkers. Couldn’t parse it, so thanks to Chris for the explanation.
  13. Phew, like Diana pleased to find quicker solving had not totally deserted me after Monday’s debacle. 10.42, with the long anagrams and SHEET preventing a sub10. TRIP was neat. I didn’t get it till after submitting.
  14. I immediately thought of the expression ‘two sheets to the wind’. I don’t know if that helps. An enjoyable, steady solve, with the long anagrams taking time to surrender – thanks to setter and blogger.
  15. A slow start before 10 and 11ac gave me a foothold and after that the bottom half went in without too much trouble. Returning to the top half I finally saw what was going on with 1ac, and polished off my final pair (5d and 9ac) at the 19 minute mark – a rare sub-20 finish. Cod to 22ac, Fever Pitch, though as a supporter of the losing team on Sunday the excitement was somewhat tempered ! Invariant
    1. My condolences on Sunday. I was actually there at Wembley, but cheering on the successful team. An astounding game and one which was on a knife edge until the end. And yes there was a lot of 22a.
      My LOI was SHEET, but submitted with my fingers crossed and an intake of breath.
      While I was doing the puzzle I thought it easier than yesterday’s but I found it had actually taken me 3 minutes longer.
        1. I applaud the times for the times sporting spirit. As a Canary, I hope we meet you next season.
        3. I applaud the times for the times sporting spirit. As a Canary, I hope we meet you next season.
  16. GLADSTONE BAG needed all the checkers otherwise no problem today.
    Thank you, setter and blogger.
    5’15”
  17. Pleasant steady solve 5 m within our target, so v satisfactory. Thanks to Hurley and for the informative and often amusing comments. Gin for us, not coffee!
  18. ….my best mate hails from Liverpool. He is happy to be called a Scouser, but finds it offensive to be called SCOUSE. That may just be him of course.

    Made a mess of SLAVE, then my LOI held out just long enough to push me over my target time.

    FOI OCARINA
    LOI SHEET
    COD PEKINESE
    TIME 5:08

  19. My first ever quick cryptic solo completion and this record time of approx 2hrs, on a flight. 9ac was LOI as I was thrown by sheets coming in pairs…and Gladstone bag I wouldn’t be able to pick out in the line-up but I’m over the moon all the same. I enjoyed 5d as it really made you think in the cryptic mindset that I often fail to enter. Thanks for this thread Chris et al.
      1. Thanks so much and I really appreciate the work you put in on this site. It’s helped me millions.
  20. A fun puzzle today. FOI 10a. LOI 5d. COD 4d for the smile. Having been stumped on the first read through until 10a it took a little time to reconsider 1a but with the S to start with it jumped out at me and gave a spurt to the second read through solutions. With a handful of crossers I was sure ‘final’ figured in 6d and realised it was in the second-half (!) so became obvious. Only got 5d when I realised that Ali was with us again at 14a. No time as this was an interrupted pleasure but probably about 45 minutes in all – and benefitting from the two breaks with fresh eyes. Thx then to Hurley and our blogger, esp for polishing up 5d for me by explains why it needed ‘ indeed’.
  21. I made hard work of this and finished in 16.02, so outside my target time. I was completely flummoxed by 1a, SHEET and the (new to me} bag. Solving the anagram at 2d gave me my LOI 1a and then it was fingers crossed that all was correct.
    Thanks for the blog
  22. A rare digital solve for me, and very happy about it too. Normally it’s not worth trying to get a time, but 14’10, whilst certainly not impressive compared to many, is definitely my new target to beat!
  23. A neat QC.I Pencilled in FEVER as second half of 22A before being disabused of that with the unlikely V ending 6d, otherwise no real holdups. COD to TRIP. Thanks Chris and Hurley.4:45.
  24. … a very enjoyable QC though. Thanks Hurley. Thanks again to Chris for an informative blog. I try very hard to parse everything as I go but I always need a bit of help!
    FOI 1d
    LOI 9a though I had no problem with the idea of a pair of sheets. Perhaps it’s my age but, in my youth, my parents always talked about “buying a pair of sheets”.
    COD x 3 (is that allowed?) OCARINA and DISARRAY and PEKINESE. Although I find the ‘piece together’ clues harder than the anagram clues, I do love them. So clever! MM
  25. As a relative newbie, very pleased to have completed this QC unaided. COD 2D after grinding the grist; and LOI 9A, which like others fouI found elusive, despite sleeping within them every night. Thanks Hurley and blogger – I’m forever endebted for the tutorage that’s helped me get to grips with the QC.
    1. Congratulations! It is, genuinely, a pleasure to do the blogs when it results in someone enjoying cryptic crosswords. So – do enjoy the QC (even should it defeat you at times) and good luck in your onward trajectory to the dizzy heights (and sometimes the murky depths) of the 15×15!
    2. Congratulations! It is, genuinely, a pleasure to do the blogs when it results in someone enjoying cryptic crosswords. So – do enjoy the QC (even should it defeat you at times) and good luck in your onward trajectory to the dizzy heights (and sometimes the murky depths) of the 15×15!
  26. I do this on the train each day and aim to finish by St Pancras. Today I was done before Hendon, which says too easy to me. But as a Watford fan who was at Wembley I forgive due to 6 Down!

  27. 15 minutes-had to smile at the surface reading of 22A (female always pleasant at outset with desire for excitement).

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