Times Quick Cryptic 1446 by Orpheus

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Tipped just over 10 minutes with the crossing of 4dn and 12ac so, to me, this was a satisfying puzzle. Some struggles on the way included trying to parse 3dn and getting tied up at each end of COD 4dn. I learnt a new dish at 19dn which I’ll try to work into the chirsw91 menu at some point.

ACROSS

1. Netherlander’s wife to west of island (8)
DUTCHMAN – wife (DUTCH – from dutch plate – mate or Duchess of Fife – wife or Dutch house – spouse) is to the west (left) of Island (MAN).
5. Type to be looked for, it’s said (4)
SORT – homophone of sought.
8. In outskirts of Namur, a detective’s lowest point (5)
NADIR – inside (N)amu(R) is a (A) and detective (DI).
9. Little-known old boy’s priest in Paris (7)
OBSCURE – old boy’s (OB’S), priest in Paris (CURE).
11. Authority, for example? (3)
SAY – double definition – to have a say in something/as an example.
12. Lover to get shot of in Derby (9)
BOYFRIEND – an anagram I didn’t spot for some time (get shot) of OF IN DERBY.
13. Agreeable type met at first in the old sickbay (3,3)
YESMAN – (M)et inside the of olden day’s (YE) and sickbay (SAN). Good definition.
15. Exchange involving humorist in school (6)
SWITCH – humorist (WIT) inside school (SCH).
18. Philanderer more sensible to skirt Arab country (9)
WOMANISER – more sensible (WISER) to skirt Arab country (OMAN).
19. Close relative’s unfinished vocal piece (3)
SON – unfinished vocal piece (SON)g.
20. VIP’s girl seen following older relative (7)
GRANDEE – girl (DEE) following older relative (GRAN).
21. Some primeval idea having legal authority (5)
VALID – some prime(VAL ID)ea.
22. Asian bean plant, one originally unknown in South Africa (4)
SOYA – (O)ne and unknown in maths (Y) inside South Africa (SA).
23. Speckled bird gazing fixedly across lake (8)
STARLING – gazing fixedly (STARING) across lake (L).

DOWN

1. Extremely dodgy, unpleasant succession of rulers (7)
DYNASTY – (D)odg(Y), unpleasant (NASTY).
2. Play absorbing district attorney at the present time (5)
TODAY – play (TOY) absorbing district attorney (DA).
3. Scatty, like a fast mover in form? (4-7)
HARE-BRAINED – not quite sure here – fast mover would be (HARE), in form is possibly form/class and the requirement for brains. Update (thanks to jackkt) – the hare is the fast mover which lives in a form – so the clue directs us to think of a term for scatty which is linked specifically to a hare.
4. One not identified turned up in academy — no name (6)
ANONYM – turned upwards in acade(MY NO NA)me. COD.
6. Sumptuous work loaned by university (7)
OPULENT – work (OP) loaned by university (U-LENT).
7. Be inclined to adopt right fashion (5)
TREND – be inclined (TEND) to adopt right (R).
10. Cocktail prison officer finally enjoyed on Thames, perhaps? (11)
SCREWDRIVER – prison officer (SCREW), enjoye(D) on Thames perhaps (RIVER).
14. Arbitrary amount given to Scottish queen (7)
SUMMARY – amount (SUM), Scottish queen (MARY).
16. Downcast, had gong replaced (7)
HANGDOG – anagram (replaced) of HAD GONG.
17. Categorically declare a sure winner on radio? (6)
ASSERT – homophone (on radio) of a cert.
18. Wife takes a long time to get pay (5)
WAGES – wife (W), long time (AGES).
19. Ragout served by girl on motorway (5)
SALMI – girl (SAL) on motorway (M1). Dnk a ragout of game stewed in a rich brown sauce but given the motorway it had to be and was quite like salami!

39 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1446 by Orpheus”

  1. I biffed 12ac and 18ac, solving post-submission; and of course 3d, which I can still make nothing of, besides the HARE. ‘Arbitrary’ seemed an odd definition for SUMMARY; a summary judgment isn’t therefore an arbitrary one. 4:29.
        1. I had these same thoughts and was left with the same “but”. Quick and informal does not really equate to “arbitrary”.
        2. As I see it, it’s to do with the speed (the ‘quickly’ of jackkt’s comment) of something being done rather than the correct action.
          Collins again:
          Summary actions are done without delay, often when something else should have been done first or done instead.
          So a summary execution is done immediately and arbitrarily but not necessarily correctly.
  2. 11 minutes.

    Held up at the end by summary, anonym, boyfriend and loi hare brained which went in with a shrug.

    Dnk salmi or anonym.

    Cod boyfriend or dutchman.

  3. A ‘form’ is where a hare lives – ‘the lair of a hare’, as SOED puts it rather quaintly.

    I had all but two done within 8 minutes and they were the same two clues that gave our blogger some trouble, but when I spotted the cleverly hidden ANONYM the elusive BOYFRIEND came immediately to mind and I managed to complete the grid within my target 10 minutes, but only just.

    I may have met SALMI before but certainly didn’t remember it as a ‘ragout’.

    Edited at 2019-09-24 05:24 am (UTC)

      1. Maybe not the sort of GK that gets taught these days but I remember learning the habitats of animals at school aged somewhere between 7 and 10. I think it was in English lessons along with lists of collective nouns.
    2. Thanks for this but does the clue need ‘in form’? Most people got ‘hare’ from just ‘fast mover’ so ‘in form’ just confirms that it’s a hare. It couldn’t be anything else though, could it?
      1. Bearing in mind that it’s a QC I think we need something more than ‘fast mover’ as the definition to point us towards the answer, and that’s the function of ‘in form’ as I see it. Admittedly it’s not much help if one doesn’t happen to know ‘form’ as a hare’s lair, but it’s the thought that counts, as they say! It makes for a rather good surface reading too.
  4. 19:21, so just under target for a very enjoyable puzzle. It had evrything I look for in a QC, perfect surfaces, an addition to my vocabulary for the ragout, a hidden word that I didn’t see for ages, and some challenging wordplay, like 3D which I still don’t really get. I also spent time trying to confirm the unknown OBELIEN as a valid answer for 9A.
    Thanks to the setter and blogger as usual.

    Brian

  5. Close to a record time for me finishing in 07:45 with LOI ASSERT. Started with SORT then just kept going not stopping to parse much. DNK SALMI so delayed putting that in until STARLING arrived.
    Often Orpheus is tricky and takes me a long time so I’m pleased today. COD to BOYFRIEND. David
  6. I parsed the second half of HARE BRAINED as: “if your brain works as fast as a hare runs then you’d be a fast thinker and thus a fast mover in class”. I admit that there is a certain amount of extrapolation there … but it worked for me! End result was sub 10 and a hare’s whisker over 2 Kevins for a Good Day, which is a great relief after yesterday’s horror show.

    FOI DUTCHMAN, LOI SOYA, COD ANONYM. Thanks Orpheus and Chris.

    By the way, towards the end of yesterday’s blog is a spirited and splendidly readable blast of the trumpet from Astartedon, who came out fighting in the end. I commend it to you all. [On edit – perhaps not – I’ve just been to have a look and seen that his post was followed up by more attacks on him and his blogging style. All rather unedifying.]

    Templar

    Edited at 2019-09-24 07:39 am (UTC)

  7. Also pray, have a butcher’s at comment 49 in yesterday’s QC blog.

    I commend chrisw91 for this succinct and useful QC blog. I also like the avatar.

    FOI 1dn DYNASTY

    LOI 12ac BOYFRIEND also my COD as it was a very finely disguised anagaram.

    WOD to 4d ANONYM

    Time 6.49

  8. 6 minutes exactly, was hoping for a rare sub 6 but OPULENT took a couple of extra seconds to see. I didn’t get 3D but once BOYFRIEND went in it had to be. Nice puzzle

    NeilC

  9. I was very confused by the ARBITRARY/SUMMARY link and wasn’t much wiser after looking Arbitrary up in both Collins and Chambers post solve – it seems I should have looked up Summary to find the link which to my mind makes it a very tenuous definition.
    Apart from that an enjoyable solve completed in 9.22 with 3d not parsed. COD to ANONYM.
    Thanks for the blog
  10. I enjoyed this but like others I was perplexed by hare brained and still am, even though I knew it was right when I put it in. Likewise I knew it was ‘Yes man’ but had forgotten the rather obscure ‘san’ but at least I do get it
  12. Thanks chrisw91 – I must be being very obtuse sorry! – that gives me two hints for hare but I don’t get the brained bit.
    1. I had the same issue at first. This is how I convinced myself:
      We’ve established that ‘fast mover in form’ has to be, specifically, a hare. So the clue is ‘scatty like a hare’ and the hare has several characteristics but only one which relates to scatty. There isn’t a separate parsing for ‘brained’.

      Edited at 2019-09-24 04:02 pm (UTC)

  14. An enjoyable puzzle today and finished in 25:36 so I think my average times are definitely coming down. Had forgotten San for sick bay so was wondering how we were supposed to have heard of a yesan. Didn’t know cure for French priest or the ragout of 19d, but all gettable with checkers. As to the hare-brained clue, I have to confess I always thought it was hair-brained (never thought about it too much, but I kind of imagined it meant something wacky that a mad scientist would think up, i.e. someone with a stereotypical mad hair style). On looking it up, I now see that hair-brained has been an alternative spelling for hundreds of years, but only because hair was once an alternative spelling of hare. Anyway, far be it for the likes of me to make suggestions about clues, but I wondered if a better clue for hare-brained wouldn’t have been ‘like a fast mover, informed?’ which might have referenced the hare’s home as well as indicating the brained bit.
    LOI was Dutchman – I had the Dutch, but somehow didn’t think of the man until I got my second to last one in, anonym. CsOD to 12a and 18a.
  15. ….about HARE-BRAINED, and SALMI, though both went straight in here. What I didn’t see was the need for the word “Scottish” to define Queen Mary, since two Queens of England have been so named.

    FOI a flying DUTCHMAN
    LOI ANONYM (I saw the device, but was trying to make it fit “anyone”)
    COD SORT
    TIME 4:33

    1. I think it was just being helpful, considering that this is a QC. She’s popularly known as Mary, Queen of Scots.
  16. Today I wish I had timed myself as I just whizzed through in sequence from 1a. I found this very generously clued where my unknown had be correct – 19d, and uncertain 4d ditto. It certainly felt a PB even if I can’t prove it to myself! After yesterday’ struggle….
  17. I came to this late – we are in the Lake District with dodgy connections. A good puzzle with a couple of quirks. I found it straightforward but still needed 2.5 Kevins. This is still an improvement on some recent solves. Thanks to setter and blogger. John M.
  18. Oops. After 15 minutes I went in SOMEANY, which of course wasn’t right. Hats off to a great definition (SUMMARY = ‘arbitrary’). Had stomach flu yesterday and am still reeling today, but hopefully I’ll be back to strength later in the week….
      1. Also wishing Jeremy well. By the by louisajaney – last I heard you were improving hugely- how are you getting on?
        1. Hi, Chris. I still attempt the QC every day and, these days, I always finish. I don’t know that, in other ways, I’ve improved much! I never get under 15 minutes still. Thanks so much for enquiring – I appreciate it. It’s not as much fun looking through the window when I’d rather be in the lounge.
          1. We’ll budge up on the settee to make space for you. Negative comments are so unusual they’re washed away by the good. I hope to hear the first time you break 15 mins – then Kevin better watch out!
            1. Hah! I don’t think that Kevin will EVER have to watch out for the likes of me!! You’re so kind. I’m coming back in the building as of tomorrow ( I bet tomorrow’s will be a stinker now – eek)

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