Times Quick Cryptic 1467 by Oink

Author   william_j_sPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Nothing too scary here. Plenty of footholds and generous clueing meant I was only held up at the very end by 17ac, which I did not know and took ages to switch gears from the usual abbreviations for doctor. No piggies today (well, they do eat noisily) but we have a different farmyard creature, so that’s okay.

Definitions underlined.

Across
1 Out of place as a teacher? (5)
AMISS – A and MISS (teacher).
4 Best pot I foolishly presented to old lady (7)
OPTIMUM – anagram of (foolishly) POT I, then MUM (old lady).
8 Passage from old pamphlet (7)
EXTRACT – EX (old) and TRACT (pamphlet).
9 Weaken finally in bankruptcy dispute (3-2)
RUN-IN – last letter of (finally) weakeN inside RUIN (bankruptcy).
10 In prison, where landlords ought to be? (6,4)
BEHIND BARS – straight/cryptic definition, the second referring to publicans.
14 Prices tumbling? Goodness me! (6)
CRIPES – anagram of (tumbling) PRICES.
15 Hope that you may find in church? (6)
ASPIRE – straight/cryptic definition, although really you might find a spire on a church.
17 Doctor pointed at university contingent (10)
DEPUTATION – anagram of (doctor) POINTED AT and U (university).
20 Noisily eat lunch, enjoying different starter (5)
MUNCH – {L}UNCH with a different first letter (starter), in this case M.
22 Soldier scowls occasionally, shading head with this? (7)
PARASOL – PARA (soldier) and every other letter from (occasionally) ScOwLs.
23 Bright around north-east for Mrs Mop? (7)
CLEANER – CLEAR (bright) surrounding (around) NE (north-east).
24 Delete some camera settings (5)
ERASE – hidden in (some) camERA SEttings.

Down
1 Only half of the 26 letters help (4)
ABET – half of alphABET (26 letters).
2 Island postman regularly delivering letter (4)
IOTA – I (island) and every other letter from (regularly) pOsTmAn.
3 Men at test making declaration (9)
STATEMENT – anagram of (making) MEN AT TEST.
4 Get better of old fool, nabbing last of Cointreau (6)
OUTWIT – O (old) and TWIT (fool) surrounding (nabbing) the last letter of cointreaU.
5 Reversing right round a sailor (3)
TAR – reversal of RT (right) surrounding (round) A.
6 Fruit for senior civil servant (8)
MANDARIN – double definition.
7 One visiting cathedral: Foreign Secretary perhaps (8)
MINISTER – I (one) inside (visiting) MINSTER (cathedral).
11 Sid back on track in speech (9)
DISCOURSE -reversal of (back) SID then COURSE (track).
12 Scholarly chap of no practical help (8)
ACADEMIC – double definition. Or maybe just a definition!
13 Son has 9p — or a little less? (8)
SIXPENCE – S (son), IX (nine), and PENCE (p). The definition refers to the rest of the clue, i.e. sixpence is a little less than 9p.
16 Puts up other ranks in drunken state (6)
STUPOR – reversal of (up) PUTS, then OR (other ranks).
18 Like India, having a large land area (4)
ASIA – AS (like), I (india), and A.
19 Run away with circus performer, you say? (4)
FLEE – sounds like (you say) “flea” (circus performer).
21 Glasgow woman found in Parthenon (3)
HEN – hidden in (found in) partHENon.

33 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1467 by Oink”

  1. Another one this week over my 6-minute goal. I stupidly typed in OPTIMAL at 4ac, and that made 7d impossible until I finally noticed what was wrong. Is this the first time that ‘doctor’ has been used in a QC for the anagrind? 6:28.
  2. 17 mins but panicked for a few minutes over loi deputation until I saw the doctor/anagram.

    Also biffed tar, and forgot rt = right.

    Liked sixpence and behind bars.

  3. My QC solving this week has just got even worse with this one as at 16 minutes I slipped into the red zone today after two ambers on the borderline at 15 minutes.

    I had to hop around the grid in order to get started so lost time at the very beginning, but my troubles really started when I unravelled the anagrist at 3dn to make TESTAMENT (declaration) which seemed perfectly reasonable other than the answer being a little too close to the arrangement of letters in the clue ‘Men at test’. But then after all this is supposed to be a Quick crossword! Anyway that mistake laid the foundations for further problems in the NW segment and a big moment of panic when I realised that 10ac had to be BEHIND BARS but it wouldn’t fit with one of the checkers already in position.

    EXTRACT eluded me for a long time, and 1dn surely had to be ATOM (half of 26 letters) even though it wouldn’t fit ‘help’, assuming that was the definition.

    I think OINK resolved to up his game when he appeared as the easiest of the setters in my most recent ‘Order of Difficulty’ list and as far as I’m concerned he has certainly succeeded with this one. And for the first time with no obvious pig or farmyard references!

    Edited at 2019-10-23 04:55 am (UTC)

  4. No particular problems this morning. I started with ABET and finished with FLEE after a steady solve. I must have been on the setter’s wavelength as none of the problems mentioned above caused me to go wrong.
    I needed a few checkers for DEPUTATION and COD from a number of nice clues to SIXPENCE.
    Time:09:26. David
  5. Took a while to get going but downs were easier than acrosses so did better on second reading of acrosses. I also put a question mark too at 15ac as to whether as spire is technically in or on a church… I also had ATOM for 1d at first until EXTRACT came so I biffed ABET and now see the logic. COD to 13ac today. 9.25

    NeilC

  6. 24 minutes, so about average for what I thought was a very nice puzzle. I seemed to use more alphabet trawls than usual, but everything was clear in the end. My favourites were SIXPENCE and BEHIND BARS, and my LOI was OUTWIT, another lovely clue.
    Thanks to Oink and William.

    Brian

  7. It took me almost as long to work out why Jack could have thought that “atom” was an answer for “half the 26 letters” as it did to complete this puzzle! (I get it now, durr. Fortunately I wasn’t clever enough to think of that.) I found this straightforward fun and finished it in 1.5K for a Very Good Day. Agree that the downs were easier than the acrosses and finished them in a clean sweep.

    FOI OPTIMUM, LOI AMISS, COD BEHIND BARS.

    Thanks Oink (wot no pig?) and William.

    Templar

    1. I wasn’t really clever enough to think of it, I’ve just seen it in a clue before and remembered it!
  8. I was surprised to get nowhere in the top half (apart from ABET, my FOI and COD) in an Oink crossword, having found him a sympathetic setter in the past. I got going in the bottom half and worked up, finally wondering what had held me up at first since the clues were fair. I liked DISCOURSE, OUTWIT, SIXPENCE, and FLEE. Didn’t go for ACADEMIC – after a lifetime in laboratory-based scientific research and teaching, i find academics in Science and Engineering to be some of the most practical people I know. 2K despite the slow start. Thanks to Oink and william. John M,

    Edited at 2019-10-23 08:53 am (UTC)

    1. Surely here ‘academic’ means of no relevance – as in ‘the answer is academic’ when, for example, it comes too late? But I suppose it could be of no practical use because it’s too late….

      No academics were harmed in making this puzzle.

      1. Thanks but perhaps you make my point. ‘Surely here ‘academic’ means of no relevance’ – that is a common insult to academics and rarely deserved. I’m sure that is not what you mean! John.
  9. My kind of puzzle – leaving me flummoxed for a while before various pennies dropped. I always think of iota as a jot and didn’t realise it was the letter I – my ignorance! All fair enough though. Thanks setter and blogger!
  10. ….as Joanne Worley used to say in “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”. Well hello HEN and welcome to Oi0nk’s farmyard.

    I was another to think the spire was on, rather than in the church, but otherwise went through this quite gentle puzzle within my target.

    FOI OPTIMUM
    LOI IOTA
    COD SIXPENCE

  11. I started quickly in the NW, and soon had it filled, apart from CRIPES, which came a bit later. Liked OUTWIT. I then plodded round the grid until DEPUTATION and then SIXPENCE brought up the rear. 7:44. Thanks Oink and William.
  12. Another well crafted puzzle from Oink, with a good mix of clues. Started with 1d, Abet, (having fortunately never thought of AtoM) and managed to fill in quite a few answers on the first pass. However, I then took an age to see CoD 10ac, Behind Bars, (and Aspire) needing nearly all the crossers before the penny finally dropped. My sympathies for anyone caught out by the ‘Doctor’ reference in 17ac – one of those little tricks that once seen, never forgotten, but it can be a killer first time round. A real thank you to Oink for 26 enjoyable minutes. Invariant
  13. 24:38 – not bad, but still had faster in the past. Again I always seem to stick on one or two clues that almost take me the length of the rest of the puzzle to solve. In this case it was DEPUTATION which I just couldn’t see until I wrote out the checkers on paper with the letters I had left.

    Thanks for the blog!
    RC

  14. Took an age to get started. Thought of tar for 5d but couldn’t parse it. After first trawl I had about 6 answers. Then the rest slowly started to come to me. LOI was 4d
    Probably about 30 mins in total.

    Edited at 2019-10-23 01:15 pm (UTC)

  15. Probably 30 minutes all in, but only three left after 20.
    Actually had a few sniggers along the way.
    Enjoyed Behind Bars, loved the word Cripes (a Boris type reference!!? You could almost write a Brexit summary from the answers) and pleased to get Sixpence.
    Mandarin only known from recent crossword and I too was trying to make AtoM fit (remembered from previously) making Extract Abet and Deputation last ones in.

    Many thanks all
    John George

  16. I had the checkers H_N So immediately thought of Hun which is a derogatory term for a Glasgow Rangers fan. Clearly hen when seeing the next word woman. I’ve a lot of Scottish mates who use this term as pure banter but I suspect this is unacceptable.
    Sub 20 for me. The perfect QC IMHO.
    Johnny
  17. Enjoyed this offering from Oink, for a slow plodder like me. Some super and makeable clues but slowed down by outwit, deputation, which I guessed, and discourse. Loved sixpence, behind bars, cripes and academic.
    Graham
  18. Lovely QC from Oink today. Thank you! Came in at just under 19 minutes, but happy to use most of my target 20 for such a satisfying puzzle. Thanks for the blog, William. MM
    FOI: ABET (I don’t do all the across clues first like most. I try 1a and if I don’t get it I try 1d.)
    LOI: BEHIND BARS – a contender for COD, but that must go to:
    COD: SIXPENCE
    WOD: CRIPES – a word used much more in my youth.
  19. Thanks to William for the excellent blog and to others for their comments.
    Especially nice to see comments from names I’ve not come across before.
    Happy solving all 🙂
    Oink
  20. I was slightly concerned that this was going to be another stinker after drawing a blank in most of the top half. The bottom proved less obdurate so I worked my way up the grid finishing in the NW, which i found tricky. I toyed with ATOM but couldn’t make it fit and quickly discounted NTOZ. EXTRACT broke the impasse and i finished with the 1s in 11.26.
    Thanks for the blog
  21. Posting a bit late today, but none the worse for that. A most enjoyable 10 minutes or so after supper, with a particularly relevent PDM x 6 for sixpence! That was nearly COD but in the end I went for Cripes – quite simple but very effective, and – most importantly – it passed the chuckle test 😉 Also liked Behind bars and Extract.

    Very sad to see no pigs – perhaps next time?

    FOI Cripes
    LOI Extract
    COD Cripes
    WOD Munch – mmm, bacon. On second thoughts, perhaps not …

  22. I enjoyed this puzzle, nothing too difficult or obscure and some pleasant moments of humour. My COD is a toss up between SIXPENCE and BEHIND BARS, but I will go for the latter because of its implied mis-direction. It does seem curious that the licensee of a pub (who in most cases is a tenant) is commonly known as a landlord. My OED has landlord used as the keeper of a boarding house or inn from 1674, so I’m guessing that the usage developed from this?
  23. Whizzed through this – probably a PB, about 12 minutes. Clearly, the answer is to attempt the QC at half nine at night, rather than half nine in the morning! Thanks so much, blogger and setter.

  24. I really enjoyed this crossword, pitched just right for my (developing) skills. Smiled at behind bars and my COD was sixpence. I had ultimum for 4a but couldn’t parse it, needed this blog to explain doctor at 17a but I know it now! Thanks all, have been lurking for a while, but coming out of the closet now.

    1. ‘Doctor’ as anagram indicator (still) catches me out every time, as per previous comments, so etch it into your crossword brain!

      Welcome, thanks for commenting, and hope to hear about your (widely shared) travails soon!

      Will


  25. I really enjoyed this crossword, pitched just right for my (developing) skills. Smiled at behind bars and my COD was sixpence. I had ultimum for 4a but couldn’t parse it, needed this blog to explain doctor at 17a but I know it now! Thanks all, have been lurking for a while, but coming out of the closet now.

Comments are closed.