Times Quick Cryptic 1516 by Breadman

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

I found myself diving into, then backing out of, cul-de-sacs all over the grid with a good few not fully parsed until writing up in the blog. A good challenge and a pangram to boot but all done in 12 minutes. My guess is that this one will be loved by the regulars but may prove tricky for newcomers – if so please do post any questions – we love ’em!

LOI was 15dn which finished off the puzzle and the year with a smile. Thanks Breadman and best wishes to all for 2020.

ACROSS

1. Part of sign attracts small fly (4)

GNAT – part of si(GN AT)tracts.

4. Red wine to remain in vehicle with fishing gear (8)

CABERNET – to remain (BE) inside vehicle (CAR) with fishing gear (NET).

8. Exchanging spades somewhere in East London (8)

SWAPPING – spades (S), somewhere in East London (WAPPING).

9. Closely examine second container (4)

SCAN – second (S), container (CAN).

10. Interrogate unknown after pound endlessly (4)

QUIZ – unknown (Z) after pound endlessly (QUI)d. I got this on a second go round the grid when I realised that we we onto a pangram which made this answer easier.

11. Shirt and tie restyled — in this decade? (8)

THIRTIES – anagram (restyled) of SHIRT and TIE.

12. Seafood Roy’s arranged around empty table (6)

OYSTER – anagram (arranged) of ROYS around empty (T)abl(E).

14. Concert exercises performed at once (6)

PROMPT – concert (PROM), exercises (PT).

16. Left depressed with ale passed around, one cries (8)

BELLOWER – left (L) and depressed (LOW) with ale (BEER) passed around.

18. Jack at home with cross, that brings bad luck (4)

JINX – Jack (J), at home (IN) with cross (X).

19. Travel by bike, first half desert (4)

GOBI – travel (GO), by (next to) first half of (BI)ke. Ride flew in here only to fly back out again.

20. Vet fails disastrously to make celebration (8)

FESTIVAL – anagram (disastrously) of VET FAILS.

22 Beverage: a tin each is drunk (5,3)

CHINA TEA – anagram (is drunk) of A TIN EACH.

23. Neat edge on front of topiary (4)

TRIM – edge (RIM), (T)opiary.

DOWN

2. Racecourse regenerated Lancashire town (7)

NEWBURY – regenerated (NEW), Lancashire town (BURY). The connection between Lancashire and AINTREE was too great so this was another that dived in and was pulled back out again.

3. A zealot initially going after finest gemstone (5)

TOPAZ – a (A) and (Z)ealot initially going after finest (TOP).

4. Clubs welcome letter from Greece (3)

CHI – clubs in cards (C), welcome (HI).

5. Roller-coaster, British one, gripped frantically (3,6)

BIG DIPPER – British (B), one (I), anagram (frantically) of GRIPPED.

6. Italian dish gentleman knocked up with essential oil (7)

RISOTTO – gentleman knocked upwards (sir=RIS), essential oil (OTTO). Dnk otto which is another name for attar which is an essential oil from flowers, esp the damask rose, used pure or as a base for perfume.

7. Delete Times puzzle finally (5)

ERASE – Times (ERAS – very clever!), puzzl(E).

11. Had a fling with a female — it became very heated (5,1,3)

THREW A FIT – had a fling (THREW), a (A), female (F), it (IT). Excellent surface – a great clue all round – COD.

13. Large number recalled reportedly sharp fantasy author (7)

TOLKIEN – large number recalled (upwards) (lot=TOL), homophone (reportedly) of sharp (keen=KIEN).

15. Wordplay something injected by this writer from the Indian subcontinent (7)

PUNJABI – wordplay (PUN – Breadman is right – these convoluted wranglings with wordplay are meant to be fun!), something injected (JAB), this writer (I).

17. Age English horse and policeman retired (5)

EPOCH – English (E) and horse (H) with/holding/and policeman retired (cop=POC).

18, Mite eats one’s supporting beam (5)

JOIST – mite as in something really small (JOT) contains/eats one’s (IS).

21. Health resort son has joined annually (3)

SPA – son (S) joined by annually (PA – per annum).

37 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1516 by Breadman”

  1. I didn’t notice that this was a pangram, but then I pretty much never do. Biffed a bunch: CABERNET, BIG DIPPER, RISOTTO, SPA. LOI BELLOWER. 4:47.
  2. 11 minutes here, pushed just into my amber zone by the elusive BELLOWER and misspelling the Elf man which had a knock-on effect on the desert. I can never remember whether he’s TOLKEIN or TOLKIEN and although I know the rule ‘I before E except after C’ I can never remember whether he complies with it or he’s an exception.
    1. I took German at school so any vaguely Germanic word (it turns out the Tolkien family originated from east Prussia) I read as follows:
      If it ends with ien as in Tolkien it sounds like een.
      If it ends with ein like kein it sounds like ine.
      Hope this helps.
      1. Thanks, Chris. I also studied German and am aware of that rule so I just need to remember to invoke it whenever Mr T comes up now that you’ve told me he had Germanic roots. Of course it doesn’t work for some whose families ended up on the other side of the pond and like Maestro Bernstein insisted on flouting it!

        Edited at 2019-12-31 09:19 am (UTC)

        1. Flouting? or flaunting? Anyway, Bernstein was making a statement, rejecting the pronunciation some Jews used (-een) to make their -stein name sound less Jewish. Mel Brooks plays on this with his young Frankenstein, who insists it’s Fronkensteen.
    2. I found this relatively easy and managed a time of 8.60 minutes, which is fast for me, despite also being held up for a bit by misspelling TOLKIEN as TOLKEIN.

      I have to confess that I’ve never managed to got beyond the first 20 pages of The Lord of The Rings, this kind of fantasy fiction not being my cup of tea. The fault is entirely mine, of course, but I take some comfort from the fact that at least one of Tolkien’s Oxford colleagues reputedly shared my lack of enthusiasm. The story goes that C S Lewis, listening to Tolkien reading a passage from his latest addition to the trilogy, was heard to mutter:”Oh no! Not another fucking elf!” According A N Wilson the story is only partially true, and it was another Oxford professor of English, Hugh Dyson, who made the remark.

  3. 18 minutes, completed in snowy Russia, after a week with not much.
    Loi gobi.
    Cod oyster.
    Happy New Year or snovem godem.
  4. I was saved by my spellcheck today as I made the same initial mistake as jackkt with the author, leaving me with the GOBE desert. Generally I found this relatively straightforward but LOI 1d needed some unraveling. I was helped by actually spotting the pangram for once, as these things usually pass me by. Finished in 9.59.
    Thanks for the blog
  5. Struggled with this for no reason. Maybe the cold after a week in the sun.

    13 minutes with 19ac GOBI elusive due to TOLKEIN!

    FOI 1ac GNAT

    LOI 15dn PUNJABI

    COD 15ac BELLOWER

    WOD 5dn BIG DIPPER

    The 15×15 I thought might be worth a pop for the QCers –
    as there’s sweet nothing on the telly!

    Edited at 2019-12-31 09:17 am (UTC)

  6. This took me longer than I think it should have done. Some clever misdirection and lots of temptation to biff (which led to some late retractions on my part). Under 4K but very enjoyable nevertheless. I liked CABERNET, PROMPT, BELLOWER, GOBI, EPOCH, PUNJABI and I took time to parse RISOTTO. Thanks to Breadman and Chris (although I much prefer a single-spaced blog, Chris. I seemed to be flicking up and down the ipad screen like crazy!) John M.
    1. Sorry about the spacing. I also prefer single but am having no end of trouble using an iPad for the blog. I find I have to write it in mail and used to copy it into the blog – this no longer works so I copy to ‘notes’ and then to livejournal. Every new iOS software version seems to brings something different in compatibility so I’m hoping it’ll right itself.
      1. Thanks for your reply, Chris. I didn’t mean to be over-critical. I share your frustration with notes and email settings on the ipad. Every software update seems to bring unexpected and unnecessary changes. These devices are great but are no longer our servants! John

        Edited at 2019-12-31 11:47 am (UTC)

  7. I mis-spelt TOLKIEN and unaccountably wrote DIG DIPPER for 5D, but sorted them out eventually. I liked THREW A FIT best. 5:35.
  8. I seemed to get bogged down two thirds of the way through, but managed to come in just under my target time at 9:38. Biffed PUNJABI and RISOTTO, from partial wordplay and checkers. FOI GNAT, LOI, PUNJABI. Thanks Breadman and Chris, and a Happy New Year to all.
  9. Another enjoyable and fairly gentle one I thought. Thanks setter and blogger. If I was going to raise any quibble is that in maths the most popular ‘unknowns’ are x and y in algebra. After them any letter might be used (including ‘n’ which is also used as any number) so unknown doesn’t particularly clue z. Never heard of otto but it kind of had to be!
  10. 13 minutes, and I do like a theme or NINA or a pangram from time to time. As a blogger, spotting them can be very rewarding. Thanks Breadman and Chris. Thanks also to Vinyl for the link to the ‘about this blog’ page, which I hadn’t seen before. My blogger profile is significantly absent (mea culpa), but I’ll send an entry when I get back from Scotland.
  11. This was on my wavelength so romped through in 13.00, nearly a personal best. Biffed Risotto and Bellower – couldn’t see the full parsing.
  12. Very much enjoyed this. It took me just under twenty minutes, I guess, with no particular problems. I didn’t spot the pangram! I am so impressed by solvers who see these and Ninas. I never do until it’s pointed out in the blog! In today’s puzzle, I especially liked 7, 11 and 15 down. Very clever clues. I, too, toyed with “Aintree” and “rode” but not, thankfully, for very long. Thanks so much, Chris, for the blog and thanks, too, to Breadman. Happy New Year, all.
  13. ….that the smaller square makes a QC pangram a tough proposition for the setter, I raise my cap to Breadman for this little cracker ! Spotted the possibility as soon as I solved QUIZ only three clues in. Some lovely clues, and I finished within schedule.

    FOI GNAT
    LOI BELLOWER
    COD THREW A FIT

  14. Yes I spotted the likelihood of a pangram early on with Q,Z and X in play. Unfortunately that didn’t stop me from erroneously entering THRoW A FIT for 11d and biffing RISOTTO which I justified as OTT for (over the top) and the first letter O of oil. OTTO as an essential oil is unknown to me. I submitted in 10:29 with 1 error. Thanks all.
  15. Solved on paper today in just over 11 minutes which looks quite quick based on comments above.
    FOI was SCAN; not a quick start. But steady after that. Wondered which Lancs town I was looking for so 2d and 1a came late. No debate above about whether Bury is still in Lancs but I’m broad-minded about these things. Last two were TOLKIEN and BELLOWER.
    I knew all the spellings and Cabernet appeared over Christmas -at home,not in a puzzle.
    David
  16. I was going along quite steadily until my last pair, the 14ac/15d combination. I eventually looked at the right/correct end of the clue for 14ac, but even then I was left desperately trying to fit Pen and/or Saki into 15d. So, at 28mins that makes me today’s SCC flag bearer. Otto as an essential oil is new to me – I have only come across it as a torpedo fuel… so definitely not the same thing. Invariant
  17. We’ve followed the blog since the introduction of the QC. Initially we found the blog to be very educational and it helped hone our solving skills enormously. These days we just enjoy being part of the QC community – particularly when we’ve found a puzzle to be challenging (it’s always reassuring when the experts have too!). Wishing you all a very Happy New Year 🥳🍾
    1. Thanks for the comment and the post – without posts there wouldn’t be a community. Happy New Year to you too.
      1. In fact we like this blog so much that we’ve created a profile so that we won’t be anonymous any more……

        Edited at 2019-12-31 03:48 pm (UTC)

  18. Would have been sub fifteen were it not for making the same mistake as many! That let me into a cul de sac of RIDE for 19 ac for Travel by Bike even though only the DE parsed. Even so well beneath my target. Amazing progress this year for which I am truly grateful to you all. HNY Johnny.
  19. About. 15 minutes, as can’t enter quickly on tablet. Careless THROW biff at. 11d, and had JOINT at 18d, as ‘supporting’ gave me IN, though definition didn’t look right.
  20. Very amused to read all the TOLKIEN/GOBI comments above, as I was sure I was going to be the only one! How does Harvey Weinstein manage to have “ein” pronounced in two different ways in the same name?

    Went through this in 2.4K which was a Satisfactory Day since I didn’t find it easy. Having just finished a cup of CHINA TEA I am now off to bring the EPOCH of this decade to a close by eating OYSTERs followed by venison with claret, made which is principally from the CABERNET sauvignon grape. Tomorrow I may be in need of SPA treatment. See you all in 2020!

    Thanks Breadman and Chris.

    Templar

  21. Late to writing this, but completed it in about 28 mins this morning. Fairly straightforward, although there were a few clues that needed some thought about parsing and were more intricate than I initially thought.

    DNK “Otto” as an essential oil and “Jot” for Mite.

    FOI = 1ac “Gnat” (seen this a lot lately)
    LOI = 14ac “Prompt”
    COD = 13dn “Tolkien”

    Hope everyone has a happy New Year!

  23. Seemed to have made the same ‘mistakes’ as others here: joint; cabarenet. Spelled Tolkien right- only by getting gobi first (did consider rode too!) Feels comforting to be in good company- a bit like when you get the same wrong answer as the contestant on University Challenge! Happy New Year to all and as ever thanks for this blog- I tend to do the crossword the next day so am often v late posting on here.

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