Times Quick Cryptic 1520 by Hurley

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Solving time: 8 minutes. Nothing to frighten the horses here, I think, but we shall see how others fared.

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]. I usually omit all reference to positional indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.

Across
1 Dean’s kebab changed for another dish (5,5)
BAKED BEANS : Anagram [changed] of DEAN’S KEBAB
8 Perhaps Judy‘s young dog, much-liked (6)
PUPPET : PUP (young dog), PET (much-liked). Punch & Judy.
9 Oppressor‘s extremely tacky tirade (6)
TYRANT : T{ack}Y [extremely], RANT (tirade)
10 Vessel of some relative interest (4)
VEIN : Hidden in [some] {relati}VE IN{terest}. Blood vessel.
11 Standard plan to include Southern cheese (8)
PARMESAN : PAR (standard), MEAN (plan) containing S (Southern). Mean / plan to do something.
12 A very quiet organ to come into view (6)
APPEAR : A, PP (very quiet), EAR (organ)
14 Work schedule of motoring group assuming good finish (6)
AGENDA : AA (motoring group  – Automobile Association) containing [assuming] G (good) + END (finish)
16 Glamour trips? Gee! That’s different! (8)
PRESTIGE : Anagram [that’s different] of TRIPS GEE
18 Ultimately keep to leaner dark meat (4)
PORK : {kee}P {t}O {leane}R {dar}K [ultimately]
20 A Liberal by coastal area in recess (6)
ALCOVE : A, L (Liberal), COVE (coastal area)
21 Special study meal (6)
SPREAD : SP (special), READ (study)
22 New Town theory, remarkable (10)
NOTEWORTHY : Anagram [new] of TOWN THEORY
Down
2 Divert from morning employment (5)
AMUSE : AM (morning), USE (employment)
3 Former writer’s energy outlay (7)
EXPENSE : EX (former), PEN’S (writer’s), E (energy)
4 Bringing container up leads to objection (3)
BUT : TUB (container) reversed [bringing…up]
5 Take turns late — aren’t worried (9)
ALTERNATE : Anagram [worried] of LATE AREN’T
6 Ace maybe to be employed in Forces (5)
SERVE : Two meanings re tennis and armed services
7 Popular win away from sea (6)
INLAND : IN (popular), LAND (win). Land / win a trophy, perhaps.
11 Impertinent? I’m leaving as appropriate (9)
PERTINENT : {im}PERTINENT [I’m leaving]. Had to look twice at this one!
13 Promise Personal Assistant position (6)
PAROLE : PA (Personal Assistant), ROLE (position)
15 Ruler‘s team appear dour regularly (7)
EMPEROR : {t}E{a}M {a}P{p}E{a}R {d}O{u}R [regularly]
17 Table item: seems pretty obvious one’s needed initially (5)
SPOON : S{eems} P{retty} O{bvious} O{ne’s} N{eeded} [initially]
19 Get to adore a child? To some extent (5)
REACH : Hidden [to some extent] in {ado}RE A CH{ild}
21 Oxygen used in southwestern plant (3)
SOW : O (oxygen) contained  by [used in] SW (southwestern)

45 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1520 by Hurley”

  1. Biffed AGENDA. My first reaction to 11d was disbelief; it couldn’t be that simple, could it? Evidently it wasn’t that simple; I’ll be interested to see other reactions. LOI SERVE; it took me at least half a minute to think of it. 4:51.
  2. Maybe I hadn’t woken up properly but I got stuck on 18a and 21a. I thought the definition of 18a was Meat so Pork had to be it; but the parsing led me to Park, initially (P plus leaner D/ark). So I dwelt on 21a and and was looking for corn or a similar meal as supper etc were off the menu.
    Eventually I got SPREAD ( so COD for me) and went back to justify PORK.
    17:17 in the end.
    David
  3. Initially I found 11dn to be somewhat impertinent but after a while I supposed it was pertinent.

    FOI 1ac BAKED BEANS on toast as a dish is not understood in China, nor Heinz Spaghetti on toast – as in Italy! We Brits do have some wondrous culinary offerings. Marmite, deep fried Mars Bars, Welsh Rabbit (I know!) and all on the same plate!

    LOI 20ac ALCOVE

    COD 11dn PERTINENT!

    WOD 1ac BAKED BEANS

    Time a leaden 9 minutes

    Edited at 2020-01-06 07:13 am (UTC)

    1. Whilst your genuine Welsh delicacy should feature a dash of Worcester sauce, I did try adding Marmite once. It worked quite well.
  4. FOI, BUT, LOI NOTEWORTHY. SERVE took a while to come to mind. PERTINENT, was it that easy?! A gentler offer than usual from Hurley. 6:48. Thanks Hurley and Jack.
  5. 15 mins.
    Quite studenty, with Dean’s kebab (possibly from Abduls in Manchester) and the special study meal (beans on toast).

    Last few spread, parmesan, and LOI serve.
    Cod baked beans.

    Try the 15×15 today, its not too hard.

    1. Knocked off in 2 seconds under 30 mins. I can go under 20 mins, but sometimes I only get 10 clues in an hour.
      Ta for the tip off. I do like the step up in difficulty, but it’s finding the 30 mins to concentrate that I find hardest to do!
  6. Baked beans, Parmesan and Pork? It would Appear a Noteworthy Spread to Serve with a Spoon and Amuse…. LOI PERTINENT, needing the checkers to see it. Thanks Hurley and Jack. 4:43.
  7. After 15 minutes (five under target) I had just one to go, but it took another five to see SERVE. I’m not sure why that one was difficult but faster solvers than I were held up by it. As usual, Hurley’s surfaces were excellent and thanks to Jack for the blog.

    Brian

  8. I managed to persuade myself that 21a was STREAK, meal =Steak and Study =R (3 R’s). I couldn’t parse Special which gave me a sinking feeling.
    LOI and COD 6d Serve
    Thanks to all.

    Edited at 2020-01-06 08:33 am (UTC)

  9. Inside 12 minutes for me, so easy end of the spectrum. PAROLE and ALCOVE LTI for some unaccountable reason. Thanks Jack and Hurley.
  10. A fairly gentle start to the week. Under 3K for me but it seemed quicker that that. I did double-takes with glamour/prestige and parole/promise but they fitted. I quite liked PUPPET (LOI), ALCOVE, PERTINENT (needed crossers to convince me it was that straightforward), but thought INLAND was a bit forced. Thanks to both. John M.

    Edited at 2020-01-06 09:52 am (UTC)

  11. This was a crossword of two halves for me. I got most of the words on the first run through and had 13 minutes on the clock, and got all but serve, parole, prestige and spread by about 20 minutes. Then the warmth of the room got to me and my brain ceased to work and after another few minutes I dozed off for about 8 minutes. When I came to, I finally worked out serve and then saw that 16a wasn’t an anagram of “Gee that’s” but of “trips Gee”, which helped somewhat. LOI was spread, after 43:34, though I was still unsure of parole as I have never thought about it meaning promise. I suppose being on parole is having the promise of release?
    1. When you’re “on parole” you’ve already been released – before the end of your actual sentence – on the promise of good behaviour. That’s what parole means: promising to behave well.
  12. I think relevant would have been a better word for 11d and made the clue more worthwhile and I’m not keen on win for land but no great hassles. All in all a gentle start to the week – thanks!
  13. I thought that I was on for my first sub 10 minute, because the anagrams just fell in as did most of the rest. (Although Parole not known as Promise, so delays there) But then a minute for Serve and 3 minutes for Spread as LOI as that panic feeling was rising that I would not get it..
    13 mins.
    Thanks all
    John George
  14. Fairly straightforward but with a couple of self-inflicted wounds. For some reason I wrote down the wrong anagram fodder at 16a, despite knowing what the correct letters were, which made things tricky. I was doubly confused by 11d, firstly by looking at the wrong end of the clue for the definition and then by it’s simplicity. Finished in 9.53 with SERVE.
    Thanks for the blog
  15. All very straightforward today. In fact, though I didn’t time it, I think this only took me 10 minutes or even less, making the solving of this puzzle a PB. But that said, I’m not feeling excessively pleased with myself because I don’t think I reached any dizzying intellectual heights – it’s more that this was all a bit undemanding as is demonstrated by, what seems to me to be, the under-clued 11 down. Like others here, I hesitated over “parole / promise” and “prestige / glamour “, particularly the first pair which is a proper stretch. The across clues were better than the down ones, I think, with 1 and 8 across being particularly pleasing and 11, 13 and 21 down, particularly flat. That said, I know that I personally couldn’t come close to compiling a Times crossword so I still remain in awe. Thanks, Hurley, and thanks, too, to Jackkt, for the usual great blog, especially for the parsing of 11 across which I knew I’d got right but not why – until I read your wise words.
  16. PERTINENT was basically the equivalent of serving underarm in tennis – it was so easy that it actually became very difficult, as I refused to believe that that could be the answer and needed more and more checkers. It was almost my LOI! Ridiculous. A whisker under 2 Kevins, so a Good Day.

    FOI BAKED BEANS, LOI SERVE, COD AGENDA (I’m sorry, I simply can’t bring myself to give it to PERTINENT even though it caused me so much grief).

    Thanks Hurley and Jack.

    Templar

  17. And if I was their parole officer I’d be tempted to ask if they were really within the rules. Parole/Promise rather weak I think – for a long time I wanted to make the answer Pledge, but couldn’t quite force Personal Assistant to be just P.

    Despite that a sub-10 minute finish so a pleasant start to the week.
    FOI 1A BAKED BEANS
    LOI 13D PAROLE (grimace)

    Thank you jackkt for the blog.

  18. Around 25 mins for me. All went in fairly easily although, like everyone else, I couldn’t really believe 11dn and thought at first it was somehow an anagram of Impertinent.

    However, I did get hung up on 6dn “Serve”. Kept thinking it was “Sarge” even though it didn’t parse. Probably went through every combination of Ace (Best, Cards etc) and yet the obvious tennis entry went over my head for quite a while.

    FOI – 1ac “Baked Beans”
    LOI – 6dn “Serve”
    COD – 11dn “Pertinent” for the sheer audacity.

    Thanks as usual.

    Edited at 2020-01-06 12:16 pm (UTC)

  19. There should be a word for getting stuck on the loi when the answer is staring you in the face. After 22mins I just had 8ac (yes, 8ac) to finish, but thought I was looking for a word meaning much liked. The pdm came eventually, but only via a desperate couple of minutes trying to think of the dog’s name in the Wizard of Oz. I think I need to go and lie down. Invariant
    1. Ha ha…the Wizard of Oz was my first thought as well. Thought Judy Garland had something to do with it, but Toto wouldn’t fit.
  20. A Good Day, in that this was done and dusted in 1.8K, but I didn’t feel especially challenged, tbh.

    Having said that, I am in complete agreement with Louisa about the difference between setting and solving! I sometimes wonder how setters feel, when their hours of work are demolished in a few minutes (by some anyway).

    All the same, Spread took a while, and I too got stuck on Serve – that took nearly a minute of my overall time! It’s not as if there are that many ways to complete s.r.e – I’ll blame temporary brain-freeze.

    All this talk of food is making me think it might be baked beans on toast for lunch today, or maybe an Italian pork and bean casserole, with added Parmesan, for dinner tonight 😊

    FOI Puppet
    LOI Serve
    COD Baked beans
    Time 8:50

    Thanks, as ever, to Jack and Hurley

    ps Last time I recommended the biggie, some people popped by to say they found it difficult, but I will echo Flashman’s suggestion to give it a go today!

    1. I had a go at the 15×15 and completed the RHS OK but was slowed down by the LHS. Some nice clues but some very odd and unsatisfying ones, too. I needed to double-check a couple of points and took over an hour. Perhaps my own fault – I picked up a free Torygraph in Waitrose this morning and did that cryptic first, finding it much more to my taste. Perhaps I had a bit of brain fade. John M.

      Edited at 2020-01-06 04:39 pm (UTC)

      1. Probably not – as we all know, a lot of it is wavelength 😊 Maybe I was on the right one today. I agree that the LHS flowed less well. I’m seriously thinking about not recommending the biggie to Quickie fans any more though!!
        1. Don’t stop – it is always worth a try and, as you say, we all have developed our own particular wavelengths. John
          1. 😊 There’s no doubt that plugging away does help too. I’ve been attempting the biggie for about three years now, and manage to finish from time to time, whereas I could barely get more than a handful of clues in the early days. There are occasions when that still happens unfortunately!
            1. I noted on here a week or so back that I seemed to be getting better at the big one. However, I knew that was tempting fate and ever since I’ve struggled so maybe I was just lucky on a few days when it was easier.

              What I tend to find is that you can literally stare at the grid and not got a single one on some days. But, if you persevere, and get at least one or two, you can make some decent inroads into it once you get on the right wavelength. The issue comes when there is some real obscure GK.

  21. ….PORK and (BAKED) BEANS; woulda had more, but the cook was so mean” (a NOTEWORTHY SPREAD which Lonnie Donegan sang of in the 1950’s). I could just eat a sausage (PA)ROLE sprinkled with PARMESAN, although not with a SPOON.

    Enough silliness – I agree with most of the earlier comments, but found PAROLE perfectly OK. Finished a mere smidgen slower than Verlaine.

    FOI BAKED BEANS
    LOI SPREAD
    COD SERVE

  22. I genuinely thought I was heading for a PB when I looked at the clock (5 minutes) with just three to go 6d, 11a and 11d. I was trying so hard to think of a word beginning with I’M which when removed would mean PERTINENT I didn’t see it was staring me in the face. Once I’d stumbled upon PAR as standard and solved the family favourite cheese clue the penny dropped but I still had 6d unsolved. An extensive alphabet trawl ensued and I submitted with a sigh in just under 11 minutes. COD to SERVE. Thanks Jack and Hurley.
  23. Me that is. EMPEROR being my LOI, and I spelled it as EMPORER, despite the answer being in front of me…

    7:26 with the silly error, though all but 3 were done in 5 mins, PRESTIGE and SPREAD also taking too long.

  25. I filled in 10A as SKIN (S for some, kin for relative) being a drinking vessel (water skin) – wasn’t entirely sure, so it messed up that whole top left corner, especially as I couldn’t get 4D either. The rest were quite straightforward. Ah well, still learning, thanks to all of you!

    FOI was Baked Beans. Along with the rest of you I couldn’t believe 11D was so easy!

  26. A nice puzzle to start the week – almost a PB for me, however spent a great deal of time trying (and failing) to work out 6dn SERVE.

    I also struggled a little with 13dn PAROLE – I now see why it works, however at the time of solving I couldn’t convince myself that Parole had anything to do with a Promise. 18ac had to be PORK but I was looking for P + [leaner] rather than the ends of all the words.

    I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a straightforward clue as 11dn PERTINENT, I couldn’t believe it really…

  27. I always hope to beat 20 minutes so was delighted to finish in just less than 11 minutes, despite interruptions from my spouse!! I believe that equals my PB. (A great relief after my struggle with last Thursday’s QC – yesterday – I’ve been catching up after a busy Christmas.)

    Thanks and Happy New(ish) Year to all the setters and bloggers and contributors here. MM

    FOI 1a
    LOI 6d
    COD 6d for a lovely pdm when I saw the tennis connection!!

  28. Sailed through this until I had four left – eventually I accepted the obvious with 11d; missed the hidden in 19d so that was a best guess with the R and CH for child… (I know..), I had to assume 21a was correct although uncertain about the SP, and then a BGO for 11a gave me the complete works. FOI 1a. LOI 11a. COD 8a. An encouraging start to the week after finally completing last Fridays 15×15 on Saturday. Thx to our blogger for printing out the better ways to resolve a couple of these clues.

    1. Not at all. SOED has:

      parole

      A person’s word of honour; spec. (a) a prisoner of war’s promise to abide by the specific terms of a conditional release (also more fully parole of honour); (b) a prisoner’s promise of good behaviour in return for release before the expiry of a custodial sentence.

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