Times Quick Cryptic 1540 by Izetti

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

I just noticed I blogged only one Izetti puzzle in the whole of 2019 but this is my second consecutive in 2020 and it’s only 3rd February! Also he has set 143 QCs  of which I have blogged 14, so 10% of his QC output has been on my watch. At only 7 minutes I found this at the easier end of the Izetti range. I have achieved this 9 times out of  the 143 but only bettered it once, finishing in 6 minutes on that occasion.

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 Like upcycled furniture   rescued from skip? (9)
RECOVERED : Two meanings, but it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to read the whole clue as the definition. I can’t say I was familiar with the  meaning of  ‘ upcycle’ but Collins has: If you upcycle something such as an old item of furniture, you repair, decorate, or change it so that it can be used again as something more fashionable or valuable. Re-covering fits well enough with that.
6 Rod reported character at start of quarrel (3)
CUE : Sounds like [reported] Q (character at start of quarrel)
8 Maturer when going wrong, making mistake (7)
ERRATUM : Anagram [going wrong] of MATURER
9 Swear, the way things go without love (5)
CURSE : C{o}URSE (the way things go) [without love – 0]
10 Legal power? Judge is enthralling old city with speech (12)
JURISDICTION : J (judge) + IS, containing [enthralling] UR (old city), DICTION (speech)
12 Quite nice (6)
PRETTY : Two meanings
13 Package in unusual place outside front of restaurant (6)
PARCEL : Anagram [unusual] of PLACE containing [outside] R{estaurant} [front]
16 Rowdy Robert in trouble with spouse (12)
OBSTREPEROUS : Anagram [in trouble] of ROBERT SPOUSE
19 Old-style politician involved in excellent excuse (5)
ALIBI : LIB (old-style politician) contained by [involved in] A1 (excellent). ‘Old-style’ because in the UK they are now ‘Lib-Dem’.
20 Temptress greeted on return outside Lima (7)
DELILAH : HAILED (greeted) reversed [on return] containing [outside] L (Lima – NATO alphabet)
22 Animal in shackles falling back (3)
ELK : Hidden [in] {shac}KLE{s} reversed [falling back]
23 Justified state of conflict and spoke angrily (9)
WARRANTED : WAR (state of conflict), RANTED [spoke angrily]
Down
1 Hear strange bird (4)
RHEA : Anagram [strange] of HEAR
2 Noisy revelling — endless feature of funfair (7)
CAROUSE : CAROUSE{l} (feature of funfair) [endless]. I don’t think I knew this as a noun. Here’s Richard Rodger’s Carousel Waltz in its original 1956 movie orchestration performed by the magnificent John Wilson Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall. The orchestration is by Robert Russell Bennett who was simply the best around.
3 Tax vessel (3)
VAT : Two meanings, the first being ‘Value Added Tax’
4 Engineers crazy — bridge finally constructed anew (6)
REMADE : RE (engineers), MAD (crazy), {bridg}E [finally]
5 Hide crack somehow in seat outdoors (4,5)
DECK CHAIR : Anagram [somehow] of HIDE CRACK
6 Gracious! US private gets dog! (5)
CORGI : COR (gracious!), GI (US private). HMQ’s favourite breed of dog although she no longer has any, the remainingt royal pets being dachshund crosses called ‘dorgis’.
7 English bird on a lake, timeless (7)
ETERNAL : E (English), TERN (bird), A, L (lake)
11 Question Milan team outlook (9)
INTERVIEW : INTER (Milan team), VIEW (outlook)
12 Chatter about old boy getting certificate (7)
PROBATE : PRATE (chatter) containing [about] OB (old boy). On edit: As has been pointed out in a comment below ‘probate’ can be taken to mean the process of obtaining the certificate in which case ‘getting certificate‘ would be the definition; take your pick.
14 Firm up arrangement for tenant in two lines of text (7)
COUPLET : CO (firm), UP (up), LET (arrangement for tenant)
15 Web-user starts to see problem, idea not quite right (6)
SPIDER : S{ee}+ P{roblem} [starts], IDE{a} [not quite], R (right). Something of a cryptic definition.
17 Corporal punishment to stay (5)
STICK : Two meanings
18 Conservative cheated country (4)
CHAD : C (Conservative), HAD (cheated)
21 Meadow bare, having been cut (3)
LEA : LEA{n} (bare – empty, lacking ) [having been cut]

37 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1540 by Izetti”

  1. ‘upcycle’ was new to me, too. I got RHEA easily enough, but I misread the clue as being a homophone for ‘strange’ i.e. ‘rare’! I thought that was pushing things rather too far, as I (and ODE) pronounce the bird [riə]. The correct parsing never occurred to me. 5:06.
    Today’s 15×15 is definitely one to have a go at.

    Edited at 2020-02-03 05:06 am (UTC)

    1. Thanks for the pointer to the 15×15, Kevin. It took me over an hour but it is ‘do-able’. John M.
    2. Thx for the tip. My first 15×15! Took a chunk of yesterday evening between doing other things and a few minutes today to finish off, and needed to check two words existed, but I don’t care.
  2. 17:42, couple of tricky ones I thought: probate and obstreperous.

    Last 2 carouse and recovered.

    Cod probate.

  3. Straight top to bottom job.

    FOI 6ac CUE snooker?

    LOI 15dn SPIDER – another snooker implement- (rest)

    COD 16ac OBSTREPEROUS

    WOD 17dn STICK – common parlance for a snooker cue

    11dn INTERVIEW is what snooker players do after a game, as well as 2dn

    Time 6.45 mins

    2. Wot Kevin said, but here’s the full SOED entry in support – B being the relevant bit today.

      alibi adverb, noun, & verb. L17.
      [ORIGIN Latin = elsewhere.]

      A adverb. Elsewhere. L17–L18.

      B noun. A plea by the person accused of an act that he or she was elsewhere when it took place; evidence to support such a plea; colloq. an excuse of any kind. L18.

      C verb trans. & intrans. Provide an alibi, offer an excuse, (for). E20.

      1. ODE has a usage note: “… In the 20th century a new sense arose (originally in the US) with the meaning ‘an excuse’. This use is an example of a fairly common and natural extension of the core meaning, and though widely accepted in standard English, it is still regarded as incorrect by some traditionalists.”
        It’s common practice here to cite Chambers or Collins or some other dictionary to support a setter’s choice of words, but this is a case where such support is really not necessary: I know that ‘alibi’ means ‘excuse’ because I use it with that meaning, and I use it with that meaning because I’ve seen and heard it so used numerous times, more often than in its older sense.
        1. … And you need to remember that meaning for crosswords. I’m sure I’ve seen it before.
  5. 9.59 so a bit sluggish, but sub 10 still (just). Anagram at 16ac took a while, otherwise a steady solve

    NeilC

  6. I fear that ALIBI is one of those recurring litle words that is not easy to define briefly in its court sense without giving the agme away for the rest of the clue, so we setters tend to resort to ‘excuse’, which is also pretty much a giveaway. A crossword setter alas cannot always pin down definitions very precisely as a dcitionary compiler would consider desirable — ALIBI provides an example of this.
  7. I found the top half much easier than the bottom, where I hesitated to write down some things (like PRETTY, where I doubted that “nice” was an adequate synonym, and ALIBI, because pedantic lawyers like me only think of it in its correct (or as Kevin would say, old) meaning, and OBSTREPEROUS, which I now discover doesn’t mean what I’ve always thought it meant!) and was slow to see other things. I’ve never heard of STICK as corporal punishment other than in Asterix in Switzerland, and I am old enough to have seen corporal punishment in action. A very enjoyable puzzle but it took me 2.5K which has to go down as an Indifferent Day.

    FOI RHEA, LOI STICK (and I still wasn’t sure it was right), COD DELILAH.

    Thanks Don and Jack.

    Templar

  8. I said ‘older’, not ‘old’. Big difference. And of course the older meaning is not incorrect.
  9. A fair start to the week with a nice mix of difficulty. I needed crossers for JURISDICTION, OBSTREPEROUS, and DELILAH (after wasting time trying to build an answer around LIMA). I liked the collection of down clues – 11, 12(my LOI), 14, 15. An enjoyable 3K. Thanks to Izetti and jackkt. John M.
  10. A very nice start to the week. As always, the clues are fair and with no obscurities in the parsing. I personally have no problem with “alibi ” as “excuse”. There was much to enjoy today – I especially liked 11,14 and 15 down. For a little while, I imagined that 20 across, having already got “**L***H”, was LILLITH but that was never going to run because a) I’m pretty sure it’s not spelt like that, b) I could not see any “greet-(ing)” other than HI, and c) it stuffed up 11 and 14 down. Other than those few minor quibbles, it was a great answer. Not. I struggled slightly with CUE as ROD but see that it is a snooker reference . That Rod! He’s so versatile – he pops up all over the place in Crossword Land! Thanks so much, Jackkt, for the informative blog, and thanks, too, to Izetti for a super puzzle
  11. I read 1a, couldn’t make head or tail of it, and thought I was going to be in for a tough morning. Fortunately it didn’t live up to my fears as I went onto solve it clockwise from the NE, ending up with the with 1d, 8a, 1a (which turned out not to be so tricky after all) and LOI CAROUSE. I had no problem with ALIBI and particularly enjoyed JURISDICTION. Finished in 12.19, so a little faster than average for me.
    Thanks to jackkt.
  12. Well the Don did for me, taking me over my target of 15m to nearly 18. Looking back, I’m not sure what held me up. Like Kevin, I was looking for a homophone for 1d, but that didn’t delay me long. I struggled with spelling OBSTREPEROUS despite having the anagrist to work with, and thought of roller-coasters, dodgems, HelterSkelters and ghost trains before carousel occurred to me. Thanks Izetti and Jack.
  13. I also found this relatively easy for an Izetti. I started with VAT and finished with INTERVIEW. 8:13. Thanks Izetti and Jack.
  14. Completed in around 30 mins which is good for me for an Izetti puzzle. I thought the top half was easier than the bottom with most of my time thinking about 12dn and 16ac.

    Definitely would have taken me a lot longer a few years back, but experience and recognition of some of the answers (“Probate” especially) helped to move this along.

    FOI – 3dn “VAT”
    LOI – 12dn “Probate”
    COD – 11dn “Interview” (was initially looking for an anagram)

    Thanks as usual.

  15. ….as only I will know why I entered “remedy” at 4D to totally ruin a sub 4 minute solve.

    COD CHAD

  16. Done within 10 minutes, but 16ac spelt wrong as didn’t check anagrist carefully. Delayed by trying to think of something ending ORATION for 9ac.
  17. Over 20. Struggled with OBSTREPEROUS, even once I got PROBATE. But LOI was COUPLET – just couldn’t see it – and STICK hung around for a long time too. Rusty start to the week.
  18. 2K today which I would classify as A Good Day, especially with an Izetti!

    A most enjoyable start to the week – I no longer stress when I see the Don’s name, but look forward to an interesting puzzle, and today was no exception. I also have no expectations of a fast time, but I think he was being kind to us today. All the same, having just looked through it again, without the pressure of solving, I think it is a great crossword, and I’m finding it tough to pick COD.

    FOI Delilah
    LOI Stick – not helped by the fact that initially I put Strap in, which also made for a strange animal at 22a!
    COD Recovered
    WOD Obstreperous

    I hesitate to recommend the 15×15 these days (one man’s meat etc), but would agree with Kevin that it’s worth a go today!

  19. I liked this one. I did it without needing to resort to my trusty toolbox of aids. Don’t have an accurate time as I was doing it over breakfast – probably 30-40 mins. Nice way to start the week.

    I struggled with recover for upcycle. Recover is mire refurbishment. Upcycle needs a bit more than that, IMHO.

  20. Stared at LOI 1D for 2 minutes, wanting a homophone. Did an alphabet trawl, luckily H is not too far into the alphabet. Parsed post submission, kicked self.

    8:01.

  21. Started well in the NW, but struggled with the Probate/Obstreperous and Delilah/Chad pairings. I knew the country couldn’t be Cuba, but it took me ages to think of Chad. Even then, I might have managed a respectable 30mins, but I lost another five on loi Jurisdiction, where I kept on trying to include all five letters of Judge. Tough start to the week. Invariant
  22. People tell me it takes ages to get probate and so it was for me today as my LOI. However I had only taken 11 minutes in the cafe at the Museum of London.
    FOI was CUE, no particular hold-ups. A very fair Izetti.
    David
  23. A small point esteemed blogger but surely probate refers to the process not the piece of paper. I’d be happier if “getting certificate” were underlined as the definition.Thanks for all your hard work. Jeffrey
    1. Thanks for your input, Jeffrey. Yours is a valid interpretation and I have amended my comment in the blog to reflect it, however my original is also valid as indicated in this (2) from Collins and supported by the other usual sources:

      probate

      1. the act or process of officially proving the authenticity and validity of a will
      2. the official certificate stating a will to be genuine and conferring on the executors power to administer the estate

      Edited at 2020-02-03 07:13 pm (UTC)

  24. Thoroughly enjoyed this, Monday’s usually reassuring after Friday (I do wish there was a Saturday one, but not more difficult than Friday !). Thanks, Izetti.
    Diana
  25. I was tired when I started, struggled with most of it and nodded off briefly. Came back to it an hour later and pretty well flew through it (quick for me anyway). Chuckled over Corgi and liked Recovered, couldn’t parse Jurisdiction (must remember Ur) LOI Obstreperous which I nearly wrote with three ‘o’ s. Got but needed blog for Delilah.
    Thanks all,
    John George

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