Times Quick Cryptic 1560 by Hurley

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Solving time: 10 minutes. I found this straightforward but I’m sure others will view it differently and I look forward to reading all comments.

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 Is concerned about son’s embrace (6)
CARESS : CARES (is concerned) containing [about] S (son)
4 Prudence — article left unfinished before breach (6)
THRIFT : TH{e} (article) [left unfinished], RIFT (breach)
8 From local man, a city annual (7)
ALMANAC : Hidden in [from] {loc}AL MAN A C{ity}
10 Nearly all admitting India’s humid (5)
MOIST : MOST (nearly all) containing [admitting] I (India – NATO alphabet)
11 Curtailed rascal’s swindle (4)
SCAM : SCAM{p} (rascal) [curtailed]
12 Allow into journey travelled for gambling game (8)
ROULETTE : LET (allow) contained by [into] ROUTE (journey travelled)
14 Self-centred, I get Stoic for a change (9)
EGOTISTIC : Anagram [for a change] I GET STOIC
18 Precise account by member of clergy (8)
ACCURATE : AC (account), CURATE (member of clergy)
20 Gamble about large boxing prize (4)
BELT : BET (gamble) containing [about] L (large)
22 Far from humble urge to include university (5)
PROUD : PROD (urge) contains [to include] U (university)
23 Salesman left in charge with a copy (7)
REPLICA : REP (salesman), L (left), IC (in charge), A (a)
24 Evening event succeeded — tunes involved (6)
SUNSET : S (succeeded), anagram [involved] of TUNES
25 Attractive quarry, dry inside (6)
PRETTY : TT (dry – teetotal) contained by [inside] PREY (quarry)
Down
1 Rough path, we hear (6)
COARSE : Sounds like [we hear] “course” (path)
2 Angry behaviour — strike attendant (7)
RAMPAGE : RAM (strike), PAGE (attendant)
3 Transgression, dark’s ending in fall (4)
SINK : SIN (transgression), {dar}K [ending]
5 Modesty of home up mountain in Lebanon —— it tantalises you initially (8)
HUMILITY : H{ome} U{p} M{ountain} I{n} L{ebanon} I{t} T{antalises} Y{ou} [initially]
6 Wild, hit out regularly? Silly (5)
IDIOT : {w}I{l}D {h}I{t} O{u}T [regularly]. I’m not sure if this has come up in a QC before, but ‘silly’ can be a noun meaning a foolish person.
7 Element of vote the right must secure (6)
TETHER : Hidden in [element of] {vo}TE THE R{ight}. Having a second ‘pure’ hidden answer is an exception to the usual convention.
9 Singer his rector trained? (9)
CHORISTER : Anagram [trained] of HIS RECTOR
13 Cereal   time (8)
PORRIDGE : Two meanings, the second being slang for time served in a prison sentence
15 Revolutionary film dispenser (7)
CHEMIST : CHE (revolutionary – Guevara), MIST (film)
16 Civil Service welcoming a politician, upper-class, in study area (6)
CAMPUS : CS (Civil Service) containing [welcoming] A+MP (politician) + U (upper-class)
17 Various dates over year leading to regular boyfriend (6)
STEADY : Anagram [various] DATES, then Y (year). Could also be girlfriend.
19 Top clubs dispute name (5)
CROWN : C (clubs – playing cards), ROW (dispute), N (name)
21 Fight, second, of expected standard (4)
SPAR : S (second), PAR (expected standard)

31 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1560 by Hurley”

  1. I did not find this quite a straightforward as Jack and it took me 11 minutes.

    I worked up hill, as I was initially a bit stymied by the northern reaches.

    FOI 13dn CHORISTER

    LOI 24ac SUNSET as I’d first gone for SOIREE which made 19dn difficult.

    COD 15dn CHEMIST – in the good old days films usually went to Boots the Chemists!

    WOD 14ac EGOTISTIC

    I don’t think the 15×15 is that easy today but…

  2. 19 mins with about half spent on tether, caress, rampage, scam and thrift.

    Liked sunset and porridge.

  3. I made this a bit more difficult than it should have been by obtusely missing the ‘initially’ in 5d. It was actually my LOI, which I biffed after getting THRIFT. Go figure. 4:26.
  4. Mostly done in about 11 minutes but significantly held up by a few at the top.
    FOI was IDIOT. A few minor hold-ups to begin with. The porage I eat most mornings is spelt differently on the packet, but the other spelling is familiar.
    The hold-ups at the end were THRIFT (Shrift had to be corrected),TETHER ( did not expect a second hidden),HUMILITY,CARESS, and LOI COARSE.
    19:03 in the end. Tough if you are not on the wavelength.
    David
  5. Skipped through this in 21:47, with first though often the right thought. FOI 4a, then got a little delayed by NW corner with 1d and 2d the last two. On days like this I can sometimes kid myself that I’m getting better at these puzzles.
  6. I found this much tougher than most and was firmly in the SCC. Lots of quirky clues (for me) and HUMILITY fooled me until I got enough crossers. I needed crossers for quite a few others, too, so I jumped about until I slowly filled them in. I don’t think I’ll be alone in finding this tricky but we’ll see. LOI was SUNSET (like horryd, I wasted time with SOIREE but wasn’t happy with it). ACCURATE made me smile and I liked PRETTY. I do wish we could shake the entrenched idea (only in UK) that Pharmacists/’dispensers’ are Chemists; they are not. Thanks to Hurley and Jack. John M.

    Edited at 2020-03-02 01:01 pm (UTC)

  7. I thought this was going to be a stinker when the first half of the across clues refused to yield a single answer. EGOTISTIC finally got me started and the bottom half was a lot more fruitful. I managed to avoid the temptation of biffing SOIREE, but SUNSET ended up being my LOI. My return to the top went better than my first visit but with a MER at IDIOT and I crossed the line in 10.55.
    Thanks to Jack and Hurley.
  8. I found this friendly too, and whizzed through in 1.8 K for an Excellent Day. However, I wish to raise a point of order Mr Chairman – on my pass through the acrosses I confidently put ROOK at 11 (curtailed [C]ROOK = swindle). This then held me up quite a bit in the NW when I did the downs. I still think ROOK is at least as good an answer as SCAM. Harumph.

    FOI ALMANAC, LOI SCAM (grrr), COD CHORISTER (what a brilliant surface).

    Thanks Hurley and Jack.

    Templar

    1. Not sure if The Times would allow “curtailed” to mean removing the first letter of a word, rather than the last .. would have to be curnosed or curheaded, wouldn’t it?
  9. I see the logic, but I don’t much care for it. Well within my time frame today.

    FOI THRIFT
    LOI TETHER
    COD CHEMIST

  10. I thought this was a gentle start to the week with my only real hold up being my LOI 15d CHEMIST. CHE was fine but I had to do an alphabet trawl for MIST (COD for misdirection). I hurriedly put in 1d COARSE as course so I missed the hidden 8a ALMANAC on first pass. Sub 10 mins. Thanks Jack and Hurley
  11. About 40 mins, but I thought this required a bit of thought. As noted above, I also believed this could be a stinker as I just couldn’t get anywhere with the top third to start.

    Eventually the NE corner fell into place and it was steady progress until my final three of 1ac, 1dn and 2dn which took a while to come.

    I’m sure I’ve come across “caress” = “embrace” before and was nearly caught out then. I don’t doubt the dictionary definition, but I would never think of a caress being an embrace in general usage.

    FOI – 5dn “Humility”
    LOI – 1dn “Coarse”
    COD – 15dn “Chemist” – clever definition.

    Thanks as usual.

    Edited at 2020-03-02 11:21 am (UTC)

  12. Once again with Hurley, I had to employ the full range of neurons and found myself over my target time. I was fairly tired and well lubricated after a jolly evening at the folk club when I did it, so I can’t remember much about the details now. I started with either SINK or CARESS, but I have no memory of where I finished. The clock says 12:02. Thanks Hurley and Jack.
  13. I found this difficult. Struggled with SUNSET, COARSE and SCAM. I always seem to have problems with Hurley. Clearly I am on a different wavelength.
  14. I do like a short clue with a lot going on so COD to 19d which was also my LOI. Just over 20m including eating lunch. Main hold ups in the SW with PORRIDGE, SUNSET and CROWN my last three. Also wanted 24a to be SOIREE was even less close to parsing than usual, so parked. Needed the hints to understand 1a – thanks Jackkt. Good start to the week.
  15. I was constantly berating myself for taking a long time over clues that seemed easy once I’d solved them. A sluggish-feeling 8:49.

    CARESS was first in, and SUNSET was last. CHEMIST was economical and elegant.

    Thanks to all.

  16. I was grateful for the hidden Almanac at 8ac, as up to that point I was struggling to get a start. Fortunately the bottom half of the grid seemed a little easier, at least once Sunset had displaced Soiree. I finally had enough crossers to get Coarse/Caress in the NW, but loi Thrift in the NE took an age even after I spotted sloi Tether, and I only just finished inside 30mins. Not the easiest start to the week. Invariant
  17. I managed this with no real problems so am very pleased with myself. Only went wrong with SOIREE as mentioned by some others. I then compounded this error by finding CHOLI for 19 down – its the name of the top ladies wear with a sari! Really feel I am getting somewhere with my learning. Also I have managed to log in for the first time today so I am no longer an annoymous beginning. Thanks to all commenters, blogger and setter!
    1. Excellent Rowena! I too was in CHOLI territory for a mo’!

      How’s about a nice avatar, then you can really be somebody.

      Meldrew

  18. Thought this was going to be a doddle as all but the last two across clues went straight in one by one. The downs proved a bit trickier. I too missed “initially” in 5D and was duly humbled as I wrestled with it as LOI. The other hold-out was 13D, my COD for concision. 11 mins in the end, not the PB I briefly hoped for.
  19. After Friday I found this a bit easier but still got stuck on 3 clues!
    Thanks again for all the help
    Marion
  20. Two sessions and interrupted so time approx at 25 minutes – very pleased.
    FOI Scam and then worried that it wasn’t my day, but as others have found the lower half particularly the SE saved the day and it fell into place.
    COD Porridge (because of the relief at getting it!)
    Not keen on C for Clubs; not keen on S for succeeded. Not keen on Caress for embrace.
    LOI Coarse – just hard to see it.

    Thanks all
    John George

    1. C for clubs is pretty normal you see it in notation for bridge games. I have never come across s for succeed though, and you are right caress for embrace does seem to be a stretch.

      Good puzzle, all the same.

    2. It’s in the sense following on from a previous incumbent of a position. The abbreviation is perhaps most commonly to be seen re the monarchy – the line of succession and all that – especially in a chart or diagram where space is limited.
  21. 7:43 which is my fastest in awhile. Watching some videos of online solves has helped my confidence — also I think today’s puzzle (and the 15×15) is on the easier side.

    Two hidden words may be unusual — however, they both deceived me and were my last two in!

  22. Gentle walk
    7d works better with the “of vote” removed. TE tellurium is an element. (And it still is unlike some of the very dated stuff in QCs)
  23. Good time for me today – but stupidly took me ages to get caress. It doesn’t equate with embrace imho.
    Cod chemist.
    Diana
  24. First clean sweep in yonks, so just under 6 minutes – don’t think I could type much faster without errors (did have one in acrosses, seen as soon as I was doing downs, which cost a few seconds. (I never did succeed in learning how to touch-type, and admire the top solvers who are two or three times as fast.)

Comments are closed.