Times Quick Cryptic 1716 by Oink

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

This was one of those QC struggles to beat target time which turned out to be successful and satisfying. The clock stopped at 9:24. It felt tricky along the way and any hope of a scorching time like yesterday’s was extinguished when that time went past with great chunks of the puzzle not completed. This seemed odd as many clues flew in from the definition but the rest needed chewing through until I was left with 17ac and then 18dn.
Our customary thematic reference is to be found at 15dn.

ACROSS

1. Painful cut, I hear (4)
SORE – homophone (I hear) of saw.
3. Padre run out, not feeling too good (5,3)
UNDER PAR – anagram (out) of PADRE RUN.
9. Maybe Spaniard‘s half redone section (7)
ALFREDO – a section of h(ALF REDO)ne.
10. Crime for which priest is beheaded? (5)
ARSON – p(ARSON).
11. A mash that is sheer ecstasy (5)
PUREE – sheer (PURE), ecstasy (E – the drug).
12. Unleash tirade as the French blunder (3,3)
LET RIP – ‘the’ in French (LE), blunder (TRIP). Very clever clue which fooled me for a while into thinking it was an anagram (unleash) of TIRADE.
14. In need? Dad’s navigated badly (13)
DISADVANTAGED – anagram (badly) of DADS NAVIGATED.
17. Boyfriend’s first marriage a cause of pain (6)
BUNION – (B)oyfriend’s, marriage (UNION).
19. Lift up some beams, you say? (5)
RAISE – homophone (you say) of rays. The brain needed a while to claw up the answer from ‘catch some rays’.
22. Make little effort when in bed (5)
COAST – when (AS) inside bed (COT).
23. Copy one found in the writer’s gallery (7)
IMITATE – one (I) found inside the writer’s (I’M) and gallery (TATE).
24. Guide occasionally wangles cheapest class (8)
STEERAGE – guide (STEER), occasionally w(A)n(G)l(E)s.
25. County in which kippers can be found? (4)
BEDS – kippers – sleepers can be found in beds.

DOWN

1. Team sped off in a rush (8)
STAMPEDE – anagram (off) of TEAM SPED.
2. Send – up or down (5)
REFER – reads the same upwards and downwards. Refer/send as in being referred to one’s hospital suite from the White House.
4. Not very pretty watercolour? (2,3,8)
NO OIL PAINTING – a watercolour is not an oil painting. A cruel phrase but I liked this clue for the watercolour.
5. Reflex actions in part? That’s correct (5)
EXACT – in part of refl(EX ACT)ions.
6. Send message about dope disappearing (7)
PASSING – send message (PING – e.g. an email) about dope (ASS). I’m familiar with ping – I wonder if that applies across all generations?
7. Foul-smelling sergeant-major? (4)
RANK – a sergeant-major is an example of a rank.
8. Popular story to conclude below stage (6)
LEGEND – conclude (END) underneath stage (LEG – of a journey).
13. I condemned endless sloth (8)
IDLENESS – I (I) then an agaram (condemned – unusual anagrind) of ENDLESS.
15. Uses Aga to make a bite to eat? (7)
SAUSAGE – anagram (to make) of USES AGA. I know there are all sorts of sausages but I prefer to think of this one as the ‘standard’ pork variety.
16. Retire with pension at last in Italian city (4,2)
TURN IN – pensio(N) inside Italian city (TURIN).
18. Some join terrific team in Italy (5)
INTER – some of jo(IN TER)rific. I know some solvers are not football fans so for clarity – Inter Milan, when playing, are 11 extremely wealthy chaps who kick a football about for 90 minutes or so.
20. Mad when last of guests leave? That’s ridiculous! (5)
INANE – mad (IN)s(ANE) when guest(S) leave.
21. Extremely anxious about church services (4)
ACES – extremes of (A)nxiou(S) about church (CE). Services as in tennis.

43 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1716 by Oink”

  1. I was about to comment on the oddity of skipping 2 letters at first, but I went back to the puzzle: it’s wangles not wrangles.
  2. Surprisingly, given my dimness with hiddens and my ignorance of soccer, I spotted INTER quickly; I knew there was such a team, although not the Milan part–I couldn’t have told you what country they’re in. Most of my trouble was with PASSING; I had POST__ for a while, but finally recalled PING, which I’d just learned from a very recent 15×15. Still, this took me a while. 8:13.
  3. 5 minutes on so for everything but BEDS, ∞ minutes for BEDS.

    I put INTER, nervously. But I never had a chance to reconsider it, as I was never getting BEDS. Having missed it now, twice, I shall endeavor to remember it.

    By the way, anyone on a Mac having trouble doing puzzles in Safari?

    Edited at 2020-10-06 01:12 am (UTC)

  4. Yes.

    Switched to Firefox for all Times puzzles a few months ago. Haven’t pursued this problem with paper yet because the workaround was so simple. Rest of Times online edition works fine.

    FWIW, no problem with puzzles on iOS + iPhone/iPad.

    Are there more of us with this MacOS + Safari problem? If so, may be time to contact customer service.

    CC

  5. Started slowly with only four acrosses at the first pass but again the downs proved more accessible and I ended up all green in 11, slower that yesterday but still much faster than average. Took a while to tease out the last three, all in the NW, PUREE, REFER and LEGEND falling in a flurry once I realised ‘to conclude’ must be ”end’ and I found a three letter word fitting L_G to fit ‘stage’ for it to go after. GK was at my level today with BEDS and INTER. Very much enjoyed BUNION.
  6. At 15+ minutes my performance was well 3ac. I knew I was in trouble from the very beginning as I hopped around the clues and must have read half-a-dozen or more before an answer leapt out at me. It was the NW corner that gave most trouble with 1, 3 and 11 as my last ones in.

    No pig from Oink today unless one assumes as Chris does, that the SAUSAGE is of the pork variety.

    Loved the clue at 15ac which I hope was original. My county of residence (just by a few yards) so I had no problem thinking of it.

    Edited at 2020-10-06 05:26 am (UTC)

  7. I found this challenging but ultimately enjoyable. Thanks Oink and chrisw91. I think it was a little tough but overall fair. I was hoping it wouldn’t be ‘refer’ because I did think that was a bit obscure. Also I think 21d needs an extra work (maybe good services??). I enjoyed Puree – very clever!
    1. I think the clue is fine as it stands; but maybe for a QC it could give a little more help thus:
      “Extreme anxiousness about church services not returned”
        1. not at all, just catching up on missed crosswords but I sometimes make the mistake that I’m still current!
  8. We had so many interruptions it was impossible to track our but would estimate maybe 20 mins. Really enjoyed this one – many easy clues and then some real brain teasers which were extremely satisfying to solve. Thanks Oink.

    FOI: under par
    LOI: coast
    COD: no oil painting (made us laugh).

    Thanks to Chris for the blog.

  9. Isn’t it funny how it goes? I thought this was easier than yesterday’s and today is (just) a Red Letter Day at 0.98K.

    Definitely a pork SAUSAGE, Jack! How could you doubt it?

    FOI SORE, LOI (by some distance) COAST, COD BUNION (delightful).

    Many thanks Oink and Chris.

    Templar

  10. But it was an enjoyable 22 minutes. Nothing to scare the horses and lots to enjoy. I needed the blog – thanks, Chris – to point out that “condemned ” was an anagrind in 13 down, IDLENESS: I spent some time trying to think of a truncated word that meant condemned that looked like “leness” … Hmmm ! Liked BEDS, LET RIP, and INANE. Glad to see the usual Oink porcine reference in SAUSAGE. Unusually, I got the football reference in 18 down, INTER. Thanks, Chris, and thanks, Oink.
  11. A clever puzzle from Oink which needed some thought. FOI UNDER PAR. Kept going quite well. Nearly got stuck on BEDS but we’ve had it before quite recently and I remembered it for once. ALFREDO well hidden and LOI SORE; homophones can be very tricky.
    COD to PUREE -very clever. 11:59 on the clock.
    David
  12. I was definitely not on the wavelength for this one, going well over my target, but ultimately achieving a successful conclusion. Took me ages to get PASSING, and even longer to parse it. I was sure it was going to involve POST, so the T at the end held up DISAVANTAGED. I’ve seen BEDS recently, so that went straight in. PUREE brought up the rear. 16:00 Thanks
    Oink and Chris.
  13. A good, enjoyable, but rather chewy puzzle, as Chris says. All my points have been made, or raised, by contributors above so this can be brief – unlike some other posters, I do try read the blog before posting! (None of the above, of course.) I was outside my upper limit at a few seconds over 20 mins but enjoyed the exercise. Thanks to both. John M.

    Edited at 2020-10-06 09:21 am (UTC)

  14. Put in Irate 20d without thinking at all.
    Did worry when I put Acts for 21d. And, worse still, Posting. 6d

    Too casual and careless this morning, clearly.

    But thanks! COD No oil painting

  15. Just outside target time : 22:23

    Really struggled to get a toe-hold, with both the 13-letter central clues proving very tough. I don’t think I’ve heard the expression “No Oil Painting”, it sounds like a phrase only ever used in the negative like “No Spring Chicken”.

    LOI PASSING, as was trying really hard to make POSTING fit in there. I agree that “ping” used to just mean “are you there”, like a submarine. But then people complained when “contact” became a verb.

    COD : RANK, sometimes its the simple ones that raise a smile

  16. …which took me over my target – just under 19 minutes – but I did manage to parse everything again.
    Favourites included PUREE, DISADVANTAGED (wonderful anagram) and NO OIL PAINTING.
    My COD has to be BUNION for making me smile even though – as I can testify – it’s no laughing matter to have one!
    Thanks to Oink and Chris.
  17. I thought this was a well judged puzzle from Oink, with a good mix of clues. I managed to spot Disadvantaged as I was writing down the letters, but the ‘easier’ Stampede was almost my loi, which just serves to confirm my record with anagrams. Other hold ups were 13d Idleness, 8d Legend, and CoD 11ac Puree. Overall, an enjoyable 24min solve. Invariant
  18. Straight forward nice puzzle
    Personally I dislike random foreign names as answers, and I wonder when the last time someone travelled steerage was, 100 years ago?
    I always find under par a curious expression, under par in golf is good!

    Edited at 2020-10-06 11:33 am (UTC)

  19. Just outside target at a few seconds over 15 minutes, so we’ll done Oink. Nice satisfying puzzle. I was on the lookout for the porcine reference, and sausage passed me by on solving, but did occur to me when I looked again after completion. For a moment or two, I wondered if Alfredo was a fictional hog? I now learn that pork is often served with an Alfredo sauce – who would have thought? Thanks both.

    Edited at 2020-10-06 10:36 am (UTC)

  20. 29 mins today which is just under my average, but a DNF as I got 20dn wrong and biffed “Irate” (I couldn’t parse it at the time – must learn to go back and double check)

    Found the NW corner a struggle and had to go to the rest of the grid before I made any headway. Like a few others, paused on 6dn “Passing”, but enjoyed the Italian references in 16dn and 18dn. Initially missed the Oink trademark, as sausage can of course be anything you want.

    FOI – 3dn “Underpar”
    LOI – 1ac “Sore”
    COD – 4dn “No Oil Painting” (although 16dn was a close second)

    Thanks as usual.

  21. Definitely feeling ‘under par’ today, by three minutes. I always anticipate some fun when I see Oink’s name, and today was no exception. Lots of short, neat clues which turned out to be more complex than they first appeared. I remember fettucine Alfredo from the Spaghetti House menu in the 70s and 80s – maybe it’s time to revisit that delicious if fattening recipe 😊

    I thought Jack would like BEDS but expected more comments about SORE / SAW – perhaps that particular battle has been lost!

    FOI Arson
    LOI Passing – this took the most time
    COD Sausage
    Time 15 mins

    Thanks Oink and Chris

    Edited at 2020-10-06 05:48 pm (UTC)

  22. Some tricky items held me up today. Took ages to get to PASSING and did not see COAST until I saw that ACES referred to tennis.
  23. ….over par, and I struggled a little in the NW corner.

    FOI UNDER PAR
    LOI PASSING
    COD NO OIL PAINTING
    TIME 5:24

  24. 11 ac. Why the A at the start of the clue? I always assumed that the answer would start similarly. So I assumed that was the A in the 1dn anagram. Hence the NW was slow.
    Thx. Johnny
    1. There are no particular rules or conventions on this one, Johnny, but setters are allowed occasional filler words to make the surface reading flow and I think that’s how I would account for ‘A’ here.

      Edited at 2020-10-06 01:17 pm (UTC)

  25. Took me a while today – 31 mins in all. Spent far too long without seeing the hiddens at 5dn and 9ac and wanted to put let fly in at 12ac but luckily refrained as, of course, I couldn’t parse it. Thanks to OInk for a tricky puzzle and to Chris for the blog.

    FOI – 10ac ARSON
    LOI – 17ac BUNION
    COD – 4dn NO OIL PAINTING

  26. I got held up having put Kent for the county where (U)kippers are found. Slow to think the county could be an abbreviation.
    1. For a while I thought it could be Notts – as in “knots” in a kipper tie. But obviously too many letters and probably a bit tenuous 😀.

      Classic overthinking.

  27. Excellent puzzle with all but the NW going in short order.

    Took far too long to see the anagram at 1d but that opened up all my other unknowns in that sector with LEGEND being my LOI.

    FOI ARSON with plenty of options for COD with NO OIL PAINTING just winning.

  28. I was just about to hit post comment when I managed to delete everything, which was frustrating but to paraphrase – very clever but slightly chewy puzzle. Finished in 13.27 with LOI COAST. PUREE just pipped BUNION to COD.
    Thanks to Chris
  29. With 6:54 given other’s comments.

    ALFREDO made me giggle, COAST was LOI.

    Good level for a QC, plenty to get you started, then some tougher, though not inaccessible clues.

  30. … as I DNF, having given up on 6D and put in Posting, which I knew was wrong. Could not get away from dope = drugs and overlooked dope = fool. Well doped by Oink!

    That apart, a tougher workout than many from Oink, and the NW corner particularly chewy. Clock stopped at 15 minutes for what it is worth for a DNF.

    Thanks to Chris for the blog
    Cedric

  31. 42 minutes. FOI 1a. But I agree with pebee. Those are not homophones. A bit like “floor” and “flaw”, which I have heard used in a quiz in similar vein. LOI 23a. COD 4d. Thanks to Oink and Chris.
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