Times Quick Cryptic 1720 by Tracy

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Solving time: 10 minutes. There were no major delays along the way for me here, but  I shall be interested to  read how others got on.

My attention was drawn yesterday morning (by a contributor at Fifteensquared) to The Chambers Crossword Dictionary which has hitherto escaped my attention, so I sent for a copy and received it later in the day courtesy of Amazon Prime. It looks very interesting, not least because its contributors include our founder Peter Biddlecombe, Don Manley (Izetti) and Tim Moorey who also sets for The Times. In addition to the main body of the work there are some very informative essays about crosswords and lots of lists and tips. My only slight reservation may be with the title as it’s more what I would describe as a thesaurus than a dictionary. This is fine if one bears in mind that words listed in entries are not necessarily directly synonymous with the lead word and would therefore not always be valid as definitions, just words in the same area of meaning. It’s still a very handy addition to the crossword armoury and at 958 pages some of you may feel it’s worth investing in. New in paperback it’s about £13 but there are used copies available on ebay and elsewhere for around half that.

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 Liqueur Italian knocked back with a girl (3,5)
TIA MARIA : IT (Italian) reversed [knocked back], A, MARIA (girl). Coffee-flavoured rum. I wonder who ‘Aunt Mary’ was?
5 Notice small earthenware container (4)
SPOT : S (small), POT (earthenware container)
8 Earliest trees close to forest (5)
FIRST : FIRS (trees), {fores}T [close]
9 Rogue‘s holiday home at home (7)
VILLAIN : VILLA (holiday home), IN (at home)
11 Proctor seen unexpectedly in part of Westminster Abbey (5,6)
POETS CORNER : Anagram [unexpectedly] of PROCTOR SEEN. Part of the south transept; Geoffrey Chaucer was the first writer to be interred there.
13 Outcome of increased effort (6)
UPSHOT : UP (increased), SHOT (effort)
14 Snub extremely rude fan (6)
REBUFF : R{ud}E [extremely], BUFF (fan)
17 Supporter saving seat for politician (11)
BACKBENCHER : BACKER (supporter) containing [saving] BENCH (seat). Lobby fodder.
20 Severe, twisted features ignored by female (7)
AUSTERE : Anagram [twisted] of {f}EATURES [ignored by female]
21 Original   tale (5)
NOVEL : Two meanings
22 Expected pounds for fight (4)
DUEL : DUE (expected), L (pounds)
23 Staunch supporter rightly depressed (4,4)
TRUE BLUE : TRUE (rightly), BLUE (depressed). Might work well as &lit these days!
Down
1 Hard losing initial argument (4)
TIFF : {s}TIFF (hard) [losing initial]
2 A move not entirely appropriate (7)
APROPOS : A, PROPOS{e} (move) [not entirely]
3 A dry male getting large one quickly (2,3,6)
AT THE DOUBLE : A, TT (dry – teetotal), HE (male), DOUBLE (large one  – mine’s a double!)
4 Lay out trendy American waistcoat (6)
INVEST : IN (trendy), VEST (American waistcoat)
6 Empty pan containing uncooked shellfish (5)
PRAWN : P{a}N [empty] containing RAW (uncooked). The surface reading is somewhat contradictory!
7 Number swarming round English holiday destination (8)
TENERIFE : TEN (number) + RIFE (swarming), containing [round] E (English)
10 Choose angle for tossing coins? (5,6)
LOOSE CHANGE : Anagram [tossing] of CHOOSE ANGLE
12 Committee added to trophy cabinet (8)
CUPBOARD : CUP (trophy), BOARD (committee)
15 Resolve shown by a French composer (7)
UNRAVEL : UN (a,  French), RAVEL (composer – and he was French)
16 Ready to drive off, wearing harness (2,4)
IN GEAR : Two meanings. I wasn’t sure of the second one here but SOED has ‘gear’ as ‘harness for draught animals’.
18 Class players? Last in league! (5)
CASTE : CAST (players), {leagu}E ([last]
19 Armada has no time to escape (4)
FLEE : FLEE{t} (armada) [has  no time]

47 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1720 by Tracy”

  1. No problem, other than biffing ON THE DOUBLE (which is how I’d say it), intending as always to come back to see if it worked, and as almost always forgetting my intention. But TIA forced me to change to AT, and the wordplay became clear. I hadn’t noticed anything odd about 6d, but I suppose one could take the clue as an imperative sentence. 4:59.
  3. Seems like a good day to showcase my ignorance. I’ve never heard of POETS CORNER and unscrambling the anagram until I had all the checkers proved to be beyond me. APROPOS finally fell when UPSHOT eventually came to mind giving me the P for the corner. Also didn’t know a waistcoat was a vest in the US and suffered my usual panic at seeing I was going to need to know a composer – but even I’ve heard of RAVEL even if I couldn’t knowingly hum one of his tunes. That lot slowed me down but it was misspelling the correctly parsed TENARIFE – wish I’d been as careful as Vinyl – that earned me my pink square – inexcusable! Odd solving experience today, all the first three acrosses went in but that was it for the first pass. Fared better on the downs until standstill in the NW before unpicking APROPOS, UPSHOT and POETS CORNER. Disappointing to start the week with a self-inflicted wound – 14m would have been solid enough otherwise.

    The Chambers Crossword Dictionary was one of my first crosswording purchases, just behind a big Chambers dictionary. It’s well thumbed now – having given me eleven years service since getting started on these prompted by Colin Dexter’s book (and related radio appearances) in 2009.

    Edited at 2020-10-12 06:24 am (UTC)

    1. The CCD is in its 4th edition now so maybe it’d be worth investing in a new copy as there are sure to be many updates including some of the essays.
      1. My CDC is the 2006 edition and is held together by swathes of silver duct tape. I use it when things get tough on here.
    2. When I need help, I use the Chambers app on my iPhone and Mac, and also Chamber’s Thesaurus. As I solve on a printed copy from the website, this is very simple and a good deal cheaper than the printed versions.
  4. … as all done in 9 minutes. Maybe attacking the puzzle early in the day is the answer! All parsed on first pass too, except 14A where I needed a second look to equate fan and buff.

    Aforementioned 3D must be my COD, but honorable mentions to 17A Backbencher and 23A True Blue. As Jack says, right now I suspect a number of True Blue Backbenchers are indeed feeling truly blue, as the government’s plans Unravel and the Prime Minister is repeatedly Rebuffed. Will the Upshot be that he is forced to Flee (to Tenerife?) and if so, who will be the Villain of the piece?

    Enough. Thanks to Tracy for a nice start to the week and to Jack for the blog.

    Cedric

  5. Warmed up with the 15×15 again today, as Monday is usually easier over there. Came up five clues short, so I was in the zone (as proper athletes say). Nevertheless, I did not exactly cruise through this tidy QC.

    LOI was AT THE DOUBLE with the dry=TT pairing that I never remember.

    ‘Close to’ indicating a last letter of the next word is a new one for me. Add it to the list. I needed this blog to parse it, although FIRST was biffable.

    COD for me was CUPBOARD as it is the classic (almost canonical) type of cryptic clue, the kind you need to be able to remember to give a simple example to the uninitiated. As in the famous “Pretty girl in Crimson rose (8)”

    I Like jacks comment about 23a being sadly an &lit clue these days.

    Edited at 2020-10-12 08:10 am (UTC)

  6. Don’t know why I struggled with Tia Maria – biffing On the Double didn’t help.
    I always think of Apropos as meaning concerning though biffed early on.
    Bit of a dull Blue morning.
    Liked Duel, Back Bencher
    Thanks all.

    Edited at 2020-10-12 09:15 am (UTC)

  7. Steady progress today, but held up at the end by APROPOS and POETS CORNER, where I had a complete brain fade and thus needed all the checkers before the penny dropped. Finished in 9.25.
    Thanks to Jack
  8. A fair start to the week. I had to jump about the grid to make progress but accelerated a little as more crossers emerged. Unaccountably, I filled in 2d as apropro [no, me neither, especially since I had recognised PROPOS(e)]. My LOI), UPSHOT, was only entered after I sorted myself out. This extended my time to 16 mins. Too many nice clues to list. Many thanks to both. John M.

    Edited at 2020-10-12 05:46 pm (UTC)

  9. Felt like a bit of a slog for a Monday, with 5 of the acrosses holding out at first pass. Chipped away with the aid of a fast run through the downs and got there in the end.

    FOI TIA MARIA, LOI APROPOS (which I must admit I wrongly thought was two words, French style), COD TRUE BLUE (elevated by Jack’s excellent blog observation!), time 2K for an OK Day.

    Thanks Tracy and Jack (and for the book tip).

    Templar

  10. Well, my phone did not ring this morning with the offer of work, so for the first time this month I could get the QC done in time to post on here. Thought I might be on for a good time as the first three went in, but sadly I slowed up after that. I still had almost everything done in about 20 I think, but I was stumped for several minutes by the 18d/20a combo. I finally resorted to writing C_ _ _ E down next to the puzzle so I could try some letters in the gaps, which for some reason I always think won’t help even though I know that time and time again it has in the past. This time I put an ‘S’ next to the E thinking that “players” might well be a plural ending in S. Of course it turned out it wasn’t but that didn’t matter as it still allowed me to see the answer and then get my LOI AUSTERE after 25:25. I didn’t know that the Americans called a waistcoat a vest either, but having got the V it was obvious and then I recalled the “See My Vest” song sung by Mr Burns in one of the early Simpsons episodes and it all made sense. COD to 12d. Thanks Tracy and Jack
  11. 10 minutes – I could not have done this one in 10 years. After 10 minutes I had 4 answers and this was all I could get. Just ridiculously difficult. This has convinced me that I have not the twisted turn of mind or the strange vocabulary for these crosswords. I will NEVER attempt any more of these cryptic tortures.
    1. Dear Anon, I only got four clues when I first started doing the QC about two years ago. It still takes me min half an hour! But I soldier on to give encouragement to the Slowcoach Club. The blog is a great help in learning Crosswordese and how to consider each word separately.
    2. Please sign your posts, at least with a pseudonym, hopefully we will see you back here. I could never crack this thing until I started studying with this blog, and frequently fail to finish.

      Soldier on, and come back soon.

    3. Agree with Countrywoman. When we first started doing the QC we felt just like you. Our approach to learning Crosswordese was to do the QC the day after it was published so that we could see the answers and work out how they related to the clue. By persevering we began to understand the tricks of the trade and within a relatively short time we were able to the solve the puzzles. I wish we had been aware of the this blog – it’s a great help and a fun club to part of.
      1. I’ve been doing them now for about five years and still rarely finish.
        But it’s been satisfying and enjoyable thanks to all of you lot with your help and humour.
        Diana
    4. Just to echo the other comments, I would say don’t despair. It took me ages to finish my first quickie and despite doing them from the beginning and slowly getting better, I still have shocking days every now and then! The first time you complete one you’ll feel great, and it might be sooner than you think (hopefully not 10 years!)
    5. I’ve been a regular ‘solver’ for a several years and still have some DNF days. My times are often 1 hr+. But I enjoy the solving and learn more tricks as the months go by. Time for me isn’t the issue, and wonder if I’d get as much enjoyment if I could get them done in the amazingly short times the top cadre achieve. If you enjoy a challenge, take heart from a lot of us who have learnt the craft the slow way. Checking here will show you to see and read clues in the different ways they need and to realise that you, too, can tackle a QC. I still find the 15×15 pretty dense but although this is a good training ground it’s a different beastie to these.
  12. Thought I was on for a PB, but got held up by “Apropos” and “Upshot”. In the end, came in at 16 mins which was still a pleasing start to the week.

    Enjoyed “Tenerife”, “Cupboard”, “Backbencher” and “At the Double”.

    FOI – 1ac “Tia Maria”
    LOI – 2dn “Apropos”
    COD – 6dn “Prawn” – simple, but made me smile.

    Thanks as usual.

  13. A lovely, relatively straightforward puzzle which took me just under 16 minutes.
    I had to biff ‘apropos’ which I too thought meant ‘concerning’ as in French and I hadn’t thought of the ‘propose/move’ connection.
    Favourites included the two anagrams POETS CORNER and LOOSE CHANGE and I can’t decide between AT THE DOUBLE and CUPBOARD for my CoD so I’ll go for them both.
    Thanks to Tracy and Jack for a great start to the week.
  14. A rare sub-10 minutes for me at 09:30, with one completely misread clue. At 14 across, I seem to have read the clue properly first time to see it started RE (RudE – extremely), but then read NUDE for RUDE when looking for the rest of the answer. NUDE equals BUFF, so in the right answer went, for all the wrong reasons! I don’t know what I thought FAN was doing there? Otherwise, plain sailing. FOI TIA MARIA, LOI APROPOS, COD – nothing stands out! Thanks both.
    1. I misread one of the clues in the “weekend” QC. For ages I was looking for “Dreadlocks” rather than “Deadlocks” which put a slightly different spin on the answer.
  15. 10 mins from FOI TIA MARIA to LOI REBUFF. I needed all the checkers for APROPOS and for some unknown reason, despite thinking of TEN straight away, TENERIFE was my penultimate solve but a lovely clue. However COD goes to TRUE BLUE. Thanks Tracy and Jack.

    Edited at 2020-10-12 10:24 am (UTC)

  16. Started, after a slight pause, with 1d Tiff, but then hesitated over Tia Maria until confirmed by At The Double (a dreadful thought!) After that it was mostly a top to bottom solve, with hold ups over Invest (guessed that waistcoat translated to vest across the pond, given that trousers are pants…) and Rebuff, where I was looking for the wrong sort of fan. I was pleased to have remembered Backbencher from the last time it caught me out, as that saved a minute or two and allowed a comfortable sub-20 finish. Cod to the nicely clued 15d, Unravel. Invariant
  17. I did the Guardian Monday as a warm-up, which was pretty easy, so was very much IN GEAR.

    No hold ups except UNRAVELling the anagrist to get to AUSTERE, though looking back, APROPOS was definitely biffed, so thanks Jack for the explanation.

    5:42.

    Let’s go and look at the 15×15.

  18. We enjoyed this gentle but fun puzzle. Nothing too taxing but, after making daft mistakes last week, we slowed down a little and finished the puzzle in 14 minutes. Thanks to Tracy.

    FOI: spot
    LOI: Tia Maria (we had entered on the double, but realised the error of our ways…)
    COD: prawn (tickled us)

    Thanks to Jackkt for the blog. We’ve never thought of using a crossword dictionary before although when we first set out to learn how to do cryptic crosswords we did enjoy Colin Dexter’s “Cracking cryptic crosswords”..

  19. Finished in 17 mins of which the last 5 were spent puzzling over 22ac and 23ac. No idea why these two took so long because they seem straightforward enough in hindsight (but then, don’t they all).

    FOI – 5ac SPOT
    LOI – 22ac DUEL
    COD (despite the contradictory nature of the clue) to 6dn PRAWN.

  20. A Good Day today at a smidge over 1.5 K with a few smiles on the way. I liked REBUFF, TENERIFE and LOOSE CHANGE.

    FOI Tia Maria
    LOI In gear
    COD Apropos
    Time 7:35

    Thanks Tracy for a nice start to the week and Jack for the blog and recommendation

  21. Fairly slow to solve this, not helped by being convinced 20a was grimace, which made the sw corner difficult.
  22. I found this a real stinker. I normally manage to finish (or nearly), but I could not do most of this one. Really depressed!
    1. It really does go to show how much is dependent on wavelengtth – and sometimes mood as well, I think! Better luck tomorrow 😊
  23. …about 5 of which were on Poets Corner – I had to write it out and took too long and Apropos (LOI) but I did know both. Cupboard also took too long for one that I have probably now seen similar a couple of times before.
    But a nice work out.
    Thanks all
    John George
    I must try the 15×15 – thanks for the tips – and also must try the ‘Saturday’ offering – thanks Phil in advance..
  24. I thought Tracy was in a benign mood setting today’s QC. No real hold-ups but coming here to check realised I hadn’t completed 2d although I had checked it off as a clue. I suppose I was in a rush to walk the dog in the drizzle and just scanned the clue lists…. Still, it was clear enough once the clue was read properly. When I need help, I use the Chambers app on my phone and Mac, and also Chamber’s Thesaurus. As I solve on a printed copy from the website, this is very simple and a good deal cheaper than the printed versions. FOI 1a Tia Maria, LOI 2d Apropos COD 23a True Blue.
  25. On paper today. About 10:30 after quite a slow start. Once I had a few letters the answers seemed obvious. FOI FLEE;LOI APROPOS. COD to UNRAVEL. David
  26. ….her powder all over my vest” (from “Walking My Baby Back Home”).

    No problems despite late start.

    FOI TIA MARIA
    LOI APROPOS
    COD FLEE
    TIME 3:41

  27. Slow to get started today. It wasn’t until I got to POETS CORNER that my brain started to turn. No real hold-ups, as you’d expect on a Monday.

    COD : probably CASTE

    H

  28. Very late to the crosswords today, but I trotted through this one in 8:26 with TIA MARIA first in, and APROPOS bringing up the rear. Thanks Tracy and Jack.
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  30. Surely its cheating to use a dictionary, certainly impairs your braggardly 8 minutes claim
    1. No-one here has claimed to have solved the puzzle in 8 minutes, let alone referred to using a dictionary in order to achieve that, so it’s not clear who you are accusing of being ‘braggardly’. You are welcome to take the discussion about dictionaries further if you are genuinely interested in pursuing it but since your comment was both rude and anonymous (how often those two factors combine!) I suspect you are not.

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