Times Quick Cryptic 1766 by Wurm

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

After a great start with 1ac and 1dn going in straight away, it went rather downhill from there so I’m happy that I managed to struggle home just 10 seconds under 10 minutes.

COD 21ac as a reminder of happier times.
LOI was 19dn which took some parsing even if it was biffable from the definition. So this was good for me – how was it for you?

ACROSS

1. Supremely evil influence in Chartist reforms (10)
ANTICHRIST – anagram (reforms) of IN CHARTIST. Not sure if ‘influence’ is filler or intended as part of the definition. On edit – thanks to jackkt for clearing this up.
8. Note called out for a singer (5)
TENOR – homophone (called out) of note=tenner.
9. Movie maker collapsed in one (7)
FELLINI – collapsed (FELL), in (IN), one (I). His films include the one with a couple in formal attire having a chat in a fountain.
10. Snide lady busted in moral offence (6,3)
DEADLY SIN – anagram (busted) of SNIDE LADY.
12. Like hard wood (3)
ASH – like (AS), hard (H).
13. Author of nonsense new to master (5)
LEARN – Author of nonsense (dnk Edward LEAR – who popularised limericks in the 1800s), new (N).
15. Greek character is nothing fantastic (5)
OMEGA – nothing (O), fantastic (MEGA).
17. Struggle – after five, that is (3)
VIE – after five (V) we find ‘that is’ (IE).
18. Keen-eyed alumnus with man (9)
OBSERVANT – alumnus (OB – old boy), man (SERVANT).
20. Depression confined to beer firm (2,5)
AL DENTE – depression (DENT) inside beer (ALE).
21. Anglo-Saxon writer in Colorado resort (5)
ASPEN – Anglo-Saxon (AS – dnk this was the abbreviation but hey-ho), writer (PEN). I was there for the X-Games this February sandwiched in between visiting Denver and San Fransisco.
22. Secured position moving badger hide (10)
BRIDGEHEAD –  anagram (moving) of BADGER HIDE.

DOWN

1. Very old – and value in it misplaced (12)
ANTEDILUVIAN – anagram (misplaced) of AND VALUE IN IT. Of or belonging to the time before the Biblical Flood – so, yep, pretty old.
2. What Roman wore round northern kingdom (5)
TONGA – what Roman wore (TOGA) round northern (N).
3. Copper runs to get dog (3)
CUR – copper (CU), runs (R).
4. Garbage force brought in to recycle? (6)
REFUSE – force (F) brought in to recycle (REUSE).
5. Plunder so arranged shows radiance (9)
SPLENDOUR – anagram (arranged) of PLUNDER SO.
6. Spread for which I’d turned up behind schedule (6)
DILATE – I’d turned up (DI), behind schedule (LATE).
7. Disappointed heir ends date explosively (12)
DISHEARTENED – anagram (explosively) of HEIR ENDS DATE.
11. Squire‘s way to cross blue river (9)
LANDOWNER – way (LANE) to cross blue (DOWN), river (R).
14. Programme employed in Copenhagen daily (6)
AGENDA – inside Copenh(AGEN DA)ily.
16. Commercial in which scene cut to scale (6)
ASCEND – commercial (AD) inside which is (SCEN)e – cut.
19. Liberal with no previous partner for instance (5)
AMPLE – I was looking for liberal=L but here it’s the definition, no previous partner (EX) for the term instance ex(AMPLE). Clever clue.
21. Chopper in test coming up short (3)
AXE – test=exam coming upwards and shortened m(AXE).

48 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1766 by Wurm”

  1. Naturally, on a day when the Quickie seems trickier than usual, I look at Verlaine’s time: 1 minute and 50 seconds. Hats off.
  2. 8 minutes. With ANTICHRIST being a noun I think the definition at 1ac has to be ‘supremely evil influence’.
      1. Are we at cross purposes? I was referring to Chris’s query about the purpose of ‘influence’ and he has not indicated it as part of the definition by underlining it.
  3. After passing over the first four clues I hit a good roll of acrosses from DEADLY SIN to AL DENTE to fill the grid up nicely on the first pass and end up all green in a little under 11 – fast for me. Getting ANTEDILUVIAN quickly helped but I still had to check the letters carefully – without the anagrist there would have been two E’s and one I. Held up trying to unravel BRIDGEHEAD and LOI DILATE – where yesterday’s advice wasn’t followed and I had “behind” as instruction rather than data for too long. Couldn’t parse AXE at the time but felt brave enough to put the X in A_E for ‘chopper’ – very impressed Wurm got so much into only six words. An ace puzzle well blogged, thanks all.

    Edited at 2020-12-15 06:39 am (UTC)

  4. A very straightforward QC – come on Wyvern! Don’t let it drag on!

    FOI 1dn ANTEDILUVIAN

    LOI 9½ac FELLINI

    COD 1ac ANTICHRIST

    WOD 20ac AL DENTE

    1. “A very straightforward QC ” not here it wasn’t! But then I struggle with anagrams.

      Edited at 2020-12-15 04:45 pm (UTC)

  5. I was off to a flier with the 1s going in straightaway and I continued to make swift progress until my final 4 – AL DENTE, ASCEND, AMPLE and ASPEN. The last of which I had a horrible feeling that I was going to have to come up with an Anglo Saxon writer – if such a person even exists (Bede, maybe?). Fortunately with the checkers in place all became clear.
    Finished in 9.48 with WOD going to ANTEDILUVIAN, where the order of the E and 1st I almost tripped me up.
    Thanks to Chris
  6. Nothing too difficult – just a good mix of clever clues which we solved in 13 minutes. Lots to enjoy – thanks Wurm.

    FOI: Antichrist
    LOI: ample
    COD: al dente

    Thanks for the blog Chris.

  7. 11:02 is another good time, and with an earlier solve of the 15×15 that gives a combined time of under 90 minutes.

    Long anagrams around all four sides made this a bit easier than many (or I had a good day for having anagrams pop out). Although technically a DNF as I transposed the first E & I in ANTEDILUVIAN, and that with an O-Level in Latin & Greek. Tsk tsk.

    With LOI 19d sitting with A-P-E I was well tempted to bung in APPLE to stop the clock. Just resisted.

    I think there are too many devices in play for a QC at 21d (AXE), although A-E=chopper means that biffers (like me) can move on. Blogger (thx, Chris) explains that I needed a synonym, followed by a reversal, followed by a truncation.

    COD: ANTEDILUVIAN – and well-positioned to catch poor spellers like me

  8. I did get the E and the first I mixed up in ANTEDILUVIAN, but luckily felt sufficiently unsure as to revisit it before completion. The consequential delay took me past my 15 minute target by 30 seconds, although I had also been interrupted by Mrs Rotter with today’s Christmas card arrivals, so I’m going to count it as target achieved – just! A good puzzle from Wurm, and thanks for the blog to Chris.
  9. Tue, 15 Dec 20
    FOI: 1a ANTICHRIST
    LOI: 19d AMPLE

    30 Minute Mark: 14
    60 Minute Mark: 22
    Time before use of aids: 30

    Total Answered: 22 of 24

    Another frustrating one in which I was left with three I just could not get, one of which when I looked at the answer, I had never heard of.

    The three I did not get, and had to come here for were:

    20a AL DENTE – never would have got this one as I have never heard of this before.
    22a BRIDGEHEAD – I knew it was an anagram of Badgers Hide, and I had 4 of the letters, so was disappointed that I did not get this one.
    11d LANDOWNER – yes, now I look at the answer, I can see how it was obtained.

    Like therotter, I misspelled (or is it misspelt?) antediluvian, getting the I and E mixed up.

    2. To give myself more practice I have purchased a copy of The Times Quick Cryptic Crossword – Book 1, which contains 80 QC from the year 2014, which, the book tells me, is the year when The Times started the QC. It includes the first ever QC, published in The TIMES in March of that year.

      At the start of this book is an example QC crossword, that gives not only the answer, but a detailed explanation of how that answer was obtained. This, I am sure, is going to be very helpful to me.

      Unlike the daily QC I will not give myself an end time limit, but will continue with each crossword until I have completed it.

      One thing I did not realise is that the QC (and maybe the harder Cryptic crosswords) often contain a theme. I’ll keep an eye put for that.

      1. As a tip: if you want to see how the clues in the book are parsed, just Google the clue and you should be led back to the original crossword (they are all from previous crosswords) and the parsing made by the esteemed contributors to this journal. Enjoy the book. I usually do one on each weekend day to make up for the QC not appearing.
        1. If you type ‘Quick Cryptic’ and the puzzle number in the TfTT search field it should take you to a direct link to the blog for that particular day.

          On a standard PC or laptop the search field is denoted by a magnifying glass at the very top right of each page. Other devices and apps may vary.

    3. If you buy Italian dried pasta, you will see cooking instructions – boil for a shorter time if you want it cooked AL DENTE , literally able to feel it with your teeth, so not too soft.
  10. Too eager to finish this and ended up bunging in LONDONNER for my LOI 11d, thinking that “squire” might be slang for someone from that neck of the woods, and failing to notice that it shouldn’t have a double N, and, although it included a river (the Don), it didn’t actually work with any of the rest of the clue. I am obviously becoming slapdash and starting to biff things without parsing. I wasn’t even on for a great time as I had 22:33 on my watch, though I guess it would have been worse if I had been. A salutary lesson. Anyway, the rest of it was relatively straightforward for a Wurm puzzle I thought. A few too many anagrams though. COD 20a. Thanks Chris and Wurm
  11. Wow, two consecutive user-friendly puzzles from the Scourge of the QC. Has the Wurm turned?

    I thoroughly enjoyed that, though I am still reeling from Verlaine’s time (see Jeremy at the top). That’s about as fast as I could type the answers in knowing what they were. A somewhat sombre mood to the puzzle though, with a distinctly unseasonal 1ac followed up by 10ac and 7dn. Cheer up Wurm!

    FOI ANTICHRIST, LOI & COD AMPLE (very clever), time 9:51 for an estimated 1.8K (where is Kevin?).

    Many thanks Wurm and Chris.

    Templar

    3. When I accidentally submitted last week, I was still just over 2 minutes – V even types quicker than I do. We’re not worthy….
  12. But I needed the blog to parse AMPLE which held me up but was biffed from the literal liberal. AL DENTE also resisted for a while. Medium rather than easy, I felt, but enjoyable throughout.
  13. Typical Wurm for me. Some tempting simple short answers on an initial tour around the grid and then a stiffer test. I took longer than usual to see most of the long anagrams and really needed crossers but I managed them without writing down the anagrists. Like others, I agonised over ANTEDILUVIAN and almost got it wrong. LOI was AMPLE. I think this was a very fair puzzle all round and feel I should have managed it better – it took me 3 mins over my current target of 15mins, all parsed. It used to be 10- 12 mins a year or two ago so I’m not sure whether I am becoming less effective or whether the puzzles are really getting tougher. Thanks to Wurm and to Chris for a crisp blog, as usual. John M.
  14. Another confusing Is and Es in 1D …
    … and like Rotter I dallied with them the wrong way round before reminding myself that Ante means before and Anti means against not the other way round. But all done in 10 minutes for a most enjoyable solve.

    Only other real sticking point was LOI 19D Ample, where the answer came fairly quickly once I had the checkers but the parsing seems backwards to me. I could understand the logic if the clue was “Instance without previous partner is liberal”, though obviously this has a poorer surface. But as it is, it caused me to stop and scratch my head a bit.

    Many thanks to Chris for the blog
    Cedric

  15. I thought this was going to be a really quick time until I got to the last 3….these were 20 and 21 across and 19 down. I only got 20, AL DENTÉ, via an alphabet trawl based on “A* D*N*E”. I only got 21 across, ASPEN, by, in desperation, googling “resorts in Colorado ” and I only got AMPLE, by gaining the middle P that had just been provided by the newly arrived 21 across. Ah well. Good clues, fairly constructed. Thanks Chris, for the blog and thanks too to Wurm
  16. After FOI CUR, I found the anagrams rather tricky and had to write down the fodder or look for other clues. So it was a slow start but quite a quick finish with LOI AL DENTE. Cod to that or AMPLE, which I did parse before submitting. Time was 12:19.
    A good all-round test. David
  17. A repeat of yesterday, with 1ac, a spelling test at 1d, and resultant offspring giving a speedy start to an entertaining QC. I’m not a huge fan of long anagrams, but for once they were a help rather than a hindrance, allowing me to arrive at loi 19d after 15mins. I could see the answer was Ample (well, Apple seemed the only other option) but decided to give up trying to parse it after a couple of frustrating minutes. Having read Chris’s blog, I think that was a good call. CoD to 20ac, Al Dente, just ahead of 11d Landowner. Invariant
  18. AMPLE and ANTICHRIST were my last two in. AMPLE very much a biff, so thanks for the explanation!

    Word of the day ANTEDILUVIAN!

    5:48 for me.

  19. Not a great one for haters of anagrams I think. Anyway, had everything completed in 15 minutes and then just could not get 19dn so a dnf for me.

    From the darkest reaches of my memory, I’m sure there’s some wealthy, liberal MP who began with an “A”, and I thought it was that – but I just couldn’t remember it and from reading the blog I went in the wrong direction anyway!

    Overall though – another enjoyable, if slightly trickier, puzzle. Main issues were spelling “Antediluvian” correctly, trying to get Jerry Goldsmith’s score for “The Omen” out of my head after completing 1ac and wondering whether “dilate” meant “spread” for 6dn.

    Enjoyed 11dn “Landowner” and 18ac “Observant”.

    FOI – 8ac “Tenor”
    LOI – dnf
    COD – 20ac “Al Dente”

    Thanks as usual.

  20. Oh dear. Zoomed through most of it, including the long anagrams, but then stuck on AMPLE, ASPEN and AL DENTE, so a sad DNF. Good clues, but beyond me!
  23. Lots of anagrams, which always helps me. Plus I could spell antediluvian – I knew those Latin lessons would come in useful one day. 🙂 Got stuck on AMPLE, and it wasn’t until I biffed it that I saw the parsing. 6:57.

    COD – OBSERVANT

    H

  25. Medium difficulty IMO and a fine puzzle with fair clueing. Possibly a few too many anagrams for my taste but I managed them all without much difficulty. Fairly smooth progress throughout with no undue hold-ups and all finished and parsed in 15 minutes.

    FOI – 1ac ANTICHRIST
    LOI – 19dn AMPLE
    COD – no stand-out contender today but liked 9ac and 19dn

  27. ….OBSERVANT at 1D, as last time this word came my way I thought “before the dEluge”, and was thus undone. Never fall into the same bear trap twice !

    FOI ANTICHRIST
    LOI BRIDGEHEAD
    COD REFUSE
    TIME 3:28

    Edited at 2020-12-15 04:01 pm (UTC)

  28. We liked the long anagrams although fell out over the spelling of 1d. Held up by 4d when we had rehash which caused a problem with 9a. Nice puzzle, thanks Worm and as ever, the blog. Sadly, the dog on our alias has gone to the great kennel above.
  29. No, sorry, it doesn’t. I wrote that post on my phone. As I write a lot of French on my phone, I often get autocorrected to French words as in here, denté ! I didn’t notice until too late (or laté…. )

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