Times Quick Cryptic 1770 by Tracy

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

At 7 minutes I found this one straightforward but I shall be interested to read how others fared, especially our most recent recruits.

Before getting down to business, Jonathan (vinyl1) has asked me to post this message for the benefit of QC contributors who may not have seen it in his 15×15 blog last week, and I am happy to oblige:

…a word from TfTT Management. Some of the commenters have been posting pictures in their comments, which takes up a lot of space on the page and may be distracting to others.  Live Journal is not consistent in their treatment of these posts, and you may get just a picture URL on the platform you are on, but that doesn’t mean that the whole picture won’t show up for those using actual computers. I am therefore requesting that you, our honored and honorable commenters, not do this. Thanks for your cooperation!

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 Good-humoured judge with eyepiece (7)
JOCULAR : J (judge), OCULAR (eyepiece). I didn’t know ‘ocular’ as a noun.
5 Unlikely to add up if short (4)
TALL : TALL{y} (add up) [short]. ‘Tall stories’ are unlikely ones. ‘Tally / add up’ can be literal or figurative.
7 Peninsula in Russian region (not south) (6)
IBERIA : {s}IBERIA (Russian region) [not south – s]
8 Hunted animal in stone pit (6)
QUARRY : Two meanings
9 Jo expecting a baby? Me too (4,3,4)
JOIN THE CLUB : JO, then IN THE CLUB (expecting a baby – slang). Collins explains the  meaning of JOIN THE CLUB: said to indicate that you have had the same experiences or feelings as someone who has been telling you about their problems or how they feel.
10 Charm, a cross, first of three (6)
AMULET : A, MULE (crossbreed), T{hree} [first of…]
12 Pie keeping hot with foil (6)
THWART : TART (pie) containing [keeping] H (hot) + W (with). I’m sure when I were a lad ‘pies’ were closed pastry dishes and tarts were open ones, but the distinction seems to have been lost now, at least in the dictionaries. But perhaps what I was taught was wrong.
14 Head of coin in change causes heated row (11)
ALTERCATION : C{oin} [head of…] contained by [in] ALTERATION (change)
17 Criticise a mother’s hat (6)
PANAMA : PAN (criticise), A, MA (mother)
18 Circuit to power computer (6)
LAPTOP : LAP (circuit), TO, P (power)
20 What travellers pay for food (4)
FARE : Two meanings
21 The M25, for example — what may be said about small section? (7)
ORBITAL : ORAL (what may be said) containing [about] BIT (small section). The circular motorway around Greater London.
Down
1 Jack on outside broadcast work (3)
JOB : J (Jack – cards), OB (outside broadcast – TV jargon)
2 Friendly    drink (7)
CORDIAL : Two meanings
3 Smallest article in case put outside (5)
LEAST : LEST (in case) contains [put outside] A (indefinite article)
4 Petition concerning hunt (7)
REQUEST : RE (concerning), QUEST (hunt)
5 Runs inside dog track (5)
TRAIL : R (runs – cricket) contained by [inside] TAIL (dog)
6 Poet‘s line daughter stuck in Rob Roy novel with note (4,5)
LORD BYRON : L (line), then D (daughter) contained by [stuck in] anagram [novel] of ROB ROY, then N (note). He attended Harrow School, don’t y’know?
9 Cajun dish Juliet baked originally in a former British colony (9)
JAMBALAYA : J (Juliet – phonetic alphabet), then B{aked] [originally] contained by [in] A + MALAYA (former British colony). The dish as celebrated in song by Hank Williams in 1952.
11 A big blow to our sailors over a party (7)
TORNADO : TO, RN (our sailors – Royal Navy), A, DO (party)
13 Dog beat favourite (7)
WHIPPET : WHIP (beat), PET (favourite)
15 Guy drinks last of wine (5)
TEASE : TEAS (drinks), {win}E (last of…]
16 Impromptu remark from awkward lad I bowled (2-3)
AD-LIB : Anagram [awkward] of LAD I, then B (bowled – cricket). Here it is again! Can we please have a break from ad-lib?
19 Starts to order in lighter fuel (3)
OIL : O{rder} + I{n} + L{ighter} [starts]

50 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1770 by Tracy”

  1. I would have liked to break the 5-minute barrier, but I was quite afraid of some unknowns near the end (TEASE = guy, OB, ORBITAL) and took time to make sure I’d read carefully.
  2. So MALAYA was the former Colony and not Jamaica!

    FOI 1dn JOB (for our esteemed blogger as was AD LIB)

    LOI 4dn REQUEST

    COD 6dn LORD BYRON again!

    WOD The aforementioned Cajun dish at 9dn

    I took the 9.45 this morning – I expect some newbies will miss their stop.

    Edited at 2020-12-21 02:30 am (UTC)

  3. I thought of Jack as I spotted AD-LIB; and I thought of LORD BYRON before I saw how the clue worked. In ‘Patience’, Bunthorne wants Grosvenor to ‘cut his curly hair and stick an eyeglass in his ocular’; but then Gilbert takes liberties with the language. 3:49.
  4. How nice to start the week with a clear run. Couldn’t parse THWART although it was staring in the face and spent a while thinking about MULE for cross having convinced myself to look for angry or crucifix.
    Thanks Jack and Tracy for a puzzle that I seemed for once to be on the right wavelength.
    COD JOIN THE CLUB.
  5. 18 minutes – I thought it would be faster as there were write-ins at first, but I was held up at the end. GUY = TEASE was new to me.
    1. Don’t get me started. Regular bloggers will know that GUY=tease and PI=good are two of my pet peeves.
      2. wow I hadn’t spotted that – I’ve complained about pi on numerous occasions but I thought I was a lone voice.
      3. 45 minutes and I did not get tease. I have no idea how that equals guy but judging from your comment regular solvers would know that. Would love to know the answer
  6. I certainly didn’t find this easy at first. After 1a went in I had to wait until 20a to get my second, so only two on the first pass. That was followed up by six of the downs, leaving plenty of work to do. The breakthrough came with JAMBALAYA which gave enough checkers to get moving. Finished up all green in 15 so a respectable result in the end. LOIs WHIPPET and THWART but the longest hold ups were the (eventually) biffed AMULET and ALTERCATION where ‘change’ in the clue had me trying to work out how to spot 11 letters to rearrange for far too long.

    Interesting comments on pastry typologies Jack. The recent habit of claiming something with pastry resting on top is a pie is controversial so this is certainly contested territory, so the focus there is on the bottom. On tarts, I’d be disappointed if an apple tart came without at least a lattice on the top – although I’d be less fussy for a treacle tart.

    Edited at 2020-12-21 10:21 am (UTC)

  7. Just a note to thank all you bloggers and posters, my wife and
    I started doing the QC together a year ago, first on paper, lately
    the app — today 18:44. Your tips have made all the difference !

    Thought today was relatively plain sailing, though not sure defn of 15d.

    1. Welcome A M and thanks for your comments about the forum. I’m glad you find it useful. Don’t be shy in making comments now that you’ve broken the ice!
  8. No major hold ups today. I had to dredge JAMBALAYA out of the depths but was grateful for the clear wordplay as I’d have been tempted to spell it with a variety of vowels instead of limiting myself to As.
    Finished in 7.57 with LOI ALTERCATION with TALL just pipping JOCULAR for my COD.

    Edited at 2020-12-21 09:30 am (UTC)

  9. Like mendesest, I fared poorly on first pass and I worked up, fitfully, from the bottom. It gradually took shape and I finished a couple of minutes over target at 17mins. I expect I will not be alone in finding it fun but not quite the doddle that some posters describe. I suspect that reactions still to come from other slower solvers will be more interesting. Not in the least bit bothered by AD LIB or LORD BYRON but then I have developed a ‘wipe clean’ memory. I especially liked JOCULAR, AMULET and JOIN THE CLUB. Thanks to both. John M.

    Edited at 2020-12-21 11:56 am (UTC)

  10. I found this tough at first then got on a run. I didn’t get thwart but it was fair and clever.Thanks Tracy and jackkt. Tall doesn’t work for me without story. I’ve heard people say that’s a bit thin, but not tall!. Also I don’t think guy has this meaning these days outside of crosswords. He’s joshing me perhaps? Maybe its a regional thing.
  11. Mon, 21 Dec 20

    FOI: 16d AD-LIB
    LOI: 9d JAMBALAYA

    30 Minute Mark: 13
    60 Minute Mark: 20
    Time before use of aids: 33 mins

    Total Answered: 20/24

    I was rather hoping that, seeing as the world is supposed to end (again) today, fate would allow me my first completion of the QC. Alas it was not so, and I guess I am to be vaporised still a QC virgin.

    Another DNF, with 4 short this time. At first I had entered AD-HOC as my FOI (16d), but I quickly realised this was wrong.

    15d TEASE still puzzles me. I can’t see how Guy = Tease.

    Took me almost my allotted hour to answer 9a JOIN THE CLUB. I keep thinking of ME TOO as in the hashtag. Just couldn’t get that out of my mind.

    12a also stumped me as I concentrated too much on the first word (pie) being the definition.

    Happy Winter Solstice everybody, or happy Armageddon.

    Edited at 2020-12-21 10:02 am (UTC)

    1. Guy ‘to tease’ is in some dictionaries but I’m with you not in 21C speak at least not where I live
  12. No problem with Jambalaya thanks to The Carpenters in my case. And I have eaten it.
    A gentle puzzle with some familiar answers. You wait ages for Lord Byron to turn up and here he is again.
    LOI was TALL. COD to WHIPPET. Under 9 minutes on paper. David
  13. I was as quick as a lorry trying to get to Dover this morning, thanks to JAMBALAYA and JOIN THE CLUB, neither of which I have ever heard of (well, the IN THE CLUB part anyway for 9ac). As a regular user of both BINoculars and MONoculars I had no trouble with OCULAR, or indeed any of the rest of it. AD-LIB made me chuckle as I imagined Jack’s reaction.

    FOI JOCULAR, LOI JOIN THE CLUB, COD THWART (I agree with your distinction between pies and tarts, Jack), time 3.6K for a Terrible Day. Next!

    Thanks Tracy and Jack.

    Templar

    1. ‘If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit join our CLUB.’ Seventies – nineties advertising jingle for Jacob’s CLUB BISCUIT. Later McVities.
  14. Slow and steady …
    …and a bit of a plod through. Finished in 11 minutes, but not without hesitating several times (in particular I was not familiar with Ocular as a noun in 1A, or Tease as a synonym for guy in 15D – I was, as no doubt Tracy intended, looking for a man’s name).

    I smiled at 16D Ad lib and knew there would be comments here. It is quite extraordinary how not very common words appear 2, 3, sometimes even more times in quick succession. I wonder if the setters are playing a private game to see if they can fit the “word of the moment” in.

    COD 9A Join the club – very clever.

    Many thanks to Jack for the blog, and having been one of the guilty ones, strictures on photos noted.

    Cedric

  15. Failed on TEASE. Guy in this sense must be Crosswordese. Also had to check spelling of JAMBALAYA. And I put TILL for 5a as a Till is unlikely to add up if short. So fair enough?

    But I enjoyed the puzzle. FOsI JOCULAR, LORD BYRON, JOB, IBERIA

    LOI, or rather last correct one,THWART. COD JOIN THE CLUB

    Thanks all, as ever.

    Edited at 2020-12-21 11:00 am (UTC)

    1. I agree with you as I often do! I think these guys (pardon the pun) should ask themselves if they have ever heard a word used or seen it oitside of a crossword. If a word is in the dictionary it doesn’t always mean that it still has meaaning.
  16. Good start in NW corner but slowed after that. Did not see MULE=cross. But AMULET was guessable. Found a few words to fit the checkers at 12A ‘towers’, ‘toward’, but could not figure out how to get an “H” in there. Should have stuck with it.

    IBERIA appeared just last week.

    Guy=Tease. Don’t get me started.

    Very much liked ALTERCATION and JOIN THE CLUB. But Cod for PANAMA, which made me smile. Probably been done before, but new on me.

    BTW the 15×15 is not too bad today, especially the NW corner which felt like almost like QC.

    Edited at 2020-12-21 11:07 am (UTC)

  17. Solved at a steady pace, finishing in 14 minutes. Unfortunately a technical DNF as I had the first vowel in JAMBALAYA as a “u” and didn’t stop to fully parse it. No problems with ocular as a noun, Lord Byron or the ubiquitous AD-LIB. However I’ve never heard of guy=tease, although the answer was quite straightforward, and I always raise an eyebrow at the equating of pies and tarts, although it seems to be a frequent device in crosswordland.

    FOI – 1ac JOCULAR
    LOI – 15dn TEASRE
    COD – 9ac JOIN THE CLUB

  18. I’m pleased to report an on target solve to start the week. FOI was IBERIA, biffed AMULET, LORD BYRON and JAMBALAYA but sort of parsed post submission and LOI at 9 mins was TALL. COD to THWART. Thanks Jack for the blog which I needed to fully parse JAMBALAYA…as I had a spare A in my parsing using MALAY.
  19. I found this quite difficult in parts, so it became a fitful 30min solve. Started well in the NW with 1d/1ac, but Request/Quarry/Thwart remained blank for a long time, as did Altercation/Tease. I was grateful that Amulet came up in a recent puzzle, or that might have been another hold up. Not the best way to start the week, but I did enjoy 5d, Trail, for its smooth surface. Invariant
  20. Guy = TEASE? No wonder I didn’t get it.

    9a was a shoe-in, showing my age I guess.

    FOI was 19d, the last one I looked at, and it gradually developed from there, but very slowly.
    I never seem to find Mondays easy somehow, and no anagrams didn’t help.

    WOD THWART, it takes me back to many happy days sailing before we sold our lovely boat.

    Thank you, Tracy and Jack.

    Diana

  21. Well we guessed the answer to 15D and finished the puzzle in 14 minutes. Pretty straightforward with some of the clues being on a par with those in the 15×15 today (dipped my toe into the 15×15 world today – wasn’t too bad). Thanks Tracy.

    FOI: jocular
    LOI: tease
    COD: join the club

    Thanks for the blog Jackkt and your seasonal avatar.

  22. An enjoyable puzzle, but a DNF for me today: didn’t get the word play for ‘guy’ on TEASE or TALL(Y). My fault, having seen the helpful blog. COD JOIN THE CLUB.
  23. A lot of this went in from definition and the odd crossing letter. JOB and then JOCULAR were first 2 in. Didn’t bother to parse JAMBALAYA, another AD-LIB. LOI ORBITAL. A confidence booster for me at least! 6:00 Thanks Tracy and Jack.
  24. I’m ashamed to admit that this pushed me out to 19 minutes, after I found it difficult to get a meaningful start in the north. After switching to the south, things proceeded better. My LOI was IBERIA to finish back in the north after finally seeing JOB. Must do better!
  25. My heartfelt thanks to all setters, bloggers and posters over the past seven months. I started attempting these crosswords last May and have kept a log of my performances since 1st June. Since then, I have learned such a lot from reading all of your comments and helpful advice.

    I tackle the puzzles in the old-fashioned way – using pencil and paper, so my rather embarrassing times don’t appear on the leader board. I also don’t permit myself to use any aids, electronic or otherwise – competition rules, I presume.

    When I started, I was managing to solve fully about one in every three or four puzzles, but I now have an overall solve rate of 51% (74 of 146 puzzles). My average time to solve hasn’t really changed all that much, but I am often much quicker nowadays to the point at which I get stuck (typically with 4-5 clues to go).

    I found today’s puzzle by Tracy really tough going and finished in 68 minutes, with the last 35 minutes spent on my final five clues (5a, 6d, 9d, 10a and 15d). However, it wasn’t a DNF and, for me, that’s counts as a good day. Many thanks to Tracy for the puzzle and to jackkt for the explanation.

    1. Hi, and welcome to the club 🙂

      68mins for today’s puzzle is perfectly respectable after just 6 months at this game. Pretty soon it will just be the curse of the last one (or perhaps two) that gives you grief, but either way the enjoyment of cracking the clues is what counts.

    2. Many thanks for this insight to your solving experiences. Hope you will post more often now that you have made yourself known.

      Edited at 2020-12-21 08:59 pm (UTC)

  26. …under the second definition of guy “turn to ridicule, make fun of”. To TEASE is (or should be) essentially good-humoured, but the definition here doesn’t suggest that. I knew it of old, but I’ve never heard it used. However Chambers doesn’t describe it as either obsolete or archaic, so it must be in use somewhere.

    FOI JOCULAR
    LOI ORBITAL
    COD JAMBALAYA
    TIME 3:02

  27. But on this gloomy day where so much seems to be going wrong in the world, I found it difficult to stay on track with this puzzle. It’s a pity because, looking back at it, there were some really rather good clues today, eg 9 across, JOIN THE CLUB, and 10, AMULET. My LOI was 15 down, TEASE, because I had forgotten that, in crossword land at least, to guy someone can mean to josh them or pull their leg. Thanks jacckt and thanks too to Tracy
  28. As I continue to slowly improve my enjoyment of these puzzles continues to rise. I reckon I finish or near as dammit 1/2 the puzzles now, with pretty much all at least 2/3 complete. Believe you me this is progress!

    This puzzle was just achievable with a lucky guess on 15dn. Took a while to get going as is the norm but it gradually revealed itself for a satisfying post lunch workout.

    Thanks to the bloggers for their excellent contributions and improving my technique of cyrptics.

    Graham

    1. Thanks for your comments, Graham and I hope they will provide encouragement for some of our newer contributors. Onwards and upwards!
  29. Saw this was a Tracy offering which I often seem to struggle with and therefore didn’t try to go as fast as I might otherwise. Hence I finished on 28:30 with no major hold ups and probably could have shaved a bit off that. Anyway, still within target, so I’m happy. Didn’t manage to parse 12a as I had never heard of a pie called a TWART. It doesn’t sound nearly as tasty as a tart I have to admit. Also wondered why MULE = cross, but it’s obvious now. As for guy = tease, it’s funny how you see things like that a few times in crosswordland and they become normal and you forget that you’ve never heard anybody say them in the real world. Or is that just me? LOI FARE, COD LAPTOP, WOD JOCULAR Thanks Tracy and Jack
  30. 23 mins overall – but a technical dnf as I thought it was “Jumbalaya” rather than “Jambalaya” for 9dn.

    I also DNK “tease” = guy, and was getting ready for my usual annoyance that it was some obscure man’s name – but luckily I took a punt at it being something even more obscure. Will have to add that one to the list.

    Other than that – a good workout with some nice clues. NW went in a bit too easy so I braced myself for something harder in the rest of the grid. Liked the contradiction of “tall” for 5ac with “short” in the wordplay, 9ac “Join the Club” and 4dn “Request”.

    FOI – 1dn “Job”
    LOI – 13dn “Whippet”
    COD – 11dn “Tornado”

    Thanks as usual.

  31. Guy for tease comes up regularly.
    11 mins, stuck on least, whippet, and thwart.

    COD Tease or whippet.

  32. Doing the QC in the evening, and posting late, means there’s nothing to say except: yes, me too. I finished, with fingers crossed for TEASE, in 16:24.

    But I do get to see everyone else’s comments. There’s a theme about words coming up for the second time, or the third, or more. I count four today: IBERIA, LORD BYRON, AMULET and of course AD LIB. Coincidence? It’s hard to believe but, if not, what’s happening?

    Had to grapple with LEAST and TRAIL (too many dogs). I liked THWART, and I like Apple tarts but with a pastry lattice on top they are half way to being apple pies. COD ORBITAL. kap

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