Times Quick Cryptic 1820 by Trelawney

57 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1820 by Trelawney”

1. After a tough week with the quick cryptics last week, I was delighted to have a time under 10 minutes again!

   Unambiguous as the clue for SPAM was, I still put in MAPS and had to change it. Couldn’t figure out the wordplay for the life of me of INHERIT, even though I knew the ingredients, and eventually had to biff it with crossers. FREE SPIRITS must be a chestnut but I still chuckled!

   1. Glad it wasn’t just me 🙂 MAPS gave me bother till the penny dropped!
2. Most of it went right in, but I had a hard time seeing free spirits, but free thinkers didn’t fit.

   This is the sort of puzzle nearly everyone will finish…..I hope.

3. Another one with initial MAPS, which of course delayed PARAPET & MOTOR. I realize now that I never did parse PINAFORE. 5:51, but with a stupid typo, stupidly overlooked.
4. I have started actually posting times on the Club, not sure really what the point is, but giving it a go. 20:47 also keeping up a good run in the Cryptic Jumbo on Saturday. One of today’s clues appeared there which helped a bit today, as it was in my mind.

   Very straightforward vocabulary today, in fact I almost miss the odd obscurity, setters can’t win!

   Never did see that hidden clue at 1a, PINAFORE. I tried mightily to make PANAMAN fit, which has “A man” inside, and could be another garment?

   COD HAPPY MEDIUM. great clue.

   1. Someone else who generally takes around 20 minutes May compare their times to yours and so give an indication of how, relatively, they did on a particular puzzle. For example, I often come in a minute or two slower than jackkt – which was the case today as I took 9 minutes, so that counts as a reasonably normal effort for me. It will also be good to see your times coming down with practice – good luck!
5. We too started with MAPS but quickly changed it to SPAM with the checkers. All pretty straightforward and we finished in 9 minutes. Thanks for a fun start to the week Trelawney.

   FOI: spam (maps)
   LOI: inherit
   COD: happy medium and free spirits (both of them made us laugh)

   Thanks for the blog Jackkt.

6. I enjoyed this but I didn’t find it all that easy. All green in 14 including a period becalmed with a fair bit of the top half still to go. Spotting the hidden PINAFORE would have speeded things up but that was one of many passed over on the way to getting five on the first pass of acrosses. Enjoyed HAPPY MEDIUM but got the biggest smile from HONESTY which had to be picked away until I saw what ‘perfect’ was up to.
7. A gentle start to March, in my humble opinion. I enjoyed this one and fair breezed through it in under 20 minutes. 10d HAPPY MEDIUM made me chuckle, and my favourite was 23a ANIMATED. 8a THEME seems be a very common clue of late. I wonder if this might be regarded a chestnut?
   By the way, thanks to poison wyvern and johninterred for the advice to try the Jumbo over the weekend. I tried it and I liked it.

   From an Englishman, slightly bruised over the weekend, to any Welsh solvers in here, mwynhewch eich diwrnod!

   Edited at 2021-03-01 08:32 am (UTC)

   1. I think it was me as well who encouraged you to try the Jumbo. The only down side is that you can’t discuss it on the blog until a full week later.
      1. So it was! I just checked back. Thank you. I enjoyed it very much, even though I’m just dipping in and haven’t finished it yet.
   2. Diolch yn fawr, Cymru am byth.
8. A gentle but witty Monday offering which I greatly enjoyed. Unfortunately I didn’t have my anagram hat on and so had to come back to SANDPAPER and ON THIN ICE; I also spent too long trying to work “tango” into the anagrist for 23ac instead of realising that it was just T.

   FOI PINAFORE (“so give three cheers and one cheer more …”), LOI ON THIN ICE, COD HAPPY MEDIUM which gave me a real chuckle, time 1.3K for a Very Good day.

   Many thanks Trelawney and Jack.

   Templar

   1. I’ve started looking out for the nato alphabet as it’s often snuck in to confuse me.
      Especially sneaky to link tango and dance!
   2. I’ve started looking out for the nato alphabet as it’s often snuck in to confuse me.
      Especially sneaky to link tango and dance!
9. No trouble with this one and cruised to an on par 20 minute finish. Desperately tried to fit in Happy Returns for 10D but had to settle for Medium which was a disappointment. What with mentions of spirits and mediums I wondered if there was anything ghostly going on but couldn’t spot it. A nice puzzle exercising many of the xwd code forms without misdirection or the tricky boys/girls names which always challenge me. COD HONESTY.
   Have a good week everyone. Thanks Trelawney and Jack
10. A case of Monday morning cobwebs for me as I struggled to tune into this one. I didn’t get much in the top half of the grid on my first read through but one of the few I did fill in was MAPS. Unlike some others I didn’t spot my error which combined with my inability to unravel SANDPAPER made much of the NE a mystery for a good few minutes. I eventually realised my mistake and everything became clear. Finished in 12.38 with COD to HONESTY.
    Thanks to Jack
11. FOI SPAM, and the rest flowed in reasonably quickly. SANDPAPER (LOI) took minute or two, and had to work out PARAPET , ON THIN ICE.
    Good start to the week. Thanks , Jack. COD INHERIT
12. Started well, first one in was MAPS, which messed up the top left corner and didn’t see the error until I had finished the rest of the clues. Hence my time of 24:49 , 4 minutes over my target time. Enjoyed it though.
13. A good start and I gradually worked my way anti-clockwise around to the NE where I was stuck until I sorted out that 6d had to be PARAPET and hence I had entered MAPS for 5a. Yes, the important this passed me by. This took me 3 mins over my 15 target but it was a good puzzle and I enjoyed it. Best for me were LIBYA, FREE SPIRITS and HAPPY MEDIUM. Thanks to Trelawney and jackkt. John M.

14. FOI: 5a SPAM
    LOI: 22a REEL

    Time to Complete: 1hr 18mins.

    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 26.

    Clues Answered with Aids (3 lives): Nil

    Clues Unanswered: Nil

    Wrong Answers: Nil

    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 26/26

    Aids Used: Nil

    A great start to the week and indeed the month, with a completion. My seventh.

    This was one of those puzzles in which I read some clues that I was not able to answer quickly, but I knew I could answer them. Sometimes I read a clue and I just know I won’t get it, as I am sure it would be a word I am not familiar with. As the grid started to fill up, my confidence increased.

    I am now starting to find words and clues that seem to be “regulars” in cryptic crosswords. Answers such as “PINAFORE”, and clues relating to pets (“a dog perhaps?”)

    5a. SPAM – At first, I was not sure whether to put MAPS or SPAM. The definition could have been plans or junk mail. But I put SPAM as I felt that spam meaning junk mail made more sense than maps meaning plans. Fortunately, my initial impression of the answer was correct.

    22a. REEL – I saw this answer in my head early on. At first, I thought it was the name of a freshwater fish, that had the same name as something used to pull the fish in, i.e., a reel. But I could not think of any fish called a reel. Then the cryptic unravelled itself in my Monday morning, post-5am run mind. River = R, Fish = EEL. Put them together and you get REEL, something used to pull the fish in.

    10d. HAPPY MEDIUM – Perhaps my favourite clue in this puzzle. It took a fair while to answer it, and I was unable to do so until I have a number of cross letters filled in.

    My first QC by Trelawney.

    1. I sometimes look at a clue and think it insoluble, but more often than not I can get it once the crossers are in place — OK, often it’s biffed, but I’ll take the time to parse it later.

       Today’s puzzle was quite easy to solve, but clued to a very decent standard — thanks Trelawney.

       FOI PINAFORE
       LOI INHERIT
       COD HONESTY
       TIME 2:58

    2. Good job!
15. … which took me 9 minutes to complete. I also wondered about Maps or Spam for 5A, but rather lazily moved swiftly on rather than continue to look at the clue, confident that the checkers would show which was right in due course — which they duly did.

    Only other real hold-ups were 23A Animated (did anyone else look for an anagram of “maiden is” that meant a tango dance first?) and 10D Happy medium. This was my LOI (I needed the M checker from 23A) and having got it, COD: my problem was that I initially assumed the other meaning of compromise, ie the verb to compromise, as in to put something at risk or cause something harm or damage, and it was only once I had realised it was the noun and meant agreed middle course that the answer became clear.

    Many thanks to Jack for the blog
    Cedric

    1. I will confess I was also guilty of the “maiden is” anagram until I got 19dn.
    2. I went in a completely different direction — I started off thinking it was M from maiden, so tried to put together tango + a + m + is which in fact was nine letters 😅

       Edited at 2021-03-01 02:01 pm (UTC)

16. Thirteen minutes, some time wasted on pondering maps/spam and trying the downs to see if they would clarify. Not immediately.Seven acrosses and seven downs at first pass. FOI pinafore, LOI Happy medium, with a smile and a sigh of satisfaction. Lots of good clues. Did not parse honesty. Some head scratching and was pleasantly surprised by my completion time. Thanks, Jack and Trelawney. GW.
17. Just over 10 minutes for me with LOI PINAFORE; I did see the hidden after I’d thought of the answer.
    FOI LIBYAN. A nice puzzle. COD to ON THIN ICE.
    David
18. A slightly tardy 14m for me, which I can’t help thinking could and should have been quicker. After looking at 1a and not seeing it, I switched to the down clues for a start, and NIECE and REIGNS obliged. I then realised I was looking for a hidden in 1a, but with xxNxxxRx I started looking at the wrong end of the clue. And so it progressed, following several blind alleys. However, all completed and parsed within target, so I should settle for that! Thanks Trelawney and Jackkt.
19. Didn’t use a timer but I reckon about 30 minutes, which is good for me. I usually read through the all the clues before entering any answers but this will have slowed me down today as many were apparent straight away. I’ve been recommended to read all the clues 1st, but do people think this is a good method? Today not, for sure.

    FOI Pinafore, LOI Pitcher (because I forgot to go back to it). COD Happy Medium closely followed by Free Spirits.

    Many thank, Jack and Trelawney.

    1. I understand that the speed merchants enter one clue while reading the next one. I can only marvel at how they do this. Personally, I don’t go through all the clues first, but starting at 1a, try and fill in as I go. If I have to think for more than a few seconds, I move on to the next clue and return to try and fill the gaps later. I’m also not fussed about trying to do all the acrosses first, but move around the grid, filling in quarters working from checkers (where possible). In fact, in the six years of doing these, I think I’ve achieved a clean sweep exactly once! But really, you should do what suits you – if by reading the clues all the way through first settles you into crossword mode, then that can only be a good thing 😊 Good luck – and congratulations on your good time today!
20. I think I have a Monday morning head as I had a typo in the Concise and that made me look carefully for tyos in this one which took me just over my target time to 10:09. I feel I should’ve been quicker, but, like Vinyl1 it took me a while to see FREE SPIRITS, my LOI, rather than thinkers, and MEDIUM also took a moment to drop. I also had to write out the anagrist for ON THIN ICE. I think another coffee is in order before I tackle the 15×15. Thanks Trelawney and Jack.
    1. Oh dear. That’s how I felt when I started a couple of years ago, but with perseverance it does get easier. Just try to get one or two of the easier clues in first, like 19a and 2d, and then work around them. Even now I sometimes have to leave it, do something else and then come back to it. It’s amazing how you can spot things on a second visit. Good luck!
    2. If you really do have nothing to work with, then I suggest writing in the across answers from the blog and then having a go at the down clues, or vice versa.
       1. You don’t have to do the clues in order. Find one you can do and use that to build out the others.
          Don’t give up
    3. We’ve all been there! Some of us still are and others were there so long ago they have probably forgotten the way. Cryptics are like learning a foreign language with its own syntax, vocabulary and colloquialisms. Some speak it fluently (sub 5 minute solvers), some manage word by word in about 25 minutes and for many, we add new rules to the language all the time. Plusjeremy provides a very detailed and descriptive blog on his duty day which is invaluable to the beginner/intermediate (and expert too!) which will help a lot to unravel the subtleties of the cryptic clue. First rule of cryptics is not to read the clue as if it is what it says! Second rule is that it is what it says! Good luck and it does get easier and very enjoyable too, especially those penny drop moments.
       1. I found it really helpful when I first began, to use an anagram translater on the obvious clues, just to get me started.

          As I frequently comment, I don’t consider it cheating, unless you’re attempting a bit of friendly competition with those amazingly skilful players who stun me with their speed.

          Diana

21. I thought this was a good QC for experienced solvers, by which I mean it was straightforward enough if you knew the things to look for — ‘some’ in 1ac is a strong hint to look for a hidden word, unlimited wine in 21ac means drop the w and e characters, etc. As Algol60 found, perhaps not so straightforward if you are new to the game. Anyway, 18mins in total with CoD to 20ac, Honesty. Invariant
22. 13:28 and a nice gentle start to the week. I too had MAPS in briefly before SPAM. It has to be one or the other. Our blogger tells us the clue to which is the word “this”, but I still don’t see it. Lots of fun clues. I liked HONESTY and FREE SPIRITS but COD to HAPPY MEDIUM. Thanks to Trelawney and Jacckt
    1. Our blogger tells us the clue to which is the word “this”, but I still don’t see it.

       I was a bit unsure about the role of ‘this’ at first, but then I reasoned that apart from being ambiguous the clue would work without it, so it must be serving some purpose. And since ‘this’ is often used as a placeholder for answers, it seemed reasonable to assume it was pointing to which side of the clue needed entering.

       —AntsInPants

23. Didn’t have my brain in gear, so rather juddered through in generous SCC time. I can usually manage anagrams in my head fairly well but was slow with all the longer ones today. However it was a nice crossword, so thanks Trelawney, whose fair county I can just see across the Tamar from my upstairs window.
24. No real problems and a steady solve. Nice for a Monday!
25. I think I’m in the could have been quicker club today – coming in at bang on 29 mins. Some nice clues from Trelawney, including 6dn “Parapet”, 20dn “Honesty” and 9ac “Inherit”.

    I couldn’t see what else 1ac could be apart from “Pinafore”, but it took me an age to see the hidden clue. Similarly, it still amazes me how a 6 letter anagram (4dn “Reigns”) can cause so many problems. After trying to insert “Mini” and “Metro” into 7dn, thinking 1dn could be “Bottler” and struggling with the longer clues of 3dn “Free Spirits” and “Happy Medium”, I eventually crossed the line.

    FOI – 5ac “Spam”
    LOI – 21ac “Incur”
    COD – 20ac “Honesty”

    Thanks as usual

26. A good, ego-boosting QC for a Monday, with straightforward clues.
    I just missed the ‘some’ in 1A as being an indicator for ‘hidden in’ and so got lost here thinking I needed ‘some’ of the word ‘chap’…

    Many thanks for this start to the week.

27. Reasonably straightforward for me today, reckon I can’t in under 20 mins as seemed to have quite a few write ins. I biffed honesty as wasn’t quite sure how it worked, and had a bit of doubt in the SE corner with Reel my LOI.

    Thanks Jack for the explanations and Trelawney for a smooth start to the week.

28. Very pleased to find all correct in 32 minutes, although I never did fully parse PARAPET and came here in some trepidation. The NE corner held me up at the end, partly because I was slightly unsure of my spelling of REIGNS, and partly because my first solution for 9a was INHABIT. I also took a while to see SPAM at 5a.

    This is a big week for me, because when I started attempting these puzzles last June I set myself the challenge of correctly solving (without aids) more than 50% of them within my 1-hour target by the time I’d reached 100 puzzles. Unfortunately, I failed to achieve that aim, so I reset my goal to solving >50% (in <1 hour) of my first 200 QCs. My 200th QC comes up on Friday and my current score versus the setters now stands at 99-97. Just two more successes from the remaining four this week will suit, but nothing’s guaranteed in my solving capability.

    It’s not so touch and go for Mrs Random – she romped home today in 22 minutes with only INHERIT causing her any real delay.

    Many thanks to Trelawney and to jackkt for the blog.

29. I thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining puzzle from Trelawney and finished just over my new target time of 10 minutes. I thought there was a really good mix of all the usual clue styles, with some amusing surfaces, so perhaps it is a good primer for newer solvers. ‘Some’ as a hint for a hidden is definitely one to remember, as is R for river (if it’s not the Dee, the Ouse or the Po!)

    Quite a few ticks and smiles next to the clues as I worked through this in a reasonably ordered manner. Definitely a PDM when I worked out HONESTY – very clever. I liked the clue for 13a, even though it’s more grey than wet here today – very disappointing after the weekend.

    FOI Pinafore
    LOI Incur – I initially put Recur in, even though it didn’t really make sense (Red without the D, I forgot about taking both front and back letters off) POI Happy medium put me right there
    COD Free spirits, although Happy medium came a close second

    Many thanks Trelawney for a very nice start to the week, and Jack for the blog

30. An early solve today and requiring some head-scratching. FOI 1a Pinafore LOI 23A Animated. COD 17d Libyan for the construction. Had 6d and 7d so no options over 5a Spam for me. Quickly got 3d Free ….. and 10d Happy …. but the rest of those answers took a while until both PDM occurred. Thanks to Trewlaney for a good start to the week and Jackkt for his concise blog.
31. Was chugging along very nicely for most of this and I think I’d have come in under 15 had it not been for 9a. Just couldn’t see it. Even after I’d figured out it was I_HER_T I didn’t see it straight away. Thankfully it didn’t take too long after that and I finished in 22:35. I thought that would probably be slow in comparison to the usual crowd, but it doesn’t seem to be as bad as I feared. FOI 1a, LOI 9a, COD 20a. Thanks Trelawney and Jack
32. A very enjoyable puzzle which I was able to work through steadily with no major hold-ups. Some lovely surfaces to the clues – thanks Trelawney. My time was 16 minutes with everything parsed so I scarcely needed jackkt’s excellent blog today.

    FOI – 8ac THEME
    LOI – 5ac SPAM
    COD – 3dn FREE SPIRITS

33. No real holdups until we has only 1a and 1d left. Penny dropped eventually but the delay meant that we did not quite make a rare excursion from SCC country. Thanks Trelawny, and for the blog.
34. … is doable, providing you are not put off by 1ac and are happy to biff a few from crossers.
    1. I usually do the 15×15 straight after the quickie in the morning but have only settled down to do it just now (after walk, before cooking supper) and I agree! Very user friendly 😊 Even 1a isn’t too bad if you know your London postcodes!
35. As I was busy making Welsh cakes, leek soup and lamb risotto for dinner tonight — yes, I’m another solver who’s wearing daffodil brooches and sheep earrings… Happy St David’s Day, pawb.

    Enjoyed the crossword today, late though it is. No real difficulties, with everything done and dusted in 14 minutes — although I couldn’t parse HONESTY, so thanks, jackkt!

    HUE appears twice today (as does, fittingly, the Welsh man, DAI).

    Thanks, jackkt and diolch yn fawr, trelawney.

36. I looked for a Welsh theme but there you go. Cornishman instead.
    Gentle one course puzzle
37. 30 minutes
    liked HAPPY MEDIUM
38. 12 minutes. An enjoyable, relaxing solve. Thanks.

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