Times Quick Cryptic 1841 by Breadman

What a difference a week makes – the weather, the vaccination rate, the relative freedoms and a really Q C. 2 seconds under 6 minutes for this one to fly by more or less top to bottom. Held up only slightly by not spotting (6,6) at first in 8dn. Smile and COD to 21ac.

Thanks to Breadman for keeping this interesting whilst still quick – all in all a splendid QC.

Definitions are underlined.

Across
1 Andrew associated with British spirit (6)
BRANDY – Andrew (ANDY) with British (BR).
4 Catch sight of small earthenware vessel (4)
SPOT – small (S), earthenware vessel (POT).
9 Snake around border with India, finding ancient kingdom (7)
BOHEMIA – snake (BOA) around border (HEM), India (I). Most will be familiar with the ‘artist type area’ but the name came from an ancient kingdom in Central Europe surrounded by mountains roughly where Czechoslovakia now is.
10 Some heathen celebrated from this time (5)
HENCE – some of heat(hen ce)lebrated.
11 African National Park‘s remarkably green site (9)
SERENGETI – anagram (remarkably) of GREEN SITE.
12 Fitting carpet regularly (3)
APT – c(A)r(P)e(T).
13 Fruit also covers rug (6)
TOMATO – also (TOO) covers rug (MAT).
15 Held in enclosure: sheep (4-2)
PENT-UP – enclosure (PEN), sheep (TUP). What do ewe mean – you haven’t heard of a tup?
17 Jolt container (3)
JAR – double definition.
18 New roadmen returning notice group of stars (9)
ANDROMEDA – anagram (new) of ROADMEN, notice – ad – returning (DA).
21 Rodent marks domestic ’abitat? (5)
MOUSE – marks (M), domestic ‘abitat’ (‘OUSE).
22 V & A visitor most uncertain (7)
VAGUEST – V&A (VA), visitor (GUEST).
23 Lout repeatedly clipped child’s toy (2-2)
YO-YO – lout repeatedly clipped (YO)b – (YO)b.
24 Briefly drink black stuff, a delicious beverage (6)
NECTAR – briefly drink (NEC)k, black stuff (TAR).
Down
1 Barbara rings Yankee — it’s to mind infant (4-3)
BABY-SIT – Barbara (BABS) rings Yankee (Y), it (IT).
2 Hate having a house in Bangor’s outskirts (5)
ABHOR – a (A), house (HO) inside (B)ango(R).
3 Fiend started to stir and protested publicly (12)
DEMONSTRATED – fiend (DEMON), anagram (to stir) of STARTED.
5 Writer and Italian poet mostly hanging ornament (7)
PENDANT – Writer (PEN), Italian poet mostly (DANT)e.
6 English river split after junction (5)
TRENT – split (RENT) after (T) junction.
7 Beware! Large hole underground (4)
CAVE – large hole underground (CAVE) – I’ve included the ! in the definition as Collins has ‘watch out!’.
8 GI with clean house rearranged item of furniture (6,6)
CHAISE LONGUE – anagram (rearranged) of GI CLEAN HOUSE.
14 Drunk embraces copper — it may indicate warmth (7)
MERCURY – drunk (MERRY) embraces copper (CU). Due to register highly today.
16 Perhaps Band Aid record brought back tears when broadcast (7)
PLASTER – record – LP – brought backwards (PL), anagram (when broadcast – not a homophone indicator this time) of TEARS.
17 Lucky having two minutes surrounded by colourful bird (5)
JAMMY – TWO MINUTES (MM) surrounded by colourful bird (JAY).
19 Five inside exit disreputable place (4)
DIVE – five (V) inside exit (DIE – pretty final kind of exit).
20 Upright European reportedly ruined (5)
ERECT – European (E), homophone (reportedly) of wrecked.

57 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1841 by Breadman”

  1. Still reeling from my second shot, but was able to finish in normal time today.

    (BR for British in 1 across, by the way.)

  2. Biffed CHAISE without checking what appeared to be (and was) the anagrist. DNK JAMMY, my LOI. 4:05.
    1. JAMMY is most commonly followed by ‘dodger’, but not with the meaning required here – that would be ‘jammy b*s*a*d’!’

      Edited at 2021-03-30 04:53 am (UTC)

            1. No, I nibble around the edge, until I just have the small, round, jam-on-biscuit centre, left. 🙂
  3. Insomnia solve with only half a functioning brain, so fortunately a clearly clued and pleasant puzzle.Stretched out a little on the CHAISE LONGUE until I had all the checkers, but most of the rest went in steadily if without haste.
  4. Enjoyed a nice quick solve submitting in 9m despite a hold up in the SE corner with NECTAR and LOI ERECT (where I was focusing on the wrong end for the definition) but found two unexpected pink squares on submission — one from ignorance and one from carelessness. I confidently put in ‘pennant’ for PENDANT thinking ‘Nanti’ was probably an Italian poet and since I couldn’t think of any others I went with it and then managed to spell ANDROMEDA as Andromena. I have, of course, heard of Dante and N and D aren’t even close on the keyboard, so a frustrating outcome from an enjoyable solve.

    Edited at 2021-03-30 06:21 am (UTC)

  5. Pleasant, no hitches and remarkably bereft of typos.

    Thank you to chrisw91 and Breadman.

  6. A good puzzle with quick progress until I reached 7d and 9a. I wasted ages trying to work out the ancient kingdom until I realised I had mistyped 3d as DENONSTRAT….. It all then dropped into place but my slowness in correcting this took me slightly over target. Ah well. The first potentially really quick solve for a while and I blew it! My CsOD were PENT UP, MERCURY, and NECTAR. Thanks to both. John M.
  7. Whizzed through this and finished in a spectacular sub 20 minute record when Cave Canem bit my ankle.
    Now what am I going to do with the next 30 minutes unexpectedly free? Force myself to get on the cross trainer thing I suppose.
    Thanks Breadman and Chris for mental and physical work outs this morning.
      1. Thank you.
        I generally find my times are in the region of 9-10xK, following the scenic route of the SCC group of QC ramblers. Today’s squeezed in at <5K so positively blistering pace with hardly any time to admire the scenery.
  8. Excellent puzzle I thought with some lovely surfaces. NECTAR and PLASTER the pick of the bunch for me with honourable mentions for BOHEMIA and SERENGETI (a chestnut?).

    Needed most of the checkers for CHAISE LONGUE which didnt spring to mind from the anagrist.

    LOI TRENT as I couldnt immediately see what the junction was doing even though the river was poised to jump in.

    Thanks Chris and Breadman

  9. Like others I found this straightforward and only had a brief pause over CHAISE LONGUE, which I decided to leave until I had more checkers, and LOI VAGUEST. Lots to enjoy along the way including NECTAR and CAVE. Finished in 6.04.
    Thanks to Chris
  10. I was so pleased to avoid the bear trap of Chaise LOUNGE, which is the common American usage, that I didn’t spot that I also thought of an Italian poet Nant- for PENDANT. I only know one Italian poet, that Alleghri chap, and it can’t be him…..

    LOI PENT UP, an alphabet trawl reveals about 200 candidates. You can add UP to just about any word to get a whole new meaning. How does anyone ever learn all our English idioms. Keep up.

    I was convinced 18a was going to be Asterism, but it turned out to be another un-indicated Definition by Example.

    COD MERCURY

  11. Shame about the Latin as otherwise I found this to be another nicely judged QC to go with yesterday’s from Teazel. The weather is improving this week and so are the puzzles.

    DEMONSTRATED made me smile, as did DIE=exit. NHO CAVE so was trying all sorts on the alphabet trawl with “L” for Large and “O” for hole.

    Thanks Breadman and Chris. Now for a day in the garden enjoying the sunshine.

    1. CAVE: Billy Bunteresque Latin: “Yaroo, Cave, you fellows, old Quelchie’s coming”. See also “pax”.

      1. Pronounced Kay-vee too, just to confuse anyone who wasn’t a schoolboy 50 years ago even more
  12. Held up by CHAISE LONGUE, which I thought was my LOI, but wasn’t, then I had to try and find the missing clue, which turned out to be JAR.

    COD probably BOHEMIA.

    4:42

  13. FOI: 4a – SPOT
    LOI: 24a – NECTAR

    Time: DNF

    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 22

    Clues Answered with Aids (3 lives): 8d, 20d

    Clues Unanswered: 16d

    Wrong Answers: 15a

    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 24/26

    Aids Used: Chambers

    Another puzzle where I did well to start with, at one time thinking this was on track for my quickest ever solve. However, one clue totally bewildered me, and I got one wrong answer.

    15a. PENT UP – This was my incorrect answer. I put KEPT IN. I just could not fathom the sheep reference. Sadly, I did consider PENT UP at one point, but went for my incorrect answer.

    16d. PLASTER – This was my unanswered clue. I guessed that broadcast indicated a homophone.

    8d. CHAISE LONGUE – This was one of my two lives used. Even with the anagram letters this did not assemble itself in my head until I referred to Chambers.

    20d. ERECT – My second life used. Obvious now I see it, but I kept thinking of a word for somebody from a particular European nation.

    7d. CAVE – I was reluctant to fill this one in for most of the duration of the puzzle. Large hole underground shouted cave to me, and indeed the letters already present indicated that was the answer. But beware threw me. In the end I put cave and then checked Chambers and was surprised to see cave under beware.

    An enjoyable puzzle that was well on its way to being my quickest solve, but no candy bar for me today.

    Edited at 2021-03-30 08:02 am (UTC)

    1. This comes up a lot in consumer law, especially private sales:

      Caveat emptor – ‘let the buyer beware’, is a warning to someone buying something that it is their responsibility to identify and accept any faults in it.

  14. Slowed by a brain-fade on 1A …
    … where I started by thinking I should be looking for a word meaning Andrew made up of B + a 5-letter spirit, then saw B + Randy (as in Prince Andrew) which I dismissed as most unworthy of a Times QC, then forgot the clue, then came back to it as my LOI by which time the checkers made Brandy the only possible answer, then cogitated further to find a parsing that would not offend Our Dear Queen. Success finally but it all led to a 9 minute solve.

    Such is the way my mind sometimes goes round and round in circles on these puzzles. Does anyone else suffer from such random meanderings?

    That apart, a straightforward and enjoyable puzzle. Many thanks to Chris for the blog.
    Cedric

    1. Mrs Random ‘biffs’ at random … but always correctly. An uncanny skill!
  15. I started with the downs which I found of average difficulty, but the acrosses then flew in and mopping up didn’t take long.

    Good to have a quick puzzle without the cluing suffering, well done Breadman.

    FOI BABYSIT, LOI MERCURY, COD BOHEMIA, time 6:49/1.7K for a Good Day.

    Many thanks Breadman and Chris.

    Templar

  16. Very quick solve today, under ten minutes. Just as well, given the beautiful weather, after enjoying this, can get out and enjoy that, too. To go for a run without wearing a running jacket, at last. To see all the daffodils out in the gardens, and the magnolia trees just opening their flowers. FOI Brandy, which I also hoped was BR, not B, for British. 18 on first pass which greatly helped with the slightly recalcitrants. LOI mercury, easy once I had everything else, but couldn’t see it until then. Didn’t fully parse Bohemia but it could not have been anything else, but all else very clear. CsOD to mercury, andromeda, jammy, but much more to take pleasure in. Thanks, Chris, and Breadman. GW.
  17. A friendly enough puzzle from Breadman, where my only real hold up was in trying to make Fiend part of the anagrist in 3d — Bohemia soon put paid to that idea. Loi Cave pushed me a few seconds north of 20mins, but no complaints. CoD to 16d, Plaster, as synonymous as Hoover at one point, but these days we seem to have specialised plasters for almost anything. Invariant
  18. FOI was BABYSIT and I skipped around the grid until I was left with 8d which needed pen and paper and added over a minute to my time. 7:54. Thanks Breadman and Chris.
  19. FOI SERENGETI and after that made good progress. Had several looks at 7d and wanted it to be TUBE (as in London)- but it didn’t parse.
    It turned out that my last two were BOHEMIA (COD for me) and CAVE. Caveat Emptor is common enough I think.
    Time was 07:58.
    A pleasant, nicely judged puzzle.
    David
  20. Inside target but not by much, held up by CAVE and PENT UP. I knew the first, but was fixated with L and a hole in the ground for far too long. Also knew TUP and expected that to be the end of the answer, but just didn’t see PEN for ages. Nice puzzle, good blog thanks.
  21. My last one in. Had all available letters. Could not work it out so plumped for Platter — being another word for a record. Got dreaded Unlucky message. Still none the wiser until I visited blog and saw the answer. Even then not too enlightened, but penny dropped for me for another reason. Band Aid is a plaster. Doh!! Bill70
  22. So many lovely clues today. I can’t pick a COD. As to my solve, I would have been quicker if I had remembered CAVE means look out! beware! I know I have seen it before but that didn’t stop me from trying to find a 4 letter word beginning with L initially. Once I abandoned that idea I started a mercifully short alphabet trawl. 7:38
  23. … and finished in 21 minutes (really, really fast for me).

    Often, when I emerge like a gibbering wreck after an hour or so’s tortuous grappling with these QC puzzles, Mrs R will say to me “It’s meant to be a QUICK cryptic, so why don’t you just solve it quickly and then get on with something useful?”. Well, I can hardly imagine going any faster than today (although I realise I’m still in the SCC), at least if I want to parse the clues as well.

    My only real concern was not knowing CAVE for ‘Beware’ (Latin wasn’t taught at my school), but it just had to be the answer. I also needed all the checkers in order to get CHAISE LONGUE. Other than those, the solutions just seemed to keep coming. A novel experience!

    Many thanks to Breadman and to chrisw91.

  24. as maybe a PB. Guessed a few from the checkers before looking a the clue. Must have been on the right wavelength for a change. Am sure we had NECTAR (LOI) last week. FOI 1a which is always a good start.
    Biffed PLASTER but cd not parse.
    Apparently 8d is sometimes spelt Shezlon on eBay and Pinterest.
    Thank you vm, Chris.

    Edited at 2021-03-30 12:45 pm (UTC)

  25. Currently cycling in the Lakes so doing this off memory whilst having a break at Coniston.

    Unfortunately, I didn’t finish — after getting through just about everything after 20 mins I couldn’t get “Vaguest”. However, that’s because I put in Chaise Lounge — so my own fault really.

    Am I the only one who parsed 1ac as B = British and Andrew = Randy?

    COD — 15ac “Pent Up”

    Thanks as usual…suppose I better get back on my bike and carry on.

  26. A gentle 15 minute solve today. No real hold-ups although I did, like Invariant, initially attempt to include fiend in the anagrist at 3dn. Also a momentary hesitation at the correct spelling of 8dn. Enjoyable puzzle, thanks Breadman and thanks to Chris for the blog.

    FOI – 1ac BRANDY
    LOI – 14dn MERCURY
    COD – as yesterday, several contenders for COD, making the choice of a single one quite difficult. Liked 16dn PLASTER and also 14dn MERCURY the best.

  27. PB of 4:42 for me today which is about as fast as i can type — in awe of those who do it more quickly.

    Lovely puzzle, lots to enjoy, particularly liked vaguest and plaster.

    Thanks Chris and Breadman

  28. ….CHAISE LONGUE, and had to write out the anagrist when everything else was in. That exercise took around 25% of my total solving time.

    FOI BRANDY
    LOI CHAISE LONGUE
    COD TOMATO
    TIME 3:51

  29. FOI 1a Brandy
    LOI 7d Cave
    COD 13a Tomato — I saw Too but took more time since I couldn’t think of a fruit starting with To and ending in o!
    19 enjoyable minutes
    Was it Care or Cave — just thought of Caveat and decided Cave on balance but not heard of as “K.V.” as some earlier have posted…
    Thanks all
    John George
    1. At school, if any of us wanted to break a minor rule, the saying was, ‘can you keep cavy for me?’ Presumably, from the same source.
  30. Finally a nice quick one today. 16:32 for one of my top 10 fastest I think. Glad SERENGETI was an anagram or I might have spelt it wrong. Wasn’t sure how to spell CHAISE LONGUE either, but I somehow thought it was like tongue. COD to PENT UP. Thanks all.
  31. Wish I had timed this – a possible PB. All credit to Breadman for clear cluing. FOI 4a Spot. LOI 2d Abhor – simply because I hadn’t’y got round to it. COD 13a Tomato for the neatness of it all. Thanks to Chris for the blog.
  32. We are getting quick cryptics, this week, that are suited to the novice and improver. Thank you, puzzles editor and setters.
  33. Extremely busy in the garden at the moment so we’re a day late. Really enjoyed this puzzle – lots of fun clues that weren’t too hard to solve. We finished in 9 minutes and I was a little surprised that it wasn’t faster as we seemed to steam our way through it.

    FOI: BABYSIT
    LOI: PLASTER
    COD: PENT UP

    Thanks to Breadman and Chris.

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