Times Quick Cryptic 1876 by Tracy

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Well, I was one who didn’t find yesterday’s easy and I struggled even more on this – so maybe I’m just having a bad week. I’ll take some slow solves in exchange for our new found, but to be cautiously enjoyed, freedoms. Several around the grid caused me to go back more than once – the roll of ‘honour’ is 4dn, 18dn, 8ac, 12ac, 23ac and, most of all, LOI 10ac which went in with something of a guess. Lots of clever surfaces and anagrams – maybe I didn’t have my anagram head on today. 13 minutes but all, luckily, navigated in the end. Now I expect you all to say how ridiculously easy you found it!

Definitions are in italics.

Across
1 Within easy reach of new arena — close to district hospital, also (4,2,4)
NEAR AT HAND – anagram (new) of ARENA, distric(T), hospital (H), also (AND).
7 Current arrangement could be perfect (5)
IDEAL – current (I – it’s a crossword thing to me – from wiring diagrams, I believe), arrangement (DEAL).
8 Work hard in attempt to make pot (6)
TROPHY – work (OP) and hard (H) inside attempt (TRY). Pot for trophy did not leap to mind.
10 Spot star (3)
PIP – double definition although neither of which I could see whilst solving. In some post-solve research, Collins has many definitions of pip – two of which are a STAR like insignia worn by some British officers (pips on the sleeve I had heard of but wasn’t sure of their shape) and the SPOTs on dominoes. This clue gave me the pip so I have no alternative but to accord it today’s GR.
12 Brontë character, revolutionary, in list (9)
ROCHESTER – revolutionary (CHE) inside list (ROSTER). Yes, yes, I did know this but got hung up on red for revolutionary and rota for list
13 Relax, having free gin at the end (6)
LOOSEN – free (LOOSE), gi(N).
14 A police officer taken in by odd element (6)
RADIUM – a (A) and police officer (DI) taken inside odd (RUM).
17 Small blue train, one lagging behind (9)
SLOWCOACH – small (S), blue (LOW), train (COACH as in teaching).
19 Objective conclusions from the prosecution heard (3)
END – th(E) prosecutio(N) hear(D).
20 Official document to be completed by a learner driver (6)
FORMAL – document (FORM) finished off by a (A) and learner driver (L).
21 Small and delicate female in river, swept back (5)
ELFIN – female (F) inside river (NILE) swept backwards (ELIN).
23 Petitions a foreign plant (10)
POINSETTIA – anagram (foreign – unusual indicator which fooled me for a while) of PETITIONS A.
Down
1 Secure from Warsaw perhaps, a cosmetic item (4,6)
NAIL POLISH – secure (NAIL), from Warsaw perhaps (POLISH).
2 Had meal of pasties, regularly (3)
ATE – p(A)s(T)i(E)s.
3 Free, generally (2,5)
AT LARGE – double definition.
4 Snag involving equipment, originally cutting-edge? (2-4)
HI-TECH – snag (HITCH) involving (E)quipment.
5 Snare wild ones crossing over (5)
NOOSE – anagram (wild) of ONES crossing over (O).
6 Telephone service abused in chalet (8)
CHATLINE – anagram (abused) of IN CHALET.
9 Opera star, new in Norma, paid outrageously (5,5)
PRIMA DONNA – new (N) inside an anagram (outrageously) of NORMA PAID.
11 Poor colt somehow to produce good form (8)
PROTOCOL – anagram (somehow) of POOR COLT.
15 A permit received by the track and field competitor? (7)
ATHLETE – a (A), permit (LET) inside the (THE).
16 Fish right and left in the open sea (6)
MARLIN – right and left (RL) inside the open sea (MAIN – as in Spanish).
18 Search round for dance band? (5)
COMBO – search (COMB), round (O).
22 Suitable starters for footballers in training (3)
FIT – (F)ootballers (I)n (T)raining.

60 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1876 by Tracy”

  1. Spelt 23a wrong which messed up marlin. Agree pip is pants to use an answer from a few days ago.
    Not strong on Bronte but I think Rochester is being referred to in “reader I married him”, the last sentence in Jayne Eyre
    1. Not the last sentence in Jane Eyre, but near the end! Coincidentally I was listening to an excerpt last night (so not being smug).
  2. Just about on target (5:02). I thought there was a pleasing variety of clues (COD for me was 9d Prima Donna) but “Pip” was a punt!
    Late start today as this morning Mrs P and I had our first experience of an art gallery visit in masks. Added to the fact that many of the exhibits were Cubism and beyond, it all felt more than usually surreal.
    Thanks to Chris and Tracy
  4. …. we’ve been sold a pup which will inevitably poop. An atypically poor clue from Tracy (two in the same puzzle was most unexpected) and I decided PIP was the only option defined by “spot” and stopped worrying about the star.

    FOI NEAR AT HAND (see earlier comment)
    LOI ROCHESTER (reader, I’ve avoided the book)
    COD HI-TECH (something else I avoid !)
    TIME 3:31

  5. So glad we left it until the end of the afternoon as it took us 20 minutes to complete. Lots of anagrams, which we like, but they were well disguised and we didn’t immediately see the answers as we usually do.

    FOI: NEAR AT HAND
    LOI: RADIUM
    COD: SLOWCOACH

    Thanks to Tracy and Chris.

  6. I usually attempt the QC in the early evening, though I don’t comment very often as most points have been well chewed over by then. I’m a little earlier today as we are going out for a meal later INSIDE a restaurant!

    I found yesterday’s QC very difficult, whereas this one gradually crumbled as I chipped away. Someone earlier said they hadn’t got their anagram head on – I don’t think I have one of those, which often slows me down. I agree with all the comments about PIP and I must confess poinsettia only arrived after my wife (keen gardener) looked over my shoulder.

    1. Ah, tables, possibly white tablecloths, cutlery, buzz of a restaurant, glass of wine. Finding a mossy wall to sit on, mostly out of the wind and rain, whilst consuming a cardboard cup of soup was, until recently, considered by me to be a luxury!
      1. A mossy wall and soup!? That’s luxury to us. We had to sit in a monsoon with our four children (when they weren’t down the pit) sharing a cold chip and half a sausage. We were grateful to live in a cardboard box with three other families. Those were the days!
  9. Done in fits and starts. Some let me feel like a pro by seeing the answer unfold as I read the clues and others were nearly impossible to get. Resorted to aids on a couple of those. Shared the 1a ‘to’ that had to be changed to ‘at’ problem. Liked 1d and 9d. FOI (correctly) was 12a Rochester – a surprise as I am not familiar with the Bronte genre. LOI 10a Pip once I thought of the military dress. COD – none, as I used aids too often to be able to properly choose one. Two toughies in a row..what will Wednesday bring? Liked Chris’ blog!
  10. Right, that’s it. I’ve had enough. I have been doing crosswords since the 1970s. I have a much larger vocabulary than most as a result of my profession and having the good fortune to have a mother who was an English Literature lecturer. Yet I was completely at sea with this as frankly it is guesswork. A police officer is DI today. Not a PC, PO, DC, I or any of others. A revolutionary is Che, not a record, disc, or any of the other things that go round. Free gin at the end isn’t an anagram with the obvious ing but just an n. Woman is F today in a random river, not a name. 1AC is assembled essentially letter by letter — District Hospital is TH? I’m sorry but I see I’m not the only one no longer enjoying these — it’s just too random. I have come reluctantly to the conclusion that it’s not me — it’s the setters that need to have a bit of a think.
    1. It’s not random. Che (revolutionary) Guevara, woman = female (F), Detective Inspector (DI), district hospital is not TH – look more closely at the blog – I do explain that it’s the ‘end’ of those words i.e. the last letter, and gin at the end is gi(N),
      Unless you take a bit of time to read the blog, I reluctantly come to the conclusion that it’s you and not the setters that need to have a bit of a think. Cryptic crosswords are fun because you have to tease everything apart not read it like a book. Good luck!

      Edited at 2021-05-18 08:20 pm (UTC)

  11. Full concentration with no interruptions led to 18 minutes to complete for me.
    Nervously hanging in there but they did all fall.
    Prima Donna took me too long and LOI was Poinsettia- slow to see that it was an anagram.
    Pip was a toss up but like Mr Jordan decided that Spot = Pip and left the star to fate….
    Thanks all
    John George
  12. Came to this late in the day, but managed to make surprisingly steady progress – helped by getting Near at Hand early on. Initially bifd Swell for 7ac, but even I thought the resulting Nose Polish was an unlikely name for a cosmetic. However, pulled stumps after 23mins with P*p unresolved, too tired to see what was going on. Definitely a GR clue. Invariant
  13. Enjoyed this one and done in under 15 mins. LOI PIP. I have heard of pips being military stars, but dominoes? Always learning….

Comments are closed.