Times Quick Cryptic 1877 by Oink

Author   william_j_sPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Crack(l)ing puzzle, as we’ve come to expect from this – my favourite – setter. Only the SW corner proved a little reluctant, as well as the long 4dn (cryptic definitions are *still* my Achilles’ heel). Luckily the only thing I needed to know about the opera, is that it is an opera.

With representations from both sides of the aisle in the US, an oddly named parliament, and maybe even a nod to the UK government (3dn), perhaps Oink has his mind set on world domination?

Definition underlined.

Across
8 Lamb too frisky for lottery at fete (7)
TOMBOLA – anagram of (frisky) LAMB TOO.
9 Letter finds most of them joining Territorial Army (5)
THETA – most of the letters from (most of) THEm, then TA (Territorial Army).
10 Heard cries in the country (5)
WALES – sounds like (heard) “wails” (cries).
11 Protesting Republican not doing too well (7)
RAILING – R (Republican) and AILING (not doing too well).
12 Fall of scoundrel involved in case (7)
CASCADE – CAD (scoundrel) contained by (involved in) CASE.
14 Opening gin lethal to an extent (5)
INLET – hidden in (to an extent) gIN LEThal.
15 Reportedly a sum lent independently (5)
ALONE – sounds like (reportedly) “a loan” (a sum lent).
17 Grapes I chewed, making a mess (4,3)
PIGS EAR – anagram of (chewed) GRAPES I. He’s bound to run out soon…
19 Dish gin out — it’s a party! (7)
SHINDIG – anagram of (out) DISH GIN.
20 Romantic occasion meeting duke in old hat (5)
DATED – DATE (romantic occasion) next to (meeting) D (duke).
22 How to sum up foreign nobleman (5)
COUNT – double definition.
23 Perform Cosi Fan Tutte, perhaps at half-term (7)
OPERATE – OPERA (Cosi Fan Tutte, perhaps) next to (at) the first half of TErm (half-term).

Down
1 Having turned up, adds water to casserole (4)
STEW – reversal of (having turned up) WETS (adds water to).
2 Son has a long way to go, but looks happy (6)
SMILES – S (son) and MILES (a long way to go).
3 Rings after husband leaves? Oh dear! (4)
OOPS – ‘h’ (husband) removed from (leaves) hOOPS (rings).
4 Messenger taking the aerial route? (7,6)
CARRIER PIGEON – cryptic definition.
5 Downing tools? That’s impressive (8)
STRIKING – double definition.
6 Rejection of deal about Northern Ireland (6)
DENIAL – DEAL containing (about) NI (Northern Ireland).
7 Giggling butcher chopping head off (8)
LAUGHTER – sLAUGHTER (butcher) minus the first letter (chopping head off).
12 Prestigious races that you might study? (8)
CLASSICS – double definition.
13 Story a Ted once made up (8)
ANECDOTE – anagram of (made up) A TED ONCE.
16 Horrible old Democrat promises to pay (6)
ODIOUS – O (old), D (Democrat), and IOUS (a promisory note, “I owe you”, promises to pay).
18 Capture talent Raphael possesses (6)
ENTRAP – hidden in (…possesses) talENT RAPhael.
20 It’s an achievement whichever way you look at it (4)
DEED – palindromic (whichever way you look at it) DEED (an achievement).
21 What one is allowed to eat in foreign parliament? (4)
DIET – double definition. Japan, for example, is administered by a parliamentary Diet.

60 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1877 by Oink”

  1. No problems. I don’t know why Japan’s parliament is called a Diet; probably Basil Chamberlain’s fault. The Japanese word is the same word used to refer to the US Congress, the British Parliament, or any other national legislative assembly. 4:38.
  2. Mostly straightforward but I struggled a bit in the NE segment where for some reason the word preceding PIGEON resisted my efforts to recall it.

    I was done in 9 minutes apart from 7dn where I had a more serious mental block and needed an additional 5 minutes before coming up with {s}LAUGHTER. This should have been easier for me as I have always been amused by the word MANSLAUGHTER which with the addition of a space and an apostrophe become MAN’S LAUGHTER.

    We had a bonus ‘pig’ today in 4dn!

    14 minutes.

    Edited at 2021-05-19 04:50 am (UTC)

  3. Five on the first pass of acrosses then really pretty fast before the last few needed careful extraction to finish all green in 14. Had not idea what Cosi Fan Tutte was up to until I realised OPERATE would fit, those letters looked they must house a hidden, so I ended up one station short of William who at least knew it’s an opera. Also held up on CLASSICS which I should have got from ‘prestigious races’ since cycling has them and I’ve been enjoyed the Giro even if ‘you might study them’ led me to geography and town planning in the first instance. Once I had the C from CLASSICS, CASCADE appeared — I ‘d been using ‘rat’ not ‘cad’ for the scoundrel. Laughed at myself for 6d when I realised there was rather less going on in the clue than I thought — just do what it says and bung NI in Deal. Liked it.

  4. Oops I did it again… failed to beat the 15 min mark. Just couldn’t summon a word for fings without an ache despite trawling my mind for circular objects, phones, jewellry and OCGs. Thanks Oink and William. All in all good fun.

  5. A quick solve with a bit of a hold up at the end for CARRIER PIGEON. I find that I either spot cryptic definitions straight away or they cause me no end of headaches. Only the dreaded Spoonerisms are more problematic than an off wavelength cryptic definition.
    Finished in 7.41 with PIGS EAR just pipping CLASSICS to my COD.
    Thanks to William

  6. FOI: 8a TOMBOLA
    LOI: 11a RAILING

    Time to Complete: DNF

    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 22

    Clues Answered with Aids (3 lives): 12a, 20d

    Clues Unanswered: 3d

    Wrong Answers: Nil

    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 24/25

    Aids Used: Chambers

    3d. OOPS – I am furious with myself! I cannot believe I was unable to answer this one, even though I had _ O _ S. I am going to go and find the biggest, meanest looking guy I can and insult him so that he punches me in the face. That’s how mad I am at myself. Other than that, I have to say that I really enjoyed this puzzle.

    12d. CLASSICS – First of two lives used in the puzzle. Just could not see this one.

    20a. DATED – I did answer this one correctly, though I was a little apprehensive about it. I read the definite as “a romantic occasion”, and so DATED seemed a little clumsy. Now, thanks to this blog I see where I went wrong.

    8a. TOMBOLA – My FOI. I always get a good feeling when I can answer the first clue first.

    Edited at 2021-05-19 07:30 am (UTC)

    1. No puzzle’s worth walloping someone for, even if that person’s yourself!

      It is, I agree maddening to miss an answer which becomes perfectly clear later ( usually by tea time in my case)

      Thank you , Oink and William for an enjoyable morning.

      Diana

    2. 3dn also my last in. Finished in 20 mins without it. Then 10 mins going through every letter combination for 1st and 3rd letters. Finally fell into place when I got to O!
      Tricky clue I thought!
  7. A good puzzle, midscale 5 but nearer 7K at 30.05. DNK Diet was Japanese parliament but assumed it was a legislature somewhere as it wasn’t Ireland.
    COD STRIKING.
    Did not notice the TE in OPERATE came from TErm, and Mozart didn’t help. Thanks William
    LOI OOPS. Spent ages mulling over — O — S before the penny dropped.
    Thanks Oink. I will look out for silk purse in your next puzzle.

    Edited at 2021-05-19 07:36 am (UTC)

  8. … and the clock stopped at just over 6 minutes. Lovely puzzle, no hold-ups, but difficult to compare to my other fast times as most unusually I am on a train to meetings in town (you may need to look the phrases “on a train”, and “meetings in town” up, it’s been so long), so completed this on my smart phone instead of the usual pen and paper approach (Mrs S claimed the paper for the other puzzles…).

    Which leads to a question: do others who sometimes solve on paper and sometimes on a device find doing it online faster or slower? I think it is faster — until one factors in the need to check and correct fat finger typos. Which in my case are legion!

    Many thanks to William for the blog
    Cedric

    1. For me, desktop is fastest (I’m so used to typing on a keyboard), paper is second, and phone is miles behind – I fill it in with one finger, and half the time it doesn’t register a letter and so I have to start again!
    2. I’d agree with you. I’ve been doing old quickies on screen via the crossword club to try and hone my skills and generally I get a better time than on paper, until — as you say — I need to work out anagrams or put vertical checkers into the horizontal! Mind you, I do them on my tablet so touch screen is slower than a keyboard, I suspect, and there are also far more opportunities for fat fingers!
    3. I always use my iPad. We rarely have paper copies of Newspapers these days (the recycling bin just seemed to fill up with paper and it seemed such a waste). The phone is a total waste of time for me — I share the fat finger affliction and I cannot be bothered to crank up the laptop.
      I like the iPad action, apart from the need to be awake and fill in only the blanks. The Torygraph Cryptic is slightly more friendly on the iPad for me because one fills in the whole answer, over-writing existing crossers.
      P.S. the TG Cryptic seemed unusually difficult today. Does anybody else do it?
      1. I’m not sure if it’s the same on the iPad edition, but on my iPhone the ‘Skip filled squares’ option can be disabled in settings. Look for a small cog next time you see the crossword on screen.
        1. Thanks for this, William. I am still using the ‘Classic’ iPad edition of The Times and can’t see that option.
          However, I checked the new iPad version and this does have this option. I will try it. I didn’t warm to the new Times online format when it was first introduced and I stuck with the ‘Classic’. Perhaps I should just ‘go with the times’….
      2. We stopped taking the paper for that very reason, but there are times when a bit of old newspaper can be very useful! I just print off the puzzles.
        1. I’ve got a cunning little ball point pen with a soft prod on the end which is perfect for doing these on either a phone or tablet.

          1. I think I may have one of those somewhere — perhaps it’s time to fish it out again. Thanks for the reminder 😊
        2. I’ll give up papers when you can light a fire, stuff a wet boot or line a chicken house with an iPad!
          1. No open fire, no chickens and the wellies don’t come out too often, but there has been rather more need for newspaper when our daughter’s new puppy visits 😅
    4. Having solved this morning, as I usually do, on a paper print out, I tried solving again just now online. Long enough since I did it that I had forgotten some of the answers and I finished just 14 seconds faster, so I’m not sure one way or the other. I decided to try and learn to touch-type when the Championships were going to be online last year, but I’m still a lot slower at typing the answers in than the neutrinos and some of the genuine solvers like mohn and verlaine, who, I see, did today’s in 1:50!
    5. I always solve on paper with a stop watch and then key in to the Crossword Clubsite, because of the same fatfgnre sdynroem. I also use pencil only – perhaps an appropriate technique for this setter’s puzzles o-INK anyone??
      1. I’m a little bolder and use a biro. I’m a fast writer, and nobody else needs to read my scrawl. I do use a pencil in competition though !
  9. OOPS (LOI). Don’t know why I put Stopping for 5d but it sort of works but that meant Rapping for 11a. Moral: if doubtful re-check checkers are right because STRIKING should have struck me.

    Liked TOMBOLA, WALES, CASCADE, PIGS EAR, CLASSICS. I too had to ponder about the type of PIGEON. Wish our flock would carry themselves away, or someone wd like them in a pie or STEW (FOI)

    Thanks vm, William.

  10. Three minutes over my 20 minute target, with the last three spent on OOPS, otherwise a good challenging QC.
    For 21D I remembered The Diet of Worms, which caused disruption in my school history class!

    Brian P

    1. I was just coming on to say that my favourite diet was the Diet of Wurms!

      1. That’s how I got it. DNK that Japan has one as well…

        Edited at 2021-05-19 07:00 pm (UTC)

  11. with just 3 left at 3:45, but CASCADE, CLASSICS, and STRIKING took me a while to figure out.

    I was hung up on RAT for SCOUNDREL for too long, and was thinking of “downing tools”, being axes/saws etc, rather than an action!

    4:58 in the end.

  12. 10:02, a very fast one, thought it might have been a PB, but it’s always the last couple that account for 25% of the time. Today these were CLASSICS/ALONE.

    I believe “Classics” refer to the 5 horse races: Derby, Oaks, St Ledger, 1000 & 2000 Guineas.

    2d reminded me of the schoolboy riddle. “Which word has a mile between the first and last letter”

    3d took more time as I was stuck around “Whoops” for “Oh dear” and couldn’t quite figure how it all worked.

    SHINDIG is a favourite word of my father, and my daughter now uses it for ironic effect.

    COD DIET

    1. You’re thinking of “which is the longest word in the English language?” (though BELEAGUER beats it !)
    2. It’s Pareto. He discovered that 80% of a crossword takes the first 100% of the time. The rest takes the other 100%

      Edited at 2021-05-19 07:06 pm (UTC)

  13. Nice puzzle, as always from Oink. I joined others at 14 mins but it seemed quicker. No great problems. Liked PIGS EAR and wondered if there might be a flying pig somewhere at first but had to make do with Carrier PIGeon. A well-judged QC. Thanks to Oink and William. John M.
    Oops! I now see that jackkt got to the flying pig first. 🐷

    Edited at 2021-05-19 10:33 am (UTC)

  15. Winkling out OOPS was agony … I gave up trawling because I realised there were so many words [footnote: subsequent check shows 203 possibles for -O-S so I’m glad I didn’t bother!]. In the end I got there by accident, positing that “rings” meant “OO” and then stumbling on the correct parsing. Oh well, they all count.

    Great puzzle, my heart always lifts when I see Oink’s name.

    FOI SMILES, LOI OOPS, COD STRIKING, time without OOPS 1.5K, time with OOPS 3K and a Not Very Good Day.

    Many thanks Oink and William.

    Templar

    Edited at 2021-05-19 09:59 am (UTC)

  16. A swift 10 mins for me which started steadily and then reached a rapid finish in the SE corner. To use a road cycling analogy, it was like making steady process all day and then executing a perfect sprint at the end (minus the elbows) 🚴

    Always find Oink on the easier side, but still very enjoyable with lots to smile about, including 10ac “Wales”, 3dn “Oops”, 7dn “Laughter” and the obligatory 17ac “Pigs Ear”.

    FOI — 1dn “Stew”
    LOI — 21dn “Diet”
    COD — 23ac “Operate” — the thought of anyone performing Cosi Fan Tutte at school was enough to make me chuckle.

    Thanks as usual!

    Edited at 2021-05-19 10:13 am (UTC)

  17. Took a while to come up with (h)OOPS, otherwise straightforward. FOI, TOMBOLA, LOI, DIET. 7:48. Thanks Oink and William.
  18. Great Puzzle. I was fleet of foot and thankfully not pipped to the post today. I loved the porcine PIGS EAR which was one of the few clues that I didn’t get straight away. Fortunately I have come across DIET before although I suspect it may hold up some. LOI was the double definition CLASSICS. 6:06 Thanks William and Oink.
  19. Just managed to stay on the right side of the SCC with a time of 19.20 after long hold-ups with last three in, OPERATE, DIET and OOPS. I was also unsure about DEED for some reason. OOPS needed an alphabet trawl to fall as I was being so thick. Thanks William and Oink
  20. Zipped through but needed a checker to get LAUGHTER – just could not see it!
  21. Ditto! I really like Oink’s puzzles — they always raise a smile, if not a LOL 😊 Today was no exception, although I finished just under target at 11 minutes. The SW corner held me up, and in a reverse from Mendesest, I got CASCADE first, after ruling out rat, followed by CLASSICS. Ticks by ODIOUS and SHINDIG. Maybe SHINDIG is just becoming trendy again — stranger things have happened. I’ve seen a couple of mullets recently, and not on older men who should know better!
    FOI Tombola
    LOI Classics
    COD Pigs ear
    Many thanks Oink and William
  22. A similar experience to yesterday. All done today in 08:56 apart from 3d. I spent several further minutes looking at this and the best I could think of was BOOS, which I knew did not parse easily.
    This was an excellent puzzle. Hard to nominate a COD but I’ll give the nod to SMILES.
    David
  23. Managed not to make a PIGS EAR of this and breezed through. I liked SHINDIG. 3:30.
  24. After struggling to get started I half expected a long, frustrating slog today. However, once I got going I surprised myself by keeping the pace up right to the end, which came after 27 minutes (so a good day for me).

    My LOI was DIET (I had never heard of it in relation to a parliament), my WOD was SHINDIG, and I did spot Oink’s porcince reference (PIG’S EAR) when I found it.

    Mrs Random has yet to attempt this (and yesterday’s) puzzle, as our normal routine has gone missing this week, so far. However, I just know she will point out one particular solution to me (DENIAL) because she thinks (know?) that’s where I spend much of my time.

    Many thanks to william_j_s and Oink.

    P.S. I didn’t post yesterday (Tracy), because it was very late in the evening by the time I put down my pencil. I’m embarrassed to say that it was a 67-minute DNF as, although I parsed both clues correctly, I simply could not think of FORM for document or COMB for search. Truly dim!

    1. Mrs Random has finally managed to fit Oink’s puzzle into her schedule, which involved a 5 mile run, making a chocolate cake, going out for lunch, then making 3 vegetable quiches. She finished in 15 minutes and said her speed was because she didn’t have time to do it slowly today.

      N.B. Mrs R did indeed mention DENIAL to me, as predicted. However, she also pointed out ODIOUS and PIG’S EAR, both of which “also come to mind when I’m around”, apparently.

  25. Lovely puzzle which I had all complete and parsed in 10 mins. No real hold-ups although it took me a little time to work out the porcine anagram at 17ac. Most of the rest slotted straight in in a most satisfactory fashion starting in the NW.

    FOI – 8ac TOMBOLA
    LOI – 12dn CLASSICS
    COD – almost too many to mention but I particularly liked 7dn LAUGHTER.

    Thanks to Oink and William.

  26. 5:38 today but I felt this was relatively straightforward and I just wasn’t sharp enough. Had a feeling that the usual suspects might have blitzed this and a subsequent look at the Times leaderboard confirmed my suspicions.
    Plenty of clues to enjoy but my COD was 17 ac, the traditional porcine reference.
    Thanks to William and Oink.
  27. About on target but slow in getting 4d and 3d loi. No trouble with the diet, history lessons from years age. Diet of Worms has always stuck in the mind. Thanks Oink for a nice puzzle and for the blog.
  28. ….from Oink. No problems.

    FOI TOMBOLA
    LOI STRIKING
    COD CARRIER PIGEON
    TIME 2:44

    1. One offers the opinion that with that sort of time — well under three minutes — your assessment of “no problems” is somewhat of an understatement…

      Cedric

  29. Gentle solve in under two courses
    Did like some of the clueing but not sure if students should study those classics
  30. Well bust my britches….
    I did ok with this in 15 minutes but still had 3d to complete. Seeing the rings and husband I put in Oohs… but knew I had to take the husband away…. so a DNF
    But very enjoyable.
    Despite the grid not having many first letters the clues were kind enough to allow relative ease.
    I was sailing through until slowing with Classsics, Operate, Striking, and Ooops!!!!
    Impressed with Mr Jordan and his like though…
    I will keep taking the medicine!
    Thanks all,
    John George
  31. As everyone else has said. Oink’s a lovely setter.

    Normalish time for me

    Thanks all

  32. A straightforward 16min solve, with the last two on 3d Oops — nice to see I’m in good company in finding yet another four letter answer causing grief. Diet of Worms (Here I stand: I can do no other) is burnt into the brain cells, so 21d was a write-in. A nicely pitched QC, so well done Oink. Invariant
  33. For the record:

    FOI 1ac TOMBOLA

    LOI 1dn WETS

    COD 4dn CARRIER PIGEON

    WOD 17ac PIG’S EAR

    Time 8.30 mins

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