Times Quick Cryptic 1891 by Izetti

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

I saw the setter’s name and settled down for a patient solve rather than my normal QC romp attempt. This was rewarded by the enjoyment of some mental gymnastics and deceptions. I took over 12 minutes so I suppose that makes this rather tricky but I didn’t do this as a time trial today.

Enjoy!

Definitions are underlined.

Across
7 Harmful recreational drug is ordered (4)
BADE – harmful (BAD), recreational drug (E).
8 A quiet member of the family, that’s evident (8)
APPARENT –  a (A), quiet (P), member of the family (PARENT).
9 Carol wants love first and last, being unattached (6)
SINGLE – carol (SING), (L)ov(E).
10 Place in Somerset, a colony to the west (6)
LOCATE – inside Somers(ET A COL)ony – to the left (west). Not the little known (as it doesn’t exist) hamlet of TACOLO which I first mused upon.
11 Beloved Bambi perhaps being heard (4)
DEAR – homophone (being heard) of deer.
12 Charlie has new pastime in temporary accommodation? (8)
CAMPSITE – Charlie (C), anagram (new) of PASTIME.
15 Item of office equipment is essential, needed by firm’s bosses (8)
KEYBOARD – essential (KEY), firm’s bosses (BOARD). The item of office equipment seemed a bit tenuous to me.
17 Poet who lives in a small community in Rome? (4)
POPE – Q. Who lives in a small community in Rome? A. The Pope. Alexander Pope was a poet and satirist of the Augustan period (part of the golden age of latin literature – looks like I misquoted from some random look up here – please see Kevin’s post below). A very deceptive double definition.
18 Old city the one above all others? Not quite (6)
THEBES – the one above all others is (THE BES)t – not quite – without the final letter. Thebes was a source of many a Greek myth (e.g. Oedipus, Dionysus) and currently called Thiva which is in a region with nearly every vowel – Boeotia.
21 Shine, getting fantastic result (6)
LUSTRE – anagram (getting fantastic) of RESULT.
22 Report of a snow leopard being broadcast (8)
ANNOUNCE – homophone (being broadcast) of an ounce.
23 Stinking row (4)
RANK – double definition. Great surface for just 2 words.
Down
1 Islanders queue to enter HQ (8)
BALINESE – queue (LINE) inside HQ (BASE). No hope of any biffing here with the letters I had at the time.
2 Reginald (vicar?) upset church worker (6)
VERGER – Reginald (REG) and vicar? (REV) all upset (upwards).
3 Winding canal I’ve found in foreign city (8)
VALENCIA – anagram (winding) of CANAL IVE.
4 Work with a learner to produce a gem! (4)
OPAL – work (OP) with a (A) and learner (L).
5 Small reptile spotted on American plant (6)
CROCUS – small word for a reptile (CROC) on American (US).
6 Upper-class fool in group of soldiers? (4)
UNIT – upper-class (U), fool (NIT).
13 Having crossed valley, Maureen and Edward sat (8)
MODELLED – going across valley (DELL – not dale or vale which I tried) is Maureen (MO) and Edward (ED). Sat as in for a painting.
14 Gradually decreasing sound at end of recording (8)
TAPERING – sound (RING) at end of recording (TAPE).
16 Prohibition involving shout that startles monkey (6)
BABOON – prohibition (BAN) around shout that startles (BOO!). Liked this one.
17 People on forums having no time for puzzles (6)
POSERS – people on forums (and here we are) are (POS)t(ERS) with no time (T).
19 Look for building to accommodate any number (4)
HUNT – building (HUT) holding any number (N).
20 Function for mathematicians at home in the home counties (4)
SINE – at home (IN) inside Home Counties (SE).

50 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1891 by Izetti”

  1. This was as tough as old boots. I crawled through in record time! I blame the Pope.

    FOI 2dn VERGER

    LOI 15ac KEYBOARD

    COD 1dn BALINESE

    WOD 3dn VALENCIA

    Edited at 2021-06-08 01:48 am (UTC)

  2. Pretty straightforward, with 2 exceptions that took me some time; POI BALINESE and LOI KEYBOARD. I wasted time thinking that ‘islanders’ meant that the word would end in -S. The Augustan period that Pope lived in wrote in English not Latin; it was called Augustan because of a supposed resemblance of its authors’ style to the dignified, classical style of the original Augustans. (Vinyl: as an 18th-century specialist, Pope …?) 6:39.
    1. Not just the style but also the subject matter, in particular a willingness to engage with current affairs, often in a satirical way. Pope’s “Epistle to Augustus” helped the labelling too!
  3. 9 minutes. The first bit of 15ac proved troublesome on the first, second and third passes, but came to me once the remainder of the grid was complete. My run of solves within my target 10 minutes continues and has now reached 8 in a row; this cannot continue for much longer!
    1. Mr. Eurocoin, it would be helpful if you would desist from using numeration throughout your piece. I for one simply do not have the time to scroll back individually to 22ac, 1, 5, 13 and 20dn to re-discover what in fact they are! 9ac, 21ac and 23ac too! Just pop in the answer/word.

      Just imagine if every contributor challenged us with eight scrolls a day! We all have other 16dns to fry!

      1. Also it’s your choice to read others’ contributions or not.

        If there are posters whose content or style regularly incurs your displeasure you have the option to scroll straight past, thus leaving yourself more time to fry your baboons.

        People are free to contribute here in any way they choose within the guidelines which you are fully aware of.

        Edited at 2021-06-08 09:53 am (UTC)

        1. Jack it is polite to read others contributions in order to avoid repeating points that have already been made. That is happening frequently. Thus having to go backwards all the time is not helpful – neither is scrolling through. I like to read all of the blogs and entries and enjoy best those that are well put together, informative and ‘available’. Much like your own.
          Mr. Horrid
          1. That’s fine, just as long as you don’t try to get others to conform to how YOU think things should be done.

            This is even more important in the QC forum where new solvers are finding their feet and may be put off by negative remarks. Even if (as today) the person being taken to task doesn’t give a hoot about your adverse comments, they may make other people wary of entering into the discussion.

            Edited at 2021-06-08 01:41 pm (UTC)

            1. For once, I think horryd may have a valid point. It is indeed considerate to tailor ones responses taking into account points that others have already made. Many posters offer their thoughts without any reference to views posted previously.
              I cannot often be bothered to check what clue a poster is referring to if it is just shown as 20d or whatever and, since I always solve on an iPad, I don’t have a completed grid to refer to easily and I certainly don’t have the sort of memory that allows me to identify answers with only the clue number as reference.
              Of course we all soon recognise posters who have something interesting and/or useful to say and can just ignore posts that trouble us in any way. However, I think it is courteous to help others to grasp your point without requiring them to scroll up and down an (often very long) set of posts (usually on a small screen) in order to discover which clues they are talking about.
              Just a view — not a big deal. John M.
              1. I’m absolutely fine with the subject being raised as a general point of discussion (as you have done) so that those who wish to can take note and adapt their style accordingly if they choose to do so. What I am not happy with is aiming the criticism directly at an individual poster.

        2. Tonight I was out of it, so we had a take-away, delivered from the new place on the corner
          We had a 3, 9, 16, 21, a double 33 -one with extra 91!, 47, 55 and an 83. We had a 6-pack in the fridge already. Delicious! The menu’s Indescribably good!
          Meldrew
          .

  4. This was quite a work out, only three on the first pass of acrosses and none in the bottom half. Top half yielded slowly, except for BADE — where I tried to force into ‘made’ for a while. I didn’t help myself by thinking ‘pastime’ had eight letters and so discounting the anagram route to CAMPSITE, those checkers freed up MODELLED which in turn gave POSERS (arrgh) and then RANK (which I’m absolutely sure I’ve correctly solved before) and POPE (who I don’t know as a poet but I’m sure I’ll have intended to remember from previous puzzles), so it all fell in a flurry with 22 on the clock — satisfaction slightly spoiled by a rogue M for the N in VALENCIA giving a careless pink square.

    Edited at 2021-06-08 08:37 am (UTC)

    1. I also put BADE, then thought that can’t be right, and scrubbed it out for MADE. Doh!
  5. A quality puzzle that was quite chewy in places, especially the SE.
    I made the exact same mistake as Menedesest when looking at pastime and dismissing it as anagram fodder for having too many letters😂. Fortunately the M from MODELLED put me back on the right track. I also created the ancient city of HIGHES, before sanity struck.
    An enjoyable solve in 12.09 with LOI a tentative POPE, who I’d either forgotten about or NHO.
    Thanks to Chris
  6. As soon as I saw Izetti I knew I would be in for a rough ride. Only answered half the clues before I gave up.
  7. 23 mins so a little outside target time, but pleased to have completed, especially the SE corner.

    I was actually researching Pope last night, and still have the Wikipedia page open. He has loads of great, and familiar quotes, although was a bit of a recycler of others work. But aren’t we all?


    To err is human, to forgive, divine

    Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

    Hope springs eternal in the human breast

    LOI BADE which could have been a long trawl.

    COD RANK

    Edited at 2021-06-08 07:19 am (UTC)

  8. 17 d is an intentional witty reference to tftt Don’..t you think? Great fun and twice as long as usual for me to solve. One thing I have learnt from this blog (and Izetti in particular) is that every word in a clue has a purpose, so don’t get seduced by a polished surface. 26 min with help on two pastime anagram and snow leopard the often seen and rarely remembered (by me) ounce. Thanks Chris and Izetti

  9. A very enjoyable puzzle but tough. I was totally immersed and was quite surprised to see 25 mins on the clock when I finally finished. Partly down to the demanding, but fair, clues and partly down to the fact that I solved it whilst ‘Today’ was on in the background. Big mistake. Thanks to both Izetti and Chris. John M.
  10. Izetti is always so precise that once I finish it feels that I should have been faster, but it is always an enjoyable workout. The BALINESE took a while to fall into line, whilst I couldn’t work out which end of the Mo and Ed — or Ted, as I initially assumed — clue was the definition. Finished in 1.5 Horryds, which I will celebrate with another coffee. Honorary SCC membership to him. Very nice puzzle.
    1. That was one of the few clues I did manage to answer. A snow leopard is also known as an “ounce” (an ounce = announce = report).

      Edited at 2021-06-08 06:51 am (UTC)

  12. Aaarrghh it took me so long to solve -E-BOARD!! And that was only once I’d finally stopped trying to solve -S-BOARD, being convinced (like Kevin) that 2dn must end in S. It can be very hard to change tack once an idea has lodged itself.

    Anyway. Nasty grid but cracking good puzzle.

    FOI CAMPSITE (well it offered two first letters so I thought I’d start there …), LOI (by miles and miles) KEYBOARD, COD LOCATE (cunning!), time 13:11 for 2 Kevins and a Slightly Disappointing Day.

    Many thanks Izetti and Chris.

    Templar

  13. Started with BADE, finished with ANNOUNCE. Needed all my concentration. 9:00. Thanks Izetti and Chris.
  14. At the tougher end of the spectrum…
    … as Izetti often is I find, and this took me 15 minutes. Though having completed it, like Plymouthian I am not entirely sure where the time went, as every clue seems fair and gettable in retrospect. Isn’t hindsight wonderful!

    SW corner was the last to fall for me: I spent too long working out how 18A Thebes worked (I even tried to get that crossword favourite Ur in there), I biffed 22A Announce before remembering the feline meaning of ounce, and I had a blindspot over LOI 15A Keyboard. After a year of working from home I don’t think of a keyboard as exclusively office equipment!

    All in all a typically enjoyable Izetti masterclass. Many thanks to Chris for the blog.
    Cedric

  15. Far too tricky. Keyboard tends to be associated with music rather than the office but its just one of many obscure or tenuous clues today. 15 x 15 was easier – that says something! Thanks though.
  16. LOI BALINESE – biff which then seemed obvious when Chris explained it.
    Looked up LUSTRE (failed to see anagram) and also Ounce as I knew the snow leopard had a strange name but couldn’t remember it.
    FOsI THEBES, DEAR, SINE (maths not my best subject but clueing clear) BABOON, POPE.
    Stupidly slow on KEYBOARD and CAMPSITE and VALENCIA. Lots of clever clues, eg MODELLED. Biffed a few like VERGER but could not parse.
    Thanks, Chris, for very much needed blog.

    Edited at 2021-06-08 09:06 am (UTC)

  17. After a PB yesterday, Izetti reduced me to grovelling and gnashing of teeth as I struggled to get on wavelength.

    BADE, BALINESE, CAMPSITE, POPE and the blinking reverse hidden LOCATE – all took a while, but it was ?E?BOARD that took the longest – perfect misdirection and a double alphatrawl.

    Congrats to the Don for making me squirm, and take fully 4 times as long as yesterday, and thanks for the blog!

    14:49.

    Edit – I now have to stop banging on about this being the “quick cryptic” – I just did the 15×15 faster than the QC for the first time ever – 11:59 for the 15×15, 14:49 for the QC…

    Edited at 2021-06-08 10:11 am (UTC)

  18. Well, that cleared the cobwebs away. Not many across answers to start with, but the downs were easier (bar 1d) and the crossers then helped with the second iteration. Balinese (CoD) and Bade took a bit of sorting, and the SE corner was quite bare until I saw Lustre was an anagram. Posers, Pope and loi Rank then quickly followed. No accurate time today, because of interruptions, but somewhere around 25mins. I’m sure many newbies will complain about the difficulty, but it was an excellent puzzle for the more experienced solver. Invariant
  19. DNF with about 3/4 of the grid solved.

    Very tricksy board – NHO Snow Leopard = ounce, I’ve not come across shortening of names as a clue device before (eg Maureen = Mo) – or in fact that Mo is short for Maureen! – and absolutely foxed by POPE.

    The learning journey continues, with Izetti a brutal master…

    1. In days of yore, there was a tennis player called Little Mo and luckily I also have a neighbour of the same name.
      2. Yes, that was a blast from the past! Maureen Connolly — ‘Little Mo’. I was surprised to find that she died very young — at the age of 34 (in 1969). Perhaps another ‘connection’ that younger solvers might not recognise. John.
  20. Found this too hard today and after 30 mins with two to go (13dn and 22ac) I had to concede defeat. For the former I put in “dale” for Valley which obviously didn’t help, and NHO of an “ounce” for a snow leopard (although the more I think of it the more the more a vague memory of it being on here before is starting to brew).

    Lots to like though as usual, even if it did require a lot more mental gymnastics than usual.

    FOI — 4dn “Opal”
    LOI — dnf
    COD — 2dn “Verger”

    Thanks as usual!

  21. Managed all apart from BADE (so obvious when you see the answer — thanks Chris!) in just under an hour. Biffed ANNOUNCE as NHO ounce for snow leopard — glad to learn yet another new word. KEYBOARD and MODELLED took an age. Very pleased to get BALINESE. Glad to hear others found this tricksy…
    1. When I first read the clue I said “bad e” to myself and then laughed at my witticism. I then completely failed to see that I’d solved the clue for a further 5 minutes. Crytpics are a good way to remain humble, I find…
  22. Obviously I am on a roll as I didn’t particularly struggle. I did solve the grid in a very strange way starting with APPARENT in the NE and then the whole of the RHS which is where the checkers led me. The cluing for POSERS amused me as it reminded me of many a discussion on this very forum but there were plenty of clues to enjoy. LOI was ANNOUNCE.
    8:09
  23. Thought I was on for a DNF today, several times. I had four goes at this and was very pleased to finish in the end, although it took me an age to get there. I thought this was an excellent puzzle, and it gave me a very good work-out. FOI apparent, LO’sI Balinese and keyboard together – they helped each other. COD keyboard, though I liked all the animal clues as usual, and there were plenty of them today. Thanks, Chris, for the blog, and Izetti for a super puzzle. GW.
  24. So after a run of 6 all correct, failed here at 7. Liked Balinese and Campsite
  25. DNF after a long struggle. Failed on NW corner – BADE (could not see this at all apart from the E), BALINESE (gave up trying to think of islands) and KEYBOARD (did not connect with office at all). Tough.
    1. Following this nudge I gave it a go – didn’t get anywhere near completing but managed over 50% of the clues, so very pleased with that. Thank you!
  27. Not a shoo-in by any means but all done and dusted in just over 20 minutes. My LOI by some margin was 1 down, BALINESE which I only got by doing an alphabet trawl. Luckily, it doesn’t take long to get to B.
    I knew OUNCE from Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (“ounce or cat or bear” ) but I think it’s appeared in the QC before, as well.

    Great surfaces as always in an izetti and much to enjoy. I especially liked APPARENT, POPE, and POSERS.
    Thanks so much, Chris and Izetti.

  28. ….on the tough side from Izetti, but scrupulously fair.

    FOI APPARENT
    LOI VALENCIA
    COD POPE
    TIME 4:31

  29. We found this difficult particularly the se. Failedto get Balinese, so we ended up with cupboard for 15a, perhaps more important than keyboaerd? Knew but forgot about the ounce, so not a good day.
  30. 5:26 this afternoon, mornings being devoted to outside exercise at the moment.
    Typical fare from Izetti, nicely pitched to be challenging with precise clueing.
    After all my years of puzzle-solving I was stiil misled by 10 ac “locate” and failed to spot the reverse hidden element of the clue at first, until my admittedly short trawl of Somerset place names I knew yielded nothing!
    COD 17 ac “Pope” made me smile
    Thanks to Chris for an entertaining blog and to the Don
  31. Saw Izetti’s name at the top of the puzzle and prepared myself for a slog. It failed to materialise, however, as I actually found this slightly easier than average. I was helped by the fact that I’m working through the Times Cryptic Crosswords Book 1 (on Sundays and Saturdays when there is no bonus QC from John and Phil) and 1a from the one I did on Sunday was, “Primate’s disapproving word in prohibition”. It was a Mara one. Anyway, FOI was APPARENT, LOI KEYBOARD, COD to TAPERING. As for the time, my 18:32 isn’t one of my absolute fastest, but any day I come home quicker than the esteemed Horryd is a red letter day indeed. Thanks Chris and Izetti.
  32. A DNF with my guess at 7a Bane being wrong by one letter. A typical tough but precisely fair test from Izetti. Helpful blog from Chris – needed this afternoon! FOI 11a Dear. LOI 7a Bane/Bade COI 13d Modelled.

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