Times Quick Cryptic 1910 by Hurley

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
One or two tricky clues here, I thought, but after last week’s run of disasters (apart from Monday) I was pleased to finish within my target with time to spare. This was a very uncomplicated puzzle to blog so I find myself with little to add to the basic explanations.

As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. I usually omit all reference to positional indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.

Across

1 Referring maybe to crossing lacking interest (10)
PEDESTRIAN
Two meanings
7 Old Church article seen in the water (5)
OCEAN
O (old), CE (church), AN (article)
8 Councillor conceals difficult situation, leading to ill humour (6)
CHOLER
CR (councillor) contains [conceals] HOLE (difficult situation). My LOI. Not a word I was expecting and it only came to mind once all the checkers were in place. Prior to that I only got as far as CR for ‘councillor’.
10 One parliamentarian, potential mischief-maker? (3)
IMP
I (one), MP (parliamentarian). A well-roasted chestnut.
12 Fruit from Moroccan port (9)
TANGERINE
I’ve indicated two meanings but since the fruit is named after the city and originally came from thereabouts it could all count as one definition.
13 Arrive originally by means of railway to see bird enclosure (6)
AVIARY
A{rrive} [originally], VIA (by means of), RY (railway)
14 Sweet tango dancing — Uruguay’s first to enter (6)
NOUGAT
U{ruguay} [‘s first] contained by [to enter] anagram [dancing] of TANGO
17 Painting rocky place with sand (9)
LANDSCAPE
Anagram [rocky] of PLACE SAND
19 Viewer, wise, savvy, astute in the end (3)
EYE
{wis}E, {savv}Y, {astut}E, [in the end]
20 Revenue of popular company by this writer (6)
INCOME
IN (popular), CO (company), ME (this writer)
21 Person welcoming English in Asian capital (5)
SEOUL
SOUL (person) containing [welcoming] E (English)
23 German leader‘s opportunity, getting backing of list of names (10)
CHANCELLOR
CHANCE (opportunity), then ROLL (list of names) reversed [backing]
Down
1 A plot, brief, extraordinarily remunerative (10)
PROFITABLE
Anagram [extraordinarily] of A PLOT BRIEF
2 Expected of French to go around university (3)
DUE
DE (of, French) containing [to go around] U (university)
3 Politician in delicatessen, a Tory (7)
SENATOR
Hidden [in] {delicates}SEN A TOR{y}
4 Called about Channel Islands sports activity (6)
RACING
RANG (called) containing [about] CI (Channel Islands)
5 Guy in outskirts of Airdrie building home (5)
ABODE
BOD (guy) contained by [in] A{irdri}E [outskirts]
6 Silly urge in me for cake (8)
MERINGUE
Anagram [silly] of URGE IN ME. I wouldn’t necessarily have described this as cake, but the word appears in some dictionary definitions.
9 Footballer George with, it’s said, store of wine that’s market success (10)
BESTSELLER
BEST (footballer George), then SELLER sounds like [it’s said] “cellar”  (store of wine)
11 Moment to introduce good news article initially evoking pity (8)
POIGNANT
POINT (moment) containing [to introduce] G {ood} + N{ews} + A{article} [initially]. The parsing delayed me a little here until I thought of ‘up to that point / moment’.
15 Manage some cricket by bishop’s place (7)
OVERSEE
OVER (some cricket – 6 balls), SEE (bishop’s place)
16 Cheers very short, beginning to need somewhere to drink! (6)
TAVERN
TA (cheers), VER{y} [short], N{eed} [beginning]
18 Quiet about group’s reluctance to work (5)
SLOTH
SH (quiet) containing [about] LOT (group)
22 Bird a little way along window ledge (3)
OWL
Hidden in [a little way along] {wind}OW L{edge}

61 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1910 by Hurley”

  1. My heart sank when I saw ‘Footballer George’, as I know approximately no footballers, but when I biffed BESTSELLER I recognized the name; not that I knew he was a footballer, mind you. POIGNANT took me some time to parse, too. 5:17.
  2. Nothing to scare the horses here, coming in around the same time as Kevin. I enjoy making pavlova – when M&S in Hong Kong have fresh double cream on the shelves. Even those professing not to have a sweet tooth always seem to fall for the chewy texture of the meringues, being used to dried out husks in local shops.
  3. 15:26. LOI POIGNANT took a bit of time with two places to put NGA. CHOLER also tricky as was not sure of abbreviation, “clr” or “cllr” looked possible.

    I learnt where the word Tangerine comes from.

    Could not parse LANDSCAPE as I had Rocky place=cape.

    COD BESTSELLER

  5. All green in 15. Held up by trying the wrong guy and getting ‘aribe’ for ABODE, which made CHOLER even harder to crack. Also delayed by POIGNANT. Five on the first pass, mostly on the left hand side but then steady progress.
  6. I found this fairly gentle with only LOI POIGNANT putting up much resistance. 1d and it’s offshoots got me off to a good start and then just followed the clues around the grid. I had a MER at meringue/cake but figured it would appear somewhere in a dictionary. Finished in 6.46.
    Thanks to Jack

  7. FOI: 10a. IMP
    LOI: 4d. RACING
    Time to Complete: 52 minutes
    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 21
    Clues Answered with Aids: 3
    Clues Unanswered: Nil
    Wrong Answers: Nil
    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 24/24
    Aids Used: Chambers

    A nice puzzle that had some good clues in it. Some tricky clues that had me scratching my head and eventually reaching for Chamber’s. Nice start to the week.

  8. An OK start to the week with CHOLER a and POIGNANT taking us a little while to get – especially as we’d NHO of the former. Lots of clever clues to enjoy. We finished in 16 minutes.

    FOI: OCEAN
    LOI: CHOLER
    COD: POIGNANT

    Thanks Teazel and Jackkt.

  9. Yes thanks T & J. I thought of ‘a point / moment in time’ with the parsing of poignant
  10. A good start to the week, apart from not getting either CHOLER ( does anyone really use that word anymore?) or, as a result, ABODE.

    Thank you, Hurley, and Jack.

    Diana

  11. A pleasing 17 mins for me, although I confess I didn’t know 8ac “Choler” and had my fingers crossed when I came to check. I also wouldn’t have described “Meringue” as cake, but it couldn’t have been anything else.

    Overall, a good start to the week.

    FOI — 2dn “Due”
    LOI — 8ac “Choler”
    COD — 11dn “Poignant”

    Thanks as usual!

  12. Stretched to just over my target by POIGNANT and LOI, PEDESTRIAN, which took me ages to see. DUE was FOI. When I had all the crossers for 1a, my brain immediately said INDUSTRIAL and it took me a while to get that out of my head. 10:45. Thanks Hurley and Jack.
  13. Would have been comfortably inside 20 mins had I not had a brain fade at TAVERN as my LOI, and all checkers in place. Should know by now cheers = ta, often, but I was looking for a (very!) long word for cheers to make “very short”, so got in a mess until the light dawned. Ho hum. At least CHOLER went in easily, and POIGNANT didn’t take too long. 21 mins eventually.
  14. Most of my comments have already been made above by others. I worked out CHOLER but had not heard of it before (I couldn’t get cholic out of my mind). Some easy biffs but I parsed them all. I rather liked AVIARY — not hard but very neat. Yes, POIGNANT was tough and slowed me down but I was happy to come in at 13.30 for a decent start to the week. Thanks to Hurley and jackkt. John M.

    Edited at 2021-07-05 08:26 am (UTC)

  15. Within target.

    PROFITABLE, PEDESTRIAN AND LANDSCAPE were the last to go in. Anagrams often are, as I try not to write them out for the QC.

    The hidden SENATOR took a little while.

    CHOLER was probably my favourite.

    5:40

    1. Ed, you post this same message again and again and again. I’m beginning to wonder whether you’d be better suited to another hobby.
    2. plusjeremy was certainly quick, everyone else seems to be around their target time. Lots of comments, like “OK”, “GENTLE”, “PLEASANT”.

      If by experts, you mean people who have taken the time to learn how to do cryptic crosswords, then yes, it’s one for the experts. We’re all “experts” compared the general populace, some of us do them quicker than others, but most posters here get there in the end.

      It’s a pretty niche hobby though, and most people wouldn’t know one end of a cryptic clue from another, nor see the point of even trying to solve one.

      Maybe try a different hobby if it’s actually a downer if you can’t finish a puzzle. It’s not doing you any good. Being able to solve a cryptic crossword doesn’t make you clever, it just means you’ve learned a “code”. If you’re determined to be able to solve, just learn, ask questions, read the blog. Don’t just moan in a non-specific manner about “ridiculous” or “obscure”, or “dodgy” clues.

      Jack’s blog clearly explains how all of the clues work, as does every blog, every day. Some puzzles are harder than others, either difficult vocabulary, esoteric general knowledge, or “harder” word play. This one, however, was not difficult as QC’s go..

      Edited at 2021-07-05 09:07 am (UTC)

      1. Yes, I thought the same last time and the time before. It’s the same set of words each time. Can the username be blocked?
    4. The only downer round here are these tedious and negative comments every day!
  16. I seemed to be going slowly and carefully through this – finishing with ADOBE/CHOLER – to be then surprised by my time of 7:15. Happy start to the week!
  17. Bright and breezy Monday puzzle. Pretty straightforward and a sequential solve for me except for the CHOLER/ABODE crossing, which took a bit of pen-chewing.

    FOI PROFITABLE, LOI ABODE, COD SEOUL, time 06:49 for 1.3K and an Excellent Day.

    Many thanks Hurley and Jack.

    Templar

  18. Most of this was straightforward if not particularly easy, but I was held up by my last two. POIGNANT took me a while to unravel and I did not parse it fully. At that point 11:30 on the clock.
    I then returned to LOI 8a. I too wondered about abbreviations for councillor. I assumed this had to be CR around a word for problem. CHOLER was not a word I felt I knew but it parsed and in it went after 13:09.
    A good puzzle. No obvious COD for me -perhaps PEDESTRIAN.
    David
  19. I finished just under target at 8:57 with LOI the unknown CHOLER. The only other two clues that delayed me were the 1s. I needed all the checkers to solve them. You’d think as an accountant I would have seen the anagram of PROFITABLE a lot sooner. It was my POI.
    1. As an accountant myself, I can say the word profitable isn’t as common as it used to be.
  20. Held up by CHOLER and POIGNANT ( one of those GN words, like IMPUGN that I forget about). Nice puzzle, and helpful blog as always.
  21. Must have been on the right wavelength today as zoomed through only meditating about POIGNANT.
    FOI PROFITABLE.
    By the way, we had delicious strawberry MERINGUE ROULADE at a picnic yesterday (keeping Covid rules meant the occasion was chilly and damp but fun). All the same, meringue not a cake as such, I agree.
    CHOLER more of a Shakespearean word, perhaps.
    Thanks all, esp Jack.

    Edited at 2021-07-05 10:28 am (UTC)

  22. 11:10 for me, with no particular problems. 1d, 2d and 1a were first ones in, in that order to give a fast start. I then completed most of the top half in short order, with only CHOLER and ABODE resisting slightly. I biffed LANDSCAPE without spotting the anagram until later. Thanks Jackkt and Hurley.
  23. Done, dusted and enjoyed within 12 minutes. A very nice way to begin the day and the week. I biffed POIGNANT, not seeing the point / moment connection until I read the blog, ditto the difficult situation in CHOLER. Weirdly, I solved 5 down, ABODE, by firstly seeing adobe as a kind of home and wondering what kind of guy a dob was.
    Liked PEDESTRIAN and TANGERINE.
    Thanks, jackkt, for the blog and thanks, too, to Hurley.
  24. … but only in my little world. Total time = 16 minutes, which is two minutes short of my PB. And if it hadn’t been for CHOLER (my LOI), which took me three minutes to get, I would have set a new PB. Drat!

    Actually, it could just as easily have been a fast DNF as, given that I have NHO CHOLER, I was faced with deciding which of three different abbreviations for ‘councillor’ – CC (County Councillor), CO or CR – was correct. I chose CC at first, but luckily changed my mind before putting down my pencil.

    Mrs Random is out celebrating a friend’s landmark birthday at the moment, so I may report her time later in the day.

    Many thanks to Hurley and jackkt

  25. Most of this was went in without too much difficulty, which is a good job because I really struggled with the Asian capital and the unknown loi Choler. I did at one point wonder if the lesser spotted Cil was making a rare appearance in the SE, until I remembered Seoul… at which point Owl became the more likely answer. Choler in the NE was a disaster, with both CC and Cllr options in play for far too long before Abode and hole reduced the field to something more manageable. Even then it was a fingers crossed finish after 25mins. CoD to 1ac, Pedestrian, which nicely sums up my effort. 😉 Invariant
      1. Your time can be made even more respectable by rounding it down to 30mins. Well done!
  26. I was pleased to see that Hurley compiled the puzzle today as he is usually entertaining. And do-able. So my FOI, imp, began a little inkling that I might not be so pleased quite soon. Only four acrosses on first pass, but then the Hurley magic began to work and I had twenty-one (acrosses and downs) by the time I’d read all the downs. The rest followed from the clues solved. All done and parsed in about ten minutes. LOI chancellor. Some for me to enjoy – ocean, aviary, sloth, owl. Don’t go in taverns very much any more, but remember enjoying the ambience in them once upon a time. Thanks, Jack, and Hurley. GW.
  27. Straightforward start to the week, all solved in 15 mins. Last week my times got progressively worse as the week wore on, so let’s hope this week is a little more friendly. Nice puzzle – thanks Hurley. Thanks also to Jack for the blog.

    FOI – 7ac OCEAN
    LOI – 5dn ABODE
    COD – 4dn RACING

  28. Definitely not ‘ridiculously difficult’ today, seeing as I managed to finish (and parse) without using aids, not something I achieved at all last week. Admittedly, I did put CHOLER and TANGERINE in the app in my phone, just to be sure that’s what the setter did mean. Otherwise, stuff went in fairly smoothly as I dotted round the grid, building up the crossers.

    Finished in about 6K, I guess — I don’t actually time myself as I do it on paper and, today at least, over lunch.

    Thanks to Hurley and Jack…

  29. … and took 12 minutes to complete what was a well-constructed puzzle with, in retrospect, few traps or awkwardnesses. So I am not entirely sure what took the time. I share the slight surprise that a meringue is considered a cake, and spent at least a couple of minutes on my LOI 5D Abode, but otherwise I shall just put it down to a Slow Day.

    Many thanks to Jack for the blog
    Cedric

    1. Cedric, I too was surprised by meringue being classified as a cake. However, after giving it due consideration – if I wished to purchase said meringue, I would almost certainly visit a cake-shop in order to purchase one!

Comments are closed.