Times Quick Cryptic 1947 by Felix

Author   william_j_sPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I really enjoyed this. I’m posting early for the benefit of our transatlantic solvers, for whom this crossword may have special relevance.

The top half didn’t put up too much resistance (except 11dn – I got the wrong end of the stick), but I flitted all over the bottom half, and had to concentrate too. I was distracted by a couple of less common alternatives (21ac/stylist, 13dn/edible), but only 10ac was unknown to me.

I’m grateful that Jackkt pointed out this setter’s proclivity to include a Nina, which would no doubt have passed me by without his helpful nudge. Did you spot it?

In the across entries I see:
1
8 (anagram of)
27
18 and 14
31 and 41/43
10
…which to me feels like we’re missing something from the 9th row. Unless “rash’ refers to 45?

Across
1 Cleaning part of building, coming across burnt remains (7)
WASHING – WING (part of building) containing (coming across) ASH (burnt remains).
5 Man heading for the Big Apple (4)
TONY – TO (heading for) and NY (New York, the ‘Big Apple’).
7 Sultanate, British, and a French one (6)
BRUNEI – BR (British) UNE (a, in French), then I (one).
8 Only second half of hymn is formal and dignified (6)
SOLEMN – SOLE (only) and half of hyMN.
9 Toughest RAF training in great demand (6-5)
SOUGHT-AFTER – anagram of (training) TOUGHEST RAF.
10 Bestow first class mark: you’ll see it in Cambridge (6)
GRANTA – GRANT (bestow) and A (first class mark). It’s a river in, & literary publication originally from, Cambridge, UK.
12 Force way through seaside attraction by church (6)
PIERCE – PIER (seaside attraction) and CE (Church of England, church).
14 Smart health organisation providing loud music (6,5)
THRASH METAL – anagram of (organisation) SMART HEALTH.
17 Oscar having to hang around to do some housework? (6)
HOOVER – O (oscar) with HOVER (to hang) around it.
18 Surprise as some Birmingham bus hijacked (6)
AMBUSH – hidden in (some) birminghAM BUS Hijacked.
20 I’d put in note reflecting change (4)
EDIT – ID inside TE (note, from the sol-fa scale), all reversed (reflecting).
21 Hairdressers, perhaps, try less rearranging (7)
STYLERS – anagram of (rearranging) TRY LESS.

Down
1 Not prepared for revolution, or major conflict (3)
WAR – RAW (not prepared) reversed (for revolution).
2 Right to stop daily cake: it causes skin condition! (7)
SUNBURN – R (right) inside (to stop, like a plug) SUN (newspaper, daily) with BUN (cake).
3 Language of Inland Revenue is hard (5)
IRISH – IR (Inland Revenue), IS, and H (hard).
4 Source of light a big hit in space (3,4)
GAS LAMP – SLAM (a big hit) contained by (in) GAP (space).
5 Sign on apartment maybe one removed from gents? (2,3)
TO LET – the letter ‘i’ (one) removed from TOiLET (gents?).
6 Botched manicure dreadful, ultimately, in digits? (9)
NUMERICAL – anagram of (botched) MANICURE, with the last letter of (ultimately) dreadfuL.
9 Pastry dishes brought up for daughter in Warks town (9)
STRATFORD – TARTS (pastry dishes), FOR, and D (daughter).
11 Declares valuable items when crossing border, finally (7)
ASSERTS – ASSETS (valuable items) containing (crossing) the last letter of (finally) bordeR.
13 Each set of figures suitable for consumption (7)
EATABLE – EA (each) and TABLE (set of figures).
15 I run up and check PIN (5)
RIVET – I and R (run) reversed (up), then VET (check). Sneaky capitalisation.
16 Heavily built, yet am shoved around (5)
MEATY – anagram of (shoved around) YET AM.
19 Close relation starts to sing in shower (3)
SIS – first letters from (strats to) Sing In Shower.

53 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1947 by Felix”

  2. 11 minutes, delayed by the unknown 10ac. Despite having spent some time visiting Cambridge I had not come across the GRANTA, which is apparently a tributary of the River Cam. Having worked it out from wordplay it seemed a fair bet as I knew of nearby Grantchester. THRASH METAL was also unknown but didn’t delay me unduly.

    Edited at 2021-08-25 12:04 am (UTC)

    1. The river gave its name to a Cambridge undergrad literary magazine, which in the 70s mutated into a commercial publication, and eventually a publishing house. That’s how I knew it – the opposite of ninja-turtling?
    2. Forgot to say that at 11 minutes this broke my run of 7 consecutive puzzles solved within my 10 minute target.
    3. I did not know the river either, and when looking up the word post-solve, only the publication appeared on Google. I’ve added the river to the blog – thanks.
  3. NHO THRASH METAL, and I suspect I don’t want to. GRANTA also slowed me down. 7:00.
  4. …solving with good speed, 6:37. Of course, you don’t notice a nina when you do that, but I actually thought of the 1852 campaign slogan when I saw Pierce. I also saw the town in Connecticut within which you will find my retirement village.

    Edited at 2021-08-25 02:14 am (UTC)

    1. Dear Mr Vinyl,
      It’s good to hear that your STYLERS (stylus) is where it belongs – “back in the groove”. However, if you play your Metallica and other THRASH METAL LPs at too high a volume, it may jump out again. You could try some Nightwish (a symphonic metal band) if you want something with a little more melody.
      1. Actually, silence has descended here, until I am able to install a new cartridge. I have a couple out for retipping, but the service I use takes 6-8 weeks.
  5. Slow throughout today. Only 4 on the first pass of acrosses and then not much better on the downs. Ended up in 22m with a lot of that on the GRANTA / STRATFORD pair. GRANTA came first — seemed way more obscure that RIPRIAN and I really wasn’t sure it could be right- and then I ran through all the Warwickshire towns I thought I knew but left off probably the most famous — Nuneaton, Kenilworth, Coventry, Leamington, I even considered Droitwich which fitted the first few checkers if reversed. Needed an alphabet trawl to see the second letter could be T — then it seemed obvious. Not sure why ‘tarts’ for pastries wouldn’t come — I was hooked on ‘strudels’ and didn’t see what ‘for’ was doing so was looking for longer pastries to reverse. RHS complete while there were still huge gaps on the left. Quirky and tough but good!
  6. Just shy of 20 min. Spotted Stratford straight off (can’t seem to enter Warwickshire by road without being reminded of Shakespeare) but also NHO and had to Google Granta. Many thanks. Will go back and hunt Nina
  7. FOI: 7a. BRUNEI
    LOI: 9d. STRATFORD
    Time to Complete: 40 minutes
    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 22
    Clues Answered with Aids: 2
    Clues Unanswered: 0
    Wrong Answers: 0
    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 24/24
    Aids Used: Chambers

    This one was not too bad, though a couple of the clues had me stumped for a long time. At 40 minutes it’s 11 minutes under my average solve time. Aids used twice.

  8. As I was going through this I was thinking that there were some tricky clues, but I had one of those days where I could untangle them without too much trouble.
    NUMERICAL did hold me up for a bit as I initially thought that botched was the definition and dreadful the anagram indicator. Sorting out that allowed me to get LOI TONY.
    I parsed SUNBURN with Sun referring to the newspaper rather than the day of the week, which feels like a valid alternative?
    An enjoyable solve and with william’s nudge spotted the theme of the nina, although my lack of that GK in this area means that I’ve probably missed a couple.
    Finished in 8.18 with COD to WAR, closely followed by RIVET and fingers crossed for the unknown GRANTA
    Thanks to William

    Edited at 2021-08-25 07:25 am (UTC)

  9. ….with the additional rare occurrence of spotting the presence of the NINA (I didn’t go to the trouble of researching the whole shooting match once I’d spotted three of the guys). Quite tricky, and I’m pleased to have got there within target after a rather slow start.

    FOI WASHING
    LOI EDIT
    COD THRASH METAL
    TIME 4:17

    1. If you had all the answers to hand, read all the clues carefully then filled in the answers it would take at least 5mins Try it sometime.
      1. What a very strange observation. Don’t judge other peoples’ abilities against the apparently inferior levels of which you are capable.
  10. … and this was no exception, with the SW corner holding me up and leading to a 12 minute solve in all. No problem with Granta, as Cambridge was my alma mater, but like many I thought of the river, on which I have punted many times, rather than the publication which I don’t think I have ever read.

    NHO 14A Thrash Metal, and like Kevin I am probably content to stay that way.

    Have finally not only spotted the Nina but also (which I found rather more challenging!) unravelled William’s rather cryptic references to them — I don’t tend to think of US presidents by numbers (and how does one refer to Grover Cleveland, who was president twice in non-consecutive terms?).

    Many thanks to William for the blog
    Cedric

    Edited at 2021-08-25 07:56 am (UTC)

  11. My usual twenty minutes in two goes. Would have been a DNF but for help from husband seeing Stratford and Granta, so feeling a bit thick this morning. Was fixated on fitting pies upside down with a d somewhere after the given s. Did not think of tarts. Granta I have heard of but could not summon from the depths, and was looking for other things I’d see in Cambridge. Did not parse edit, gas lamp or rivet. Put in thrash metal but had to Google it as I’d not heard of it. FOI ambush. LOI edit. COD sought after. Thanks, William, for the informative blog, and for pointing out the Nina which would have completely passed me by otherwise. Thanks, Felix, for the entertainment. GW.
  12. 17:42,
    LOI HOOVER / RIVET. Did an alphabet trawl on RI–T as “pin” has many definitions.

    I was pleased to get Thrash Metal early, did not even spot the anagram until later. I put myself in the small intersection who know of it and the publishing house Granta.

    Sultanate is often Oman, so Brunei makes a change. Are there any others?

    Warks for Warwickshire looked odd, so was thinking it must be word fodder of some kind, and for=FOR was a surprise.

    COD HOOVER

    1. There is the Sultanate of Mahra (Yemen). Egypt was a Sultanate from 1914-22, and there are plenty more historical examples.
  13. I didn’t spot the nina until it was pointed out, as usual. WASHING was FOI and I thought I was making quick progress, but when I checked the clock as I approached my last couple of clues it was up towards my target. ASSERTS was POI and the unknown GRANTA then went in from wordplay and checkers. 9:13. Thanks Felix and William.
  14. Couldn’t do SW. Actually I do know Granta mag/publishers so might have got there had I been more patient. Had to be THRASH METAL tho NHO. I did manage STRATFORD, but not RIVET (good clue).
    FOI TO LET.
    Thanks all, esp William

    1. I sympathise. I had similar problems in the SW and had to work out THRASH METAL on paper but had never heard of it. I only got RIVET when HOOVER emerged after a bit of alphabet trawling. Agree it was a good clue. John.
      1. Sorry folks but imho a pin is not a rivet.
        A rivet has both ends hammered over to prevent removal whereas a pin has a head at one end only.
  15. A mix of doddle clues and some rather odd, contrived ones. All became clear when I saw in the blog that there was another b****y Nina. They always distort an otherwise smooth QC. I got bogged down in the SW, partly because I was interrupted twice by deliveries. I took my time getting back into the swing of it so have no idea of my time. Thanks to William and I look forward to tomorrow. John M.
  16. 12 mins here because I needed all the checkers to decipher THRASH METAL and LOI with fingers crossed GRANTA. NHO either. I assume THRASH METAL is an extreme form of heavy metal which given my aversion to the latter would be at the bottom of my play list. At least the inclusion of my LOI led me quickly to the NINA. Thanks anyway.

    Edited at 2021-08-25 09:37 am (UTC)

  17. but with no error. So a bit over target.

    Missed the nina while solving, though I did go back after seeing William’s reminder and spotted a few.

    I was something of an aficionado of THRASH METAL in the mid to late 80’s as a spotty adolescent and I even went to see Metallica only 3 years ago when they were last in the UK.

    NHO GRANTA, which was LOI.

    7:08

    1. Have you heard Nightwish, a symphonic metal band from Finland? They’re rather more melodic than Metallica et al, with a classically trained female vocalist and some celtic folk elements, courtesy of Troy Donockley’s Uillean pipes (etc.). Worth a listen.
  19. Enjoyable and mostly fair enough so thanks Felix and william_j_s. I’m calling foul on 10 a though. Too obscure for a quickie in my opinion.
  20. Taken over target by this quirky puzzle from Felix, at 18 minutes, with several of them working on the NHO GRANTA. The Nina passed me by on this occasion mostly due to my appalling lack of GK on past POTUSs. I’ll try to remedy that! Thanks both — I still don’t see what THRASH METAL is adding to the fun, despite Jeremy’s comment.
  21. 5:22 this morning. Submitted on a wing and a prayer, with LOI/NHO 10 ac “granta”, basically trusting my choice of synonym for “bestow”.
    Can’t say I have been aware of 21 ac “Stylers” in the past but the anagram left no choice. Interesting to see the TFtT website doesn’t recognise it either!
    COD 5 d “to let” which raised a smile.
    Needless to say, I was blissfully unaware of the Nina.
    Thanks to William (I should have said) for the blog and to Felix.

    Edited at 2021-08-25 07:23 pm (UTC)

  22. Got really stuck in the SW, the last 4 adding 50% to my time. Bit of a middle of the road puzzle, I thought. Missed the Nina (didn’t notice the setter) and find William’s “hint” harder work than the puzzle!

    FOI TONY, LOI GRANTA despite my Cantab, COD STRATFORD, time 12:12 for 1.75K and a Meh Day.

    Thanks Felix and William.

    Templar

  23. Nudging 30mins, which is about par for Felix. For the first time ever I actually spotted the Nina, though sadly only after I had struggled for ages with Granta. CoD to 15d, Rivet. Invariant

    Edited at 2021-08-25 10:31 am (UTC)

  24. 20 mins dnf — just couldn’t get 10ac. Was looking for a college or something, not some obscure literary magazine. I suppose I could have hazard a guess, but it still would have been a struggle.

    All the rest went in fairly straightforward., although 9dn “Stratford” took far longer than it should have.

    FOI — 1dn “War”
    LOI — dnf
    COD — 15dn “Rivet”

    Thanks as usual!

  26. All correct in 30 minutes precisely today, despite never having heard of GRANTA (my LOI), which I think is just too esoteric for a QC. It was generously clued, I suppose, but what if (like me) the solver has never set foot in Cambridge?

    Nice to see (if not to hear) THRASH METAL making an appearance, if only as a more contemporary contrast to the slight tendency towards the more usual archaic/classical solutions.

    My FOI was (for once) the first clue I looked at – WASHING. I found the SE corner, particularly easy, but struggled somewhat with the whole of the SW corner.

    Many thanks to Felix and to william_j_s

    1. The Granta river is perhaps not widely known, but it is the river that gives Grantchester its name, and that may be slightly better known because of Rupert Brookes’ poem “The Old Vicarage, Grantchester”. An odd poem — it is about 130 lines long (and contains both German and Greek phrases), and all anyone remembers of it these days are the last two lines:

      Stands the Church clock at ten to three?
      And is there honey still for tea?

      Cedric

  27. Was going okay with all bar two done in about 20, but just couldn’t get 10a or 11d. I did think of GRANTS as a possibility, but it didn’t quite fit the wordplay so I left it. I gave up after 49 minutes. NHO GRANTA so I’m not going to be too hard on myself. Totally missed the Nina, but I have heard of THRASH METAL (I’m not aware of having listened to much of it, but I’m pretty sure I’m not a fan). Lots of contenders for COD but I think I’ll go for RIVET. Thanks Felix and William.
  28. I think it would have been fairer to give some sort of literary/publishing/bookish hint for GRANTA , but will try to remember bestow=grant.

  29. 36 mins. Flew through most of it (by my standards) but then spent 15 mins on the SE corner. I particularly struggled with 15d and 20a as I just couldn’t think of a pin beginning with R. Luckily I knew Granta as a Cambridge alumni- partly because there is a pub of that name with a lovely beer garden by the river. My understanding is the River Cam used to be known as the granta and Cambridge was granta-bridge before both got distorted over time. Thanks Felix and William!

  30. Hooray! After yesterday’s horror I managed this after a couple of pauses for thought. Just about heard of THRASH METAL and guessed GRANTA. Feeling better!
  31. As usual, I looked for the nina when I saw Felix’s name but couldn’t find it! Nine minutes on this one and no problem with the GK. With two metal fans in the family, I am fully aware of the Thrash variety. At one point, my husband’s ringtone was the opening riff to Enter Sandman by Metallica, which in my view is preferable to the ubiquitous Apple ringtone!
    Can’t remember any of the details of my solve as I did it this morning and forgot to make notes, but I liked SOUGHT AFTER and TONY in particular.
    Thanks both 😊
  32. Buzzed around outside for over an hour to really put me off — finished all bar Granta and Asserts.
    Which was annoying since I knew Granta well.

    Coincidentally struggling with a Felix crossword in QC Book 4 number 93 which is extremely challenging (for moi) so approached this one nervously.

    Tough but fair. And enjoyable.

    Thanks all
    John George

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