Times Quick Cryptic 1992 by Tracy

Author   plusjeremyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
6:35 w/ 1 err.

A.
1 MANIFEST + O
6 B + AG
8 DEBACLE = L + CAB rev. in DEE
9 D(R)ONE
10 TIGHT{s}
12 P(LANE)T
14 TOOK ONE’S LEAVE = dd
16 S + TITCH
17 {f}RIGHT
19 AROMA = hid’n
20 SAN REMO = (RANSOME)*
22 FUN{d}
23 THREW + A + F + IT

D.
1 M(EDIT)ATE
2 N + A.B.
3 F(ACE)T
4 STEEPLECHASER = (REPLACES THESE)*
5 ODD + BALL
6 BOOMERANG = (EMBARGO ON)*
7 G + LEE
11 GHOST TOWN = HOST in G + (WON’T)*
13 BEETROOT = hom. of BEAT ROUTE
15 OUT + CAST
17 RENE + W
18 CALF = hid’n
21 EL + F

70 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1992 by Tracy”

  1. Nothing of particular interest that I can remember. An economical blog today, what, Jeremy? 4:43.
    1. Evidently going for the retro look! This was how some people blogged when TfTT first started.
  5. Tenses did for me today. Pink square for ‘threw’ not THROW A FIT having previously made life hard with ‘take’ rather than TOOK ONES LEAVE. That ‘take’ left me wondering if I needed a literary landlord to fit G_K_T / _O_N before I eventually unraveled GHOST TOWN (#1 for the Charles and Diana wedding). Thrown by the Ransome novel as we’ve been reading Swallows and Amazons lately and I can’t confidently recall the books after Peter Duck — good groan when I saw what really needed to be done. Not all green (and mildly aggrieved) in 12.

    Edited at 2021-10-27 07:39 am (UTC)

    1. Ditto with ghost took crossers. 17 with hold up. Thanks for blog J… 0.5K? Cheers Tracy

  6. This would have been my fastest solve (22 minutes), if it were not for the fact that I put “throw a fit” rather than “threw a fit”.

    However, I am happy with my result.

  7. I did the same as Mendesest and PW and stuck ‘THROW’ into 23a, which unfortunately was down to carelessness rather than a typo. Other than that a relatively straightforward solve ‘completed’ in 7.48
    Thanks to Jeremy
  9. Threw a fit when I saw that THREW A FIT was one letter wrong like many others. Already in the SCC at that point (21 mins)

    But wasted far too long with DUNCE for DRONE. This let to BOOMERANG starting B-N, and as the clue was “Embargo on …” seemed that starting was “BAN” felt just right.

    I always felt a drone was a boring person, not a lazy person. As in “droning on”.

    Is RENÉ the canonical Frenchman? I thought it was Pierre. We have Otto and Hans for German, Dai for a Welshman, Ian for a Scotsman. Any others that spring to mind?

    Thanks plusjeremy (testing out new @ capability in LJ)

    COD BEETROOT

    2. I guess that a drone being a lazy person might come from the fact that male bees are called drones and they don’t do any work, unless you count mating with the queen.
  10. I found this straightforward and it was all correct in a steady 14 mins (parsed with more care than usual). All the 3- and 4-letter answers seemed to drop out and I had no trouble with tenses (although 23ac needed care with parsing). I came back to 1ac when I had some crossers and my LOI was BEETROOT. My COD was GHOST TOWN.
    Some sneaky clues today but it was enjoyable. Thanks to Tracy. Jeremy’s blog was cergainly economical but I missed the usual comments and entertainment. John M.

    Edited at 2021-10-27 08:40 am (UTC)

  11. … with a fast solve (9 minutes) but one pink square for Throw not Threw.

    I thought there were some poor clues here. 9A Drone — a drone is not a lazy person. He or she (but in my experience usually a he) can be a boring person, and it can also be the monotonous noise such a person makes. In a beehive a drone has the important (and far from effort-free) task of fertilising the queen. But lazy? 17A Right — right and genuine are not synonyms in my book. And then 23A Threw (throw) a fit, the clue-of-the-day — in the sense that I suspect it will feature in more posts today than any other clue. I am torn between thinking this is very clever (cast as noun in surface, verb in wordplay), very but fairly misleading (cast being both present tense and past tense) and very underhand (two possible answers both work in the grid). Whatever it is — and on balance I think it is all three — it was enough to give me, and I predict many others, a DNF.

    Tx +J 4 blog. Are we allowed to know which your error was — was it by any chance the same as the rest of us?
    Cedric

    1. The lazy connotation for drone does come from bees. The drones do not contribute to the production of honey and used to be considered “lazy” or “free-loading.” Old-fashioned thinking. Like Dracula. Three hundred years old, or older.
      1. I admire your honesty, Jeremy … and I now don’t feel as bad about my own attempt at that clue.
  12. Not too easy, not too hard, a good crossword, a nice, satisfying solve. A few write-ins but the rest needing at least a modicum of rumination. FOI manifesto, LOI meditate. COD they were all good. Can’t give a time. Looked at the clock at the beginning and at the end I’d forgotten what it said. Thanks, Jeremy, and Tracy.

  13. Just slipped out of the SCC today at around 18 mins. It would have been far quicker but spent at least 5 minutes on my last two, ghost town – which I wanted to start with guest – and took ones leave, which I was convinced was over or open in the middle. Still I’m now humming The Specials so worth the effort!

  14. 76 mins including buffet breakfast so maybe 13 mins?
    I can be a bit of an alkie but I don’t understand champagne at breakfast. In Moscow with pancakes at xmas maybe.

    Loi drone and mer.
    Cod boomerang or steeplechase.

  15. I started with NAB, FACET and MEDITATE, which gave me MANIFESTO, and just kept going in an anticlockwise manner. Last 2 in were BOOMERANG and Glee. 7:15. Thanks Tracy and Jeremy.
  16. Raised an eyebrow at the casual racial stereotyping of DREAD for 9a, before realising that DRONE also fits and was much more likely. Also had TAKE instead of TOOK at 14a for a while. Otherwise a nice steady solve. Thanks Tracy and Jeremy.
  17. No big problems today finishing in under 10 minutes on paper.
    LOI BOOMERANG which I had assumed would start BAR or BAN. I was surprised at the definition of DRONE; agree with Cedric. However I put it in and then was able to finish.
    I’m wondering which one Jeremy got wrong.
    COD to DEBACLE.- I’ve changed my mind-COD to BOOMERANG.
    David

    Edited at 2021-10-27 09:20 am (UTC)

  18. 11 minutes and back to normality after nearly a week of over-target solves. I didn’t like the blog in this format, although Jeremy has always been one to experiment with it, which I generally applaud. On this occasion though, I can’t support it going forwards. It feels like someone has criticised Jeremy’s usual format for being too verbose and long, and this is his unhappy reaction. I hope that isn’t the case.
    1. Unfortunately Jeremy is prone to petulance and lacks a bit of that British ‘something’ – dare I say ‘je ne sais quois’ – in contrast to your good self.
    2. Ah Rotter, you really are misnamed – always so thoughtful and generous.
      I am certainly sorry if Jeremy is upset – I have long thought that part of the issue is cultural differences, perhaps a little less New York and a bit more Leicester? But like all bloggers, he should be appreciated and thanked.
  19. Beetroot (with cream cheese) was my COD and my Time:4.52 minutes – a Greyhound for a day! Steeplechaser was hardly the hardest of ‘anagramatica’.
  20. And enjoyed my trip. As an East Midlander 13dn Beetroot ever reminds me of young Mole’s culinary desires!

    FOI 6ac BAG

    LOI 8ac DEBACLE

    COD 1ac MANIFESTO

    WOD 5dn ODDBALL

    Is it Thursday already!?

    Edited at 2021-10-27 11:16 am (UTC)

  21. A speedy solve starting with the 1s and ending with GHOST TOWN (my COD). I had one small hiccup at DRONE as I miscounted the centre of afternoon as an N. I also took my time and checked the tenses so I didn’t throw a fit. All green in 7:14. plusjeremy I’m wondering if your economical blog is a reflection of the difficulty of today’s QC or your reaction to 23a. As a solver of several years it is fine by me but perhaps not very useful for those starting out.

    Edited at 2021-10-27 10:38 am (UTC)

    1. Agreed — as a relative novice I found the blog 100% unhelpful, putting it as politely as one can
      1. There’s no disputing taste, but… really? 100% unhelpful? Literally zero of the parsings made any sense?

        I assume if this is the case, then you usually find my blogs to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 7% helpful?

        Anyway, I offer you, as I have offered anyone, free private coaching on solving cryptics. More that happy to be of service.

  22. Ha ha… I enjoyed the pointed brevity – hopefully a one-off. But what was your one error??
  23. A struggle and the odd aid needed, but finally successful. Found this puzzle a bit odd, really.
  24. Not on the wavelength at all today. It took a full 39:48 to untangle this, with DRONE, GHOST TOWN and TOOK OPEN LEAVE being particularly problematic. I then came on here and discovered I had DNFed because I’d put THROW instead of THREW. I could have overlooked that, but I can’t overlook (though with Jeremy’s concise blog I almost did – just short of time I suspect) putting OPEN instead of ONE’S. I had even listed all the possibilities I could think of for O_E_ and didn’t come up with ONES. OMEN and OVEN didn’t seem likely, and OVER didn’t work either, so I went with OPEN. The use of ONE’S in crosswordland often gives me pause for thought, although I usually do get it, because I’d usually say “Take your leave”. I know that’s probably not correct English. Anyway, Thanks Jeremy and Tracy.
  25. Thank you Jeremy. I enjoyed your succinct blog which was certainly to the point and met its objective. It will be interesting to see what approach you favour next!
    I fell into all the above referenced gotchas but crawled out safely in 1.9xSCC.
    COD BOOMERANG. Came back to me in an instant. Boom boom you could say.
    Thanks Tracy
  26. I thought this was a nice little tester to come back to after a few days away, only to find myself caught by the same threw/throw trap as others. 18mins up to that point, with the last couple on CoD Ghost Town, just ahead of Boomerang — possibly the one Charlie Drake was looking for? Invariant
  27. From one extreme to the other on alternate Wednesdays! Maybe time just to calm down a bit? Much as I need to, having made the same mistake as many others at 23a 😅 So frustrating, as the past tense of ‘lost it’ makes it perfectly clear what is required. Otherwise I was doing quite well and finished in 8 minutes, with quite a few smiles along the way.
    STITCH made me chuckle, as it pretty much sums up my response to exercise! I also liked SAN REMO a lot.
    FOI Bag
    LOI Boomerang
    COD Steeplechaser – maybe quite obvious but what a nice surface
    Thanks Tracy and cheer up Jeremy. We do appreciate all the work that you bloggers do
  29. All done and dusted in 29 minutes today (very fast for me), but as with several fellow solvers above, I fell into the THROW/THREW trap at 23a. Mrs Random was out walking with friends when I discovered my mistake a little earlier, so I decided not to self-administering another of her home-made peanut butter cookies at the time, but she has since returned and completed her attempt (all correct) in 18 minutes. Therefore, I am now enjoying another of the said cookies … but I would still rather have not made the mistake.

    That was Mrs Random’s 28th consecutive successful completion (her best ever run) and my 3rd successive DNF (my worst run since January). And I had dared to think that I was finally starting to catch her up.

    Many thanks to Tracy and plusjeremy

    P.S. I would like to thank plusjeremy and all of our solution bloggers for their sterling efforts in helping us understand how the clues work and how the solutions are derived. Without their help I would still be solving only one or two of these QCs per week.

    Edited at 2021-10-27 12:37 pm (UTC)

  30. TIGHTs are not the same as stockings – very minor ER. Lots to enjoy. BEETROOT made me smile when I saw the light. LOI MEDITATE, but no real hold-ups ( another kind of stocking).

    Was confused by blog at first. Glad your wife is OK, Jeremy.

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