Times Quick Cryptic 2032 by Orpheus

Author   plusjeremyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Introduction

5:29, but I needed to check on the unknown 5 Down. A gentle affair which befitted my post-booster exhaustion.

Solutions

Across

1   Unsuitable environment for Republican poet (4)
BARD = BAD around R

4   Refined European press chief (8)
POLISHED = POLISH + ED

8   Snowstorm initially battering reptile, it’s said (8)
BLIZZARD = B + homophone of LIZARD

9   Time to go back and make improvements (4)
EDIT = TIDE reversed
As in Christmastide, Eventide, etc.

10   Eager / to express grief (4)
KEEN = double definition
Sweeney Todd is often described as ‘keening’, which is how I learned this word, I think.

11   Possesses objects Henry lost in battle (8)
HASTINGS = HAS + THINGS without H

12   Dazed state disorientating Proust (6)
STUPOR = anagram of PROUST

14   Trendy group securing start of county cricket, perhaps (6)
INSECT = IN + SET around C

16   Dryer hotel cat damaged (3,5)
TEA CLOTH = anagram of HOTEL CAT

18   Vehicle used on farm? About right (4)
CART = CA + RT

19   Eg Sikes[’s] account (4)
BILL = double definition
From Oliver Twist.

20   Example of fashionable attitude (8)
INSTANCE = IN + STANCE

22   Poisonous plant identified by male sailor (8)
MANDRAKE = MAN + DRAKE
As in Sir Francis Drake — but I just biffed this one.

23   Depart hurriedly, biting insect being heard (4)
FLEE = homophone of FLEA

Down

2   Illness doctor met in LA (7)
AILMENT = anagram of MET IN LA

3   Have forty winks before noon? No, twelve (5)
DOZEN = DOZE + N
Here the ‘no’ suggests that a different word for ‘twelve’ is called for.

4   Vegetable eaten at first in Pennsylvania (3)
PEA = E in PA

5   Female metalworker in once besieged city (9)
LADYSMITH = LADY + SMITH
I hadn’t known this city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladysmith,_KwaZulu-Natal

6   Class extremely impressive in glasses (7)
SPECIES = IE in SPECS

7   Observing the old up in Gateshead at first (5)
EYING = YE reversed + IN + G

11   Initially how any respectable girl makes a wind instrument (9)
HARMONICA = H + A + R + MONICA

13   Chose to cross lake, being the worse for wear (7)
PICKLED = PICKED + L

15   Start to consult adviser, making small boat (7)
CORACLE = C + ORACLE

17   Girl from United States, leaving in the morning (5)
ERICA = AMERICA without AM

18   Tease husband in popular eating-place (5)
CHAFF = H in CAFF
I always thought it was CAF.

21   Institute legal proceedings against university in Home Counties (3)
SUE = U in SE

58 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 2032 by Orpheus”

  1. Completed this earlier but forgot to blog. An enjoyable puzzle from Orpheus which I found a little easier than most of his offerings. Still took me 22 minutes though. Never heard of the city of LADYSMITH (though I knew of the band Ladysmith Black Mambazo) so I’m glad to have rectified that. MANDRAKE I knew of through Harry Potter. In fact I saw a rather bizarre stuffed toy one for sale only a couple of days ago. COD to INSTANCE. Thanks Orpheus and Jeremy.
  2. once I had got “Troy” out of my head – this sounds to me like ‘Wooden Horse Syndrome’.
  3. Hurried through this in 17:22 but was never confident and had EMIT for time to go back rather than EDIT. Rather less forgivable put ELIZA no ERICA.

    Completely missed the NINA.

    Edited at 2021-12-22 03:47 pm (UTC)

  4. I must learn my boat names — had everything in after 25 mins but struggled with 15dn therefore a dnf for me.

    Overall a nice puzzle from Orpheus.

    I misparsed 18ac “Cart” — thinking used on a farm was a “cat” 🐈

    FOI — 4ac “Polished”
    LOI — dnf
    COD — 11ac “Hastings”

    Thanks as usual!

  5. Joined the emit crowd, had trouble with the four letter clues, 1a, 17d where we were slow choosing between erica and eliza. Just missed our target. Certainly more of a test than yesterday, but enjoyable.
  6. Well I am an AM person, but couldn’t a place for these two letters and never thought of taking them away, from a word that wasn’t there. I unsettled for Elisa, and must admire the clue. The cautious Edit, Cart, and Chaff all proved ok, to complete at spot on 30 min, another GN6. Compliments of the day.
  7. Pleasant solve by the fire after a lovely snowy walk up the smallest Munro in Glencoe. Fell for all the traps already mentioned — was it EMIT or EDIT, why wouldn’t tar/Jack/AB/salt work, surely it’s TEA TOWEL etc etc.

    FOI HASTINGS, LOI MANDRAKE, COD AILMENT, time 08:56 for 1.7K and a Pretty Good Day.

    Many thanks Orpheus and Jeremy.

    Templar

  8. Another excellent cryptic.

    Thanks also for the blog. Helped me to understand some of the answers which I’d guessed!

  9. Too many distractions again for a time and did much better at second attempt.
    I just couldn’t get Edit — I was another Emit.
    I knew that Emit was wrong but would never see tide as time despite the blog examples. So naturally I didn’t enjoy that clue as much as the rest of the puzzle.
    Also another Chafe then Flee then Chaff candidate.
    Thanks all
    John George
  10. SPECIES is a technical term in biological taxonomy, and CLASS is another – with a different meaning. So, to define SPECIES as a “class” is at least misleading, and in my opinion incorrect.

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