Times Quick Cryptic 2095 by Orpheus

Author   KittyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Hello again.  I thought this puzzle had quite a traditional style.  It didn’t strike me as all that much easier than usual, but I didn’t fall into any bear traps and everything slotted into place comfortably in under 5 minutes.  The downside is that I have little more to say other than to thank the setter.  Thanks Orpheus!

Definitions are underlined in the clues below.  In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics, explicit [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER.  For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.

Across
4a Hard work, introducing a new catchphrase (6)
SLOGAN — SLOG (hard work) preceding (introducing) A and N (new)
7a Most frightening way to arrest tooth decay (8)
SCARIEST — ST (street, way) taking in (to arrest) CARIES (tooth decay)
8a A French coin in Brazil? That’s illusory (6)
UNREAL — UN (a, French) + REAL (coin in Brazil)
9a Nervous type in a hide, perhaps? (8)
TWITCHER — Perhaps a nervous, twitchy type, or a person in a hide watching birds.  As these two definitions are entwined, I am going to call this a cryptic definition of someone with both these features rather than a double definition.  On a different day I may have underlined just “nervous type” and said the rest of the clue gives a cryptic hint via an alternative definition
10a Course prepared by woman with second husband (4)
DISH — The answer is made by combining DI (woman) with S (second) and H (husband)
12a Manner in which food initially reaches a traveller (8)
WAYFARER — WAY (manner) + FARE (food) + the first letter of (initially) Reaches
15a Glaswegian, possibly, most involved in survey (8)
SCOTSMAN — An anagram of (… involved) MOST in SCAN (survey)
18a Fish caught in unhappy setting (4)
SCAD — C (caught) situated in (in … setting) SAD (unhappy)
20a Travelled in formal wear for a decade (8)
TWENTIES — WENT (travelled) in TIES (formal wear)
22a Expedition at a distance, in small island (6)
SAFARI — AFAR (at a distance) in S (mall) and I (island)
23a French writer, unexpected rival to Racine, ultimately (8)
VOLTAIRE — An anagram of (unexpected) RIVAL TO + the last letter of (… ultimately) RacinE
24a Tiny bird in tear-jerking film (6)
WEEPIE — WEE (tiny) + PIE (bird: a magpie)
Down
1d Barge constructed by firm in the West Country (4)
SCOW — The answer is formed by putting CO (firm) in SW (the West Country)
2d Note taken originally during needlework (8)
CROTCHET — The first letter of (… originally) Taken in (during) CROCHET (needlework)
3d Upset writer cut sibling’s son (6)
NEPHEW — The reversal of (upset) PEN (writer) + HEW (cut)
4d Stalwart Republican in reading room (6)
STURDY — R (Republican) in STUDY (reading room)
5d Reported ages, yours and mine (4)
OURS — This sounds like (reported) HOURS (ages)
6d A North American attracting the old woman’s curse (8)
ANATHEMA — A + N (north) + A (American) + THE + MA (old woman)
11d Rise, lest soldiers get captured (8)
INCREASE — IN CASE (lest); RE (Royal Engineers, soldiers) go inside (get captured).  Normally wordplay elements are treated as singular, so I would expect an indication that RE gets captured
13d Woman identified by a US attorney (3)
ADA — A + DA (District Attorney, US attorney)
14d A Latina’s working guard dog, perhaps (8)
ALSATIAN — A + LATINA’S anagrammed (working)
16d Test the writer’s reason for action (6)
MOTIVE — MOT (test) + I’VE (the writer’s)
17d Provoke pointer, say (6)
NEEDLE — Two definitions
19d Stripy insect used to be pest at first (4)
WASP — WAS (used to be) + Pest at first
21d Deserve attention finally given (4)
EARN — EAR (attention) + the last letter of (finally) giveN

24 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 2095 by Orpheus”

  1. Slowed down by 10ac and 11d. I’m not sure I see the problem with RE. 6:25.
  2. 12 minutes landed me in my amber timing zone with this one. Like Kevin I took a while over DISH, and parsing WAYFARER slowed me too. I’m not sure I knew SCAD as a fish so although I thought of it quite early on I delayed writing it in until both its checkers were in place.
  3. 27 minutes with one interruption.
    No problems other than PIE for bird but the answer was obvious.
    FOI: SCOW
    LOI: SCAD
    COD: TWENTIES although I think I have seen it before.
  4. RHS went in much more easily than the LHS, with the crossing CROTCHET and TWITCHER being the cause of the trouble — I was dithering badly about what definitions of ‘hide’ and ‘note’ to go with. Ended up all green in 16.
  5. Chewy. 28 minutes, four spent on LOI, twenties. FOI Scotsman. Only six on first pass. Agree RHS easier than LHS. COD crotchet. Enjoyed puzzling this out. Thanks, Kitty, and Orpheus.
  6. PIE for bird was the only definite uncertainty — SCOW and SCAD rang bells.

    Thanks Kitty and Orpheus

    1. MAG (Margaret) is the birds name. Mag Pie. Like Jenny Wren, Robin Redbreast, Jack Daw

      Edited at 2022-03-21 10:42 am (UTC)

  7. Slow to start but gradually tuned into the puzzle. NHO CARIES for tooth decay before so I biffed it, then deleted it until I had more checkers for confirmation. Struggled at the end with INCREASE and ANATHEMA, which finally confirmed that LOI SCAD was correct.
    Finished a smidge over target in 10.26, with COD to VOLTAIRE
    Thanks to Kitty
  8. I was slow to get started and was held up at the end by biffing PATH for 10a which delayed INCREASE, after which DISH was LOI. OURS was FOI. 9:01. Thanks Orpheus and Kitty.
  9. Just inside the SCC at 19 minutes and change, which was mostly my own fault. I went for PATH initially for the course, knowing as I entered it that I hadn’t accounted for the Second. I then spent ages looking at it again before deciding FISH was a totally acceptable answer, fully parsable, however I still wasn’t 100% happy — which was lucky, because I could have gone on to finish with INCREASE to find a red square. Luckily, while half what is left of my brain was considering 11d, the other half landed on DISH as an alternative to FISH, and I opted for the right choice. Thanks both.
  10. How about a FISH course for 10a? Fi ( Fiona ) is the woman, rather than the commoner Di, albeit as a Princess she wasn’t a commoner. In my defence I’d just gotten SCAD , so had fish on the brain.
  11. DNK SCAD but assumed it was a relative of a scrod. Having looked it up I find it is also known as a Speedo. I can understand why the clothing company preferred the latter. “Just putting on my Scrods” doesn’t sound very pleasant.
    A gentle work through to my usual SCC corner chair in 21:20. COD INCREASE
    Thanks Orpheus and Kitty
  12. INCREASE took a while, but otherwise no problems, SCAD and SCOW don’t get much of an airing, but trusted to the clueing.

    5:05

  13. I found this hard — and got into a right pickle with 15ac “Scotsman”. Just didn’t see the anagram at all. As a result, had a bit of nightmare with the SE corner.

    Add to that not seeing the definition for 6dn, a poor performance overall.

    FOI — 4ac “Slogan”
    LOI — dnf
    COD — 2dn “Crotchet”

    Thanks as usual!

  14. Both of us finished in 30 minutes today. I was delighted, especially given the setter, but Mrs R was less pleased. She struggled with INCREASE (she wanted it to be ‘escalate’) and she points out that ‘crochet’ is not needlework. It’s performed with a crochet hook, not a needle.

    As for me, I got only two of the across clues on first pass, but the downs came to my rescue. I had NHO SCOW (my LOI) and somehow dredged up SCAD from the depths of my memory, but my key to finishing was getting MOTIVE, which I couldn’t pass, but which helped me get SCOTSMAN and VOLTAIRE.

    I may now head out for my second sea swim of the year (my first was on new year’s day). The weather is fantastic, but the water will be very chilly.

    Many thanks to Orpheus and Kitty.

    Edited at 2022-03-21 11:47 am (UTC)

    1. I went for my first serious cycle ride into the Lakes yesterday, persuaded by the alleged, “glorious” Spring weather. Can’t deny it was sunny, but temperature wise it was freezing, the wind chill alone ensuring I couldn’t feel my hands pretty much from the start (even with gloves on).

      Hope it isn’t too cold.

  15. I think you have a point, corymbia, as I’ve seen Fi as ‘girl’ or ‘woman’ in a puzzle quite recently, possibly not in The Times though.
  16. NHO CARIES, REAL, SCAD, SCOW plus PIE (as a bird beyond Tweety Pie) or ANATHEMA as a curse.

    Hence couldn’t finish with ANATHEMA / SCAD. Had PATH originally before getting into the FISH / DISH dilemma. Took about 15-mins longer as while I had the IN-CASE of INCREASE I was trying to slot in OR, TA and even GI.

    Overall 1hr40 of staring. 1hr27 to get within two. 1hr15 to get within four. Fairly pleased with that given it was very slow going.

    FOI STURDY
    COD TWENTIES

  17. Could not sort out 15a, scotsman but it seemed fairly obvious. Never heard of the shortened magpie at 24a, otherwise solved in about 30m. Thanks Orpheus.
    1. It’s not necessarily a magpie. There’s also a bird called a treepie – but it’s probably less well-known.
  19. This took an eternity. I would normally give up if not finished in 30 but the answers kept appearing, just very slowly. NHO SCOW or SCAD and finally crossed the line with LOI INCREASE.

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