Times Quick Cryptic 2291 by Hurley

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Seasons greetings to you all and to Hurley who provided a good challenge – one which I completed in a whisker under ten minutes. Hitting target for my final (scheduled) blog was most satisfying.

The time has come to step back from blogging – but I will continue to enjoy this wonderful site by being involved with the comments. Jackkt, as ever reliable and helpful, informs me that this is my 443rd blog and that I started with QC #7 on March 18, 2014.

Good luck to the new bloggers and to all those attempting to escape the cosy clutches of the SCC.

So long – and thanks for all the posts.

Definitions are underlined in bold italics.

Across
1 Betray twenty in Rome? (6-5)
DOUBLE-CROSS – twenty in Roman numerals is XX – two crosses. My FOI which helped greatly.
8 A waltz at last in gloomy darkness then a lively Polish dance (7)
MAZURKA – dnk mazurka – a traditional Polish dance in triple time. A (A), walt(Z) inside gloomy darkness (MURK) then a (A).
9 One educating from Timbuktu to Rwanda (5)
TUTOR – from Timbuk(TU TO R)wanda.
10 Nth gin she ordered — at one of these? (3,6)
HEN NIGHTS – anagram (ordered) of NTH GIN SHE.
12 First cardinal performing service at the end (3)
ONE – performing (ON – stage say?), servic(E).
13 Sensitivity I initially considered for manoeuvre (6)
TACTIC – sensitivity (TACT), I (I), (C)onsidered.
15 Trade group chat rottenly — on regular basis! (6)
CARTEL – (C)h(A)t (R)o(T)t(E)n(L)y.
17 Sense sign of hesitation about article (3)
EAR – a sense as in an ear for music. Sign of hesitation (ER) around article (A).
18 Northern Ireland vehicle, silver, by centre of quay in Republic (9)
NICARAGUA – Northern Ireland (NI), vehicle (CAR), silver (AG), q(UA)y.
20 Dance beat with energy (5)
TANGO – beat (TAN), energy (GO – full of life/go/vitality).
22 Adaptable using salt and ice in new way (7)
ELASTIC – anagram (using in a new way) of SALT ICE.
23 Tent, mine, let out? Right (11)
ENTITLEMENT – anagram (out) of TENT MINE LET.
Down
1 Group sleep lightly before noon (5)
DOZEN – sleep lightly (DOZE) before noon (N).
2 UK wet weather — man’s language (9)
UKRAINIAN – UK (UK), wet weather (RAIN), man (IAN).
3 Detest swearword in French article (6)
LOATHE – SWEARWORD (OATH) inside French article (LE).
4 Snub portion (3)
CUT – double definition.
5 Released mail for border settlement (7)
OUTPOST – released (OUT e.g. from prison), mail (POST – not much about in the U.K. at the moment).
6 Close watch of criminal clan, evil? Sure (12)
SURVEILLANCE – anagram (criminal) of CLAN EVIL SURE.
7 A politician with impact, warmth, referring to arena for plays (12)
AMPHITHEATRE – a (A), politician (MP), impact (HIT), warmth (HEAT) referring to (RE). I initially biffed ampitheatre then had to work out why it wasn’t long enough and why it didn’t work.
11 Unexpectedly scariest, a way up (9)
STAIRCASE – anagram (unexpectedly) of A SCARIEST.
14 Company singer brought up crown (7)
CORONET – company (CO), singer – tenor – brought upwards (RONET).
16 Plan from school, English, supported by this compiler (6)
SCHEME – school (SCH), English (E), this compiler (ME).
19 Be reprimanded — do you understand? (3,2)
GET IT – double definition.
21 Choose section of top table (3)
OPT – section of t(OP T)able.

 

85 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 2291 by Hurley”

  1. I chuckled as my FOI was 1A but spent too long trying to fit escalator into 11D- thanks to Chris for his many blogs! Thanks Hurley too – seemed to be on their wavelength this morning.

  2. I found this tricky, but was well satisfied to finish in reasonable time after a slow start. 1a looked daunting, but when, having already got 5d and 6d, I ditched BIT for CUT at 4d, CROSS looked possible, followed with the DOUBLE, and I was away.FOI TUTOR, LOI ELASTIC, COD a toss-up between 1a and STAIRCASE. I didn’t need Chris’s help on this, but thanks for the many past occasions when I did, and thanks Hur

  3. No problems with any of this, but no time as a lengthy interruption doing flight check-ins for a small group of friends messed me up. MAZURKA was from wordplay only, but easy enough to work out, and sounded ok. LOI OUTPOST.

    Many thanks Chris for all of your efforts, which inspired me as a newbie blogger a few years ago (along with Jackkt and a few others). I have no idea what my ‘score’ is, but 443 is a very impressive number. Good luck as a back-bencher, and please grace us with your comments as you can.

    1. Rotter, you are currently on 176. Other QC blogger ‘scores’ are readily available upon request at any time.

  4. Thanks Chris from me too! grateful for you making sense of things from time to time. Another quick time for me again- I wondered about ear but I suppose that works. Loved ‘Double Cross’ ! thanks again

  5. Just under 15 mins – a fast time for me! I’ve found a great new hobby thanks to this community so many, many thanks for all your blogs Chris. Didn’t parse DOUBLE CROSS, but everything else flew in. COD to GET IT. LOI CUT. Thanks Hurley – very enjoyable.

  7. I enjoyed this one. Some clues that really had me thinking, but the answers came sure and steady. No aids used.

    2. The 20-min threshold.

      There’s a link to the Glossary under Useful Links section which may come in useful

    3. If anything it’s a badge of honour for admirable commitment. It also shows a humorous side.

  9. Thank you, Chris, for all the 443 blogs!
    Had to abandon the puzzle with the DOUBLE CROSS (COD) unfinished but saw it immediately on return home.
    Lots of anagrams again.

  11. 29:54 so both a finish and a sub 30 for me.
    But it was a close thing with 16d Scheme holding out till the last minute (this compiler = me was a new one)
    Most unusually all the anagrams went in without pen and paper.
    Thank you Hurley and thank you very much Chris; for a newbie like me these blogs have been invaluable and encouraging.

      1. Thanks #50, yes it was. A good week so far but I expect there are some snakes waiting to send me sliding back to reality.
        And from my favourite telly programme: ‘Who is Number One?’

        1. We’re all prisoners here, you can check out any time but you can never leave!

          But who is #6?

  12. 12 mins…

    One where I benefitted from starting lower down in the grid once I’d got my first answer in. Overall, I thought this was a bit of a biff-fest and there were quite a few write ins before I’d even stated to parse them.

    FOI – 2dn “Ukrainian”
    LOI – 12ac “One”
    COD – 1ac “Double Cross” – seen this before, but it always makes me smile (as I usually forget)

    Thanks as usual and thanks to Chris for his great blogs!

    1. Good work James … must be at least 3 out of your last 4 escaping. That promised string of DNFs after your sub10 last Thursday has failed to appear 👍

  13. For the second time recently OATH is given as equivalent to SWEARWORD but I would have thought an oath would be composed of several words some of which might be called swearwords rather than an oath being a single swearword.

    1. While the oath involved in “taking” an oath consists of many words, on the other hand when you “utter” an oath it often is just one word.

    2. L-OATH / swearwood was only yesterday.

      I’m never sure whether this is intentional on the part of the Editor to help the less experienced or just how they fall.

      As curryowen says you take or swear an oath which consists of many words

  14. 7.15 today. Am in a tearing hurry so a very brief visit today, but suffice to say there was a lot to enjoy, and a couple of LOL moments. Good to see so many quick times and PBs, as well as some new names what a nice way for Chris to bow out.
    FOI (and an immediate contender for COD) Double cross LOI Opt COD Hen nights, because it made me really chuckle 😅
    Thanks Hurley for the fun, and many thanks to Chris for the excellent blogs and encouraging words over the last few years. Enjoy the crosswords without having to think about blogging!

  15. 5:03

    My quickest for a while – all seemed to fall into place a little worryingly!

    Thanks Hurley and Chris for your final blog

  16. 25:39

    Oh dear! Was struggling to make my target 20 minutes anyway but was completely stuck on SCHEME and LOI CARTEL for over 5 minutes.

  17. Many thanks Chris for the many many helpful blogs. They will be missed.
    Fun cluing and all done in about 20 minutes 😊

  18. I thought this another generous offering from another of the more tricky setters. A welcome walk through for a comfy chair in the SSC – I never rush at these as I prefer a winding-down solve towards the end of the day, or indeed night. NHO 8a Mazurka, but it seemed to fit (and I was lucky).
    FOI 1a Double Cross
    LOI 20a Tango – needed to see how this worked before entering
    COD probably 23a Entitlement, or maybe the chestnut 1a.
    Sad to see Chris retiring as a blogger as his contributions have always been top-drawer stuff, but having set the all-time record a chosen retirement is well deserved. Chris, I look forward to your contributions ‘from the floor’.

  19. Many thanks, Chris, for so many excellent blogs over the years, always very clear, entertaining and fair.

  20. Solved a day late, so I don’t suppose many will see this, but I am posting because I achieved a very rare SCC escape – 19 minutes.
    All fully parsed, except the excellent DOUBLE CROSS.
    NHO the Polish dance, but precise wordplay really helped.
    Many thanks to Hurley and, of course, to Chris for all of the help he has provided to this numbskull.

    1. Dear Mr R. I always enjoy your posts and wish you well in waving a fond and permanent farewell to that excellent institution – the SCC. Spurred on by Mrs R and the rest of the crew here, I’m sure you’ll be a sub-ten minuter sooner than you may think. All the best.

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