Times Quick Cryptic 250 by Tracy

31 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 250 by Tracy”

1. This was a toughie, all right, although at least as an American MADISON AVENUE posed no problem. I was surprised at 5d, too, and surprised that somehow it came to mind. I think I took the most time over CHITTY, since I didn’t know what the word meant. Nor did I understand DUMMY, but that didn’t matter; ditto for the cricket meaning in EXTRA (I don’t know the meaning of any term from cricket, including ‘cricket’). Jack, at 17ac I think you have a square bracket where you want a curly one. 9:40.

   Edited at 2015-02-23 04:10 am (UTC)

2. 8’15” for me, helped by the fact that the film was a favourite of my daughter’s growing up. Another raised eyebrow at 1a, and a chuckle at RUPERT.
3. Much trickier for me today as a relative newbie. 30 mins and I didn’t get 15 down. Could only think of Rupert and Hubert and plumped wrongly for the latter as I couldn’t figure out how either could be correct. So thank you for the RU explanation jackkt, and indeed the blog.
4. I thought this was fine – not easy, not impossible. Plenty of gimmes and a few which required more thought.

   Re Madison Avenue – the TV show Mad Men also assumes, in its title, that the association of Madison avenue with advertising is common knowkedge. Actually I must admit I thought it was. Cricket and rugby union obviously aren’t though! 😉 and footy as well, today (plus – was the dummy clue something to do with bridge too? I don’t play bridge but I’m sure I’ve read something about dummies in connection with it in some book or other…)

   Now – a question. Were the main cryptics (the ones that show up in the usual place on the iPad edition) on Saturday and Sunday both unusually easy? I finished both of them and I’m certain I got them both right because I parsed every clue (which is more than can be said for this morning’s quick (Rupert I’m looking at you)). I’d like to think this shows proper improvement but I suspect they were both unusually simple puzzles that have produced an avalanche of complaint letters to times crossword HQ…

   Anyway. I’m going to try today’s 15×15 this evening. Just to see if my streak can continue.

   1. I’m no expert but I think the “dummy” in bridge is a term for one of the players in certain hands of cards rather than a move. According to Wiki the move “as if to pass” occurs in soccer and rugby.

      I’m the last person to ask about the difficulty of puzzles as my solving is somewhat erratic, so I’ll leave comments to others.

      Edited at 2015-02-23 10:02 am (UTC)

   2. Yes, the weekend offerings were definitely very attainable this week I thought – or maybe you and I are both just improving – thanks to this forum!

      Today’s 15×15 is also fairly straightforward (relatively speaking).

   3. I agree with Nick that the Saturday and Sunday puzzles were at the easier end of the spectrum. I would say that in general the Saturday puzzle is completely random in terms of the level of difficulty, whereas the Sunday puzzles are more predictable – Tim Moorey and Jeff Pearce are both fairly accessible, whereas Dean Mayer is harder (perhaps because his style is more idiosyncratic than the others).
5. Must admit I found today’s Quickie somewhat harder than today’s 15×15 (with the exception of one clue in the bigger sibling).

   That said, an enjoyable puzzle with a good variety of clue types and some fun stuff – particularly liked 22a.

   Thanks to our setter and Jack for elegant blog.

6. I was led up the garden path with this clue, as I answered with another adjective which was intimidating. Surely the setter could have come up with a different definition word, pressurise springs to mind, which would have made the clue more logical. Incidently, do I detect a hint of snobbery in the blog with the reference to The Parent Trap. Should The Times crossword not refer to popular culture from time to time?
   1. Not at all, but as far as I’m aware neither film is particularly well-known. Maybe I should get out more.
      1. Never heard of the film (either version) – I put it in based on the wordplay more in hope than expectation. Would be interesting to know why the setter included it (a Lindsay Lohan fan perhaps?)
7. Answer: entertain. LOI – had difficulty with this one. Had to resort to checking the meanings of ‘harbour’ and ‘charm ‘ in the dictionary – ‘harbour’ was given in Chambers as meaning ‘entertain’ but couldn’t find any correlation for ‘charm.
   Still not happy with the result!
   Any one else like to comment?
   1. Chambers has ‘delight’ for charm, so it’s probably close enough. I deleted you other (repeated) comments by the way. 😉
   2. Well, I haven’t checked a dictionary or a thesaurus but I would happily accept entertain as a synonym for charm. They have some subtle differentiating nuances in my internal world but they are close enough to work in this context, I’d’ve thought…
      1. Sorry, that last anonymous was me, didn’t realise my laptop had logged me out
   3. I can’t see they are far apart and certainly they are each listed under the other in Collins Thesaurus, though I recognise that for some that is not sufficient justification.
8. A testing one for me which I didn’t finish. I put in INTIMIDATING for 1 across (synonym for Frightening) and then got stuck on 6 down, 9 across and 4 down. Also I couldn’t get RUPERT. A dummy pass is very common in rugby – pretending to pass and thus fooling your opponent who doesn’t tackle you. Jonathan Joseph used it to good effect for England against Wales recently. Thanks for the blog.
9. I can see the puzzle and the on screen keyboard comes up to enter answers (unlike the 15×15) but it is not allowing entry. I’ve cleared history/cookies and re-signed on. Can someone else see if they can access by ipad please? If it’s just me I can research further but if the gods of the Times crossword technical department have now decreed that life become more difficult then so be it – my head – already turned to the wall – will start banging on it until my ancient laptop wheezes into lfe and performs hours of security software updates. Sigh 😫
   1. I should mention that I access the puzzle online via safari as I don’t have the extra subscription for the iPad app.
10. Well, I found that a very hard start to the week – perhaps it was the lack of physics questions …😊 Is it my imagination, or have the last few Tracy puzzles been harder than usual ? 11ac was my favourite today, mostly because I eventually worked out how the answer was constructed! Invariant
    1. Of the 5 Tracy puzzles so far this year my solving times were 10 minutes, 10, Didn’t finish (#231), 10 and 13 (today). Not sure this proves anything.
       1. I used to find Tracy fairly straightforward, but mentally she is now in the difficult box – albeit still easier than Orpheus or Teazel. Invariant
11. Had to think hard about this one. Didn’t get 15d, but all the rest went in. Didn’t understand the parsing of Entertain, but it makes more sense now I’ve read the blog and discussion above. All in all a very enjoyable puzzle.
12. Quite a tricky QC, I thought, but completed in good time once I got onto Tracy’s wavelength. Both of the long down clues went in quite late, with the THE PARENT TRAP not fully parsed as I wrote it in. Both the long acrosses were partly filled, quite quickly, but needed a little nudge to complete.

    Needed 6dn before I was convinced INTIMIDATION was correct, but still have some question marks as to how well it works. Suggestion clearly goes with intimation, but Intimidating=frightening was far more logical for the answer. But then I’ve come to accept that you occasionally need to be quite loose with definitions to complete certain puzzles. Otherwise an enjoyable solve, so thanks to Tracy for the puzzle and Jackkt for the blog.

    1. Though definitions can sometimes be loose, I think it’s generally frowned upon to have the looseness manifest itself as two different parts of speech. It’s possible that frightening can be used in a nounal sense – I don’t see that supported by the usual online dictionaries but there are several examples on the web, including a Wilkie Collins quote (“… I make bold to believe that the haunting of any man, with anything under the sun, begins with the frightening of him.”) and a 2002 horror film called “The Frightening”.
       1. Hi Mohn, if so few examples can be found of its usage in that form then it will raise a few hackles, especially at the QC level. BTW, a quick IMDB look up of “The Frightening” doesn’t help a case for a good definition 😈.
          1. Agreed on both counts – the fact that solvers old and new are struggling to justify it suggests that perhaps it shouldn’t be in a Quicky.
             1. To be honest, I’d say it was simply an error that the editor failed to pick up.

                Edited at 2015-02-23 11:05 pm (UTC)

13. It is true that dummy is a term in bridge. The game is played between two pairs. The pair that wins the bidding process or contract is then played by only one of the pair with other players cards laid on the table and known as the dummy.

    However I think this is a red herring. Throwing a dummy is a term in rugby when a player makes as if to pass the ball usually along the line of backs but then doesn’t let go and runs on, the opposing player is said to have bought the dummy if he tackles the player who never received the dummy pass thus making room for the runner to go through and score a try, hopefully. This neatly satisfies that’s part of the clue, so make as if to pass, perfectly.

    Edited at 2015-02-23 05:30 pm (UTC)

    1. I suggest Dawson in 1997 Lions v SA test for 3 players buying the same dummy at the same time is the best example. Invariant
       1. Yes remember it well, those were the days!

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