Times Quick Cryptic 619 by Hurley

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
As Emma (emu66)’s stint as blogger has come to an end I am covering Friday Quickies for the moment. I had a few problems getting started on this one and lost several minutes hopping around the grid putting in odd words here and there, but eventually things settled down and I completed the puzzle in 13 minutes. I’m not sure there’s anything particularly difficult here but we shall see what others think. Here’s my blog…

As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]

Across
1 Redesigned forms treated to show economists’ ratio (5,2,5)
TERMS OF TRADE – Anagram [redesigned] of FORMS TREATED. I’ve heard this expression without knowing precisely what it means. The SOED defines it as:  the ratio between the prices paid for imports and those received for exports. I guess we’ll be hearing a lot more of it during years of Brexit negotiations.
8 Moved fast around resort — more than needed (2,5)
TO SPARE – TORE (moved fast) around SPA (resort)
9 Widow’s share some shrew, odd, recalled (5)
DOWER – Hidden [some] and reversed [recalled] in {sh}REW OD{d}. I’m aware of dower house and dowry but again I had to consult the dictionary for the exact meaning here: The share of a dead man’s estate that was formerly allowed to his widow for life. The term is now described as “historical”.
10 Coffee, second of two, unfinished (5)
LATTE – LATTE{r} (second of two) [unfinished]. This can also be used more loosely to refer to the last of several mentioned,  and not just two.
11 French king tucked into fowl, English, wonderful lady supplied (7)
HEROINE – ROI (French king) contained by [tucked into] HEN (fowl), E (English)
12 Clubs fancy something spicy? (5)
CLOVE – C (clubs – cards), LOVE (fancy)
14 Endlessly, the guard returned bringing sort of beer (7)
DRAUGHT – [endlessly] TH{e} + GUARD reversed [returned]. A rather unusual clue with the answer hiding in full view waiting to be reversed with one letter removed.
15 A missing Citroen car crashed? Wrong (9)
INCORRECT – Anagram [crashed] of CITROEN C{a}R [a missing]
17 Trade Union at first meet Corporation (3)
TUM – TU (Trade Union), M{eet} [at first]. “Corporation” being a colloquial word for protruding stomach that I suspect only appears in crosswords these days. “Corporation / Tum” was also in yesterday’s 15×15.
19 Clandestine people see City sector in trouble (6,7)
SECRET SOCIETY – Anagram [in trouble] of SEE CITY SECTOR
21 Become active in Antibes, tireless (6)
BESTIR – Hidden in {Anti}BES TIR{eless}. Somewhat poetic, methinks.
22 Server missing one essential liquid (5)
WATER – WA{i}TER (server) [missing one – I]
Down
1 Organised top celestial event in the heavens (5,7)
TOTAL ECLIPSE – Anagram [organised] of TOP CELESTIAL
2 Dish — very dry, provided in port (7)
RISOTTO – SO (very) + TT (dry – teetotal) in [provided in] RIO (port). Many ports appear in puzzles of course but I suspect RIO is up there in the top two or three, along with Aden.
3 Ascending in medieval society, one worked hard (5)
SLAVE –  Reversed [ascending] and hidden in{medi}EVAL S{ociety}
4 New farmer oddly quiet (5)
FRESH – F{a}R{m}E{r} [oddly], SH (quiet!)
5 Darts, beer, excited Robin? (9)
REDBREAST – Anagram [excited] of DARTS BEER. The bird so beloved by designers of Christmas cards.
6 Duke having setter, strangely, in place of PM (7,6)
DOWNING STREET – D (Duke), OWNING (having), anagram [strangely] of SETTER
7 Eager to be hugged by wizard, enthralling (6)
ARDENT – Hidden in [hugged by] {wiz}ARD ENT{hralling}
13 Serious attention retreat needed (7)
EARNEST – EAR (ear), NEST (retreat). “Needed” completes the surface reading but is otherwise surplus to requirements. It’s unusual to have such a word at the end of a clue.
14 Lady’s maid, / part of the furniture? (7)
DRESSER – Two definitions
16 Introduction of competition hurt store (5)
CACHE – C{ompetition} [introduction], ACHE (hurt)
18 Municipal head from Irish county? Right (5)
MAYOR – MAYO (Irish county), R (right)
20 Raven’s cry, primarily croaky and whiny (3)
CAW – First letters [primarily] of C{roaky} A{nd} W{hiny}

15 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 619 by Hurley”

  1. Slow going today, although I might have done a bit better if I’d written down the letters of 1ac and 19ac instead of hoping to get the anagrams from checkers. I’d always thought that TERMS OF TRADE were just that: terms like ‘import’ etc. Isn’t there a policy of just one hidden clue per cryptic for the 15x15s? Four here seemed a bit much, but then I’m so poor at spotting them that this may sound like –nay, be– special pleading. I did OK with SLAVE,BESTIR, and DOWER, but ARDENT took forever. I took ‘hugged by’ as an enclosure indicator and wasted time trying to fit AVID or KEEN into something. LOI DRAUGHT, of all things. 10:49.

    Edited at 2016-07-22 03:30 am (UTC)

  2. Indeed I had noticed there seemed to be a lot of hidden answers today and intended to mention it in the blog but then forgot. The “rules” quoted by Peter B in 2008 stated there should be “No more than one ‘pure’ hidden word clue per puzzle”, and this related to the 15×15. But whether it still applies to that puzzle and to the newer QC is anyone’s guess.

    For the record, today we have two ‘pure’ hiddens: BESTIR and ARDENT. Two reversed hiddens (“which aren’t ‘pure’ in this context”, but by the same logic one might expect a similar “no more than one” rule to apply to these): DOWER and SLAVE.

    And then we have DRAUGHT which is reversed and requires the removal of an inner letter so is in a category of its own, but because it’s based on a run of letters this adds to the impression of an overuse of the hidden device in one small puzzle.

    Incidentally I recently discovered that today’s setter is a former TftT blogger from the days when I first started here in 2007.

    Edited at 2016-07-22 04:58 am (UTC)

  3. I too was held up by ARDENT having gone at a fair old clip through the rest.
    Haven’t we had TUM for CORPORATION rather a lot recently?
    I see Jack has Hurley as middle for diddle in his rating and based on today that’s about right. COD 15a
    Thanks Jack for parsing 2d and thanks Hurley
  4. Despite checking the grid I still managed to miss the a in CAW, otherwise 6’49”. A slow start, agreed, perhaps 1ac not a write-in, parsing of 2d tricky. Thanks Hurley and jack.
  6. I found this one difficult taking almost twice my 30 minute target. I was held up by the two long anagrams, I’m trying to solve without pen and paper but eventually had to resort to them. LOI and un-parsed was ‘ardent’, I think I had ODed on hiddens by then.
    Brian
  7. This was another DNF……..defeated by bestir. Agree too many hiddens and found the long anagrams wearisome. Blame the heat again.
  8. If there is one thing worse than a single clue DNF, it’s when it’s a hidden word ! 7d, Ardent, was the culprit today. Invariant
  9. Slow going but got there in just under the hour. TUM and EARNEST were put in with confidence but no real understanding. TUM=Corporation was my new word learnt today.
  10. Wow I always considered hidden words to be my easy starter clues but DOWER and ARDENT treally ook some spotting even with cross checkers. So well done to Hurley for disguising them and thanks to Jack for the blog
  11. A steady 27 minute solve today with nothing too tricky, but I was also surprised by the number of hidden word answers. Hadn’t heard of 1a before but it couldn’t be anything else once the checkers were all in place and the Tum/corporation link was also new to me, so thanks for clarifying that jack (and for taking on blogging duties – it’s much appreciated). LOI 11a
  12. Another DNF, saw TUM for corporation in the blog yesterday for the 15×15 and I have to say it’s just about the most ridiculous definition I’ve ever seen in a Times crossword.

    Edited at 2016-07-22 08:57 pm (UTC)

  13. I needed for aids to finish this one, but finish I did…Had to biff 17a tum, and lots of others went in unparsed so not really knowing what was doing makes it an unsatisfactory solve for me. Thank you blogger for explaining, but not sure I’ve really learnt much from so many answers. All-in-all a tough week for me. I started these about two years ago when my brainy sister visited the UK from Oz and we tackled a few together. She’s back again this coming week and I was hoping I’d be able to show significantly solo improvement, and I was feeling confident up to this week! lets hope I can do better next week…. But then I’m only 70 and only little as she’s got a decade start on me!
  14. I found this easier than the last two days but was still held up for quite a while.
    My LOI was 7d, another hidden answer which with hindsight was very clever and not unfair. I thought 14a also excellent.
    I have no objection to hidden answers but they remain one of my continuing weaknesses. David
  15. I found RISOTTO the hardest because of all the different & very obscure parts to it RIO was OK for “port” but TT was rare for “dry” and so was so-so. I greet Mr 70 yr old whose sister looms from OZ. I am 76 now and have not been doing this 15×15 very long. The 10-20 minute whizz kids daunt me. If I can finish during the day before the next day’s paper comes out I feel gratified. Keep up the good work!!

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