Times Quick Cryptic 830 by Orpheus

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I’m pleased that I seem to be achieving my target 10 minutes more regularly now after my recent indisposition and I was home in 8 with 2 minutes to spare on this one. I think it’s fairly straightforward, but who knows? Anyway I look forward to reading how others fared.

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

Across
7 Priest heading off beast of burden (4)
LAMA – {l}LAMA (beast of burden) [heading off]
8 Old family servant’s / fee for continued employment (8)
RETAINER – Two definitions
9 Dissertation provided by one of the siblings? (6)
THESIS – THE SIS (one of the siblings)
10 For a young girl it’s sort of over (6)
MAIDEN – Two meanings, the second being an over in cricket in which no runs are scored
11 Precipitation beginning to settle at the present time (4)
SNOW – S{ettle} [beginning], NOW (at the present time)
12 Completely grisly setting for end of detective story? (8)
ALLEGORY – ALL (completely), {detectiv}E [end], GORY (grisly)
15 One who kills a couple of idiots at home (8)
ASSASSIN – ASS+ASS (a couple of idiots), IN (at home)
17 In Bhagalpur, an incomparable queen (4)
RANI – Hidden [in] {BHAgalpu}R AN I{ncomparable}. Additional help here from “Bhagalpur” suggesting a train of thought that might nudge the solver in the direction of the Indian sub-continent.
18 Pub dispute in Cumbrian town (6)
BARROW – BAR (pub), ROW (dispute)
21 Compensate for / position of unemployed film actor (6)
OFFSET – A straight definition and a cryptic hint
22 What Casanova would do, informed about eastern state (8)
WOMANISE – WISE (informed) containing [about] OMAN (eastern state)
23 Sound of only form of Black American music? (4)
SOUL –  Sounds like “sole” (only)
Down
1 Large amounts of corporal punishment! (8)
LASHINGS – Two definitions. Memories of Enid Blyton’s “Famous Five” and their lashings of lemonade or whatever.
2 Capital was used up supporting conflict (6)
WARSAW – In a Down clue: WAS reversed [used up] underneath [supporting] WAR (conflict)
3 Intrude in health resort, breaking lock? (8)
TRESPASS – SPA (health resort) contained by [breaking] TRESS (lock)
4 Couple I encountered going north (4)
ITEM –  I, MET (encountered) reversed [going north]. Again the Down clue is relevant.
5 Female ruler, a raider from Scandinavia (6)
VIKING – VI (female), KING (ruler)
6 Give up bird food, so to speak (4)
CEDE – Sounds like [so to speak] “seed” (bird food)
13 Academic visiting recluse, a capital person (8)
LONDONER – DON (academic) contained by [visiting] LONER (recluse)
14 One climbing quickly — not the winner, though (6-2)
RUNNER-UP – A cryptic definition and a Baldrick-style negative one
16 A second-class thoroughfare overseas (6)
ABROAD – A, B (second-class), ROAD (thoroughfare)
17 Reject / rubbish (6)
REFUSE – Two definitions
19 Girl accepting ring in the near future (4)
ANON – ANN (girl) containing [accepting] O (ring)
20 Farm vehicle fashionable south of Washington (4)
WAIN – IN (fashionable) underneath [south of] WA (Washington). A type of wagon perhaps best remembered these days from Constable’s painting “The Hay Wain”

23 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 830 by Orpheus”

  1. Found this a bit tricky. I wasn’t on the wavelength for a few clues: RETAINER, TRESPASS, OFFSET, ALLEGORY, WOMANISE, LONDONER. 3dn was especially daft – I thought of SPA and TRESS but didn’t put them together.
  2. I had no idea BARROW was in Cumbria–I don’t have much of an idea where Cumbria is, for that matter–but fortunately the wordplay was kind. LASHINGS might cause some trouble for non-UK solvers. I especially liked TRESPASS. I thought I might have a PB, but the intersection of 19d/23ac put paid to that. Finally thought of ANON, and the O suggested WOMANISE, which I then parsed; I’d wasted some time dithering over ‘eastern state’ (NY? RI?). 3:55.
    1. Cumbria(once Cumberland and Westmoreland) is in the North West of England and includes the Lake District. Barrow(-in-Furness) is about as far as you can get before falling into the Irish Sea in the South West Corner at the end of a long peninsula. I used to go there fairly regularly for work and it was a long and tiring drive from Middlesbrough near the NE coast. They build submarines there.
      1. My birth town which helped with 19ac!

        Originally it was in Lancashire prior to the local government reorganisation in the early 70’s and is quite distinct from the rest of Cumbria which is really an administrative body only. The accent in Carlisle for example is vaguely north eastern whilst the Barrovian accent is rooted in dialects from the the red rose county.

        Famous for ship building and nuclear submarines and of course its football team in the National League.

        DR31

        1. I may add that the clue was fairly apt as well…many a “pub dispute” in Barrow over the weekend.

          DR31

  3. This was my quickest time for a while at 7:45 which surprised me, as I was trying hard not to fall asleep. FOI was LASHINGS and LOI WOMANISE. Thanks Orpheus and Jack.
  4. Got the dreaded “Unlucky” after 7 minutes, and it took a full two minutes before I reconsidered my unparsed (well, semi-parsed) WHIP at 20dn.

    Must do better. Thanks Orpheus and Jack.

  5. Enjoyable and tricky in parts.

    I was going along smoothly but finished in 43 minutes, although with about 23 spent on 4 clues:

    retainer, offset, womanise (I think middle eastern would be fairer but maybe too easy!) and trespass.

    COD 12a allegory

  6. Clicked 2 seconds over 8 minutes – final two in were 17dn/21ac which ended up being simple enough. I also vote 12 ac – Allegory COD.
  7. I know this was easy, but it was a DNF for me as I just couldn’t get 22ac, no matter how long I looked. i couldn’t get it out of my head that “romance” was involved somehow. Everything else was straightforward, although I had never heard of WAIN before. Gribb.
    1. I was exactly the same – womanise would just not come to mind and I would have had a good time otherwise.
      No anagrams at all today!!
  8. Went through fairly quickly but just could not see womanise – so DNF today.

    Rita

  9. A quick time, interrupted by a phone call, with no problems. I can sympathise with those who struggled with WOMANISE – the four vowels as checkers were not very helpful.
    Today’s 15×15 has a few bits of tricky vocabulary but is otherwise quite accessible I think for QC regulars.
  10. I had to work quite hard on some clues, especially Lashings and (my COD) Allegory. Some excellent clues for improvers – Cede, Wain, Trespass (the ubiquitous Lock). Improvers should also have a crack at today’s main puzzle (hint, the down clues will give you a way in). Right, off to buy some bitcoins. Thanks all
  11. Most of this went in quite quickly but struggled with 22a, where, like a previous poster, I wanted to get romance in somewhere. My main hold up though was my LOI, 10a, where I couldn’t see what was going on for what felt like an age. Got there in the end though. COD 12a, completed in 17 minutes
  12. A lot of these clues seemed very familiar. Is this puzzle a repeat?
    Not that it helped me very much. 27 minutes with LOI Womanise after an alphabet trawl. Moralise fitted but seemed to be the opposite of what was meant. David
    PS I had a quick look at today’s 15×15 and it seems to be an easier Monday-type edition.
  13. Started quite quickly, and at one point thought I was on for a sub-20 finish. My last two (21 and 22ac) put paid to that, but 26 mins is probably still my best Orpheus time. A nice puzzle, even if Item for couple has come up 3 or 4 times recently. Invariant
  14. I got the majority of this but DNF due to 22ac, 3dn and 8ac which just wouldn’t come.

    For 22ac I thought the eastern state meant Maine from the US which didn’t help. I didn’t twig Tress for lock either, although the answer should have been a bit more obvious.

    COD 19ac as it’s where I was born (see above)

    DR31

  15. No problems with this and a rare sub-5 minute finish. 1d reminded me of the wonderful Famous Five spoof “Five go mad in Dorset”, where picnics always include LASHINGS of ginger beer. 12a my favourite.
  16. Took from Charing Cross to nearly Sevenoaks

    Most difficulty in SW like everyone else – was convinced Jarrow must have moved to Cumbria overnight but couldn’t parse it (got there in the end), eventually hit WOMANISE but then racked and racked my brains for a 3 letter girl beginning with A who wasn’t Amy …

    Anyway. Liked ALLEGORY and OFFSET. Thanks all.

    Templar

    1. Calm down! It’s a woman’s name. Very popular at one time. Short for Violet.

      Edited at 2017-05-15 10:32 pm (UTC)

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