Times Quick Cryptic 861 by Izetti

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Having returned from the seas again (the lonely sea and the sky), I would like to thank jacckt very much for covering the last two Tuesdays. Normal service, such as it is, resumes with an offering from Izetti which was a pleasure to get the teeth into.
I had so few across clues on the first pass that I was concerned about my rustiness but the down clues filled in so much that I was able to finish in a smidge under ten minutes.
I believe the mineral at 23ac is reasonably well known – my final struggles came in the NE where 5ac and LOI 10ac took some piecing together. COD 17ac.

ACROSS

1. Instance – example. This one is fine for the cricketers amongst us – one assumes a stance when batting so at the crease one is IN STANCE.
5. Chav – brash, tastelesss person. Honoured companion (CH – Order of the Companions of Honour), a (A), very (V).
9. Nobel – prize giver. VIP – possibly a CH (NOB), the in Spanish (EL).
10. Amaraic Aramaic – language. Having tried hard to put in aramaic amaraic [in the crossword, I even messed it up in the blog – thanks for the comments] it occurred to me that I’d heard of aramaic which is a Middle Eastern language or group of languages belonging to the Semitic subfamily of the Afroasiatic language family. More specifically, it is part of the Northwest Semitic group, which also includes the Canaanite languages such as Hebrew and Phoenician. Anagram (excited) of MARIA hugged by bill (AC).
11. Transgressor – wrongdoer. Anagram (somehow) of GROSS RANTERS.
13. Revile – to criticise. Soldiers (RE), foul (VILE).
15. Storey – floor in e.g. flats. Shop (STORE), 25th letter of the alphabet (Y).
17. Press release – official document. Send up the rocket, Fred. How do I do that? Press ‘release’.
20. Run over – review. Two cricket terms – run, over.
21. Earth – this world. Anagram (breaking) of HEART.
22. Damp – a bit wet. Notice (ad) about (DA), politician (MP).
23. Feldspar – the most abundant group of minerals in the earth’s crust (apparently). Fine (F), anagram (dodgy) of PEDLARS.

DOWN

1. Iona – island. I (I), love (O), northern (N), area (A).
2. Sober – abstemious. Thus (SO), beer with only one ‘e’ (BeER).
3. All inclusive – having everything. Like s(ALL)y and w(ALL)y which include ‘all’.
4. Change – double definition.
6. Hoarser – more husky. Anagram (with difficulty) of HE ROARS.
7. Viceroys – governors. Boy (ROY) inside evil practices (VICES).
8. Takes the lead. Double definition each with a different use of the term ‘lead’.
12. Prepared – got ready. Like fruit with rind removed in advance (PRE-PARED).
14. Vietnam – country. Anagram (got wrong) of NAME ITV.
16. Degree – level. Of (belonging to – inside) Nationwi(DE GREE)d.
18. Strap – lash. Components – parts – the wrong way round (PARTS).
19. Char – cleaner. Vehicle (CAR) outside hospital (H).

44 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 861 by Izetti”

  2. Fairly straightforward, but slowed down in the NE: It took me a while to parse 7d correctly, and CHAV was a DNK–or I may have come across it once in a 15×15. 5:32.
    1. I think CHAV is bordering on the non-PC these days, and certainly some of the suggestions of its origin as an acronym are decidedly so.
      1. I thought chav was a modern word used by the young (I heard my niece use it to describe her sister’s boyfriend!) but I’ve just looked it up and discovered it was in popular use during the early 1800s.
  3. I think things are the wrong way round at 10ac, Chris, as the correct answer is ARAMAIC. I’d heard of it because I was taught it was the language spoken by Jesus.

    7 minutes for this one. There were a few tricky answers for a QC such as the language and FELDSPAR but not Izetti at his most tricky and devious in my view.

    Edited at 2017-06-27 12:15 am (UTC)

    1. Thanks for all the comments on Aramaic – I eventually got the correct answer in the crossword but the wrong spelling was obviously still stuck when I came to blog.
  4. A very enjoyable solve today, with (for me) a good balance between write-ins, such as 1a, 5a and 22a, and those that involved some hard thinking (3d, 23 and LOI 16d).
    Particularly enjoyed 17a and 7d. Completed in 18 minutes.
    Thanks to Izetti and chris
  5. Took till London Bridge

    But not unfair and a puzzle full of clever clues, I thought. Lots of wit and sparkle. I particularly liked ALL-INCLUSIVE, PRESS RELEASE and TAKES THE LEAD.

    My LOI was DEGREE – I still can’t see any word to indicate the run-on (e.g. “partly” or “some of”), and there’s no explanation in the blog.

    Templar

    1. My blogging seems rustler than my solving. I’d got the answer/definition switched (now corrected) and I’ve also indicated that I think the ‘it’s inside the clue’ indicator is ‘of’ – as in ‘belonging to’.
      1. Thank you for the explanation, Chris. Wow – that’s a new one on me, seems pretty obscure!

        Templar

  6. About 12 mins with interruptions from dogs
    Got held up by the “some of” in 13a which I thought was an inclusion indicator in “our soldiers”. Personally I think the clue works better without “some of our”

  7. To start with this felt like another hard day at the office but then it all went quickly until my LOI 16d. Eventually I remembered my new maxim ‘if all else fails look for a hidden’.

    Fun COD 17a Thanks Izetti and Chris

  8. All okay for those who know about cricket and minerals. Apart from that a most enjoyable crossword. Thanks Izetti (think you must be a man???)
  9. Took till London Bridge

    But not unfair and a puzzle full of clever clues, I thought. Lots of wit and sparkle. I particularly liked ALL-INCLUSIVE, PRESS RELEASE and TAKES THE LEAD.

    My LOI was DEGREE – I still can’t see any word to indicate the run-on (e.g. “partly” or “some of”), and there’s no explanation in the blog.

    Templar

  10. After a very slow start it fell into place quite easily for me. Enjoyed 17ac.
    PlayUpPompey
  11. Like norwegianeagle, LOI was 16d due to missing the inclusion.

    Among all of the kerfuffle about the language in 10a: why is Bill an AC / AC a Bill?

    2. AC or A/C is an account, or a BILL. One of the usual chestnuts.
      Brian

      Edited at 2017-06-27 12:30 pm (UTC)

    3. Although I am only learning the lingo of crosswords and might be wrong, I think Bill usually means account, the abbreviation for which seems to be ac.
  13. NB re-5dn CHAV there is also CHAVETTE (Ms. Vicky Pollard!)

    Is not 19dn CHAR – as cleaner – equally snobbishly derogatory these days!?

    COD 23ac FELDSPAR WOD 10ac ARAMAIC

    6.19 mins

    Edited at 2017-06-27 01:07 pm (UTC)

  14. After my failed attempt yesterday got there today in just under the half hour mark, which is ok for me. Would have been faster but stuck staring at 16d for ages until it clicked. Not seen ‘of’ used like that before, but, as always – now I know! Pexiter
  15. After a run of five or six actual finishes, a disappointing DNF for me today.

    DNK FELDSPAR, and DNthink of CHAV. Plus, was mislead – not by the leads in 8dn – but when I managed to spell 15ac “STORIE”, where I thought the floor was taking 25 (XXV) out of 26 (XXVI), thereby leaving an I in STORE…

  16. Couple short today. ‘Nationwide’ as an anagrind? I have to say that is one of the poor ones (of the 321 on my anagrind list)

    Lots of lovely Double Defs today. Loved PRESS RELEASE and TAKE THE LEAD. Nicely done, Izetti.

    1. 16dn isn’t an anagram – it’s an ‘in the clue’ answer. See blog comments above. I also enjoyed ‘press release’.
  17. I solved this after seeing the Hokusai exhibit at the British Museum.
    It must have got me in the mood as I finished in 12 minutes with no real problems. Aramaic was clearly clued and I was not far from the Rosetta stone. David
  18. Came to this late today as I had to rise early to take my daughter to Darlington Station to start her journey to Cardiff for an exhibition. I took the opportunity to visit Darlington Snooker club and returned metaphorically to my misspent youth for a few hours. 8:30 for the puzzle. No particular hold ups, although I had to spend a minute or so to see why I got an unlucky when I entered my LOI, FELDSPAR. I eventually noticed I’d somehow typed VIETNEM at 14d. FOI IONA. Thanks Izetti and Chris.
  19. Another cracking QC from Izetti – easily my favourite setter. 29 mins of thought provoking pleasure, with 17ac just pipping 3d for my CoD. Thank you Don. Invariant
  20. Managed to put in Manx instead of Iona and 1ac as mismatch. Both made sense in my mind!!
  21. Im a 17 yr old trying to learn to solve cryptics, been doing the quick cryptic every breaktime at school with this blog helping me get my head around some of the clues, still only getting a few clues for myself tho. Any advice on how to improve?
    1. Couldn’t agree more with the anonymous poster – this is all about having fun. The times given by some are just another part of the fun trying to work out if you did releatively well or poorly against some regulars. There are plenty of ‘how to Cryptic crossword’ papers to search for – including some linked from the first page of this site. To start off – look for a word or phrase at the beginning of the clue and think of it as a ‘concise’ clue, think of a few synonyms and see if it works with the rest of the clue (the word play). If nothing’s happening then try a word or phrase at the end of the clue. Splitting it all up is key. There are something like 9 different clue types (to keep it interesting!) but a definition at beginning or end plus word play is the most usual.
      Feel free to get a livejournal logon (for free) and the email you link it to will get prompted when someone replies to a post. Also – do ask – there is no such thing as a stupid question (honestly – I asked a lot when I started and still do occasionally). Have fun!
    2. You’ve just got to keep going. This is a very good site to learn from. Don’t be depressed by the characters here who tell you they’ve solved it in a few nanoseconds. People have different types of brain. I am nearly 70 and have only just started doing these crosswords in my retirement and enjoy them no matter how long they take. The important point is to have fun doing them and to savour the Ah Ha! moment when you grasp an elusive answer.
      1. I’ve heard the ‘different type of brain’ comment before (mostly from my Mother in Law!) but I honestly think it’s just splitting the words up and NOT thinking they’re a sentence. The better the clue, the smoother the ‘surface’ and so the harder it is to break into it to see the component parts.
        I’ve been privileged to meet some of the ‘nanosecond’ solvers (of the 15×15) – they’re all very pleasant folk – but some started at the age of 7 and now have a second nature of splitting clues up and a store of ‘seen that before’ clues. Keep going and enjoying the ah-has!
      2. I couldn’t agree more. We are a couple in our mid-seventies who started doing the quick cryptic about two years ago. We almost always finish now but there are, of course, two brains working at it!!
    3. You’ve just got to keep going. This is a very good site to learn from. Don’t be depressed by the characters here who tell you they’ve solved it in a few nanoseconds. People have different types of brain. I am nearly 70 and have only just started doing these crosswords in my retirement and enjoy them no matter how long they take. The important point is to have fun doing them and to savour the Ah Ha! moment when you grasp an elusive answer.

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