Times Quick Cryptic 946 by Corelli

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Corelli has served up an enticing blend of compelling surfaces and word plays which require plenty of mental gymnastics. It took 14 enjoyable minutes to piece it all together. There’s an echo of yesterday’s puzzle at 18dn, cod goes to 14ac.

ACROSS

1. Court martial – military action. Woo (COURT), army officer homophone (we hear) of marshal.
9. Lilac – light purple. One (I) inlaid in ring (CALL) turned backwards.
10. Batsman – cricketer. Crazy (BATS in the belfry), Island (MAN).
11. Algarve – tourist location. Anagram (construction) of A GRAVEL.
12. Idiot – simpleton. I (I), point (DOT) around one (I).
13. Cuddle – hug. Appearing in CoUlD iDoL gEt.
14. Static – still. The ? encourages us to consider something more than a synonym for hissing – in this case the noise made on a radio when static is present. My WOD is ‘squelch’ which is widely used in two-way radios to suppress white noise or static when the radio is not receiving a transmission.
17. Angst – great worry. Anagram (flying around) of GNATS.
19. One time – former. The answer is in the clue backwards (retreating) anti s(EMITE NO)w.
21. Thaw out – let out of the cooler. Anagram (crooks) of TWO UTAH.
22. Ankle – joint. (N)ot and (K)nown (en)cased by Porter (ALE).
23. Redisplaying – showing off again. Liverpool player perhaps (RED – for those unversed or uninterested in the beautiful game Liverpool play in red kit – hence ‘come on you reds’), is (IS), performing (PLAYING).

DOWN

2. Obliged – grateful. Old boy (OB), told stories (LIED) about golf (G).
3. Race relations – measure of social harmony. Runners (RACERS) embracing euphoria (ELATION).
4. Mobbed – crowded round. Medical officer (MO), bishop (B) and teaching graduate (BED Bachelor of Education).
5. Retail therapy – spending money to feel better. Anagram (frantically) of ALTER HAIR TYPE.
6. Iambi – feet. The plural of a metrical foot consisting of two syllables, a short one followed by a long one. Part of Will(IAM BI)g.
7. Lunatic – madman. Anagram (let loose) of IN A CULT.
8. Flea – ‘what might make your setter (dog) itch’. Homophone (you tell me) of flee. I believe the clue is constructed based on the anagram indicator of ‘you tell me’ which gives the dialogue between solver and setter. Otherwise ‘your setter’ could be ‘one’.
13. Chatter – gossip. About (C), host of tea party a 7dn (HATTER).
15. Thicken – become less like gruel which is weak and watery. Anagram (stews) of KITCHEN.
16. Portal – gateway. Left (PORT), a (A), large (L).
18. Grand – impressive or splendid (according to yesterday’s 2dn). Sum of money (GRAND – a thousand pounds).
20. Exec – senior manager. Times (X) involved in early version of EU (EEC).

14 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 946 by Corelli”

  1. Fairly straightforward, I thought; I did like STATIC. Fortunately I remembered RETAIL THERAPY from a 15×15, and the redness of Liverpool (soccer? rugby?) players from another. 5:36.
  2. 9 minutes with the only slight problem at 23ac where I waited for all the checkers before settling for my first thought which had been the correct answer, REDISPLAYING. I had been a little disconcerted by having ‘player’ in the clue and ‘playing’ apparently in the answer.

    I’m not sure if I’ve understood your point about 8dn, Chris, but I took it to be yet another setter/dog reference as it is to be hoped that a hound is more likely to have fleas than the compiler.

  3. 30 mins.

    Most difficult for me were Exec, iambi, thaw out, and LOI flea.

    Not sure about crooks as an anagram indicator in 21a, but I can see its a difficult word to clue.

    How about: unfreeze? whoa, tut, crazy!

    COD flea.

  4. I thought this was a gentle offering but with plenty of well written clues to entertain me – I particularly enjoyed 14a and 13d. I also paused over 23a WRT player/playing appearing in both the clue and the answer so needed most of the checkers in place before writing it in.
    Completed in 12 minutes with LOI 20d.
  5. Finally managed to complete without errors in just under 10 minutes at 9:30, after a run of woe. FOI COURT MARTIAL and LOI CHATTER. Nothing to frighten the horses here, but enjoyable, and needing a bit of careful thought. Thanks Corelli and Chris.
  6. This was a welcome return to normality after my struggles yesterday, with a couple of straightforward anagrams to ease things along. My only knowledge of retail therapy comes from my daughter (enough said).
    PlayUpPompey
  7. Fifteen minutes with LOI (EXEC) holding me up a little – I was looking for ED to be in there somewhere as the senior manager from a newspaper.

    I also questioned 23a on the basis of the repetition of player / playing, and 21a on a similar basis, with OUT being in both the clue and the answer.

  8. 18:47 today so back into more standard territory time-wise. Glad that I understood why all the clues worked today.
  9. A slow 35mins, mostly because I was convinced 1ac would end with Advance for far too long. 23ac, on the other hand, went in without a second thought – I’ll take any help the setter cares to give without complaint. Invariant
  10. I spent 5 minutes on this before going for my flu jab. Got three clues and FOI was Exec.
    On my return it took me another 20 minutes to get all but 6d. No answer looked possible: I had H_M_I. I thought perhaps there was another error (there’s an apology in today’s paper for the error in yesterday’s main puzzle).
    But it was my fault. I had MARSHAL in 1a , lazily overlooking what the clue intended. Add about 5 minutes to put that right.
    Enjoyed the puzzle although not fond of 23a. David
  11. 45 mins which would be record, alas 19a (one size) and 20d (edec) tripped me out (not sure why edec was inserted (looking back!).
    I’d spelt martial as marshal for some reason which threw iambi out for a little while. I didn’t know the word, but used the wordplay to arrive at the solution.
    I didn’t like 2d. I’m sure the tense is wrong, but clearly not. Perhaps obliging rather than obliged?

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