Times Quick Cryptic 951 by Howzat

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Although there were a couple of literary/musical references, everything was fairly and amusingly clued. As I’ve gone through writing the blog I’ve appreciated how many surfaces have been crafted to make a decent meaning – 11ac, 1dn, 16dn and 18dn to name some.
15ac was getting the COD award until 12dn bowled it with a googly. No time due to a phone call and anyway I had a technical dnf due to a mistype. Difficulty level? Let’s say medium.

ACROSS

1. Camp – temporary accommodation. Policeman (PC) keeping mum (MA) all backwards (about).
3. Used cars – old vehicles. Anagram (smashed up in) CRUSADES.
8. Autocue – device used in TV studio. Homophone (reported) of auto queue.
10. Aries – sign of the zodiac. That is (IE) inside f(ARS)i.
11. Peter Grimes – doomed fisherman (sums him up pretty well from the summary of the opera I’ve just read). Anagram (disastrously) of TRIPS EMERGE which is a very relevant surface given the loss of life at sea in the opera.
13. Ration – budget. Speech without the first letter o(RATION).
15. Greene – English novelist. Putting area (GREEN – think golf), (E)xcellence. I enjoyed the word play having taken some time to get the correct meaning of putting.
17. Anaesthetic – number of pain – another which took some time. Anagram (circulating) of IN EACH STATE.
20. Tutsi – African native. Here’s where I slipped up with typing too quickly and put tutti. Shows disapproval (TUTS) with electric current (I). I comes up as electric current from time to time – something to do with electric circuit diagrams I believe but that’s as far as I go.
21. Inshore – near the coast. Home (IN), support (SHORE – as in shore up).
22. Deranged – out to lunch (mad). Called (RANG) inside action (DEED).
23. Plot – story line. Featuring in PuLl-OuT.

DOWN

1. Champers – fizzy drink. Cold (C), picnic boxes (HAMPERS).
2. Motet – choral piece. Backwards (uplifted) in tribu(TE TO M)onarch.
3. Steers – double definition.
4. Dead Marches – a piece of solemn funeral music played to accompany a procession, esp at military funerals. Late (DEAD). Months of the year (MARCHES).
6. At issue – under discussion. I can’t remember coming across this particular clue before but it seems so obvious that the older hands have probably seen it. The word play is the sound of a sneeze (atishoo).
7. So-so – fair. Emergency call (SOS), oxygen (O).
9. Corporation – double definition.
12. Tea chest – box. By including ‘Box needed!’ our setter (with a cricketing term for a name) is making the point that a batsman, to avoid too much pain ‘centrally’, would be well advised to wear a box. Pain (ACHE) placed centrally inside a cricket match (TEST). COD.
14. Tractor – what may be seen on a piece of land. Large area of land (TRACT), or (OR).
16. Aspire – hope. A (A), father (SIRE) around (retains) a modicum of (P)arental.
18. Troll – online menace. Time (T), register (ROLL).
19. Stud – boss. To read endlessly (STUD)y.

30 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 951 by Howzat”

  1. I thought PETER GRIMES was a bit arcane for a Quicky. I knew the title, but have never heard the opera (hear a 20th century opera? fat chance) and didn’t know the story. I’ve never seen I clued by ‘electric current’, but often by ‘current’. CHAMPERS I knew from 15x15s; it might be a problem for non-UK solvers. Chris, you’ve got a typo at 13ac: speech withOUT the … 5:39.
    1. Now you come to mention it, Kevin, I also don’t recall seeing ‘electric current’ clueing I before, although in all the years of meeting it clued by ‘current’ it never occurred to me that it would be any other sort – and indeed it can’t be as it was invented specifically to refer to electric current by none other than M. Ampère himself.
  2. Don’t we want to “insure” as well for home support in 21a?

    Edited at 2017-10-31 09:48 am (UTC)

  3. 10 minutes, so just home under the wire yet again. I also thought PETER GRIMES was a little on the obscure side for a QC. Nice puzzle though.
    1. It was an anagram, so no problem, but I didn’t know who he is. But he hails from an opera by an English composer, so maybe not so obscure to Brits. Like the cricket reference, whose existence I didn’t even suspect.

      Edited at 2017-10-31 11:04 pm (UTC)

      1. I think as operas go Peter Grimes by Britten is unknown to the masses (cf Nessun Dorma yesterday), as is Britten himself for that matter and I doubt the average Brit could name a single one of his compositions. I’m told his War Requiem is considered his masterpiece although it has never appealed to me particularly, and I simply can’t listen to his operas and song cycles. His instrumental output is more accessible but there’s not much of it. Variations and Fugue on a theme of Purcell (aka The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra) is splendid stuff; if only there was more like it.

        Edited at 2017-10-31 11:34 pm (UTC)

  4. Quite tough, 54 minutes with interruptions so more like 40 mins.

    Dnk peter grimes but it jumped out from the anagram straight away. Also dnk dead marches.

    Didn’t like the definition box needed. Would be better as … brings box.

    Totally missed the putting green link.

    COD autocue.

    1. “Brings box” would spoil the surface reading of the clue as explained in the blog. Or are you actually objecting to the reference to the article of cricketing equipment and its purpose?
      1. Not sure I get you, I don’t object, just think “box needed” is not a great definition for a tea chest, although it obviously helps the surface.

        Pain centrally in cricket match – gets box!

        The surface works ok and is a tighter definition.

  5. 37:53 which must be my longest quickie time for ages.

    I thought a number of clues were more suited to the 15×15, especially the number/number one!

    Thanks for the blog.

    1. Number caught me out too (although we have had it before in QC), add it to the list of words with subtle second meanings.

      Edited at 2017-10-31 03:15 pm (UTC)

  6. Walking the dog this morning, the ground was covered with chestnuts.
    I had a similar feeling with this puzzle.
    Of course they are only chestnuts if you have seen them before.
    After 20 minutes I had 5 left and it took me another 10 to finish with 13a last in -another chestnut which I think I have seen before.
    Excellent puzzle.COD to 15a but other candidates too. David
  7. At 9:40 I had _R_E_E left at 15a, and by my submission time of 14:52 I still hadn’t figured out the parsing so I biffed GREENE. Having read the blog, I have administered a sharp metaphorical slap on my forehead. Doh! Knew the Britten opera, but not the story, so fisherman didn’t jump out at me and I needed crossers and a sheet of paper. No trouble with the number, it’s a common misdirection in the 15×15. Nice puzzle. Thanks Howzat and Chris.
  8. A bit slow today, although Peter Grimes, Greene and champers caused no problems. I really enjoyed the crossword, thanks, and the blog helped me understand the answers I biffed, so more thanks.
  9. Hadn’t finished before getting to Chambers and having an espresso! Longest for ages.

    Thanks for the blog, v helpful

    Templar

  10. About 25 mins and still didnt get motet or deranged, I hadn’t heard of dead marches or Peter Grimes.

    Tea chest got me for a while, as I already had Inshore and Plot I got test with some sort of pain in the middle but had T _ _ _ _ E S T

    I is the international symbol for electric current. It comes from “Intensite du courant” which is the French for strength of current (Ampere being French). Over time the intensite/strength bit got dropped and it is now just courant/current. Both languages use it for both electricity and wáter.

    Edited at 2017-10-31 03:18 pm (UTC)

  11. I thought that was a bit on the hard side for a QC, so I was surprised to finish in 35 mins – about average for me these days. 9d and 22ac were out of the ordinary, and I’m sure number/numb-er will have caught a few out as well. As Chris says, some nice surfaces, and one of those (14d) gets my CoD vote. Invariant
  12. I found this tricky to say the least – not helped by my lack of musical knowledge. I was annoyed not to get 17a more quickly as I’m sure it’s appeared in a couple of previous QCs.
    I failed to parse LOI 15a and like one of the earlier posters had a major doh! moment when I saw the explanation. A good challenge completed in 35 minutes

  13. 30 mins. “number” and “putting” both very clever. Would not have parsed without the blog.

    As always I complain about CORPORATION=stomach. But good to see a modern day slang like Troll. Nicely done, Howzat.

  14. Thank you! Only just found this site. Really helpful as I worked out lots of these but lost my nerve. Still do not understand 17ac though did anagram.
  17. I found this quite tricky, and in fact messed up NE with MERIT (didn’t know why, not surprisingly) and thus AURICLE (which doesn’t of course fit the clue).

    Failed to spot that old dodge ‘number’ until the anagram letters shouted the answer and I woke up.

    Never spotted the ‘Putting green’ cleverness, just biffed it.

    treesparrow

    (I have tried to join this august group, but the logistics of becoming a member defeated me. I hate those ‘click all squares’ things. Half the time it’s impossible to see where there’s a shop front or isn’t.

  18. Was about to say that this is the second time recently I’ve seen stud as boss and didn’t like it – thinking of stud as in a horse or alpha male and boss as in person in charge. Just realised it’s the sense of a small knob/protuberance so fine after all. Although a stud with a stud may be an oxymoron!
  19. DNF. Two needed – Tutsi and aspire. Both fair clues though so no complaints – arguably easier than others I managed to get in c45 mins.

    Mighty

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