Times Quick Cryptic 966 by Tracy

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I didn’t find this at all easy and had to chip away around the grid. 10 and loi 11ac then formed the final hurdles which took some time to clear. That I made heavy weather of this, coming in at 16 minutes, can best be seen at 11ac where I was off into La-La Land wrestling with a wheat variety before coming to my senses. So I found this highly rewarding to finish but not, perhaps, for the best reasons. Cod to the twist in the word play at 23ac.

ACROSS

1. Tame – uninspiring. Anagram (beaten) of TEAM.
3. Stagnant – standing still. Identify granny (TAG NAN) inside street (ST).
9. Artwork – illustrations. In the office (AT WORK) capturing queen (R).
10. Alpha – I think this is a double definition. A and alpha as the starter of the Greek alphabet. I suppose it could be a cryptic definition as just the start of the Greek alphabet.
11. Spelt – was likely to produce (the storm spelt danger). Second (S), skin (PELT).
Anyone who was chasing after the species of wheat, Triticum spelta has my sympathies. I had nearly convinced myself that this wheat which was ‘formerly much cultivated’ could equate to ‘was likely to produce’ before I doh-ed.
12. Impair – blunt (one’s judgement). Married couple (M PAIR) after (on) island (I).
14. Prime Minister – Premier. To brief (PRIME), clergyman (MINISTER).
17. Knight – man – in medieval times, a knight was a man of noble birth, who served his king or lord in battle but is much more likely to represent a chess piece here as pointed out by Kevin below. Homophone (reportedly) of in the dark (night).
19. Hoard – stock. Firm (HARD) keeping old (O).
22. Amber – orange. Anagram (at sea) of BREAM.
23. Run down – in a poor state. Ladder (RUN as in stockings/tights) put away (DOWN – a ladder is put up if it’s in use so would be down when put away). As Kevin also points out below ‘put away’ probably more simply means ‘down’ as in down a bottle of beer. Take your pick.
24. Amethyst – precious stone. Anagram (may make) of THEM STAY.
25. Idle – not wanting to work. In Madr(ID LE)cturing.

DOWN

1. Transept – section of church. Anagram (intricate) of PATTERNS.
2. Mitre – joint – a corner joint formed between two pieces of material, esp wood, by cutting bevels of equal angles at the ends of each piece. (T)wisted in boggy ground (MIRE).
4. Take it in turns – alternate (between one then the other). Anagram (badly) of RANK INSTITUTE.
5. Grasp – hold. (G)arte(R), snake (ASP).
6. Appoint – choose. A (A), soft (P), tip (POINT).
7. Tram (vehicle). Trading area (MART) upwards (overturned).
8. Bottle – courage. A drink (including the beer Courage as pointed out by Merlin below) can come from a bottle.
13. Prudence – double definition.
15. Ignoble – base. US soldier (GI) upwards (set up), impressive (NOBLE).
16. In hand – receiving attention. At home (IN), pointer (HAND – on a clock).
18. Girth – saddle strap. Anagram (fixed) of RIGHT.
20. Avoid – steer clear of. A (A), chasm (VOID).
21. Saga – epic. Decline (SAG), (A)ges.

35 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 966 by Tracy”

  1. For what it’s worth, I took 10ac as a cryptic def, with a play on ‘starter’ as first course in a dinner. And ‘man’ as a chess piece.
      1. Not sure if this is what you meant in the blog, but A is Alpha in the phonetic alphabet, and Alpha is also the first letter in the Greek alphabet, hence Greek starter, so I would say double definition.

        Edited at 2017-11-21 03:51 pm (UTC)

  2. Was unsure of GIRTH, but it couldn’t be anything else. And really unsure of SPELT, and still am: ‘spell’=’likely to produce’? In ‘That face spells trouble’, the face isn’t the producer, but the indicator, of coming trouble. But no doubt Chambers has it. 4:13.
    1. For once I haven’t checked the dictionaries, Kevin, as I have already spent too long looking up 15dn in the main puzzle in various sources, however I think leaving the word ‘face’ out of your given example gives us something that passes the substition test.

      If something spells trouble it is likely to produce it.

      I needed 9 minutes for this one with SPELT as my LOI and it very nearly caused me to miss my 10-minute target.

      Edited at 2017-11-21 06:28 am (UTC)

    1. I tend to agree but have left my rather more complex offering up – because I quite like It!
  4. 1 hr and 7 but more like 45 mins discounting interruptions.

    Boggy ground is quite apt, as that’s how my solving felt today.

    No complaints except I don’t really like alpha.
    I think the clue needs to give the solver a second bite:

    Greek starter, crowns from artichoke leaves prevent heart abnormalities.

    Dnk what transept was but have heard it before.
    Didn’t parse spelt.

    CsOD the two anagrams that held me for far too long:
    tame and girth.

    1. I think there are two bites at 10ac, just about, although the meanings are from the same source.

      “A (in) Greek” is ALPHA, and ALPHA can be defined as the “starter” or “starting point” of something as in the phrase “the alpha and omega” which means the “beginning and the end”.

  5. For what it’s worth, I took 10ac as a cryptic def, with a play on ‘starter’ as first course in a dinner. And ‘man’ as a chess piece.
        1. I was going to explain that, after reading the blog, but saw that you had already covered it!

  6. About 30 mins in two bites. As is often the case, the final few dropped in after an hour break. LOI 13d, I don’t like clues with girls names generally, but can’t see why it took me so long, I was even thinking about ‘credence’.

    Is 8d (courage) a trade name? I thought the crossword generally avoided them,

    COD 15d IGNOBLE, as always the second meaning of words (‘base’, this time) put me off the scent.

    2. I tend to agree that trade names are not expected but I’ve amended the blog as I like your thinking. Cheers!
    3. The problem with the trade mark theory is that it would break two conventions. As pointed out, trade marks are generally not allowed, although there are occasional exceptions, but a much bigger ‘no-no’ is the omission of capital letters where they would be actually be required. So with reference to beer ‘courage’ has to be spelt ‘Courage’.

  7. Thanks for the blog. I was thinking that Isle of Man was IoM not IM (in IMPAIR). Having a senior moment. Interesting to see another answer in both today’s QC and 15 x 15 clued differently.
    1. This isle isn’t a specific one but simply isle (I). Married gives us the (M) and couple the (PAIR).
  8. I simply went for the saying “he has a lot of bottle” meaning courage, this may have derived from the bitter end, anyway it works for me
    As Beginner thanks for blog
  10. A straightforward solve, with only SPELT giving me pause for thought. 7:19. Thanks Tracy and Chris.
  11. A slow solve today at 27 minutes with the bottom half proving much easier than the top. My final two in 11a and the unknown 2d proved particularly stubborn, especially as ‘mire’ slipped my mind for a while.
    Thanks for the blog
  12. … limping home in a little over 8 minutes, (just 15” slower than yesterday’s 15×15!), the last two spent staring at the place where ‘prudence’ eventually found her home. COD 3a, WOD Ignoble. Thank you B & S.

    Edited at 2017-11-21 11:30 am (UTC)

  13. I’ve just finished (first in 6 days) in approx. 1hr.
    In my opinion, this was just the correct level for a beginner wanting to “kick on”.
    COD 14a – it was quite clever as a lot of beginners will possibly clue first minister for clergyman. simple deception.
    LOI 11a – just took a little to click for pelt.
    thanks Chrisw91 and Tracy.
  14. Not on form today. I took as long to work out 1ac as the two long anagrams. . . and then needed a second sitting to convince myself that 11ac could only be spelt, but struggled with the parsing. Invariant
  15. Like others, this took me far longer than average at more than 22 minutes, I have no idea why.
  16. 15:15 which is a shade better than average.

    As above, I think 10a is a double definition; A = Alpha in the phonetic alphabet and Alpha starts the Greek alphabet. That’s probably what Chris meant but I don’t think anyone’s mentioned the point about the phonetic?

    SPELT went in from word play and RUN DOWN from definition without quite understanding either so as always, many thanks for the blog.

    1. Quite a lot to chew on today – so well done Tracy!

      I must admit to not thinking about 10ac in as great depth as others here but did mean the first definition A=Alpha. As for the Greek starter, I think the most comprehensive answer has come from jackkt:

      “A (in) Greek” is ALPHA, and ALPHA can be defined as the “starter” or “starting point” of something as in the phrase “the alpha and omega” which means the “beginning and the end”.

  17. Glad it wasn’t just me that found this difficult.
    My last three were Spelt, Artwork and Mitre. All fairly clued I thought and not too obscure. Excellent work by the setter.
    Nice to see Prudence who used to be a fundamental accounting concept.
    No exact time but 30 minutes or so. David
  18. a very dodgy contribution. Lots of questionable ones, especially 11 across and 18 down. Sorry Tracy, not up to standard
  19. I too think that spelt = was likely to produce is stretching it a bit.

    Can’t see anything wrong whatsoever with girth: an obvious anagram.

    treesparrow

  20. Satisfyingly finished eventually in around 2 hours. Ignoble unparsed. Would usually have given up much sooner but plenty of time to kill until the start of the ashes!

    Mighty (2*)

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