Times Quick Cryptic 977 by Orpheus (blog by william_j_s)

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Due to a slight technical problem I am posting this on behalf of william_j_s.

I’m never sure what sort of difficulty to expect from Orpheus (who has in the past set us both gentle and tricky puzzles) and this one seems to have a bit of both. I was delayed mainly by 1ac and 11ac due to the somewhat convoluted wordplay, and by 3dn despite being a frequent donner of said accessory.

I’m not usually one to complain about a homophone, but as we have a preponderance of them today I’ll have a go at 14ac: is this too far from any actual pronunciation of the word to be fairly clued in this way? Also, can someone enlighten me about the parsing of 8ac? Either I’ve missed something or we have a part of the clue that is used twice, once in the definition and then again in the wordplay. If so, this will be my quibbliest quibble ever, as my very first lesson in crossword solving was that these two parts should be entirely resolvable.

Definitions underlined. [I’m afraid I didn’t receive the underlinings so I’ve added my own. I hope they’re what you intended, Will.   jackkt]

Across
1 Quiet husband holding European record is shamefaced (8)
SHEEPISH – SH (quiet) and H (husband) surrounding (holding) E (European), EP (record) and IS.
5 Dull poet making a comeback (4)
DRAB – BARD (poet) reversed (making a comeback).
8 Result of over-imbibing, ultimately, in royal house? (8)
HANGOVER – last letter of (ultimately) over-imbibinG inside HANOVER (royal house).
9 Mark left by injury in steep rocky outcrop (4)
SCAR – double definition.
11 Scottish criminal taking in Welshman — and fellow Scot, perhaps? (10)
CALEDONIAN – CON (criminal) surrounding (taking in) ALED (Welshman), then IAN (fellow Scot, perhaps).
14 Parentless child frequently so pronounced by some (6)
ORPHAN – homophone of (so pronounced by some) “often” (frequently).
15 Capital at that time invested in a Society (6)
ATHENS – THEN (at that time) inside (invested in) A and S (society)
17 At a standstill, having nothing to debate? (10)
MOTIONLESS – double definition.
20 Group of soldiers in Verdun, I think (4)
UNIT – hidden in verdUN I Think.
21 Woman in drivers’ association newly into flying (8)
AVIATION – VI (woman) inside AA (drivers’ association), plus an anagram of (newly) INTO
22 Boundary giving us the upper hand? (4)
EDGE – double definition.
23 Unhappy new teacher finally made an impression (8)
WRETCHED – last letters of (finally) neW and teacheR, then ETCHED (made an impression).
Down
1 Quietly leaves store, touring old part of London (4)
SOHO – SHOp (store) without the ‘p’ (piano (quietly) leaves), surrounding (touring) O (old).
2 Reportedly bring in large bird of prey (4)
ERNE – homophone of (reportedly) “earn” (bring in).
3 One promoting suitable ankle protector, it’s said (10)
PROPAGATOR – homophone of (it’s said) “proper” (suitable) and “gaiter” (ankle protector).
4 Long pin seamstress found round back of shack (6)
SKEWER – SEWER (seamstress) surrounding (found round) last letter (back) of shacK.
6 Person illegally handling / radio, say? (8)
RECEIVER – double definition.
7 Save individual on ship — a noblewoman (8)
BARONESS – BAR (save), ONE (individual), and SS (ship).
10 Surprisingly cast net, not being a competitor (10)
CONTESTANT – anagram of (surprisingly) CAST NET NOT.
12 Little creature’s sleeping-place on river (8)
DORMOUSE – – DORM (sleeping place) on OUSE (river).
13 Old PM disrupts Carol, showing fury! (8)
SPITTING – PITT (old PM) inside (disrupts) SING (carol).
16 Bird from public relations embracing sweetheart (6)
PLOVER – PR (public relations) surrounding (embracing) LOVE (sweetheart).
18 Women’s group’s hot desire (4)
WISH – WI (Women’s Institute)’S and H (hot).
19 “Eat up, girl!” (4)
ENID – DINE (eat) written upwards (up).

27 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 977 by Orpheus (blog by william_j_s)”

  1. 16 minutes here, so quite hard work. I agree there appears to be double duty going on re HANGOVER so to excuse that we may have to think of the definition as &lit or semi&lit.

    Edited at 2017-12-06 01:28 am (UTC)

  2. I just looked at the leaderboard, and Verlaine is leading at over 4 minutes; which suggests some difficulty. I wondered about HANGOVER, but I figured it was some sort of &lit or whatever that I can never remember the definition of. My biggest problem was CALEDONIAN; like Vinyl, I thought of ‘Cameronian’ but could make no sense of it, so resisted the temptation to biff and have done with it. Finally remembered CALEDONIAN, and trusted that ALED–which I’ve never come across–was a Welsh name. Biffed AVIATION, only worked it out later. ORPHAN/often came up some time ago in a 15×15, and there was a bit of a discussion about homophonity. They’re certainly not the same in my (rhotic) dialect, but there’s a scene in ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ (‘So you said ‘often’, ‘frequently’.’ ‘No, just once.’ ‘Yes, you said ‘often’, ‘frequently’, just once.’) and at least in John Reed’s pronunciation they sound identical. 6:19.
      1. The song is from The Snowman but Aled Jones didn’t sing it there; that was an uncredited choirboy later named as Peter Auty. Aled Jones made a commercial recording of it (literally, as it was for a Toys ‘R’ Us advert) and had the chart success that launched his career.
        1. Oh, that’s a brilliant bit of trivia which I will file away and amaze my family with when the opportunity arises – as it surely will at some point over the festive season! Pexiter
  3. Tricky to finish this one. Not many anagrams.
    53 minutes with work interruptions. So net effective time ~ 40 mins!

    Guessed Erne, dnk plover but it had to be, and propa gator sounded right although dnk gaiter.

    Stuck on wretched for ages. Aviation was also hard.

    COD Caledonian, also like Enid.

      1. Thanks Kevin, added to the list.

        My suggestion for 8a:
        Gave horn bent, result of too much alcohol?

      2. ERNE is a well-known to me from crosswords but I’m not sure I knew before today that it is a bird of prey. ‘Sea eagle’ is its alternative name, apparently, which is more descriptive as to type.
  5. Took probably three times what I would normally expect to take. Not sure why, maybe I’m just short of coffee.

    Anyway, good to have a chewy one every now and then.

    FOI UNIT, LOI RECEIVER (spent ages looking at that, I had got obsessed with “fence” and it’s so hard to dislodge an idea once it has wormed its way in!).

    Lots of people in my parents’ generation say “orphan” for “often”, like they say “gorn orf” for “gone off”!

    COD HANGOVER

    Templar

  6. If I were to stick with my new non-time categories, this would fall into the ‘easy’ band but I didn’t find it easy. Some wordplays were, as you say, convoluted – the answers just fell into place quickly. Maybe I’ll change to quick, medium, difficult.
    I had no problem with 14ac because of the ‘so pronounced by some’ the ‘some’ being the hunting set who also ‘orphan’ go fishing (not that I have any personal experience).
  7. I have a problem when I see that the setter us Orpheus. I then see that there are no “easy” two or three word 13 letter clues and settle down for failure. (my problem not Orpheus). Stupidly settled on Speechless instead of Motionless which didn’t help until Dormouse came to the rescue. Did not get Erne (dnk), Propagator or Spitting. (Carol =sing?? very tricky). But pleased that I was only 3 short and enjoyed the ride.
  8. Found this quite hard going, with my last four (3, 11, 21, 23) taking as long as all the others – in fact, 3d took a second sitting. For a long time I thought the Welshman in 11ac was going to be Di, which didn’t help matters and, even with Caledonian in place, I struggled with Propagator. Invariant
  9. Needed the full 10’ today, with the last three on ‘propagator’. It was a real out-loud Doh! Moment when the penny dropped. ‘Dormouse’ also held me up as I saw ‘u_e’ and put an ‘r’ in the gap.
    Many thanks to S & B.

    Edited at 2017-12-06 04:39 pm (UTC)

  10. Some quite testing clues today, as mentioned in previous comments, although I managed to solve it in a relatively quick 18 minutes. Like meadvale I had a major doh moment with 3d that was very satisfying. LOI a very tentative 2d, particularly enjoyed 12d, 17a and 3d.
    Thanks for the blog
  11. Some tricky ones today. Happily explained here so I suppose my reasonings get to be biffed. 21a I thought aviatrix until I needed n for Enid…11a seemed obvious but failed to parse correctly. FOI 9a. LOI 2d where an alphabet trawl brought me the distant memory of the right answer. Favourite today 23d. Pleased to be a little under an hour!
  12. We found this quite tough after a number of easier ones. Last one in 3d. Enjoyed 11a, as we are a welsh – scottish (in name). Thanks to Orpheus and blog. Elin and Ian.
  13. If cockney pronunciation is so acceptable in clues, then the upper crust manner of speaking should logically be equally so. The ease of understanding what is going on may have something to do with one’s background and upbringing. For better or worse I can think of many acquaintances who would always speak of ‘orphan’ doing something. The mother of one of my friends of 70 years ago is vivid even as I type! May be tough on our American friends. DM

  14. DNF : several short, and ERNE makes me feel that even after a year at this game there are always new words to learn.

    1. You will see ERNE again and again and again so it is well worth remembering. It also starred in a classic Dean Mayer clue:

      Writer of Campbell’s Seabird Cookbook? (6,9)

  16. Home late but did the crossword on the train this morning. No big hold-ups to train or solve but I agree some quite tricky stuff.
    I was helped by recent efforts on the 15×15 and Erne used to crop up almost daily in the Evening Standard when I was working.
    LOI was Propagator. Not sure about the time taken. David
  17. Finished, but in an age – most of an episode of masterchef and apprentice, so at least 90 mins. Erne Enid wretched Caledonian all held me up, but all the more satisfying to chew the through it.

    Thanks setter and blogger.
    Mighty

  18. I thought this was on the hard end of the scale for a quickie, taking about 25-30% over average time… or a NITCH of about 128. Struggled with 3d and 11a, though got them in the end, but completely failed to parse 23a. Nice one Orpheus and thanks to jackkt and will.

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