Times Quick Cryptic No 1073 by Hurley

Author   TheRotterPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Some meaty and harder to spot anagrams in this offering from Hurley.  My brain must be tuned to potential anagrams, because I see them even when they aren’t there, which can waste a lot of time.  For instance, in 8a, if STROLL is seen as the possible Anagrind, [SE RIVER] could be the Anagrist, and there are at least three possible answers.  Unfortunately, none of them fit with what would then have to serve as the definition – RELATIVE.  A few more seconds lost chasing the illusive anagram.  Or in 3d, where there are two possible Anagrinds, but no obvious Anagrist.  And ‘broadcast’ in 5d – is that signalling an anagram too?

Despite the distractions and misdirections, I finished this inside 11 minutes, so I think at the easier end of the spectrum, with nothing too obscure or difficult.  Certainly easier that yesterday’s offering.  There is a possible extended NINA (literally) in the penultimate row, but I’m sure that I am also seeing things here that don’t really exist.

Thanks to Hurley.  I hope you all enjoyed it.

Across
1  Cup tie score upset Brussels fan?  No! (11)
EUROSCEPTIC – Anagram (upset) of [CUP TIE SCORE].  A definition-by-denial – a EUROSCEPTIC would not be a fan of Brussels.
8  Relative in southeast river stroll (7)
SAUNTER – The relative is an AUNT who is inserted (in) S{outh}E{ast} R{iver}
9  Office clerk maybe initially fallible is later extremely reliable (5)
FILER – First letters of (initially) F{allible} I{s} L{ater} E{xtremely} R{eliable}.  Good misdirection by using ‘extremely’ in the list of words, which usually would point to first and last letter of either the preceding or subsequent word.
10  Referring to pursuit: selling to customers (9)
RETAILING – RE (referring to) TAILING (pursuit).  I have a slight issue with the definition part – surely wholesaling (the common counterpart to retailing) is also selling to customers, but the customers of wholesalers are traditionally retailers, and the customers of retailers are in turn consumers.  IMHO I think the clue would have been better if the definition were ‘selling to consumers’.
12  Brass instrument without a container (3)
TUB– TUB{a} brass instrument without ‘a’
13 Returning writer cut brother’s son? (6)
NEPHEW – PEN (writer) reversed (returning) and HEW (cut).  The question mark is because a NEPHEW might equally likely be a sister’s son.
15  Some minibar Riesling for Scottish dramatist (6)
BARRIE – Hidden inside (some) {mini}BAR RIE{sling}.  Referring to Sir James Matthew Barrie, OM, creator of Peter Pan, who gave his rights to the Peter Pan works to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children before his death.
17  Male editor’s name for water (3)
MED – M{ale} ED{itor}.  The water referred to is the MED{iterranean sea}
18  Anvil one’s recycled – from the country (9)
SLOVENIAN –Anagram of [ANVIL ONE’S] (with recycled acting as the anagrind)
20  Cold atmosphere at new stone mound (5)
CAIRN – C{old} plus AIR (atmosphere) plus N{ew}.
22  Liquid needed for theatre – a clean-up (7)
TREACLE – Hidden in {thea}TRE A CLE{an-up}.  I don’t dispute that it is a liquid, but it is a viscous one.
23  Acceptable means of payment from cricket side – a lender absorbs it finally (5,6)
LEGAL TENDER – There are several pairs of sides in cricket; batting and fielding or in and out, but this refers to the sides of the field, LEG and off.  So we have LEG (cricket side) plus A LENDER (a lender) which absorbs {i}T (finally)

Down
1 European vote result – only half rejoice (5)
EXULT – E{uropean} X (vote) {res}ULT (only half!}
2  Being irritable, deserter, note on Scottish Loch (9)
RATTINESS – A deserter in Crosswordland is invariably a RAT, TI is the seventh note in the solmization system, and the Scottish Loch is its most famous – Loch NESS
3  Arrange extremely intense troop movement? (6)
SORTIE – To arrange is to SORT, followed by (extremely) I{ntens}E (i.e. first and last letters).
4  Regularly tell off mischievous child (3)
ELF – Alternate letters (regularly) from {t}E{l}L {o}F{f}.  I worried about the mischievous part of the definition, but my Chambers gives ‘A mischievous or fairy-like being, esp a child, so it passes the dictionary test.
5  1960s satellite broadcast to inform celeb (7)
TELSTAR – TEL (sounds like – broadcast – tell) (inform) and STAR (celeb).  TELSTARs 1 and 2 were launched by NASA in July ’61 and May ’62 respectively as communications satellites.  They both still orbit the earth, although are now no longer functional.
6  Bar, a nice base, served up American drink? (9,3)
CARIBBEAN SEA – Anagram (served up) of [BAR, A NICE BASE].  I think there may be some dispute over America’s ownership of the said Sea that justifies the question mark, although it is indubitably close to the Americas.
7 Manorial cost unfortunately very large (12)
ASTRONOMICAL – Anagram (unfortunately) of [MANORIAL COST]
11  Wine at finish in Kentish town (9)
GRAVESEND – The wine is GRAVES (from the sub-region of that name in the Bordeaux area) and finish is END.  GRAVESEND is an ancient town just 21 miles from the centre of London, and in the County of Kent, hence Kentish Town, and its name probably has nothing to do with burials, coming rather from graaf-ham (home of the reeve).  It was certainly known as GRAVESHAM at the time of the Domesday Book.
14  Quietly including superfluous material (7)
PADDING – P (quietly) and ADDING (including).
16  Very formal at first – neckwear for sentimental guy (6)
SOFTIE – Very gives SO, F{ormal} (at first) and TIE (neckwear)
19  Such entertainment: motoring (2-3)
IN-CAR – Double definition?  It’s a type of entertainment system and might describe someone motoring.  Or is it an &Lit?  Answers on a postcard please.
21  Love Northern Ireland lake (3)
NIL – N{orthern} I{reland} L{ake}

23 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1073 by Hurley”

  1. I biffed LEGAL TENDER, although I see now that I should have got it, as I do know LEG from cricket (and not much more). Nice point, Rotter, about RETAILING; hadn’t noticed. 6:23.
  2. 7 minutes with the hidden TREACLE as my last one in. I can’t get too exercised about RETAILING, but I take the point. I think ‘American’ is plain wrong at 6dn, however, even allowing for the question mark.
    1. ( this is from barracuda )It is within the Americas , isn’t it ?

      Edited at 2018-04-19 07:03 am (UTC)

  3. 22 minutes, submitted only to see a pink square where my rattiness had become rattinees, something strange going on with this new keyboard! Definitely going to start doing a final spell check.

    Last few were sortie, cairn, Caribbean sea, padding and last 2 in car and treacle.

    COD retailing or euro sceptic.

  4. 21 minutes – I got off to a very slow start for some reason. Looking back there is nothing particularly difficult and no obscure words so I don’t know why.
  5. I found that a little tougher than yesterday but still only at the top end of easy. Good fun and I liked CARIBBEAN SEA best. Thanks Hurley.

    Complaints about use of American betray a very European world view, which assumes that “America” = “the United States of America”. It does not, as you will be sharply reminded in Mexico, Costa Rica or elsewhere in the Americas if you use “American” simply to mean “from the USA”. “We are Americans too”, you will be (correctly) told.

    My own little moan is thus not about calling the Caribbean an American sea: it is. It is about calling a SOFTY a SOFTIE (cf yesterday’s CHIPPIE) which just can’t be right, because the all time definitive softy (Walter, perpetual victim of Dennis the Menace) was consistently spelt as Walter the Softy by the Beano. And that is the canon and brooks no contradiction!

    Thanks for the blog.

    Templar

    1. LOL – good point, well made, about the incontrovertibility of the Beano! I bow before your logic.
  6. An enjoyable saunter through this one with the long down anagrams holding me up a bit, especially as I was looking for a cocktail in 6d. LOI 22a, completed in 11.46
  7. 4.25 but it was “typo for the week” day today, with a mysterious (ie fat fingered and unspotted) “C” replacing the “V” of the Kentish Town, making a not-quite-seemly GRACES END.

    One day I will learn to recheck everything before submitting. Or not.

  8. 11 Down. I got the solution but can someone help me with the tie in with Kentish Town? This was not addressed in the notation to the clue answer. Thanks
    1. Gravesend is a town in Kent, hence a Kentish Town (not a town of Kent, but that’s another story)

      Brian

      1. Thanks Bri, you beat me to it. I have amended the blog comment to make this a little clearer.
  9. No problems with this puzzle, although it took me over my target 10 minutes by 55 seconds. Started with ELF and finished with TREACLE. TELSTAR brought back memories of following the launch of the first one on TV(without the onboard pictures of course), and of course the earworm. Thanks Hurley and Rotter.
  10. Fairly gentle I thought, with EXULT my LOI. Took a while to spot that. I have no problem with the CARIBBEAN being part of the Americas or of the continent of North America. Nor do I have an issue with the definition of RETAILING. A retail customer may or may not be the consumer but is undoubtedly the customer. I took IN=CAR to be a double definition.
    PlayUpPompey
  11. I found that a little tougher than yesterday but still only at the top end of easy. Good fun and I liked CARIBBEAN SEA best. Thanks Hurley.

    Complaints about use of American betray a very European world view, which assumes that “America” = “the United States of America”. It does not, as you will be sharply reminded in Mexico, Costa Rica or elsewhere in the Americas if you use “American” simply to mean “from the USA”. “We are Americans too”, you will be (correctly) told.

    My own little moan is thus not about calling the Caribbean an American sea: it is. It is about calling a SOFTY a SOFTIE (cf yesterday’s CHIPPIE) which just can’t be right, because the all time definitive softy (Walter, perpetual victim of Dennis the Menace) was consistently spelt as Walter the Softy by the Beano. And that is the canon and brooks no contradiction!

    Thanks for the blog.

    Templar

  12. I wasted some time on 1a having noticed that sprout could be found amongst the letters of 1a cuptiescore, and hoped for a Brussels sprout connection, until Eurosceptic suggested by checkers
  13. A slowish 30 mins, mostly because I was trying to make a (6,5) anagram in 23ac, but it also took me ages to spot the hidden in 22ac. On the other hand, 16ac was a write-in after yesterday’s competition primer (2 hrs, so I’ll give it a miss this year. . .) I guess I will spend the rest of today with the Telstar ear-worm, – not a bad tune to be stuck with. Invariant
    1. I had to go immediately online and hear the Tornadoes-took me straight back to school and is now my earworm too. Thanks for an excellent puzzle and blog. Diana.
  14. Bit of pop trivia: Telstar the hit instrumental was performed by The Tornados whose rhythm guitarist was George Bellamy who is the father of Matt Bellamy the frontman (singer, guitarist, song writer) for modern rock band Muse. Muse’s material often has a space/sci-fi theme.
  15. I can never decide if my target time for QCs should be 10 mins or 15. This one took 13:04 so probably about average.

    COD 11d as any reference to French wine makes me smile.

    Anyway, thanks Hurley and thanks The Rotter for a very interesting blog.

  16. 19:47.

    LOI SOFTIE and agree about Walter being the canonical softy.

    18a did not really see why this particular country was chosen. I was looking for something along the lines of sylvanian.

    COD 5d, but of course I biffed SPUTNIK first.

    I am sure both featured in the Brooke Bond Race into Space tea card series c1972.

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