Times Quick Cryptic No 1113 by Marty

Author   TheRotterPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Sorry, I don’t have a time for this as I was disturbed mid-solve, but it felt relatively normal, possibly even quick for me looking back.  I had one clue where the answer appeared obvious, but the parsing took longer – see below (19d).

I haven’t a lot of experience blogging Marty puzzles, so I can’t comment on whether or not this is typical of him, but I enjoyed 10a and 1d, either of which would make a good CoD.  WoD has to be GNUS (or possibly UNCTION).  I used to think I was decisive, but now I can’t make up my mind!

I hope you all enjoyed this.

Across
7  Somewhat absurd, using this language (4)
URDU – A nice easy hidden (somewhat) to get us going – in {abs}URD, U{sing}.  This was my FOI.
8  Give wading bird protection on flight? (8)
HANDRAIL – HAND (give) and RAIL (wading bird) to give the name of protection used on a flight of stairs.  Flight is often used as an alternative to stairs in Crosswordland.
9  US writer’s visa returned, opened by medic (6)
ASIMOV – VISA reversed (returned) and containing (opened by) MO (medic, abbreviation of Medical Officer).  ISAAC ASIMOV was born in Russia, but became an American, and was famous for Science Fiction and popular science writing.  His most famous work was the FOUNDATION series, and his short story ‘Nightfall’ was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1964 as the best short science fiction story of all time – well worth a read!
10  Headgear for pig?  It’s of no consequence (2,4)
SO WHAT – A SOW HAT would be headgear for a pig, and the clue works as a kind of double definition and cryptic at the same time.
11  Pick up present for audience (4)
HEAR – To HEAR something is to pick it up, and sounds like HERE (present) with ‘for audience’ signalling the homophone
12 Someone entitled to organise rep, I feel? (4,4)
LIFE PEER – Anagram (to organise) of [REP, I FEEL].  A LIFE PEER is someone entitled, i.e. with a title, such as Baron / Baroness.
15 Use sparingly any goose that’s been cooked (2,4,2)
GO EASY ON – Anagram (that’s been cooked) of [ANY GOOSE]
17  Dry and dreary routine linked to bachelor (4)
BRUT – B{achelor} and RUT (dreary routine, as in stuck in a RUT).  We’re talking here about wines with a low sugar content, rather than the men’s cologne of the same name.
18  Quietly furious one’s stealing from work (6)
PIRATE – P (quietly) and IRATE (furious).  We are talking here about someone who publishes a work without the authority of the owner of the copyright, rather than a swashbuckler.
21  Cross parent coming in to beat government official? (6)
TAXMAN – X (cross) and MA (parent) inside (coming in to) TAN (beat).
22  Thro’ it, he flourished, previously (8)
HITHERTO – Anagram (flourished) of [THRO’ IT, HE]
23  Trotsky maybe has returned for Christmas (4)
NOEL – LEON (Trostky’s first name) reversed (has returned)

Down
1 Magician on island, rich, having abandoned US (8)
PROSPERO – PROSPERO{us} (rich having abandoned (discarded) US).  PROSPERO is the character in Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ who practices magic whilst exiled on a small island.
2  Theorem musician holds up part of year (6)
SUMMER – Reverse hidden (holds up – in a down clue) in {theo}REM MUS{ician}
3  Noble quality of larch, wound round with ivy (8)
CHIVALRY – Anagram (wound round) of [LARCH] and [IVY]
4  Good group of students: they’re native to Africa (4)
GNUS – G{ood} and NUS (group of students – National Union of Students}.  GNU is an alternative name for Wildebeest (black or blue sub-species) which are native to Africa.  “I’m a g-nu
I’m a g-nu, The g-nicest work of g-nature in the zoo”
5  Stop draft (4,2)
DRAW UP – Sorry, I seem to have missed this in the early hours, so adding in now as an edit to the original blog.  As nearly always, with a two-word clue, we are looking for a double definition, and DRAW UP fits the bill.  To stop is to draw up, or draw to a halt, and to draft a paper / argument / plan etc., is to draw it up.  Simples!
6  Oral exclamation of support (4)
VIVA – VIVA (from viva voce) is an oral examination, but VIVA can also mean ‘long live’, an exclamation of support.
13  Do top of face with ointment (8)
FUNCTION – F{ace} (top of face) and UNCTION (ointment) for a do or function – ‘I was at a black-tie do / function only last week’
14  Australian bird the French boy copied (8)
EMULATED – EMU (Australian bird) LA (the in French) and TED (boy)
16 Ottoman commander with short Thai girl (6)
AGATHA – AGA (Turkish or Ottoman commander) with THA{i} (short Thai)
17  Pupil once turning eleven, no good for sport (6)
BOXING – OB (old boy, pupil once) reversed (turning) with XI (eleven in roman numerals) and N{o} G{ood}
19  Wader I put on twice (4)
IBIS – I (I) and BIS (twice).  Bis is a Latin prefix or suffix relating to the second instance of a thing.  It is also used in musical and accounting notation to indicate a thing or item that is to be repeated.  I have to confess that I forgot to remember this and had to look it up post-solve, although I think I must have known it at some time.
20  Arriving in good time – not quite 12? (4)
EARL – One arriving in good time would be EARL{y} (not quite removes the last letter).  An EARL could be one example of a Life Peer (the answer to 12 across), but a life peer could be of a lesser rank.  The ‘not quite’ isn’t related to the hierarchy of peers, but is there to indicate dropping the last letter of EARLy, so is part of the word play, not part of the definition.

36 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1113 by Marty”

  1. I didn’t know about the examination, so this was my LOI, with a shrug.
  2. A life peer, as I understand it, is one whose title is good for life, but which does not pass on to the next generation.
  3. Very slow on this, particularly with FUNCTION (I actually came up with ‘funguent’) and especially DRAW UP, my LOI, as I couldn’t come up with a ‘stop’ meaning for the longest time (and you seem to have skipped it, Rotter). Odd that while French audiences shout ‘Bis!’, we shout ‘Encore!’ I suppose they should be shouting ‘Again!’ 9:45.
    1. Thanks for pointing out my omission Kevin, now added to the blog. Apologies to all who were looking for an explanation of 5d.

      Interesting your point about French audiences – I wasn’t aware of that, never having attended with, or performed for, such an audience.

  4. I was also held up by VIVA, DRAW UP, the RAIL bit of HNADRAIL and FUNCTION. 11:51. Thanks Marty and Rotter.
  5. 9 minutes. Once again (as with Grumpy on Tuesday) we have a visit from a setter from the early days of the QC who we don’t see very often.

    Marty’s first QC was No 37 in 2014 and he gave us 4 in total that year. In each of 2015 and 2016 he gave us 3 puzzles, but only 1 last year, 2017. This is his second appearance this year making 13 in total.

    Of the current QC bloggers, Rotter has covered his puzzles more than any other, but that only amounts to twice! Our stars have never been in alignment, because I have never blogged him.

    It’s a fitting coincidence that there should be a Flanders and Swann reference today as I have just acquired (it arrived yesterday) an LP (yes, on vinyl!) of 13 F&S songs so rare that only 1 of them is included in the alleged ‘Complete’ CD box-set. I’m very much looking forward to playing these later.

    Edited at 2018-06-14 05:40 am (UTC)

    1. Please – which LP is that?! I thought I had every vinyl as well as all the CD’s…..perhaps I am missing one! Just got round to trying to finish this QC but scored a DNF. These are rare these days, but evidently I wasn’t on the right wavelength on either day to read the clues with sufficient confidence to see the answers.
      1. Andrew, details of the LP are here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Then-We-Wrote-Michael-Flanders/dp/B0026NV68O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529171647&sr=8-1&keywords=and+then+we+wrote

        It’s somewhat overpriced, but I managed to get a copy for less than half the cost in an e-bay auction. It’s on EMI EMCM3088 released in 1975 and subtitled “A Review of Revues” performed by F&S with other artists in support on some tracks. It was recorded for BBC Radio 4 in front of a live audience.

        Edited at 2018-06-16 06:01 pm (UTC)

  6. Not much fun to be had here. Over 20 minutes but difficulty came from the wrong direction – from the answers not the clues.
  7. But in the wrong direction … first time I’ve ever gone over 30 minutes for a QC! The penny just would not drop for PROSPERO. So obvious once got. Grrr. Thoroughly deceived by Marty but in a completely fair way.

    COD goes to SO WHAT from me, made me chuckle.

    I am on a run of short nights at the moment and am definitely noticing reduced mental agility on the morning train.

    Thanks for the blog, Rotter.

    Templar

  8. Almost exactly two Kevin’s (which sounds a lot better than just shy of 20 minutes). It seems I was looking at every clue the wrong way round – especially LHS where I struggled my way, eventually, from bottom to top. Only had a vague understanding of bis so thanks for the explanation, LOI 2dn, biggest kicking myself clue shared by 16dn and 1dn, COD 10ac.
  9. I needed my 15×15 hat on for this very difficult QC.
    It took me about 25 minutes of full concentration. LOI was Earl after Viva.
    The NE corner done last apart from Earl.
    Not many gimmes in this. I am hoping for a few this afternoon on the golf course. David
  10. A hard QC this. Much delayed by VIVA. 10’50” and a typo 🙁

    Thanks rotter and setter.

  11. 9 and a half minutes, several of them in the same corner as everyone else, HANDRAIL (no aeroplane, then) VIVA and especially DRAW UP, where I think the two definitions are as in draw up to the kerb (stop) and what we used to do (sometimes at extreme hazard) with a newspaper in front of the fireplace to force air though the bottom and thus accelerate combustion. No, on reflection, that was draught, not draft, but it was draw up. Let’s just go with draft as in a proposal.
    SOW HAT my favourite, with PROSPERO close behind.
    Thanks Rottie for an (almost!) comprehensive and amusing blog.
  12. Another very difficult puzzle. Seems to me the QC is becoming more like the main puzzle. Not fun and not a learning tool. Or rather being beaten by a puzzle does not inspire one to keep on going.
    1. Sorry to hear, anon, that you may be deterred from continuing by an occassional toughie. I think there is always the chance that one will come across a puzzle that will defeat ones best efforts. This fear is brought into sharper focus when one is blogging the said puzzle, I can assure you.

      When that fear is realised, in my case at least, I’ll find an answer that fits even if I can’t parse it. Most times, in retrospect, I’ll be able to work out the parsing, but occasionally I’ll admit defeat in my blog, and ask more experienced hands to suggest the answer that has evaded me – so it does happen to us all. I think that the fact that there will always be an answer is a credit to the puzzles editor.

      In my case, it is far more likely that I’ll be defeated by a 15 x 15 than wth a QC, but it is these defeats that present the challenge and make the puzzles so compelling. We may start just looking to complete, and then when completion becomes fairly automatic, our objectives may move to completing in faster times. Personally, I have reached a bit of a plateau with QCs and generally solve within 10 to 15 minutes, occassionally taking a little longer. I can’t remember the last one that defeated me.

      I hope that you’ll continue to try, and to enjoy the challenge. Being beaten should inspire rather than deter you.

  13. Completely thrown by 1D which had me looking for something to do with ‘Hey Presto!’ but I really should have kept calm and worked it out by adding US back on at the end. Loved the idea of a ‘sow hat’!
  14. That’s three is a row which I have found really difficult in comparison to what I consider the ‘norm’. However, I also think my brain has been elsewhere this week which hasn’t helped. We must be due an easier one tomorrow?
  15. Life peers are always barons, never earls, or so I believe. So the esteemed Rotter’s suggestion that 12? means that Earl is an example of a life peer- and I, for one, cannot see another option – means that there is possibly an inaccuracy in the clue here. Or can anybody suggest another reading?
    1. I agree that there is some ambiguity here, and recognised when I wrote the blog that Life Peers are awarded these days at the rank of Baron.

      I cannot speak for the Setter, but it is possible that Marty wrote the clue to 20d, which refers to 12a, but not specifically to the answer to 12a. If the reference was to the definition part of 12a (i.e. ‘someone entitled’) rather than to the answer (i.e. ‘Life Peer’), then the clue works perfectly well to provide the answer EARL.

      If this is the case, then the ambiguity arises from my reference in 20d to the answer to 12a, rather than referring to the definition part.

  16. Defeated by PROSPERO and VIVA, both of which were obvious when I saw the blog. In truth I think I had lost interest by that stage, it was a hard slog today right from the beginning. Didn’t know Prospero was a magician, never heard of a bird called a rail, but it seemed a fair bet. Similarly didn’t know BIS but it too seemed a fair bet. A LIFEPEER is one whose title does not descend to his/her offspring. In fact I don’t know when the last hereditary peer was created.
    Ah well, tomorrow is another day.
    PlayUpPompey
    1. Just for the pedants amongst us – the last hereditary peer was created about a month ago – the Duke of Sussex! Agreed that outside the House of Windsor it is quite rare, but Viscount Whitelaw (Willie Whitelaw) and Viscount Tonypandy (George Thomas) spring to mind. Although the titles were hereditary, nobody inherited them, because they had no male heirs!

      Edited at 2018-06-14 03:30 pm (UTC)

  17. I agree with theflorentine about the life peer/earl matter. So far as I know an earl inherits the title and at death will pass it on to someone; a life peer is just that: a peer for life, and when he or she dies that’s it. The clue is faulty so far as I can see. Life peers and earls occupy different spheres and there is no question of a life peer being an earl.

    Edited at 2018-06-14 01:19 pm (UTC)

  18. Another battle in what’s been a tough week of QC’s. Today it was the NW where I struggled. It took me way to long to spot the hidden 2d and had my usual struggle with homophones at 11a. For the author I was looking for someone beginning with DR/MD/MO etc. My LOI was 1d which is embarrassing as I studied The Tempest for A level – although that was over 25 years ago! Finally completed in 32.06 – about twice my target time, but satisfying nonetheless.
  19. I too found this difficult and was glad to finish in less than 20 minutes. 18:53.
    Last two in were 17dn BOXING and 17ac BRUT. Needed all the checkers and quite a few wasted minutes before 1dn PROSPERO came to mind. Enjoyed the crossword and blog nonetheless.

    Edited at 2018-06-14 02:04 pm (UTC)

  20. Another very difficult puzzle. Seems to me the QC is becoming more like the main puzzle. Not fun and not a learning tool. Or rather being beaten by a puzzle does not inspire one to keep on going.
  21. Another rash of ‘anonymous’ posts, all critical. I don’t like this practice much, which seems to accrue to the QC, smacks of trolling.

    This was in fact an eminently fair puzzle, really quite easy, and in no way does it approach the statistical density of the main puzzle.

    Thanks Marty and The Rotter.

    Edited at 2018-06-14 03:07 pm (UTC)

  22. We have been doing the QC for some time and agree that this was a challenging puzzle, but fair. We learn from the more difficult ones and urge everyone to keep going and not be disheartened. Thanks to all for the contributions and for the good advice. Elin & Ian
  23. I did JC, MofV and H5 at school, but no Tempest. Hence the NW corner was a struggle, even with Asimov and Go Easy On in place. Returned after a cup of tea, and finally saw Summer, which led to Urdu and (eventually) Prospero. I thought this was quite hard for a QC as well, but the enjoyment of 8 and 10 ac made up for any frustration. For some reason, the 4 letter clues, bar Noel and Gnus, seemed particularly hard, though All’s Well that Ends Well 😋. Invariant
  24. I think this was a real mixture of quite straightforward (e.g. urdu ), really clever (e.g. so what) and really awful (e.g. Taxman). I liked “pirate ” but didn’t know that “quietly ” meant “p”. Why does it mean that, though?
    1. It’s a musical reference: p for piano(soft) and likewise f for forte(loud)
  25. I found Marty’s offering hard enough to be interesting and took more or less my usual leisurely 20 minutes. I never treat a crossword as a time-trial. I like to write the answers in as neatly as my elderly hand will allow.

    Another piece of pedantry: rails are not generally considered to be waders even though they wade.

    And my comments here are anonymous only because the algorithms for enrolling as a member are absurdly challenging and have defeated me more than once. I can’t be bothered to go and on wrestling with them.

    I am in fact no more anonymous than most of you,

    With best wishes
    treesparrow

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