Times Quick Cryptic No 1173 by Tracy

Author   TheRotterPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I have blogged Tracy a fair few times, enjoying the range of his clue types and difficulty levels.  This one took me 12 minutes from start to finish, so was nicely in the middle of my target range, which should mean that most of you find it middlingly difficult.

Certainly, there was nothing too obscure or difficult here.  I spent a little time looking for an anagram of [FORGED BAR IT] in 10d before recognising that there was no clear anagram indicator in the clue, and re-assessing.  I’m going to plump for 6d as WoD and CoD, but there are other worthy contenders.

Thanks again Tracy.

I am off to Arizona and California tomorrow for 16 days, so my next blog will be done from a distance, and is likely to be briefer than usual as a result..

Across
1  Kind actors playing similar roles continually (8)
TYPECAST – TYPE (kind) and CAST (actors).  Being TYPECAST is where a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a particular character, or characters having the same traits.
6  Girl in film is seductive (4)
MISS – Hidden in the clue (in) {fil}M IS S{eductive}
8  Model’s difficult question (5)
POSER – Double definition
9 Anger shown by home clubs seen off (7)
INCENSE – IN (home) C{lubs} and an anagram (off) of [SEEN].  To INCENSE is to anger
11  Diamonds leader lost in French resort (3)
ICE – The French resort is {n}ICE, which loses its leader or first letter.  ICE for diamonds is a bit of a cryptic chestnut worth remembering.
12 Have more than revealed by issue (9)
OUTNUMBER – OUT (revealed, in the modern idiom) and NUMBER (issue, as in the number or issue of a periodical or other item, such as Quick Cryptic number 1173, or issue 1173 of the QC).
13  Unusually small bit players (6)
EXTRAS – EXTRA S{mall} would be unusually small.
15  Visit nurse after a short time (6)
ATTEND – TEND (nurse) after A (a) and T{ime} (short time)
18  Advocate increase, mostly to disrupt trade (9)
BARRISTER – RIS{e} (increase mostly, i.e. drop last letter) disrupting (inside) BARTER (trade)
19  Important American soldier returned after onset of battle (3)
BIG – GI (American soldier) reversed (returned) after onset (i.e. first letter of) B{attle}
20  Hand tool, last of his I removed from bag (7)
SPANNER – {hi}S (last of) PANN{i}ER (I removed from pannier, or bag)
21  Former deed, correct in every detail (5)
EXACT – EX (former) and ACT (deed)
22  Son with contents of hourglass? (4)
SAND – S{on} AND (with).  The question mark is because not all hourglasses are filled with SAND
23  Not this dear French stateswoman (8)
THATCHER – THAT (not this) and CHER (dear in French).  Some might argue that Maggie was no stateswoman, but not me.  Incidentally, her home town appeared in a clue yesterday.

Down
1 Joint best team (7)
TOPSIDE – TOP (best) and SIDE (team)
2  Spread glue (5)
PASTE – Double definition
3  Chapter on poor reorganisation helping large firm (11)
CORPORATION – C{hapter} followed by anagram of [POOR] (reorganisation) and RATION (helping).
4  Quiet and enthusiastic about religion (6)
SHINTO – SH (quiet) and INTO (enthusiastic about).  SHINTO is the traditional religion of Japan.
6  Base of British Legion damage externally (7)
IGNOBLE – B{ritish} inside an anagram (damaged) of [LEGION].  Externally is the containment indicator for the B.
7  Guide soothsayer round Petra’s centre (5)
STEER – Soothsayer is SEER which surrounds (round) the middle letter of {pe}T{ra} (centre)
10 Forged bar – it must contain iron (11)
COUNTERFEIT – COUNTER (bar) and IT (it) around (containing) FE (chemical symbol for iron)
14 Turtle avoiding soft ground (7)
TERRAIN – TERRA{p}IN – type of turtle avoiding P (soft)
16  Follows sailor’s night light (3,4)
DOG STAR – DOGS (follows) and TAR (sailor) to give one name of Sirius, a star in the constellation of Cannis Major (Greater Dog).
17  Celebrity on church formality (6)
STARCH – STAR (celebrity) on CH{urch}.
18  The fundamental ingredient of book without any changes (5)
BASIS – B{ook} and AS IS (without any changes)
19  Head of bank, reckless and cocky (5)
BRASH – B{ank} (head of, i.e. first letter) and RASH (reckless)

22 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1173 by Tracy”

  1. I biffed a couple, BARRISTER & SPANNER, and forgot to go back to check them. Probably just as well, as I would never have thought of PANNIER, which I thought was a basket not a bag. LOI SHINTO, which I can never think of as a religion. 6:48.
  2. Under 17 minutes with LOI thatcher, only to find I had missed a clue, Shinto!

    Will follow vinyl’s lead and start to do a typo/missing clue check.

    COD thatcher.

  3. 8 minutes but I lost time coming up with OUTNUMBER towards the end and only when that was in place was I able to think of IGNOBLE as my LOI. The DOG bit of DOGSTAR also delayed me until I had all the checkers.

    I think more traditionally a PANNIER is a basket as that meaning dates back to Middle English, but in the 20th century the word came to refer to carriers over the rear wheels of cycles and motorcyles and the meaning stretched to cover bags and boxes. In my lifetime I remember PANNIER being used for the open carriers at the front of pushbikes which were of a basket-weave construction.

  4. 15.07, so a personal best. All finished on the bus before Piazzale Michelangiolo. I don’t think that I can type much faster! FOI in Typecast, LOI Basis. No trouble with Pannier as I cycle a lot. Enjoyed Terrain.

    Edited at 2018-09-06 07:06 am (UTC)

        1. Well well! I’m also a Florentine of a sort – spent my gap year living in a pensione right by the south end of the Ponte Santa Trinita and studying at the British Institute. What are you doing there?
  5. 12.54 today so a bit quicker than average despite getting held up in the NE, where I spent some time trying to work out if a guide could be a ‘seter’ for reasons of pure doziness. Like therotter I thought that 10d was going to be an anagram before seeing what was really going on. LOI was 6d.
    Thanks for the blog
  6. Just not on the right wavelength today. It took me 38 minutes eventually but I have no idea why as there were no particularly obscure words or difficult clue constructions.
  7. Struggled with this today but all the answers were fair enough. Only annoying one was Thatcher but only because she wasn’t ‘dear’ to me 🙂
  8. I’m in both the ‘didn’t find this easy’ and ‘loi shinto’ camps – thoroughly enjoyable, mind. On 6dn I tried to anagram Britis(h Legion) to get ‘externally’ with, unsurprisingly, no success for some time. 12 minutes.
  9. A slow solve in 18:46. LOI 4d SHINTO (DNK). I biffed SPANNER and EXTRAS and parsed after solving. I went with the straight forward wordplay for DOG STAR which sounded familiar and was just glad to finish in what has been a fallow week for the QC.
  10. No particular problems with this puzzle, and all sorted in 8:58. No problem with pannier as I have one on my push bike. Thanks Tracy and Rotter.
  11. Three quarters of the grid went in fast enough but had a real hold up in the NE despite getting MISS quickly. Became fixated on “stage” (t inside sage) and once I get something in my head it takes a real effort to get it out, even though I think it’s probably wrong!

    Got there in the end, LOI SHINTO for me too, done in 2 Kevins.

    COD was BASIS for me, loved the “AS IS” split. Thanks Tracy and Rotter.

    Templar

  12. Although done in just under 10m some answers didn’t come easily. The SW corner has some cracking examples of missing letters and my COD to Terrain. This was much more fun than the main puzzle today. Have a great time in the US.
  13. I tackled this in bits and pieces whilst following a fascinating round of County Championship matches. I found it a challenging set of clue types with many to enjoy. LOI COUNTERFEIT (one of a number of challenging clues). COD THATCHER because I misread the clue as “saleswoman” but decided that was not a bad description given her propensity for drawing on her experiences as daughter of a shopkeeper.
    Good QC
    PlayUpPompey
  14. No difficulties with this although a couple of parsings gave me pause for thought, BARRISTER CORPORATION and SPANNER all came from definitions and checking letters initially. COD to DOG STAR. 5:30
  15. It took me a while to get started. FOI was 7d but then progress was steady with LOI 18a after about 14 minutes (back on paper today and timing from the microwave clock).
    Was slowed by Ignoble and Outnumber but no big problems.
    Had topside for lunch whilst solving! David
  16. Moderately difficult one I felt. I rather liked ‘Spread glue’, and the THATCHER clue made me feel a little ill, so I stopped looking at it.

    Thanks to the rotter and Tracy.

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