Times Quick Cryptic No 1192 by Felix

Author   plusjeremyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

I made a right hash of this one. After racing through most of the puzzle in about 10 minutes, thinking it would be a breeze, I wound up completely in knots over the last handful of clues. It took me 24:30 to untangle everything. I’m inclined to say this puzzle wasn’t my cup of tea, but it’s more likely my own fault for thinking 3 Down was RIDICULOUS and then not being able to see the correct anagram for the life of me. More on my stupidity below.

Woof. The controversy about this puzzle is intense.

I personally felt it was not to my liking, I think, because the level of difficulty of clues within a single puzzle felt rather variable. Not so much the wordplay, but the level of vocabulary knowledge expected.

That being said, the puzzle seemed totally fair and well-constructed. To the newcomers, I’d say, Be Patient. A few months ago, every Quickie was a breeze. Now there are some real stinkers! I’m sure the general level will continue to shift until a happier medium is found. Of course, everyone will have days beyond their ken, and everyone will have days where the puzzles are so easy they’re boring. Stick with it. Or try other papers.

When I first came to the Times, I couldn’t get a single clue — in fact, I couldn’t even begin to fathom how someone could get a single clue. I didn’t know where to begin.

Over time, and thanks to this blog, I have improved. Others have improved faster and in a shorter time, no doubt, but I still enjoy getting better day by day.

Perhaps in future blogs I’ll include a little analysis for beginners to show how I go about solving puzzles in my intermediate way, if that would be helpful.

Across

1 Battle where protagonists bolster each other? (6,5)
PILLOW FIGHT – cryptic definition
A ‘bolster’ is another word for a pillow that looks perfect for whacking a sibling with. I wasn’t aware of this meaning so this was one of my last in.
9 Correct me when returning before the finish (5)
EMEND – ME (“me”) reversed (“when returning”) + (“before”) END (“the finish”)
10 Taking part in decathlon, GIs habitually rather stretched (7)
LONGISH – letters in (“taking part in”) DECATHLON GIS HABITUALLY (“decathlon GIs habitually”)
11 Chum is all you need to make this entertainment (5,4)
MUSIC HALL – CHUM IS ALL (“chum is all”) anagrammed (“you need to make this”)
Not having the C, I never suspected an anagram, feeling completely certain this was a cryptic definition with the second word FISH. This in turn prevented me from resolving the rest of the middle of the puzzle.
13 Freelance photographer very quietly penning article (3)
PAP – PP (“very quietly”, pianissimo) outside (“penning”) A (“article”)
Short for ‘paparazzo’.
14 Lunatic getting post [with] teaching union (6)
NUTJOB – NUT (“lunatic”) + (“getting”) JOB (“post”)
Just kidding, just kidding. NUT is the National Union of Teachers.
16 A meeting place [in] wide street (6)
AVENUE – A (“a”) + VENUE (“meeting place”)
17 Get a letter read out (3)
SEE – C (“a letter”) replaced with a homophone (“read out”)
18 A sign in desert perhaps [showing] name of Central Asian city (9)
SAMARKAND – A (“a”) + MARK (“sign”) inside (“in”) SAND (“desert, perhaps”)
A city in Uzbekistan. This clue also stymied me, as I had few crossing letters, and couldn’t get past ‘desert’ signifying STRAND (even though this wouldn’t make sense with ‘perhaps’).
21 Seamen not normally crossing south, as a whole (2,5)
EN MASSE – SEAMEN (“seamen”) anagrammed (“not normally”) outside (“crossing”) S (“south”)
23 Diver to employ in round pool, ultimately (5)
OUSEL – USE (“to employ”) inside (“in”) O (“round”) + POOL (“pool”) reduced to its last letter (“ultimately”)
One of those crossword chestnuts you become familiar with after awhile. A diving bird.
24 Lennie’s pose affected while resting? (2,4,5)
IN ONES SLEEP – LENNIE’S POSE (“Lennie’s pose”) anagrammed (“affected”)

Down

2 Plans I had when touring the east (5)
IDEAS – I’D (“I had”) + AS (“when”) outside (“touring”) E (“the east”)
3 Could sir initially undertake manoeuvres? [That’s] daft! (9)
LUDICROUS – COULD (“could”) + SIR (“sir”) + first letter of (“initially”) UNDERTAKE (“undertake”) anagrammed (“manoeuvres”)
This is the one that did me in. I got stuck only being able to see RIDICULOUS, which prevented me from getting crossing letters to open up the middle four or five clues.
4 Girl, briefly, is going to mother (5)
WILMA – almost all the letters of (“briefly”) WILL (“is going to”) + MA (“mother”)
I liked this clue quite a bit.
5 Local resident of Tampere, maybe, loudly dismissed (3)
INN – FINN (“resident of Tampere, maybe”), F (“loudly”, forte) removed (“dismissed”)
Tampere is a city in southern Finland. ‘Local’ and ‘inn’ are synonyms for ‘pub’.
6 Husband to display code number that’s used for locks (7)
HAIRPIN – H (“husband”) + AIR (“to display”) + PIN (“code number”)
7 I agree to attend old comedy show (3,8)
YES MINISTER – YES (“I agree”) + MINISTER (“to attend”)
One of those British things I’ve managed to absorb without ever having experienced. I thought perhaps ‘old’ pertained to the usage of ‘minister’ to mean ‘attend’, but apparently this is not an archaic meaning.
8 I can heed PLP after reshuffling old cabinet? (11)
CHIPPENDALE – I CAN HEED PLP (“I can heed PLP”) anagrammed (“after reshuffling”)
An 18th century furniture style “characterized by the use of Chinese and Gothic motifs, cabriole legs, and massive carving”. (Collins)
12 Someone who dwells above bank [in] the city (9)
LIVERPOOL – LIVER (“someone who dwells”) + (“above”) POOL (“bank”)
A simple clue which nevertheless took me ages to get, because I had no crossing letters.
15 Film [of] Kojak, maybe, with people (3,4)
THE OMEN – THEO (“Kojak, maybe”) + (“with”) MEN (“people”)
Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak is the title character of the American television series, ‘Kojak’.
19 Gets together some charcuterie for picking up? (5)
MEETS – MEATS (“some charcuterie”) replaced by a homophone (“for picking up”)
20 Man, say, following a passage (5)
AISLE – ISLE (“Man, say”) after (“following”) A (“a”)
22 Wrong / function (3)
SIN – double definition
That sweet, sweet ratio of the length of the opposite side to that of the hypotenuse.

37 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1192 by Felix”

  1. 1ac went right in, but I can’t imagine using a bolster in a pillow fight; fluffy they ain’t. Having the L made LUDICROUS easy; it might have taken some time otherwise. Was ‘Kojak’ popular in the UK? I never watched it, and it’s like 40+ years old, no? DNK PAP (knew ‘paparazzi’, though, so hardly a problem). 5:03.
    1. Yes, Kojak was very big here although I never watched it. Yes, Minister (and Yes, Prime Minister) was more my thing.
      1. Fairly straightforward puzzle. No time as was interuppted by a call.

        Have to say that using Kojak’s first name as a cluing device likely excludes most under 45’s. That is real niche knowledge.

  2. 7 minutes. It was right up my street, but I thought that others may not find it quite so straightforward.
  3. Bah typos – I’d rather struggle for 25 minutes to get a screen of green squares

  4. Thought this one was very tricky and was not on the right wavelength at all. All I knew about Kojak was his penchant for lollipops.
  5. 15 mins.

    Guessed Tampere was in Finland, haven’t watched kojak but guessed he was a Theo.

    Samarkand and Liverpool, 2 nice cities.

    COD pillow fight or Samarkand.

  6. This QC felt very different to the norm, I was not on wavelength at all or maybe it is because I am still just waking up. My LOI was 20d AISLE. Biffed 18a SAMARKAND from wordplay as DNK and needed all but one of the checkers to solve the anagrams at 3d LUDICROUS and 24a IN ONES SLEEP. It took me just over 19 mins to solve. I’m pondering whether the film and TV references are fair play for our ‘younger’ solvers although they were all big hits in the day.

    Edited at 2018-10-03 02:34 pm (UTC)

  7. All pretty plain sailing here at 2.5 on the Kevometer. Never watched Kojak and had no idea he was a Theo but hey. Only real delays were working out the anag at 24 ac (I had become fixated on it containing “slope”) and my LOI 20dn, which I had to come here to understand (thanks, Jeremy!).

    A fun puzzle, thank you Felix.

    Templar

  8. A tricky – for me – puzzle but I got there in the end. It took me 38 minutes with LOI being “aisle ” which took me ages to see. I’ve never heard of “ousel ” but it just had to be! Stupidly, two clues which held me up were little ones like 5 down and 17 across, especially the latter, which I put in without quite “getting” it until I read the blog. Thanks to blogger and setter.
  9. Just over 20 minutes for me but with one wrong -5d. Had never heard of Tampere and did not think of pub for local; I had Ian.
    As someone said, this puzzle had a different feel and was not easy in my opinion. There were several tricky clues with a fair bit of GK needed.COD to 20d.
    David
  10. Found this one hard going (48:24 not including a break for taking my dad to the station) and ended up with lots of circled clues (things to check on here). Hadn’t heard of Tampere, didn’t know Kojak’s first name, missed “you need to make this” as an anagram indicator, and thought “picking up” was a bit of a tenuous homophone indicator, but I guess it’s probably good preparation for the 15×15. Didn’t think of ousel for the diver straight away either because I thought they were members of the thrush family. Turns out I was right, but the unrelated dippers are sometimes called water ousels because they look superficially similar. According to Wikipedia ousel is spelt with a z too, though that’s probably a matter of taste. COD 21a.
  11. This one didn’t give me any major trouble. Only my LOI SAMARKAND had me digging in the depths. PILLOW FIGHT went in as I read the clue, which later helped with LUDICROUS. Didn’t know where Tampere was, but once I had both checkers the Local definition was obvious. Nice puzzle. 8:24. Thanks Felix and Jeremy.
  12. I enjoyed this but was surprised it took me as long as 3 kevin – it felt like a quicker solve. LOI Aisle (after Chippendale, Liverpool and Avenue). Some very nice clues but some quite tough ones, I thought. Thanks, Felix and thanks to Jeremy for a helpful, honest blog. John M.

    Edited at 2018-10-03 11:14 am (UTC)

  13. I really think I am losing the plot. Having successfully negotiated (and parsed) some of the harder clues like Liverpool, Aisle and Inn, and even (eventually) managing to get Samarkand, I then came to a dead stop with every checker in place for what was one of the easiest clues on the grid: 7d. I just couldn’t think of the answer no matter how long I sat looking at the blanks, willing letters to appear. Mrs Invariant didn’t even bother with the clue, and came up with Yes Minister after the merest glance. . . Invariant
    PS. I mean, what sort of setter has the name of an old comedy show as the answer to a clue containing the phrase ‘old comedy show’ ? Has Felix never heard of lift and separate ? 😉

    Edited at 2018-10-03 02:49 pm (UTC)

  14. I found this quite straightforward. FOI PILLOW FIGHT and my COD. Although I don’t think I would want to be hit by a bolster. OUSEL rang a very faint bell, probably from another crossword. LOI SEE. Missed the obvious that “to get” something is to “see” it.
    Enjoyable
    PlayUpPompey
  15. This puzzle was the hardest I can ever remember. 3 clues in after 20 minutes and I just gave up. Talk about a real turn off. Beginners seem to get one reasonable puzzle a week now and the rest are hard. A great way to encourage people. I thought this puzzle was unfair and in no way solvable by beginners. It was not even a good learning experience.
  16. Well, this brought me down with a bump after the easier ones recently. Managed about half of it. Some answers were definitely ludicrous…

    Haven’t read the blog yet so that will clarify some of the ones I biffed from crossers as much as anything. In the end, I had to put some answers in on my phone and check if they were correct as I had no confidence that they were – being unable to parse the clues.. ho hum…

  17. A steady plod through this, in our view of medium difficulty. 1a and 7d gave a good start, but we were slowed down then. Not heard of nut job, so our choice of nutter was not helpful, obviously wrong after getting 3d. Plenty of anagrams which alwas helps. Thanks to all contributors, we always enjoy the comments. Elin & Ian.
  18. Pool and bank are synonyms for the ‘pot’ in gambling games (not watery) and Kojak is being shown in one of the Freeview channels at the moment.
    Brian
  19. I really liked this puzzle. Usually have one that stumps me so Kojak filled that spot. Must be on the same wavelength!
  20. Pool and bank are not synonyms. That’s a clear cheat. Also, 19d, I’ve never seen ‘for picking up’ used that way, so another cheat by the setter. Only two cheats today, though, so not too bad. It’s noticeable that there is an obvious correlation between dubious clues and the difficulty of the puzzle ; when the setter is fair, the puzzle is fair.
    1. 19 down
      Your term “cheat” seems a little harsh and abrupt.

      One of Chambers’ meanings for “pick up” is “to take into one’s company” which describes a meeting.

      One should not forget that just because you have not seen a term used in a particular way does not mean it’s a cheat – unless of course you have read all the books that have been ever written and heard every sentence spoken – and have remembered it all.

      kpc

      1. I’m not sure what the anon you replied to means by ‘used in that way’, but for the record ‘for picking up’ in this instance is a homophone indicator, so ‘meats’ (charcuterie) when picked up (heard) sounds like MEETS (gets together).

        Jeremy indicated this in his excellent blog but perhaps it needs to be pointed out again.

    2. An interesting perception that what is actually perfectly normal wordplay is “cheating”. Pool and bank are synonyms… Pool – A common fund into which all contributors pay and from which financial backing is provided. “big public investment pools” synonyms: fund, reserve, kitty, pot, bank, purse; jackpot, ante, stakes
      “the cash would come from the pool of money set aside for such incidents”
  21. I thought there was some tricky stuff in here today, particularly in the SE. I needed all the checkers for LOI SAMARKAND, where like our blogger I was trying to fit strand into it until it became an impossibility. Whilst vaguely familiar with Kojak I’d never considered his first name before but the word play was generous. Completed in 17.31.
    Thanks for the blog

  22. Woof. The controversy about this puzzle is intense.

    I personally felt it was not to my liking, I think, because the level of difficulty of clues within a single puzzle felt rather variable. Not so much the wordplay, but the level of vocabulary knowledge expected.

    That being said, the puzzle seemed totally fair and well-constructed. To the newcomers, I’d say, Be Patient. A few months ago, every Quickie was a breeze. Now there are some real stinkers! I’m sure the general level will continue to shift until a happier medium is found. Of course, everyone will have days beyond their ken, and everyone will have days where the puzzles are so easy they’re boring. Stick with it.

    Or try other papers. When I first came to the Times, I couldn’t get a single clue — in fact, I couldn’t even begin to fathom how someone could get a single clue. I didn’t know where to begin.

    Over time, and thanks to this blog, I have improved. Others have improved faster and in a shorter time, no doubt, but I still enjoy getting better day by day.

    Perhaps in future blogs I’ll include a little analysis for beginners to show how I go about solving puzzles in my intermediate way, if that would be helpful.

  23. I am surprised that so many of you found this easy. I’m with the others!!! I struggled at first and then answers started to creep in. At 30 minutes I stopped with two clues left to solve. I thought that I would return later and fill in the blanks but I am afraid that Nutjob and Samarkand defeated me. I have never heard of either and failed to construct them from the wordplay. What a failure!!!… but thanks to all of you here for educating me! MM
  24. Hmm. I’m with Jeremy in saying this is fair and well-constructed. As, I guess, an experienced solver, I found this of average difficulty. TAMPERE was no problem as I’ve been there. I wonder how many others in our community can say that? Loved NUTJOB… my wife is a teacher and is/does one of those. Reminds that before we were married I gave her family Christmas presents of nuts and crackers in consecutive years. My smarty pants now-sister-in-law Jilly enjoyed the joke. 6:19
  25. Very mixed, some v good clues 9a, 6,7,22 d with some complete rubbish. I thought that QC was supposed to be attracting new solvers? Kojak was some American soap opera detective last screened before my children were born, and I have grandkids now. Trouble for me is the setters think that the “classics” from their childhood are immortal. They are not. Still do QC most of the time, sometimes a few days later. Beginning to move to more up-to-date fare, try the Evening Standard

    Edited at 2018-10-04 01:12 am (UTC)

  26. This puzzle was the hardest I can ever remember. 3 clues in after 20 minutes and I just gave up. Talk about a real turn off. Beginners seem to get one reasonable puzzle a week now and the rest are hard. A great way to encourage people. I thought this puzzle was unfair and in no way solvable by beginners. It was not even a good learning experience.
  27. Having finished the last two quick cryptics, although in ultra-slow times, I thought after 3 years of trying that I was beginning to make some progress. However today I went through the whole thing and couldn’t get a single clue. One of the hardest yet and definitely not for beginners.

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