Times Quick Cryptic No 1242 by Teazel

Author   plusjeremyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Introduction

I decided to do a walkthrough of my solve today, but it turned out to be an easier puzzle. Oh well. I’m sure it will still be helpful for some.

As is my usual custom, I go through all the Across clues first, then all the Down clues, interrupting my flow only in the most opportunistic cases. I had to skip many on the first pass through the Acrosses, but picked most of them back up on my way through the Downs. So, not a puzzle I plowed through exactly, but nothing stumped me, and often my first guess was right.

First the solutions, then the walkthrough. I’m also going to start abbreviating my solutions, to draw more attention to the structure of the wordplay, and the abbreviations especially. Let me know if I’m getting too cryptic with my solutions!

Solutions

Across

8 Maybe defenceless, [but] not hurt when husband leaves (7)
UNARMED = UNHARMED without H (‘husband’)
9 Discover whereabouts? Time to run (5)
TRACE = T (‘time’) + RACE
10 Exult with new royal symbol (5)
CROWN = CROW + N (‘new’)
11 Briefly wonder at a Liberal naval officer (7)
ADMIRAL = (almost all of ADMIRE) + A + L
12 Putting together academic paper on moral offence, we hear (9)
SYNTHESIS = THESIS + homophone of SIN
14 Pinch / small quantity of spirits (3)
NIP , double definition
Nips are those little bottles you can get on airplanes.
16 Something for waiter — start to put it back (3)
TIP = [ (first letter of PUT) + IT ] , reversed
Didn’t get the wordplay til writing this blog.
18 Concerned with teaching story that can be made good (9)
REPARABLE = RE + PARABLE
21 Cats, for example, [can be] melodious (7)
MUSICAL , double definition
22 Perfect example [of] memo deleted? Not entirely (5)
MODEL is hidden in MEMO DELETED
23 This boat reversing would make puddles (5)
SLOOP = POOLS reversed
24 They are on course to hold clubs (7)
CADDIES , humorous definition, I guess?

Down

1 Hedge, [given] question — tick Sue off (8)
QUICKSET = Q (‘question’) + TICK + SUE , anagrammed
Typically made up of English hawthorn, apparently!
2 Islander [from] south with a complaint (6)
SAMOAN = S (‘south’) + A + MOAN
3 Warning: old people (4)
OMEN = O + MEN
4 Cope, breaking one’s high standards (6)
IDEALS = DEAL inside I’S (‘one’s’)
5 It creates mist damaging to armies (8)
ATOMISER = anagramming TO ARMIES
6 Aristocrat said [to be] unable to produce heir (6)
BARREN = homophone of BARON
7 Animal [found in] salt water loch (4)
SEAL = SEA + L (‘loch’)
13 Printout not easy to reproduce? (4,4)
HARD COPY = HARD + COPY
15 With no rival, don’t strain so much to see (8)
PEERLESS = PEER LESS
17 Reshuffled, a sport minister (6)
PASTOR = anagram of A SPORT
19 Area within locality: Buckingham, for example (6)
PALACE = A (‘area’) in PLACE
20 Needle chap over family (6)
BODKIN = BOD (‘chap’) + KIN
A blunt, thick needle.
21 Crush tree under motorway (4)
MASH = ASH under M (‘motorway’)
22 Skirt the centre of island (4)
MIDI = MID + I (‘island’)

Discussion

Here’s a play-by-play of my solve.

  1. Clue: 8 Across. The answer is probably ‘defenseless’, and ‘not hurt’ probably part of the wordplay, with an H missing. So I have UN… but all I can think of is UN(H)INDERED, which is probably not right, so I write down UN and move on. Not solved.

  2. Clue: 9 Across. I’m thinking this may be ‘discover’, and I’m trying to take T away from a word meaning ‘whereabouts’. I think of PLACE and LOCATION but I’m not getting it. Not solved.

  3. Clue: 10 Across. ‘Exult’ is one of those words I always forget the meaning of, but I know I need to add an N. But then I see ‘royal symbol’ and I think of CREST and CROWN and put it all together. Solved.

  4. Clue: 11 Across. When I see ‘at a Liberal’, I’m thinking, this has to end with AL. Then ‘naval officer’ gives me the guess ADMIRAL, and I check this against ‘briefly wonder’. Solved.

  5. Clue: 12 Across. ‘Moral offence’ suggests SIN but if the definition is ‘putting together’, shouldn’t it end with -ING? I write down SIN and move on. Not solved.

  6. Clue: 14 Across. I’m looking for perhaps a hidden word (“small quantity”), and thinking about, like, ROB for ‘pinch’, but that’s not getting anywhere. Could we have S for ‘small’? I’m not sure. Not solved.

  7. Clue: 16 Across. No idea, though I imagine ‘waiter’ might be ‘someone who waits’, rather than the server. (That guess out to be wrong.) Not solved.

  8. Clue: 18 Across. ‘Concerned with’ is probably RE, so RE… FABLE? That’s not right but the answer probably does end in ABLE because the definition is ‘can be…’. Not solved.

  9. Clue: 21 Across. After the first few words I am looking for alternate meanings, like ‘poets’. I think, “MUSICAL?”, and then check the second half of the clue to be sure. Solved.

  10. Clue: 22 Across. I see ‘not entirely’, and start hunting for a hidden word, and find it. Solved.

  11. Clue: 23 Across. The syntax of the clue tells me that the answer is a boat, which reversed means ‘puddles’. So the answer is a boat starting with S, most likely. SCHOONER? No. So now I’m thinking of a four-letter word meaning ‘puddle’ that could be reversed, and it doesn’t take long to find POOLS/SLOOP. Solved.

  12. Clue: 24 Across. Not sure what’s going on here. I write down CADDIES? immediately in the margin, but there isn’t any wordplay and I don’t understand what the cheeky definition is. A reference to bridge, perhaps? Seems weak. I move on to the Down clues, and note that I’ve only solved five Across clues! Not solved.

  13. Clue: 1 Down. I recognize the anagram immediately, knowing that ‘question’ can be Q (or QU, I think). I have _ _ _ C _ _ _ _ , and obviously the Q and U have to go together. Eventually I come up with QUICKSET, which is definitely not a thing I know, but which definitely sounds like a thing, so I write it in. Probably solved.

  14. Clue: *8 Across. Out of order clue. Now that I have the U, I write in my hypothesized UN. Not solved.

  15. Clue: 2 Down. I have S _ _ O _ _ , and the wordplay gives me SA _ O _ _ , and then the definition gives me SAMOAN, which I back-check against the wordplay. Solved.

  16. Clue: *12 Across. Out of order clue. I see S_N and think, “Wait, is SIN at the beginning of the answer?”. But, if it’s a homophone, it’s probably SYN, and then the answer comes to me a second later. Solved.

  17. Clue: 3 Down. The wordplay gives me O and the full answer a second later. Solved.

  18. Clue: *8 Across. Out of order clue. Now I have UNA _ M _ _ , and the synonym for ‘defenceless’ comes to mind easily. Incidentally, when I go out of order, it’s usually for this reason: I know what I was looking for, and when my eye catches crossing letters, I see an opportunity to put in the answer. Solved.

  19. Clue: 4 Down. I have _ D _ A _ S , but I accidentally read the clue for 6 Down! So I am looking for something like STERILE or BARREN but it doesn’t seem to fit at all! I scratch my head and move on. Not solved.

  20. Clue: 5 Down. I know it’s an anagram, and I have _ _ _ M _ S _ _ , and I get the answer easily. Solved.

  21. Clue: 6 Down. Aha! I catch my mistake. Here is BARREN, and now back to 4 Down. Solved.

  22. Clue: 4 Down. I don’t get the wordplay, but _ D _ A _ S and the definition give me the answer. Solved.

  23. Clue: 7 Down. I have _ _ _ L , so what is this? NACL is salt, isn’t it, but that’s not a thing. What about a hidden word? TERL? Nope. Eventually I just try to think of an animal and SEAL comes to mind. I don’t think I knew that L can be an abbreviation for ‘loch’, or if I did, I’d forgotten. Solved.

  24. Clue: *9 Across. Out of order clue. I have T _ A _ E , and now I understand the wordplay doesn’t involve removing the T. I get the answer from the wordplay and am surprised. Solved.

  25. Clue: *14 Across. I’m not sure why I didn’t get NIP before, but having the first letter helps. Solved.

  26. Clue: *16 Across. Now what is this? It’s gotta be TIP, or maybe TAB, but I don’t quite follow the wordplay, so I just write these guesses in the margin. Not solved.

  27. Clue: 13 Down. I have H _ _ _ C _ P _ , and ‘not easy’ gives me HARD, and the rest is easy. Solved.

  28. Clue: 15 Down. I have P _ _ _ L _ _ _ , and ‘don’t … so much’ gives me LESS, and the rest falls into place. Solved.

  29. Clue: 17 Down. I tried to do this anagram in my head but I couldn’t think past PARSON. Once I wrote the letters down, I got the answer. Solved.

  30. Clue: *16 Across. Out of order clue. Now that I have T_P, I know it must be TIP, but I don’t know why. Solved.

  31. Clue: 19 Down. The wordplay gives me A inside something, and the answer comes right away. Solved.

  32. Clue: *18 Across. Out of order clue. Now I have REP _ R _ _ _ E, and I guess the answer ends with ABLE, and that’s all I need. Solved.

  33. Clue: 20 Down. I have B _ D _ _ _ and the wordplay brings BOD to mind, and BODKIN is something I think I’ve heard of. Solved.

  34. Clue: 21 Down. ‘Motorway’ often gives AI or MI, but there aren’t two-letter trees, are there? MIST? Oh wait, I think the motorway can also just be M, and the tree could only be ASH. Solved.

  35. Clue: 22 Down. MINI? MAXI? MIDI? I don’t get why any of these work. Not solved.

  36. Clue: 24 Across. Well, this has to be CADDIES. Solved.

  37. Clue: 22 Down. And this has to be MIDI. Solved.

Not a difficult puzzle, and not a very interesting solve. But perhaps it is instructive to see how one might need to skip many clues before getting a foothold. For me, I had a lot of half-ideas, looking through the Across clues, but I couldn’t solve many. The Down clues were much more straightforward, and those crossing letters in combination with my ideas gave me the Across clues I was missing. It’s important to keep moving through clues you can’t crack, while keeping track of the parts and wordplay you understand.

It’s also vital in the more difficult puzzles to identify when you do not precisely know how the wordplay works. This is something I don’t do consistently in the 15×15 puzzles, and it screws me mightily. Because there’s no hope in trying to think of a synonym when the wordplay doesn’t even work!

26 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1242 by Teazel”

  1. This took me longer than I had expected, the time being devoted to MODEL & BODKIN. I may have come across QUICKSET somewhere, but in any case there was no problem arranging the anagrist. I didn’t know that those tiny bottles are called NIPs, nor did I need to, since a NIP is, and I quote, a ‘small quantity of spirits’. As usual, I was slow to spot the hidden, especially as I’d somehow overlooked 22d so lacked the M. Since I was pretty sure of -KIN, that finally got me BODKIN, which I only knew as a dagger, as in ‘Hamlet’. 6:51.
  3. A first time under eleven minutes (10.59) and also the first in under two Kevins, so a cause for celebration. LOI was IDEALS, with all the checkers I wanted it to start with an A. Excellent blog plusjeremy, many thanks!
  4. Was left with 4dn for a sub 10 finish, then stalled for more than 2 minutes before realising that a hastily biffed IMMORAL had no relevance to the clue, giving a rogue I in a crucial position. 12.31 when light dawned. Not hard, but I thought it a very neat puzzle, ideal for learning particularly with Jeremy’s walk through.
  5. I found this fairly chewy taking 9:19 to get over the line. I didn’t know the hedge definition of QUICKSET, but it was the only way to arrange the anagrist. FOI OMEN, LOI, PEERLESS. Thanks Teazel and Jeremy.
  6. Took me a while to get started, but picked up speed thereafter.

    DNK QUICKSET, but it was a straightforward parse.

    I didn’t see how MIDI worked until after completion, having tried in vain to find a six letter island whose middle letters were MIDI (AMIDIA anybody ? Maybe it’s opposite San Serriffe across the Dire Straits).

    FOI NIP
    LOI MIDI
    COD MUSICAL (cats are definitely NOT melodious !)
    TIME 4:48, slowest for some time, but still my 8th consecutive sub-five minute solve.

  7. 10 minutes – it took a while to get the NW corner, as I’d confidently entered ARMLESS at 8ac, so needed to erase it before I could get any downs there. Eventually the other checkers gave me enough to solve 1dn, and the rest followed.

    Edited at 2018-12-12 10:59 am (UTC)

  8. I got in a right muddle to begin with by biffing ‘armless’ at 8a. Patently obvious at the time but patently wrong when none of the first three down solutions would fit. Once I’d sorted that out the rest fell quickly into place in 5’15”.

    Fascinating blog by Jeremy. I think this type of stream-of-consciousness’ approach could prove invaluable to novices. It also made me think about my own solving method which is far more scattergun, flitting around the grid as solutions or sometimes part solutions come to mind.

    Thanks to Jeremy and Teazel.

    Edited at 2018-12-12 11:03 am (UTC)

  11. A DNF sob sob – it was going so fast that I had the scent in my nostrils of what would have been my second ever sub-Kevin, and so as seconds ticked by on the last man standing rahter than think I just bunged in TERL (hidden word) in 7dn. You know the terl, a cute little fluffy duck … or possibly a sub-Saharan relative of the gerbil … or maybe a species of Siberian deer. You know, terls. They’re a thing. Then I came on here … [insert sad face icon].

    And it wouldn’t have been sub-Kevin anyway. 7:11 but.

    Thanks to Teazel and Jeremy.

    Templar

    1. I don’t know if this is at all consolatory, but I toyed with TERL, even spent 2 or 3 seconds feeling chuffed at spotting a hidden clue so quickly. But cooler heads prevailed.
      And isn’t it time to replace the Kevin with the Phil or the Mike?

      Edited at 2018-12-12 11:56 am (UTC)

          1. Sorry Templar, I didn’t mean to offend. I know what it is like trying to beat the clock. I have yet to crack the 7 minutes barrier and suspect that if/when I do there will be a TERL moment. I enjoy your quips. Keep them coming.

            Janet

  12. I forgot to time this but seemed about ten minutes. Didn’t know QUICKSET, but it couldn’t be anything else.
    Thanks to Jeremy & Teazel.

    Adrian

  13. Similar to jackkt, my LOI was 2d SAMOAN after penultimate 1d QUICKSET but in a somewhat longer 11 mins. I picked up on the anagram indicator at 1d but spent a while trying to make an anagram out of just ‘tick Sue’. The Q made all the difference despite not knowing the definition. I did put in pools for 23a on first pass but corrected the direction when I solved 13d. The junction of CADDIES and MIDI also delayed me but after a PDM with CADDIES, MIDI was a write in. Thanks Teazel and Jeremy for the blog.
  14. Made things more difficult for myself by having GOLFERS for 24 at first and then putting MASH in under 22d instead of 21d. QUICKSET unknown, but it couldn’t be anything else, and I hesitated for ages over SEAL, my LOI, until I belatedly saw the sea. COD to the witty OMEN. 6:50.
  15. I found this on the tougher side. Took me some while to get going, but eventually built it from the bottom up. DNK QUICKSET (LOI) and took a while to realise what was the anagrist. Once I had spotted the ‘Q’ it all fell into place. FOI ADMIRAL. COD PEERLESS. The sort of wordplay I enjoy.
    PlayUpPompey
  16. Not really on the right wavelength but not sure why because that wonderful blog made it so obvious. Roll on tomorrow! Thank you to Teazel and Jeremy. L&I
  17. I found this quite tricky and I’m glad to see I wasn’t the only one who threw in a careless ARMLESS at 8a. At 20d I had a vague memory of something like a BOBKIN which seemed to fit the wordplay but made the hidden at 22a rather hard to spot. I also initially stuck GOLFER in 24a so I seemed to spend as much time deleting things as writing them in today. I eventually managed to untangle everything and completed it in 17.21, finishing with the unknown 1d and then 2d.
    Thanks for the fascinating blog Jeremy
  18. Timed myself for the first time today, taking 33 minutes. Not sure whether I’m fast enough to join the rest of the slow coach club yet, but definitely getting close. Enjoyed caddies and peerless, took a while to think of Samoan, and did not know quickset or midi with these meanings, but not too difficult to deduce. Thank you Teazel.
  19. Checked the dictionary and found ‘reparable’ to my surprise, but in my world it’s spelt repairable.
    Great blog though, really helpful.
    AK

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