Times Quick Cryptic No 129 by Flamande

Author   macavity123Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Solving time: Fairly straightforward

Hello everyone

We have a puzzle by Flamande today who certainly knows how to set for the target market. This is quite an accessible puzzle, which didn’t cause too many problems other than the misprinted indication at 8 across. The answer should be (6,2,5) and is a fairly obvious answer, so hopefully you weren’t too held up by the slip.

Thanks to today’s setter and see you next Thursday.

Across
1 TEST – We start today with a hidden answer. The definition is EXAM and ithe solution is hidden (shown by welcomed) in ASTUTE STUDENTS.
3 COSSACK – Definition is Russian soldier. This is a wordsum-type clue. CO’S (officer’s) + SACK (to rifle).
8 PIECES OF EIGHT – In my copy this is incorrectly shown as (5, 2, 6), but it should be (6, 2, 5). The definition here is money, once, i.e. an old name for money. How you might say some musical pieces played by the number of people in an octet.
9 TIE – Sports fixture = definition. The first letters (at first) of That Isn’t and Easy.
10 AMISH – One of those clues where you probably got the definition, but then had to go back and work out why it works like this. American sect member is the definition. AM (one) + IS (‘s) + H (hard). Slightly tricky this one, really.
12 RETSINA – Wine = definition. An anagram (spilling) of IN TEARS.
14 SPARROW – Here the definition is cryptic, i.e. a flighty type = a bird. Two words that mean argument or fight are side-by-side (one.. after another).
16 RONDO – Music is the definition. R (last letter of trumpeter) + ON (performing) + DO (PARTY).
17 ART – Painting is the definition. Regularly in a clue usually means take the alternate letters of the word, and so it is here. Take the alternate letters of GARRET to give the name for painting.
20 HALL OF MIRRORS – This is an all-in-one clue where the whole things cryptically describes the answer. So you are looking for a place where you may see distorted images of oneself.
21 WHAT FOR – this was my Last One In today, and I sort of felt a little uncomfrtable with it, probably because of the “Her’s”. You are looking for two definitions. Here’s punishment, as in “I’ll give you __ __” and a two word way of saying why.
22 READ – Think I have seen this clue several times in the course of my quickie solving! A word meaning to study (as in University sujects) is the same as one that means to be prepared, minus its last letter (not quite).

Down
1 TOP BRASS – The definition here is ‘high-ranking officers”. POT (container, lifted, i.e. reversed) + a slang word for money.
2 SEED – A better tennis player is the definition.SEE (notice) + D (daughter).
3 CLOVER – Leafy plant is the definition. COVER (top) with L (large) inside [shown by protected].
4 STEAK TARTARE – Raw meat concoction is your definition here. TAR + TAR (Two sailors) inside a homophone spelling of STAKE (bar, say)
5 ALGERIAN – North African is the definition. An anagram (gathering) of IN A LARGE.
6 KITE – Toy is the definition here. KIT (Parts needed to assemble) + E (English). When was the last time you saw someone fly a kite?
7 WEATHERPROOF – Unaffected by elements is your definition. An anagram (strangely) of POWER OF EARTH.
11 ISABELLA – Woman is the definition. ABEL (Adam’s boy from the Bible) inside IS + LA (the middle letters of GLAD).
13 AGONISED – Worried a lot is the definition here. An anagram (here shown by characters, not a normal anagram indicator as such, but saying “Take the characters of….) of SAN DIEGO.
15 WARMER – Less hostile is the definition. WAR (Fighting) + ME + R.
18 CHOW – Food is the definition. COW (beef producer) around H (hot).
19 POLE – The definition is European. A homophone (announced) of a word for an election.

11 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 129 by Flamande”

  1. Enjoyed this puzzle. My hard copy also has the wrong enumeration at 8a.

    Had quite a few problems in the bottom left corner after I put in ROOM OF MIRRORS but error corrected after I got CHOW. I liked 13d and thought “characters from” was an unusual but good anagram indicator. Favourite clue 3a.

  2. The facsimile paper has the same incorrect enumeration as the on-line puzzle at 8ac. I wasn’t sure about “stake/bar” but my thesaurus has it so I suppose it’s okay. It’s just that I think of a stake as being pointed at one end with a view to sticking it into something whereas a bar is designed for a different purpose. Also I’m not very keen on the lack of a proper anagrind in 13dn, unless ‘worried’ is doing double duty. If the Quickie is a learning ground (and that’s open to debate of course) then it might be better to stick to conventions. 9 minutes.

    Edited at 2014-09-04 07:52 am (UTC)

  3. I parsed this as IS (One’s) + H (hard) on AM (American) with the definition just being “sect member”.
  4. Aside from the enumeration slip in 8ac, I thought this was an excellent offering. Witty, challenging without being too hard, and no obscure vocabulary or references. Really enjoyed it.

    I also parsed AMISH in same way as Mohn2 above.

    Hard to pick a COD with so many contenders – COSSACK, POLE, SPARROW and SEED were all really good.

    Thanks to setter and blogger.

  5. The missprint is also on the online version, and has yet to be corrected. This did help to throw me off the scent. Could not get steak tartare.
  6. 5 mins. The enumeration error at 8ac put me off until I had all the checkers so it was my LOI after CLOVER. As others have said, an enjoyable puzzle, which is more than can be said for today’s main offering.
  7. 5 min to finish what if found to be a quite enjoyable puzzle. I must confess that I didn’t even spot the faulty enumeration in 8a, so can’t claim that it put me off at all. Some well constructed clues with quite smooth surfaces, I thought.
  8. Very entertaining – the more so as I had the pleasure of witnessing today’s Times being printed at Broxbourne overnight. 8 and 20 ac both beautifully crafted.

    Fascinating blog – answers can jump out immediately for some, for others they are LOI. How differently minds work . . . is this quantum physics?

    Philip

  9. What a pleasant relief this was after struggling without success to finish the big one. I particularly liked SPARROW. 12 minutes with a cuppa in my sunny garden with sparrows and tits drinking from my little pond. Lovely.
  10. A gentle puzzle with quite a few going in without parsing. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I didn’t notice the incorrect enumeration at 8ac. The answer seemed rather obvious and I just put in without checking….
  11. A pleasure to try this one – foxed by 16a 11d and 19d caused some frustration but thx to everyone in the blog for explaining

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