Times Quick Cryptic No 1443 by Mara

Author   TheRotterPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
No bear traps here, but for some reason I was two minutes outside my target at 17m.  It was probably my LOI 9a that was primarily at fault, and maybe some of you suffered similarly.  The print on my copy was smudged and I kept reading old bowler rather than bovine, and I got fixated on O{ld} HAT (bowler) knocked over (reversed), and wondered if TAHO was a word I should know, meaning ‘game over’, before the penny dropped.

Thanks Mara for what should have been an easy puzzle.

Across
1  Barrier and enclosure wet (6)
DAMPEN – DAM (barrier) and PEN (enclosure).
5  Container of wine a waiter finally found in small restaurant (6)
CARAFE – A (a) and R ({waite}R finally) found inside CAFÉ (small restaurant).  It was probably too many of these (carafes of wine) at my weekend reunion that are to blame for my slower than usual QC solves this week!
8 Flyer, puffed up thing full of boastful talk? (3-3,7)
HOT-AIR BALLOON – A cryptic clue for the flying vehicle, the BALLOON being a puffed up thing, and HOT-AIR being boastful talk.
9  Old bovine knocked over, end of contest (4)
KAYO – My last one in – O{ld} and YAK (a bovine animal) all reversed (knocked over). Kayo or KO is defined in my Chambers as a ‘knock-out’, which would certainly end a boxing contest!
10 Sender of goods abroad, old beer (8)
EXPORTER – EX (old) and PORTER (a type of beer).
11 Queen carried by wings of great bird (6)
GANNET – The Queen refers to ANNE, who is carried (contained in) G{rea}T (wings of, meaning outside letters).
13 Slippery stuff country reported? (6)
GREASE – Sounds like (reported) Greece – the country.
15  Fellow player met me at a gathering (4-4)
TEAM-MATE – Anagram (gathering) of [MET ME AT A].
17  Smack friends the wrong way (4)
SLAP – PALS (friends) reversed (the wrong way).
19  Daft timing, she cooked a very late meal (8,5)
MIDNIGHT FEAST – An anagram (cooked) of [DAFT TIMING, SHE].
21  Ruined, that girl taken in by father (6)
DASHED – SHE (that girl) inside (taken in by) DAD (father).
22  Boat loaded with most of new basket (6)
PUNNET – PUNT is the boat, inside which is inserted (loaded) NE{w} (most of new).  A PUNNET is a small shallow basket for fruit such as strawberries.

Down
2  Fragrance in a capital city for Italians (5)
AROMA – A (a) and ROMA (what the Italians call what we call Rome).
3  Military unit also into strategy (7)
PLATOON – TOO (also) into / inside PLAN (strategy).  PLATOON originates from the French Peloton (ball or knot of men) which is most often heard these days when referring to the chasing pack of riders trying to catch the breakaway leaders in the Tour de France.
4 Negative word embraced by politician, ordinarily (3)
NOR – Hidden word in {politician}N, OR{dinarily}.
5  Bubbly hypochondriac’s audible complaint? (9)
CHAMPAGNE – sounds like (audible) sham pain, which may be just what a hypochondriac complains about
6  Person reigning over you all, the leader by all conclusions (5)
RULER – Final letters (by all conclusions) of {ove}R {yo}U {al}L, {th}E {leade}R.
7  Fine drops – spray has those (7)
FLOWERS – F{ine} and LOWERS (drops).  The definition refers to a spray of flowers.
10 Separated garden set to be redeveloped (9)
ESTRANGED –  Anagram (to be redeveloped) of [GARDEN SET].
12  Country girl seen after mother gets up (7)
AMERICA – MA (mother) reversed (gets up) and ERICA (girl).
14  Nearest winds coming from one direction (7)
EASTERN – Anagram (winds) of [NEAREST].
16  Day: the short period of time (5)
MONTH – MON{day} and TH{e} (short).
18  Channel in Australia is legendary (5)
AISLE – Hidden answer in {australi}A IS LE{gendary}.  I’m trying to resist a comment about the fifth test here!
20  Best garment (3)
TOP – Double definition.

25 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1443 by Mara”

  1. Slowed down mainly by PUNNET, which I’d never heard of; it seemed inevitable, but I took some time to think of possible alternatives. 6:58.
  2. I finished all but 9ac in 11 minutes and then started an alphabet trawl on ?A?O. Along the way I considered KAYO based on wordplay (old bovine knocked over) but then failed to recognise it as any sort of word, let alone one that might fit ‘end of contest’ as definition. At 19 minutes I gave up and resorted to aids and this time when offered KAYO as a legitimate word I realised it fitted as an alternative to K.O.in boxing. Rather annoyed that having had the right answer within my sights, I still have to put this QC down as a technical DNF. Even more annoyed to discover that KAYO has appeared 3 times in 15x15s in recent years, the latest occasion being exactly one year ago today in a puzzle blogged by me. It was clued then as ‘A decisive blow, all right with round moving to its end’.

    Another distraction was considering PANIER as the basket at 22ac which fitted checkers and possibly definition but not the wordplay. I say ‘possibly definition’ because I couldn’t remember whether it is spelt with one N or two – the answer being ‘N’ in French but ‘NN’ in English for some reason, even though it is a word of French origin based on ‘pain’ meaning ‘bread’. I’d no problem with PUNNET once I’d thought of it as that was how one bought strawberries and other soft fruits in my childhood – little containers woven from some sort of natural material, so much more attractive and eco friendly than the plastic ones of today that make the fruit sweat and go mushy or even mouldy long before its sell-by date.

    I’m having trouble seeing ‘aisle’ for ‘channel’ which seems to involve a rather dubious three-point turn via ‘passage’.

    Edited at 2019-09-19 04:59 am (UTC)

  3. 13 mins with obligatory typo (garnet).

    Last few were team mate, month, dashed, dampen and Loi kayo which needed an alphabet trawl.

    CsOD flowers and champagne.
    thanks

  4. Like jackkt I very nearly biffed PANIER for the basket but I’ve learnt over the years that if I can’t make sense of the wordplay it’s time for a rethink. I also had to trust the wordplay with KAYO. Other than that there was nothing too tricky and I finished this in 8.14 with my COD going to CHAMPAGNE.
    Thanks for the blog
  6. Was on for a PB until 9ac held me up. Nearly went with MARO but got there in the end. 6.40

    NeilC

  7. Oneacrossphobia struck again for me, with DAMPEN very much my LOI and requiring a trawl. I think I need to adopt a new practice of ignoring 1ac until I’m in the flow!

    9ac held me up a bit – but not much, because as a boy I devoured my father’s stock of schoolboy stories from the 1920s/30s when boxing was very much encouraged in schools, so KAYO was still floating around somewhere in the back of my head. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it anywhere else, though Google tells me that there’s now an Australian TV channel called “Kayo Sports”. Otherwise a fairly steady solve, though I spent a while trying to make “egret” into 6 letters. All done and parsed in 2 Kevins for a Good Day.

    COD CHAMPAGNE, which I’m assuming is a chestnut for the old hands but I’d never come across it before and it made me chuckle.

    Thanks Mara and Rotter.

    Templar

    1. It occurred to me at the time, but I forgot to say, that a hypochondriac’s pain isn’t sham; he’s not a malingerer.
  8. ….”panier” but revisited it at the end, and saw the light. I’m now fixated on having some strawberries.

    Quite tough for Mara, and I overshot my target.

    FOI HOT-AIR BALLOON (we used to refer to our two managers at Siebe Gorman Holdings as the Montgolfier Brothers
    LOI PUNNET
    COD KAYO (same territory as emcee and deejay, I blame the Yanks)
    TIME 5:40

  9. A nice QC from Mara with a sting in the tail – KAYO. My CsOD were GANNET, AROMA, CHAMPAGNE, and FLOWERS. Under 2.5K but it would have been much quicker without 9a. Thanks to both. John M.
  10. Mostly quite straightforward today, but was held up by hot-air balloon, flowers and, LOI, punnet. I’d never seen K.O. written as kayo before, but I’d had yak in mind for the bovine so it seemed to make sense. I’d even thought that “Old bovine knocked over alright” would be a good clue to the word okay. Even better perhaps if it was an old cow. Anyway, 33:49 in total. COD to gannet.
  11. I was held up by my LOI MIDNIGHT FEAST by having CAP at 20d. I eventually saw MIDNIGHT and revised it to TOP. DAMPEN was FOI. KAYO didn’t hold me up as we’ve seen it a few times in the 15×15.I considered PANNIER but it was too long and PUNNET came quickly. 9:46. Thanks Mara and Rotter.
  12. I’ve always had trouble remembering which of bovine and ovine either moo or baa. Therefore wasted much time on my LOI, fruitlessly trying to find the relevant sheep synonym. Otherwise all plain sailing.
    My thanks as always to setter and blogger.
    5’25”
      1. How does that help?
        Could be The cow is of the ovine ilk;
        One end moo, the other milk.

        I just remember that bovine is bigger than ovine and cows are bigger.

  13. KAYO is a word? Don’t believe it – dictionary or not. Otherwise I enjoyed this especially CHAMPAGNE.
    PlayUpPompey
  14. Nice and quick for us until KO’d by 9a, when we only thought of ox as the bovine, so ended up with PAXO, which knocked the stuffing out of us.
  15. I’ve never seen Kayo in this form but sure enough it was in Chambers. I got all of these but I found myself unsure whether to congratulate myself or doubt my sanity 🙂
  16. Surprised myself by finishing everything, bar 9ac, in just over 16mins. I then spent a good five minutes thinking how Ox or even a T could fit in a four letter word where I already had the A and the O. Two alphabet trawls later, I eventually spotted Kayo with a groan – very sneaky for a QC. Missed out on a sub-20 Mara, so more than a tad disappointed, but there you go. Invariant
  17. Have been out all day golfing. 12:06 for this on my return. Last two were KAYO ( hard I thought) and FLOWERS. David
  18. All in bar 9a in 11 minutes before looking up synonyms for bovine to get Yak. So 13 mins but aids with LOI. This followed a PB of 11 minutes for yesterday – late evening in silence and all slotted home, no aids.
    Thanks all
    John George
  19. Phil Jordan
    Interesting your comment. You should read today’s obit on Sir Michael Edwardes who was known as Elsie or LC or…….
    Thx to all. Johnny

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