Times Quick Cryptic No 1463 by Juno

Author   TheRotterPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I predict that some will have some difficulties with this offering from Juno.  For the second time this week this took me the wrong side of 20 minutes, 5 over my target, at least partly due to trying to parse the last down clue.  I think I have only blogged Juno once before, and I struggled a bit then as well.

There was plenty to enjoy here.  My COD candidates are 12 and 22 across, for their surfaces and misdirection respectively.  Thanks Juno, I look forward to our next encounter.

Note from jackkt added 07 December 2022. We all missed that this is a themed puzzle and the following capital cities are concealed in the grid: LISBON, LONDON, ROME, BERNE and BERLIN

Across

1.  Some strudel I saw in food shops (5)
DELIS – Hidden inside {stru}DEL I S{aw}.
4  Lay outside on new hat (6)
BONNET – BET (lay, as in lay a wager) outside ON and N{ew}.
9 One slip ruined Greek character (7)
EPSILON – Anagram (ruined) of [ONE SLIP].  EPSILON is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet.
10  Fellow otherwise from whom charity benefits? (5)
DONOR – DON (fellow, in more ways than one!) and OR (otherwise).
11 Card game for ladies or gents (3)
LOO – Double definition, the first a card game with forfeits, the second a public convenience or lavatory.
12 Man types out Acts of Settlement (8)
PAYMENTS – Anagram (out) of [MAN TYPES] – nice surface!
15 Instruments, etc, MP restores after damage (13)
SPECTROMETERS – Anagram (after damage) of [ETC, MP RESTORES].
17  Wine is something Highlander tosses to catch (8)
CABERNET – CABER (something a Highlander might toss) and NET (catch).
18  Articles about hotel leading to a surprised response (3)
AHA – The articles are both A, surrounding (about) H{otel} (phonetic alphabet).
20  Eight carat ring someone not from this world possesses (5)
OCTET – CT (carat) inside (possessed by) O (ring) and ET (extra-terrestrial – someone not from this world).
22  More than one top vehicle conks out (7)
CARDIES – CAR (vehicle) and DIES (conks out).  CARDIES is short for cardigans (plural), a kind of ‘top’ that I find myself wearing more often than before.
23  This composer’s shop associated with singing style? (6)
BARBER – An &Lit clue referring to Samuel Barber (US Composer) and to the Barber Shop singing style of cappella close harmony as exemplified by the Barber Shop Quartets most popular around the turn of the 20th century.
24  Material from track given name (5)
LINEN – LINE (track) and N{ame}.

Down

1.  One might have a second, outstanding, large register (8)
DUELLIST – DUE (outstanding) and L{arge} and LIST (register).
2  Rope, behold, used to catch donkey? (5)
LASSO – LO (behold) ‘catching’ (containing) ASS (donkey)
3  Explosive component to season: about to go past favourite (9)
SALTPETRE – SALT (to season) and RE (about) around (to go past) PET (favourite).  As everyone knows, SALTPETRE (potassium nitrate) is a key ingredient of gunpowder.  Hopefully, no budding terrorists ill have learnt anything from this blogging item.
5  Cockney’s to have aged (3)
OLD – {h}OLD.  To have is to hold, and any word starting with an aitch can be made cockney in Crosswordland by dropping the aitch.  Personally, I find it a bit tiresome and lazy, but that’s just my opinion.
6  Regret tenancy holding this girl up (7)
NANETTE – Reverse (up) hidden (holding) in {regr}ET TENAN{cy}.
7  Change one’s act? (4)
TURN – Double definition.
8  Nothing but Bond seen in this TV programme? (4,7)
ONLY CONNECT – ONLY (nothing but) and CONNECT (bond).  ONLY CONNECT is the thinking person’s quiz show on TV in the UK, and may not be familiar to our overseas solvers.
13 Voting to relocate local tree (9)
ELECTORAL –  Anagram (to relocate) of [LOCAL TREE].
14  Killer who has a cheek, interrupting crime (8)
ASSASSIN – SASS (cheek) inside (interrupting) A SIN (crime).
16  Demanding person’s coat, Rex out of order (7)
EXACTOR – Anagram (out of order) of [COAT, REX].
18 Like Flight of the Bumblebee?  A thing to play it on endlessly (5)
APIAN – A (a) PIAN{o} (thing to play it on, endlessly, i.e. drop the last letter).  APIAN is of or relating to bees.
19  Tease company doctor (4)
COMB – CO{mpany} and MB (doctor).
21  From out of one’s mouth, pull part of one’s foot (3)
TOE – Homophone (from out of one’s mouth), sounds like TOW (pull).  I struggled parsing this initially, which added to my time.  I suspect some will just biff it, but one can’t get away with that when blogging!

43 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1463 by Juno”

  1. Yes, I struggled to finish this one and needed 17 minutes to do so. I was okay with most of it but the SW corner nearly did for me, not helped by writing in TOW instead of TOE as the homophone although the clue had left no room for doubt as to which way round it worked.

    OCTET and BARBER took their time coming to mind. For ages I could only think of Bartok as the composer yet he was clearly not going to be the right answer.

  2. Never heard of CARDIES, never heard of the quiz show, although of course the phrase is familiar from “Howard’s End”, and finally decided the hell with it.
    1. But, you did spot the crafty second hidden? I seem to recall from posts passim this is your usual bête noir? Anyway, it did for me and I had to ‘resort to aids’ – ie check this blog.
      – Rupert

      Ps Very nice blog and puzzle. And nowt wrong with cardies Rotter (wearing them I mean, not the clue).

      1. Spotted it, for all the good it did me. I haven’t worn a cardigan in decades; but then it’s never cold enough here for a long-sleeved sweater of any sort.
  3. Too difficult, not on wavelength, or both – I gave up after 30 minutes with some answers round the outside but a blank centre. A few more checkers may have helped, but with anagrams like SPECTROMETERS and EXACTOR, and synonyms like ‘sass’ for ‘cheek’ I was never going to finish.
    Thanks to therotter for the blog and for adding a few more words to my crosswordlandic vocabulary.

    Brian

  4. Found this tough too. COD to 12ac for took a while to crack but I thought 18d was equally nice. I didn’t like the definition in 22ac for CARDIES and didn’t know the TV programme so that took most of the last few minutes to see. I expect there will be some complaints that this was too hard but a stretch is good they say… 15.21

    NeilC

  5. Didn’t enjoy this very much and I was a long, long way of Juno’s wavelength but persistence won out in the end and I finished in 21.18. NHO the card game or the quiz show and needed all the checkers to feel confident of the answer.
    I was very confused by LOI APIAN – is this an example of the definition being in the middle of the clue or does the definition refer to the way a bee flies as being APIAN? Or am I just being a bit dim/overcomplicating things?
    Thanks for the blog
    1. Anything concerning bees might be described as APIAN, like the flight of the bumblebee. ‘Like’ is included in the definition here because it’s indicating the definition is by example.

      Edited at 2019-10-17 08:39 am (UTC)

        1. Hmm
          “Like” is included because the answer is an adjective. It’s the question mark that indicates that it is an example.
  6. Well this is proving a tough week for the QC and I am just glad I finished today. I guessed ONLY CONNECT and even though I live most of the year in the UK I have never heard of it. I also biffed BARBER as the singing style and TOE was parsed after submitting. PAYMENTS and APIAN proved tricky but at least I could parse them. My LOI was DUELLIST and I still don’t understand the clue. 17:59

    DUELLIST
    Rotter, does the second refer to the opponent in the duel?

    Edited at 2019-10-17 08:02 am (UTC)

    1. Any duellist worth his salt will have a Second, an assistant or aide who will ensure that things are done by the book, and assist with injuries etc sustained in the duel.
  7. In a duel, each combatant would appoint his own “second”. The seconds would deal with the practical arrangements (choose and lay out the ground, check that the weapons were equally matched and so on). Often they would also act as mediators trying to call it off!
  9. ….ONLY CONNECT on the iPlayer within the last hour, it was a write-in for me. However, I totally sympathise with non-UK solvers who have never heard of it. Those of you who can watch it but haven’t, do give it a try ! It airs on BBC2 at 8pm on Mondays. Victoria Coren-Mitchell can be a little tiresome, but the quiz itself is very different, and requires much lateral thinking.

    I was heading for a clean sweep before my eventual LOI held me up briefly. Thanks Rotter for explaining OCTET, which I just couldn’t parse – it was the ring what did for me !

    Just within target – tricky and enjoyable, but many will have struggled, and I’m sure some protests will be voiced as the day progresses.

    FOI DELIS
    LOI CARDIES
    COD TOE (I’m a life member of the Foot in Mouth Club)

  10. I found this tough and struggled in the SW, eventually seeing BARBER as opposed to BARTOK, and then seeing OCTET. TOE went in unparsed as LOI. Topical Tim who comments on TftT 15×15, has appeared in ONLY CONNECT, so that wasn’t too difficult for me to get. I thought of NANETTE, but took it out as I didn’t spot the hidden until much later. ASSASSIN took ages to see too. 17:43. Thanks Juno and Rotter.
  12. Another tough puzzle; got there in 18:51 which reading above puts me in touching distance of exalted solvers and so goes down as a Decent Enough Day (misery loves company). Lots of elaborate cluing, some more successful than others (BONNET very good; OCTET particularly clunky I thought). NHO SPECTROMETERS or ONLY CONNECT.

    On the working of ASSASSIN. The blog says “SASS (cheek) inside (interrupting) A SIN (crime)” but the clue has the “a” in a different place – it doesn’t say ” cheek interrupting a crime”, it says “has a cheek, interrupting crime”. So the only way I could parse it was as “has a” = A, followed by S-SASS-IN for “cheek, interrupting crime”. I’m sure I’m over-thinking this but I feel better for having picked my nit!

    FOI DELIS, LOI NANETTE, COD TOE (very clever)

    Thanks Juno and Rotter.

    Templar

    Edited at 2019-10-17 09:40 am (UTC)

    1. Killer who has A cheek interrupting crime.

      A, then sass in sin.

      So it works as you parsed it.

      Edited at 2019-10-17 10:42 am (UTC)

  13. One of my hobbies is submitting questions for Only Connect (they use on average roughly three or four of mine a series), and I am currently busy referencing the next batch for submission.

    No lie – I spent a full minute wondering what seven letter word could possibly follow “Only” in order to make a television programme.

    I leave you to imagine the shade of red my face went when the penny dropped!

  14. I was doing well on this -no problems with Only Connect and even parsed Apian -but for the third day in a row I came to a grinding halt with the finishing line in sight. I noted 28 minutes on the clock when I stopped to have breakfast and then take the dog out before the predicted rain (still waiting for it).
    I had already spent about 10 minutes on 1d and 22a before I returned to the puzzle. DUELLIST occurred to me quickly having already identified LIST but VMLOI (very much last one in) was CARDIES. CAR was the first thing that had occurred to me but I was fooled for too long by Top; tried to fit in AI or maybe a first letter; could not see the definition, hence total confusion.
    Got there all correct in the end. OCTET unparsed. Some tough stuff again.
    David
    PS raining now.

    Edited at 2019-10-17 10:29 am (UTC)

  15. Another toughie, 20 mins.

    Dnk only connect or saltpetre.

    Biffed toe and octet.

    Barber is not an &lit, more a double definition.

    Liked apian, cardies, and bonnet.

  16. I’ve never seen (or heard of) the show, but the title is surely based on E.M. Forster’s novel, “Howard’s End”; and all of you who reported not knowing the phrase, read the novel! I have spoken.
    1. Of course I knew the phrase from “Howards End” – I’ve been connecting the prose and the passion for years – but I don’t see how that knowledge could lead me to the title of a TV show. Nicky
  17. So far this week has been pretty miserable for those of us new to the QC. It would be nice to get at least one puzzle a week that was newbie friendly. Gave up after 30 minutes.
  18. I have done both the QC and 15×15 today and broadly could not tell the difference in difficulty between them. I took 9 and 25 minutes respectively. Enjoyed both.
    1. I could definitely tell the difference … struggled to complete a third of the 15×15 today!
  19. Happy to finish, and enjoyed it as a steady progression down the grid, but thanks for clarifying why toe and octet work. Will have to remember “ct” for carat.
    Plymouthian
  20. A slog but made it in the end. Didn’t parse TOE but after 25 mins the rest had yielded to persistence. ONLY CONNECT was LOI but revealed itself once APIAN and CARDIES (my COD) finally clicked. Appreciated the challenge.
  21. I got there in the end, but what a struggle. Never heard of ONLY CONNECT, but the cluing was fair enough. The long anagram came easily enough once I realised that ‘instruments’ were probably some sort of ‘meter’. Enjoyed 12ac, the capitals were a lovely misdirection for a while. Never did parse TOE, but an easy biff.
    PlayUpPompey
  22. Well, I found the 15×15 easier than this QC and that’s the first time I’ve ever said that!
  23. My first dnf in 1463 QCs. Tough day and I came to it in the early evening but too many oddities for a QC. I did it all and biffed TOE but failed to parse it – this is still is a poor clue to me hence a technical dnf. Disappointing. Not a good day. Maybe Juno is a bit too spaced out for me…….John M.

    Edited at 2019-10-17 06:18 pm (UTC)

  24. Once again the insidious creep of American English sullies the crossword. This is not the New York Times. Nicky
    1. I’m sorry to disagree! The inclusion of American English does not, IMHO, sully the crossword, rather it enriches it. The English language has always been open to admitting other ideas – think of the plethora of Indian, French, Australian, German, and other influences. If France had been more open and less protective in the past, it might be French that became the world’s most used language (after Chinese) rather than English.

      Sorry I’m not signed in,

      therotter

      1. Well said, Rotter. I’m assuming Nicky was referring to SASS which with that meaning dates from the mid-19th century according to SOED, so it has been around for a long time.

        Re ONLY CONNECT, pedants may care to note that the Forster title is ‘Howards End’ – no apostrophe – which I think only one of our correspondents has quoted correctly.

  25. I’m afraid I got about halfway through this one and gave up. I chose reveal on my phone but, even then couldn’t see how some were parsed.
    I can normally finish a QC, even if it means deploying various aids. That way, at least I can then see how a clue was constructed. This one was so obscure that I couldn’t even do that.

    A tough week, here’s hoping for a bit of encouragement tomorrow….

  26. Popped onto the Times site to do the QC while I waited for a download and ended up nearly not finishing my third puzzle of the day, after being defeated by both the Times and Guardian 15x15s…

    Happily I finally thought of CONNECT as a word that fitted in 8d and was slightly surprised to see no errors when I submitted. I didn’t know the TV show at all (or Howard’s End, come to that…) Four seconds under 15 minutes, and at least I managed to get one puzzle success today!

    Edited at 2019-10-17 09:02 pm (UTC)

  27. Sitting in Tesco I solved all but six within 10 minutes. Some of the others I would not have got in a millions years especially Nanette and carries. Personally I don’t mind not finishing the crossword. I felt it was very good.
  28. Not been an easy week and I found this the most difficult so far with a DNF. Let’s hope tomorrow’s gives back some incentive to us less capable, but trying to improve, solvers.
  29. Took well over three hours spread over two days.
    Felt more like a 15×15
    Biffed quite a few – thank you for the blog!
    Sass, very convoluted parsing of octet, never heard of Only Connect or Exactor, cardies? (are you allowed baby talk?)
    Good job I’m retired – not exactly “quick” for me…!
    Nick
  30. Didn’t finish this one after a week of inappropriately difficult puzzles. Very disheartening for those of us who are new to cryptic crosswords. Just my opinion.

Comments are closed.