Times Quick Cryptic No 1478 by Orpheus

Author   rolytolyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Tough enough from Orpheus today – I found this on a par with Tuesday’s, which I did just before, each taking close to 12 minutes. I managed six of the acrosses on a first read through (1,8,10,14,16,17), but one of those (8ac) was sufficiently un-8ac to be wrong. There was a bit of tricky-ish vocab, some of which I might have had to give more thought to had their undefined husks not lodged somewhere in the mind from crosswords past. Not an entry-level QC, despite a couple of generous, long anagrams – but hey, staring blankly at cryptic crosswords makes the non-staring blankly bits all the more fun, eh? Very nice puzzle, many thanks to Orpheus!

Across
1 Disturbing a French kid he produces a nose rag (12)
HANDKERCHIEF – anagram (disturbing) of A FRENCH KID HE
8 Secure area of the sea (5)
SOUND – double definition. I entered SHORE fairly confidently, despite both definitions needing something of a squint.
9 Buccaneer’s reportedly indelicate manner (7)
CORSAIR – CORS (reportedly indelicate = sounds like COARSE) AIR (manner)
10 Stories appearing in American anthologies (3)
ANA – “appearing” in the letters of americAN Anthologies. Stories or anecdotes about people or places of note, as in Shakespeariana. But is it Ghanana or Ghana-ana? And if you had lots of pineapple anecdotes, would that be ananana? Questions questions. Anyway, much like “ism”, it can be used in its own right.
11 Beg to get church involved in ballet movement (9)
ENTRECHAT – ENTREAT (beg) to get CH(urch) involved. So not pirouette then. It’s appeared a few times but not in a QC as far as I can see. If I’d seen the word without context I’d probably have guessed it was a cut of meat (hopefully not of cat).
13 High-ranking Asian woman say taken in by tramp (5)
BEGUM – E.G. (for example = say) taken in by BUM (tramp). Not sure what I’d have guessed a begum is… an animal perhaps, which I suppose isn’t technically incorrect.
14 Hard man with practical skills (5)
HANDY – H(ard) ANDY (man)
16 Stupid British artist getting out more? (9)
BRAINLESS – B(ritish) R.A. (artist), and if you are “IN LESS”, you are presumably getting out more.
17 Churchyard tree the solver talked of (3)
YEW – sounds like YOU (the solver). The yew is regarded as symbolic of sadness.
19 Austere knight leaves climb in Cairngorms, primarily (7)
ASCETIC – N (knight in chess) leaves ASCENT (climb), I C (In Cairngorms, “primarily”)
21 Single chap from east embracing old woman (5)
NAOMI – I (single) MAN (chap) “from east” = reverse, embracing O(ld)
22 Seedy soldiers kept in subject to argument (12)
DISREPUTABLE – RE (Royal Engineers = soldiers) kept in DISPUTABLE (subject to argument). I was a while on this, thinking the definition was “argument.”

Down
1 Book house overlooking ocean (5)
HOSEA – HO(use) overlooking/above SEA (ocean)
2 Rule again, suffering spasmodic pain (9)
NEURALGIA – anagram (suffering) of RULE AGAIN
3 Person teasing cleric, one leaving Worcs town (13)
KIDDERMINSTER – KIDDER (person teasing) MINISTER (cleric), with I (one) leaving
4 Deliver poem perhaps about spectacle mentioned in speech (6)
RECITE – RE (about), CITE which in speech sounds like SIGHT (spectacle)
5 Her sons cut the damaged tree (5,8)
HORSE CHESTNUT – anagram (damaged) of HER SONS CUT THE
6 One reigning over a long period (3)
ERA – ER (the Queen = one reigning) over A
7 As well-placed models presumably are when sitting? (6)
PRETTY – cryptic definition: sitting pretty = well placed, and models are presumably pretty things.
12 Fellow doctor supports beloved, a source of sweetness (9)
HONEYCOMB – CO (fellow) MB (doctor) supports/sits below HONEY (beloved)
13 Sort of lynx bishop caught in seagoing vessel (6)
BOBCAT – B(ishop) C(aught) inside BOAT (seagoing vessel)
15 Military policeman in preferred capacity (6)
REDCAP – “in” the letters of preferRED CAPacity
18 Grumble when husband gets in hock, perhaps (5)
WHINE – H(usband) goes in WINE (hock, perhaps)
20 Endlessly stylish Greek character (3)
CHI – CHIC (stylish), endlessly = dock the tail.

42 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1478 by Orpheus”

  1. I would describe this one as ‘difficult and obscure’, leading to a DNF after 30 minutes with REDCAP and ASCETIC still to go. I should really have got the lurking soldier but I DKN that meaning of ASCETIC.
    Rolytoly, I’m not sure you have the right definition of ANA, the online definition anecdotes or literary gossip about a person., with something similar in Chambers seems closer, but even more obscure.
    Thanks for the blog, I needed it today.

    Brian

    1. Yes sorry that wasn’t very clear: -ANA was originally a suffix meaning stories or anecdotes about people or places of note, as in Shakespeariana. In the C18 it came to be used as an independent word in its own right, as in a 1739 quote in the OED, “They were pleased to publish certain Tunbrigiana this season; but such ana!”

      This seems to have followed a similar development to the suffix -ISM, which became an independent word in C17, as in a nice 1680 quote in the OED, “He was the great Hieroglyphick of Jesuitism, Puritanism, Quaquerism, and of all Isms from Schism.”

  2. Biffed a bunch, like HANDKERCHIEF and REDCAP, inter alia. On ANA, bripriuk has a point: ODE at least distinguishes between -ANA the suffix, which is where Roly’s examples fit in, and ANA the word, meaning what bripriuk says. 5:49.
  3. 8 minutes, so right up my street, but I was aware whilst solving that some of the clues would be difficult for those with less experience of cryptic puzzles. After yesterday’s possibly record-breaking 9 anagrams, today we have only 3 (and all of them pure), which made a welcome change.
  4. One of those flukey days when the guesses fall right. DNK HOSEA, ANA, ASCETIC or BEGUM. LOI was sound – I’d been too keen to get my U into NEURALGIA and that left me very close to having to bung in SPEED. First breakfast solve since my morning routine was ruined by my new job, I’ve certainly got rusty, this week seems to have been hard. Finished in 17m but felt a good deal longer.
  5. Lots of interruptions but 15-20 mins.

    Last few were stubborn:
    Entrechat (dnk), red cap (sneakily hidden), ascetic, corsair, and LOI pretty.

    15×15 is worth a look today. Similar feel to the style of today’s quickie so maybe set by Orpheus.

    Cod red cap or whine.

  6. This felt like quite a grown-up challenge and there were lots of words which I have learnt from crosswords -like ANA- which newbies will struggle with.
    My grid was pretty blank for 5/6 minutes but once I had some letters it all came together.
    Time was 14:07. LOI was YEW ( I’d thought the definition was Churchyard). BEGUM and REDCAP and the ballet step all quite obscure but clear clueing. A good puzzle.
    David
  7. Two sittings to do this, so something >30 mins. Biffed ASCETIC, thanks rolytoly for parsing that. I knew that word, and HOSEA, BEGUM and ENTRECHAT but not ANA. Is that one of those words only seen in crosswords? Have you an abbreviation for Only Seen In Crosswords?
    Took a long time to see SOUND, one of those words like main that I should be on guard for in crosswordland when sea is mentioned.
    1. You’ve got a point about ANA having become a crossword-only word, but it was once a very popular word – Collins has a good “Trends” feature near the bottom of its definitions that shows the usage frequency of a word over the years: Ana started life with a bang in the early C18, made a brief recovery in the mid-C19, and has been in gradual retirement into obscurity ever since.

      https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ana_1

    2. ..and in a nice bit of crosswordian synchronicity, KIDDERMINSTER is where Tom Watson comes from.
      1. The best thing to come out of Kidderminster is surely the idyllic Severn Valley Railway as it winds its way north to Bridgenorth.

        No problems with this one but, as mentioned elsewhere, I was conscious as I solved that there was a significant level of difficulty on display. Particularly liked BRAINLESS and thank you Roly et al for explaining ANA which went in on trust.

        4’15”

  8. This was one of those puzzles where I had to really trust the wordplay as a number of the answers were new to me. I nearly made a complete hash of things by putting ENTREACHT (figured it might be a German(ish) word) in at 11a with CANDYCOMB coming off it, but I couldn’t make 12d parse so revisited it. Finished in 11.57 with LOI BOBCAT.
    Thanks for the blog
  9. Nice puzzle but it was a challenge in parts, once the write-ins had been entered. I found the longer answers and anagrams easy today (nice to find 1ac such a gift). I soon found I had to jump all over the grid looking for answers. I liked BRAINLESS, ACETIC, CORSAIR, ENTRECHAT and I found REDCAP to be well hidden. I only biffed my LOI ANA having got the two crossers. A little over 3K today after the false confidence of an easy start. Thanks to Orpheus and Roly for parsing a couple of biffs for me. John M.

    Edited at 2019-11-07 09:41 am (UTC)

  10. A straightforward solve for me with HANDKERCHIEF first in and only BOBCAT, LOI, having to be dragged screaming from the depths. 7:37. Thanks Orpheus and Roly.
  11. ….you should always keep your HANDKERCHIEF HANDY.

    The REDCAPS were a Walsall band who signed for Decca in the early 60’s. They never made it big, but their first single was a cover of the Isley Brothers “Shout”, which Lulu would have a hit with about a year later.

    I had to resist a faint urge to enter “squid” at 8A for reasons that I simply can’t explain, otherwise a straightforward solve.

    FOI HANDKERCHIEF
    LOI SOUND
    COD BRAINLESS

  12. As one of the slower solvers, I sometimes struggle with puzzles that everyone else finds easy, but today’s was almost a straight write-in for me, with only a couple of DNKs – Hosea, Ana – and these clear from the wordplay. A rare feeling to be on the same wavelength as the setter. Thanks Orpheus and rolytoly.
    1. Similar feelings here. We finished over bread-and-cheese lunch though ana was a guess.
  13. Similar to John (dun) my FOI was HANDKERCHIEF and my LOI BOBCAT. I must have been doing cryptics for a while now because there were some words I remember from previous crosswords e.g. ENTRECHAT, REDCAP and BEGUM which in the past would have been DNKs. I wrote in the long ones KIDDERMINSTER, HORSE CHESTNUT and HONEYCOMB, parsing after submitting, which helped me secure a within target time of 9:28. NHO of ANA so that was a guess and another word to add to the QC digest.

    Edited at 2019-11-07 10:12 am (UTC)

  14. 8 minutes with the last spent on bobcat – boat now seems so obvious but I only got it by realising late that caught was a ‘C’ after bishop rather than a ‘holding instruction’. Good satisfying puzzle – well, except ANA which went in with a shrug.

    Edited at 2019-11-07 10:46 am (UTC)

  15. Another tough one for me, as they all seem to be lately. Stopped my watch on 59:44 but it was actually a DNF as I had put in ‘bigum’ instead of ‘begum’ never having heard of the real answer and thinking that a bigum might be a high ranking Asian and that an ig might just be some obscure reference to a woman (as well as the Eskimo’s house without a loo of course, which is probably an unPC joke on various levels nowadays). In retrospect, clearly I should have seen that ‘say’ indicated ‘eg’, but when you’re down to your last clue and the clock is ticking, your mind can justify the most ridiculous things sometimes. At least, mine can. Anyway, other sticking points were ana, entrechat and ascetic, and I was also held up by putting eon in instead of era, until I finally dredged up corsair which I remembered from a previous QC. I think redcap has come up previously too, and although I had forgotten it, Daffy Duck came to my rescue as he says in one of my favourite cartoons, “Ah, redcap, call me a cab boy and be quick about it, I’m a heavy dipper.” I’d always assumed a redcap was some sort of porter, but I guess not. COD 18d.
  16. “Tough enough” sums it up well; only five of the acrosses fell at first pass and not many more downs. Fortunately they then came in a rush to finish on 2.2 Kevins for a Decent Day.

    I only knew ANA as a slang term for anorexia, so really to talk myself into writing that in, and if you’d asked me what an ENTRECHAT was I’d have said a cheap steak. Every day’s a school day on here.

    FOI HANDKERCHIEF; LOI & COD PRETTY.

    Thanks Orpheus and roly.

    Templar

  17. Disappointed with this one – too many obscure words and tricky parsing left me very dissatisfied. Also didn’t learn some new tricks from the, as ever,helpful blog as I doubt I would spot them again. Consign this one to the bin and have another go next week.
    Graham
  18. An enjoyable DNF. Why? Because I entered Eon for 6d on basis is was an anagram of One!! Doh. Thanksfor blog. Bill70
  19. I thought it would be a quick solve when I got 1ac and 3d, but after that I just couldn’t get going.

    I actually solved Monday’s Quick cryptic, when I said to my mother for all the crosswords I do, I get no nostalgia due to the no living persons rule, she sympathised.

    I would also like to add my opinion on the No Living Persons Rule

    I find the no living persons rule understandable in the main cryptic but unfair to younger solvers trying to get into the cryptics via the Times Quick Cryptic even though for example the Old Comedian in Mondays Quick Cryptic 1470 was clued fairly, sadly clues containing Old Actor or Old Comedian or other old part of popular culture as part of an answer where you have to know them to solve the clue is not. Despite this I still enjoy doing cryptic crosswords.

    Thank you setter and blogger.

    Edited at 2019-11-07 12:09 pm (UTC)

  20. What a difference a day makes. Really didn’t enjoy yesterday’s puzzle, but thought this was an absolute cracker from Orpheus. Started with 1ac/1d, which helps, and it was a steady solve thereafter, with a fully parsed finish in 21 mins. I was born up the road from Kidderminster (the local paper, by the way, is the K. Shuttle, as a nod to the town’s carpet heritage) so 3d was a write-in. Took a few minutes over loi, Entrechat, but it seemed to fit, and turned out OK. After I finished, I looked up Handkerchief in wiki, and was amazed to find that there are more than a dozen different ways to fold a gentleman’s pocket square. How did we ever manage to get ready to go out? Invariant
  22. I really enjoyed this one: smooth surfaces, a full range of the setters’ tricks, and a good mix of vocab. Everything went in easily, even ana, which I only know from doing these for the last few years! I really like RustyB’s suggestion for OSiC – all those old slang terms for money and hats could definitely go in 😊 I nearly stumbled on the whine / Naomi crossing, as I’d put winge (without the h) initially! But a Very Good Day here, with all done and parsed in 7 mins 15 secs. Thanks Orpheus for the fun and Roly for a great blog.

    FOI Handerkerchief
    LOI Naomi
    COD Several contenders inc corsair and pretty, but I’m plumping for brainless
    Tree of the day Horse Chestnut – a great clue that reminds us that these magnificent trees really need protecting from the damage caused by various blights and bugs

    1. Great time PB. As you predicted, the remaining bits of yesterday’s Big Boy puzzle were much tougher than the bits I’d done … in the end a DNF on (at least) MAROR, GOLEM and SAVANT. Hey ho, keep trying!
      1. Thank you so much 😊 It’ll be back to reality tomorrow, I have no doubt. You’ve certainly started something with your categorisation of types of day!

        If you haven’t looked at the big boys puzzle* yet, it’s definitely worth a go – far less (dare I say it?) obscure vocab today. See you on the other side!

        * and girls – let’s be even handed. Although I feel very outnumbered over there, I must admit.

  23. I sailed through this without hitting any rocks or losing my way through the SOUND so no need to WHINE, but I did note that the vocabulary contained a couple of words, ANA and BEGUM, that I knew from previous crosswords, which was PRETTY HANDY. Some nice surfaces. I liked HOSEA best. Oh I do like to be beside the seaside. 4:50.

    Edited at 2019-11-07 01:24 pm (UTC)

  24. At 18m this was quick for us. Long anagrams in quickly, we are in Worcestershire so 3d was a gift.. A little slow in remembering begum and bobcat, otherwise it would have been a pb. Thanks to Orpheus for a pleasant solve.
  25. I started well on this, biffing 1ac “Handkerchief” straight away, but then slowed down rather rapidly.

    A lot of words I frankly DNK, but got due to the wordplay: “Hosea”, “Ana”, “Entrechat”, “Ascetic”.

    However, it was the NE corner that did it for me. Just couldn’t get “Corsair” and for some reason “Pretty” didn’t come at all. Also got “Begum” wrong – putting in “Bagum” (complete guess as I had no idea).

    Definitely felt on the harder side, although still enjoyable.

    COD = “Brainless” – which is what I felt at the end.

    1. Hardly any solvers would have known Entrechat, so the fact you got that, and the other three you mention, just from the wordplay is a good sign and certainly not evidence of something missing up top 🙂
      1. Entrechat sounded ballet like (ie. French), even if I didn’t really know the term. Probably more luck than anything, as I remembered Entreat=Beg from another crossword a while back. But I guess it’s all about remembering those little snippets from previous solutions!

        More annoyed that I spent ages trying to fit Pirate into 9ac and just not seeing the “Pretty” clue for 7dn.

  26. …post, did the puzzle at lunchtime as normal, with a brief interruption. Clock stopped at 10:17, but i think i lost ~2 mins. 8-9 mins is what I aim for, so average difficulty in my book. I enjoyed the puzzle fwiw. LOI was redcap, which I biffed with those checkers.
    Customary thanks for the blog, and to the setter for providing accompaniment to my deskbound lunch.
  27. We pottered through this one quite well. Living near KIDDERMINSTER and having a daughter called NAOMI is PRETTY HANDY….
    Pulled the NW corner out of the subconscious just as I was falling asleep; a contented end to the day.
    Tim (not that Tim).
  28. Playing catchup again with a small backlog of QC’s…but for what it’s worth…I didn’t find this so hard and I had 80% done on first-pass. Then I had to dig deep to trust 10a ANA and 21a NAOMI. Found the rest pretty straightforward. I’m a slow solver and my time was 40+ but the steady solve rate and care taken in parsing gave a satisfying momentum and sense of progress. I often find the ones the experienced solvers find harder come more easily to me. Must be something odd about the way my brain connects… I knew 9a CORSAIR from a childhood book, Corsair of the Skies, still in the loft somewhere and somehow recalled 13a BEGUM. Late to recognise 1d HOSEA but after some puzzling recognised it was likely OT. FOI 1a. LOI 21a. COD 3d for the chuckle.

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