Times Quick Cryptic No 1488 by Izetti

Author   rolytolyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
On more of an even keel today after a bit of a struggle with yesterday’s: I was four minutes over my target with that one and came in two minutes under today, so it wasn’t quite the toughie I was expecting after seeing Izetti’s name. This was partly helped by the same, unusual grid that we had on Monday, with four black squares kicking off row 1 – if the two long vertical clues are generous, as they were here, it gives a lot of entry points into the puzzle. Usual high standard, though, with some lovely surfaces, my favourite being the seamless 22ac. Much enjoyed – many thanks to Izetti!

Across
1 Refuse to deal with sailor showing pirate’s flag (9)
BLACKJACK – BLACK (to refuse to deal with) JACK (sailor). Oxford Dictionary has “to black” defined as: “Refuse to have dealings with as a way of taking industrial action“.
6 Consent expresses nothing (3-2)
SAY-SO – SAYS (expresses) O (nothing)
8 Like micro-organisms I detected in messy lab crate (9)
BACTERIAL – I seen/detected in an anagram (messy) of LAB CRATE
9 Digit given hit changing at the tip (5)
THUMB – THUMP (hit), with the letter changing at the tip/end. Only parsed post-solve, and even then took a bit of thought as I was looking at the wrong tip and debating things like “chumb”, “phumb” and “rhumb” (only one of which is an actual word).
10 Ultimate difficulty for camel? (4,5)
LAST STRAW – cryptic definition, referring to the straw what did for the camel’s back.
12 Chums? Not right — cruel folk (6)
FIENDS – FRIENDS (chums) but not the R(ight)
13 Leaving group will get compensation (6)
OFFSET – I’m OFF = I’m leaving, SET (group). I took the definition as a verb, but the noun works fine as well.
16 A cat and a lion wandering round Spanish territory (9)
CATALONIA – anagram (wandering round) of A CAT and A LION
18 Bit of food? Offer some men a choice (5)
NACHO – offered in some of the letters of meN A CHOice
19 Like Noah’s animals, about 500, unaware of what is happening (2,3,4)
IN THE DARK – IN THE ARK (like Noah’s animals) going about D (500 in Roman numerals)
21 Not so far off, Conservative departing as unsuccessful candidate? (5)
LOSER – CLOSER (not so far off), C(onservative) departing.
22 Change of scenery, as needed (9)
NECESSARY – anagram (change of) of SCENERY AS.
Down
1 Robert lost blood and moved unsteadily (7)
BOBBLED – BOB (Robert) BLED (lost blood)
2 Charge about with us — excellent touring round (6)
ACCUSE – C. (circa = about) with US has ACE (excellent) touring around it.
3 Parts of ships, smooth and glossy when done up (5)
KEELS – SLEEK (smooth and glossy), when done up = when reversed.
4 Old boxer, a large one (3)
ALI – A L(arge) I (one)
5 I halt workout — dissipated this amount of energy? (8-4)
KILOWATT-HOUR – anagram (dissipated) of I HALT WORKOUT. I see that’s 860 calories, and jogging burns about 100 calories a mile, so rather a good workout by any measure.
6 Party at end of short day is giving pleasure (12)
SATISFACTION – FACTION (party) at the end of SAT(urday – short day) IS
7 Gutsy one turned out to be most junior (8)
YOUNGEST – anagram (turned out) of GUTSY ONE
11 Esteems good person turning up preceded by awful creeps (8)
RESPECTS – ST. (saint = good person) turning up = reversed, preceded by an anagram (awful) of CREEPS
14 Insect’s disgusting inside, to be honest (7)
FRANKLY – FLY (insect) has (‘s) RANK (disgusting) inside. The quirk of the grid meant that by the time I came to it, F_ANKLY was already filled in. So not too much of a head-scratcher.
15 Some drank a raki in foreign city (6)
ANKARA – “some” of the letters of drANK A RAki. I hadn’t heard of raki, but it’s an ouzo-esque drink from Turkey so the clue works nicely.
17 Diesel I avoided travelling round city (5)
LEEDS -anagram (travelling round) of DIESEL, with the “I” avoided.
20 Investigator, note, heading for court (3)
TEC – TE (note – do, re, me, etc., also spelt TI) C (heading for Court). Tec = abbrev. of detective.

50 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1488 by Izetti”

  1. I looked for a while at 1ac, as I’d never heard of BLACK in this sense, or of BLACKJACK for (what I take to be) the Jolly Roger. But it seemed inevitable. SAY-SO isn’t assent where I come from, it’s authority or word (as in its his word against yours). DNK raki, but so far as I know in every hidden clue that has a word like this, the word turns out to be real. 4:47.
    1. I know “raki” as the Greek τσικουδιά, which is apparently a different drink with a different origin, often also called raki (ρακή) in Crete.

      I’d actually assumed they were the same drink, as the Greeks are often (and perhaps understandably) a bit reluctant to use the Turkish names for things they might have in common, and I’ve never tried Turkish raki!

      Edited at 2019-11-21 10:33 am (UTC)

  2. Very nearly settled for BLACKMARK at 1a but finally parsed the clue to finish under 15m, only to find I’d written LEDDS and not completed 20d, so three pink squares and bottom of the leaderboard again. Oh dear.
  3. 9 minutes.

    NHO BLACKJACK as (apparently) an alternative to ‘Jolly Roger’ or ‘skull-and-crossbones’. Of the usual on-line dictionaries only the Oxfords list it.

    Also looked twice at ‘bobbled’ in the required sense as I’d have used the word ‘bobbed’ (‘bobbled’ only being what some hats are in my experience) but it’s in the dictionaries. I’d also considered ‘hobbled’ as the answer, which didn’t help matters.

    1. My first instinct was WOBBLED, since for me BOBBLE is a transitive verb–he bobbled the ball but didn’t drop it.
        1. For me, a BOBBLE is an uneven bounce on the football field – a high frequency will have us describe the pitch as “bobbly”. It’s one of the penalties of watching football at level 6 of the English Pyramid system. I don’t think I’ve ever used it in the sense given here.

          I was denied a clean sweep only by having to work back to my LOI, and my earworm is Steeleye Span’s “BLACKJACK Davy”.

          FOI/COD BLACKJACK
          LOI ACCUSE

  4. NHO BLACKJACK as a pirate flag and failed to remember the saying about the LAST STRAW (my LOI), leaving a “?” on my paper copy. What with bunging in CLOSE for 21A at first and PRECEPTS for 11D, I had some untangling to do to get it all right. Not my finest solve! 6:55.
  5. A self-inflicted wound today after putting SLEEK at 3d. I was probably going too quickly.
    This meant that after 9 minutes I had two left after getting KILOWATT HOUR which was a difficult anagram.
    I did eventually unravel things and the clock showed 19:06 when I finished.
    I thought of Black very quickly for Refuse to Deal at 1a but that was before I corrected SLEEK.
    David
  7. 1ac BLACKJACK was well known hereabouts (back in the day a four-a-penny sweet, Jack) – as was YELLOW JACK – flown by a ship when malaria and yellow fever aboard. Fortunately Dr. Walter Reed sorted it all out in 1904. On the week-end he had a look at POTUS. My WOD

    FOI 1ac BOBBLED unquibbled

    LOI 2dn ACCUSE

    COD 5dn KILOWATT HOUR – Willson Pickett sang a similar song back in 1965

    Picket = blackjack (v)
    QED Time 6.25mins

    Edited at 2019-11-21 08:25 am (UTC)

    1. Horryd, it often takes me nearly as long to try to understand your intriguing comments as it does to complete the QC. Best regards, John
      1. From one Old Blighter to another, I apologise for taking your valuable time. But they did gain a couple of interesting retorts from alanw111 and rolytoly.

        Dr. Walter Reed discovered the cause of Yellow Fever in 1904 and saved a lot of lives. President Trump spent Saturday morning at the Walter Reed Hospital, Washington – having nothing more than a ‘check-up’.

        Willson Pickett released Midnight Hour in 1965.

    3. I do like the idea of the yellow jack – if I’d been a captain (of doubtless cowardly persuasion) back in the day, I’d definitely have taken to hoisting the ol’ jellow jack as a deterrent before sailing through pirate territory. And if the ship was boarded and I was accused of perfidy, I’d have the fallback excuse of saying it stood for cowardice. Hey, might work.
      1. M’dear Roly, As far as I know the Yellow Jack could only be flown by a ship at anchor outside a port. Once the local health officials had issued a sailing permit, the flag could be removed and the ship could proceed into harbour. So your cunning plan might have been scuppered, as Captain Hook and Co would have delighted in firing off a bit of chain at HMS Toly.

        Edited at 2019-11-21 01:33 pm (UTC)

    4. Thanks. I worked those out but I didn’t have knowledge of blackjacks in my youth. Mybhead scratching was more to do with the references to the President of the United States, unquibbled, and how many kilowatts you use at midnight! All good fun.
      An impressive time by the way – 6.25 mins is beyond my ability for an Izetti! John
      1. Phil,Kevin and Jack had explored WOBBLED. It was never on my radar as it was my FOI – so no quibble!

        Kilowatt Hour – Midnight Hour – Hancock’s Half Hour!

        My Time is somewhat pedestrian compared to The Time Lords of the 15x15Tardis, but I have been at it for many years, let’s say pre- The Beatles. I much prefer etymology to chronology.

    5. Thanks. I worked those out but I didn’t have knowledge of blackjacks in my youth. Mybhead scratching was more to do with the references to the President of the United States, unquibbled, and how many kilowatts you use at midnight! All good fun.
      An impressive time by the way – 6.25 mins is beyond my ability for an Izetti! John
    6. Thanks. I worked those out but I didn’t have knowledge of blackjacks in my youth. Mybhead scratching was more to do with the references to the President of the United States, unquibbled, and how many kilowatts you use at midnight! All good fun.
      An impressive time by the way – 6.25 mins is beyond my ability for an Izetti! John
  8. I thought I was a bit thick when I got nowhere with the top half in the first minute or three. Then started from the bottom up and wondered what my hesitation was all about. I quite liked KILOWATT HOUR, FRANKLY and OFFSET. LI were BLACKJACK, BOBBLED and ACCUSE.
    Around 3K when I finally got going but at least another K messing about at the start (not for the first time). I think I’ll start from the bottom with future QCs. Thanks to both. John M.

    Edited at 2019-11-21 08:40 am (UTC)

  9. Almost the ever elusive clean sweep today, ending in 1.4 Kevins which on an Izetti makes this an Excellent Day. I had to work hard to stop myself writing in “blackball” but otherwise had few delays. As always lots to admire in the setting. Nice to see KEELS clued as part of a ship instead of just a ship, for once!

    FOI ALI, LOI ACCUSE, COD IN THE DARK

    Thanks Izetti and roly.

    Templar

  10. Ian Fleming introduced me to raki in “From Russia With Love”. Darko Kerim, Head of Station T, says to Bond at their first meeting in Istanbul “In Turkey we cannot talk seriously without coffee or raki and it is too early for raki”.

  12. I wasted far too much time on the 1a and 1d clues before moving on for easier pickings. Unusually for an Izetti it then became a biff fest with the only hesitation being 20d TEC, a DNK. I finally returned to the NE corner and similar to oldblighter completed with ACCUSE, BOBBLED and BLACKJACK. I particularly liked 6a SAY-SO and that gets my COD. I submitted within target and in just under 2K. Thanks Roly and Izetti.
  13. 35:00 spent a long time staring at 1A, my LOI, wondering, even, if we have the flag = iris in there somehow. Like others, NHO blackjack in this context. Thanks for the blog.
  14. ALI and KEELS were first 2 in, so the previously unheard of BLACKJACK went in easily from wordplay. SATISFACTORY caused a slight delay in the SW corner, but was eventually untangled. A quick proof read revealed blanks in 2 d, so that was my LOI. 9:17. Thanks Izetti and Roly.
  15. Enjoyable overall – thanks setter and blogger. Only reservation was Blackjack. There are many definitions which survive in dictionaries long after they have passed out of common usage. Blackjack or Black Jack is a familiar card game so why choose something obscure for a quickie?? Black for refuse to deal with is itself a little thin – blackball maybe ??
  16. A rare sub 10 minute solve on an Izetti puzzle, so he was clearly in a generous mood. I initially biffed BLACKBALL at 1a having NHO BLACK in this sense or BLACKJACK as a whole, but had to revise it when there was only one ‘L’ in the anagram fodder at 5d.
    TEC was another that was new to me and I spent a minute debating whether the note was spelt TI or TE, but fortunately plumped for the correct answer.
    Thanks for the blog
  17. 13.42 today.

    Was expecting a much tougher offering on seeing Izetti’s name. But no complaints here.

    Thanks for the blog.

    RC

  18. I didn’t manage a single across clue on the first pass, so worked up from the bottom and found it all fell into place quite easily. Never heard of BLACKJACK (LOI) in this context, but obvious enough once the checkers were in place. My FOI was TEC. Enjoyed KILOWATT HOUR. Lovely anagram.
    PlayUpPompey
  19. I used to almost never finish an Izetti puzzle, but managed this one in around 25 mins – which is around my personal best. Just seemed to be one of those days, where I saw a lot of clues before really having to work them out.

    I hestiated a little at 6ac “Say So” as I nearly put “Say No” which obviously contradicted what I thought was the definition. Also hadn’t heard of 1ac “Blackjack” and wondered initially if the inclusion of “deal” had something to do with the card game.

    FOI = 12ac “Fiends”
    LOI = 20dn “Tec” – really didn’t know this, so an educated guess.

    COD = 19ac “In the Dark”

    Thanks.

  20. Well, my first thought was: ‘Blimey, Izetti’s being kind to us today’, but on reading everyone else’s comments, it looks as if there’s a mixed bag of experiences here.

    But for me, it is An Excellent Day! Six minutes to complete an Izetti – must have been on the wavelength 😊 Just as well I did whizz through it, because I’m off now for the first Christmas lunch of the season!

    Lovely puzzle, full of great surfaces (as you would expect from the Don) so hard to choose COD, but I was amused by Frankly and Loser (a subtle message there perhaps?)

    FOI Bacterial
    LOI Satisfaction
    COD Say-so
    Mood One of satisfaction
    Personal WITCH 10/10

    1. Super speedy – and I think you PB’d Big Puzzle the other day too? Warming up nicely for the championships!
      1. Thank you so much 😊 I really appreciate your kind comments. I will never be bothering the championships tho! One good day every now and then is all it is.

        But on a note of encouragement to newer solvers, I would say: Keep going! It took me several months before I completed my first quickie unaided, and I still don’t finish it every day. My usual time is normally between 10 and 15 minutes. I also now have a go at the biggie every day, and rarely complete it, but whereas a couple of years ago, I’d manage just a few clues, nowadays there are usually only a couple of gaps at the end, and it’s still quite a slow process. Practice is not making perfect just yet unfortunately! It’s fun tho, and isn’t that why we put ourselves though it? And this blog is a godsend 😊

        Edited at 2019-11-21 06:10 pm (UTC)

  21. A rare solo finish for me. M’colleague will have nothing to do on her break unless I print a copy for her. Less than 40 minutes for me which, while I don’t time myself, may actually be a record. Lots of anagrams in this which I like and hidden answers which I also like.
  22. Thank you Izetti for making this puzzle accessible. Great clues and set at just the right level of difficulty for me. Blackjack stumped me for ages but once I gleaned all the checkers it just had to be. Slowly making progress with these puzzles
    Graham
  23. Another puzzle offering little joy initially with across clues but much more progress downwards. Steady thereafter but felt a bit ponderous so pleasantly surprised to find only 10:44 on the clock when LOI 20d went in. COD to the energetic workout.
  24. Pleased to solve in abt 20m, verry unusual for an Izetti. Slow in getting the last part of 1a until 5d came to mind. Had not seen tec for a long time, quite common many years back. As others, not sure about bobbled for unsteadily. Thanks to Izetti and the blog.
  25. Excellent puzzle today, thanks Izetti. But I didn’t get Blackjack which, as a sailor, I feel i should have. But I’m a bit out of practice at keelhauling at the moment.

    Diana

  26. Came to this a bit later than usual, but finished in 25mins so no excuses. Main hold up was at the start, where I spent several minutes trying to work out 1ac, before leaving it to the end – even then it still took me a minute or two as I have never come across Blackjack for the flag. My favourite today was 14d Frankly, for the surface. Invariant
  27. Another one just pleased to finish an Izetti. No real time to report since some done whilst engine off on the M40 tonight- but around the 45 minute mark I estimate.
    Much to like especially 10a but held up by reading the clue for 2d stupidly thinking that the answer went in 6d. Strange considering the number of letters in the answer were vastly different…
    Thanks all
    John George
  28. 21ac locked me up for a bit; close actually fits the clue better than the actual answer. I then didn’t rumble the opposite corner at all as I biffed 20D wig as again, a woman investigator (WI) with a note (G) heading for court being wig was perfectly reasonable. Ah well, here’s to tomorrow.

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