Times Quick Cryptic No 1499 by Rongo – I love to go a vandering….

Author   JohninterredPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
A neat and entertaining Quick Crossword to end the week from Rongo with a cheeky cryptic device that had me chuckling, although some may consider it groan-worthy. Elsewhere some fine surfaces and, I think, generally straightforward word-play… well I wasn’t significantly delayed by any, finishing in a whisker over 4 minutes. Thanks you Rongo! How did everyone else get on? [Update: It would appear I was rather on Rongo’s wavelength for this one in not getting stuck and that plenty of you found it hard. But it’s good to hear that those who struggled still enjoyed it].

Oh. By the way, if you are at the Championship tomorrow look out for me in Times HQ or in The George (after my morning preliminary eliminates me) and say hello if you spot me.

Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, deletions and [] other indicators.

Across
1 After loose scrum, dismiss pack on one’s back (8)
RUCKSACK – …along a mountain track. RUCK (loose scrum) with SACK (dismiss) [after]. Val-de-ri, Val-de-ra…*
5 Location that’s superb when going back (4)
SPOT – TOPS (superb) reversed [when going back] -> SPOT.
8 Spiteful person used to remove vetness from vindscreen? (5)
VIPER – Double definition, second cryptic (hence the ?). Turn the v’s back to w’s to get the definition WIPER and then pronounce in an ‘Allo ‘Allo German accent. Vonderful!
9 Crush half of troy weight (7)
TROUNCE – First two letters of [half of] TRoy OUNCE (weight).
11 Criminal handlers of stolen goods keeping identification secrets (11)
CONFIDENCES – CON (criminal) FENCES (handlers of stolen goods) outside [keeping] ID (identification).
13 Someone who writes in French, to the Thunderer? (6)
AUTHOR – AU (to, in French) THOR (the Norse god of thunder). Very nice surface; “the Thunderer” being a nickname of our favourite daily newspaper.
14 Hairdresser: one supplying insults? (6)
BARBER – Double definition, second cryptic (hence the ? again). A BARB is an insult, so somone supplying one could be termed a BARBER.
17 Technical word island country used for “ending” (11)
TERMINATION – TERM (technical word) I (island) NATION (country).
20 Former partner strongly criticises European extension (7)
EXPANSE – EX (former partner) PANS (strongly criticises) E (European),
21 Little fruit from Greek imitator (5)
GRAPE – GR (Greek) APE (imitator).
22 The type to put in an order (4)
SORT – Another double definition. I don’t think we need the “the” at the start of the clue, but it does, generously, point us to the noun rather than the verb “type”.
23 Change in entirety, for all time (8)
ETERNITY – [Change in] (entirety)* .
Down
1 Party seen to be in contravention (4)
RAVE – Hidden [seen to be in] in contRAVEntion.
2 One who imitates leaders of PETA yet chooses to wear fur? (7)
COPYCAT – Fortunately you don’t need to know that PETA stands for “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals” (which I didn’t know). But if you did know it, you will have seen that we have a very fine surface here. Take the first letters of [leaders of] PETA Yet Chooses and dress in [chooses to wear] COAT (fur).
3 Salad plant to reveal unexpectedly to big cat, first off (6,5)
SPRING ONION – SPRING ON (to reveal unexpectedly to) lION (big cat) without its first letter [first off].
4 Rising volume with air conditioning that makes puss go mad? (6)
CATNIP – Take PINT (volume) and AC (air conditioning) and write upwards [rising] -> CATNIP, a type of mint.

Illustration by the painter Jacob Sturm
Read more about how it affects cats here.
6 Sudden anxiety with satyr-like character in charge (5)
PANIC – PAN (satyr-like character) IC (in charge).
7 Special gift almost certainly something valuable (8)
TREASURE – TREAt (special gift) without its last letter [almost] SURE (certainly).
10 Person in theatre who performs surgery using rubber and ruler (5,6)
OPERA SINGER – OP (operation; surgery) ERASING (using rubber) ER (the Queen; ruler). The surface gives a bit of a bizarre image.
12 Tart crumbled in officers’ dining room makes a soft base (8)
MATTRESS – Anagram of (Tart)* [crumbled] -> ATTR [in] MESS (officers’ dining room).
15 Variant of Belgian language (7)
BENGALI – [Variant of] (Belgian}*
16 Moan about feeble National Trust (6)
LAMENT – LAME (feeble) NT (National Trust).
18 Tear wrapping from éclair that’s readier to eat (5)
RIPER – RIP (Tear) and the outside letters of [wrapping from] EclaiR.
19 Refuse to acknowledge sample from Golden Years (4)
DENY – Hidden in [sample from] GolDEN Years

*I think I just disappeared down a rabbit hole. Apologies for the digression. Yes I know the Happy Wanderer’s lyrics say “knapsack”, but I couldn’t resist the reference as I do like to go a wandering and, along with 8A,  I was reminded of this, possibly scurrilous to some, version of the song.. By the way, this week’s mountain track for me was, as much as you can get one in Cambridgeshire, The Devil’s Dyke.

32 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1499 by Rongo – I love to go a vandering….”

  1. I was held up for a while by having CUTTER at 14ac (to cut being to insult someone by ignoring them)
  2. 8 minutes. Slight delays thinking 8ac would be VIXEN and thinking surgically at 10dn, no doubt exactly as our setter had intended.
  3. Ve haff vays of making you solve … I enjoyed 8ac for one! But I wrote in the V so badly that when I came to 1dn I was looking at R_U_, which didn’t help.

    Steady solve to finish in 12:30 which at 1.5 Jacks I am scoring as a Good Day. Needed most of the crossers for both 11ac and 17ac. Toss up for COD between VIPER and AUTHOR but I know vich vun vins.

    John, in the blog for 2dn you need an extra “leader” – it’s the leaders of PETA, Yet and also Chooses inside COAT, otherwise you just get COPYAT.

    Thanks Rongo and John.

    Templar

    1. Oops. Thanks. Rushing over the parsing while solving is one thing. but doing it in the blog is another! Blog amended.
  5. An excellent puzzle with some entertaining twists. I will join Templar and use the ‘Jack’ scale in Kevin’s absence. 1.2 Jacks today for me which is a good end to my week. Lots of good clues but my COD and LOI was VIPER. Thanks to Rongo and to John for a good blog. John M.
      1. Thank you, Templar. I’ll never make the F1 club but it is fun when ones brain seems to be in the mood and on the setter’s wavelength. Looking back, many solutions just popped into view on the basis of patterns of letters – the slower part was often the parsing, especially with OPERA SINGER (good clue). I have been interested to read later posts from many solvers who were apparently off-track today but, no doubt, the tables will turn next week!

        Edited at 2019-12-06 01:31 pm (UTC)

        1. Do forgive the missing apostrophe in one’s reply, folks. I must have been reading too much during the past couple of weeks about the death of the apostrophe. John M.
  6. 22 minutes, two over target, and twice yesterday’s PB. I thought I was taking longer as the wordplay was very tricky. I felt like biffing quite a few first time through but thankfully resisted! LOIs were OPERA SINGER and COPYCAT, both un-parsed, so thank you John for sorting them out for me, and thank you Rongo for a challenging QC.

    Brian

  7. ….or this was trickier than earlier posters are implying. I didn’t understand what PETA was about, never parsed TREASURE, and felt that OPERA SINGER was a 15×15 clue. I await the comments of less-seasoned solvers with interest. There was at least one moggie too many….

    FOI RUCKSACK
    LOI CATNIP
    COD SPRING ONION
    TIME 6:53

    1. Found this difficult. Took about an hour and never got catnip or mattress. Quite a grind and harder than a normal QC, but fair and a good challenge. We need some difficult ones to improve. I have been at this for about 12 months.
  8. A struggle today but at least I finished correctly. I had CUTTER for a while and a big delay from COPYIST at 2d -unparsed but couldn’t think of anything better until I got to LOI 11a with an initial I. That added a few minutes. Once I had CONFIDENCES , COPYCAT was obvious and it parsed unlike my first go. Time was over 20 minutes. This was a tough QC IMO. David
    PS I will be at The George from about 1.30pm but probably will have left before the final round finishes.
  9. RUCKSACK was my FOI, followed by the amusing VIPER. Didn’t parse COPYCAT. A steady solve found me just inside my target at 9:47. Thanks Rongo and John.

    Edited at 2019-12-06 11:23 am (UTC)

  10. Found this quite tricky today after yesterday’s biff-fest. Didn’t parse OPERA SINGER and LAMENT held me up for seemingly ages – no idea why. Liked COPYCAT a lot, great surface.

    Many thanks to Kohn and Rongo.
    6’20”

  11. Worth it just for OPERA SINGER. I’ll even forgive the VIPER.

    I am not taking part in the Championships as I take 30 minutes most days not under exam conditions. However, I shall be in the George tomorrow from about 1230 (I am the person with the Times folded under one arm ….. crossword half-completed ….. drinking white wine).

  12. I really enjoyed this and managed it in about 20 mins. (With the cat and PETA references I wonder if Rongo is protective of his/her domestic animals!)

    Only struggle on parsing was 10dn “Opera Singer” which took a while to get right. Similarly, on 3dn I was looking for an animal which ended in “onion”, not seeing the first two letters were part of the “spring”.

    But what on earth was 8ac? I’ve never seen anything like that before and couldn’t work out whether it was a misprint in the newspaper, a different cryptic style or just plain lazy cluing.

    FOI = 1ac “Rucksack”
    LOI = 4dn “Catnip”

    COD = 12dn “Mattress” – although from experience these are not always as soft as they should be.

    Thanks as usual to the setter and blog.

  13. Enjoyed this. VIPER brought a chuckle, never did parse OPERA SINGER (LOI), and didn’t understand the reference to CATNIP and its affect on cats.
    Learnt something today
    PlayUpPompey
  14. I know it’s very tempting to biff answers and move on quickly in the search for a fast (ok, less slow) time, but for me today’s QC was a really good example of the satisfaction that comes from working out the parsing as well. 11 and 17ac, and 10d were not particularly easy clues, and with enough checkers in place I’m sure most solvers would just use the definition to get the right answer. But those who worked out the parsing were amply rewarded – especially 10d, Opera Singer, which gets my CoD vote by a country mile. Thank you Rongo. 28 mins in total. Invariant
    1. Hear hear. Indeed one of the pleasures of doing the blogging is the chance it gives to stop and smell the roses, not just appreciating clever wordplay, but also the clever surfaces. 2D today is a perfect example where I would have missed the cleverness if I hadn’t looked up PETA in explaining the clue and answer. Even when I biff when solving I like to go back and unpick the wordplay.
  15. Too much of a challenge today. But I enjoyed the blog, thanks all. COD opera singer.
    Diana
  16. A slow but satisfying solve. I had no idea what was going on with 8a on first reading but my COD when the penny dropped. Treasure went in unparsed.

    Barber was first in.

  17. Is it just us, or are we seeing an increasing number of words lately which whilst possibly technically correct as constructions, nobody would ever use. I very much doubt whether anyone has EVER used the word “barber” to mean “one who issues barbs”. Whilst it is straightforward enough to solve, we find these a bit grating.
    1. Personally, I find the Uxbridge English Dictionary one of the funniest games on I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue.. It has even spun off a book. You can also find an online edition here. One definition I liked from the round in Last week’s programme “Misdirection: What happens when you can’t find the Viagra”. “Barber: One who barbs”, would be perfectly valid entry under “B”.

      Edited at 2019-12-06 05:30 pm (UTC)

    2. “One supplying insults” is a cryptic hint intended to provide an alternative route to the answer which is properly defined elsewhere in the clue as “hairdresser”. This sort of thing is the stuff of which cryptic puzzles are made and needs to be taken in the spirit intended i.e. not too seriously.
  18. A rare finisher and missed out today with catnip but some smashing clues. Loved 8a, copycat, opera singer, mattress and confidences.

    Graham

  19. I have caught up solving this week’s backlog…thought this was a great QC. I agree that working at the parsing is a major part of the fun. 10d and 16d being good examples of having to work back to justify the pretty obvious answer (from the checkers). FOI 1a LOI 20a as I needed to correct the lazy ending from ‘expands’ to accommodate 16d. COD probably 10d but could have been 17a.
    Been working at these about 2 or 3 years now and still can have a DNF, or half an easier 15×15. Strictly paper & pencil over a gentle Costa for me. Few ‘times’ worth admitting to as 30 mins is fast for me! But then I wouldn’t find it so relaxing or enjoyable whizzing through… The blogs are always informative so thanks for all the effort put in by stereos and contributors.
  20. An entertaining end to the week and I was clearly one of those on Rongo’s wavelength as I had all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed in just under 11 minutes. The parsing of OPERA SINGER caused me most delay but, as others have commented, was worth the effort once the penny dropped.
    Thanks for the blog
  21. A slow start here, and initially I thought it was going to give me a lot of trouble, but then things started to pick up. Eventually I finished in the new measure of 1.25J. All the same, I thought there some tricky clues, some bordering on 15×15 levels. I’m going to rock the boat and say that I didn’t like 8a. Even in the realm of contrivance that is crosswordland, I thought it was overly contrived – sorry.

    I find that Rongo’s puzzles have a different feel from some of the others, which I think is a good thing and makes for an interesting challenge.

    FOI Rave
    LOI Author
    COD Rucksack – one for the rugby fans!

    Thanks Rongo, and John for the – as always – entertaining blog 😊

  22. …and a vanishingly rare sub-Phil at 5:51.

    Biffed treasure and opera singer, only parsing post-solve.

    Fun solve while waiting for daughter to finish her Saturday morning tennis lesson.

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