Times Quick Cryptic No 1519 by Tracy

Author   JohninterredPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
A bit of a slow start with 10A being my FOI, but, apart from an initial miscue at 1D, I got through this without further mishap in just over 5 minutes. A little tricky in places, I thought. There are one or two red herrings to avoid, a sneaky definition or two and a definition by example. Some of the  UK-centric General Knowledge (and pronunciation) may be unfamiliar to some of our overseas solvers, too. I liked 14A and 13D in particular, but I thought it was all good. Thanks Tracy. How did you all get on?

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

Across
1 Genre of film associated with boldness in a war zone (7,5)
WESTERN FRONT – WESTERN (genre of film) and then [associated with] FRONT (boldness). The “in a” is just filling, I think, although it did get me wondering whether there was some one-word-in-another type stuff going on.
8 Picture that is enthralling the old lady, first in guidebook (5)
IMAGE – I.E. (id est; that is) outside [enthralling] MA (the old lady) and the initial letter of [first in] Guidebook.
9 Dodgy two-star, taking the most pessimistic view (2,5)
AT WORST – [Dodgy] (two-star)*.
10 Unforeseen difficulty in mine before collapse (7)
PITFALL – PIT (mine) [before] FALL (collapse).
11 Long tale about Melibee, ultimately (5)
YEARN – Fortunately, we don’t need to know (as I didn’t) The Tale of Melibee is one of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. We take YARN (tale) and put it [about] the last letter of MelibeE [ultimately].
12 Declare invalid‘s wife released from old London gaol (6)
NEGATE – A bit of a sneaky definition. You take NEwGATE (old London gaol) and remove the W [wife released from].
14 Arrived ahead of artist, producer of pictures (6)
CAMERA – CAME (arrived) [ahead of] RA (artist). No. Not a person in charge of movie production or a painter of paintings. Nice one.
17 Flog wood (5)
BIRCH – Double definition. Yes I’m old enough to have received the birch in school.
19 Second, perhaps, to have spoken about loud noise (7)
ORDINAL – A definition by example (hence the “perhaps”). ORAL (spoken) [about] DIN (loud noise).
21 Russian leader travelling in style (7)
YELTSIN – [travelling] (in style)*. As in Boris of that ilk.
22 Tear off to collect ten more (5)
EXTRA – It is tempting to think “Tear off” is the definition, but it isn’t. (Tear)* [off] outside [to collect] X (ten).
23 Produced German wine entertaining one unmarried French girl (12)
MADEMOISELLE – MADE (produced) MOSELLE (German wine) outside [entertaining] I (one).
Down
1 Stealing floats, they say? Scapegoats found (8,4)
WHIPPING BOYS – WHIPPING (Stealing) BOYS, sounds like [they say] BUOYS (floats)… if you live in the UK,that is, but not, I believe, across the pond. Don’t we love homophones? Oh, by the way,  it’s not often you see a definition that’s not at the front or end of the clue.
2 Celebrity, last in event to jump (5)
START – STAR (celebrity) [last in] evenT. What you do when you’re startled.
3 Stylish member in neat pants (7)
ELEGANT – LEG (member) [in] (neat)* [pants]. “Arm” and “leg” for “member” come up quite often and “pants” as an anagram indicator has become quite fashionable.
4 Nobleman entering New York? Just about (6)
NEARLY – EARL (Nobleman) inside [entering] N.Y. (New York). “Just about” entering a city is a curious concept, methinks.
5 Noisy mob, heading off before end of rally (5)
ROWDY – cROWD (mob) without its first letter [headling off] [before] [end of] rallY.
6 English sailor hurried over to tell the story (7)
NARRATE – E (English) TAR (sailor) RAN (hurried) all reversed [over].
7 We lament goal scrambled in college match (4,4,4)
ETON WALL GAME – (We lament goal)* [scrambled]. Never heard of it? Read all about it here.
13 A lot of blood over area surrounding sick animal (7)
GORILLA – all but the last latter [a lot of] GORe (blood) [over] A (area) [surrounding] ILL (sick). Nicely constructed, but a bit of a sad image.
15 Plug clothes in speech (7)
ADDRESS – AD (advert; plug) DRESS (clothes).
16 Carried round island in the Pacific (6)
BORNEO – BORNE (carried) O (round-looking letter). I never thought of it being in the Pacific, lying between the Java and South China seas, but they are both part of the Western Pacific. Read more fun facts about Borneo here.
18 Hospital teas prepared in great speed (5)
HASTE – H (hospital) (teas)* [prepared]. That will be NHS fast food then.
20 In Medina, tales of birth (5)
NATAL – Snuck in at the end, our hidden word clue of the day… [in] MediNA TALes. I hope you all remembered this word from Wednesday’s QC. What did I know about Medina? Er.. not a lot. Luckily we don’t need to here. But this told me it’s in Saudi Arabia. A whimsical oblique reference to the Arabian Nights, perhaps? I’ll get my coat…

36 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1519 by Tracy”

  1. No problems, although I didn’t know WHIPPING=stealing. Fortunately I knew of the ETON WALL GAME, no doubt from a 15×15. Biffed YELTSIN. 5:50.
  2. BUOYS are indeed pronounced Boo-ees in the US. It’s not quite so weird if you spell it correctly (which is a hint that you have it wrong in the blog). I managed to get the first dozen or so answers (starting with 1a) which rarely happens.
    1. Oops. So I have. Thanks. Corrected. Just as well that wasn’t the answer or I’d have got it wrong!
  3. 7 minutes with MADEMOISELLE as my LOI having first established that there weren’t enough squares for Liebfraumilch’ to fit and that the checkers wouldn’t allow ‘Hock’ to be part of the answer.

    At 1ac I read ‘in a war zone’ simply as ‘in a (name of a) war zone’ i.e. WESTERN FRONT.

  4. 18 minutes, so under target for the first time in, I think, a few weeks.
    I got very few first time through so I thought it was going to be difficult, but the checkers fell in helpful places, hence the fast time. My LOI was AT WORST, which I decided was not an anagram as my brain refused to see the W in ‘two-star’, and in the end I biffed it.
    One interesting thing I’ve discovered on my phone, holding my finger down next to an answer selects it, then pressing again gives me the option of taking it straight into my Chambers dictionary or thesaurus apps, or Google. Very useful.

    Brian

    Edited at 2020-01-03 07:35 am (UTC)

  5. I thought this was quite tricky and so was very pleased to finish in 11:14.
    FOI was YEARN; had no idea about Melibee. 1a and 1d held out till the end so it was not an easy solve but I managed to keep going round the grid.
    LOI was YELTSIN, a very clever anagram only noticed after completion.I also got Eton Wall Game without the anagram.
    Lots of good clues and I cannot pick a COD; as John says GORILLA, a well-constructed clue but a sad image.
    David
  6. I found this mostly straightforward apart from the 1s, which were my last two in. For 1a I was looking at the wrong end of the clue for the definition so thought there must have been some obscure sub-genre of the Western. Eventually an alphabet trawl brought me to the correct answer. Finished in 9.45 with my COD going to GORILLA.
    Thanks for the blog.
  7. An enjoyable end to the week. The grid was less friendly than some at first but I filled a few shorter answers and it took shape quickly leading to my best time for a while – a little over 2K. I liked the construction of MADEMOISELLE, ELEGANT and thought YELTSIN was neat. The longer answers such as WHIPPING BOY and ETON WALL GAME were easy biffs, given a few crossers. My LOI was BORNEO and my COD was GORILLA. Many thanks to Tracy and John. John M.
    1. Oops, I didn’t realise I was signed out……. John M.

      Edited at 2020-01-03 09:55 am (UTC)

            1. Not as a rule, but I have a vague suspicion he dropped by once in the not too dim and distant past. Could’ve been the 15×15 blog though.
  8. Started with ROWDY, finished with ORDINAL, had heard of the ETON WALL GAME. Nice puzzle. 6:40. Thanks Tracy and John.
  9. A respectable 25 mins for me (after the debacle of yesterday) and something that seemed more reasonable and straightforward.

    Luckily, some of the longer clues: “Whipping Boy”, “Eton Wall Game” and “Mademoiselle” came straight away.

    My only query was with “Gorilla” and how the “e” in gore had been eliminated, but thanks to the blog above I can now see the clever surface.

    FOI = 2dn “Start”
    LOI = 15dn “Address”
    COD = 13dn “Gorilla” (for leaving me a little puzzled)

    Thanks as usual.

  10. After my initial panic on reading 1a/1d and drawing a blank I swiftly moved on and solved the NE corner with FRONT and then WESTERN belatedly in play. I had a few hold ups, ETON WALL GAME was guessed from checkers, I missed the anagrind for YELTSIN until the Y was in the grid and my LOI BORNEO eluded me for a good half a minute. Crossing the line in 1.5K and sub 9 minutes counts as a very good day. Thanks John for the blog/links and to Tracy for the QC. My COD is 21a YELTSIN.

    Edited at 2020-01-03 10:53 am (UTC)

  11. ….for the price of one. YELTSIN of course, and a nod to Johnson who participated in the ETON WALL GAME during his privileged youth. I do sometimes wonder whether his head was adequately protected.

    No problems, though it was initially “all quiet” at 1A, dashing any hopes of a clean sweep. Solved comfortably within target.

    FOI IMAGE
    LOI MADEMOISELLE
    COD NEGATE

  12. I do find it curious how often Eton-related ephemera crop up in crosswords. That school has an extraordinary grip on our national consciousness. Anyway, at least it gave me an easy ride on 7dn. In fact all the long ones went in easily, giving me a brisk enough 1.6K for a Very Good Day. Got held up on my last two (the BORNEO/ORDINAL junction) but otherwise few delays.

    FOI WESTERN FRONT, LOI BORNEO, COD MADEMOISELLE (I’m sure I was helped by having heard Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell” this morning).

    Thanks Tracy and John

    Templar

    2. I agree. There’s even more in today’s 15×15. Mind you, I recall we did have ‘Arrow recently somewhere. I’ve never seen any mention of my Alma Mater, though. Not surprisingly. I wonder how many Old Barnardians have been MPs?
  13. I thought this was going to be another tricky one when neither 1ac nor 1d came to mind. In fact this turned into a bottom up solve, with 1d almost my loi. At 26mins, about average for me, helped along the way by Natal coming back so quickly and then seeing Ordinal without too much difficulty. CoD to 21ac, Yeltsin, for its nicely disguised anagram. My thanks to Tracy and John. Invariant

    PS Yesterday’s 15×15 was at the perfect level for those of us trying to make the step up – worth getting out the bin and having a go if you missed it.

    1. Is indeed on the gentle side. I dug it out of the bin electronically and rattled through it in under 20 mins. Thanks for the tip!
    2. Thanks so much for the tip off. I don’t often dip into the daily 15x15s (keeping a paper copy of the weekend ones in a pocket for when time permits). You allowed me a 15×15 pb of exactly 17 minutes. As far as I can remember my previous best was about 20 mins.
    3. Flashman directed me to this yesterday and I was about 6 short of completion around midnight (after 90 minutes of entertainment!). Slowly getting somewhere, but will never have the same ability/knowledge of others.
      But there are different types of intelligence and I try to console myself that I will have the edge elsewhere!!!
      Regards
      John
      1. It’s mainly about practice, I think. Great that you gave it a try. You will only get better at it!
      2. Ah, but do the fast ones get as much enjoyment out of solving the clues – no penny drop moments for a start 😉
        1. I don’t know. But I think those who biff the answers without solving the wordplay or pausing to enjoy the surface meanings are missing out. As for PDMs I find the longer I am stuck on a clue before the penny drops, the greater the sense of “Aha!”.
  14. Steady solve until last two – totally misdirected by 15d – suckered into looking for a homophone so thoroughly that even though ADDRESS came to me eay on I could see how that meant plug. Second for ORDINAL was a cunning definition that I missed until an alphabet trawl. Great puzzle and great blog (that I needed). Don’t know where i thought Borneo was but I didn’t think it was in the Pacific!

    Mendesest

  15. After yesterday’s tussle, this was just the right level of difficulty I thought. I got held up by the address/ordinal pairing and I’d never heard of Eton Wall Game, but I came in in 34:06 which is about average for me. COD to 3d.
  16. Snuck in just sub-K at 5:42 on my return to the office.

    LOI was the wall game, but it came to me quite quickly. I’m sure I’ve seen mademoiselle clued like that before.

  17. … with a nice puzzle to finish the week and just under 2K.

    3D: I had not met the word Pants to signify an anagram before but the clue was easy to get with the cross letters.

    I thought 12A a bit sneaky, with the ‘s on the end of invalid’s needing to be ignored. It would have been easy to clue it, for example, “Declare invalid wife’s release from old London gaol”.

    FOI At worst
    LOI Gorilla, which i guessed and only then found the parsing.

    Thanks to John for the blog

  18. Just over 2K with hold ups at Eton Wall Game (Dnk so had to painfully piece the anagram together) and the completely nonsensical Eastern Front at 1ac caused 1dn to be undoable until corrected. So not a very good day. Thanks for the link to the game – sounds to be of the same era and background as whiff waff.
  19. Just got round to finishing this after a break. I had difficulty in getting started until 10a. Crossers gave me 1a ‘front’ but took a while to see it wasn’t a two word genre before ‘western’ slotted into place. Much delayed by misspelling 23a, but the down clues sorted that out. Grateful to Tracy for a good puzzle to end the week and thx to our blogger for some insights.
    Thx too for the tip on yesterday’s 15×15. Just in time to save this from the bin and hope to have some success over this weekend as I have no more QC’s to catch up.

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