Times Quick Cryptic No 1562 by Oink

Author   plusjeremyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Introduction

Super distracted with the kids, but no major difficulties here. There were a lot of head-scratchers on first pass, but I was always able to get some crossing letters and figure everything out.

Solutions

Across

1 Model office worker keeping you waiting? (8)
TEMPLATE – TEMP (office worker) LATE (keeping you waiting, for example)
5 Half of tour party [making] a fuss (2-2)
TO-DO – half of TOUR + DO (party)
8 Kidnapped a British editor on Tube (8)
ABDUCTED – A + (B + ED next to DUCT)
9 Two chaps [having] a laugh? (2-2)
HE-HE – HE HE (two chaps)
11 A pigeon [for] a poet? (5)
HOMER – double definition
12 There’s no getting around it — I’m old-fashioned (7)
IMPASSE – I’M PASSE (old-fashioned)
13 Unapproachable / station controller? (6)
REMOTE – double definition
15 Oddly edgy on ship[’s] departure (6)
EGRESS – odd-numbered letters of EDGY + RE (on) + SS (ship)
18 Conservative type, as queen’s husband is? (7)
CONSORT – CON (conservative) SORT (type)
19 Aggressively male chairman embracing companion (5)
MACHO – MAO (chairman) around CH (companion)
21 Consent to old beast of burden turning back (4)
OKAY – O + YAK reversed
22 I hear it’s possibly the most dangerous (8)
HAIRIEST – I HEAR IT’S anagrammed (possibly)
23 Duke Ellington exposes bottom (4)
KEEL – hidden in DUKE ELLINGTON
24 One running out of clothes? (8)
STREAKER – cheeky definition (pun intended)

Down

1 Coach fixing the race? (7)
TEACHER – anagram of THE RACE
2 Bossy young girl running up and down (5)
MADAM – cheeky definition
I think the idea here is ‘boss-y’, ie ‘in the role of a boss’. The ‘running up and down’ part means it’s a palindrome.
3 Article on a criminal [is] cut (10)
LACERATION – anagram (criminal) of ARTICLE ON A
4 Sit back, holding ambassador’s paper (6)
THESIS – SIT reversed, around H.E.’S (ambassador’s)
6 Be responsible for poetry in Old English (7)
OVERSEE – VERSE in O.E.
7 Bathrobe serving to conceal fat? (5)
OBESE – hidden in BATHROBE SERVING
10 Where koala may be / in a bit of bother? (2,1,3,4)
UP A GUM TREE – double definition
Didn’t really know this one but easy enough to guess.
14 Boring nun made to dance (7)
MUNDANE – anagram of NUN MADE
16 English tutors somehow [getting] fatter (7)
STOUTER – anagram (somehow) of E + TUTORS
17 Where to find cobbler / in the end? (2,4)
AT LAST – double definition
A ‘last’ is like a shoe-maker’s anvil.
18 Die, / as one with laryngitis might? (5)
CROAK – double definition
20 Arrest [of] chap from Prague announced (5)
CHECK – CZECH replaced by homophone

35 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1562 by Oink”

  1. Pretty straightforward, with MUNDANE my POI and OKAY LOI. MADAM came up once in a 15×15, where I learned that it’s Britspeak for (ODE) ‘a conceited or bossy girl or young woman’. 5:12.
  2. 9 minutes for a very enjoyable puzzle. I particularly liked ‘station controller’ and the moment of realisation that 23ac meant THAT sort of bottom and nothing to do with an embarrassing incident in the life of the great jazz musician.

    I also looked for piggy things without success apart from 24ac reminding me of streaky bacon.

    Edited at 2020-03-04 06:03 am (UTC)

  3. 13 mins but would have been longer as the NW was pretty blank until laceration went in, then the rest including LOI teacher went in smoothly.

    Some nice surfaces from the anagram clues: teacher, stouter, hairiest, and mundane.
    Liked streaker, but COD to keel.

    Edited at 2020-03-04 06:09 am (UTC)

  4. Built from the bottom up. Only five on the first pass of the acrosses and not that many more on the downs but the top pretty empty. Like Flashy, LACERATION was my route to the top. Almost did myself in by sticking TRAINER in for coach and then got confused with the clue and almost out CHEATER based on “fixing the race” – so twice misdirected on the same clue. Also had to change NATURIST to STREAKER – thanks to KEEL. Trend for multiple hiddens continues – very much enjoyed the surface for 23a. Good work Oink, thanks.
  5. 15:40, well under my 20 minute target for another excellent QC by Oink. It could even have been faster but a mis-typed TI-DO held up my LOI OVERSEE, another nice clue.
    Sometimes I think fast times are about getting checkers in the right places – I had just G_M when I got to 10D which made the answer obvious. On a bad day the checkers are all vowels!
    Thanks to Jeremy for pointing out that Mao was the macho chairman, and to Oink for the puzzle.

    Brian

  6. The full expression for a 2dn is – ‘A Proper Little Madam’.

    This engaged me for 12 mins after the 15×15 journey.

    FOI 5ac TO DO

    LOI 4dn THESIS once TISSUE was discarded.

    COD 13ac REMOTE (Frank Zappa)

    WOD 11ac HOMER

    10dn UP A GUM TREE is now quaint apparently.

  7. What a fun puzzle! Really enjoyed some of the clever and witty clues. Well within our “target” time and we too completed the NW corner last.
        1. Yes love it too. Is it true “Emma Peel” was from “Man appeal” or “M appeal” which were two ghastly (non-PC) phrases at the time of The Avengers? If so, a possible cruciverbalist homophone?
          1. Well, we didn’t know that and it seems you are correct. Apparently ABC’s Press Officer was amused by “M appeal” (man appeal) and so Ms Rigg was named. Quite ironic really as Emma Peel was quite a feminist trailblazer in many respects.
  8. 13 minutes for me, with a pretty much top to bottom solve. I did slow myself slightly by entering CHOKE instead of CROAK initially, which sort of works, but one look at the Duke Ellington clue revealed the folly of that idea.

    I looked for a piggy reference and, like Jacckt, thought of STREAKY bacon. The only other possible I could see was the PIGeon in 11a. Thanks Jeremy and Oink.

  9. I ignored the NW at first (again) and moved around the grid very quickly. The NW seemed quite simple once I had HOMER. 2.5K despite an unexpected interruption. Nice puzzle but, as rotter says, a bit short on porcine references. Thanks to both. John M.
  10. This was one of my better efforts. I tackled it early enough to find myself 3rd on the Leaderboard behind Verlaine and Kevin, but now, alas, have sunk to 28th as the Neutrinos have landed. The NW went in more or less as I read the clues and I finished with HAIRIEST at 5:47. An enjoyable romp. Thanks Oink and Jeremy.
    1. ‘behind Verlaine and Kevin’! Not often you’re going to see those two names linked. And there aren’t that many neutrinos between us now, either; I don’t recognize some names, but a lot of them are definitely legit. (Not Abromovitz, of course.)
  11. ….I found this surprisingly MUNDANE. The clue for STREAKER, for example, has been done to death.

    Once I’d resisted the early urge to biff “trainer” at 1D, the only thing that stopped me beating 3 minutes was having to change my LOI from “choke” once I saw KEEL.

    Ahead of Verlaine, so a very good day. If only I could do that at the Championship.

    FOI TEMPLATE
    LOI CROAK
    COD KEEL

  12. I thought Oink gave us some cracking clues today… although sadly nothing crackling. For once I seemed to be on the wavelength and completed the grid in 15 minutes – one of my better times – including the obligatory hold up at the end with the Laceration/Template pairing. (Wrong end of the clue issues with 1ac, where I hought the initial T related to the car.) I thoroughly enjoyed Oink’s sense of humour, as seen in Homer, At Last and Streaker, but my CoD vote goes to 10d, Up a Gum Tree, which went in with just the G in place. Invariant

    Edited at 2020-03-04 12:06 pm (UTC)

  13. This Oink QC was very enjoyable and not at all MUNDANE. I particularly enjoyed the cluing for IMPASSE, REMOTE, KEEL, OBESE and CROAK. FOI TO-DO and LOI THESIS in just under 10 mins. Thanks Jeremy and Oink.
  14. I thought this was a terrific puzzle. I really enjoy Oink’s style – I find his puzzles full of wit and invention, and he is now my favourite setter. Another Very Good Day at 1.5 Kevins, just quicker than vinyl. I was another CHOKEr at first, until I got KEEL.

    FOI TEACHER, LOI CROAK, COD KEEL for the surface but there were so many COD Contenders – see desdeeloeste’s list!

    Thanks Oink and Jeremy.

    Templar

    Edited at 2020-03-04 12:26 pm (UTC)

  15. DNK last. Thought that was an awl. Proper old rhyming slang for ball. Usu. pl. Eg. Kicked in the cobblers.
    Some super misdirections today. All of which I fell for hence 35 mins. Johnny
    1. Private Eye or possibly Sunday Times when Dean is on duty, for that sort of thing.
  16. Spoilt a fairly quick, for us, solve by putting choke for 18d, before tackling 23a, so the hidden keel did not reveal itself.
  17. to the QC today.
    No real hold ups though. 6:17.
    A good puzzle though, with some fun clues.
  18. Pretty much all done within 30 mins, but then got stuck on 12ac “Impasse” mainly because I had “In a gum tree” for 10dn for some inexplicable reason. Had to take a break before I realised my error.

    Although no obvious piggy references, the inclusion of “Obese” and “Stouter” do have some porkish conotations.

    Could anyone enlighten me on “Ch” as companion? Not sure I’ve seen this before.

    FOI – 5ac “To do”
    LOI – 12ac “Impasse”
    COD – 9ac “He he” – stupidly simple

    Thanks as usual…

    1. CH is ‘Companion of Honour’ one of the gongs regularly awarded by Her Maj (now with gloves on).
      1. Thanks – genuinely don’t remember coming across that in the QC even though I’ve been doing it for quite a while now.

        With regards to the clue it didn’t help that I thought it related to the “Chairman” part.

  19. I did pretty well today I think! My husband helped with egress – I didn’t really know it meant departure. In the medical world it means a sort of leakage! Didn’t notice the anagram for LACERATION so slow to get that. I also looked at the wrong end of 1a thinking the model referred to the T. I thought for me a lot of the misdirects were clever eg. remote as station controller. Now to see if I can do any of the 15×15 and to hunt out a suitable avatar to add to my profile. Thanks to you all.
    1. Once you start trying the 15x15s, it’s very easy to over-think QC clues like 1ac.
  20. Tired but happy after golf -perhaps a good state to be in as I finished this in 10:06. Vary fast for an Oink.
    No real hold-ups; LOI was TEACHER and only saw the anagram afterwards.
    A nice puzzle;COD to THESIS.
    David
  21. A very enjoyable solve with a couple of chuckles along the way (7d and 13a). I was a bit slow untangling the anagrams at 1d and 22a and I was unaware of the cobbler’s piece of kit so that went in unparsed. My best guess was that it had something to do with the desert coming at the end of a meal – which felt thin even to me. Finished in 10.19.
    Thanks for the blog
  22. I loved all the misdirection. I HEAR wasn’t a homophone. ARTICLE wasn’t A, AN or THE and so on. At 17.5 minutes I finished within my target time which has been a rare occurrence recently. Thanks for all the fun, Oink, and to Jeremy for providing the blog… a formidable task when juggling children!! MM
    FOI: TO-DO
    LOI: TEMPLATE
    COD: This is an impossible task. Too many super clues!!!
  23. Rushed in Cheater for 1d – ‘fixing’ muddled the head. Then convinced myself that Homer was Twain. If you google Twain and Pigeon there are so many hits that I convinced myself it was correct (even though Twain was a novelist) Homer! Doh! Not come across the Streaker clue before and therefore liked that…thought that stout was close to snout…many great clues including 9a ha ha hehe and 13a to name but two.
    But dnf due to 1d error.
    Thanks all,
    John George

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