Times Quick Cryptic No 1572 by Tracy

Author   plusjeremyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Introduction

Was it just me? I found this hard. It took me about 20 minutes, although I was distracted planning a 4th birthday party. But, no, I think this one was hard.

Solutions

Across

1 Charlie at match [in] one-piece garment (7)
CATSUIT – C (Charlie) + AT + SUIT (match)
5 Top dog heard (4)
PEAK – PEKE (= Pekingese) replaced by a homophone
Had to trawl the alphabet for this one.
7 Take it on ahead of performance (5)
REACT – RE (on) + ACT (performance)
Don’t quite get what’s going on here. I understand ‘take’ = ‘reaction’, but that’s as far as I get.
8 America’s initial support, very large by the way (7)
APROPOS – A (America’s initial (letter)) + PROP (support) + O.S. (very large = oversized)
Another hard one.
10 Hooter [in] stadium leader’s blown (3)
OWL – BOWL without the first letter
11 Hugo’s girl[‘s] gem about small article (9)
ESMERALDA – EMERALD around S (small) + A (article)
From The Hunchback of Notre-Dame .
13 A plain in a foreign land (6)
ABROAD – A + BROAD (plain)
Tough synonym for me. Collins attests it in contexts like ‘broad hints’.
14 Meagre sum originally held in reserve (6)
SPARSE – first letter of SUM in SPARE (reserve)
17 Rude about five on the rocks (9)
INSOLVENT – INSOLENT around V (five)
I was trying to do something with IMPUDENT/IMPRUDENT, which comes up a lot.
19 Jack having a drop of rum, [and] glass of beer (3)
JAR – J (Jack) + A + first letter (drop) of RUM
Another unknown, but clear wordplay.
20 Once more, in retreat, artist falls (7)
NIAGARA – AGAIN reversed + RA (artist)
I was suprised by this one! Great reversal.
22 Fetch bishop round (5)
BRING – B + RING
23 Turn down short branch line (4)
SPUR – SPURN (turn down) without the last letter (short)
Didn’t know this definition, so hard to get.
24 Factor [in] a small amount (7)
ELEMENT – double definition

Down

1 Large firm[‘s] constant, terribly poor quota (11)
CORPORATION – C + anagram of POOR + RATION
Probably took me longer than it should have. I was looking for a word starting with L.
2 Creeping plant [in] house on wheels (7)
TRAILER – double definition
Though I didn’t know the plant.
3 Mad / route taken by Ivy climbing? (2,3,4)
UP THE WALL – double definition
4 Seeing upper-class in streetcar, a shock (6)
TRAUMA – U in TRAM + A
5 Normal soldier? Not quite (3)
PAR – PARA (soldier) without the last letter (not quite)
6 Horrify a missionary in conversation (5)
APPAL – A + PAUL (missionary) replaced by homophone
9 Why a player’s unable to go on? (5,6)
STAGE FRIGHT – cheeky definition
12 Well thought of agent on university board (9)
REPUTABLE – REP + U + TABLE
15 Express great happiness about Irish writer on the radio (7)
REJOICE – RE (about) + JOYCE replaced by homophone
16 Expert giving support to guys [in] danger (6)
MENACE – ACE beneath MEN
18 Impish youngster having most of shellfish (5)
SCAMP – SCAMPI without the last letter
I was stuck on SHRIMP somehow.
21 Simple tune from Hairspray (3)
AIR – hidden in HAIRSPRAY

45 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1572 by Tracy”

  2. Delayed a bit on SCAMPI–like Jeremy, I toyed too long with SHRIMP–and APPAL (not a homophone for me). I took TRAILER as a generic–what I don’t know about plants would fill a book–but it hardly matters. 6:14.
  3. A toughie indeed! Took me a minute to get going but a helpful grid.

    FOI 1dn CORPORATION

    LOI 13ac ABROAD as per a very recent 15×15

    COD 9dn STAGE FRIGHT

    WOD 11ac ESMERALDA

    Time 8mins 45secs

  4. Under 2 Horryds but with Esmerelda.

    Lots of tricky ones: apropos, element, react, abroad, owl, and my LOI trailer.

    COD reputable.

  6. Only one on the first read through and not many more on the downs. Finished with a pink square in a not very enjoyable 30m. Like Flashy I had an E for an A in ESMERALDA, proving I didn’t parse and struggled to justify ABROAD, REACT, APROPOS, ELEMENT and at the time UP THE WALL thinking it should be OFF but now realise I needed to put “DRIVING ME” in front to make sense of it. Bit of a slog today but can appreciate some good misdirection in the surfaces and well-hidden definitions.
  7. 12 minutes. Hard for a QC with my main problem just getting started. After that it was a steady solve but I still ended with half-queries against ABROAD and ELEMENT.
  8. Although all done in 30 mins which I’m okay with, I’m always slow with homophones and there were a few here. FOI CATSUIT, LOI PEAK, and had to biff APPAL and probably something else. COD NIAGARA. Thanks for the explanations, Jeremy.
  9. I too found this very difficult. FOI TRAUMA and was making steady progress. But wrote in REACT at 7a and then crossed it out; it didn’t seem to parse. That happened a couple of times. In fact my LOI was ELEMENT which I had declined to write in on first view because I thought there might be something better. Had to work out ESMERALDA from the clue and was careful with the spelling.Had problems with PEAK and APROPOS (excellent but hard clue) and was slow to see Stage Fright.
    21:22 on the clock; at least all correct. David
  10. Tough – I agree with Jeremy. Started OK with 1a but slowed sharply. Unlike horryd, I did not find the grid helpful. I biffed a few and, after opening up the SE with JAR and STAGE FRIGHT, I caused myself problems by mis-spelling ESMERELDA and thoughtlessly typing in REJOYCE. REACT and BROAD had to be but I didn’t like either of them. However, I did like OWL, APPAL, PAR, REPUTABLE, SPUR, and APROPOS. Enjoyable but frustrating. 4K finally so my week gets no quicker but remains lots of fun. Thanks both. John M.

    Edited at 2020-03-18 09:42 am (UTC)

  11. 75 mins wrestling. For the life of me I could not think of a one piece garment starting CAT, so resorted to the blog early on to get going.The blog was also needed for apropos and element, thank you plusjeremy!

    Edited at 2020-03-18 09:47 am (UTC)

  12. 31 minutes, well over target. Difficult, but very enjoyable although I made it trickier by mis-spelling APALL which held up my LOI APROPOS, an excellent clue.
    Thanks to Tracy, and to Jeremy for sorting out the bits I didn’t get.

    Brian

  13. I found this tough too. No trouble getting started, but I struggled to finish with JAR and REJOICE taking around 4 minutes between them! 13:48. Thanks Tracey and Jeremy.
  15. Also tough for me at 21 minutes. I initially entered ESMERELDA unparsed, after trying to recall the girls names in Les Mis, but after parsing spotted the error and amended prior to completion. My FOI was OWL, so I was nearly half way down the acrosses before getting an answer – unusual. NW corner yielded last, with 1a and 7a last two in after CORPORATION. Thanks Jeremy and Tracy.
  16. Like most people commenting today, I, too, found this hard. After a solid 5 minutes of pen-chewing, I had solved just four clues – 11 across and 5, 9 and 15 down. After 15 minutes, I had completed the East Wing but the West was almost entirely unpopulated. I spent absolutely ages trying to find a foreign country that was A*R*A*, 13 across, and a word meaning “rude” that was I***L***T. 18 and 16 down were my LOIs so they were of no help. I realised 10 across but couldn’t parse it, not for a moment thinking of BOWL. Like Jeremy, REACT did not work for me as “take it” although having now read Kevin’s comment, I get it.

    Isn’t 9 down an overly literal clue? Especially when compared to the (for me) opacity of the rest.

    Anyway, a quarter of an hour over my normal shut -off point, I limped over the finish line. Thanks, Jeremy, for the blog and thanks, Tracy, for the proper work-out you set us today.

  17. Yes Jeremy it was hard. I finished in 17 mins after taking an age to get going eventually from the SE corner. My FOI was REACT and my LOI SPUR. I wanted to put in OFF THE WALL for 3d but fortunately it didn’t fit. I needed all the checkers for CATSUIT and very nearly gave up thinking it was an exotic garment I had NHO. I definitely was not on the wavelength today.

    Edited at 2020-03-18 11:14 am (UTC)

  18. ….PEAK form, for, although it apparently sent many of you UP THE WALL, I only took pause to consider the spelling of ESMERALDA. Finished in 0.64K, and I’m grinding my teeth at not being able to submit online – I suspect I would be decently placed on the leaderboard.

    This is the only app on which my phone is deficient, and there is no solution forthcoming. I’m just going to have to accept a pleasure denied.

    FOI PEAK
    LOI MENACE
    COD CATSUIT

  19. After struggling a bit with yesterday’s QC, my heart sank seeing Tracy’s name at the top of today’s.
    However, just to show that clues are only difficult when the answers are slow to come, I found this to be one of Tracy’s more straightforward offerings, finishing in just under 24mins. Catsuit and Stage Fright went straight in, and Corporation wasn’t far behind, albeit after trying to find a quota from L+Co+Constant as an anagram. Trauma and Apropos were my last pair but, unlike yesterday, they only added a minute or two. Wonders will never cease. Invariant
  20. Gosh, it turns out that my 14:08 places me in good company so even though that’s 2.2K I now feel a bit better and am going to call it a Good Day. That was hard, as everyone has said. STAGE FRIGHT caused me the most grief – in order to get SCARE MONGER out of my head (media influence?!) I had to write out S-A-E and list all the letters that could go in between S and A and then try each of those in a trawl … fortunately G comes quite early or I’d still be at it!

    I don’t get REACT. I get the breakdown, which is how I solved it (once I’d got all the checkers …) but I still don’t see why REACT = “take it”. Kevin says “To take it is to react, though, no?”, but for me the answer to that is “no”! Why is it to react? Sorry to be thick.

    FOI CATSUIT, LOI ELEMENT, COD STAGE FRIGHT

    Thanks Tracy and Jeremy (great picture, Jeremy!).

    Templar

    Edited at 2020-03-18 11:57 am (UTC)

  21. Tell somebody something they don’t want to hear. How to they react / take it? Well or badly?
      1. It’s even in the dictionary:

        take: verb trans. React to or regard (esp. a piece of information or a new situation) in a specified way. ME. ▸ b Accept without objection, opposition, or resentment; put up with, tolerate. L15. (SOED)

          1. Well at least your response has given me my first laugh of the day! Hard to come by at the moment.
  22. … with many far better solvers than me also struggling it seems. Knew it was going to be a long haul when I could not solve a single across clue on the first pass!

    22 minutes later, answers “all present and correct”, but I did not see the parsing for rather too many of them. I join the many who did not see React as Take it, and I’m not sure I really do even after the explanations. Nor does Broad = Plain for me.

    Can anyone explain to mewhat is going on in 9D, Stage Fright? It seems to be a straightforward “whole clue definition” with no secondary cryptic element to help one at all.

    FOI 1D, LOI 13A, and COD 20A Niagara – nice clue.

    Thank you to Jeremy for the blog
    Cedric

    1. Not a ‘whole clue’ def in the &lit sense I think, but just a cryptic definition turning on a meaning of ‘player’ that may not be one’s first thought. And as so often with cryptic definitions there’s no other way into it, which is why some solvers don’t like them.

      Edited at 2020-03-18 01:18 pm (UTC)

  23. I still don’t get owl. The last word in printed version is blown not bowl
    1. Not that it’s necessary, but you can delete your message–unless it’s been replied to–by clicking on the garbage can icon next to your name. The ‘deleted comment’ at the very beginning of this thread, for instance, is me.
  25. Also struggled today though funnily enough BROAD was FOI. I’m a 25 min solver
    As I will have almost zip all to do in the coming months I’m looking to get better. I’d always left the 15×15 as a retirement project but may bring forward.
    As ever indebted to u all. Stay safe. Johnny
  26. So glad that you all found this one tough going. We’ve only had one day in self-isolation and I thought our brains had started to slow down! After 5 minutes of head scratching we were pretty sure we were heading for a dnf then, as if by magic, we solved a couple of clues and we were off.

    FOI: peak
    LOI: abroad
    COD: Esmeralda (but there were many good ones to choose from)

    Thanks Tracy and Jeremy (hope the birthday party can still go ahead)

  27. Took me a while to get going, but once I was into it I found it a steady solve. Personally I would have thought that to ‘take it’ is the complete opposite of REACT to it, so not at all convinced by that definition. Enjoyed STAGE FRIGHT, lovely cryptic definition. REJOICE was neat.
    Good challenge. Enjoyed it.
    PlayUpPompey
  28. After yesterday’s romp, i was brought back down to earth, struggling to a finish in 10:56.

    REACT and PEAK were my last two in. I liked APROPOS, as i could imagine Trump reading out the clue.

  29. Very hard. Took ages but I got most except REACT and ABROAD. Still don’t get the clues for them.
  30. Just under our 30m target, so pleased after reading the above comments. Usually start with the short 3 letter clues but 5d and 10a were among the final clues. Seem to be more comments of late, caused by the ongoing problems?
  31. Having finished the west half, had to look up Apropos and Sparse in the paper Crossword dictionary (seems a milder form of cheating than ‘tinternet. ). Then the rest fell into place.
    Thanks for hints, as ever.
    Could not parse Appal but guessed right, as with many other clues. (Now trying to think of an accent where Paul wouldn’t work as a rhyme.)
  32. Glad to find it wasn’t just me that found this really hard. In fact i had to use aids to fininsh. Really couldn’t work out APROPOS and don’t really understand why REACT is take it and I have never heard Paul (presumably the one in the bible) used for a missionary! I hope tomorrow is easier. Thanks for the blog.
  33. I seem to be in a minority in that I didn’t think this was too tricky. However my grid had a very lopsided look at the half way point with the SE half completed and barely anything in the NW half. CORPORATION then opened the rest of it up and I finished in 9.32 with an unparsed REACT. I had no idea who Hugo was and initially biffed the answer with an extra ‘e’, before picking up my error in my pre-submission review.
    Thanks to jeremy.
  34. I’m glad others found this difficult – thought it was just me and that current events had fogged my thinking.

    In the end, not sure how long it took as I needed two passes. One of those occasional ones where clues that just wouldn’t come in the morning, seemed fairly straightforward in the afternoon. However, upon reading the blog I have a technical DNF as I spelt Esmeralda wrong and put in an “e” for the “a”.

    FOI – 18dn “Scampi”
    LOI – 13ac “Abroad”
    COD – 3dn “Up the Wall” – it certainly did…

    Thanks as usual.

  35. Utter disaster. In over two years doing the QC I have never got so few clues. I do not want simple answers, I enjoy most of the crosswords as they test me, but this was off the wall. Bill70

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