Times Quick Cryptic No 1623 by Oink

Author   TheRotterPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
A nicely accessible puzzle from Oink, which took me 14 minutes to complete.  I had to write the anagrist down before seeing the answer at 10a, but otherwise it was all plain sailing, if slightly slow.

I thought I detected a slightly dark mood with the inclusion of setbacks, abuse, torture, cocaine, opium, tramp, scoundrel, choke, dreariest, pirate, et al in both clues and answers, but maybe I am being overly-sensitive.

Thanks Oink.  Readers, I look forwards to my fortnightly feedback on your experiences in your comments.

Across

1  Dripping, a kind of fat (9)
SATURATED – Double definition, the first an extreme of wetness, the second referring to saturated fats, which like most things at the moment divide scientific opinion.  Somewhere, there will be a university research team researching to find a topic that doesn’t divide scientific opinion.  The nearest I can think of is pepper – I’ve never heard anyone with a bad word for the stuff!
6  Party hard? What an idiot I am! (3)
DOH – DO (party) and H{ard}.  I think this is an expression popularised by the Simpsons cartoon series, but I can’t be sure, as I have never seen a minute of it.
8  Choke, spitting out large rum (7)
STRANGE – STRANG[l}E (choke) with the L removed (spitting out L{arge}).
9 Start to plead: I must have name (5)
BEGIN – BEG (plead) with I and N{ame}.
10  Confirm aunt is at best confused (12)
SUBSTANTIATE – Anagram (confused) of [AUNT IS AT BEST]
12 Appear to notice favouritism, finally (4)
SEEM – SEE (notice) and {favouritis}M (finally).
13  Stern bachelor meeting cook on vacation (4)
BACK – BA (bachelor) and C{oo}K (on vacation, i.e. removing the inner letters).  Did anybody else get caught out by the typeface and read this initially as “S t e m bachelor…”?
17  Ability to reason at the heart of MI6 (12)
INTELLIGENCE – It’s what the ‘I’ stood for in the abbreviation MI6 (Military Intelligence Section 6), although now more often referred to as the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service).
20  Found black stuff in the street (5)
START – TAR (black stuff) inside ST (street).
21  High-rise accommodation for social workers (7)
ANTHILL – Cryptic clue describing ants as social workers.  I suppose if one had no checkers, one may be tempted to biff BEEHIVE, but ANTHILL better fits both the checkers and the cryptic.
23  Go on to suffer setback (3)
YAP – To YAP is to go on, whilst to suffer can be to pay (reversed – setback).
24  Extremely dull criminal I arrested (9)
DREARIEST – Anagram (criminal) of [I ARRESTED].

Down

1  Cheek of son visiting famous regiment (4)
SASS – S{on} inside SAS (Special Air Service – famous regiment).
2  Tutor upset about abuse (7)
TORTURE – Anagram (upset) of [TUTOR] followed by RE (about).
3  Scarper, arguing occasionally (3)
RUN – Alternate letters (occasionally) from {a}R{g}U{i}N{g}.
4  Article on drinking den for barristers? (3,3)
THE BAR – THE (the definite article) and BAR (drinking den).  THE BAR is a term for the legal profession generally, but is also a collective noun for Barristers.
5  Posh girl acquiring top-class place to eat?  That’s a matter of opinion (9)
DEBATABLE – DEB (posh girl – debutante) with A (top-class) and TABLE (place to eat).
6  Follow only half of Marx’s doctrine (5)
DOGMA – DOG (follow) and half of MA{rx}.
7  Composer’s name announced  (6)
HANDEL – Homophone, sounds like (announced) HANDLE (name) as in my HANDLE / name on this blog is ‘therotter’.
11  Pretend to be excited, wasting time (9)
SIMULATED – S{t}IMULATED (excited) losing / wasting T{ime}
14 Illegal substance CIA once concocted (7)
COCAINE – Anagram (concocted) of [CIA ONCE].
15  Untidy room from which Oink might emerge? (6)
PIGSTY – Here we have Oink’s usual self-referential trademark in a cryptic definition.
16  Nick dangerous chap in the main (6)
PIRATE – double definition, as in to nick something might be to PIRATE it, and a PIRATE is a dangerous chap to meet at sea (in the main!).
18  Loose woman putting last of opium in gin (5)
TRAMP – TRAP (gin, as in a gin trap) containing last of {opiu}M.
19  Charlie leaping initially into bed (4)
CLOT – L{eaping} (initially) inside / into COT (bed).
22  Sailor putting scoundrel up (3)
TAR – RAT (scoundrel) reversed (putting up).

44 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1623 by Oink”

  1. Nothing to scare the proverbials. I semi-biffed SUBSTANTIATE, not taking the time to verify the anagrist. Pepper can cause stomach bleeding. 5:40.
  2. I seem to have had a harder time of it than others taking a little over 20m. I was held up by a few challenging definitions and by the clues in the very corners: SASS, YAP, HANDEL and TRAMP, none of which seem too tricky in retrospect.
  3. 10 minutes. I looked more than once at ‘nick’ = PIRATE before ‘getting’ it.
  4. I thought I’d leave the odd comment here to give hope to other newbies and strugglers out there!
    Today’s 27 minutes is a good time for me, in fact anything under 30 brings a smile to my face.
    I go for the anagrams, short clues and compound clues first and then go back to tackle the rest with some visual prompts in place.
    So.
    Today I got bogged down thinking that (1a) was an anagram of DRIPPING A (kind of) fat – see my point? It was only when I got a few letters from the Down clues that ‘saturated’ popped into my head. Strange how that can happen.
    And I still don’t see how START (20a) is a synonym for ‘found’. I worked the clue out pretty quickly, as it’s a straightforward one,, but couldn’t make any connection with ‘found’. That wasted time.
    Otherwise a pretty good puzzle I felt.
    Take heart fellow slowcoaches, and stick at it 😊

    Edited at 2020-05-28 06:41 am (UTC)

    2. I think found as in: started a new group/founded a new group.

      Edited at 2020-05-28 06:51 am (UTC)

    4. Found as in ‘founded’. DOH – so to speak!
      I see it so clearly now.
      Thanks chaps 👍
  5. 8 mins but I had left off the k from back, D’OH!

    cod Doh, can’t blame partying this time.

    Edited at 2020-05-28 06:48 am (UTC)

  6. Well, I was well thrown by the porcine one today. Just not on his wavelength. Very quirky in parts – I had to return to the empty NW after truffling around the grid looking for sustenance. 10 mins over my target. Thanks to both but I hope for a better performance (from me) tomorrow. John M.

  7. For the second day running I couldn’t justify my answer but your blog made me say doh 🙂 – Found for start is clever!! Pay for suffer is weak for me, and not too keen on American slang (sass and tramp) but good overall – thanks setter and blogger!
  8. A slow start today with the NW drawing a blank. The rest of the grid proved more amenable and when I returned I immediately had a penny drop moment with 1a and the rest fell into place, finishing with SUBSTANTIATE and SIMULATED. COD goes to DOH for the wordplay and for surprising me with a relatively up to date (by Times standards) cultural reference. Finished in 11.29
    Thanks to Rotter.
  9. Another super puzzle from Oink; I really enjoy his witty style. I also think he’s starting to put more spin on the ball as his setting career progresses and some of today had me chewing my pen hard – 1ac and 1dn were my last two in!

    FOI DOH, LOI SASS, COD SATURATED (real forehead slapping moment). All done and dusted in 1.5K for a Very Good Day.

    Thanks Oink and Rotter.

    Templar

  10. Unusually for me, I have a time. I usually do the QC in bits over the day, depending on when I collect the paper. Anyway, at 33 mins, not bad by my standards.

    I had to look up 1d, though. I couldn’t think of a three letter regiment – obvious, really. I even have a souvenir from a visit to the base – when I was working in IT (who would have thought you could get SAS branded plonk – needless to say, the bottle is empty by now). If i had got 1a, I might have spotted 1d, but sass not a word in regular employment in my circles.

    I also struggled with 2d, wanting to use ‘CA’ for ‘about’.

    Thanks to Oink and Rotter

    Edited at 2020-05-28 09:15 am (UTC)

  11. Was a bit slow to see SATURATED and SASS, my last 2 in, and I had to write out the anagrist for 10a as well as wait for most of the crossers. Liked PIGSTY. Over my target at 12:19. Thanks Oink and Rotter.

    Edited at 2020-05-28 04:44 pm (UTC)

  12. I wasn’t really on Oink’s wavelength despite being buoyed up after completing yesterday’s 15×15. FOI was DOH, PIRATE went in with a question mark once all the checkers were in place and my last two were SATURATED (doh!) and SASS. 11 mins for an OK day.
  14. An enjoyable puzzle today at just the right level of difficulty I felt, as I came in at 37 minutes. That’s a little under target or a bit over, depending on whether I’m in a half full (30 minutes) or a half empty (40 minutes) mood. I had to smile at 2a and would certainly recommend Rotter (and anyone else who hasn’t seen it) gives the Simpsons a go. LOI 1d, COD 21a
  15. Finished this almost ten minutes over target at 25 minutes. Some very nice clues here. One of my favourite sorts of clue is the double definition so I very much liked SATURATED, INTELLIGENCE and PIRATE, particularly the latter. I was rather less keen on 9 across BEGIN, which seems to me to end in an unnecessarily tortuous and clumsy way to find ***IN. Not wild about YAP, either. I have never come across “on vacation ” before to mean take the middle out…. or does it just mean to remove the Os? And if so, why? Don’t get it. Anyway, all good fun and a very pleasant way to spend half an hour in a sunny garden. Thanks so much, setter and blogger.
    1. “On vacation” is a standard setter’s instruction to use only the first and last letters of the word immediately preceding it (if it’s at the start of the clue it will be the word immediately following). It’s “vacation” in the sense of “to render vacant by removing the contents”. Hope this helps !
      1. Have to admit, I’ve never seen it used like that before – but I’m a lot less experienced than others so another one to take on board.
  16. ….but I’d stop short of calling it a PIGSTY. An enjoyable puzzle from Oink (as usual) and I was only slightly thrown by my LOI, where I’m familiar with SASSY but not with the nounal root.

    FOI DOH
    LOI SASS
    COD SATURATED
    TIME 0.73K

  17. Seemed to have made a pigs ear of this one and DNF.

    Everything was fine with 20 mins on the clock and some good clues to boot, but I just couldn’t get 16dn “Pirate” and had a complete mind blank on 7dn “Handel”. Annoying as I pretty much went through every composer beginning with H (Haydn, Holst etc.) apart from the glaringly obvious.

    FOI – 6ac “Doh”
    LOI – DNF
    COD – 21ac “Anthill” (might have seen this before but it may be chuckle)

    Thanks as usual.

  18. Another enjoyable 25 mins from Oink, with just a slight mer at the tense in 11d. Helped along the way by breaking the habit of a lifetime (well, these last few years) and actually seeing the answer to 10ac without having to shuffle letters around on paper. My loi, after struggling for a few minutes, was 16d, Pirate. Nice clue, but CoD to the misdirection in 9ac, Begin. Incidentally, according to MI5 (and they should know) there were what seems a staggering 17 Military Intelligence sections by the end of WWII. Invariant
  19. Same story as Phil only much slower. I finished in 12:31 having spent over a minute seeing if there was an alternative to SASS which I had thought of much earlier. Was trying to think of specific regiments, apart from SAS which I would regard as a separate force (have not checked this).
    Anyway an enjoyable puzzle from Oink. He is often quirky, in a good way, and you get used to his style. David
  20. Spent a very enjoyable 14 minutes solving this gem from Oink. Great variety of clues and so clever.

    FOI: doh
    LOI: dreariest
    COD: simulated (but really like pigsty and the bar too – spoilt for choice)

    Thanks for the blog Rotter

  21. Ok for me today. Couldn’t get “jet” out of my head for “black stuff”, so START was my LOI and took a while.

    7:20.

  22. Under 2K at 9 minutes which is a happy result. In the hope of cheering up our blogger and to offset the slightly dark mood – we do have A BEER in column 4 and THE BAR PIRATE in column 7.

    Edited at 2020-05-28 01:04 pm (UTC)

  23. Did this in between other things but probably would have taken me longer than usual if I’d timed. 1a was my LOI as I couldn’t seem to make it work, partially because I had ARSE for 1d, convincing myself that ARE was some variant of the Royal Engineers. Couldn’t understand why clot is Charlie, and still can’t – can someone please enlighten me?
    1. Both Charlie and clot are derogatory terms for a clumsy or inept person.
    2. ‘Oh you are a clot!’ Or should that be ‘Oh, you are a proper Charlie!’?

      Does that help?

      1. Ok that makes sense – still my first time hearing that sense of ‘Charlie’. Thanks!
  24. My COD. I’ve been watching season 2 of Snowfall covering the whole cash drugs guns CIA Iran Contras merry go round. No doubt similar continues. Johnny
  25. My first one in was 10A but I still came in at just under my target of 20 minutes.
    I loved picking my way through Oink’s often challenging clues but my COD goes to DEBATABLE for its simplicity.
    I struggled with DREARIEST as I was looking for it to include an L as well as a D (extremely DulL) but I got there in the end so don’t feel too much of a 19D.
    Thanks to Rotter for the enlightening blog.
  26. Steady solve until we met the pirate and the anthill which took us an age to eventually solve. Nice puzzle with amusing clues, thanks Oink.
    1. May I try to help?

      FOI – First one in
      LOI – Last one in
      COD – Clue of the day
      2K – A measure comparing one’s time to that of Kevin, one of our most regularly successful colleagues.

      I seldom break 2K. And today was m more like 4K as I baulked at 23A Yap (suffer = pay??), did not understand 16D Pirate, and took an age to see 13A Back as I overlooked the fact that stern can be the back of a boat.

      But all good fun, and thanks to Rotter for the blog.
      Cedric

  28. Sass was unusual and construction was more like S ass to me.
    Found Tramp offensive as “loose woman” – surely an outdated usage of this term?
    Yap very hard
    Otherwise great – thank you
  29. Hello. Why is cook on vacation ck please? I don’t see why being on vacation means removing the inner letters. Thanks.

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