Times Quick Cryptic No 1628 by Breadman

43 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1628 by Breadman”

1. I always get nervous when a shire is named, but it’s always, or almost always, irrelevant; not knowing that MILTON KEYNES is in Bucks was no handicap (although not knowing MILTON KEYNES would have been!). DNK the horse. Thanks for the informative blog, Roly; never knew about ‘ajar’ (or Milton Keynes). 5:42.
2. I had to look up the horse, since I’d never heard of it. I got the ORCHID bit but assumed the first word started RED…

   I used to drive past Milton Keynes when they were building the town (city?). The first thing they built was the bypass, even though there was nothing to go around but empty fields at that time.

3. 8 minutes. Didn’t know IN SHORT ORDER was particularly American, if it is.
   1. I had meant to mention that; it was news to me, but then I’m often enough surprised to find here that some expression is an Americanism. But ODE (sv short) marks it as

      [Error: Irreparable invalid markup (‘<chiefly […] amer.>’) in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

      I had meant to mention that; it was news to me, but then I’m often enough surprised to find here that some expression is an Americanism. But ODE (sv short) marks it as <chiefly N. Amer.>, and all its examples are from American English.

      Edited at 2020-06-04 06:01 am (UTC)

4. 20 minutes with a long time spent on desert orchid (COD) and heath.

   The main thing I remember from MK is the dreary roundabouts.

5. O to be able to touch-type! If I could see what I was typing I would have realised DESERT ORCHARD didn’t fit long before I eventually did.
6. In response to Kevin (not replying directly as there’s some sort of glitch in your previous that you may wish to edit), I find that both Collins and Oxford online (Lexico) have IN SHORT ORDER as American or ‘chiefly American’. Seems odd to me, also that the setter would feel he need to signal it when I doubt any Quickie solver is going to need that piece of information – if they don’t know the saying it’s hardly going to help!

   Edited at 2020-06-04 05:48 am (UTC)

   1. I have no idea what the error message is saying, or who sent it or how it got there. I tried to edit it, but what I find is in fact what I sent; the 2d paragraph, marked as ‘raw contents’.
7. Aha; I wondered if those signs (which I don’t normally use here) were involved. Thanks.
8. Good puzzle. Many quite quirky and testing clues plus some gifts that just fell out. Good that roly can spot pangrams; I wouldn’t spot one if I tripped over it although I should have noticed an X and a Z, I suppose. One second under target for me but it seemed as though I was going much faster than that. Now that K is back, I was happy to be a couple of minutes under 3K. I finished, slowly, with BONANZA and PFENNIG which I found difficult. Thanks to Breadman and to roly whose blog was especially helpful in confirming the parsing of some answers (and revealing the real basis for a couple of biffs!). John M.

   Edited at 2020-06-04 07:58 am (UTC)

9. An enjoyable stroll this morning and I was on the look out for a pangram after the J, Q and Z appeared early in my solve. ERATO would have taken a lot longer in the past but it is now firmly fixed in my mental list of words I only need to use in crosswords. Finished in 9.39 with the racehorse and EYE DROPS.
   Thanks to roly for the enlightening blog
10. it’s because you used the greater than / less than signs which the system tries to execute as an instruction (eg for formatting)

    Bob

11. But at least finish I did even though if took me about 35 minutes or so. My main holdup was IN SHORT ORDER where “in USA” did nothing but confuse me. I use this phrase myself and am not from the States so this extra detail was a very unhelpful addition to the clue. I biffed BONANZA, not being able to find “bigwig” in it. I also biffed DESERT ORCHID, my penultimate LOI, because I don’t remember C having appeared before as an abbreviation for “cape”. All in all, though, this was an enjoyable puzzle with lots to like. Thanks so much for the super informative blog, Rolytoly,and thanks, too, to BREADMAN.
    1. I’d like to hear from the setter about IN SHORT ORDER, as several authentic Brits have expressed their familiarity with it. There is another term, ‘short order’, which may be US only: i.e. simple dishes quickly put together, as at a cheap diner, where a short order cook dishes up the sort of food the Monty Python Vikings were scoffing: spam, spam, bacon, beans, eggs, and spam, that sort of thing.
       1. Obviously, Breadman added it to be helpful… but it might be useful for him to know that this phrase has well and truly crossed the pond! (or, at least, I think it has. It’s reached Wales, anyway. )
       2. I’ve heard of ‘short order chefs’ too.
12. DNF. I solved most of the grid pretty quickly (under 10 mins) and then came to a halt with my last two which were the US saying IN SHORT —E- and the racehorse -E-E-T —H-D neither of which I could solve. The only other hiccup was MILTON KEYNES which given I live in Buckinghamshire, in an MK postcode area, I should have got straight away. Thanks anyway.
13. Mostly fairly straightforward, but I found myself left with 15a for some reason. I’m sure I’ve seen very similar clues before so I don’t know why the answer didn’t leap out at me, but it didn’t and then I assumed that because we were only missing a W, it must go in there. I felt the two most likely options were AT WAKE or AT WANE though never having heard of either expression, nor of TWANEs or TWAKEs, I was dubious. I also vaguely remembered Breadman’s no B puzzle. Nevertheless I stopped my watch, after at least 15 minutes head scratching, at 47:56, and turned to read a couple of pages of a book, before getting up. Thankfully I did then decide to have one last look at it and think what letters might follow a T, which was when the penny dropped. So, a disastrous time, but at least no DNF. Thanks Rolytoly and Breadman.
14. Oh dear! Back to being over target at 19 minutes, with DESERT ORCHID LOI. I knew of the horse, but maroon made me think RED RUM might be in there somehow. I also took a while to spot Milton Keynes (anyone remember concrete cows?) and SQUIRREL where I was thinking laird instead of squire. Well done to Breadman who beat me today, and to Roly for the blog. I wonder which letter will be missing from Breadman’s next nearly pangram?
15. Really enjoyed this puzzle- suspected a pangram quite early on but it only hindered not helped as I was trying to put a W in my LOI 13D. Thanks all
16. With AJAR and VERDI being my first 2 in, ADVOCAAT sprang straight to mind after its recent excursion. My company used to have a training centre in MILTON KEYNES. I used to take my push bike when on courses and explore the surrounding countryside, which was quite pleasant. I particularly remember the Greyhound pub in Haversham village and some dicey rides along the tow path late at night! Having knocked the top half of the puzzle off IN SHORT ORDER(my LOI), I slowed down a bit down below and just scraped in under my target at 9:46. Thanks Breadman and Roly.
17. I am another Brit who uses IN SHORT ORDER and had no idea that it was an Americanism. Sadly I could not dispose of this puzzle in that manner – DESERT ORCHID was reluctant to leave the starting gate; the SQUIRREL ran off into the woods; I was determined to fit TARS into what turned out to be ABSTAIN; having been reminded by PeBee earlier in the week that “keys” can be ESC, ALT etc I fixated on those at 10ac; and so on and so forth. All in all I limped over the line in 2.75K for a Very Bad Day.

    FOI AJAR, LOI HEATH, COD ALPINE. Very good puzzle, thanks Breadman and roly.

    Templar

    1. Soz 😞
18. DNF – as I just couldn’t get the last word for 17ac and didn’t know 18dn. “In Short Order” isn’t unfamiliar, but not something I would use in common language. A pity really, as all the rest went in after 25 mins.

    Have to admit, thought this was an Oink puzzle at first with references to Swine and Pigsties scattered about.

    Some nice clues though, with “Pfennig”, “Quarry” and “Bonanza” all coming to mind. Nearly biffed “Eye Tests” for 23ac – probably too much about it in the press.

    FOI – 1ac “Advocaat”
    LOI – DNF
    COD – 8dn “Desert Orchid”

    Thanks as usual.

19. I knew all the GK so this was fairly easy for me. FOI was VERDI. I too wanted to start 8d RED … but did not delay long over that once I had a few checkers.
    LOI BONANZA and 09:13 on the clock.
    A fun puzzle. David
20. No problems with this one – right on wavelength. Chuckled at the memory of DESERT ORCHID. I fancied I knew a bit about racing in those days and resolutely refuses to back such a populist ‘housewife’s favourite’ horse. Unfortunately the home-makers generally came out a few quid up and I didn’t.
    Many thanks to Breadman and Roly.
    3’40”
21. Enjoyed today.
    As others have said, In Short Order sounds British enough to me.
    Pleased to dig out Desert Orchid from the depths of my memory.
    Never heard of Erato, so put in very faint pencil from cluing eventually.
    Bonanza is v popular in the Codeword puzzle!
    Thanks as ever.

    Edited at 2020-06-04 11:51 am (UTC)

    1. You might want to make a note about Erato, as she pops up from time to time, at least in the 15x15s. Much more often than her sisters Clio, Terpsichore, Melpomene, and the rest.
22. … actually, wouldn’t really want even a small shot-glass of it, as the yellow drink is not a favourite of mine! If you did offer I would thank you but 14D …

    A very pleasant 9 minute solve, though 8D Desert Orchid was biffed and my LOI. No problem though with the other talking point du jour, 17A In short order, which despite being a Brit I am certainly familiar with.

    Thanks to Roly for the blog. The wait for a pangram from Breadman goes on!

    Cedric

23. DNF – pretty terrible from me today. Gave up after 30 mins still missing DESERT ORCHID, IN SHORT ORDER and PFENNIG. Started off well and thought it would be a quick one but ended up being a bit of a drag – judging by the comments above this is something confined to me, was perhaps just on the wrong wavelength today. Enjoyable clues nonetheless – COD goes to DESERT ORCHID after I found out what it was
24. We found this one to be a bit of a mix – some fairly straightforward clues and then some that really made us think. We spent ages trying to think of a race horse which we were convinced had something to do with red/red rum before settling on Desert Orchid (which is probably the only other champion race horse that we know). So, quite a slow time of 31 minutes today but it was time well spent – thanks Breadman.

    FOI: ajar
    LOI: Desert Orchid
    COD: eye drops or at ease (lots to choose from)

    Thanks for the blog Roly

25. I was told by Noel back in 2015 in a comment to my blog, that the posh name for a pangram with a letter missing is a lipogram. In that case, not only was it a double lipogram but extended to the clues as well – and a well hidden nina. Here’s the blog if anyone’s interested:
    https://times-xwd-times.livejournal.com/1351735.html

    As for today’s puzzle, I found it an interesting and satisfying solve in 10 minutes finishing with the seductress. COD for the surface in 8ac.

26. A good workout which kept me scratching my head for just over 20 minutes.
    AT EASE and EYE DROPS were both fun to solve but my COD goes to PFENNIG which I had almost forgotten about.
    I too struggled with IN SHORT ORDER as I was trying to fit in ‘US’ somewhere. I also biffed DESERT ORCHID as I hadn’t thought of ‘desert’ in the sense of ‘maroon’ and both words went in thanks to the checkers.
    Thanks to Breadman for the workout and to Roly for his informative blog. I had never heard about the naming of Milton Keynes although I do remember all the roundabouts and concrete cows mentioned above!

    Edited at 2020-06-04 02:05 pm (UTC)

27. Enjoyed today’s offering with lots of fine clueing and nothing too obscure (not to me at least). I am another Brit who doesn’t think in short order to be a particularly US phrase. Even managed to dredge up Desert Orchid from extremely sparse knowledge of horse racing without too much trouble. Just as well as I failed to parse it.

    FOI – 5ac T-Bar
    LOI – 15ac At Ease
    COD – 18dn Erato

    Thanks to blogger and setter.

28. Not sure why this took me so long at 2.4K. I usually find Breadman very user-friendly – perhaps I was just taking it a bit easy today! As others have said, the suggestion that the answer to 17a was an Americanism rather put me off – I have used the phrase plenty of times. Pfennig also took a while, which is silly really!

    I never noticed the lipogram (thanks Chris) but I wonder if the missing letters over the past two crosswords are linked to Breadman’s name? Perhaps we’ll be missing an S for sourdough next time!

    The only time I’ve ever been to MK was to visit the same place as John D (I think), although we went through it to visit Bletchley Park a couple of years ago – now that’s a fascinating place.

    FOI T-bar
    LOI In short order
    COD At ease – I like these sort of clues a lot
    Time 14 mins

    Thanks for the chewy slice, Breadman, and for the informative blog, Roly

29. A solve over afternoon tea rather than morning coffee today but the result was the same as very many lately – 21m. Pretty stuck in NE. DESERT ORCHID was one three racehorses I know but couldn’t bring to mind. HEATH, PFENNIG and BONANZA the last two caused trouble and all related to lack of general knowledge.
30. Exactly the same experience as others – most of this wasn’t too bad, but a handful of clues then took nearly half of my 30minn solve. Pfenning, Desert Orchid and Bonanza were the chief culprits, with the latter also getting the better of my parsing skills once I started out down the Oz An(t) dead end. On the plus side, my memory is still good for 4 days, so 1ac Advocaat (tolerable with a strong black coffee) went in with some relief. A good work out and informative blog, so well done Breadman and Roly. Invariant
31. I used to drive past Milton Keynes when they were building the town (city?). The first thing they built was the bypass, even though there was nothing to go around but empty fields at that time.
32. Yes Fox Milne:)
33. The Grey ‘Dessie’ was a National Treasure in the latter part of the last century – she not only raced but opened supermarkets and car dealerships – horses for courses here.
    In UK we all know about Sea Biscuit!

    IN SHORT ORDER was American Army talk introduced from Bilko & Co after WWII. It certainly wasn’t used at school – film derived English methink!

    FOI 2dn VERDI

    LOI 6dn BONANZA

    COD 8dn DESERT ORCHID

    WOD 11ac PFENNIG – the penny dropped early.

    Time an inglorious 13 minutes.

    Edited at 2020-06-04 04:10 pm (UTC)

34. ….and nothing to add. I’m amazed to be 13th on the leaderboard so late in the day !

    FOI AORTA
    LOI HEATH
    COD DESERT ORCHID
    TIME 0.68K

35. I thought that this would be mighty difficult so hats off to a well crafted slowly slowly “you get this one you might get this one“ walk through.
    Very pleased that Milton Keynes dropped in early and that although I knew early that it was Advocaat I wasn’t sure of the exact spelling- so that was late in. Otherwise all just great – Desert Orchid LOI since although I thought that I knew it I was stumped on the Desert bit for a while – trying as others to shoehorn in Red somewhere…
    Thanks all,
    John George
36. Found this very difficult but then I just don’t seem to be on this setter’s wavelength. Erato? Who?

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