Times Quick Cryptic No 1633 by Teazel

Author   TheRotterPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Teazel has come up with some very succinct clueing, all nicely parsed, in this morning’s puzzle, which entertained me for just 12 minutes (well inside my target range).  I suspect there will be some quick times, as there is nothing too difficult or obscure here.

FOI was RITE and I worked steadily through the grid, without being held up unduly by any of the clues.  I liked the device at 22a (SIGNPOST), and smiled at the idea of the exhausted kangaroo, and at the poor boy or girl left uncollected on date night.  With BELOW PAR and OUT OF BOUNDS I thought we may be seeing a golfing theme, but I can’t discover any more.

Thanks Teazel.  I hope you all enjoyed this.

Across

1  Proper sounding form of service (4)
RITE – We start today’s adventure with a homophone (sounding) which sounds like right (proper)
3  Rap elbow nastily, a bit unwell (5,3)
BELOW PAR – Anagram (nastily) of [RAP ELBOW].
8 Lizard lays egg in heath (7)
MONITOR – NIT (egg) inside (in) MOOR (heath), to give the name of a genus of very large lizards (MONITOR).  They get the name, apparently, because folklore believes them to give warning of the presence of crocodiles – who knew that?
10  Advice about extremely unusual flower (5)
TULIP – TIP (advice) surrounding (about) U{nusua}L (extremely meaning take first and last letter).  For once, a flower isn’t a river, and is one with which I am familiar.
11  Stood up on date?  That’s rather rude (8-3)
UNCALLED-FOR – Cryptic hint at the answer – if one were UNCALLED-FOR one might have been stood up on a date.
13 Insect, I wager, is metamorphosing (6)
EARWIG – Anagram (metamorphosing) of [I WAGER].
15  Design for floor covering (6)
FORMAT – FOR (for) and MAT (floor covering).  Efficient!
17  Bird’s time for sleep, buffeted by wind? (11)
NIGHTINGALE – NIGHT (time for sleep) and IN GALE.  If one were IN a GALE, one might well be buffeted by the wind!
20  Put on scales women’s rowing team shortly (5)
WEIGH – W{omen’s} and EIGH{t} (rowing team – shortly indicates to drop the last letter).
21  Eating nothing, following a painful little wound (7)
FASTING – F{ollowing} (allowable single letter abbreviation) and A (a) and STING (painful little wound).
22  One standing armed at the crossroads? (8)
SIGNPOST – Cryptic definition to a traditional signpost, which has arms pointing out the available destinations.
23  Desire is bringing wife and husband together (4)
WISH – W{ife} and H{usband} conjoined (brought together) by IS (is).

Down

1  Weird Times leader was speculated about (8)
RUMOURED – RUM (weird) and OUR ED.  As we are all contributors to or consumers of The Times, it seems reasonable to refer to the Times leader as OUR ED{itor}.
2  Medicine working to stop twitch (5)
TONIC – ON (working) inside (stopping) TIC (twitch).
4  Attention new edition deserved (6)
EARNED – EAR (attention – remember it, it comes up regularly) and N{ew} and ED{ition}.
5  Not to be approached, like an exhausted kangaroo? (3,2,6)
OUT OF BOUNDS – Cryptic wordplay – an exhausted kangaroo might also be OUT OF BOUNDS.
6  Flipping insolence, ghastly for traveller to shrine (7)
PILGRIM – LIP (insolence) reversed (flipping) and GRIM (ghastly).
7  Some polypropylene is of poor quality (4)
ROPY – Hidden answer (some) in {polyp}ROPY{lene}.
9  Not leaving work behind, in a manner of speaking?  (7,4)
TALKING SHOP – Cryptic definition.
12  That glen is to collapse eventually (2,6)
AT LENGTH – Anagram (to collapse) of [THAT GLEN].
14 Making a call, may one have this in one’s ears? (7)
RINGING – Cryptic clue.
16  County’s employees, ultimately industrious (6)
STAFFS – STAFF (employees) and {industriou}S (ultimately).
18  Plea from Somali bishop (5)
ALIBI – Hidden answer (from) in {som}ALI BI{shop}.
19  Said to take advantage of sheep (4)
EWES – We started with a homophone, so we’ll finish with one – sounds like USE (take advantage of).

45 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1633 by Teazel”

  1. No problems, no biffs. 20ac struck me as awkward; couldn’t the setter have had it ‘Women’s rowing team shortly put on scales’? 5:19.
  2. The current run of QC setters achieving their 150th milestone is now over but I omitted to point out that today’s setter, Teazel, achieved his 150th with QC #1612 on 13th May, so I would like to offer him my belated congratulations as he gives us his 151st.

    Like several other QC setters, Teazel has compiled many a 15×15 puzzle for The Times but additionally he served as Crossword Editor from 2002 to 2014, the year in which the Quick Cryptic first appeared. Many thanks for all the pleasure given and long may it continue.

    Although I completed all but one word of this puzzle in 8 minutes I’m afraid I suffered a complete mental blank with regard to the remaining answer at 1dn. I got as far as RUM (weird), ?U?, ED (Times leader) but despite several attempts at alphabet trawl I was unable to come up with any word that fitted the checkers and eventually, after spending 10 minutes on this clue alone, I threw in the towel and resorted to aids. Of course on seeing the answer I felt foolish for not seeing what should have been so obvious.

    Edited at 2020-06-11 02:41 am (UTC)

    1. I had exactly the same experience to the letter – I just could not see it, or somehow conjure up the sound of the word. I also threw in the towel after an initial 8 minutes to do the rest of the puzzle and then a further 10 minutes on 1d. A strange case of complete crossword blindness. PS As this is my first post I can’t let it go by without saying what an amazing job all the bloggers do but I somehow see you as the primus inter pares so a particular thanks to your good self. Dvynys
      1. Welcome to TfTT as contributor, Dvynys, and I’m glad you find the blog useful. Please sign up for a (free) Live Journal account and come back to us now that you have broken the ice, so to speak; I imagine your name will not already have been taken by another user!
        1. Thank you. It’s a real word in a real language I have a connection to, which is a suitable moniker for me. Even if it does look like a random collection of letters (probably its attraction!)
          1. linkiu nuostabios jums dienos

            also exactly the same experience with RUM_U_ED, even down to the timings; except that an alpha-trawled REMOUSED eventually got me there

            Edited at 2020-07-21 11:59 pm (UTC)

  3. Same here Jackkt. I fair ripped through today’s puzzle (by my standards at least) but was totally flummoxed by 1d and after spending a frustrating 5 minutes trying to teaze it out I looked it up. Still, 20 mins is a good time for me. I can almost smell progress in the air.
    Thank you Teazel.

    Edited at 2020-06-11 06:02 am (UTC)

  4. More than three quarters done in 10m but the NW was extremely bare, so without the benefit of many checkers it was hard work from there to finish all green in 18. On the first pass nothing went in until EARWIG and NIGHTINGALE came to the rescue and from there the bottom filled up well. On finally returning to the NW I kicked myself for missing out on RITE but then slowed mightily. Failed to recall RUM or MOOR for weird and heath even though we’ve had both recently (and often) so that made it hard and needed the unparsed RUMOURED (I think it was the “about” in the definition that put me off the scent) before UNCALLED FOR jumped out to finish.
  5. 10 mins but also stuck on format and rumoured at the end. Lucky to spot our ed for times leader.

    Lots of good clues as mentioned by Rotter, my COD format.

  6. After two dreadful times the last two days I’m back to something approaching normal, a time of 20:51, just outside my hoped-for 20 mins. Started well but was slowed down by RUMOURED and FORMAT, like some others. Had to spend about 7 minutes pondering the last 3 clues, but got there in the end.

    FOI: rite
    LOI & COD: rumoured

  7. Nice puzzle with one or two clues that slowed me down, as they did for others above – particularly RUMOURED (my LOI) which was clever but hard to see, EWES and SIGNPOST (which needed crossers). My COD was 5d which made me smile. Closer to my target today but still on the wrong side at 18mins. Nevertheless a relief not to be as bamboozled as I was yesterday. Thanks to Teazel and rotter. John M.

    Edited at 2020-06-11 08:34 am (UTC)

  8. A very witty puzzle, I thought, with some neat and clever ideas. Shout out to SIGNPOST, OUT OF BOUNDS and UNCALLED FOR, all of which made me smile. Like others the NW was the tough spot and I had to return to it to winkle them out one by one. All done and dusted in 1.75K and sub-ten for a Good Day.

    FOI RITE, LOI RUMOURED (very clever … too clever for me!), COD WISH for the excellent surface. Thanks Teazel for this one and all the others, and thanks Rotter.

    Templar

  9. At 49 minutes! COD was 9D Talking Shop which just appeared before me and made me laugh.

    A struggle towards the end to fill in the last few, as I got stuck on 15A Format (I’ve not seen the word from the clue added straight to the answer before) and 22A Signpost (a true lightbulb moment when I released what the checkers spelt!) but well worth persevering to the end. 1A was also tricky even with the R from Rite. I remembered rum for weird but for a long time had -THED at the end for Times Leader and never did work out why -OURED worked in its place. Thanks as always for the blog which explained!

    Great puzzle Teazal.

    FOI: 1A Rite (so satisfying to get the first one)
    LOI: 15A Format

    Edited at 2020-06-11 09:07 am (UTC)

  10. A steady solve starting with RITE and finishing with FASTING then STAFFS. 7:26. Thanks and congrats to Teazel and thanks to Rotter for the blog.
  11. if ever there is an accessible 15×15 its always nice to hear about it here, as occasionally people do. Otherwise the jump from QC is very hard to make, particularly when you can get most of the way through a QC but can’t get to more than 1 or 2 answers in the full cryptic!
    1. Also check the crossword snitch website, see the link on the right or google times xwd snitch.

      It gives an indication of the difficulty each day, green is easier, red is hard.

      Edited at 2020-06-11 09:45 am (UTC)

  12. … Which took me 35 minutes with, for me, the never-heard-of GATH, just limping over the line. Today’s, however took me 19 minutes which, though, 4 minutes over my target, is quite pleasing, nevertheless. My LOI, as for many here, was RUMOURED, which I think had a nicely tongue in cheek clue. I really like pun-type answers and UNCALLED FOR, SIGNPOST and OUT OF BOUNDS were lovely examples of that. I also giggled at EWES for “take advantage of”. I needed the blog for the parsing of MONITOR, though, as I am so used to “egg” being equal to O, that I was a bit stumped to see how what was left made any kind of sensible word. Thanks, Rotter, for the blog. Very interesting and clear, as always, and thanks, too, to Teazel, for a super challenge.
  13. 7 minutes but with 2 remaining. I couldn’t solve 1d RUMOURED and without the U 11a UNCALLED FOR remained elusive. Thanks for the blog Rotter and the parsing for 1d which I couldn’t unravel. Sorry, I’m not a fan of the construction of 1d.

    Congratulations to Teazel on your 150th QC.

    Edited at 2020-06-11 09:42 am (UTC)

  14. 23 minutes, three over target but at least five spent on the last three in the NW. I didn’t get RITE until the end, but it gave me RUMOURED , and then UNCALLED-FOR. A lot easier than the previous two QCs!

    Brian

  15. I was on for a pb with this as I had all but 1a and 1d in 15 minutes and was feeling mighty pleased with myself as everything had gone in easily, most without even looking at the checkers. Then RITE just took me over my record 16:01 but I needn’t have worried about that as I then spent another 40 minutes trying to figure out 1d and eventually gave up bunging in RUMPUTED just in case there was an old editor of the Times called John Puted or something. I thought I’d be annoyed if it turned out to be something easy and I was right. Still, it was consoling to read on here that some others, even Jack, had had the same problem. Being a biologist I liked all the animal clues and 5d and 19d particularly raised a smile. So thanks (through) gritted teeth Teazel, and of course Rotter.
  16. I too struggled with Rumoured and Uncalled For but thought them witty. Also liked Out of Bounds and Signpost.
    Good fun today.
    Thanks as ever.
    FOI Nightingale and Rite

    Edited at 2020-06-11 10:23 am (UTC)

  17. Like others I found the NW tricky with the parsing of RUMOURED and MONITOR requiring some thought and I needed all the checkers before UNCALLED FOR revealed itself. My LOI was FORMAT, mainly because I forgot about it and nearly pressed submit before filling it in. I enjoyed Teazel’s usual wit and SIGNPOST just gets my COD. Finished in 9.15.
    Thanks to rotter.
  18. I really enjoyed this puzzle, thinking I’d achieve a PB, until I came to a halt at RUMOURED which took my time to seconds over 12 minutes.
    MONITOR and SIGNPOST also baffled me so thanks to Rotter for the clarification.
    I agree with others that UNCALLED FOR, OUT OF BOUNDS and EWES were all contenders for COD and I can’t choose between them.
    Thanks and congratulations to Teazel.
  19. … on 1D, which appears to be most people’s LOI and many people’s nemesis completely. I am no different; it was my LOI too and took me from a fast sub-10 time to a rather pedestrian one!

    Question, does this make it “a great clue” or “not really one for the QC”?

    That apart, I enjoyed this offering from Teazel, which largely flowed in. COD 5D, Out of bounds, which made me smile.

    Thanks to Rotter for the blog
    Cedric

  20. RUMOURED wasn’t quite my LOI but I did need all the checkers and a lightbulb moment. Otherwise I biffed a lot today : when you see ‘flower’ and T_L _P there isn’t a lot of point reading on (Hubris Alert!)

    Many thanks to Teazel and Rotter.
    3’25”

  21. Meant that although I finished this QC (a rare event) I don’t know in what time. Aargh! Somewhere between 30 mins and an hour I’d guess.
  22. Well, who’d a thought it? 2 PBs and a PW (personal worst) in the same week. As we started this really entertaining puzzle we picked up speed and realised that we might achieve a reasonable fast time – we did, 8 minutes! Some great clues from Teazel today – thank you (didn’t know of Teazel’s impressive pedigree until jackkt reported on it today).

    FOI: rite
    LOI: earned
    COD: ewes (😂) and out of bounds (well, there are 2 of us so we can have 2 CODs – when it suits)

    Thanks to Rotter for the blog

  23. After yesterday’s disaster back on track today to rebuild my confidence. NW corner problematic but one by one they eventually yielded. 1 down took an age but stuck at it and finally rewarded. For me a good level for a QC.
    Graham
  24. I looked at this after the 15×15 so I had had a good warm-up.
    FOI was WISH,not a fast start. After that I was pretty quick getting to my last two. I actually parsed RUMOURED (COD) whilst solving and then put in EARNED for 4d. Just over 10 minutes on paper.
    1d is another example of “Times” being in a clue in italics on paper and not so online. Is there any significance to the italics which the editor must have approved?
    Congratulations and thanks to Teazel. David
    1. That’s very interesting, David. I wasn’t aware this happened. I have access to the facsimile newspaper on-line but rarely look at the puzzles there. Having checked it just now, I see what you mean, and can only think it was an attempt to be helpful considering this is a QC puzzle, and the italics are meant to emphasise the point that ‘Times’ is a reference to The Times newspaper leading to ‘Our Ed’. Although the clue beat me (see my original posting above if you are interested) the lack of italics in my print-out from the Club wasn’t a hindrance, as I thought ‘Times newspaper’ as soon as I saw the capital T. It may have helped others though.
      1. Thanks very much for this.
        I thought I had seen exactly the same thing in a recent prize puzzle. Have a look at 12a in 27684 . David
        1. Yes, I see what you mean, and again I wasn’t aware of it as I hadn’t seen the printed edition or the facsimile on-line, only the version printed from the Club.

          It’s a slightly different scenario from today’s QC clue though as in the 15×15 puzzle ‘Times’ was cluing ‘x’ in the sense of the multiplication sign, so the ‘T’ didn’t need to be capitalised. This was done only in order to facilitate the surface reading references to ‘pressman’ and the Times newspaper. Putting ‘Times’ in italics was an additional misdirection.

  25. Like nearly everybody I was slow to complete the NW corner, especially 1ac and 1dn. I realised relatively quickly that Rumoured fitted in 1dn but couldn’t parse it for quite a while, so didn’t put it in. Other than that everything went in fairly seamlessly and I loved several of the clues, again in common with most others.

    FOI – 8ac Monitor
    LOI – 1dn Rumoured
    COD – a lot of candidates today but my choice would be 17ac Nightingale for the wonderful misdirection.

    Thanks to Teazel and TheRotter

  26. ….ah, wait ! It isn’t yesterday once more after all ! That was what threatened when my FOI didn’t let me progress in the NW corner. However, I wasn’t BELOW PAR after that, and came in a basically clockwise direction to finish there.

    FOI RITE
    LOI RUMOURED
    COD TALKING SHOP
    TIME 0.66K

  27. After lurking in this blog for a little over a month now I finally took the plunge to do the crossword without any aids and seemed opportune to leave a comment too!
    Time of 28:08 which I’m ecstatic with, FOI earned, LOI talking shop COD out of bounds though enjoyed a lot of them!
    Also good to hear a lot of people struggled in the NW corner as I was sat there for the last 10 minutes feeling a bit lost until I biffed rumoured without parsing it at all!
    2. Welcome Nishfish21. 28.08 is a perfectly respectable time. I hope, now that you have introduced yourself, that we will hear more from you!
  28. Seem to be having a bit of nightmare with the QC’s this week. Another DNF – primarily in the NW corner. Again, nothing really difficult, although I hadn’t heard of 8ac “Monitor” for a lizard. As a result, 1dn and 9dn just wouldn’t come.

    Never a fan of clues with what seem to be random abbreviated letters eg. following = f for 21ac – but it was a fairly obvious answer at least.

    FOI – 3ac “Below Par”
    LOI – DNF
    COD – 22ac “Signpost”

    Thanks as usual.

  29. Delighted with a 2nd sub 15 mins ever – both this week.
    As a novice solver, I’d appreciate some clarity on why Following should equate to F.
    I love this blog and check in every day – thanks to all the setters, bloggers and other contributors.
    P.S. I solve on my iPhone and allow myself the luxury of a periodic check if all is correct – or more frequent if a stinker…!
    Barry.
    2. Congratulations Your Majesty!

      My favourite sub-hobby has been tracking down explanations for the common abbreviations used in Times crosswords, mainly to help me remember them. ‘Following’ is an obscure one, which I think comes from editing or notations in manuscripts etc. (see also p = page, ibid= in the same place, sic = let it stand). The letter ‘f’ is used after a cited page number to indicate that the citation continues onto
      ‘following’ pages.

      This from Wiktionary:

      —
      ff.
      Abbreviation of Latin folio (“on the (next) page”), ablative of folium (“leaf, page”).

      The abbreviation ff. is used in citation to refer to a section for which no final page number can usefully be given… If there is only a single section following, f. may be used instead…

      As such, “Hornblower 258f.” would refer to pages 258–259, whereas “258ff.” would refer to an undetermined number of pages following page 258.
      —

      So the ‘f’ is not strictly an abbreviation for ‘following’ after all (it stands for ‘page’), but it is nevertheless used to indicate as much.

Comments are closed.