Times Quick Cryptic No 1713 by Mara

Author   TheRotterPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Welcome to October.  No accurate time for me this morning after a computer crash mid-solve, but it didn’t feel like it took too long – I’d guess inside my target of 15 minutes.  Lots of double and triple definitions and lots of anagrams.  In retrospect, I think I award my COD to 21d which just pips 9d.  Thanks Mara.

Across

1  Happy to gather copper, type of metal (7)
MERCURY – MERRY (happy) containing CU (chemical symbol for copper).
5  Sweets in tin daddy emptied (5)
CANDY – CAN (tin) and D{add}Y (emptied, i.e. remove inner letters).
8  Instant trap so designed for dinosaur (11)
TRICERATOPS – TRICE (instant) followed by an anagram (designed) of [TRAP SO].
10 Support vertebral area (4)
BACK – double definition.
11  One’s days are numbered (8)
CALENDAR – Cryptic definition.
12 Cleaner leech (6)
SPONGE – Double definition, the first referring to a bath sponge, the second to a person who attaches himself to another for personal gain.
14  Fine South coast resort neither opens nor closes (6)
RIGHTO – The South coast resort is {b}RIGHTO{n} – neither opens nor closes (drop first and last letters).
16  Icy: uncle slipping about – hard to keep one’s balance on this (8)
UNICYCLE – Anagram (slipping about) of [ICY: UNCLE] with a literal cryptic definition.
18  Very, very unremarkable (2-2)
SO-SO – We had this same clue a couple of weeks ago, double-double definition.
20  Past one’s peak? (4,3,4)
OVER THE HILL – Barely cryptic definition.
22  Join one end, firstly (5)
UNITE – UNIT (one) and E{nd} (firstly).
23  Latvian originally admitted to being a different European (7)
BELGIAN – L{atvian} (originally) included in an anagram (different) of [BEING A] .

Down

2  Rate adjusted to accommodate ten more (5)
EXTRA – Anagram (adjusted) of [RATE] and X (ten in Roman numerals).
3  Scaredy-cat animal (7)
CHICKEN – Double definition.
4  Cereal in barley recently sent up (3)
RYE – Reverse (sent up) hidden in {barl}EY R{ecently}
6  Seed in banana republic to enter Wimbledon, finally (5)
ACORN – Final letters (finally) of {banan}A {republi}C {t}O {ente}R {wimbledo}N.
7  Unfortunate act ends melody (7)
DESCANT – Anagram (unfortunate) of [ACT ENDS].
9  Free and threatening, as a whole (2,5)
AT LARGE – Triple definition.
11  Staff trimmed in style (4,3)
CREW CUT – CREW (staff) and CUT (trimmed).  A CREW CUT is a hair style.
13  Bridge – that’s played with cards (7)
PONTOON – Double definition.
15  Start with support for member, developing flier (7)
GOSLING – GO (start) and SLING (support for member, i.e. a sling for a broken arm).
17  Split, one hundred remaining (5)
CLEFT – C (one hundred) and LEFT (remaining).
19  Sauce eaten by colossal savage (5)
SALSA – Hidden in {colos}SAL SA{vage}.
21  Sheep in tree, we hear (3)
EWE – An extra double definition, this time it is both hidden (in {tre}E WE {hear} ) and it is a homophone (we hear) sounds like YEW (tree).

40 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1713 by Mara”

  1. I started slow but picked up towards the end. The dinosaur really tripped me up!
  2. 1843 – The Economist magazine is launched

    Average solve, good QC. I did not see the parsing for LOI RIGHTO, was on the wrong track with F=fine. Also I’m always a fan of Triple Definitions, but the three forms of AT LARGE identified by Rotter don’t quite work for me. 21a, EWE, works much better.

    Does anyone still play Pontoon? Surely it has been superseded by Blackjack?

    I’m not sure thar a descant is a melody. It is a harmonious form, played/sung in a higher register to the melody.

    COD: EWE

    1. Yes, DESCANT is a melody, at least as the most common meaning of the word. A countermelody that sits high above the main melody. It’s often heard in the final verse of a hymn.

      10 minutes for this puzzle.

    2. I thought Pontoon was Blackjack – but maybe there are subtle differences.

      “Descant” for me conjours up images of school concerts where it was a type of recorder if I rightly recall.

  3. I wasn’t sure about DESCANT, either, but then what do I know? And it fit. 5:58.
  4. Six on the first pass of acrosses, mostly at the bottom having had to pass over three clues to get a start with BACK. Fortunately the downs were more accessible at the top I was left with a good range of checkers to help tackle the rest. Knew a thing called a DESCANT existed but couldn’t have said what it was beyond being something to do with music, so I waited for all the checkers to be in place and stuck it in. Held up at the end by SPONGE, ACORN (took much too long to see I needed the ends of more than just Wimbledon) and CANDY where I confused myself by being sure SN was involved – successful bluff Mara! All green in 12, fast for me and very good fun.
  5. Nothing too tricky today, although it took me a surprisingly long time to think of a fearful animal, which was my POI and helped me to but finally unravel MERCURY. I’m unconvinced by the threatening/AT LARGE link in 9d, although I’m sure that it appears in the usual sources. But other than that it was an enjoyable solve with my COD going to RIGHTO. Finished in 8.01.
    Thanks to Rotter
  6. Just the wrong side of my target at 16 mins. A good puzzle with TRICERATOPS, RIGHTO, BELGIAN, CREW CUT and GOSLING being my stand out clues and UNITE my LOI. No problem with DESCANT – a feature of many hymns in youth and definitely a superimposed and harmonious melody. Thanks to both. John M.

    Edited at 2020-10-01 08:29 am (UTC)

  7. FOI Extra; LOI MERCURY as I went round the grid and came back later. No major hold-ups. The dinosaur clue was clever and I was looking for a full anagram at first. Took a while to get DESCANT as I thought the last three letters were AIR.
    Another pleasant well-balanced QC. 10:30.
    David
  8. I can’t find any reference to AT LARGE simply meaning “threatening” and I don’t think it’s a triple definition. Lexico (thanks for the tip the other day, Jack) has “(especially of a criminal or dangerous animal) at liberty; escaped or not yet captured”, and I think that it’s just a double definition, with the first being “free and threatening”.

    Curious how often one’s solving pattern is shared with others – like plett11 and David I failed on MERCURY at first pass and eventually circled back to it as LOI. I found the acrosses very tough today, with five of them unsolved before turning to the downs (which happily were more co-operative). I got fixated on the dinosaur being an anagram of “instant trap” but saw the light once ACORN provided the O.

    FOI CANDY, LOI MERCURY, COD TRICERATOPS, time 1.9K for an OK Day.

    Very enjoyable puzzle, thanks Mara and Rotter.

    Templar

  9. I’m afraid I didn’t enjoy this, possibly linked to the fact it took me a good 30mins. I can’t be bothered learning names of dinosaurs, so I have to accept it’s always going to be a problem when one crops up, especially as a part anagram, and as for Righto… does anyone still use that? Invariant
    1. Once you start saying “does anyone still use that?” you are on a sticky wicket with PI (pious), SA (sex=appeal), GUY (verb), OB (Old Boy) and a host of PG Wodehouse era slang. Righto?
  10. I had two attempts at this but the combined times are certainly over half an hour. I was really stuck on the 12 across / 13 down and 14 across / 15 down combinations. Once I’d got those four, I couldn’t see why I didn’t see them in the first place. They were fairly clued – in fact, they’re great clues. TRICERATOPS was one of my first in even though I was puzzled until I saw TRICE because I was looking for an anagram of “instant trap “. Some great clues here with, IMO, the possible exception of AT LARGE, 9 down, because, to me at least, it only means “free and threatening ” in combination, not individually as “free”, and “threatening” and “as a whole”. Thanks, Rotter for the blog and thanks to Mara for the puzzle
  11. 29 mins for me, but I thought this was tricky. Like many above, clues that in hindsight seemed fairly straight forward just wouldn’t come – 3dn “Chicken” being the most obvious.

    I also thought at first 8ac was an anagram of “instant trap”, even though it was clear it was “Triceratops” once a few checkers went in.

    Enjoyed 11ac “Calendar”, 14ac “Righto” and 21dn “Ewe” which could be solved two ways. Regarding 13dn “Pontoon”, I always thought this was a pier like structure rather than a bridge – for mooring boats and jumping off when swimming.

    FOI – 5ac “Candy”
    LOI – 22ac “Unite”
    COD – 15dn “Gosling”

    Thanks as usual.

  12. Eek – failed on Unite. Knew it wasn’t knits.
    Had to check spelling of dinosaur.. Looked up Pontoon.
    Liked Righto which I did get.

    FOsI Rye, So-so, Over the Hill, extra

    Not a very good performance today. Got Chicken eventually but had been looking for an animal at first.

  13. A real struggle today. Took ages to get CHICKEN – an animal? and RIGHTO – thought it was RIGHT-HO. Hope for something less demanding tomorrow!
    1. Well, chickens ain’t plants or fungi or any of the little squiggly things, so that only really leaves animal! 🙂

      H

  14. I found this a mixed bag. Some write ins e.g. OVER THE HILL, some lovely surfaces such as UNICYCLE and then AT LARGE which I personally disliked. I would have been well within my 10 minutes target had it not been for 2 clues. My penultimate solve was GOSLING and my LOI was RIGHTO. My final time on submission was a little over 11 minutes. Thanks Rotter and Mara.
  15. Just below par today. I was tootling along quite merrily but came unstuck with my last two which took more than a couple of minutes to solve – not so hard, I just couldn’t see them.

    Very similar experiences to others – I didn’t see the parsing of TRICERATOPS either. I actually quite liked OVER THE HILL, also CALENDAR and RIGHTO. I quite often say ‘righto’! And my 20-something daughter frequently says ‘okey-doke’ which I thought went out of fashion years ago. Maybe it’s just us 😉

    FOI Extra
    POI Sponge
    LOI Pontoon
    COD Unicycle
    Time 13:00

    Thanks as ever to Mara and Rotter

    1. My daughter also likes retro slang, including “snazzy”, “groovy” and “shindig”. Its rather a sweet way to make her old man sound hip (that’s another).
      1. Not only hip, but cool too! She quite often uses snazzy too! I guess it’s like everything – when does something stop being dated and start being retro / vintage? Will they ever go out for a boogie though (pandemic or not)?
  18. Lovely reminder of Python’s wonderful flying sheep sketch at 21D (“They don’t so much glide as plummet”)

    No problems here, other than trying to spot a “saurus” at 8A.

    FOI CANDY
    LOI MERCURY
    COD TRICERATOPS
    TIME 4:13

  19. No real holdups today, apart from expecting the three-horned beastie to be an anagram of INSTANT TRAP. But then the SO was superfluous so I swiftly biffed TRICERATOPS.

    COD – CALENDAR

    H

  20. Slow to begin with but, once I’d started, I found this quite straightforward and finished within target at 13 minutes.
    I, too, was trying to find an anagram of ‘instant trap’ for the (to me) unknown dinosaur and I couldn’t parse GOSLING.
    Like Mendesest, it took me a while to realise that ACORN needed the last letter of several words and not just the last one.
    My favourites include MERCURY, CANDY and DESCANT and my COD goes to RIGHTO which I also use quite often.
    Thanks to the Rotter for the helpful blog and also to Mara for a very enjoyable puzzle.
  21. … and after a slow start, the last clues came quickly for a 9 minute finish.

    I had no problem with 9D At large, which like some others I saw as a double definition not a triple – the comma was helpful here – and biffed our dinosaur friend from the checkers before seeing that instant = trice. Very nice.

    LOI 6D Acorn, put in from checkers alone and never parsed. But of course it’s obvious when one reads Rotter’s blog.

    COD 21D Ewe; very clever to get two totally different constructions into a 5 word clue.

    Many thanks to Rotter for the blog
    Cedric

  22. Nice crossword today.
    Just to be pedantic Mercury is not a type of metal – it is a metal.
    In yesterday’s QC 1712 there was also a slightly dodgy definition of a metal.
    9ac solved as steel. In fact steel is an alloy of iron containing carbon!
    1. Many contributors here (including myself, so I know the temptation) nit-pick on their specialist subjects but one has to take into account usage in addition to technical niceties. ‘Steel’ by any normal standards is ‘metal’ (as defined in yesterday’s clue) if not specifically ‘A metal’, and mercury is a ‘type of metal’ with qualities (such as being liquid at room temperature) quite distinct from other ‘types of metal’. This is a crossword puzzle, not a Master of Science examination paper!
  23. Great puzzle, thanks.
    But I do think that a chicken’s a bird not an animal …
    Liked PONTOON
    Diana
    1. Depends how strictly one is speaking. There are (sort of) three main kingdoms of living things – animals, plants and fungi. Actually there are more, Google for Kingdoms of Life if you want the full story.

      Animals can be subdivided into fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds.

      So, we’re mammals, but we’re also animals. A chicken is indeed a bird, but it’s also an animal. So I guess that’s the definition the setter was using. All’s fair in love and crosswords!

      H

      1. Indeed. Contributors from my generation may remember the popular TV entertainment ‘Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?’, a sort of quiz show in which a highly erudite panel of experts had to identify artefacts from museums given only the clue that each item was Animal, Vegetable or Mineral.
        1. I agree with all this but I do note that one of the sub-definitions in Oxford of “animal” is “A mammal, as opposed to a bird, reptile, fish, or insect”, so you can see where Diana is coming from!
  24. Sorry for the late post, Rotter. I was busy all day yesterday. After a run a of three 8 minute solves so far this week, I approached this one today (Friday) with some anxiety – however – 6:30! Pleased as punch!! Now to build up the pressure for today’s…
  25. Thanks Mara – we had a lot of fun with this one. Some really clever and tricky clues which we solved in 13 minutes.

    FOI: candy
    LOI: crew cut
    COD: righto

    Thanks to Rotter for the blog and for parsing triceratops which Mrs Peel was 100% sure of but couldn’t quite work out why!

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