Times Quick Cryptic No 1793 by Hurley

78 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1793 by Hurley”

1. I biffed CHARLATAN, and evidently APPLAUD, as I didn’t know PP, although I did know LAUD. GIG was certainly current in my youth (which I’m pretty sure predates The Rotter’s!), in the sense of ‘job’ for a band (we’ve got a gig for Saturday). 5:50.
2. I should have followed kevingregg and biffed CHARLATAN because the first thing I did was to put in LE, then read the clue and finish with CHARLETAN. Of course I’d never spell it that way normally, and I surely would have caught the error in an Across clue. Ah well.
3. 7 minutes
4. Like Rotter I started with DOSEY but unfortunately stuck with it – also like Rotter I couldn’t think of a River OSE but then I didn’t know the River Usk either. Now I’ve looked it up it seems like a visit to the Black Mountains is well overdue. Finished in a little over 10 but with my two pink squares only giving one error – a small mercy. Didn’t enter SPEARHEAD with much confidence even with all the checkers and also pondered TORN for a while. Enjoyed ANGRY for simplicity and KEYPAD for the sudden moment of realisation. Back to the Visit Wales website now while I finish my coffee.
   1. Abergavenny – on the Usk, surrounded by mountains, and foodie heaven! A lovely place to base yourself, when we’re all allowed out again! It’s definitely on our list of places to revisit. Enjoy dreaming and planning 😊
5. I’m not normally on Hurley’s wavelength, but I was today, finishing at 14:28 (it’s unusual for me to be under 15). Indeed, after 12 I had just DUSKY to go, but I had ‘anger’ for ANGRY and needed an alphabet trawl after sorting that out, and ‘U’ is at the end the list.
   A welcome restoration of confidence after yesterday’s massive DNF!
   Thanks to Setter snd Blogger.

   Brian

6. I fell into Hurley’s DOSEY trap but fortunately managed to haul myself back out again before submitting. APPLAUD went in with a shrug, not having heard of the archbishop but other than that I found this a nice change of pace after yesterday’s struggles – although for a horrible moment I worried that another obscure bird would cause lots of head scratching with LOI SPEARHEAD. Finished in 8.34.
   Thanks to Rotter
7. 6.09 … but a pink square because of a careless charletan.
   I do think solving on a screen is noticeably harder than my normal paper habit. Those who struggle to finish these QCs might like to try printing some off and solving on paper.
8. Definitely back to the norm of a very enjoyable QC for me. NHO Archbishop Laud and didn’t equate BALD for Frank but Bull, Bill or Bile seemed poorer fits than food being off.
   LOI and requiring all the crossers was SPEARHEAD which gave a “oh, yes, one of those” moments for Rhea parsed after rather than before. Spotted the anagrams at a glance. Funny how that works. Yesterday’s polygon (GRAVITAS) had me pondering for ages while our son said immediately “got it” and offered the clue “something I have a lot of” which elicited the response “socks is not the answer!”
   A jolly start to the day knowing my brain is engaged, albeit a bit on the slow side at 30 minutes, but working nevertheless.
   Thank you Hurley and the Rotter, aye aye Cap’n.
   1. … the bald truth of the matter.
      1. When it comes to truth, I am more familiar with the Full Monty variant rather than a localised uppermost subset, while “Bald truth” seems to be a claim more applicable to purveyors of hair restoring products. Now I know. Thank you.
9. I agree, this was on the easier side, but LOI SPEARHEAD consumed a few minutes. I had CORN for 18dn, on the basis that my first ever rent was one Peppercorn, and I thought Corn might be slang for rent. Of course I had walked straight into the trap of not stopping to think of the secondary meaning.

   I was looking for a river ITS (or ITZ) for DITSY, or OTT for DOTTY.

   Two very easy long anagrams early should have yielded a faster time.

   COD ONE SIDED: Nice surface, anagrist and anagrind working well together

10. A rare finish today, and thoroughly enjoyed.

    LOI and COD KEYPAD , which took a bit of concentration, and nearly put bold in 7d.

    I watched the ceremony yesterday and pray for togetherness as the US moves on.

    Thank you, Setter and Blogger.

    Diana

11. I cheerfully bunged in YES for 21D having spotted it hidden, failing to notice it was also the definition in the clue, so was held up by APPLAUD and SPEARHEAD until I realised. Stupid boy. LOI BALD. Some nice clues. COD to SCAPEGOAT. 5:55.
12. More my sort of crossword (thank you hurley) taking 30 minutes, just about a personal best. Managed 4 across clues on first run through and, unusually, every down clue – i reckon down clues are on the whole easier. Applaud was obviously the answer given the other letters but why it should be related to an archbishop in 1600s is beyond me. For 10A, not knowing the welsh river, i thought of dusty as well as dosey and dusky. Thanks to rotter for explanations. DavidS
13. Obviously brain not full engaged as it took me 6:57, so definitely medium for me rather than easy!

    SPEARHEAD took a while and I didn’t spot RHEA until coming here, so thank you Rotter! My LOI was KEYPAD – shurely “home” is always “in”?!

14. I raced through much of this but stalled on a few. I agree that it was at the easier end but I doubt that the Usk is familiar to many outside Wales and very few would know of Laud. I think that bald for frank is a bit of a stretch too but all of these couldn’t have been anything different from the letters. Enjoyable though – thanks setter and blogger!
15. It took me ages to see the RHEA in SPEARHEAD … very neat. Only other hold-ups were the 4-letter pair TORN and BALD, both of which required a bit of the old cold wet towel.

    Definitely on the easier side but none the worse for it; lots of good cluing.

    FOI SIGNATURE, LOI BALD, COD SPEARHEAD, time 1.6K for a Good Day.

    Many thanks Hurley and Rotter.

    Templar

16. Thanks to Hurley for a QC that came close to its title for me. It does make a change. I experienced most of the hiccups described above with KEYPAD, DUSKY, and SPEARHEAD taking me a couple of minutes over target after a pleasingly rapid start. Thanks, also, to rotter for a thorough and comprehensive blog (and for parsing SPEARHEAD properly for me). John M.

    Edited at 2021-01-21 10:03 am (UTC)

17. This did seem much easier than the last two days. My FOI was CUB.
    I wasn’t sure about APPLAUD but left it in to see if others fitted around it.
    I had 2 or 3 looks at 23a before returning to it as LOI after 08:11. Eventually I saw SPEARHEAD. I had been looking for the name of a bird as the definition. 10:05 in the end.
    David
18. Put Dosey, Bold instead of BALD, though knew it was wrong, and failed on Spearhead.

    Pity because the rest went in OK. FOsI GIG, SUPER, ANGRY and the two long anagrams, and SIGNATURE.

    LOI, or rather last correct one KEYPAD.

    Rotter, I thought a gig was a performance job, as per the clue, but a hop was a dance one attended in days of yore.

    Thanks for the helpful blog.

    1. I agree re gig = performance. However, nowadays, CoVid excepted, I suppose hop would be a rave?
19. Date: Thur, 21 Jan 20

    FOI: 6a CUB
    LOI: 23a SPEARHEAD

    Time to Complete: 58 minutes

    Clues Answered without aids: 25

    Clues Answered with Aids (3 lives): 1 – 6d

    Clues Unanswered: Nil

    Aids Used: Chambers

    Total Answered: 26/26

    Thank you Hurley, you just gave me my fourth QC completion (I think, see below)! I liked this crossword, and not just because I managed to complete it, but because there were some really good clues in there. Being ex-RN I always feel that I must answer any clue that refers to the Royal Navy or sailors. 18d kept me busy for a while, because I took rent to mean payment of an abode. I guessed it ended in RN, and then when the “not from” clicked, I knew the answer to be TO+RN.

    23a Puzzled me for a long time. I did guess SPEARHEAD very quickly, but the trapping of the bird really threw me. Why? Because I guessed, wrongly, that moving fast = SPEED. That left me with ARHA. I could not think of a bird with those letters. I did wonder whether there was an error in the clue because the word “trap” suggested to me that the word SPEED had to be split evenly into two to trap the bird. With the hour fast approaching I entered SPEARHEAD, still confused about the bird. However, when I came here to check my answers, therotter showed me that it wasn’t SPEED, but SPED. Now I saw how the word for fast could be split into two to take in the bird.

    21d also threw me for a while. I thought it was a trick clue in which the setter had actually given us the answer in full view. YES. I saw YES in paY ESpecially. Could the setter be toying with us, giving us the answer in the clue, with the last word? But that messed with my 20a APPLAUD. I looked again at 21 down and saw AYE. pAY Especially. Clever!

    10a DUSKY. I too fell into the DOSEY trap, and considered it correct. I knew D—Y, but not knowing all my Welsh rivers, I guessed there might have been a river called OSE. So I stuck with OSE and got it wrong. Does this mean I can’t count this as a completion? Should I call it a DNF? I want to lean toward not DNF as I did actually complete it, even though I got one answer wrong.

    One of my favourite QCs so far, even if I have to class it as a DNF due to the one wrong answer. I will let therotter decide if I can class it as a completion or a DNF!

    1. Sorry PW – with an error, it’s a DNF. Good try though !
       1. Oh bottoms! That’s a shame 🙁
    2. I agree with Phil I’m afraid PW, getting one wrong is a DNF. I would have replied earlier if I hadn’t had such a busy day.
       1. Sorry, that was me
    3. To my mind, a filled grid with an error is distinct from a grid with 1 or more answers left unfilled – I would only use DNF for the latter, and feel that a subtlety is being lost if it’s also used for the former. In particular, an error suggests that you had some idea of how to solve the clue, even if it was wrong, whereas an unentered answer suggests you had no idea at all. However if you look at the usage of DNF across this site and other crossword forums then there is no consensus. Some people even consider a puzzle to be a DNF if they can’t explain every single answer, even if they’re all correct.

       That said, I would consider your case to be a DNF – but because you used aids, not because you got one wrong! Regardless of the nomenclature, though, you filled in the grid and your one error had some thought behind it, even if it was wrong, so you’re definitely heading in the right direction. Keep up the good work!

    4. Personally disagree with everyone on this! A completed grid is a finish, regardless of an error and the use of aides a lifeline to those of us who don’t finish all the time. So well done! Bring on the 5th completion 🙂

       I had Cob and Bold for the crossover of 6A and 7D and came to check them on the blog before submitting because I was certain I’d got them both wrong. So a definite DNF for me on what was otherwise a fun QC (even if I’ve done it a few days late!)

20. 18 mins for me and a lift from my slight despair of yesterday. However, I also put in “Dosey” for 10ac (not knowing my welsh rivers), so a technical dnf.

    Overall though much more enjoyable. Saw 4dn “Undergraduate” fairly early on which built a fairly suitable spine for the rest of the grid. First time in a while I’ve seen “Char” for cleaner, often see it in the context of “tea”. Only query I did have was 18dn “Torn” as I toyed with the idea of “Corn” for a while – probably thinking of peppercorn rents and all that.

    FOI – 6ac “Cub”
    LOI – 23ac “Spearhead”
    COD – 6dn “Charlatan”

    Thanks as usual.

    Edited at 2021-01-21 11:19 am (UTC)

    1. I always consider char = charlady/cleaner/daily (or maybe burn!) but cha = tea. Cha being an import via the army from India pre WW1 and then more widely adopted by the troops during WW1 and carried back to Blighty afterwards.

       I see Chambers say it comes from China rather than India – hmm, maybe, possibly originated there and taken to India (both big tea producers after all, and maybe ‘the lads’ then weren’t as fussy as Chambers today). Chambers does allow char = tea as a cockney spelling of cha…

       Maybe someone here will assert they know better!

       1. No – you’re right. I’m getting my Cha and Char’s mixed up.

          Should have spotted the spelling a little more carefully!

21. Much more approachable today, but still a fail: cannot see FRANK = BALD. Needed help to get SPEARHEAD.
    1. I initially thought “bold”. If you speak frankly, you are speaking boldly. However, “off” did not fit with “Bod”, whereas “bad” does.

       Edited at 2021-01-21 11:36 am (UTC)

    2. If you speak baldly, you are speaking openly/frankly in the sense of not covering anything up.
22. It took me a while to dig LAUD from the depths of my memory, I failed to spot the anagram at 13d until the last minute, and was slow to cotton on to, LOI, EUSTACE, so went slightly over my target. GIG was my FOI. I didn’t consider DOSEY, but USK as a river seemed familiar, so in it went. 10:53. Thanks Hurley and Rotter.
23. Ah, I am getting my bold and bald mixed up.
    1. Could be that you have “to boldly go…” at the back of your mind? Beam me up..
24. I doubt it was a trap as I don’t think there’s any such word.
25. I found this reasonably straightforward and nearly snatched a sub-20, but loi Spearhead pushed me out by a couple of minutes. However, I also had the male version of 6d, so a DNF after all. Other hold-ups along the way included Dosey/Dusky and Applaud with the unknown (to me) Archbishop. CoD to the deceptively simple 18d, ToRN. Invariant
26. Hurley restoring the Q in QC …
    … with a much happier solve today and all done in just under 9 minutes, so I agree with Rotter’s assessment.

    I had heard of Archbishop Laud – I did the Stuarts and the Civil War endlessly at school as it was my history teacher’s favourite period (he even called his two sons Charles and Rupert). But why is PP a given for Parish Priest – there’s no indication that one is taking first letters.

    I’m puzzled by the attraction of the non-existent Dosey for so many – I wonder if there was a collective subconscious link to Dozy?

    Many thanks to Rotter for the blog and to Hurley for less of a head-scratcher for a change. One does not want only simpler puzzles but I was beginning to feel a bit battered after recent days.

    Cedric

    1. I believe you are correct when you say “I wonder if there was a collective subconscious link to Dozy?”

       It certainly was my train of thought as to why I thought Dosey.

27. Please don’t give away answers in your blog. I look at the answers when I get stuck and don’t want to find another solution on the way. Today you could just have said “FOI 1A.” Thanks.
    1. But this is where people come to discuss the crossword, its answers and their own answers, including how they came by the answer, or any confusion/issues they had.

       You need to perhaps avoid coming here until you have finished the puzzle, or are looking for answers. I do not come here until I have either completed the puzzle, or have given up.

       Edited at 2021-01-21 12:59 pm (UTC)

       1. I’m still learning and come here when I’m stuck. It is rare for me to complete a QC without a bit of help. I know a lot of contributors are very experienced but I can’t count my times in Kevins. Sometimes I even need a hand to get 1A but not today. The discussion is at the end of the solution. Answers don’t need to be in the blog IMHO.
    2. Yes, best not to visit this blog until you have finished or given up, but, as someone mentioned, you can look at the on-line version, if you subscribe ,and click on Reveal Word. Or you can try to guess via Chambers Crossword Dictionary or google the actual clue. I do confess to using CCD now and then, but try not to these days now I am improving, sort of.
       Good to sign your name too, Anon.
    3. I actually agree with you Anon – generally we bloggers have tried to keep from including the answers in the blog itself, and it would be good etiquette for us all to do it. Unfortunately, when blogging late at night in order for the blog to be available at a reasonable time, some of the finer points of etiquette can get forgotten. I’ll try to do better in future.
       1. I am completely mystified. I come here to read the blogger’s solution and explanation to solve the mysteries of the cryptic world. The comments here are part of that experience and reading other users’ insight into their interpretations and justifications, frustrations and chitchat is part of the enjoyment. I can’t see how you can do that here without mentioning the very point of it all, namely the particular answer(s). Surely, if you don’t want to see the answers and explanations, don’t look! Or have I missed something fundamental here.
          1. The “Big Dave” blog for the Telegraph xword only shows hints-the answer is shaded out unless you optionally click on it to reveal the answer. Commentators, as a matter of form, do not reveal answers.
             Much as I very much like this site, I do think that the “Big Dave” approach has its advantages.

          2. I think possibly there’s been a misunderstanding here as I believe the anon poster was referring to the introduction to the blog and that was the point The Rotter was responding to.

             There’s no hard and fast rule about it as far as I’m aware but there is a fairly recent convention that bloggers try not to give away too much in the introduction, so we might refer to clues by number without mentioning the actual answer. After the introduction though it’s a case of ‘Readers beware!’. They know the answers will be given as that’s the whole point of the blog, so if they don’t want to know the answers, they shouldn’t read the clue explanations until they are ready.

             The DT blog as mentioned by another commenter is something of a different animal, and if it works for them that’s fine of course, but as a blogger I couldn’t be bothered to write solving hints. I don’t go there often as I rarely do the Telegraph puzzle these days, but I can’t say I’d ever noticed that their commenters don’t mention answers. If that’s so, maybe it’s why I don’t find the comments there very engaging. I certainly dislike all the illustrations.

             Edited at 2021-01-21 10:04 pm (UTC)

             1. Thank you. That makes a whole lot of sense to me.
                I recognise that the introduction to the blog may not give a specific answer to a clue in accord with some convention or other. I do not care, nor qualified to give an opinion as to protocol.
                I really enjoy and appreciate the different styles of the bloggers, their introductions, and their clarity of purpose. By the time I reach this site I am past struggling and I am looking forward to the insight and sharing of people’s trials and triumphs of the day’s QC.
28. A lot quicker today and only 20a that I couldn’t pass. Thank you Hurley and Therotter.

    Newbyish

29. FOI 1A: SIGNATURE
    LOI 6D: CHARLATAN

    Thank you, therotter and Hurley.

30. ….as it won’t let me proceed with three quarters of the puzzle entered – I shall try again later. Straightforward fare today.

    FOI SIGNATURE
    LOI BALD
    COD KEYPAD
    TIME 3:48

    1. I’ve had to stop using Firefox to do the puzzles as I can’t get it to work properly. Chrome seems fine!
       1. I’m using Chrome – it’s still misbehaving, so I won’t submit today.
          1. I find that the issue in Chrome can usually be fixed(until next time!) by clearing Cookies etc AND signing in and out of The Times site.
             1. I’ll try that if it happens again tomorrow.
       2. I’ve had trouble with Firefox in the past. But I found that clearing the cookies for the site fixes any problem.
          1. I did that the first time it happened, but it only worked for a few hours then started hanging with the puzzle not quite loading again so I lost patience. Too much else to do:-)
             1. Uninstall – reinstall – job’s a good ‘un !
31. Seemed easier than yesterday and I was surprised to find I was only 1 minute quicker at 21 minutes. Mind you, I did spend an age on my LOI KEYPAD. Also never managed to parse SPEARHEAD but I had all the crossers so it had to be right. Thanks for the blog Rotter – I now know where the bird fitted in!

    FOI – 1ac SIGNATURE
    LOI – 16ac KEYPAD
    COD – A lot of contenders today, all with very smooth surfaces. I don’t usually award COD to an anagram but I liked the surfaces in 4dn and 11dn. However I think 17ac SANDS just pips them – once again for the smooth surface.

    Thanks to the setter for an enjoyable QC

32. New ecclesiastical to me. Would it have been an idea to have a homophone indicator as archbishops used to be called “my lord” (I was rather thinking of the bishop in All gas and Gaiters on BBC though as he wasn’t an archbishop it maybe wouldn’t have helped!)
33. I concur…a QC on the easier side but still not a write in by any means. My FOI was SIGNATURE and my LOI was DUSKY because I wasn’t quite sure the river USK was in Wales but the rivers Dee and Wye didn’t fit the cluing/checkers. The clues that caused me some hesitation were BALD, TORN and KEYPAD but not for long as I completed in 7:34. Thanks to Rotter and Hurley.

    Edited at 2021-01-21 03:15 pm (UTC)

34. 15:22 with one error. I invented the River UST. Apart from that, an enjoyable feelgood QC. I did not give LAUD a second thought. It has such an Archbishopy feel to it.
    This is version 2 of my comment. I posted earlier, but saw it was not here. I wonder where it went?
35. Much the same experience as our blogger – a satisfyingly quick solve for a change. 1.3K.
36. With just 20 minutes on the clock I had only 3 clues to go (PB pace for me), but that was before I well and truly hit the buffers.

    I then took nearly 15 minutes to crack the interconnecting 9a (STALL) and 6d (CHARLATAN), and a further 30+ minutes of agonising alphabet-trawling to solve 16a (KEYPAD). I just could not see it. Mrs Random, having completed the puzzle in just 20 minutes earlier in the day, had torn out most of her her whilst watching me struggle.

    Worse was to come, however. A hard won 64-minute solve suddenly became a DNF, when I saw that I had ‘LE’ instead of ‘LA’ inside CHARLATAN. So that’s 4 DNFs in a row for me this week. Roll on Friday!

    Many thanks to therotter and to Hurley.

37. What about dosey doe?
    1. I don’t think you can dosey without the doe. You’d bump into someone.
38. A gentle qc today
    Only took one course (tarte au mutard) but liked the misleading clues 18d and 10ac.
39. liked 11D “A pact goes wrong – he’s blamed unfairly (9)”

    Edited at 2021-01-21 08:19 pm (UTC)

40. Getting quicker and quicker this week, but when you start from a DNF after 70, followed by a 58, I guess that’s not saying much. I completed this morning, but running and homeschooling held me up from posting on here. Anyway, thought I had just scraped in under target (30) today, but that was with DOSEY which I wasn’t entirely happy with, so I kept looking at it after I’d stopped my watch. After a minute or two I thought of DUSKY. I had no idea that the USK was in Wales, but at least I knew it was a river, a statement I couldn’t make about the OSE. It also made a properly spelt word of course, which was an added bonus. Call it 32 minutes then, so if my trajectory for the week holds up, I should be on for a sub-20 tomorrow. Thanks as always.
41. Interesting. I got the answer to every clue almost immediately and it still took 5 minutes. How do the speed merchants do it?
42. Remarkably straightforward for a Hurley I thought. Thx to the Rotter I now see how a bird gets into 23a. I seemed to be much better today at seeing anagrams without resorting to paper & pencil other than for the satisfaction of seeing them work out in black and white! FOI 1a Signature LOI 18d Torn as I had forgotten to deal with it earlier as I wasn’t convinced by Join. COD 5d Eustace as a name seldom heard these days. No problem with Laud, or Usk (a delightful area with a good small hotel/pub I used to use when visiting one of our factories at the top of the Heads of the Valley – too many decades ago). I managed to complete this during the afternoon but got distracted so my usual very late post.
43. 11 minutes. Really pleased as I didn’t get round to doing it until nearly midnight! Time for bed…..zzzz
44. Circumstances dictated that we didn’t get to this until Friday. Lovely little puzzle with some great clues. Took us ages and some debate to settle on bald for 7D. We finished in 12 minutes. Thanks Hurley – we really enjoyed it.

    FOI: cub
    LOI: bald
    COD: spearheaded

    Thanks for the blog Rotter.

45. FOI 2ac CUB

    LOI 11ac DUSKY

    COD 6dn CHARLATAN

    WOD STEP DOWN – presidentially speaking

    Time 8mins 30secs

46. Excellent explanations as always from my favourite blogger.

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