Times Quick Cryptic No 1812 by Hurley

Introduction

6:32. Plenty of anagrams and very few abbreviations to be found today!

Solutions

A brief summary of cryptic crosswords —feel free to skip— :

  • Each clue has at least one “definition”: an unbroken string of words which more-or-less straightforwardly indicates the answer. A definition can be as simple as a one-word synonym; but it can also be a descriptive phrase like ‘I’m used to wind’ for REEL or SPOOL. A definition by example must be indicated by a phrase like ‘for example’, or, more commonly, a question mark (?). Thus ‘color’ is a definition of RED, while ‘red, for example’ or ‘red?’ are definitions of COLOR. Punctuation (and capitalization) is otherwise irrelevant.
  • Each clue may also have an unbroken string of words which indicates the answer through wordplay, such as: using abbreviations; reversing the order of letters; indicating particular letters (first, last, outer, middle, every other, etc); placing words inside other words; rearranging letters (anagrams); replacing words by words that sound alike (homophones); and combinations of the above. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but the general theme is to reinterpret ordinary words as referring to letters, so that for example ‘lion’s head’ indicates the first letter of LION: namely, L.
  • Definitions and wordplay cannot overlap. The only other words allowed in clues are linking words or phrases that combine these. Thus we may see, for example: “(definition) gives (wordplay)” or “(definition) and (definition)” or “(wordplay) is (definition)”.
  • The most common clues have either two definitions, or one definition plus wordplay, in either order. But a single, very misleading definition is not uncommon, and very occasionally a definition can also be interpreted as wordplay leading to the same answer. Triple definitions (and more) are also possible.

My conventions in the solutions below are to underline definitions (including a defining phrase); put linking words in [brackets]; and put all wordplay indicators in boldface. I also use a solidus (/) to help break up the clue where necessary, especially for double definitions without linking words.

After the solutions, I list all the wordplay indicators and abbreviations in a Glossary.

Across

1   Colourful picture [of] attempt to follow recordings? (8)
TAPESTRY = TRY after TAPES

5   Pierrot, oddly saucy (4)
PERT = odd-numbered letters of PIERROT

8   Refusal in Paris / hearing? Balderdash! (8)
NONSENSE = NON (‘no’ in French) + SENSE (hearing, for example)

9   Press / club (4)
IRON = double definition

11   Cunning that involves group in execution method (10)
GUILLOTINE = GUILE around LOT + IN

14   He seeks to damage vehicle fellow reversed (6)
VANDAL = VAN + reversal of LAD

15   Succeed in getting, at the outset, women’s / standpoint (6)
WANGLE = first letter of WOMEN’S + ANGLE

17   One, thick-skinned, who could become richer soon? (10)
RHINOCEROS = anagram of RICHER SOON

20   Put into liquid in Verdun kitchen (4)
DUNK = hidden in VERDUN KITCHEN

21   A diet not working [as] remedy (8)
ANTIDOTE = A DIET NOT anagrammed

22   For example, 1588 play The Armada, super, finally (4)
YEAR = last letters of PLAY THE ARMADA SUPER

23   Payment by new tenant, important — one breaks into surprised expression (3,5)
KEY MONEY = KEY + ONE in MY

Down

1   Military vehicle[’s] fuel container (4)
TANK = double definition

2   Small drink brought up: time [for] larger one? (4)
PINT = NIP reversed + T

3   Apt closure ruined one taking financial risk (10)
SPECULATOR = anagram of APT CLOSURE

4   Final score: Ulster beaten (6)
RESULT = anagram of ULSTER

6   Income range is / not initially / changed (8)
EARNINGS = anagram of RANGE IS + first letter of NOT

7   Kind newspaperman made offer (8)
TENDERED = TENDER + ED

10   Silent about speaker, I agreed postponement (10)
MORATORIUM = MUM around ORATOR + I

12   Familiar Sun to Sat? (8)
EVERYDAY = EVERY DAY

13   Cabin sign I add displaying emblem (8)
INSIGNIA = hidden in CABIN SIGN I ADD

16   Meeting spirited Irishman, civil engineer? (6)
SEANCE = SEAN + C.E.
A tongue-in-cheek definition.

18   Benefit [from] changing ending of book (4)
BOON = change the last letter of BOOK

19   Group extremely blithe? Very (4)
BEVY = first and last letters of BLITHE and VERY

Glossary

Wordplay indicators

about = containment
as = linking word
at the outset = first letter
beaten = anagram
breaks into = containment
brought up = reversal in down clue
changed = anagram
changing ending = letter change
could be = anagram
displaying = hidden word
extremely = first and last letters
finally = last letters
follow = next to
for = linking word
from = linking word
in = hidden word
in Paris = in French
initially = first letter
involves = containment
oddly = odd-numbered letters
of = linking word
reversed = backwards
ruined = anagram
working = anagram

Abbreviations and little bits

attempt = TRY
civil engineer = CE
fellow = LAD
newspaperman = ED
surprised expression = MY (COR, etc)
time = T
vehicle = VAN

69 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1812 by Hurley”

  1. KEY MONEY & MORATORIUM slowed me down; I was thinking 10d would end in -TION. 5:49. Jeremy, GUILLOTINE needs the IN.
  2. 46m 26s. FOI tapestry, LOI key money. I spent a lot of time on “key”. “Money” was easy, but I was not aware of the whole expression, so resorted to trawling for three-letter words with an “e” in the middle. One solves and learns.
  3. 5 minutes for all but 3 answers and then I had a complete mental block needing another 5 or 6 minutes to get the next one, KEY MONEY, an expression I’ve never heard of before. MORATORIUM followed shortly and finally WANGLE which should have been an easy one but proved not to be until I had its final checker. 14 minutes in total.

    Edited at 2021-02-17 05:40 am (UTC)

    1. I first encountered the term when I came to Japan, where it’s shikikin 敷金, what I would have called a security deposit.
      1. Yes, deposit is the more usual term these days in the UK too. Key money comes more from the era of rent controls, where the level of rent was fixed by law, and landlords made up any shortfall in what they could charge as rent by demanding payment for keys, furniture and the like. My parents recalled that for their first flat together (in the 1950s) the rent was set very low by law but the key money was equivalent to about 3 months’ rent. And it had to be paid in full in advance.

        Cedric

  4. Crikey, struggled with this. Couldn’t spell GUILLOTINE, NHO KEY MONEY, unusually total blind spot on the hidden INSIGNIA (LOI) had BE__ for far too long.

    No complaints — 1-0 to Hurley today.

    Thanks Jeremy for an excellent blog as always

  5. 15:36 = 666 points. A devilishly good QC. Good clues that kept me on my toes all the way through. LOI 23ac where I needed an alphabet trawl for KEY. WOD DUNK and COD WANGLE, more tricky than it should have been
  6. Well. I thought I was on to a quick solve today and completed most in good time. EVERYDAY and MORATORIUM held me up a bit but were solvable. KEY MONEY (NHO) took me forever and a day and deposited me (geddit?) firmly in the SCC. I glossed over K in my inevitable alphabet trawl so I missed KEY at first. I have never been held up for so long by a 3-letter word that seems so obvious now. A very good crossword with a deadly sting in the tail. Thanks to both. John M.

    Edited at 2021-02-17 08:01 am (UTC)

  7. A mainly straightforward solve but like others I was held up at the end by WANGLE, MORATORIUM and the NHO KEY MONEY, however all were fairly clued. I was glad that Rhino was clued by an anagram as my instinct was to spell it with an extra S and no C.
    A very enjoyable solve which I finished in 9.04 with my WOD going to BEVY and COD to GUILLOTINE.
    Thanks to Jeremy
  8. … with the crossing of 11A Guillotine and 10D Moratorium (my LOI) both taking some unravelling and pushing me out to a 13 minute solve. 23A Key Money not a problem, as a phrase I was familiar with from family stories (see comment at start of blog). And fairly clued too I think, with the signpost Important for Key.

    Interested that 18D Boon gave no indication of what the last letter of Book had to be changed to. Does one not usually get an indicator? The clue might have been, for example, “Benefit from shortened book with new ending”.

    Many thanks to Jeremy for the blog and glossary
    Cedric

    1. It’s common for simple changes as these to not indicate the replacement letter. I like your surface though!
  9. Fifteen minutes today. FOI Pert, LOI Key money, COD Guillotine. Very enjoyable. All clues fair and answers well-disguised. About the right level for me, not too easy, not too tough. Thanks, Jeremy, and Hurley.
  10. Another day another silly error. Parsed INSIGNIA and then typed ‘ensignia’ — it was literally in front of me. Didn’t think I’d heard of KEY MONEY but it sounded familiar once I’d alphabet trawled my way to it — and then the cryptic fitted perfectly. MUM for silent eluded me yet again. RHINOCEROS and GUILLOTINE kindly clued for those not certain of the spelling. Finished in 11m which was disappointing after the first six acrosses all went straight in on the way to 9 on the first pass. SE was tough!
  11. This was going nicely until I had a complete brain fade with GUILLOTINE, even once I had all the checkers. Big headslap when the penny dropped. Also put in MORITORIUM which made WANGLE impossible until eventually I saw why. KEY MONEY also took time.
    Liked 22A and 16D.
  12. DNF for me, NHO KEY MONEY and really CBA to trawl _E_ (MONEY was easy enough). 7 mins for the rest.

    FOI TAPESTRY, LOI BOON, COD BEVY.

    Thanks Hurley and Jeremy.

    Templar

  13. FOI: 5a PERT
    LOI: 21a ANTIDOTE

    Time to Complete: DNF

    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 9

    Clues Answered with Aids (3 lives): 0

    Clues Unanswered: 15

    Wrong Answers: Nil

    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 9/24

    Aids Used: Nil

    What an awful puzzle this was for me. I really got nowhere with this one.

    There were some answers I see here that I did not understand.

    3d. SPECULATOR – I understand that one who speculates could be taking a risk, but financial? What did that have to do with it? That threw me, as I was looking for a particular aspect, that is, financial, which I could not get. I saw SPECULATOR in the anagram and even pencilled it in, but did not complete it in ink. On looking in the dictionary after giving up I saw that the second definition given was indeed related to financial risk taking. Something new learnt.

    22a. KEY MONEY – I have never heard of this expression, so this was a blank for me.

    I really did not enjoy this QC at all. I gave up after an hour having made very little progress. I know some would say “take a break! come back later!”, but sometimes I look at the clues and I just know I am not going to be able to answer them. In cases like that I give up, look up the answers here, and try to learn from them.

    1. It’s a shame PW after your success yesterday. However, fighting through the blocks and barriers is why we all enjoy these challenges. Keep the faith and persevere.
      1. As The Rotter says, stick at it PW! I managed this one all bar 10d and 16d and didn’t see the key in 23a despite knowing the term! Sometimes the answer just will not come to mind!
    2. For perspective, I’ve never heard of KEY MONEY either. In every puzzle I solve there are always several words I’ve never heard of. You get them through a combination of close attention to the wordplay, plus a sense (developed through experience — sorry, no shortcuts) of what sounds right. (Or, as is not uncommon, you just have no chance, like NICTITATE for me on the main puzzle yesterday, clued with the abbreviation ICT which I also hadn’t heard of.)

      Interestingly with regard to SPECULATOR, I’ve only heard the word used in the context of gambling/investment. Obviously someone who speculates would be called a ‘speculator’, but I’ve never heard the word used that way.

  14. Today I took longer than usual but, in mitigation, at the insistence my better half I had to break off and open my birthday presents half way through. I got off to a flying start only to get very bogged down in the SE corner. Last in was KEY MONEY. Favourite clue was MORATORIUM. 57 minutes including present opening (which at my age doesn’t take long).

    Edited at 2021-02-17 10:24 am (UTC)

  15. After FOI PERT, I did not find this easy. But I managed to keep going quite well slowed down by my failure to decipher the anagrams without writing them out. My LOI was RHINOCEROS after SPECULATOR -two anagrams as described.
    I thought this was generally a high quality test. My favourite was TAPESTRY (a brilliant album now 50 years old).
    Time 11:48 which I was pleased with.
    David
  16. Starting with TAPESTRY the top half went in fairly quickly, but then I slowed down, eventually finishing with MORATORIUM and KEY MONEY, which both held me up for some time. 10:50. Thank Hurley and Jeremy.
  17. Another solid performance today. Like most I was held up at the end by my POI KEY MONEY (some what archaic I think) and LOI MORATORIUM despite thinking of ORATOR quite early on. 7:27. Thanks Jeremy. Even if I don’t require your blog for parsing I always scan your useful glossary.
  18. A few seconds outside my 15 minute target, held up by LOI NHO KEY MONEY. I too stared at BExx for far to long before the answer came to me. I thought INSIGNIA was well hidden and a candidate for COD, but I award that honour to RHINOCEROS. Good challenging puzzle without being impossibly hard, so thanks Hurley and J.
  19. If, like me, you want to wrestle — occasionally — with The Other One, today’s is doable. The top half in particular, but I finished it all eventually. For the opposite experience, look at the blog of yesterday’s, parts of which had me rolling my eyes and hiding behind the sofa. Glad I didn’t try that one…
    1. Thanks for the tip on today’s 15×15. I had a go and completed all but 1d (NHO) in 25 minutes. I think part of the reason I do not attempt the 15×15 very often is my limited GK.
    2. I, too, had a go at the senior, thanks to your tip. DNF but achieved much of it so honour was satisfied.
  20. Shocking! Not the crossword itself but my attempts at it. After a quick start, with similar issues as many others regarding KEY MONEY, MORATORIUM and GUILLOTINE, I ground to a halt. Not just brain glue, but brain concrete today! Like Templar, I couldn’t be bothered to trawl through -E- since I was totally stuck on the other two, so abandoned ship. Embarrassing really, as KEY = IMPORTANT is so common! Most unusual for me to give up, but I didn’t even see how Guillotine worked until I read the blog. Not a day to remember as far as the quickie is concerned 😒

    Having said that, I echo Plymouthian’s comments about the biggie – I whizzed through it in 22 minutes, which is definitely a sign that it’s very approachable – I bet the Snitch says it’s easy 😅

    FOI Tapestry
    COD Speculator
    DNF after 25 minutes

    So Hurley definitely got the better of me today! Thanks for the challenge, and to Jeremy for the blog

    1. Yup. I managed to complete the 15×15 today but took nearly an hour after a quick start. I won’t mention my hurdles here in case someone else tries it. Thanks to all the posters above for their encouragement to try it. John.
  21. But it was satisfying to solve this, to me, quite difficult puzzle.
    FOI TANK. LOI SEANCE. MORATORIUM was tricky, as others said. I did remember the expression KEY MONEY finally. Amused by WANGLE and RHINOCEROS. GUILLOTINE clever but biffable.
    Thanks vm for helpful blog, Jeremy.
  22. I must learn to spell Rhinoceros 🦏 properly, as it took me a good few attempts to get the letters in the right order. Also, it’s amazing how many times you can look at a clue that is clearly the odd letters of a small word and still not see it (5ac “Pert”) — I’m convinced the use of letters next to each other create an optical illusion to deceive!

    In the end, the overall puzzle took me 25 mins — with a good 15 mins of that in the SE corner.

    As above, NHO of “Key Money” — I’m not sure it is a UK expression, but happy to be proved wrong. Both 21ac “Antidote” and 18dn “Boon” took longer than they should have.

    FOI — 1dn “Tank”
    LOI — 16dn “Seance”
    COD — 10dn “Moratorium”

    Thanks as usual.

  23. Did somebody say these were getting easier? Nobody seems to have told Hurley. Like others, I came to a complete halt with Tendered (should have got that), Guillotine, Moratorium and —/Money still to solve. Played around with the clues for a bit, but wisely decided a break was needed. Tendered then gave me the French cure for headaches; Moratorium (CoD) and Key quickly followed, but Wangle still took forever. I seem to be going backwards with the QC while finding the 15×15 more approachable. Odd. Invariant
  24. Just over a quarter of an hour gone and only six clues (all in the SE corner) left to solve. Then, having been delayed for 5 minutes by 15a (WANGLE), there followed a 20-minute barren period before I finally worked out 10d (MORATORIUM). That made me realise my PERK (for 18d) had to be wrong, and when it was replaced with BOON, KEYMONEY (23a) still took me a while. Fortunately, my last two in, ANTIDOTE (21a) and SEANCE (16d) followed quite quickly at the end.

    I finished after 47 minutes, the last half-hour of which I found really hard work. Even Mrs R agreed that today’s QC was “quite stretching”, although I would have viewed her time of 26 minutes as a sprint.

    many thanks to Hurley and to plusjeremy for his blog and helpful guide/glossary.

  25. I found this hard, taking a full 35 minutes to complete, albeit with distractions. No real difficulties except for KEY MONEY (never heard of this expression), just generally slow to disentangle the clueing. Spent a huge amount of time on the last two – 23ac and 10dn.

    FOI – 5ac PERT
    LOI – 23ac KEY MONEY
    COD – 4dn RESULT

  26. Sometimes its the pesky Double Defs that do you in, while even expressions you’ve never heard of such as KEY MONEY drop in with a shrug. IRON was the clue that did for me today, alphabet trawl missed it twice.

    With the on-line Times Puzzle app, there is a tempting button marked “Reveal Grid” which I am usually tempted to hit after 25 minutes or so. Sometimes its a PDM, sometimes just a shrug. Today was kind of in between.

    COD WANGLE. I remember Winker Watson and his Wangles from the Dandy.

    Edited at 2021-02-17 01:13 pm (UTC)

  27. Oh well, we raced through this one in <10 mins but we had NHO key money and couldn’t parse or biff the “key” part of the answer. However, we really enjoyed Hurley’s puzzle – lots of fun clues.

    FOI: tank
    LOI: key money (DNF)
    COD: really liked guillotine and rhinoceros

    Thanks for the blog Jeremy.

    1. Me too. Had to look it up. A very rare QC DNF for me. Apart from that I was more or less on for my target of 5 mins.

      Edited at 2021-02-17 03:54 pm (UTC)

  28. I couldn’t spell rhinoceros either…

    But apart from NHO KEY MONEY it was a very enjoyable puzzle.

    Thank you Hurley and Jeremy.

    Diana

  29. Glad other people struggled with KEY MONEY too. I was whizzing through this for most of it and thought I might be on for another really quick one for me, if not quite as fast as Monday, then certainly sub-15. The last few took me over 15, but it was WANGLE and KEY MONEY that really did for me. I soon put WANGLE in, but couldn’t parse it straight away so wasn’t sure of it, and like others, I got the MONEY part of 23a easily enough but couldn’t think what might precede it. I did a bit of an alphabet trawl but only came up with RED, which I figured might mean ‘important’ in Crosswordland. That took me to 23 minutes something and then I took another little while to work out that WANGLE was correct. I stopped my watch on 24:12, then got up and a minute or so later suddenly thought of KEY. So, I’m putting it down as 25:12, which wasn’t nearly the time I was hoping for, but compared to other people, seems to be reasonably respectable. Lots to enjoy anyway, but I particularly liked the smooth succinctness of 4d. Thanks Hurley and Jeremy.
  30. Not sure about 5A using saucy as a synonym for ‘pert’! Notwithstanding that, I very much enjoyed this one and finished in what was probably a record time for me if I had timed it. Probably 12 mins.

    Very much enjoyed 4D as a clever example of a simple clue.

    Thanks Jeremy for blog. Your list of wordplay indicators is excellent.

    1. You may find this of interest. I find it invaluable in cluing the Weekend QCs.

      Edited at 2021-02-17 03:53 pm (UTC)

  31. ….KEY MONEY held me up slightly at the end.

    FOI TAPESTRY
    LOI KEY MONEY
    COD RESULT
    TIME 4:02

  32. Joined those who failed with key money, only solved by checking in Chambers for the important part. Until then we were doing quite well at a time of 20m which is good for us. Thanks Hurley and fot the blog.
  33. I have heard of key money but just could not think what -E- could be so DNF but an enjoyable puzzle that took me just over 20 minutes.
    FOI pert
    COD tapestry ( not glorious technicolour!)
    LOI wangle Took ages. When I started using an aid as soon as I got to BANGLE I realised what the answer was.
    Thank you Jeremy and Hurley
    Blue Stocking
  34. Quite tricky and even though I saw orator I couldn’t click with Moratorium until LOI after Key Money dropped. I thought Boom for a while and was trying I inside of My for an MIY ending.
    Anyway finished despite misgivings!
    Thanks all
    John George
  35. I’m pleased others found it tricky. I got most of it done but had to resort to aids for 10d and 12d. Key came eventually from the depths of my memory.

    No idea of time, probably two SCCs!

  36. Fortunately had heard of key money but had to work on it…especially moratorium which was a great clue once you got it
    1 1/2 courses
  37. Not too difficult for me today. A bit of an Eric Morecambe moment with 17a – all the right letters, but not necessarily in the correct order. My main difficulty was seeing 15a as WANGLE, just didn’t seem quite right to my mind.
  38. Similar to others, with the majority going in swiftly and then struggling with key money and LOI moratorium. I hadn’t heard of key money before but thought important must be key after I’d dismissed any possibility of tenant being an anagram. No idea what my time was as was doing it while cooking supper and after, guessing 20-30 minutes.

  39. Interruptions led this to be completed over 4 sessions of 19+7+7+2 = 35. So that counts as fast for me. FOI 1a Tapestry and then the corresponding down clues; ditto with next one 5a Pert. This gave a good number of crossers and fairly swift progress was made. First pass yielded 7a & 8d clues answered. 17a Rhino leapt to mind but without waiting to see the full anagram I wasted too long getting it spelt correctly! Ditto 11a. Ground to a halt with 3 to go – 16d Seance, 23a Key money and 10d Moratorium. Once 10d was solved, then money was obvious for 23a and key came quickly to mind = important. Then 16 Seance was obvious from the checkers to polish this off. These last three were all resolved in the last session of 2 minutes.
    A classy puzzle as usual from Hurley and a helpful blog from Jeremy.

    Edited at 2021-02-17 09:59 pm (UTC)

  40. Stumped by key monkey and wangle. Kicked myself for wangle but would never have got key monkey!

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