Times Quick Cryptic No 1838 by Hurley

Author   rolytolyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
This looks like quite a gentle solve in hindsight that I didn’t make especially light work of, coming in a minute-or-so under target. No particular hold-ups, although I was slow to unravel the anagram at 10ac, my LOI. All good fun – many thanks to Hurley!

Across
1 Criticize a gripe, sad, out of order (9)
DISPARAGE – anagram (out of order) of A GRIPE SAD
6 Decline swim (3)
DIP – double definition
8 Enthusiastic soccer official recalled opening (7)
FERVENT – FER (Ref = soccer official, recalled = reversed) VENT (opening)
9 55 in river search (5)
DELVE – LV (55 in Roman numerals) in DEE (river)
10 Cautious — vet one’s vicar? Strange! (12)
CONSERVATIVE – anagram (strange) of VET ONES VICAR.
12 Son tries to find garden tool (6)
SHEARS – S(on) HEARS (tries – in court)
13 Courteous E European welcoming Italian (6)
POLITE – POLE (E European) welcomes IT(alitan)
16 Cheerful, like Blighty, and flighty? (5-7)
LIGHT-HEARTED – as per the “hearts” of both bLIGHTy and fLIGHTy.
19 Evidence found in Somali bin (5)
ALIBI – “found in” somALI BIn. A piece of supporting evidence, as well as a plea, that one was elsewhere at the time.
20 Praise quite regularly received by large group (7)
TRIBUTE – U T (q U i T e “regularly”) received by TRIBE (large group).
22 Pressure to abandon agreement? It may be just a pose (3)
ACT -P(ressure) to abandon pACT (agreement)
23 Where housing’s lacking, inexperienced run fast (5,4)
GREEN BELT – GREEN (inexperienced) BELT (run fast)

Down
1 Frivolous daughter near back of boat (4)
DAFT – D(aughter) AFT (near back of boat)
2 Unfortunate score, own goal let in, seeing Ebenezer? (7)
SCROOGE – anagram (unfortunate) of SCORE, with OG (own goal) let in.
3 Guitar used by Texan on rise (3)
AXE – employed by tEXAn “on rise” = reverse.
4 Clothes tear: it’s awful! (6)
ATTIRE – anagram (is awful) of TEAR IT
5 Purpose English favour, heading off making effort (9)
ENDEAVOUR – END (purpose) E(nglish) fAVOUR with the heading off.
6 Indian city food shop husband enters (5)
DELHI – DELI (food shop), H(usband) enters.
7 Anticipate page referring to fancied player, we hear (7)
PRECEDE – P(age) RE (referring to), CEDE we hear the same as SEED (fancied player)
11 It is likely to succeed — rush, get in lively! (4,5)
SURE THING – anagram (lively) of RUSH GET IN. I don’t know much about gambling, but I know to be wary of something called a sure thing.
12 Muslim ruler with a dried grape (7)
SULTANA – double definition. Edit: yes, this just about works, but see Cedric’s better parsing below.
14 Reserve 27, for example, for dropping in the drink? (3,4)
ICE CUBE – ICE (reserve, coldness) CUBE (27, for example: 3x3x3). I spent a few increasingly irritated seconds trying to get the clues to scroll down to 27.
15 Take up residence and pay (6)
SETTLE – double definition
17 Remorse of GI after pinching uniform left just outside (5)
GUILT – GI pinches U(niform), and then just the outside of LefT
18 Time of self-denial will have an effect finally (4)
LENT – wilL havE aN effecT “finally”
21 Popular Northern pub (3)
INN – IN (popular) N(orthern)

51 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1838 by Hurley”

  2. I scraped home within my target 10 minutes but with only 1 or 2 seconds to spare. I was never stuck but generally a bit on the slow side. I looked twice at the ALIBI definition ‘evidence’ because I’d have expected ‘plea’, but I later found, and Roly has confirmed it in his blog, that it can also be evidence in support of that plea.

    On reflection I really can’t identify anything that held me up, but maybe I was a bit wary after my poor performance (for me) solving the past couple of QC’s.

  3. I lost a few seconds by taking, for some reason, 55 to be LL; got that out of the way, and the rest was smooth sailing. 5:36.
  4. I was pleased with my 18m this morning because the last few had needed teasing out — seed to cede in particular took a long time — but I’d managed to enter guile not GUILT and so mucked up ACT too to give one pink square and two errors. I’m never a very thorough puzzle proof reader so ‘ace’ and ‘guile’ being words never troubled me. Only five on the first pass and all of those in the bottom half — including ACT — but then the downs were kinder with four of five checkers for DISPARAGE going straight in. The other long hold ups were the perfectly fair TRIBUTE and SETTLE. Like Roly I found CONSERVATIVE to be very well hidden and I made the opposite mistake to Kevin by trying to put VV for 55.

    Couldn’t parse LIGHT HEARTED at the time — pity because I’d have enjoyed that one. Thanks for showing how it worked Roly.

    Edited at 2021-03-25 06:44 am (UTC)

  5. A nice, fairly straightforward solve until I got totally bogged down with LENT, despite having _E_T. It’s so damned obvious when you see it! Therefore no time for me as I got one wrong.
    My favourite was 20a TRIBUTE and the easiest was 23a GREEN BELT because that was in yesterday’s Telegraph cryptic too, albeit in the context of martial arts. (I only buy it occasionally for the crossword!)
    Happy Thursday everybody.

    Edited at 2021-03-25 07:13 am (UTC)

  6. Like Jeremy I didn’t notice much difference between the QC and 15 x 15 today. Thanks all.
  7. … as for some reason I woke very early (getting in training for Summer time at the weekend?) and found the little grey cells fizzing well, for a solve in just over 9 minutes. As the time implies, not many holdups, though I initially had Preface for 7D (P-REF-ACE, I thought) which held up the anagram at 10A Conservative until I reconsidered. Also DK Axe as a guitar in 3D, but I trusted the cluing which was very clear.

    I’m sure we’ve seen 27 imply Cube quite recently: last time I too looked for a clue 27, but this time I was “once bitten, twice shy” and 14D Ice Cube was one of my FOIs. COD definitely 16A Light-hearted; lovely PDM.

    Many thanks to Roly for the blog. On 12D though, I parsed this not as a DD but as Muslim ruler = Sultan, then with A. The male-dominated Muslim world would not readily accept a female Sultana as a ruler I fear.

    Cedric

    2. Thanks, well spotted, that’s definitely the better parsing – a bit late but will edit the blog. Wiki confirms there have been fewer ruling sultanas than I’d imagined, for the reason you gave – but there have been a few, and Hamengkubuwono X of Yogyakarta has decreed (to some controversy) that his daughter will be a ruling sultana after him, the first for over 250 years.
  8. I found this relatively straightforward with, what felt like, a lot of anagrams to ease the the way. PRECEDE took a bit of figuring out and I needed a few checkers before untangling CONSERVATIVE.
    SULTANA is one of those words I always want to spell incorrectly, for no obvious reason. In my head it should have no ‘u’ and an extra ‘a’ and that’s what I initially wrote in today. Fortunately I spotted my mistake up during proof reading and so avoided the dreaded pink square.
    Finished in 8.41 with LOI SHEARS, COD to LIGHT-HEARTED.
    Thanks to rolytoly
  9. My first solve under my target for ages. 13:27, so it must be a fairly easy one. Lots of anagrams and a good grid which helps. Thanks
  10. A strange mix of straightforward clues with some deceptive traps (for me, at least). I moved quickly and got over-confident so I wasted time with un-parsed biffs — AIR for guitar (NHO Axe for guitar) and FAST for self-denial. Both correct answers were blindingly obvious with hindsight but my stupidity only showed when the crossers made FERVENT and TRIBUTE impossible. So, I ended up 3 mins over target when I should have been well inside. That’ll teach me! Thanks to both. John M.

    Edited at 2021-03-25 09:42 am (UTC)

  11. Was going well but held up by guilt, tribute and settle. Concentrated on tribute, then settle was clarified. Penny then dropped on guilt. All done? Not quite. Got art for act, so DNF as got one wrong and was completely up the wrong tree with that one. A few biffs — shears, didn’t see the trial, axe, NHO but with the a and e it couldn’t be anything else, light-hearted, couldn’t see why the hearted but we’ve had it so often lately that I saw it. FOI dip. COD between conservative and sure thing. Thanks, Roly, for the blog, and Hurley for a pleasant twenty-five minutes entertainment. GW.
  12. 09:35 today with LOI PRECEDE. FOI AXE.
    Nothing controversial IMO and a good challenge.
    My Favourite was SHEARS.
    David

  13. FOI: 13a POLITE
    LOI: 3d AXE

    Time to Complete: DNF

    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 22

    Clues Answered with Aids (3 lives): 10a, 16a, 7d

    Clues Unanswered: 15d

    Wrong Answers: Nil

    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 25/26

    Aids Used: Chambers

    Very much like yesterday’s puzzle, in that I enjoyed it but was a DNF. Yesterday I had two unanswered clues, today only one.

    10a. CONSERVATIVE – Annoyed I did not get this one without help. I could see it was an anagram of “vet one’s vicar”, but the double-V threw me. When I first saw it, I thought that it would not be too hard as there were probably not too many words with two Vs in it. I was so close as well; the word CONSERVATION kept springing up in my mind, and it fit even with checkers in there. But I knew it could not be right, so out came the Chamber’s.

    16a. LIGHT-HEARTED – I got Light but Hearted eluded me. Even when Chamber’s gave me the answer, I could not see how it related to the clue. But then it hit me: Both Blighty and Flighty have a heart of light. With Blighty I kept trying to think of words for England.

    7d. PRECEDE – My final life used.

    3d. AXE – I answered this, but I was not sure of it. I could see that TEXAN had EXA in it, and “rise” could have indicated an instruction to spell a down-clue word backwards, which would give AXE. I wanted to text my 13-year-old nephew, who is very musically gifted, and ask him if there was such as thing as an axe guitar. But he was in school, and I did not want to get him into trouble by sending him a text when he was in class. So, I put it in anyway.

    For the past week I have been attempting the Daily Telegraph cryptic, and I have noticed something. Quite often I will see, for example, a clue in The Times QC, and the next day, or perhaps even on the same day, there will be a similar clue, same answer, in the DT. Can this be coincidental? Do setters set for more than one newspaper? Or is there a Setter’s grapevine where they discuss and borrow each other’s clue ideas?

    1. Setters do indeed compile for multiple papers (Izetti is particularly prolific).
    2. I am working through a Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword book. For me the crosswords have a different feel to the Times QC and I wonder if they also have a different set of rules.
      1. I too am using the DT Cryptic Crossword book (vol.1), as well as volume one of Time Times QC book.

        Yes, I have to agree with you in that the DT feels different to The Times QC.

        I think the DT cryptic is an ideal progression between TTQC and TT 15×15.

  14. All done but slowly, as has been my way most of this week for no apparent reason. Didn’t understand the parsing of SHEARS at the time so thanks for that. The cube device caught me recently so no problem with it today. PRECEDE and SETTLE were elusive despite clear clues. On 5D I had the first E so assumed the definition was “purpose” with “English” cluing the first letter, and it took me a while to reverse out of that line of thinking.
  15. 16 minutes here, so taken past my target, mostly by the LTI, TRIBUTE and LENT. I was annoyed at not spotting lent earlier, as I’m usually quite quick to spot this type of construction. I wanted to put SIT in for ACT for a while, and I’m with Cedric on the parsing of SULTANA. Thanks both.
  16. It is such a good feeling when you see the answer (definition and wordplay) straight away and I romped home today in 6:57. I faltered only on my LOI LIGHT HEARTED trying to think of a word for a light aircraft. My son is currently in training to become a pilot so I’ll forgive myself for going down this rabbit hole. Thanks Hurley and roly.
    1. Indeed. I am finding now that often I will read a clue and either the answer comes to me right away, or I immediately understand what type of clue it is.
  17. ….but spoilt by “fat finger” on my COD “ice cune”. I’m hoping to get back to sitting at my desk by next week, then I can solve on paper in the good old-fashioned way !

    FOI DISPARAGE
    LOI CONSERVATIVE
    COD ICE CUBE
    TIME 5:05

  18. 12 minutes, second day in a row, and good for me. LIGHTHEARTED was my favourite clue. Left me feeling just that.
  19. Was on track for a fast time but wuddacuddashudda … got totally stuck on TRIBUTE and SETTLE. Hey ho, another “just over ten” solve, making four in a row when my week’s ambition was to have none over ten! That’ll larn me.

    Very enjoyable puzzle, with some excellent clues.

    FOI DISPARAGE, LOI SETTLE, COD LIGHT-HEARTED (hon mention DIP), time 1.9K but a missed opportunity so I can only say Decent Enough Day.

    Many thanks Hurley and roly.

    Templar

  20. I must have taken as long over my last two answers Settle/Tribute as the rest of the puzzle. Just couldn’t see either answer until Tribe eventually came to mind. A slight mer at Precede for anticipate, though no doubt it’s covered somewhere. I seem to be getting slower at the QC while having more success (slight rather than none) with the 15×15. Very odd. Invariant
  21. Looked up TRIBUTE which gave me SETTLE. Stuck on those last two.
    Some quite difficult anagrams which gave me satisfactory PDMs.
    I wish I had looked at 2d SCROOGE earlier because that easy one wd have helped. Biffed AXE as it couldn’t be anything else. Now know that E Euopean is usually Pole. Couldn’t parse LIGHT HEARTED but easy to guess. Liked GREEN BELT and PRECEDE.

    The Sultan’s wife is a Sultana, I believe.

    FOI DELHI, then had to DIP around the grid.

    Thanks all, esp Roly.

    Edited at 2021-03-25 11:30 am (UTC)

  22. But can’t really put a finger on why. Probably because I biffed PREFACE, which didn’t seem too egregious P REF ACE, and not a mile away from anticipate in defeinition, but that made CONSERVATIVE take far too long. Like Kevin, I also fixated on LL for a while.

    I also put EEDEAVOUR, so were I to use the crossword club, I would have had a pink square. I forgive myself errors that I would not make on paper though.

    Slowest this week at 9:17.

    1. Put me down a another who didn’t know AXE for guitar. Not many online dictionaries gave it but Wiktionary has :

      (slang, music) A gigging musician’s particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz.

      Somewhere else I found that it’s originally from saxophone – how that morphs to guitar is beyond me!

  23. I started off with DAFT and SCROOGE and came back to DISPARAGE once I had the rest of the crossers. Another steady solve, finishing with LIGHT HEARTED. 9:25. Thanks Hurley and Roly.
  24. A good start (getting 1a straight away is a rare occurrence for me) and I was through the top half of the puzzle in double-quick time. The lower half slowed me up quite considerably, but I still arrived at two clues to go (15d and 20a) with only just over half an hour on the clock. A very good time (for me) beckoned.

    There then followed a 15-minute drought until I finally found TRIBUTE, which almost immediately led to SETTLE, my LOI. No particular reason for the difficulty, I think, just a frustrating mind blank.

    14 minutes to get the last clue yesterday, and 15 minutes to get the final two today. Is this type of experience familiar to others? I have had to train myself to remain patient and methodical in these circumstances, and not to get too agitated.

    I’m afraid I can’t report on Mrs R’s effort today, as I’m away at the moment – an experience she is undoubtedly very much enjoying.

    Thanks to Hurley and to rolytoly

    1. Re: slow finish. Yes it is a familiar feeling. As you become more accomplished at solving you’ll find the drought time will shorten hopefully. Many solvers find taking a break helps.
    2. Could not agree more. I was also left with TRIBUTE and SETTLE Took a 10 minute break and then they dropped right in.
    3. … Having arrived back home again I have learned that Mrs R happily knocked off today’s puzzle in 17 minutes, whereas I took almost that time to get my final two clues. Also, I can confirm that, as expected, she had indeed enjoyed my time away.
      1. There only thing worse than struggling over the last couple of clues is struggling over the last one, affectionately known as the curse of the last one in.

        Edited at 2021-03-25 06:34 pm (UTC)

    4. Is this type of experience familiar to others? Yes. Yes it is. Aargh! But I haven’t even been twenty years at these things, so I do hold out hope for a cure.

      Possibly the best idea I’ve seen is to do non-cryptic puzzles, to force you to think of answers without the crutch of a cryptic, but I’ve been too lazy in the application to say if it works.

      1. It makes me depressed when I try that, I lose obvious words too frequently nowadays.

        So I’m stuck with the cryptic and I must say I really enjoy it (mostly!)

        Today was good, thanks all.

        Diana

  26. For a while I thought we might be on for a PB as we seemed to race through this one. However, we took an age to work out PRECEDE and SETTLE and thus ended with a reasonable 10 minute solve. NHO AXE as a guitar but decided it couldn’t really be anything other based on the clue. Really good puzzle, we enjoyed it.

    FOI: disparage
    LOI: settle
    COD: lighthearted

    Thanks to Hurley and Rolytoly.

  27. After 19 mins everything was done apart from 16ac “Light Hearted”. The curse of the last clue then struck and it took another 10 mins before it finally dawned on me, although the parsing passed me by.

    Only other hesitation was nearly biffing South East for 23ac until I realised it didn’t really make sense.

    FOI — 1dn “Daft”
    LOI — 16ac “Light Hearted”
    COD — 16ac “Light Hearted”

    Thanks as usual

  28. A quick, for us, solve in 20m, but a wrong answer for 15d, tried rentee but with no great hope. Remembered 12a tries and hears from previous time, so we were pleased with that. Nice puzzle.
  29. MER for frivolous as definition of daft, and anticipate as definition of precede.
    1. Daft
      Collins has: 4. slang
      frivolous; giddy

      Anticipate
      SOED has:
      verb intrans. Occur earlier.
      which I think covers precede.

      Edited at 2021-03-25 06:50 pm (UTC)

  31. Very good! I gave a cursory search before blogging to find the derivation of axe, and was only able to find as Filbert did that saxophone inexplicably morphed into guitar at some point. Not much point saying ‘etymology obscure’. But that definitely sounds a lot more plausible than a lot of folk/jazz etymologies!
  32. In case anybody comes back to read this, I finished in 25:29. LOI SETTLE, COD LIGHT HEARTED. Thanks all.

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