Times Quick Cryptic No 1869 by Tracy

Author   JohninterredPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

An enjoyable, neat crossword from Tracy to end the week. I generally find I catch his wavelength quite quickly and I did so again today. After my misjudgement of how diificult others would find it on my last outing, I’d better not say I found it straighforward, though! I did hesitate over the unknown 1A and the parsing of my LOI, 21A, but I still finished in a well-under-average time, a second quicker than yesterday. COD for me to the clever 16D, although I liked 8D too. How did everyone else get on?

Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is my turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the latest crossword, entitled “Tweet Tweet”, here. Enjoy! And if anyone is interested in our previous offerings you can find an index to them here.

Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, deletions and “” other indicators.

Across
1 Celebrities with a brand new South American flag (5,3,4)
STARS AND BARS – STARS (celebrities), (a brand)* “new” S (south). No I didn’t fall for “South American flag”, but I’d never heard of this, the first flag of the Confederate States. I have now. I wrongly guessed it was an alternative name for the Stars and Stripes.
9 Game show (5)
CHESS – Double definition. Read about the musical show here.
10 Rice dish is too much in centre of St-Tropez (7)
RISOTTO –  IS, OTT (over the top; too much) “in centre of” st-tROpez.
11 She finally received rent, a personal morale-booster (3,4)
EGO TRIP – shE “finally” GOT (received) RIP (rent).
12 Swift attack seizing power (5)
RAPID – RAID (attack) outside “seizing” P (power).
13 No rise, oddly, for one of higher rank (6)
SENIOR – (No rise)* “oddly”.
14 Show vet (6)
SCREEN – Double definition.
17 Colour of bream swimming (5)
AMBER – (bream)* “swimming”.
19 Dupe kind companion (7)
CONSORT – CON (dupe) SORT (kind).
21 Managed to bring about endless resentment (7)
RANCOUR – RAN (managed) COURt (bring about) “endless”. I wasn’t entirely convinced by this until I thought of ‘court’ for ‘bring about’ in the sense of ‘court disaster’. From Collins.. “If you court something unpleasant such as disaster or unpopularity, you act in a way that makes it likely to happen.”
22 Cook slowly heading off in rear (5)
RAISE – bRAISE (cook slowly) without the first letter, “heading off”.
23 Police officer in danger, skeets flying about (4,8)
DESK SERGEANT – (danger skeets)* “flying about”. What’s a policeman doing around clay-pigeon shooting, I wonder?
Down
2 Secure item of neckwear reduced in price (3,4)
TIE DOWN – TIE (item of neckwear) DOWN (reduced in price).
3 Film tank tracks (9,4)
RESERVOIR DOGS – RESERVOIR (tank) DOGS (tracks). The 1992 film by Quentin Tarantino.
4 Short bar put out (6)
ABRUPT – (bar put)* “out”.
5 Health worker, poorly insured, firm admitted (8,5)
DISTRICT NURSE – “poorly” (insured)*, with STRICT (firm) inside, “admitted”.
6 Behave badly at university after play (3,2)
ACT UP – UP (at university) “after” ACT (play; play a role in a drama or film).
7 First of skiers immediately departs on mountain (7)
SNOWDON – “First of” Skiers NOW (immediately) D (departs) ON. Do people ski on Snowdon, I wondered?
8 Hurt one squeezing hard (4)
ACHE – ACE (one) outside, “squeezing” H (hard). Very neat. My COD.
13 Worried about roof of Rolls getting marked (7)
SCARRED – SCARED (worried) “about”, “roof of”, i.e. first letter of as this is a down clue, Rolls.
15 Feeling movement following onset of earthquake (7)
EMOTION – MOTION (movement) “following” first letter of, “onset of”, Earthquake.
16 Twenty runs — I’ll record that (6)
SCORER – SCORE (twenty) R (runs). By whom the 20 runs are recorded in the cricket scorebook. Nice.
18 Bishop having responsibility for extra payment (5)
BONUS – B (bishop)  ONUS (responsibility).
20 In Carmarthenshire after that (4)
THEN – (Hidden) “in” CarmarTHENshire.

49 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1869 by Tracy”

  1. I hesitated over CHESS, not knowing the show. I thought STARS AND BARS, which I realize now I never parsed past STARS, was a bit much for a (British) QC. 4:52.
  2. First time without a pink square in three attempts. All green in 10 today. The Chess cassette was in our car for a fair bit of my youth replacing the Helen Reddy, Jack Jones and Abba ones that were the only things played on the move for years before its arrival (except for Italian Linguaphone). I’ve heard of STARS AND BARS but since stripes and bars seem like synonyms (close enough for crosswords anyway) I’d assumed it was another name for the stars and stripes — so that’s another bit of ignorance sorted. The bottom held out longer than the top. I put RANCOUR in on first reading but then deleted as I couldn’t initially parse the ‘cour’ bit but finally stuck it in because I needed the last checker to see what was going on with RESERVOIR DOGS. Ended up with SCREEN where CHESS tricked me into looking for the name of another musical. Good one.
  3. 8 minutes. No problems here. I knew STARS AND BARS as something from American history, probably gleaned from TV Westerns or feature films. It’s also in the brain as an expression because it’s the title of a 1988 film starring Daniel Day Lewis taken from a book of the same title by the Scottish writer William Boyd.

    I’ve seen the musical CHESS which I wouldn’t recommend as watching paint dry might be preferable. It has one good song in it but you don’t need spend 3 dreary hours in a theatre to listen to that.

    Edited at 2021-05-07 06:35 am (UTC)

  4. My first DNF in a while for sArgeant – unfortunately I can’t put it down as a typo, as it’s one of those words I always seem to misspell and if I’d checked the anagram fodder I would have picked it up.
    Other than that this was a reasonably quick solve. I’d heard of the flag, but like others assumed it was an alternative name for the US flag.
    Finished with ABRUPT and with RANCOUR unparsed and particularly enjoyed RISOTTO.
    Thanks to John
  5. … and like John the only real point of contention was 21A Rancour. Unlike him though I think it really doesn’t quite work — to court disaster is to risk it, not to bring it about, and I cannot think of a sentence where, for example, the verbs to court and to cause would be interchangeable.

    Otherwise a very pleasant puzzle and surprisingly unchallenging for a Friday — Tracy in generous mood. I particularly liked the “multi-part construction” clues such as 7D S-now-d-on and 11A E-got-rip.

    Many thanks to John for the blog — and now on to the Saturday Special, always something to look forward to! A good weekend to all (and let us hope it is a bit warmer)
    Cedric

    1. I think to court something is substantially more than to just ‘risk it’. Walking through a rough neighbourhood risks disaster, but yelling insults at its inhabitants courts it.

      —AntsInPants

  6. to others. NHO of STARS AND BARS. Liked EGO TRIP (LOI) and ACHE.

    Bang on 5 mins, and Tracy normally ties me up in knots.

  7. This went in very quickly and easily; so much so that I was too excited and surprised to note the exact time. I may well have broken that elusive 10 minute target which only the other day I thought unachievable. DNK Stars and Bars but figured it out from the clue.
  8. 18:02 with much time wasted on RAISE. It was the only word that fitted but I had the clue “back-asswards” (expression from Anne T in the Times this week). I thought “cook slowly” was the definition.

    STARS AND BARS was FOI, although I had with=AND, so was struggling with BAR=”a brand new”. Eventually convinced myself that a bar on a medal (e.g. the DSO) was “a brand new” award.

    Whenever I see “rent” in a clue I vaguely recall that it has a definition that I never remember. And here it was again.

    I checked to see if the NHS still calls them District Nurses. Good for them, they have not renamed into something bland such as Mobile Community Care Specialist.

    COD SCORER

    1. Nasty? We all get frustrated from time go time but few take it personally. Tracy is a very good setter. John.
    2. What’s nasty about it? I thought it was a perfectly good puzzle from an experienced and reliable setter.
    3. You are writing to fellow solvers, not the editor. You might like to bear this in mind, when choosing your words. Most commenters prefer to be friendly.
      1. Pam. I do not understand the comments and criticisms here. Ed found this puzzle tough, knotty, nasty, tricky, etc. Nasty, as in a nasty cough, a nasty problem perhaps.
        Nothing was personally directed to the setter, only his experience in solving the puzzle, reflected perhaps in time taken. That others found the puzzle straightforward and without any complexity is just their experience and not his.
        We are writing our personal comments here so that is what they are.
        I think the criticisms voiced at his comment are unfair and indeed inappropriate.

        Edited at 2021-05-08 09:00 am (UTC)

          1. Many fellow solvers make value “judgements” here, quantitative (how fast) and qualitative (how easy). So I don’t see your point.
            With respect, people frequently use “nasty” in the colloquial not to mean something abhorrent but something tricky, vexatious, exasperating etc. It really is not my place to defend his use of the word except in the context that perhaps he found the puzzle very tricky /convoluted. It is not a description I would choose, but if anyone were to defend or explain its usage it should be the writer.
            Hopefully he found insight in this blog and support to guide him in the future. Had he mentioned which clues had him puzzled we might all have found the comment less subject to misunderstanding. Best wishes, Richard
  9. Enjoyed this so thanks again. It’s a shame about 1a – I doubt that many will have heard of it so in my opinion it doesnt belong here.
  10. A nice end to the week from Tracy. I started well seeing some of the longer answers quickly. Not 1a, though — STARS AND ?was fine but I biffed BARS as my LOI on the basis of ‘bars‘ for the stripes across the flag but NHO of this name for it.
    I hesitated over RANCOUR but found it OK when I thought about ‘court’. Some nice clues and a Friday finish 2 mins under target so not too bad. Thanks to both. John M.

  11. FOI: 17a. AMBER
    LOI: 6d. ACT UP

    Time to Complete: 65 minutes

    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 21

    Clues Answered with Aids (3 lives): 1a, 19a, 3d

    Clues Unanswered: Nil

    Wrong Answers: Nil

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

    Aids Used: Chambers

    Hurrah! A completion after 8 straight days of DNF. Ten minutes faster than my average time.

    1a. STARS AND BARS – I am familiar with the Stars and Stripes but have never heard of the Bars variant. I had to use a life on this one, even though I had STARS AND _ A _ S completed. I assumed it was a name for a flag of a country in South America. After I completed the crossword, I Googled Stars and Bars and I now know it was what the old Confederate flag was called.

    19a. CONSORT – Gah! This is the second crossword this week where the answer has been CONSORT, and I used a life both times! I need to firmly ensconce that one into my memory banks.

    3d. RESERVOIR DOGS – I really was stumped on this one. I concentrated too much on tank tracks being one definition. I should have considered the two words as separate entities.

    1. Well done on the completion. There were a couple of trcky clues. Good to hear you finished quicker than usual.

      Edited at 2021-05-07 11:23 am (UTC)

  12. Having immediately seen “stars” for “celebrities” I confidently typed in STARS AND STRIPES and then looked at the screen … oh!

    I didn’t find that easy, needing all the checkers for RESERVOIR DOGS and a bit getting stuck in the NW. Not impressed by having “show” in two separate double definitions.

    FOI (correctly) RISOTTO, LOI SCREEN, COD BONUS, time 12:43 for 2.6K and a Poor Day.

    Many thanks Tracy and John.

    Templar

  13. I’d NHO STARS AND BARS, so that was my LOI as I’d assumed with = AND, and was looking for a 3 letter word for brand new, but STARS AND RAWS didn’t seem to work. I eventually spotted the correct anagrist, but it took me over my target time. No trouble with the rest of the puzzle. 11:11. Thanks Tracy and John.
  14. I found this quite difficult. FOI STARS AND … then I had to go elsewhere. Did not properly parse RANCOUR; had COURIER in mind as the second bit, which didn’t quite work.
    Delayed by RAISE and CHESS after finally getting the film. LOI SCARRED.
    15:06. COD to EGO TRIP.
    David
  15. I always go straight for the long clues if there are some, and today they fell kindly for me. STARS AND BARS rang faint bells and the clue was clear, so that gave a solid start for working on through. The film and the policeman were also early fill-ins. No real problems and no difficult vocabulary in my view. Not a fast completion for me, but no serious hold-ups although RANCOUR took a bit of working out.
  16. Agree with all that’s been said here. Did not parse Snowdon or District Nurse, so it was good to get the lowdown from the blog. 15 minutes. FOI risotto, LOI consort, COD ego trip. Thanks to John for the blog and Tracy for the puzzle. GW.
  17. I was surprised to find myself 2 minutes over target this morning at 17m, as it all seemed to flow ok. NHO STARS AND BARS, but it scanned nicely enough, and having thought of it, I reverse parsed it to my own satisfaction. I needed most of the crossers to get RESERVOIR DOGS, and RANCOUR took some time to parse fully, but CHESS fell easily enough. Thanks John and Tracy.
  18. Got STARS AND straight away (FOI) but the BARS had to wait (LOI).
    Also NHO CHESS the show but finally realised it had to be. ACHE then obvious.
    Everything else slotted in fairly quickly.
    Actually I think a DISTRICT NURSE is now called a Health Visitor but either way an easy one.
    COD EGO TRIP.
    Thanks vm, John. Look forward to w/e QC.
        1. Written briefly in an eventful and unexpectedly incident full week when I emerged last night from a gratefully appreciated clinically induced narcotic haze. All blame the venison in chocolate sauce and too much festive Stilton! Hopefully discharged Monday, meanwhile will use the weekend’s QC challenge to re-engage my grey cells assuming some are still there.
  19. A nice 20 mins for me and a satisfying end to the week.

    John mentions can you ski on Snowdon? Not sure, but you can definitely ski in the Lakes as there was sufficient snow the other day to open the tow bar around Helvellyn.

    With regards to the actual puzzle, I also thought “Stars and Bars” was another name for the US flag, but the fact it went in early helped me for the rest of the grid which was steadily completed in a downward direction.

    FOI — 10ac “Risotto”
    LOI — 23ac “Desk Sergeant”
    COD — 11ac “Ego Trip”

    Thanks as usual.

  20. A wild guess for STARS AND BARS which surprisingly proved right, spent ages over ACHE, which then gave CHESS, guessed RANCOUR from letters already in. Haven’t we had CONSORT and SENIOR already this week?
  21. I found this quite difficult and struggled to get going properly. District Nurse was the only long answer to come to mind early on, though Reservoir Dogs was easy enough once I had a few crossers written out horizontally. The unknown Stars and Bars went in with a shrug, as did Chess. And I couldn’t parse Rancour either, so a poor effort all round. CoD to 11ac, Ego Trip — the opposite of my 30min effort. Invariant
  22. Normal service has resumed. Like others I put in STARS AND blank to begin with. Everything else fell into place pretty quickly although I couldn’t parse RANCOUR. Then I returned to 1a and deciphered the wordplay for the unknown STARS AND BARS. Agree with Kevin. Historical American flags are really not on my radar but perhaps others feel this way about the American film RESERVOIR DOGS. 7:53
  23. In putting in Sargeant and not reading it…..
    Otherwise Ache and Chess last ones in. Like most also Stars and Bars was new to me.
    But this was a good crossword for me.
    Time about 23 minutes — the gas man interrupted — and Consort a write-in after being so troubled by it a few days back.
    Thanks all
    John George
  24. ….but I checked it before submitting in a time 5 seconds slower than my actual completion. Apart from the loose 21A I had no problems.

    FOI STARS AND BARS
    LOI AMBER
    COD EGO TRIP
    TIME 2:57 (3:02 online)

  25. Good, enjoyable, quickie in the mid-range of difficulty. 12 minutes.
    Thank you, John and Tracy.
  26. Project managing some builders, a visit from an old colleague, lunch out and then going to get our second Covid jabs all conspired to Mrs R and me not attempting this puzzle until late afternoon today. However, we both came through unscathed – 23 minutes for Mrs R and 31 minutes for me – and we both enjoyed the mental challenge (I’m often too traumatised to enjoy the process).

    My favourite clue, despite it being my LOI, was EGO TRIP, which I saw and parsed fully at the same time. RESERVOIR DOGS took quite a while to come to mind, and I was unsure about RANCOUR and the spelling of SERGEANT.

    My only complaint was the absurd (to me, at least) abbreviation of ‘departs’ to just D. I can’t ever remember seeing anything shorter than ‘dep’, anywhere. P (for perhaps) any W (for word) may be A (for abbreviated) to a single L (for letter) in C (for crosswordland).

    Many thanks to Tracy and to johninterred, and I am looking forward to pitting my wits against the extra QC sometime this weekend, particularly as I have not yet fully solved one.

    1. Good luck with finishing this weekend’s… I’ve tried to make it a bit easier this time.
  27. An enjoyable puzzle from Tracy and, apart from the NHO STARS AND BARS and a few things I didn’t stop to parse properly, a smooth solve. Thus, for the first time ever, I can report back to back sub-15s as I finished, by putting the BARS in 1a, in 14:39, my 8th best time ever. That’s my third top 10 time of the week. I am almost tempted to think that I might be getting better at these, but no doubt the puzzles next week, and tomorrow of course, will prove otherwise. Anyway, COD to EGOTRIP. Thanks John and Tracy.
    1. Congratulations, chrispb! If you don’t suffer a dip in form next week, but if you do I hope it’s only a gentle decline.
  28. Better effort today. Very good crossword where the unknowns were gettable with some thought and enough easier ones to keep one moving around.

    Dare I confess to never having seen Reservoir Dogs? Not seen Chess either though did once dress up as a chess piece and got moved around some life sized board for some school thing back in the day. Stuck in the memory but not in a good way 😂

    Thanks Tracy and John for the double helping of erudition

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