Times Quick Cryptic No 1872 by Wurm

Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Introduction

5 minutes… no, wait, 9:48… grrrrrrrrrrr…..

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   Bond is on alert breaking / in! (12)
RELATIONSHIP = IS ON ALERT anagrammed + HIP
Didn’t parse this while solving. Quite tricky!

8   Regressing predictably involves this drink (5)
CIDER = hidden reversed in PREDICTABLY

9   Dad swallowing an excellent remedy for ills (7)
PANACEA = PA around AN + ACE

10   Eagle in whirling descent (7)
LINEAGE = EAGLE IN anagrammed

11   Grimace [when] church pursues gain (5)
WINCE = CE after WIN

12   Xmas booze g-g-gone astray! (6)
EGGNOG = GGGONE anagrammed
Ha!

14   Clearly providing an example of this! (6)
ADVERB = cryptic definition
‘Clearly’ is an adverb.

17   Short story / being broadcast — it could be gripping! (5)
TALON = TALE without the last letter + ON

19   Island in / unsettled US area, [or] continental one? (7)
EURASIA = I in anagram of US AREA
Continental area, that is.

21   Musical drama / extremely tiresome work (7)
OPERATE = OPERA + first and last letters of TIRESOME

22   Love trapped by one obscure colloquialism (5)
IDIOM = O in I + DIM

23   Poor place the owner soon abandoned (3-5,4)
ONE-HORSE TOWN = THE OWNER SOON anagrammed

Down

1   Royal Engineers gathering [in] memory (12)
RECOLLECTION = R.E. + COLLECTION

2   Charged a lot [in] Los Angeles retreat (5)
LADEN = LA + DEN

3   Whirlwind [is] to trouble, sucking in Royal Navy (7)
TORNADO = TO + ADO around RN

4   Duck small victim [for] large bird (6)
OSPREY = O + S + PREY

5   Southern / wine brewed [for] strength (5)
SINEW = S + WINE anagrammed

6   Anger / that smoulders in RC service? (7)
INCENSE = double definition

7   One like Noah, after flood, [finding] insect? (5,7)
WATER BOATMAN = BOATMAN after WATER
This clue alone took me 4 minutes. Never heard of the bug.

13   Left in strong wind on ship (7)
GALLEON = L in GALE + ON

15   Little animals [in] sleeping quarters freeze (7)
DORMICE = DORM + ICE

16   Falling star, remote, exploded (6)
METEOR = REMOTE anagrammed

18   Elegantly simple / opener from Hitchin Town (5)
NEATH = NEAT + first letter of HITCHIN

20   Sneaky-sounding / attempt [to see] Irish county (5)
SLIGO = SLY homophone + GO

Glossary

Wordplay indicators

abandoned = anagrammed
after = after
astray = anagram
breaking = anagram
brewed = anagrammed
extremely = first and last letters
finding = linking word
for = linking word
from = linking word
in = containment
in = linking word
involves = hidden
is = linking word
opener = first letter
or = linking word
pursues = after
regressing = reversal
(to) see = linking word
short = remove last letter
sounding = homophone
sucking in = containment
swallowing = containment
trapped by = containment
unsettled = anagram
when = linking word
whirling = anagram

Abbreviations and little bits

attempt = GO
broadcast = ON
church = CE
duck = O
excellent = ACE
in = HIP
island = I
left = L
love = O
one = I
retreat = DEN
Royal Engineers = RE
Royal Navy = RN
small = S
southern = S
trouble = ADO

48 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1872 by Wurm”

  1. Ended up all green in 14 but it was hard work to get there — even if WATER BOATMAN did go in immediately. Only four on the first pass of acrosses but the downs were more accommodating and the grid filled up nicely from there until there were five or six to go and that’s when the hard work started. RELATIONSHIP needed all the checkers and only fell once I convinced myself LADEN meant ‘charged a lot’, EURASIA was quite accessible in the end but I was spooked by the clue, ADVERB needed all the checkers to see what was going on — very nice! — TALON was extracted from the cryptic and SLIGO needed the S from EURASIA — when it suddenly became obvious! Slow on ONE-HORSE TOWN — not a phrase I’d ever use and which I thought meant insignificant rather than poor — and a tricky anagram to untangle. Enjoyed solving OSPREY, did as I was told and there is was and a special mention to EGGNOG, “ha!” indeed!. Good puzzle and blog, thanks all!

    Edited at 2021-05-12 05:59 am (UTC)

  2. Liked this. Lots of nice surfaces and enough gentler ones to keep moving around.

    Finished with ADVERB and WATER BOATMAN getting the former which made the latter a write in as I did know the insect.

    Thought ONE HORSE TOWN was terrific anagram

    Thanks for the ever excellent blog Jeremy and Wurm for the entertainment

  3. Slow going today. Both of the 1s proved difficult to unravel and RELATIONSHIP ended up being my LOI, which meant that I missed out on lots of useful 1st letters. Other hold ups included EURASIA, DORMICE, IDIOM and LADEN. All were fairly clued so I think I was just being a bit dozy today. Finished in 13.33, with my favourite being PANACEA.
    Thanks to Jeremy for the excellent blog
  4. Definition is Town Opener from HItchen. Elegantly simple provides NEAT. Great blog
  5. At 21:33 a shade outside Target Time. This really was an excellent puzzle, with many very clever clues. I think WATER BOATMAN was my favourite. It’s the word we used for those bugs growing up, and an example of a word with many local variants.

    Found RECOLLECTION difficult, as RECONVENTION seemed plausible with gathering=convention.

    Lots of misdirection by Wrum, but nothing unfair. With ‘descent’ having seven letters, that clue could be read either way, and the letters of descent looked more plausible, and the ‘scented eagle’ probably exists somewhere. ALSO AT 17a ‘broadcast’ did not mean a homophone,

    LOI DORMICE
    COD ADVERB

  6. I couldn’t get a hold at first but eventually RECOLLECTION fell into place which, along with some checkers, helped with my RELATIONSHIP with this puzzle. Again the checkers gave me WATER and hence BOATMAN. COD. (Fortunately I did know the insect.).

    Got ONE HORSE TOWN before realising it was an anagram. Liked SLIGO !

    FOsI TALON, WINCE, OSPREY. LOI ADVERB.
    Thanks vm, Jeremy.

    Edited at 2021-05-12 08:11 am (UTC)

    1. Dont despair, as a relatively new solver I thought there were more complex devices than usual with part of words as in short story giving us tal in addition to briadcast giving the on in talon. Even relationship was an anagram with the addition of a cryptic clue for hip… many of these doubke devices in the 15×15 which is why the regulars didnt spot the difficulty level for us beginners!
  7. Just a minute over target today. I thought there was a nice balance of difficulty, allowing me to get the crossers that were necessary for three of the long ones — 1a, 1d, and 7d. ONE HORSE TOWN dropped out quickly but LADEN and LOI ADVERB took too long (double d’oh). Good puzzle and blog. Thanks both. John M.
  8. Tricky Wurm today. I started with SINEW. Managed to keep going. I was sure 1a started RELATION but I couldn’t parse the last bit; and submitted without parsing this one.
    MY LOI was DORMICE being the last clue I read.
    My favourite was OPERATE from a number of good clues.
    12:27 on the clock which doesn’t look too bad today.
    David
  9. I never got RELATIONSHIP, and one or two others defeated me: I should have got ONE HORSE TOWN — but we do have WATERBOATMEN on our pond so that went in early.

    COD OSPREY — glorious birds.

    Thank you Wurm and Jeremy.

    Diana

  10. I decided to follow an unfamiliar conventional approach and do all the across then down. I normally try to complete in blocks. FOI CIDER LOI INCENSE (spent too long trying to fit in CH). Result was 34min which is on par. While this approach was quite confidence boosting to ability, it was unfamiliar and I think I would have been quicker with my go to method. Many good surfaces, COD WATER BOATMAN remembered from pond dipping with children and frequent visitors to the bayou, currently out of reach.
    Thanks Wurm and Jeremy

    Edited at 2021-05-12 08:55 am (UTC)

    1. It’s quite interesting to hear about different approaches. When I first started I tried the acrosses then downs approach but that didn’t work for me at all as you are trying to get every clue without a checker. Now I start with the shortest words on the basis they are often the easiest (not always of course) and then work from where I start with the benefit of the checkers I’ve just got. If there’s no luck I move onto another short word and start from there. You might think there’s a danger of missing out on an easy clue this way but it doesn’t seem to be the case as long as I keep moving around the grid and not spending too much time on a clue I can’t get straightaway. I should add that I always see if I can get 1a and 1d first of all but if they don’t spring to mind I move on on the (possibly totally erroneous) theory that the setter often puts the hardest/best clues in 1a and 1d.
      1. I think I find longer clues generally easier as they are often anagrams or more than one word. I think my least favourite clue would be a short word double definition!
        Also I think I read somewhere that down clues are often easier than across, but don’t know if that holds true.

        Edited at 2021-05-12 08:56 pm (UTC)

  11. Plusjeremy says “NEATH = NEAT + first letter of SIMPLE”

    What? How does the first letter of SIMPLE = H?

    1. It’s just a mistake, PW. Even Homer nods. An anonymous (probably Wurm!) has already pointed it out above and I’m sure Jeremy will fix it soon.
    2. Just a typo, neat plus first letter of Hitchen! To leave town as the definition.
      1. Understood. I just thought I was being dumb. I did have H as my last letter in that answer, but could not drag the rest out. For some reason NEATH makes me think of a friend from school. His name wasn’t NEATH and neither did he come from there. No idea what was happening there. Candy deficiency obviously.
        1. I thought you treated yourself to double rations yesterday! Perhaps more likely withdrawal symptoms from sugar-rush?
  12. Found this fairly slow going compared to most of the recent QCs I’ve done, but had all but four in about 20 minutes. The first of those four to go was LINEAGE when I finally figured out I wasn’t looking for some weird eagle I hadn’t heard of (and wouldn’t be able to spell properly) and saw the anagram. That enabled me to get LADEN (slight MER at that but I suppose you could be charged with a lot of responsibilities or laden with them) and then I saw RELATIONSHIP though I only managed to parse post-solve. With the “I” in place I got my LOI INCENSE, which was a relief since I had thought that I was looking for the name of a service, RC or otherwise, that involved an anagram (smouldering) of ‘anger’. I vaguely remembered struggling with the name of a Catholic service before but I couldn’t remember for the life of me what it was. Anyway, I stopped my watch on 29:28, so officially within target, but I think I should probably reduce my target to at least (or at most) 25 minutes now. Lots of great clues with fiendish misdirection and smooth surfaces. COD to PANACEA. Thanks Wurm and Jeremy.
    1. Thanks to the wonders of Google I have now discovered why I used to get bitten in my uncle’s swimming pool – there is a sort of Water Boatman called the “Backswimmer”, and it is an aggressive carnivore. “Sensing the vibrations of its prey, it charges at it with lightning speed and stabs it with its ‘beak’, injecting toxic saliva into the wound so it can suck out the contents of the body.” Yikes – no wonder it hurt!

      This puzzle also had a sting in the tail, since I thought that 1ac was an anagram of “is on alert” + SPY for Bond. Hey ho. I also didn’t get how LADEN could = “charged a lot” and had to look it up afterwards. Those two added many minutes.

      FOI RECOLLECTION, LOI LADEN, COD – lots of choice in a very fine puzzle but I’ll go for GALLEON, time 11:01 which in the absence of the great man I am estimating at 2K and a Decent Day.

      Many thanks Wurm and Jeremy.

      Templar


  13. FOI: 12a. EGGNOG
    LOI: 19a. EURASIA

    Time to Complete: DNF

    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 16

    Clues Answered with Aids (3 lives): 1a, 1d, 20d

    Clues Unanswered: 14a, 17a, 22a, 15d, 18d

    Wrong Answers: Nil

    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 19/24

    Aids Used: Chambers, Bradford’s

    I got further than I thought I would when I first started this crossword. On my first go around the grid I only had two answered.

    1a. RELATIONSHIP – I had a T present in the 5 box and so kept trying to find a word beginning with AGENT (Bond). As time went on, I realised AGENT wasn’t part of it and so had to resort to Chamber’s. First life used.

    1d. RECOLLECTION – I am annoyed I did not get this one. I initially thought Reminiscence, but that did not fit. Kicked myself when I turned to Chambers and saw the answer. So obvious!

    20d. SLIGO – I just could not drag this word up from the depths of my memory. Third and final life used with 4 or 5 clues left to answer. I knew I would be onto a DNF now.

    17a. TALON – Gah! I did have this pencilled in but then removed it.

    7d WATER BOATMAN – It took me a few minutes, but I got this one eventually. At my primary school we had a nature garden that included a beehive and a pond. We used to see water boatmen on that pond.

  14. I found this hard going and spent a long time at the wrong end of some clues. LINEAGE, EURASIA and OPERATE all sent me off in the wrong direction. Needed all the checkers for RELATIONSHIP. LOI was EURASIA. 16:32. Thanks Wurm and Jeremy.
  15. Did all but bottom third quite quickly, but then struggled until NEATH came to mind. Then immediately saw ONE HORSE TOWN (great anagram) and SLIGO which led to the rest, with WATER BOATMAN last in. Knew this from having had a pond in the past which had lots of them. Very enjoyable puzzle.
  16. Did all but bottom third quite quickly, but then struggled until NEATH came to mind. Then immediately saw ONE HORSE TOWN (great anagram) and SLIGO which led to the rest, with WATER BOATMAN last in. Knew this from having had a pond in the past which had lots of them. Very enjoyable puzzle.
  17. ….which should have been obvious, and accounted for about 15% of my time.

    FOI PANACEA
    LOI EGGNOG
    COD ONE-HORSE TOWN
    TIME 4:26

  18. I won’t deny there was a certain amount of satisfaction in finishing this, but it was certainly hard work along the way. At the 30 min mark I almost gave up with loi 14ac extant — *d*e*b looked particularly unlikely as the basis for a word, but an alphabet trawl soon produced the pdm. Eggnog at 12ac was good, but my CoD goes to 7d Water Boatman. Invariant
  19. Having silently followed your website for well over a year now, I felt it was time I became a slightly more active contributor.
    Your comments over this time have undoubtedly sharpened whatever skills I had and I’ve also enjoyed the wit and repartee from all of your contributions!
    Briefly by way of background I’ve been wrestling with the Times Crossword virtually every day since 1975 and the QC from day 1. I have the occasional inspired moments, more than offset by the dumber ones but the great thing for me is that I enjoy the daily challenge so much.
    Today was one of my better times (3:31) – it’s the tougher 15x15s that always seem to put me firmly in my place! I liked 12 across (eggnog) although I can’t imagine ever choosing it as a Xmas tipple – what on earth would it go with?
    Looking forward to contributing a little more going forward. Meantime many thanks to all the bloggers, setters and indeed all of you for enriching the solving experience
    1. 3:31 – wow. I can see you’re going to be someone we have to aspire to! A new scale when Kevin isn’t about perhaps 😉 Welcome aboard
    2. Lovely to hear from you, pitcaithlie! Please make yourself at home and don’t be a stranger.
    3. Wowsers — since 1975! Looking forward to hearing much more from you 👍
  20. 30 minutes in, right-hand side fully solved, but only EGGNOG filled in on the LHS. 1a (RELATIONSHIP) arrived after 40 minutes, but 1d (RECOLLECTION) took until 50+minutes. Finally finished in exactly 60 minutes with LOsI, NEATH and TALON.

    I just couldn’t seem to parse many of the clues today, and had to rely instead on guessing words that may fit – a difficult task with so few checkers. Also, not very enjoyable as a result.

    It appeared that Mrs Random was also finding it tough going, as she was concentrating hard for 50 minutes or so. However, I found out afterwards that she had completed today’s puzzle in 21 minutes, followed straight away by yesterday’s Trelawney in 29 minutes. I was speechless (probably a good thing).

    Thanks to Wurm (whom I always find tough) and plusjeremy.

  21. 25 mins for me — held up by everyone’s favourite “Water Boatman” it seems. It’s not the most obvious insect that comes to mind, but there is some vague, distant recollection from primary school when we visited the local pond. Once I had that, then 14ac “Adverb” popped out nicely.

    Saying that it took a while to get going.

    FOI — 5dn “Sinew”
    LOI — 14ac “Adverb”
    COD — 1ac “Relationship”

    Thanks as usual!

  22. but also a few gimmies.

    RECOLLECTION and RELATIONSHIP were my last two in, RELATIONSHIP unparsed, well, I got the anagrammed part, then entered the HIP from the whole definition, rather than solving IN=HIP

    Never settled into a flow, so well done to Wurm, and thanks to plusjeremy.

    7:34.

  23. But a really enjoyable work out. At one point I thought the NW corner might defeat us but perseverance paid off and we finished in 25 minutes. Could have done with a really quick time today – we’re up to our eyes with various garden projects…

    FOI: PANACEA
    LOI: LADEN
    COD: ONE HORSE TOWN

    Thanks to Wurm and Jeremy

  24. Found this one tough and had to resort to aids for some of the anagrams – not something I’m good at, I often can’t see the answer. 1d went in quite quickly but I had RECOLLECTING, which made 21A tricky, I was trying to think of operas or musicals to fit. Finally put it in the phone app and checked it to find last 3 letters were wrong.

    Oh well, at least I got there eventually, albeit with help.

  25. Not quite such a poor result today as anticipated after yesterday’s romp – about nine minutes. I didn’t find this as wriggly as some of Wurm’s puzzles but still struggled with the 1s. I liked TALON and OSPREY – a bit of a theme going on there. I went to a fascinating talk about the osprey project at Rutland Water a few years ago – they regularly fly over to mid-Wales in an hour or so for additional fishing! Amazing birds – fortunately I don’t think they eat too many ducks 😅
    FOI Panacea
    LOI Relationship
    COD Water boatman

    Many thanks Wurm and Jeremy

  26. No particular problems. I have seen WATER BOATMAN once before but that could have been in one of the few 15×15 I have attempted or even in my book of Telegraph cryptic crosswords. I thought of ADVERB straight away and the B helped with BOATMAN but waited until all the checkers were in before committing to it. I wasn’t sure about the LADEN definition but the wordplay was straightforward. My LOI was SLIGO…my GK of Irish Counties is not great. 8 mins
  27. 16 minutes; no idea why it took so long really. I couldn’t parse relationship either. I have water boatmen on my pond. Clever little bugs.
  28. 22m, so good for us. Slowed down by the insect and SE corner. Once we unravelled 19a, all fell into place. Thanks, Wurm and for the blog.
  29. Just got round to contributing after an earlier solve. I was stumped by 1a Relationship so looked at 1d and tried hard for Remembrance but the across clues didn’t seem to help until I had 10a Lineage and then Recollection jumped to mind. That helped a lot. FOI 9a Panacea. LOI 1a Relationship – as it fitted and then reverse parsed. COD 18d Neath. I often have a DNF with Wurm puzzles so feeling good about getting through and grateful for some clear cryptics. Also thx for Jeremy’s clear blog.
  30. A real struggle today with several areas requiring a lot of thought. Eventually finished in 25 mins (seemed longer!) with 1ac correct but unparsed. No problem with WATER BOATMAN as I remember them from a garden pond in my youth. ONE HORSE TOWN took a long time to unravel, as did EURASIA and LADEN (I don’t know why the latter should have posed a problem, but it did). A fine puzzle – thanks to Wurm and Jeremy.

    FOI – 11ac WINCE
    LOI – 1ac RELATIONSHIP
    COD – 20dn SLIGO

  31. Completely on the wavelength today, hardly paused for breath. Ten minutes in all. Nineteen clues on first pass, plus some filling in on the way. Maybe it helps that I survey water beetles. Water boatmen I handle with care as they can swivel their head round and bite. When they bite, they inject fluid. Not sure if this is deliberate, or it is fluid that happens to be in the mouthparts. Apparently the bite is very painful. Something I have managed to avoid having been forewarned. Considering the water bodies I find them in, it is prudent to avoid being bitten anyway.
    Posting late today as I was working this morning and we went for a walk in the fens this afternoon where we heard several cuckoos, a booming bittern and a water vole plop into one of the drains, ditches or dykes there. Didn’t parse idiom. This was my LOI. COD anything animal related, as ever for me. Thanks for an enjoyable puzzle and blog. GW.

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