Times Quick Cryptic No 1893 by Alfie

Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Well, I’m going to stick my neck out and predict that this puzzle will cause some problems, and not just for the SCC.  Others more experienced will recognise the setter’s name and be looking for hidden depth, which isn’t too hard to find, and some more experienced solvers may just have some difficulty with a couple of the clues, answers and wordplay.  I struggled home in 18 minutes, three over target, and had difficulty with some of the parsing, particularly 12a, which I finally parsed to my satisfaction (just) after completion.

Alfie is an occasional setter who invariably gives us a puzzle on an Alfie-betical theme, and this is true here as well.  Themed crosswords can appear contrived, and annoy some solvers who might find them clunky.  However, I always enjoy their cleverness and craft, so count me as a fan.

I’ll describe what I have found at the end of the blog, to give you all a chance to find it for yourselves.  Also, sorry for my radio silence on this blog this week.  I started the week with a 72 hour golf trip to Wiltshire, and yesterday did a round trip from Surrey to Scotland for a very sad family funeral.  However, that is all behind us, and we can now move on.  I have completed all of the QCs this week with times between 10 and 13 minutes (except for this one!), which may be related to exhaution.  However, I have had neither the time nor opportunity to comment here until now.

Across

Sale that sounds weird to some? (6)
BAZAAR – Sounds a little like BIZARRE (weird).  One of those homophone clues that doesn’t quite work in my opinion.  The first syllable is definitely not the same sound in the two words.
Told stories added by brief, regularly recalled (6)
FIBBED – Alternate letters (regularly), reversed (recalled) in aDdEd By BrIeF.
8 Reports Athletic Club matters (8)
ACCOUNTS – A{thletic}  C{lub} and COUNTS (matters).
Fish a healthy red colour, tailless (4)
RUDD – RUDD{y} (healthy red colour), tailless = drop the last letter.
10 Measure of length of payment time (4)
FEET – FEE (payment) and T{ime}.
11  Widespread agitating I’d suffer endlessly (7)
DIFFUSE – Anagram (agitating) of [I’D SUFFE[r}] (endlessly).
12  Returning favour to Ms Darling perhaps, as compensation (6,5)
SAVING GRACE – This is where I struggled with the parsing.  Ms Darling is Grace Darling, a lighthouse keeper’s daughter whose participation in the sea rescue of a handful of survivors from the shipwrecked Forfarshire in 1838 brought her to the attention of society, and made her a heroine.   A SAVING GRACE is a compensation, or compensating virtue or quality, so answer and definition fit.  However, how does the wordplay work?  The best I could arrive at is this:  Grace Darling undoubtedly saved lives in her heroic rescue,  If one were to save Grace, one would be returning the favour.  Can anyone do better than that?
15  Arrogant school bowler, perhaps (4,3)
HIGH HAT – HIGH (school, as in HIGH school) and HAT (bowler is an example of a type of HAT).  To HIGH HAT is to adopt a superior attitude towards, or to ignore socially, or to be arrogant.
16  Pilgrimage starts off hopeful and joyful journey (4)
HAJJ – First letters from (starts off) H{opeful} A{nd} J{oyful} J{ourney}.  The HAJJ is the name of the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
17  A couple of lines penned by each girl (4)
ELLA – A couple or pair of L{ines} to give LL, which is inside EA{ch}.
18  Back in Paris, I annoy local French citizen (8)
LYONNAIS – Reverse hidden (back in) in {pari}S, I ANNOY L{ocal}.  LYONNAISe (usually written with the final E) is a cooking term meaning cooked or served with onions, but comes from ‘a la Lyonnais’, of or made in Lyon or the Lyonnais region, which can equally apply to a citizen of the region.
20  Lincoln’s assassin, by front of stage, stalls (6)
BOOTHS – BOOTH (John Wilkes, assassin of Abe Lincoln in Ford’s Theatre) and S{tage} (front of stage).
21 Stylish clothes, ultimately, dyer’s transformed (6)
DRESSY – Anagram (transformed) of [DYER’S] and S ({clothe}S ultimately).

Down

Family on radio taking their bow? (7)
ARCHERS – A cryptic hint to give the name of British Radio’s most famous family, the ARCHERS, broadcast since 1951 (a good year, that!).
3  Sailor not at home?  That’s concerning (5)
ABOUT – AB (sailor) and OUT (not at home).
Manage to flee (3)
RUN – Double definition.
5  Female at first rubbished this gift, causing a punch-up (9)
FISTFIGHT – Anagram (rubbished) of [THIS GIFT] with F{emale} (at first).
6  Live with artist, accepting vilification, in Caribbean location (7)
BERMUDA – BE (live) with RA (artist) containing MUD (vilification).
7 Fellow spun around endlessly (5)
EDDIE – EDDIE{d} (spun around) endlessly = drop the last letter.
11  Foul places knight visits heaving dull sigh (9)
DUNGHILLS – Anagram (heaving) of [DULL SIGH] with N (Knight, N, chess notation) ‘visiting’.
13  Wandering around Virginia, on allowance (7)
VAGRANT – VA (Virginia, standard abbreviation) on GRANT (allowance).
14  Exhorts, in French, to marry son (7)
ENJOINS – EN (‘in’ in the French language), JOIN (to marry) and S{on}.
15  A greeting the chap is going to love (5)
HELLO – HE’LL (he will, the chap is going to) and O (love).
16  Joint that’s nothing exceptional inside (5)
HINGE – Hidden (inside) in {not}HING E{xceptional}.
19  Elderly Cockney’s influence (3)
OLD – HOLD equals influence.  If said by a cockney, he’d probably say ‘OLD and drop the aitch.

Back to Alfie’s theme.  Answers to all of the across clues contain double letters, starting with AA in 1a, BB in 5a, CC in 8a, etc, working through the alphabet in order, but missing occasional letters.  We continue with DD, EE, FF, GG, HH, JJ, LL, NN, OO and finally SS in 21a.  A couple of the down answers also feature double letters, 11d and 15d.  In addition, all but seven of the twenty-five clues, across and down, feature double letters.

Alfie also sets under the name Noel, usually at Christmas.  Famously, in one of his Xmas puzzles a few years ago, Alfie / Noel included a grid that was one letter short of a pangram (called a Lipogram).  The missing letter?  It was L that was missing – No El!  Today, the only clue that does not contain a letter L is 14d.

Please let me know if you spot anything else.

59 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1893 by Alfie”

  1. I have ‘DNK’ written by 12ac, and I was thinking of Wendy; but I now realize that Grace had shown up a while back, so I should have thought of her, I guess. Anyway, The Rotter’s analysis seems right to me. ENJOINS and HINGE took a while, otherwise no problem. 6:36.
  2. It’s a stretch to put Bermuda in the Caribbean. It’s closer to Nova Scotia than it is to the Bahamas, and they aren’t in the Caribbean either. Delightful place and people, though.
    1. Your point is valid but the Wiki entry on Caribbean has:

      The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands are sometimes considered to be a part of the Caribbean, even though they are neither within the Caribbean Sea nor on its border. However, the Bahamas is a full member state of the Caribbean Community and the Turks and Caicos Islands are an associate member.

      1. The Crown Agents have always include Turks & Caicos in the Caribbean roster and The Bahamas. Bermuda not.

        Edited at 2021-06-10 07:04 am (UTC)

  3. I was not pleased to spend three minutes or so on ARCHERS. I only now realize that I had somehow been thinking of Archie Bunker and All in the Family, which is not on the radio at all. Nevertheless, when I thought of the word ARCHER it was clearly right, so in it went.
  4. A delightful puzzle but it stretched me to 12 minutes breaking my run of 9 consecutive solves within my 10-minute target.

    Rotter, you found more Alfie/Noel tricks than I did. I noticed only the double letters in the Across clues and a couple in the Downs.

    I had the same parsing at 12ac as you did.

    I quite enjoyed the dodgy homophone at 2dn which at least was acknowledged by a question mark.

  5. Stopped the clock at 19m which was faster than I’d feared having been quite stuck on my last two — RUDD and EDDIE. I had to check a RUDD was a fish and that D presented a friend’s son’s name — I had to look BOOTH up too, I think I probably should have known that. Took a while to get on the wavelength but in the end I think I nearly enjoyed this one.
  6. Yup, definitely in the tricky category for me. Hiddens were my particular stumbling block today where HINGE (I was looking for something hip related) and LOI LYONNAIS caused me all sorts of headaches. FEET and the unknown fish also required some figuring out.
    My knowledge of Darlings doesn’t go much beyond Blackadder so SAVING GRACE went in on the definition and checkers.
    Lots to enjoy but my COD goes to ARCHERS for the homophone misdirection.
    Finished in 13.28, oblivious to the theme despite a brief looked based on Alfie’s history.
    Thanks to Rotter
  7. Alfie at his constructional best! Grace Darling, The Archers, Bermuda (which is definitively is not in the Caribbean!) Hello, Hinge (& Brackett!) and Booth’s Beefeater Gin (Mother’s Ruin, Lambeth) since 1863.

    FOI 4dn RUN

    LOI 1ac BAZAAR

    COD 12ac SAVING GRACE – M5r. Rotter NB ‘perhaps’

    WOD 16ac HAJJ

    Time: just short of 8 mins.

    Edited at 2021-06-10 07:04 am (UTC)

  8. Great puzzle and mostly fair if you count help from Google for Lincoln’s assassin and RNLI Victorian lighthouse heroine… Didn’t spot the Nina so thanks Rotter and Setter. Lots of partial anagrams and construction clues which were fun. Just squeezed in under 20 with help so technical DNF

  9. 27 mins, so a 4.5K although I rate it more of a 6-7K. LTI RUDD which I knew was a fish, and EDDIE which I pondered over the cluing. Missed all the subtleties of double letters etc but appreciated them after the fact. Thanks Rotter for explanation of 12A which was beyond me and 15A which I only related to in the company of ride and crash varieties. Another sunny day ahead, better walk the old lady before it gets too hot for her paws.
  10. Stuck FABLES in at 5. Gave up without BAZAAR or ARCHERS ( I stopped listening to that program during the first lockdown, as the monologues got on my nerves). So a DNF today.
    Thanks for the erudite parsing of the clues.
  11. … and a 15 minute finish, but not without a few MERs for me. As well as the controversy outright error over 6D Bermuda (it is categorically not in the Caribbean), I was not sure about 1A Bazaar, which does not really mean sale in my book, being more the marketplace or souq than the activity going on there, and I confess I have never heard the expression 15A High hat (though this clue is eventually forgiven for avoiding the temptation to automatically have Eton as the meaning of school!). On the other hand, a hat-tip to 16A Hajj, possibly the first time I have ever seen a double-J in a Times crossword.

    I parsed 12A Saving Grace exactly as Rotter did (eventually — I did also like Kevin start by wondering about Wendy). I don’t think there is any need to “do better than that” — I think it is a very clever clue as it is, requiring a pleasing amount of mental gymnastics, and it is certainly my COD.

    Many thanks to Rotter for the very full blog, on both the clues and the NINA.
    Cedric

      1. At which sales take place, but the bazaars themselves are to me markets or fairs not sales
  12. A very good workout, so thanks to setter and blogger. On a vaguely related theme, I completed the 27982 15×15 yesterday, and noticed a ‘bazaar’ pattern of double letters that seems to have attracted no comments in the blog (apart from the one I left last night). Could anyone elucidate what’s going on? Thanks.
    Cardorojo
  13. Missed the theme.

    LOI was ACCOUNTS – I also had an unparsed BARBUDA, but then spotted that MUD could be vilification and that BE RA was the rest of the clue, and gave no more thought to the location of said jurisdiction!

    I liked SAVING GRACE and DUNGHILLS

    8:58, so a third missed target this week.

  14. OK, I admit I looked up Lincoln’s assassin, but knew GRACE Darling so biffed that one early on. Luckily HIGH HAT also sprang to mind, tho a very old-fashioned phrase.
    Actually, Cedric, one does talk about eg a church bazaar meaning charity sale, so not bizarre to me.
    Kept trying to think of a homonym for family and then the penny dropped for LOI ARCHERS.
    Agree BERMUDA not Caribbean.
    Failed to see Nina as usual.
    Thanks so much, TheRotter. I am sorry you have had a difficult time lately.

    1. I suggest you read the comments in the blog, above your comment, where your question has been raised and answered several times. When completing the puzzle, the same geographical question occurred to me, but I didn’t mention it in the blog because of one, very specific reason. As a young Artificer Apprentice in the Royal Navy, I joined my first ship in Trinidad (which is in the Caribbean) on Caribbean Patrol. Over the next 6 months, we visited most of the islands of the Caribbean, but also visited Bermuda. Therefore, in my mind, Bermuda and the Caribbean are forever related, so I shrugged my shoulders (SMS) and moved on.
  15. I thoroughly enjoyed this. As soon as I saw Alfie’s name, I was expecting trouble but actually I found this very approachable and enjoyed the tight cluing and witty surfaces. I whizzed through it in 7 minutes and even saw the nina very quickly 😅 So it must be a Very Good Day!
    I think you’re right, Rotter, that newer members might find this more challenging – there were some quite tricksy clues and a diverse range of GK is probably necessary.
    I never did quite get what was going on at 12a SAVING GRACE so thanks for the explanation. Like Kevin, the first Darling I thought of was Wendy from Peter Pan, but ‘something Wendy’ definitely wasn’t going to work! HIGH HAT caused me to SMS (nice one!) as I was only really aware of the phrase high handed in that context.
    FOI Bazaar
    LOI Hinge
    COD About, although Fistfight made me laugh

    Many thanks to Alfie for the fun and to Rotter for the full and clear blog, plus all the extra work looking through Alfie’s bag of tricks! Many commiserations and best wishes to you too.

  16. To The Rotter for an excellent, well researched blog which must have taken a lot more time than I usually put in.

    To Alfie – clever and great fun giving me 13+ minutes of intrigue.

    Last, and very least, to me for managing to grind through the anagram for DUNGHILLS and then, eventually, managing to fill in LOI BOOTHS – as I dnk the assassin.

  17. Under ten minutes today, a bit of a write-in for me, which is unusual. On the elusive wavelength for once. Wasn’t sure about Ella so was pleased to find I guessed correctly. Needed the checkers for bazaar, as it is not a homophone to me. High hat was the most obscure answer. I saw it early but put it in late as needed checkers for certainty. FOI rudd, LOI dunghills as I was looking for a word with a K in it, then realised N is the knight in crosswords. COD Archers. The double-letter theme is only obvious to me when it is pointed out – it passed me by completely until I read the blog. Thanks, Rotter, and Alfie. GW.
    1. More specifically N is the knight in Chess, as Rotter has already noted in his blog.

      Edited at 2021-06-10 09:27 am (UTC)

  18. At my target 10 minutes I was only halfway through, but by 15 minutes had all but 20a. After drawing a blank I looked up Lincoln’s assassin(who I knew but couldn’t recall) to finish in 16:08. Took an age to see ARCHERS, which finally gave me the bizarre BAZAAR. Missed the alphabetical shenanigans as usual. Thanks Rotter and Alfie.
  19. Lots to like today although a MER at bizarre / bazaar, but the checkers got me there. LYONNAIS struck me as very clever. Remembered the assassin, just, and Grace, and didn’t even pause to consider the precise location of Bermuda as it was clearly the answer required. It was in the right general direction… Clever puzzle, thanks Alfie, and Rotter for an entertaining blog. About 30 mins of fun.
  20. ….I missed the theme, but found it easily enough with Rotter’s prompting. For once, it didn’t diminish the quality of the puzzle. The SCC will definitely struggle I suspect.

    FOI ACCOUNTS
    LOI HINGE (lovely concealment !)
    COD SAVING GRACE (definitely a 15×15 clue however)
    TIME 4:28

  21. A not unexpected dnf — although I only had 20ac to go after 30 mins, so in that respect probably a lot better than I would have been a few years back.

    DNK Lincoln’s assassin, the only Booth(s) I know being the local supermarket up here in the North West. Nearly put “Hard Hat” for 15ac, but couldn’t parse it and 12ac “Saving Grace” was also an educated guess.

    Whilst there were a few clues that were genuinely problematic (never a fan where specific GK is required for part of the clue) — the main issues for me were the cleverly constructed surfaces that meant nearly each clue could have been looked at in numerous ways.

    FOI — 4dn “Run”
    LOI — dnf
    COD — 2dn “Archers”

    Thanks as usual!

    Edited at 2021-06-10 10:38 am (UTC)

  22. A DNF for me. Lots of clues I’d class as unfair to newer solvers, but I suppose you can’t win them all. A whinge, a shrug, and I’m over it.
  23. I thought this was clunky in places, so the Nina didn’t come as a complete surprise on reading Rotter’s excellent blog. Booth and Grace Darling (and Samuel Mudd for that matter) were known, so no problems there. Conversely, High Hat for arrogant was completely unknown. My wife, from Yorkshire, considers it common knowledge — I make no further comment. Having failed to spot the hidden, I gave up trying to parse loi Hinge as the clock reached 30mins, and then kicked myself when I read the blog. Invariant

    Edited at 2021-06-10 06:42 pm (UTC)

  24. 6:06. At the tough end of the QC spectrum, with not a few clues that could have “graced” a 15×15, along with one or two easier ones.
    My first thought for 2 dn was to look for a homophone but then realised it was just an everyday story of countryfolk.
    COD was probably 12 ac “saving grace” — very cleverly put together.
    I’m another of those people who seem to miss the Ninas and pangrams, so thanks to Rotter for a fascinating and comprehensive blog and to Alfie. So at least now I know “what it’s all about” !!
  25. 20:04 for me including correcting RUDE to RUDD; I knew when I left it in it was shaky and the computer said Unlucky. So a DNF for me strictly.
    I too wondered about BERMUDA but the parsing was clear.
    Late in were BAZAAR and ARCHERS. LOI should have been BOOTHS. I spent several minutes trying to remember who dun it; I did in the end.
    Some good difficult stuff here. COD to BOOTHS.
    David
  26. Can’t believe ARCHERS took me over 10 minutes. Only started listening a few years ago but love it

    Impressed with the Nina — well done Alfie and Mr Rotter for the great blog

    Thought it was tough today but managed to keep going by jumping around

    Grew up in Newcastle so v familiar with Grace Darling

  27. Did not get many first time through, but gradually made progress. Guessed GRACE DARLING and BERMUDA, eventually saw HIGH HAT, but not FEET, alas. Thought LYONNAIS rather abstruse.
  28. Hard yakka but kept slogging through. Took an age over ARCHERS, despite having listened since childhood because my mother always had it on! Couldn’t parse SAVING so thanks Rotter – that’s a good explanation. Missed the Nina even though I looked for one.

    FOI FIBBED, LOI ARCHERS, COD LYONNAIS, time 12:38 for 1.8K and a Tough day.

    Many thanks Rotter and Alfie.

    Templar

  29. Used aids on 2 clues including, like others, the name of Lincoln’s killer which I knew but could not recall. 2 was far less than I thought half way through this puzzle. COD to the reverse hidden 18a which was the other clue where I used aids.
  30. These were two words we used to describe this QC before reading the blog, so you were spot on Rotter. Doable but not particularly pleasant would be our summary, like most of the puzzles where the setter puts showing off above crafting a good crossword. Whilst this is undoubtedly clever, I think that consistently producing testing puzzles that are enjoyable to read and do (e.g. Izetti) is both more difficult and under praised.
  31. Was going well, MERS at HIGH HAT, BERMUDA as commented above. But yet again I could not winkle out the last clue LYONNAIS, despite spending as much time on it as the rest of them.

    I just did not look for a hidden with misdirection all over the place: “annoy” as an anagrind for local, “in Paris” = “en”, then that backwards etc, trying to think of the French for back as in “Back in Paris”…

    COD BERMUDA which I assembled from the parts, and was expecting a more Caribbean ANTIGUA, JAMAICA, or TORTUGA

  32. Delighted to say, whilst as always in the SCC, we did finish this one in 42 mins. Only needed to look up Lincoln’s assassin. We enjoyed it too.
  33. Bermuda is not in the Caribbean. It is in the North Atlantic off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Now I know why Barbuda did not fit the clue
  34. I struggled big time with this but that is because my GK is very poor although slowly expanding! I have been lucky enough to go to BERMUDA and it is definitely not an island territory of the Caribbean. The flight to the North Atlantic location from New York is just over two hours. However that didn’t hold me up. I was slow on most clues and the dearth of checkers slowed me even further. Guesses aplenty including RUDD, SAVING GRACE, HAJJ, BOOTHS and ENJOINS. About 31 minutes but at least I finished. Thanks Rotter.

    Edited at 2021-06-10 06:04 pm (UTC)

  35. 33 minutes so yes, tricky. I spotted all the double letters once I knew there was something to look for — thanks!
  36. Following a drive back home from a sunny break in N. Norfolk, I had most of this done within target but had serious problems with LYONNAIS. After a lot of head scratching, I took another look at the crossers and realised that I had biffed 11d as Dungheaps instead of DUNGHILLS. Another reminder to parse carefully before moving on. Having got the first L, the neat answer for the French citizen emerged. Still just outside the SCC but chastened. Thanks to Alfie for a good puzzle (I never see, or even look for, Ninas) and the Rotter for a particularly impressive blog, especially in such trying circumstances. John M.

    Edited at 2021-06-10 02:24 pm (UTC)

  37. Found this tricky and exceeded our modest 30 target. Loi Lyonaisse, clever hidden. Glad to finish with a minimum of help.
  38. Whether there is an ‘e’ at the end or not depends on the gender of the noun it is agreeing with, évidemment.

    Edited at 2021-06-10 04:17 pm (UTC)

  39. A good day for me considering how others found it. After eighteen minutes I had just 2d to get, but I hadn’t the foggiest. I thought I was looking for a homonym for family but my mind was blank so I feared I was going to go over 20 minutes. Then, after a minute, the ARCHERS penny suddenly dropped and I stopped my watch on 19:34. Didn’t notice the theme, but hats off to Alfie for working it all out without having to include anything too weird. No problem with the BAZAAR clue as I for one cannot hear the difference when I say both words unless I really make an effort to stress the I in the strange one. Didn’t have a problem with BERMUDA being misplaced either as I had forgotten exactly where it was. Very interested to learn from one of the early posters that it’s nearer to Nova Scotia than the Bahamas. Who’d have thought? Anyway, FOI BAZAAR, LOI ARCHERS, COD GRACE DARLING. Thanks Rotter and Alfie.
  40. has surely provided us with the best blog of the year so far. A fine example of the art form. Meldrew

    Edited at 2021-06-10 04:58 pm (UTC)

  41. Just a brief post from me today, as I’m visiting my elderly parents and have a two-hour drive ahead of me. Mrs R is visiting her parents today as well, and I doubt she will have done this puzzle yet.

    I am absolutely delighted to have finished, all correct and fully parsed in 34 minutes (a good time for me). The clueing was precise and I made progress each time I thought I was
    grinding to a halt. DNK Lincoln’s assassin or the pelling of HAJJ. Also, initially thought ENJOINS was CAJOLES, but saw my error in time.

    Many thanks to Alfie and therotter.

  42. Bermuda is most definitely not in Caribbean. I tried to make Barbuda, which is Caribbean, work but failed.
    1. I also thought it had to be Barbuda. Couldn’t be Bermuda, or so I thought!
  43. I enjoyed this one and finished (with SWMBO) is about one course (salad with stilton cheese).
    Great blog today.. we did not spot the nino either.

    Seems to depend which computer I am one as to what name I get when I log in

    There fore MarkDavis = Toxshot!!

  44. A fun romp, with several pauses for deeper thought, eg 11d DUNGHOLES, which evaded my anagram-spotting-antenna for too long. Maybe 20 minutes overall, with FIBBED FOI. Thanks to blogger – and condolences on a tough week.
  45. Perhaps if Bermuda, diappeared in the Bermuda Triangle it could concievably reappear in the Caribbean, otherwise might as well say that Ecuador is in the Caribbean — its closer!

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