Times Quick Cryptic No 1898 by Wurm

Author   rolytolyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
A touch under 11 minutes, around a minute longer than yesterday’s, so tricky enough and it took a while to get going properly. A top-notch puzzle, with lovely surfaces and satisfying misdirection throughout. A few bits of obscurity that I recognised vaguely from crosswords past: I might have dredged up the meaning of 7d if presented with just the word, but would have been miles off 15d. Really enjoyed this – many thanks to Wurm!

Across
1 One Mr Opera is replaced as concert master (10)
IMPRESARIO – anagram (replaced) of I (one) MR OPERA IS
8 Meat in spoon finally wiped to be cleaner (7)
SHAMPOO – HAM (meat) in SPOOn (final letter wiped)
9 Story written around black board (5)
TABLE – TALE (story) written about B(lack)
10 Friend initially creates unpleasant smell (4)
CHUM – C (“initially” Creates) HUM (unpleasant smell)
11 Journalist on the beer (8)
REPORTER – RE (on/concerning) PORTER (beer)
13 One having an eye for provocation? (6)
NEEDLE – double definition
14 Line in exotic cigar that’s strongly flavoured (6)
GARLIC – L(ine) in an anagram (exotic) of CIGAR
17 Grin broadly after antler found in wood (8)
HORNBEAM – BEAM (grin broadly) after HORN (antler). I was initially toying with “hornring”.
19 Any number banned from stadium environs (4)
AREA – N (any number) banned from AREnA (stadium)
21 Girl reversing in limo anxiously (5)
NAOMI – “reversing in” LIMO ANxiously
22 Difficulty for British leaving en masse initially (7)
PROBLEM – PRO (for) B(ritish) LEM (Leaving En Masse “initially”)
23 Steak: hotel dinner cooked without starter (10)
TENDERLOIN – anagram (cooked) of OTEL DINNER (hOTEL “without starter”)

Down
2 Your writer confident around a music bar (7)
MEASURE – ME (your writer) SURE (confident) around A. News to me (I think): the OED lists this as chiefly North American.
3 Hitch, or something he directed? (4)
ROPE – somewhere between an &lit and a double definition: to ROPE = to hitch, and Hitch[cock] directed Rope. Good film, and Patrick Hamilton is well worth a read.
4 Demonstrator perhaps in rain? (6)
SHOWER – double definition
5 Helping a learner is sensible (8)
RATIONAL – RATION (helping) A L(earner)
6 Gold coin in circulation? (5)
ORBIT – OR (gold) BIT (coin)
7 Pipe cracked each summer (10)
MEERSCHAUM – anagram (cracked) of EACH SUMMER. It sounds like it could be a fabric, or a perfume, or perhaps a mountain, but no it’s a pipe.
8 Used as support worker (6,4)
SECOND HAND – to SECOND = to support, HAND (worker). The OED lists a jocular definition of second hand, relating to food, such as a joint after all the good bits are removed, or Rabelais’s colourful description of the bowels: “The Cupboard wherein second-hand-meat is kept.” Very good! (I was checking to see if a Second Hand was also a thing, like a second mate.)
12 European in biplane flying low (8)
PLEBEIAN – E(uropean) in an anagram (flying) of BIPLANE
15 German rock singer teaching the French one (7)
LORELEI – LORE (teaching) LE (the, French) I (one). Appeared in QC 1464 (Oct 2019) as: “Siren of traditional stories on the French island”, which Curarist pithily blogged as “A siren who lured boatmen to destruction on the Rhine, the bitch.”
16 Mum has good food for chatterer (6)
MAGPIE – MA (mum) has G(ood) PIE (food). I was only aware of the ‘hoarder’ sense, but a magpie is apparently also a chatterbox.
18 Aussie bouncers? Opener in trouble bats here! (5)
ROOST – ROOS (Aussie bouncers) T (“opener” in Trouble).
20 Bubble in black fuel (4)
BOIL – B(lack) OIL (fuel)

59 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1898 by Wurm”

  1. ….and fortunately I had all of it. I could see that MEERSCHAUM clued as an anagram was a little unfair in a QC,

    FOI TABLE
    LOI PROBLEM
    COD ROPE (but definitely a 15×15 clue)
    TIME 4:04

  2. 5:59 this morning. Above target, by which I mean a target over the medium term, because individual puzzles vary considerably in difficulty and this was another in a recent sequence at the harder end of the QC spectrum.
    So I was fairly content with my time, which was undoubtedly helped by knowing words such as Lorelei, Meerschaum and Hornbeam. On their own, the corresponding cryptic elements weren’t straightforward.
    The cantankerous chatterers at 16 d “Magpie” have gradually been taking over our garden in recent years and I can see from some earlier comments that mine is not a unique experience.
    COD 18 d “Roost” — nicely devised cricketing surface (and an anagram of Root’s)
    Thanks to Roly for an entertaining blog and to Wurm for an entertaining puzzle.
  3. A real struggle with shampoo and second hand insolved. Also needed aids for 7a, meerschaum, knew the word but not the meaning. Glad others found this troublesome. Thanks, Worm for keeping us busy for over an hour.
  4. Unlike most, meerschaum was my second one in, because if you have heard of it the anagrist shouts it. It’s fame is unusual in that it was NOT smoked by Sherlock Holmes in the books, but was used as a prop in the US stage play and became associated through that.
    Having been along the Rhine past the rock, Lorelei went in with a couple of checkers, and we have a copy of Rope in our Hitchcock collection, so again a write in.
    I was surprised not have seen 11a before — looks like it should be a chestnut.
    Not a particularly fast time, but a satisfying puzzle.
      1. Beech are martyrs to wooly aphid/whitefly. Hornbeam is definitely my hedge of choice. Invariant
  5. What a clever puzzle – it really stretched us. Steed knew of MEERSCHAUM and I got PLEBEIAN after convincing myself that it must be spelt with a silent E. Neither of us knew the Hitchcock film but couldn’t see how the answer could be any other than ROPE. We took 20 challenging but enjoyable minutes to complete it.

    FOI: SHOWER
    LOI: PLEBEIAN
    COD: NEEDLE

    Thanks to Wurm and Rolytoly.

  6. Only got about 9 clues
    Worst performance for months
    Oh well

    Edited at 2021-06-17 04:51 pm (UTC)

  8. Not much fun.

    NHO LORELEI, still don’t understand HUM for smell.

    I gave up in the end and looked at the blog.

    Diana

    1. You occasionally hear ‘humming’ for something really stinky, but not often.
  9. 51 minutes of hard graft gradually exposed all but the anagram at 7d. A further 17 minutes of re-reading the clue, double-checking the crossers, sorting and re-sorting the anagram (etc.) and I had invented a new word: MEURECHASM. A pipe could be a channel, which could be a chasm, …

    Actually, I think this was an unfair clue for a QC, as, if you DNK the word (highly likely), it was not possible to solve with any reliability, even if you did see it was an anagram. I’m not happy with Wurm.

    Many thanks to rolytoly.

  10. DNF after 95 minutes, so you can’t say I didn’t give it a fair crack of the whip. In retrospect, I should have got BOIL (I put coal) CHUM, NEEDLE and SECOND HAND (I had “stable hand” which didn’t help) and probably the NHO MEASURE given I had the MEA bit, but MEERSCHAUM as an anagram has no place in a QC as far as I am concerned. I put MEERUCHASM thinking that a chasm might be a pipe. Not a good day. Thanks Roly and Wurm (I think).
    1. Hard luck, chrispb. I guessed MEURECHASM, based on the same logic as you. Definitely not a QC clue, IMHO.
  11. A late starter today. This was difficult all round in my opinion.
    LOI ROPE, unparsed. I thought I had at least heard of all his films-but not this one.
    Got it all in the end. No time as watching golf-but slow.
    David
  12. A good QC for an end of the day/not looking at the time/interruptions sort of puzzle. LOI, like others, was rope – dnk the film. Had some sort of wild connection between HORNBEAM and hornpipe – but got there reasonably well. Great blog btw – a long time after dinner now so happy to consider the second-hand meat cupboard!
  13. Wow that was tough. Took an hour and a half but managed it because I could understand the word play (don’t always with some of the other setters)
    Guessed meerschaum as only sensible word that fitted (LOI)
    Thanks Wurm and all for explaining.
    Nick
  14. About forty minutes. ‘Tough, but enjoyable.’ Anagrams OK, as I was familiar with the words needed.
    LOI Rope, as NHO the film.
    Thank you, Roly and Wurm.
  15. I had less trouble than it seems many here did. Found it enjoyable, accessible and done in fifteen minutes, with FOI IMPRESARIO, and LOI BOIL. Really can’t say I found anything a problem. I’m as surprised as anyone!
  16. Coming to this puzzle rather late (3 days to be precise) as very busy week… found it super-tricky but very enjoyable. Loved learning some new words, e.g MEERSCHAUM and LORELEI (knew this word but not the meaning). Thanks for blog — really needed it! Will try and do Monday’s QC on Monday..!
  17. MEERSCHAUM, LORELEI, ROPE = HITCH, yep this was definitely a quick cryptic.

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