Times Quick Cryptic No 1919 by Jalna

Author   JohninterredPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

This is, I think, only my second Jalna Quick Cryptic to blog. On the tricky side, I thought and my time of 7:25 is my slowest for 4 weeks. 8D was a new word for me and my LOI was 5D. Some great clues, though – I particularly enjoyed 11A, 6D and, my favourite for the great surface, 16D. Quite a few anagrams, but I’m not complaining. Thank-you Jalna! How did everybody else get on?

Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Phil’s turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the latest crossword 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 Attitude rejected by a fabulous writer (5)
AESOP – POSE (attitude) “rejected” -> ESOP after, “by”, A. Fabulous – ho ho. Aesop’s Fables, “…or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to modern times through a number of sources and continue to be reinterpreted in different verbal registers and in popular as well as artistic media.“
7 Massive re-launch organised around the end of June (9)
HERCULEAN – (re-launch)* “organised” “around” “the end of” JunE. It wasn’t the first answer to come to mind for the definition.
9 Freight company transporting a case of Riesling (5)
CARGO – CO (company) outside, “transporting”, A and “case of” RieslinG.
10 Noble individuals look mature (7)
PEERAGE – PEER (look) AGE (mature).
11 Small quarry devoured by outsize birds (7)
OSPREYS – S (small) PREY (quarry) “devoured by” OS (outside). Neat surface.
12 Siemens’ misguided, long-standing rival (7)
NEMESIS – (Siemens)* “misguided”.
15 Some baseball starts, featuring only the best players (3-4)
ALL-STAR – Hidden in basebALL STARts.
18 Troop’s leader supports capturing a mountain range (3,4)
THE ALPS – Troop “‘s leader” HELPS (supports) “capturing” A.
20 Swallow one strong drink (7)
MARTINI – MARTIN (swallow – the bird) I (one).
22 On reflection, books are a source of inspiration (5)
ERATO – OT (old testament; books) ARE “on reflection” -> ERATO. Erato, in Greek religion, one of the nine Muses, the patron of lyric and erotic poetry or hymns. She is often depicted playing a lyre…. and often appears in crosswords.
23 Engineer tangles up DIY tool (6,3)
STAPLE GUN – “Engineer” (tangles up)*.
24 Exhausted after tango and twist (5)
TWEAK – WEAK (exhausted) “after” T (tango in the NATO phonetic alphabet).
Down
1 Type of chilli found in Mexican chorizo (5)
ANCHO – “Found in” MexicAN CHOrizo. I knew this because I grow chillis and like to try different varieties.
2 Her plans potentially change (8)
SHRAPNEL – (her plans)* “potentially”. Change as in loose coins. It’s not a usage I’ve seen for many years, but I rather like it.
3 Fake ring — the ultimate in chicanery (6)
PHONEY – PHONE (ring), “ultimate in” chicanerY.
4 Employ in quiet exhibition space (6)
MUSEUM – USE (emply) “in” MUM (quiet; Mum’s the word).
5 Great sort of game (4)
MEGA – “Sort of” (game)*.
6 It’s burned in church — not so effectively at first (7)
INCENSE – IN CE (Church of England) Not So Effectively “at first”. And it is indeed burned in some churches!
8 Sprinting, or moving with intensity (11)
RIPSNORTING – (Sprinting or)* “moving”. A new word for me.
13 Meals out arranged for special friend (8)
SOULMATE – (meals out)* “arranged”.
14 Fighting male is hard and fairly heated (7)
WARMISH – WAR (fighting) M (male) IS H (hard, as a pencil may be designated).
16 I felt awful eating the last bit of your pudding (6)
TRIFLE – (I felt)* “awful” outside, “eating”, “the last bit of” youR.
17 Extremely rude chap, one with interim authority (6)
REGENT – Outer letters, “extremely”, of RudE, GENT chap.
19 Utensil slicing primarily meat (5)
SPORK – Slicing “primarily” PORK (meat). A portmanteau word describing a utensil combining the functions of a spoon and a fork. See here.
21 Wander — somewhere in Italy, you say? (4)
ROAM – Sounds like, “you say”, ROME (somewhere in Italy).

50 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1919 by Jalna”

  1. Biffed STAPLE GUN, parsed post-submission. DNK ANCHO, DNK SHRAPNEL in the relevant sense. ‘writer’ is a bit misleading; AESOP, if he existed, isn’t said to have written his fables. 5:33.
  2. Strange one. Many went in easily but RIPSNORTING completely baffled me until I had all the checkers and only 2 blanks to complete. Just couldn’t form a word in my head that would fit. Excellent anagram and clue.

    Also stared at S_O_K for a long time. Was I missing something? Light eventually dawned (quite literally; early start today).

    Lastly, I had the wrong homophone for ROAM making STAPLE GUN impossible till I worked that out.

    Jaina wins this one today but it was an enjoyable tussle. Thanks John

  3. A slow solve for me, so I found it hard. It didn’t help that I was careless and put in ROME too quickly, which made STAPLE GUN (not an obvious anagram with only a couple of checkers) hard aka impossible until I fixed it. I was actually making English TRIFLE when I filled in the answer (I live in the US and my Chinese step-daughter loves it, so it’s a sort of multi-culti dessert…plus sherry from Spain in it too). ERATO seems to have very convenient letters for crossword setting. CLIO shows up occasionally. TERPSICHORE not so much!

    BTW Is there a way to know if a setter is male or female? There are various “he’s” above, but Jalna sounds like a feminine name (probably not in Hindi but in English, at least).

    Edited at 2021-07-16 05:59 am (UTC)

    1. Not sure that it answers your question, Paul, but on a previous occasion Jalna posted a ‘From the setter’ message here and signed it ‘Ali’. I know for sure the identity of 17 QC setters – more than that actually as some of them use more than one pseudonym – and they are all male. The only unambiguously female name is ‘Margaret’ of ‘Margaret and Bob’ and of them the editor once commented cryptically that ‘Margaret may not be a woman’.

      Edited at 2021-07-16 06:15 am (UTC)

      1. I always wonder about the Guardian setters. You can find some stuff by Googling, but some remain mysterious (at least with about 30 seconds of effort). I have a friend called Megan who was once the mascot for her university women’s soccer team, so I always automatically assumed all Nutmegs are female, like she was and the Guardian setter turns out to be.

        I know that most setters are men, but in the other direction, when I taught myself to touch-type (best investment you can make if you use computers a lot, like many of all do now, but I did over 50 years ago as a programmer in my teens and at university) the book I used assumed I was a woman.

        Edited at 2021-07-16 06:31 am (UTC)

    2. It’s incomplete, but there is a list of setters and their real names, with links to some brief biographical information for each here.
        1. Thanks for interesting link. So the QC is indeed aimed at beginners and those daunted by the 15×15.
  4. I not only missed my target 10 minutes but went over 15, which put me into my ‘red zone’. Jalna has set us only 8 puzzles, 2 each in 2019 and 2020, and 4 so far this year. I’ve never yet achieved my target on any of his.

    But for all that, this was an excellent challenge although it may not be welcomed in all quarter.

    I rarely nominate a WOD but can’t resist RIPSNORTING today. Unlike our blogger I knew it, but am more familiar with the noun ‘ripsnorter’ which in my youth would have used of a particularly exciting fast-paced adventure story as might have featured in Boys’ Own or similar publications. It can also be used to describe a storm or gale. I think the element of speed and excitement is of more importance than excellence.

    1. Dear Jack,
      Now that you have finally used WOD, could you please ensure it is entered into The Glossary.
  5. Made it but it was a slog. Only three on the first pass of acrosses on the way to a 25m solve. Tricky grid too. Took a while wondering if ‘poon’ was a type of meat. I’ve been advised to learn the muses before but they haven’t stuck. Couldn’t see how a word was going to fit R_PSN_RTING — perhaps because it was vertical — until I got pen and paper out. A good challenge in retrospect but I didn’t enjoy it at the time!
  6. After last week’s successes a poor showing this week with only one completion in target time.

    Three five letter clues wouldn’t drop, frustrating, as I am sure one would have unlocked the other two. NHO ERATO, I though NT/OT might be in play, but couldn’t make it work, the extra ‘a’ in the clue bothers me, as it’s not needed for the surface. SPORK? ‘Poon’ as a cut of meat looked as likely.

    I thought TWERK also a possibility.

    Ditto on ROME/ROAM confusion holding up Staple Gun.
    WOD of course RIPSNORTING
    COD THE ALPS where I just followed the instructions in the clue, once bras=supports had been discarded.

  7. I really enjoyed my 25 minutes with this, about my ideal level to keep me moving but thinking all the way through. Word of the day has to be RIPSNORTING, and I will try to employ it more often in conversation. Good to see two bird related clues. Didn’t know ANCHO, had forgotten ERATO, but the clueing was clear. Didn’t get the full parsing for SHRAPNEL at the time, so thanks, John, for jogging my memory.
  8. Excellent entertainment but I made a complete mess of the SE corner by biffing STEAK for 19d which I knew at the time was dodgy but forgot whilst looking blankly at E_A_E for the muse. Once I’d twigged what was going on I required an alphabet trawl for the rarely seen SPORK.
    Like others my WOD was RIPSNORTING which I associate with a particularly vicious delivery from a fast bowler in cricket.
    Overall some tricky (but fair) clues and I needed to write out a bunch of the anagrams, which I generally try to avoid doing.
    Eventually crossed the line in 15.32 with COD going to SHRAPNEL.
    Well played Jalna and thanks to John for the blog
    1. Agree on cricket — I don’t think I’ve heard ripsnorting outside of commentary and so associated it with viciousness rather than ‘intense’ deliveries. Despite clear clueing it held me up.
  9. A testing 20 mins for me. Some nice clues but, like plett, I biffed STEAK knowing I couldn’t parse it and screwed up the SE corner until I finally twigged REGENT, TWEAK, and ERATO and the O became clear. I have a dim recollection of SPORK but I would not have got it without the three crossers.
    Most of the anagrams dropped out quickly although HERCULEAN took longer than it should have. RIPSNORTING came easily and is my COD. A good QC to unbalance and provide an engaging challenge to people like me. Thanks to Jalna and John. John M.
  10. Spelt Herculean wrong, and then had -A-A left for final clue. HAHA doesn’t work as Great or a game, does it!? Doh!
  11. A difficult yet enjoyable solve. There were plenty of anagrams where I struggled to juggle the letters in the correct order e.g. HERCULEAN, SHRAPNEL, RIPSNORTING but they were very satisfying when I got there. FOI was AESOP and LOsI ERATO and the unknown SPORK. 15:18 which seems to be on a par with other commenters. COD to SHRAPNEL for succinctness and it is a term I often used prior to March 23 2020. Thanks John for the link to the weekend QC.
  12. All sorted bar the SE corner in 12 mins, then took almost 10 mins for the last three clues – ERATO (NHO), SPORK (biffed SPOON), and TWEAK (with SPOON in place could not figure this out)!

    ERATO eventually went in with a shrug after guessing books=OT reversed, which unravelled SPORK, which after a trawl gave TWEAK.

    A gritty finish to an enjoyable puzzle.

  13. FOI: 12a. NEMESIS
    LOI: 10a. PEERAGE
    Time to Complete: 53 minutes (DNF)
    Clues Answered Correctly without aids: 14
    Clues Answered with Aids: 9
    Clues Unanswered: 1
    Wrong Answers: 1
    Total Correctly Answered (incl. aids): 14/25
    Aids Used: Chambers

    I found this one to be very tricky, with a word I have never heard of before (RIPSNORTING). A misspelling of HERCULEAN resulted in my not being able to answer MEGA. Disappointing.

  14. Well into the SCC today at 22 minutes, held up by some unusual vocabulary and clever clues — well done Jalna. ANCHO was the only one I hadn’t heard of, but ERATO and SPORK were buried so deep that they took some time to surface. Isn’t RIPSNORTING the origin of the Aussie ‘ripper’? I always assumed it to be, but I could be wrong. Thanks both.
    1. Looking through the OED.
      Ripper
      A person or thing that is particularly good of its kind; spec. an attractive young woman. Frequently Australian in modern use.
      1838 Bell’s Life in London 26 Aug. One of Mr. Mynn’s best balls, technically a ‘ripper’, took the top of the middle stump.
      ripsnorting, adj.
      Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Originally U.S.
      1846 Yale Literary Mag. June Wh-e-e-eu—what a rip-snorting red head you have got!
  15. Took 15 mins on the dot. A good un’.

    (Ah! Dinner break – Duck Soup)

    FOI 1ac AESOP – now ‘the fabled writer’, eh Kevin?

    LOI 19dn SPORK – really!

    COD 2dn SHRAPNEL – common usage with my London-based offspring. 20dn MARTINI is in common usage hereabouts.

    WOD 8dn RIPSNORTING – beauty! North American from 1840 – football – antomym ‘snoozer’ (M-W).

    Let’s see if Verlaine is up and about. On edit AWOL.

    Edited at 2021-07-16 11:52 am (UTC)

  16. As the clock ticked on towards the 30min mark, I was on the verge of calling it a day, but I suddenly saw my last pair, Martini and Warmish, so managed a completion. As for the puzzle, some good clues (with Phoney my favourite), but way too many anagrams for my taste. Erato was only known from the 15×15, where she should probably stay, and Ancho was completely unknown but an obvious hidden. Hmm. Invariant
  17. With seven anagrams this could have been faster, but alas it took me some while to find my anagram hat. A really enjoyable challenge, with lots of clever misdirection, quirky (but fair) definitions and smooth surfaces.

    FOI AESOP, LOI MEGA (so simple … once you’ve seen it!), COD MARTINI, time 10:58 for 2K and a Pretty Good Day.

    Many thanks Jalna and John.

    Templar

    Edited at 2021-07-16 11:05 am (UTC)

  19. …as “srork” spoils my 5:35 for a tricky puzzle. NHO ANCHO. COD SHRAPNEL.
  20. … but I got there in 42 minutes, which is about par for the course for me nowadays.

    My LosI were ERATO, which I vaguely remember having seen before, SPORK (just weird!) and TWEAK. I struggled to parse SHRAPNEL, CARGO and OSPREYS, and had NHO ANCHO but trusted to luck on all of them. As for RIPSNORTING … well, I don’t really know what to say. All in all, a proper cryptic work-out.

    Mrs Random finished in 25 minutes, but didn’t remember having seen ERATO before, and couldn’t parse RIPSNORTRING and some other clues. This was straight after having polished off yesterday’s Breadman in 28 minutes. She nearly always beats half an hour, these days.

    Many thanks to Jalna and johninterred.

  21. NHO RIPSNORTING, failed on the muse and SPORK, but should have got TWEAK.

    FOI AESOP then trundled merrily along until SE corner then stuck.
    A swallow isn’t a martin, I don’t think. Liked ALL STAR, THE ALPS, STAPLE GUN, WARMISH.

    Thanks all, esp John.

    Edited at 2021-07-16 04:43 pm (UTC)

  22. Couldn’t get into this at all. Had to use aids to crack 2dn despite having all the crossers. NHO ANCHO or SPORK and only dimly aware of RIPSNORTING. Couldn’t parse INCENSE until seeing the blog. Altogether a rather frustrating exercise needing all of 36 mins to get home.

    FOI – 1ac AESOP
    LOI – 19dn SPORK
    COD – 3dn PHONEY

  23. 10:15 this morning. After a week which began with a near PB for the 15×15, I reckon I recorded my worst ever time for a QC (and I’ve been doing them every morning since No. 1)
    Funnily enough I got off to a smooth start in the top half but had a complete meltdown in the SE Corner. I think 8 d “Ripsnorting” was the source of my problems as the first 5 letters I had, “r-psn”, looked so unpromising I started checking all the the crossers, which I then realised was using up precious time. 24 ac “tweak” and 19 d “spork” (NHO) then proved stubborn, down to self-imposed pressure! So even after 45 + years of puzzles, the brain (or at least mine) can still seize up!
    I reckoned it was a tough QC anyway but no complaints about Jalna’s clues. He wins today!
    Interested to see Martini defined as a strong drink — what would that make cask conditioned Glenfiddich I wonder? Maybe I should go and find out!
    COD 7 ac “herculean”.
    Thanks to John for the blog and the chance to try another QC at the weekend and to Jalna (I think!)
  24. No problem with SPORK as I was actually using one to eat my lunch while solving this.
  25. ..but it seems everyone had a bit of trouble with this one.

    I enjoyed it though – SHRAPNEL, RIPSNORTING, MARTINI all stood out. I did manage to untangle HERCULEAN without writing it down, but it wasn’t easy.

    8:27

  26. Splendid Friday QC …
    … which I much enjoyed and finished in just under 13 minutes, by coincidence the same as yesterday’s time. Given that most people seem to have found it a slightly chewy offering, it must be a wavelength thing.

    I was initially dubious about massive = herculean in 7D, but after a massive/herculean effort I overcame my hesitation. LOI was 6D Incense, not so much finding the answer as working out the parsing, which took time. WOD though has to be 8D Ripsnorting, a real ripsnorter of a word!

    And now onto the Saturday Special! Many thanks to John for the blog and a good weekend to all.
    Cedric

    Edited at 2021-07-16 03:29 pm (UTC)

  27. Couldn’t see Museum but probably because I had given up on Spork and Erato.. I even had Erato from OT and NT trials but NHO inspiration meaning. Ancho new but obvious….
    Loved Ripsnorting — reminds me of Boris speak..
    Spent too long on Staple Gun trying anagram of ‘up DIY tool’ to mean Engineer…..
    Good fun
    Thanks all
    John George
  28. Oh dear, not a great end to the week. We really struggled in the SE corner and turned in a DNF after 35 minutes. We biffed 19D and came up SPOON which clearly made no sense. Moreover, we didn’t come close to getting 24A and I’d really question whether weak really equates to exhausted.

    FOI: AESOP
    LOI: DNF
    COD: OSPREYS

    Thanks Jalna and John

  29. Seems most found the SE problematic which makes me feel a bit better. NHO SPORK and couldn’t get TWEAK or REGENT. Fine with ERATO as my daughter and I recently committed all 9 muses to memory for crossword purposes! Guessed RIPSNORTING — new word for me. COD TRIFLE — brilliant! Many thanks all.
    1. I though this sentence “Fine with ERATO as my daughter…”

      was going to end

      “…is called this”

  30. After 30 mins just couldn’t get 22ac “Erato” and 19dn “Spork” so had to throw in the towel.

    Some big anagrams today which were not straightforward. 8dn “ripsnorting” felt obscure and 23ac “staple gun” isn’t the first DIY tool that comes to mind.

    For a while had “Phooey” in for 3dn with a completely different parsing until the penny dropped.

    But Spork? Really? Can’t you just use a spoon and a fork together like normal people?

    FOI — 10ac “Peerage”
    LOI — dnf
    COD — 2dn “Shrapnel” — took an age until I realised it was talking about small change.

    Thanks as usual!

    1. Sorry James, the Thais use a spoon and fork; the Irish a forkan’knife; children their fingers; and we Shanghainese prefer chopsticks. Cue music.
  31. I’ve struggled with most of the QCs recently, due to approaching them tired more than anything else, but compared to the general trend, I did reasonably okay on this one. The first three went straight in, and although the bottom half took longer than the top, I came home in 26:22. I’ve heard of rip-roaring but not RIPSNORTING and ANCHO was also new but generously clued. SPORK took a while to remember, but once I had, ERATO wrote itself in when I followed the wordplay. I was very surprised to see some of the regulars say they hadn’t heard of Erato. One muse or other appears quite regularly. Definitely worth learning them, although I confess, other than Erato and Clio, their names refuse to stick in my head. I’m sure I could dredge them up if I had a few checkers though. Anyway, LOI SHRAPNEL, COD to OSPREYS. Thanks John and Jalna.
  32. I must try squeezing TERPSICHORE into one of my future weekend specials 😂
    1. One ain’t supposed to give away the answers in advance!
      I look forward to ‘filling you in’ on the weekend! Have a good one.
  33. I slotted this in before hot footing it to the golf course at Castle Eden, to join my fellow Society members, this morning, but didn’t have time to comment. Am now home, tired but happy after basking in the sunshine and devouring a nice Carvery meal after the golf. I think I may need to toddle to the fridge and crack an NZ Sauv Blanc before starting the 15×15. Anyway, back to the matter in hand! I also found Jalna’s offering on the tricky side. AESOP went in first, ANCHO was a new one on me, as was RIPSNORTING, but in they went once enough checkers were in place. I think TWEAK brought up the rear. Went over my target though. 11:14. Thanks Jalna and John.
    1. Remind me to tell you when we meet at the S&B event in York in October about the Gascoplex trial I took part in at Castle Eden. Is the brewery there still going? BTW… Good luck with the 15×15… difficulty level almost off the scale!
      1. Will do. Sadly the brewery office block is now a business centre and the brewery site is a housing estate:-( I used to drink the Castle Eden Ale at the Dun Cow in Durham. A fine tipple! Yikes to the 15×15. I did manage to finish it in 56:23, but 7d went in on a wing and a prayer! Sheesh!

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