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. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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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