Times Quick Cryptic No 204 by Flamande

Author   macavity123Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Solving time: Straightforward

Greetings. Just back from my daily trip to the hospital for a top-up.

A nice elegant puzzle from Flamande today. I think that most of the setters on here are all setters for the 15×15 puzzle and some who are elegant with the larger puzzle struggle with setting for a less experienced audience. However, I think today’s setter is equally home wth both demands, for this was a really enjoyable solve with nothing too taxing but enough to occasionally stop and make you think.

Thanks to our setter for a pleasant challenge.

I will be here next Thursday, as I gather there will be online puzzles although of course there won’t be papers.

Across
1 ABSENT – We start today with a word sum. Away is the definition. AB (sailor) + SENT (told to go).
5 ACTION – Battle is the definition. (F)ACTION, dissenting group minus its leader, i.e. its first letter.
8 DOCUMENTARIES – One of my favourites today. TV Programmes is the definition and it’s an anagram (a variety) of COUNTRIES MADE.
9 EDNA – A girl’s name is the definition and it’s hidden backwards in tANDEm.
10 PANTHEON – The name of a famous ancient monument is your definition. PANTHE(R) [tailless leopard, i.e. minus its last letter] + ON.
11 SCREEN – Partition is the definition. SEEN (understood) with CR (councillor) inside.
13 IMPISH – Mischievous is the definition. I’m (the setter talking about himself – a frequently encountered crossword device) + H & SIP (hot drink) reversed (knocked back).
15 ATHENIAN – Greek is the definition. A (article) + THEN (subsequently) + IAN (The world of crossword loves archetypal names, although they are dwindling, due to PC requirements. A popular boys’ name associated with Scotland).
17 RIBS – Two definitions here. The name for cuts of meat and a word meaning fools someone.
19 BRAVE NEW WORLD – Novel is the definition B (British) = RAVE (party) + NEW WORLD (America?, here the question mark shows that it is probably an unusual name or description for the country)
22 DIETER – Slimmer is the definition. An anagram (desperately) of TRIED with E (energy) inside.

Down
2 BROOD – Children is the first down definition. The word needed is a homophone of how you made the tea. Or in my case, coffee, as I can’t stand the taste of smell of PG Tips or Typhoo.
3 EMULATE – Ape is the definition. An anagram of MULE + ATE (took in food).
4 TIE – Menswear item is the definition here and if you remove the odd letters from the word A T T I R E, you get the answer! Nice clue.
5 ATTENTION – Parade ground command is the definition and the answer is a homophone (inidcated by ‘when heard’) of A + TENSION (feeling of anxiety)
6 TORCH – The definition is set fire to. Quite a clever reading of this TOR (hill) + CH (church). Because this is a down clue, the way the setter has shown that church comes afterwards is by using “at the foot of”. Had this been an across clue, he couldn’t have done that.
6 ONEROUS – Opperssive is the definition. O (old) + NERO (Roman emperor) + US (JUST, avoiding extremes, i.e. minus its first and last letters).
10 PENSIONER – (Who’s) retired is the definition. PEN (writer) + ONE inside SIR (teacher).
12 COTERIE – Clique is the definition. COT (somewhere to sleep) + ERIE (lake)
14 PURPOSE – The definition here is aim. P (penny) + O (nothing) inside PURSE (money-bag).
16 ELVER – Young swimmer is the definitION EVER (always) with L (loch) inside.
18 BELLE – Attractive woman is the definition. BELL (RING) + E (start, i.e. first letter of Engagement).
25 WED – Married is one of the two definitions here. The day that is midweek (for some) is the other.

18 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 204 by Flamande”

  1. Back to recent form for me today after yesterday’s slight glitch I completed this in 8 minutes.

    Edited at 2014-12-18 01:36 pm (UTC)

  2. Really hard today. Got absolutely nowhere with this one. Definitely not straight forward for newbies and I suspect only the old hands will think it is
    1. That’s odd. I try to solve it from a newer solver’s perspective and didn’t consider it had too many complex ideas, other than the TORCH clue. Most were of the type I call wordsums where A + B + C = Definition.

      I’d be interested in a more detailed descrption of where and why you hit the problems so I can tailor the blog a little more.

      Edited at 2014-12-18 01:51 pm (UTC)

      1. Speaking as a newbie I thought it was ok! But maybe I was having a good day…

        Struggled on coterie and elver, mainly because I wasn’t familiar with the words. The rest went in ok.

        Thanks for the explanations and the blog as ever, it’s much appreciated!

      2. Having trouble signing in my handle is dobree 49. It is not the blog and yours in good in explaining what to look for. Odd I managed a good part of yesterday’s just could not get my head around today’s, and after about an hour lost interest as I was only 3 answers in. I guess still a lot to learn about what to look for. The blogs are always helpful.
    2. No, I thought this one was ok after Teazel’s tour de force yesterday. There were certainly some taxing clues but do-able, which I don’t mind. Stick at it, I’ve only just started using a clock rather than calendar myself. The blog definitely helps even if you’ve guessed the answer (couldn’t for the life of me see what ribs had to do with children. . .) Invariant.
    1. EDNA – it’s a reverse hidden: Woman transported back by tANDEm

      If you’re struggling, always consider the hidden and reverse hidden. They are often – though not always – to be associated with clues where the wording is rather bizarre, with proper nouns or foreign names, for example.

  4. Seemed fairly straightforward to me today. Maybe I am improving as I have done half the main crossword today and all but three of the Turkey. The blogs help a lot.
  5. As seems to have happened a few times recently, I don’t put so many down on the first pass (usually with the acrosses), but then finish off the puzzle quite easily with only a few checkers in place. I suspect that I am either making things a bit too complicated for myself or just a need a while to get on the setters wavelength.

    Must agree with macavity that the clues were fairly simple in form and the cryptic was quite clearly defined. I thought some the surfaces were quite clever and enjoyed PENSIONER, EMULATE and KIDS. Unfortunately became fixated that 5ac was an actual battle and that I’d got the spelling wrong or there was a Greek variant of ANTIOCH. Definitely overcomplicating the matter there. But these things add to the fun 🙂

  6. About 30 minutes. I’ve had a couple of DNFs recently so pleased to get it done.

    13ac – I kept thinking of the setter knocking back drinks and saying ‘impish’ in an increasingly inebriated way.

    1. Are there any known instances of mischievous or mischief in a clue NOT indicating ‘imp’?

      I thought today’s was fine, about mid range. I guessed Elver as I had never heard of the word, but it fitted the clue and the checkers, so…lucky really.

  7. Thankyou to all those who help us newbies become accustomed to cryptic crosswords. I am gradually improving but it is along haul. When people say 8 minutes i am flabbergasted but who knows what progress I may make in a year or so. Please keep it up and help us beginners to understand and learn.
    Gordon
    1. It’s all relative. We’re flabbergasted by people who can do the main cryptic in less than ten minutes.

  8. Oh dear – nowhere near completing this today. Top half was fine, but being as tired as I’ve ever been, ground to an ungetroundable halt half way (yes, I am now making up words). Thank you for the excellent blog macavity. Hopefully I can do better tomorrow!

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