Times Quick Cryptic No 2079 by Alconiere

Author   JohninterredPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Now here’s a rarity – a Quick Crossword from the setter Alconiere, only his 11th, although he started in 2014, and his first since this one in May 2019. That crossword had a Nina so I was on the lookout… well have a look yourself before clicking on the link below to see what I found. As for the puzzle, I found it very enjoyable although slightly towards the harder end of diffculty, taking me 6:48. I liked the whimsical “Fabulous thing to get from a bottle” and “Something on a plate”, the flying drone and the clue for the African country best. Thank-you Alconiere! How did you all get on?

[What I found (click to open)]

Well, for a start, whilst you might think the setter’s pseudonym is a reference to the Hungarian painter Tivadar Alconiere, that’s just our setter-of-many-pseudonyms up to his tricks… the name happens also to be an anagram of “Coleraine”. And we have a Nina today around the outside of the puzzle “The Penzance Smash, Basher” (my comma)… a reference to the book by former Coleraine FC player Frankie Moffat – known a “Basher”, as described in this story in the Irish Times. Now who do we know is a Coleraine FC supporter? Sorry Richard – you’ve been rumbled!

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! If anyone is interested in our previous offerings you can find an index to them all here.

Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, deletions and [] other indicators.

Across
7 Help a son that’s lost outside US city (2,4)
EL PASO – hELP A SOn without the outside letters [lost outside].
8 Taking a chance, opens new clubs (2,4)
ON SPEC –  (Opens)* [new], C (Clubs).
9 Partially complete document initially coming in ninety minutes after noon? (4-4)
HALF-DONE – Document [initially] in HALF ONE (ninety minutes after noon).
10 East London college as an alternative (4)
ELSE – E (east) L.S.E. (London School of Economics; London college).
11 Volunteer troops one commanded followed (6)
TAILED – T.A. (Territorial Army; volunteer troops) I (one) LED (commanded). The TA was renamed the Army Reserve in 2012, but the name is still recognised.
13 Info that is fabulous thing to get from bottle! (5)
GENIE – GEN (info) I.E. (that is).
14 English firm concerned with the environment (3)
ECO – E (English) CO (firm).
15 Something on a plate: it reflects to show wild animal (5)
TIGER – REG ((vehicle) registration; something on a plate) IT reversed [reflects] -> TIGER.
17 Places for badges, round, almost 10 (6)
LAPELS – LAP (round), ELSe (answer to 10A) without its last letter [almost].
19 Go off with a schedule (4)
ROTA – ROT (go off) A.
20 Crook messed with ABM in secret planning location? (4,4)
BACK ROOM – (Crook ABM)* [messed]. I didn’t know it, and you don’t need to know it to solve the clue, but I see ABM stands for Account-Based Marketing. Eh? Maybe it is meant to signify Anti-Ballistic Missile. Or what else?
22 Self-centred person, for example, first is after love (6)
EGOIST – E.G. (for example) O (round letter; 0; love) IST (looks like 1ST; first).
23 Sheep and goose heard in African country (6)
UGANDA – Homophone of EWE (sheep) and GANDER (goose) [heard].
Down
1 Aptly, Evan withholds the odd request (4)
PLEA – Alternate letters [withholds the odds] of aPtLy EvAn.
2 RU sorted out with flea for this? (6)
EARFUL – (RU flea)* [sorted out]. As in a flea in your ear.
3 As expected, currently drone is flying (2,6)
NO WONDER – NOW (currently), (drone)* [flying].
4 Zulu I found in this region (4)
ZONE – Z (Zulu in the NATO phonetic alphabet) ONE (I).
5 Flower close to garden behind (6)
ASTERN – ASTER (flower) and last letter of [close to] gardeN.
6 Lens we’re adapting for one once seen in cinemas (8)
NEWSREEL – (lens we’re)* [adapting].
12 A Liberal idea, incomplete, however (8)
ALTHOUGH – A L (liberal) THOUGHt (idea) [incomplete].
13 Driver perhaps, to proceed left, following one in black suit (4,4)
GOLF CLUB – GO (proceed) L (left) F (following) CLUB (one in a black suit).”Perhaps” indicating it’s a definition by example.
16 US soldiers crossing desert, free (6)
GRATIS – GIS (US soldiers) outside [crossing] RAT (desert, the verb).
18 Father locks up a social outcast (6)
PARIAH – PA (father),  HAIR (locks) [up] -> RIAH.
20 Test version is live: much obliged! (4)
BETA – BE (live) TA (much obliged).
21 Likelihood of fatal dose being taken by detective? (4)
ODDS – OD (overdose; fatal dose) D.S. (detective sergeant; detective).

56 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 2079 by Alconiere”

  1. I enjoyed this and thought there were some nice, quirky clues. Saying that, it took me 27 mins to get there.

    15ac “Tiger” and 17ac “Lapels” both went in without being properly parsed and, as also noted above, I went “on spec” with 8ac “On Spec”.

    Saw the odd Nina but had no idea what it meant.

    FOI — 1dn “Plea”
    LOI — 2dn “Earful”
    COD — 18dn “Pariah”

    Thanks as usual!

  2. Last post got lost in the ether. Fingers crossed for this one… Ambled happily over the line, fully parsed, in 30 mins. Struggled to get on Alconiere’s wavelength to start with but then it all began to fall slowly into place. FOI EL PASO, LOI ASTERN, loved EARFUL, PARIAH and UGANDA. Never think to look for a Nina and certainly wouldn’t have spotted this one! Thanks to John for explanation. Loved the slightly different feel to this puzzle. Thanks Alconiere.
  3. Pleased to finish in 29m after steadily working our way around. Lapels put in without realising the connection with 10a. Nice variety of clues.
  4. We really loved this puzzle. So much to enjoy. Sadly our enjoyment of the puzzle didn’t translate into a fast time but who cares — we did finished in 16.35

    FOI: PLEA
    LOI: ASTERN
    COD: EARFUL

    Thanks John and mysterious Alconiere

  6. Anyone else having trouble with the app? Firstly thrown by every word I put in being a jumble of letters, which I eventually twigged was the “skip filled in squares” having turned itself on, then got “completed” in a time of NaN:NaN, with the puzzle showing as partially complete with the clock still running.
  8. Found this tough, eventually finishing in 28 mins with not everything parsed. Don’t know if it was the late afternoon solve, unfamiliarity with the setter or just a Friday afternoon wind-down but I was way off the pace. Got very few across on a first read-through and basically solved from the SW in an anti-clockwise direction, finishing in the NW. Never saw the nina (unsurprising) but wasn’t looking for one. Thanks to John for clarifying the parsings and to Alconiere.

    FOI – 13ac GENIE
    LOI – 7ac EL PASO
    COD – 23ac UGANDA

  9. Sorry if I missed it but I didn’t think you guys and gals would need prompting on 9-letter anagrams.

    The puzzle(s) therotter refers to would be those before Irish Cup Finals. Coleraine’s first ever European game was against Dinamo Kyiv in 1965. That would have been grotesquely fitting today 😞

  10. Only got to this today but we’ll worth the wait. Although I’m still slow by the standards of most, I’m finding that I now see the structure of clues much more clearly (although there was some biffing as well). Good way to end the week. Thank you for the blog!

    GaryA

  11. Never did finish. 5dn had to be SEVERN(Flower). SEVER(close) + N so no chance of getting ON SPEC !

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