Times Quick Cryptic No 2093 by Izetti

31 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 2093 by Izetti”

1. HOME RANGE took me some time, as I wasn’t familiar with the term; also SETTLES and METHANOL. 6:56.
2. 11 minutes, with at least a couple of those on my LOI TRYSTING. Wasn’t really sure about HOME RANGE but it was an anagram so no other choices really.
3. …and once I got a few checkers, only rump gave me any difficulty. However, those not familiar with Britten’s output may be in trouble, Time: 8:15
4. Never held up for too long but a bit above average difficulty, I’d say

   Had PRESSMEN for a bit

   METHANOL not the most obvious

   TRYSTING was good

   As Vinyl says glad I knew the Opera

   Thanks Rotter and Izetti

5. 10 minutes but failed on 22ac as my LOI where I considered both RUMP (as meat) and ROMP (as party) but failed to spot the now obvious wordplay and unaccountably opted for ROMP.

   DNK HOME RANGE as a lexicographical term but knew the song well so it was clearly the answer. The origins of the song are disputed but it certainly goes back a long way. The first recording of any note was by Bing Crosby in 1933. Gene Autry recorded it in 1947.

   GRIMES was no problem for me although I have a profound dislike of Britten’s operas and other vocal music. I have time for some of his orchestral output, particularly the early works. Even devoted fans of Flanders & Swann may not know of their Guide to Britten https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otDQ-vhP_RA

   Edited at 2022-03-17 06:56 am (UTC)

   1. I would also recommend the Beyond the Fringe sketch where Dudley Moore plays Little Miss Muffet in the style of Britten. It’s on YouTube
      1. Yes, that’s a good one too. And possibly well beyond the limits of good taste there’s a more recent send up ‘Lord Benji of Britten’ by Kit & the Widow on their ‘100 Not Out’ CD. It’s available on Spotify to those who subscribe. No holds barred on that one!
   2. This is very clever but not exactly something you will want to listen to more than once. It’s not exactly “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” which is hard to believe is written by the same person as “War Requiem”.

      I had a well-worn LP of “young person’s guide” with one side having the narration and the other just the music. About 8 or 10 years ago, I saw (heard, I guess) the San Francisco Symphony perform it live. It was the last piece of the evening…because we had to eat our vegetables before we got dessert.

6. Tough but rewarding workout in an off the scale time, breaking down the wordplay bit by bit.
   FOI: PAL.
   LOI: RUMP once I realised the wordplay as I too thought ROMP for party but couldn’t make it work.
7. Hard work in the SW. NHO HOME RANGE or Peter GRIMES and for the last one “maybe blackens” isn’t much to work with even with all the checkers. TRYSTING was an unfamiliar work and I was further thrown by ‘to’ in the clue (go to smart meeting, secretly). Must brush up on synonyms for ‘somewhat’ because RAT caused me a lot more trouble that it should have but was needed to get LOI RUMP. Phew. All green in 18.
8. Managed to finish without needing aids, so very good for an Izetti.

   I also struggled with my LOI, 22a. Couldn’t understand the ‘first requirement’ word play. I don’t think I have come across it before. Also had to pause on TRYSTING, I think I wss confused by the comma. Really must remember to ignore punctuation (except when I shouldn’t, of course)

9. Home on the Range was familiar, if not HOME RANGE, but the anagrist left no doubt. PREPARES went straight in, followed in short order by its danglers. METHANOL took a moment’s thought as the wordplay wasn’t particularly helpful. I knew the opera, so that didn’t hold me up. POI, RUMP, took a moment as did LOI, TRYSTING. 6:36. Thanks Izetti and Rotter.
10. A quick DNF, did not see rat or rump. FOI prepares, seventeen on first pass, COD trysting. Ten minutes. Thanks, Rotter, and Izetti.
11. ….HOME RANGE was blindingly obvious from the wordplay, since I’ve never come across it anywhere before.

    FOI PREPARES
    LOI NASTY
    COD METHANOL
    TIME 4:26

12. tougher one for me at least.

    Eyesore took a long time, even though it seems to come up once a week, all those E’s must be useful for setters.

    SEER was my last, the Welsh name not being “Dai” or “Sian” threw me, along with looking for a specific prophet.

    I liked METHANOL so to speak.

    7:55

13. Way off the pace today. DNK “Grimes”, but more straightforward answers such as “Serpent”, “Rump” and “Rat” just wouldn’t reveal themselves. Whilst I eventually got 11dn “Home Range”, I thought at first this might be “Tall Grass”.

    As an aside, I seem to be seeing “Eyesore” everywhere st the moment — sure it has been used lots recently (both here and in other puzzles).

    FOI — 3dn “Pal”
    LOI — dnf
    COD — 11dn “Home Range”

    Thanks as usual!

    1. Thought the same. That’s at least the 3rd time EYESORE has come up in the last month or so. This was the first time I was able to write it straight in though.
14. Started off in a spritely manner with much of the top half going in with barely a thought. The bottom was a very different story and I felt as if I was pulling teeth for much of it. GRIMES (NHO), HOME RANGE, LOI BEDE and TRYSTING all proved stubborn. A sluggish and unsatisfactory solve, finishing in 17.03.
    Thanks to Rotter
15. A third lunchtime quickie solve in a row, but untimed… Again, I thought this a kind offering – this time by Izetti who always provides very clear clues (if often tricky to resolve). FOI 1a Prepares; LOI 22a Rump – I could make anything else fit! COD 6a School Bus as a straight cryptic. 7a and 10d on first pass and they provided plenty of crossers for most of the rest although I slowed down in the extreme SE with Rat/Rump and a long time with Trysting. Jackkt has pointed out the Flanders and Swann Guide to Britten and I suppose that was my first ever introduction to Peter Grimes. Grateful to Rotter for parsing a couple better than my efforts, and Izetti for a good puzzle.
16. Mrs Random finished successfully in 39 minutes, which is definitely slow for her these days, and was very unsure of her parsing of RUMP, ROT and GRIMES. I fared much worse, as I DNF’d after 64 minutes with four clues incorrect or unsolved (see below). I also really struggled with some of the clues I succeeded in solving (e.g. TRYSTING, SEER, PREPARES, PRINTERS, SCHOOL BUS – I always have trouble seeing cryptic definitions).

    22a (RUMP): I put GAME, which fits the clue, except for ‘and drink’.
    22d (RAT): I put GIT, because I had to fill G_T.
    14d (REVERSE): I had NHO ERSE, and got only as far as INVERSE or REVERIE.
    13a (GRIMES): Having NHO the opera, the entire clue was a mystery to me.

    I relished the first half of the challenge, but I’m afraid I can’t say that I enjoyed the last half hour or so.

    Despte the above, many thanks to Izetti and therotter.

    1. I’m very sorry to hear that you and Mrs R struggled with Izetti’s inventive puzzle this morning SRC, but I believe that my assessment of the difficulty is supported by other comments above. I admit that there were one or two clues that required a little thought, but nothing out of the ordinary.

       Of the 4 clues / answers that you have highlighted, whilst GAME could be MEAT and also a party requirement, by your own admission, it doesn’t satisfy the drink element of the clue. Having made that mistake, and left with G-T for RAT, you had nowhere to go, and the alternative you chose has no connection with the clue, which should have prompted you to think again. It is unfortunate that you had never heard of ERSE, although you thought it possibly acceptable for INVERSE, but not for REVERSE. As far as the Brittan opera is concerned, you may never have heard of it, but GRIME is a fairly common word as a noun, and is easily extendible into its form as a transitive verb, which fits the wordplay.

       I always look out for your comments, and have enjoyed being a fly on the wall in the Random household games, and I’m sure you will bounce back from this little setback. Think of it as a learning experience, and enjoy tomorrow’s puzzle. Thanks for all of your comments.

       1. “whilst GAME could be MEAT and also a party requirement, by your own admission, it doesn’t satisfy the drink element of the clue. Having made that mistake, and left with G-T for RAT, you had nowhere to go, and the alternative you chose has no connection with the clue, which should have prompted you to think again.”

          With the greatest of respect, when you only take 13-mins to do a crossword; it is well within your patience and energy levels to spend time rethinking a wrong answer knowing the correct answer will likely present itself in another minute or two.

          When you take an hour, have stared blankly at the clue and grid for fifteen minutes, you’re worn down and had enough then you tend to just bung in an answer that fills the space because you want it to be over AND you recognise your own limitations of not being able to parse every clue correctly. You shouldn’t, but you do.

          And yes, one should probably step away at this point, allow things to percolate and return to it later. But some times you know the rest of the day is going to be too busy to get back to it.

17. GRIMES, RAT, RUMP.

    Would never have got GRIMES in a month of Sundays. On a better day I suspect RAT would have slipped in and then I’d have gone for RUMP after a brief flirtation with a romp.

    Started off strongly with 3-4 of NW in first two minsand then simply ground to a halt after 25-30mins.

    PUT HOME-RANGE in then took it out as isn’t something I’ve heard of. Just two knowable words together. As TheRotter’s song suggests it’s “home ON THE range”. Meh!

    EYESORE took a long time despite being the 3rd time in a couple of weeks. No idea why OR = golden. BITCHIER and SETTLES were the last correct ones in.

    Has OBVERSE in for a minute or two but reparsing showed it was obviously REVERSE. I have heard of ERSE although it didn’t spring to mind.

    Overall feeling fairly pleased to be getting this far these days. Many of today’s clues I would have struggled on a month or two ago I’m sure.

    1. OR is the heraldic term for gold. It crops up from time to time, so worth making a mental note. You can check it out in a dictionary. BTW sometimes you complete faster than I do, so take heart!
       1. Thanks AT … I was think AU for gold but that was unlikely with the Es and O in the checkers.

          Can’t find it online which is a shame as more likely to remember it if I know what OR stands for; but also occurs to me that it might be related to “ore” as in the extraction process.

          1. try Wikipedia under Heraldry, where there is a sub-section 2.1.2 for Tinctures. This explains there are two ‘metal’ colours…
          2. French for gold is or, which in Spanish or Italian becomes oro. I admit that it is difficult to find the etymology on line, but it has been adopted in heraldry, and is standard currency in Crosswordland.
18. All done in under 18 minutes but had ROMP for a party instead of RUMP.
19. Found it hard: SEER, BEDE, RUMP. Guessed HOME RANGE, needed all crossers for TRYSTING. Why does TRY = GO?
    1. Have a try, have a go.
20. By 7
    😥

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