Times Quick Cryptic No 229 by Hurley

Author   JerryWPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
This one took me about.. well that doesn’t matter really, does it? Let’s say I found it very enjoyable and of average difficulty, or a trifle easier perhaps. Several clues to write straight in, but also several that needed a thinking cap. I did particularly like 10dn, mainly because it took me so long to see the light!

Across

   1 Rigorous following detective in locality (8)
district – DI (detective inspector) + STRICT (rigorous)
   5 Female bishop, Rosemary, say? (4)
herb – HER (female) + B(ishop)
   8 Manuel, perhaps, returning to remove water at resort (8)
Spaniard – SPA (a type of resort) + DRAIN (to remove water) reversed, Manuel being a Spanish name of course, one of the more famous examples being this one.
   9 Reportedly cure despicable person (4)
heel – sounds like “heal,” to cure
   11 Pro English players joining monarch, he predicts (10)
forecaster – FOR (pro, not anti) + E(nglish) + CAST (players, ie the cast of a stage play) + ER, any of several monarchs eg our own dear queen, Elizabeth Regina, or any Edward, Edward Rex.
   14 Father, Roman Catholic, seen by the Spanish area of land? (6)
parcel – PA (father) + RC (Roman Catholic) + EL, which is “the” in Spanish.. el nino, anyone? Land is often bought and sold in parcels
   15 Two firms working in comfortable place (6)
cocoon – CO + CO (two firms, or companies) + ON, ie working
   17 Harass miner about instrument (10)
tambourine – anagram of “miner about.” A little hidden, since about and harass could both operate as the anagram indicator
   20 Pitcher used by Crewe railway (4)
ewer – hidden in crEWE Railway
   21 Atmosphere a doctor finds oddly nice at start of evening (8)
ambience – A + MB (bachelor of medicine) + IENC (anag. of nice) + E(vening). I solved that long before I worked out the wordplay!
   22 Container is returning with 50% of load (4)
silo – SI (is, reversed) + LO(ad)
   23 List of events revised and clear (8)
calendar – anagram of “and clear”

Down

   1 Panache of Duke seen above wood (4)
dash – D(uke) + ASH (wood)
   2 Attempt that’s crazy when climbing (4)
stab – BATS (crazy) reversed
   3 Dreadful chore, irons for African native perhaps (10)
rhinoceros – anag. of “chore, irons” .. and not a Nigerian, Egyptian or similar, as I thought at first
   4 Floor covering in vehicle particularly liked (6)
carpet – CAR (vehicle) + PET (particularly liked) – quite easy clue!
   6 Advice to voters from Reagan camp? It’s familiar to physicists (8)
electron – a dd I suppose, ie a double definition. One for the subatomic particle, and one to “Elect Ron!”
   7 Nonsense to overlook metallic sound in combat area (8)
bullring – BULL (nonsense) + RING, a metallic sound. Not too keen on bullfighting..
   10 Dressing in robes I annoy a matron, upset (10)
mayonnaise – cunningly hidden, reversed, in robES I ANNOY A Matron. A good hidden clue, like this one, can be surprisingly difficult. I tend to get them either (a) straight away, or (b) after endless clueless staring. And nothing much in between..
   12 Don’t notice so much without blemish (8)
spotless – ie SPOT LESS
   13 Historical figure of constant memory fine to follow (8)
Cromwell – C (constant, usu. the speed of light, eg in e = mc2) + ROM (read only memory) + WELL (fine)
   16 Black Sea region almost the best: I’m invited in (6)
Crimea – I’M, in CREA(m) (the best, almost).
   18 Girl from Northern Ireland welcomed by editor (4)
Enid – NI (Northern Ireland) inside ED(itor). A neat little clue
   19 New listener close by (4)
near – N(er) + EAR (listener, what an ear literally is)

Author: JerryW

I love The Times crosswords..

15 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 229 by Hurley”

  1. All but two in 10 minutes but struggled with 2dn and failed completely to spot the hidden at 10. My attempt at the main puzzle ended with a similar disaster over a last clue so I am feeling duly gutted.
  2. I thought I might get a pb at first, but slowed down some, e.g. at MAYONNAISE & BULLRING–with the B, all I could think of was ‘bosh’. Like Jerry, I was misled at first at 3d; but we should have remembered that–to the best of my recollection, at least–any ‘native’ in a clue is going to be an animal or plant, not a human. 5:10.
  3. I thought the reverse hidden MAYONNAISE was excellent and more than worthy of the main puzzle.
  4. Took me about 20 mins with a major “Doh” over Mayonnaise and tambourine.

    In 20a, Ewer is also hidden backwards in Crewe – doubly neat!

    1. ah, good spot! I can’t help wondering if that eluded the setter as well, since there must be a really wonderful clue in there somewhere that refers to reversible lines
  5. Another plaudit for MAYONNAISE, which was my LOI. Spent a while assuming that either dressing or upset was an anagram indicator but then couldn’t find an adjacent set of words with a total of 10 letters.
  6. I finished this one in fairly short order, maybe 20 minutes. Mayonnaise was in as soon as I had one letter to confirm my guess. I probably spent at least 20 more minutes trying to parse the thing before giving up and turning again to an excellent blog, for which many thanks.
  7. A DNF as I just couldn’t get 10d. About 35 minutes to finish all the rest, an average sort of time for me. ELECTRON made me smile.
  8. I enjoyed this one and it was all coming together nicely until 10dn which I was convinced was an anagram and eventually gave up on it. Great clue now I know the answer!. COD 6dn because it made me chuckle.
  9. My worst attempt for quite some time failing on no less than seven-1a,8a, 9a and 2d,3d (where I saw the anagram but just couldn’t crack it) 7d and also 10d. Is bull short for what I think it is and if so , isn’t it a bit naughtly for the Times?

    Edited at 2015-01-23 04:56 pm (UTC)

    1. Wiki has bull predating bull**** by a couple of hundred years, so Hurley is on safe ground.
      Also, if you get stuck on a real anagram (as opposed to 10d say) I would think of using one of the on-line anagram solvers to keep things moving along. Best not claim a PB if you do though 😊 Invariant
  10. After yesterday’s fine offering, which I did by candlelight during a power cut 😠, I thought this was another excellent puzzle. A nice mix of simple and meaty clues. Can only add my applause to everyone else concerning MAYONNAISE and also enjoyed 3dn and 6dn. Last two in were 1ac and 2dn adding at least 5 minutes to the solve until 2dn sprung to mind.

    Thanks to Hurley for the fine puzzle and jerrywh for the blog.

    Edited at 2015-01-23 05:30 pm (UTC)

  11. Like others, spent a good 30 mins trying to get an anagram combination to fit into 10d as my LOI, before giving up and looking at the blog and then weeping at my stupidity. A very enjoyable puzzle. Invariant

  12. MAYONNAISE – wow! Hidden backwards over five words: superb.

    This took me an age to solve. LOIs were TAMBOURINE and CROMWELL, both worthy of plaudits but outdone by a mile.

    Thanks Hurley, thanks Jerry.

  13. DNF due to the elusive mayo… Reassuring to come here and find others missed it as well!

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