Times Quick Cryptic No 233 by Marty

Author   macavity123Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Solving Time; Medium

Morning all!

A nice fairly straightforward puzzle with a couple of little traps, but overall nothing too beastly.

Thanks to our setter for an enjoyable challenge.

Across
1 MISHAP – We start today with a hidden answer clue(usually these are at the end of a puzzle!) – Hidden inside HAMISH APPEARS is a word meaning setback.
4 POPLAR – The definition here is tree, and you need a word meaning very much liked minus its middle letter, i.e. POPULAR – U.
9 PROPHET OF DOOM – The definition is a description of the biblical character Jeremiah who foretold catastrophes. An anagram (indicated by organised) of ROOFTOP DEMO around PH (public house initials).
10 TIP – A double definition clue. A word for extreme and a piece of helpful advice.
11 TV DINNERS – A cryptic definition that plays on the meaning of set.
12 UNDONE – I like this clue. Definition is ruined. UND (German word for ‘and’) + ONE (I).
13 ASPIRE – Hope is the definition. A + a part of a church SPIRE.
16 PITCH INTO – Definition is attack. An anagram (frenzied) of HIT COP IN with T (end of baT) inside.
18 ELK – A native of N Europe is the definition. EL (The in Spanish) + K (king).
19 TAKE A BACK SEAT – Withdraw is the definition. This is slightly complicated to explain as it is not as it quite seems. TAKE (remove) + BACK (support) inside A SEAT (a constituency). I was thinking of take aback + seat at first but realised afterwards.
21 RENAME – Assign a new identity is the definition. An anagram (somehow) of MEANER.
22 FRIGHT – Funk is the definition, possibly a little obscure for this puzzle normally. F (loudly – forte in music) + RIGHT (spot on!)

Down
1 MOP – Shock (as in hair) is the definition. MO (Medical Officer – doctor) + P (piano – another musical instruction – play softly).
2 STOOPED – Sank is the definition. SPED (raced) around TOO (excessive).
3 A SHOT IN THE ARM – This helps to lift is the definition. A + SHOT IN THE ARM (limb wound).
5 OFF ONE’S ROCKER – Potty is the definition. If you were removed from a type of chair, you’d be this.
6 LOOSE – Free is the definition. O (love, nothing) inside LOSE (miss).
7 RUMP STEAK – Cut (of meat) is the definition. An anagram (to be altered) of MARK-UP SET.
8 STUDY – Inspection is the definition. STUD (boss) + Y (you, initially).
10 TRUMPETER – Musician is the definition. RUM (odd) + PETER (fellow, man’s name) after T (close to organist).
14 ICEBERG – Double definition clue, with one part cryptic. A type of lettuce can also be something that is normally hidden under water, for the most part.
15 PANTO – Readily available is the definition. An anagram of ON TAP.
17 TOKEN – Mark is the definition. OK (pass) inside TEN (number).
22 TOT – A wee dram is the definition. O (nothng) inside TT (tee-totaller, non-drinker).

17 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 233 by Marty”

  1. Yes, a nice steady solve but it delayed me 3 minutes over my target of 10. Not sure why other than there were too many clues that needed several visits before the answers came to mind.
  2. This one was pitched right at my level, a few write ins and a few that took a lot of thinking about (1dn, 2dn & 8dn). The only one I couldn’t get was 11ac, which I gave up on after staring at it for 10 minutes. Having read the answer I could have sat there for the rest of the day and not got it, so thanks for the explanation.
  3. 11a did for me as well – it was clever, I grant you, but too clever for me. 9 minutes otherwise.

    What with a DNF here and an absolute car crash on the 15×15, it’s not been a good day.

    I think I’ll take up Sudokus instead.

    Edited at 2015-01-29 01:41 pm (UTC)

  4. I found this trickier than most QCs, although I did manage to finish it in the end. There were a couple of crossword specialities that made life tricky for a relative novice, such as cut referring to meat and a few slightly esoteric bits of vocabulary like boss=stud and shock=mop. I also thought that sank=stooped and miss=lose were slightly questionable synonyms, but no doubt they’re in a dictionary somewhere!

    PS – I think the explanation of 22ac should say that ‘funk’ is the definition.

  5. The first DNF for quite some while, but really enjoyed the puzzle. Also done for by TV DINNERS. It clearly had to be t./dinners (didn’t it?), but just couldn’t see set meant the TV and convinced myself that somehow I had done something wrong in 3dn. Thought of film set, stage set and various such other things, but alas, outdone by one letter 😖.

    Thanks for the blog Macavity and to Marty for most enjoyable puzzle.

  6. Too many obscure meanings made this not enjoyable for me. How does boss = stud for example?
  7. Really enjoyed this one. Some easy ones to put in quickly so you don’t lose heart, then a few that needed thinking about. TV had me stumped also. Got dinner fairly quickly any the t but did not think of tv as being a word of two letters. Would have said two, one letters!
  8. 6D took me more time than any others. I had it in my head that the synonym for ‘miss’ should be along the lines of ‘girl’ – took me a while to see ‘lose’!
  9. Thanks – have made the couple of tweaks to the review – changed the definition to funk and added the solution to 15
  10. I thought today’s offering from Marty continued this week’s run of quite hard QCs – either that or dementia is closer than I thought. Like others, I was (eventually) undone by 11ac. Invariant
  11. I found this one tricky too though finished in the end. 11a was my LOI – basically I worked through the alphabet hoping for inspiration to strike. Of course when I got to V it did!

    Still wondering what the ‘ace’ in 3a was doing there – not mentioned in the blog (perhaps this was an iPad error??)

  12. Thanks for the blog macavity. Needed it to understand several clues.

    Finished without too many problems but definitely not an award winning time and, as indicated, several only partially understood.

    Liked UNDONE – teasingly straighforward once you have it!

Comments are closed.