Times Quick Cryptic No 24 by Felix

Morning all.

Time: 13 minutes

Thought this was a bit on the tricky side, with a couple of clues that wouldn’t have been out of place in a 15 x 15 puzzle.

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Across
1 JACKAL – JACK (Knave) + A + L (large)- definition is ‘wild dog’.
4 WASH – Definition is Bath, the remainder is a cryptic definition if the bath is now cold it was hot, or in short?
9 TREASURER – The definition here is ‘official’. An anagram, indicated by corruption, of U (initially under) + ARREST and then add ER (Queen).
10 IVY – I (one) + V (very) + Y (slowly in the end) and the definition is “What can creep”.
11 STANDING JOKE – A cryptic definition implying that what may make you smile, is something that is the opposite of lying down. The question amrk at the end tells you something unusual is going on.
13 QUALMS – Q (question) + U (universal) + ALMS (charity) with a definition of “misgivings”.
15 STIFLE – Definition here is ‘gag’ and it’s an anagram (out) of IS LEFT
17 ALL AND SUNDRY – Think this is quite tough. An expression meaning ‘everyone in’. AL (middle of gale) + LANDS (GETS)
UNDRY (wet?, again note the question mark telling you something’s a bit unusual here!)
20 EON – Take the first three letters of a four-letter word for Christmas (indicated by almost) NOE(L) and reverse it (back) to give a word meaning a long time
21 ECONOMIZE – An anagram (unusually) of ZOE and INCOME gives a word that means the same as the verb ‘to husband’.
22 PAYS – Hidden backwards (indicated by ‘back’ and ‘somewhat’ inside UNEASY APPARENTLY
23 SKINNY – SKY (Satellite TV) with INN (pub) inside gives a way of describing someone in need of a proper feed.

Down
1 JUTE – The name for an old Germanic person is made up of a word meaning to project (JUT) + E (energy).
2 CLEFT – C (conservative) + LEFT (Labour) gives a word meaning split.
3 ABSENT-MINDED – Definiton is an expression meaning to be miles away. A standard crossword abbreviation of a sailor (AB) + dispatched (SENT) + tended (MINDED).
5 A BIT OFF – Two definitions for the same expression. A slight reduction and what something is to taste bad.
6 HAY FEVER – Another cryptic definition. The name of a Noel Coward play is a condition that requires you to use a hanky (and a nasal spray!)
7 MR BIG – A slang name for an important person in an organisation is RB (R&B) inside MIG (Russian plane).
8 BRIGHTON ROCK – The name of a famous book (by Graham Greene) and a film (starring Dickie Attenborough) is BRIGHT (illuminating) + ON (about) + ROCK (pop music).
12 SQUARE UP – Definition here is ‘prepare, perhaps to scrap’ with SQUARE (old hat) + UP (finished).
14 APLENTY – An anagram (affected) of PENALTY gives the definition of ‘score’ as in numerals.
16 ASCOT – AS (like) + COT (somewhere to sleep) gives the definition of a Berkshire town.
18 REIGN – A homophone (we hear) of a word meaning a type of bad weather means to prevail.
19 SEXY – X (a kiss) inside the word we use for consent, and reversed gives a word meaning seductive

Thanks to our setter for a stern challenge today.

21 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 24 by Felix”

  1. I agree this was a little more challenging than usual and it took me 18 minutes, only 5 fewer than today’s main puzzle which admittedly was on the easy side. I lost a few minutes and had to start working through alphabet to get the second word in 11ac. We’re a week late for Ascot. I think this is our first Quickie pangram i.e. all the letters of the alphabet appear in the grid.

    I note the same little glitch in the template coding that appeared in yesterday’s blog to give /tr in brackets above 1 across.

    Love that cat, macavity!

    On edit: Thanks to Ulaca (below) for pointing that it was Aintree not Ascot last week. My only interest in such matters is that they take Countdown out of my daily routine for the best part of a week. I knew the most recent disruption began with ‘A’.

    Edited at 2014-04-10 08:10 am (UTC)

  2. 7′ more or less; I remembered to look at my computer’s clock, which doesn’t indicate seconds. Once again the cursor was jumping against my will; I thought that problem had been fixed. Several of these I got without parsing, notably 17ac and 9ac. Liked 1d; I don’t think I’d have got it without getting 1ac first.

    Edited at 2014-04-10 06:16 am (UTC)

  3. This is a pretty stiff challenge – more for intermediates than beginners I would say, so I hope no one who failed on this is too upset. As Jack, says, it’s not far off the daily puzzle in standard.

    I had ‘a tad off’ at 5 for a while, which strangled the ivy. I thought WASH was very good. 12′ 30″.

    Incidentally, Jack, do you mean Aintree, as Royal Ascot is in June, or is this expat horse-racing fan missing something?!

    Edited at 2014-04-10 06:40 am (UTC)

  4. I agree that this was a slight step up in terms of hardness but completely fair.

    Pangrams can be a two-edged sword. Suspecting a pangram towards the end and sorting out the missing letters can assist in solving (especially if the missing letters are say J and X). However, over on the main Cryptic, we have had a number of near-pangrams recently (ie one letter missing) and going down the suspected pangram route would have been counterproductive.

  5. I agree about it being harder but I quite like one of these a week. Now that Jack has told me the main puzzle is on a par with it, I’ll have a go.

    Is it me or is this the first QC with a few solutions requiring arts related general knowledge? Personally, I’m not a fan of this type of clue. I have never seen the play, film or read the book. Philistine I hear some mutter. Luckily I could solve the clues from the wordplay and checkers.

    Did not like WASH at all and still not sure I understand it.

    1. To elaborate maybe a little on macavity’s explanation:
      – “bath” (as in the act of bathing – viz. having a wash) is the definition bit
      – now C(old), suggests was previously H(ot)

      Hope that helps – but quite possible you still don’t like it! (Like my rant re. innings yesterday: I just didn’t like it…)

  6. Certainly one of the stiffer ones so far. Took a while to get into it, but then it all seemed to fall into place – onto the wavelength, I guess.

    Put in ALL AND SUNDRY (had to be based on cross checkers and “everyone”) but could not parse it – thanks for the explanation macavity – very cunning.

    COD for me was WASH (sorry Ian – just seen your comment!) – elegant, witty and a tad perverse, somewhat like Mrs. Novice. Also good to see the Jutes getting a run out – always felt they got a bit of a raw deal: we learned of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, but then Anglo-Saxon seemed to be the dominant terminology for what followed, with the poor old Jutes being air-brushed.

    30 minutes – very enjoyable.

    Edited at 2014-04-10 09:24 am (UTC)

    1. Yes, there must be an “Independence for the Jutes” pressure group out there somewhere…perhaps in Jut(e)land?
      1. I am in Jutland quite often, and in my experience they regard themselves as pretty independent already. The rest of Denmark is a mere inconvenient appendage!
  7. A few seconds under 9 mins and definitely on the trickier side for a QC. The excellent WASH was my LOI after HAY FEVER.
  8. Nice blog Macavity. A little trickier than usual, but hopefully not offputting. Definitely worth having a go at today’s cryptic- a lot easier than usual albeit with the usual quota of eclectic general knowledge.
  9. This was tough for me and DNF with 12d, 13a and 17a escaping me. Guessed the right answer for 4a but only saw the clever WAS Hot via the excellent blog.
  10. I must have been on the setter’s wavelength – the only one giving me a problem was 4a.
  11. Thanks, Macavity. “Something’s a bit unusual here” is a great way of describing what a ? does in a clue. 17ac and 4ac fill that description well. 15mins for me. I was initially focused on “Sea Fever” for the play until I remembered that was a poem and not by Coward. We have a kitten that will almost certainly grow up to be the image of yours.

    Edited at 2014-04-10 01:45 pm (UTC)

  12. I found this impossible and still don’t understand wash! Could someone try to explain it again please?
      1. kerrrrrrchunk, did you hear the penny drop?

        Thank you.

        Nick, thanks to you too for trying to explain but I still didn’t understand until I saw it the way Sue presented it.

        I feel a bit daft. So often is the way with these cryptic clues. It is so obvious when you can see it that you cannot imagine why anybody else wouldn’t.

        Edited at 2014-04-10 10:36 pm (UTC)

  13. Have been trying out the Quickie the past few days and glad to see this one appear. As someone who only rarely completes the main cryptic without using a cheat here and there, I was a tad disappointed with the previous two days offerings, which I completed with little fuss. This had a much more interesting feel about it and although I still finished quite quickly (with all but WASH understood), I was left with a much more satisfied feeling. Let’s hope we see a few more of these.

    Re.WASH, I get confused with bathe, meaning to wash, and bath, as in a tub. WASH was staring at me but I still needed to check here to fully understand the cryptic. Once properly understood, I did rather like the clue.

    Nigel from Surrey

  14. I have been enjoying the chance to understand the cryptic after years of quick crosswords. I had started to believe I might be on the right lines – until today! Thank you for the explanations, they are a great help.
  15. Lovely, clear blog, Macavity, thanks 🙂 I tackled this a day late as I wanted to have Z8 close at hand. Took 25 so not significantly longer than average – am getting pleased with the fact that I can solve increasing numbers of clues straight off without back up.

    COD was 5dn – lovely double meaning that I got fast 🙂

    A query – Sky is a brand name/PLC; should it be used as the answer to satellite TV?

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