Times Quick Cryptic No 2917 by Wurm

Author   rolytolyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Top notch puzzle, although another quite tricky one.

At 8:22, I came in exactly the same time as Tuesday and only about half a minute quicker than yesterday, making the third day in a row where my grid looked rather empty after a first pass of the acrosses.

Some very effective misdirection on show, and even a few well-disguised anagram clues, which is no easy feat. Throw in a good range of other clue types and a good number of cracking surfaces and it all made for an excellent puzzle – many thanks to Wurm!

Across
1 Spot where time’s up? (5,5)
CLOCK TOWER – Cryptic definition: the clue can be read as “Place where time is, high up”, which does indeed define a clock tower.
7 Destroy recording in opera sequence (5)
ERASE – “in” opERA SEquence. This certainly  had me fooled, as I didn’t begin to consider the definition could be “destroy recording”, and was instead looking at EP for the recording.
8 Sick Shakespeare perhaps showing animosity? (3,4)
ILL WILL – ILL (sick) WILL (Shakespeare perhaps)
10 Church men in role writing material (9)
PARCHMENT – CH(urch) MEN in PART (role)
12 Manage to compete in marathon? (3)
RUN – double definition
13 Paper published something spicy (6)
RAGOUT – RAG (newspaper) OUT (published). I wouldn’t necessarily have called a ragout spicy, but the various sources confirm it is “richly seasoned”, hence its name deriving from the French ragoûter, meaning to “revive the taste”.
15 Flee easternmost part of remote southern headland (6)
ESCAPE – E (easternmost part of remotE) S(outhern) CAPE (headland)
16 Water frozen in kitchen oddly ignored (3)
ICE – “odd” letters ignored in k I t C h E n
17 Transported via Gate 4? (9)
ENTRANCED – Well, if Entrance A is Gate 1, Entrance D is Gate 4. “Via” is just a linkword: we get the definition VIA the subsequent wordplay. To entrance = to transport = to send = to enrapture = to throw into fits of ecstasy, etc. crops up a fair bit.
20 Republican avoiding skirmish about religion (7)
SIKHISM -R(epublican) avoids and anagram (about) of SKIrMISH
22 Irish with a question: one for Arab (5)
IRAQI – IR(aqi) with A Q(uestion) and I (one)
23 Stagnation put off opponent (10)
ANTAGONIST – anagram (put off) of STAGNATION
Down
1 Barnet after Conservative for seat (5)
CHAIR – HAIR (barnet) after C(onservative)
2 Ring mobile phone: exploit hospitality for all (4,5)
OPEN HOUSE – O (ring), anagram (mobile) of PHONE, USE (exploit). For O = RING, think: O-shaped = ring-shaped = round-shaped, etc.
3 What’s taken up by chef in kitchen? (5)
KNIFE – contained (“taken”) and reversed (“up”) in chEF IN Kitchen. (A semi-&lit clue: it would be an &lit, where the whole clue is both wordplay and a literal definition, except here the word WHAT’S is not providing any wordplay.) Lovely clue – great spot by Wurm.
4 Remove top from dish for bird (3)
OWL – remove top from bOWL (dish)
5 State flag raised on atoll originally (7)
ERITREA – TIRE (flag) raised/reversed, ON, A (Atoll “originally”). To flag = to droop, same root as flaccid. When you see FLAG, think TIRE, or the IRIS flower (not to be confused with The Isis flower).
6 Sailors round new piano for women’s celebrations (3,7)
HEN PARTIES – HEARTIES (sailors) round N(ew) P(iano). Easier than it might have been – I would have been a while getting HEARTIES for SAILORS in a concise crossword.
9 Sell iodine prepared as preservative (7,3)
LINSEED OIL – anagram (prepared) of SELL IODINE
11 Conductor contains transformed current (9)
TOSCANINI – anagram (transformed) of CONTAINS and I (the SI unit for electric current). We’ve had this conductor clued a number of times, this was on the trickier end with a lovely surface.
14 Cucumber her good family consumes (7)
GHERKIN –  HER G(ood) that KIN (family) consumes)
18 Speed up in pop-metal (5)
TEMPO – another reverse hidden, this time clued by UP and IN, in pOP-METal
19 Talk involving king’s plan (5)
CHART – CHAT (talk) involving R (Rex = king)
21 Gershwin say in restaurant asking for starters (3)
IRA – In Restaurant Asking “for starters”

 

82 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 2917 by Wurm”

  1. Liked this. Had free house originally in 2d, thinking of the old pubs that were not aligned or run by the major breweries and could offer all brands of ale. Soon fixed. Don’t agree with RAGOUT for something spicy. Regardless of what the sources say, I wouldn’t describe ‘highly seasoned’ as spicy. I took ‘spot’ in 1a for ‘clock’ as in ‘see’ and then tried to figure out the rest before seeing the obvious. I think the folks who only do the quickie might struggle with ‘barnet’.
    Thanks RT.

  2. Biffed PARCHMENT, SIKHISM (LOI), OPEN HOUSE, HEN PARTIES. Like Roly, I would have had trouble coming up with ‘hearties’ for ‘sailors’ in a Concise; not that I’d expect it there. 7:24.

  3. 6.19. Fortunately HENS PARTIES was an instant biff so no scrambling for yet another definition for sailors was required. Apart from a grumble about Gate 4/ENTRANCE D (I get it, I just think it’s too contrived) this was a fun puzzle. We seem to be getting a few easier ones lately, yesterday excluded. Thanks roly and Wurm.

  4. 10 minutes. More straightforward than some QCs of late.

    The ENTRANCE D device is worth remembering as it’s not that uncommon in the main puzzle so needs to be represented occasionally in the QC.

      1. Fair enough. Not that example specifically, but letters, say A-E, corresponding with numbers 1-5, and vice versa.

  5. Super puzzle from Wurm and we were right on the wavelength today. So many great clues to enjoy and surprised to see the clock stop at a spritely 15.20 as we spent a good bit of time admiring the art!

    We also thought clock = spot but couldn’t fathom tower from the rest, maybe it was just a helpful hint to get us started

    Had the unparsed tea parties for a while which didn’t seem very PC until hearties came to mind.

    Sorry Lindsay, we liked gate D and give it COD 😉

    Thanks Wurm, and Roly for the blog especially the parsing of Eritrea that we couldn’t see.

    1. I too saw “clock=spot” and I believe it is fairly standard to give some kind of pun/hint to help the solver get to the answer on these pure cryptic type clues.

      1. Ah very good, that makes sense – I’d missed that, and was wondering about the slightly strange surface.

  6. Enjoyed this one, all done in 8:37 though I needed the blog to understand the parsing of ENTRANCED. Many thanks Roly for explaining that.

  7. A typically high quality puzzle from Wurm.

    None of the long answers were particularly forthcoming but no major hold ups apart from needing most of the checkers before I could dredge TOSCANINI from the depths of my memory banks.

    Started with ERASE and finished with ANTAGONIST in 7.30.

    Thanks to rolytoly

  8. What a change from yesterday! I enjoyed this genuine QC, finishing in 12.58 after a relaxed but purposeful solve.
    Thanks to Wurm and to Roly, not least for the parsing of ENTRANCED and HEN PARTIES both of which were biffs. I didn’t immediately see the re/on in ERITreA but it had to be. Lots of good and clever clues with some excellent anagrams, not least SIKHISM.

  9. Would never have got ERITREA but got the rest in 45 mins, though much unparsed and had EXTRACTED instead of ENTRANCED and TRACT instead of CHART.

    Would never have seen HEARTIES for sailors but biffed that one.

    Overall v tricky but still enjoyable

  10. 7:25 but with a silly RaN needing correction. Bit of self-reflection tells me that I often make this type of mistake on answers (like HEADWEAR/GEAR earlier in the week) where I don’t imagine there to be an alternative.

    Enjoyed this one from Wurm. Particularly liked OPEN-HOUSE and its use of “mobile phone”.

    Minor panic at the end with being asked to name TOSCANINI as a famous conductor who isn’t a Maestro or Sir Simon Rattle (who came up in a Guardian Everyman recently). But Billy Joel saw me through on that one 👍 Next to find out who Dacron and Dien Bien Phu are and why the latter fell over …

  11. Sped through most of this before coming to a juddering halt on CLOCK TOWER and ERITREA. Being convinced the latter ended ROA (slightly sneaky from Wurm there) caused much of the problem. Never spotted the subtleties of the former, nor ENTRANCED and HEN PARTIES. 14.54

  12. 38 minutes.
    I enjoyed this but could only understand the wordplay of some clues with this helpful blog.
    I saw IRA straight away but did not know Ira was Gershwin’s first name, so was reluctant to enter that. I was also unaware that “put off” was an anagrind so 22AC took ages.
    (Is it quicker to list what is not an anagrind??). Gate 4 was lost on me: useful one to remember.
    FOI Ill Will.
    LOI: Hen Parties (biffed)
    CODs: Clock Tower, Gherkin

    Thanks Wurm and rolytoly.

    1. Ira Gershwin was the composer George Gershwin’s older brother. Ira was a lyricist and collaborated closely with George; together, they produced some of the most memorable songs of the last century.

    2. I believe there is, somewhere, a list of anagrinds, but if you drop it on your toe it will hurt…

  13. 11:17. Very nice. HEN PARTIES went in without me spotting HEARTIES, and I don’t think I would have ever thought of it. I have seen the ENTRANCE D device before and still enjoyed it.
    rolytoly: at 22ac you have written IR(aqi) where you meant to write IR(ish)

  14. 9 minutes. A MER at RAGOUT as ‘spicy’ but seems it’s OK as roly explains. I liked the ENTRANCE D trick and my last in CLOCK TOWER.

    Thanks to roly and Wurm

  15. 15:51
    Didn’t help myself by having Sir Girshwin and free house!
    COD open house or LOI clock tower.

  16. From ILL WILL to CLOCK TOWER in 12:57. I was held up for several minutes by ERITREA and LOI, CLOCK TOWER. Had CLOCK, but couldn’t see TOWER for ages! Thanks Wurm and Roly.

  17. 25 mins…

    A good puzzle, although a half decent time was squashed by a lengthy hesitation on 17ac “Entranced” and 19dn “Chart”. For the former, I was too focused on trying to squeeze “iv” in somewhere. Probably wrong, but I don’t recall ever seeing a clue where a number has been used as an ordered letter in the alphabet before – not in the QC anyway.

    Like a few people, I initially biffed “Free House” for 2dn until realising 1ac must be “Clock” something.

    FOI – 1dn “Chair”
    LOI – 17ac “Entranced”
    COD – 6dn “Hen Parties”

    Thanks as usual!

  18. Finished in a fairly nippy 7.57 in spite of initially putting in CLOCK WATCH for 1ac. Fortunately OWL made me reconsider and the mistake was soon rectified. Initially flirted with OPEN HOUSE for 2dn but resisted the temptation to biff it, instead carefully working it out from word play.

  19. This was clever. I wasn’t. A little more cleverness on my part would have enabled me to enjoy it far more, but slapping my forehead repeatedly took some of the shine off it (and my forehead). Wandered dazed into the SCC.
    Had seen the Gate 4 trick before, but only remembered that after eventually finding the word to fill the blanks. Tried for too long to get IV in somewhere.
    Liked KNIFE for being one of the clever bits I saw quickly!

  20. Could not even start this one.
    1a. Clock tower ? Very, very clever. Very, very tricky. I stood no chance with clues like this.

    1. Opposite to me, I only managed one or two on the first three QC of this week. The more you get the more checkers you have that help with anagrams and the odd biff.

  21. Very good puzzle, with a few toughies lurking. I did like LOI ENTRANCE D – it still fooled me even though I’ve seen the device before! Couldn’t believe there were two reverse hiddens so took an age to see TEMPO.

    Home in 09:23 for a Sluggish Day (but then I am well out of my time zone 😵‍💫).

    Many thanks Wurm and Roly.

  22. That was ok – LOI ERASE – first Wurm I’ve managed to complete. Couldn’t quite work out ERITREA – was thinking flag = retire but RE are the wrong way round. Roly you don’t actually say “on” = RE (was thinking “on” = “placed above”) but ok it’s obvious enough. Liked CLOCK TOWER and ENTRANCE D.

  23. 5:33. I wasted quite a bit of time trying to fit an answer for 6D in the squares for 9D, where I thought had L_N for the first word. “Surely it has to be hen”, I thought. Well yes it is… in the right squares on the grid! COD to the lovely surface for KNIFE. Nice one Wurm and thanks Rolytoly for the blog.

    1. I thought it was only me who tries to put answers in the wrong place – at least twice a month on average 🙄

  24. 6:00 but…

    …managed to type in TPSCANINI. Grrr – going fast and not checking typing to post a quick time. Oh well. Momentarily held up at the end seeing TOWER before LOI ERITREA but otherwise a gentle workout from Wurm

    Thanks also to Roly

  25. Eight on the first pass but then bunged in ‘check point’ because it fitted the checkers and made sense if you didn’t really read the clue. That made ERITREA and OPEN HOUSE both pretty hard. Ended up all green in 9.59.

  26. 16:41, LOI ERITREA

    Water frozen(3), they don’t come much easier than this.
    Thanks for the help on ENTRANCE “D, I had already CLOCKED that “transport” more often has this meaning than not, in crosswords.

    Did anyone else think of SEX PARTIES?

    1. Back in my cab driving days, there were a few HEN PARTIES whose banter in the back suggested that maybe THAT sort of gathering might be welcome a few more drinks down the line…..

  27. Lovely puzzle with several clues raising smiles
    Finished before my cuppa got cold
    COD: HEN PARTIES because the parsing eluded me for a while

    Thanks Wurm and rolytoly

  28. Fourteen of which two were semi biffs.

    Obviously on the easier side for me. My type of clues possibly.

    Didn’t like the Iraqi clue.
    CoD 1d
    The Shakespeare clue reminded me of my father’s use of Bill Wobble Lance

  29. I was held up by not spotting the TOWER until right at the end despite the CLOCK being a technical FOI. Consequently I wasted a while trying to engineer “flag=iris” into my LOI.

    FOI ILL WILL
    LOI ERITREA
    COD RAGOUT
    TIME 4:26

  30. Pleasing that STAGNATION and ANTAGONIST are anagrams of each other. Good puzzle, pitched spot on. COD – HEN PARTIES for its excellent mental image!

  31. Hoorah! After the trials of the past two days, a crossword that I managed to complete in 16 minutes, with a lot of enjoyment along the way. Thank you Wurm.

  32. 3.55. Sometimes the answers just come to you with no need for thought. Not often for me though. Clock tower and hen parties were written in even as I read the clue, and yet I can see after the event that they needed some parsing.
    Very enjoyable.
    COD to entranced.

  33. 15:11, which is faster than it felt at the time. Needed help to parse ENTRANCED and HEN PARTIES.

    Thank you for the blog!

  34. Completed in 25 minutes with a bit of assistance getting TOSCANINI – wasn’t sure where the 9th letter came from!
    Excellent puzzle – thank you Wurm and thank you Roly (especially for explaining HEARTIES)

  35. A steady ride into the SCC, coming to a stop in 23:29, so not as delayed as yesterday. Lots to enjoy with COD going to HEN PARTIES for the discovery of some alternative sailors for once. Thanks Wurm and Roly.

  36. An outside chance of a sub-15 was thwarted by my last pair: the Tower part of 1ac and Eritrea. Even with Tower in place, I still struggled with the country, at one point trying to include (raised)*, before a (very) welcome pdm put me out of my misery. Lots to enjoy around the grid, but CoD to Hen Parties for the constructive use Hearties. Invariant

  37. 07:42. I liked CLOCK TOWER – think have seen something like it before. ILL WILL was funny as well. I think the best clues are those that are essentially Dad jokes in disguise…

  38. Very quick to start with but then stuck. Needed CCD help with TOSCANINI, and, I am afraid, GHERKIN. Idiotically slow on HEN PARTIES too. Other LOsI PARCHMENT, OPEN HOUSE.
    Liked ILL WILL, CLOCK TOWER (FOI), TEMPO, IRA.
    Solved RAGOUT but didn’t think it especially spicy.
    Thanks vm, Roly. CNP ERITREA, ENTRANCED and others.

  39. Easier than yesterday. LOI TEMPO (no clue as to what pop-metal was and didn’t spot the hidden until later). A few gimmes and some that required a bit more thought (CLOCK TOWER/ENTRANCED). COD to CHAIR but also liked the surface for TOSCANINI which misdirected me towards metals for a while… Many thanks Roly. Nice one Wurm.

  40. Biffed ERITREA and hadn’t worked out the D of ENTRANCED – thanks Roly for the explanations. Many lovely clues. COD OPEN HOUSE.

  41. Quickest I’ve done a cryptic crossword with 37 minutes. Left TOSCANINI until the end in case it wasn’t right, but loved the clue for CLOCK TOWER. Thanks for explaining the clues I couldn’t get the word play for.

  43. 15:15. CLOCK TOWER eluded me longest. I tried RISQUÉ first for RAGOUT. I see I DNDed this puzzle ( Doubled New Driver!)

    1. My very own acronym! Also reminds me that I used to play Dungeons ‘n’ Dragons as a teenager.

  44. 11.57 Mostly quite quick but slow on the last three, KNIFE, CLOCK TOWER and ERITREA. Hearties made a nice change. Thanks rolytoly and Wurm.

  45. Well, this had me needing to think harder than I could! Then an uplifting and energising phone call jolted me back into action and I finished with a rush. Several really entertaining clues made this great puzzle. Thx for explaining the D in 17a – a neat device and obviously worth remembering. In my lethargy I thought this was really hard, but then realised it was simply clever!
    FOI 7a Erase
    LOI 23a Antagonist
    COD 14d Gherkin

  46. Gherkin
    Roly. Would you mind explaining the parsing. I got the constituent parts. Her G Kin. But can’t see where consumes fits in.
    Thx J

  47. All done in 13:03, but with Entrance D still a mystery. Must try to remember that trick.

    COD to ILL WILL, which made me laugh.

    Thanks to Wurm and rolytoly.

  48. 24:37 to complete this entertaining puzzle, once ENTRANCED and ERITREA sprang to mind, although unparsed. Still not sure about RE = On in the latter, nor RAGOUT as necessarily spicy.

  50. 6d Hen parties. I thought of International talk like a pirate day. COD for that.
    23a Antagonist LOI, and it would have been hard to spot the anagram except that I had all the checks, so I biffed then parsed.
    18d Tempo. NHO pop metal, but it is in Wiktionary and on that basis I have added it to my Cheating Machine (uncountable) in case it shows up as an answer sometime.

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