Times Quick Cryptic No 3013 by Asp

Author   rolytolyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Another lovely puzzle from Asp, perhaps a bit less stretching than previous offerings.

Lots of effective misdirection and devious wording made for a most enjoyable solve. Unfortunately my knowledge of birds is so encyclopaedic that it includes the little-known COPPER, the beautiful island parrot of Mesonesia, so that was my alternative answer for 17d. Seven-and-a-half minutes to get the Unlucky! sign, pretty much the same time as yesterday.

Lots of lovely surfaces as well, so good stuff indeed – many thanks to Asp!

Across
7 Open secret, but not to begin with (5)
OVERT – COVERT = secret, “but not to begin with”
8 This woman’s moral principle disheartened dissenter (7)
HERETIC – HER (this woman’s) ETHIC (moral principle) “disheartened” = remove the heart / centre / middle letter
10 Doctor claimed for examination she performed (7)
MEDICAL – anagram (doctor) of CLAIMED
11 Element of ancient craft close to forgotten (5)
ARGON – ARGO (ancient craft) N (“close” to forgotteN)
12 Tradesman opening regularly for business? (9)
LOCKSMITH – cryptic definition, with a play on this tradesman’s business being routinely “opening” things.
14 What may help one drive and drink we hear (3)
TEE – “we hear” the same as TEA (drink)
15 Period just before   she was tempted (3)
 EVE – double definition
16 Find out when confident (9)
ASCERTAIN – AS (when) CERTAIN (confident)
18 Sing awful melody with no hint of musicality (5)
YODEL – anagram (awful) of mELODY. A “hint” of a word in crosswordese means its first letter.
20 Unsavoury character a cop let off (7)
POLECAT – anagram (off) of A COP LET. “Derogatory”, the OED informs, in case you were unsure. “A sexually promiscuous woman or (occasionally) man, a prostitute. In later use also as a more general term of abuse.” Although more closely related to dogs, they do indeed look a bit catlike; the origin of the POLE bit is most likely from Old French POULE, due to their supposed appetite for poultry.
22 Ugly spectacle one witnessed reportedly (7)
EYESORE – can be “reported” or stated the same as I SAW (one witnessed)
23 Company adopts radical belief system (5)
CREDO – CO. (company) adopts RED (radical). I’d always just assumed the RED = RADICAL was as a commie, but it was originally any political radical, be they revolutionary, republican, or anarchist. From red = blood, basically.
Down
1 Poisonous substance eroded half my ground (12)
FORMALDEHYDE – anagram (ground) of ERODED HALF MY
2 He repeatedly claims publicity account is a problem (8)
HEADACHE – HE HE (“he” repeatedly) claims/takes AD (publicity AC (account)
3 Uncovered notice relating to the ear (4)
OTIC – in crosswordland, the “cover” of a word is its opening and closing letters, remove them here in the word nOTICe.
4 Hot meal is high point when in Channel Islands (6)
CHILLI – HILL (high point) in CI (Channel Islands)
5 Evangelist spread cheaper religion primarily (8)
PREACHER – anagram (spread) of CHEAPER and R (Religion “primarily”)
6 Second means of identifying male animal (4)
STAG – S(econd) TAG (means of identifying)
9 Censure argument against democratic state (12)
CONDEMNATION – CON (argument against) DEM. (democratic) NATION (state)
13 Mount last stuffed big cat (8)
STALLION – anagram (stuffed) of LAST and LION (big cat)
14 Former cabinet-maker and roofer (8)
THATCHER – double definition, the first referring to Margaret and political cabinet-making.
17 Who manages to trap island parrot? (6)
COPIER – COPER (who manages) to trap I (island). To parrot = to copy, with Chambers listing the noun as an “uncritical repeater of the words of others.”
19 Performance involving couple expected on time (4)
DUET – DUE (expected) on T(ime)
21 Line part of suit in delicate fabric (4)
LACE – L(ine) ACE (part of suit, in cards)

73 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 3013 by Asp”

  1. 14:34. Pleased to finally crack STALLION, LOCKSMITH, and COPIER after almost giving up.

  2. Some thought required to solve parts of this lovely crossword. Took a while to see the cryptic meaning in LOCKSMITH, although from checkers the answer was obvious. I wanted ARGON to begin with ‘Ark’ as the ancient craft until I twigged to the other craft of the Argonauts. Liked ASCERTAIN with the when/as combination. POLECAT had to wait until I had more checkers as I wasn’t familiar with the ‘unsavoury character’ meaning. STALLION came to me from ‘mount’ and checkers. Thought THATCHER was very good for the cabinet-maker when I eventually got ‘Chippendale’ out of my head and saw the light. Liked YODEL. COD to CONDEMNATION for the nice assembly instructions.
    Good to see some tips for beginners in the blog. Thanks RT and setter.

  3. I biffed HERETIC, never parsed. ETHIC in the singular seems odd for ‘moral principle’. I don’t think I’ve ever seen ‘stuffed’ as an anagram indicator before. 5:53.

  4. I DNFed with COPIES instead of COPIER which was a bit careless, but I spent a while on the clue by the time I realised what was going on. I think “parrot” is closer to COPIES than COPIER, but “One who parrots” has to be a COPIER, so the definition and wordplay must overlap here I think.
    Thanks to rolytoly & Asp.
    Edit: As soon as I clicked post I realised that a parrot is a copier so there’s no overlap. Ah well.

  5. 11 minutes with HEADACHE and LOCKSMITH as my last two in. I think I have heard POLECAT used in the required sense in Westerns long ago, probably spoken by a whiskery old character played by Gabby Hayes referring to someone as an ‘ornery polecat’.

  6. 8.51 but blew it, put COPIES instead of COPIER, not sure how. POLECAT took a while because I wasn’t aware of that application. Thanks Asp and roly.

  7. Found this quite a workout, taking 15:29. STALLION was my LOI as I had no idea what was going on in the wordplay and needed all the checkers and only parsed it after entry when I realised that “stuffed” was an anagram indicator – I would say I would add it to my list but the list is now too long to maintain, such is the inventiveness of our setters.

    Otherwise, many clever clues and a real sense of satisfaction in finishing, which at one point looked unlikely. I’m quite glad that not all our QCs are this chewy but equally quite happy that a few are.

    Many thanks Roly for the blog and extra explanations.

  8. I found this pretty tricky, only three on the first pass of acrosses and was still left with loads of gaps after the downs. Enjoyed the challenge though. POLECAT was unknown in that sense but I was pleased to see it emerge from the anagrist. THATCHER, COPIER, LOCKSMITH and STALLION all needed careful extraction. All green in 21.21. Good one – and a handy blog too, thanks roly. Enjoyed looking up the copper parrot over coffee.

  9. I spent far too long looking at the anagram fodder at 1d. Eventually I moved on with my FOI ARGON. FORMALDEHYDE needed a lot of checkers. The QC flowed once I had checkers in place despite the clues being rather clever. My LOI in a respectable 8:03 was COPIER. I particularly liked LOCKSMITH and THATCHER. Thanks Roly

  10. Interesting how some animals have such a bad reputation that their name becomes a derogatory word. Apart from a taste for poultry, I wonder how POLECATs managed to offend us so much.

    I thought this was an excellent puzzle which didn’t put up too much resistance until my last few. FORMADEHYDE isn’t the first poisonous substance to come to mind and needed a few checkers and COPIER, ASCERTAIN and STALLION also put up a bit of a fight.

    Started with OVERT and finished with STALLION in 7.42 with COD to HEADACHE.

    Thanks to rolytoly and Asp

  11. Like many of us I didn’t realise that polecat was a derogatory term – in my case it is because my children loved an old VHS tape of 7 Brides for 7 Brothers which features the song “I’m a lonesome polecat” sung by the 6 Pontipee brothers whilst pretending to chop logs with hilariously light felling axes from the props department

  12. Not too sure on the use of CENSURE as a noun, but the cryptic and all the checkers make the answer obvious.

  13. Quite tricky in places, none more so than loi Copier, so I was pleased to finish early enough for a good choice of window seat. For some reason Formaldehyde was a very early success, so this became a left to right solve, with just minor hold-ups over Polecat and, of all things, Tee 🙄. There were several lovely parsing pdms, the pick of which (and CoD by a country mile) was Headache, with a smooth surface thrown in for good measure. Well done, Asp. Invariant

  14. A more demanding puzzle for me than for most earlier posters. I jumped around the grid and doggedly added answers, building up enough crossers to continue the steady struggle.
    I needed crossers for the FORMALDEHYDE penny to drop and the other long down clue led to a groan when it emerged.
    Some very clever clues (THATCHER, COPIER, HEADACHE etc.) but a far from quick cryptic for me.
    Thanks to Asp for a challenge. I’ll now read Roly’s blog to check my parsing.

  15. On Asp’s wavelength today finishing in 7.35. Held up a little at the end by the two long anagrams, particularly my LOI FORMALDEHYDE where I had to write out the available letters to solve it. What has the POLECAT done to earn such an unsavoury reputation I wonder; I was unaware it was so anyway.

  16. Stopped after 30mins with about half done.
    I found this very tough for a QC.
    NHO this use of polecat.
    Stallion = mount I found a bit of a stretch. I suppose stallion -> horse -> ( a) mount. I did get it, as my alternative (scallion) I could not parse however hard I tried but like many of my answers it went in unparsed.

    Thanks for the much needed blog.

  17. 4:12. Nice one. LOI COPIER which needed all the checkers. Thanks Asp and Rolytoly.

  18. 11:26 ( Barons swear oath to Henry I, recognising Matilda as his heir)

    I struggled over my LOI, FORMALDEHYDE, needing pen and paper to untangle the anagram.

    The derogatory sense of POLECAT is one I had not come across.

    Thanks Roly and Asp

  19. I read POLECAT as unsavoury as it’s another word for skunk – I was once on a coach in the US which drove by a dead skunk, and the stench inside the coach was revolting! COD THATCHER. Thanks Asp for great puzzle and Roly for helpful blog.

    1. I thought of it as the European polecat, ie basically a ferret, and anyone who’s ever kept ferrets or even been rabbiting knows that they reek to high heaven!

    2. Sounds like Loudon Wainwright III: ‘Dead skunk in the middle of the road, stinkin’ to high heaven…’

  20. Made hard work of this one! FOI was OVERT and I made steady progress until coming up against LOCKSMITH, STALLION and finally COPIER. 11:36. Thanks Asp and Roly.

  21. Quite a tussle to finish this one but plenty to enjoy in somewhat under an hour.

    The Polecat is an unsavoury character in its own right as it produces a foul smell from its scent glands. I assumed that is what Asp meant.

    Thanks Asp and Roly.

    1. Aha! I’ve only just read this far down. Yes, that was my assumption too. You don’t need to know the derogatory meaning to think of polecats as highly unsavoury.

  22. 6:11

    Previous outings against Asp have proved tough (average 12:17; best time 8:38), and so it was with some relief that this turned out to be far more approachable. Only five acrosses in from the first pass, improved on the downs – some pauses for thought included the cabinet-maker, where SHERATON popped into my head; the POLECAT anagram wasn’t very easy; and determining what was going on with LOI COPIER.

    Thanks Roly and Asp

  23. I understood ‘unsavoury’ character after solving from the expression ‘stinks like a polecat’. Maybe that’s how it evolved to generally unpleasant people. Anyway, good challenge, with LOsI COPIER and ASCERTAIN. Lots of entertaining and misleading clues, but all doable, thanks Asp.

  24. 14 minutes. LOI COPIER which required some attention.
    A biffed CREED also held me up a bit.
    I liked the puzzle overall. Hard to pick a COD.
    David

  25. 14:41 for the solve which is about my average for the year. A puzzle which got easier as checkers went in.

    I’m sure a version of the THATCHER clue was discussed around here last year – so it raised a smile and showed The Man is watching. I didn’t like POLECAT for unsavoury character until I realised it is one of those creatures like a weasel which is certainly a word we’d used to describe someone who double crosses etc.

    Thanks to Roly and Asp – who if I recall correctly is our esteemed Editor.

  26. I found this quite tough parsing only five before revealing formaldehyde to help with a couple of others. I took eroded as the indicator until I twigged that the resulting anagrist had no E. Desperately trying to find an embalmed pun and failing dismally, possibly I found it a stiff test.

  27. All said already – POLECATs smell terrible and are unsavoury in their own right, no metaphors needed; COPIER was tough and LOI (had to lash myself to the mast not to enter an unparsed “copper”); took far too long to think of “dem”.

    Very good puzzle, all done in 08:22 for a Decent Day. Many thanks Asp and roly.

  28. “Less stretching”? The hardest one for more than a week. What a struggle – but got there after about two hours, worst problems in the NW corner. NHO OTIC (but had to be); DNK FORMALDEHYDE was poisonous and couldn’t even begin to parse it, so thank you, Roly. Liked the neat surface of LACE.

  29. Another great offering from Asp, with some clever clues – and YODEL is clue of the year, never mind day, if one thinks of it as an &lit (yes, I realise that’s not the intention, but it made me hoot).
    I’m going to defend polecats (or at least the domesticated version, the ferret) – they’re intelligent animals and can make good pets, as well as doing their day job. I think you must have had a particularly bad experience at one time, Templar, old bean.
    Great stuff, thanks again to Asp, and Roly for the blog.

  30. A slow DNF x 3. Needed hint for ASCERTAIN. Did not get HEADACHE or COPIER, though had already considered that aspect of Parrot – doh. Biffed YODEL.
    I liked COD THATCHER, EYESORE, LOCKSMITH.
    I thought of FORMALDEHYDE but, like others, had the wrong anagrist to start with. Spent ages on CONDEMNATION.
    Phew. Thanks, Roly.

  31. 17.29 Not at the speed of many, nevertheless, delighted to once again be dancing far from the SCC. Dare we hope this becomes the norm?
    Enjoyed this one – many smiles, COD THATCHER, LOCKSMITH, YODEL and more.
    Thank you ASP and thank you ROLYTOLY

  32. Finished correctly in 2 hours. I thought it was really hard – but then I am in a severe depression at the moment so any success is difficult but ultimately rewarding.

    So four out of four so far this week. Painfully slow – but so far so good
    (like the man who fell off the Empire State building said as he went past the 49th floor).

    1. Well done for sticking with it Gordon. Fantastic perseverance that ultimately paid off 👏

  33. When I first looked at the clues I never thought I’d get started let alone finish but after a slow start in the NW corner I staggered around and eventually got to grips with it and finished in 25 minutes. An excellent puzzle pitched at just about my limit. COD to LOCKSMITH closely followed by THATCHER. Thank you Asp and Roly.

  34. Very nice crossword, thanks Asp and roly.
    Whipped through the 5 letter elements ending in N and came up with only Boron and Radon, despite being a chemist – oops! quickly fixed on second pass. Parsed Locksmith as a canal lock which must open regularly to let the boats through, and smith as in blacksmith for the business.
    Granted a bit on the shaky side.
    Concur with the excellence of the cover for yodel – I reach for my earplugs just thinking about it.
    Also had Coiper (an unknown bird) and Illicit for a while until common sense prevailed. First finish of the week – tataaa!

  35. Found this to be a trickier-than-average puzzle. Formaldehyde held me up. Once I got that, a whole bunch of across clues in the NW corner dropped into place.

    Liked HEADACHE and LOI CONDEMNATION

    Thanks Asp and rolytoly

  36. Felt hard, was pleased to work out everything on my own in just over 20 minutes. Stallion, ascertain, headache and locksmith took about half the time on their own.

  37. Tricky one for me, and I suspect that this is one where frequent solvers of the 15×15 often won’t notice much of a bump but the rest of us won’t get off so lightly. 21:40, so I will stay in my chair in the SCC and look forward to trying another escape tomorrow.

    Thank you for the blog!

  38. Dnf…

    It’s been a while since I struggled on just one clue, but after 18 mins I just couldn’t get 17dn “Copier”. Upon looking at the blog, it doesn’t seem that difficult in hindsight, but after trying “Cypher” and a few other things that didn’t make sense, I had to admit defeat.

    Some nice clues here though, including 10ac “Medical”, 14c “Tee” and my COD 2dn “Headache”.

    FOI – 7ac “Overt”
    LOI – dnf
    COD – 2dn “Headache”

    Thanks as usual!

  39. I thought this was the hardest puzzle of the week so far, on first pass got 4 clues. Guess just never going to be on the setters wavelength as I never get anywhere with his puzzles.

  41. 17:58

    Found this one a bit trickier. Struggled to see COPIER and EYESORE without which I would never have got LOI STALLION.

  42. Tricky in places and definitely needed an extra coffee. HEADACHE, STALLION and LOI ASCERTAIN held out for absolutely ages. Didn’t get the Margaret Thatcher part of THATCHER at the time of solving – brilliant! Also liked HEADACHE in retrospect. Lovely QC that took me a long time but which was very enjoyable. Thanks Asp and RT.

  43. Brilliant puzzle. Especially liked MEDICAL. And great surface for STALLION. 13:13.

  44. 21:45 to finally solve this entertaining puzzle. Struggled a bit until seeing FORMALDEHYDE which opened things up nicely.

  45. 15:02 here. COD to HEADACHE, by a nose from THATCHER.

    Thanks to Roly and Asp.

  46. 11:30 today with too many minutes spent on COPIER. Some lovely clues today, with favourites including LOCKSMITH and THATCHER. I really enjoyed YODEL but it has left me with a bit of an earworm. Thanks to Roly and Asp.

  47. 6.34

    Late entry – a few tricky bits but seemed to navigate it all okay.

    Thanks RT and Asp

  49. After completing this, got a deja vu that I had done this one before some years ago.

Comments are closed.