Times Quick Cryptic No 3096 by Teazel

Author   Mike HarperPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Solving time: 5:24

A more relaxed solve than last time round – no mice in the jaws of death required rescuing – Teazel has served up a QC puzzle that should please many if not most.

How was it for you?

Definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [directions in square ones]. I have also adopted jackkt’s use of the tilde sign ~ to indicate an insertion point in containment clues.

Across
1 Showy performances that may be right in front of your eyes (10)
SPECTACLES – Gently cryptic second half of clue i.e. if you are wearing SPECTACLES, they may be right in front of your eyes.
8 Sailor to obtain mark (6)
TARGET – TAR (Sailor) GET (obtain)
9 Motorist’s club (6)
DRIVER – Double definition
10 Delighted PM losing stone (4)
GLAD – GLADSTONE (PM i.e. Prime Minister) without [losing] the letters of ‘stone’

William Ewart Gladstone (Liberal) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for 12 years, spread over four non-consecutive terms, between 1868 and 1894.
11 Deceives girl about principal role (8)
MISLEADS – MIS~S (girl) about LEAD (principal role)
12 Gun shot by billiards player (6)
CANNON – Double definition

A CANNON in billiards involves striking the cue ball so that it hits, in any order, the other cue ball and the red ball on the same shot, earning the player 2 points.
14 Not all crews naturally returning solution (6)
ANSWER – Reverse [returning] hidden [Not all] in crews naturally
16 Rejected beer, duff brewing (8)
REBUFFED – Anagram [brewing] of BEER DUFF
18 Be depressed by exercise after very short time (4)
MOPE – MO (very short time i.e. short for ‘moment’) followed by PE (exercise i.e. Physical Education acronym)
20 Uniform, black, fit for work (6)
USABLE – U (Uniform – NATO phonetic alphabet) SABLE (black)

SABLE can be a noun meaning the color black; a marten with a short tail and dark brown fur, native to Japan and Siberia; or the marten’s fur.
21 Shaving match involving two people, we hear (6)
PARING – Homophone [we hear] of PAIRING (match involving two people)
22 Excited lad married fluttery little thing (3,7)
RED ADMIRAL – Anagram [Excited] of LAD MARRIED
Down
2 Piece of wisdom is a gem (5)
PEARL – A piece of wisdom may also be called a ‘pearl of wisdom’

“Pearls of wisdom” are valuable comments or pieces of advice that are considered wise and insightful, often shared by experienced individuals.

Should a PEARL be considered a gem? While pearls are not classified as traditional gemstones since they are formed inside living molluscs, they are still regarded as precious gems due to their unique formation and market value. Pearls are composed of calcium carbonate and are widely appreciated for their beauty and rarity (approximately 1 in 10000 oysters contains a PEARL).
3 Charlie, very old at home, unable to get out (5,2)
CAGED IN – C (Charlie – NATO phonetic alphabet) AGED (very old) IN (at home)
4 A foot to the rear (3)
AFT – A FT (foot – standard abbreviation)
5 Personal servant’s dismal day, running around (5,4)
LADY’S MAID – Anagram [running around] of DISMAL DAY
6 Pinch small tissue (5)
SWIPE – S (small) WIPE (tissue)
7 Require half lens for one with small eye (6)
NEEDLE – Mildly cryptic definition. NEED (Require) and half of LE{ns}
11 Staffs playing area in Notts town (9)
MANSFIELD – MANS (Staffs) FIELD (playing area)

Just up the road from Nottingham.
13 Maintains energy, being antagonistic (6)
AVERSE – AVERS (Maintains) E (energy)
15 Japanese fighter, one with a curious case of arms raised (7)
SAMURAI – I (one) A RUM (curious) then end letters [case] of A{rm}S all reversed [raised]
17 Brownish lead extracted from estuary (5)
UMBER – First letter (lead) removed [extracted] from HUMBER (estuary)

Originating in the 1560s from French ombre or Italian ombra, both from Latin umbra meaning “shade,” umber is a dark brown earthy pigment.
19 Deadpan gangster carrying heavy knife (5)
PANGA – Hidden [carrying] in Deadpan gangster

The Panga is a heavy-duty machete, popular in Africa and the Caribbean, designed for tough cutting tasks, and characterised by its deep belly and curved blade.
21 Irish party up for dessert (3)
PUD – DUP (Irish party i.e. Democratic Unionist Party acronym) reversed [up]

‘up’ is apposite as this is a down clue.

 

61 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 3096 by Teazel”

  1. 5:22
    Biffed SAMURAI. I spent some time trying to think of a PM with ST in his name before seeing the obvious.

  2. 10:40 I thought JEWEL first instead of PEARL but crossers wouldn’t allow it. Mike, what does deep belly re PANGA mean?

    1. I expect that it means that the middle of the blade (where most of the contact with the item being chopped would be) is very broad. This would give the blade plenty of strength when chopping and hacking.

  4. 9:48, and an enjoyable solve which could have been much faster but for being held up at the end by the PARING/PUD duo. Paring took time, and only when it did, did the dessert emerge – I tried all sorts of other things first such as I for Irish and Do for party. Could not parse SAMURAI and needed the blog for that one.

    Many thanks Mike for the blog.

  5. 7:12 on a puzzle that should have been sub-5.

    I for one welcome this kind of nicer offering from Teazel.

    Today’s excuse for slowness is that I haven’t eaten breakfast yet, having been woken up by someone’s alarm at 5am.

    NHO PANGA.

  6. Biffed SAMURAI and PANGA while vague recollection of a machete. Sable is a type of sweet black grape. LOI PUD. No show stoppers to finish in 19.58.
    Thanks Teazel and Mike

      1. As per “Marten” described in Mike’s blog! I was adding to the list with a Sainsburys (other outlets are available), pricier version of the lowly black seedless grape.

  7. Missed the discussion on he link to the Crossword Club having disappeared so I grumpily used the non-club puzzle. Surprisingly different – not least that tab doesn’t move onto the next clue and having to use the scroll bar to get the bottom clues. Anyway, held up mightily by AVERSE and CANNON at the end – totally unable to separate ‘gun’ from ‘shot’ – and was grateful to past failures for being able to spell SAMURAI.

    I’ve now gone direct to the Club page and I’m typing this while the clock ticks round to my 15.32 solving time. To add to Merlin’s research yesterday, if I know all the answers I can fill the grid in 1.52 (although I did have to go back for MISLEADS which I’d forgotten!).

    1. When I had to use the non club puzzle the other day the fact that the tab button didn’t move you on to the next clue was an absolute pain in the %*&£.

    2. The Enter button moves you onto the next clue.

      For the research, knowing all the answers I filled in yesterday’s grid in 1min00 and there were a couple of minor mistypes in there. 1min05 on today’s

  8. Well, slower than most, though much enjoyed.
    Doing very well until 13D 19D and 21D held us up for too long – adding over 5 minutes.
    Half biffed SNIPE (Nip = pinch, SE small part of tissue), then could not align with definition. Late correction.
    NHO PANGA but had to be.
    Biffed SAMURAI – thank you for explanation in blog.
    ‘Check’ tool for grid and word refused to work for us today – a good/bad thing. Just saying…
    Thanks to all –

  10. 44:10 (average: 37, target: 30)

    I found this slow going. My recall on the correct synonyms was very slow today and I was fooled by the wordplay in places too. Enjoyed finding my way through nonetheless or at least hanging in there until it was all green.

    Thanks Mike and Teazel.

  11. I found this relatively straightforward and my only issues were that I somehow read ‘antagonistic’ as ‘agnostic’ in 13d which took a while to unsee and I wanted USABLE to start with a ‘b’.

    Started with PEARL and finished with AVERSE in 5.40
    Thanks to Mike and Teazel

  13. Third straight forward QC in a row taking 20.34.
    A very nice offering from Teazel and I liked USABLE and AVERSE.
    Didn’t parse SAMURAI
    Thanks Mike for the blog.

  14. 6:53
    Like several others, I biffed SAMURAI, and needed the blog to understand the parsing.
    LOI was PEARL.

    Thanks Mike and Teazel

  15. Lovely to have an enjoyable and doable QC from Teazel, thank you. LOI AVERSE. Couldn’t quite sort out how SAMURAI worked, thank you, Mike.

  16. 12:15 for the solve. Similar story to yesterday – barely anything on the Acrosses, Downs more forgiving. Last three mins spent on AVERSE/USABLE paring. Also a little struggle in the DUP/PARING/PANGA corner.

    COD to RED ADMIRAL – great surface

    Thanks to Mike and Teazel

  17. A good puzzle. Spent a few moments thinking about SuMo… until I saw SAMURAI and moved on without parsing it. I solved most clues quickly (PANGA was a gift) but slowed in the SW spending too long on USABLE and AVERSE (which I considered early on but then ignored until the parsing finally clicked). Thought I had finished but had missed out my LOI SWIPE which extended my time to 17.20.
    Thanks, both.

  18. 4:13. Pleasant puzzle. My only hold up was wondering what EDLE had to do with a lens in 7D. Doh. Didn’t know who the puzzle was by until I came here… as Jackkt has noted in a separate post, there has been a change to the print format that makes the grid and clue font size smaller and today, at least, doesn’t carry the pseudonym of the setter. I had to use my reading light to read it properly. I wonder who thought it would be a good idea? Thanks Teazel and Mike.

    1. Also not impressed by the shrinking of the grid and the reduction of the font size. Why change something that isn’t broken!
      Looks like the same has been done to the main 15×15.

      1. Please add me, to those unimpressed with the new format. It was so clear, easy to use and worked well, before.

  20. A nice even solve with nothing unduly holding me up, finishing in 7.27. Reference to PM losing a stone briefly had me trying to work out if ARMER was a possibility for 10ac. I also biffed SAMURAI as I was sure it couldn’t be anything else, but only managed to parse it after stopping the clock.

  21. Finished this in 17 minutes but thought I ought to have been quicker. Took an age to see the ANSWER to 14ac and was trying to fit ‘maid’ into 11ac somewhere. Couldn’t parse SAMURAI or PUD (oh, that sort of party!).

    FOI – 1ac SPECTACLES
    LOI – 6dn SWIPE
    COD – enjoyed the small-eyed person at 7dn and the fluttery little thing at 22ac

    Thanks to Teazel and Mike

  22. 6.58

    Rare outing to the non-Club page. Seems better for a phone solver though I know I’m the exception there.

    Wanted the servant to be a HAND which inconveniently was denied by the grist. That left the lengthy alpha trawl for S_I_E eventually yielding the answer.

    Nice puzzle – thanks Mike and Teazel

  23. After trawling S-I-E for an eternity I was getting tempted to write in “shite” as an expression of disgust. Fortunately I then reached W. I don’t think of a tissue as a wipe – to me wipes are wet and tissues are dry. Hey ho.

    Anyway, all that took me from about 5 to a final 07:13. Lots of very good clues, COD to GLAD. Many thanks Teazel and Mike.

  24. Finished all correct, on the wavelength. Enjoyable puzzle, quick, though stuck on LOI AVERSE for a while. Should have remembered Crossword favourite ‘Aver’. FOI TARGET.
    Smiled at GLAD. Also liked NEEDLE, UMBER, SPECTACLES, MOPE.
    Thanks vm, Mike.

  25. Thought it was going to be a race through, but was held up for a bit on 6d, 13 and 20. Very enjoyable. Pearls are classed as organic gems as they have living thing origins, others are amber and jet. Thanks to Teazel and Mike.

  26. From AFT to PAIRING in 5:07. My nocturnal existence seems to set me in good stead for problems with the Club site. They’re usually fixed by the time I gingerly open an eyelid. Thanks Teazel and Mike.

  28. 95% on the non Club site which then didn’t save my efforts. Was two short after 12 mins: SPECTACLES and SWIPE.

    What with Club not being available wasn’t minded to finish.

    Now sitting at The Oval, waiting for play to start, in absolute darkness according to the umpires.

  29. My thanks to Teazel and Mike Harper.
    All pretty straightforward today. 21a Paring and 6d Swipe took a mo to come, and I was a bit lazy on 15d Samurai, but didn’t waste any time over it.

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