Times Quick Cryptic No 59 by Oran

Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Morning!

Solving time: medium

I suspect there might be a few extra solvers today after the slight hiatus yesterday. I found this a bit stiffer than some of the recent puzzles and it needed a little thought to work out a couple of clues.

After my initial scan of the clues, I wrote in OUT OF HABIT for 23 across without too much thought. I then dropped in GOB for no logical reason for 22 down. This held me up for a wee while before there was some head slapping and cursing.

Thanks to our setter for a spirited challenge today!

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Across
1 SALT CELLAR – We start today with an anagram of RECALLS TAL(E) (indicated by endlessly and spun). The definition is ‘what diner could pick up’.
7 ATTIC – The definition here is a little cryptic. ‘Lofty’ here is used in the same way that the joke “What’s brown and sticky? A stick”, i.e lofty = like a loft. Volunteers = TA (a standard crossword indication for TA, the Territorial Army, a voluntary force. [I did see this abbreviation described as ‘Dad’s Army’ in a puzzle the other day, not the same thing!) Reverse the abbreviation and add TIC (involuntary movement).
8 FILLIP – Boost = def. PILL (medicine) + IF all reversed.
10 TUB – Bath = def. BUT (Bar) reversed.
12 OVERWHELM – Swamp = def. OVER (done) + WH (with, hollow, minus its innards) + ELM (tree).
13 RACHEL – Def = name. RL (girl abandoned by GI) with ACHE (longing) inside.
14 BOGOTA – Def = Capital. GOT (obtained) inside BOA (snake).
17 NEWSPRINT – Made the papers = def. A word sum, NEW (novel) + SPRINT (race).
19 BUS – Public transport = def. BUS(T), broke down minus its last letter, ‘not reaching its terminus’.
20 TROLLS – People who wind up = def. T (debt, finally) + ROLLS (expensive car).
21 EGGED – Like an omelette? = cryptic def. (B)EGGED (pleaded, not havng starter).
23 OUT OF ORDER – You’ll have read of my woes above! This is a double definition clue with both sort of cryptic. If you stopped being a monk, you’d not be part of the brotherhood, i.e. OUT OF ORDER. If you were no longer a monk, then it could be because your behaviour had been ike this, i.e. inappropriate.

Down
1 SMATTERING – Very little = def. MATTER (affair) inside SING (celebrate).
2 LIT – Full of beans = def. LT = army officer with I (one) inside.
3 CYCLONE – Big blow = def. One of the useful tips for novice solvers is to get to know the laws of cricket. Here, LEG (side) equates to the word ON (side) inside CYCLE (pedal).
4 LIFFEY – Another crossword favourite ‘banker’ is like ‘flower’ a cryptic way of describing a river. L (large) + IFFY (dubious) with E (first letter of equity) inside.
5 AGLOW – Light may be = def. AG (silver) + LOW (blue).
6 TIME BOMB – Here we have a cryptic definition. Set off isn’t here used as ‘leaving’, it relates to detonation.
9 AMBASSADOR – Messenger = def. An anagram (wafting around) of BAD AROMA with SS (ship) inside.
11 BACKWARD – Primitive = def. BACK (SUPPORT) + WARD (a protected person, think Dick Grayson in the Batman stories)
15 ON THE GO – Active = def. An anagram (unusually) of GOTH ONE.
16 FIASCO – Disaster = def. FI (upset) + AS (when) + CO (company).
18 PILAU – Dish = def. Hidden answer (indicated by within) inside SHIP I LAUNCHED.
22 GOD – Mars? = def. GO (travel) + D

11 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 59 by Oran”

  1. Struggled to get going with this puzzle. However after entering 1a everything started falling into place. About 35 minutes to complete. First one in TUB and last TROLLS. Liked ATTIC and AGLOW.

    I presume the D in GOD comes from the last letter of asteroid but it is not clear to me.

  2. 7 mins. I agree that this one felt trickier than some QCs, and it took me a while to see OVERWHELM and SMATTERING, after which RACHEL was my LOI. I liked the “full of beams” definition for LIT.
  3. Certainly found this one at the tricky end of the Quickie spectrum.

    Found myself with a few interlocking ones putting up fierce resistance on the west flank – Smattering, Rachel and Backward – and something needed to give! I was also hindered having convinced myself (from the B) that the “support” reference in 11d was bringing BRA into play.

    Eventually RACHEL yielded, so to speak, then BACKWARD was evident and finally I saw SMATTERING.

    I reckon this will be a very tough challenge for our newer friends.

    My COD was 23, closely followed by 17. Thanks (as ever) macavity for very nice blog.

  4. Only the second contribution to date from setter Oran. I found it quite straightforward once started but the long words at 1ac and 1dn sent me looking elsewhere for a toe-hold and I employed the tactic of filling in all the three- and five-letter words before going back to work on the meatier offerings. I liked the definition at 20ac but was not so keen on the more fanciful stuff such as “lofty” and more particularly “like an omelette” for EGGED which to me is stretching things – an omelette might be said to be ‘eggy’ but why would one say it was ‘egged’?

    11 minutes

    PS to Rube above: ‘Close to (as in ‘ending of’) asteroid’ gives us the ‘D’

    Edited at 2014-05-29 10:04 am (UTC)

    1. I agree about ‘egged’. This means ‘encouraged’, and there is no reference to the actual meaning of the word in the clue.
  5. 13mins so a medium-length solve. I, too, thought 1ac and 1d were tricky so I left them till later. 6d was my COD but there were some good examples of other clueing devices such as the invisible comma in 20ac. and, yes, always good to know one’s cricketing terms! Thanks for the blog, Macavity! That cat of yours does a good job!
  6. Full of beams not beans.

    Love the column. As a real neophyte I use it to cheat when I’m stuck.

    Loved “out of order”

    1. Same anon

      I meant to add that I am very (overly) familiar with cricket and have known since year dot that leg=on but had no clue that I had to apply it here.

      As a hated Banker I’m delighted to learn that we equate to river in this curious land.

  7. Tricky one today for this newbie. Struggled to get off the ground, though luckily I finally managed OUT OF ORDER and ON THE GO in the SE corner, to give me something to work from.
    In the end needed lots of prompting from the other half reading from Macavity’s blog, to get to the end. Have to admit I’ve never heard the word FILLIP before. CYCLONE took me an age too.
    Really interesting learning curve today – thankyou for the blog.
  8. DNF again. This is becoming a habit!
    I managed about half the clues today but the top half of the puzzle was distinctly unyielding. This newbie must try harder.

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