Times Quick Cryptic (Number 2) – Vicars and Tarts

Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Completed via the web edition of the paper because that is all my subscription permits. Pleased to see correct letter counts for multiple word solutions but disappointed not to see a print button.

I notice that some deride the existence of the new puzzle and question the need to blog about it here. However I’m delighted with it. Even when I succeed with the main cryptic, it takes me so long to solve it that I often don’t bother starting – especially on a work day. I have often wished for something easier than the main puzzle but using the same principles to help develop my skills.

The level of difficulty seems to have hit the sweet spot for me. So far I seem to have a lot more to show for my time on the quickie and can see me attempting it more regularly than the main puzzle because I’m unlikely to feel disheartened with only a few solutions to show for an hour’s worth of effort. The wordplay is often sufficiently difficult for me to wrestle with it for a while and many clues teach me something new.

Only time will tell if it successfully acts as a gateway to more frequent and faster solutions to the main puzzle for me.

My favourite clue was 8d. The one I found most difficult was 1d for some reason I can’t explain.  I had to resort to the dictionary to verify the wordplay on 16d.  Surprised by how many definitions were at the front of the clues.

Time: a shade under 45 mins.

Across
1 DOVE – hidden. Def: Bird
3 ASSASSIN – ASS + ASS + IN(batting). Def: One to dispatch
9 ARCHAIC – ARCH(curved structure) + I inside AC(account). Def: Ancient
10 EVADE – AD(A D-notice) inside EVE(day before). Def: Escape
11 LURCH – RULe(canon) reversed + CH(church). Def: Stagger
12 ENDEAR – END (intent) + EAR (listener). Def: Win over
14 NEEDLESS TO SAY – cryptic NEED LESS TO SAY
17 SPIDER – P(quietly) inside(stopping) SIDE(team) + R(runs). Def: Spinner(as in web)
19 RIGID – GI(soldier) inside RID(free). Def: Hard
22 AGAIN – A + GAIN(profit). Def: once more
23 INFERNO – IN + FERN(plant) + O(last letter or close of Sligo). Def: Intense fire
24 HANG OVER – G(Germany’s first letter or leader) inside HANOVER(German city). Def: Threaten
25 DOZE – DOZEn(almost twelve). Def: Fall into a light sleep

Down
1 DEADLINE – DEAD(insensitive) + LINE(column). Def: Deadlines, usually a problem for editors
2 VICAR – V(verse) + I(one) + ??CAR?? (shortened alternative word for eccentric but don’t know what) CARd(shortened eccentric). Def: clergyman
4 SECRET SERVICE – cryptic obvious
5 AHEAD – A + HEAD(crown). Def: Winning
6 SEA BASSSEA(homophone of see gives close) SEAl(mostly, close) + BASS(mostly deep underneath).
7 NEED – NÉE(born) + D(died). Def: poverty
8 RACHEL – ACHE(pain) inside RL(right and left – both sides). Def: Girl
13 SYNDROME – DR(doctor) inside(probing) SYNOME(anagram of MY NOSE). Def: Pattern of symptoms
15 EXPLAIN – EX(former) + PLAIN(patent). Def: Interpret
16 THRIFT – Double meaning. Thrift alternative name for a plant called Sea Pink.  Never heard of it.
18 DINGO – GO(shot or attempt) following DIN(row). Def: Wild dog
20 GARBO – GARB(dress) + O(circle). Def: Renowned actress (Greta)
21 LASH – L(first letter or top of leafy) + ASH(tree). Def: birch

Edited to correct 2d and 6d.  Thanks jackkt.

36 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic (Number 2) – Vicars and Tarts”

  1. 9 minutes with some relief after yesterday’s disaster. 6dn starts with SEAl (close, mostly) and the short eccentric at 2dn is CARd. Welcome to blogging Ian and congrats on your very first!

    Edited at 2014-03-11 02:42 am (UTC)

    1. Ahhh, thanks for those corrections. Don’t know why I didn’t get CARd and I wasn’t happy with my parsing of SEA.

      Always seems so obvious once you know doesn’t it?

      1. You’re welcome, Ian. It might be an idea now to amend your blog to show these corrections – our convention is to leave the original remarks in place or cross them through if you feel so inclined, and the write the amendment “On edit etc” in italics. Otherwise you will probably have other people pointing out the same things later. People don’t always read the comments beneath the blog before posting.

        Edited at 2014-03-11 08:04 am (UTC)

        1. Thanks again. I probably haven’t quite followed the convention for corrections. I haven’t been here long enough to identify it but hopefully that does the job.
  2. Welcome to the blogging team, Ian – exemplary stuff! 9 minutes here too.

    I take all your comments, but judging from your ability to parse I’d say it’s only practice that’s required to make the transition to the main puzzle. It took me enough!

  3. Untimed, but probably about 10mins or so. COD to RACHEL, LOI DEADLINE, THRIFT unparsed, so thanks for that bit of vocab.

    Great, concise blog, very easy to get to grips with. Many thanks.

  4. The enumerations were right this time (I did the first one before they were fixed) and I think this worked just fine as a warm-up, no really strange words puzzle, about 7 minutes. I thought the clue for HANG OVER was particularly neat.

    And welcome to all the new bloggers! If you have any questions, ask Jim!

  5. About 10 minutes, mostly getting to grips with the interface. Fine blogging, rightly including the steps that otherwise can be taken for granted – really helpful for those setting out on the long path to the Championship finals! And welcome to the team!
    I too liked HANG OVER, not least for the “wait a sec, that’s one word” moment
  6. Just found the quick cryptic on the ipad and with no print button I pressed ‘play’ and for the first time I had a keyboard. For those non-ipad users, the keyboard has never come up when ‘play’ing the normal crossword. It does on the app version but that subscription is more expensive. Found I was learning to key in at the same time as answering and ended up with 16 minutes. I hadn’t heard of thrift as a plant and thought there was some link to the colour of the FT which talks about the economy. So this gets my COD – thanks for the explanation ianb21.
    1. I’m also glad it works on the iPad and think the new interface is better too. I really like the way that solved clues become dimmed and that you may control if you like to skip over completed letters or not when entering answers.
    2. Curiously, my experience on Android is symmetrically opposite (I think). The Times App doesn’t carry it at all, though I get the keyboard if I bring up the main crossword. If I log on through Chrome, I get both the crossword and the keyboard, which I am learning how to use in a way that suits me – so far I get one clue at a time and the letter and clue skipping thing, which I might just persist with.
      I can go to the club, but there there is no Quickie and no keyboard popping up anyway.

      Edited at 2014-03-11 02:17 pm (UTC)

      1. I’m not using the app on the iPad either (my subscription doesn’t include it) so just the Safari browser. The new interface seems more suited to the tablet than a computer because you would normally be required to tap somewhere to begin keyboard entry. I can understand how anyone using a regular keyboard might be frustrated by the fact that the arrow keys don’t work.
      2. Sorry to bother. When the Quick Cryptic started I was able to use the keyboard on the iPad for the online puzzle using Safari. This was still the case about 3 weeks ago but since then the right hand half of the keyboard doesn’t populate the clues – up to YGV work but UHB onwards don’t work. Following your comment, I have installed Chrome with exactly the same effect – including the main Cryptic doesn’t even load the keyboard. My iPad is a retina but I’ve also tried on my wife’s iPad mini with the same result.
        I’ve been on to the Times online help only to be told all about re-loading the Times app (which is spectacularly unhelpful).
        Are you still managing OK and if so are you using iPad IOS 7.1? Any suggestions?
        Thanks,
        Chris.
      3. Just found that portrait mode works for the quick cryptic. Not for the main cryptic but I print that anyway.
  7. Just to say that I fully support Ian’s comments about the new crossword (even though I haven’t actually been able to see one yet!) because it will act to broaden the appeal of the cryptic crossword generally, and will help those who are not as experienced as some of us here. It’s a great idea, in summary.
    1. Agreed, and it might also offer new targets for older hands. I long ago gave up on expecting to improve my solving speeds for the main cryptic and am now satisfied if I can achieve sub-30 once or twice a week.

      I’m rather hoping I might get to 5 minutes on the new puzzle or perhaps 10 fully parsed. It’s something to aim for anyway, and maybe, just maybe, my cryptic-solving will improve a bit after all.

  8. About 10 min – thanks ianb21 for showing how to turn off unwanted skip – still getting caught by tab not going to next clue, so had to check carefully for letters in unintended places.
    The plant THRIFT is familiar to everyone who remembers the dodecagonal 3d coins, though probably not as ‘sea pink’.
    1. Interesting – I remember well the threepenny bits with the portcullis, which I see from Wiki were minted in ER II’s reign. I have to say the thrift looks more like thistle yo me at first glance!
  9. Between 4 and 5 mins. As others have already said, it was an enjoyable puzzle. THRIFT was my LOI from the “economy” definition because I’d forgotten about the “Sea Pink”.

    Both yesterday and today I did the main puzzle before doing the QC, and the switch to an easier cluing style threw me both days. It seems to take me a minute or so to adjust my thinking.

  10. First rate blog, thank you. 10 minutes, at least 3 of which were spent sorting out the mess made by the automatic letter skipper. Same as AndyB re the mental adjustment from the main cryptic so I think I should do these first. I do wish we could print them. I’m a bit apprehensive about what happens when they put everything on the same format…
  11. Well played Ian – great blog. (I’m up tomorrow for first time and have a hard act to follow!)

    Fully agree your sentiments re. the value of the new offering, and your response to the deriders.

    Thought several of today’s clues would not have been in any way out of place in the Quickie’s big sibling: particularly NEEDLESS TO SAY, SEA BASS, DEADLINE, SPIDER.

    Great to see they have sorted out the multi word issue in the web edition. I saw that as adding a frisson of excitement beyond what I needed for my first ever blog tomorrow!

    1. That’s kind of you Nick. I’m sure you will be absolutely fine and I’m looking forward to seeing what you post 😀

      The main difference between the two puzzles for me is that the main cryptic employs more effective disguise that makes it harder for me to identify which part of the clue is the definition.

  12. A good first blog, Ian. I’m sure that the Quick Cryptic will build up your confidence and ability for the main Cryptic – based on these first 2 days, the Quick Cryptic is actually a little harder than I was expecting. I didn’t know the second meaning of THRIFT.

    A request for help – how are people navigating around the online version? Using a Mac, my arrow keys only allow me to move within the current answer so if I want to move to a different answer then I have to use the mouse to click on a square within that new answer. It also seems that when you enter the last letter of an answer, it takes you to the first letter of the next answer (in clue order) – maybe I’m in a minority, but I never solve in that order so it’s an unhelpful feature.

    1. Thanks mohn2, I hope you are right.

      I also use a Mac (I don’t think the computer matters actually) and I get the same behaviour and must resort to the mouse. Using an iPad is the same but the tapping required is more intuitive because that is what one is used to in order to get a keyboard up.

      Like you, I tend to solve clues intersecting with the answer I just filled in so the next clue in the list is almost never the one I want to do next.

  13. For those that I haven’t replied to individually, thanks very much for the support and encouragement.
  14. Good blog, Ian, thank you.
    Who is deriding the existence of these puzzles? You don’t have to love them but the option of not doing them is open to all. I’ve rather liked the first two.
    I was a bit surprised to see a rather obscure flower in this one, but the clue remains pretty easy from the other definition and it is of course vital to develop the confidence to put in the answer from a partial understanding of the clue.
    1. There was an adverse comment about the puzzle in yesterday’s thread and about the need for us to blog it under Andy’s sticky topic. There have also been knockers in the forum.
  15. I’ve just got round to looking at today’s Quick Cryptic but it has disappeared. The link just says ‘Coming’ as it did last week.

    I’ve reported this to The Times. Typically the helpdesk’s first response was to tell me it hasn’t started yet but once we’d agreed it has they said they would look into it.

    1. Nice and clear blog- Ian. Good to be able to watch and learn from other guinea pigs before I have a go. Hadn’t heard of sea pink either. Nice puzzle with some neat clues- hopefully the quick cryptic will attract many previously intimidated solvers.
  16. Good blog, Ian. Well done! 10m here but one wrong. TARIFF for THRIFT – on the basis that it is a tariff on an aeroplane say (economy class) and sounds like TERRIF (short for terrific) as a description of how one is feeling! Ingenious but sadly just wrong!

    Edited at 2014-03-11 08:07 pm (UTC)

  17. 12 minutes for me, about the same time as yesterday’s.
    First in Dove, last in Syndrome.
    Solving the crosswords on the iPad edition of the newspaper is a joy!

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