Tmes Quick Cryptic 282 by Des

Author   nick_the_novicePosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Must admit I’ve pretty much given up on trying to predict the degree of difficulty of the Quickies, having been proven to have been out of step with the consensus view on many occasions of late! However, I will – very tentatively – suggest that this one might prove a bit tricky in parts, as it has a more whimsical feel than most and there are several clues requiring the solver to “think cryptically” rather than work methodically through wordplay and definition.

I found this a most enjoyable, refreshing puzzle – something a bit different, so thanks very much to our setter Des.

Definitions underlined, DD = Double Definition, anagrams indicated by *(–)

Across
1 Retire and start drinking wine? (3,3,4)
HIT THE SACK – DD – sack being an old name for white wine from Spain, Falstaff’s favourite tipple (although I think he would probably have happily accepted anything that was on offer…)
8 Synopsis describing July weather, we hear? (7)
SUMMARY – Homophone (signalled by “we hear”) which works fine in the northern hemisphere (if a tad optimistic) but confuses the hell out of those of us living down under where July is, of course, mid winter!
9 Petty Officer keeps burning picture (5)
PHOTO – P[HOT]O – PO being standard abbreviation for Petty Officer
10 Your audience will not initially sound bored (4)
YAWN – First letters (signalled by “initially”) of Your Audience Will Not
11 Maybe get new computer storage unit (8)
MEGABYTE – *(maybe get) with “new” as the anagrind
13 Check on ringer endlessly and forcibly expel (5)
BELCH – BELL (“ringer endlessly”) + CH (chess notation for Check)
14 Praise old partner, a lieutenant (5)
EXALT – EX_A_LT. Former partner (EX) with A and LT (standard abbreviation for lieutenant)
16 Sporting achievement not necessarily associated with bowler (3,5)
HAT TRICK – Not quite sure how to categorise this clue – maybe just a straight cryptic and / or a semi & Lit? Any help from the senior pros appreciated! In any event, whatever the technical term for it, a nice clue with the sporting achievement of three wickets in three balls (or three goals or three anythings really achieved by one player) with a pun on the bowler hat which also reinforces the idea that it’s not just a bowler in cricket who can get a hat trick
17 For example, gamekeepers gutted to see what poachers do? (4)
EGGS – EG (for example) + GS (gamekeepers gutted). The definition requires you to think of “do” as in cooking (“I’ll just do the eggs…”): it could be either what the utensil called a poacher “does”, or alternatively what a cook engaged in poaching might be “doing”
20 Auction room’s last place for witch trials! (5)
SALEM – SALE (auction) + M (rooM‘s last) gives us the venue in Massachusetts where the notorious witch trials were held in the 1690’s
21 But it’s not a robbery at a sheep farm (3,4)
RAM RAID – Cryptic definition based around a pun on RAM (“sheep”) and recognition of the fact that ram raids are generally carried out on retail premises or ATMs (as opposed to sheep farms!). One of the more whimsical clues…
22 In front, healer treading, watchful (2,3,5)
ON THE ALERT – FRONT HEALER TREADING. Very fine hidden type of clue (signalled by In)

Down
1 Sleigh-puller sounding rough (5)
HUSKY – DD. Beautiful dog, and the type of voice associated with Aussie rugby league players
2 Little mill we rebuilt that is to become established in future (4,4,4)
TIME WILL TELL – *(LITTLE MILL WE) with “rebuilt” as the anagrind
3 Practical joke, tho’, not beginning with a kiss (4)
HOAX – THO (tho’ not beginning) + A + X (kiss)
4 Designed animal pen with glowing light (6)
STYLED – STY (animal pen) with LED (glowing light)
5 Are these Bake Off items trophy winners? (8)
CUPCAKES – Cryptic definition built around the notion of cakes that win the cup (trophy winners). Hmm…
6 Beg a young lad to make telling gestures? (4,8)
BODY LANGUAGE – *(BEG A YOUNG LAD). Very good anagram and surface, I thought – my COTD
7 Get lost, as young man was advised to once (2,4)
GO WEST – To “go west” is for something to be (or “get”) lost (more usually used in the past tense of “gone west” – as in “that’s my chance of getting a promotion gone west”, as an ill-advised nude selfie is accidentally emailed to the head of HR). And then there’s the famous advice “Go west, young man…”
12 Cricketer in field chewed hard mint (5,3)
THIRD MAN – *(HARD MINT). Third man is a fielding position on the boundary behind the slips
13 He’s put in supreme command (6)
BEHEST – BE[HE]ST. HE inside BEST (“supreme”)
15 Wow in school: that’s what singers do! (6)
SCORCH – COR (“Wow”) inside SCH (abbreviation of school), with a nice pun on “singers” being those who singe (rather than those who sing). Neat and mischievous misdirection from our setter
18 Old Arab president unhappy with a government finally (5)
SADAT – SAD (unhappy) + A + T (government finally) giving us Muhammad Anwar El Sadat, president of Egypt until his assassination in 1981
19 In the morning the writer brought up novel (4)
EMMA – AM (in the morning) + ME (the writer – as in yours truly) all reversed (brought up), giving us Jane Austen’s tour de force

13 comments on “Tmes Quick Cryptic 282 by Des”

  1. Nick hit the nail on the proverbial: most enjoyable, refreshing, something a bit different. I suspect there will be some slower times today. I could have done without the image of gutted gamekeepers in 17ac, I suppose; and the beauty of the hidden in 22ac was a bit undercut by the oddity of the surface; but then again, an odd surface reading can be a useful sign of a hidden solution. I was slowed down at 12d by not knowing a thing about cricket, which meant having to write the anagrist down. And I wasted time at 15d, having got the SC H, wondering how ORC=Wow! I’m ashamed to say how long it took me to realize that it’s S CH. I’ll go along with Nick in giving the COD to 6d. 6:50.
  2. Tough and different indeed – with the hidden biffed (bunged in from definition), and my COD too to last-in BODY LANGUAGE. 14′ 30″.

    Wasted time at 1d trying to remember the names of Rudolph’s pals and to figure which might be homophonic with rough. Best I could come up with was ‘horse’. Back to Kevin’s S CH for me. Many fine clues. Bravi, Des and Nick!

    (I think 16a is just a cryptic definition, as there is no ‘analytic’ (building-block) wordplay to speak of.)

    Edited at 2015-04-08 03:52 am (UTC)

    1. Thanks Ulaca. I’m so glad it did not occur to me to go down the Santa road for 1d – would have taken me an age to try and recall them!
  3. Yes, I struggled a bit with this one too and required 20 minutes to complete and understand it, not helped by actually writing in HORSE at 1dn having run through the list of Santa’s reindeer which (sad man that I am) I happen to know by heart. Unfortunately there’s not a popular Christmas song about huskies pulling sleighs so Rudolph and the horse in Jingle Bells were always more likely to come to mind.

    I’m not always reliable on categorising clues so I skirt round the issue sometimes. At 16ac I’d say we have a straight definition (as “sporting achievement” could stand alone as a definition, e.g. in a Times 2 puzzle) with a cryptic hint.

  4. I thought this one was very nice – took me 20 mins which is my average time, had to think a fair bit about Hoax which was my LOI, I think maybe the iPad app does add some minutes especially when the wifi is poor (as today) but I am clearly slower than most people. But there wasn’t anything tricky about this one apart from hoax, I think. COD definitely 7D – gotta love an answer that references the pet shop boys (however obliquely).
  5. This is the first I have finished for ages – I simply had to share my delight. Thanks to all for the blog which is such a help. Sarah
    1. Well done Sarah! And thanks for the nice feedback re. the blogs – much appreciated by me and also, I’m sure, all the other regulars.
  6. As others have said this one made me think, but I completed it in the end Which makes a nice change as they’ve been a struggle for the last couple of weeks. A few weren’t parsed (thanks for the explanation of 6d and 15d Nick) and I still don’t really understand the second part of 21a.
    I was sure I was going to have to google the names of Rudolph’s friends, so was relieved when the answer clicked.
    1. I think the point is that it is a robbery but not at the location suggested by a literal reading of the two words.
  7. Thanks for puzzle and helpful blog. But the controversy you anticipated is right here. I completed this and in fairly quick time, over morning coffee and afternoon tea, so though not the easiest we’ve had, definitely at the less difficult end of the spectrum for me. I thought there was a slightly left field feel to some clues and as soon as I adopted that myself it seemed to fall into place.
  8. The 15d,19d and 22ac combination held me up for ages until I finally spotted the hidden answer in 22ac – a common failing on my part. Overall I thought this was an excellent QC, so thank you Des, and Nick for the blog. Invariant
  9. Im very happy to prove Nick right by claiming my fastest ever time for this one. I finish about one in three, and got through this in less than 20 minutes. The blog is clearly helping: thank you!
    1. Well there you go! An interesting clutch of comments from all. A couple of the seasoned campaigners found it at the tricky end of the QC scale, whereas the newer solvers by and large found it at the easier end.

      The only conclusion I can come to with any degree of certainty is that any newer solver who managed to knock this one over without too much trouble is travelling well along the cryptic road – good stuff!

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