Today’s Times Quick Cryptic – Help!

7 comments on “Today’s Times Quick Cryptic – Help!”

1. Will Have a Go – Or is Anyone Else Already Underway?
   1. Ah, I was already struggling with the iPad when you posted this. Sorry. I know it was a bit cheeky of me since I’m not a blogger 🙁 hope you didn’t waste too much time.
2. I’m not a blogger cos I’m not very good! But I know this is right because the app told me it was. I’ll do my best to explain.
   Across
   1 MANSFIELD PARK – mans = chap field= part of farm park = leave car whole thing – novel
   8 BLOODY – old boy anagram
   9 DENISE – girls name, den= study ise=is seen at close of annexe (is and last letter I suppose)
   10 SWAN – bird; s= small wan= pale
   11 PASSPORT – thing that allows you to come and go; pass = circulate port= decanter
   12 MORAL I suppose it’s a double definition although I’d quibble with moral being the end of a story, more like the point
   13 APPLY – make use of. App = phone feature, LY = first and last letters of lightly
   15 BADGERED – hassled. Badge= ID red= a colour
   17 SODA – soft drink. Sod= turf a=a
   19 SUPINE – lethargic, sue= girls name, around (pockets) pin= brooch
   20 STINGY – mean (as in tight) sting = overcharge y= unknown amount (in algebra)
   21 METEOROLOGIST – double definition

   Down
   2ALLOW – permit; AL = a pound Low= cheap
   3 SPOONER – double definition
   4 IVY – double definition? Sort of? Ivy climbs and there’s an Ivy League
   5 LADYS MAID – anagram of madly said, a servant
   6 PINUP – pretty picture. Pup (pet) around in (home)
   7 RESPRAY – is this what you mean by an &lit? To RESPRAY your car is to give it a new coat of paint
   11 POLAR BEAR – big beast, polar = opposite bear= stand (as in I simply can’t BEAR it any more, something my 11 year old is often heard to declaim mainky referring to her brother)
   12 MEASURE – is this another &slit? It’s a quantity of drink everywhere I think so I suppose also in American bars…
   14 PUSHING – pressing (like the pressing game favoured by the 1951 push and run team) pug (dog) round shin(part of leg)
   16 GUISE – a homophone. Guise = appearance, sounds like guys
   18 DEGAS – artist. Lovely paintings of ballerinas. Lots of them in the NYC Met museum of art. Highly recommended. D= daughter, egas= (upset) sage (wise)
   20 SAL – girl – first letters (first of all) of Seen Applying Lipstick

   Hope this is all ok and not bonkers! The app thinks it’s right.

3. To add to my attempt at a blog – I thought this was a curates egg in terms of easiness – a lot of write ins straight out the gate, but I slowed down towards the end and struggled for ages over 7, 15 and 16. I was also briefly stumped by the unusual choice of unknown term in 20 but only for a few moments because I could think of no useful words using x so moved on to the other element which immediately then made it clear.
4. Terrific response! Fortunately saw your offering before I’d got well into my blog…

   Agree with you I struggled with MEASURE – did not get the US reference at all. Also share your view re. MORAL.

   Outstanding effort at short notice – why not join the blogging team?!

   1. Thank you that’s very kind! I can’t join the team because (a) I don’t always finish (to my shame 🙁 ) and (b) I have a very unpredictable job, which involves lots of overseas travel, so while I haven’t missed a single day since starting doing this crossword lark back in June, I don’t always get a chance to have a go in the morning. Sometimes I dint get the opportunity to look at it until the evening. And I’m not very good! I would probably have given up today with 7 and 12 left undone if there had been a blog, because I had given up and come here to be put out of my misery, but there wasn’t a blog so I went back and looked at it again and light dawned. Same thing happened yesterday when I did the crossword on a plane – I might have given up at the last hurdle had I had wifi but as I didnt I had to keep on thinking and had a moment of inspiration.

      Was I right about the answers I thought might be &lits? I still feel like a real beginner to be honest. I think I was lucky that today there was no cricket and no stupid flower names to stump me! Art and literature I can do. Cricket and flowers? Not so much.

5. Brilliant step-in for the blog! I got off to a storming start (for me) but was convinced 21a was talentspotter (I see now as 2 words….) and that had me stumped. Heigh ho.

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