QC 1555 by Teazel

Author   astartedonPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

A very interesting puzzle today from Teazel. It had very few of those usual staples of a QC, anagrams and hidden words. I could see only two full anagrams (plus one where an anagram was generated and then inserted) and one tiny hidden word. The definitions and surfaces were of a high standard and the double definitions (again, only two of them that I could see) were clever. I found it of medium difficulty, certainly more challenging than those I have blogged in recent weeks. Many thanks to Teazel for a well-written puzzle and an enjoyable start to the week.

My FOI was about the easiest clue on offer at 5A and I think my LOI was the fairly obvious 20A, so I’m not sure quite how that held out till the end but it did. I think my COD was the clever double-D (pianissimo nod there (see 14D) to verlaine‘s smutty COD on Friday) at 9A.

In my last blog I mentioned that I was just leaving for a visit to Florence. When I got to the hotel there was no dedicated printer there for guest use, so in order to get my daily 15×15 fix I had to email the link to the very helpful hotel receptoninst so that she could print it out for me. One day she started reading it briefly before handing it over to me and burst out laughing. When I asked her what was the matter she said “What on earth does it all mean?” and then read out the first clue of the day: “Children keeping dog brought to safety”? before dissolving into giggles again. I suddenly realised what gobbledegook our little hobby must look like to the uninitiated observer, particularly when filtered through the mind of someone whose first language is not English, and how twisted our own minds must have become (a) to read it all every day as if it makes perefct sense; (b) to try and construct an alternative universe of meaning in which it all makes another sort of sense; and (c) to gain some sort of weird enjoyment from the process.

Anyway, definitions ate underlined, and everything else is explained just as I see it in the simplest language I can manage.

Across
1 Wrote music that’s not frantic (8)
COMPOSED – double definition.
5 Modest about page as material for newspaper (4)
COPY – COY (modest) ‘about’ P (page).
7 Initially confused by poem in secret language (4)
CODE – C (initially Confused) + ODE (poem).
8 Harp playing adopted by one daughter, left by herself? (8)
ORPHANED – RPHA (anagram of HARP (‘playing’)) ‘adopted by’ ONE D (one daughter).
9 Carries on making profit (8)
PROCEEDS – double definition.
11 Devotee regularly in cult (3)
NUT – take ‘regular’ letters from iN cUlT.
13 Spat, receiving a plumber’s latest list of charges (6)
TARIFF – TIFF (spat) ‘receiving’ A + R (plumbeR’s latest).
16 Publication free of tax is a draw (6)
MAGNET – MAG (publication) + NET (free of tax).
18 Word often accompanying name for cage (3)
PEN – I had an MER here because I don’t really think I ‘often’ hear the combination PEN-NAME. But a PEN is obviously a type of cage and it is a clue that solves itself if you get all the checkers, so working backwards that must be the explanation as far as I can see.
19 Park always admitting one radio (8)
RECEIVER – REC (recreation ground, or park) + EVER (always) ‘admitting’ I (one).
20 County’s crop meeting obstacle (8)
CORNWALL – CORN (crop) + WALL (obstacle).
22 Elder for one right to fetch round support of course (4)
TREE – R (right) ‘fetching round’ TEE, which is cryptically a ‘support of course’, being what normally ‘supports’ your golf ball when you are teeing off on a golf course.
23 Yankee on Wednesday returned, in early morning, damp? (4)
DEWY – DEW (WEDnesday ‘returned’) + Y (Yankee).
24 Can spare transplanted organ (8)
PANCREAS – one of only two full anagrams in today’s puzzle. CAN SPARE ‘transplanted’.
Down
1 Raise stone in front of the plane (7)
COCKPIT – COCK (raise) + PIT (stone).
2 Average doctor about to hold round (8)
MEDIOCRE – MEDIC (doctor) + RE (about) ‘holding’ O (round).
3 Engaged, made speech in favour (6,3)
SPOKEN FOR – SPOKEN (made speech) + FOR (IN FAVOUR).
4 Pickpocket to go down briefly (3)
DIP – double definition.
5 Encouraging firm cutting (7)
COAXING – CO (firm, as in company) + AXING (cutting).
6 Pressure on recount for dignitary (7)
PRELATE – P (pressure) + RELATE (recount).
10 Lion comes skidding to less than a full stop (9)
SEMICOLON – the other full anagram. LION COMES ‘skidding’.
12 College poem: it contains everything (8)
UNIVERSE – UNI (college) + VERSE (poem).
14 Sanction a very quiet wander (7)
APPROVE – A + PP (pianissimo, very quiet) + ROVE (wander).
15 I tend to think about northern childhood (7)
INFANCY – I FANCY (I tend to think) ‘about’ N (northern).
17 The basics of educating a trio of Republicans (5,2)
THREE RS – RRR (a trio of Republicans).
21 Has pity, locking away poisoner (3)
ASP – the only hidden word today: hAS Pity.

41 comments on “QC 1555 by Teazel”

  1. Straightforward enough, although ORPHANED and I think PROCEEDS took some time. 6:34.
  2. 16 mins with about half on cockpit and proceeds.

    Cod orphaned.

    15×15 is straightforward today, although I gave up with 1 clue left.

    Thanks Don. I try not to read the surface until after submission. Maybe you could have showed the receptionist how to do the cryptics!

    1. Thanks for the tip on the 15, I’ll give that a bash later.
      Tree was my last one in. Always a bit tricky when there are so many words in the clue!
  3. I was well on target for a sub-10 minutes solve but then suffered a complete brain-freeze with 2dn and 9ac outstanding as my last ones in and ended up with 15 minutes on the clock.

    I agree with the comment in the blog suggesting that the first part of the PEN clue is a bit feeble. I’d be more inclined to use ‘nom de plume’ than ‘pen-name’.

    Edited at 2020-02-24 05:35 am (UTC)

    1. I took (barely consciously) the clue as saying that the word in question collocates with ‘name’, unlike, say, ‘beautiful’, ‘unusual’, ‘French’, etc., and like ‘good’, ‘first’, etc. (So one could expect ‘GOOD NAME’ or ‘FIRST NAME’ in a puzzle, but not ‘UNUSUAL NAME’.) Of course the clue doesn’t say whether the word precedes ‘name’ or follows it.
  4. I was about to come here and say 9.13 for a pleasant puzzle until I got to 20ac and discovered DOWNFALL was wrong… I confidently had DOWN for county and decided DOWNFALL could be an obstacle, without really thinking about crop not quite working for FALL. Wonder if it was just me… otherwise all good

    NeilC

  5. I was a bit slow starting and somehow permitted myself to put in MODERATE for 2D, needing TARIFF to find MEDIOCRE and then PROCEEDS. But LOI was TREE as I had written DEWY in the wrong place and forgot to replace the crossing out. Not quite awake yet this morning, I think. 6:25.

    Edited at 2020-02-24 08:25 am (UTC)

  6. I had to stop to take a phone call after 8 minutes but still had a lot left; it took me about another 10 to get to my LOI 9a where I hastily bashed in PROSPERS. It almost works.
    FOI was DIP. After that I made steady progress but found some of the definitions hard to pin down. I tried to fit MODERATE into 2d.
    Victory for the setter today; not easy. David
  7. … which is rare for me, and a most enjoyable 8 minute solve. It would have been rather faster but for my LOI 22A, Tree, which took some staring at.

    Only other clue to cause difficulty was 18A, Pen – didn’t really see the parsing but since all the letters were in other clues for once this didn’t matter!

    Thank you Don for the blog.

    Cedric

  8. It took me a little while to get going on this one but once I tuned in it didn’t hold too many difficulties – although 8a needed some figuring out. For me the one downside to an otherwise enjoyable solve was a personal pet peeve – clues that you don’t technically need to solve to complete the grid i.e. 11 and 18a. Finished in 11.24 with LOI CORNWALL.
    Thanks for the blog
  9. I enjoyed this – thanks setter and blogger. On a completely different note I gad a go at the prize cryptic on Saturday and completed it all bar a couple of artists whom I struggled with. Does anyone else share my disappointment that, even if I had completed it fully, there would have been little incentive to submit it because every answer can be googled, even on the day
    1. I don’t enjoy the weekend ones and have stopped doing them. The saturday one can be quite difficult and I miss the blog to help out if needed. It can be frustrating to google the answer and still not be able to parse it. I think the prize is only a pen so I don’t submit even if I do finish independently.

      Edited at 2020-02-24 12:40 pm (UTC)

  10. I thought I’d try the across and then down approach but I’m not sure it played out that well today. I find the presence of checkers most advantageous. 13a TARIFF was belatedly biffed as only a one letter choice was required. I had a mer at 16a MAGNET. NET of tax is after tax, certainly not free of tax but then maybe that’s the chartered accountant in me being stubborn. LOI like others was 9a PROCEEDS. Should have got that one sooner! Thanks Teazel and astartedon (I think your blog reference should be 20a!). Just shy of 12 mins.

    Edited at 2020-02-24 11:16 am (UTC)

  11. Excellent description of the puzzle in the blog, Don – it was indeed well-written, with lots to enjoy. I particularly liked COMPOSED, PROCEEDS, ORPHANED, SEMI-COLON and INFANCY, all very elegant clues. (On the down side I share Jack’s view about PEN and I thought the surface for TREE was seriously clunky – good job your Florentine receptionist didn’t see that one!)

    FOI COMPOSED, LOI PROCEEDS, COD SEMI-COLON for the surface. All done and parsed in 2.25K for a Decent Day.

    Thanks Don and Teazel.

    Templar

  12. Nice puzzle which I completed in 8:56. Sadly my proof reading failed to notice that I’d carelessly put in RECIEVER. Quel plonquer! Thanks Teazel and Don.
  13. ….and publish my time, as I’m currently in 3rd place on the leader board (and I’m pretty sure that the two above me are neutrinos). The time isn’t a PB, but the position certainly is.

    There appears to have been a very high number of non-finishers (surprisingly including Verlaine !), and I wonder how many of them failed to observe the old grammatical rule “I before E except after C” at 19A. I can see the possibilities of the “downfall” trap as well.

    An excellent puzzle with some fine clueing. Thanks Teazel, and to Don for the usual entertaining blog.

    FOI COPY
    LOI PROCEEDS
    COD PANCREAS
    TIME 3:15

    1. You’re no. 1, Phil. The other two are definite neutrinos (Abramovitz was in poor form today, unable to type it all in in under 2′. I think he’s not on the SNITCH neutrino list because he doesn’t do the 15x15s, but he’s always–until today–under 2′ for both the Concise and the QC.)

      Edited at 2020-02-24 12:47 pm (UTC)

  14. Pen name is pretty familiar to me and 18a went in without too much thought. I’d go so far as to suggest its more common than nom de plume.
  15. Pen name is pretty familiar to me and 18a went in without too much thought. I’d go so far as to suggest it’s more common than nom de plume.
  16. 12m including eating quite a lot of lunch. 5 of the first 6 acrosses went straight in which adoesn’t always happen but always helps. LOI for 20a – wasn’t sure which wnd was definition and took a while to get aways from shires and salop and bucks. Motivational start to the week after a lot of slow times in a row.
  17. I must confess that I didn’t even read the PEN clue, the solution just appeared by default. I quite enjoyed this one, at least I did until 21d pushed firmly on one of my ‘pedant buttons’. No snake is poisonous (unless you try eating one that’s gone off a bit!). They can, however, be venomous. A moot point to some, I’m sure, and of no consolation if you’re unfortunate enough to be bitten by one.

    Many thanks to Teazel and Don.
    3’35”

    1. Rattlesnakes, for instance, are poisonous; trust me, that’s what we English-speakers say. I’m sure they’re venomous, too, especially the ones making uncalled-for catty remarks; but they’re poisonous.
      1. That’s where the pedantry kicks in. Snakes are commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as poisonous. A poison is a substance that harms the body when ingested. Venom is only harmful when introduced to the bloodstream, as in a bee sting or snake bite. Snake venom can be swallowed and ingested without causing any harm, therefore not a poison. As I said, just me being pedantic!
    1. Gosh, so did I! Solved on paper so thought I’d nailed the lot – do remember pondering the parsing but bunging it in and pressing on regardless. Rats!
  19. Really love astartedon’s Florentine musings – very funny (and true).

    Middling for us – we raced through most of it and then faltered, but finished, towards the end. Some lovely clues – thank you.

    FOI and COD – composed
    LOI – tree

  20. About 30 mins today, but thought this was a very interesting puzzle and quite unusual so in some respects was just pleased to finish. As noted above, some clever and intriguing surfaces.

    Not sure what “for one” in 22ac adds to the clue (unless it is purely for surface) and had to think twice about “I tend to think” as “I fancy”.

    I also thought about “Progress” for 9ac, but it didn’t fit with the plural of the clue, so I settled with Proceeds (albeit I generally think of proceeds as Income rather than profit).

    FOI – 7ac “Code”
    LOI – 9ac “Proceeds”
    COD – 8ac “Orphaned” – although quite a few qualified today.

    Thanks as usual.

    1. ‘for one’ because ‘Elder’ by itself would be a definition by example (DBE)–see the glossary. ‘for one’, ‘say’, ‘?’, are ways to make the DBE OK.
      1. Thanks for that. Read the glossary and it now makes sense. I think I kind of knew the convention without realising it, but using “for one” rather than “say” or “for example” was what threw me.
  21. The 3 Rs in education are known colloquially as ‘reading, (w)riting and (a)rithmetic.
    There’s no 20D!!
  22. Really pleased with myself today as I am very much a beginner as I fairly romped through this with no real problems! I really feel I am getting the hang of it but pride comes before a fall so let’s see how tomorrow goes! COCKPIT was my last in and only worked out because of the letters I already had. I was looking at plane, not in the front of the plane, as the definition so another lesson learn. Thanks again everyone.
  23. No time since broken by the need to drive to Guildford but slowly worked through and delighted to get them all – including Prelate which was dredged up from the depths. (Second to LOI)
    LOI Tree – nice bit of misdirection until the Tee sprung to mind.
    WOD Coaxing – shades of Miranda
    Thanks all
    John George
  24. Lovely story re Florentine receptionist.

    Only niggle is the tax issue: net definitely not equivalent to free of tax

  25. With first few across going in immediately, I foolishly thought this would be a romp. Twenty minutes later, I was duly sadder and wiser, but pleased to complete it. Not helped by having MODERATE for 2D even though I had doubts, or by inserting CORNWALL at 19ac. Like many others, I was unable to see 22ac until the rest of the wood was in place. It was indeed a lovely puzzle with lots of fine clues, of which my favourite was 17D.
  26. A late start for me after a good weekend with friends followed by an awful drive (including most of the N and W M25 which was congested, slow, and hit by heavy rain) to spend a few days on GPD. I enjoyed this. I had to work at some and jumped about a bit, as ever, but finished with TREE in 2.5K so quite content. Most of my thoughts appear above in the many posts so I’ll just thank Teazel and Don. John M.

    Edited at 2020-02-24 04:52 pm (UTC)

  27. Yes, sorry. Of course I meant 20A. I have now corrected that but rather pointlessly as I suspect everybody who is going to read it has done so by now.

    Thank you very much to everyone who has commented and particularly to vinyl1 for his very kind words. These put me to shame as I hardly ever visit the other blog pages myself. When I do I am always impressed by the skill and humour of my fellow bloggers, but frankly it always feels to me that I have so many other things to deal with in life that any stolen minutes devoted to crosswords brings me out in a guilt rash. I know that is entirely my own fault, obviously my life is no more busy than anybody else’s; but for some reason whenever I am looking at a grid or anything to do with one a nagging presence appears on my shoulder telling me I should be doing something more ‘productive’. I don’t even do the QC every day and usually only look at it when my number comes up on the blog rota.

    The one indulgence that I do manage to slip through the guilty gate is the daily 15×15. That feels fairly essential to my sanity every day. As soon as I fill in the final answer a warmth spreads over me like a mental duvet (albeit containing a splinter of regret that there is no more to do that day) and I feel as though I can face whatever the day throws at me. The only time I then visit the blog pages is if there is a clue I am doubtful about or if the puzzle is particularly difficult or easy so that I can see if it was just me that found it so or if the community agrees.

    Honestly, It’s great to hear from you all and all you other bloggers are brilliant. I really need to try and loosen up a bit and start reading and contributing more.

  28. Another late solve and took ages over LOI tree. Lots to like in this puzzle and a great start to the week. FOI 2d. No COD as too many! Thx to Teazel and our blogger

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