Quick Cryptic 1194 by Rongo

Author   curaristPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
In contrast to recent blog outings, I had a very low-resistance trip through this one, coming in a shade under 6 minutes. It seems to be a very fair and straightforward puzzzle, and hopefully a confidence-builder for beginners. Surface readings are generally excellent, and I liked 3dn.

Across

7 Flatten out bun, skipping the first bread product (6)
UNROLL – (B)UN + ROLL
8 Not caring, needing some soap at hygienist’s (6)
APATHY – hidden word: soAP AT HYgienist’s
9 Had the sensation of being left out (4)
FELT – anagram (‘out’) of LEFT
10 Banned bringing Disney back into Open University edition (8)
OUTLAWED – WALT backwards inside OU and ED
11 Schedule to conclude between California and Arkansas (8)
CALENDAR – END (conclude) inside CAL and AR. Not sure I approve of ‘CAL’ as an abbreviation for California, which isn’t the official US Postal Service one (CA) and isn’t in my dictionary. Having said that, it does feature in Wikipedia, along with a whole load of other code systems, including the US Coastguard one, which uses CF for California, and CL for Colorado. Can’t help thinking that a Coastguard vessel that’s anywhere near Colorado is a bit lost.
13 Even parts of ideas that give information (4)
DATA – alternate letters of iDeAs ThAt
15 You might hear someone admired for not working (4)
IDLE – sounds like IDOL
16 Going around that place, Edward is tied down (8)
TETHERED -TED is Edward, arranged around THERE
18 Rough Spanish agreement accepted by a Native American fighter (8)
ABRASIVE – spanish agreement is SI, inside BRAVE
20 Fake news’s ending bad actor (4)
SHAM – news’s ending is S, HAM is bad actor
21 Problem for long-haul traveller let loose in expensive car (3,3)
JET LAG – anagram (‘loose’) of LET, inside JAG. Though if the Jag in question is a second-hand diesel, it’s becoming rather cheaper.
22 Beast of burden put on small island (6)
DONKEY – DON (put on) + KEY (island)

Down
1 Criminal Roman den being held before trial (2,6)
ON REMAND – anagram (‘criminal’) of ROMAN DEN
2 Swede possibly got over reassembling European piece of furniture (4,9)
ROOT VEGETABLE – anagram (‘reassembling’) of GOT OVER + E (European) + TABLE
3 Mad on nuts, swallowing large nut (6)
ALMOND – anagram (‘nuts’) of MAD ON with L inside. Nice. There’s probably a name for this sort of clue which uses the same word repeatedly with different meanings. They can be fiendishly confusing, but his one is a gentle introduction to the genre, I think.
4 Teasing talk is taken away from stair-rail (6)
BANTER – stair-rail is BANISTER, minus IS
5 South Africa left dealing with savoury sauce (5,8)
SALAD DRESSING – SA + L + ADDRESSING
6 Audible word to scare away trainer, say (4)
SHOE – sounds like SHOO
12 Initially archbishop promotes ecclesiastical primate (3)
APE – initial letters of Archbishop Promotes Ecclesiastical
14 Young person brewing green tea (8)
TEENAGER – anagram (‘brewing’) of GREEN TEA
16 Colour slightly covering wife’s stab of pain (6)
TWINGE – TINGE with W inside
17 Attempt to keep finish in fashion (6)
TRENDY – TRY with END inside
19 Flying insect on female cattle’s flesh (4)
BEEF – BEE + F

24 comments on “Quick Cryptic 1194 by Rongo”

  1. 9 minutes for this mostly straightforward puzzle although I did have a problem briefly after biffing UNBEND at 7ac, and kept thinking FLEA at 19dn which obviously was wrong so it never went in.

    Cal. for California is in all the usual (printed) sources, but not in Chambers online for some reason.

  2. FOI UNROLL, LOI ROOT VEGETABLE. No particular problems with this puzzle which took me 8:40. MER over CAL for CA, but shrugged and moved on. Thanks Rongo and Curarist.
  3. Damp and foggy outside so I decided to solve this online. It took me 14:43.
    LOI was Root Vegetable and that took at least two minutes to work out even with all the checkers. I was trying to get Sven into a piece of furniture.
    I also thought Flea but did not put it in;but that was another hold-up.
    Overall pleasant and not too taxing. David
  4. Can’t remember anything about this. Before there was the Zip Code and two-letter abbreviations, Cal was standard for California; no one would have written CA. Cal is still the name of my alma mater, the U of California. On edit: David reminded me that I biffed ROOT VEGETABLE from the definition. 5:46.

    Edited at 2018-10-05 07:37 am (UTC)

  5. But all was well and a steady solve. LOI Abrasive
    17 minutes
    Thanks all
    John George
  6. LOsI were Root vegetable and Felt and I can’t see why they slowed me up at the end. Still, under 15 mins but still not far enough inside 3 kevins for me to feel comfortable. This was more like QCs of old, though. Some nice clues (I liked Abrasive, Almond and Banter) and a gentle end to the week. Many thanks to Rongo and curarist. John M.

    Edited at 2018-10-05 08:37 am (UTC)

  7. Just over 10 minutes here having gone the wrong way, initially, with shoo/shoe and then finishing in the SW – where I finally got rid of ‘flea’ to finish with abrasive then beef.
  8. Root vegetable was my LOI also. I was too obsessed with finding a piece of furniture despite having worked out the first word to be Root. 19 mins so bang on target for me.
  9. 18a was tough for abrasive. The explanation by the blogger is wanting in my opinion. Otherwise a neat QC , bit harder than yesterday. Thanks.

    SRT

    1. A followed by SI (Spanish for ‘yes’, therefore ‘Spanish agreement’) inside BRAVE (Native American fighter) giving ABRASIVE, meaning rough.
      A stroll in the park today at 4’45”
      Many thanks to setter and blogger.
  10. Very straightforward, steady solve. LOI ALMOND when I realised ‘mad’ was not the anagrind.
    PlayUpPompey
  11. 21 minutes, the first time I’ve been under my target for weeks. It would have been quicker but for my LOI ‘FELT’ as I spent ages trying to think of a being with an L removed instead of the much simpler and more obvious anagram.
    Cal for California is in the Chambers app on my phone.
    Brian

    Edited at 2018-10-05 10:39 am (UTC)

  12. just couldn’t parse abrasive, so many thanks to the blogger for explaining.
    agreed with all, quite straightforward and odd for a Friday’s QC, they’re usually the toughest in the week.
    COD: 3d.
    Carl
  13. 12 mins today, 13 mins yesterday so a great way to end the week. Rongo’s QC was another one that was all about the wordplay with no obscure words, the type I really enjoy. My LOI was 7a UNROLL. I skipped over it on the first pass. 18a ABRASIVE took some time to parse but I think it a clever clue. COD to 2d ROOT VEGETABLE.
  14. Finished in 22 minutes with LOI “abrasive. ” That one took me ages because I was sure that “rough ” was an anagrind. Consequently, I kept trying to twiddle with variations of “si” and “n, a, ” to produce some kind of “fighter”… Duh! Like others here, I, too, had “flea ” in for 19 down which added a very unhelpful “f” to my 18 across difficulties! Thanks so much, blogger and setter.
  15. Sorry I forgot to log in yesterday when I posted that I found it a bit too challenging…
    Thank goodness for Rongo giving us a gentle end to the week. This all fell into place pretty easily Loved 2d and thought 18ac very clever too.
    I’m sure it’s good for those of us who are fairly new to this to have a mix of difficulty – there’s no doubt that practice improves results. ( I even have a go at the 15×15 most days although rarely get very far…)
  16. A gentle end to the week from the god of cultivated plants, I munched my way through this faster than I’ve managed for a QC in nearly a month. Good to see ROOT VEGETABLE and SALAD DRESSING as the long clues and the nutty comestible ALMOND too. SHAM my COD. 4:27
  17. A bit of a stops and starts solve for me, with the RHS seemingly a lot easier that the left. After 25 mins I had three remaining – the mysterious Swede at 2d, and two associated crossers: 9ac and 18ac. After a pause I saw Abrasive (which I parse as A Brave with Si inserted). That gave me Root Vegetable, an excellent clue that could easily have been my CoD if not for my loi 9ac, Felt. A real four letter classic to round off a very enjoyable QC. Thank you Rongo, and of course our blogger. Invariant
  18. A very pleasant end to the week with nothing too taxing for a Friday evening. I completed it in 11.37 with LOI 7a. I thought 3d was very clever.
  19. A 20 minute solve – very encouraging – thank you, Rongo! Having said that I put in abrasive quite early on, but kept returning to it as I was struggling to parse it…. and never quite did. MM
    LOI 7a COD 2d.
  20. I finished for the first time in ages (train strike meant I had a long time to think about it). Biffed donkey. Why is key an island? Thanks for blog, Hannah

Comments are closed.