Times Quick Cryptic 1200 by Mara

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic

My solving time for this was 8 minutes so I’d say it’s on the easier side of the balance. Very enjoyable, but unless I’ve missed it there’s nothing special here to mark the publication of  Quick Cryptic 1200.

As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]

Across
1 Piano, say, for club (6)
PUTTER – P (piano), UTTER (say). One for the golfers.
4 Gulping oxygen, tired out journalist (6)
EDITOR – Anagram [out] of TIRED containing [gulping] O (oxygen)
9 Thieving — like ET? (5-8)
LIGHT-FINGERED – A straight definition followed by a cryptic hint with referenc to a film that I have never seen. On-line images suggest that the eponymous character’s fingers lit up for some reason.
10 Shabby stuff that may be returned unaltered (3)
TAT – It’s a rag or other poor quality material. The second part of the clue indicates the answer is to be a palindrome.
11 Frantic rub, action that’s designed to keep things warm (9)
INCUBATOR – Anagram [frantic] of RUB ACTION. Rather a good surface.
12 A little weight UNESCO’s thrown about (6)
OUNCES – Anagram [thrown about] of UNESCO. I wondered about the plural answer for a singular definition but if something is of little weight it may well be measured in ounces. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
13 Old country entertained by bagpipers I assembled (6)
PERSIA – Hidden in [entertained by] {bagpi}PERS I A{ssembled}. Although ‘Iran’ is now the official name of the state, ‘Persia’ can still be used in cultural contexts.
16 Problem with male film director (9)
HITCHCOCK – HITCH (problem), COCK (male). Alfred 1899-1980 who directed of many a classic film, usually with tongue firmly in his cheek.
18 Books briefly / on fire (3)
LIT – Two definitions, the first being an abbreviation for literature as indicated by ‘briefly’
19 As pro in no time injured, taking someone off (13)
IMPERSONATION – Anagram [injured] of AS PRO IN NO TIME. It’s a crime, according to a recent Times crossword clue.
21 Fish — one snoozing? (6)
KIPPER – Two definitions, the second requiring a question mark
22 Level on a building plot, we hear? (6)
STOREY – Sounds like [we hear] “story” (plot)
Down
1 Buddy has circuit to set up (3)
PAL – LAP (circuit) reversed [set up]
2 By the sound of it, giant close (7)
TIGHTEN – Sounds like [by the sound of it] “titan” (giant)
3 Use a nosebag to scoff heartily? (3,4,1,5)
EAT LIKE A HORSE – Not quite sure how to define this one so I’ll settle for a main definition preceded by a cryptic hint,  but it could easily be taken all-in-one.
5 Shambles — first meal for Rover? (4,9)
DOGS BREAKFAST – A straight definition and a cryptic one
6 Run including a fortune-telling card (5)
TAROT – TROT (run) containing [including] A
7 Bird — star breed in trouble (9)
REDBREAST – Anagram [in trouble] of STAR BREED. Not necessarily a specific bird but the robin is probably the best known example.
8 Bird beginning to fly very short distance (5)
FINCH – F{ly} [beginning], INCH (very short distance).
10 Thin item also broad, power in it (9)
TOOTHPICK – TOO (also), THICK (broad) with P (power) contained within [in it]. A very tenuous definition which gives no indication of what it’s descrbing.
14 I put in fuse for trooper, say? (7)
SOLDIER – I contained by [put in] SOLDER (fuse)
15 Company doubled up on a drinking powder (5)
COCOA – CO CO (company, doubled up), A
17 Fill pot, it’s suggested? (3,2)
TOP UP – POT reversed UP. One of those self-referencing clues where the reversal indicator is contained within the answer.
20 Indeed in prison, a youth (3)
NAY – Hidden [in] {priso}N A Y{outh}. Happy memories of Frankie Howerd in Up Pompeii: Nay, nay and thrice naaaay!

20 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic 1200 by Mara”

  1. Slowed down by LIGHT-FINGERED–not one of his featured features, to the best of my memory–and IMPERSONATION, where I had trouble juggling the anagrist in my head and had to wait for most of the checkers. STORY is a bit ironic, in that that is how we spell ‘storey’ in the US. 5:57.
  2. I was flying along and complete except for 22ac just past 6 minutes. It took me some time to separate ‘level on a building’ from ‘plot’ but got home in 6:52.
  3. I remember the glowing digit so I chuckled at ‘Light Fingered’ . Made me more forgiving of toothpick because I do think that clue is a little thin 🙂
  4. Nothing here to frighten the horses. 7:20. Thanks Mara and Jack. Will try the 15×15 now before setting off home from a musical weekend at Newcastleton in the Scottish Borders. Can’t beat 3 days and nights of carousing with no driving home involved. Until now of course!
  5. Like Kevin, I had to wait for checkers before I could get Impersonation without pen and paper. Quite a fun puzzle but Toothpick (LOI) was a bit odd – the penny only dropped when I accepted that there isn’t a fish called a napper (!) and finally got the K in Kipper. Hitchcock raised a smile. Still nearly 3 kevins at 17.01. The mid/upper-teens seem to have taken over from the low ones as my new norm. Thanks to Mara and jack for a good start to the week. John M.

    Edited at 2018-10-15 11:11 am (UTC)

  6. Gentle start to the week. I was a bit puzzled by the clue for OUNCES, why specify ‘A’ weight and then expect a plural answer? I also thought ‘close’ = TIGHTEN was a bit weak. You can close a door and tighten a tie. FOIs PUTTER/PAL. LOI TAT, after getting TOOTHPICK which I constructed from the clue with no real idea what I was looking for. COD HITCHCOCK.
    PlayUpPompey
  7. Thanks to jack I’ve now got “there’s no decorum, in the forum” stuck in my head. “Pompeii, saluté, naughtay naughtay”. RIP Frankie.

    Same gripes as others above about TOOTHPICK and I too wondered whether the Snapper had a cousin called the Napper! My COD was LIGHT FINGERED which raised a smile. Thanks to Mara and jack. A little under 2 Kevins today.

    Templar

  8. I had this finished after 15 minutes but with two answers I was not happy with: I had PUMMEL at 1a and MEGATON at 2d. Neither seemed to fit the bill. So I spent a few minutes trying to improve on these. As ever, despite being a regular golfer, I missed the obvious at first, but I did think of Putter. I then corrected 2d to Tighton ( i.e. Tight On= Close) and assumed the enumeration in the paper was wrong. It wasn’t;I was.
    I was another who assumed there must be a fish called a Napper ( we have snapper after all); that was another correction.
    Nice puzzle. COD to 14d. David
  9. The right hand side went in a lot more easily than the left and I finished in the NW where I struggled with 2d and 1a. Completed in 11.28 but with 17d unparsed – I still don’t seem to have got my head round self-referencing clues, so thanks to jackkt the explanation.
  10. Thank you Mara. As someone without a lateral thought in my head, and who usually finds crossword puzzles difficult, I found this one a joy. Maybe an “easy” crossword should be introduced, to help us vertical thinkers gain a bit of confidence.
  11. About 12 mins today. LOI was 2d TIGHTEN. Penultimate solve was 10d TOOTHPICK just after TAT. Clearly I struggled with words beginning with T today but then I also took a while to spot the hidden PERSIA.
  12. Wow! A pb by a long way today at a bit over 3 Kevins. I don’t think I’ve ever beaten 30 mins before.
    A few went in from crossers and had no idea why 10dn was right, I agree with others about the poor definition.
    I biffed 9ac as soon as I got the L, having never seen ET. Most of the rest went in pretty straightforwardly.

    Many, many thanks to Mara and Jack

  14. toothpick! the parsing was quite clear and it was quite a quick solve for me.
    however, given 1a was my LOI, it’s all about wavelength etc
    COD: 9a
    thanks to setter, blogger and all those who contribute.
    Carl
  15. 20dn – I’m surprised this hasn’t come up in any other comments. Surely ‘ay’ means ‘indeed’ and ‘nay’ means ‘no’? Even the quoted ‘nay, nay and thrice nay’ of the wonderful ‘Up Pompeii’ was used in a negative sense, to deny the truth of the previous statement. I got it all right as that was obviously the answer, but I am definitely disgruntled by it.
      1. I ‘m afraid my example in the blog was misleading in that is used ‘nay’ in a different context from the one required by the clue. The negative connotations you refer to are of course correct if used as by Frankie, but there’s an alternative as set out in this entry lifted from Collins dictionary:

        nay (adverb)

        You use nay in front of a stronger word or phrase which you feel is more correct than the one you have just used and helps to emphasize the point you are making.

        For example:
        He was grateful for and proud of his son’s remarkable, nay, unique performance.

        Long essays, nay, whole books have been written on this.

        Synonyms: indeed, actually, in fact, and even

        Edited at 2018-10-15 07:47 pm (UTC)

        1. Thanks for clearing that up – I was being lazy in not checking before I commented, and do acknowledge, nay, recognise from the past, your examples.
          Trisha

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