Times Quick Cryptic No 1518 by Pedro

Author   rolytolyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Quite a tricky one from Pedro (although I mightn’t be in peak solving condition), holding me to the 18 minute mark. The last couple in particular (21ac and 19d) required a few minutes teasing out, delayed further by having to go back and check the parsing of the biffed 24ac. I was glad I did, as it turned out to be a lovely clue – I’m always a fan of this type of device. I wasn’t particularly quick elsewhere, with the grid looking rather sparse after a first sweep of the acrosses but a most enjoyable puzzle with a bit of extra pep to kick us into the new year, so many thanks to Pedro, and of course best wishes for the new year to all.

Across
1 Serving of food? Paul felt upset (8)
PLATEFUL – anagram (upset) of PAUL FELT
6 Eccentric item that could be removed from deck (4)
CARD – double definition – the first, an eccentric person, derives from playing cards.
8 Married, surrounded by champagne? Splendid stuff (4)
POMP – M(arried) surrounded by POP (champagne)
9 Reprimand male on tucking into a meal (8)
ADMONISH – M(ale) ON tucking into A DISH (meal)
10 Marine creature in position, almost adjacent to bay? (3-5)
SEA-HORSE – SEAT (position) almost = dock the last letter, adjacent to HORSE (bay – a russet-hued horse)
12 Harvest some more apples (4)
REAP – “some” of the letters of moRE APples
13 Prevent most of the skin blemish (6)
THWART – “most of” THe, WART (skin blemish)
16 Close on two soccer teams departed after end of last year (6)
TWENTY – WENT (departed) after T (“end” of lasT), Y(ear). Odd clue: the definition is more like the cryptic part (what’s wrong with “Both sides nearly score“, or similar?); and an odd surface as well – is “close on two soccer teams” not, well, one soccer team?
17 Unexciting sort of note (4)
FLAT – double definition
18 Supposed place local resident loses head (8)
PUTATIVE – PUT (place) NATIVE (local resident) minus the leading character.
21 Nothing, behold, sailors abandoned? (8)
LOVELORN – LOVE (nothing, e.g. in tennis) LO (behold) RN (Royal Navy = sailors). I eventually got this after idling over FORELORN, in the forego/forgo vein, not that it parsed. It doesn’t exist, but it should – I see forlorn is the past tense of the obsolete forlese, to lese meaning to lose – so forelorn could usefully mean something along the lines of “it was over before it started”, or a bit worse than a forlorn hope.
22 I must be ousted from Italian city in revolution (4)
TURN – I must be ousted from TURIN (Italian city)
23 Source of special gear for comedy performance (4)
SKIT – “Source” of Special, KIT (gear)
24 Leading character in Sussex and surrounding area showing generosity (8)
LARGESSE – Capital S or LARGE S is the leading character in Sussex, also situated in the SE (South East).

Down
2 Free toilets on end of promenade (5)
LOOSE – LOOS (toilets) on E (“end” of promenadE)
3 Suggestion: mine is taken up (3)
TIP – PIT (mine) reversed/taken up.
4 Moderately good penning line, showing skill (5)
FLAIR – FAIR (moderately good) penning/enclosing L(ine)
5 Mostly hobbling and crooked, but dazzling (7)
LAMBENT – LAME (hobbling) mostly = dock the tail, BENT (crooked). Nice word – from Latin to lick (as in flames) – which I’d have taken more as glowing or softly radiant than dazzling, but I see it has a figurative sense, applied to style or wit, etc., which includes this sense of brilliance.
6 Compatible study on urgent reforming (9)
CONGRUENT – CON (study) on an anagram (reforming) of URGENT. I think I first encountered con for study in crosswords – it’s the same idea as “ken”, from the Germanic kann, to know.
7 Again power up craft following the others (7)
RESTART – ART (craft) follows REST (others)
11 Deep earth left turned over (9)
HEARTFELT – anagram (turned over) of EARTH LEFT
14 Hostilities in Lancashire initially to secure small upland area (7)
HILLOCK – HIL (Hostilities In Lancashire “initially”) to LOCK (secure)
15 Work involving operations in part of garden (7)
TOPSOIL – TOIL (work) involving OPS (operations). Fittingly, topiary had to be discarded before topsoil was revealed.
19 Singerā€™s theme (5)
TENOR – double definition. LOI and tricky enough – until I had the N, I was sure there was some very famous bird T_ _ _ R that Horryd would 9 across me for not having heard of!
20 I engaged in virtual reality leading to American computer problem (5)
VIRUS – I engaged in VR (virtual reality) leading to US (American)
22 Tournament match in which thereā€™s no winner? (3)
TIE – double definition cum cryptic definition, and a nice one at that.

40 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1518 by Pedro”

  1. I had never heard of LAMBENT and went for LIMBENT, with LIMp for hobbling, which is close but not quite precise. The rest went in fine.

    I don’t quite get your point about 16a. Two soccer teams would be 22, so close on two is 20. I didn’t think twice about it (but I do like your proposed “two sides nearly score” version).

  2. 10 minutes but I struggled to parse the first part of SEAHORSE (thought of SEA{t} eventually) and FORELORN (failed miserably, for now obvious reason as explained in Roly’s blog). Note to self, if I can’t parse an answer in a QC it’s probably because my answer is wrong.

    I had Paul’s parsing for “close on two soccer teams”. Nice to see the proper name of game used for once. (Ducks and runs for cover!)

    Edited at 2020-01-02 06:31 am (UTC)

  3. 37 minutes, twice my target. A very good puzzle, but difficult for a QC – I don’t think I would have finished this six months ago.
    I was on the point of giving up with a lot still to do when I got CONGRUENT, which allowed me to slowly finish, mostly by biffing, like my last two TWENTY and LARGESSE.
    Thanks to Rolytoly for sorting them out, and to Pedro for the puzzle which I thought was more a mini 15×15 than a QC.

    Brian

  4. After a gentle week I was ready for more of a challenge but this was annoying. Champagne is fizz, and yes twenty is a score. 24a is just plain ridiculous. Could go on and on but won’t – sorry to be grumpy!
  5. Completed in 12.53, but not fully parsed with both LARGESSE and TWENTY going in with a confused shrug. Seeing how they now both work TWENTY gets a GR but LARGESSE gets my COD. MY LOI was LOVELORN, where I spent some time trying to put LO (behold) at the start and then wondering why there was no space to put TAR or AB etc into it.
    Thanks to Roly and to Pedro for an entertaining workout.
  6. A strange one. Some lovely clues but some that, like plett, I had difficulty parsing. I confess to biffing a couple on the basis of crossers and offer thanks to roly for help with, and confirmation of, parsing, especially SEAHORSE, LARGESSE, LOVELORN. I parsed TWENTY like roly. I liked ADMONISH, PUTATIVE, THWART, CONGRUENT, TOPSOIL and had no problem with POMP. After a quick start I was slowed by the lower half, especially the SE and ended up close to the SCC. Thanks to Pedro for a chewy one and to roly for help with mastication, John M.

    Edited at 2020-01-02 10:08 am (UTC)

  7. FOI 1a but that was the end of my success. DNF – got barely half. Even revealing a couple of answers failed to get me going again.
  8. I found this tricky too, with LARGESSE and SEA HORSE unparsed, and the former along with TENOR and LOVELORN holding me up so I missed my target, taking 11:59. Thanks Pedro and Roly.
  9. 12 minutes of great entertainment here. Yes it was chewy but, having slowed down a bit, so many clues were well worth the effort. I single out 24ac – I see others didnā€™t like it but it much but it gave me a big smile and I award it COD.
  10. Just over 20 minutes here, but all parsed except the first part of SEA HORSE, but what else could it be? A good, but chewy puzzle in my opinion. Well done Roly for parsing it all. Thanks to Pedro for the workout.
  11. ….but the fact that I’m as high as 5th on the leaderboard at the time of posting, and the travails of fellow posters above, convince me that it actually was !

    I accept that my COD would quite possibly earn that accolade in a 15×15, and I thought PUTATIVE pushed the envelope slightly as well. The “limbent” trap also seems designed to trip up the unwary.

    FOI PLATEFUL
    LOI FLAT
    COD LARGESSE (I tend to consider Sussex as S rather than SE, but on looking at the map it’s fine)

  12. I found this very tricky indeed though I did manage to finish with a lot of aids.
    First problem was I put thrash (Ie th plus rash as a skin blemish!) instead of thwart having convinced myself that if you thrash someone you will prevent them from carrying on!

    As a relative novice I am really struggling to understand 16 across – Iā€™m assuming that Close on two soccer teams means twenty is close to twenty two – but so are nineteen and twenty one – in fact they are closer. Seems like a very weak clue or am I missing something?

    1. If you’re missing something then so am I, but I think it’s just a feeble clue.
  13. This was much too difficult for me. This was certainly at the top end of difficulty for a QC.
  14. 16a twenty is an early contender for worst clue of the year.
    I also had limbent.

    Finished the 15×15 today (even though I submitted prematurely whilst the phone was in my pocket giving 14 errors).

    Cod thwart.

  15. Welcome to reality in 2020 – Pedro apparently not in the holiday mood. That was tough but I did enjoy it, though, and after reading the above my 12:31 now doesn’t feel as slow as it did at the time. In the absence of Kevin that’s just over 3 Phils, which is a Good Day.

    I never parsed LARGESSE – what a clever clue, now that roly has explained it to me! And NHO LAMBENT, which I think is a bit obscure for a QC especially when not very clearly clued because of the “limp” possibilities.

    FOI PLATEFUL, LOI LOVELORN, COD LARGESSE (now I understand it)

    Thanks Pedro and roly.

    Templar

  16. DNK LAMBENT. Went for LIM(P)BENT. Never figured out TWENTY. Twenty is in fact exactly two men’s lacrosse teams or two softball teams, or two thirds of two RU teams or 4 basketball teams. It is also a score. I could go on but won’t. Rotten clue.
    On that note, Happy New Year one and all. It can only get better.
    PlayUpPompey
  17. Lots of gaps so well beaten – not all already mentioned: ADMONISH; TWENTY; PUTATIVE; LOVELORN; LAMBENT; RESTART; TOPSOIL; HILLOCK. A personal worst by miles. Definitely close on some but almost certain I’d never have solved LAMBENT and would only have got to TOPSOIL and TWENTY through alphabet trawls.

    Glad this wasn’t the first of the year.

    Mendesest

  18. Quite a tricky solve with some lovely surfaces as in 24a LARGESSE and 14d HILLOCK but I have to award a Golden Raspberry to 16a TWENTY which I guessed from wordplay despite the very very 2d definition. LAMBENT was unknown to me but TENOR a gimme which probably means that I have seen similar cluing before. LOI in 12:29 was 21a LOVELORN.
  19. Another who found TWENTY distinctly odd. I parsed it like Paul as being close to 22. And “abandoned” for LOVELORN? Well if I squint I can almost see it. 6:57.
  20. Sorry but I didn’t much like today’s puzzle either! I was fine with “lambent” and really rather liked “largesse” but I, too, think that 16 across is pretty weak and something of a GR. On the other hand, 18 and 21 across were clever. Either a slightly excessive New Year celebration or a rather uninspiring puzzle has left me feeling somewhat 17 across. Thanks to Rolytoly for the detailed and useful blog and thanks, too, to Pedro.
  21. I’m glad I didn’t predict this would be a stinker after the pleasure of yesterday’s QC from Howzat, but goodness me, what a contrast. After 30 odd minutes I had Sea Horse, Heartfelt, Flat and Skit, but the rest of the SW remained stubbornly blank. Given that by then I had spent over 5mins simply trying to understand the ‘close on two soccer teams’ part of 16ac, I wasn’t surprised. I have no idea what clever ploy Pedro intended with that clue, but it was/is completely lost on me. Anyway, decided it was best to to pull stumps and go back to the Jumbo. Invariant

    Edit: Today’s 15×15 is certainly no harder – and more interesting.

    Edited at 2020-01-02 05:02 pm (UTC)

  22. Happy new year everyone! I have been doing the puzzles over the festive season but no time to come here – back to normal(ish) now though šŸ˜Š

    Back to normal with Pedro too – I find his puzzles very hard and today was no exception. After a nine minute stroll yesterday, I couldn’t finish this today, even – like Rusty – with a couple of prompts from aids. The same problems as everyone else, especially the GR to 16a. No problem with Largesse though – there have been a few similar clues recently in the biggie and jumbo. So not a great a return to TftT for me, I’m afraid.

    FOI Loose
    COD Largesse
    DNF

  23. Some really great clues but we were caught out by lambent.. You live and learn…

    FOI: 1A
    LOI: 8A
    COD: 18A

  24. Plenty of nasty (at least two definitions of that word are appropriate) clues as has been previously observed. I’ll merely complain about the growing use of that oxymoron American English: in dear old Blighty we play with packs, not decks, of cards. Stephen
  25. Well, I finally came in at 85:19, but given the struggles many others seem to have had, I am pleased I persevered and finished at all. LOI was 21a, although I had only written the unknown Lambent in faintly and was just hoping it was right. I also failed to parse 24a, thinking that a leading character might be known as a “large” in certain circles. Lots of others held me up too; thwart, admonish, hillock for example, but hopefully finishing this tricky one, my first QC of the year, bodes well for the rest of 2020. Happy new year to all.
  26. 13:41.
    I wasn’t that unhappy with 16 ac, bunging it in on my first pass from wordplay, thinking twenty was close to twenty two. I I didn’t ever parse LARGESSE before submission, but it had to be. Coming here enlightened me, and what a noce clue it is.
    Thanks to Pedro for a tester, and roly for the blog.
  27. Toughie, but a few nice clues to chew on and Iā€™m glad to have found some of them. 24 and 18 had me beaten. Thanks for the lesson.
  28. Was despairing at a 19 minute finish – and that with several clues unparsed – but it seems to have been “the toughest of the year so far”! Let us hope that at least some of the rest of 2020’s puzzles are not quite so chewy.

    I do agree that British card players tend to play with packs of cards not decks….

  29. After several attempts of going back for a fresh look I had to give up with at least 6 answers not completed.

    Definitely on the difficult side with some strange clues (16ac as already mentioned) and others I couldn’t properly parse. Like a few others I thought some of these would have quite easily graced the 15×15.

    Probably to be expected after a period of puzzles that have been relatively straightforward.

  30. Have been golfing today so this was my treat or torment on my return. I spent quite a few relaxed minutes with it on paper with a cup of coffee. Had about 5 left. Then came back to it on the computer. My time for all correct is 08:59 but I need to add 10-15 minutes to that for my first session.
    Not easy as others have noted. My last two were HILLOCK (unparsed) and THWART. I did parse LARGESSE before submitting. FOI LOOSE.
    LAMBENT and LOVELORN both 15×15 standard. A good testing puzzle and well done to the blogger.
    David
  31. I had four left after 20 minutes and finished the last (Topsoil, Putative, Tenor and Largesse) just under 30…so a struggle but all done with only looking up Lambent and still unsure about that definition.
    Strangely a lot went in quickly and then held up by all those previously mentioned. COD. Thwart.
    It reminded me of Miranda Hart last night. Thwart!
    Thanks all,
    John George
  32. After a glorious two weeks being able to solve the puzzles I was brought back to reality today and dnf. Unusual words that I rarely use plus one I’d never seen before plus complex clues – what would I do without being able to come here and read your patient explanations?! New Year’s resolution – must try harder!
  33. Couldn’t parse this clue, but last year was 2019, so after the end of last year it will be TWENTY
  34. Never heard of Lambent. Assumed Twenty was 2020, ie after end of last year, having tried in vain to use “t” and “r” and “y” as end of last and year. Never did work out what on earth it had to do with soccer teams, so, grateful for explanation here (which leaves me flat).
    Honestly was not very satisfying, but, added to my xword solving knowledge.
    Thanks to all and Happy New Year.
  35. For Sea Horse, I got that it was almost Seashore, which is adjacent to bay. For Twenty: Two soccer teams are twenty-two, then take off the close (Two) and you get what is after last year, ie this year, Twenty. Never heard of Lambent. Largesse was somewhat problematic to parse, but otherwise not a bad puzzle.

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