Times Quick Cryptic No 1703 by Pedro

Author   therotterPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
It is about 6 months since I blogged a Pedro QC, and it is nice to see him back on my bailiwick as I managed to solve this, just, inside my 15 minute target.  Some lovely clues and devices here, with 19 and 21 across vying with 7 and 15 down for my COD.  However, there also appears to be a bit of a gaffe in 17 across, which I have been unable to explain satisfactorily.  I would be grateful if someone can provide a better explanation for this anomaly.

Across

1  Striking religious group in which cricket team is arranged (7,5)
BATTING ORDER – BATTING (striking) and ORDER (religious group).  The BATTING ORDER is the list of players in a cricket team, organised in the order in which they will generally come out to bat.
8  Spirit shown by good party organiser (5)
GHOST – G{ood} and HOST (party organiser).
9  Doctor very engaged in genuine excision (7)
REMOVAL – MO (doctor) and V{ery} inside (engaged in) REAL (genuine).
10  Old man backed intention to put in post (7)
APPOINT – PA (old man) reversed (backed) to give AP and then POINT (intention).
11  Permitted to be heard (5)
ALOUD – Homophone, sounds like allowed, where ‘to be heard’ does double duty as both the definition and the homophone indicator.
12  Development of green factory’s latest power supply (6)
ENERGY – Anagram (development) of [GREEN] and {factor}Y (latest, i.e. last letter).
14  Snooty person rejected excellent little plant (6)
BONSAI – The snooty person is a SNOB, reversed (rejected) to give BONS and then AI (excellent, as in A1).
17  Pub in Pimlico – calm (5)
LOCAL – I’m not sure what has happened here.  This looks like it is intended to be a hidden answer, maybe the setter wrote it as ‘Pub in Buffalo – calm’ initially, and the editor replaced Buffalo with the more familiar (to us Brits anyway) Pimlico, not realising that the edit had lost the spirit of the clue.  This is just supposition on my part – I can’t see how the clue works otherwise, but someone will almost certainly educate me if there is an alternative explanation.
19  Monastery residents without sin? (7)
NOVICES – NOVICES without sin would have NO VICES.
21  I’ve reached “P for Paint”? (7)
IMPASTO – If I have reached the letter P in reciting the alphabet, then I’M PAST O.  IMPASTO is paint laid on thickly.
22  Back a theatre group initially over stage work (5)
OPERA – A (a) REP (theatre group, repertory) and O{ver} (initially) all reversed (back).
23  Criticise losing a carton opener? (4-3,5)
TEAR-OFF STRIP – If one criticised someone or something, one could be said to TEAR-OFF {a} STRIP.  Lose the a for a common method of opening a carton.

Down

1  A big gal came running across entrance to Gatwick arrivals area (7,5)
BAGGAGE CLAIM – Anagram (running) of [A BIG GAL CAME] and G{atwick} (entrance to Gatwick).
2  Group of soldiers left upset about nothing (5)
TROOP – PORT (left) reversed (upset) and including O (about nothing).
3  Hinting, awfully trendy item (2-5)
IN-THING – Anagram (awfully) of [HINTING].
4  Spin jar filled with last of recovery (6)
GYRATE – GRATE (jar, as in a jarring sound) containing {recover}Y (last of).
5  Alcohol given to graduate for dance (5)
RUMBA – RUM (alcohol) given to BA (graduate), to form the lively Afro-Cuban dance.  We must be approaching the Strictly silly season!
6  Vino Sue ordered, leaving you resentful (7)
ENVIOUS – Anagram (ordered) of [VINO SUE].
7  Supplier of spirit generated by rubber? (8,4)
ALADDIN’S LAMP – Cryptic &Lit clue referring to a famous Pantomime device (as we get closer to Strictly silly season, we also approach Panto season!)
13  European notice about top fugitive (7)
ESCAPEE – E{uropean} SEE (notice) containing (about) CAP (top).  Will we still be allowed to use E{uropean} to clue E once we are finally out of Europe?
15  Not seeing line I erased – that’s clear (7)
OBVIOUS – OB{li}VIOUS (not seeing) after L{ine} and I have been erased.
16  Unique energy incorporated in switch settings? (3-3)
ONE-OFF – E{nergy} inside ON-OFF (switch settings).  Some switches are not dichotomous, hence the question mark.
18  Light starts to leave all stars, every rotation (5)
LASER – Initial letters (starts) of L{eave} A{ll} S{tars}, E{very} R{otation}.
20  Get over fence, perhaps, without faults? (5)
CLEAR – Double definition, referring to show-jumping, where if all fences are CLEARed, the competitor may achieve a CLEAR round.

49 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1703 by Pedro”

  1. I agree – I came here to find out what had happened and am glad to see I didn’t miss something obvious.
  2. Biffed ESCAPEE, parsed post-submission. I liked OBVIOUS. I spent some time trying to make sense of 17ac. It certainly looks like a failed hidden, but since I know nothing about Pimlico I couldn’t (can’t) think of any way to save the clue. If it’s a gaffe, it’s rather a big one. 6:30.
  3. Continuing my string of slow solves. Nothing very interesting here, but couldn’t finish without seeing TEAR-OFF STRIP and ALADDIN’S LAMP.
  4. I too was hoping for a rationale of LOCAL, similarly APPOINT. LOI 7D which took all the checkers as I was fixated on alcohol. Enjoyed NOVICES.
    Thanks Pedro and Rotter for clarity.
  5. 8 minutes. Although I always include parsing when I time QCs my attention to it is somewhat more cursory than when solving the main puzzle where I indicate the parsing within the grid and underline or circle the the relevant parts of the clue as necessary for future reference. For that reason I didn’t notice the false hidden at 17ac.

    Edited at 2020-09-17 06:05 am (UTC)

  6. A typically difficult and clever puzzle by Pedro, but I found ALADDIN’S LAMP a bit too clever and registered a DNF after 30 minutes. I think I may have got it with another five minutes of trawling. I put in LOCAL straight away as I mis-read the spelling of ‘Pimlico’, but I think a GR is in order!

    Brian

  7. Slow start with only 3 across answers going in on first pass starting with GHOST. Speeded up with the downs but the parsing of the obvious OBVIOUS eluded me, thanks Rotter.

    No time as I forgot to check my watch before starting but about average is my guess.

    I liked IMPASTO and have seen variations of 19a before. Last in 7d with COD 21a.

    An enjoyable puzzle despite the problem with 17a.

  8. A very fine QC (apart from LOCAL) which had me totally immersed from my FOI TROOP onwards. After time wasted on 17, I was held up for what seemed like an eternity by my LOI 7d. Strangely, Aladdin came to mind as crossers emerged but I dismissed this because I couldn’t spell it – I wanted to put in ALL….. 🙄. Hence I was just the wrong side of 20 mins and kicked myself. I won’t pick out any of the excellent clues here – I’ll just revisit them now with Rotter’s help. Thanks to Pedro and Rotter. John M.
  9. I found this quite tricky, not helped by being slow to get the 1s and thus missing out on lots of helpful starting letters. Despite the slowish going I enjoyed the journey with plenty of penny drop moments and snorts of amusement along the way. I particularly enjoyed NOVICES and LOI ALADDINS LAMP. Like others I assumed there must be a mistake in 17a as I can’t see any other explanations. Finished in 14.04
    Thanks to Rotter
  10. Enjoyed this – I think I saw what I expected to see for local so didn’t spot the gaff , assuming it was one. Being picky I did wonder whether the question mark was in the best place for 11a but perhaps its just me. I particularly liked impasto and Aladdins lamp – great clues! Thanks Pedro and therotter
  11. All green in 15, so a reasonable time but that included a long hold up with the IMPASTO / ESCAPEE crossers, with ESCAPEE falling first not before I spent a lot of energy seeing if it was going to be an anagram of ‘notice’ following E as the checkers didn’t discourage me. I’ve never heard of IMPASTO so without all the checkers I’m not at all sure I’d have got there although I could sort of see what was going on. Like others I could nearly see LOCAL in the given words and so bunged in it once the checkers L_C_L were in place – not much scope for it to be anything. Glad to see the clues are sometimes wonky – thanks to Rotter for the reassurance.
  12. … see 7D. I completely overlooked the possibility of a word ending in ‘s, and so even with all the checkers and the second word Lamp (which I thought it had to be), I didn’t spot Aladdin.

    Just as a question to those who know more than me, why do setters mark hyphens in words (as for example in 23A, given as “4-3, 5” but not apostrophes?

    I shrugged at 17A; the answer was obvious and I assumed it was a setter’s trick I have yet to learn about – of which there are many I am finding as I do the puzzle more and more. Minor query also over 1D Baggage claim; doesn’t sound right as the name of an area and I think airports usually call it the Baggage Hall or just Baggage Area.

    But otherwise a nice puzzle, much to enjoy. Thanks to Rotter for the blog.

    Cedric

  13. In my waking moments overnight, I continued to chew on 17 across, and invented a parallel universe where residents of Pimlico (central London) invented their own version of Cockney non-Rhyming Slang in which LO-CAL was attributed the meaning CALM. This was a reference to the effect of drinking lo-cal coffees from the barista elite of Pimlico, as opposed to the full-strength brews which inspired an opposite reaction. In this Alternative universe, the clue for 17 across works perfectly well.
  14. Really struggled to get going this morning, as none of the long outside clues would go in early doors. Eventually did the top left half before taking a much need break to battle the bottom right with ALADDINS LAMP LOI, a great clue with misdirection of both ‘spirit’ and ‘rubber’.

    I was OB(li)VIOUS to the parsing of this 15d, which was OBVIOUS from its checkers. Oblivious to the poorly formed LOCAL which I “saw” as a hidden clue.

    In 1d I scrupulously applied “lift and separate” and told myself, Gatwick is just for the “G”, it has nothing to do with airports, that is just setters misdirection….

    21a another very clever clue, although with the checkers I had in I thought it might be some self-reference for the setter : IMPEDRO. Do we ever see setters names in answers?

    Although I really struggled, and it was not a time for the records this really is a great puzzle today.

  15. A curate’s egg of a puzzle – some wonderful clues (the wrong type of wrubber, the sinless young monks); some iffy phrases (“BAGGAGE CLAIM”? “TEAR-OFF STRIP”?? Really?); and one complete cock-up. Anyway, it was sufficiently “very good in parts” to be enjoyable overall.

    FOI BATTING ORDER (don’t mention last night’s cricket, boohoo), LOI ESCAPEE, COD NOVICES (very good indeed), time 1.9K for a Pretty Good Day.

    Many thanks Pedro and Rotter.

    Templar

    1. It’s usually Baggage Reclaim, but I can’t see anything wrong with Tear off Strip, as that is exactly what they are referred to as, on cartons; I thought that was an elegant clue.
      1. Surely “Tear off strip” is the abridged imperative form (verb): I’ve certainly never heard of “a tear-off strip” (noun). Stephen
        1. I’m pretty sure that’s what they call the perforated bit that let’s you get into a small parcel without the usual ‘where have the scissors gone’ palaver?
  16. The sight of Pedro’s name made me prepare for a steely challenge and maybe a nina. Anyway I started with RUMBA and then managed to continue without getting stuck. It took me a while to work out the long answers including COD ALADDINS CAVE. Liked Batting Order and Novices too. Returned several times to LOCAL as I could not see the parsing. LOI was GHOST after 11:37. I’m pleased with that time.
    Can’t see a nina. David
  17. Started off well on this, but then ground to a halt with three to go and about 25 minutes on the clock I think. Hadn’t parsed REMOVAL at that point so I wasn’t 100% on it and couldn’t parse 15d. Anyway, I was left with 13d and 21a and 7d. After a few minutes I managed to come up with ESCAPEE, and then, once I had realised that the only letter likely to go between I and P was M, I got IMPASTO. I would have said I had never heard of it, but having got it, I did vaguely remember it coming up once before, though I couldn’t have said what sort of paint it was. Okay, surely with all the checkers (I made sure I parsed 9a at this point to be certain the second letter of 7d was an L) I could get 7d? Well, not for a long time. Maybe the second word is “camp” I thought and it’s got something to do with scouts round a camp fire. Then I thought of the Norse legend of Blodric’s Harp, that put everybody in a calm mood when played. I even resorted to Googling that to check if it was a thing, but, surprise surprise, “It looks like there aren’t any great matches for your search”. After 50:36 I finally saw the (lamp)light and stopped the watch. CsOD to 14a and 16d. Oh, and why are NOVICES monastery residents? Thanks Rotter and Pedro.

    Edited at 2020-09-17 09:56 am (UTC)

  18. Ah, that makes sense. I guess that was the original meaning and then it came to mean anybody who had just started to learn something.
  19. Like David, I usually have to brace myself to tackle Pedro’s puzzles, despite telling myself not to presuppose that it will be hard! So far, it’s made no difference – I’m clearly not on his wavelength. But, in this week of peaks and troughs, I had another slow solve here. On the whole I liked it, although I think a couple of the clues were bordering 15×15 territory – 21a and 7d in particular. Having said that, I thought they were both great clues. I also liked ONE-OFF. I too biffed LOCAL without fully reading the clue.

    FOI Ghost (so happy that the brilliant comedy series is returning next week)
    LOI Aladdin’s Lamp
    CsOD Impasto and Aladdin’s Lamp
    Time 17 minutes

    Thanks Pedro for the workout, and Rotter for the (as ever) entertaining blog. Personally I’m also looking forward to the Strictly silliness – I’m definitely in need of some light entertainment these days!

  20. ….and confidently entered LOCAL. I didn’t even notice the cock-up when I re-enjoyed the clues after submission. My only small mer was at “intention = point”.

    FOI GHOST
    LOI BAGGAGE CLAIM
    COD ALADDIN’S LAMP (honourable mention IMPASTO)
    TIME 4:20

  21. Slow today – but pleased to hear that people rate Pedro as harder than average.

    Stared at LOCAL for a good couple of minutes trying to come up with a viable parsing, but gave up and biffed it in. Somebody should 23A the editor 🙂 But other than that an enjoyable puzzle. No fun when they’re too easy (mind you last Friday’s 15×15 was like drawing teeth). 10:52 for me.

    LOI & COD Aladdin’s Lamp

    H

  22. That was hard, even with 1d going in quickly. Took ages to parse 13d, and gave up trying to parse 15d, but my real hold up came at the end, with 11ac/7d. Just couldn’t see (or hear…) Aloud, so I was free to dream up some sort of Alembic contraption for 7d. Aloud finally put paid to that idea, but after 30 mins I needed a tea break and a second sitting to get the lamp owner. Good clue, but it’s pipped by 21ac, Impasto, for my CoD vote. Invariant
  23. I really enjoyed this rather unusual offering, with a special mention to ALADDIN’S LAMP, which I thought was a wonderful clue (and my LOI).
    As to LOCAL, it does appear in ‘PimLicO – CALm’. It is unusual, but I have no problem with it and it was hardly difficult to spot.
    PlayUpPompey
    2. It’s not unusual, it’s flat out unacceptable. PALM, IMAM, MICA, COAL, MOM, LAM, PICA, IO also appear in ‘Pimlico calm’; do you have no problem with all of them as well?
  24. Lots of guesses in faint pencil which turned out to be correct but first definite Rumba.
    Liked Batting order, Novices, and LOI Aladdin’s Lamp.
    Struggled with SE corner until I got Bonsai.

    Thanks all. In view of some of the other comments I am gratified to have finished.

    (Parsing of Impasto eluded me but I see it was very clever)

    Edited at 2020-09-17 12:47 pm (UTC)

  25. I saw what I wanted to see, and happily bunged in LOCAL, spotting that it was a hidden.

    LOI was ALADDINS LAMP, and my favourite clue too!

    6:14.

  27. After 25 mins I only had 7dn to complete, but even with an alphabet trawl that considered “lamp” it still didn’t twig. I must add “rubber” to those sneaky clues like “number” that can throw you off the scent.

    However, apart from the obvious error at 17ac, a good and challenging puzzle I thought. Never really parsed 21ac “Impasto”, but now that I’ve seen the blog it is very clever. Enjoyed “Batting Order”, “Novices”, “Obvious” and “Tear Off Strip”.

    FOI – 5dn “Rumba”
    LOI – dnf
    COD – 18dn “One Off”

    Thanks as usual.

  28. There were some very intricate clues here which were fun to solve. Glad it wasn’t just me who was baffled by LOCAL but it really couldn’t have been anything else.
    I had to biff OBVIOUS so thanks to the Rotter for the explanation.
    Amongst my favourites were ALOUD, BONSAI and NOVICES but I’ve chosen ONE-OFF as my COD for its clever composition.
    Thanks to Pedro for the 16-minute mental workout.
  29. Loved NOVICES – nice to think they’re without sin – but a bit unlikely perhaps. It’ll be hard to think of them as anything else in future. I’ll ask the next one I meet.

    And 17a went in quickly but doubtfully. Pedro, where are you?

    Very enjoyable, thanks all.

    Diana

  30. Worth commenting today because this is a beauty. Indeed it could have passed for a Monday main puzzle had it have been 15 x 15. LOI ALADDINS LAMP needed all the available letters to get this
  31. Like others enjoyed the clue construction, clever and amusing. Especially 21a and 7d. Still no explanation re 17a? Good puzzle, thanks Pedro and Rotter for the blog.
  32. Slowest time that I can remember at around 40 minutes (about 15 of which were spent contemplating 7dn). In the main an enjoyable puzzle but let down by a couple of poor clues (I didn’t like 3dn or 10ac – point doesn’t equal intention in my book) and what can only be a complete error at 17ac.

    FOI – 8ac GHOST
    LOI – the aforementioned 7dn
    COD – a number to choose from but 19ac NOVICES was the one that caused me to laugh out loud.

  33. Was it an error, or was it a new form of clue construction? It would be nice to know, not because one wants to pass out brickbats but simply (if it was intentional) to be aware for next time.

    Cedric

    1. No response in the Club forum either. I think you can safely assume it was an error, but still ‘be aware for next time’ that errors do sometimes creep in.
  34. Enjoyable, but a DNF. DNK IMPASTO and did not get ONE OFF or ALADDINS LAMP. Bit of a clanger with LOCAL, I fear.
  35. Yes, local was definitely a strange one but the remainder of the puzzle was of very high quality with some super clues. Thanks Pedro, we enjoyed your challenge and took 24 minutes to complete it.

    FOI: batting order
    LOI: baggage claim
    COD: impasto (but closely followed by gyrate and novices)

    Thanks to Rotter for the blog

  36. I have to assume you are all Americans on this blog, as LOCAL is what we Brits call a PUB. It is our local, because there is one on every corner!

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