23,576 – heatstroke

Author   foggywebPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time : 42mins, but not sure about a couple
I found this pretty straightforward – I did it on the train, so hoped I wouldn’t need to go to the dictionary. I am not sure about 9D or 22A – and have not had a chance to look up yet.

I am also writing this post on the train, so I apologise for errors, nonsense and anything else that annoys – I think it’s my first time using a laptop on my lap!

Across

1 AFTER A FASHION – always good to get 1A straight away; I’ve seen a very similar clue before.
9 ? I put in MANNA, as in ‘manna from heaven’ – not sure about the Vietnam part. Is Annam part of Vietnam?
10 DERRING DO; ERRING in DD (doctor of divinity) + O (circle) – this seems to be a favourite phrase in crosswords.
11 H,EAT,STROKE – I did mentally list the butterflies I know before it dawned on me.
14 ILLEGAL; IL=’the Italian’, LEG=member, AL=ganster as in Al Capone, as it often does.
16 RE[c]ORDER
17 CUTLETS; TUC (Trades Union Congress) reversed + LETS
21 SERBO-CROAT; anagram of bore in anagram of actor’s.
24 INGESTIVE; IN=current + GEST=”jest” + I’VE – I thought of ‘ingesting’ at first but couldn’t make any sense of that.
25 TOTEM; MET=satisfied,OT=’Old Testament’=books reversed.
26 CHATEAUBRIAND; CHA[t]TED about A,U,BRIAN – a chateaubriand is a cut of beef (I think), possibly named after or created by a writer called M. Chateaubriand?

Down

1 ARMCHAIR CRITIC – always good to get 1D straight away; not sure if I’ve missed something clever in the clue, though.
2 TANYA; TA about A NY
3 RE(A,S)SIGNED
4 F(ED)ERAL
6 IRIS[h] – I remember seeing IRIS=flag in a previous crossword.
7 NIGGARDLY; DRAGGIN[g] reversed + initials of Local Youths. Took a while to get – I like it!
8 COPPER-BOTTOMED; COPED around PER=a and BOTTOM=weaver, as in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (I think) – PER=a as in e.g.’78p a pound.’
13 COLLOCUTOR; COL=pass both ways + headless [t]UTOR – it took a while for interlocutor to leave my mind. Normally I see ‘pass’ and COL is quickly considered.
18 STERILE; Way=ST, anger=RILE, drug=E
19 TABLEAU; BAT reversed and L’EAU
22 ? Not sure – I have pencilled in a guess of OSTIA. Thus going over=OS. Sounds like Ostia could be an ancient town. Can you help?
23 [Fant]ASIA – I got ASIA first, then the film; my early considerations of Pinocchio and Dumbo were too long and too short, respectively.

7 comments on “23,576 – heatstroke”

  1. Both correct. Annam is North Vietnam (I had to look this up also – I had MANTE to start with(!) even tho I thought it must be MANNA.
  2. I agree on Manna and Ostia (ait is a small river island and is a favorite of crossword compilers, especially in America).

    In 26A, Rene de Chateaubriand is the 18th Century French author.

    John M

  3. 5:14 here – hoped to beat 5 early on, guessing MANNA with a fairly confident notion of “somewhere in Asia so why not Vietnam?”, but then had a blind spot moment with 1D. Ostia was the harbour for ancient Rome. (Strictly, “Ostia Antica” – a modern town called “Ostia Lido” is nearby but not the same place.)
  4. 23d – I could only remember the more recent Disney film ANASTASIA, but was pretty convinced that 4 isn’t half of 9. Very confusing!
    R. Saunders
    1. ANASTASIA doesn’t fit the clue on 2 counts:

      1) ASIA is 4/9ths of ANASTASIA
      2) ANASTASIA is a 1997 cartoon film by 20th Century Fox

      However, I would recommend both FANTASIA and ANASTASIA as viewing fodder for tweenies and below.

  5. No particular hold-ups but just generally a bit sluggish, taking 7:14. This seemed much more like a typical (easy) Monday puzzle than last week’s.

  6. My LOI was IRIS at 6d which should have been a write-in with “flag” as the literal BUT I had already mis-entered DERRING-DO as DERRRNG-DO. It took me far too long to contemplate what on earth could be I?R? at 6d before I realised my careless error. Doh!

    Only the 5 “easies” in this blog my bunnies:

    12a Affected the military life (4)
    CAMP

    19a What huntsman shouts, however , gripping supporter (5,2)
    T ALLY HO

    20a One is a married religious leader (4)
    I’M A M

    5d One who’s out? No, he’s still batting (7)
    STRIKER

    15d (Teach girl)*, confused and apathetic (9)
    LETHARGIC

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