23,799 – easy enough

Author   petebiddlecombePosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time 6:47

Few problems with this puzzle on a day which is effectively Monday.

Happy New Year to all.

Across
1 ROTIS=riots*,SERIE(s)
9 (c)HECK(L)ER
10 PUBLISH – Cryptic def., ref. “publish and be damned”
12 AES=sea rev.,OP.
13 DISPLACES=(C(lerk),paid less)*
14 SELL SOMEONE A PUP – CD
17 DOONE’S(LEVEL)BEST – ref. Lorna Doone – novel by R D Blackmore, to best = to defeat
20 BOATSWAIN – CD ref. the “bosun’s pipe”, a naval equivalent of the bugle, possibly played by a ship’s mate though my naval knowledge is scanty.
21 TITAN – hidden
23 C,HIDDEN
24 SYRING(e),A
25 NOEL – E in “NO L” – “eighteen” in the on-line version is presumably “18” in print – it indicates the answer to 18D
26 GRINDSTONE – CD ref. “keep one’s nose to the grindstone”
 
Down
1 RE(HEARS)ED – a COD possibility for smooth wording
2 TACKS = “tax”
3 S,ELF,POSSESSED – elves, fairies etc. are “the little people”
4 EARLDOM – CD ref. Earl Hines, jazz pianist
5 I’M,PAST,O
7 PRINCIPLE = “principal”
8 E,THO(ma)S
11 BELLES,LETT(RE)S = literature
15 LOOK,A,LIKE – butcher’s = butchers’ hook = look – Cockney Rhyming Slang
16 P(O,TENT)ATE
18 LEA(R)NER – basic skill = R from the “three R’s”
19 VEN.,IS,ON
20 BACON – Francis Bacon was born in Dublin
22 TO-(N)DO – a round painting

18 comments on “23,799 – easy enough”

  1. Happy New Year all.

    Nice to get back into the swing of it, but lack of practice over the holiday period left me dull-witted enough to really struggle with most of this, with several hold-ups in the lower half.

    A couple of very neat clues – 1D is nicely presented but my COD goes to 18D, an almost perfect &lit.

  2. Yes, I finished it well before the end of my commute which is always the sign of an easier puzzle. I was without reference books and ended up with four guesses/queries, one in each quarter at 4, 12, 20, all now explained in PB’s blog including that I had an error at 12 having opted for DESELECTS.

    I am picking 1A as my COD

  3. Like jackkt, I initially opted for DESELECTS but changed it when I couldn’t figure out the wordplay. I also initially put TAXIS (sounds like taxes), I thought that an aeroplane changes course while it’s taxiing. I think I was also being stubborn as I rushed through yesterday’s and have just discovered I put TAXI instead of TAXA!
    A good few clues to get me thinking – and I’d say that my naval knowledge is shanty.
  4. My fastest finish in quite a while with 14 across, 17 across and 3 down going straight in without thought. Overall 20 minutes to solve. I had to guess 24 across, which was my last to go in. Nice to see a jazz reference. I particularly liked 18 down for reasons given above. Jimbo.
  5. About 15 mins, should have been much faster but I didn’t know the jazz reference in 4D and took Hines to be Barry of ‘Kes’ fame. Nothing really grabbed me, on balance 22D as COD.
  6. I found this an easy puzzle, that nevertheless engaged me with a good variety of clues(even if 6a was a little too obvious). With time to spare after finishing I was able to go back to Monday’s puzzle, with which I really struggled on the day, but couldn’t see why I was having such problems when I continued it today without any hold-ups.
  7. Getting the two long ones across the middle gave a good start.
    Put in Syringa confidently, then found it didn’t fit with the “Letters” that I decided must be the second half of 11D! Only when I got the whole of 11D could I put it back in.

    I liked 18D, elegantly put.

  8. 6:43 for me, including several seconds at the start trying to remember ROTISSERIE in another of my senior moments. (Sigh!) I initially thought of LOOK SHARP for 15D (I’m never sure whether to believe hyphens – or lack of them – these days) and was momentarily tempted by LOOK ALIVE, but managed to stop myself in time.

    Like others, I’d vote for 18D as my COD.

  10. Well I 17’d with it but limped in in 45 mins, all in one session though, couple of guesses at 22 and 24.
  11. This took me well over an hour, but finally completing it was enjoyable nonetheless. Had never seen ‘chidden’ before, nor “Publish and be damned”, nor “Sell someone a pup”, nor do I know Cockney rhyming slang. So it felt like an accomplishment to get through it. Happy
    New Year!
  12. Straightforward and enjoyable – stupidly put ethic rather than ethos which slowed me down – saw the e and the h and didn’t bother checking – serves me right.
  13. Did quite well for amateurs, but where does Latvian come in 11d, and what is the article so to speak at 15d?
  14. Probably close to a personal best time for me. 11d was what I call a Scarlett Clue (I can’t think about that now, I’ll think about it later)so it was the last to fall.

    1A gets my COD.

  15. A definite personal best time for me of 10 mins 7 secs, knocking a full 6 mins off my previous record. I’m kicking myself now that I hesitated over NOEL for more than 7 seconds!

    Ali


  16. For one that everyone seemed to find pretty easy I was surprised to find just the one omission from the blog:

    6a Son welcomed by primate for recess (4)
    AP S E

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