A middle-of-the-road Quick Cryptic from Juji today, for me, although your mileage may differ, taking me an average 5:12. LOI the overheard nobleman. Thank-you Juji. How did you all get on?
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Sawbill’s turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the crossword here. If you are interested in trying our previous offerings you can find an index to all 150 here.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions}and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | I glance around like divine messenger (7) |
| ANGELIC – (I glance)* [around]. | |
| 5 | Characters involved in kendo joined training facility (4) |
| DOJO – Hidden [characters involved in] kenDO JOined. A place where judo or karate, etc are taught or practised. | |
| 7 | Steal fruit from rugby players quietly (6) |
| SCRUMP – SCRUM (rugby players) + P (piano; quietly). | |
| 8 | In old make of car, cross English city (6) |
| OXFORD – X (cross) in O (old) + FORD (make of car). I started to write in EXETER before stopping to read the clue properly. | |
| 9 | Sharp-billed birds spooked crew at sea (11) |
| WOODPECKERS – (spooked crew)* [at sea]. | |
| 10 | Children of similar ability play on internet-enabled device (6) |
| STREAM – Double definition. | |
| 12 | Tot and this writer start to relish hot weather? (6) |
| SUMMER – SUM (tot up) + ME (this writer) + first letter, [start], of Relish. | |
| 14 | Ringing home good following argument (4-7) |
| DING-DONGING – IN (home) + G (good) after, [following], DING-DONG (argument). | |
| 17 | Bleak nobleman in conversation (6) |
| BARREN – Sounds like [in conversation] BARON (nobleman). | |
| 18 | You are entering end of chess game fully developed (6) |
| MATURE – U R (you are in textspeak) in [entering] MATE (end of chess game, if it’s not a draw, stalemate, a player runs out of time or a player resigns). | |
| 20 | Formerly working, empty chute (4) |
| ONCE – ON (working) + ChutE without the middle letters, [empty]. | |
| 21 | Fervour dancer represented with ultimate in energy (7) |
| ARDENCY – (dancer)* [represented] + last letter, [ultimate in] of energY. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Heard flood survivor’s development of story (3) |
| ARC – Sounds like, [heard], ARK (Noah’s Ark; flood survivor). The development or resolution of the narrative or principal theme (in a novel, play, or film). | |
| 2 | Sugar from Greek island used in gum (7) |
| GLUCOSE – COS (Greek island) in GLUE (gum, the verb). | |
| 3 | Really enjoy being ahead in circuit race? (3,2) |
| LAP UP -Double definition, the second a cryptic hint. | |
| 4 | Options of frozen desserts with the fourth picked out (7) |
| CHOICES – CHO{c}ICES (frozen desserts) without the fourth letter [with the fourth picked out]. | |
| 5 | Editor backed rival author (5) |
| DEFOE – ED (editor) [backed] -> DE + FOE (rival). | |
| 6 | Cheese left in pots on ice (9) |
| JARLSBERG – L (left) [in] JARS (pots) + BERG (iceberg; ice). A Norwegian cheese and one of my favourites. | |
| 9 | Recalled comic sketch set in outskirts of Hamilton (9) |
| WITHDRAWN – WIT (comic) + DRAW (sketch) in the outside letters of [outskirts of] HamiltoN. | |
| 11 | Crazy about an elevated lady in artwork (7) |
| MADONNA – MAD (crazy) + ON (about) + AN reversed, [elevated], -> NA. Did I Ninja Turtle this from ‘Allo ‘Allo? Would I admit it if I had? | |
| 13 | Wet items on ground (7) |
| MOISTEN – (items on)* [ground]. Neat. | |
| 15 | Tender calves running uphill to some extent (5) |
| NURSE – Reverse hidden [uphill to some extent] in calvES RUNning. | |
| 16 | Identified fellow climbing English peak in danger (5) |
| NAMED – MAN (fellow) [climbing] -> NAM + E (English) + first letter of, [peak in] Danger. | |
| 19 | Regularly avoided greasy fish (3) |
| RAY – Alternate letter, [regularly avoided], of gReAsY. | |
14:11 couldn’t quite scrump barren woodpeckers ding-donging in stream.
TaJAJ
Still no closer to getting back to Blighty from NZ. Might try a 9pm call to Traifinders (8am Friday morning UK) because no-one is answering or responding to our plight. Ho Hum another month in NZ isn’t that problematic.
I, too, like Jarlsberg, so that was a write-in. Most of the puzzle was a write-in, but at the end I could just not see withdrawn/stream for the longest time. Scrump might have given trouble in the past, but I have added it to my vocabulary.
Time: 9:07
12 minutes. DOJO won’t stick in my brain despite three previous appearances here.
9:36. Took some convincing that DING DONGING was a real word.
LOI STREAM where I was sure “children of similar abilities” was SET.
COD (Cheese of the Day) JARLSBERG
Another solve in the teens at 16.31, it’s been a good week here. Also fixated on set for streams but I knew there was another word. Spent a bit too long thinking the birds were some kind of cocks. Also could not see ardency from the anagrist for a very long time, even with 2 crossers. Liked scrump, bringing back memories from my childhood!
Thanks Juji and John
15.27.
Happy with that given I’d never heard of JARLSBERG. Given the multiple recommendations here I’ll have to seek some out this weekend. Was easy enough to parse so was mostly confident it was correct. Dallied a little over DING-DONGING. LOI BARREN.
Thanks Juji and John.