Quick Cryptic 439 by Mara

Author   emu66Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
This one felt a little trickier to get going on than recent Friday quickies, but at least I wasn’t left crunching through the alphabet this week. A version of an old chestnut at 20a, and a good while spent trying to make 10a bogie, until what has been referred to on this blog as the PDM and realising it wasn’t that sort of train; COD, I think. Today’s award for the phrase reserved more for crossword clues than general conversation goes to: to wit. Thank you setter.

Across
1 TRANCHE – portion of money; anagram (customised) of CAR THEN
5 CUBIT – measure of Noah’s Ark; young animal = CUB with IT
8 WASHING POWDER – cleaner; anagram (adjustment) of HEADSPRING WOW
9 TRUMPET – instrument; behind = RUMP, fanfare ultimately = E, all inside middle of battle = TT
10 BRIDE – cryptic definition
11 MUTATE – undergo change; first of modifications = M, university = U, gallery = TATE
13 PRIEST – minister; sticks his nose in = PRIES, theory initially = T
15 GLOVE – something on hand; good = G, romance = LOVE
16 SEAWARD – away from one’s shores; Home Counties = SE, prize = AWARD
19 TURN THE CORNER – double definition
20 NIECE – family member; close to home = E, in French resort = NICE
21 TEA TRAY – server; something designed for feeding a baby = TEAT, fish = RAY

Down
1 TO WIT – namely; what to do with a broken-down car = TOW IT
2 ASSAULT COURSE – series of obstacles; a dish = A COURSE, homophone (it’s said) of SALT (sodium chloride)
3 CHIMP – primate; church = CH, devil = IMP
4 EIGHTY – figure; serious, skimmed off = (W)EIGHTY
5 CLOBBER – double definition
6 BEDSIDE MANNER – doctor’s attitude; flag = BANNER, around anagram (treatment) of MISDEED
7 TORMENT – suffering; old = O, marines = RM, in temporary accommodation = TENT
11 MEGATON – explosive force; reverse of NOT A stone = GEM
12 TRESTLE – supporting structure; anagram (unsettling) of SETTLER
14 ASCENT – climb; a trail = A SCENT
17 ALOHA – Hawaiian greeting; hidden in reversal (turned up in) IdAHO LAtely
18 DERBY – double definition

16 comments on “Quick Cryptic 439 by Mara”

  1. I found this quite tricky too and needed 13 minutes to fill the grid.

    Edited at 2015-11-13 07:38 am (UTC)

  2. Off on hols to Vietnam soon, so catching up on childhood memories of news programmes of the day:: Tet offensive and all that. So is 9ac trumpet = instrument behind fanfare, rump in Tet?
      1. Yes indeed jakkt, is read the blog. It refers to battle as TT, which I don’t understand … help would be appreciated on this
        1. Okay. Assuming this is a genuine enquiry, to understand how TT = middle of battle, think: ba-TT-le.

          Your contributions would better received if you were to add a name to your message rather than posting anonymously.

          Regards, jackkt.

          1. Aha. Thank you. Just being thick: it was a genuine enquiry – clearly suffering from novice’s overcomplication. I will unanonymise when I arrive home
  3. Strange. This was my quickest solve for quite some time although I did not get any of the long answers initially. All parsed to boot.

    Last in 4d. It is one of my niece’s birthday so chestnut or not 20a is my favourite (1d was good too).

  4. I enjoyed this – some excellent clues but enough easier ones to give you checkers if you need them. COD to TRUMPET, but I also liked 1d, its close relation 21a and the witty 10a. 6’30”.
  7. I agree with our blogger’s comments about difficulty. I too was slow to start but got all the long answers fairly quickly apart from the anagram in Subject above (my trial solution). I quite quickly saw Washing Powder and all completed satisfactorily. I liked 5d and was trying to remeber when I last saw or heard “clobber” meaning clothes. David
    PS I think I have worked out how to stop being sent to Spam -let’s see.
  8. Difficulty seems to be in the eye of the beholder – I found this very easy and had no problem at all getting started, waltzing through the whole thing in about 15 minutes + maybe another 10 for the last couple of clues in the SE corner. On the other hand I have struggled and taken an hour or so with some problems that the regulars on this board reckoned were easy peasy.
  9. Enjoyed this puzzle – unable to use any aids today so all down to the little grey cells. None the less, a good time for me. I needed this blog to understand some of the reasoning e.g. 14d ‘a scent’ but happy to successfully complete this after being stumped for just two answers yesterday. Today’s favourites are 10a, 21a and 2d. You’ve no idea how helpful the blog is to me – it verifies, explains, and enlightens. Thanks again to the two people to responded to my recent query – one of the acknowledgements I sent bounced for some reason so I hope no offence taken.
  10. I can’t remember the last time (if ever) that I completed all five in a week, so I’m feeling quite chuffed right now. I thought I was going to come a cropper with my LOI, 10a, and had to resort to going through the alphabet before I had a PDM – a phrase I’m probably going to start using now I know it.
    COD 11d

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