Quick Crossword 609 by Pedro

Author   emu66Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Lots to enjoy in this one. I liked the repeated openings of 1a and 7a, and the use of setter’s name in 13d. LOI and COD, 8d, great definition, and could so easily, and incorrectly, be taken for an anagram clue (as I did!) with shift as an indicator and HIS BASKET MAY as the fodder.
Thank you Pedro.

Across
1 Organised ad? I must for sports venue: STADIUM
Anagram (organised) of AD I MUST
7 Organised PE? I must, creating incentive: IMPETUS
Anagram (organised) of PE I MUST
9 Influences deeds involving very loud explosions, primarily: AFFECTS
Deeds = ACTS, containing very loud = FF, E(xplosions) primarily
10 Performed vocals – song that’s recalled wine: SANGRIA
Performed vocals = SANG, song recalled = AIR backwards
11 Journey recalled in darker times: TREK
Reversed hidden word
12 Marriage after daughter shows flirty behaviour : DALLIANCE
Daughter = D, marriage = ALLIANCE
14 Australian icon’s loud noise and energy resonated: BOOMERANG
Loud noise = BOOM, energy = E, resonated = RANG
16 Chance article will be second-rate: BETA
Chance = BET, article = A
17 Try a couple of times, without fulfilment, mostly: ATTEMPT
A = A, couple of times = TT, without fulfilment, mostly = EMPT(y)
20 I note one in time becomes temporary: INTERIM
I = I, note = N, time = TERM, containing one = I
21 Puzzle is not a positive thing: NONPLUS
Not = NON, positive thing = PLUS
22 One tries to catch Toronto’s foremost pop performer: TRAPPER
T(oronto)’s foremost, pop performer = RAPPER

Down
1 Disorganised person, one coming in to distribute health food: SCATTER-BRAIN
Distribute = SCATTER, health food = BRAN, containing one = I
2 A line on wall-painting out of doors : ALFRESCO
A line = A L, wall-painting = FRESCO
3 Move cautiously in church: INCH
In = IN, church = CH
4 Fail to appreciate almost everything in religious book: MISSAL
Fail to appreciate = MISS, almost everything = AL(l)
5 Consumer behaviour in South still to be determined: SPENDING
South = S, still to be determined = PENDING
6 Leading actor’s endless surprise: STAR
Endless surprise = STAR(t)
8 The contents of his basket may shift after a blow: SNAKE-CHARMER
Cryptic definition, with blow as in blowing a musical instrument ie a pipe, rather than as iN giving something a thump
12 Mile confused with yard in visionary style: DREAMILY
Anagram (confused) of MILE and YARD
13 Casually mention the famous and fabulous man Pedro!: NAME-DROP
Anagram (fabulous) of MAN PEDRO
15 Skilful player: star, it turns out: ARTIST
Anagram (turns out) of STAR IT
18 Little metal leading to quarry’s termination : TINY
Metal = TIN, (quarr)Y’s termination
19 Volcano rising in Italian terrtory: ETNA
Reversed hidden word

25 comments on “Quick Crossword 609 by Pedro”

  1. Enjoyable, but I found this the easiest of the week, held up only by 21a. 11a a subtle hidden clue with good surface. 13a has to be clue of the day, the choice of the word fabulous as the indicator the icing on the cake. Thanks blogger and Pedro for brightening a wet day. Now it’s off to Portal for three days golf, although according to Carol at 6.15, a day’s golf, then a day wishing it wasn’t golf and finally a day that could go either way.
  2. I got through all but three clues within my target 10 minutes but then ground to a halt with 8, 16 & 17 outstanding. SNAKE-CHARMER was the first of these to crack (and what a great clue it turned out to be – a real “d’oh” moment!) and BETA then fell immediately into place. But I had brain freeze re ATTEMPT for no apparent reason and my total solving time came in at 15 minutes.
  3. was FOI so a good start.

    I think you needed to fully explain 8dn SNAKE-CHARMER as it did appear at first to be an anagram. It is indeed the ‘pungi’ or ‘been’ that is blown to raise the cobra – COD

    8.43 with LOI BOOMERANG – it came back to me in the end!

    Is rap really pop!? Wrong era surely?

    WOD ALFRESCO & SANGRIA

    horryd Shanghai

    1. The blogger’s explanation was crystal clear to me, taking the comment in her intro together with “cryptic definition” against the clue itself. If you want to expand on it then that’s fine but it could be done without appearing to imply criticism.

      Edited at 2016-07-08 07:28 am (UTC)

      1. It may be crystal clear to you jackkt but it’s obviously not to all of us. You do come across as insufferably arrogant sometimes.
        1. Thank you for that and I’ll bear it in mind. It’s always useful to receive constructive input. I’m glad you got it off your chest and I hope you feel better for saying it. At least I’ve never intentionally insulted anyone here.
          2. I take it you feel I have intentionally insulted you. Well maybe the insult is in the mind of the receiver. I was pointing out that, not for the first time, your comments criticising those who comment here are blunt to the point of rudeness, bordering on arrogance. It appears you cannot empathise with those who are not as ‘clever’ as you.
            Oh well, we are all different and despite your sarcasm if you’ve decided to be a little less arrogant in future that would be marvellous.
  4. Another flying start, but stymied by 8d and 1d, and possibly the grid layout. COD 21ac. Thanks emu and Pedro, 6’36” today.

    Edited at 2016-07-08 09:12 am (UTC)

  5. I too had an unexplainable brain dead moment with ‘attempt’ and was sure that ‘his basket may’ was an anagram so DNF but nevertheless an enjoyable crossword.

    Rita

  6. First DNF for some time. I have only ever heard ‘non-plussed’ in the passive, and didn’t ever think of it as an active verb: even with all checkers, nothing would fit. Missed the great double def of SNAKE CHARMER, also.
    The first two across clues confused me a bit, I was sure the setter was using two different clue types, and refused to work on the second anagram, trying to work the clue in a different way, perhaps ‘organised’ was the definition this time…?

    Edited at 2016-07-08 10:08 am (UTC)

  7. 1d and 8d made this much more difficult than it seemed at first, but got there in the end. 13d and 14ac were my favourites, even if the former didn’t feature Skippy.
    . . .and it seems like only yesterday I was thinking how easy Friday was.😊 Invariant
  8. As with others caught out by 1d and 8d. Surely 14a isn’t
    Loud noise = BANG, energy = E, resonated = RANG
    but Loud noise = BOOM, energy = E, resonated = RANG

    COD 8d – very clever

    A few too any anagrams for my liking. But thanks Pedro and emu66

  9. I really struggled today – but pleased to read I was not the only one to struggle with 1d and 8d. DNF as I never got Snake Charmer and despite both the blog and various comments it took me ages to understand why that was the answer as I didn’t see my wrong interpretation of the word ‘blow’. Well past Jack’s d’oh’ moment when the penny eventually dropped. I thought Name Drop was a brilliant clue.
  10. I got through most of this quickly before grinding to a halt at 8d. Even with all the checkers it was not obvious to me. I thought about the anagram but certain letters clearly did not fit. The basket made me think of Shares and share did fit. I couldn’t see a word for the last half.
    Using my Saturday technique of coming back to it later, the penny finally dropped. I’d spent about 20 minutes on it before the pause. A good test. David
  11. SNAKE-CHARMER took me an age after flying through the rest. Great clue Pedro!

    Sangria not really wine, more of a punch I would say. Come to think of it, punch would be a teasing definition for Sangria! Anyway makes a change from Rioja and Riesling which crop up often.

    1. Sangria is absolutely definitely wine.
      It is quite often served mixed with all sorts of stuff as a punch, but the original liquid straight out of the bottle is a rather insipid, sweet 8-10% wine. Perhaps it is always mixed with lemonade etc. because it is almost undrinkable neat (at least to my palate)

      Edited at 2016-07-08 05:05 pm (UTC)

  12. Forgot to mention I also loved NAME-DROP bringing Pedro into the clue
  13. About 45 mins in 4 separate sessions due to the curse of the drinking classes – work – intervening.

    25 mins was spent with ETNA confidently written in to both 18d and 19d (it even fitted with NONPLUS).

    Snake charmer a very iffy clue because of “may shift”, the snake could just “shift” from the left of the basket to the right, or not bother at all (“may”). “will rise” or “made to display” would have been much fairer.

  14. Got there eventually and found this most enjoyable. Thx Pedro. I liked the tease with the clues for 1a and 7a. Struggled with 16a beta and put in 11a trek not seeing the reverse spelling. Lots of candidates for COD but plumping for 12a dalliance. Blog a great help in unravelling my pencilled entries but happily all correct. Agree 10a sangria more a pinch than a wine, but still getter by an amateur like me.
  15. I have been having quite a few did not finish recently but all correct yesterday and today.

    This is a friendly site and individual criticism should be a last resort. Jackkt is a stalwart and the blog did cover 8d.

  16. What a cracking puzzle. I thought it was going to be a gentle cruise to a sub 15 minute solve but I came to a grinding halt with 8d, 5d and 16a. After several revisits and much head scratching/cursing it finally clicked. There were too many good clues to pick one out as COD, but they’ve all been mentioned by other contributors.
  17. Got there eventually and found this most enjoyable. Thx Pedro. I liked the tease with the clues for 1a and 7a. Struggled with 16a beta and put in 11a trek not seeing the reverse spelling. Lots of candidates for COD but plumping for 12a dalliance. Blog a great help in unravelling my pencilled entries but happily all correct. Agree 10a sangria more a pinch than a wine, but still getter by an amateur like me.

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