Quick Cryptic 149 by Mara

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
[Not sure what’s happening about the Quickie today but I’m trying to find out if emergency cover is needed. I have a blog prepared and ready should the need arise.] Okay, I’ve not been able to find out more so in the absence of further info here’s an emergency blog.

8 minutes for this one. Sorry the blog is so brief  but it was done in a hurry.

Across
1 NOTICE – NOT (anything but), ICE (something cold). Def: see
4 PROD – P (softly), ROD (stick). Def: poke
9 SERENGETI – Anagram [surprisingly] of TIGER SEEN. Def: region known for its lions.
10 SEA – Hidden inside {hou}SE A{ctually}. Def: main
11 DELIBERATION – Anagram [drunken] of OLD INEBRIATE. Def: serious thought.
13 RASHER – Double definition: more hurried / slice of meat.
15 SPRING – Double definition: season / well
17 NORMAN MAILER –  Cryptic definition (French person posting letters) and a literal one –  US author.
20 TEN – NET (score) reversed. Def: half a score – a score being 20.
21 LIGHTSHIP – Double definition, one whimsical in that a ship made of balsa would be a light ship. Vessel permanently anchored is the straight def.
22 EDEN – Double definition. Sir Anthony / the Biblical garden
23 EDISON – NO + SIDE (face) all reversed. Def: inventor.

Down
1 NOSE – Hidden in {gua}NO SE{emingly}. Def: one smells.
2 TERSE – Anagram [cultivated] of TREES. Def: short.
3 CONSIDERABLE – Anagram [wild] of BEAR CLOSED IN. Def: very large
5 ROSSINI – ROSS (part of Scotland), IN, I{taly}. Def: Italian composer.
6 DRAINAGE – I (one) inside anagram [perhaps] of A GARDEN. Def: removal of water.
7 YEMEN – ME (yours truly) inside YEN (money). Def: Arabian country.
8 DISAPPOINTED – Double definition: saddened / sacked, as in dis-appointed.
12 BRUNETTE – NET (snare) inside BRUTE (beast). Def: girl with dark hair.
14 STRANGE – ST (way), RANGE (mountains). Def: unusual.
16 IMAGE – IM (I am), AGE (long time). Def: picture.
18 ETHOS – Hidden inside {Macb}ETH OS{tensibly}. Def: character.
19 OPEN – Double definition: golf tournament / ready for business.

8 comments on “Quick Cryptic 149 by Mara”

  1. Took me 10 minutes, beating my previous best time significantly. It was practically all wrote ins, he only clue that gave me pause for thought was 7D. Thanks for the blog – it’s always nice to check that one’s not gone mad!
  2. My solving time has got longer over the last few months and I do not now time myself. However I raced through this one and suspect it was my third ever sub 10 minute solve.

    I am in awe of the bloggers as I tried to do a personal blog of this. Took me an hour and it is not very good plus I could not parse 7d.

    Last one in EDISON. Favourite TEN.

  3. Thanks for jumping in Jack. 4 mins, and although it was on the easy side it was a fun puzzle to solve, with the clues for LIGHTSHIP and DISAPPOINTED standing out in that regard. When I picked up the puzzle I glanced at 19dn and saw the answer immediately, so I began it at the bottom, worked my way up, and finished with the NOTICE/NOSE crossers in the NW corner.
  4. One of the most straightforward for me. I am still wondering why I do not get near ten minutes though. I solve it on my IPad and so I can only see a proportion of the words and then some only in part. I also let the arrow take me through doing the across clues first and then the down clues. I do not therefore make the best use of the letters that I have already found. Disappointed was to the best clue for me.

    Edited at 2014-10-02 03:14 pm (UTC)

  5. Well done for stepping in, Jack.. always disappointing when people don’t deliver; I hope nothing untoward has happened to Macavity
  6. Thanks for this Jackkt. Although this was so straightforward it is always reassuring to come here and check the answers and see what others think. I always find it amazing how quickly some people can complete them. I saw all but one answer as soon as I had read each clue but I must think slowly and write even more slowly as it still took 11 minutes. Mind you I was eating soup at the same time. Last one in was RASHER.
  7. Does wonders for morale completing two in a row! This one must have been easier than usual. My favourites were 17a 21a. Thx to the blog I now ‘get’ some of the subtler definitions but happy to make headway. Regards.
  8. Lovely crossword and thanks for the rescue blog!

    Didn’t see the answer for 1ac immediately so started out with PROD. Everything fell into place in what turned out to be a leisurely 15 minutesminutes (pretty good for me).

    I thought NOSE was great fun once I’d made my way round to it!

    Hope the scheduled blogger is not badly indisposed; thanks jackkt.

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