Quick Cryptic 2044 by Pedro

Author   CuraristPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I enjoyed this, though it took me over my target at 8 minutes. Looking back I’m not altogether sure why. It seems straightforward enough. 7dn probably my COD.

Across

1 Judge and I am occupying large country residence (8)
ESTIMATE – I’M inside ESTATE
5 Class-conscious one’s to be tearful, preserving name (4)
SNOB – SOB with N for name inside
8 Finally cut down book of maps (5)
ATLAS – AT LAST with the last letter cut off. A veritable chestnut.
9 Moralistic type’s play on words taking in girl (7)
PURITAN – PUN with RITA inside
11 Meal at work? Spooner’s had no impact (6,5)
PACKED LUNCH – Spooner would say ‘lacked punch’
13 Support the Spanish drive (6)
PROPEL – PROP + EL
14 Expression of surprise on encountering a feature of eclipse (6)
CORONA – COR! + ON + A. Does anyone say ‘Cor!’ anymore? Maybe just in crosswords
16 One producing spirited autobiography? (5,6)
GHOST WRITER – cryptic definition
18 Polluted seas filled with sticky stuff for all time (7)
AGELESS – anagram (‘polluted’) of SEAS with GEL inside
19 One demanding freedom from retribution, dismissing naughty child (5)
UNITY – Freedom from retribution is IMPUNITY, minus the IMP
20 Call for assistance initially over working indifferently (2-2)
SO-SO – SOS + O. Not sure what to do with ‘working’ here, but since so-so is an adjective, I’ve put it in the definition.
21 A few run out clutching British headwear (8)
SOMBRERO – SOME + R + O with BR inside

Down
1 Test moved to the afternoon? (4)
EXAM – Ex-am as in ‘was in the morning’.
2 Shot one pellet wildly? One’s good with shots (9,4)
TELEPHOTO LENS – anagram (‘wildly’) of SHOT ONE PELLET
3 Player notes one of the rugby backs (5,6)
MUSIC CENTRE – self explanatory
4 Cork, when top’s blown, will do for stylish hat (6)
TOPPER – STOPPER minus the first letter
6 I absolutely won’t say this about another’s autobiography? (3,2,4,4)
NOT ON YOUR LIFE – ‘Life’ meaning autobiography is a crossword staple
7 Idiot — there’s just one H in “spheroid” (8)
BONEHEAD – ONE H inside BEAD
10 A guide to Tom’s domination? (4,2,5)
RULE OF THUMB – self explanatory
12 Something to see with Bond, say, taking drink (8)
SPYGLASS – SPY + GLASS
15 Firm supporting a lot of recent painting (6)
FRESCO – FRES{H} + CO
17 Misprint in dirty poem (4)
TYPO – hidden word: dirTY POem

70 comments on “Quick Cryptic 2044 by Pedro”

  1. This really wasn’t a quick cryptic imho. I couldn’t finish it, gave up and had a cup of coffee.

    Roll on tomorrow.

    Diana

  2. I still have mine, a Mitzubishi one. It’s just being repaired, for about the 5th time, but the sound quality is superb!
  3. Like Emma and Steed – this took me 18 minutes.

    FOI 2dn EONS

    LOI 7dn BONEHEAD

    COD 11ac PACKED LUNCH int’ ‘snap-tin’ when we went shooting, as a lad.

    WOD 16ac GHOST WRITER – Ian Fleming for one!

    Tough cookie from Pedro in his SOMBRERO

  4. 3dn Music Centre rather held me up – I originally thought music kettle – like a fish kettle only musical – bass being a musical fish. COD 6dn Not on your life. WDO Typo.
  5. Actually, speaking as a confirmed member of the SCC, I think it does us good to have to work really hard once a week or so. A fair mix makes for an interesting time.
  6. …with only one clue (ATLAS) after 10 minutes. Eventually, however, I got SOMBRERO, which led to TYPO, FRESCO and (surprisingly) RULE OF THUMB. SNOB then gave me a way into the NE corner, and SO SO did likewise for the SW corner. Bit by bit, I made progress and, with UNITY, I was able to put down my pencil in a total of 44 minutes.

    I never managed to parse FRESCO, and the one rugby position that played hard to get was the one we were looking for. In summary: jolly difficult, but very satisfying to finish unscathed.

    Many thanks to Pedro and Curarist.

  7. I agree with everyone, but of course I would never join a club willing to make me a member … [with acknowledgements, etc]
    1. Ah, but one doesn’t choose to ‘join’ the SCC. It confers memberships unrequested.
  8. Greetings and good wishes to all for 2022! This was hard but I let it flow, very very slow. If the cryptic brain decides to work you will get there sometime. All answers right today, including Unity without a parse, in a sort of dreamy time, no idea how long. Thank you.
  9. Forgot to check in this morning. I liked BONEHEAD, which used up a lot of time. Did a lot of random jumping around the grid, so quite a difficult one. 4/5 this week. I shall remember President POLK from this week.
    Thanks for today’s blog
    BW
    Andrew
  10. A real challenge today! Slow all the way and 5 minutes over target when SNOB and finally BONEHEAD went in. Pleased just to finish.
  11. Found this one of the most comfortable of the week — definitely on Pedro’s wavelength.
    Old enough to remember a Music Centre — I think our first was a Bush. Not quite a Hi Fi.
    Only one I didn’t parse was unity — didn’t think of imp. Think that one is older than me.
    About an hour — happily watching the golf again. Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth both playing well in Hawaii.
  12. Over an hour today but I got there. I’ve found this week tough going, with today being the hardest of the lot.

    Thanks for a great blog.

    GaryA

  13. Please could some kind person explain the parsing of music centre? I understand the definition, but what has “notes one of the rugby backs” got to do with it?
    1. ‘Notes’ is a loose synonym for ‘music’, and in rugby union there are two broad categories of position, forwards and backs – ‘centre’ being one of the latter.

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