| 1 |
Check pub in charge of vicious individuals (8) |
|
BARBARIC – BAR (check) + BAR (pub) + IC |
| 2 |
Judge has sessions reduced (6) |
|
ASSESS – hidden word |
| 3 |
Member of pack or crew (4) |
|
JACK – sort of double definition. Jack is a card or a sailor. |
| 4 |
Fisherman’s position on river (6) |
|
ANGLER – ANGLE (position, as in opinion) + R |
| 5 |
Crooked looking superior I had reported (4-4) |
|
BOSS-EYED – ‘superior’ is BOSS, and EYED sounds like ‘I’d’. I like crooked looking (note no hyphen) as the definition. |
| 6 |
Speaker’s introduction was anxious and fearful (6) |
|
SCARED – S + CARED |
| 7 |
Monotonous sound extracted from monotonous instrument (4) |
|
DRUM – I suppose this is just a double definition of sorts unless there’s something else going on that I’ve missed Edit: HUMDRUM (monotonous), minus HUM (monotonous sound). Quite a neat clue now I understand it. Thanks to Kevin for the correction |
| 13 |
Harbingers of death and distressing things overwhelming woman (8) |
|
BANSHEES – BANES (distressing things) surrounding SHE. From Irish folklore, a spirit that presages death by turning up outside your house and screaming. |
| 15 |
Laid around like this, very much in love (8) |
|
BESOTTED – BETTED (laid) around SO (like this). Is ‘betted’ a word? |
| 17 |
Everyone among staff raised money (6) |
|
DOLLAR – ALL inside ROD backwards |
| 19 |
Captain disowns son who’s out of it (6) |
|
KIPPER – [S]KIPPER. One who kips |
| 20 |
Former English MP last in parliament not subject to tax (6) |
|
EXEMPT – EX + E + MP + last letter in parliamenT |
| 21 |
Singer hosted by ambassador (4) |
|
BASS – hidden word |
| 22 |
Only down-to-earth part of Oxford? (4) |
|
SOLE – double definition. ‘Oxford’ in crosswords always means shoe. |
24:02
Only one in on the first across pass and not much better on the downs.
Confidence draining away, I didn’t think I was going to finish this. But, continually circling the grid produced, all be it slowly, lots of PDMs.
Biffed OSCAR, DRUM and BESOTTED and putting COCK EYED in cost me time until I remembered BOSS EYED from its use by an Antipodean friend.
After reading all the comments I’m feeling quite pleased at how well I appear to have done with seasoned veterans also finding this on the tough side. This is also my first Asp solve.
FOI: COD
LOI: DAB
COD: RASPBERRY
Thanks to Asp and Curarist
👏👏
Thanks Gary – this was tough and I was having that sinking and frustrated feeling during the solve. And, one thing I will guarantee, it won’t be the last time and not always placated by a successful solve.
Like some other people, not quite there. Could not remember the ‘five-year’ word although knew the answer was recent, and LUSTRUM is on my bookshelf. Should have seen JACK but didn’t, and prefer Cock-eyed for crooked. Now, SCENT answers ‘Fish had strong’ I think, Cent actually is a fish plus S, and means Aroma. Any advance…
I decided to have a go at the 15 x 15 and surprised myself by getting about 20. Having seen the blog, I could perhaps have done better, but it gives me a tiny bit of light at the end of the tunnel.
👏👏👍
Thank you. It’s odd that I often do quite well on the 15 x 15 after a poor day on the QC. It’s perhaps because I don’t really care about the time element with the more challenging puzzle.
21:56 on a puzzle that was enjoyable but more frustrum than lustrum. Meaning I got stuck at the LUSTRUM (VHO) / BOSS-EYED (NHO) crossing. Also failed to understand KIPPER; I suppose “out of it” can mean asleep. I suppose. DRUM also took a long time because I couldn’t parse it, but I loved it when I finally saw it. OSCAR was indeed very good. And why did I (and a few others I see) take so long on JACK???
Given the weather here (cold, wet, and unexpectedly snowy) the unches spelling BAJA are terribly seductive today. Didn’t see the fish.
(Late posting because the Too Many Requests gremlin locked me out again.)
Thanks to Asp and Curarist.
I saw it was Asp, did a few and gave up. Not helped by seeing I needed a word for “five year period”. DNF by a long way.
Great puzzle. Lots of pencil work t hat worked out eventually.
Really enjoyed the challenge of this one.
I only give myself full marks if I manage to parse them all, but I was never getting near ‘besotted’! Closest I could get was to ‘be sotted’ is to lay around like this (i.e. be muddled), which you would arguably be if you were very much in love! Tenuous, I know….
Didn’t parse a few- drum, besotted and the very elegant oscar, so adding my thanks for the blog. Otherwise a satisfactory solve
FOI Abstain
LOI Jack
COD Oscar (now its been explained to me)
thanks Asp and Curarist
Enjoyed this but am still new enough to the discipline that I have no idea which setters I am in tune with, so to speak. NHO of LUSTRUM (but worked it out) or SMELT as a fish, so one error (biffed SCENT in desperation despite knowing it didn’t parse – my LOI).
COD HUMDRUM. Very neat!
Many thanks to Asp and Curarist
PS Me to husband: “did you know that there is a little fish called a smelt?”
Eight year old daughter: “Isn’t that the mechanism for making bronze?”
views on when a child should be introduced to the Quick Cryptic welcome!