Quick Cryptic 3284 BY Cheeko

Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic

Quite a fun mid-level puzzle, with some write-ins as well as some stiffer clues. I was interrupted mid-solve, but I reckon 6 minutes

Across
1 Composer from New Harlem (6)
MAHLER – anagram (‘new’) of HARLEM
4 Starts to alter bus route in a foreign country (6)
ABROAD – A[LTER] + B[US] + ROAD
8 Dull Head of Theology cut gospel (7)
MATTHEW – MAT (dull) + T for Theology + HEW
10 Clean seats returned around back of stage (5)
SWEEP – PEWS backwards around E
11 Pound pinched by rebuked infant (5)
CHILD – CHID with L inserted
12 Criminal harm that primarily involves old British chemicals company (7)
ILLICIT – ILL (harm) + T[HAT] with ICI inserted.
13 Gloomy, small, unnaturally pale bird (5,4)
BLACK SWAN – BLACK + S + WAN
17 Element extracted from half of Cava? (7)
CALCIUM – half of Cava is Ca, the chemical symbol for calcium
19 Spear second fish (5)
SPIKE – s + PIKE
20 Smutty pair of ducks kept in pen (5)
SOOTY – OO (pair of ducks) inside STY. Smut originally meant soot, before the other meaning arose.
21 Section of Arctic or, better, Scottish mountain (7)
CORBETT – Hidden word. A corbett is a mountain between 2500 and 3000ft. Over 3000ft and it becomes a munro. I don’t make the rules.
22 Friends divided by extremely naïve juries (6)
PANELS – PALS ‘divided’ by N[AÏV]E
23 Fool shortened her dress (6)
CLOTHE – CLOT + HE[R]
Down
1 Several Roman cardinals Saint copies (6)
MIMICS – M,I,M,I,C are all Roman cardinal numbers. Add S for saint.
2 Bahrain lot worried about toilet in light craft (3-3,7)
HOT-AIR BALLOON – anagram (‘worried’) of BAHRAIN LOT around LOO
3 Chained wild animal (7)
ECHIDNA – anagram (‘wild’) of CHAINED
5 Herb’s son protected by legal security? (5)
BASIL – S with BAIL outside
6 Find cover note somehow cocky (13)
OVERCONFIDENT – anagram (‘somehow’) of FIND COVER NOTE
7 Stores discontinued, having no heart to make a comeback (6)
DEPOTS – STOPPED with its ‘heart’ (middle letter, i.e. P) removed, reversed
9 Drink — it beats “YMCA” dancing (6,3)
WHISKY MAC – WHISK (‘it beats’) + anagram (‘dancing’) of YMCA. Scotch with ginger ale, short for Whisky Macdonald
14 Spendthrift wife alerts Dicky (7)
WASTREL – W + anagram (‘dicky’) of ALERTS
15 Behaves badly in court after a drink (4,2)
ACTS UP – CT (court) after A + SUP
16 Irritate weed (6)
NETTLE – double definition
18 Off and on, fiddly lines in picturesque scene (5)
IDYLL – Alternate letters of fIdDl+ LL (lines)

94 comments on “Quick Cryptic 3284 BY Cheeko”

  1. What *is* the nina for Cheeko puzzles?

    Also, what on earth does ‘dicky’ mean that could make it an anagram indicator?

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