[Posted at 11:50: As noon approaches I’m not sure if today’s Quickie is covered. If there’s no news of it by 1:00 I shall post an emergency blog].
Posted at 13:33:
10 minutes for this one, so perhaps it’s a little easier than the past few days – at least for me.
As usual definitions are underlined, deletions are in {curly brackets} and other indicators are in [square ones]
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bird a short distance behind remnants of grain (9) |
| CHAFFINCH – CHAFF (remnants of grain), INCH (a short distance) | |
| 5 | Reduced width in bath (3) |
| SPA – SPA{n} (width) [reduced] | |
| 8 | Add to gold metal initially imported by man (7) |
| AUGMENT – AU (gold), then M{etal} [initially] inside [imported by] GENT (man) | |
| 9 | Remuneration offered to a thinking person? (5) |
| PENNY – A straight definition followed by a cryptic reference to the saying “a penny for your thoughts” | |
| 10 | Fool with wild dream etc to make dairy product (7,5) |
| CLOTTED CREAM – CLOT (fool), anagram [wild] of DREAM ETC | |
| 12 | Bishop not half cornering church power and muscle (6) |
| BICEPS – BIS{hop} [not half] encloses [cornering] CE (church) + P (power) | |
| 13 | Stone to move downhill, perhaps, making gentle pace (6) |
| STROLL – ST (stone – weight), ROLL (move downhill, perhaps) | |
| 16 | Hot wine and lager dished up in pub (8,4) |
| WATERING HOLE – Anagram [dished up] of HOT WINE LAGER. I’m not sure how widely known this euphemism for ‘pub’ is, and it may not have travelled overseas. | |
| 19 | Pit-worker in front of aluminium ore (7) |
| MINERAL – MINER (pit worker), AL (aluminium) | |
| 20 | Toss nearly all the line (5) |
| THROW – TH{e} [nearly all], ROW (line) | |
| 22 | Glad to dump two pianos in the grass (3) |
| HAY – HA{pp}Y (glad) [dump two pianos – p in music] | |
| 23 | Pair feel upset after investing millions in uneven plan? (6,3) |
| RELIEF MAP – Anagram [upset] of PAIR FEEL enclosing [investing] M (millions). It’s a 3-dimensional representation of terrain, hence “uneven”. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Church precedes a time for gossip (4) |
| CHAT – CH (church), A, T (time) | |
| 2 | A new set in charge? That’s divine (7) |
| ANGELIC – A, N (new), GEL (set), IC (in charge) | |
| 3 | Supply cut? What’s required for reconnection? (3) |
| FEE – FEE{d} (supply) [cut]. I’d categorise this as &lit as the whole clue is needed to indicate the required answer. | |
| 4 | Girl following fanatic to get spice (6) |
| NUTMEG – NUT (fanatic), MEG (girl) | |
| 5 | Game of agility is hard work when taking alcohol (3-6) |
| HOPSCOTCH – H (hard – pencil ‘lead’), OP (work – opus), SCOTCH (alcohol) | |
| 6 | Evidence of some Burns found in poems in general (5) |
| SINGE – Hidden in {poem}S IN GE{neral}. Adding unnecessary capital letters in order to mislead is permitted (as here) but they’re not supposed to be omitted when required in proper nouns. | |
| 7 | Dreadful cooked lamb, say (7) |
| ABYSMAL – Anagram [cooked] of LAMB SAY | |
| 11 | Best artist in the aristocracy? (3-6) |
| TOP-DRAWER – TOP (best), DRAWER (artist) | |
| 12 | English women’s irritation following bachelor showing charm (7) |
| BEWITCH – B (bachelor), E (English), W (women’s), ITCH (irritation) | |
| 14 | I tucked into vintage booze in barrel (3,4) |
| OIL DRUM – I [tucked into] OLD (vintage), RUM (booze) | |
| 15 | Creature‘s coat turned upside down (6) |
| ANIMAL – LAMINA (coat) reversed [turned upside down] | |
| 17 | Stay behind, covered in black stuff (5) |
| TARRY – Two meanings | |
| 18 | Get angry following cheeky talk (4) |
| FLIP – F (following), LIP (cheeky talk) | |
| 21 | Born in endless poverty (3) |
| NEE – NEE{d} (poverty) [endless] | |
Favourite TOP DRAWER.
My thanks to Jackkt for his emergency blog and Pedro for some entertaining clues. Invariant
Thanks Again!
David
18 Down: Is not to “flip” to get angry? This allowed us to put it in; we should have realised that we needed to explain the “f”.
Misocapnic
Edited at 2015-09-14 10:49 am (UTC)