Quick Cryptic 405 by Mara

Author   mohn2Posted on Categories Quick Cryptic
I thought this was a most enjoyable offering from Mara, with a selection of nice surfaces (e.g. 3D) and a good wodge of anagrams to allow solvers to gain a foothold on the puzzle. My apologies for the rather sparse blog but ongoing family health issues are eating up most of my spare time.

The puzzle can be found here if the usual channels are unavailable: http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20150928/9739/

Definitions are underlined.

Across
1 Good sieve that’s used to make scones (7)
GRIDDLE – G (Good) + RIDDLE (sieve)
5 Something worth having, while rigid (5)
ASSET – AS (while) + SET (rigid)
8 Stray cat pops home to see pile that’s rotting (7,4)
COMPOST HEAP – anagram (Stray) of CAT POPS HOME
10 Metal club (4)
IRON – double definition
11 Nonsense having to applaud deception (8)
CLAPTRAP – CLAP (to applaud) + TRAP (deception)
12 Minor injuries reversed with firm plaster (6)
STUCCO – reversal of CUTS (Minor injuries), + CO (firm, i.e. the usual abbreviation for company)
14 Number into marijuana, strong (6)
POTENT – TEN (Number) inside POT (marijuana)
16 Time for breakfast (8)
PORRIDGE – double definition, the first a slang expression for a prison sentence
18 Italian island having the skill to make a comeback (4)
ELBA – reversal (to make a comeback) of ABLE (having the skill)
20 Misbehaving Roman stud, as prophet (11)
NOSTRADAMUS – anagram (Misbehaving) of ROMAN STUD AS
22 French novelist entertained by governess (5)
VERNE – hidden (entertained by) in goVERNEss
23 Priests desperately keep on trying (7)
PERSIST – anagram (desperately) of PRIESTS
Down
2 Fast mover runs and runs around expert (5)
RACER – R (runs) and R (runs) around ACE (expert)
3 Diabolical daughter has come in drunk (7)
DEMONIC – D (daughter) + anagram (drunk) of COME IN
4 Origins of life evidently offering a sign (3)
LEO – initial letters (Origins) of Life Evidently Offering
6 Delightful pudding (5)
SWEET – double definition
7 Old and unexciting – tell me why? (7)
EXPLAIN – EX (Old) + PLAIN (unexciting)
9 Tramp having wild parties! (7)
TRAIPSE – anagram (wild) of PARTIES
11 Food like tomatoes brought up for soup (7)
CHOWDER – CHOW (Food) + reversal (brought up) of RED (like tomatoes)
13 Beat counter furiously (7)
TROUNCE – anagram (furiously) of COUNTER
15 Flask discovered in either mosque (7)
THERMOS – hidden (discovered) in eiTHER MOSque
17 Commit an offence again? That could be sticky! (5)
RESIN – if you commit an offence again then you could be said to RE–SIN
19 Fundamental principle to inject fish with iodine (5)
BASIS – I (iodine, i.e. the chemical symbol for iodine) inside BASS (fish)
21 Reportedly, morning moisture expected (3)
DUE – homophone (Reportedly) of DEW (morning moisture)

17 comments on “Quick Cryptic 405 by Mara”

  1. Some very nicely constructed clues, like 3d as mohn says, also 9d, 13d, 23ac, inter alia. I was lucky to have remembered PORRIDGE (from a 15×15 cryptic). 3:58. I hope things improve soon, mohn.
  2. Raced through this one in 6 minutes, helped no doubt by the number anagrams and by one word which was a little less than familiar being fresh in my mind from solving today’s 15×15.
  3. 3:38? I was dead pleased with my 13:12! Really enjoyed the puzzle. Thank you Mara: just my level.
  4. Excellent puzzle, not too difficult with some good clues, my favourite being TRAIPSE. Last in VERNE.
  5. A nice gentle start to the week. Can’t quite match Kevin’s time, but close to my fastest. I liked 9d and 11d.
  6. I finished in 30 mins, about half my usual time, An excellent puzzle with perhaps too many anagrams.The only one unparsed and last one in was ‘Verne’ – thanks to Mohn for pointing out the obvious!
    Very nice surfaces.

    Brian

  7. As others have said, some very good clues (16ac my favourite) in a welcome resumption of a more familiar QC style. LOI was 22ac, having failed to spot the hidden name on the first/fourth read. Invariant
  8. Complete novice. Started with number 1 and today finished unaided. Blogs are tremendous help. Thank you.
    Granny 68
  9. As one who has been doing the quickies for about 18 months and usually turns to the blog, I found this the easiest puzzle of all time! I seemed to have it finished in not much more than 15 minutes despite the telephone ringing in mid session. Perhaps I really am improving. If so, it is thanks to those who run this site that I stumbled upon by accident.
  10. Glad to have an easier one for a change! Nice to sit down and muse my way through. Couldn’t parse Verne for the life of me – and there it was staring at me all the time. Thx bloggers!
  11. I raced through this and was on the right wavelength from the start (like others it seems).Probably less than 20 minutes and last in were 5a and 6d. Enjoyed it. David
  12. Is there some kind of policy about Monday? They often seem easier, or is it my pent up cognitive energy?
    1. I don’t regularly do the Quick cryptic but certainly, based on the puzzles that I’ve blogged, the difficulty level has been all over the spectrum on Mondays, so I would be inclined to say that the ease that you’re finding is more to do with a build-up of brain power over the weekend. Having said that, the Guardian main cryptic, the FT main cryptic (every 2 weeks) and – often – the Times main cryptic, all appear to be set by the same setter on a Monday, and he is regarded as one of the easier setters out there, so there may well be a tendency in the crosswording world to make Monday’s puzzles a gentle introduction to the week.

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