A puzzle at the easier end of the spectrum, I thought, but with some neat clues (particularly liked 8a and 23a). Last in was 19dn, which took me an age to see even with the cross checkers
Thanks to Flamande, and a very Happy New Year to all.
Definitions underlined; DD = double definition; anagrams indicated by *(–)
Anyone having access issues can find the puzzle at http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/puzzles/crossword/20151230/12129/
| Across | |
| 1 | Adam’s disturbed about article that’s seen on front of Times? (8) |
| MASTHEAD – *(ADAMS) – with “disturbed” as the anagrind – goes round THE (article) | |
| 5 | Boast from British newspaper (4) |
| BRAG – B (abbrev. British) + RAG (newspaper) | |
| 8 | Haggard traveller? (5) |
| RIDER – DD, with the first referring to H. Rider Haggard, author of King Solomon’s Mines etc. Neat clue, I thought | |
| 9 | Do crossword again, showing determination (7) |
| RESOLVE – Re-solve | |
| 11 | She supplies eggs and ham every night, for starters (3) |
| HEN – First letters (starters) of Ham Every Night | |
| 12 | Almost guarantee fellow is rebellious type (9) |
|
INSURGENT – INSUR |
|
| 13 | Where motel not entirely off the beaten track (6) |
| REMOTE – Hidden (indicated by ‘not entirely’) in wheRE MOTEl | |
| 15 | Pious type’s eating tiny candies (6) |
| SWEETS – STS (pious type’s – i.e. Saint’s) ‘eating’ WEE (tiny) | |
| 18 | Conman in fuss, always (9) |
| RACKETEER – RACKET (fuss) + EER (e’er – archaism meaning ever / always) | |
| 19 | Flag Salvation Army placed near front of graveyard (3) |
| SAG – SA (Salvation Army) + G (front of Graveyard) | |
| 20 | A boy appearing with daughter in pantomime (7) |
| ALADDIN – A LAD (a boy) + D (daughter) + IN | |
| 21 | Poetry volume seer translated (5) |
| VERSE – *(SEER) – with “translated” as the anagrind – and with V (volume) also thrown into the mix | |
| 22 | It is used in postnatal care (4) |
| TALC – Hidden in postnaTAL Care) – & Lit | |
| 23 | Not a socialist to be seen, OK? (3,5) |
| ALL RIGHT – All those present are to the right of the political spectrum… | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Protester showing some hesitation after a month (7) |
| MARCHER – ER (some hesitation) comes after MARCH (month) | |
| 2 | American looking up little Daniel in African state (5) |
| SUDAN – US reversed (American looking up) + DAN (little Daniel) | |
| 3 | Wear this red crumpled fabric (6,5) |
| HARRIS TWEED – *(WEAR THIS RED) with “crumpled” as the anagrind. Investigation reveals there is a Harris Tweed Act of 1993 – how many other fabrics have their own dedicated statute to preserve their integrity? | |
| 4 | Apprehend a wrongdoer at last, then relax (6) |
| ARREST – A + R (wrongdoeR at last) + REST (relax) | |
| 6 | Take over from sappers wanting time off, say (7) |
| RELIEVE – RE (sappers – our old friends from Crosswordland the Royal Engineers) plus a homophone of LEAVE (time off, say) | |
| 7 | Fantastic Greek nosh (5) |
| GREAT – GR (Greek) + EAT (nosh) | |
| 10 | Cocktail shared at first with group of workers and chauffeur (11) |
| SCREWDRIVER – S (first letter of Shared) + CREW (group of workers) + DRIVER (chauffeur) – a vodka and orange juice | |
| 14 | Claim he changed name (7) |
| MICHAEL – *(CLAIM HE) with “changed” as the anagrind | |
| 16 | FBI officers appearing in set piece (7) |
| SEGMENT – G MEN (FBI officers) ‘appear’ in SET | |
| 17 | Sailors in part of ship, the centre (6) |
| KERNEL – RN (sailors – abbrev. Royal Navy) in KEEL (part of ship) | |
| 18 | Trace different answer in response (5) |
| REACT – *(TRACE) with “different” as the anagrind | |
| 19 | In early season, there’s no new growth of holly? (5) |
|
SPRIG – SPRI |
|
Many thanks.
The Briefless Barrister
Edited at 2015-12-30 09:26 am (UTC)
It might have been faster but I was looking for ‘candles’ in 15a due to mis-reading my printout, LOI was 16D when ‘gmen’ clicked.
Brian
JDS
The Quick Cryptic aims to introduce a new audience to cryptic crosswords and offer a step to solving the main puzzle
Today marks the latest in a series of landmarks in the history of The Times crossword. It all started on February 1, 1930, with Times Cryptic Crossword Number One. For 40 years this was the only cryptic puzzle appearing in the paper. Then, on December 19 1970, a new and larger cousin to the main daily cryptic was born: a square puzzle aptly named the Jumbo.
The Jumbo quickly became popular with solvers, appearing on Bank Holidays. On September 6, 1997, while the attention of the country was focused on the funeral of the Princess of Wales, the Jumbo went weekly, and has appeared on Saturdays and most Bank Holidays ever since. The Times2 crossword, a non-cryptic “concise”, first appeared in 1993 and is still going strong.
What we are introducing today, however, is effectively the opposite of the Jumbo: the Times Quick Cryptic will be a downsized version of our famous daily cryptic (which remains unchanged).
Appearing Monday to Friday on the puzzles pages of Times2, it will be reduced in size and hopefully in difficulty too, the intention being to introduce new people to cryptic crosswords, and to encourage those solvers who’d like to have a go at the main puzzle but feel daunted by it, or who can perhaps only solve a handful of clues.
One other difference you will notice is that, while the other Times crosswords are, and will continue to be, anonymous, the Quick Cryptic will be only semi-anonymous. A pseudonym will appear above the puzzle, masking in most cases the identity of a regular Times crossword compiler.
Will people come to regard Dazzler as dazzlingly witty? Joker as having a sense of humour? Grumpy not? Is Orpheus musical? Will Teazel tease?
As with any new venture, it will be difficult to please everyone. Inevitably some may find it too Quick, but my main concern is that some will still find it too Cryptic: for Quick and Cryptic are strange bedfellows. Any cryptic crossword must necessarily carry an element of mystique and obscurity about it: the word after all comes from the Greek for hidden.
However, I bear good tidings for anyone who feels that a cryptic crossword must be impossibly difficult: namely that nearly all cryptic clues are in many ways fairer than simple Times2 crossword-style clues: they actually give you two chances to arrive at the answer.
I will divulge another little secret to those who feel daunted by the main Times Crossword: those puzzles do vary in difficulty. Yes, there are days when even the experts struggle to finish it before they’ve got off the train — on the journey home — but there are also days where the puzzle may be scarcely harder than the Quick Cryptic.
To echo a point I made earlier: when you are struggling with today’s puzzle don’t forget that it is supposed to be Cryptic. And to those of you who may polish it off in a couple of minutes and say, “That was a bit disappointing: what do I do now?” I will point out the word Quick.
Because, like the cryptic clue itself, we are offering two routes to the goal of grid completion: a path which is shorter than that offered by the Times Crossword, but also one with some more interesting obstacles along the way than the much-loved T2 Crossword.
Either way, I hope it will bring some measure of satisfaction to all.