7 minutes for this one which I would rate at the easier end of the spectrum but my judgement has been proved wrong so often that we’ll have to see what others made of it.
As usual, definitions in clues are in bold italics, deletions are in curly brackets and the square brackets contain anagram/omission/reversal indicators etc.
|
Across |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | First part of recital: one very loud piece of music (4) |
| RIFF – R{ecital} [first part of], I (one), FF (very loud – fortissimo, music). Usually a short repeated phrase. | |
| 4 | Just a minute – here are two invitations (4,4) |
| COME COME – COME COME (two invitations). The expression can be used to offer sympathy and comfort but in this instance it’s an interjection implying disbelief in what’s being said, “hang on a moment…” or “just a minute…” as the clue has it. | |
| 8 | Girl strode out, moved fast (8) |
| GALLOPED – GAL (girl), LOPED (strode out) | |
| 9 | Youngsters took test regularly (4) |
| TOTS – T{o}O{k} T{e}S{t} [regularly] | |
| 10 | Cold dessert after noon is pleasant (4) |
| NICE – N (noon), ICE (cold dessert) | |
| 11 | Sheepdog seen near railway is mine (8) |
| COLLIERY – COLLIE (sheepdog), RY (railway) | |
| 12 | Fellow stuck in cavern once (6) |
| VERNON – Hidden in [stuck in] {ca}VERN ON{ce}. I’m not a fan of random name clues but as long as they don’t exceed one per puzzle they’re okay. In this case the answer’s hidden so there’s no guesswork involved which may be as well as ‘Vernon’ would probably be well down most people’s list of possible names for a man. | |
| 14 | Swallow gin cocktail, then set off (6) |
| INGEST – Anagram [cocktail] of GIN, anagram [off] of SET. It’s unusual to have separate anagram indicators for different parts of a clue. | |
| 16 | Recording test case for broadcast (8) |
| CASSETTE – Anagram [broadcast] of TEST CASE. Memories of a bygone age of recording and possibly unknown to anyone under about 25. | |
| 18 | Comeback of Friends is a hit (4) |
|
SLAP – PALS (friends) reversed [comeback]. Noobs* might like to note that capital letters can be used when not required, in order to mislead or aid the surface reading (as with ‘Friends’ here), but it is not permitted to omit them when they are actually required. *Noob. This turned up in last week’s ST puzzle as an alternative to ‘newbie’ so I thought I’d give it an outing today in case it appears in the Quickie any time soon. |
|
| 19 | For example, Othello encore on the radio? (4) |
| MOOR – Sounds like [on the radio] MORE (encore). Othello being the Moor of Venice in the full title of the play by Shakespeare. | |
| 20 | A mixed grill, hot, short of nothing, OK? (3,5) |
| ALL RIGHT – A, anagram [mixed] of GRILL H{o}T [short of nothing – 0/o] | |
| 22 | Standard weapon, in a manner of speaking (8) |
| PARLANCE – PAR (standard), LANCE (weapon) | |
| 23 | Conceal Jekyll’s alter ego, you say? (4) |
| HIDE – Sound’s like [you say] HYDE (Jekyll’s alter ego). The crucial second letter is unchecked but the position of the homophone indicator leaves no doubt as to which part of the clue it’s referring to and which spelling needs to go in the grid. | |
|
Down |
|
| 2 | Think I’m home in time (7) |
| IMAGINE – I’M, then IN (home) inside [in] AGE (time). Rather fun that although ‘in’ is in the clue it’s not cluing itself. | |
| 3 | Cornish river’s ending in Penzance? Wrong (5) |
| FALSE – FAL’S (Cornish river’s), {Penzanc}E [ending] | |
| 4 | Policeman turning up clutching a hat (3) |
| CAP – PC (policeman) reversed [turning up] enclosing [clutching] A | |
| 5 | Small cake produced by the French, fine without topping (9) |
| MADELEINE – MADE (produced), LE (the, French), {f}INE [without topping]. Possibly named after Madeleine Paulmier, a French pastry cook of the 19th century. | |
| 6 | Hurtful / piece taken from newspaper (7) |
| CUTTING – Two definitions | |
| 7 | Mother runs after colleague (5) |
| MATER – MATE (colleague), R (runs – cricket) | |
| 11 | Force prisoners to exercise (9) |
| CONSTRAIN – CONS (prisoners), TRAIN (exercise) | |
| 13 | Youngster hauled up before court case, wanting a breather (7) |
| NOSTRIL – SON (youngster) reversed [hauled up], TRI{a}L (court case [wanting A]) | |
| 15 | Terribly hassled, subjected to cuts (7) |
| SLASHED – Anagram [terribly] of HASSLED | |
| 17 | A semi-romantic bouquet (5) |
| AROMA – A, ROMA{ntic} [semi-] | |
| 18 | Son with desire to be chic (5) |
| SWISH – S (son), WISH (desire) | |
| 21 | Some believe made-up story (3) |
| LIE – Hidden [some] in {be}LIE{ve} | |
Edited at 2016-03-07 01:53 pm (UTC)
Last in MOOR and favourite INGEST.
Playuppompey
GeoffH
There was some unfavourable comment about it on the Club Forum but it didn’t bother me. Perhaps because it conforms to the US pronunciation of NEW which made it fairly obvious. 7.13 which included a very sluggish download and slow filling of the lights. P.S. Jack – which of today’s other cryptic clues did you blog? Oops – I see that like me you weren’t one of the guest bloggers.
Edited at 2016-03-07 12:24 pm (UTC)
Edited at 2016-03-07 01:59 pm (UTC)
I had warmed up on the main crossword. As I get the paper daily, I often start at the back page- will McClaren survive etc? A quick look at the 15×15 then follows and today revealed a relatively easy test -good for the experienced newbies I’d say.
And by the way I did not like NOOB from the earlier Saturday crossword; but I have now learnt it. David
Most of it went in pretty easily, but was held up in the SW corner (PARLANCE, NOSTRIL, CONSTRAIN, CASSETTE). I thought “broadcast” in 16a indicated a homophone, rather than an anagram, hence this was my LOI.
It’d be nice if you added a name or soubriquet to your postings so we can get to recognise you. Alternatively you could open a free Live Journal account and give yourself a user-pic too. That way you can also edit your comments if you need to.