Quick Cryptic No 263 by Rongo

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Late in the day I noticed the blog wasn’t up – so, hoping I’m not getting in anyone’s way, here’s a last minute substitute effort – necessarily brief.

Fortunately this was not too taxing (8 minutes). I’ll leave you to count the number of double definitions which I think is on the high side.

Definitions are underlined.

Across
1 Poultry to follow a mixed drink (8)
&nbsp &nbspCOCKTAIL – Poultry (COCK), to follow (TAIL).
5 Unceremoniously abandon Chinese boat (4)
&nbsp &nbspJUNK – Double definition.
9 Article going into solar energy source with a heated room (5)
&nbsp &nbspSAUNA – Article (A) going into solar energy source (SUN) with a (A).
10 Waterfowl beside ocean and Bristol Channel city (7)
&nbsp &nbspSWANSEA – Waterfowl (SWAN), ocean (SEA).
11 Small creature appearing in both panto and Iolanthe (3)
&nbsp &nbspANT – The answer appears inside both pANTo and iolANThe.
12 Guess place suet must be cooked (9)
&nbsp &nbspSPECULATE – Anagram (cooked) of PLACE SUET.
13 Wish of French king (6)
&nbsp &nbspDESIRE – Of French (De), king (SIRE).
15 One who’s suffered, eg comic Feldman, right? (6)
&nbsp &nbspMARTYR – MARTY Feldman, right (R).
17 Stylish end to chess game shows someone in the same form (9)
&nbsp &nbspCLASSMATE – Stylish (CLASS), end to chess game (MATE).
19 Hole that’s in centre of some fruit (3)
&nbsp &nbspPIT – Double definition. I was wondering why this wasn’t pith but apparently pit is another name for stone (think peach).
20 Weak start for Underground in redesign of Euston (7)
&nbsp &nbspTENUOUS – Start of (U)nderground, anagram (redesign) of EUSTON.
21 Make progress in blacksmith’s workshop (5)
&nbsp &nbspFORGE – Double definition.
22 The woman’s black leaves used in cooking (4)
&nbsp &nbspHERB – The woman’s (HER), black (B).
23 Dispatched one ear, nose and throat with some feeling? (8)
&nbsp &nbspSENTIENT – Dispatched (SENT), one (I), ear, nose and throat (ENT – hospital department).

Down
1 Hot yellow dressing with the top becoming cold? (7)
&nbsp &nbspCUSTARD – Hmmmm. Yellow dressing (MUSTARD), change the first letter (top) to cold (C) and you get custard. Yellow dressing is doing double duty – so I have a sneaky feeling that this is one of the lesser-spotted partial &lits.
2 Try to obtain location for trial (5)
&nbsp &nbspCOURT – Double definition. The first as in to court opinion.
3 Weird stranger on ship, or lawbreaker (12)
&nbsp &nbspTRANSGRESSOR – Anagram (weird) of STRANGER, on (above) ship (SS), or (OR).
4 Island to prosecute important point (5)
&nbsp &nbspISSUE – Island (IS), to prosecute (SUE).
6 Arrogant newcomer lifts quiche, say (7)
&nbsp &nbspUPSTART – Lifts (UPS), quiche say (TART).
7 Blackguard mentioned part of church (5)
&nbsp &nbspKNAVE – Homophone (mentioned) of nave.
8 Supposedly harmful content of lard, dripping and stout (9,3)
&nbsp &nbspSATURATED FAT – Dripping (SATURATED), stout (FAT).
14 Small food packer’s imaging device (7)
&nbsp &nbspSCANNER – Small (S), food packer (CANNER).
16 Religious education to handle withdrawal (7)
&nbsp &nbspRETREAT – Religious education (RE), to handle (TREAT).
17 Unexpected problem in fisherman’s haul (5)
&nbsp &nbspCATCH – Double definition.
18 Passage that divides area on island (5)
&nbsp &nbspAISLE – Area (A) on island (ISLE).
19 Wasted super amount of prize money (5)
&nbsp &nbspPURSE – Anagram (wasted) of SUPER

22 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 263 by Rongo”

  1. Well done ChrisW for stepping in.
    Don’t remember doing a Rongo before, but if they are always this easy he/she can come again. Invariant
  2. Custard can be served cold , mustard is usually hot so this clue doesnt quite work?
  4. Two coffee time solves on successive days…..maybe I am finally getting the hang of it after all
  5. Sterling effort, Chris. I would say 1d is a fully-fledged &lit, as custard has a nasty habit of forming a cold crust.
    1. Then again…
      Mustard is a hot yellow dressing – hot as in fiery hot. Custard is a hot yellow dressing – hot as in heat. So is it mustard with the m replaced by c to get custard?
      1. Certainly that’s how I parsed it – hot yellow dressing = mustard, change the top letter for c = cold, gives a yellow dressing (CUSTARD).

        Mustard is particularly hot (fiery hot) if it is of the English variety, and for me at least, this is non-negotiable with chops or steak. I always take a tube of my favourite brand of English mustard when I visit the US, because I can’t abide the tasteless alternative available “over there”.

      2. Yes, that’s why I’d classify it as an &lit, wherein the definition and the wordplay are the same.
    1. ‘Hot yellow’ wouldn’t really be enough and ‘dressing’ would be padding at best in terms of marking an initial alphabet change.
  8. At the easier end of the spectrum for me. Favourite 1d even though I am not sure what the correct parsing is. Thanks to Rongo and Chris.
  9. 6 minutes, so definitely on the wavelength after an hour or so battling with the 15×15.
  10. Can’t remember an easier quickie than this one, with almost every clue going in on first read. I’m not sure what type of clue 8dn is, as “supposedly harmful content of lard” predisposes the answer without further qualification. Also a bit confused by CUSTARD, for all the reasons already gone into, so that was one of the few that needed checkers.
  11. As someone who usually takes an hour if I can finish at all, this took me thirty minutes. I’m sorry to read it was an easy one, I thought I might be getting cleverer.
  12. Thanks for filling in Chris. As everyone else has noted this was one of the easier ones. I finished it in one sitting, which I’ve never done before. Personally I didn’t have a problem with 1d, but then again ignorance can be bliss.
  13. Drat – also thought I was getting better with two completed on the trot in (for me) record times….today they all just worked for me. But blog log-in failed so have to be Anon – Andrew-turner
  15. Yes. Let us have more like this one. It was a good confidence boost. No hard words I suppose

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