I think this will be at the easier end of the scale for most solvers. There are enough fairly easy clues that the trickier ones will all have plenty of crossers by the time you get to them.
Having said that, I took just a smidge longer than my average time, finishing in 15:44 and had a real howler of an error at 15ac, described below. Much of my time was on my last two in: GARISH and STREAMER
How to read the explanations: definitions are underlined, synonyms are in (round brackets), wordplay is in [square brackets] and deletions are in strikethrough. Anagram indicators are italicised in the clue, anagram fodder is indicated like (THIS)*.
| Across | |
| 1 | Wet, like that American monarch (7) |
| SOAKING – SO (like that), A for American, KING (monarch). | |
| 5 | Artistic work broken (4) |
| BUST – Two definitions. | |
| 7 | Forty winks scruff cut short (3) |
| NAP – NAP |
|
| 8 | Flag media player? (8) |
| STREAMER – Another double definition.
I’m not sure if the media playing device or the person using the device would be described as a “streamer”, but I don’t think it matters. It took me a very long time to see this one, even with all the crossing letters in place. |
|
| 10 | Passage made of tin and aluminium (5) |
| CANAL – CAN (tin) + AL (chemical symbol for aluminium).
Hands up everyone who spent time wondering where the fifth letter came from after starting with Sn and Al. |
|
| 11 | Something on a motorbike raised when flying round first of corners (7) |
| SIDECAR – (RAISED)* including [round] first [letter] of C |
|
| 13 | Warmer months, might one add? (6) |
| SUMMER – Our third double definition. | |
| 15 | Yellowish, everything scoffed by pig (6) |
| SALLOW – ALL (everything) inside [scoffed by] SOW (pig).
This was where I made my mistake. In fact, two mistakes. Firstly, I somehow came up with “cow” as a synonym for “pig”. As childish insults go, ok, that almost works. But then, in justifying CALLOW to myself as the answer, I went from “callow” to “inexperienced” to “there’s a colour that means that” to “aha, there’s a colour in the clue too, must be right.”. Sadly, the colour that means “inexperienced” is green, not yellow. Sigh. A reminder to check your working. |
|
| 17 | Country hotel so in need of renovation (7) |
| LESOTHO – (HOTEL SO)* | |
| 18 | Player in fact ordinary (5) |
| ACTOR – Hidden in |
|
| 20 | Meat found in armpit as horrible! (8) |
| PASTRAMI – (ARMPIT AS)*
I’ll never be able to look at a pastrami sandwich without thinking of this anagram from now on. |
|
| 22 | Colour studied, we hear? (3) |
| RED – sounds like [we hear] READ (studied).
The most straightforward homophone clue ever? |
|
| 23 | Butcher’s little sound (4) |
| PEEP – Double definition.
The first definition is from Cockney rhyming slang, where “butcher’s hook” – often shortened to “butcher’s” – means “look”. |
|
| 24 | Famous and lacking skills? (7) |
| NOTABLE – If you are lacking skills, you are NOT ABLE. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Son with man — one of those might be on the beach (10) |
| SANDCASTLE – S for son, AND (with), CASTLE (man, on a chessboard). | |
| 2 | Writer under a small tree (5) |
| ASPEN – PEN (writer) under A and S for small. | |
| 3 | Cheeky hosts very, very short of money (9) |
| INSOLVENT – INSOLENT (cheeky) contains [hosts] V for very. | |
| 4 | Loud tease stood up, and I shut up! (6) |
| GARISH – RAG (tease) reversed [stood up], I (from the clue) and SH (shut up!).
Picture someone hissing at a noisy audience-member for “sh” = “shut up!”. |
|
| 5 | Primarily bleating actually, as sound from animal (3) |
| BAA – First letters [primarily] of B |
|
| 6 | Template with holes in Celts manufactured (7) |
| STENCIL – (IN CELTS)* | |
| 9 | Defensive feature of design game (10) |
| DRAWBRIDGE – DRAW (design), BRIDGE (game). | |
| 12 | Admit star upset playwright (9) |
| DRAMATIST – (ADMIT STAR)* | |
| 14 | Treatment that’s needed, reportedly? (7) |
| MASSAGE – “needed” is a homonym [reportedly] of “kneaded”. And if you get a massage you could say you were kneaded.
A little unusual in that the homonym isn’t actually the answer, but a stepping-stone to the answer. This reminds me of the sign near the tip jar in many a bakery, “we knead the dough”. |
|
| 16 | Fix principal area (6) |
| DOMAIN – DO (fix), MAIN (principal). | |
| 19 | Pulse right in both for a change (5) |
| THROB – R for right in (BOTH)*.
Even though I saw how this one worked, I spent too long thinking of the “lentils and beans” meaning of pulse. |
|
| 21 | Best cardigan, say (3) |
| TOP – Another double definition, or a definition and a definition-by-example? I don’t think it matters. | |
Funnily enough, this afternoon attempted a 15×15 from 2017 in one of the books and it had “Massage? Pushed by joint we hear (5)”
My point is that if you are buying something in a shop you’re a ‘Buyer’, if you’re streaming and playing media to watch then you’re both a ‘Media Player’ and a ‘Streamer’. Simples !🙂
Did try SnAl but it went nowhere, CANAL was the simpler answer. Failed on the GARISH STREAMER. Not a learner’s puzzle I would say, more quirky even cliquey suiting Crossword people best. Worst example is Needed = Kneaded = Massage, or Man = Castle. All true but only if it’s an answer you already know, opaque if you don’t. To infer the answer from the clue hardly can be done.
man=chesspiece is a staple of learning cryptics
that said, I bunged in sandcastle off s-n-c—– from the definition of something on the beach. and it actually took me a few moments extra to understand why man=castle. So I respectfully disagee when you say the answer is unlikely to be inferred from the clue
30 mins with streamer outstanding and no desire to carry on worrying at it.
FOI nap
LOI dnf
COD insolvent
thanks Mara and D
As an American, I know I’m going to have to take my licks when UK-specific terms, acronyms, and spellings are required, but it’s extra frustrating when you have to parse Cockney Rhyming Slang. Both because it plain doesn’t get used here (“blow a raspberry” is the only one I can think of, and scant few know the term’s origin) and because, as a linguistic concept, CRS is fascinating and *maddening*.
Fortunately, I’ve watched Cracking the Cryptic enough to have heard of that term, so I got that one, but only after a loooong period of parsing “Butcher’s” as a contraction, not a possessive.
Second hardest one of the year for me so far (the hardest was by Bjorn on 10 January). Did not get Streamer, Garish or Massage. NHO Lesotho, but guessed it. Liked Notable.
23A had to be Beep. B from butcher and eep a short sound? But alas😥