A fairly gentle puzzle for a Friday from our baker friend – it took me 4:06. I needed a few checkers from the downs to see some of the across answers (e.g. the boxer), but they all went in on a second pass through the clues. Thank-you Breadman. How did you all get on?
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Phil’s turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the crossword here. If you are interested in trying our previous offerings you can find an index to all 152 here.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions}and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Daughter is last to finish food (4) |
| DISH – D (daughter) + IS + last letter of finisH | |
| 4 | Extremely demure uniform characteristic of speaker (8) |
| DELIVERY – Outside letters, [extremely], of DemurE + LIVERY (uniform). | |
| 8 | Alison failed to secure EV around European country (8) |
| SLOVENIA – (Alison)* [failed] includes, [to secure], EV [around] -> VE. | |
| 9 | Periodically, fruit pie’s ready to eat (4) |
| RIPE – Alternate letters, [periodically], of fRuIt PiE. | |
| 10 | Foreign nobleman encounters unknown shire (6) |
| COUNTY – COUNT (foreign noblemen) + Y (unknown in a maths equation). “Encounters” here is a juxtaposition indicator. | |
| 11 | Maybe Bob ate duck around Ireland (6) |
| HAIRDO – HAD (ate) + O (0; duck in cricket) [around] IR. (Abbreviation for Ireland). Bob who? I thought initially, before I saw the answer. | |
| 12 | Boxer wobbling, hurt, finally beaten amid cheers (5,8) |
| ROCKY MARCIANO – ROCKY (wobbling) + MAR (hurt) + last letter of beateN in CIAO (cheers). I left this until I got checkers from the downs which led me directly to the answer.. and then I parsed it later. | |
| 16 | Points affected another part of engine (6) |
| PISTON – (Points)* [affected]. | |
| 17 | Formal attire boyfriend, southeast Asian, picked up (3,3) |
| BOW TIE – Sounds like BEAU (boyfriend) + THAI (southeast Asian), [picked up]. | |
| 19 | Unrestrained Republican in charge (4) |
| FREE – R (Republican) in FEE (charge). | |
| 20 | Band start to tout single that’s often played on phones (8) |
| RINGTONE – RING (band) + first letter of, [start to], Tour + ONE (single). | |
| 21 | Liqueur developed in estate (8) |
| ANISETTE – (in estate)* [developed]. | |
| 22 | Schedule artist retains over time (4) |
| ROTA – RA (Royal Academician) including, [retains], O (over) + T (time). | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 2 | US soldier set up facilities in simple dwelling (5) |
| IGLOO – GI (US soldier) reversed [set up -it’s a down clue] -> IG + LOO (facilities). | |
| 3 | Dropping litter and becoming anxious (6,7) |
| HAVING KITTENS – Double definition, the first a mildly cryptic hint. | |
| 4 | Foppish fellow departs with Yankee (5) |
| DANDY – D (departs, from e.g. a train timetable) + AND (with) + Y (Yankee in the phonetic alphabet). | |
| 5 | Earl abroad covers the skin (7) |
| LEATHER – (Earl)* [abroad] outside, [covers], THE. | |
| 6 | State service provider missing one location in Surrey (8,5) |
| VIRGINIA WATER – VIRGINIA (state) + WA{i}TER (service provider) without, [missing], the I (one). I used to live quite close to Virginia Water 30 years ago. | |
| 7 | Enlisted chief journalist to probe Ripon criminal (5,2) |
| ROPED IN – ED (editor; chief journalist) in, [to probe], (Ripon)* [criminal]. | |
| 10 | Aggressive dog’s curfew half ignored (3) |
| CUR – CUR{few} [half ignored]. | |
| 13 | Greek character’s minor company briefly reorganised (7) |
| OMICRON – (minor co)* [reorganised], with “co” for company [briefly]. | |
| 14 | Some athlete ran impulsively up tower (7) |
| MINARET – Reverse hidden, [some… up] in ahtleTE RAN IMpulsively. | |
| 15 | Duke supporting old English verse (3) |
| ODE – O (old) + D (duke) + E (English). “Supporting” indicates the D is below the O as this is a down clue. | |
| 17 | Head bishop formerly (5) |
| BONCE – B (bishop in chess notation) + ONCE (formerly). | |
| 18 | Pub exactly what’s needed, don’t you think? (5) |
| INNIT – INN (pub) + IT (exactly what’s needed, as in “that’s it|”). | |
9 minutes.
Failed by 6 on 15 x 15.
Nightmare week:
Monday – 9 mins
Tuesday – 30 mins
Wednesday -44 mins DNF
Thursday – 40 mins DNF
Friday – 9 mins
Total -2 hours, 12 mins
Given my experience, that must count as one of my worst weeks (the two quick solves are little consolation when seen in the wider context).
I spent around 7.5 hours on 15 x 15 this week. A long, long slog with little to show at the end of it.
8.08. No unease in the stables.
Oh ho Easter treat. Wrote BOWTIE but did not think hard enough to get the clue, very clever. And HAIRDO escaped me completely I like that one. But I’ve led such a sheltered life ANISETTE was a mystery to me, I gave up after Absinthe didn’t fit and I haven’t tried that either it didn’t do the Impressionists any good!
Ha but I did like Pastis!!
After what seemed to be a slow start and a potential struggle we finished in a faster than average 9:34. Liked BONCE! Thanks to John and Breadman.