Quick Cryptic No 346 by Pedro

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Most of this flew in but one or two caused pause for thought which, with some good surfaces (making a difficult choice of COD), made the puzzle satisfying. I’m enjoying a week in 1dn, where the wonderful scenery is well worth the wear on the knees.

Definitions underlined, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition, deletions CROSSED OUT

Across
1 Biscuits or nuts (8)
&nbsp &nbspCRACKERS – dd.
5 Flag opening of science workroom (4)
&nbsp &nbspSLAB – (S)cience, LAB.
9 Mother’s working as a builder (5)
&nbsp &nbspMASON – MA’S ON.
10 A husband engaged in samba dancing in islands (7)
&nbsp &nbspBAHAMAS – Anagram (dancing) of SAMBA including a (A) husband (H).
11 Unreliable fellow reduced speed (3)
&nbsp &nbspRAT – RATe
12 Unaware 51 in clear (9)
&nbsp &nbspOBLIVIOUS – 51 (LI) in OBVIOUS.
13 Way into a yard provokes lack of interest (6)
&nbsp &nbspAPATHY – Way (PATH) in A yard (Y).
15 Run into group of people for a meal (6)
&nbsp &nbspBRUNCH – R inside BUNCH.
17 Wild gunshot limiting the French attack (9)
&nbsp &nbspONSLAUGHT – The French (LA) inside an anagram (wild) of GUNSHOT.
19 Expert not good, on reflection (3)
&nbsp &nbspDAB – Not good – bad – backwards (DAB) – as in dab hand.
20 Hearty consumer: stomach not turned after swallowing litre (7)
&nbsp &nbspGLUTTON – Stomach (GUT), not turned (TON) – inside which (swallowing) is litre (L).
21 I nod off before end of concert — that’s inappropriate (5)
&nbsp &nbspINAPT – I NAP concer(T).
22 Item on keyboard — A, B, C, D, F or G? (4)
&nbsp &nbspNOTE – Everything else between A and G but NOT E. My COD.
23 Russian guy, a soldier, perhaps — NCO? (8)
&nbsp &nbspSERGEANT – Russian guy (SERGE), soldier (ANT). I’m a little unsure about Serge = Russian guy – here’s Wikipedia – Serge /ˈsɜrdʒ/ is a male given name, particularly common in France and Belgium; as Sérgio in Portugal, Brazil and other Lusophone nations , as Sergi or Sergio in Catalonia, as Sergiu in Romania and Moldova, as Sergio in Italy, Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin America, and as Sergey / Sergei in Russian.

Down
1 Cold region of Italy, where lakes are found? (7)
&nbsp &nbspCUMBRIA – Cold (C), UMBRIA.
2 Useful item when taking on some tennis (5)
&nbsp &nbspASSET – When (AS), SET – very topical.
3 Think for ages when moving card (4,2,6)
&nbsp &nbspKING OF HEARTS – Anagram (when moving) of THINK FOR AGES.
4 Disruptive type beginning to boogie in Scottish dance (5)
&nbsp &nbspREBEL – (B)oogie in REEL.
6 Ridicule a politician cornered by fool (7)
&nbsp &nbspLAMPOON – A MP inside LOON.
7 Book with unaltered fundamental point (5)
&nbsp &nbspBASIS – Book (B), unaltered (AS IS).
8 All supporting Telegraph heartlessly? Just what we need! (3,4,5)
&nbsp &nbspTHE VERY THING – All (EVERYTHING) supporting (under) TelegrapH. My second favourite COD.
14 Attack a sailor, we hear (7)
&nbsp &nbspASSAULT – Homophone (we hear) of a salt.
16 Environment somewhat protected by capital accessory (7)
&nbsp &nbspHABITAT – Somewhat (A BIT) inside capital accessory (HAT).
17 Nothing published about head of Government in newspaper? (5)
&nbsp &nbspORGAN – Nothing (O), published (RAN) as in the editor ran the story, around (G)overnment.
18 Information concerning literary style (5)
&nbsp &nbspGENRE – Information (GEN), concerning (RE).
19 Doctor leading a parent in play (5)
&nbsp &nbspDRAMA – Doctor (DR), A MA.

10 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 346 by Pedro”

  1. My copy of The Times has a different clue, the rather inelegant “Expression of pleasure when engaged in samba dancing in Islands”. Same answer, but I do prefer the “A husband” clue. I wonder which clue is the original and why and when it was swapped.
    1. Interesting. I have the paper version, with the “husband” variant. Nothing too difficult today. Toyed with YAWNED for 13a, but didn’t write it in as it wouldn’t parse. 1d led me down the right path. 1a went straight in… I gave crackers and nuts to my in-laws for Christmas presents in consecutive years. 8d my COD.

      Edited at 2015-07-07 08:59 am (UTC)

      1. So is next year’s present to them going to be a cuckoo clock or a bunch of bananas?
  2. I failed to find any connection between flags and slabs until I was sitting down at breakfast with my feet on the flagstones. The “assualt” (sic) needs a reversal!!
  3. Most of this went in quite quickly but the last few (5a, 7d, 17d and 22a) were a bit of a struggle. Couldn’t fully parse 7d, 8d and 16d, but as usual they seem fairly obvious having read the blog. COD 22a, once I’d finally figured it out. I too was a bit unsure about a Russian called Serge.
  4. I thought there were quite a few tricky ones here, so I was quite pleased to finish just on the hour mark, with only 16d unparsed. 8d and 14d were my two favourites from a number of contenders. Invariant
  5. Sunday Times by Jeff Pearce 15 June 2015

    26ac A,B,C,D, F or G? (NOTE)

    Edited at 2015-07-07 04:00 pm (UTC)

  6. Count me as another who wasn’t convinced by Serge as a Russian name.
  7. I found this quite difficult but in the end do-able.
    Much seems to depend on the order you solve the clues e.g.15a: I had Dinner at first but when that didn’t fit lunch plus a gave me Launch; when that didn’t fit and I parsed it properly Brunch emerged.
    My last two were Cumbria which led finally to Apathy -an odd note on which to finish -and yes I was thinking of words like Yawn. David

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