Quick Cryptic No 354 by Hurley

Author   piquetPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Maybe because I’m on holiday with little or no time away from the young ones, I found this a mite trickier than the usual Friday puzzle. In retrospect there’s nothing unfair or obscure, but Mr Hurley has both tested and amused us with this offering.

Across
1 BISMARCK – ‘Redesigned’ means it’s an anagram of CASK BRIM, def. old German.
5 LASS – Reversed word (‘over’) in DISMI(SSAL)S, def. girl.
8 SLANT – S(TEE)L = disheartened steel, SL, ANT = worker; def. bias.
9 NATALIE – NAT(IONAL), A, LIE = position, def. woman.
11 TIE – IT’s backing = TI, E – European, def. link.
12 CLOCKWORK – LOCK = canal section, W = western, inside CORK (Irish City); def. mechanism.
13 POCKET – First and last letters (outsiders) of the words PolO, ChecK, EvenT; def. area (isolated).
15 POODLE – D for Duke inside POOLE = port in Dorset, def. dog.
18 SINGAPORE – GAP = space, inside anagram of SENIOR indicated by ‘resettled’, def. Asian country.
19 CAB – First letters of Companion Arrives By, def. taxi.
20 OPULENT – OPU(S) = artistic work unfinished, LENT = advanced money, def. wealthy.
21 BRASS – BASS = singer, embraces R = queen, def. cheek.
22 PLEA – LE = the French, inside PA = Dad, def. request.
23 DRUDGERY – Anagram of D URGED, then RY = extreme letters of RapidlY, def. hard work! Hard work indeed for a quickie clue!

Down
1 BUS STOP – POTS = trophies, SUB = reserve, ‘brought up’, def. waiting area.
2 SKATE – S = small, KATE = girl, def. swimmer, usually crossword-ese for a fish.
3 ATTACHE CASE – A, TT = dry, ACHE = pain, CASE = patient, def. &lit. Definitely a main crossword level clue,with such a vague definition.
4 CANNON – CAN = is able to, N = name, ON = acceptable, def. weapon.
6 ALL TOLD – Double definition, one literal.
7 STEAK – Sounds like STAKE = interest; def. cut of beef.
10 TAKEOVER BID – Anagram of VETO I’D BREAK, def. attempt to control.
14 CENSURE – sCrEeN regularly missing = CEN, SURE = yes, def. criticise.
16 EMBASSY – Anagram of MESS BY A, def. mission.
17 PORTER – PORT = left, ER = some hesitation, def. ale, maybe.
18 SCOOP – S = society, CO-OP = shop, def. exclusive.
19 CRANE – C = crew initially, RAN = managed, E = energy, def. lifting device.

11 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 354 by Hurley”

  1. Definitely a demanding one, although I didn’t help myself by flinging in ‘overtake bid’ for some reason, and by stalling over 2d, where all I could come up with was ‘shake’. Biffed SINGAPORE from checkers and def, and only now realize that I never checked it; I think this is tougher than 23ac. 9:50.
  2. I also found this trickier than the preceding couple of Quickies, held up by SINGAPORE, OPULENT and SCOOP all in the SW corner, and for some reason by SKATE in the NW. Nothing remotely unfair or obscure as far as I was,concerned but some of it simply needed thinking through carefully.
  3. Very few answers went in on first read through but chuffed I got 3d before I had any checkers. On the other hand carelessly put in miss for 5a and ALL TOLD was therefore my last in after correcting.

    Favourite CLOCKWORK.

  4. I couldn’t work out if it was the puzzle or if I was just being a bit slow – so thanks for the above comments. Definitely didn’t help myself by putting ‘all said’ in 6dn until ‘clockwork’ cleared it up. Despite this, my LOI was 2dn – which I’m interested to see also caused problems to some other regulars and I’m at a loss to explain why. COD 18dn.

    Edited at 2015-07-17 09:45 am (UTC)

  5. Yes, I found this relatively hard work too (but not DRUDGERY). 3d took some working out – a bit disconcerting seeing A_T_C_E in the checkers with ARTICLE in the clue. 12a and 18a my favourites. 8:33.
  6. Quite a little tester, or words to that effect! The last couple of clues took as long as all the others to solve, and I’m still not entirely sure why TT = dry, unless it’s teetotal? Invariant
    1. Yes, it stands for ‘teetotal’ and turns up regularly in the main puzzle so is worth remembering if you have ambitions in that direction.
  8. I’m having a really bad run at the moment. Today I was defeated by 3d and 14d which even having read the blog feel above my ability. Thank you for clarifying why TT = dry. Also failed to get 4d and 12a which I feel I should have solved with hindsight.
  9. This was too hard for a quick cryptic and definitely off putting to novices!!!

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