Quick Cryptic No 356 by Mara

Author   ChrisPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Not sure I was operating on all cylinders and struggled somewhat – even so I would class this as hard. Most anagrams have additional parts inserted, some vocabulary is unusual and on top of all this there are two seabirds in the same clue.

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

Across
1 Police spraying grenades around capital in Mauritania (9)
&nbsp &nbspGENDARMES – Anagram (spraying) of GRENADES around (M)auritania. Gendarme is more than just a member of the police force in France, it is also a slang word for a policeman and (for your further interest) a sharp pinnacle of rock on a mountain ridge.
6 Lean back to observe hole (3)
&nbsp &nbspPIT – TIP backwards.
8 Horse set to poke around nosebag, initially (7)
&nbsp &nbspGELDING – Set (GEL), to poke (DIG – as in ‘in the ribs’) around (N)osebag.
9 Major variation of Elgar (5)
&nbsp &nbspLARGE – Anagram (variation of) ELGAR.
10 Chip that’s hot in old vessel, turned over (5)
&nbsp &nbspNACHO – Hit (H) inside old (O) and vessel (CAN) backwards.
12 Journalistic post — some respected it originally (6)
&nbsp &nbspEDITOR – Respet(ED IT OR)iginally.
14 Entertaining daughter, unfortunately one is certain to be rude? (13)
&nbsp &nbspINCONSIDERATE – Anagram (unfortunately) of ONE IS CERTAIN holding daughter (D).
16 Supporters — in pairs? (6)
&nbsp &nbspBRACES – A pair of braces.
17 Musical in which the queen is a man! (5)
&nbsp &nbspCHESS – Chessmen include the queen.
19 Jack the cad! (5)
&nbsp &nbspKNAVE – dd.
20 US state endlessly consuming an aromatic herb (7)
&nbsp &nbspOREGANO – OREGON Holding AN.
22 What’s left after burning tree (3)
&nbsp &nbspASH – dd.
23 Fool tips lemon all over the place (9)
&nbsp &nbspSIMPLETON – Anagram (all over the place) of TIPS LEMON.

Down
1 Huge concert trick (8)
&nbsp &nbspGIGANTIC – Concert (GIG), trick (ANATIC).
2 Nothing new in legislation, for starters (3)
&nbsp &nbspNIL – (N)ew (I)n (L)egislation.
3 Friend, is yours truly? Get away! (5)
&nbsp &nbspAMIGO – Is yours truly (AM I), get away (GO).
4 Matters coming out in highly-charged disturbance (8,5)
&nbsp &nbspMAGNETIC STORM – Anagram (out) of MATTERS COMING.
5 Cross sailor overcoming fury (7)
&nbsp &nbspSALTIRE – Sailor (SALT), over fury (IRE). A Saltire is (heraldry) an ordinary consisting of a diagonal cross on a shield – of which the Scottish nationl flag is one.
6 Crime in the paper in clergyman’s residence (9)
&nbsp &nbspPARSONAGE – Crime (ARSON) in paper (PAGE).
7 One making a knot level (4)
&nbsp &nbspTIER – dd.
11 Insect, bird and fish (9)
&nbsp &nbspCOCKROACH – COCK, ROACH.
13 Stirrer in soap not fussed about malice, ultimately (8)
&nbsp &nbspTEASPOON – Anagram (fussed) of SOAP NOT around malic(E).
15 Uncle built American centre (7)
&nbsp &nbspNUCLEUS – Anagram (built) of UNCLE, American (US).
17 In which to find lobsters, caught with fishing equipment (5)
&nbsp &nbspCREEL – Caught (C), fishing equipment (REEL).
18 Seabird seeing seabirds rising (4)
&nbsp &nbspSKUA – AUKS upwards.
21 Skill in both Bartok and Sartre (3)
&nbsp &nbspART – In B(ART)ok and S(ART)re.

10 comments on “Quick Cryptic No 356 by Mara”

    1. I know what you mean – I had to look it up too – Chess is a musical with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, formerly of ABBA, and with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story involves a politically driven, Cold War-era chess tournament (apparently).

  3. Tricky indeed – makes me very glad I don’t blog on Mondays when the puzzle is unavailable in advance! Thanks Chris.

    Sorry to post the request here, but I’ve gone on holiday by mistake, and need a sub for tomorrow. Wifi is hit and miss and I’m driving off through the Provencal countryside soon! Of course, I’ll return the favour on any date it there’s a taker.

    I hope someone can help!

    1. No problem – I’ll sub. Bonnes vacances! – just translated by spell checker as bones vacancies!
  4. I was surprised to finish quicker than average as there are some nice meaty clues today. My strategy of picking off the easy ones first to get checkers helped with 1d and 14a (my last 2 in) and I was glad I knew my seabirds for 18d. 3d and 17a my favourites.
  5. I didn’t think that this was too tough. Having said that I missed a couple of anagrams at 13d and 14a both bifd. I was a bit confused by editor as I was thinking of posting on the internet not post as a job. COD 18d.
  6. Took a little bit longer with this than yesterday’s challenge. Lost time with trying to parse 12ac having completely failed to spot the hidden word, and with the 17 ac/d combination. I bet I wasn’t the only one to have considerable Tied for 7d either. Still, an enjoyable QC and a good blog, even if I am a bit dubious about Gendarme being used as slang for policeman – what happened to flic ? Invariant
  7. Found this demanding but do-able.I discover I got 7d wrong-ah well.
    Delayed a bit by choosing the wrong letters for the anagram at 14a.
    My last two were Nacho Amigo.
    David

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