This took me 10 minutes on my Android tablet (the Times pop-up keyboard works in Firefox for Android, I have discovered, but not in the default browser). Several of the clues were not instant write-ins and required checking letters first; one or two I feel are tricky enough for the main Cryptic, so well done to any beginners who are keeping up with the march of progress. And well done Felix for a ‘happy’ puzzle.
Across |
1 |
FLABBERGASTED – Anagram (aged Barb’s left)*, indicated by ‘poor’, def. ‘stunned’. If you did the easier 1dn first and then knew it begins with F, it was much easier to unravel. |
8 |
NUMBERS – sort of amusing cryptic definition, and obvious from the checkers, a number is a synonym for a song especially in a live performance; is there something else going on here I’ve missed? [Added: extras, as in a movie, make up the numbers: thanks ulaca]. |
9 |
LINED – double def., ‘filled’ (the pie dish is lined…) and ‘with wrinkles’ as in ‘his face was lined’. |
10 |
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY – an easy one. Def. = carefree, HAPPY = dwarf, at first (one of Snow White’s friends), GO = journey, LUCKY = charmed. |
12 |
OLDHAM – Used = OLD, poor actor = HAM, for the place with an Athletic football team. I dimly remember the ad for car batteries as well – ‘I told ’em…’ |
14 |
INDIGO – At home = IN, followed by DIG O (do no gardening) the def. is ‘sort of blue’. Mood Indigo – great tune by the Duke. |
17 |
KITCHEN – A very neat clue; the anagram of (THICKEN)* is indicated by ‘stews’ and the def. is the whole clue (often called an &lit. clue). |
19 |
SLANG – Did hymns = SANG, with fifty in = insert L, def. vernacular. |
20 |
YUKON – That = YON (as in ‘see yon cow, it’s a bull’). Insert UK (‘eclipse this country’) for a part of Canada. There aren’t many parts of Canada with five letters, so you probably guessed the answer and saw the ‘YON’ bit afterwards, or not. |
21 |
RANSOME – He didn’t manage the lot, he RAN SOME. Arthur Ransome, 1884 – 1967, author of Swallows and Amazons, and various other more adult stuff, he even has an asteroid named after him. |
22 |
DIOXIDES – Def. ‘compounds’. (Six odd i.e.)* indicated by ‘unstable’. And some dioxides are unstable, others (like titanium dioxide) are not. |
23 |
ADDS – A vaguely amusing cryptic definition, misdirecting you to think of harvesting and the like. |
Down |
1 |
FUNK – Entertainment = FUN, K = start of karaoke, def. ‘music’. Not my kind of music, and also the name of an unfortunately named American golfer, Fred. |
2 |
ARMBAND – A, RM (Royal Marine) BAND (ensemble), something which helps keep you afloat. |
3 |
BLEEP – Def. ‘something added by censor’, hidden word in OBJECTIONA(BLE EP)IC. |
4 |
RESIGN – Sway = REIGN (in the sense of ‘hold sway over’), insert S = small, def. ‘stand down’. I had to think about this one for a minute or two. |
5 |
AULD LANG SYNE – (DEAN SUNG ALL)*, indicated by ‘wrong’, with Y inserted. I could go into reams about the answer, but I’m not Scottish, so I won’t. |
6 |
TUNIC – ‘Friar briefly’ = TUC(K), insert IN = fashionable, def. ‘coat’. |
7 |
DADDY LONG LEGS – Def. ‘fly’, DADDY’S is ‘holding’ LONG LEG. Easy if you know cricket or another name for crane flies. |
11 |
JOCKEYED – Probably the most tricky clue today. Wisecrack = JOKE, insert a C (the C is for Conservative), gives you JOCKE, then YE’D = you’d, def. jostled. |
13 |
ASHANTI – Remains after firing = ASH, opponent = ANTI, def. West African. The Ashanti people live mostly in Ghana and once had an Empire. |
15 |
IN A WORD – I, (ONWARD)*, indicated by ‘ploughed’, def. ‘briefly’. |
16 |
UNTRUE – Another tricky one. HUNT = trail, remove the H (‘left by leader’) to get UNT, add RUE = regret, def. ‘false’. |
18 |
TOKYO – The outskirts of ‘territory’ gives you T and Y. Insert OK = fine, gives you TOKY; add an O = old, a complicated way to get the short name of a city. If you already had the O from 22ac it was easy to guess then see why afterwards. |
2 ac is almost my COD but that honour has to go to one down, as it is one of my favourite genres of music. If any of you are funk fans I can highly recommend Brother Strut, a newly-formed outfit made up of highly experienced session musicians. Otha Smith’s guitar playing is up there with May & Clapton. They can be found on Facebook.
Nice puzzle this.
Liked 7d but was unable to parse fully RESIGN and UNTRUE.
Last one in was IN A WORD since I missed the now obvious use of ploughed as an anagram indicator.
Good puzzle.
Pip, I think you’re being a little harsh on 23a, which I think is rather good, especially with ‘does’ being an anagram of ODES to entrap the unwary.
LOI ASHANTI which I only got(tentatively)from the wordplay of Ash and Anti. Had never heard of these good people.
COD 7 dn for me.
Thanks for a very neat blog Pip.
This one was definitely too hard for me. I managed 7 clues after 3 sittings and then stomped off and ate chocolate.
Are you saying you think the QCs will get harder over time? I do hope not because beginners have to start somewhere. I was presuming they’d stay within the same range of difficulty with nice easy ones and also ones like this at the harder end of the spectrum. I would keep on practising and hopefully improving and then one day I might be able to give the grown-up crossword a try.
Meanwhile, I’ll cheer myself up with a good 55 minute Killer SuDoku!