Another eminently solvable puzzle for learners like me, in which most of the word play is straightforward. A couple of answers (17dn & 19ac) required a bit more thought on my part, but there is no obscure or devious vocabularly to worry about. I might even take a peek at the main crossword later…
Roughly imitating jackkt’s method:
Definitions are underlined
Square brackets contain indicators of anagram/enclosure/reversal etc.
Across |
1 |
BEDROOM – where yawners may be found, an angram of BOREDOM [unfortunately]. |
5 |
BIDET – BIDE (stay) with first letter of Taps [initially] for bathroom fitting. |
8 |
INFINITESIMAL – an anagram of LIMITS TIME IN A [rough] gives minute (as in, tiny). |
9 |
PRECEDE – P (elemental phosphorous) then RECEDE (withdraw) for lead. |
10 |
TENET – a palindromic opinion [unchanging from left of right]. |
11 |
FLEECE – double definition, rip off and coat. |
13 |
SPOTTY – S (small) and POTTY (crazy), perhaps like a teenager. |
15 |
OUTDO – to better is OUT (away from home) and DO (party). |
16 |
EXPLAIN – EX (old) with PLAIN (patent) gives interpret. |
19 |
SWASHBUCKLING – adventurous from SLING (throw), surrounding WASH (clean) + BUCK (jump like a horse) [getting caught]. |
20 |
EVENT – EVEN (regular) plus T (time) for incident. |
21 |
TRAINER – double definition, coach and type of shoe. |
Down |
1 |
BLIMP – B [first to burst] with LIMP (flaccid) gives this airship. |
2 |
DIFFERENTIATE – anagram of IN FAT FREE DIET [hopeless] for change. |
3 |
OUNCE – ONCE (days gone by) surrounding [around] middle letter of tUm for little weight. |
4 |
MUTTER – speak indistinctly from M (a thousand) plus UTTER (say). |
5 |
BUS STOP – the oblique definition is place for waiters, from US (American) inside [during] BST (British Summer Time) plus OP (opus, a musical work). |
6 |
DEMONSTRATION – exhibition is DEMON (wicked) plus STATION (place) surrounding [host to] R [rookie’s first]. |
7 |
TOLSTOY – it helps if you only know one Russian author! Anagram of LOTS [rewrite] before TOY (play). |
11 |
FOOTSIE – a form of flirting from an anagra of OFT SO [frisky] plue IE (that is). |
12 |
CROCHET – needlework from an anagram of chore [difficult] within [getting through] first and last letters of CarpeT [fringes]. |
14 |
RESULT – this is the outcome of an anagram of LUSTRE [tarnished]. |
17 |
PUKKA – homophone [did you say?] of “pucker” (crease) for genuine. |
18 |
NIGER – a country hidden in PakistaNI/GERman. |
Forgot to sign in but my handle is dobree49
So the clue should be read: To make “adventurous”, write “throw”, with “clean + jump” getting caught inside it.
Hope this helps and doesn’t just cause further confusion!
However it turned into a very enjoyable puzzle. I liked 1d, 5d and 13a which was my LOI.
After yesterday’s wonderful main puzzle, where you could only congratulate the setter on his artistry, you realise what skill a good setter has. I was only able to complete just under half of the clues without aids, but when I saw the answers to my unknowns either through cheats or in the blog, everything seemed so clear. But I just couldn’t see the answer at the time no matter how long I stared at it!
On the other hand, while the quickies use the same methods, the answers are rarely so well hidden. Perhaps that the art of setting a good quickie or a good main puzzle lies in being able to gauge the difficulty of “concealement” within a clue….
Decided to use my account to post this time even after the not so great experience of creating the account in Live Journal.