We have a new Quick Cryptic setter going by the name of Tilt today. Welcome! I didn’t find the puzzle very easy, and some of the surfaces a bit odd, but then I’m not a pinball wizard. It took me over 9 minutes, which counts as a bad day for me. Thank-you Tilt! How did you all get on?
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is my turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the crossword entitled “A Cry For Help?” here. The title is itself a cryptic clue to the theme. Can you find it and the related thematic references? If you are interested in trying our previous offerings you can find an index to all 154 here.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions} and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Peak starts to fall under joint initiative (4) |
| FUJI – First letters of , [starts to], Fall Under Joint Initiative. | |
| 4 | Argument over the untidy home became annoying (4,4) |
| WORE THIN – ROW (argument) [over] -> WOR + (the)* [untidy] + IN (home). I was slow to see this but a reversal and an anagram in a charade is a bit tricky for a QC, I think. | |
| 8 | Awful peaty gin from African country (8) |
| EGYPTIAN – [Awful] (peaty gin)*. Well I’ve tasted peaty whiskies but never a peaty gin… and I’m not sure I’d want to. Is that a thing? | |
| 9 | Artificial sole binds to boot (4) |
| ALSO – Hidden in, [binds], artifiAL SOle. Nicely hidden. | |
| 10 | Spoilt son leaves ready to ride (6) |
| ADDLED – {s}ADDLED (ready to ride) without the S (son). | |
| 11 | Chinese dynasty heard important one’s blown in (6) |
| HANKIE – HAN (Chinese dynasty) + KIE sounds like, [heard], KEY (important). A cheeky definiton that made me smile. | |
| 12 | One has a meaningful job in publishing (13) |
| LEXICOGRAPHER – Cryptic definition. | |
| 16 | Powerful women and men (6) |
| QUEENS – Double definition, the second referring to chess men. Another one that held me up. | |
| 17 | This author’s introduced to unacceptable idea (6) |
| NOTION – I (this author) in, [introduced to], NOT ON (unacceptable). | |
| 19 | American Express entertaining staff (4) |
| CANE – Hidden in AmeriCAN Express, [entertaining]. | |
| 20 | United’s front two don’t move or warm up (8) |
| UNFREEZE – First two letters [front two] of UNited + FREEZE (don’t move). I’m not sure I could imagine such a thing described in the surface reading happening on a football field. | |
| 21 | Once more check out donkeys in reserve (8) |
| REASSESS – ASSES (donkeys) in RES (abbreviation for reserve). | |
| 22 | English show contempt for returning team (4) |
| SIDE – E (English) + DIS (show contempt) reversed [returning] -> SIDE. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 2 | Incited blonde grumbling about borders (5) |
| URGED – Reverse hidden in [about borders] blonDE GRUmbling. The surface meaning is? I dunno. | |
| 3 | Impetuosity livens up Messi when playing (13) |
| IMPULSIVENESS – (livens up Messi)* [when playing]. | |
| 4 | Earl in Wisconsin turned Doctor Strange (5) |
| WEIRD – E (earl) [in] WI (abbreviation for Wisconsin) + DR (doctor) [turned] -> RD. Another mysterious surface reading. | |
| 5 | Farmer managed pop diva (7) |
| RANCHER – RAN (managed) + CHER (pop diva). | |
| 6 | What Professor McGonagall does with small geeks (13) |
| TRAINSPOTTERS – TRAINS POTTER (what Professor McGonagall does) + S (small). Ho ho. How odd. We had this answer in a puzzle just yesterday. Which clue do you prefer? | |
| 7 | Iris worked with pen to stimulate the imagination (7) |
| INSPIRE – (Iris + pen)* [worked]. | |
| 10 | Cleaner removing clothing to be off colour (3) |
| AIL – {d}AIL{y} (cleaner) without the outside letters [removed clothing]. Another wacky surface, I think. | |
| 13 | Teach ace duet to dance (7) |
| EDUCATE – (ace duet)* [to dance]. | |
| 14 | Unknown rubs Coe the wrong way (7) |
| OBSCURE – (rubs Coe)* [the wrong way]. | |
| 15 | Make a short trip, arguing regularly (3) |
| RUN – Alternate letters [regularly] of aRgUiNg. I was a bit unconvinced by this at first, but it is definition 16 for RUN in Chambers. | |
| 17 | Loud female drunk by noon is producing unpleasant smells (5) |
| NIFFS – F (forte; loud) + F (female) in [drunk by] N (noon) + IS. Not someone I’d want to meet before noon or any other time, for that matter. | |
| 18 | Discharged bishop departs drunk (5) |
| OOZED – {b}OOZED (drunk) without the B (bishop). | |
Held up at the end by QUEENS. I always forget that when I have a checked U to try Q before it. I didn’t know who Professor McGonnagall was since I never read Harry Potter, although I deduced from TRAINSPOTTER that he must be a teacher at Hogwarts.
Ditto, but saw that RULERS was a possibility and tbought no more
I don’t remember doing so, but I think I may have nodded off whilst solving this. I certainly hope I did, as the timer was on 50 minutes when I eventually finished.
I struggled over a few clues when It came to completing the grid, most notably TRAINSPOTTER as the only McGonagall I was aware of was the Scottish rhymester and I was trying to related the clue to him. I know nothing of the detail of Harry Potter, only a passing acquaintance that has been impossible to avoid picking up.
HANKIE looks wrong to me as I would spell it ‘hanky’. One source classes it as the US spelling but others list both as valid alternatives.
Another Harry Potter-free zone here, so I suppose I have to nominate the Loon clue which I wasn’t that crazy about yesterday. While looking it up I noticed that today’s crossword is numbered the same as yesterday’s, and should be 3290. I found this quite tough, and finished in 12.08 with the SE holding out the longest. UNFREEZE opened the door to OOZES and NIFFS (huh?) was a guess. Thanks John and hello Tilt, welcome to the crease.