This had a different feel from the usual QC fare, and I took a while to get into it. I got almost nowhere with the NW corner on first pass, and had to look several times at the longer answers before pennies started dropping. Particular difficulties for me were 17ac (where the answer and parsing were tricky) and 5dn (for which the answer was obvious from checkers, but the parsing had to wait) both of which I biffed with a shrug. Overall, I’d say it’s tough.
Definitions underlined.
| Across | |
| 1 | Every so often, setting a mean mark! (6) |
| STIGMA – every other letter from (every so often) SeTtInG a MeAn. | |
| 4 | Requirement to keep dry, now you’ve landed (6) |
| NETTED – NEED (requirement) containing (to keep) TT (teetotal, dry) | |
| 8 | Cool art forms part of index (7) |
| LOCATOR – anagram of (forms) COOL ART. Apparently, the page numbers under the headings in an index are known as locators. Makes sense, but was new to me. | |
| 10 | Old king held back by lese-majesty (5) |
| JAMES – reverse hidden in (held back by) leSE-MAJesty. | |
| 11 | Journalist trapped in vehicle that has cones all round it? (5) |
| CEDAR – ED (journalist) surrounded by (trapped in) CAR (vehicle). | |
| 12 | Denies a Yankee, eg, has been entertained by Poles (7) |
| NAYSAYS – A, Y (Yankee in the phonetic alphabet) and SAY (eg) all inside (entertained by) N and S (north and south, poles). I’ve seen ‘say’ = ‘eg’ before, but not the other way round. | |
| 13 | Stormont House’s leader altered extreme position (9) |
| NORTHMOST – anagram of (altered) STORMONT and the first letter of (…’s leader) House. | |
| 17 | Fighter in Canadian feature knocking out Lawrence (7) |
| STRIVER – removal of (knocking out) ‘Lawrence’ from ST. lawrence RIVER (Canadian feature). I thought this was a stinker, as I didn’t realise I was looking for a river, haven’t heard of this particular river, and struggled to make the asociation between ‘fight’ and ‘strive’. | |
| 19 | Regretting replacing first of scooters with large truck (5) |
| LORRY – sORRY (regretting), replacing the ‘s’ (first of scooters) with ‘L’ (large). | |
| 20 | A ring or chain in water (5) |
| ATOLL – A and TOLL (ring). A chain of islands in the sea. | |
| 21 | Dawn insures convertible (7) |
| SUNRISE – anagram of (convertible) INSURES. | |
| 22 | In Dallas, Carol dated sailor (6) |
| LASCAR – hidden in (in) dalLAS CARol. Another new bit of (antiquated) vocabulary for me, but a super clue! | |
| 23 | Cosmetics on faces of the old, not exactly right, somehow (6) |
| TONERS – first letters from (on the faces of) The Old Not Exactly Right Somehow. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Note doctor brings comfort (6) |
| SOLACE – SO (note, from the sol-fa scale, do-re-mi, etc.) then LACE (doctor, as in doctor/lace/tamper with a drink). | |
| 2 | Are they organised by CID in Montrose? (8,5) |
| INCIDENT ROOMS – anagram of (organised) CID IN MONTROSE. The whole thing is a sort of cryptic definition, but it falls short of being an &lit. due to the slightly clunky contruction of the anagrind. Still a contender for COD though. | |
| 3 | More experienced, but could make erratum (7) |
| MATURER – anagram of (could make) ERRATUM. | |
| 5 | Experience for the French going on transport (5) |
| ENJOY – EN (French for going on, as in travelling by, as in voyage en train) then JOY (transport, as in rapture). I would not be surprised if I’ve got the wrong end of the stick. | |
| 6 | What prisoners do when pub closes, repeatedly (4,5,4) |
| TIME AFTER TIME – TIME (what prisoners do) and AFTER TIME (when pub closes). | |
| 7 | Stop Des first! (6) |
| DESIST – DES and 1ST (first). Cunning, and I suppose a bit irresistable for this setter. | |
| 9 | Farmers organised statue of God outside church (9) |
| RANCHEROS – RAN (organised) and EROS (statue of god, in this case the Greek god of love) containing (outside) CH (church). My LOI, despite having the right explanation for the parsing, and seeing ‘ranchers’ early on, but finding myself a letter short. | |
| 14 | Golden light round Florida resort (7) |
| ORLANDO – OR (golden, from heraldry), LAND (light), and O (round). I have subsequently discovered that this meaning of ‘light’ or ‘alight’ (to dismount or land after a journey) literally means to make light (less heavy). Nice. | |
| 15 | Go for a boat trip, touring south (6) |
| ASSAIL – A and SAIL (boat trip) containing (touring) S (south). | |
| 16 | French schools, or else youth clubs — initially — reformed (6) |
| LYCEES – anagram of (reformed) ELSE and the first letters from (initially) Youth Clubs. | |
| 18 | Roman road circling two lakes and country house (5) |
| VILLA – VIA (Roman road) containing (circling) two Ls (lakes). | |
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