Times Quick Cryptic 1937 by Izetti

This was difficult, but the clueing is scrupulously fair and often very clever. I certainly enjoyed the challenge, but it took longer to complete than any QC of late.

Newbies getting stuck, improvers completing the grid but not really knowing why, and old QC hands taking longer than expected, should all take heart. I hope everything is explained clearly enough, but if not, please ask.

Definitions underlined.

Across
1	Funny company host entertaining one (5)
	COMIC – CO (company) and MC (host) containing (entertaining) I (one).
4	Duck in river in Italy and river in African country (7)
	POCHARD – PO (river in Italy), then R (river) in CHAD (African country). A diving duck.
8	Student not so thick, having embraced reading? (7)
	LEARNER – LEANER (not so thick) containing (embracing) R (reading, one of the 3Rs). I am left to guess that this abbreviation for reading is actually used somewhere, and knowing the setter’s penchant for religious references, assume it is from Christian service. Thanks to Paul for putting me straight.
9	A November in which female sits looking poorly? (5)
	ASHEN – A and N (November, phonetic alphabet), containing (in which… sits) SHE (female).
10	A tiny store specially designed for office materials (10)
	STATIONERY – anagram of (specially designed) A TINY STORE.
14	Bear running loose in New York right behind you! (6)
	NEARBY – anagram of (running loose) BEAR inside NY (New York).
15	Flowers contributing to Easter Sunday (6)
	ASTERS -hidden in (contributing to) eASTER Sunday.
17	Sober? I assume half of bottle drunk (10)
	ABSTEMIOUS – anagram of (drunk) I ASSUME and half of BOTtle. Hats off.
20	Twelve practise meditation, possibly? (5)
	DOZEN – DO ZEN (practice meditation, possibly).
22	Requirement came first, making one annoyed (7)
	NEEDLED – NEED (requirement) and LED (came first).
23	Note feature of act (6,1)
	MIDDLE C – a feature of the word ‘act’ is that it has a MIDDLE letter ‘C’.
24	Belief in number of commandments from a world beyond (5)
	TENET – TEN (number of commandments) then E.T. (extraterrestrial, from a world beyond).

Down
1	Porter maybe for an old king (4)
	COLE – COLE Porter, and Old King COLE.
2	Old bird beginning to twitch in ditch (4)
	MOAT – MOA (extinct (old) bird) and the first letter of (beginning to) Twitch.
3	Officer studies information systematically displayed (9)
	CONSTABLE – CONS (studies) and TABLE (information systematically displayed).
4	Robber is quiet and angry (6)
	PIRATE – P (piano, quiet) and IRATE (angry).
5	Drink that’s part of each afternoon (3)
	CHA – hidden in (that’s part of) eaCH Afternoon.
6	First lady to occupy chair, unusually successful person (8)
	ACHIEVER – EVE (first lady) contained by (to occupy) an anagram of (unusually) CHAIR.
7	Somewhat elegant hands ruined with DIY (8)
	DANDYISH – anagram of (ruined) HANDS with DIY.
11	Old boy’s meeting priest on street, becoming most vague (9)
	OBSCUREST – OB (old boy) with CURE (priest, especially a French priest, and usually indicated as such) then ST (street).
12	Together at home, having met up — and inside! (2,6)
	IN TANDEM – IN (at home), then a reversal of (up) MET with AND inside.
13	Upset player given recognition and measured (8)
	CAPSIZED – CAP (player given recognition) and SIZED (measured).
16	A piece of cake? It may need a bit more than that! (6)
	PICNIC – definition and cryptic hint.
18	Tribe about to take most of country (4)
	CLAN – C (circa, about) and all-but-the-last-letter from (most of) LANd (country).
19	Check uranium has been removed from passage (4)
	ADIT – ‘U’ (uranium) removed from AuDIT (check). A passageway in a mine (that I had to look up after guessing). Thought it might be ‘edit’ for a while, but could’t make it work.
21	Nothing to fix — article has been discarded (3)
	NIL – NaIL (fix) after the ‘a’ (article) has been discarded.