This one took me about 30 seconds under my 10 minute target but there were quite a lot of answers that didn’t leap out at me so I kept skipping around the grid looking for ones that did. The SW corner was the area that gave most trouble where I took a little while to see 15dn, 20ac and 23ac. We have fourteen Across clues today, which is unusual and I think the maximum that can be fitted into a standard Quick Cryptic grid. As usual definitions are underlined, deletions are in {curly brackets} and indicators, where given, are in [square ones].
|
Across |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Reliable person beginning to bridle at critical remark (8) |
| BRICKBAT – BRICK (reliable person), B{ridle}, AT | |
| 5 | Craze pursued with energy gets to lose vigour (4) |
| FADE – FAD (craze), E (energy) | |
| 7 | Circular movement in swimming bath reversed (4) |
| LOOP – POOL (swimming bath – reversed) | |
| 8 | Army section’s brief exam for NCO (8) |
| CORPORAL – CORP{s} (army section – brief), ORAL (exam) | |
| 9 | Basic red wrongly assigned (8) |
| ASCRIBED – Anagram [wrongly] of BASIC RED | |
| 11 | Is able to shorten stick (3) |
| CAN – CAN{e} (stick – shorten) | |
| 13 | Dictator nearly jaded at home (6) |
| STALIN – STAL{e} (jaded – nearly), IN (at home) | |
| 16 | Discussion programme? (6) |
| AGENDA – Cryptic definition | |
| 18 | Regularly good English for poem (3) |
| ODE – Alternate letters [regularly] of {g}O{o}D, E (English) | |
| 19 | Thin flap moving is small beer (4-4) |
| HALF-PINT – Anagram [moving] of THIN FLAP | |
| 20 | Method that separates teams not straightforward (8) |
| SIDEWAYS – WAY (method) inside [separates] SIDES (teams) | |
| 22 | Asian sounds secure (4) |
| THAI – Sounds like “tie” (secure) | |
| 23 | Head, a monster here? (4) |
| NESS – Double definition, the second a cryptic reference to the legendary Scottish beast | |
| 24 | Submitted by the Spanish guard (8) |
| SENTINEL – SENT IN (submitted), EL (‘the’ Spanish) | |
|
Down |
|
| 1 | Somewhat tribal, Kansas is a volatile area (7) |
| BALKANS – Hidden [somewhat] inside {tri}BAL KANS{as} | |
| 2 | Impregnable, but damaged in cold rain (8) |
| IRONCLAD – Anagram [damaged] of COLD RAIN. Literally this would merely mean protected by iron. To get to ‘impregnable’ one needs to think figuratively e.g. as in ‘an ironclad argument’. | |
| 3 | To support judges is no place for minister (4,5) |
| BACK BENCH – BACK (support), BENCH (judges). Ministers in the House of Commons sit on the ‘Front Bench’ | |
| 4 | Went very fast, we hear, for peak (3) |
| TOR – Sounds like [we hear] “tore” (went very fast). This might have worked better as a deletion clue but I guess it’s been done as a homophone to add variety to the proceedings. | |
| 5 | Petulant movement suggesting old imperial unit? (7) |
| FLOUNCE – Double definition, the second with reference to “fluid ounce” with its first word abbreviated | |
| 6 | American playing area is a gem (7) |
| DIAMOND – Double definition, the first with reference to a baseball pitch | |
| 10 | Sandy lied about fatal error? (6,3) |
| DEADLY SIN – Anagram [about] of SANDY LIED | |
| 12 | Against mobile being cut off in part of sung service (8) |
| ANTIPHON – ANTI (against), PHON(e} (mobile – cut off). One of the more difficult answers today but the word will be familiar to many churchgoers and choral singers. | |
| 14 | Beef is superior to fish (7) |
| TOPSIDE – TOPS (is superior to), IDE (fish – and one that I suspect most people only ever encounter in Crosswordland). This cut of meat came up in last Monday’s Quickie defined as ‘joint’. | |
| 15 | Drunk like a fish? (7) |
| LEGLESS – A straight definition of a slang word plus a cryptic hint | |
| 17 | Workers’ high-rise an exhilaration? Not right (7) |
| ANTHILL – AN, TH{r}ILL (exhilaration – not right). A misleading and amusing definition that gets my vote for Clue of the Day | |
| 21 | So singular an animal (3) |
| ASS – AS (so), S (singular) | |
Sub-10 minute par for me, though I would have been a lot quicker if it hadn’t been for the pesky 16d & 23a which .
The comment about the IDE fish is apt – it crops up in the 15×15 today as well!
Heather B
Some good clues though, I particularly enjoyed 5d and 20a.