Today I got my second Mara Quick Crossword in a row to blog. It’s another good one, and I enjoyed savouring the clues as I compiled the blog. We are treated to a rare reverse cryptic type clue, which was my COD. I hope it didn’t baffle too many. My LOI was 16D where I hesitated over the 3rd letter. One or two other tricky clues might cause some head-scratching (is 23A true for you?), but I finished in 5:03. Thank-you Mara. How did everyone else get on?
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Sawbill’s turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the latest crossword here. Enjoy! And if anyone is interested in our previous offerings you can find an index to them here.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, deletions and “” other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Black horse in bad dream (9) |
| NIGHTMARE – NIGHT (black) MARE (horse). Hmm. MER at black for NIGHT, but the answer is obvious, and it makes a good surface. | |
| 6 | Vehicle occupied, briefly (3) |
|
BUS – BUS |
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| 8 | Cleaner ladle almost filled with meat (7) |
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SHAMPOO – Another deletion of a last letter… SPOO |
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| 9 | Fruit, gorgeous thing (5) |
| PEACH – Double definition. I bought some tasty ones in this week’s food shop… but I see from the label they’ve come all the way from South Africa. Feeling guilty now for not considering the climate impact. | |
| 10 | Old master in main college upset about husband (12) |
| MICHELANGELO – (main college)* “upset”, “about” H (husband). | |
| 12 | Look, Lord! (4) |
| PEER – Double definition… in 8 letters! Concise clue of the year? | |
| 13 | Pubs in opposite directions (4) |
| INNS – IN, NS (north, south; opposite directions). | |
| 17 | Secret plan possessed by Copenhagen, Danish? (6,6) |
| HIDDEN AGENDA – Nice one! A reverse cryptic where the answer is a clue to the clue…. AGENDA is HIDDEN in (possessed by) CopenhAGEN DAnish! My COD. | |
| 20 | Ordinal carried by clergyman, in theory (5) |
| NINTH – And now a straight hidden – in clergymaN IN THeory. That’s a neat juxtaposition of clues. | |
| 21 | Give support to English husband or wife (7) |
| ESPOUSE – E (english) SPOUSE (husband or wife). | |
| 23 | Certainly tricky, these puzzles ultimately (3) |
| YES – Ha ha! Has anyone else been thinking the QCs are getting a little more tricky recently? Final letters, “ultimately”, of trickY thesE puzzleS. | |
| 24 | Asian river up there, as winding (9) |
| EUPHRATES – (up there as)* “winding”. With Tigris the boundary of ancient Mesopotamia. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Feature is aware of the facts, we hear? (4) |
| NOSE – Sounds like KNOWS (is aware of the facts) “we hear”. | |
| 2 | Stone: garnet I fancy (7) |
| GRANITE – (garnet I)* “fancy”. | |
| 3 | First vessel capsized (3) |
| TOP – POT (vessel) upside down, “capsized” – this is a down clue -> TOP. | |
| 4 | A vote: Odin’s first for God! (6) |
| APOLLO – A POLL (vote) Odin “‘s first”. Is the “for” really necessary? Oops. It’s not my job to be the editor. | |
| 5 | Costing quite a bit, former VIP seen splashing out (9) |
| EXPENSIVE – EX (former) (VIP seen)* “splashing out”. | |
| 6 | Stop rift on the radio? (5) |
| BRAKE – Sounds like, “on radio”, BREAK (rift). | |
| 7 | A number of swimmers train (6) |
| SCHOOL – Double definition. | |
| 11 | Something supposedly lucky that’s on the hoof? (9) |
| HORSESHOE – Double definition, the second a cryptic hint. | |
| 14 | Bound to bust, I’m sure (2,5) |
| NO DOUBT – (Bound to)* “bust”. A bit tricky, but if you stick to the principles of identifying the definition and wordplay you will surely get there. | |
| 15 | Originally, sherry within reach, drink! (6) |
| SHANDY – Sherry “originally” HANDY (within reach). A word I clued recently in my last Weekend Quick Cryptic. Immodesty compels me to reveal my own was “Be quiet and start your drink”. Sorry. I’ll get my coat. | |
| 16 | Happy cosmetics have been applied? (4,2) |
| MADE UP – Double definition. The first is a bit of a stretch, methinks, but the second leaves no doubt. We had MAKE UP just a couple of days ago, which may help. | |
| 18 | Hollows, lairs occupied by termites primarily (5) |
| DENTS – DENS (lairs) “occupied by” Termites “primarily”. | |
| 19 | Numbers sent off (4) |
| TENS – (sent)* “off”. | |
| 22 | First of all playing average round — this the score? (3) |
| PAR – “First of all” Playing Average Round. I suspect a number of golfing solvers reading this will think “If only my average rounds were anything close to par!”. | |
Thanks all round and have a good weekend
Hidden agenda — brilliant
Also nearly stuck on Shampoo but just in the nick of time PDM!
From thinking it wasn’t going to be my day to slowly unpicking each answer equals an excellent crossword in my book.
I was trawling through Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles which worked beautifully for 10a.
And 17a was of course very neat — I only wished I got there by looking for the hidden which at first I thought was indicated….had I worked it in reverse I would have felt very pleased with myself. Oh well….
Thanks all
John George
Edited at 2021-12-17 09:42 pm (UTC)