At under 7 minutes this was one of my fastest QC solves for a long time, and everything just seemed to roll off the tongue for a mostly sequential solve. Hopefully, you all found it equally quick and easy. I certainly can’t see anything to frighten the horses, unless POTUSs in the 19th Century are your blind spot.
As indicated before Christmas, you can find my favourite clues from the puzzles I blogged during 2021 at the end of this blog entry. These choices are obviously subjective, and reflect my taste only. To all Setters, if you aren’t listed, please don’t despair, you may have been one of the very close runners-up in one of the categories, and I appreciated each and every one of you during the year.
To all readers, bloggers and commentators, you probably have your own favourites (remember, my choice is just for those puzzles I blogged (those with numbers ending with a 3) on alternate Thursdays).
Across
1 Rain very lightly in small mine (4)
SPIT – S{mall} and PIT (mine).
4 Crucial trial dictates changes (4,4)
ACID TEST – Anagram (changes) of [DICTATES]. Originally, an ACID TEST was a test for gold using acid.
8 Spotted former US president at party being held (5,3)
POLKA DOT – POLK (former US president, James K POLK, 1845 – 1849) followed by AT (at) containing DO (party – being held).
9 Element of skill on piano (4)
PART – P{iano} and ART (skill).
10 Unguarded ring, enclosure (4)
OPEN – O (ring) and PEN (enclosure). An OPEN prison is an unguarded one.
11 Police officer enthralled by famous writer’s version that’s printed (4,4)
HARD COPY – COP (police officer) surrounded by (enthralled by) HARDY (famous writer – Thomas Hardy).
12 Doing wrong to storm after her, heading off (6)
ERRANT – RANT (to storm) after {h}ER (hER – heading off, drop first letter).
14 Is to touch down in Madagascar, perhaps? (6)
ISLAND – IS (is) and LAND (to touch down), Madagascar being an example of an ISLAND.
16 TV programme, extremely childish – so what’s new? (4,4)
CHAT SHOW – Anagram (new) of [SO WHAT] and C{hildis}H (extremely).
18 Black bird of prey in hollow (4)
BOWL – B{lack} and OWL (bird of prey).
19 Cab charge beginning to irritate (4)
TAXI – TAX (charge) and I{rritate} (beginning to).
20 Nothing left? That’s OK (3,5)
ALL RIGHT – Double definition.
22 Ran out of gear? (8)
STREAKED – All-in-one or &Lit clue.
23 Benevolent type (4)
KIND – Double definition
Down
2 Professional agents, upwardly mobile, do well (7)
PROSPER – PRO{fessional} and REPS (agents) reversed (upwardly mobile in this down clue).
3 Acceptable to enter number, or symbol (5)
TOKEN – OK (acceptable) inside (to enter) TEN (number).
4 Servant blowing top gets help (3)
AID – {m}AID (servant) blowing top = drop first letter.
5 Meeting with candidate in Bury to contend with (9)
INTERVIEW – INTER (bury) with VIE (contend) and W{ith}.
6 Newsworthy subject – Capone? (7)
TOPICAL – TOPIC (subject) and AL (Capone).
7 Remove second slip (5)
STRIP – S{econd} and TRIP (slip). Nothing to do with cricket!
11 Husband at church with second car (9)
HATCHBACK – H{usband} AT and CH{urch} plus BACK (second).
13 A celebrity embracing one eastern dancer (7)
ASTAIRE – A STAR (a celebrity) containing I (embracing one) and followed by E{astern}. Fred ASTAIRE – surely the greatest dancer of (nearly) modern times.
15 Reproachful words? Let me see (3,4)
NOW THEN – Double definition
17 Runs in preliminary round, showing courage (5)
HEART – HEAT (preliminary round) containing R{uns}.
18 Quick chance to support British (5)
BRISK – RISK (chance) beneath (supporting) B{ritish}.
21 Top firm? Not so (3)
LID – {so}LID (firm = solid) remove so (Not so).
THE ROTTER AWARDS
My choice of some favourite clues from the puzzles I have blogged through 2021 (in no particular order). Some of my record-keeping is a bit shambolic, so I hope that I have all of the references correct.
Rotter’s IKEA clue of the year – Hurley QC 1923 – ‘French article, popular monk’s garment, editor finds lifeless’ (11)
Rotter’s COD of the year – Hurley QC 1823 – ‘Denied win, unwind in rugby playing, wine producing region’ (8)
Rotter’s DD / TD of the year – Joker QC 2013 – ‘Catherine earmarked money for cat’ (5)
Rotter’s Anagram of the Year – Wurm QC 1783 – ‘We help in their shambolic call to vote’ (5-4,4)
Rotter’s Word of the Year – Noel QC 1893 – ‘Large stain ruined old pegs’ (6)
Rotter’s Cryptic of the Year – Orpheus QC 1953 – ‘Indoctrinate supporter swimming off Hunstanton?’ (9)
And finally, my themed crossword of the year goes to – Alfie for QC 1893.
My sincere thanks to the Editors and the Setters for their inspiring and challenging work in 2021.
Readers, bloggers and commentators, thanks to you too, and happy 2022.
It is probably a worrying sign that I am thinking in crosswordese too much that when I saw “former US president” in the clue for 8A and a K as one of the checkers, I immediately tried to fit Ike in there somewhere. But the other checkers soon put paid to that and Polk was dredged out of the deep memory to complete the clue. Not being that good on US history, I couldn’t have told you his dates though, or even a rough idea of them. Mind you my knowledge of my own country’s political history — eg prime ministers from the mid-19th century — is pretty ropy too.
Much enjoyed Rotter’s Awards, but I wonder if we might also have a list of “Rotter’s Raspberries” for clues that send eyebrows into orbit or otherwise elicit a groan. Anything to do with a certain school near Windsor would certainly make my list!
Cedric
Rotter’s IKEA clue of the year – Hurley QC 1923 – ‘French article, popular monk’s garment, editor finds lifeless’ (11) — UNINHABITED
Rotter’s COD of the year – Hurley QC 1823 – ‘Denied win, unwind in rugby playing, wine producing region’ (8) — BURGUNDY
Rotter’s DD / TD of the year – Joker QC 2013 – ‘Catherine earmarked money for cat’ (5) — KITTY
Rotter’s Anagram of the Year – Wurm QC 1783 – ‘We help in their shambolic call to vote’ (5-4,4) — THREE-LINE WHIP
Rotter’s Word of the Year – Noel QC 1893 – ‘Large stain ruined old pegs’ (6) — SPLODGE
Rotter’s Cryptic of the Year – Orpheus QC 1953 – ‘Indoctrinate supporter swimming off Hunstanton?’ (9) — BRAINWASH
If you need further help, I can only refer you to the original blogs.
Thanks again
Got bogged down on the RHS — streaker had me fooled for ages.
Well over the hour — watching the golf.
Viktor Hovland is quite a player.
I try to watch the footie while I’m doing the crossword,
That slows me down nicely!