Times Quick Cryptic No 2078 by Mara

Author   rolytolyPosted on Categories Quick Cryptic
Another gentle enough QC: all done and dusted in 6:41, about a minute quicker than yesterday, and about as quick as I get. A welcome change of pace after a couple of DNFs in the 15×15, for which many thanks to Mara!

Across
1 Agonising treatment in unsympathetic country (4,6)
COLD TURKEY – COLD (unsympathetic) TURKEY (country)
7 A nut winning (5)
AHEAD – head = nut
8 Reportedly, team sounded exasperated (6)
SIGHED – sounds like SIDE (team)
10 Tease child (3)
KID – double definition
12 One very upset about commercial describing food prepared beforehand (4-5)
OVEN-READY – anagram (upset) of ONE VERY about AD (commercial)
13 In truth, one’s totally trustworthy (6)
HONEST –“In” trutH ONES Totally
14 Blokes, great nuisance (6)
MENACE – MEN (blokes) ACE (great)
17 Scent country has shackled newspaper (9)
FRAGRANCE – FRANCE (country) has shackled RAG (newspaper)
19 Night before always short (3)
EVE – EVEr (always) “short”. I can’t say I’ve ever thought of EVE being specifically the night before, but of course that’s literally what it is, with EVE = EVENING, which by extension came to include the entire preceding day.
20 Soak in spirit and ignite meat in empty furnace (6)
FLAMBE – LAMB (meat) in “empty” FurnacE
21 Newspaper crime (5)
THEFT – The FT = newspaper
23 Cheerful message received: it’s a flag (5,5)
JOLLY ROGER – JOLLY (cheerful) ROGER (message received)

Down
1 Nut on beam in engine part (10)
CRANKSHAFT – CRANK (nut) on SHAFT (beam)
2 Falsehood largely inaccurate, erroneous, first of all (3)
LIE – Largely Inaccurate Erroneous “first of all”
3 Dull outside broadcast (7)
TEDIOUS – anagram (broadcast) of OUTSIDE
4 Fried food more reckless? (6)
RASHER – double definition
5 Remarkably regal composer (5)
ELGAR – anagram (remarkably) of REGAL
6 A leader upset about western state (8)
DELAWARE – anagram (upset) of A LEADER about W(estern)
9 Under contract finally, see pretty amazing old print worker (10)
TYPESETTER – under T (conracT “finally”) goes an anagram (amazing) of SEE PRETTY
11 Awfully bad line, message ultimately unsubstantiated (8)
DENIABLE – anagram (awfully) of BAD LINE, and E (messagE “ultimately”)
15 Voter, English speaker (7)
ELECTOR – E(nglish) LECTOR (speaker)
16 Extraordinary numeral changed after subtraction of thousand (6)
UNREAL – anagram (changed) of NUmERAL, after subtraction of M (thousand)
18 A little superhero me, original Casanova (5)
ROMEO – “a little” of superheRO ME Original
22 Food, say, ending in dressing (3)
EGG – EG (say), G (“ending” in dressinG)

49 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 2078 by Mara”

  1. Adjusting to cold house, but brain dim about COLD TURKEY (LOI).
    Thanks all , esp ROLY
    Countrywoman
  2. FOI LIE, LOI TEDIOUS, COD THEFT

    I seem to be one of those rare people for who the sum of my parts is less than the whole. Aka Jack of all trades, master of none.

    1. You got there in the end. Keep at it. There was a time when I was just the same, but it does get easier. Don’t be hard on yourself!

      GaryA

  4. makes for a bright outlook, and a full solve. We must have Cylinder Head, Tappets, and quite a lot more still to come. A good quality 30 min effort, who would wish for better.
  5. Success after 17 minutes.
    1a was LOI
    We grill our bacon so rasher as fried raised an eyebrow.
    Thanks all
  7. Cant believe failed to spot THEFT. Every else done in 13 minutes but just couldn’t see the LOI despite an alphabet trawl.
  8. Like others, I was doing famously until 21ac and 22dn. So simple and yet so clever.

    I also keep getting tripped up by the word broadcast. I always see it as a homophone indicator and forget that it can indicate an anagram.

    I don’t time myself to the second but I was somewhere inside 20 mins, so a day off from the SCC.

    Thanks for a great blog.

    GaryA

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