I found this relatively easy, completing it comfortably inside 10 minutes (the bottom of my target range for QCs). There is a modicum of GK required; British Prime Ministers, East Anglian coastal towns, UK rivers, but none of it is too esoteric., and it shouldn’t hold up seasoned solvers, particularly from the UK.
1a and 5a were my FOsI, and I think I liked 11d best. My comments below include other observations. Thanks to Hurley.
Across
1 Feature of Will’s extremely brave search? (7)
BEQUEST – B{rav}E (first and last letters, extremely) and QUEST (search).
5 In Africa, cheerful store (5)
CACHE – Hidden answer contained in {afri}CA CHE{erful}.
8 Seaside town – wonderful, fish brought back by trap (5,8)
GREAT YARMOUTH – GREAT (wonderful) RAY (fish) reversed (brought back) and MOUTH (trap). I was momentarily flummoxed by MOUTH = trap until I thought of “shut your trap!”
9 Having had one’s fill at tea, is lively (7)
SATIATE – Anagram (lively) of [AT TEA IS]. Again, I had a minor 21 raise at equating SATIATE with ‘having had one’s fill’, which I think is more akin to satiated, but it does work in the adjective sense.
10 Playful act of worker in charge (5)
ANTIC – ANT (worker) and IC (In Charge).
11 Nothing put in tin for untidy person (6)
SLOVEN – LOVE (nothing, nil) inside SN (chemical symbol for tin (orig. Stannum – Latin, and source of Stanner = tin miner in Cornwall).
13 Favourite role, stopping early for fuel (6)
PETROL – PET (favourite) and ROL{e} (stopping early).
15 Private Victor, heading off (5)
INNER – {w}INNER (victor, dropping first letter, heading off).
16 Speech son initially dreads is rewritten (7)
ADDRESS – Anagram (is rewritten) of [DREADS} and S{on} (originally).
19 Heath, say: I permit miners to roam (5,8)
PRIME MINISTER – Anagram (to roam) of [I PERMIT MINERS]. I guess it might be considered inflammatory to have used Margaret Thatcher as the DBE for the answer, instead of Ted Heath?
20 Message from over-sentimental time (5)
TWEET – TWEE (over-sentimental) and T{ime}. I’ve never had one, never used Twitter!
21 Raise this in surprise listening to Cockney intellectual? (7)
EYEBROW – Slightly cryptic definition followed by a phonetic / homophone assist – answer sounds like {h}IGH-BROW (Cockney for intellectual, after he’s dropped the H).
Down
1 Perhaps describing bill of goods under suspicion at first (5)
BOGUS – First letters of (at first) Bill Of Goods Under Suspicion, where the wordplay forms part of the definition.
2 Senora, quiet, in new search for answers? (13)
QUESTIONNAIRE – Anagram (new) of [SENORA, QUIET, IN].
3 Participating in next race – a bonus (5)
EXTRA – Hidden answer (participating in) inside {n}EXT RA{ce}.
4 Morning dipping in the Southern river (6)
THAMES – AM (morning) inside THE and S{outhern}. Southern could be doing double duty, as the Thames is in the south.
5 Associate to arrive bringing artist and daughter in (7)
COMRADE – COME (to arrive) containing (bringing in) RA (artist, Royal Academician) and D{aughter}.
6 Fraudster or token female? Either (not hard!) (13)
COUNTERFEITER – COUNTER (token) with F{emale} and EIT{h}ER (not Hard, drop the H).
7 Late coming back, receiving greeting, cold, moral (7)
ETHICAL – LATE reversed (coming back) containing (receiving) HI (greeting) and C{old}.
11 Small piece child’s not quite finished in street (7)
SNIPPET – NIPPE{r} (child, not quite finished – drop the last letter) inside ST (street). I’m not sure of the political correctness these days of NIPPER = CHILD, but it was certainly common in my youth.
12 Serious man’s given a hearing (7)
EARNEST – Homophone (given a hearing) of ERNEST (random man’s name).
14 Insert account in document folder – easy (6)
FACILE – AC (account) inside FILE (document folder).
17 Right to be gripped by joint ambition (5)
DRIVE – R{ight} inside (to be gripped by) DIVE (joint, as in jazz club / joint / dive / shebeen).
18 Tube, a pale yellow colour (5)
STRAW – Double definition.
I completed this, but needed the thesaurus for the last three clues. Is that considered cheating?
Many thanks for the helpful blog.
In my opinion, there is no such thing as cheating – we do these for pleasure, and one does what one needs to do. I think using aids invalidates comparative times, so if I have to resort to aids, I ‘fess up in my blogs / comments and usually don’t give a time. I find this happens considerably more often in the 15 x 15 than here in the QC, which is one reason why I comment on the biggie less often than here.
Erm . . . .yes, if you submit your grid. Otherwise you can do what you will!
Cheats do not prosper, as we note with Potus 45. I really do not think a hurricane should be called Ian.
Well done Ian👏👏👏👏
Well done 😊
That depends on how strictly you take the solve…some will say it’s a DNF and some say NEVER use aids as it weakens the brain. But I agree with Rotter – this is supposed to be something to enjoy, nothing more serious than that. If you enjoy pitting yourself against the clock/other solvers/your best previous times or whatever, then that’s up to you. Pleased to see you’re still with us.
Cheating is a strong word! Completed with aids is still completed imo. Sure you can’t join the competition but you completed it. I don’t give a time for ones I need aids for. I’m fond of a ‘check answer’ aid, myself.
Also, like, YOU COMPLETED IT which is a great job and shows so much improvement in a short time! So now you have your three new words you might not need the thesaurus for them next time.
On fireeeeee
18:47
Held up by the SW corner, was thinking nothing was just O rather than LOVE so struggled with SLOVEN and LOI EARNEST.
Prime Minister
Heath made me think of moors etc but there are several recent prime ministers with names that mean something in English, any of which could have been used for misdirection though I suppose roaming on a heath was the setter’s angle.
Thatcher. Major. Brown. May. Truss
I was also thinking of “heath” as pertains to moors and the like, and was convinced for a while that the first five-letter word in the answer was GRASS
14 minutes for me and well behind our blogger who I usually consider my comparator. MER at Satiate (rather than for example Satiated, which fits the surface better IMO) and Counterfeiter not parsed, but otherwise no obvious holdups, just a little slow all round as I worked my way into Hurley’s mindset.
For anyone who lived through the 1970s in the UK and the three day week (I was just starting work at the time), the surface for 19A is simply fabulous.
Many thanks to Rotter for the blog
Cedric
Snap! I started work in London at the beginning of November 73, just in time for power cuts, reduced trains – and loo paper shortages. I wonder if we shall ever see such strange days again? Oh dear 😱😱
I’m sure I’ve still got my petrol coupons…
finished which was a relief after 2 ends
liked eyebrow and bogus
Hooray! A QC which us newbies stand a chance completing. Thank you Hurley.
I was flying and on for a possible sub 10 minute solve. Held up a little by 18dn and 11ac, until I realised what ‘tin’ was getting at. A rare and pleasurable experience to have a large number of write ins. Somewhere around 17 minutes all told.
Another entertaining and informative blog. Thank you Rotter. You are wise to stay away from Twitter!
Picked this off the printer and realised with a jolt that I was leaving it late – even for me! Happily, not much to delay the solve and some fine clues to admire.
FOI 5a Cache
LOI 11a Sloven – seldom used, heard or read!
COD has to be 21a Eyebrow.