A fun Quick Cryptic from Trelawney today. I found it mostly straightforward although I was held up at the end by 15A, 21A and 16D (failing to spot the hidden for too long) to take me just over my target, finishing in 5:02. As an added bonus we have a fairly easy to see 7D. Did you spot it? Thank-you Trelawney!
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Sawbill’s turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the crossword here. If you are interested in trying our previous offerings you can find an index to all 108 here.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions} and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Toast from part of Asia cut twice (4-4) |
| CHIN-CHIN – CHIN{a} (part of Asia) without it’s final letter [twice] -> CHIN-CHIN. | |
| 5 | Catch sight of peaks to the west (4) |
| SPOT – TOPS (peaks) reversed [to the west] -> SPOT. | |
| 8 | What a journalist desires — some ice-cream? (5) |
| SCOOP – Double definition. | |
| 9 | Knead mother’s herb (7) |
| MASSAGE – MA’S (mother’s) SAGE (herb). | |
| 11 | What may creep in via yard at first (3) |
| IVY – Initial letters of In Via Yard. | |
| 12 | Vegetable taco hiker cooked (9) |
| ARTICHOKE – (taco hiker)* [cooked]. | |
| 13 | Begrudge living expense around south-east (6) |
| RESENT – SE (south-east) in RENT (living expense). | |
| 15 | Pasta dishes initially written down (6) |
| PENNED – PENNE (pasta) and first letter of Dishes. You have to split “Pasta dishes”. Did it fool you? | |
| 18 | A cobra ran off for Italian food (9) |
| CARBONARA – (a cobra ran)* [off]. | |
| 19 | Snake that’s covered in feathers? (3) |
| BOA – Double definition, the second a cryptic hint referring to the feathery neckwear. | |
| 20 | Stylish companion of Barbie is a coward (7) |
| CHICKEN – CHIC (stylish) KEN (companion of Barbie). | |
| 21 | Thrill European and others after retreat (5) |
| ELATE – E and ET AL (and others) reversed [in retreat] -> LATE. | |
| 22 | Former PM’s idyllic garden (4) |
| EDEN – Double definition. | |
| 23 | Kitty admits problem — small talk (4-4) |
| CHIT-CHAT – HITCH (small problem) in CAT (Kitty). | |
| Down | |
| 1 | I search frantically for shop worker (7) |
| CASHIER – (I search)* [frantically]. | |
| 2 | Sarcasm in press secretary’s conclusion (5) |
| IRONY – IRON (press clothes) and last letter of secretarY. Hmm. I wasn’t convinced by the definition at first, but the dictionary says “Language expressing scorn or contempt, often but not necessarily ironical“. | |
| 3 | Murderer secures suitable chef for explorer (7,4) |
| CAPTAIN COOK – APT (suitable) in CAIN (murderer of Abel), COOK (chef). | |
| 4 | Fashion an item for prisoner (6) |
| INMATE – [Fashion] (an item)*. | |
| 6 | Philosopher working for group of soldiers (7) |
| PLATOON – PLATO (philosopher, “…they say, could stick it away…“) ON (working). | |
| 7 | Those people originally explained topic (5) |
| THEME – THEM (those people) and the first letter of Explained. And a hint to us that there is something going on in the puzzle. | |
| 10 | Shadowy character is centre stage for a change (6,5) |
| SECRET AGENT – (centre stage)* [for a change]. | |
| 14 | Clumsily rinsed a fish (7) |
| SARDINE – [Clumsily] (rinsed a)*. | |
| 16 | Multimedia lecture shows way of speaking (7) |
| DIALECT – Hidden in MultimeDIA LECTure [shows]. | |
| 17 | Meal outside a Nasa event (6) |
| LAUNCH – A in LUNCH (meal). | |
| 18 | Go by bike in section of icy clearing (5) |
| CYCLE -Hidden in, [section of], iCY CLEaring. | |
| 19 | Seaside area with tree, reportedly (5) |
| BEACH – BEACH sounds like BEECH (tree) [reportedly]. | |
10:50, with only a few delays in the SE corner. No disrespect to the other constructors, but can we crowd-fund for a daily Trelawney in addition to the QC?
Thank you for the blog!