A fun Quick Cryptic from Jimmy today which has plenty of straightforward clues but a few chewy bits needing a bit more thought. It took me 5:47, so just a little over average. My favourite was the clue for the 3-letter 19A. Thank-you Jimmy.
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Phil’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 110 here.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions} and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Fixed structure’s exterior made better (7) |
| SECURED – Outside letters, [exterior], of StructurE, CURED (made better). | |
| 5 | Hope wife lives with husband (4) |
| WISH – W (wife) IS (exists; lives) H (husband). | |
| 7 | Flora’s partner heads for football arena up north, actually (5) |
| FAUNA -First letters [heads] of Football Arena Up North Actually. Often paired in the phrase FLORA and FAUNA, which refers to the plants and animals of a particular region. | |
| 8 | Nobleman who, in France, admitted to damages (7) |
| MARQUIS – QUI (who in French) in MARS (damages). A nobleman in European countries (including France) ranking above a count and below a duke. | |
| 10 | Fashionable joint (3) |
| HIP – Double definition. So how did “hip” come to mean “fashionable”? This article says “The term hip is recorded in African American Vernacular English in the early 1900s. In the 1930s and 1940s, it had become a common slang term, particularly in the African-American-dominated jazz scene. The origin of hip is unknown; there are many explanations for the etymology of hip, but they remain unproven.“ | |
| 11 | Stopping gin getting mixed after whisky (9) |
| SCOTCHING – SCOTCH (whisky), (gin)* [mixed]. I can’t imagine a mixture of whisky and gin tasting very nice…. and I’m not about to try it. | |
| 13 | Portion of Häagen-Dazs — it’s brought to a meeting (6) |
| AGENDA – Hidden in HäAGEN-DAzs. | |
| 14 | Quick pint emptied after school dance in America (6) |
| PROMPT – PROM (school dance in America) and P{in}T without its middle letters. Not just America now – my children’s upper school had proms when they finished their schooling (apart from my youngest, who got sent home when COVID struck before the end of the spring term in 2020 and never went back to school). | |
| 17 | Race inside wild techno club (9) |
| TRUNCHEON – RUN (race) in [wild] (techno)*. | |
| 19 | Alternative form of aye? (3) |
| YEA – [alternative form of] (aye)*. A lovely &lit where the whole clue is both definition and wordplay., | |
| 20 | Protection of Parisian dealer in stolen goods (7) |
| DEFENCE – DE (of in French; of Parisian) FENCE (dealer in stolen goods). | |
| 22 | I’m surprised by US soldier’s dog (5) |
| CORGI – COR (I’m surprised) GI (US soldier). | |
| 23 | Half of undergrads perhaps displaying an earring? (4) |
| STUD – Half the letters of STUDents (undergrads perhaps). | |
| 24 | Support for climbers still shaking, holding on (7) |
| TRELLIS – RE (on) in (still)* [shaking]. I tried sticking ON in an anagram of still, at first, until I thought of TRELLIS. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Some suggestions of the art editor showing sympathy (4-7) |
| SOFT-HEARTED – A very neat “hidden” clue… [some] suggestionS OF THE ART EDitor | |
| 2 | Awfully cruel about politician’s collapse (7) |
| CRUMPLE – MP (politician) in [awfully] (cruel)*. | |
| 3 | Ecstatic hour in hip-hop disco, dancing around (9) |
| RHAPSODIC – My LOI, not knowing that hip-hop was a sort of rap.. H (hour) in RAP (hip-hop), (disco)* [dancing]. | |
| 4 | Bananas lifted by boy as soft fruit (6) |
| DAMSON – MAD (bananas) [lifted] -> DAM, SON (boy). | |
| 5 | Inexperienced revolutionary in conflict (3) |
| WAR – RAW (inexperienced) reversed, [revolutionary], -> WAR. | |
| 6 | Small German car coming from Riyadh? (5) |
| SAUDI – S (small) AUDI (German car). | |
| 9 | A guitarist’s playing for a group of stars (11) |
| SAGITTARIUS – (A guitarist’s)* [playing]. | |
| 12 | Really bad French article in historical record (9) |
| CHRONICLE – CHRONIC (really bad) LE (the in French; French article). | |
| 15 | Spring time examination of a public official (7) |
| MAYORAL – MAY (spring time) ORAL (examination). | |
| 16 | Area with little moisture and 500 gnarled trees (6) |
| DESERT – D (500 in Roman numerals) (trees)* [gnarled]. | |
| 18 | Military detachment touring Finland’s capital, needing more exercise (5) |
| UNFIT – First letter of Finland [Finland’s capital] in UNIT (military detachment). | |
| 21 | Academic turning up for affirmative action (3) |
| NOD – DON (academic) [turning up] -> NOD. | |
7:47 – nice puzzle to relax with after having made fairly heavy weather with the other one. I loved SOFTHEARTED, and like many others initially fluffed the spelling of SAGITTARIUS. thanks Jimmy and John!
Good fun. Saw 17a but parsing was tricky; ditto 3d. So many thanks to John for explaining those.
FOI 1d Soft Hearted – got me off to a good start
LOI 3d Rhapsodic – a had to be, but unparsed
COD 16d Desert – simple but a lovely image.
Would like to see more of Jimmy.
BTW have we seen Oink of late?
22 minutes
And so my dismal run continues.
This was straightforward, but I panic when I get behind the clock and become stressed. As a result, my confidence disappears and I lose the ability to approach clues rationally.
A truly pathetic week, culminating in a total of 2 hours, 9 minutes. I have spent ages recently grappling with the big crossword in the hope that this would improve my skills. It hasn’t and I feel like I’m banging my head against a brick wall.
Thanks for the blog John.
15:56
Not too bad. Took some work to unscramble TRUNCHEON but carelessly put QUE instead of QUI for French ‘who’ resulting in the dreaded pink square.
Spent 90 mins on big crossword and got about two-thirds. I am totally lost with this and cannot see the wood for the trees.
The blogger suggested it was easy, making me feel even worse. I seem to be very ignorant and out of my depth. I think the big crossword is for those with the kind of brain I simply do not possess.
Dnf…
Frustrating – had everything after 12 mins, but put “Marques” for 8ac. Can’t even use a typo as an excuse. The rest was enjoyable though.
FOI – 5ac “Wish”
LOI – 3dn “Rhapsodic”
COD – 17ac “Truncheon”
Thanks as usual!