A great Quick Cryptic from Juji today. Nothing to scare the horses, I think, and some lovely surfaces: 12D was my favourite. It took me a below-target 4:55. Thank-you Juji. How did you all get on?
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Phil’s turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the crossword here.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions} and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Cuckoo grips twig (5) |
| SPRIG – [Cuckoo] (grips)*. | |
| 4 | Puzzled finding flightless birds in garden plot (7) |
| BEMUSED – EMUS (flightless birds) in BED (garden plot) | |
| 8 | Celtic ultimately not winning final (7) |
| CLOSING – Last letter of CeltiC [ultimately] LOSING (not winning). Great surface. | |
| 9 | Regularly seen admiral near woman (5) |
| DIANA – Alternate letters [regularly seen] in aDmIrAl NeAr. | |
| 10 | Fruit transported to new realm (10) |
| WATERMELON – [transported] (to new realm)*. | |
| 14 | I’m unsure backing a relative’s cause (6) |
| REASON – ER (I’m unsure) reversed [backing] -> RE, A SON (a relative). | |
| 15 | With sides leaving, game with netted sticks is over (6) |
| ACROSS – {l}ACROSS{e} (game with netted sticks) without the outside letters [with sides leaving]. | |
| 17 | Wedding helper’s offer to accommodate trips with mother (10) |
| BRIDESMAID – RIDES (trips) MA (mother), in BID (offer). | |
| 20 | Sound from animal left in pound (5) |
| BLEAT – L (left) in BEAT (pound). | |
| 22 | Rouse characters held back by an evil nemesis (7) |
| ENLIVEN – Reverse hidden in [characters held back by] aN EVIL NEmesis. | |
| 23 | Made certain knight reused battered shields (7) |
| ENSURED – (reused)* [battered] containing, [shields], N (knight in chess notation) | |
| 24 | Residing in New York, concerned with turning very anxious (5) |
| NERVY – RE (concerned) reversed [with turning] -> ER, V (very) all in NY (New York). | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Splinter group determined to welcome Conservative (4) |
| SECT – C (conservative) in SET (determined). | |
| 2 | Raised berth space (4) |
| ROOM – MOOR (berth) [raised] -> ROOM. I didn’t know “berth” could be a verb, but I do now. | |
| 3 | With aim to grasp information technology, I work solo (2,2,5) |
| GO IT ALONE – GOAL (aim) containing [to grasp] IT (information technology), ONE (I). | |
| 4 | Book dragged leaving learner irritated (6) |
| BUGGED – B (book) {l}UGGED (dragged) without the L (learner). | |
| 5 | Infuriated when barrier gets erected (3) |
| MAD – DAM (barrier) going upwards [gets erected] -> MAD. | |
| 6 | Horse half ignored by stalking cat (8) |
| STALLION – First four letters [half ignored] of STAL{king} LION (cat). | |
| 7 | Use symptoms to identify disorder in sea dog (8) |
| DIAGNOSE – [disorder] (in sea dog)*. | |
| 11 | Coat guy wrapped around poorly prime minister (9) |
| MACMILLAN – MAC (coat), MAN [wrapped around] ILL (poorly). | |
| 12 | Likely for newborn to consume liquids primarily (8) |
| PROBABLE – PRO (for), BABE (newborn) including [to consume] first letter of Liquids [primarily]. Another great surface. | |
| 13 | Simplicity of some ideas, in essence (8) |
| EASINESS – Hidden in [some] idEAS IN ESSence. | |
| 16 | Threaten mischievous sprite with death (6) |
| IMPEND – IMP (mischievous sprite) END (death). | |
| 18 | Revolution advanced to north state (4) |
| AVER – REV (revolution of an engine) A (advanced level exam) going upwards [to north] -> AVER. | |
| 19 | Begrudge emissary forgetting nothing (4) |
| ENVY – ENV{o}Y (emissary) without the O (looks like 0; nothing). | |
| 21 | Hill degenerate climbs (3) |
| TOR – ROT (degenerate) [climbs] -> TOR. | |
13:31. I notice my three favourites- ENVY, NERVY, and AVER- seem to share quite a few letters. Must ponder if this means anything!
10.50 I looked for a hidden in 13d but still needed most of the checkers before I spotted EASINESS. LOI REASON. Thanks John and Juji.
Another enjoyable puzzle. Happily well clear of SCC. Up in the sky so post will arrive late.
Thank you JohnI for explaining 18d. All too easy in hindsight – and thank you Juji.
Happy weekend, all.
9:49 to go from BEMUSED to SPRIG, with many clues enjoyed along the way.
Thanks to Juji and John.
Excellent stuff completed in 10:26 with no real issues apart from spending too long thinking the coat clue was looking for MACINTOSH rather than MACMILLAN.
Approximately 08.45.
Slower than yesterday, finished with aver, seems a popular word with setters.
Brain def not working today! Absolutely stumped. Couldn’t get going. Just not on any wavelength. No idea why….
I normally struggle on Friday. I took extra care today and managed 15 I about an hour.
Could someone please explain 1A Cuckoo grips twig please – I’m totally baffled!!
Cuckoo can mean mad, and in that sense it can be an anagram indicator – as in this clue. It’s telling us to find an anagram of grips.
6:01 a nice relief after the other puzzle today 😉
A very poor 16 min, making 78 for the week.
Given how low the Snitch scores have been, that is a time which gives me no satisfaction whatsoever.
I’m still nowhere near my comparators. Why???