Solving time: 7:06
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Pretty quick, but needed to double check my final answer (1d) which I did not know was an actual thing – I suspect I may not be the only one.
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I guess there may also be a few who are not quite sure of the wordplay at 6d.
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Other than that, I hope you found it an enjoyable solve!
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Let me know how you got on…
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Definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [directions in square ones]. The tilde ~ indicates an insertion point in containment clues.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 8 | Charge every individual backing mischief-maker (7) |
| IMPEACH – EACH (every individual) behind [backing] IMP (mischief-maker) | |
| 9 | Girl making Rachel envious to some extent (5) |
| HELEN – Hidden [to some extent] in Rachel envious | |
| 10 | Go after vehicle returning with king (5) |
| TRACK – CART (vehicle) reversed [returning] then K (king) | |
| 11 | Wise, misconstrued as “inept” (7) |
| SAPIENT – Anagram [misconstrued] of AS INEPT | |
| 12 | Time messenger comes with duck and fruit (7) |
| TANGELO – T (Time) ANGEL (messenger) O (duck) | |
| 14 | Man maybe at the east side of a passage (5) |
| AISLE – ISLE (Man maybe) to the right of [at the east side of] A | |
| 15 | Left work in the middle of week to go to Gretna Green? (5) |
| ELOPE – L (Left) OP (work) between [in] the middle letters of {w}E~E{k} | |
| 17 | German city worker cut short series of deliveries (7) |
| HANOVER – HAN{d} (worker) without its final letter [cut short] OVER (series of deliveries i.e. in cricket) | |
| 19 | One throwing large jug (7) |
| PITCHER – Double definition | |
| 20 | Under arch, offering accommodation for the Spanish (5) |
| BELOW – B~OW (arch) containing [offering accommodation for] EL (‘the’ in Spanish) | |
| 22 | Professional wearing an outer garment for protection (5) |
| APRON – PRO (Professional) inserted into [wearing] A~N | |
| 23 | Delighted editor backing requests (7) |
| PLEASED – ED (editor) following [backing] PLEAS (requests) | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Order unhealthy food for one to tuck into? (4) |
| FIAT – I (one) inserted into [tucked into] F~AT (unhealthy food) . If something is done by FIAT, it is done because of an official order given by someone in authority – from Latin, meaning “Let it be done“. . Questionable perhaps whether FAT is always unhealthy food, hence the question mark at the end of the clue. |
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| 2 | Odds on wet weather bringing physical injury (6) |
| SPRAIN – SP (Odds i.e. betting abbreviation for Starting Prices) on RAIN (wet weather) . ‘on’ is apposite as this is a down clue |
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| 3 | Customer’s first request — quantity of beer? (4) |
| CASK – First letter of C{ustomer} ASK (request) | |
| 4 | Hippy so hearty after manipulation — treatment to improve movement? (13) |
| PHYSIOTHERAPY – Anagram [after manipulation] of HIPPY SO HEARTY | |
| 5 | Fellow at home entertaining the French minister (8) |
| CHAPLAIN – CHAP (Fellow) IN (at home) containing [entertaining] LA (‘the’ in French) | |
| 6 | Strangers beginning to assert legal rights (6) |
| ALIENS – First letter of [beginning to] A{ssert} LIENS (legal rights) . A LIEN is an official order that allows someone to keep the property of a person who owes them money until it has been paid. |
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| 7 | Clothes ink spoilt and water ruined (8) |
| KNITWEAR – Anagram [spoilt] of INK then anagram [ruined] of WATER | |
| 12 | The son, affectedly religious, an actor (8) |
| THESPIAN – THE S (son) PI (affectedly religious) AN . I sometimes like to look things up to verify definitions, but attempts to verify that PI means ‘affectedly religious’ (rather than merely ‘religious’) are swamped by references to mathematical PI, or references to the book/film ‘Life of PI’, so on this occasion, I’ll take it as read… |
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| 13 | Huge animal damaged a net — help! (8) |
| ELEPHANT – Anagram [damaged] of A NET HELP | |
| 16 | More than one mammal staggers with head hidden (6) |
| OTTERS – |
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| 18 | Bag is buried in valley (6) |
| VALISE – IS inserted into [buried in] VAL~E (valley) | |
| 20 | Sounding unhappy, exhaled forcefully (4) |
| BLEW – Homophone [Sounding] of BLUE (unhappy) | |
| 21 | Some new idea of great scope (4) |
| WIDE – Hidden [Some] in new idea | |
In his Quickies, Izetti uses standard cryptic elements with clear instructions, allowing experienced solvers to see the answer almost immediately. Even the long anagram was immediately obvious thanks to the explicit definition. Unlike our honorable blogger, I had no doubt what a fiat is, and it was in fact my FOI.
Time: 4:53
5:54
Whereas FIAT was my LOI; just wouldn’t come to me until I did an alphabet trawl, which fortunately came to a quick end. Took me a while to justify OTTERS.
8 minutes. Izetti in gentle form today. I liked the staggering mammals at 16d and the ‘Hippy so hearty after manipulation ‘ anagram and indicator for PHYSIOTHERAPY.
Thanks to Mike and Izetti
7.36 for me, FIAT not a problem but OTTERS fooled me because I was looking for something more complicated. There’s a Robert Johnson lyric about a woman having ‘a mortgage on my body [and] a LIEN on my soul’ which is probably the only time I’ve ever heard it used except when it comes up here. Thanks to Mike and Izetti.
8 minutes. The wordplay of THESPIAN delayed me for a moment although the answer had gone in straightaway.
4.22
Very similar thoughts to Vinyl. I thought there were a few potentially tricky bits and bobs here but the w/p was very clear.
14a – My solution was ALANE which my brain had worked out as either ALAN (a man) plus eastside (E) at the end of A LANE (passage). It fit the checking letters too – alas, it was very wrong and resulted in two errors at once.
A straightforward run from IMPEACH to WIDE in 5:29. Thanks Izetti and Mike.
I enjoyed this. Figured 1d had to be “fiat” but needed to check word! Completed in 14.20 which is good for me. Thanks Mike and Izetti