Times Quick Cryptic No 3300 by Beck

According to the website etymonline, SHINER, as a word for “black eye” (Evidence of impact) is attested by 1903, American English, somewhat specifically, in the East Side immigrant dialect of Manhattan.

ASSASSIN is derived from the twelfth century Arabic hashīshīn, a nickname during the Crusades, for the Middle Eastern Nizari Ismaili sect. In Western European minds, the sect had a reputation for murdering opposing leaders after intoxicating themselves through eating hashish (though there is no actual evidence of this), hence the nickname.

Hmmm – chestnutty…

Wasn’t sure whether this word should be hyphenated. OED suggests it should be, while many other dictionaries appear to list it without a hyphen.

Right up my alley as far as musical interest is concerned, but so far, no actual UK or US number one singles achieved by any of these acts.

STAR TURN can be traced back to the late 19th century when theatres were becoming popular entertainment venues. Actors who could draw large crowds were often referred to as “stars.” These performers would often have a specific moment during a play or musical where they would shine above all others. This moment was known as their “turn,” which eventually became known as a “STAR TURN.”

MACHISMO is a 1940s American Spanish word meaning “male virility, masculine pride.”

The first part comes from Spanish macho “male”; the ‘ismo’ part is ultimately from Greek -ismos, a noun ending signifying the practice or teaching of a thing.

I was looking at this the wrong way around initially with the first letter of Pothead and another word for ‘to smoke’, with printer’s powder as the definition.

Not sure I would have known off the bat, who were the fighters in the Peloponnesian War, but the cryptic, with the help of a few checkers, was very clear.

Most dictionaries appear to concur that a DEED is not necessarily simply something that is done, but usually something that is either very good or very bad.

Noted that the word ‘skill’ appears in consecutive clues.

Ultimately from Latin iniuria “wrong, an injustice, insult, unlawful violence, assault, damage, harm.”

‘bit’ appears to be doing double duty here. I don’t think Minute and IOTA are synonymous, so the definition here is ‘Minute bit’.

Comments welcome, etc…

Back in the 16th century, SMUG meant “trim, neat, spruce, smart,” possibly an alteration of Low German smuk “trim, neat,” from the Middle Low German smücken “to adorn.”

The meaning “having a self-satisfied air, satisfied with one’s appearance,” is from 1701, an extension of the 1580s sense of “smooth, sleek,” which was commonly used of attractive women and girls.