Before looking at the answers, if you would like some additional help, click the label below.
Hints...
Some hints and tips:- In 1A the enumeration of the wordplay isn't the same as the answer.
- 10A appears to have escaped from Weekend QC 56.
- "in vain" is a bit of an unusual anagrind indicator.
- You need to ignore the punctuation at 12D.
And click on this label to get the solution.
Solution...
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions} and []
other indicators.
Across
1 Motionless,
fills cash register (5-5)
STOCK STILL – STOCKS (fills)
TILL (cash register).
7 Place
of trial - criminals often unwillingly reach there first (5)
COURT - Initial letters
[first] of Criminals Often Unwillingly Reach There.
8 Fitness
coach's shoe (7)
TRAINER – Double definition.
10 Song
caught here in Scotland (3)
AYR – Sounds like [caught]
AIR (song).
11 Top
shelf's contents rearranged - they're popular with hedonists
(9)
FLESHPOTS – (Top
shelf)* [contents rearranged].
13 This
could be sticky - I'm cast badly (6)
MASTIC – (I’m cast)*
[badly].
14 Mercia,
surprisingly, is a war zone (6)
CRIMEA – (Mercia)*
[surprisingly].
17 Take
care of the Queen - set out to be most affectionate (9)
TENDEREST – TEND (take
care of) ER (queen) (set)* [out].
19 Back
in Canberra there's a sailor (3)
TAR – Reverse hidden [back
in] in CanberRA There, reversed -> TAR.
20 It's
not on - simpleton minced shellfish (7)
LIMPETS – (simplet{on})*
[not on] [minced].
22 Fruit
- lemon cocktail? (5)
MELON – (lemon)*
[cocktail].
23 Dave's
tried in vain to be made public (10)
ADVERTISED – (Dave’s
tried)* [in vain].
Down
1 Forces
out puny chaps (7)
SQUIRTS – Double definition.
2 It's
too late for this 60's chart-topper (3,2,4)
OUT OF TIME – Double definition.
This
hit by the Rolling Stones.
3 King
chewed into headless little pet (6)
KITTEN - K (King), {b}ITTEN
(chewed into) [headless]. Shades of “Freddie
Starr ate my hamster”.
4 Drink
they oddly adored at first (3)
TEA – ThEy [oddly] A{dored} [at first].
5 Slow
movement advanced zip (5)
LENTO – LENT (advanced)
0 (zip).
6 Last
camper rendered "Any Old Iron" (5,5)
SCRAP METAL – (Last
camper)* [rendered].
9 Take
it easy - distinctive atmosphere books this eatery (10)
RESTAURANT – REST (take
it easy) AURA (distinctive atmosphere) NT (New Testament; books).
12 Dickens
wrote "This Difficult Paper" (4,5)
HARD TIMES – HARD (difficult)
TIMES (newspaper). Very sneaky punctuation, Phil
15 Spotted
crazy model taking in non-drinker (7)
MOTTLED – [crazy] (model)*
[taking in] TT (Teetotaller; non-drinker).
16 County
: in short it could be somewhere to live (6)
BEDSIT – BEDS (Bedfordshire;
county) [in short], IT.
18 Damon
is unsettled - he's a wanderer (5)
NOMAD – (Damon)*
[unsettled].
21 Sheep
found in New England (3)
EWE – [found in] NEW England.
This was great- lots of clever clues- especially liked BEDSIT, SCRAP METAL, RESTAURANT, FLESHPOTS. For the last one I was sure "self " would figure in the answer! Missed the full parsing of KITTEN and COURT and thought I missed TRAINER too because I misread shoe in clue as show.Thanks, very enjoyable!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it. Sorry about the typo in the crossword,info version (q.v.).
DeleteI found this tougher than most Saturday Specials, taking 14 minutes. Partly I appeared not to have my anagram hat on, not a good thing on a day when there were a large number of anagrams (as many as nine I think - perhaps a record). But also I was led astray by a misprint (I presume) in the clue for 8A, which in the crossword.info version read "Fitness coach's show" - this made the answer ungetable and with my first guess at 5D being Largo (which I biffed even though I knew I couldn't parse it), the NE corner took a lot of unravelling.
ReplyDeleteGot there in the end, and much enjoyed, but a bit of a struggle. Many thanks Phil
Cedric
Show/Shoe... Weird. I've no idea how that happened the other version are all OK Sorry!
DeleteAh mystery solved, so I did see "show"!
DeleteDnf…struggled with the NW corner. Eventually got Stock Still (although I confess it’s not an expression I’ve heard of), but couldn’t get 1dn “Squirts” and was undecided between “Air” and “Ayr” for 10ac.
ReplyDeleteBut an enjoyable start to the weekend none the less. Thanks!
James
Bad luck with Ayr. Quite A few years back I had a business trip to the IBM facility there (and it was a very long drive there and back from Suffolk). As I was on the road my memory served up from the dim and distant past a rhyme my grandfather had taught me to recite at the age of about 5 or 6... I quote in full... "In summer when the moon is roond, the fishies swim from Ayr tae Troon. In winter, when the moon is square, the fishies swim from Troon tae Ayr, by William McGonagall, Scotland's greatest poet". Alas it wasn't by him at all, but a spoof.
DeleteAnother good Saturday puzzle. In particular I enjoyed 20a and 1d. Thx Phil! - Andrew Turner
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it, Andrew.
DeleteThanks for another enjoyable puzzle. Bit more difficult this time!
ReplyDeleteCountrywoman
Thanks for the feedback. I hope it wasn't too difficult.
DeleteThanks to all of you who have commented. I admit there were a few tricky answers here - hopefully I can make the next offering a little easier.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I am too late to comment but I happily found this on the easier side of the Saturday specials and came in at 14:38 which is good for me (10 minutes faster than the last one!). Having seen other comments I am rather pleased with myself! Thanks for a great QC... my COD was 9d although I was very glad there were lots of anagrams. MM
ReplyDelete