Weekend Quick Cryptic 109 - Solution

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's  my turn. 

You can find a link to the crossword here and the answers below.  Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as you would do on  TfTT .  You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

Before looking at the answers, if you would like some additional help, click the label below.

Hints and tips...

Some hints and tips:

• There are three racecourses among the across answers.
• "British Left" in 1A can apply to both road vehicles and racehorses. British is needed in the definition as in other parts of the world it is Right.
• In the cryptic reading of 7D "Does" does not rhyme with "Buzz".
• In 16D you need to split "Red cross" to get the definition.
• In 19D the answer is a verb.

And click on this label to get the solution.

Solution and explanation of the answers...

Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc,{deletions} and [] other indicators.

 

 
Across
1 British Left needs IRA reformed (8)
NEARSIDE - (needs IRA)* reformed. It’s only when trying to clue this that I discovered this term is applied to racehorses as well as road vehicles.
5 Sort of hunt to find school principal? (4)
HEAD – Double definition.
8 Because endlessly losing energy damaged diving equipment... (5)
SCUBA – (b{e}caus{e})* [damaged].Losing the last letter [endlessly] and the E (energy) to make the fodder for the anagram.
9 ...FBI agents plunged into mine with dye (7)
PIGMENT – G-MEN (FBI agents) in PIT (mine).
11 Sank teeth into something boring (3)
BIT – Double definition, the second a drill bit.
12 One looking for actor to play mafia boss in Yorkshire town? (9)
DONCASTER – DON (mafia boss) CASTER (one looking for an actor to play)
13 Fast pace shown by Georgia returning number of votes (6)
GALLOP – GA (Official abbreviation of Georgia), POLL (number of votes) reversed -> LLOP.
15 Outrageous murder of famous racehorse (3,3)
RED RUM – (murder)* [outrageous].
18 A thousand guineas can be won here in latest trading centre (9)
NEWMARKET – NEW (latest) MARKET (trading centre). The 1000 guineas is contested over the Rowley Miles at Newmarket by 3-y-o fillies.
19 Song heard in Scottish seaside town (3)
AYR – AYR sounds like AIR (song). Our third racecourse.
20 Small crown, gold one, seen in court (7)
CORONET – OR (gold) ONE, in CT (court).
21 I moan about Ruth's mother-in-law. (5)
NAOMI – (I moan)* [about]. Naomi features in the biblical book Ruth. Read about her here.
22 Chances of better prices (4)
ODDS – Double definition, the second as in betting odds on horses.
23 Old joke can be cracked (8)
CHESTNUT – Double definition, the second a cryptic hint. The term can also be applied to cryptic clues… such as this one and 21A.
 
Down
1 Beans go bad in horse's source of fodder (7)
NOSEBAG – (beans go)* [bad].
2 Piece of thread - ultramarine blue (5)
ADULT – Hidden in threAD ULTramarine.
3 Small town angel starts donating freely to potentially make a profit (5,2,4)
STAND TO GAIN – Initial letters of Small Town Angel, (donating)* [freely].
4 Sticking needle in animal? (6)
DOPING – PIN (needle) in DOG (animal). An &lit or all-in-one clue, where the whole clue is both the definition and the wordplay.
6 Badminton competitor has occasion to meet queen (7)
EVENTER – EVENT (occasion) ER (queen). A competitor at the Badminton horse trials.
7 Does, perhaps, over time get put off (5)
DETER – T (time) in DEER (does, perhaps).
10 Memorials to most serious individuals (11)
GRAVESTONES – GRAVEST (most serious) ONES (individuals).
14 Subordinate journalist scowled (7)
LOWERED – LOWER (subordinate) ED (journalist)
16 Red cross is installed in market-place (7)
MARXIST – X (cross) IS, in MART (market-place).
17 Drawing of small sailing vessel (6)
SKETCH – S (small) KETCH (sailing vessel).
18 Secretly design a chocolate Mexican snack (5)
NACHO - Hidden in [secretly] deisgN A CHOcolate.
19 Commotion on navy deck? (5)
ADORN – ADO (commotion) RN (navy). Deck as in Deck the hall with boughs of holly…