Weekend Quick Cryptic 111 - 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 Sawbill's 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, and to see the mini-theme click the label below.

Hints and tips...

Firstly, there is a mini-theme in the grid with references to two of Sawbill's novels, The Tip of The Iceberg and The Violin and Candlestick. They are great reads - I recommend them.

Some hints and tips:

• 1A refers to things that have a wick.
• The leaves in 10A are something you might put in a salad.
• You, like me, may not know the Irish County, but trust to the wordplay.
• You might find the answer to 23A in Bedford or Durham for example.
• 18D is an &lit (all-in-one) clue, where the whole clue is both the definition and the wordplay.

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 Wicked things are put in this (11)
CANDLESTICK – Cryptic definition. A candle has a wick so is a wicked thing…
9 Not right throwing paint around? (5)
INAPT – (paint)* [throwing… around].
10 Leaves a lot of frozen water (7)
ICEBERG – Double definition, the first being the type of lettuce.
11 Irish county - it is found within the French border? (7)
LEITRIM – IT in LE (the in French) RIM (border).
12 Produces paperwork to fill in (5)
FORMS – Double definition.
13 Unimpressive. Less than 1 on the Richter Scale? (2,5,6)
NO GREAT SHAKES – Double definition, the second a cryptic hint.
17 Chore mixing this colour? (5)
OCHRE – (chore)* [mixing].
19 Totals oddly cost me nothing (5,2)
COMES TO – [Oddly] (cost me)* O (round letter and number; zero; nothing).
21 Money found in Antanarivo, say? (7)
CAPITAL – Double definition. The capital of Madagascar, but you don’t need to know where it is a capital of.
22 Exam unfinished ... I am entering paper (5)
TIMES – I’M (I am) in TES{t} (exam) [unfinished].
23 Extraordinary outcry after noble is tried here? (6,5)
COUNTY COURT – COUNT (noble), (outcry)* [extraordinary].
 
Down
2 Rousing audience initially with a monarch (7)
AWAKING – First letter of Audience, W (with) A KING (monarch)
3 Put off Bude - terrible housing (5)
DETER – Hidden in BuDE TERrible.
4 Inexplicably, I'll manage City ground (13)
ENIGMATICALLY – (I’ll manage city)* [ground].
5 Glorious day for shooting? (7)
TWELFTH – Cryptic definition referring to “The Glorious Twelfth”, the start of the grouse shooting season.
6 Free the French trapped in vehicle (5)
CLEAR – LE (French for the) in CAR (vehicle).
7 Instrument providing five, ten and nothing back (6)
VIOLIN – V (fie in Roman numerals) IO (looks like 10; ten), NIL (nothing) [reversed] -> LIN.
8 Long time as sea rises over bit of Greenland (4)
AGES – first letter of [bit of] Greenland in SEA reversed -> AES -> AGES.
14 Football team always not being promoted (7)
EVERTON – EVER (always), NOT [being promoted] i.e. Coming upwards -> TON.
15 Picked up fabric in part of India (7)
KASHMIR – Sounds like, [picked up] CASHMERE (fabric).
16 Wife, say, cooking soup in London area? (6)
SPOUSE – (soup)* [cooking] in SE (London area).
17 Formerly about the church (4)
ONCE – ON (about) CE (Church of England; church).
18 Animal in river (5)
HIPPO – HIP (in) PO (river in Italy)… and an all-in-one clue where the whole clue is both the definition and answer.
20 I, as well, achieved a couple of overs (2,3)
ME TOO – MET (achieved) O O (a couple of overs).