Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Weekend Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's Phil'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, click the label below.
Hints and tips...
Some hints and tips:
- In 9A Phil ahs embraced the change of policy for Times Crosswords that they can now reference living people.
- The terms in the 10A clue and answer are North American.
- Abandoned in 2D is an anagram indicator.
- 13D is a double definition.
- The answer in 22D has escaped from puzzle 112.
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 Lover's motorway angst (8)
MISTRESS – MI (M1; motorway) STRESS (angst).
5 Site within square allotment (4)
AREA – Hidden in squARE Allotment.
9 Somehow master recipe - for kir, are we told? (7)
STARMER – (Master)* [somehow) R (recipe).
10 Organised church spread (5)
RANCH – RAN (organised) CH (church).
11 Love friend to find gemstone (4)
OPAL – O (0; love) PAL (friend).
12 Two presents impossible to find (7)
NOWHERE – NOW (present) HERE (present).
14 Go OTT with some cricket party? (6)
OVERDO – OVER (some cricket) DO (party).
16 Virtuous chats about end of vice (6)
CHASTE – (chats)* [about], last letter of vicE.
19 Put a coat on and disappear across river (7)
VARNISH – R (river) in VANISH (disappear).
21 Grass on posh degenerate (4)
SHOP – (posh)* [degenerate].
24 Red French half of State capital (5)
ROUGE – Half of BATON ROUGE (state capital of Louisiana).
25 Part of leg that is right to be more brilliant (7)
SHINIER – SHIN (part of leg) I.E. (that is) R (right).
26 Straightforward essay any smart youngster initially produces (4)
EASY – First letters [initially] of Essay Any Smart Youngster.
27 Old railing twisted, but not remodelled (8)
ORIGINAL – O (old) RAILING (twisted).
Down
1 Be obliged to edit smut (4)
MUST – [edit] (smut)*.
2 Wetland was abandoned by politician (5)
SWAMP – (was)* [abandoned] MP (politician).
3 Talked incoherently when animal was injured (7)
RAMBLED – RAM (animal) BLED (was injured).
4 What Zebedee had this season (6)
SPRING – Double definition, the first a cryptic hint.
6 Football club at first rightly causes outcry (7)
RANGERS – First letter of Rightly ANGERS (causes outcry).
7 Wins chase I've scrambled (8)
ACHIEVES – (chase I’ve)* [scrambled].
8 Be exultant about dispute (4)
CROW – C (circa; about) ROW (dispute).
13 Discuss something very different (8)
CONVERSE – Double definition.
15 I escape from disastrous failures - severe remonstrations result (7)
EARFULS – [disastrous] (fa{i}lures)* without the I [I escape].
17 Entertaining a lot of people in front of Guildhall (7)
HOSTING – HOST (a lot of people) IN and first letter [front of] of Guildhall.
18 Racehorse's spirit (6)
CHASER – Double definition.
20 Thought I'd drug addiction at first (4)
IDEA – I’D E (ecstasy; drug) Addiction [at first].
22 In London I only find this vegetable (5)
ONION – Hidden in LondON I ONly.
23 There's nothing odd in a fourball it's said (4)
ORAL – Alternate (even-numbered) letters [nothing odd] in fOuRbAlL..
1 Lover's motorway angst (8)
MISTRESS – MI (M1; motorway) STRESS (angst).
5 Site within square allotment (4)
AREA – Hidden in squARE Allotment.
9 Somehow master recipe - for kir, are we told? (7)
STARMER – (Master)* [somehow) R (recipe).
10 Organised church spread (5)
RANCH – RAN (organised) CH (church).
11 Love friend to find gemstone (4)
OPAL – O (0; love) PAL (friend).
12 Two presents impossible to find (7)
NOWHERE – NOW (present) HERE (present).
14 Go OTT with some cricket party? (6)
OVERDO – OVER (some cricket) DO (party).
16 Virtuous chats about end of vice (6)
CHASTE – (chats)* [about], last letter of vicE.
19 Put a coat on and disappear across river (7)
VARNISH – R (river) in VANISH (disappear).
21 Grass on posh degenerate (4)
SHOP – (posh)* [degenerate].
24 Red French half of State capital (5)
ROUGE – Half of BATON ROUGE (state capital of Louisiana).
25 Part of leg that is right to be more brilliant (7)
SHINIER – SHIN (part of leg) I.E. (that is) R (right).
26 Straightforward essay any smart youngster initially produces (4)
EASY – First letters [initially] of Essay Any Smart Youngster.
27 Old railing twisted, but not remodelled (8)
ORIGINAL – O (old) RAILING (twisted).
1 Be obliged to edit smut (4)
MUST – [edit] (smut)*.
2 Wetland was abandoned by politician (5)
SWAMP – (was)* [abandoned] MP (politician).
3 Talked incoherently when animal was injured (7)
RAMBLED – RAM (animal) BLED (was injured).
4 What Zebedee had this season (6)
SPRING – Double definition, the first a cryptic hint.
6 Football club at first rightly causes outcry (7)
RANGERS – First letter of Rightly ANGERS (causes outcry).
7 Wins chase I've scrambled (8)
ACHIEVES – (chase I’ve)* [scrambled].
8 Be exultant about dispute (4)
CROW – C (circa; about) ROW (dispute).
13 Discuss something very different (8)
CONVERSE – Double definition.
15 I escape from disastrous failures - severe remonstrations result (7)
EARFULS – [disastrous] (fa{i}lures)* without the I [I escape].
17 Entertaining a lot of people in front of Guildhall (7)
HOSTING – HOST (a lot of people) IN and first letter [front of] of Guildhall.
18 Racehorse's spirit (6)
CHASER – Double definition.
20 Thought I'd drug addiction at first (4)
IDEA – I’D E (ecstasy; drug) Addiction [at first].
22 In London I only find this vegetable (5)
ONION – Hidden in LondON I ONly.
23 There's nothing odd in a fourball it's said (4)
ORAL – Alternate (even-numbered) letters [nothing odd] in fOuRbAlL..
Enjoyed that and particularly liked RAMBLED!
ReplyDeleteSurprised by 20D not using the longer "I had" in the clue. It's almost a write-in which is very unPhil !!
I guess Phil was feeling generous. I always think it a good idea to have some easy clues to get people started.
DeleteIndeed John - there must be a couple of "entry level" clues to encourage the solvers,
DeleteI especially liked VARNISH, MISTRESS, and OVERDO but EARFULS was favourite. Didn't know Zebedee but SPRING was most likely answer- thanks for fun workout!
ReplyDeleteThe Zebedee clue is rather UK centric. The Magic Roundabout at tea time was a favourite of mine... and, I think, many others too.I don't if it had any sort of international audience.
DeleteInteresting- looking up Zebedee afterwards I came upon a tourist attraction Zebedee Springs in West Australia!
DeleteLol. A homage to the series, I expect. Here's an original episode... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx4Jefp_luE
DeleteCongratulations on getting Starmer in so soon after Sun(a)k, i guess it was 'mission accepted' - and with a smooth surface with no mention of 'PM' too.
ReplyDeletePhil did ask me if I thought the clue for our new PM was OK and I gave him a positive thumbs up.
DeleteA tough one, which took me 17 minutes, well over my average. DK the US meaning of RANCH, so that one went in from the wordplay alone, and was not familiar with R being an accepted abbreviation for Recipe. NOWHERE being "impossible to find" also held me up, and I had MUMBLED and BABBLED as stabs at 3D before RAMBLED appeared. And I learn today that Baton ROUGE is a state capital - I got the clue from Red French on its own.
ReplyDeleteAll round a bit more stretching than many Sunday Specials. Many thanks Phil for the mental workout.
Cedric
Sorry if you found it a bit stretching. Glad you learnt some geography. NOWHERE is, I think a bit of a chestnut... but only in 15x15s.
DeleteYes, after a few write-ins, I found this tricky but enjoyable. Oh, a RANCH of, say, ideas. Was also slow on VARNISH, CHASER, CONVERSE, MISTRESS , NOWHERE, and the witty STARMER. I remembered Zebedee’s SPRING though. Liked OVERDO best.
ReplyDeleteThanks vm, Phil and John.
Countrywoman
I really liked OVERDO too.
DeleteWell, we found that very doable - which is more than can be said for last week's QCs. Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteSmallholder
Glad you enjoyed it. We try not to be too difficult. Yes this week's Times QCs have been on the harder side.
DeleteThanks Phil! A good and very enjoyable workout. Lots to enjoy there but I think my favourite was SHOP, which brought a lovely mental picture.
ReplyDeleteI liked SHOP too.
DeleteMany thanks to all for the comments. It's always great to get feedback on which clues people like and which the struggle with.
ReplyDeleteI echo John's sentiments - it's good to have that feedback, and thank you to all who have commented.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this. Was dubious of 24a as not aware of Baton Rouge as a State capital and then a problem with seeing 15d even after figuring the anagram less the i. I only got to yesterday's QC this afternoon so this was a pleasant way to spend the mid-evening. Esp liked 12a.
ReplyDelete